http://www.pedalmag.com/index.php?module=Section&action=viewdetail&item_id=14399
Tasha is leading the US NRC Cross Calender after the first rankings!
Also she won the race Sunday and made it 4 wins out of 5 on our Michi-Chicago-VegasWisconsin-Chicago journey. Amazing what 3000 km on the groud, 6000km in the air can do.
I had a good race on Sunday and finished just out of the top ten. I hate to sound pretentious, but I really hit a groove after the two first laps and was riding to my potential. It was just a little too late in the race to really capitalize from it.
DSJ
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tasha takes win #3 in Sun Prairie Wisconsin
SO Tasha finally learned how to spray a bottle of Champaign...funny she asked me how to do this a few days ago in Nevada. Once again Tasha rode brilliantly, carving corners, and accelerating hard up hill inclines and slowly grass sections. She did manage to biff it just a little in one corner, but it's cause she's pushing the limits a little and it's good. I think she was really happy to redeem herself after her race in Vegas, in which she had a problem with her shoe being too tight and cutting off the circulation. It's amazing what we do under pressure.Today, for me, not so good. I don't know what I was thinking, I thought file treads would work well today, but pumped em a little too much after the Vegas tire folding kerfuffle. Man I rode absolutely awful, either in spite of this or despite I don't know what. I stopped to let pressure out of my tires, it sill wasn't right. So went to the pitt, switched wheels, but somehow the front tire was way too soft and the cones were loose and it just went on and on. So, I am sad to say I pulled the plug. After a season of telling the Jet Fuel kids to never quite, or surrender I had to swallow my pride and just pull it, cause I was not in a good place and I was digging a hole.
Not to mention that I was riding so bad I wouldn't let this guy by me, he started swearing at me, passed me then he biffed it so hard...but it gets worse, I had no where to go, but over him and I rode over his arm, then somehow managed to ride over his bike. This is once again something that I can't even tell you how it happened, and if I didn't do it, I would not have thought that it was possible. I hope the guy is ok. I for sure didn't do it on purpose, I'm not mean of a guy. It was just one of those days, where you become your own worst enemy, my bike was not great, but even worse was my mind which could not deal with it. So called it a day, had a pulled pork sandwich and watched Tasha get a sweet pay day and spray champaign over the announcers.
I guess that's the good part of being part of the Duo, if I have a bad day she pulls through and everything is ok. Not to get too melodramatic, but I'm a lucky man that's for sure.
Euro style (with cool euro accent) "today was not good, I was not at one with my machine, tommrow I make sure it is better and I expect to be on a good day ".
OK, nough bout that. Not only did Tasha win, but our host Jim, came second in his race and almost won it and his daughter won her volleyball game and came 3rd in the tourney and his son won his football game, so I guess we can't have everyone do well on the same day.
Las Vegas to Chicago
I don't think I can top Derrick's post about racing against Lance, but we did have a few more funny experiences to report on after the race. We met Vince and Peter after Derrick's race and were going to try and meet them for dinner after we went home and got showered. Peter told us to meet him at a certain casino and we would find the cheesecake factory restaurant. So, Derrick and I both famished after our races went out to the strip in Vegas and drove up and down it to find parking and or the restaurant. Finally we parked and walked through a huge hotel and casino, seeing drunk people everywhere and even a lady in a wheel chair with puke right beside her, the smell was horrendous. Finally we find the restaurant by 12 am and it is closed. So we didn't get a chance to meet up with Peter, Vince and the Steven's gang, but sure saw everything we needed to on a trip to Las Vegas. Derrick and I then had to settle for some fast food, Mexican style as that was the only thing left open on our way back to the house.
Next morning our flight to Vegas, we get up after 4 or 5 hours sleep, both ride the trainer for an hour and then start packing. Flight at 12 noon, it's 8:30, I'm thinking we have lots of time. Wrong.......First off the bike bag zipper breaks, Derrick tries to fix it until about 9 am, then we start thinking we better go to Walmart and by some duck tape. Derrick looked by Keith's (host housing) bike stuff and sees some tape. He didn't want to take it, but he figured this might save us our flight. I then hold the bike bag together why Derrick using bright silver duck tape to tape the sh*t out of the bike bag. Okay 9:30, got 30 minutes to get gas and get to the airport. Gas........this was a long wait as well and Derrick almost lost it on the cashier who was taking her time to explain to the guy in front why he had to prepay. Unfortunately the guy didn't understand that if he put 30 $ in and only ended up pumping 20$ they would credit his credit card.
We got to the rental drop of at 10 and that went smoothly, but then had to take the shuttle to the airport. 90 minutes to spare and I look at the US airways line up and think, this is never going to happen. Stood in the line for 40 minutes, and then get to the computerized check in. Doesn't work and then the assistant there is telling me I have to wait at the desk and pay for the bike bags. Wait and wait again, by the way never, ever, ever, fly US airways with bikes. I'm not sure if all the airlines have gone up since July (last time I flew with bikes) but US airways charges were ridiculous. I tried to deal with them, but they said people were watching them, it was kind of creepy, "we are always being watched by someone here, I'm sorry mam, I would love to help you out, but I could loose my job." So 400$ later ($100 each bike bag, each way) plus 15$ for each luggage bag we have about 15 minutes to get through security and board the flight.
Obviously we made it and then Derrick and I aren't even sitting beside each other. He is sitting in the middle seat across from me as I am sitting as well in the middle of my row. I saw another couple easily ask someone to switch so they could sit beside each other, so I thought I would give it a shot. So I asked the lady on the outside of my row, she says, "sorry, nice try, I'm not sitting in the middle over there."
Derrick is sandwiched between to older business men on the flight. Next minute I here is voice speaking to the men, "I just got to put on my pantyhose so my legs don't swell". I lost it in my seat, I couldn't stop laughing. Derrick was putting on his compression socks in front of the guys. They just kind of looked at him funny. So that was our flight and fortunately are bikes made it with us and everything went smoothly went we got to Chicago. We were pretty wiped on the flight and slept the entire time. I guess the take off was delayed by almost an hour, but both of us were asleep with our mouths open, probably drooling, so none of that concerned us. What I don't get is some how are flight was still on time when we landed. I guess the pilot can put on the SUPER jets when they are late and make up for an hour by flying much faster. Why can't they just fly at that speed all the time, then the flights would be shorter, wouldn't this make more sense??
We just finished preriding day 1 here this morning in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. I think I kind of strained a muscle in my calf at Vegas, after my leg buckled a few times when is was numb. Took some advil and I figure it should be okay. Course out here looks to be a good one. We'll have a little race report up tonight. Wish us luck.
NCE
Next morning our flight to Vegas, we get up after 4 or 5 hours sleep, both ride the trainer for an hour and then start packing. Flight at 12 noon, it's 8:30, I'm thinking we have lots of time. Wrong.......First off the bike bag zipper breaks, Derrick tries to fix it until about 9 am, then we start thinking we better go to Walmart and by some duck tape. Derrick looked by Keith's (host housing) bike stuff and sees some tape. He didn't want to take it, but he figured this might save us our flight. I then hold the bike bag together why Derrick using bright silver duck tape to tape the sh*t out of the bike bag. Okay 9:30, got 30 minutes to get gas and get to the airport. Gas........this was a long wait as well and Derrick almost lost it on the cashier who was taking her time to explain to the guy in front why he had to prepay. Unfortunately the guy didn't understand that if he put 30 $ in and only ended up pumping 20$ they would credit his credit card.
We got to the rental drop of at 10 and that went smoothly, but then had to take the shuttle to the airport. 90 minutes to spare and I look at the US airways line up and think, this is never going to happen. Stood in the line for 40 minutes, and then get to the computerized check in. Doesn't work and then the assistant there is telling me I have to wait at the desk and pay for the bike bags. Wait and wait again, by the way never, ever, ever, fly US airways with bikes. I'm not sure if all the airlines have gone up since July (last time I flew with bikes) but US airways charges were ridiculous. I tried to deal with them, but they said people were watching them, it was kind of creepy, "we are always being watched by someone here, I'm sorry mam, I would love to help you out, but I could loose my job." So 400$ later ($100 each bike bag, each way) plus 15$ for each luggage bag we have about 15 minutes to get through security and board the flight.
Obviously we made it and then Derrick and I aren't even sitting beside each other. He is sitting in the middle seat across from me as I am sitting as well in the middle of my row. I saw another couple easily ask someone to switch so they could sit beside each other, so I thought I would give it a shot. So I asked the lady on the outside of my row, she says, "sorry, nice try, I'm not sitting in the middle over there."
Derrick is sandwiched between to older business men on the flight. Next minute I here is voice speaking to the men, "I just got to put on my pantyhose so my legs don't swell". I lost it in my seat, I couldn't stop laughing. Derrick was putting on his compression socks in front of the guys. They just kind of looked at him funny. So that was our flight and fortunately are bikes made it with us and everything went smoothly went we got to Chicago. We were pretty wiped on the flight and slept the entire time. I guess the take off was delayed by almost an hour, but both of us were asleep with our mouths open, probably drooling, so none of that concerned us. What I don't get is some how are flight was still on time when we landed. I guess the pilot can put on the SUPER jets when they are late and make up for an hour by flying much faster. Why can't they just fly at that speed all the time, then the flights would be shorter, wouldn't this make more sense??
We just finished preriding day 1 here this morning in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. I think I kind of strained a muscle in my calf at Vegas, after my leg buckled a few times when is was numb. Took some advil and I figure it should be okay. Course out here looks to be a good one. We'll have a little race report up tonight. Wish us luck.
NCE
Friday, September 26, 2008
Vegas Cross-DSJ vs Lance
I have to honesty say that I never thought that would be a title of a blog post, for me.
It's kind of like Vegas never happened, so surreal. Cycling has brought me alot of places, allowed me to experience amazing things, but I think this tops it. You can win a race, you can have a good ride, but really when do you ever...and I say ever get to put the hurt on Lance Armstrong. Granted he's not a Cross racer, I'll give him that but he looked fit,not ultra ripped or anything, but not slouchy either.
So Cross Vegas was the place. 15000 people, poured onto the reservoir bowl to watch this race that was light up, true Vegas style. The place reeked of booze and there was more silicone and fake and bake in the VIP section can you can ever imagine.
I had a fair call up spot since I busted my butt last year getting UCI points. The race obviously started off fast. Finally I found myself with a descent start...not stellar, but much better. I was just a little too far back to make the first group and ended up being in the second group, with none other than Lance Armstrong.
Strangely there were more people cheering for Lance than for me,not really really sure why.
Funny was how they were telling us to "bridge" up to the leading group. Not sure if you've ever tried to pull back 30 seconds from a group of 15 with Ryan Trebone,Geoff Kabush, Johnathan Page and Tim Johnson it's not that easy.
Just as we were actually maintaning a descent gap to the leaders, Lance crashed in front of me and almost took me out. Strangely enough I don't know how he wasn't bleeding cause he ate sh%t on the pavement.
Anyways, once that happened all hopes of catching on were completely exhausted, so I figured I would just ride as hard as I could for as long as I could and hope to come around straglers from the lead group later in the race.
So I spent an hour in front of Lance, in back of Lance, beside Lance and one time even had to chop him to get on a wheel.
We had a good size group going, I couldn't get a hold of any file tread tubulars before Vegas, so both Tasha and I were rolling on Vittoria clincher file treads. Not bad, but not great, I ran em at about 33 psi or so, but needed just a bit more as I fold em a couple times into the corners and thought I was going to also eat sh$t. There were a couple of sections that I had to slow down where I kept folding the tires, so I yo-yoed at eh back of our group for a while, but managed to dig really deep and pass a couple of the guys with a lap to go and got a better place in the group.
You got all these people, crazy loud, chaos, going mental for Lance...calling him Lance, Johnny, all kinds of things...and I'm thinking, I'm gonna beat this guy. So I punched it into the final barriers and ran hard up the hill, really punched it around the tight turns and took risks some corners and sprinted so hard down the final shoot that I thought I was going to die after the race.
There were about 22 times in the race in which I thought, "oh my GOD, this is so hard, why do I do this to myself on a full time basis..." But I know that's what this sport is about , if you don't think that your not going hard enough.
So long story, I could go on for ever about it, my result was descent, as last year I wasn't making money at the big races like this, so there's an improvement,but I need to do even better, and I expect more out of myself. It's a good start but there is a lot of work to be done.
The whole Lance thing though...punching it through the corners like that and dropping him...probably the coolest thing Cross wise that's for sure. It keeps on playing over in my head.
Best part...I know exactly how many watts it took to do it...no I don't...it just took as many as I could make.
Ok, I'm done talking about it...for now. Ten bucks says at some point this year, Tasha is going to freak out and say "enough about Lance I've heard this story a thousand times, get over it, you beat him, get on with your life". I'll just smile...cause I still beat Lance! Nananabooboo(picture me jumping up and down, and running around like a squirel gathering nuts before a winter storm).
It's amazing what 1 large coffee and 1 can of Rockstar can make you do. Maybe the stuff here in the US is more potent.
DSJ
Oh yah, we are in Wisonsin, with yet another wicked host housing family, the Pingles. They have the cutest kids and a jumpy little dog. We are racing tomorow and Sunday.
Just for the record, I hope Lance is clean...cause I beat him. If he is on something, he should ask for his money back. No seriously he is clean, cause he was hurting big time. He told me so he said "man your a beast DSJ"...ok that part isn't true...but I had to embellish the stroy a little.
It's kind of like Vegas never happened, so surreal. Cycling has brought me alot of places, allowed me to experience amazing things, but I think this tops it. You can win a race, you can have a good ride, but really when do you ever...and I say ever get to put the hurt on Lance Armstrong. Granted he's not a Cross racer, I'll give him that but he looked fit,not ultra ripped or anything, but not slouchy either.
So Cross Vegas was the place. 15000 people, poured onto the reservoir bowl to watch this race that was light up, true Vegas style. The place reeked of booze and there was more silicone and fake and bake in the VIP section can you can ever imagine.
I had a fair call up spot since I busted my butt last year getting UCI points. The race obviously started off fast. Finally I found myself with a descent start...not stellar, but much better. I was just a little too far back to make the first group and ended up being in the second group, with none other than Lance Armstrong.
Strangely there were more people cheering for Lance than for me,not really really sure why.
Funny was how they were telling us to "bridge" up to the leading group. Not sure if you've ever tried to pull back 30 seconds from a group of 15 with Ryan Trebone,Geoff Kabush, Johnathan Page and Tim Johnson it's not that easy.
Just as we were actually maintaning a descent gap to the leaders, Lance crashed in front of me and almost took me out. Strangely enough I don't know how he wasn't bleeding cause he ate sh%t on the pavement.
Anyways, once that happened all hopes of catching on were completely exhausted, so I figured I would just ride as hard as I could for as long as I could and hope to come around straglers from the lead group later in the race.
So I spent an hour in front of Lance, in back of Lance, beside Lance and one time even had to chop him to get on a wheel.
We had a good size group going, I couldn't get a hold of any file tread tubulars before Vegas, so both Tasha and I were rolling on Vittoria clincher file treads. Not bad, but not great, I ran em at about 33 psi or so, but needed just a bit more as I fold em a couple times into the corners and thought I was going to also eat sh$t. There were a couple of sections that I had to slow down where I kept folding the tires, so I yo-yoed at eh back of our group for a while, but managed to dig really deep and pass a couple of the guys with a lap to go and got a better place in the group.
You got all these people, crazy loud, chaos, going mental for Lance...calling him Lance, Johnny, all kinds of things...and I'm thinking, I'm gonna beat this guy. So I punched it into the final barriers and ran hard up the hill, really punched it around the tight turns and took risks some corners and sprinted so hard down the final shoot that I thought I was going to die after the race.
There were about 22 times in the race in which I thought, "oh my GOD, this is so hard, why do I do this to myself on a full time basis..." But I know that's what this sport is about , if you don't think that your not going hard enough.
So long story, I could go on for ever about it, my result was descent, as last year I wasn't making money at the big races like this, so there's an improvement,but I need to do even better, and I expect more out of myself. It's a good start but there is a lot of work to be done.
The whole Lance thing though...punching it through the corners like that and dropping him...probably the coolest thing Cross wise that's for sure. It keeps on playing over in my head.
Best part...I know exactly how many watts it took to do it...no I don't...it just took as many as I could make.
Ok, I'm done talking about it...for now. Ten bucks says at some point this year, Tasha is going to freak out and say "enough about Lance I've heard this story a thousand times, get over it, you beat him, get on with your life". I'll just smile...cause I still beat Lance! Nananabooboo(picture me jumping up and down, and running around like a squirel gathering nuts before a winter storm).
It's amazing what 1 large coffee and 1 can of Rockstar can make you do. Maybe the stuff here in the US is more potent.
DSJ
Oh yah, we are in Wisonsin, with yet another wicked host housing family, the Pingles. They have the cutest kids and a jumpy little dog. We are racing tomorow and Sunday.
Just for the record, I hope Lance is clean...cause I beat him. If he is on something, he should ask for his money back. No seriously he is clean, cause he was hurting big time. He told me so he said "man your a beast DSJ"...ok that part isn't true...but I had to embellish the stroy a little.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Rolling the Wheels, Not Dice in Vegas
My luck in Vegas wasn't there last night. I was pretty nervous and was hoping to push hard for a top 5 finish in the race. Warmup, pre-ride all went well, I was 7th ranked on call up so everything was there for me to give it a go. And then the luck disappeared. Start, three times until I get my foot in the pedal. I managed to get back on the train and am in 7th. Then a couple bad turns by a few girls in front, gaps open up and the get away train is already gone. 7th seemed to be okay for the first lap and then it all went even more downhill. It was pretty hot out and I think with my nerves and everything I cranked my left shoe way too tight. My power was dropping in the race and I was having a hard time climbing the hills, next the barriers (which running was going really well for me this year), I jumped off and felt like I landed on a stump on my left foot. It was completely numb and buckled causing me to almost smash into the barriers. I then kind of dragged slash ran up the hill as I couldn't use my left foot to run off of. By then 3 or 4 more girls had passed. I rode another couple of laps still feeling the numbness and not a lot of power, then I loosened my shoe about 3 times and fought back and forth with Laura Van Guilder for 10th for awhile but every time we hit the barriers I would stumble pretty bad and loose 10 seconds with my foot being numb. Then get back up to her through the fast turns, at least my technical skills were working for me. Finally last half of the last lap, my power and leg seemed to be back after loosing the shoe so many times and I started getting back into it and was on my way to catching Laura again, then.........500 metres to go I flip my chain over the big ring and jam it. Got off my bike and had 3 girls go by while I was trying untwist it and ended up 15th.
Needless to say with my luck last night, I wasn't going to spend any time at any casino in Vegas!
The top 5 riders really had a great race, but none of them did a race last weekend, let alone two cross races. I think to win Vegas, you got to be fresh off the weekend and also have everything play right as the course is a power sucking course and once the lead group is gone, it's gone for good. It was good to get the jitters out in a big race and I know I can come top 5 with these girls when everything is going well and I have two legs to use. Maybe when the travelling is on an equal playing field things would also be a lot different.
Something totally amazing went on with Derrick's race though. He had probably one of his best cross races, starting back in third row. He got to race around with Lance Armstrong for an hour and then beat him to the line. Although he missed the front group, probably more from his start position and a couple of crashes that guess who had caused (Lance Armstrong). So Derrick missed the get away car and was in a chase group with Lance and Tony Cruz. It was pretty exciting and I am sure there will be thousands of pictures with Lance and Derrick in them as well.
Next up, we fly out this morning and get a little closer to our local time zone in Wisconsin. I'm sure my days will get better over there. This little stint of racing is all to be better prepared for nationals and have a variety of courses and scenarios come out of the races. So at least I can say between Derrick and I, that is happening. Stayed tuned for Derricks update of Vegas.
NCE
Needless to say with my luck last night, I wasn't going to spend any time at any casino in Vegas!
The top 5 riders really had a great race, but none of them did a race last weekend, let alone two cross races. I think to win Vegas, you got to be fresh off the weekend and also have everything play right as the course is a power sucking course and once the lead group is gone, it's gone for good. It was good to get the jitters out in a big race and I know I can come top 5 with these girls when everything is going well and I have two legs to use. Maybe when the travelling is on an equal playing field things would also be a lot different.
Something totally amazing went on with Derrick's race though. He had probably one of his best cross races, starting back in third row. He got to race around with Lance Armstrong for an hour and then beat him to the line. Although he missed the front group, probably more from his start position and a couple of crashes that guess who had caused (Lance Armstrong). So Derrick missed the get away car and was in a chase group with Lance and Tony Cruz. It was pretty exciting and I am sure there will be thousands of pictures with Lance and Derrick in them as well.
Next up, we fly out this morning and get a little closer to our local time zone in Wisconsin. I'm sure my days will get better over there. This little stint of racing is all to be better prepared for nationals and have a variety of courses and scenarios come out of the races. So at least I can say between Derrick and I, that is happening. Stayed tuned for Derricks update of Vegas.
NCE
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Lance in Vegas
Ok, So I finally have a minute to write a descent post. Tasha and I went to ride the Vegas Cross course yesterday,it was about 92 degrees, and the organizers said Lance Armstrong was coming to race. For me, this is a big deal. Not to be too dramatic about things, but a few years ago, I too read "It's not about the bike", Lance's Auto Bio. This obviously inspired me to some degrees to get back into cycling, after having my accident mountain biking in which I broke 3 Vertebra.
After he retired I thought I'd never have a chance to race against him. So it's pretty cool to have things come back full circle. It may just be a rumour that he is coming, to drum up press and such, but we've heard it from a few different people. So if it's true, it's cool as it will make this race even more Vegas style.
Even though this race is going to be more of a spectacle than anything else,it's still a big deal, it's a C1 race and most likely the hardest race we will do until Europe. This race is kind of grass crit with a few obstacles, mind you there's going to be 100 guys, but it's hard to ride on the grass, let alone fly around at Mach 3.
No big secret I've been having a little trouble with my starts, wrong gear, tech issues, bad luck, ect. But yesterday we spent an hour going through my start picking it apart and noticed one small issue I was having, so I'll be trying a slightly modified start tonight and we'll see.
It may be just an issue of don't do what other people do, just do what woks for you.
Ok, so I'll try to take some pics, but I'll most likely get way too excited and forget.
DSJ
After he retired I thought I'd never have a chance to race against him. So it's pretty cool to have things come back full circle. It may just be a rumour that he is coming, to drum up press and such, but we've heard it from a few different people. So if it's true, it's cool as it will make this race even more Vegas style.
Even though this race is going to be more of a spectacle than anything else,it's still a big deal, it's a C1 race and most likely the hardest race we will do until Europe. This race is kind of grass crit with a few obstacles, mind you there's going to be 100 guys, but it's hard to ride on the grass, let alone fly around at Mach 3.
No big secret I've been having a little trouble with my starts, wrong gear, tech issues, bad luck, ect. But yesterday we spent an hour going through my start picking it apart and noticed one small issue I was having, so I'll be trying a slightly modified start tonight and we'll see.
It may be just an issue of don't do what other people do, just do what woks for you.
Ok, so I'll try to take some pics, but I'll most likely get way too excited and forget.
DSJ
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Michigan day 2 video
So I'm still waiting to see my crash into the barriers on day 1, but some guy crashed on day 2, and I had to get acrobatic again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqzklc2NqWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqzklc2NqWc
O'Hara to Vegas
Quickly. O'Hara Airport, nightmare, 100$ for each bike bag...yikes! US airways, no free water on the flight.
Las Vegas, I think it's about 82 degrees right now. Time to go ride.
Got a sweet pic from Michigan Day 1 Podium, more to come.
(left to right, Lalonde, Mueller, Page, Garrigan, St John)
DSJ
Las Vegas, I think it's about 82 degrees right now. Time to go ride.
Got a sweet pic from Michigan Day 1 Podium, more to come.
(left to right, Lalonde, Mueller, Page, Garrigan, St John)
DSJ
Sunday, September 21, 2008
UCI win number two
Today went as well as yesterday for me. Repeating the win, not going out as hard and winning by picking parts of the course that I could gain seconds on. In the back of my mind I wanted to push the pace and make a workout of it, cause that's what my coach says to do. But then on the other hand, I thought just get the win, and go to Vegas and race hard. I only have 3 days to recover from the weekend and I'm sure of Vegas being one the biggest races I do all season.
Kind of cool to have my first two UCI wins easily under my belt. After the road season and not a lot of results, I've kind of been waiting all season for cross to start. I would have to say it was weird leading the race both days from the gun to finish. It's way different leading than following, the first day I forgot I had to navigate the field threw the turns and I missed the first couple turns pretty bad. I know Vegas is going to be a whole lot different racing as I will be chasing and going through corners with people on my sides and having to jump hard out of the corners.
Derrick fought back again. I wished for him to have a better race the second time around. Not so, he double flatted and fought back after going to the pit and changing his rear and front tire himself. I was most impressed with his attitude both days after having misfortunes. I hope he reminds me when I have mechanicals in a race to just keep on fighting and then get done the race on a positive note.
After the race, our wonderful housing hosts (Claudio and Merry) took us out for dinner and we met up with one of the race promoters and another host and his guests Jonathon Page (Silver Medalist at Worlds 2 years ago), Frankie (his assistant) and former Swiss National Champ Micheal Mueller. Idiot quote of the week from me was after Jonathon's assistant was talking about power and heart rate and stuff. I said to Jonathon "hey, do you have any source of power on your bike" He just laughed and responded "I hope I have some source of power, you know I think my legs are powerful". Yeah, he probably thinks I was some sort of an idiot. He kind of made me nervous. My first year of cross I watched him come second at Worlds on cyclingtv live and he was kind why I thought I could have a go at this sport. I'm not usually star struck but it was pretty cool to sit right beside him for dinner and chat with him.
We are just about to leave to drive up to Chicago (5 hours away) and catch are flight for Vegas. So I got to go and finishing packing my bags as Derrick has got the bike bags all ready to go. We will hopefully have some more time soon to put up some pics and maybe write a little more on race reports and stuff.
NCE
Kind of cool to have my first two UCI wins easily under my belt. After the road season and not a lot of results, I've kind of been waiting all season for cross to start. I would have to say it was weird leading the race both days from the gun to finish. It's way different leading than following, the first day I forgot I had to navigate the field threw the turns and I missed the first couple turns pretty bad. I know Vegas is going to be a whole lot different racing as I will be chasing and going through corners with people on my sides and having to jump hard out of the corners.
Derrick fought back again. I wished for him to have a better race the second time around. Not so, he double flatted and fought back after going to the pit and changing his rear and front tire himself. I was most impressed with his attitude both days after having misfortunes. I hope he reminds me when I have mechanicals in a race to just keep on fighting and then get done the race on a positive note.
After the race, our wonderful housing hosts (Claudio and Merry) took us out for dinner and we met up with one of the race promoters and another host and his guests Jonathon Page (Silver Medalist at Worlds 2 years ago), Frankie (his assistant) and former Swiss National Champ Micheal Mueller. Idiot quote of the week from me was after Jonathon's assistant was talking about power and heart rate and stuff. I said to Jonathon "hey, do you have any source of power on your bike" He just laughed and responded "I hope I have some source of power, you know I think my legs are powerful". Yeah, he probably thinks I was some sort of an idiot. He kind of made me nervous. My first year of cross I watched him come second at Worlds on cyclingtv live and he was kind why I thought I could have a go at this sport. I'm not usually star struck but it was pretty cool to sit right beside him for dinner and chat with him.
We are just about to leave to drive up to Chicago (5 hours away) and catch are flight for Vegas. So I got to go and finishing packing my bags as Derrick has got the bike bags all ready to go. We will hopefully have some more time soon to put up some pics and maybe write a little more on race reports and stuff.
NCE
Michigan Double Cross day 1-Tasha's 1st UCI win!
Briefly...
Well drove down to MI, for a double Cross weekend. We are staying with awesome hosts, Claudio and Merry. Natasha rode away yesterday and captures her first UCI Cross victory!
She got the hole shot, increased the tempo and rode really smooth ever increasing the margin on the field. I was so happy to see this come together for Natasha. Granted it was a small field, but I think this helps her build the skill set of riding on the front, off the front and learning how to win. Cause really you have to learn how to win.
Not to mention fellow EMD'er Steve "biff it with 25 psi" Proulx taking I believe his 1st US Cross Victory.
I wanted to go hard from the start, but had some derailer issues and completely missed the first pedal rev, had n0 momentum going into the 1st straight, was in 20th-25th place. I thought it was disastrous, started to pass people, riding insane, taking all kinds of risks, flew into the 1st set of barriers so fast and throttled myself into the second barrier, recovered, then locked bars with someone in a U turn, continued to redline it, pulled back 30 seconds to the chase group in the second lap. Ok, pause for a second, it was 85 degrees...did I say it was hot. So back to the chase, I turned it inside out to get to the group of 8. Page and Mueller had already escaped the group, so fight for 3rd. The efforts in the first couple laps took their toll and I couldn't seal the deal for 3rd as Canadian Champ Mike Garrigan threw it down in the woods to get the gap.
Was I smooth...no way. Did I have finesse? Can't say yes to that one. Technique was sufficient, but just not graceful. I know theres gonna be a pic of me eating the barrier and my bike getting prepared for landing.
I was up late Friday, prepping our bikes with the Octto tape and bars, we got from Dave in Toronto. If you want to find us, just look for the yellow. I can't wait to get the new Stevens bikes, and we'll be all specked out on Octto bars, stems, seatposts. Dave even gave us some Octto skewers...which are so nice...wait until you see this stuff!
So getting ready for day two. Derailer issues aside and I switched back to my old pedals, maybe if I don't start at the back I can actually really surprise myself today.
DSJ
Well drove down to MI, for a double Cross weekend. We are staying with awesome hosts, Claudio and Merry. Natasha rode away yesterday and captures her first UCI Cross victory!
She got the hole shot, increased the tempo and rode really smooth ever increasing the margin on the field. I was so happy to see this come together for Natasha. Granted it was a small field, but I think this helps her build the skill set of riding on the front, off the front and learning how to win. Cause really you have to learn how to win.
Not to mention fellow EMD'er Steve "biff it with 25 psi" Proulx taking I believe his 1st US Cross Victory.
I wanted to go hard from the start, but had some derailer issues and completely missed the first pedal rev, had n0 momentum going into the 1st straight, was in 20th-25th place. I thought it was disastrous, started to pass people, riding insane, taking all kinds of risks, flew into the 1st set of barriers so fast and throttled myself into the second barrier, recovered, then locked bars with someone in a U turn, continued to redline it, pulled back 30 seconds to the chase group in the second lap. Ok, pause for a second, it was 85 degrees...did I say it was hot. So back to the chase, I turned it inside out to get to the group of 8. Page and Mueller had already escaped the group, so fight for 3rd. The efforts in the first couple laps took their toll and I couldn't seal the deal for 3rd as Canadian Champ Mike Garrigan threw it down in the woods to get the gap.
Was I smooth...no way. Did I have finesse? Can't say yes to that one. Technique was sufficient, but just not graceful. I know theres gonna be a pic of me eating the barrier and my bike getting prepared for landing.
I was up late Friday, prepping our bikes with the Octto tape and bars, we got from Dave in Toronto. If you want to find us, just look for the yellow. I can't wait to get the new Stevens bikes, and we'll be all specked out on Octto bars, stems, seatposts. Dave even gave us some Octto skewers...which are so nice...wait until you see this stuff!
So getting ready for day two. Derailer issues aside and I switched back to my old pedals, maybe if I don't start at the back I can actually really surprise myself today.
DSJ
Thursday, September 18, 2008
What a week!
Where to start...I'm just not sure.
I could have written about 20 posts this week...but as it was such a ridiculously busy week, I didn't have time until now...
So, I'll save the best stuff for last and make you read all the boring stuff first.
Monday...getting ready to move..packing...throwing out stuff to the curb. Rented a U-Haul from the Coventry street depot, let me just say not fun. Made reservations on the phone, they couldn't find them, lady treated me like an idiot, said there would be an appliance dolly, shocker to see that they forgot.
Tuesday...Moving day...so I do what any ordinary athlete does before a moving day...a sprint workout at 6:30 in the morning in 5 degree chill. It started out well until , well, my first sprint, my foot came out of the pedal and I went over the bars and used my "so you think you can dance" Twitch flip and managed to destroy leg warmers, vest, skinsuit, booties, derailleur hanger, gloves and left some elbow and butt skin on the tarmac for good measure.
Get home, bleeding all over the place. no worries, I just sprayed liquid opsite on the wound...if you are ever in the mood to "feel the burn" just spray that on an open wound and I can guarantee there will be words coming outa ya mouth that ya moma don't wanna hear.
So 12 hours later, move complete. So we are now living in Cornwall. I thought the riding was going to suck. Well it turns out I guess I never really took the time to ride out there, cause there is actually fantastic riding, lots of rolling hills, tones of wind, little narrow country lanes, it seriously felt like Belgium. Tasha isn't fond of it yet as she tells me riding on my wheel she is either doing 80 watts or 280 watts and that is "not fun".
So back to the exciting news, it's actually in two parts.
I will be racing cross for Stevens Cross. Johnny (Jet Fuel) was kind enough to sign a release for me to ride for the German bicycle company, as they are providing myself and Tasha with bikes and assisting us with accommodations once in Europe.
Also, yesterday Tasha and I signed a deal with Octto, who is helping us "lighten" up our Cross bikes with Octto Carbon bars,stem,seatposts and bar tape. Octto is a long time supporter of Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team and I loved the products so much that we agreed that they would be perfect for the Dynamic Duo for Cross. Our bikes will be looking sweet as Octto makes really nice stuff. See the full story below. We are very excited about this partnership.
http://www.octto.com/1/post/2008/09/octto-sponsors-ottawas-dynamic-duonatasha-elliot-and-derrick-st-john.html
We are stopping by Occto to pick up our stuff tomorrow on our way to Michigan for Cross race number 1 and 2...a prelude to Cross Vegas, which will then be followed by Wisconsin Cross...feels like Europe all over again.
OK...that's more news than the whole last month and a half...but that's the way it goes...
DSJ
I could have written about 20 posts this week...but as it was such a ridiculously busy week, I didn't have time until now...
So, I'll save the best stuff for last and make you read all the boring stuff first.
Monday...getting ready to move..packing...throwing out stuff to the curb. Rented a U-Haul from the Coventry street depot, let me just say not fun. Made reservations on the phone, they couldn't find them, lady treated me like an idiot, said there would be an appliance dolly, shocker to see that they forgot.
Tuesday...Moving day...so I do what any ordinary athlete does before a moving day...a sprint workout at 6:30 in the morning in 5 degree chill. It started out well until , well, my first sprint, my foot came out of the pedal and I went over the bars and used my "so you think you can dance" Twitch flip and managed to destroy leg warmers, vest, skinsuit, booties, derailleur hanger, gloves and left some elbow and butt skin on the tarmac for good measure.
Get home, bleeding all over the place. no worries, I just sprayed liquid opsite on the wound...if you are ever in the mood to "feel the burn" just spray that on an open wound and I can guarantee there will be words coming outa ya mouth that ya moma don't wanna hear.
So 12 hours later, move complete. So we are now living in Cornwall. I thought the riding was going to suck. Well it turns out I guess I never really took the time to ride out there, cause there is actually fantastic riding, lots of rolling hills, tones of wind, little narrow country lanes, it seriously felt like Belgium. Tasha isn't fond of it yet as she tells me riding on my wheel she is either doing 80 watts or 280 watts and that is "not fun".
So back to the exciting news, it's actually in two parts.
I will be racing cross for Stevens Cross. Johnny (Jet Fuel) was kind enough to sign a release for me to ride for the German bicycle company, as they are providing myself and Tasha with bikes and assisting us with accommodations once in Europe.
Also, yesterday Tasha and I signed a deal with Octto, who is helping us "lighten" up our Cross bikes with Octto Carbon bars,stem,seatposts and bar tape. Octto is a long time supporter of Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team and I loved the products so much that we agreed that they would be perfect for the Dynamic Duo for Cross. Our bikes will be looking sweet as Octto makes really nice stuff. See the full story below. We are very excited about this partnership.
http://www.octto.com/1/post/2008/09/octto-sponsors-ottawas-dynamic-duonatasha-elliot-and-derrick-st-john.html
We are stopping by Occto to pick up our stuff tomorrow on our way to Michigan for Cross race number 1 and 2...a prelude to Cross Vegas, which will then be followed by Wisconsin Cross...feels like Europe all over again.
OK...that's more news than the whole last month and a half...but that's the way it goes...
DSJ
Monday, September 8, 2008
Whiskers are cool!
New look...but it didn't last for long.
Tasha threatned to leave me if I started the Cross season with this sauve look...Armstrong the cat liked it.
DSJ
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Technique...
Just like Tony Little said, selling his ab rollers back in the day when acid washed was cool, technique!
Tasha and I need to rid demons past of last years Nationals when our technique was less than desirable on a very tech course. Last year our prepeartaion was not suffecient.
Just a couple quick shots of us messing around at Strathconna Cross barriers, designed by...me and technical turns by Tasha.
Tasha and I need to rid demons past of last years Nationals when our technique was less than desirable on a very tech course. Last year our prepeartaion was not suffecient.
Just a couple quick shots of us messing around at Strathconna Cross barriers, designed by...me and technical turns by Tasha.
I wish I could explain the dismount-remount better, it seems easy, but believe me it took a while to get it down. Tasha has really worked hard at betering her turns in tight , rooty technical sections such as this.
DSJ
Friday, September 5, 2008
Say Uncle!
You may think that this is going to be some post saying that I'm asking Ken to ez off on the training, but it's not. Yesterday my sister gave birth to Tray Bressard, 7lbs 14oz, at eh Monfort hospital. The little guy was a few days late, but decided to comeout on the same day of the month as his brother Ethan. They are doing well, and he is a harry little bugger.
Mom, Dad and Baby are doing well.
So Uncle Derrick and Matante Natasha are very happy. Ethan is very happy to now be a BIG BROTHER.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Labour day
I have to say that I was pretty happy to have this Sunday roll around, as it was the last day of a rather large month of training and mix in some "jogging" and some Cross specific Technique...it kinda hurt.
Not to mention we are having to go through our stuff and sort out what we want to keep as we are moving in 2 weeks. Not only are we moving our stuff into my parents basement, but we then leave for a two week journey which takes us to Michigan, Chicago, Las Vegas, Sun Prairie Wisconsin and every where in between on the way back from WI. Yeah I know, gonna be a buy time, so needless to say my garage sale that I was going to have today fell through. Instead I just put a whole bunch of stuff to the curb, and living in Sandy Hill some of the students were more than happy to pick up a beaten up coffee table, 20 lbs printer and a vacuum cleaner.
I get two days off the bike before I get into the chunk of training. Which doesn't look that bad on paper..well...ok yeah it does, but that's just the way it iz.
The Cross bike is sorta dialed in. I eat dirt a few times doing our Strathconna Cross Thursday mornings but it's kinda funny when I do. I have to say though so far my least favorite part of the transition into cross has been a day like yesterday, do the training, blah blah blah, then 5 hours later jump on the cross bike, ouch. Those barriers that I made out of tree trunks seem so high, not to mention that the heat was making me want to vomit. Fun.
Having a few weeks off racing, it's pretty sweet to just go out and hammer. I got to ride with Aaron Fillion on Saturday, he is one of my favorite people to ride with. We generally just ride side by side and increase the power to a barely tolerable level for as long as we can hold it and eventually either we crack one another or we get yelled at by the people on our wheels that don't enjoy riding above 50 km/hr. Saturday we managed to get it up to 56km/hr on the tail end of the ride, man that must have really hurt if anyone was closing gaps behind, cause I actually forgot where I was for minute. Aaron and I were chatiing about training, geeky power numbers and the cross approaching season.
Feels weird to be talking Cross when its so hot outside that you feel the sun scorching your skin, but Nationals are 6 week away, so you gotta be focused...
Here is one of my all time favorite pics of the "local races" last year. Ottawa loves CX baby.
DSJ
Not to mention we are having to go through our stuff and sort out what we want to keep as we are moving in 2 weeks. Not only are we moving our stuff into my parents basement, but we then leave for a two week journey which takes us to Michigan, Chicago, Las Vegas, Sun Prairie Wisconsin and every where in between on the way back from WI. Yeah I know, gonna be a buy time, so needless to say my garage sale that I was going to have today fell through. Instead I just put a whole bunch of stuff to the curb, and living in Sandy Hill some of the students were more than happy to pick up a beaten up coffee table, 20 lbs printer and a vacuum cleaner.
I get two days off the bike before I get into the chunk of training. Which doesn't look that bad on paper..well...ok yeah it does, but that's just the way it iz.
The Cross bike is sorta dialed in. I eat dirt a few times doing our Strathconna Cross Thursday mornings but it's kinda funny when I do. I have to say though so far my least favorite part of the transition into cross has been a day like yesterday, do the training, blah blah blah, then 5 hours later jump on the cross bike, ouch. Those barriers that I made out of tree trunks seem so high, not to mention that the heat was making me want to vomit. Fun.
Having a few weeks off racing, it's pretty sweet to just go out and hammer. I got to ride with Aaron Fillion on Saturday, he is one of my favorite people to ride with. We generally just ride side by side and increase the power to a barely tolerable level for as long as we can hold it and eventually either we crack one another or we get yelled at by the people on our wheels that don't enjoy riding above 50 km/hr. Saturday we managed to get it up to 56km/hr on the tail end of the ride, man that must have really hurt if anyone was closing gaps behind, cause I actually forgot where I was for minute. Aaron and I were chatiing about training, geeky power numbers and the cross approaching season.
Feels weird to be talking Cross when its so hot outside that you feel the sun scorching your skin, but Nationals are 6 week away, so you gotta be focused...
Here is one of my all time favorite pics of the "local races" last year. Ottawa loves CX baby.
DSJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)