Team??

Well the weather is starting to change for the worse. It is getting cold out and I hate riding in the cold, but I hate riding the trainer even more. So I am going to keep on riding outside as long as possible. Tomorrow is suppose to be a high of 35 and I am going to try to suck it up and ride outside.
It is also getting late to not know what team I will be riding for in 08' road season. Right now I am on black sheep cycling but that is a junior team and I am looking for a U-23 team, so if anyone has any ideas let me know. I could ride in the CLIF BAR jersey all summer and get a salsa bike but I don't know if there will really be a team. I am trying to contact team Einsteins and seeing if I could ride for them but I don't know.
Only 2 more weeks of school left then 5 weeks off of school, I can't wait for the break from school.

1,2,3!

Today was another great cross course. We had 5 guys racing today in the 3's. The course was muddy again, but it also had some wind. There was a good muddy climb and then 2 barriers shortly after that.
Right off the start Robin, Conor and Andrew were off the front and I was not far behind. We had 4 guys in the top five at one point. Then Andrew had a mechanical and had to run to the bike pit and a lot of guys passed him. I tried catching the other two but that was not going to happen. I had to worry about the guy right on my wheel.
On the last lap and the last barrier this guy was right on my wheel. I got over the barrier fine and took off to the finish. I looked back and I noticed I had a gap and took 3rd. The guy behind be had trouble clipping in after the last barrier. Robin took first Conor 2nd and I got 3rd. CLIF BAR 1,2,3. Next weekend is some more races in Boulder then the following weekend is State Championships. I hope I do well at that. Then off to Nats.
I need to get to Homework so that is all for now.

Bumpy N Muddy

Today was my first cross race in about 2 weeks. It was nice to get out there and race.I started towards the back, I thought they were going to do call ups but they didn't. Right off the start the was a crash and i had to swerve around it. I was afraid of dropping my chain, Because in warm up I dropped it going down one of the hills. But luckily I didn't in the race. It was very bumpy and pretty muddy. I had trouble getting into my pedals after a few laps. I had a side AK for the first couple of laps so i had to slow down and a few people passed me. I just glided into the finish and Conor nipped me at the line. We finished 8th and 9th, not bad for not riding the cross bike in a couple weeks.
Tomorrow is a race close to home and on the way back to school so that should be a good one. I am hoping to do a little better tomorrow. Then I head back up to school for about 2 and half weeks then I am off to Cross Nats for U23 and Collegiate.

Turkey Day!

Well yesterday Conor and I drove to Denver from GJ. It was a pain in the neck. The Ice and traffic sucked. It was a slow drive but we made it. We went out for a couple hour ride and it was freezing. My toes were numb. It is a little different then GJ a few days ago when it was 60 degrees out riding. Dinner was fantastic, now we are ready to eat some pies. We are going out again tomorrow to freeze on another ride. Then we are going to race on Saturday and Sunday then back to GJ for 2 more weeks of school, then off to Nats.

Weekend!

This weekend was a great weekend just to stay here in GJ and get away from the racing scene for a little. There was a lot going on this weekend. First off on Friday morning the campus power went out for about 2 and half hours. It was nice but I still had class which sucked and the cafe was closed. Then later on in the day Corey and Jeremy came up from CSU. We went to the SK8 park that night with a lot of people. Two of toms friends came up also. I was practicing my bunny hoping for cross on the BMX bike. I am very good on that but not So much on the cross bike.
Then we tried riding a unicycle. That is a lot harder then it looks. I tried so many times and the best I got was about 50 ft and it was a lot of fun. It gave me a bad rash but o well.
Even though I had the weekend off from racing I had my First week of hard workouts on the road bike. I thought it was going to be somewhat easy, but no it was def hard. It was good getting that in and I hope it will show at Nats in a few Weeks.
I am Heading home to Denver on Wednesday for turkey day. That will be nice getting home and eating food. I have some local races finally in Denver that I will be going to on Saturday and Sunday, then heading back here to GJ after Sundays race.

Mid week

Well this week is flying by. It has been nice I have been off the bike for the last two days. I needed that rest, today I am just going out for an easy ride, and then tomorrow is some hard training for the rest of the week. Like I said before I am not racing this weekend, am looking forward for the break. But I still have hard workouts. It is less then a month before CX Nationals. I can't wait for that. This weekend a couple of my buddies are coming up from CSU. I don't know what we are going to do but it should be fun.

Bad Luck = Bad Races

Well this weekend there was a couple of UCI races down in Gunnison and Durango that Conor and I went down to. I was looking forward to these races and hopefully coming out with some good results. But the total opposite happened.
On Saturday morning we left Grand Junction early in the morning to make it to Gunnison for our 11:30 start. We got there in plenty of time. We were able to warm up and ride the course plenty of times. The race started shortly after. Conor and I and some guy from Durnago were off the front very early in the race. I slipped out in one of the corners but got back up and chased for a couple of laps before i got back on with Conor and the other guy. Then with 2 laps to go Conor crashes in one of the corners and the guy from Durango takes off. I chased him down and then attacked him. Then on the last lap i was leading and about half way through the lap i was powering up this hill section when my chain broke. That easy, day over with. I got a DNF and Conor ended up 2nd. Then we watched Danny and Brady ride a great race and getting some UCI points. After watching the pros race we headed over to Durango for a race on FLC campus.
The drive over to Durango was a long one. It was not fun driving over the pass in the dark and no guard rale. We made it eventually and stayed the night at our fiends place. Then we got to the race course Sunday morning looking for some better luck. Conor and I went to go register when we noticed the guys that we race against already warming up. So we headed back to the car to get changed and ride the course and warm up. But on the way back to the car we found out that we go off at 10 not 11:30 like we thought we did. So we got changed went to the start and started racing. I felt horrible and just could not get in to any rhythm. So Conor finished up 6th and me 7th not to happy that we didn't notice the start time change.
It was really cool watching Todd Wells destroy both days. I finally have a weekend off from racing. I am taking off this weekend hoping to get better and just relax.

Night CX

Last night Conor and I went out to do some night cross racing. There was only 4 other people that showed up but it still was a good workout. We went to the local elementary school and made about a 6 min course. There was sand and some long running sections. It was a lot of fun racing at night with lights and no one out there. They have these rides every Wednesday night at 6, meeting at the bike shop.


This weekend is another UCI race down in Gunnison on Saturday and Durango on the FLC campus on Sunday. Those should be some good races, I hope it is a good turn out.
I am still kind of feeling sick so I hope i am feeling better in the next couple days. Next weekend I have the weekend off from racing so that will be a good break. Corey and Jeremy and his buddies from CSU and Stu are coming up that weekend so we should get some good riding in.

Kevin

Weekend Report

This weekend was a huge weekend of racing for me. It was the Redline and Boulder cup in Boulder. All the big names in cross were here, even Chris Horner himself was there making his best cross finish ever, 5th. It was just really cool watching Trebon, Horner, Johnson, Powers, Wells and Wicks race. Todd Wells jumping all the barriers.
My race on Saturday was good. It was a great course with grass, sand, gravel, stairs and barriers. I was with the lead group the whole race until the last lap or so. 5 guys pulled away from me. I finished up 6th and Conor 9th. Conor crashed on the first lap and hurt his thumb really bad but managed to get ninth. Not bad for such a big race.
Then yesterday was a different story. We all have bad days on the bike, and yesterday it was my day. I felt good the first lap, with about a 5 sec lead or so. But after that i was not feeling it. My bike was not shifting right and i had a huge gear going up those hills and sand pit and i thought i was getting over a cold but i think it just got worse. I can make excuses all day but when it comes down to it i just had a bad day.
On the other hand Conor had a great day. The second lap he went off the front. This course was really windy also but he managed to stay out front the whole race with about a 20 sec lead the whole time. He pulled of the win in the Boulder Cup. It was his biggest win yet, with 100 starters and a big race it was just a great weekend for him.
This weekend is another race in Gunnison and Durango. I will be doing the Gunnison one but not sure yet on the Durango one. We will just have to wait and see, and i hope i get better soon.

Kevin