Snowboarding

Well I just got back from some nice snowboarding up in the mountains. Conor, Beede, Corey and I went up to Keystone last night to do some night skiing. We got to the resort around four and just went up to people leaving and asked for there ticket. I did not want to pay $50 to go night skiing. So we just went for free. It was my first time night boarding and it was sweet, but VERY cold. Then we spent the night in silverthorne and then went to Copper today. It was a blast and a lot of powder and not that many people. Did a little hiking to get the good stuff but it was worth it. I have not been boarding in a very long time. I use to go a lot before I started biking but I have changed my focus to cycling. It was just fun to go up and screw around and just have a good time.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and happy New year. Wow this year went by fast and a lot has happen. I am so thankful for everything I have. Being healthy and having a roof over my head. It was a great year and a lot of memories. can't wait for next year to start fresh and hopefully have even a better season on the bike.
Today I got a unicycle, it is sweet but I just need to need to know how to ride it lol. I also got a lot of cloths, some Oakley thumps that will be sweet when I am riding. It has been a great day so far and it actually is snowing on Christmas, that is a first in a long time.
I am taking time off the bike for a little and tomorrow night I am going night skiing at Keystone and then the next day at Copper. It should be a good week.
Happy Birthday Jesus!

Time off

Well it has only been a couple days off the bike and I already want to get back on the bike. The weather is so nice I just want to go ride. But I know I need to take these two weeks off so I can recover from this past year. I am already looking forward to the 08' road season.

Break

Well I just got home today from cross nats. It was a lot of fun and I am really happy that I did cross this season. I will be racing cross again next year for the same team and hopefully be going to th Grand Prix next year.
Saturday was the U23 race and I was hoping for a top 20 result. The race started and I had a good start and started passing people. I fell on the first lap and dropped my chain. I put it back on and just kept on driving it. I ended up 18th on the day. I was excited about that especially for being my first year really doing cross and going to nats.
Then on Sunday it was the collegiate race. There was about 145 riders or so. A lot bigger then the day before. Like an hour before the race I pre road the course to see what it was like because it snowed that night. It was so frozen that it was so hard to ride without falling off. I hit this rut and went flying into a tree and I put my hand out to save my face. I went back to warm up and try to warm up my fingers. My pinkie felt frozen and I couldn't warm it up. The race started and I felt ok. After a while I could not stay on my bike. I was a wreck falling left and right off my bike. I finished 30th overall. Not bad for crashing a lot. After the race i figured out why I could not warm my pinkie up. It was because it was actually hurt. It hurt so bad but I didn't notice if it was frozen or hurt. It is about twice the size now and it really hurts. I don't know if I broke it or not but it really hurts.
The pros race was a lot of fun to watch. But the bus drive back sucked. We did about 5 hrs of driving last night and got a hotel and just finished the rest of the drive today. I am finally taking a break off the bike for a little before I start training for road. It has been a loooooonnnnnnngggggg season. There is a cool pic up on cycling news of me at nats.

Getting ready

Well today was the Jrs race and it was muddy again. Robin and Yannick raced in the 15-16. Robin got 4th and Yannick 6th. Then right after that was the 17-18 with Andrew and Ethan racing in that. Andrew had a great start but that was about it. He had the worse luck today, and he couldn't do anything about it. He got a flat on the first lap and it just went downhill from there. But he stuck in there and finished it out He got like 22nd or so and Ethan 30th. I race tomorrow in the U-23 race. I just got done getting a massage and we are going to grab some dinner and get pumped up for tomorrow. It is suppose to snow tonight so I can't imagine what the course is going to be like tomorrow.
The Bus
Frozen trees

Hard day at the office
MUD

MUDDY!

Just got back from riding the course. It is 2 miles of mud. It is crazy, the course is so much fun. It is going to be a crazy race. My feet are frozen from running through all the water and mud. Tomorrow is the Jrs race and I think i am just going to go ride. I am going to try to put some pics up tomorrow of the course to show you how muddy it is. I am going to go take a shower and get warm now.

Made it

Made it to Kansas City late last night. We got to the hotel around 2 Am. It was a very long drive. Our bus max speed was 57 mph going downhill, so you only can imagine. Everythiing is frozen here. Everything outside has ice all over it. I just found out there is suppose to be snow during our race Saturday morning. Today I am going to pre ride the couse and just relax.

Let the fun begin!

Well I just got back from GJ getting ready to go to Nats. It only took 5 hours to get home this time instead of six and a half so that is a plus. I am done with finals and school for over five weeks so that is a great feeling. I have to jump on the trainer now to get my legs open before the long drive tomorrow to Kansas. We are rolling down in the CLIF BAR school bus which is bio diesel. It is going to be a long drive but well worth it when we get there. I race the U-23 race Saturday and the Collegiate one Sunday which has about 150 riders. I will keep this posted frequently throughout the week with pics and how I am doing.

Kevin

Disaster weekend

Well the bad chain of events started for be on Friday afternoon when i went back to Denver. I knew there was a lot of snow in Vail and it was going to suck but I did not think it was going to be that bad. It took us six and a half hours to get home which usually takes 4 hours. There was a lot of dumb little cars and truckers that would get stuck in front of you and cause a traffic jam. Our clutch is going out and our car started smoking on the pass. So our car is out of service.
On Saturday it was snowing so it was the first time I had to ride the trainer. It was not as bad as I thought so I just got the workout done to get ready for the state championships on Sunday. I was feeling good and excited to get the legs open for Nats.
Sunday came and it was freezing out. It was only about 16 degrees out when we were racing and snow on the ground. I fixed my bike and got the course dialed in. I got called up to the front line ready to throw down. the race started and I had an ok start. Robin was off the front and Conor right behind. Then it was Andrew and I a little bit behind them. After a while it was Robin 1st Conor 2nd Andrew 3rd and me 4th. It looked like it was going to be a good race. then about half way through the race my bike started ghost shifting. I could not really get a rhythm going and fell back a lot. The race finished with Robins 1st Andrew 2nd and Conor 3rd, and of course me 16th lol. It was sweet having 1,2,3. Hopefully we can pull something like that off at Nats.



I leave back to Denver tomorrow afternoon and leave Wednesday for Nats. I can't wait. I am not expecting anything fantastic but I hope no more mechanicals . Wish me luck.

Not what I was looking for.

This past weekend was the last weekend of full racing before Nats. I was hoping to go into the races feeling good and see how I am riding for Nats. But both days did not go in my favor.
On Saturday it was another Boulder CX series race. There was some sand, mud, water, barriers, and some tight turns. It had it all and I was pumped to get a good result. I was pre riding the course feeling good but my chain was having some issues but I didn't think anything of it, maybe it was all the sand. So I started the race in top 5 and before I knew it my chain was acting up. I had to drop back a little to fix it. I tried hoping back on and my chain just kept acting up. I tried to ride it out and just get a result. But that was not going to happen my bike would not allow it so i had to drop out. I was hoping for at least a top 5 that day but instead got a DNF.
Saturday night I shortened the chain and it looked like I fixed the problem.
So Sunday I was hoping for better luck. The course was a lot of fun. A fast single track down a steep hill into some more single track that was really muddy. Then a double barrier running up a hill and then two sand pits that you had to run through. I was in the top 3 all day until the last lap, and my chain came back to bite me in the butt. At the bottom of one hill it started acting up and two guys passed me. I thought I got it fixed and started chasing. Right before I went down the fast single track my chain totally fell off. So when I got the the bottom I tried putting it back on. About ten guys passed me then. I got back on with about 1/2 lap left and then my chain feel off again. So I just rolled into the finish. O ya and the finish was a running finish trough the sand pit. So i was 3rd and drooped back to 16th or so. Not very happy with the weekend results, but what can you do it is cross. But I could tell I had good legs both days which is a good sign. 1 lap to go
Mad about my chain

This Sunday is the Colorado State Championship race in Lyons Colorado. I am hoping for a better result and a good warm up for Nats. Then I come back to school for two days of finals and then leave Wednesday for Nats. Wish me luck.