UTCX #10

Saturday the UTCX series made a stop in Draper. It's my backyard. I wouldn't have missed it.

Pre-race breakfast: Diet Coke with pancakes

I don't usually smile during a race. I think I'm just happy to still be riding my bike in late November.

Riding in the sand pit


I lost contact with the lead group but was able to put some distance between the rest of the pack. I ended up in 6th place for the day.

Last lap and a rare shot of what the pain cave feels like.

Lucky 13

With only three races left in the season, I'm sitting at 13th place overall in the UTCX singlespeed class. Plently of room for improvement. I thought riding a SS mountain bike all year long would leave me in great shape for cross racing. Turns out, almost all the races are totally flat and reward those with some power in their legs. Not so great for sparrow boned climbers.



But the series makes another stop in Draper on Saturday. The Draper course was where I had my best result earlier in the season. It has at least one climb and more of a mountain bike feel to it. I'm not sure I can make up much ground in the overall points standings but racing on the home court course could better my chances.

If you're local and haven't tried cyclocross yet, now is your chance.

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Ride The Divide

Crazy....

Ride The Divide Teaser from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.

Ridin Dirty

...."They see me rollin, they hatin, patrolling and tryin to catch me ridin dirty"

Check out the video that Miles posted. He does a good job capturing the UT work/lunch ride scene.

Does Facial Hair Make You Faster?

I don't know but it's worth a try. I have been working on my beard for about a week now. It's almost in full bloom. Maybe it will give me a little extra attitude at the CX State Championship race on Sat.

I've noticed a lot of the fast guys are flying the beard. Like this guy:


Or this guy:


Worst case, It will help keep me warm. The forecast looks cold and wet.

Sources

Always make sure you have good sources when it comes to trail reports. Yesterday, my sources told me the local trails were mostly dry with "very little mud. What mud there is, is clean mud".

"Clean Mud"? That doesn't even make sense?

So we called a meeting and gathered the top executives from the local UC companies for another lunch meeting (Maddox, Mike, Dave, Nick, Keith, Adam, Miles, and me)

I need new sources. Someone is getting the pink slip tomorrow.

It was a dirty ride.

Check out the paint job on my Superfly SS....Yes, I said Superfly SS. I love this bike.

I was too dirty to change in my car, so I got naked in the parking lot at work. I almost got caught as a co-worker pulled up 2 spots away from me. I was standing there in my underwear and we made eye contact.

As he got out of his car, the only thing I could think of to say was "Don't worry, this is a PG-13 show". He smiled and mumbled something and then sprinted as fast as he could to the office.

Once I was changed and back at work, I could feel the dried mud on my legs as I sat through the last meeting of the day. I felt like "PigPen".

Racing The Storm

By the time I hit Wasatch Blvd, the sky had turned dark and ugly. I pressed on until I saw the first flakes and then turned around and raced the storm back to my truck.

The storm won.

By the time I got back to the base of Suncrest it was dumping snow. Instead of turning left to where my truck was parked, I turned right down Bangerter. I wasn't ready to stop.

Riding in the snow was fun. I like variable conditions. It makes a standard road ride much more interesting.

Saturday Cyclocross

UPDATE: 11/13/09 - CYCLOCROSS RACE #2 - CANCELLED.

I know, I know, cyclocross is supposed to be muddy. But, unfortunately our course has a lot of dirt sections that turn to amazingly sticky clay and it does not work well with the weather we have had and are expecting tomorrow. We will try to find another time to hold a race when the ground is more frozen than muddy. Sorry.

The forecast on Saturday calls for a high of 38 with snow. Perfect conditions for a cyclocross race.

$10 entry
10:30 am start
@ Euclid Outdoors Course in Heber
Course map here
Other important info here

Racing on a SS might actually pay off for this one.

I'm thinking about it. Anyone else?

Maybe they will have a money pit like this:

Group Ride Pain

I've noticed something lately. Our group rides are never mellow. And I'll tell you why.

No matter who is in front, that rider will always feel pressure to set a good pace. The rider in 2nd position will do everything possible to keep the wheel of the rider in front. The rider in front will sense the rider in back of him and feel the need to pick up the pace. The rider in 2nd position will again try to match that pace and keep the wheel. This cycle continues well into the ride until everyone is riding at their limit and bleeding out of their ears.

It's what makes a group ride a group ride. Even though it hurts. I look forward to it.

"These are my 24 hours of Moab shoes"

I was sitting in church next to Rachelle and I noticed she had on a pair of shoes I had never seen before. I asked her "Are those your alligator skin shoes?" (They had an animal skin texture to them. Pretty cool shoes actually) and she replied "These are my 24 hours of Moab shoes".

It seems my biking trips are costing me more than just the entry fee and travel expenses.

You should see the fancy new "Leadville pillows" that showed up last month in our living room.

Speaking of bike trips. I found this cool video clip of the 24 hours of Moab. It's something I wish I would have seen before I did the race. The course is much more technical than I thought it would be.

Check out the cameo at the 3:30 mark.

http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1635/1/

Business Lunch

I met a few of Utah's most successful business men for a networking lunch today at the EQ in Draper. Many of Utah's hottest companies were represented. Including one of the fastest growing start up companies- CarboRocket and the prominent FatCyclist Corp.

Over the 1.5 hour meeting, we discussed topics such as:

• Clarks
• Ghost
• Canyon Hollow
• Jacobs
  
• Ghost (again)

Overall the meeting was a great success and we accomplished our objectives.

Just as the meeting had started, Whitney (Jamie's wife) rolled up and said something like "Don't you guys have jobs?" She has no idea. We work very hard.

The Bunny Hop

I learned that my body does not respond well to a fast paced night ride, getting home at 2am and then waking up to race CX the next day. I got worked on Saturday's cross race at Wheeler farm. I sucked but at least my family was there to watch me suck it up.

During the A flight, I got to witness Ali bunny hop two barriers placed on a very steep run up. Insane. I found some video of it on Team Rico's blog. The video doesn't do it justice but you get the idea.

Check it out.