I May be Fat, but I'm Rested

Dang, it doesn't take long for the pounds to come roaring back with a vengeance! I really haven't cared about what I was eating for the last month or so. My early November birthday sort of kickstarted the whole affair. While I knew there was another month to go in the cross season, the cooler November caused my body to respond with a seemingly natural desire to increase caloric intake. Call it an inate survival mentality. Cold temps require more fuel for the fire. Unfortunately, calories come in at a higher rate, but my body gets more sedentary. As a result, I get fat. Quickly.

I'm okay with it to some extent. It's been good enjoying food and drinks with my friends and family. Really nice not worrying about when I'll get on the bike and what foods I'll skip vs what I'll eat. However, that fire is quickly burning itself out. This morning's weigh-in was shocking! Once again it's time to start each day with stretching, lifting, riding, and focusing a little more on what doesn't get consumed. Not my formal training mind you, just getting ready to train. Base building...getting ready for training camp you might say.

I'm not going to begin my formal training until the end of January and yes, that's 3 months behind last year's schedule. Why the change this year? Less focus on MTB and Road and more focus on TT's and CX. I think I'm looking at 5-6 MTB races, 4-5 crits, and all of the TT's I can find, as well as another full season of CX. I've had a blast racing TT's and loved the CX experience. Therefore, they will become my main focus. I also like the similarities in what it takes to excel at each. Riding a solo effort with a willingness to push your body harder than the next guy.

I look forward to this year. Stay tuned.

Wow, am I that Famous???

Was surfing around on Fuhrman's website Route66bicycles.com and noticed the MTB Name Generator. I put in my name and what was the result....

Big Boss Hoss

Huh, I guess I'm a little more widely know than I thought.

Go Out on a Good Note

Finished my 26th race of 2008 with the I-64 TT today. Don't know my official finishing place yet, but I do know that I ran it in just over 20 minutes and averaged just under 24mph. Considering there was some considerable climbing (for a TT) in that short distance as well as gusting winds, I'm pleased with my effort more than ready to drop the curtain on this season.

The new bike was very fast (more than I can say for the pilot's legs) and it really responds well when the pace quickens. I'm looking forward to making some tweaks in the off-season and getting the bike ready for quite a few TT's this next year.

Looks Fast Just Sittin' Here

I'm not sure I can reign in this locomotive. We'll see tomorrow. Big, big thanks go out to Russ and Dave down at Mesa Cycles for the fit and the good deal. Let's just hope she's as fast as she looks.

That's All Folks!

Officially, Bubba Cross is done for the year. The State Championships have come and gone and it's now time for the silly season, I guess. I-64 TT, Team Seagal's CXMas, and Cross-Ocalypse are the only events left before I really start to focus on next year. Next year is my year!

First off, let me say that Jeff Yielding and the city of
Hermann put together one of the best races of the year! Very gracious hosts and a tremendous event thanks to Jeff, Dawndi, and their crew from Hermann!!!

Saturday, I raced the B's (along with 11 other dudes who are much faster than me) and finished 10th. I had a good race and kept guys in sight of me the entire time. A good race for me but overall it was very uneventful. I tried different lines and put in a good effort to shake the cobwebs off in preparation for Sunday's state championship race. Two key things I learned on Saturday were that you can ride the uphill, W-shaped run-up section and if you carry enough big mo' you can ride the entire sandpit.

Sunday, the temps were cooler by at least 20 degrees, which put them somewhere in the high 20's to low 30's. Crisp was an understatement. I lined up with the Masters (about 30-35 of us) and actually got one of my best starts of the year. I tucked in around the top 12 or so and really tried to keep my eyes on the other Master 40+ guys. Chris from Big Shark was one of them and I knew he'd be strong (having just taken 2nd place in the C's on Saturday.) We rolled together for the better part of 2 laps before I somehow got around him. I tried to keep putting the pressure on and did until 1 1/2 laps to go when my bike started mis-shifting. I think the old Shimano 9spd stuff has seen better days. Luckily, I had a spare bike in the pits and my teammate, Rick, was there to have it ready for me without too much time lost. The bike change did cost me a little bit of concentration and momentum though, but it wasn't too much in the end.

After the bike change, James Nelson, rolled past me and towed me around for a short while before he busted a move and rode me off his wheel. He's looking super fit and ready to tackle the SS class at Nats this week. I kept hammering in my own little world keeping an eye on the competition. If they got close, I stood and powered up, otherwise I just tried to stay out of trouble. In the end, I held off the guys I wanted to hold off and finished 4th in my class. I really don't know how close 3rd place (and the podium) was from me, but it really doesn't matter. I rode my best race of the season and it was all I could do. In the end, I was pleased with my effort and it gave me something to build on for next year.

Here are a few pics from Mike Dawson and Jeff Yielding.

Queeny Update

Sunday was Bubba #7 or #8. Officially, it was to be Bubba #7, but with the additional night race at Creve Coeur, I guess it was bumped to #8. Doesn't really matter in the scheme of things, I guess. What did matter was that we finally got a little taste of Northern Belgium weather with light snow, bracing winds from the north, and temps in the low 30's. The feeling was right and the course was within a mile from my house, so there was no way I was skipping out. I can't say the same feelings were had by others as we only had 30 B racers on the line at the start. And as I looked around, they were most of the serious (read fast) dudes, too. I quickly shaped my strategy as this...don't come in last place.

I had a decent start and was riding somewhere around 20th and doing fine in most of the technical sections. I really could never find the right way to make the grass climb and seemed to always lose places on that part of the course. I seemed to make it back in the turns, but that climb really set the tone for my day of suffering. Most of my race was with Bill Howells (The Hub) and Ian Sasek (WildTraks). We traded punches riding different parts of the course with differing levels of proficiency. I can't say that I made a whole lot of mistakes, I just didn't have anything extra to bring to the fight. Bill always seems to have a little extra boost when he needs it and Sunday was no exception. His greatest win was surprising me as we made the gravel road climb up the center of the course late in the race. As I reeled in Ian, I looked off to my right to see where Bill was and to see if we'd dropped him. I didn't see him, didn't hear him, and was briefly confused. Then, I turned to my left to see him standing on the pedals and gassing away from us. Mentally, that effort (or my lapse of thinking) really broke me down.

The see-sawing continued back and forth and in the end, Bill and Ian got a nice gap on me going up the grass climb. I purposely backed off a little hoping they'd ease up heading into the more technical sections of the course. My feigned backing off seemed to work and as I turned off the paved road, I pinned it and made an attempt to get back onto their wheels by the barriers. Unfortunately, Bill looked back to see me attacking out of the saddle and he accelerated a little. I had already accelerated hard enough and carried a lot of speed towards the barriers and that's were I caught Ian. Problem was that I stuffed my bars right in behind his right foot and he hooked his leg dismounting his bike. Knowing that was a very UNsportsmanlike move, I yielded the barriers to him and let him cross without further challenge. Unfortunately, my gaff also let Bill get a few bike lengths on us that he promptly carried to the line. Make no mistakes, Bill would have had us anyway, but it took away the drama from the final moments of the race.

All in all I raced a good race and didn't hit the deck, so I consider that a personal victory. I came in 25th place which means I wasn't last. This week I'm planning to recover a little more as prep for the dual race weekend and the State Championships. I'm entered in the Masters 40+ class and am shooting for top 3 in my class. We'll see how that pans out.

Here are a few pics courtesy of Mike Dawson:

Me and Klages on the run-up (aka $1 alley)

Howells leading me into the slick downhiller. (Anyone else think this section was like trying to ride on a slip and slide?)