*this will probably be lengthy*

That this is how the year would have turned out. It started and has ended with high hopes and grand plans, just in different ways. It seems like so long ago that I spent so much of my time immersed in the fixed gear, street racing scene. I was traveling across the country to compete in different alleycats and meet and visit people I had met through an online riding community. I was organizing races and events regularly enough that when one was over it was time to start the planning stages of the next. These times were amazing, DC, Boston and San Fransisco have places secured in my heart. I have pictures and stories to tell. I also owned and rode seven different bikes at the start of the year and wanted to compete on each of them. I had an aggressive schedule of track racing, alleycats, cross country mountain bike, teamed endurance and solo endurance mountain bike racing all before the cyclocross season even started. Over the course of the year, my enthusiasm remained high, but the plan changed dramatically as I found what I am really suited for and began shifting my efforts. With a season of cyclocross racing behind me that I feel was very successful there is a new sense of focus on the future and what I can achieve.

Happy holidays.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Assuming there will be a few people bored out of their minds I have a few things to post.  It is the time of year again for the Madison bike swap.  Saturday January 12th, get there early and there are some good deals to be had.  Stick around afterward and go to the Wisconsin Cyclocross Banquet.  Madcross has all the information on that, but you need to RSVP if you intend on attending.  Also on the Wisconsin front, watch Tristan's blog over the next week, he has started the posts from Europe.  Send him a note and wish him luck.  If you have not yet gotten the CBR calendar or need a second calendar for the work office, there is the 2008 Wisconsin cyclocross calendar.  I changed a few things on the site, the results have been moved and a proposed schedule has been put in it's place.  The CX schedule is loosly based on the UCi races this year, assuming they all return and do not conflict with each other.  I have all my goals shown for the most part.  The entire USGP series, Glouchester, anything within driving distance, there will be more once the schedule is set.  Word has it Wisconsin applied to make one of their races UCI.  That would be awesome. 

With the cyclocross season over, my restlessness is a little intense.  There is not an effort for my brain to focus on for this weekend.  I walk around the house aimlessly, almost searching for the task I have occupied myself with for the last eight months.  It feels great, on the other hand, to be scheduling stuff other than cycling for this weekend.  Hopefully we'll take Molly to the huge dog park, ride a little trail, have Christmas with both families.  It will be good.

 

After having days to reflect, I have really decided nationals was nothing short of amazing.  The weather made for some conditions that will be talked about for years.  Everyone stuck around until the final day to watch the Elite race and the atmosphere that was created was amazing.  Things like chickens, sharks, couches and cowbells that are the end all to all other cowbells.  The amazingly awesome support I had from the Klugs and Tim as well as the million people who were cheering for me.  On top of all that, I felt I raced pretty well.  It allowed me to finish the season feeling like I belong racing with these guys, lusting for more and doing better.  I must smile alot while I am racing, or at least having a good time, because multiple times I have had people yell "there is no smiling in cross!"  Well, when that was yelled at me during one of my laps at nationals in a particularly difficult part of the course I made my best metal face.  It was such a fun time.

 

With this season over and next season only months away I am trying to decide how I want approach next year.  The NORBA national and AMBC calendars published, along with the WORS, DINO and WEMS series, I have many options.  I really wanted to go to Sea Otter this year and the inset in VeloNews today seems like it is calling for me.  I would like to get my upgrade to semi-pro and compete at nationals in Vermont, but all the same, my focus is going to be the cyclocross season.  So I need to not burn out and also not break the bank on traveling to race my mountain bike, since I will be all over the place in the fall.  We will see, there are two national races within driving distance from DC and I love going to DC.  It is going to be all about balance.

 

Josh sent Julie, Molly and I an awesome Christmas Card.

 

It does not get much better than that, unless you are holding your bikes above your head on my roof making Incredible Hulk faces.  Year end wrap ups to come soon.

So it is a day later and my memories of the race are no better or worse than they were right afterwards when I was talking with Holly, so in terms of race reports this will be a little unconventional.  As Holly lined up for the women's elite race, I went up and into the warm up tent to put my bike on one of the cycle ops trainers that were provided.  I got my bike hooked up and spun on the trainer for about thirty minutes to warm up the legs.  Normally, thirty minutes on the trainer would have been torture, but between my mind being occupied by the race and making every effort to keep my body warm, it was pleasant to have something to do with my legs.  So it did not feel like it was very long before we were all standing around outside in the cold waiting for our name to be called.  There were 167 registered riders, 98 showed up and I lined up at about 88th place.  A few rows up there was a guy with dollar bills pinned all over him asking everyone to keep their hands off until after the first turn.  The top 15 guys got called up to claim their spots on the line and then had to go up to the finish line so they could be announced.  After they were all back and the rules were read they announced that there was a minute to go.  After time gets inside 30 seconds, they can fire the gun whenever they feel we are ready.

 

The course conditions I felt were the best they had been all weekend.  The temperature was right at freezing and the sun was out.  This melted all the snow and soften upped most sections of the course.  It also made tons of mud.  The course itself was great and the race was going to be fast.

 

The gun went off and we were racing up the hill in a fury.  I picked a spot far to the left and it was pretty open on the hill so I was able to move up a little and rode as fast as I could.  And then things get a little blurry.  Specific sections and laps are mixed together.  The first lap was really aggressive, but not as aggressive as the other UCI races I have done and that was probably in large part because of the conditions.  We just could not ride as close together as usual.  The first lap was two or three wide whenever possible as people tried to make up positions.  I was doing fairly well at moving up through the pack.  I rode the first lap pretty clean, well I did not fall down, I did get really dirty.  Over the line, the counter said five to go, six total.  I made it through the second lap clean as well, and made up some more positions.  Going into the third lap up and through the first turn and ditch I caught a rut wrong and went down for the first time.  Not bad, but I still hit the ground hard.  A quick recovery and I was down and around the pond.  After passing the pits for the second time I caught another group that had Kevin in it.  It was cool to ride together as people were shouting "Killjoy!"  We rode together for a little while which was cool and then I broke away from that group.  Up the hill and over the line I was already on the fourth lap.  Shortly after I crossed the line I could hear the officials blowing the whistle, signaling for riders to pull from the course.  I knew this was to be my last lap, so I gave it everything I had and put forth every effort to catch as many people as possible.  I fell three times in the race, twice in this lap, once on a hairpin turn, where I slid out sideways pretty dramatically.  The second time was in the still frozen, extremely rutted area near the pedestrian crossing.  I lost my line and went face first into the ground, it was pretty awesome.  Neither of the falls were critical, but they both put me on my ass.  Also on the last lap, as I went through the ditch near the stairs, my right hand slipped off my bars entirely.  I rode out of the rest of the ditch one handed and surprised myself by not eating it hard.  Atop the hill and at the finish line was the finish of my effort.

 

 

 

I still felt strong and given another lap I know I could have caught some more guys, but overall I was happy.  The course was super fun and the competition was awesome.  I got to watch the finish of the race, and watch Johnson make his move to be in the lead.  Once again there were a ton of people shouting for me on the course which was awesome.  Beyond that there were a ton of spectators period.  Not one section of the course was empty.  The hard parts of the course were loud as everyone shouted and wanted the riders to make it through the section just as badly as the riders did.  A group of guys had brought out a couch and set it up on top of one of the slippery hills.  All of my thanks go to Tim and the Klugs.  Kevin drove the whole way both ways, the best.  It was a great weekend spent with a lot of awesome people.

 

I did learn a thing or two.  Starting line position means almost nothing.  The last person called into the starting grid finished on the lead lap, all the way from the last row behind me.  I had written a strong finish off, solely based on my starting position.  It would have greatly helped to start farther forward, but being last does not mean you stay there.  Also, winning takes a ton of effort.  The guys who really excelled in the race knew every inch of the course.  They knew exactly what lines to take and how to take them.  They did not slow down, they did not foot down, they just kept going, super fast.  They were out on the course everyday.  They found the lines and went over them over and over.  They had people watching the women's race for them just to make sure.  They also had extra bikes, equipment and kit, a pit crew and mechanics taking care of their bikes for them.  An extra bike would have been awesome on race day because it was so muddy.  With a full national calendar scheduled for next year it will be a necessity.  I feel like there should be more to say, but really all there is left to say is that it was an amazing end to a great season.