less than 24 hours to go in 2009!! Its been a good one, and I keep saying I should write a "year in review".. maybe I'll do that one of these days...
Took a bunch of pictures this weekend with the new lense, will post them soon!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
new skiis are fun
Well it seems that another flawless transition occured this week. This past spring it was straight to the bike, and this week the trend reversed straight back on the skiis. Twice out so far, conditions are nice thanks to a good dump mid last week, and flurries the past few days. No complaints, the new Fischers are sweet. I guess however I'm not going to get in a good month of couch time as hoped. Holiday season is coming, so it's likely a good thing to be out burning off all those extra calories.
Friday, December 11, 2009
nbx gp day two...
So yeah, its been a few days, but here how I remember it.. After Saturdays rainfest, everything was for the most part dried out. Hanging in the bathroom with the fan on all night. The only thing not dry, and in the future, this is key kids, the shoes.. how many times this summer I said I should get a second pair for those, "just in case" moments.. oh how a dry pair of shoes would have been helpful. I guess really they weren't too bad, just damp, but y'know..
So weather, another good 'cross day, the rain changed to snow overnight, not much was left by race start though as we received less than an inch. Up to six inches fell in surrounding areas though, and it was evident by everyone's car roofs. So the sun was out, nice, wind picked up so things were drying out, but it was 2 degrees (Celsius) so friggin' cold, especially with the wind.
Quick warm up, then down to the start. Better call up today, second to last row, that's right we're now big time! Similar to yesterday, only with the sand run up instead of the previous day's dirt. Course layout was slightly different from previous day, two beach sections (one with run up) becoming more rideable as the day went on, but never totally. Otherwise fast, lots of turns, and a small mud hole (left over from the rain).
First lap went off without a hitch, no crashes which meant I was battling to just hold position, as opposed to chasing to catch back on. By lap two things were sorting themselves out, and I was hovering again around 20th.
For the first half things were going well, I was getting on the good lines, riding pretty smooth and intelligently, I made a couple of good passes, all was looking up. I noticed a rider back starting to fade off, so and a rider in front, who was holding distance well, constantly sitting at around 12-15 seconds. With about four to go, the rider off the back had a partner join him and started to catch back up, they would get as close as about 8 sec (as far as I could calculate) before a good push on three and two to go. It would seem to distance them, however on the last lap they split, and I would have one chaser coming back. In the end I would hold him off for a second 20th in two days. Feet were absolutely frozen, the waterhole/mudpit had soaked my feet good, the bike was covered in frozen sand, my hands were nearly numb, and everything else was close to the same.
We'd stick around for awards, then pack it in for the trip home. To avoid potential snow squalls we'd head though New Hampshire/Vermont, with little worry of Montreal traffic (at midnight on a Sunday). Drive home was good, lots of snow through Mass/NH, and none by the time we got to Burlington VT.
All in all a great trip, will go back again. We are now done for the year, I'm kind of sad, I'd like to keep going.. but at least now I can finally watch the Euro races live, instead of highlights. Superprestige, and World cups coming up, excellent!
The skiis are now waxed, and my time off, will be limited thanks to 20cm of snow on Wednesday!
So weather, another good 'cross day, the rain changed to snow overnight, not much was left by race start though as we received less than an inch. Up to six inches fell in surrounding areas though, and it was evident by everyone's car roofs. So the sun was out, nice, wind picked up so things were drying out, but it was 2 degrees (Celsius) so friggin' cold, especially with the wind.
Quick warm up, then down to the start. Better call up today, second to last row, that's right we're now big time! Similar to yesterday, only with the sand run up instead of the previous day's dirt. Course layout was slightly different from previous day, two beach sections (one with run up) becoming more rideable as the day went on, but never totally. Otherwise fast, lots of turns, and a small mud hole (left over from the rain).
First lap went off without a hitch, no crashes which meant I was battling to just hold position, as opposed to chasing to catch back on. By lap two things were sorting themselves out, and I was hovering again around 20th.
For the first half things were going well, I was getting on the good lines, riding pretty smooth and intelligently, I made a couple of good passes, all was looking up. I noticed a rider back starting to fade off, so and a rider in front, who was holding distance well, constantly sitting at around 12-15 seconds. With about four to go, the rider off the back had a partner join him and started to catch back up, they would get as close as about 8 sec (as far as I could calculate) before a good push on three and two to go. It would seem to distance them, however on the last lap they split, and I would have one chaser coming back. In the end I would hold him off for a second 20th in two days. Feet were absolutely frozen, the waterhole/mudpit had soaked my feet good, the bike was covered in frozen sand, my hands were nearly numb, and everything else was close to the same.
We'd stick around for awards, then pack it in for the trip home. To avoid potential snow squalls we'd head though New Hampshire/Vermont, with little worry of Montreal traffic (at midnight on a Sunday). Drive home was good, lots of snow through Mass/NH, and none by the time we got to Burlington VT.
All in all a great trip, will go back again. We are now done for the year, I'm kind of sad, I'd like to keep going.. but at least now I can finally watch the Euro races live, instead of highlights. Superprestige, and World cups coming up, excellent!
The skiis are now waxed, and my time off, will be limited thanks to 20cm of snow on Wednesday!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
verge nbx grand prix day one
Friday morning we packed up the family and headed south for the final weekend of racing for the year. This time a return to Warwick Rhode Island for the NBX GP. The drive was pretty good, and we arrived in the evening, in time for dinner.
Saturday morning we awoke to another change in the weather forecast, now that being said, we've enjoyed one of the nicest seasons (weather wise) of cyclocross, probably in the history of the world, so foul weather was due, and judging by the rain that was coming down, overdue...
So we were expecting a few light showers late in the day, it would be full on rain all day long, and top it off with strong wind, and temps around 4-5 Celsius. We hit up target on the way to the race, Kelly loves that store, and we had time to kill. Post shopping its off to the races.
Quick trip down to registration netted me unlucky number 13 and hopes for a good starting position. However the math don't always add up, and sometimes number lie.
The start grid was in the lower parking lot, just off the beach. The wind was whipping off the water, and we were looking at light showers at this point. Call ups began, and no luck stuck me on the back row.. crud.. As a consolation prize, I was the first one called to the back row, so that has to stand for something?
There were 32 starters in the Elite field, I would be happy with a top 20, top half would be elation.
We had a clean start, weaving through the parking lot, I was able to bump and jam my way up a few spots into mid pack by the first run-up. From there all progress was quickly halted. I first got caught behind a slip up on a corner turned into a forced bottle neck, cleared. My own slip on a root, forced touch and restart, and the grand palooka, involving a rider slipping out directly in front, sending my front wheel into his back (his actual back, not back other), and me going over the top, he was ok, I heard him laugh, funnily enough, bikes were a bit tangled but we both got up and continued, only by this point we were probably in the bottom two, and we are not even halfway through lap one!
The chase would begin, and goals at this point were simply to survive, and try to make up a bit of ground. The next couple of laps I would start to get into a rhythm and regain a few spots. By mid race everything was blurring in, nearly literally, the wind was fierce off the water, hands, toes, and most everything else were wet, cold, and numb, fortunately the course was fairly flowing, and not much braking was needed, I say fortunately, cause my hands weren't working well. I really wanted to ride the beach, but no one else was either, ah well.
The last couple of laps were coming as relief, it was getting tough by this point to just hang on. I did however manage to catch and pass one more rider on the final lap, and nearly had a second guy, who would evade me by about 5 seconds, but 20th would be the official result, not bad for the first week of December in an Elite race. Dan Timmerman ran away with the win.
As I write this its now snowing, but supposed to clear over night... we'll see about that. Should be sunny and 4 degrees for the Sunday race.. we shall see how that turns out!
Saturday morning we awoke to another change in the weather forecast, now that being said, we've enjoyed one of the nicest seasons (weather wise) of cyclocross, probably in the history of the world, so foul weather was due, and judging by the rain that was coming down, overdue...
So we were expecting a few light showers late in the day, it would be full on rain all day long, and top it off with strong wind, and temps around 4-5 Celsius. We hit up target on the way to the race, Kelly loves that store, and we had time to kill. Post shopping its off to the races.
Quick trip down to registration netted me unlucky number 13 and hopes for a good starting position. However the math don't always add up, and sometimes number lie.
The start grid was in the lower parking lot, just off the beach. The wind was whipping off the water, and we were looking at light showers at this point. Call ups began, and no luck stuck me on the back row.. crud.. As a consolation prize, I was the first one called to the back row, so that has to stand for something?
There were 32 starters in the Elite field, I would be happy with a top 20, top half would be elation.
We had a clean start, weaving through the parking lot, I was able to bump and jam my way up a few spots into mid pack by the first run-up. From there all progress was quickly halted. I first got caught behind a slip up on a corner turned into a forced bottle neck, cleared. My own slip on a root, forced touch and restart, and the grand palooka, involving a rider slipping out directly in front, sending my front wheel into his back (his actual back, not back other), and me going over the top, he was ok, I heard him laugh, funnily enough, bikes were a bit tangled but we both got up and continued, only by this point we were probably in the bottom two, and we are not even halfway through lap one!
The chase would begin, and goals at this point were simply to survive, and try to make up a bit of ground. The next couple of laps I would start to get into a rhythm and regain a few spots. By mid race everything was blurring in, nearly literally, the wind was fierce off the water, hands, toes, and most everything else were wet, cold, and numb, fortunately the course was fairly flowing, and not much braking was needed, I say fortunately, cause my hands weren't working well. I really wanted to ride the beach, but no one else was either, ah well.
The last couple of laps were coming as relief, it was getting tough by this point to just hang on. I did however manage to catch and pass one more rider on the final lap, and nearly had a second guy, who would evade me by about 5 seconds, but 20th would be the official result, not bad for the first week of December in an Elite race. Dan Timmerman ran away with the win.
As I write this its now snowing, but supposed to clear over night... we'll see about that. Should be sunny and 4 degrees for the Sunday race.. we shall see how that turns out!
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