winner winner chicken dinner

That's right, I won again. This time it was a bigger even though the race was in the cross mecca the 3oh!3 because it was in the hotspot of cross racing, Boulder. It was at the Louisville Rec. Center an uber power course not very technical. Pretty much a dirt and grass criterium. It was a pretty fun course though none the less, very exhausting. It was hot out too like 80 degrees fahrenheit I think. This race may be the one of the only races I have zipped down my jersey. So onto the race. I was not feeling well at all before the race and I was telling other racers that and they were saying, "that's how you always feel before you really perform." And that's exactly what happened. I started from row obviously, based on my previous results and got the hole shot out on the gravel drag strip start and stayed in first for the first 2 laps. Then Zane made a move to pass me and I dropped to 2nd. This continued for another lap until Matt Provonost on Moots made a move and started to pull away from me. Even though I wasn't winning I was still in 3rd with is still really good. Then at about 30 minutes into the race I saw Zane on just stop and get off his bike on the monster hill run on the backside of the course and he dropped out of the race and I was sitting then in 2nd, while closing in on the Moots guy. Then at 3 to go I passed the Moots guy and had at most a 10 second gap on him going into 2 to go until on the flat section in the valley in the middle of the course he attempted to pass me and put in a huge effort and cracked soon afterwards on the monster hill run. I was in 1st for sure now and I was just going for it. Then I didn't look at the lap counter when it was supposed to be 1 to go because I was sure it was. But when I came into the finish on the last lap I heard the bell that meant one to go and I was almost in mid-celebration and someone was making up ground on me so I had to keep hammering for another lap. The guy was still gaining on me until the finish were I narrowly won in a sprint finish.

Hole Shot

Teammate Skyler crushin it in the open race

Hottttt

Doin the barriers the right way

Finally

Finally I got some exposure! Well not my blog, but just me. I was on 303cycling.com in a race report about GMVS #1! Check it out here

Muddy Fun at Brecktobercross

All I can say about Brecktobercross is that it was a blast. Out my 6 years racing cyclocross, this is a race I have never done. I loved the course. And what made it even better is that it rained, for about 3 or 4 hours before my race starting, and during my race. So you know that means, MUD!!!!! And it wasn't the break shit kind of mud, it was just watery so you got wet and dirty but not your bike. It wasn't too warm up though, probably about 55 degrees Fahrenheit is my guess, but I'm not really sure. I had a great helper who came up to the race with me, Ariana who helped me out with everything including cheering:) Now about how I did. I didn't win the 3's in the small 25-man field but I still got silver. I got beat by Zane again by about 30 seconds. I had a pretty whole shot, even though the ground was not level and it took me a second to get into get on the saddle and stuff, so I was 3rd out of the start going into the immediately muddy singletrack. I ended up passing the guy in 2nd giving me the control of the front of the race behind Zane. Zane was just to strong and thanks to my valiant effort on saturday at GMVS Cross I was already tired at the start. On the road section my other road teammate Dangerous Dave Kessler passed me just to end up crashing later on in the single track on the first lap leaving with 2nd again. Behind me in 3rd and 4th was a MOOTS guy and a Velonews guy. I put in a hard effort with Zane for the first 2 laps until he was able to out ride me in a section where I had a random wash-out on a 180 degree off-camber turn. He eventually put together a 30-second lead on me at the end of the 8 or 9 lap race. That is what I built on 3rd and 4th leaving me with a comfortable gap for any mishap. But I had a very good time up there even though I think I might have gotten minor altitude sickness, forcing me to stay home from school the day after. And I'm already looking forward to a fun weekend of racing in Boulder this weekend, and possibly Cross at the River in Buena Vista.

Ariana keeping me dry during warm-up:)

I'm a dirty boy

Finally done

GMVS Cross #1

This is so exciting. Here I am, racing my 2nd 3's cross race ever, and I am called-up into the first row and before I knew it had the hole shot! Then I was off the front and had a gap. Only one guy could follow, this Velonews guy who had the first call-up, and he worked with me and opened up a 3 minute gap on 3rd place. He eventually tripped on a barrier on the penultimate lap and I made my attack. I comfortably road into my first win in a Cat 3 cross race. It was pretty much awesome. If I win 1 more race I will be forced to upgrade to a Cat 2! So we will see tomorrow at Brecktobercross...

The finish

Middle of the course

going for first

Sharp corner after the barriers

Some other pictures:

Ariana a really fast girl (the only on DEVO next year) doing the barriers the right way:)

Ariana riding into the win

Stephen hammering to a 3rd place in JM13-14 (also my younger brother)

Ethan on the 15-16 doin the barriers in the junior race

Jordan (devo) sandbagging to a win in the JM15-18's

Velocross

All I can say is, great race. I did not think I was going to do this well. I raced my first 3's cross race today at Boulder Indoor Cycling in East Boulder. The course started in the back of the building in the dirt and zig zagged around a bit. Then you got out on some road on a huge turn that took you into some loose-dirt in some wooded singletrack. There was a barrier that you could ride that was metal pipe laying across the course in two spots. Then you got back out into the dirt and rode through some rocks and off towards Baseline Rd. Then you went over a barrier and had to run your bike across a hill and then into the parking lot where the finish was. The most fun part of the course was after the finish where you hopped up a big cement stair and then turned up another and then turned into the building. You rode in an did a big hairpin turn and rode over this little kiddie mountain bike course. Then you rode out of a loading dock on a huge wooden ramp back outside. It was an awesome course, probably a favorite of mine. Onto how I did. The race had 42 guys who raced and I got 2nd!!!! I was very surprised about how I did and had a ride to do it. I started about 30th in the 4th row and I ended up moving up all the way to 5th by the 4th lap. I was riding with 2 Boulder Cycle Sport guys, one was on a mountain bike, and a Stork guy. The winner of the race was my road teammate, Zane Godby, who has always been a big rival for me in cross because he is the same age and ability. On about the 7th lap something felt strange on my bike and I thought I had a flat tyre on the back. So I did a bike exchange for my mountain bike and rode that for 2 laps until I got on my Yeti again. By the time I had my Yeti it was 3 to go and I had dropped the guy on the mountain bike. Then the next lap I just sat in and didn't do anything stupid, I was holding 4th. On the dirt hill run I passed and dropped the other Boulder Cycle Sport guy and was in 3rd place. Right after the official rang the bell for 1 to go, we rode into the building and the Stork guy had pinch flatted on the stair and I was in 2nd. So I was able to ride into the finish easy with a solid 2nd place in my first 3's race, a placing I only had twice last year in the 4's which happened to be in the last 2 races of the season. I am already on my way to the Cat 2's with 4 upgrade points! I also won $50 my first cash prize in cross ever. I would say today was a good day.

The finish 2nd fo sho!!!!

First corner

Big ramp out of BIC

The baller zane cornerin wicked fast

The start, I was sooo far back

Hammerin

and it begins...

Today is my first cross race of the season, Velocross, and I got my 3's upgrade and I'm all ready to go! I will be all greened out with my green bike and green Blacksheep Devo kit hence the green font. Details up after it happens.

Pedaling for Pennies

My new cross team did a yearly fundraiser yesterday called pedaling for pennies, abbreviated as p4p, to raise money for the team the next year, and is a requirement to be on the team the next year. The ride was 128 miles starting at our coaches house in Broomfield and went up to Carter Lake up to Horsetooth Reservoir and then back to Broomfield through Ft. Collins and Berthoud. I did not make it the way even though I was in the fastest group of riders. I made it to the 3rd aide station which was approx. 70 miles. There was a ton of climbing and I knew I wasn't going to the whole way. I rode really hard with two of my other team mates, Gabe and D. Gregs and our coach Carlos. It was cold the whole day, about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and if I had not stopped with my other teammates Kiel and Ariana on the Devo at the 3rd aide station I would have been in the rain.

I am also starting my cross season today and don't want to be too tired.

Yeti ARC-X

My yeti is finally done!!!  I love getting new bikes and this puts my count up until 10.  It took a day of hard work (mostly done by my dad:P) but i finally was able to take it for a ride.  It is a sweet build here is the list: 

Frame: Yeti ARC-X 

Fork: Alpha Q CX

Brakes: Tektro oryx/origin 8 Cantis

Shifters: Sram Rival

Crank: FSA Carbon 172.5 standard

Chain Rings: 39th and Salsa Crossing Guard

Handlebars: FSA Wing Compact ALU

Stem: Felt aluminun

Headset: Green Chris King Nothreadset

Pedals: Candy Beater SL green

Seat Post: Felt Carbon

Seat: Felt Carbon (soon to change)

Derailleur: Sram Rival

Chain: Wipperman

Wheels: Mavic cx23 with felt hubs (for training) 

Tyres: Maxxis larsen mimo (front) Michelin Mud2 (rear) for training of course 

Grand weight:19.48 lbs. 

The bike rides great and is a blast to ride handling any kind of riding amazingly! 

riding around on the new rig

track standin

19.48lbs!

the cockpit

sick headbadge

front end

looks small but rides like a 54cm

Sammy's Foot

I got some pics of Sammy's foot!!  This shit is epic and it happened in the weirdest way!  He crashed over a railroad tie after a ride through the volleyball pit at Bear Creek and  landed completely wrong.  His foot hit a lump of grass and he landed on the buckle of his sidi mtb shoe. 

This is crazy!!! 

Left side of ankle

This is huge mos def!

Biggest looking pic for your enjoyment

Gettin' Ready for Cross

Just one step closer.  I am getting so close to cross season I can almost taste it!   I went on a nice training ride today at Bear Creek Lake Park on the Felt Cross rig today with my Blacksheep teammate Sammy.  We rode around the park multiple times taking random trails just to get some technique training in before my first race, Velocross, next Sunday.  Me being myself, totally spaced on bringing my camera on my ride like I usually do so sorry about not having any pictures.  It was a great ride though I was getting my handling dialed great.  My teammate on the other hand has not raced cross before and on the last time we were riding through the epic quick-sandy volleyball pit he lost his balance right at the end and sprained his ankle.  It was hurting him the rest of the ride, we rode for like another 45 minutes, and we were amazed when he took off his shoe when we got back to me casa.  His ankle had swollen more than I have ever seen before it was disgusting.  I'm totally lame and don't have any pictures of this either.  I am going to finally build the YETI tomorrow and i will sure to have some pics of that so stay tuned.

Me ballin on my Felt at Cult Cross numba 2 last march, off the front of course