I needed that...the beer.

full report coming

093007_18091.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

forzing impresso!

translated from ciclocrossitalia.blogspot.com
http://ciclocrossitalia.blogspot.com/2007/09/frattini-vince-il-charm-city-cross.html

Beautifulest victory for David Frattini that prevails Charm City Cross
di Baltimora in the state of Maryland, a contest of medium importance
of the American calendar that has seen to the way between the elites
50 of athletes, more rather nervous contest where it saw the athletes
engages to you on a distance with many handles, ready via is benefits
Frattini to you its companion of Damiani square and Weston Schempf,
the three are remained together for some turn under under the forzing
impresso from the athlete varesino are aliquot and are remained to the
commando the single Frattini followed in second position from Schempf
and in third from Damiani. The positions are then remained invariate
until the term where Frattini has cosi been able to cut the goal to
arms raises.

mojo working

Bernie and I working it in the heat on the run-up.

photo courtesy of John Scott

2007 Charm City 'Cross was all about teamwork;
from the amazing passion & hard work of everyone involved in making the race happen
to the esprit de corps of the riders (more than 400 total) all day long.

The Masters 3/4 race was a beautiful thing. The field was big with 88 starters.
My C3-Sollay teammates and I used our collective forces to push the pace early
creating a select group containing 4 of us C3's (fatmarc, Bernie, Disco, and I) and a handful of others, including Kelly Cline, Roger Masse, Richard Bilson, & David Lowe.

Marc rolled off the front and we did what we could to discourage a chase, though I don't think Marc needed our help. He was ON, riding with power and grace. Before the race I was tired and flat. Honestly, I was doubtful that I would finish. But watching Marc ride away and our team working so well together gave me motivation and energy as the race went on.

With a few laps to go there was only one non-C3-Sollay chaser, Roger Masse.
Roger is a tough competitor, but he had a couple of mishaps which allowed Bernie and I to get away. From there, Disco covered him while we made hay to solidify 2nd and 3rd. Thanks Jeff!

Bernie was also ON, with a break-out performance. He ended up riding away from me. I was worried about cramps, but managed to hold them off. Bernie was like a freight train powering along and taking the turns like he was on rails. The bike driving has come a long way Bernie! 8-)

In the end we finished 1-2-3-4 with Roger rounding out the podium in 5th. Holy shit! That was awesome!

It was a great start to the season. We have a tremendous team. I'm not talking about having great riders, though we certainly do. I'm talking about the team spirit and camaraderie that we have. The team was formed out of a common love for cyclocross and I think that shows in how we interact and how we race. It's a cool thing and I feel lucky to be a part of it.

It was also a good day for C3-Sollay mastermind/evil-leader Kris Auer & Athlete Development Group. Our team had a lot of big results on Sunday. Auer coaches a number of riders on the team, including me. In my case, he doesn't have much to work with in terms of talent or training time. But he's managed to put together a training program that allows me to make the most of what I've got. I'm thankful for that!

Huge thanks to team backbone Suzy Gerlak and our primary sponsors Sollay, The Hostetter Agency, Joe's Bike Shop, and ADG.

On the equipment front I rode the FMB SSC Sprints (file tread with side knobs), 34mm in front, 32mm in back. Mid-to-high 30's psi. A lot of the bumpiness of the course was soaked up and the treads hooked up incredibly well on the dry, dusty, grassy surfaces! They rocked.

On the box...a rare event for me. I'm glad I had teammates for company!

photo courtesy of Dennis Smith

Charm City 'Cross morsels

I'll put together a post about Charm City 'Cross 2007 once I recover and get some photos.

The summary:

Amazing teamwork and hard work produced a HUGE day all the way around.
We're already working on how to make next year's race even better (results & other stuff).

The Baltimore Sun did a story about the race. Read it here.
Press release and results (such as they are) at bikereg.

More tales from the dusty cave of pain
-Read about fatmarc's season opening WIN here.
-Reports from Scott & Jake Thompson are here and here.
-Jim, the Unholy Rouleur breaks it down here.
-Gwadzilla with multiple musings.
-Jared has words and video!
-Steevo telling it like it is.

I need a burrito...and a nap.

perspective

I saw this piece about Randy Pausch in the WSJ yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes. Back in college I played hockey with Randy. He's a beautiful human being. His story is inspiring and sad at the same time. For me it put a lot of the stress of day-to-day life into perspective.

carpe diem

'Cross practice Monday

I'm doing an informal 'cross practice on Monday at Rockburn Park. We'll work on
basic skills and technique as well as talk about what to expect at
Charm City. If everyone is up for it we'll also do a few practice
starts and perhaps some short efforts.

The plan is to start at 4:30 and end by 6:00 so that I can make it
home for dinner.

We'll set up near the picnic pavilion that has the sand volleyball
court. You can get to it by entering the Park from Montgomery Rd and
driving down past the tennis courts and hanging a left.

I'll bring a couple of portable PVC barriers and we'll set up a
practice loop.

Feel free to come out. This will be informal and fun...and very
beginner friendly.

Trail hike

Yesterday we went for a walk on some of the Avalon trails. Melanie is jonesing for a ride, but it'll be more than a month before she'll be cleared to ride. She needed a taste of trails to satisfy her craving for singletrack. Here's a short photo essay of our hike.

On the way in from the small Landing Rd trailhead.
Here's the little practice skinny that I built. Freeride for weenies.


Dropping down to the creek you get some fast swoopy turns with some trail-protecting rocks as you transition from the dirt to the water.


Log trail creek...not much rain = not much water in the creek = dry feet


This is one of the many fun logs on the log trail. It's also the toughest as it is on a hill. The rest are not too challenging, but they are good for working on your log-hopping form. East coast baby!


Climbing back up towards Landing. This part of the trail has some nice high speed curves. Of course, they're only high speed when you're going downhill.


Thor walked most of the way, but he wanted a lift for the last part of the climb.


The last log on the log trail (or first, depending on which way you are riding).

Living adjacent to some primo mtb trails is not a luxury, it's an essential.

1 week into it

Yesterday we had some photos taken by Amy Masser at Baby Face Photography in Frederick, MD.

The rest of the set is here. Amy specializes in newborn photography and she does a fantastic job.

I've managed to get out on the trails the past two days. I removed the 20t cog and am now running 32x19 on my 29er. The legs are feeling the harder gear, but I think it'll work out once my lower back gets adjusted to the stress of pushing up the steeper hills.

Riding on little sleep is tough. The first day out I thought I was going to fall over on some of the climbs. I couldn't breathe and my legs were stuffed. As much as that sucked it was still nice being out on the mountain bike.