Playground

Playground
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

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Climber

Climber
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

Gavin is big into climbing

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

FMB/Fango

Some cool news from Francois at FMB...

INFORMATION

Nouveaux ;

Les boyaux cyclo-cross FMB sont désormais disponsibles avec la nouvelle chape Fango.  Les succés remportés par ce nouveau produit conçu pout exceller dans les conditions boueuses offre une résistance au roulement faible.

New ; The FMB cyclo-cross tubulars are now available with the new tread FANGO.  The success of this new product designed to excel in muddy conditions provides a low rolling resistance.

Stillers-Ravens

Stillers-Ravens
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

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Tis la saison

Tis la saison
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

Fun times at the Beaver cookie exchange. Cheers to all my homies in
the K.C.

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material concerns

IMG_3658
Originally uploaded by bmpskier

It was a day of multiple material concerns (and too much running) at Reston yesterday. I got a good start, but perhaps a paid a karmic price for pimping Andy Gorski pretty good in one of the early turns. I'm all for racing and fighting for position, but I probably didn't need to close the door on him 1 minute into the race when there was plenty of room. I did apologize and open up space in the line for him afterwards.

A couple of minutes later I remounted at the top of the runup and my bike made a nasty sound as one of the brake arms got wedged under the rim. The wheel wouldn't even turn. I messed around with it for a couple of minutes but couldn't get it to budge, so I ran.

Just like that I went from being close to the front, on Gunnar's wheel, and feeling pretty good to all alone way off the back. I would like to think I had a top 10 in my legs, but that's racing. I was a shit show, but I still had fun.

I kept alive my record of never DNF'ing a 'cross race by coming in DFL, but at least I finished. Since I wasn't exactly racing I had time to reflect on the season while I rode the track and waited to get lapped. Yes, this photo was taken during the race. I had just flatted on the last lap and looking at the prospect of running the same long section that I had already run on the first lap.

It really was a very good season for me and I'm already thinking about next year. The transition to Elite Masters went well. Now I need to figure out what I need to do to step it up and find a way into the top 10 at MAC events and consistently top 5 in the MABRA.

I'm relatively new to bike racing (first CX race 2003) so I feel like I'm still improving every year. I'm also becoming more aware of my weaknesses. That's where I'll focus when I started putting together the game plan for 2009.

286 days until Charm City 'Cross (Sunday 9/20/09)

Cheers!

Tree is up

Tree is up
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

And it's snowing. Full belly & I'm ready for Reston...hoping for more
snow on the ground!

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Family beer night @ Frisco

Family beer night @ Frisco
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

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MABRA Cross Championships

MABRAcross Championships (and State Championships)

Taneytown, MD

Cold, Wet, Muddy day

HEAVY, slippery track

The story of the day was teamwork.  Everyone pulled through and threw down for their teammates.  It feels really good to be part of such a special and supportive group.

Our main goal for the day was to move Auer into the 35+ Series lead.  Marc Gwadz held a 6 point lead going into the race.  Therefore, we needed Auer to finish at least a few spots ahead of Gwadz.  We felt confident that Auer would have a good race, but we also needed to place some guys ahead of Gwadz...no easy task.

As for the race...

Fatmarc made a strong opening statement by coming from back in the grid to grab the hole shot.  I slipped through a couple of tight spots in the opening series of slippery up and down turns to move up to third wheel, right behind Gunnar.  Marc continued to rip it up front riding the mud with just the right mixture of power and finesse.

Halfway through the first lap Auer made his way to the front and then off the front with Gunnar.  Marc had done such a good job of driving the pace from the start that there was now a slight gap behind us.  He and I rode together for a while with Gwadz just a few seconds back. We pushed it hard knowing that we needed to maintain our positions to give Kris a chance at the series title.

Eventually the effort started to take its toll on me and I made some mistakes (mental: unclipping my low-side foot on a slippery off-camber and physical:  eating shit trying to square off a turn too soon on another slippery off-camber).  As I watched fatMarc continue to ride strongly in front of me I saw that the chasers (Fuentes and Root, with Gwadz just a few seconds behind them) begin to close the gap.

I had been hoping to get enough of a gap that I could cruise it in at a solid, but not puke-enducing pace.  It was now clear that I would have to resort to puke-enducing.  I'll just say that I put everything that I had into the last lap and a half.  I was fading and I looked and felt like shit, but I wasn't going to give up.

I had some friends and teammates cheering around the course and by the tone of their voices and their choice of words on that last lap I could tell that it (I) wasn't looking too good.  Dave Fuentes finally caught up to me just past the pit with maybe a minute left to go.  Luckily it was tight from there to the run-up and through to the ensuing slippery downhill.

I figured that I could keep him behind me until we got to the road, giving me time to recover enough to have a shot in the sprint.  Happily it didn't come down to that.  Just after the run-up I heard a noise just behind me.  It sounded like someone stacking it.  I took a quick peak behind me and sure enough Dave had clipped the telephone pole on the edge of the course.

I put my head down and negotiated the next tricky off-camber cleanly to get onto the road with enough of a gap to make a sprint unnecessary.  After crossing the line the cold and the effort hit me.  I felt like shit and was shivering.

After a celebratory muddy hug with Auer and Vettori I stumbled off to find a way to get dry and warm.  Luckily one of my teammates told me to go see Tom McDaniel.  Tom had his usual pimp compound set up with hot shower and warm changing area.  Tom saved the day!  Huge thank you to Tom McDaniel for the post-race support to combat hypothermia!

So I got cleaned up and changed with Kris, Gunnar, and Jan.  I was even forced to see Gunnar's naked ass, though I understand that many before have had that honor.

In the end we did it.   Auer 1st, Gunnar 2nd, Vettori 3rd, Me 4th.  Jan is more of a fan of a fast, dry track but he still gutted it out for 11th and I think a Delaware Gold Medal.   Kris locked up the 35+ Series.  Kris, Marc, and I swept the 35-39 Gold, Silver, and Bronze for MABRA and Maryland States.  It was a good day for the Elite Masters team and a great day for the team all around.   We won more than a few races and medals.  Good stuff.

Postscript:  I had been fighting a cold since Tacchino and a day slopping around in the cold rain and mud at Taneytown put me over the edge.  Instead of a cold it's a chest infection...outta work Monday & Tuesday, cold sweat at night, hacking up brown sludge from my chest.  Nice.  I'm starting to feel a little better today, but training may be out for the week.  I'll have to rally for the last race of the season Sunday in Reston and squeeze something out of the fitness I've built up thus far.