Happy Birthday!

Thor had a good 1st Birthday.



He was eager to impress his audience standing and hanging onto his new chair.



And then he suddenly let go of the chair and started walking toward the kitchen.
These were his first independent steps and he was excited about them.



He then exercised his newfound independence by walking all over the room trying to pull things off of tables.



By the time the cake came out he was pretty tired and not very interested.
Thus, a huge sugar buzz and subsequent crash was avoided.
We're hoping to keep him from getting hooked on sweets (even though it's the American Way) so we were happy that he didn't plant his face in the cake.



So now he's one and the fun has really begun!

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

happy birthday thor!

Do you remember?

On the ride last night I had some old school tunes going through my head. In high school one of my favorite bands was Husker Du. Back then the energy of the music and the emotion of the lyrics was the perfect soundtrack for the anxieties of high school life. These days the words are poetic and offer a glimpse back at those days, but they don't connect with me the same way. I'm just in a different place. However, the music still gets me going. The driving rhythm and searing guitar are good fuel for putting the hammer down on the bike.

I was into punk and indie rock back then, but I didn't relate to the so-called "punks" in my area. They were more into image. I was too much of a dork to care about image or what my hair looked like or what t-shirt I had on, but I really had an affinity for the music and the ethos. I think it helped encourage me to use my brain, question things, and think for myself. High school was ok, but I really didn't enjoy it.

I did have an amazing group of close friends and together we managed to work hard and also have a lot of fun...mostly playing street hockey!

It's good to look back and think about where we were, see where we are now, and dream about where we'll be in the future. It's also important to have a good soundtrack...enjoy the ride!

Standing

FW:
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Today Thor was in his crib for the afternoon nap, but instead of sleeping he decided to stand up and start yelling. This is the first time he's stood up in his crib, so it's pretty cool. It also means we need to lower his mattress so that he doesn't launch himself out of the crib and onto the floor!

Today is also my second week doing the Tuesday Ronde, a friendly slugfest around the plentiful steep hills of Ellicott City. Sweet suffering galore! Intervals are good for the body and the mind.

Yet again my bike is a disgrace...flat tire, dirty chain, unraveled grip tape, cleats moving around, and a bottom bracket that squeaks like a mother! At least I can tell myself that I wouldn't get dropped if my bike weren't falling apart. Time is tight and my first cycling priority is actually riding my bike. Maintenance happens when some time free's up...rarely these days.

I'm issuing an open invitation to any out-of-towners that want to do a mountain bike ride in my backyard, Avalon. I'll provide the $5 tour and a beer on the porch post-ride...maybe even fire up the grill.

The trails are primo perfezione right now.

Time flies...don't wait to enjoy life.

It's a boy! :)

FW: Its a boy! :)
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

And I'm an uncle!

Charles David Nystrom was born this afternoon in Richmond, VA!

Lounging

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Thor was having his bottle while lounging with the cat.

I was lounging too after a nice ride at Avalon with Chris Perkins, Poz, Young, and Johnny.
Poz and Perkins put on a show with some sweet jumps and other radical shit.
I've been doing a lot of riding solo lately so it was nice to get out there with others.
Trying to follow Poz on the downhills was a cool challenge.

Two solid days on the mtb had my legs feeling the burn, but I really felt good both days. Slowly but surely the fitness is starting to accumulate. It's just the beginning of training for me, but I think I'll be going really well later this year.

La Chouffe

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

After a solid tour de patapsco on the mtb we hit Frisco Burritos for lunch. Whadayaknow...they have La Chouffe! Damn, that's a good beer!

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

porch time

Vacation

We just returned from a week down in Florida visiting family and getting in some beach time.
Siesta Key is one of the best beaches in the country with sand like powdered sugar and amazing sunsets.



Thor loved playing on the beach and splashing around in the pool.

I didn't get any bike time, but I did do one run. It was supposed to be a 3 mile jog, but turned into a 6 mile sufferfest due to some inaccurate information. I felt great for the first half hour, but my legs were hurting the last bit. They're still a little sore, but getting better.

This time last year I had done a lot of training and a nice block of Spring races. This year I've been having fun on my mountain bike working on technical skills like jumps, drops, and riding skinnies.

Now it's time to start doing a bit of training to awake the legs from their slumber and prepare for some mountain bike racing. That means I'll be getting dropped early and often on the Tuesday Ronde, but ya gotta start somewhere.

I figure by the time cross season rolls around I'll either be really fresh or really slow. I've got an amazing CX training loop in the park next to my house so that should help. I'd much rather do intervals on a cyclocross track than on the trainer or road.

It looks like I'll be kicking off my racing season with the 12 Hours of Lodi Farm. Melanie and I are planning on racing as a duo team. This should be a fun way to jump start the training and soak up some of that tasty mtb vibe. I'm missing doing some of the better road races, but overall I'm really enjoying my plan to take it easy in the early season. There's more to life than bike racing and finding the right balance makes everything more fun.

Drum Circle

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Thor was totally digging the big drum circle on Siesta Key Beach. He was banging on drums and shaking his little tamborine and maraca right with the beat.

We had to leave early to get him fed and ready for bed, but he didn't want to leave.

Cool stuff.

Water Monster

A crappy day at work stays at work.
How can I be in a bad mood when I have this water monster waiting at home???



Yeah, work has been a hassle, but it's not reality.
Don't buy into any b.s. about loyalty & commitment when it comes to dealing with a corporation.
The ~man~ is not looking out for you beyond when it's in his own best interests.
I'm fine with that as long as I know it up front.
Just let me do my thing and leave me alone.

Enough of that. I work hard, but work is not near the top of my priorities.
It's a means for me to provide for my family and live my life.

And I've been enjoying it.

We're pretty well settled into the new digs. We're putting a patio & deck out back. The patio is done and the deck should be completed by next week. With Spring here it'll be nice to chill out back.

I've been getting in one or two early morning mountain bike rides during the week...plus both days on the weekends. I'm really not training, but I'm getting enough riding in to not get fat.
My road bike has had a flat tire for 2 months and I've been doing beginner freeride stuf --> jumps, drops, riding skinnies. Shit, I might have to get some baggy shorts and platform pedals!

Riding the mountain bike has been a nice change. Our move has coincided with one of the driest Springs ever. That means tight, fast, DRY singletrack!

I just got back from meeting the family for lunch at Banjara. Thor was absolutely loving the Indian food. He couldn't get enough. It was pretty funny to watch. Hopefully, it won't tear through him tonight.

We're trying to swing it to do the 12 Hours of Lodi Farms in early May. I really hope that works out.

Monkey

FW:
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

So Melanie got a new camera cell phone and just sent me this photo of Thor. He loves phones and it looks like he's trying to reach out and grab hers. Anyway, this was a nice break from the grind of work.

I'm going to do a 5:15am mtb ride tomorrow. A night/sunrise mtb ride kicks the crap out of going to the gym and it's a great way to begin the day.

And waiting for me at home will be some double-espresso Gaggia goodness...mmmmmmmmmm.

The Library

This is pretty random...

We just moved and I'm noticing a lot of little things around the house.

Like, the reading material on the back of the crapper.

It's a weird mix:

• The Portable Thoreau
• Simon Burney's Cyclocross book
• Rick Steves' Best Destinations 2006 Newsletter
• Pico Iyer's Video Night in Kathmandu

With wireless internet the reading material is often surfing the web on the laptop.

What's your crapper reading material?

A new trailhead

This morning I did my first ride from the new house.

We're officially moving next Friday, but I had a bunch of boxes to drop off before riding.
I picked up a bagel on the way and fired up our new super-automatic Gaggia espresso machine to fuel up.
Holy shit, that thing is amazing. Push one button and you've got a cup of caffeinated goodness.
Call me lazy, but this machine rocks.

Out the door with the new C3/ADG/Joe's gear on I was at the trailhead in about 3 minutes. No loading up the car and driving to ride the bike. Hot damn!

It was cold out so the trails were frozen and had a lot of traction. It was also quiet and peaceful with only the wind making any other sound. Half a loop around Rockburn and I was across Landing Rd. and into Patapsco. It was a nice change starting a ride from this side of the Park.

I had fun on some big log piles and launched off a few nice drops feeling pretty happy that I haven't forgotten how to ride a bike. One of the skills I really try to work on for 'cross is carrying speed through technical turns...loose, off-camber, whatever. This is a skill that pays off in the races. The rear tire on my full suspension mtb is a balding piece of crap so I had a couple of sketchy power-slides as the rubber broke free in turns.

The climbs hurt today. My riding has been down the last 2 weeks due to moving and I suffered on the steep power climbs at Avalon. Actually, it felt good to hurt a little bit. The legs felt pretty good, they just needed a little longer to recover. Two and a half hours on the mtb probably doubled my hours for the week. Yeeee ha!

I was just having fun riding my bike. A couple of times I thought about the poor bastards riding circles in the wind at Trade Zone this morning. It'll make them strong so they can race around more office park crits. I'm taking a pass on that crap this year.

It's all about the mtb, HAVING FUN, and 'cross season.

El Salto

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

This is Thor chowing down at El Salto last night.

Radio Flyer

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Thor digs his new Radio Flyer wagon, courtesy of his Great-Grandma.

Lekker ding!

Life has been busy around here lately.

We closed on the purchase of a house on Valentine's Day. A sappy card and a box of chocolates has gotten old so we decided to go big this year! After the closing we celebrated with cheese, crackers, & a couple of bottles of Stella Artois in our new home.
The movers are trucking our furniture and big stuff on March 3 so in the meantime we've been moving boxes and doing some work to get the house ready. My Step-Father and I built a nice bike shop in the basement this weekend. We put up peg board on the walls and installed a nice work bench on rollers. The bikes will be getting a lot more attention now that we have room to hang our tools and set up a work stand. The bikes will be hanging from hooks on the rafters. It's a nice set-up.

The bikes will be getting plenty of use too. From our driveway it's about a 2 minute ride to singletrack leading into Rockburn Park. Rockburn connects to Patapsco Avalon so we have a ton of singletrack out the front door. The road riding is not bad either with the hills of Ellicott City climbing out of the Patapsco River valley and rural western Howard County not far away.

When the trails dry up I'm looking forward to doing some early morning mtb rides before work. I figure I can ride with lights for the first half and finish up as the sun rises. We'll also the after work rides, taking turns hitting the trails. I'm doing some research on Burley trailers because I think Thor will enjoy cruising around the trails at Rockburn. Man, I'm looking forward to getting more riding in, because it's not happening right now...we're just too busy (but it's all good 'busy')!

We'll miss the City (mostly all the good restaurants for carry-out) but it's time to move on. Now I just need to find some good Sushi & Thai near the new house.

Lekker.

Worlds Junior video

Check out the link for a video of the Juniors coming down the gnarly downhill on lap one.
I was positioned right behind a haybale coming out of the last tricky turn.

Click on the title of the post or use this url.

http://homepage.mac.com/cbnystrom/iMovieTheater13.html

Worlds

My trip to the Cyclocross World Championships was truly an adventure. I will try to capture some of the fun here in words and photos. I took a lot of notes in a journal on the train between Amsterdam and Zeddam each morning...I mean A LOT of notes. My hand was cramping as I tried to puke out all of my memories of each day onto the page. I was having so many cool experiences and I didn't want the memories to fade away.

The flight over was a breeze with a 20 minute hop from BWI to Philly and a 7-ish hour overnighter to Amsterdam Schipol. I had a drink in the Philly airport with fellow MAC killer B Wade Hess and learned that he would be staying over an extra week to do a couple of races, including a friggin' Superprestige in Belgium! Another drink and a Tylenol PM on the flight and I slept for most of the flight.

Exiting Amsterdam Centraal Station the first thing I saw were thousands of bikes parked outside the beautiful, old station. Any city where there are more bikes than people (let alone cars!) is ok with me. I immediately felt comfortable and in tune with the city. Even though I was pulling a suitcase I decided to forgo the city train and walk to my hotel in order soak up the vibe.



Bikes are the new cars in Amsterdam. Here's the latest minivan model.
The soccer (football) mom pilots the rig while the kids sit in the front and rear seats, sans helmets.




As I continued to stroll, a few flurries fell from the sky and people on bikes glided past me. Further along the canal I noticed familiar places...Hotel Estherea, Broodje Bert, Dutch Flowers, the floating flower market, Sampurna...good times. The Waterfront Hotel was right there too, adjacent to the Koningsplein. I checked in, brushed my teeth, and sorted out my stuff for the next morning's early train to Zeddam.





Then it was back out on the streets to wander and explore. I was really hungry from the flight so I stopped at Vlaam's for frites. This is a little frite stand off the Spui that has been around forever. It's in a busy shopping district and there's always. I ordered my frites with ketchup and housed them lickety-split...mmm good.

I did some window shopping as I walked and amazingly ran into Dieter & Zayne doing the same. We had a quick chat, made plans to find each other for a beer at the next day's races, and then went our separate ways.

After emailing home it was time for more food. The frites had just whet my appetite.
At Broodje Bert I grabbed a delicious toasted ham, cheese, & tomato sandwich. This hit the spot and fueled me up to explore.



I strolled over to the Jordaan, a groovy neighborhood a few canals over from Singel. I love Amsterdam. The city has a very funky layout with all of the canals, curving streets, and distinctive architecture that just seems to work. Most of the buildings are tall and narrow with very steep staircases.



The Jordaan is a residential neighborhood that has a good number of non-touristy restaurants and cafes. It's a good ways away from the red light district and sketchy parts of town so it's a good place to get a feel for real life in the city. I stopped in the Rokerij for some tea. The atmosphere was nice and the music was an interesting mix of styles so I sat down for a while. One of the cool things about being in an international city is to listen to the different languages mixing around you. I enjoyed being a spectator to the interactions of the locals as they came and went. The speech, intonations, & gestures seem familiar, but nary a word is recognizable.

After a cinammon tea and a chai I stepped back outside into the peaceful buzz of the Amsterdam afternoon. I stopped into an Albert Hein grocery store to check out the situation. I really like immersing myself in different cultures and walking through a grocery store is a neat way to learn about a place. Aside from a bigger selection of meats and cheeses the aisles were very similar to a store in the US. I grabbed a big bottle of water for my room and an Amsterdam t-shirt for Thor before continuing my walk.

The vibrancy of the city really strikes a chord with me. People are an integral part of the city. In many US cities people drive into town to work and then drive back out at the end of the day, rendering the cities a souless collection of buildings. In Amsterdam people are truly part of the fabric of the place. There are walkers, bikes, and trains everywhere all the time. It's very easy to get around town and there's always something going on.



After much walking I found myself very thirsty so I stopped in a bar near Koningsplein for a beer. Being a fan of Belgian beer I ordered a La Chouffe. It was fantastic. I sat in the window, enjoyed the beer, and continued to observe the pulse of the city.

La Chouffe, a seriously good beer.


Leaving the Arnhem station on the way to Doetinchem.


The early morning train to Zeddam was a breeze. The Dutch (and most of Europe) really have the train thing figured out. They are on time, clean, and plentiful. I bought a coffee, oj, and chocolate croissant to eat on the ride. Once in Zeddam it was an easy stroll up this cobbled street to the race venue.



The quintessential Dutch windmill gave the course a visual centerpiece.


The Swiss Guard was patrolling the venue with monster cowbells and a backpack-style canister of some strong alcoholic concoction. We need to book these boys for some MAC races.


The most technical part of the track was the downhill leading to the big set of stairs.
The descent was a twisty, off-camber corkscrew with a surface of frozen ruts. The organizers covered it with sawdust to provide some traction. Even so, there were quite a few crashes in each of the races.





Steep, Off-camber, and sketchy I was leaning up against a haybale when I took this shot.
Many riders were hanging a leg out to keep it upright as they made this turn.



At the bottom of the downhill there were a few tight turns leading to this mother of a set of stairs. They weren't particularly steep, but there were 40 of them. The really hard part was the long-ish paved climb after the stairs. That must have hurt.



Zdnek Stybar, Niels Albert, & Lars Boom coming up the stairs leading the U23 race.
These guys got an immediate gap and then took turns attacking each other.



Here Lars Boom is trying to get a gap on the faaaaaaaaaaast & twisty section up top, just before bombing down the farm road back to the start/finish road section.



There were probably a dozen beer tents and at least as many frite stands. Generally I don't like mayonaise, but I tried some on the frites and it was damn good.



On Sunday Dieter, Zayne, and I spent a solid 2 hours camped out at the base of the big stairs waiting for the elite men's race. We drank a ton of beer and apple schnaaps as we made friends with a group of Belgians. One of the things that I always notice in Europe is the hospitality. Don't believe any of the bullshit about Americans getting harrassed in euro-land. In my experience Europeans are incredibly warm and welcoming.

One of the guys even gave me his sweet Jupiler beer Belgian freak hat and emailed some photos to me a couple of days later. Here's Marnick, after quite a few beers wearing the ubiquitous Jupiler hat.



I will proudly wear this hat, Belgian style, at 'cross races this Fall.

Here's Bart Wellens warming up. The dude was unbelievably strong in the race. He seemed to be the guy that was always on the front driving it and keeping the pace super fast.



During warm-up's we got a chance to check out everyone's technique. Nearly all of the euro's eschew the step-through and go with the back step when dismounting. And I saw very few riders grabbing the down tube for the lift. Most everyone did an underhand grab of the top tube before flipping the bike up to the shoulder.



Capt. Caveman (aka Eric Tonkin) rode gamely even though this wasn't his type of course. In this photo he's putting his bike back on the ground after cresting the top of the small stairs.



J. Page was on top of his game right up in mix of the first 15 riders. Look how closely these guys were riding. With the high speed and all of the tight turns it was bad news if you let a gap open.



My man, Sven NYS, was part of the final selection on the last lap, but didn't look to be on top form. Normally a stellar bike handler and descender he clipped a tree on the downhill trying to stay on the pace being set by Vervecken. As we watched on the big screen set up on the course he took a long time getting up. Game over for him. Vervecken put in the winning attack right in front of us after the small stairs. Coming out of the u-turn he looked back and saw a 10 meter gap to Mourey and Wellens. At that moment he stomped on the pedals with a huge acceleration and held the gap all the way to the finish.




After the race Zayne, Dieter, and myself were feeling no pain and we were very stoked from watching some world class cyclocross up close. We needed to vent some of that energy so we rocked the post-race beer tent and brought the party up a couple of notches.



There were many Belgies in bear suits (some of whom were trying to hump each other), but this guy was part of the Portland Cross Crusade crew. Those people are a lot of fun. We formed a temporary MAC/Cross Crusade alliance and showed the euro's how to get down.



This dude from Czech was ready to sound the alarm if things didn't get out of hand, but the party had plenty of energy so he didn't have to intervene.



Dieter still had his post-Natz form and gave the Belgians a taste of what to expect next season.



After the party we gorged ourselves on olibolen to soak up some of the booze. Things were tranquil until Zayne decided to jump down into a field to chase a herd of antelope and offer them our last olibolen. Though Zayne had good speed he was no match for the fleet antelope. When the bus arrived he had to scramble back over the wall. Like a good teammate Dieter hauled his ass over the wall and away from the now angry antelope.



Leaving Zeddam we were awarded keys to the city and the honorary title of...



On Monday morning I grabbed breakfast and wandered around Amsterdam for a while before training it back to Schipol for the flight home. Another adventure was over, but many more await.

My head is still spinning like this windmill

Windmill
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

I promise I'll write up the Worlds adventure soon! I kept a journal so I wouldn't forget anything. I just need to go through my notes, put them in semi-coherent form, and upload some photos.

Me, Dieter, & Zayne went into rock star mode and lit it up on Sunday. My head is still foggy. I think we did the MAC proud...I think.

Here's a shot of the windmill. The course looped around the windmill adding some Dutch flair to the race.

well well Wellens

well well Wellens
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

This is how the Belgian Cross fans roll. This female Bart Wellens fan was rocking the post-race party in the big beer tent (there were probably a dozen beer tents at the venue).

I'm back from an amazing adventure at Cross Worlds in Zeddam, The Netherlands. It was such a good time and the MAC crew represented in stellar form. I'll have more photos and stories in the days to come.

Look out World's, here I come!

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from the blog due to having a lot of balls in the air recently.

I'll get'er fired up again here soon with some stories from 'Cross Worlds in The Netherlands.
I'm heading over to Euro-ville tomorrow evening for a long weekend of adventures in the low countries. It'll mostly be hanging out with drunk Belgians & Dutch watching 'cross races, as well as sampling the beer & food. I'm excited to check out the euro-cross scene and see Sven Nys in person. It'll be like mental training. I imagine I'll be pretty fired up to ride and race my bike. I return on Monday evening so I should have some things posted early next week.

In other news, we just bought a house that has a trailhead to some sweet singletrack (Rockburn & Patapsco/Avalon) just down the street. I envision hitting the trails with lights for some early morning pre-work rides and also after-work mtb rides right out the front door. And then there's the mtb group rides followed by hanging out on the deck grilling up grub and drinking beer. Not to mention good road riding, like hill repeats up Ilchester. I'm looking forward to riding the mountain bike without loading it on the car and driving to the trail head! We close in mid-Feb and will move sometime in March.

Thor had his 9 month check-up and he is still in the 95th percentile on length and 50th on weight...long and lean, with sprinter thighs! We'll have the boy on a mountain bike soon.

That's it for now. I'll keep a journal during my trip and post my thoughts and observations when I return.

peas

Going to World's

Things have been pretty peaceful quiet here to start the new year.

I've been getting in some time on the bike doing easy miles and a lot of on the bike strength work. That has meant many fun rides on the fixed gear or pushing big gears on the mountain bike. Gym time has been spent doing core exercises to strengthen the lower back, abs, etc.
I'm easing back into the training, but it's going pretty well so far.

Thor continues to amaze us. He learns something new every day. And although he seems to have no interest in crawling he loves to stand up. He needs support for balance, but he's really getting the hang of it. It's still a ways off but he may bypass crawling and go straight to walking.

Using frequent flyer miles I've put together a no frills long weekend trip to see the Cyclocross World Championships in Zeddam, The Netherlands at the end of this month. I'm pretty much going to be winging it with very little plans and a small pack on my back so it's sure to be an adventure.

Obviously, ya gotta plan some of the basics, but flying by the seat of your pants leads to some fun experiences and that is something I really enjoy. I intend to see a few sights, eat some good food, drink some good beer, and watch some world class 'Cross. (And hopefully find a warm place to sleep, but that's not a priority.) I'll have a little bit of time in beautiful Amsterdam, but most of the time will be out in the boonies with a bunch of like-minded 'cross freaks. The US crew promises to hang with the Euro's both on and off the course. I can hardly wait!

I should have plenty of stories and photos to share when I return.