The Z-Factor

My quest to infiltrate the print media continues...one byte at a time...

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Dillusional Resiliancy

The Team is already launching its 2009 sponsorship campaign, and we've got some great ideas...

3 weekends and 3 races - we're wrappin' this 2008 thing up quick...

Before the start of Saturday's mountain-top circuit race I glanced around to find over 20 Pro's perched precariously on the start line, all sharing a common bond for the suffering that was about to ensue. Oh...oh it ensued, alright.

And with a 3-2-1, it started the way most mountain bike races do: with a 1-ton, full throttle sprint from the gun that wouldn't let up until the finish line. Stunned, I deployed countermeasures.

In the mix the whole race, by lap 3 a couple of the Tokyo Joe's boys had built up an embarassing 3-minute gap (but hey, one of them IS the current under-23 Nat'l time-trial champ, I think I held my own...)



Here's a little something I like to call, "Panic"

Sure enough, the countermeasures stuck and I landed solidly in 3rd place; on the Pro podium in a medal ceremony of my own...saweeeeet....

Oddly, no places changed in the overall series. And so let the games continue - now it's hurry up and recover for this weekend's series finale' where overall series standings will unfold. Stay tuned...

On a side note, the Stunt Double won yet another state champ jersey over the weekend in the short-track. I guess that's what happens when you swap beef for soy, save the wine and drink the water.............seriously....don't piss him off...

My Once A Year Editorial...

"In an 11th hour move that shocked the international athletic and political communities alike, the Chinese Olympic Team announced Wednesday that it will not be attending the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing due to "shocking, shameful, and ultimately dangerous environmental conditions" in the host city." - The Onion

(Thanks to the Onion for letting me use their caption......without asking.)

So how about this: The Olympics is one of the most politically influential forums we have for nations to ascert their dominance. And as ironic as it may seem, the medal counts follow current world economies and superpowers pretty closely.

Think back to the Cold War. What bigger rivalry was there than the U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. in Olympic hockey and basketball history? Intercontinental ballistic missiles were put on hold to see the outcome of those Olympic Games of the late 70's and early 80's. And today, as China is "on the world's stage" as we've heard so many times, they are poised to dominate these Olympics; much as their economy has mirrored their successes in winning Olympic gold medals.

So rather than throw billions of dollars at wars that cannot be won, with no end in site,

...how about throwing that money towards the Olympic sports forums of the world. We'd be a much happier, healthier species. I mean, think about it:

• Unsportsmanlike conduct relegates your country to "developing-nation" status,

• Tough, political messages take on a whole new meaning: "I'll kick your ass once we leave those starting blocks, biiiaaaatch..."





• Countries with doping athletes get imposed with economic sanctions for a probationary period,





• World leaders would be required to sit next to each other, hold hands, and sing "Cumbaya,"
  
  
  
  
  

• All athletes would be required to enter the arena wearing gladiator outfits and the puffy hands; even the Chinese gymnists,

• The USA Olympic Waterboarding Team would be heavily favored,

"Your right, or.....or.....or my right?"

• not only would shit-talkin' be encouraged, but rewarded with increased global oil production,
  



• McDonalds' decades-long Olympic Supporter sponsorship slogan would change to, "Oh yea, USA, baby, that's how we roll!"

The Olympics are as patriotic as it can get. World leaders, good and bad, dictators, war lords, facists, communists, presidents and military leaders,

...would all take a back seat to their country's greatest athletes where wars would be won and lost on the playing field, in a battle-royale of Biblical proportions every 2 years. Winning countries get shit-talkin' rights, and bonus "medal-points" for 70's porn-star-style...

The Olympics put the world's problems into perspective. We are all humans, competing to be the best in the world. And for a time, we forget the TV images of guns, bombs, and human sufferage and focus on being number one in the world against humans that we may try and destroy on a battlefield. We forget, that is, until somebody like Russia rolls it's tanks and tries to restart the Cold War. Take it to the pool, Vladimir...

Two Words...

POST.........PONED.

It is extremely rare that a mountain bike race be rescheduled due to weather. In fact, in my long and storied racing career (I didn't say fabled, I said storied) I can think of only a single cancelled race. But considering the unusual circumstances...

And as uncommon as 5 inches of snow may be during even a Colorado August, an electrical storm at 7am is even more strange.

So I wasn't heartbroken when I heard the news of Saturday's race being postponed a week. All it meant was that I had to disappear under the covers for a few more hours....

It's Colorado...and it's why we live here...

Coming up: my perspective on the Olympics as a replacement for foreign policy.

Don't Forget The Gear...

Saturday's race-day weather forecast...

Sweet. Especially when you consider much of the course is well over 10,500ft elevation. There's always something...

While The Cat's Away The Mouse Will Play...

The Mrs. is out for a coupla days so I was bach'n it this weekend. But she made sure to leave one mad-sized honey-do list.

Prior to that, though (I've always been the "play now and pay later" type) the Stunt Double easily coaxed me into another one of his "Hey follow MEEE!!" rides........

And the singletrack just sucked - I had no fun whatsoever.

But that meant the latter part of the weekend was stacked pretty high, and the day started early:

Needless to say, it was a pretty full day...

I heard a story on NPR this morning about a Sudanese boy who was kidnapped as a child, fed millet and sand, and forced into being a child soldier. He miraculously escaped and walked, aimlessly, to a refugee camp in Kenya where, after years, he was chosen to be relocated to the U.S. And now he's on the U.S. Olympic team as a runner. His life went from the worst possible scenario to the best.

Meanwhile, Thursday night here in our fair city two cyclists heading back from a ride were struck head on by a truck, killing them both at the scene. It happened on a road I've ridden down a thousand times. We cannot answer the question as to why certain things happen - why some folks get it all and some folks lose it all in the most tragic way.

God speed, boys, we'll see you on the other side...

The Ebb And The Flow...

The weekly adventures continue...

Aug 2, 2008: Crankworx Colorado

24 miles

3000+ ft of climbing

1 hr, 50 minutes, 8 seconds

To describe a race finish as "status quo" is nothing short of uninspiring. But if two words could describe this past weekend's performance, that would be it. It wasn't stellar, it wasn't at all bad. A large field of 41 Pro/SemiPro guys lined up on a sunny, cool morning in Winter Park and I marked my targets: those contending for the series points leads...

But when the will outweighs the watts, you sit in and do a little damage control. And after nearly 2 hours of cat and mouse I ended up in a solid 12th place. No flats, no crashes, no wins, no losses. Only solid points gains. More importantly, I kept most of the series contenders behind me....

And so the scene is starting to take shape and it's bound to go down to the wire. I currently find myself tied for 2nd place in the overall series. With 2 races remaining in this series, only 1 point seperates each of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. 1st place is probably out of reach.

So calculated decisions must now be made. To race on the conservative side and protect against a disasterous crash or mechanical, which would most certainly topple any podium chances in the end; or risk disaster in favor of a higher rung on the podium?

It's far from over and the stakes are high with a series as tight as this one is turning out to be. Every place counts. Every point counts. And this very scenario, my dear and dedicated readers, is precisely the kind of timultuous, gut wrenching nervousness that I eagerly look forward to all winter long...