Snow at the Laundromat

 
 

Procrastinating

So I am still sitting in my room trying to get motivated to ride. It is -3 out today and super windy. The roads are a bit icey and I am trying to decided if I want to ride inside our out today. It is about 50/50. I could go outside and get wicked cold and maybe crash, or ride inside and get bored and still be chilly... Cant decide. Tomorrow is is going to warm up and the course will be mega muddy. That is fine by me as I could do with a little bit slower speed racing than we have had the last 2 go rounds. My bikes are getting all pimped out right now so they should be good to go, just in time to get destroyed again tomorrow in the mud. I have been working on doing some meditation this week to get myself more in the present and centered and focused. Geoff thinks this helps me race my bike and I agree with him. Getting all the chatter in my mind to shut off and just being in the present and racing my bike is what i need to do. It is difficult to shut everything out sometimes but I work on it during my massages because they hurt so bad it is good to distract myself form the pain. I have been playing a lot of video games this week and it is definalty getting me excited to go slide around in the mud. My ralley driving skills are comming together quite nicley...! Anyways, I better get myself together and make a decision to ride and then do it. I will get back tomorrow and let you know how the mudfest goes.

Wiskers

Rest and Snow

Today is one of our few days off when we can try and recover between races. Our next one is not untill saturday os todau was pretty relaxed. I walked down to the Pnos place this morning with Tonkin and Newt and got a nice cappacino. Then went and peddaled aorund for a bit to kee the legs smooth. We found some cool single track that went aound a series of lakes so we played int hier for a while and then heaed back to the house. Had a good lunch and massage and then took a trip to the special "Bio" grocery store. Picked up spme gluten free goods and now i am all set. i have been eating just plain meat and cheese for unch, no bread, because of my special diet but now i have some rice cakes and some gluten free bread. Most excellent! It has been snowing on and off today. Nothing is sticking but it s pretty cold and damp out there. tomorrow we are going to go train on the race course for the next race because it is 15km from the house. I had an interesting chat with Geoff today. He was talking about hwo we race in such tight groups over here and everyone is going for it, be it 13th or 31st. He made the point that some guys, like some of the Czech riders, really "want" it, and it is up to us to want it more than they do. I am conflicted about that because to some of these guys that extra spot they make up will make a huge differance in what they are offered for money an dfor some of them that is a really big deal. It is for me too I guess but i think I tend to maybe err on the side of giving it away more than they do. Somehting to work on for me.... Anyways, that is about all that is going on here.

wic

Lounhouet

Well, another one is in the books. Cant say that it was my best ever but I got through it with out to many lasting scars so its all good. The course was super fast. Probably abut 1 minute faster than last years course. It was minus 2 C today and the ground was frozen. For the most part it was just ultra quick with only a few dicey turns. I had a decent start and was going OK but then I broke my seatpost on lap 4 and had to roll it to the pits standing up. I crammed the seat and broken post in my skinsuit and got a ton of laughs for that one. Once I got back on my bike I crusied it in with a group for 41st. I am getting tired of these crappy placing so hopefully the World Cup on saturday will go better. It is ging to be cold untill then but warm up friday night and start raining so maybe we will have a bit of mud to play in. All the beter I think as I am not so stoked to try and ride my cross bike at 35 mph on hard pack dirt behind the likes of Paris Roubaiz podium finisher Roger Hammond like I did today. A little mud and some slipery turns may just be what the doctor ordered for this guy... Now I am back at the house eating tons of food and trying to recover from the day. I just had granny smith apple flavored yogurt for the first time and it asnt half bad, sort of like a mix between chardonnay and candy apple flavor... I will try and post some pictures form the race today some time tomorrow. Later on suckas!

Hofstade (post race)

 
 

Chillin in Izegem

Literally, it is below freezing outside with no outlook of warming up for at least 4 days. When we left for our nice easy recovery ride I wore all the clothing I had and was kind of warm because the sun was still shinning. After 45 minutes the clouds came in and it started snowing. The whole time we had a 15 mph head wind and it was just cutting through everything I had on. Now I am comfortably back at the house, fortunatly. Just had a massage and am now doing all I can not to fall asleep. I slept great last night an dam stoked I havet had a really bad night yet. Tomorrow is the Super Presige race in Louenhout. It is a super fun course and should be even more fun with 4 cm of snow on it... I am stoked. I got my new Dugast mud tires glued up today and am ready to rcck it! I think I might go down stairs and watch some videos or maybe try reading a bit and get some coffee. Later

Wickster

Hofstade World Cup

Today was the frist foray into racing for the trip. The race is one I did last year so I was prety excited to do it again. The conditions were great, sunny and 45 degrees, adn it was mega fast. Mega fast except fr the 600 meters of sand each lap. we rode down to the waters edge across the sand, rode along the water for 400 meters and then tried to pwer back up into the woods; twice a lap. It was henious. The second time through the course was further fomr the water and not packed down so it turned into a run. I felt pretty good on the riding parts of the course but the running just absolutley killed me. I had a good start, top 20 with ryan but after the second trip through the sand i was redlined. I tried to hang on but drifted back for a coule of laps while I tried to recover. I finally settled in with a group and came around with about 4 laps to go and started drilling it. I had those guys gone and was almost to the next group when i flatted. i was fairly close to the pit but i still got cought and paseed by the group i had just shed and rode the last 2 laps alone at what was basically th last place on the course. I made it through without gettin lapped so that was god, and i felt pretty ok, considering it was the first race and i am still a bit off from the trip. tomorrow is a rest day and then wednesday we are racing a GVA at Louenhouet. It is one of the biggest races in Belgium and is super fun. It is supposed to start snowing tonight and then get even colder for the next coule of days just to keep things interesting. alright, i am going to go shower and head down for dinner. later on...

wickey

Belgium numero dos

Its still sunny out side, so I have that going for me, which is nice. Today Ryan and I went out and rode around for a couple of hours. He knows the roads here so we didnt even get lost. I slept pretty good last night considering the time change. I stayed up untill 10 and then slept all the way untill 10 this morning. It will be a strugle today to stay awake again so I can sleep tonight but I think I can manage. I guess it is Christmas. I keping forgetting that. Sarah sent us some rad stockings full of goodies so we got to open those up this morning. I got some sweet peppermint soap and some tea and vitamin C. Tomorrow is race number 1 for me. It is the World Cup in Hofstede. I did it last year as well. It is a pretty hard course with 2 long sandy beach sections and some tough muddy traverses over these super sketcy wood bridges. Last year it was down right nasty, 33 and raining and muddy as hell. This year it may be better but if the storm that is on the horizon comes in it could be another nasty one. It is supposed to start snowing on tuesday and not get above freezing for a week so that should make for some interesting racing next week. Well, I think i am going to read a bit and then make some coffee so I dont fall asleep. Check ya later!

Wickey

Belgium: Day 1

So I finally made it over here after a 2 day flight delay due to weather. It was ok though because I got to spend an extra day with Sarah. Plus I got to fly First/Business Class all the way over and only had a short stop off in DC. I slept most of the flight and made it in to Brussels this morning around 7:30 am. Got most of my stuff, 2 out of 3 isnt half bad all things considered. They totally raped me on baggage charges though so I was expecting a bit more. My bike and Clothing made it fine but my box of extra crap didnt. Oh well, I guess Ryan will have to wait a few days to get his christmas present. Got to the house in time to see the boys off to the race. Today they are racing in Diegem. I was hoping to do the rock star arrical to race but got the axe from both Geof and Noel so no dice. I am a bit bummed because the course is pretty cool but hopefully the legs will be good at the World Cup on monday. Got all unpacked and moved in. I got the short end of the bed selection though and am rooming with 3 U-23 kids. Troy, Jesse and Morgan, they should be good for some entertainment as long as they dont snore to mutch.... Got my bikes all asembled and went out for a bike ride. I only rode for about an hour and felt weird because my body thought it was the middle of the night. It is pretty nice here today but it is supposed to get colder starting monday or tuesday and not get above freezing all next week. I am watching some sweet euro MTV right now waiting for the race to come on in a few minutes. They are about 3 years behind on theier pop music so I am getting some sweet old school videos. Thats about all I have. I am going to try and stay up untill 10 tonight so i dont wake up at 4 am. Wish me luck!

Nasty

Sleepy Girl

So its 11 am and Sarah is still passed out in bed. That Australian Time change can be a real bummer. It is totally helping me adjust to Belgian time too, let me tell you. Tonight all the peeps, and i mean ALL of them, are comming to town for a wicked fun time. We are going to go dancing and drink wine and eat a thanksgiving dinner that cant be beat. Plus I am going to get some new pants. What Fun! I leave tomorrow for Belgium. I called to upgrade to business form SFO to London so hopefully that goes through. I hate those teeny seats at the back of the bus. Ryan has been sick all wekk and hasent even been riding, so I dont feel so bad about rining twice this week. Maybe i will ride today if i get around to it.... Adam got a sweet new industrial waffle maker i want. maybe i will buy one over there. Anyways, I am going to go get the girl up and then make some more coffee.. See ya suckas!

Goose Check?

Today while I was out riding in the nice balmy 36 degree weather I passed a sign for the "Goose Check". I have no idea what that is but I am assuming it is either like a coat check, but for your goose, or maybe they can give your goose a check up for the crazy chicken flu virus, but I dont know if a goose can actually get that, plus it didnt say "Goose Check-up", just "Goose Check", so i really have no idea. Further along a massive retard truck, aka Chevey Tahoe, passed me and on the back it had a large sticker proclaming the owner as belonging to the "Thick Chick Racing" club. Awesome. I almost fell of my bike at that one. Gotta love those fat girls. Yeah I called you fat, look at me, I'm skinny,I'm a freak. Never stoped me from getting busy...

And I am out

Nationals Race Report

What a weekend. It was a pretty big change going form the sunny hot races at the US Grand Prix finals in San Francisco, to the snowy freezing temperatures of the east coast. The GP final was a pretty big weekend for me, and I took the following weekend to recover from the efforts and contemplate the remainder of the season. I have ten races left this year, all culminating with the World Championships in Zeddam, Netherlands on January 28th, 2006.
The week after the GP’s I headed back to Oregon for thanksgiving with the family and some cold weather acclimation. Being in California has made me a bit soft, and I needed to toughen up for my trip out east and then on to Belgium. The weather was my ally in this, as the high for the week in Oregon never got over 40. It was a good week of training and eating and freezing though and I looked forward to my trip out east.
The weather reports had it clear and cold in Boston for my arrival the weekend before nationals. Saturdays race was in Warrick Rhode Islands. Held on the grounds of a middle school the track was twisty, fast and fun, with one run up and one set of barriers. Unfortunately the legs were a bit blocked up form my weekend off and after a good start I faded back to the second group and cruised in for a disappointing 8th place finish. I was not to worried about it though as I had put little emphasis on the weekend and it was good to go out and blow the legs out a bit.
Over night snow changed to freezing rain as we drove further south into Rhode Island for day two. The course was thankfully mostly in the trees and sheltered form the wind and rain, but as I warmed up on the trainer wearing every piece of clothing I had brought with me ice began forming on my bars and top tube. I wore leg warmers, a thermal jersey and a skin suit and thick gloves and barley stayed above hypothermic temperature. This race went better. I got my customary fast start and then settled into a front group of three with Tim and Mark, until an untimely collision with the course tape on the beach section got my caught up for a good 20 seconds. Erik and Adam ought up to me and for the remainder of the race Tonkin and I beat up on the fat kid, attacking the beach runs and dropping him, only to have him bridge back up through the icy turns. Finally on the last lap we rally started givin’er and I fell victim to the final turn game of chicken and hit the deck. Tonkin held of Adam for 3rd and I cruised in for 5th.
The rest of the week was spent riding in the snow and trying to stay warm as we prepped for nationals. Ryan arrived on Tuesday and was feeling good about the races coming up.
Thursday we arrived in Providence under sunny skies and 33 degree temperatures. After driving around for 30 minutes in the park we finally found the track. White course tap and snow make for a very stealthy location and the lack of sign indicating were the race was to be held did not help. The course was in awesome shape, fast turney and not to technical. The small amount of snow remaining was very grippy and Ryan and I were looking forward to Saturdays race.
Friday came and everything went to hell. Light morning snows gave way to rain, then sideways rain and gale force winds, then sideways freezing rain and finally a full fledged blizzard dumping 6 inches of snow in 4 hours. Just before sunset the storm broke, but the damage had been done. Hypothermic conditions and decimation of the course led to cancellation of the races scheduled for late Friday and a complete change of course conditions for the race on Saturday.
We arrived at the venue about 3 hours before the race to get a good look at the course. Hundreds of racers and slightly above freezing temperatures had turned it into a mucky mess. 2 inches of sloppy wet mud on top of frozen snow and ice made for less than ideal racing conditions. There was a single line along the entire course that was rideable, and the rest of the course was frozen ruts going in all directions threatening to send you into the crowd in you dared to wander off line. The start stretch was not much better, with half of the road covered in ice and snow and half dry pavement. No start grid existed and it was pure anarchy as we lined up and fought for a clean patch of pavement. At the start it was full gas to the first turn over a curb into a downhill ice section. Total chaos and I think the only way I managed o stay up right was by bouncing off all the people around me. After about half a lap the front group had extracted themselves form the chaos and it was down to six racers. I was sitting about 4th, right behind Page, with Trebon and Wells about 5 seconds up the road. I was feeling ok, not awesome and did my best to stay on Johns wheel as we started lap two. My infamous towering physic would prove to be my undoing on this day as I proceeded to bobble and slide and crash my way back to sixth and rode out the day by myself to the finish.
I was pretty disappointed in how the race went, but not everything goes as planned and at least I have the GP series over all to look back on. Ryan rode a solid race, not his best by his own admission and was more than disappointed at finished second for the second year in a row. Todd Wells finally reclaimed his title from 2002 and page finished a distant 3rd after a stomach bug knocked him out of contention of Friday.
Disappointments behind me I now focus my efforts of the European campaign and the World Championships, and hope to eradicate my demons over there.
The women raced well, With Ann finishing 2nd, Georgia 7th and Heavy D finally winning his national championship in the masters category. A sweet after party hosted by Crank Brothers brought a close to the weekend and finally a win for me as I showed my talents and won the dance contest and a free t-shirt and special care package form Good Vibrations….
Thanks to Kona and everyone for the support this season and wish us Luck over in Euroland!

Wicknasty

Word

who ever is the first person to read this will get a special surprise. maybe.

Since I am going to go to europe and not talk to anyone you can read about my adventures here, if I ever remember how to update this thing...

Power to the Force!!!!