It all starts tomorrow night (Wednesday). The Ride with Rendall ‘cross clinics are starting again for the season. These clinics are excellent sessions for you to get out and learn new skills and refine existing skills.

These clinics are open to all skill levels. Anyone can attend – you do not need to be a member of Ride with Rendall to attend.

I attended a number of these clinics last year – learned a lot and had fun just hanging out with other people.

Here are the details:

– 10 weeks of clinics
– the first 3 weeks will take place on Wednesday nights at 5:30pm in the park at Carling and Champagne (Across from Rogers store).
– registration forms to fill out, and all riders will need a UCI licence, Citizen Permit, or else you will need to purchase of a one day licence.
– a nominal fee of $10 for the season.

Ah the good ‘ol second day of racing on the cyclo-cross double-header weekend. Somehow the Sunday morning comes so much more quickly on the second race day. Funny how that is. I suppose staying up a bit later on the Saturday night to do things like surf the WWW and catch up with the other race action going on doesn’t help! Plus there is the post-race racing brain to deal with. Don’t know about you but sometimes after a race I tend to race the race over and over again in my head. I tell myself this is a good thing – an indicator that I’m working on learning from the day’s race…

Anyway, on to Sunday. We made our way to beautiful Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland for some more cyclo-cross racing action. Wow – what a park. Massive, complete with a conservatory, botanical gardens, zoo, amazing green spaces and so much more that I didn’t even glimpse. I’m always impressed with the places we get to race our cyclo-cross bikes.

We found a decent spot for the massive Yukon. (Oh I’d love to own a Yukon – so comfy to travel in and pretty darn handy for ‘cross racing.) At least we thought we had a decent spot. Seems there are a lot of acorn trees in Druid Hill Park… No sooner do we pop open the back of the truck and start unloading do we here “bang” “bang” and stuff is falling all around us. What the heck?

Yes, the sky was falling. Acorns! Duck. Run for cover. I can tell you those little suckers hurt. Now I know how Chicken Little felt. Oh well, better to get drilled in the head by a few pesky acorns than to nail my head on a tree again!

I’ve written a full race report. Go check it out for all the racing action details. I do have to say that Marc had an awesome race today. He started way back in the field and rode his way through so many guys to finish in 6th place. I was so stoked to see him ride like that. He just kept on digging extra deep and making moves to get around guys. Inspiring.

The day was pretty good. Lots of fun racing action. Catching up with friends from over the years and chatting with people we met on Saturday. The atmosphere was pretty cool at Charm City. Lots of families out enjoying the day with kids playing in the play structure and their moms and dads cheering on friends and family. There were fans all over the course – by the sand, at the massive cement barricades, on the stair run-up and on the various climbs. Oh, and the barbecue. I’ve never seen a barbecue like this before! The meat that these people were cooking up looked and smelled amazing. The line-up went on forever. During the race I could get a whiff of the barbecue as I raced on by.

The drive home was long but pretty much uneventful. One minor detour (thanks to me in Pennsylvania) but other than that we made good time. We elected to just eat as we drove so I packed up a bunch of sandwiches, fruit, veggies, and trail mix for us (with a few cans of coke thrown in for good measure plus two stops at Sbucks for me).

A most excellent weekend of racing. Many highlights to take away from both races. Great to get in some early races to test out the form and the brain. Even better to hook up with our ‘cross racing friends. Extra bonus of meeting some new people. I will definitely make the trip down again next year to race at Nittany Lions and Charm City – two excellent race courses – with solid promoters, well organized, two different and challenging courses and smooth ‘cross vibes on both days.

Next up are the first races in the New England Verge Series in Catamount. Looking forward to these races. Extra plus is being in Burlington. I’ve already got my stomach set on a trip to Moe’s after the race on Sunday. And my wallet is primed for a stop at EMS and Barnes and Noble for a little browsing/shopping! Good times ahead. Super fortunate to be doing this.

Well, the first ‘cross race of the 2009 – 2010 season is in the books. Raced today at Nittany Lions in Trexlertown, PA. Check out the race report.

We had an excellent travel day on Friday, making really good time and arriving at the race venue at around 4 p.m. Wow – what a race venue. We raced at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center – home of the velodrome and a beautiful park complete with cycling paths, ball diamonds, cricket fields, skeet shooting, and a track and field course. The variety of options at the venue made for some interesting background noise on race day. There was the noise from the skeet shooting, the announcing at the velodrome and the announcing from the cyclo-cross race (combined with the requisite cowbells and rabid ‘cross fans).

We had a good time riding the course on Friday. Got in a few pretty good laps. Met a few people and just generally had some good sensations. I ran into some trouble with my bike and luckily a super friendly cyclist told us about Cyclodrome – a very helpful bicycle store. We zipped off to the shop and left my bike in the hands of Chip with the promise that it would be ready by noon today… A tad nervous I left the bike and simply told myself that it was out of my control so no point in worrying. Well, Chip and Cyclodrome saved the day – the bike was ready by 11 this morning (turns out the housing on my rear derailleur cable was a bit messed up and had jammed my shifter).

We got to the venue at around 10 or so and hit up the course for some laps and then once we had my bike back in my hot little hands, the late morning/early afternoon was spent riding, eating, chilling out and catching up with old friends. Ran into Jon Safka from www.cyclingphotos.ca. Jon was all over the course today taking photos and cheering me on. Thanks Jon – much appreciated. His pics will be up on Canadian Cyclist later today.

I worked the pit for Marc’s race. He raced at 1:15 and I was on at 2:30 so I went to the pit with my race kit on and was able to cheer him on and stay relaxed for my race. As soon as Marc was done (riding to a very fine 8th place) I hopped on the course for a couple laps. Just what I needed to shake my legs out. Then it was race time. A good day on the bike (finished 9th today). Lots of great highlights from the race and few more lessons learned.

After the race I hit up the Rodale Cycling Loop for my cool down and met a transplanted Canadian – Blair Saunders. Most of the Ottawa crowd should know Blair – he used to race with all the “old” Ottawa guys (Craig Burge, John Large, Pete Meteuzals, and Ross Knight). We had a good time rolling around as he told me lots of racing stories from racing “back in the day” with some of Canada’s finest racers (including Gord Fraser). Great way to wind down from the race.

Then as quick as it started it was over. We were back in our massive Yukon and rolling down the road to our current resting place: Balitmore, MA. Tomorrow we race at Charm City in Baltimore, MA. So far a most excellent weekend. Excellent racing by Marc and myself. Catching up with old friends. Making new friends. Throw in the kindness of strangers (by the way the fellow cyclist who told us about the Cyclodrome, called the shop this morning to make sure our bikes would be ready… This man came out and spent the day at the races and I think he’ll be purchasing a ‘cross bike soon…). Now, it is time for bed. Another good day is coming on Sunday.

I’ve got to say, I didn’t realize how much I missed racing ‘cross until today. Just so much fun out there. The race. The crowds. The friends. The community. Amazing.

After months of training, thinking, planning and fantasizing, it is finally here. The first weekend of cyclo-cross racing of the 2009-2010 season is on. I have butterflies in my stomach. These aren’t the fitful sleep nervous stomach causing butterflies. Nope these are butterflies of pure out and out excitement and anticipation. I just so want to get out there and have some fun on my ‘cross bikes. Looking forward to everything about the weekend. Yep, even the long drives and the lumpy hotel beds. All of this plus the friends, the call-up, the chaotic first lap, the rhythm of laps two and three and the frantic squeeze all I can out of my lungs and legs of the fourth and fifth laps, the cool down, the race stories, the bike clean-up – this makes cyclo-cross so worth doing. Through in some enthusiastic fans, cowbells, new racing kits and bikes and some tasty food and you’ve got a pretty darned good time.

As most of you know I’ve got some big goals for this season. This is the year. I can feel it in my bones. Everything is coming together so perfectly. I haven’t even raced yet but as far as I’m concerned this season is already a success. I’ve made a few changes to my training over the spring/summer. I’ve worked hard on my technical skills. I’ve been working on my mental game. I’m healthy. I’m ready.

This season of cyclo-cross racing really came to fruition with the overwhelming support and commitment of one person: Marc. He is the one who encouraged me to set my goals and dreams as high as I can. When I’m having a tough time, Marc reminds me of where I want to go and how it is possible. When I’m succeeding and taking my riding to a new level, Marc is the first one to point out these successes. To make this season possible, Marc has made a lot of sacrifices – I’m only working part-time (Marc is not), he has put up with my stress and crazy brain, talked me through some dark days, put my racing goals and dreams ahead of his and gently pushed me further along the path. Thanks Marc!

The travel and racing really wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of a number of most excellent people and companies. Many thanks to Vince at The Cyclery for his tireless support and patience with my bike and gear requests. Vince has set me up this year with two pretty smooth Stevens Super Prestige bikes and the continued technical and mechanical support of his in-house expert Steve. Skip Williams of Kingsbridge has helped me get from point A to B with his continued backing of my racing goals. Skip and the boys at Kingsbridge have become great friends of mine over the last couple of years. Outdoor Gear Canada has helped me out again this year with some new shoes, helmet, and glasses. Thanks OGC! My tummy will be full and my body will be well recovered thanks to Clif Bar. Thanks to the expertise and patience of my coach Steve Weller of Bell Lap Coaching I can confidently toe the line. The guidance I receive from Steve regarding training and race prep gives me the physical and mental skills I need to race with the best.

Not to be overlooked is you. Yes, you, my blog reader. My cheerleaders. You post comments of encouragement. You send me emails reminding me to keep digging and chugging along. You cheer me on at races. You really complete the whole circle.

Have a great weekend. I know I will. I’ll be posting race reports through out the weekend so be sure to check in.

Okay, don’t have a lot of time. I’m about to dash off to the movies (Time Traveler’s Wife). But I just had to post this link that I found thanks to Greg Keller’s twitter post. Now, I’m not a big online video viewer, but this is worth it.

Just watch it. It is sweet. Makes me want to ditch my movie plans and get out on my bike…

Speaking of bike. I picked up one of my new bikes today! It is sweet. Yes, I’ll post photos. (Hopefully on the weekend.) All I can say is slick red, white, and black Stevens paint job, white bar tape, red Hudz, white saddle. Oh yeah, this bike is hot. And I’m going to be getting another one just like it next week! I’m super lucky.

Massive shout out to Vince at The Cyclery for hooking me up with these bikes and to Steve for building them for me. I owe both of you guys big time. I guess it will be “go big or go home” in the baked goods department!

Okay, I gotta go. Movie time is fast approaching. Ah, got to love Thursday – this is my recovery day.