Hmm, second post in as many days. Can you tell that the wonders of cyclo-cross are right around the corner? Some of us have been waiting all summer for this. Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been waiting since February.

Got out for a wicked ride on the ‘cross bike today. On the agenda were 4 x 1 minute max intervals. Fun. In a kind of twisted sort of way. Really, I had a blast. It was way more fun and challenging to do these efforts in the woods than on the road. The one minute still felt like it lasted an hour. But the speed and sensory overload of trying to process the trees, roots, twists and turns while feeling like I was going to blow, was worth it. Chased this with one of my favorite little training loops – it gives me three dismounts per lap, a steep sharp climb, a false flat, fast descent, three bridges, and a chance to practice lifting my front wheel – oh and some tight twisty single track. Fun times. After ripping around this stuff for a while, I was off to the sandbox.

Yep, need to practice my sand riding skills. Need to work on keeping the legs turning over at a fast cadence. No better place to do this than in the kids sandbox. Getting better. Feeling more confident. Still work to do. But I suppose this is the real deal. Even the best of the best have work to do. I’m relieved. I’ve come pretty far this summer but there is still more that I need to improve on. This is a good thing. It will be a sad day when I can’t learn anything else or get any stronger.

So most of you have probably got your racing plans ironed out. Well, to help you out if you’re still not sure what is what, check out the OBC Cyclo-Cross racing schedule. Once again, Bob, Cheryl, Ian, and their trusty volunteer crew are giving up their Sunday mornings so we can race our bikes. Thanks guys – this series means so much to many people. Especially me – the OBC Cyclo-Cross series is where I got my first taste of bike racing and ‘cross racing. I remember when it was a small but tough crew of 25 or so of us out racing. I was on my Specialized Rockhopper with toe clips. We had only one race. I got to line up with the likes of Bill Hurley and Kris Westwood, who were dominating the ‘cross scene back in the day (this would be the mid-90s). Not to mention a young dynamo by the name of Matthew Johnson – yep same dude who can be sitting in the Garmin team car at the Tour de France. Can’t say enough about this local series. It really did and still does set the standard for cyclo-cross in Ontario. My only regret is that I probably won’t get to race in any of the local races this year. But don’t worry – I’ll be keeping tabs on the results and will be sending you some speedy vibes every Sunday morning. Please get out and attend the registration night on Sept. 17 at The Cyclery – pre-registering will make life easier for everyone.

Well, I’m out. Time to do some serious time with the foam roller. My quads and hamstrings are feeling the effects of today’s efforts – not to mention the 30 minute run I did after the ride. No rest for the wicked I suppose! Have a good one.

Today was one of those days on the bike that I truly cherish. Having all day to get the training ride in, there was no harried breakfast and rushing out the door to train followed by the mad dash to the office to only sit and stare out my window at the glorious blue sky. Today was the complete opposite. A little bit of a sleep-in, could have done with longer but a certain grey cat needed his food…

A linger over my new favorite breakfast concoction of oat bran, almond milk, chopped apple, cinnamon and cottage cheese. An extra mug of chai tea and some liberal web surfing helped ease me into my day. With nothing on the agenda, I took advantage and got down on the floor for a most excellent hour of power yoga. Just me, Baron Baptiste, the laptop and that grey cat. My mind was calm and my body was flowing with restorative energy. Pretty darn nice for a Monday.

Then the type “A” in me took over and I was suddenly preparing a massive pot of couscous, getting my veggies prepped for lunch, making my lunch and snacks (for Tuesday), doing laundry, putting away laundry and just generally trying to do 75 things at once. Enter Marc. “He lets go for a ride.” Perfect.

This other stuff can wait. Hastily clean up the kitchen – put the couscous (measured out into exactly 1/4 cup servings in little ziploc bags) in the freezer and get going. Pulled on the hot white Kingsbridge shorts with my super fly Ottawa Cross jersey and me and he were out the door.

Amazing what a few pedal strokes can do. As quickly as I became wound I was unwound (is this a word?). Rolling along, connecting, chatting and getting ready to hit the trails. Today is an “easy” day. So off to the woods we rolled. Practice and more practice in the sand. Keep the feet turning. Look ahead. Don’t look at the swingset! Accelerate into the sand. Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. “That’s it – good job”. Wow – how I love hearing those words. Almost as good as hearing “I won”. We rolled along some of our favorite trails off to scout out some new-to-us sections. What a lot of sand. And deep. An excellent place to return to on a “hard” day. I wanted to practice going fast. Going fast downhill. Going fast over and onto bridges. Going fast over fallen trees (i.e. barriers). Onto the “bridge” loop. Ah, the calm of the early morning resurfaced and we flowed. I chased. He chased. We rode together. Encouraging. Discovering. Feeling it.

In the end we were smiling. Smiling in our success. Smiling because of the ride. On and off the bike. Nothing quite like it. Lucky me.

Wow, it is that time again folks. Time for us Canadians to get registered for the Canadian Cyclo-Cross Championships. Can you believe it is the first week of September and we’re registering for nationals? Ah well, such is the price of living in the Great White North.

I for one don’t mind that Nationals are so early. I suppose this is because I have a long season to go after Nationals. It is nice to have a key race early in the season and then build from there. This year, I’ll be able to get six races in before Nationals. This is good. Really good.

Anyway, not much else to say. Except: get registered. Book your flights. Book your hotel. Get ready to go to Edmonton and have some fun

P.S. took the new Mavic Fury shoes out for a spin. In a couple of words: I love them. So light. So comfy. So much cushioning. Like a soft duvet for my feet. Digging the yellow. They match my Livestrong bracelet perfectly.

Tomorrow’s training is all about ‘cross. I’ve got about three hours slated. Time will be spent ripping around the woods and checking out the new trails Marc discovered. Then I’ll come back to my neighbourhood park and set up the flags. Turning, turning, accelerating, maintaining speed, and smiling. Then I’ll toss on the running shoes and do some hill repeats. A lot happening. But in a good way. Luckily Sunday is all about recovery. I think Saturday afternoon might involve a great deal of sitting and sipping tea…

Ah, this is a great time of year. I know that Jan. 1 signals the “official” start of a new year. But for me there is something about September that signals the start of a new year. For me it is a time to think back over the past months and reflect on the good and the not-so-good. It is also a time of renewal – the warm days are dwindling along with the daylight so there is a tendency to set new expectations and goals, attempting to squeeze the most out of the days. Suppose this is why cyclo-cross fits so nicely. It kind of meshes with the feelings of renewal, change and excitement.

An opportunity to start fresh. Who knows what the season will hold? Kind of like starting Grade 7 – not sure what it will be like at the new school. A feeling of excitement and fear all wrapped up together in a fun little package.

Suffice it to say, this is how I’m feeling. Can’t wait for the first race to get here but also feeling a bit nervous. This is good. This is the way I should be feeling. I’ve got to say I am loving riding my ‘cross bike. Nice just to jump on it and hit up the trails or do some drills with the flags. My brain simply relaxes and I’m in my groove. My mind doesn’t drift to my endless supply of “to do” lists, things I should do, things I better do, etc. Rather I just ride. Focusing on the trail, the trees, the roots, the rocks, the birds. Really the feelings that brought me back to cycling after a long hiatus.

It was my discovery of mountain biking in 2004 that has brought me to where I am now. After years of playing competitive hockey, training for taekwon-do and running, I realized I missed nature. So I bought a mountain bike and re-ignited my passion for the bike. I spent a summer messing around on my trusty mountain bike. And then of course ebbed into racing cyclo-cross again. And now here I am. Feeling like I’m sitting on the cusp of a season that has the potential to be huge.

I’ve got a solid season of racing mapped out. I’m feeling good. I’m learning how to handle my self-imposed stressors and expectations. Results are important. Really important. But so is a smile on my face before, during, and after the race. Can’t hardly wait for the butterflies.

On another note, my Ottawa Cross clothing arrived on Friday. Minutes before we left for Chris Thater, the FedEx man arrived with my box of clothing. Dudes, the kit is sharp. Massive thanks to Steve for his awesome graphics work. (I predict some baked goods in your future…) I’m loving all the clothing I ordered this year. Thanks to the generosity of Champion Systems, I was able to skirt the minimums and order exactly what I wanted. New this year for the Ottawa Cross kit are shorts, full-length thermal big tights, long sleeve jersey (thermal and lightweight), and a superfly jacket.

Gee, really feels like the start of a new school year: I’ve got new shoes, new clothing, new bikes, new helmet, new glasses and a new outlook. I’m all set. See you on Sept. 19th.

Just chilling out here in the Hampton Inn in Johnson City. Had a good day of bike racing and bike watching. I’ve got that dull post-race leg ache and an overall body tiredness. Signs of a good hard effort on the bike. Haven’t felt this in a while. Boy, didn’t realize how much I missed it. So a third Chris Thater Memorial race is in the books for me.

I’ll admit it – I was super nervous before the race. I hadn’t raced in a while. My legs felt like lead this morning. I was having some gut problems. And I just was generally nervous. Nervous to race with such a deep and strong field. Not very often I get to line up with the likes of Tina Pic and Laura Van Gilder. But once the race got rolling I found my groove. Took me a bit but I did find it. The first five laps were insane. I was hurting but reminded myself that the pace would settle and that everyone else was deep in their pain cave. So five laps in, the pace does settle a bit. And guess what happens? A crash… Yep, on the hill. A girl swerved to dodge a deep manhole cover – crashing occurred. It happened right in front of me, I ended up hitting the deck. Don’t worry – I’m fine. Didn’t even break my skin – it was one of the slow-motion crashes where you’re looking for an out and can’t find one. Unfortunately, two girls were injured quite badly. The race was neutralized as we waited for the ambulance to take the girls away. Anyway the race got going after a few neutral laps. It was prime bonanza today. I was bracing myself for the big counter-attacks after the primes but it just didn’t happen. There were a few moves but in the end it came to a bunch sprint. As for me – well, I found my groove after a few laps and remembered how to ride a crit. I was in pretty good position for the bulk of the race – trying to stay close to the front and just paying attention. My problems started with five laps to go. The pace got super high and I struggled to hold my position. Ended up rolling in for 29th.

Ah well, more lessons learned. But most importantly, this race reinforced that my fitness is very good. I felt good during the race. Some of the riders were panting like dogs while we rode up the hill. I felt solid. My legs had decent snap. I recovered from the hard efforts well. I was able to close gaps and rolled through the corners well.

The big lesson I took from this race was thanks to a comment Marc made “it is okay to be nervous. Just admit that you are.” Somehow this feels like a big weight lifted off my shoulders. I admit it, I get nervous before races. I really try to fight the nerves. But it is super hard to do. I try the positive self-talk, the pre-race ritual routine, the relaxation game – but I still get nervous. Such is the way it is.

Marc raced as well today. He rode a pretty good race. He countered a prime and then unfortunately he was caught and his move was countered… Such is bike racing. Marc is racing again tomorrow in the elite race. Racing action starts at 11:30. As for me? Well, I’ve got to get in a 30 minute run and 1.5 – 2 hours ride. Yeesh, no rest for the wicked! Guess I’ll be up at the crack of dawn to get the run in and then I’ll ride the trainer during Marc’s race.

Definitely having a nice relaxing weekend here in Johnson City/Binghamton. Our hotel is right next to a Wegman’s grocery store. This grocery store rocks! It has a cafe – so of course we ate there this evening. Pretty impressive – I had a bevy of different couscous, wheat berry, and quinoa salads and a super chicken soup. Marc had a serious turkey sandwich and soup. Pretty darn tasty. The cool thing – every item they sell in the cafe – from the steamed broccoli, to the burritos, pizza, and submarine sandwiches has the complete nutritional breakdown – all the ingredients are listed along with the calories/fat/carb/salt/sugar numbers. This grocery store also has a super impressive natural foods section. I discovered sugar free Oregon Chai concentrate. And best of all – Greek yogurt – Fage brand. How happy am I? Excellent bike racing, Greek yogurt, sugar-free chai concentrate, and a diet Dr. Pepper – makes me pretty smiley.

Looking forward to watching Marc and coach Steve race tomorrow. Great weekend. Excellent way to close off the road season and bridge to the ‘cross season.