Another good weekend of cyclocross racing is in the books. Marc and I decided to not race on Saturday and just take it easy for the day. This really made a big difference to our Friday night – we were able to relax, go out for a nice dinner and not feel super rushed to get the car packed and the bikes and gear sorted. We had an easy Saturday morning and hit the road at around 1:00. An easy drive down and soon enough we were settled in the Rochester Plaza Hotel.

We bumped into Rachel, Brad, Winston, and Wiki pretty much right away. Really great to see them – we all (minus Wiki and Winston) lived together in Belgium a couple of winters ago. Amazing to see young Winston and great to catch-up with Rachel and Brad (Wiki is a dog).

As is our normal routine we brought some food from home – saving us from having to go to a restaurant the night before the race. We were able to rent a microwave and small fridge from the hotel so we were set for the night. We hit up a local grocery store for some veggies and ice cream (for Marc the Shark) and we were settled in for the night. Without a reliable Internet connection I chillaxed with the Food Network and then one of the Focker movies. All in all, a very relaxing evening. Sunday morning we hit the road with ample time to get setup in a prime parking spot near the start and get ready for Marc’s 11 a.m. race.

Marc had a great race finishing second position. He and the winner Dan Staffo were the class of the race, putting in lots of distance to the rest of the field. It was great to see Marc riding so well. I’m disappointed I missed his podium though (hopefully there are some photos floating around the WWW).

My race was on at 2:00 so I had plenty of time to relax and get ready to race. It was good to chill-out and catch up with everyone – and of course to get the low-down on the men’s World Championships Road Race – sounds like a great race. Soon enough I was on the trainer getting my legs and lungs primed for 40 minutes of fast and hot racing. It was super hot in Rochester on Sunday – I think it was 30 celsius by the time we raced! I’ve written a full race report here.

Lots of lessons learned on Sunday:
– pre-riding early in the day is great but it is imperative to get out again on the course to see how the course has changed since 9 a.m.
– always check the tire pressure on the course before lining up
– remember that there is a big hill at the start – so clicking through the cassette is not that smart
– keep focus at all times
– when taking a feed during a cyclocross race, the bottle can be taken out onto the course – doesn’t need to be used only in the pit
– downhill barriers take skill and nerve
– look for exits in the corners

In the end, I finished in 9th place. I was in 8th for a long-time – series of small mistakes and some fading caused me to lose this spot. All in all, I’m very happy with the physical effort I put out – I just wish I hadn’t made the small mistakes that really did add up to making a different in my race. I had a few “hairy” moments while descending and hit a number of mistakes – happy to have kept it upright!

Many thanks to Marc for his tireless work in the pits, for the pep talk after the race, for putting up with fatigue-induced crankiness after the race and for being such a voice of reason during the day. Thanks to Conor for cheering me on and for letting me know where I was with regards to position. Thanks to Brad and Rachel for the cheering and to all the others cheering me on out there.

First off, my apologies for moaning about having a head cold. I know there are worse things out there and I was really just feeling sorry for myself. My thoughts are with Rob (aka slowdad) who on the cusp of pretty darn good cyclocross season ended up crashing on Wednesday during training and looks to be out for the season.

Yesterday I was stressing about missed work-outs and being ready to race this weekend and now when I read about my friend Rob and his likely season-ending injury, I realize how easy I have it. I don’t juggle a family and training and racing. I don’t have full-time work commitments that keep me at the office and off my bike. Nope, I’m one of the lucky ones – so a little cold really isn’t a big deal.

Sure it would be nice to not work at all (like a lot of my fellow competitors) but frankly I’d bored with all the free-time! Working helps me keep perspective on what I’m doing – I’m lucky to be racing my bike. I’m very fortunate to be traveling all over the place to race my bike. I’m very lucky to be be able to get out in the middle of the day for my training rides (as my tan lines prove). I think this perspective is something that a lot of us lose sight of.

No matter your circumstances, you are lucky in some way. I admit I’m luckier than most. Anyway, all this to say, it is always good to take stock and really look at what you have in your life and see what others don’t (and yes, this goes beyond bicycles…).

Sorry if this post seems a bit self-absorbed – I just really can’t believe that I have a cold. Why couldn’t I have a cold in May or June? Right now I don’t have time for a cold. I’ve got training, racing, and travel to do – there is no room for a cold…

I’m doing the smart thing and not riding my bike. But this is darn hard. My crazy brain keeps telling me that if I go out for a ride I might be able “sweat out the cold”… But luckily Marc and coach Steve aren’t cursed with my crazy brain – so I’m resting. I’m sleeping. I’m looking out the window at the bright blue sky and willing this cold out of my body.

To keep me busy, I’ve of course got lots of writing work to be done and a few of my favourite shows to watch on my iPad (big fan of anything with the words Top Chef in it and I’ve recently discovered Modern Family…). So that’s about it really. Sorry I can’t tell you about my work-outs this past week or something I’ve learned off or on the bike.

I do have to say that I’m looking forward to racing this Sunday in Rochester, New York. I’m pretty confident this cold will be gone by then – I’m sending it some “get lost vibes” in an effort to convince it to move along. Hope your week of training is going well and that life off the bike is as good as it is on the bike. Cold withstanding – life is pretty darn good.

Well, another weekend and another cyclocross race is in the legs and soul. Today was a fine day of racing and hanging out with good people. I’ve always liked racing at Catamount and today was no exception.

As usual there was a lot of climbing and lots of big wide fast corners – a good combination that requires lungs, determination, and some cornering skills. There were also the requisite big rocks to dodge and trees on courses, but this just adds to the spicyness of the day!

Got in a couple of early warm-up laps and then I cheered on Marc (thanks to Karl for doing the pits). Marc gad a solid race and was in a big chase group for most of the race. With a good ride Marc finished in 9th. Then his second race of the day started – helping me out with pre-race prep.

After a good warm-up and some positive talk from Marc I was ready to go. I managed to make myself a tad nervous but after chatting with a few people on the short ride to the start line I was okayish. Good roster of racers on the line and before I knew it, we were off! My start was sluggish and I spent the bulk of the first lap and a half catching and passing people. I managed to settle into a good rhythm and focused on the next person in front of me. In the end I got outsprinted at the line and finished 8th. I had caught and passed my competitor in the last 200 meters or so but didn’t have the gas to hold on.

Many thanks to the young guns for their cheering, to Marc for all his work, cheering and kind words. Big thanks to my parents for the cheers and photos!

A very big thank-you to Sophie for her very kind words after the race. It really was so nice.

Really good to connect with lots of friends again. Excellent day. A good ride but still lots of things that need improvement and refinement. The best thing about today was that I felt like a bike racer again. I raced calmly, didn’t panic, took some risks, kept on digging and really left it out there. In contrast to last week when I hated doing 5 laps – this week I wanted another one so I could keep on pushing things. So today was good but there are many lessons from the day and I feel lucky to be able to get out again and do it again.

Thanks for the emails, comments, Facebook posts and Tweets – these really do have an impact.