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.

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.