Ovalized Cross Racing (Photos Updated)

This past weekend was one not to be missed out on as Calgary was the place to be for ‘cross racing in Alberta. Saturday night featured the Dark Knight ‘cross race and Sunday was the daylight version of the race, AKA the Oval ‘Cross.

The atmosphere was buzzin’ for the 2nd annual Dark Knight. I was impressed at the 65 Novice racers pinning on a number and taking a go at ‘cross in the dark. It was crazy to see so many racers on this very off camber, swtichbacky course. It was awesome to see.

Elivs made a special appearance in the “A” race, however a broken chain ruined his evening early after being well positioned in the first lap. This disappoint send poor ol’ Elivs into a shame spiral. Overeating a an effect of such a shame spiral so Elivs instantly packed on the pounds and morphed into Fat Elvis. Well at least he won a prize for best ‘glow’ costume. I think it was the sparkly eagle on his chest.

So after a few beers and a late bedtime, Sunday morning brought snow, cold, a little mud, and a lot of slick. Finally, a non fast, dry, & hard race…we raced in the mud! This was awesome for me as I pride myself as a bit of a technical rider. We’re not talking Dr. Smooth levels mind you, but I can definitely hold my own. Well my mad skillz seemed to be doing the trick as I worked my way up into the talented pool know as Alberta’s Top Ten. Mid race, I started see sawing with Paul Tickler, The Fitness. I’d use my technique, The Skillz, on the tricky slick sections, and he’d use that olympic fitness to pull me back / get away. Unfortunately, as the race went on and conditions dried up, my skillz became less and less of an advantage and slowly The Fitness pulled away.

I use these terms The Skills & The Fitness ’cause that’s what I heard while battling it out with Paul from the sidelines. I’m glad our battle was entertaining to the spectators. Sorry guys, I couldn’t quite pull one out for the Skillz team.

At the end, I held on for 7th on the day – a big difference from my Hop & Hurl result of 2nd last! So obviously I’m pretty stoked. I had a fun day of bicycle competition and I’m super happy with my result. And glad to that my top secret trick wheel / tire set up made such a big difference.

Thanks to Liesje for the cheers and to everyone else who were able to express their suprise to me that I was up so far, and then go on to encourage me to keep it on. It made me give a suffer smile!

Is Elvis really dead?

Not Firing on All Cylinders

That’s pretty much sums up how my first ‘cross race back since my blown up kneecap went.  I felt okay but clearly did not have the leg speed to keep up with the group(s).

I guess starting in the back doesn’t help that much either.  But I was riding with guys for the 1st lap and slowly started to fade out…like my engine wasn’t quite getting the fuel throttle I thought I was layin’ down.  I suppose that’s what happens when you spend 5 days in Vegas walking around looking at bike goodies.  That and drinking beer in the street.

But I will not give up just quite yet, giver another week of training and hit up some sweet races near the Oval down in Cowtown.  Should be a pretty good time.  Eddie G is spending a bunch of $$ to put on a great show/sporting event, so I’m going to be sure to not miss a minute of it.  I’m shooting for Costume Podium – top step.  I’ve got some sweet threads to sport during the Dark Knight and I’m pretty pumped about that.

At least I was able to rail the sandpit while Bradley was there to take my photog…

Does this skinsuit make me look fat?…(kinda a little)

Sarns

Another Magazine Shot

This time it a non-embarrashing, cool looking photo. Check out my fresh knee scar…

This is from the sweet new magazine: “Western Cyclist”.

What Have I Been Doing?

Well, firstly, I organized this:

which took a lot of my time.

Then I played a little of that

Hung out a bunch with her

Drank a few of these:

Rode on this:

And witnessed this:

So far not too shabby of a summer…just not enough time to write about it.

Can you tell I’m wearing a band-aid?

Mike

Take a Ride w/ Evan & Roddi

Time to Get Outside

The weather is great, the bike is ready, the healing knee bends enough; it’s time to head outside.

I’ve been dreaming of this day ever since I spent that first night in the hospital after my busted kneecap accident.  Earlier this morning I finally finished up me beloved 2×9 set up.  I like to run a 42T meat cutter chased by a 30T little ring on a 94 BCD bolt pattern.  I find it is a nice balanced gear ratio for my riding.  I have the same set up on my Blur, but my Gary Fisher frame has been a pain to get the same set up (fat chain stays).  But finally, after a bit of grinding to the big ring, I got it to fit.  Now hopefully it works in real time!  One of life’s little victories.

Lately it seems I’ve been discovering lots of cool things, ideas, etc, which has injected 100 cc’s of positivity into my already positive system.  I found out that all the World Cup XCO races are on the internet live – awesome.  Same goes for Pro Tour races – live on the internet – awesome again.  But there is too many things to blab about here but let’s just say when I told Bella all about it she thought it was pretty rad:

Is it cool to wear full on lycra even if you are going slow?

Mike

Skinny Leg Syndrome

I’ve got a bad case of it. Here’s why:

Surgery + 6 weeks of inactivity = 1 skinny whimp leg.

Resolution: Time + Rehab + Pain = Not skinny leg.

So as you can see, like with many things, I’ve become a little impatient with my recovery. But luckily I’m 30 now so I have a bit of wisdom to draw on and I can realize to my self that this is a long haul so id bettet buckle up and settle in.

I figure I’m close to riding my road bike outside but far from shreddin’ the trails. I’ll take it for now! I hope to be spinnin’ the wheels soon which helps me to keep on going.

Trainer pic:

Berkley is my Co-Pilot

The swelling will eventually stop – right?

Mike

Helmet Cam Test #1

While I’m still relegated to riding indoors on the trainer, the weather was nice enough yesterday for some good road miles.  The boys took along the helmet cam and here’s the result.

Does the wide angle make me look fat?

Mike

Patella Rehab

Here is a short vid of one of my rides on the trainer during the first week of my recover from a shattered left patella. I was playing around with iMovie ‘09 too…

Now time to get back on that trainer!

I wonder how long I will have to wait before I ride outside?

-Mike

Road Tripin’

Liesje and I joined forces with the Dave-Kristie tandem and headed down to snowy Cowtown to suprise Stef – her birthday is coming up so we unexpectedly became house guests for the weekend.  It was a pretty fun weekend of not doing much, and like many times before, this trip down to Calgary included a bike on the roof rack.  You see, I’m 100% committed to getting back to normal physical condition so I brought down my ‘cross bike so I wouldn’t miss any rehab workouts.  By borrowing Josh’s trainer, I managed to get some good spinning in.  I was feelin’ pretty good – enough so to start pushing a bit on the pedals – enough to break a sweat.

One weird tidbit about riding the trainer right now is that I can’t stand to pedal.  You see, I just don’t have the strength yet to push my left leg over-the-top so what happens is that I kind of come to a dead stop.  Really it’s a strange sensation.  So I figure this is a safe measure as to when I’m allowed to start riding outside.  Once I can comfortably and effectively stand to pedal will I allow myself to ride outside.  Can’t wait.

I’m happy to say that my leg is definitely stronger than one week ago (when I began rehabbing it) and I’m motivated to keep it going.  Hopefully my short term disability paperwork have been taken care of and I can start being a contributing member of society by going back to work….yeah, weird hey, I want to go back to work for work’s sake.

Quelf Scarf Neck Tie

Boys and girls took separate shopping trips on Saturday – us boys went for bikes & guitars.  We checked our Bow Cycle’s big sale then hit up a couple of guitar shops.  Good theraputic dude time.  Nothing like a rousing game of Quelf to throw your inhibitions aside (except for lipstick wearing…)

So, one successful road trip down means I’m one step closer to a normal life.  As each day goes by, I feel more and more normal; something to celebrate foresure.

I wonder how many times I’m going to be informed that I now have matching scars?

Mike