Ok, not that bad. Today was the XC. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to feel, and was kind of mad at myself for not getting a sufficient warm-up. Here is the race run-down:

The line-up

I tried to start at an endurance type pace because there was definitely some climbs you didn’t want to be blown for halfway into the lap. A girl also crashed in front of Becca and I, so we got gapped off from the get go. Here is a video Mr. Jeff shot of the first kicker at the start. Fast forward to about 40 sec or you might get bored!

I started to pick people off and passed 3 people on the singletrack climb and another on the descent. I felt pretty good climbing around a HR of 192 which is usually my average for a 2 hour XC (yes, this is actually normal for me. I have a really high max of 212…) After the descent, my body totally shut down. I don’t know if it was what I ate for breakfast, the sports drink I was consuming, or the fact that I got a lousy warm-up, but I could not pedal. My legs felt like sacks of rotten, maggot infested potatoes. I decided I would ride the second lap at an easy pace. So easy, that it was 6-7 minutes slower than my first lap. I wasn’t very happy and got passed by SEVEN women and there was not a thing I could do about it. I wasn’t even breathing hard. I just felt really nauseated, and my back and hips hurt.

I started the third lap feeling the same way, but when I got to the singletrack, my body started to feel better. I was drinking a different type of sports drink at that time, so maybe that’s why? anyway, I started raging up the climb (HR of 196-197) and bridged back up to two of the girls that had passed me. I knew that if I hung with them, I could probably out-descend them…which was a (Borat voice) “Great success!” The race could have gone better for me, but I was happy with how I was riding the rocks with my blown out front shock and was just happy to have bounced back for the third lap. In fact, it was the same time as my first lap.

That performance got me 11th place. I will take that considering I lost 6-7 minutes on that second lap. I talked to my coach and we decided it was a nutrition issue. The sports drink I was consuming contained some protein. He said it takes a lot of effort for your body to digest protein, especially mid-race, and those symptoms very much explain what was going on. That explains why I felt better 10 min after I got a different type of sports drink that contains no protein. I won’t make that mistake again. Nutrition is a tricky thing in that your body is always changing. I have a plan for the Dakota 5-0.

It was a good training race for the Dakota 5-0. Now to get my bike AND my car fixed….

Tomorrow is the eighth cross-country of the Mountain States Cup. Mr. Kerkove and I headed up to Nederland to pre-ride the race course.  The course was delightfully technical, something that is sort of unusual for most XCs.  It’s nice that this mountain bike race actually tests something a little more than fitness.  Admittedly, I’m a little gun-shy on the descents after my crash of shame last week.  I was riding the DH pretty defensively instead of letting go of the brakes and droppin’ like it’s hot. Yes, my Cannondale Scalpel will be the majesty of pain.  My front shock is kinda sorta broken, but it’ll work good enough for tomorrow.  I’m definitely going to make sure it’s in pristine condition before the Dakota 5-0 next weekend.

Yes! time to rage some XC!

Giddy up, Kerkove!

Grrrrr.  Stop takin’ my picture!

Yeah! Git it!

Looking forward to breathing in the fresh, cool Roosevelt National Forest air in the morning…. (at a high respiratory rate) 

My b-day was awesome. These are the steps to a perfect day.

First, you wake up and drink French Press Hawaiian bean juice and eat granola with fresh blueberries. Simply delightful.

Step two. Go for a ride in the mountains with your dream guy.

Step 3. Blackberry Caramel latte… (never had that flavor before…)

mmmmmmm…

Step 3.5
Laugh at the new sorostitutes prowling in packs in preparation for school starting. They were all wearing kappa kappa wine cooler shirts. No offense to anyone personally.

Step 4 - sushi.

Step 5 - Belgian chocolate shop

Step 6 - Dinner with all your fav peeps at Southern Sun where you enjoy Java Porter. Ohh. Java.

Ah jeez. The end.

I made it up to Ft Collins to hang out with hottie extraordinaire and see what sort of road bikin’ Ft. Fun had to offer.  I was very surprised in that it seemed that almost all the roads had rollers.  Unless you wanted to ride the frontage road of I-25, flat is hard to come by.  (not that I am complaining and of course I’m being VERY biased from just ONE ride)  Lusting for the mountains as usual, I had to head in that direction and rode around by Horsetooth Reservoir.  Some flava flav:

YES!  I wonder if the population of 47 1/2 make the best stout beer my palette has ever encountered.  I could smell the yeast fermenting in the carboys in that trailer as I rode by.

I also came across a group ride. :)  A lady corvette group ride.  I had to stop and take a photo.  I am partial to the yellow one.

And alas, today is a day of darkness, a day that will go down in history, the day I turn 25. ;)  It’ll be a good day - a day full of bike riding, good coffee, friends, sushi, and Southern Sun.  The weekend will be full of Eldora mountain biking.  I’m super excited about Dakota 5-0 . GIT IT!

Sunday in Breck. The fam went out for dinner for my bday a little early. It was at this awesome Italian bistro in Breck. To top it off, there was this great Brazilian jazz band playing.

Me and my brother.    He looks very excited to be next to me. 

Breck

MANequin.  MANtastic!

Ahhh novelty stores.  I have a real machete at home…sans blood.

I love Butthead novelties. Uh huh huh huh, you said head.

Then my car broke down, I was stuck there for a day, and I got back Monday (per my last post)

I called AAA at 6 AM Monday morning to get back to dodge. I was dreading the ride back, mostly because it could possibly be really weird and awkward. You know, what you would think a tow truck driver would be like - middle-aged(not there is anything wrong with that), hairy, big old beer gut that rubs on the steering wheel, smoking, tobacco stained teeth, and making lude comments at me all the way down the mountain. Then, much to my surprise, a young guy jumped out and he seemed well, normal. Then I find out that he rides and races bikes, and lives next door to my teammate, Brett Morgan. It made for a nice ride back to town and he has this cool company that I’ll tell you about in another post because I don’t have the website at the moment. I was glad to make it back home after my adventure weekend.

This weekend is a MSC up at Eldora. Let’s see if my legs recover nicely this week. I destroyed myself last week!! Thanks for all the comments on the last post. It was fun. I had my car checked out and it was indeed the starter. It wasn’t drawing enough current, so I am getting it warrantied and fortunately, my friend Andrew from work is going to supervise me while I attempt to work on my car again.

And yes, the Zed 6 is sweet. I scream when I drive it b/c it has over 5 times the HP and WAY more torque than my little lawnmower gocart.

Yeah.  My car broke down.  I loaded my the tough little bastard so I could drive back to Boulder.  I got in my car and thought to myself, “I hope it starts” which is a common thought that runs through my head when getting in it after not using it for several days.  It coughed.  I tried again, the cough sounded even worse.  I waited like 20 minutes, and no luck.  then I tried to jump it.  No luck there either.  Then I noticed that the starter was smoking.  I thought, “Sweet. FIRE FIRE!”  Ok, no, I didn’t think that.  I had to accept the fact that I was stuck.  I got my car towed to the only repair shop in breck.  They were really nice there, but told me it would be 70 bucks JUST to diagnose the problem, and then an additional 400 bucks to fix it on top of that if it actually was the starter.  My dad and I worked on my car and replaced it back in Dec. 

Back when my car died in Dec. No, that is not MY Z06 Corvette.

Poor tough old bastard. He’ll make it.

So I reinstated my AAA Plus so it’ll be a free tow back to Boulder in the morning. Unfortunately I’m still out 70 bucks for the diagnostic testing and 50 bucks for my palace of a hotel tonight. Some of my man friends have offered very nicely to help me work on it for food or a bit of cash. That’ll save me 250 bones. Until then, I’m working in a very nice coffee shop in Breck called Clint’s. I’m going to warranty the part so at least I can afford a cappuccino this week! Too bad my legs are totally destroyed or I’d do another big ride today. At least I have my Cannondale Scalpel to commute around town in style. My camera is unfortunately dead, or I would have gotten you pics of the tow truck in action. haha

It was 35 degrees this morning when I left on my ride.  It was all good though because although it was cloudy, the rain cleared out after I drank my french press Sumatra coffee and one of my dad’s amazing breakfast burritos… and a piece of homemade Baklava that my mom is famous for making (she is Lebanese).  Although it may appear I’m on the Phelps diet, I am not. ;)  The fuel was just delish and readily available.

Colorado Trail.   Still cloudy, but at least it didn’t rain on me!

I did about 2 of the 3.5 hours today on trails. My legs are pretty destroyed after all the hard efforts this week. I was definitely in the hurt locker showing my suffer face. :)  Hopefully it’ll pay off at Eldora and the Dakota 5-0 over the next two weekends.

Snow capped Rockies.  That John Denver ISN’T full of shit for once.

I think that patch of grass down the center is cool. It must have been a rivine at one point…

I saw Gu, one of my very generous sponsors at OR and they gave me some Gu since I’m running out.  This was a new flavor they made just for xmas last year. I had never tried it and man, it was soooo good.  MMM MMM

SNOW on the sides of the trail!

The trail was delightfully tacky in some spots, and downright soggy in others.  It was kind of hard to tell on the downhills.  I messed up and crashed pretty hard…. on my FACE.  I broke my favorite pair of sunglasses that I have had for the last three years (white Smith Theorys) which I am super bummed about.  I can’t get more because they discontinued them too.  Guess it’s time to evolve my look.  It was a pretty high speed crash and the first thing I noticed was my right quad was completely cramped and was spasming from the blow.  Then I felt a lot of pain radiating from my cheek bone.  I have never been punched in the face before, but I guess that’s what it would feel like. The mountain punched me in the face!

Found this on my leg when I stopped, same deal on my elbow, and I have scratch on my face and a bit of a black eye. HOT HOTTIE HOTNESS! hehehe  Blood is pretty cool - the bright red color.  The owie on my face has been becoming more prominent as the evening goes by… fortunately my hair covers it, and it just looks like bad make-up! hee hee

I was a little rattled by the crash, but I still had a great ride!!

I’m heading back to Boulder tomorrow morning - straight to work from here.  At least I’ll miss the horrible I-70 traffic.  It was awesome to spend the weekend with my family. :)  We are going out tonight to celebrate my bday a little early (it’s on Friday).  Italian, my FAVORITE. mmm mmm.  I’m jonesin’ for some bread and olive oil.   Tuesday I’ll be heading up to Fort Fun to see my special guy!

It still amazes me. That is a lot a lot a lot of food. I definitely don’t come close to noshing on all that stuff. I wouldn’t want to invite HIM over for dinner.

MICHAEL PHELPS’ DIET

Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee

Lunch: Half-kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks

Dinner: Half-kilogram of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

..is what I told myself after watching it pour rain on and off for hours in Breckenridge.  I trained all winter in the snow, why am I being so lame in August?  I loaded up my Ergon BD2 with rain gear and some warmer gloves, and tried to dodge the thunderstorms.

Sometimes computer and coffee are the way to go while your bike waits…until you get impatient and dying to ride your bike, and you head out.

Rain storms all around

A mere moment of blue skies.

My original plan before the bad weather was to ride to the top of that moutain. shoulda brought some skis!

Snow capped mountains.

I tried to ride the CO Trail at the Dredge Lot, but Mother Nature denied me.  It started hailing pretty hard partnered with thunder and lightning.  I decided to head towards Frisco and came up on another trailhead.  It was also part of the CO Trail, called Gold Hill. I climbed for about 25 minute before I had to go back.  It was misting, but pleasant out.  The trail was soft, but I wasn’t sinking in.  It was awesome!

Bl-uty Bee uuls (like someone from the UK would say. )

Trail was a little wet, but not wet enough to sink in and cause damage.

Weeee!

I’m lucky to have such great gear.

This was on a truck!! Uhhh… could you like, not stand there and stuff?

Mud freckles! It was funny - the air temp was chilly so that when I was exerting myself riding uphill, my body was steaming. that happens a lot in the winter. It’s neato.