The Team Kit is in

The new team kit is in and I went on an epic ride with Kate in it today. We rode north on 36 to Lyons, up through St.Vrain Canyon to the Peak to Peak highway to Ward and then back down. It was about 65 miles with a little over 6000 ft of climbing. The route was amazing and super scenic. Check it out: EPIC RIDE

On the team kit. It is sick. I was really worried about the colors originally but found them to look way sweeter in person. Kate and I stopped at Spruce once we got back to town for some espresso and food and she took this photo of me eating my blackberry and chocolate scone. Kate got a lot of food....she bonked a little.

Keeping it fun

Base miles are great. Sometimes, however, they are arduous and inexplicably painful. Recently I've been feeling a little bit more of the latter than the former. I've also been fighting a light cold which just makes me feel terrible whenever my HR gets over 165. Because of this I've been breaking slightly from my workout regimen in order to spice things up and put an end to the long, flat miles. Two days ago I went mountain biking with Kate and DH out at Hall near Lyons instead of doing 2.5 hours on the road bike. This was pretty killer and the climb was super technical and challenging. We did a loop at the top of the climb and then descended the same technical route we had ridden up on. It was at this point (me riding a hard-tail Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29er) that I slammed into some boulders and went OTB....twice. Kate got to witness the more impressive of the two instances when I got jammed between some boulder and was still clipped in hanging upside-down. I'm still hurting but it was super worth the break in the routine. Today was quite warm and I had 4 hours planned on the bike. I started in the morning and headed out in the valley towards Lyons and Hygiene as usual but the further north I went the colder it got. Since it was so warm (about 65 degrees) in Boulder, I decided to head back south and head up Lefthand canyon for some climbing. I missed heading up the canyons and it was really great to be in the mountains on a bike again.

Featured Product Archive: February - Winston's Brand Hot Ebrocation

This month's featured product is Winston's Brand Cycling Skincare. Namely: their hot embrocation cream. I purchased this embro at the end of this past cyclocross season to see me through late November and December racing and was quite impressed with the product that they're producing. It is currently being made in small batches by two folks from Fort Wayne, IN. Although many embrocation cremes can keep you warm there are a few things that set this embro apart. The feel of the creme is clean and light and it doesn't leave an oily residue. It also lasts for quite a long time and smells great (a lot like pine). Most importantly though is that at Colorado CX states, when the temperature was near freezing, it kept my bare legs warm and cozy and propelled me to a 10th place finish despite having a terrible start and needing to pee the whole time. The next time you're looking for some Belgian knee-warmers I would definitely recommend skipping the mass-produced stuff and going for some Winston's. They have four heats of embro and also make chamois creme. http://www.winstonsbrand.com/

More Base Miles

It is now March and the season is really starting to loom closer. I've been spending huge amounts of time riding the past 3 weeks and am definitely relieved to finally be getting a little R&R. I took this photo a few weeks ago when we got some snow and I decided to put on the CX tires and go for a ride instead of sitting on the rollers. It was totally worth it. My first race is about 5 weeks away and it is time for me to get my equipment together. My rims came in and are ready to be built up. I placed my order for my Team Hotel San Jose kit today. We should also be having a team meeting soon where I'll learn about what bikes will be available to me so I can make my decision. There've been a lot of rumors about what the bike options will be and they seem to be ever changing. The possibilities are: Gary Fisher (Trek), Trek, Cervelo, Felt, Fuji, and Scott.

I've been putting in some really epic rides recently. I've ridden Carter Lake a few times in the last few weeks as well as a killer ride with Graham out to Fort Collins and back hitting up some of the route from collegiate nationals from a few years back. This photo is from the sandwich shop we ate at in Fort Collins where they had a Velonews where they reviewed aero road bikes. This got me very interested in the Cervelo S-series. Everything has been a lot of fun and I'm definitely looking forward to my last base period.