Fontana DNF

Only got to race about 20 minutes on Sunday before the rear skewer broke. I was pretty far from the tech zone so the race was over for me. No more titanium skewers for me, they only lasted about 5 rides. I wouldnt recommend them at all. The race was going pretty well for the short period. Started in the nineties of 115 and was around 40th without too much effort when the rear wheel came off. It was a really cool course, hard, steep climbs and techinical descents. Footage of the race is here.

Fontana

Pre rode the course today. Long tough climb and tricky descents. Its not snowing though. I'm just watching matt clean his bike now. He is saving grams by taking the dust off it.

Bike Rides.

Its getting colder....But Katie and I headed out for a nice bike ride around the neighborhood. I had to have road tires on the mtb to keep up with her. Then she put on her water wings and headed to the pool to swim some laps...now thats dedication. I made chicken nuggets.

Packing.

Here im cruising in for a 4th place at the Norba in Fontana in 2007. Im flying out to LA on friday so we will see how it goes this time around. I had already done a bunch of local races and one other Norba that year before Fontana. This year... I havent raced once. The weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse here this weekend, so at least I will get to enjoy some warmth.

NIT

We went to Manhattan last night for the NIT game. Saw a pretty exciting game with the Wildcats pulling it off in overtime. They head to San Diego State now. Got to see Matt & Sara one last time before they finish their Topeka trip and head back to Vegas as well. They are talking about being superfans and hitting the San Diego game as well.

Check out http://www.cyclingdirt.org/. Its a new website with lots of cool mtb interviews and stuff. Its only been up a little over a week and they already have more interesting stuff than velonews.

Spring??

It seems like spring may actually be starting. I officially starts next weekend I believe. Its been a pretty busy weekend with lots of west coast visitors. We went to Topeka to see Mit, Davis, and Sara on friday, then to KC to do some more hanging out with the Davis's, the Knights, and Andy. Today was a day for bike riding. I had some company for the first part of the ride. Kate and I cruised the levy trail for awhile.

We were walking, or riding, CRRT billboards today.

Then I got on the full-suspension "road bike" to ride the road for a few more hours.

This is something you dont run into on every ride through Kansas. Zebras, very friendly ones at that. They were all heading to the fence to see me at this point.

Twin Six.

Got good news today. Twin Six is setting me up with a bunch of cool gear to get me through this season in style. I cant wait for it all to get here. Check out all their stuff. I already have a drawer full of their jerseys, but now Ill have even more and a matching Twin Six Team kit.

In other news... I trimmed this circle window today with oak. It was pretty tricky, its a circle. Wood isnt. And KSU lost a nail biter. NIT here we come.

Bone Bender Cancelled.

From localcycling.com.... Its not been a successful start to the midwest mtb season. Two straight cancellations. Oh well.

This just in to the news desk: "We have postponed the Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey until April 18th, 2009Complete details at http://www.bonebendermtb.com/

Other news...Gaby A. is going to be a big sister. Congrats to John and Sara.

Busy Saturday

Today started off bright and early. I was on the trails by 6:15 am for a long ride. It was still dark for a little while so this was about all I could see. The trails were about perfect though, and not too much traffic at that hour on a saturday. Actually, no traffic. The first long ride of the year without full suspension, my back noticed.

I had to be back at the house by 10:00 so Andy and I could motor up to Manhattan for DK's senior day. He had zero points. Apparently it was early St. Patricks day there as well, Aggieville was packed with people in green.

Immediately after the game we headed back to Lawrence so Kate and I could go out to dinner and then to see the play "Doubt" at the Community Theatre. It was pretty good, one that makes you think afterwards.

Now its time for sleep.

Velonews

The latest issue of Velonews came yesterday, the Race & Ride guide. On the table of contents is this pic of me from cross nationals. I was pretty excited.

MWFT Cancelled.

From MWFT series website....

Points Race #1 - Oz Epic Cancelled
After careful evaluation of trail conditions and weather forecasts, the difficult decision has been made to cancel the Oz Epic race on March 8. The race will not be rescheduled.
Anyone that preregistered on BikeReg is urged to contact the Series Scorekeeper, Andy Schuette, in order to recieve a refund or exchange entry to another race in the series.
Thank you for your understanding of this decision, and we look forward to seeing racers at the new Points Series #1: Lost Valley, in the St. Louis area on March 22!

Typical of trying to race in the midwest in March. Maybe some road racing this weekend??