Skinny #1 Racing

Well, this was pretty much one of the worst races ever. On the start line, a couple of guys thought it would be really cool to change the race from three laps to four. Well, that would be cool if we were planning on it and prepared, but as it was I wasn't ready for it. I was pretty strong after the first two, but it was tough because mud was jammed in my frame (what a surprise) so I couldn't shift into my little ring for some of the climbs. After that I just kind of limped in to finish. A lot of guys dnf'ed so I don't feel too bad. It was a really tough race though, and I'm glad that it is over.

I set up my hardtail yesterday/today, and looks like I'll be racing on that rig the rest of the season. I already have pretty much everything dialed except for the fork and front brake, which is still really squeaky. I even rode today because I couldn't wait to ride my new rig, which is quite sweet if I do say so.

I just got back from the golf course where I got eaten alive. The best part about living in Colorado for nine months was the lack of flies. Today, it was a constant battle; me vs. the flies. The back of my neck is probably covered in blood and I probably killed at least 500 flies today, and that's no exaggeration. I wonder if Colt's actually showering right now...

I ended up stuck down at the shop my third day home, answering the phone. I guess it's not that bad because I didn't have to do any super hard work the day before a race. I can't way for tomorrow, I know it's going to be so much fun racing in the rain, which I haven't done since August of last year at Brian Head, Utah. I hope it keeps raining, because the worse the conditions the better my chances of doing well are. Last year it would have been the worse the conditions the better my chances of WINNING, but this year it's a whole different story. Tomorrow will be my first race with the big dogs!

I had a great training day on Tuesday. I did four three minute VO2 intervals, followed by a 30 minute threshold ride. I fgured that would be the best thing to help simulate a mountain bike race. I didn't get in a ride Wednesday or Thursday, but got out for two hours in the rain yesterday. It wasn't bad in the woods for the first hour, but being on the road for an hour really gets you soaked. I don't know whether or not I'll ride outside today or just spin on the trainer.

Me and Aggie are going to get her a mountain bike today. I think she's gonna drop about a G, so she should get a pretty good bike for that much. I'm thinking a hardtail with mechnical disc brakes and shimano nine speed. I put some new grips on my mountain bike yesterday. Green Stella Azzura handelbar wrap. It looks cool and it feels even better, even though I still haven't ridden it yet with the new grips. Looks like my mountain bike weighs 27.1 pounds...ouch!!!!! I figured it was around 25, but I guess I was wrong. Of course, this weight is with the old grips, cassette, and chain. I just put on an XT 11-32 cassete and a brand new Sram 971 chain. My bike ran awesome in the mud yesterday, so I hope it is able to do that well tomorrow!

Well it looked like everyone had a lot of fun in California for the first Norba of the year. I've read all the results and have most of the inside information except for the Expert 19-24 XC and the JuniorX ST. What I do know is that the JuniorX XC was pretty lame. 11 kids started the race. My best finish last year was 14th, and this year they aren't even getting 14 kids that enter the race. Sounds pretty lame if you ask me. I'm glad that I raced with a lot of competition, because I think that will make me stronger in the end.

Last night me, Jeremy, and Cole went and saw Silent Hill. It was a pretty good movie, but it was also pretty messed up. There were some deaths in that movie that made me think to myself, "Oh my God, I can't believe that just happened." In this one part, this thing (yes, that's the only way I can describe him) grabs this woman by the chest, twists, rips her skin off her body, and then throws it at some people. And, if you think that's messed up then there is even a more messed up part. At the end of the movie, this chick is all covered in barbed wire, and she is making her barbed wire go out and kill people. Well anyways, the barbed wire grabs this woman and goes straight up her body, ripping her in half. I wouldn't say that the movie was so much scary, as it was just intense. Now I really want to play the video games so I can understand a little more of the plot.

While I've been doing homework throughout the day, I just finished watching A Time to Kill, which is probably one of my favorite movies. Yesterday, I also watched Rocky IV, which is probably one of the sweetest movies I've ever seen. It's so inspirational. There's this one part where the huge Russian guy is training with all this high tech. stuff, and he's doping. Meanwhile, Rocky is running up snow capped mountains and working his butt off, doing virtually the same stuff as the Russian guy (minus the doping) except in the most ghetto way possible. I just talked to my Madre as told her that for my birthday I wanted the Rocky collection on DVD. I think I'm going to make them my new pre-race movie to get me pumped up. I also just downloaded the song so that I can get pumped up in the same way without having to watch the movie.

This week I took really easy, so hopefully I will be completely recovered to start some intense training this week. Tuesday I'm going to do some VO2 intervals, followed by a good portion of time in Zone 4 at my lactate threshold. I'm going to go for an easy ride on Wednesday, for pretty much as long as time permits. Tuesday I'll get home, and plan on doing some off-road time trialing, as described in my training Bible. Then it'll be easy days on Friday and Saturday before my first mountain bike race of the year, and as a Semi-Pro, on Sunday. I have a final on Tuesday and Wednesday, and my calculus test on teusday shouldn't be too difficult. After all, you can't do one thing without knowing how to do the thing before it. There's no way to know how to integrate functions, without first being able to differentiate them. It's funny, because one of the songs from Tony Hawk's Underground is called King Kong, and one of the lines is, "Don't integrate, differentiate." Now I know exactly what that means.

Well, I've got an essay and a take home test to finish up, and Jeremy should be back anytime with my quesadilla, so I guess I've got to get going. I can't believe how much I just typed. I wonder how Todd's arm is doing...

Crappy weather again today. It's been about 40 degress and raining off and on pretty much all day. I had my last two classes of the semester, and it definitely feels good to be done...almost. I still have a little work and two tests to take. My calc final shouldn't be too bad, because you can't do one thing without knowing how to do the other first. Chem on the other hand is probably going to suck. I ran the numbers and it looks like I'll have to get a 88% on the final to get a B in the class, and a 62% to get a C in the class. There's pretty much no way that I'll be able to get a B, but I'm going to try for it. That class is so ridiculous.

I've been watching a lot of basketball and playing a lot of Super Smash Brothers lately. I can't believe the Suns came back to tie the series with the Lakers. I really hope they end up winning, because that would be really sweet. Steve Nash has the nastiest handle in the league. The guy is incredible. Well, I've got to get back to the Cleveland vs. Washington game to see what Labron has in store for us viewers...

I have my road bike all packed up, along with tons of clothes and other crap that I had lieing around my room that I am going to need in New Hampshire. The box weighs a ton. Yesterday me, Josiah, and Jeremy went to the classiest McDonald's ever. This place was clean, had some leather chairs for sitting in, and there was even classical music playing in the background. I was really impressed, especially because they had a bucket full of free cookies that you could take. It goes without saying that Josiah emptied the bucket.

Speaking of Josiah, he just posted this paper on his door that talks about how all these other ethnicites have pride groups, and how they can all call us by racial slurs, but the minute we say something about them, or try to form a white pride group, we are considered racist. It makes a ton of sense and is logical if you read it. The ironic thing is that our RA just put up a sticky on it that says "remove immediately." Our RA is such a douchebag. He's so politically correct and is such a hippie. We are probably the most well behaved hall ever, and he still gets mad at us for using words like gay and fag, because, "as a heterosexual male I find that extremely offensive." Well screw you Skye, you dumb hippie. Nobody likes you.

The worst part about living in the dorms next year is definitely going to be that I have the same RA as I do this year, and of course because Anime Jon is still living on the floor. Anime Jon is this kid whose life revolves around anime and video games, and nothing else. He's majoring in computer sciences and japanese, and he wants to make video games for a living. I hope he fails miserably. The kid has zero social skills and cannot express himself in a manner that doesn't involve him yelling at you.

Like the title says, Happy Birthday Hannah. She's getting up there, over a quarter century if my mind serves me right...

Anyways, went for my easiest ride of the year today. Average heart rate of 127, with a max of 147. It felt good to just chill for a while on the bike. I think I'm gonna ride like that the rest of the week. I start my build 2 phase next week, and then have my first mountain bike race of the season the Sunday that I get back. I can't wait, I know it's going to be so much fun. I also can't wait until I do those XTerra races near the end of the summer. I'm actually gonna do some swim and run training this summer so I don't get beat too bad in those portions. Colt told me I'd probably be the fastest on the bike, unless of course if Matt Boobar shows up.

So I really wanted some tubeless disc wheels for my Azure. Crossmax SLs were at the top of the list, followed by the Stans Olympic ZTRs. The Crossmax are so expensive, so I figured I couldn't afford them. The Stans are a pretty good deal, but I haven't heard too much about them, so I was still a little skeptical. Well, I ended up taking the easy way out by just getting some Stans rim strips with valve stems. Turns out Evan had a set under his bed, so I didn't even have to order them or even pay a lot for them. I already have my wheels set up. I didn't even use sealant, just some tubeless tires I had lieing around the room. I didn't bother getting the tires perfect, cause I think I have some Kendas waiting for me when I get home...

I also decided that I'm going to build a hardtail, because I don't think I'll be racing cross next season. Our conference win yesterday inspired me to want to dominate on the mountain bike next collegiate season. This domination would help if I had both a hardtail and a full suspension. The hardtail is gonna be an Ironhorse Rogue, aluminum frame with carbon seatstays. I'm going to run v-brakes on it, so that I can use my Crossmax SLs. I pretty much have everything I need to build it, except for saddle, stem, and handlebars, which I put an order in for today. I'm getting the new Ritchey WCS 4-Axis stem, which looks really sweet!!!!! I'm also going with the new WCS saddle and some WCS aluminum risers. I still don't trust carbon handlebars, I don't know that I ever will.

My first mountain race of the season is less than two weeks away!!!!! I can't wait. Hopefully I'll have my hardtail built by then so I can have the ever challenging pre race decision.