Halloween Cyclocross

Yesterday was the annual Cross Crusade Halloween Costume Cyclocross Race. This is one of the most fun and outrageous events of it's kind, anywhere. I had a blast. The costumes were fantastic (though not all aerodynamic), but the racing was still very intense. I ended up doing well (6th in the Masters Category C) despite a crash that bent my derailleur and prevented me from shifting properly for the last lap. I have more pictures from the race posted at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wanderingroad/

Cyclocross Racing!!

The cyclocross season is in full swing now and I really am having trouble thinking about anything else these days. I have been racing for my new team, Organic Athlete, for about a month and a half now and I have four 'cross races under my belt. I started out in the beginner category and did really well (10th place in my first race, 2nd in my next, and 7th out of a field of 147 in my third despite getting a flat right at the start and fighting my way up from about 60th place). Last week I moved up a harder category and again had a great race, finishing in 20th place out of 125 people. I was in the top 10 or 15 about 2/3 of the way into that race when I got a flat and had to cruise into the pit area on my rim. There were so many folks racing that I could not find my set of pit wheels among the 70 or so sets. I lost several places that way. This weekend we have two races in Astoria, Oregon. With any luck my tires will stay inflated and I'll find out what I'm really capable of!!

Trip to Yellowstone

I just got back from a great trip to Yellowstone National Park with my friend Mary. Neither of us had been there before and we had an absolute blast! What a fantastic place. All of the geo-thermal activity blew my mind, from the bubbling mud pots to the spouting geysers. We stayed a night at the Old Faithful Lodge and ended up wandering around that area for most of the day. The highlight of the trip for me though was the wildlife. We got really good, up close looks at all of the charismatic Yellowstone widlife life, with the exception of bears. But, our wolf sighting made up for it. We watched a pack of wolves for almost ten minutes as they trotted up the road in front of us and walked through the woods beside my truck. Mary took the picture above from the window of the truck. The wolf was peeing on a tree barely 30 ft from us!