I started on a journey 2 years ago to honor my best friend that was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was denied a mammogram at the age of 26 and was told to come back when she turned 40. Six months later she was diagnosed with stage 0 DCIS breast cancer. Anger drove me to do research. Research showed me there was a huge gap in funding for mammogram screenings and diagnostic procedures for women under 40. This had to change and this became MY mission; hence, Barbells for Boobs was born in April of 2010.

Barbells for Boobs’ purpose is to provide direct service funding for mammograms screening and diagnostic procedures to the underserved with a focus on those under the age of 40. As we’ve grown and developed our organization over the last 2 years, we’ve established worthwhile relationships to gain knowledge and further our understandings in breast healthcare. These relationships began with local Komen affiliates, not Komen HQ, as well as other community breast centers that believed in our mission and helped us award our first grants in 2011 to small breast health care clinics. They continued to help us develop programs nationwide to provide vital services for the underserved including support for PPH facilities in need. This is not a partnership or alliance with either entity, rather a united front to fight breast cancer and save lives. The funds that we have allocated to various local Komen affiliates from the Mammograms In Action Breast Health Care grant program will remain there – we are not withdrawing our commitment of these critical funds and we will ensure they do the work they are meant to do in support of people in need. It is my mission to stay out of these politics and focus on the true journey of saving lives.

As of today, we are so proud to say Barbells for Boobs has already made a significant impact and the work continues! In less than six months, the MIA grant program has already funded 1,950 procedures, provided services for 970 individuals and detected 25 cases of breast cancer. This is a huge success for our small organization! I am proud of everything we have accomplished thus far and so grateful for all of the support from the CrossFit community and beyond. Moving forward, Barbells for Boobs will continue to work with appropriate local organizations to ensure our funds will be utilized in the right clinics including PPH. We are not stopping. This is just the beginning.

So, today I am focused and re-energized to do the work that needs to be done. Work that I knew had to be done 2 years ago. I am proud to wear my Barbells For Boobs shirts and bear my hot pink colors in the gym and on the street. We are athletes willing to suffer, fight and give back; let’s not let these women down.

My goal is that a woman should never have to see her best friend go through what I saw mine go through. No one should be denied; every man and woman deserves the opportunity to be screened for breast cancer and we have the ability to take action and reach thousands of underserved individuals nationwide. So grab a barbell or ride your bike. Show us your strength and we’ll show you ours. Be proactive and help us Save a Pair. Save a Life.

The stress has gotten to me and I have been a jerk, which doesn’t help things.  Sometimes it is important to remind myself that being a team means that although we aren’t necessarily working side by side we are still working together.  We both need to stay focused to have a good season next year and we need each other to make that happen.

This last weekend was the Griffith Park double header known as Santa Cross.  Since Allison is done racing for the season doing the double header just wasn’t going to happen.  Since I am still leading the points series I wanted to make it up for one of the days, but felt that putting in some solid riding with Allison on Saturday followed by a hard race effort on Sunday was my best option.

Saturday we rolled out into the cool morning air and put in a very good Base ride.

I really love riding with my wife.

I took a short nap after the ride and tried to ensure that I would be as rested as possible for Sunday’s race.  I know I am not on peak form so it is tough to head to a race with high expectations.

Since Allison wasn’t racing on Sunday I dropped her off for a ride in The Gabes with Tonya.  A big part of me really wanted to be heading out on a rad mountain bike ride instead of racing ‘cross.  About the only thing that helped me follow through was the promise of a sweet course at Griffith Park!

The course was challenging with a significant amount of climbing and some great technical stuff!  I however was not really up to the challenge on the day.  My hands and wrists have been getting worse and worse through the season and warming up on the course I knew I was going to suffer horribly in the bumpy sections.  My left hand was so bad I couldn’t really hold the hoods to bunny hop.  This made for really slow going through the smaller barriers as I then was super worried about pinch flatting with no spare wheels!  I told myself to suck it up and thought of the text message I got from my mom who suffered through radiation therapy for her cancer this past week, “Pedal your ass off!”.

Race recap…
First lap:  Decent start, didn’t want to be on the front but was very close.  Hime swerved right going through the barriers and pushed me through the tape on the right.  I had to fight to stay with the group.  Then I made a really dumb mistake on a tight turn folding my front tire and pushing it out.  Remounting my bike the chain had fallen off.  I was no longer in contact with the chase group, Hime was off the front with a good sized gap.  I chased.

Middle of the race:  I chased hard.  Caught and passed people moving myself into second place.  Hime had what looked like an insurmountable gap.  I chased harder.  With about four laps to go Hime started making mistakes.  He crashed on a grass corner.  The gap was coming down as I was drilling it with Dave McNeal on my wheel.  I am pretty sure that at one point Hime had to pit and we had now formed a group of three.  I could now sit in some.

Two to go:  I attack going through the Start/Finish and take the lead.  It was mostly to see if I could gap them off in the corners.  I knew they would match my pace on the straight climbs by drafting.  Hime took the lead back going over the small barriers and threw a shoulder at me as he went by.  My ultra conservative approach to the barriers section was costing me a couple seconds every lap but I couldn’t afford to pinch flat and my left hand was totally useless and could hardly work the brakes let alone bunny hop.  It looked like it was going to come down to a sprint finish.

Last lap:  Hime attacked brutally going through Start/Finish.  I matched it.  Going through the barriers he had about 2 meters on me.  Remounting I missed my pedal and it looked like I might have lost it at that point.  He had probably 10 meters after the barriers and I cut that in half by the top of the course.  I closed a bit more going through the tight grass turns and was within 2 meters again as we hit a high speed gravel right hand sweeper.  This corner seemed to be getting looser as the race went on for some reason and Hime pushed it too hard.  He went down hard.  The attacks had opened a small gap to Dave McNeal so from that point I just tried to stay smooth and mistake free.  I crossed the line a few seconds up on second and nearly 15 up on third, double fist pump, another win!

Race Results

Huge thanks to all the people that cheer for me.  Hime had a huge cheering section, but people like Carolyn Reeves and Brent Prenzlow were reminding me that there are people in my corner too.  I appreciate it very much!!!!!

This has been a very long season and it has taken it’s toll.  I am tired and sore and nursing injuries while trying to start Base and finish the CX season with a SoCal Prestige Series Title.  Not sure how all this is going to effect me going into 2012.  I really hope I can carry momentum, get some solid base, and race well in the early season.  If that works out I think I will try to schedule a lull and then get back on form for Nationals.  Sounds like a plan, but I am not all that great with plans so who knows what to expect!  :)

Hopefully I can put together a “Year in Review” blog soon.  I think I know what I want to do with it, unfortunately these things often look better in my mind than they do on the interwebs…  If it doesn’t get out before Christmas, hope everyone has a very merry one!

Till then, rubber side down and shredding (or rolling super steady, Base you know)!

Help spread the word. Bikes for Boobs is gaining momentum with the help of the cycling community and B4B Advocates! DONATE TODAY and help Save a Pair!

Huntington Beach, CA – December 7, 2011 – Mammograms In Action (MIA), a Southern California based nonprofit breast cancer organization, announced today that they are launching their first MIA Breast Health Care Grant program for the 2012-2013 grant season.

Designed to support community based non-profit breast centers nationwide, these funds are now available to qualified organizations thru the grant application process. Grantees must be able to administer and/or manage the MIA grant funds to support qualified women and men who need screening and/or diagnostic procedures in the prevention of breast cancer.

The Request for Applications (RFA) with specific guidelines on how to apply for a MIA Breast Health Care Grant is available online at http://www.mammogramsinaction.org/apply-for-a-grant

Mammograms In Action began in 2009 and has already awarded $30,000 in grants to breast centers with an additional $200,000 allocated for the 2012-2013 grant season. These funds have primarily been raised thru the grassroots efforts driven by athletes and supporters in the CrossFit community. The Pink Bra Tour and Amazing Grace Barbells for Boobs events this past October (www.barbellsforboobs.org) involved over 12,000 participants across 395 CrossFit affiliates in 45 states and 5 countries around the globe, raising a total of $600,000 for the breast cancer cause.

“Every man and woman deserves the opportunity to be screened for breast cancer and we have the ability to take action and reach thousands of underserved individuals nationwide, “ said Zionna Munoz, president and founder of Mammograms In Action. “Funding for screenings and diagnostic procedures is not only a necessity, but really does save lives. Our mission is possible, our message is simple: Save a pair, save a life.”

For more information about the available grants and deadlines to apply, please visit:
http://www.mammogramsinaction.org/mia-breast-health-care-grant

People have their opinions about large non-profits. I know I did. Susan G. Komen is one of the largest and most recognized breast cancer foundations out there. So, of course when I decided to make a difference in breast cancer I gave them a call. I had many different emotions with this. I have heard them being referred to as corporate cancer, which is something I was against. I wanted to keep our mission as simple as possible as non-corporate as possible. I was afraid working with such a large foundation that Mammograms In Action would get lost in cancer politics. I WAS WRONG.

This past Friday I attended the Orange County Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Award Breakfast. This breakfast presented funds to 7 Breast Health Care clinics. Mammograms In Action is responsible for funding $20,000 of the $433,351 that was granted. What an honor for our second year as an organization to be able to get the funds to direct services. There is no administrative cost attached to that $20,000. It was the most amazing, inspiring morning of my life. To be able to meet the men and women out there making sure individuals get proper screening motivated me to do as much as I can for their efforts.

We have been working directly with the staff of several Susan G. Komen’s nationwide to make sure we get MIA’s funding out the most efficient way possible. So, to hear and meet the President of Komen was validation of all the work we are doing. Elizabeth Thompson shared her story of how she became involved with Komen. As her voice cracked the crowd began to tear up. It’s true that everyone has a story and hers was no different than anyone else’s. After the crowd left we had the honor of chatting with her for a few moments. She knows Barbells For Boobs, she knows CrossFit and she knows what we are doing. She also knows that we need to make a difference globally. We will and we will do it together.

I believe in moving mountains together instead of throwing rocks at each other. So if both our politics are pink, then why not move mountains together? Stay tuned I will keep you updated on our progress getting funds out nationally.

Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend traditionally (well, 2010 and 2011 for Justin and I so far!) sees the SCNCA Cyclocross District Championships near Los Angeles, CA. So, Sunday we headed north west to Glendale’s Verdugo Park for a day of serious cross racing on a super fun course in amazing weather.

I got all philosophical and metaphorical with myself during my pre-race warm up, thinking back to 2010′s District Championship. I most definitely wasn’t running up a tally of random injuries from mountain biking, and was on a vastly different crash course (not literally) in max aerobic power training, instead of just a bit of steady riding here and there, and some trails for good measure, plus the odd cross race when it fit in with life. District Champs 2010 ended my cross season for last year, and it was back to building up a solid base throughout December (what a waste! Stupid black death foot).

(2010)

Well, 2011 is NOT 2010, and with little speed work or intervals or even hills, really, in the past 3 weeks since my last cross race at Long Beach, I wasn’t sure how the race would go. I somewhat put a bit of pressure on myself so far all cross season to make it to District’s and work to win the title for the 2nd year in a row. My training has been going ok, slow and steady does it, but my nutrition has been on a crash course the last 3-4 weeks with very little light at the end of the tunnel (my own fault, of course). So, due to the lead up to this weekend’s race, I wasn’t sure if I’d be battling for 1st or just fighting to step on the box. Either way, when we left the house Sunday morning the day was bright, crystal clear, and amazingly warm, much unlike 2010 (when it was about 53F for my race, instead of 78F).

I knew at least I’d have fun on my CruX, racing against the local fast ladies of cross, with maybe a few others mixing it up as well.

When we arrived at Verdugo Park we got one of the last few spots in the entire parking lot, a few down the row from new Pro Triathlete and Iron(wo)man Beth Walsh and super fast Xterra, MTB, CX, 70.3 and IM racer James Walsh. I had no idea Beth was racing, but she lined up with the Women 1-4 A group, which is awesome.

To interrupt my own post for just a sec – it occurred to me last night that this is one of the reasons I LOVE cyclocross. There is such a varied and diverse group of women (and men too!) that come together to race cross. It’s the “off season”, and while there are probably more people that train and race specifically cross only, for a lot of us it’s a fun weekend diversion from long training rides, and a great excuse to win beer after riding around in small circles really fast for 40-60 minutes.

I’ve raced against first-time bike racers, 70.3 Pro’s, Ironman winners, mountain bike U23 pro racers, Elite mountain bike racers, Elite cyclocross racers, road racers, weekend warriors, and friends and neighbors alike this season alone! Cross is not just mountain bikers, or just road racers, or just cross racers. It’s a bit of everything – a virtual (or actual!) melting pot of bike racing that’s brought together happily by So Cal’s own Dot Wong – an awesome advocate, promoter, and racer in her own right.

Soo, I got in 2 laps of the course, very similar to 2010, didn’t sweat it or stress much at all, watched Justin’s start for 35-44 (about 75 guys all starting together!), happily listened to announcer extraordinaire Larry Longo light up the crowd and cheer on racers, and then headed over to Verdugo Ave. to get my solo warm up on. Didn’t see any other cyclists out, and while not a super bike-friendly road, the street wasn’t overly crowded and the lights were fairly warm-up friendly. Score!

I came back to the venue and couldn’t see Justin at all, but I kept seeing everyone else in his wave go by. I finally heard Larry announcing the leaders of John Bailey, David Sheek, Fritz Bottger, and finally Justin in 4th. I was hoping he wasn’t too bummed, racing a fast crew of guys that typically duke it out for top-10s in the Elite Men’s field here locally. He was mixing it up throughout and had a solid race, narrowly missing a top-3.

I was more than done warming up, but after Justin’s race they set up the kids race, so the Women’s was a bit delayed. I cruised around the venue and eventually lined up in staging unsure of call-ups (Dot’s leading her own series!!) and chatting with other racers.

Eventually the USAC officials made their way over, and I was happily surprised to get 1st call up being the reigning District Champ. I chose the middle staging box, tried to get my breathing dialed, and pictured myself a missile/rocket being launched as we waited for the final countdown.

Apparently I was ready for it when the whistle blew, because for the first time all season (and quite possibly only my 2nd hole shot ever at an Elite race) I was still on the front row as we all clipped in and motored off, and I’m pretty sure my front wheel was the first to hit the timing loop. No joke – I was out in front! That never happens.

Not quite in the lead, but I’m still IN IT! Thanks to Kenneth Hill for the shot!

I lost the lead before the playground sand, and went back a few spots from there, though in my defense – it could’ve been partially due to file tread tires, which I specifically chose to run despite Justin’s offer to switch out my Trigger front tire for his Tracer. No, thanks!

In the lead in the shot (and the photographer WAS on that side – not a good defense!) is Hungarian National Champ Barbara Benko. I’d never raced her before, and had no idea who it was at the start, but Larry quickly filled in the gaps as I raced around Verdugo Park.

Crossing the timing loop I took the lead and led out the 21~ strong women’s field down the grass straight, around a sweeping right, through a dog leg around a tree and into the barriers. I managed to not lose the lead through there, around a bit of turns, another long grass straight away, off a curb and onto a slight asphalt descent over speed bumps (yowzers!) and onto the grass. We were speeding along, probably 5-6 of us at least, and eventually we made a few sweeping turns, barreled down a grass straight and hit the uber tight turn onto the sand and somewhere I lost my lead and wound up 4th wheel behind a charging Barbara, with Christina and Alexis in her wake.

All spread out – me with Barbara tucked in behind, Dot Wong on the very left, Christina on the right, I think a Cynergy racer in the middle, and Amanda far right? FTIL (Faster than it looks!)

Barbara leads me, Christina, and Alexis into the sand, with I think Jenna Jammer 5th

Gettin’ squirrely! By the time we hit the transition to grass Christina and Alexis had both successfully negotiated their ways around me! It might look like we were elbowing, but I don’t think we were?

I managed to pass Alexis on the next grassy straight, only to lose the spot again on the stair/dirt run up #1, where she here successfully passes me back.

I did wind up passing again on the short climb after this and made it stick just enough to chase in 3rd after Christina and leading Barbara.

I had been trying to take a few artsy landscape photos in the race before Justin’s, and had no idea he’d be taking shots during my race, so I never checked the camera settings. I’d left the camera on a pretty high f-stop aperture (f/20 according to the EXIF), in aperture priority (shutter priority is where it’s at for bike races), so while Justin didn’t get a ton of clear and crisp action shots, he did get some sweet mood shots that I think really lend themselves to the ACTION and flow/feel of bike racing. I can almost feel the wind from the women speeding by on their bikes, hear the chains grabbing teeth on the crankset and cogs as they speed around the drivetrain, the whirring of the hubs, and the slight sweeping of the soft dirt as the rubber tires coast along it…

ZoooooooooooooooooM

I’m tactically not a smart cyclocross racer. It isn’t my strong suit (neither is anything off my bike, or cornering, really. I’m fairly content with straight flat things, or fire roads that aren’t too steep). But, I was 3rd wheel so I sat in with Barbara towing CPT and I around the last 1/2 of the course. The pace was almost benign. Barbara definitely didn’t seem to be sitting up, but we weren’t feverishly chasing around the course out of breath. I assumed she didn’t want to pull us around the entire race. So, naturally, as we wound up back at start/finish I saw an opportunity, and never one to NOT make a stupid attack move, I attempted to shoot the gap between Christina and Barbara and a turn on the course. Whether Barbara knew I was making a move or not, I have no idea, but if it had been a UCI cross race I would’ve been body checked into the course tape and rebar, and I wasn’t. So, either she didn’t know I was there, or she’s a mountain bike racer (what? Just sayin’.). I attacked and for the entire grass straight, sweeping right turn, and little jog leg to the barriers I just WENT. I did what I could over the barriers and went again on the next straight when I heard Justin yell that they were broken off and to keep going.

Christina and Barbara chasing in haste on lap 2

Not having raced Barbara before, and knowing that plenty of women are strong and come back in races, I kept hammering. Justin encouraged me to ride smart and ride smooth, and while in some races I’ve worked on some of my weaknesses while in front, this race I just charged everywhere I could. Loving the course!

Zoom-Zoom! Can you hear the leaves rustling as I speed by?

Had no idea what my gap was, but I knew after lap 4 it was slightly growing. Still afraid to let up, I kept on it, and enjoyed taking the District Champs for SCNCA for 2011.

Had a good cool down spin with Christina post-race, and we made it back in time for a FULL podium of the top-8 women.

HUGE thanks to Velo Pasadena and Montrose Bike Shop for matching the women’s prize purse to top-8 same as the men. Awesome! (L-R: Hannah Rae Finnchamp, Amanda Schaper, Alexis Ryan, Christina Probert-Turner, Allison Mann, Barbara Benko, Julia LaFranchise, Jenna Kowalski)

Was stoked to donn the Bear jersey (despite having a ton of Thanksgiving holiday pie/cake – more on that below)

The winnings!

I had been fairly hesitant a) about mentioning my injured ribs, and b) about racing at all on Sunday. See, Friday Justin and I had enjoyed a SUPERB autumn day on the trails out at Noble Canyon. As nice as the day was I was riding just as poorly. I’ve been having issues clipping OUT of my pedals (complete 180 from last year at this time when I couldn’t CLIP IN – so weird) on my mountain bike lately. So, .41 miles into a 23 mile trail ride, trying to get up and over a rock I wound up not unclipping in time, not pedaling through it, and getting the open end of my handlebars directly in the right side of my ribs. It was hurting quite a bit. Not broken or anything, but enough bruising and discomfort that I wasn’t sleeping, breathing, or moving very easily.

Racing Districts was a game-time decision, though I knew when I woke up Sunday I’d be on the line no matter what. I’m glad I raced. While I couldn’t feel the pain from my ribs (I had hurt the left side 2 weeks prior in Utah when I biffed it hitting a rock and sending myself hurtling to the ground before I knew I was crashing at all) during the race, I sure felt it afterwards!

OK, enough back and forth. Let’s get to the stuffing – Thanksgiving!

Stephanie cooked up an amazing paleo feast and invited Justin and I head to down for the evening. Can’t say no to Steph’s magical food abilities!

Justin and I got up early for a holiday to head out for a 3 hour tour before heading south for the big feast. Rain was in the forecast, so I loaded up on gear and out we went.

Go EAST, child

AMAZING fall day, even if it was crisp and cool out…

About 45 minutes in we were changing up the route so we weren’t late for dinner, but couldn’t really come to a good consensus of what to do. We both wanted to climb Couser, but making a loop of it would likely be too long. Ideal? Let’s climb and descend it. #winning

Complete paleo feast

After an amazing dinner, Stephanie brought out the paleo desserts!

Sweet Potato Pie and Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake, with whipped coconut milk frosting (a dash or so of Maple Syrup)

Ahmaaaaazing. She was lucky she had any leftovers at all!

We slept in a bit Friday morning, which felt more like Sunday than Friday, and eventually, despite being warned and worrying mightily about cold temps in the local mountains, headed out to Pine Valley for some Noble Canyon singletrack.

Yes, it was November 25 and Justin was wearing a short sleeve jersey, bib shorts, and Olefin socks. No base layers, no wool, and half finger gloves. #winning

Hello, chunk

Long after I’d hit the deck a few times and was riding like I’d never been on a mountain bike or trail before… I may have ridden this trail better my first time ever out there, after only having had a mountain bike for 4 months.

Justin needed new tubular glue, and since there was no way we’d make it to Rock N’ Road before closing, we stopped in at local San Diego hot spot Velo Hangar to see Gordon and enjoy an espresso. Thanks for the hospitality!

Sunset as we drove north east to get home Friday evening

And Sunday, well… you heard that part already!

So, 2011 may in some regards be similar to 2010, but at the same time they seem world’s apart. Thus, in my philosophical mind-wanderings I couldn’t help but want to repeat history from 2010, all the while realizing, yet again, that you can’t re-create the past. Even if the outcome is the same, or similar, or what you were hoping for, or what you imagined, it’s going to be different, and new and another page in your own personal history book. It isn’t the same page, and it may not be the same chapter, even if we think it is, or feel like it is, or could be.

Every day is another page in our “history” and every day we write the story; for good, bad, indifferent, the minutes tick by, the sand ticks down the hourglass, and days go by, one after the other. Sometimes we can flip through them like pages in a friendly paperback book, smelling wonderfully of printed paper and ink and glue.

What one year brings, another can take or give away. 2010 was a good year for me, and bad for Justin. 2011 was a good year for Justin, and a bad one for me. Neither of us know what 2012 will bring, but we dream we can that we both have a healthy and happy year, strong riding, and fun times.

I TOLD YOU I took that picture!

One warm Sunday morning about 3 years ago, my training partner and I decided to hike up the top of the world trail in Laguna Niguel. It was a nice relaxing recovery day for the both of us. Mid way up the trail I took a moment to embrace the view. The ocean looked endless and mountains felt so close that I could touch them. I knew why this trail was called “Top of the World”. I took a deep breath and continued up. From the corner of my eye all I could see was tires. Then before I knew it 3 guys inched past me going down the trail on bikes. I looked back in amazement. I was having a hard enough time walking and these men were smashing down the trail on a bike. I was instantly intrigued.

Fast forward, 3 years later I find myself climbing a mountain on a bike. If you told me that day in Laguna Niguel, I would be one of those 3 guys I would have laughed at you. Then I would have told you I am scared of falling, breaking a bone and being eaten by a mountain lion. Those were enough excuses to never get on a bike. With the help and encouragement from a few friends and my web guy, I have overcome some of my largest fears. Yesterday was not my first ride, but it was the first time I felt like I belonged on the bike. It was the first time I was not scared to climb a mountain.

We are given challenges everyday. The scale of them can vary between family, work, training and our health. I think the test is how we embrace them. I could have stayed fearful of riding a bike or I could get on the saddle. Not only do I climb mountains now, but I have also been introduced to some amazing people and riders. This exposure has birthed Mammograms In Actions Bike’s for Boobs team aka B4B advocates. Now we climb mountains for a greater purpose then just getting to the top.

Well the first day of Spooky Cross is held later so the pro’s could race under the stars… So saying that my race didn’t even start until 3pm. I arrived at 12 to check out the course and put in a couple of laps… I got there and was impressed with the course. Pretty technical (well at least for my skill level). It definitely had its obstacles that the promoters threw in at us. Including Barriers, a LONG deep sand pit, some drops, a tricky off camber section, a nice stair run up, and of course the AWESOME Flyover!

I warmed up and was a bit nervous but then again this was the biggest CX event I have ridden yet. My wave took off and it was FAST. I was definitely put through my paces. My wave ended up doing 5 laps and each one proceeded to get harder. See the one thing I have learned about Cyclo-Cross so far is that it just flat out HURTS! oh and weather you are first or last just have fun! because it is a blast!

After 40 minutes of pain I finally finished my race. Yes it was tough but I made it through with a bit of help of my friends and random people cheering! yes that helps a ton! Special thanks to my buddy Steve Call and his family who made it down on Saturday to cheer me on! yes it helped! I didn’t place that well but heck I still had a blast!

the fun thing about Cyclo-Cross and an event like this is the costumes…. check out this quick vid…

The second day started off much earlier… well normal race times. I got to the course around 9. I was much calmer because I knew what to expect on the course. Plus I knew it was going to HURT! but like I said it is Cross and it hurts. I was stoked though because my friends Tom and Ralph showed up to cheer / heckle me and take pictures. Matter a fact most of these pictures minus the fly over and video’s were taken by Tom! so THANKS TOM!

I went ahead and ran a few practice laps and warmed up. yup the course didn’t change so I was ready. well as ready as I could be…. I happened to mount up my GoPro camera so here is the practice lap so you can see first hand the course.

So I lined up for the race and we were off.. I was a bit tired from the day before so I wasn’t expecting much. I did go out and suffer though. if you look close at the pictures you can see my face. I find it rather funny all the different people and their cross suffer faces. because trust me everybody suffers. I was a bit more relaxed even though I as tired. I finished up the race and was done for the day. to tell you the truth I wasn’t expecting much. Maybe thats why I raced better than I did the day before and it showed in my final times. we put down the same amount of laps and my final race time was about 2 minutes faster than the day before…. I will take it!

here are a few more videos I took on my new iPhone 4s. The first one is of Justin Mann handling the barrier section. The second one is of Scott Holland handing the same section.

Justin Mann…

Scott Holland…

So that is pretty much it for my ride report of Spooky Cross 2011. I can’t wait for my next Cyclo-Cross race as I am quickly becoming addicted to the discipline! Below are some shots from the day. Thanks Tom again for the pictures!

Allison’s rightfully neurotic obsession with her foot in cold and wet weather makes planning and executing rides more of a chore than ever before.  I am feeling the pressure too, she turns to me for guidance as if I know what she should and should not do.  How the heck am I supposed to know?  The best doctors that we can’t afford are unable to give us any indication of how to deal with Black Death Foot.  These doctors pocket more money per quarter than we make combined in a year.  Surely they should know something I don’t, but they are useless!  We are further confounded by the fact that despite our best efforts we have thus far been unable to locate a pair of Specialized Defroster shoes for Allison.  You would think that maybe someone somewhere could help, but so far it seems we are shit outta luck.  At least the $200 “hot socks” seem to be doing a sufficient job so far, but I have my doubts about their effectiveness when the rides shift to longer duration.  Insulation will become more important in my opinion.  Don’t come at me with suggestions, we have tried them all from wrapping her foot with space blankets, wool socks, booties, aluminum foil, plastic bags…

It is easy to come up with suggestions and say, “Try this…”  The problem with everything is that if the suggestion fails Allison loses 3 months of her life.  It is like playing Russian Roulette only the gun is pointed at her foot instead of her head.  Think about it, if your foot gets cold it dies and now you have a terrible injury from NOTHING that takes 3 months to heal.  Oh by the way, your foot getting cold is only a hypothesis.  It has happened twice before and only two things that seem to be common between the two occurrences, riding bikes and cold weather.

Okay enough of that rant.  Despite all this we had a decent weekend of training.

Saturday we headed up Indian Truck Trail with the goal of riding Trabuco and Holy Jim.  We got up to Main Divide and it was cold.  I could hear the cylinder snap shut on the revolver and the hammer pull back, the gun is pointed at Allison’s right foot.  I pulled the plug.  We headed back down Indian Truck Fail and then drove to Vail Lake to finish her specified volume at lower elevation and without extended descents.  My left Achilles tendon had started to hurt earlier in the day and at the completion of the three hours it was excruciating.  I loaded up on Vitamin I.  (Inside joke for Ibuprofen)

Sunday we had learned our lesson and knew we were going to have to keep training on the down low, the lower the better.  Reluctantly Allison agreed to spend three hours looping through Daley Ranch.  I had a good ride, she struggled I think.  Either way it was much better than having to deal with icy cold wind and rain!  We got a little wet in the last 10 minutes or so of the ride, but not enough to short out her “hot socks” thankfully!

Sunday night was the Velosport Team Banquet so we drove over to Rancho Santa Margarita.  After helping to set up the banquet hall we feasted on pizza and cupcakes.  It was nice to see some of our racing buddies that don’t show up to ‘Cross races!  Huge congratulations to Clint and Marco for winning the coveted “Rider of the Year” award.  It is nice to see people recognized for their hard work, likable personalities, and good attitudes!

It was nice racing with one of the largest club teams in the USA (approx. 600 members), but I look forward to next year racing on the new Bikes 4 Boobs / Rock N’ Road Cyclery team.  I think it will be great to sport new colors and to work for something bigger than a “trophy”.  Helping to detect cancer early for people who can’t afford screenings is certainly a worthy cause!  I ride with purpose.  Save a pair, save a life!