Sunshine and Light

Cyclocross

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 6:05 AM 0 Further Thoughts

Break

Yesterday was Chris's break time from all-baby-all-the-time. He has been awesome about the non-stop diaper changing and baby-walking, but it was definitely time to get out of the house. So he, Soupie, Steevo, and Turner hit the road for a cross race in Maryland. And it was a good day all around. In the B-race, Chris took 4th, Turner took 3rd, and Soupie having stepped up a level in the racing, held in there for his first B-race. Nice job, Soupie - I hear tell that Diane gave you an appropriate congratulatory response. (Just kidding, actually I sympathize greatly with Diane, it's an easy mistake to make). Steevo took 12th in the A race - which apparently Wes rocked the place and beat Jeremiah Bishop. And for the first time in 3 years Chris had a chance to just chill out and watch the race, listening to some old-school hip-hop, and hanging with friends. Usually his race day is race-announce-leave. So this was the break he needed from kid responsibilities.

And for me - I watched season 3 of Grey's Anatomy. Pretty close to all of it. I really like that show, but I'm starting to get irritated with Derek. In season 1 & 2 he was a guy whose life had handed him a raw deal, and was struggling with the decision between love-of-his-life and doing the right thing with the wife who cheated on him. But in season 3, he turned ugly. Life got tough and he started out the door. LOSER. Grrr. Doesn't stop me from thinking that Patrick Dempsey is gorgeous, but his character is going to have to pick it up. Shame about the whole Isaiah Washington thing, his character was really good, although season 3 wasn't impressive for him either. And George was so freakin' wishy-washy. All in all, season 3 was the weakest of the seasons so far. But at least I'm caught up, and can start watching season 4 this Thursday. I can hear Chris's eyerolls from here. I'm not normally a late night soaps person, but I've been watching Hotel Babylon and Grey's Anatomy. Cable tv is the work of the devil, I tell you....

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 6:12 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Charmed....I'm sure

Sunday was weird. It was the start of the cyclo-cross season, and for the first time in 5 or 6 years, we weren't there. But even though Porter is a great kid, 6 hours of driving for the day and a long day at the race is probably pushing our luck. But it was awesome to hear from everyone as the results started coming back from the race. Ethan (aka E-town) took the B-race. Fatmarc won the Master's B. It was awesome and we had a mini celebration here at home. But it's nothing like being there.

But this coming weekend, and the next, Chris is going to take on the next two races. I will be home drinking to make sure Porter sleeps through the day. (I jest, hang up the phone with CPS). So the fun is underway!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 10:27 AM 0 Further Thoughts

No Freakin' Way....

Holy cats, Americans managed to get 3 silver medals at cyclo-cross worlds.

Danny Summerhill (protege of the coaching company Chris works for, JBVCoaching. Shameless plug here... ) took silver in the junior men's world championship. Updated Shameless Plug: Danny gave JV a shout out in an interview with Velonews! Woohoo!

Katie Compton took silver in the elite women's world championships. The DCCoD celebrates tonight as the cyclocrosser they raised from a puppy is on the podium.

Jonathan Page took silver in the elite men's world championships.

What was super cool was that all three races went down to the wire, and any one of them had a shot at gold. We had the chance to watch the elite men's on the web, and we were screaming until the last second. I'm sure the neighbors were mightily confused. "The Steelers aren't playing today..." And for those not in the cyclo-cross know, this is equivalent to some team from the UK winning the Super Bowl. I don't know the stats on the other podiums, but JP is the first US man to be on the elite men's podium at the world championship.

So hooray! The rest of the country can celebrate football next week, but a small corner of the geeky cycling world celebrates today.

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 1:11 PM 2 Further Thoughts

That Wailing Sound You Hear...

...yeah, that's my husband beating his skull against the computer screen going
Why
Didn't
I
Go To
Nationals

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 8:08 PM 2 Further Thoughts

Wowwweee Zooowwweeeee

Photo by DenS (aka Dennis Smith)

Wow, the Mid-Atlantic crew's trek to Providence this weekend did not go unrewarded. If you ever wondered how the MAC cyclocrossers stack up against the rest of the country, well wonder no more:

Masters 30-34: Ryan Leech (above) takes the stars and bars, with teammate Wes Schempf in 8th
Masters Men 40-44: Mike Hebe in 10th
Masters Men 45-49: Gunnar Shogren in 5th, Chris Long (who swings between Mac & New England) in 9th
Masters Men 50-54: Jim Bronson in 8th
Masters Men 55-59: Fred Wittwer in Stars & Bars
Masters Men 65+: Rob Lea in Stars & Bars

Masters Women 30-34: Deirdre Winfield in Stars & Bars, Betsy Shogren in 4th
Masters Women 40-44: Sami Fournier in Stars & Bars (She's Mac emeritus)
Masters Women 45-49: Tammy Ebersole in 9th
Masters Women 50-54: Tracy Lea in 4th

Junior Men 17-18: Nick Bax in 4th (won the last B race in the Mid Atlantic)

And of course those are all top 10s, there were probably a bunch of top 20s that I missed. And they're mostly people I've heard of or know. Anyway, the MAC racers so far have garnered 5 jerseys. Not too shabby!

Update Nice write up in Cyclingnews.com with mad props to Deirdre & Ryan here

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 4:46 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Nationals Eve

Tomorrow is the first day of cyclocross nationals. Chris and I aren't going this weekend for a variety of reasons. But we'll be hitting the "refresh" button on all of the websites that carry info on cyclocross. That includes blogs from
MegA (who isn't actually going to get to race. OUCH. Geesh, Meg, don't do that!)
FatMarc
Chris (Not my Chris. This is the author of the famous Mad-Libs Race Report)
and of course, the photographers
Dennis Smith
Kevin Dillard
and finally
Cycling News
Velonews
Bikereg (hopefully they'll post some results here!)

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 8:08 AM 0 Further Thoughts

WOOHOOO! Congratulations!

A huge Way-ta-Go to our friends JH & Ethan who did well in the Virginia racing world.

Our friend JH took 2nd place in the BAR (Virginia's Best All Round Rider) in the Masters 35+ category, which is super cool as well. Granted he wasn't able to wear that super sweet VA seal on his chest, but 2nd is still amazing.

Nice going, gents!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 1:16 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Capitol Cross

Photo by Dennis Smith, shamelessly stolen from here

Ok, since my hubby (grumble, grumble) won’t cough up a race report, here’s what I’ve gathered. Some of this he told me at midnight when he finally got in. Given I was asleep, any weirdness is the result of cyclocross stories mixed in with whatever I was dreaming at the time.

There was some confusion on the line at the start of the B-Race. The whistle sounded, but as there had be no warning, people weren’t sure if it was the start, or something else. Ultimately fatmarc got the holeshot once all was said and done.

The officials got ticked off because Chris referred to them as officials. Which confuses me because I’m not sure what people call them other than officials. Refs? Umpires? Divas? Normally I don’t bash on officials because they have to put up with bike racers. And that’s not an easy thing. But c’mon….

Chris made Kevin Dillard’s Raw gallery. That may have made the whole race worth the drive.

Well maybe winning that first lap prime made the whole race worth it.

Maybe getting to hang out with Peter and Steevo for dinner made the whole season worth it.

Or possibly getting passed by Dan Brill & Matt Ferrari (he of the fishnet stocking'd win at Beacon) during the race, but then managing to claw his way back and beat them – that made it all worth it.

Or maybe getting ridden into a tree by Matt, getting to pull out the trackstand on the uphill to screw up those following, or not letting Etown push him off his line made it all worth it. He definitely likes the hands on kind of racing, and this race was all about banging shoulders and playing the tactics.

Ok, who am I kidding, his getting buzzed on KY whiskey with his fellow B-racers – that made the whole season.

And getting 4th overall for the series – that didn’t hurt either. The winner for the Bs was up for grabs until today, no runaway winners this year! Chris wasn’t in contention for the top 3 spots, but in one race he jumped from 7th to 4th overall for the series. Not too shabby! It also helps that it was a pretty cohesive group of racers, and sort of a throwback to the old “Mid Atlantic Brotherhood” for him this season. The DCCoD sort of made up the nucleus, with the rest of the Bs joining in. Compete hard in the race, have fun afterwards.

Since this was Chris’s last race of the season (no Natz this year), I have a feeling it’s going to be a long, antsy December. Maybe teaching Ginger to mountain bike will fill that gap. But I doubt it.

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 10:52 AM 2 Further Thoughts

The Blonde's mating call

What's a blonde's mating call?
"I am soooooooo drunk!"
What's a brunette's mating call?
"Has the blonde left yet?"

Someone who shall remain nameless, but I'm married to him, just called me with the blonde mating call. Given he doesn't (normally) drink, that's actually pretty big news. He podiumed at Reston. One of his fellow podium-ees was sporting some Kentucky whiskey, and what's a Kentucky boy to do? On an empty stomach he says he did two shots of 4 or 6 ounces. (yes, yes we'll correct his terminology later). I strongly recommended caffeine and food for him before he got too sick and too tired.

But apparently the whole "fuel for the fire" thing worked for him. He applied the "I don't have a job" stress, and fought back after a couple of guys passed him. He's buzzing along in a happy haze at the moment. A great way to end the season. He says I'll see him sometime before morning as he's planning on hanging out. I'll try to get him to at least write up a race report tomorrow!

Labels: CX, Love of My Life

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 1:12 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Comforting thoughts

A couple of Sundays ago, Chris was trying to get the dog to move out of Chris's side of the bed. After much bitter complaining from the dog, he moved. "You have to be patient with him", I told Chris. "He's not used to having 3 in bed."
"Wow, that makes me feel a lot better about what's going on in my absences for racing."

The dogs have been hyper today. This past week both Chris and I have been working long hours, and the result is that Ginger and Fred are under-exercised and bored. So today was just a long series of walks. First both dogs. Then Fred and I walked to the track. Then Ginger to the track to play fetch. Then both dogs. Then a nice nap. Then walk both dogs. It's 6PM and I've walked approximately 5 miles today. I'm beat, but this last walk seems to have finally done the trick. The dogs have finally settled down, and Ginger is no longer driving Fred and I bonkers.

Labels: CX, Dogs, Love of My Life

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 6:17 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Egads

Todd Leister is the first with the photos online from yesterday's race, and all I can say is...egads.

I'm sort of torn between sorry I couldn't be there to help out, and sort of relieved that I spent the weekend lounging with the pups.

Regardless, Chris tells me that this weekend having people to pit for him was essential. Saturday the DCCoD pitched in during the race to give Chris a clean bike with a lap and a half to go. And Sunday a former teammate, Yozell, did a yeoman's task of giving Chris a clean bike on every lap. It's one of the things that we both love about cyclo-cross: Fight hard during the race, have fun afterwards. Or in the case of this race, finish spitting out the mud afterwards. Can't wait to see the laundry he's bringing home!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 7:04 PM 0 Further Thoughts

How was the race today, Sweetheart?

After one and a half laps, this is what his bike looks like. He qualified it as a very "Euro" race. What usually happens is that a bunch of cyclocross racers get together and ooh and ahhhh over how hard the cross courses are in Europe. How Richard Groenendaal has to run half the course because it's so difficult to ride. Today, with all of the mud, Chris said they ran about a third of the course. Which will give everyone a better feel for how cool the Euro courses are after all. Way to put together the challenge, Guys team!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 1:06 PM 0 Further Thoughts

An Appropriate send off for the weekend

Chris is off to the races in a little bit. To which I can only quote from Toy Story 2 (which we started watching last night)

Mrs. Potato Head: [to Mr. Potato Head] I'm packing your extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes just in case.

Labels: CX, Travel

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 1:05 PM 0 Further Thoughts

FIF!

There are three milestone dates in Chris’s and my relationship that I’ve actually managed to remember all of these years – Our first date, the day he proposed, and the day we got married. Don’t feel TOO much pain for Chris, he’s only expected to remember our wedding anniversary. Normally I let the first two dates pass with just a fond smile of memory. But today is the fifth anniversary of our first date.

Happy fifth, sweetie. To steal your line before you get to use it: It’s been like 5 minutes. Under water. Seriously, it has flown by. My mind still can't wrap around the fact that we've been together for so long. I love you.

Labels: CX, Love of My Life

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 7:45 AM 0 Further Thoughts

Why Cycling Warms my Heart

There is plenty I don’t like about bike racers. Having been around the racing scene for the last 6 years, both as a racer and as a spectator, I’ve seen some seriously bad behavior. I’ve seen people who are so completely self-centered that they don’t care who they step on to further their hobby. People who think sponsors should be grateful for their Cat 3, 4, or 5 presence in a race. People who are given something for free and then complain that it’s not something way cooler for free. A personal fav is the guy who wouldn’t let his son pick up his prize for his race, so that the son could hurry up and get in the pit for the father’s race. The priorities can just get a little twisted with all of that adrenaline on high surge.


But having started with the caveat, I have to say I looove that it’s such an accessible sport. This past weekend, a former teammate of Chris’s finished only two spots behind Chris Horner. In other words, a dude from central Pennsylvania finished only two spots behind a guy who rode in the Tour de France. This warms the little cockles of my heart. This would be sort of like your local flag football team making the quarter finals against NFL teams. (with less injuries in cycling, of course!).

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 11:17 AM 3 Further Thoughts

Norwegian Cyclist of the Year

Er....I love Thor Husovd and all, but isn't being named "Norwegian Cyclist of the Year" sort of like being named Houston Snow Skiier of the Year? It's not like there are tons of Norwegian cyclists competing for the honor.

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 5:57 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Day 2 of racing

And he did even better today! Woohoo! I'm very excited for Chris, and sorry I couldn't be there at the same time. He said at one point he was telling his pressed-into-service pit crew when he was going to take a bike, and a teammate was all "look at you strategizing." But in Chris's case, he makes up for that lack of effortless talent some of our friends have, with meticulous planning and strategy. It's going to make him a really good coach in my completely unbiased estimation. No seriously, who would you rather have coaching you, the dude who can eat snickers all week and still win, or the guy who has to know how to train, how to eat, and what race tactics to use? So I'm pretty excited for him, way to maximize that talent, sweetie!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 5:25 PM 0 Further Thoughts

The race

Since I wasn't there, the only thing that I can say about Chris's race today is

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 10:28 PM 0 Further Thoughts

Oh, yeah

It's looking like I've hit my last cross race for the year. Sorta mixed feelings about that. Obviously I'm going to miss my hubby every weekend until mid December, and I'm going to miss hanging out with the cool kids of 'cross. I like sports, so I'll miss the whole intensity and excitement of sport. But it just comes down to it's not right to make other people - whether it be hotel staff, or people we're mooching off of - deal with a non-house trained puppy. And it's not fair to Ginger, who isn't even 4 months old, to make her sit in a car for hours. Heck, I'm not sure it's fair to Fred, but overall he's a heck of a good traveller, and he seems fine with it.

On the plus side - 10-14 less hours in a car each weekend. Sweet!

All of you with video cameras, please keep them rolling. I'm going to have to enjoy cross season second hand this year.

Instead I'll start turning my gaze here towards home. This coming Thursday is light up night for my township. And since we'll be here for Turkey day and the following weekends, I may actually have time to (gasp!) decorate for Christmas. Maybe even make Christmas cookies. Holy mackerel! It's crrrraaazzzzzy I tell you!

Labels: CX

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 10:31 AM 0 Further Thoughts