And now it's cold.

Been hittin' the cross scene lately with my teammate Johnny Sundt. First couple went pretty good. 2nd in Richmond in my first race effort post-surgery. That was nice and I got the bug. The Teapot called hard the next week so I could really revel in that nice piece of pre-season glory. A few weeks later Johnny (a.k.a Gato) and I went south for a double weekend of UCI Cross Madness east of Asheville.... Hendersonville?? Not sure but one thing was - a-typical cross weather. The competition was stiffer with legitimate cross talent showing up. Justin Spinelli, a KBS teammate of mine, was a dominate force all weekend taking first on Saturday and second, giving the win to a teammate, on Sunday. In-to-it. Motivation this time of year always impresses me this time of year since I'm usually hiding behind highly unfit base miles as an excuse not to be racing. Rad to enter a new scene, though. The Cross scene rules and there was even a random tailgate with a banner advertising free beer. I ended up 9th on Saturday and 10th Sunday justifying the trip with a respectable $166.00 for the weekend. Thanks to Gato and CGSM for covering gas, lodging and emotional support. Pretty much the only way this time of year. One things for sure, driving rules. Especially when it comes at ya 10 hours at a time. We stayed @ the Applegate's bike compound and that was a highlight if I've ever experienced one. Awesome hosts to all the poor racers looking for floorspace. Check out Cara's blog for some good shots of me smurfin' it up.

I botched the last two cross weekends (Massachusetts/Reston, Va) pretty good. Not for lack of effort and desire (maybe a lot) but I just didn't justify the suffering when confronted with actual competition. The cold definitely plays a role but really I've just not been entering the events in a focused state. Not because of any outside circumstance, really. More just general beast confrontation issues. The beast must be confronted every time regardless and I guess I'm just not up to it at the moment. No worries since the season has not yet begun so I'm just grateful that I'm cycling these issues through the system before they become detrimental. Word to that.

The regimen has begun in earnest. Not necessarily resembling anything from the past but new and exciting all the same. Besides, one must enjoy this insanity from all angles in order not to derail catastrophically. Sleep, ride, revel, Pay rent, repeat.

Mind in order. Question everything and fight complacency around every corner. The teapot enlightened my outlook with a great blog quote today. It read: "Don't be fooled, help is not on the way."

Home WV climbing when it was warm. The top of Sugarlands road for those of you with rad local knowledge. Two words: Compact-cranks.

Out for an early one with JB tomorrow. MTB suffer-in-the-snow style, big time. I'm packin' the space blanket and pemmican.