Time stamp

Cyclocross has started in Portland.

CX meant "fall hobby" in the past to me but that sort of language will get your fixie impounded and manprees revoked around here...that being said, the Butlers and I put together a small crew and went to Mt. St. Helens while Trebon was lapping everyone in Hillsboro last Saturday.

Doesn't that manpree rapper talking on the couch sound like Wells?



The volcano was smoking on Saturday, as live and active volcanos do. Maybe its like a midwesterner seeing a the ocean for the first time, but the whole scene was surreal in a West Texas sort of way...except for the smoking mountain.



Why/How does Oregon brew so many fast 'crossers (aside from the dementia that the cold summers bring)? It must be this thing...spotted at the Wed afternoon CX clinic, which was bigger than most of the actual CX races around the country.



A few years ago there was that Free Sager b.s. thanks to USADA's Tygart. I'm at peace with it now, which is appropriate since Travis sent me a Plaxo update. Thanks dog! Its been awhile. How are the kids?



The past couple of Sundays have been the dustiest, bumpiest, and fastest races I've done this summer. Called a Kermesse, its really a 5 min lap around corn fields and through ancient river silt and organic runoff on Sauvie Island via the petrified tractor track access paths of a local farm at 21 mph average.

Its rough...

I've been riding the mtb with small tires and even then there's something about the vibrational resonance that shuts down my digestion and sends my kidneys into renal failure. Really, I must be soft and weak because everyone else is on full blown rigid CX machines, but, somehow the mtb is worse. Or I'm a whimp.



Vanilla has been stacking the races each week. Kevin, Shannon, Molly....at least they're sharing the spoils amongst themselves.



I think I'm off to the Cactus Cup this weekend. Sauser's supposed to be there...so you can count winning out now, you cherry pickers.