Suprise baby!

Here is a picture of the new baby. Click on the link to the right "Bubba's Family Blog" for the full story. No name yet! And the biking will be put on hold for a couple of days, hopefully, I will still get to do my first cross race on Saturday, but we will see.

Bubba

FUTURE RIDER

To all of you out in the GC Connection network, Brooke had an emergency C-section last night. She started to bleed and when they went in, she had dilated to a six and the baby was breach. They had no choice but to do a C-section. They baby was one month early so there were many concerns. Thank goodness that all turned out well and baby and mom are doing good. Brady and Brooke are proud parents of a little boy, bubba jr. He weighted 5 lbs and was 19 inches long. Sounds like a Brooke model. We just pray his VO2 is 80 plus. Betty is going up tomorrow to help. Brady will give us more details I'm sure. Ride safe

Doug

Not Much

Not much out of the ordinary this week. Busy work week and no race. Tanner and I rode with the team for nearly 3.5 hours yesterday. It was a fun ride in nice weather. The pace was surprisingly moderate and we had a big group. We rode into Utah county and came back over Suncrest. There wasn't much wind on top, so you could let it rip on the downhill. I check my Garmin after the ride and 54.1 was my top speed. Good times. Tanner did really well in the group and had no problems staying on. We paced-lined for a while and Tanner was rolling through like a pro.

Some local guys were cross racing in Idaho and Kentucky this weekend. I'm looking forward to their race reports. Hopefully, things went well. It's always fun to check the blogs on Monday and Tuesday to get every one's take on the weekend races. Bart, DrX, Teamrico, Stupidbike Bob, Fox, Atrain and others keep me entertained early in the week.

Recently, I've discovered a few Internet sites and blogs of international cross racers. I've watched some highlight clips of World Cup and other races. It is amazing how fast those guys are. I also learn something every time I watch them race. Little things like how they enter corners, that hardly any of the top guys bother to "step-through" when they dismount and how their remounts are just like a hurdler's trail leg. Good stuff. Looking forward to Heber this week and State Championships the next. I'm an old guy this year, 45+, so may be I have a chance to do well.

Ugh! Rain again!

This is my "I've had enough of the rain" face.

I love my new Radiant glove!

Last week was quite the riding week. I got rained on every day last week! Early in the week I had the funniest thing happen. I went out to the garage to get ready to ride to work. I was running late so I quickly put on my shoes (with covers), coat, gloves, and helmet. I road to work and when I get to work and started to undress I notice somethings moving in my shoe covers. There were hundred of ants all over in and around my shoe. I spent atleast 15 minutes trying to get them out of my shoe and kill the little buggers. Pretty gross!

By Friday I had had enough of the rain. As I went out to ride home it started absolutely poring. As the wind was blowing you could see the waves of the rain across the sidewalk. The rain was coming down so hard it would hurt my face. I passed a few people walking on the trail, but most had umbrellas (an unheard of thing in Eugene). I passed a few (maybe 3 at the most) people on bikes. The first guy turned to me and shook his head and said, "What the hell are we doing?" That's pretty much what I was thinking.

On the positive side, on a scale of 1-10, I would rate my new Radiant gloves a 11! They have kept my hands dry and warm all week. I still can't wait to ride the cyclocross race in the first of November. Hope the riding is going well and you stay dry!

Bubba

Mud'n

Well Saturday was cold, wet and muddy. Pretty good weather for cross. We're all sick and we know it. Betty and JoAnn came to the races and are now convinced we are truly nuts. It's not just the fact that crossers will race in this kind of weather, it's that we embrace it. We almost get giddy. I think we view it as some kind of badge of courage and toughness. If it were any other kind of cycling, it would be miserable. However, when it's cross, it's fun.

Doug raced early in the cold rain with the course not too bad. However, by the end of his race it was getting muddy. Two races later, Tanner's group faced light rain and lots of mud. My race after Tanner's enjoyed warmer temps and little rain. However, the course was a mess. There were a couple of sections that were a victory just to ride.

Doug did great and finished in the middle of a very big C group again. He's doing really well and enjoying the experience. By the end of the season, he'll be near the front of the C's. By the way, good job to Mike W. who has ridden with us a few times this summer. He won the C's in his 3rd cross race. Tanner dominated the 15 - 18 Juniors again. He had to change two wheels during the race and still was way ahead. He may give the men's C's a go one of these weeks. I had an OK race. I had a bad start and couple of mistakes that put me in the middle of the pack. However, I clawed my way back to 4th and just ran out of laps. With a couple of more laps, I would have gotten to 3rd and may be even 2nd.

After church this afternoon, I went over to Wheeler and saw the finish of today's race. It was kind of strange to watch and wonder where I would have finished. The course conditions were nearly perfect. It was a lot easier watching, that's for sure. There was some serious suffering going on. A typical cross race. One thing is for sure, Bart G. goes really fast and made it look very easy. I talked with him 5 seconds after he finished and he was hardly breathing hard. Impressive.

Ther is no race this coming Saturday, so we'll have a good group ride in SLC. Come on down for the fun.

Its Cyclocross? I Thought it was Cyclothrough!

Hello to you all! We haven't seen much of everyone since the big L. I've always wanted to try the cyclocross racing, but no skills always adds a ray of doubt for us old types. I decided to sneak out to the Rmr race last weekend and give it a try. I didn't want to tell anyone, just in case I woosed out. I thought I got there early but by the time I got on the bike and registered they were lining up to start the race. What a great confidence builder when I look around and have no idea where I'm going or what to do. Betty defines this as stupid, probably so. My wrist is still hurting from my header last month, so I don't even know if I can lift the bike over a barrier, let alone climb a grass hill. So I'm thinking what the heck, go for it, so I gased it hard off the line top ten and go flying into the grass corner only thinking I'm going to wipe out the course on the first turn. Fear is a great motivator as I kept it up right thinking this is nuts. It then goes up the race track, turns 180 and back through the grass. It is only then that I realize there are the double barriers coming quickly. I know I my mind what I need to do but having never raced or gone over more the 5 barriers I start to get worried, especially with the field all around me trying to run me over. As the barrier approached I realize we are flying, so I fling the right leg over thinking I can coast and then do my thing over the wall. With the speed I just got my leg over the bike and was there. The next phase you needed to be there to gain the full joy. I went to click out and it wouldn't let me out, next thing I know I am eating the barrier and my bike is flying into the next one. Unfortunately for those trailing me I became an added barrier to jump. By the time I got up and got the bike working I went from 10th to 25th, and
what anticipation I had for the immediate next barrier. I did make it over and started my adventure around the course. I was laughing so hard I had a hard keeping the bike upright, or was it all this gravel and someone put a stairway in the middle of the race course. Little did I know that that was the least of my problems as I went down a sidewalk I could see everyone was riding and climbing up a 45 degree grass hill. I got close and hopped of and pushed the bike up the hill only to find I was expected to get back on with a 45 degree camber away from my mounting side. I can't get on from the right so it was a leap of faith to get on the bike and not slide off the hill. It was then around a sharp corner and back to the start. At this point in my cx racing career I thought that should be enough, but then I thought how can the next one be any worse. So away I go! I was feeling much better when I got over the barriers and up the grass again only to find I got a flat somewhere. I was close to my car so I went over and fixed the flat and then the tough decision! Back on the course or in the truck. I figured I wouldn't even have to tell anyone that I tried, but the GORDY in us all made me go back and I even passed a few guys and raced to the end taking 25 out of 40. I will return ,I loved the whole deal. Ride safe.
DOUG

Small World!

It is good to hear that everyone is well. Daren, your post got me excited for my first cyclocross race in November. I have been practicing a few dismounts and they are a lot harder than they look. Popping your foot out at the last minute is going to take some practice. There is a great article in this months Velonews about cyclocross and the strategies for mounting and dismounting. It has been a pretty rainy October, and it looks like it will continue to be.

I was reading on Velonews.com and came across an article that say Ogden is being considered as the new location for US Cycling. What are the chances of that? I think it is pretty cool! Here is the link for the article: http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13531.0.html

Bubba

Intensity

Cyclocross is an intense sport. It taxes you physically, mentally and emotionally. Even if you are in the mid or back of the pack, you are testing yourself. It is difficult to explain the feelings of cross racing to someone who hasn't done it. In our artificial, digital, virtual, impersonal world, cross racing is very real, deeply felt and very personal. It is a primal release that I need to remain sane. In an hour of racing, you can feel everything from elation to despair.

All of these emotions played out on Saturday. Doug made the trip down to RMR and eased into the C race without telling anyone. His wrist was still killing him, but he just had to give it a go. He got the adrenaline flowing and put in a good race. A flat forced him to lose a lap, but he had a good time. His wrist is not better, but you got to keep living. We'll all be watching this week.

Tanner killed the junior field again. He had some better competition this week, but both of the other good riders, crashed pretty hard and were not a factor. Tanner brought a friend who raced for the first time and had a blast. Canyon Bikes of Draper is bringing a bunch of new cross bikes to each race for juniors to use free of charge. Pretty cool. Doug hasn't seen Tanner race cross since last year and was blown away at how much faster T is this year.

I rode very hard and was competing in the lead group for most of the race. I had two problems with dropped chains and a bent seat that cost me a few placings. The most frustrating was on the last lap. I dropped my chain on the remount of the last run-up and took forever to get it back on. This was only 30 seconds from the finish and I was passed by two riders. I caught one of the two on the last corner, but was so ticked off I sprinted like an idiot and was caught at the line. I ended up 6th in a really good field, but was very frustrated. I rode a really good race and put in a huge effort and should have been rewarded with a top 3 placing. I've relived the race all weekend and have found a bunch of things to do better next week at Ogden. Bring it on.

The best part of Saturday was JoAnn took the day off work and came to the races. It was great to have her there. She took a bunch of really good pictures. Here's some of them. There's more good ones of me because she was too into Tanner's race to take many pictures. Go figure.

Sniffing Glue

I'm racing on tubular tires and wheels for the first time this year. They are great. I love the cross tires and the ability to run really low tire pressure. I had been using Tufo glue tape with road tires this summer and with the first mounting of cross tires this fall. Mounting was easy and they seemed to be holding up well. However, after everything dried out from Saturday's mud, the tires on my bike and Chrispy's tires Tanner is using easily rolled off the rim. Not good.

Therefore, I spent this week gluing two sets of wheels the old fashion way. I now feel like I've earned the right to use tubulars. I took the conservative approach applying 3 coats of glue over 3 days. After a total of 6 hours in the garage playing with glue, I now have 4 solidly mounted tires. What a pain. However, the process went well and I'm now ready to rock. Cross at RMR tomorrow!

Daren

Giving it a shot

After hearing all about cyclocross from Daren I am going to give it a try. There is a race here in Eugene at the first of November. I am pretty excited to give it a shot. We will see how it goes. It has been pretty rainy lately and I'm not looking forward to riding in the dark and rain. I have already had a crash in the dark and rain. I was going to work in the morning, hit a piece of a tree and slammed on the ground. It left me a little sore, but I was alright. This is a picture of what it looked like out my window on Friday before I road home, I bet it makes you jealous that I get all the fun!

Help

Bub,
Russ needs you to take off Louie from GC, and then reastablished as Russ. For some reason he can't post as Louie.
Thanks
sutt

This is Cross Racing

Saturday dawned cold and wet. Perfect cross weather. Driving up to Heber, Tanner and I were getting excited as we passed through snow squalls. The race course was actually in pretty good shape other than one long 6" deep mud bog. During the racing, we had temps in the 30's and 40's, sun, rain, hail and snow. The team was out in force and we had a great showing. Kevin Wilde had the B's won but misunderstood where the finish line was and sat up to finish 3rd. Tanner dominated the 15 - 18 juniors for a big win. Dave and Eric when 8th and 9th in the A's and Aaron, Steve and I pulled a Mapie and went 1-2-3 in the Masters 35+ A. A great day all around.

Tanner looked really good and passed a good portion of the B's that started 30 seconds in front of him. He's made a big jump this year and it will be fun to watch him race in Utah and at Nationals in December. I had my best race in the UT Cross series. I couldn't keep AJ's wheel, but rode most of the race in 2nd. Steve got to me on the last lap and put a small gap on me out of one corner. I couldn't quite close to him and finished a couple of seconds back. However, I beat a couple guys I never have before and rode really consistent lap times. The mud bog was a challenge. There was no good line just different degrees of bad lines. Dave ended up on a bad line the 1st lap and lost about 15 spots. He had to chase back the entire race or would have finished higher.

There was a good turnout at the race, especially considering the weather. It is much more fun to race when the fields are big. Hopefully, it will continue. This Saturday is RMR and it looks like good weather. Should be fast and hard. Last year, RMR was actually a fun venue. I'm looking forward to it. You should come out and watch. With any luck, Doug's wrist will let him take a shot at racing.

Here's a picture of the team warming up as Tanner and Kevin raced. With our new team canopy, we look pretty official. We invited Bart G. in to warm-up, but he said it is against his religion to ride a trainer. He's on a higher plane than the rest of us. I also posted a few video clips that Tanner and I took. One shows, AJ, me and Steve near the end of the 35+ race.

No Go

The Harvest Moon crit was cancelled due to dangerous conditions. It was 34 degrees and raining / snowing. There was a lot of painted lines and a big painted WSU logo on the course. As a result, it was way too dangerous to race. Too bad because Harvest Moon is one of the best races all year. Tanner was going to give the Jr. race a go as well. On well, we'll get'em next year.

Cross this Saturday in Heber. I'm really excited. There is a bunch of fast guys racing in the 35+ this year, so I'm curious to see where I stack up. It will also be fun to watch Tanner race this year. He's going good and Chrispy is letting him use his S-works Tricross and tubular wheels. He's a styling cross racing 15 year old.