Just some of the things we do be sides ride bikes. We have our horses, our lawn mower, our blue rippon chickens, the kids have fun in pudding. Chelle and Kennedy going to the Hannah Montana concert. Enjoy!

Well I finally made it, after alot of training and hard work, I made it to contributor status. I know all of yours lives have been on hold waiting for me to put a blog in, wait no more. If anyone can translate what Robby said in his last blog I would appreciate it. I am still looking up words out of the dictionary.

Well I thought you might like to hear about another day in the life of a SWAT officer. We had been asked to assist another agency with a drug buy rip( this is when an undercover officer "UC" buy drugs from a dealer, and after the transaction we arrest the dealer.) So the deal is going to be 10 oz. of meth for $11,000. The deal is supposed to go down around 2:00 pm in the Kmart parking lot. You can already see the potential for disaster, busy parking lot, middle of the day, not good.

So I am assigned to the team that will be arresting the main dealer. I in a van with 6 operators and we are waiting in the Kmart parking lot. I was assigned to carry the all powerful, 28' wood Louisville slugger. My job is to break out the drivers side window if his not complying with our commands or going for a gun.

So after waiting for a couple of hours the deal finally goes down. The dealer is not in his vehicle, he is actually standing outside of the UC vehicle talking with them. We slowly roll up to him and he doesn't even notice the van. I am the second guy to exit the van as it comes to a stop. The dealer has his left shoulder facing us as we exit. I start yelling at him in Spanish to put his hands on his head.

You most people at this point, upon seeing SWAT guys jumping out of a van, give the deer in the headlights, oh sh*&! look. But not this guy, he gives the "let's get it on," look. So instead of complying he turns his back to us and both of his hands go to the front of belt. So now I am just waiting for bullets from my buddies to come wizzing by. As I continue toward him, no shots are being fired, so I start to cock my bat back. I am ready to swing for the fences. Just as I am starting to swing to snap his leg in half. Someone hits him with an elbow from behind. I drop my bat and continue my momentum toward to assist in the tackle. As he is falling I hear something go sliding across the asphalt. As I land on top of him I am sure I am going to see a gun laying out in front of us. But no, homeboy was just about riddled with bullets over a cell phone.

Needless to say, bad guys in jail, drugs our off the street, and I was so close to giving him a Louisville tattoo.

Well I can't wait till we ride again.

Firsts

Well, due to the tremendous pressure exerted upon me through the prodding of those-that-shall-not-be-named, I share in the joy of writing this inaugural post. You see this is new for me, since I have never posted on a blog, not even the one Jill created for our family. For what reason might I have forfeited my blogging virginity at this moment; could it be because I have some delicious gossip, or have ridden a fantastic road race, or wrecked splendidly. . . no, nothing like that would detract me from usurping my typing energies from my students and dissertation writing. Rather, I seem to have fostered some idea in the head(s) of some number I know not, for reasons perplexing even to the most adept phychologist, that I have ended my riding career! I challenge anyone (except Brady) to a race up Snowy Range Pass (here in Laramie), or even a quick sprint up N.Ogden Divide just to prove that I am quite ready to dispel that rumor.

After several harried days perplexed at the origin of this rumor, I have decided i may have been due to my inattentiveness and absence in participating on this blog. Hence, this post provides a second point of proof that I have not sold my bike on ebay.

Lastly, I am signed up to ride my first road race next year in Laramie. After watching last year I decided it was time to enter a race to race (b/c we've never raced Lotoja) solely on the bike (I would likely have ridden it this year, but I had just run a marathon the week before, and wasn't properly trained). So all I need to do now is find a criterium to ride in so the race won't be my first time participating in one.

In all I hope my post finds you all well, that I've clarified my position on the "team", and look forward to a visit with Doug, Darren, and Tanner in a couple of weeks.

Cheers!
Rob

11/24 Pics

JoAnn got some good pictures of Saturday's race.



Dave lending me a helping hand.

DC chasing DH


K Wilde the Caveman.

Steve with Dave Wood in tow.

Team Rico in the corner.

The hill hurts.

The train hits the run-up.

Rico hits the hill.

Tanner going fast.

Tanner showing good form.

T is the Man

Tanner had a great race Saturday at Wheeler. The course set up was fast and really fun. It was also very hard because there was no rest anywhere. Tanner crushed the Juniors and beat a bunch of the B Men. The Juniors started at the back of the B's and Tanner passed all but 11 of the 30+ B's. He looked really fast and smooth. I think it was his best race of the year.

I rode hard and had a decent result. I ended up 4th after a flat about 2/3's through the race. I had a good start and led for the first lap and a half or so. Five of us got a gap and I was feeling OK. Steve attacked while I was at the back of the group and I missed getting up the road with him and a couple others. I eventually brought back Sam but then flatted. After a couple of bike changes, I got back to Sam (with the help of DH) and pulled him around the last couple of laps. I ended up with a small gap on Sam by the end to finish 4th. MK was closing the gap to us, so I wasn't too disappointed to get lapped by Bart just before the finish. Jim from Contender got a head of me somewhere along the line to finish 3rd. I don't remember getting passed by him, but I was deep in the pain cave, so that's not too surprising.

I'll put some pictures up when I have a minute. Brady, good job on the win. You definitely need to move up. No more beating up on the slower guys.

That dumb song I couldn't get out of my head!

I just remembered a funny thing. I know everyone has had this happen to them, but while I was racing I got this dumb song stuck in my head. Last week when Lis and Rob P. were here we watched the movie Rad. It was a walk down memory lane. It was fun to see the old styles and how cheesy movie was. I even forgot about Glen's little cameo. Anyway, to the point of the story. I got the music stuck in my head from when Cru is trying to qualify for Hell Track. It goes something like this, "Taking a chance. Risking it all, for the thrill of the moment. ... (couldn't remember all the words, it has been a while) You ain't gonna fall... on and on.

Weird how those things pop into your head.

2 for 2

The bikes got a little muddy!
The prize was a little better then Soy Joys and Cheese. It was 10 gift certificate to a bike store. You pay 20 for the race and only win 10- go figure!

Sounds like Thanksgiving went well in Ogden. We had a quiet one here. We stayed home as a little family. We didn't want to take little Ethan out yet. He is growing and filling out. We did miss all our family back home though.

I got the chance to race the 2nd or 4 races in the Psycho Cross race in Eugene. It had been raining all week, literally down pouring. But the last three days have been pretty dry, so the course dried up a little. Because there were no clouds it got pretty cold, race time around 38 degrees. It was still wet and muddy and slippery. I would hate to ride the course in the last group. My friend Jeremy decided he was going to race with me and borrowed my mountain bike. The only problem was that I didn't have any extra clip-in mountain bike shoes, so he road with running shoes on and was unable to keep his feet on the pedals.

I was able to manuever a little better, I only crashed, mostly slid out, three times. The first two were in the first two laps and it was the same easy spot. Rookie! The group wasn't as big, maybe 25 riders. I road the C group (some masters groups included) again trying to gage if last time was a fluke. But I lead from the start and ended up winning by about a minute and a half. One guy was close with me for most of the race. He crashed with three laps to go and I took off on him and opened the lead. It was fun to get out again.

Thankful Day

This is a part of Ogden not many know about.

This is part of the Ogden Parkway that is a blast to ride on, minus the puncher weeds.

this seat can be dangerous when your tights catch on it was you are dismounting to run over a log. It becomes a vital part cracker as you hit the log!

Sutt, Daren, Tanner and I hit the early morning pre-dinner ride. We had a ball. Great ride to Fort B. and alot of log jumping and sandy hill riding. It was hard to leave to get back to T-Day dinner and party. Sutt is ready to race if he can figure which side to get off and on the bike. Daren and Tanner are looking smooth and strong over the logs. Look out this week as they are ready to rip . I'm having a ball racing the CX but as a newbee I have a ways to go. It still boils down to watts, of which my old wiring is lacking.

We had a great and busy day. We all have so much to be thankful for. We missed our family members not with us. But most of all I missed Leah and Gordon, the original GC Connection.

Ride Safe, Doug

T-Day

Another Thanksgiving is in the books. I certainly have much to be thankful for. Family, friends, health, a job I enjoy and the chance to race bikes to name a few things. I had a long, but good day yesterday. The festivities started in Ogden with a ride on the cross bikes with Doug, Tanner and Adam. We rode the parkway out to Fort B and did some practice on the course. It was really fun except for the 5 flats. The parkway is full of goathead and we found most of them.

It was the Cottle extended family Thanksgiving this year so we were off to my sister Becky's church for a small gathering of around 60. I say small because this is just over half of the total crew if everyone could make it. We had good food and fun playing games lead by green vest Doug. Next it was off to the in-laws for a quick visit then on to Peterson's where most of the Cottle's gathered again for more food and games. I pretty much just stuck to eating pie all night.

Good times for all but it was strange not having my oldest daughter Erin with us. I wondered all day what she was up to in Uruguay. Hope she had a good day.

Off to ride Wheeler this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's race. We got all the leaves off the grass this morning and the Christmas lights on the house. Now that was a good time!

Strong work

Bub, the slide show looks great!
Daren, great job explaining GC Connection.

The post Lotoja season has defiantly been an off the bike season so far. I've been on the bike all of 10 times in the last 2 months, but I've been hitting the weights and even doing a little running to mix things up. School and Basketball practices are all ready taking a hit on my time in the saddle. Like Daren stated I would love to see what could happen if I ever trained or for that matter rode every day. I 've committed myself to ride every day once finals are over, but I've said that before.
Bub, Doug, Daren, and T-man Thanks again for the strong work on the blog

Rainy Days & Visitors

Daren, thanks for the GC update. Our "Connection" is pretty cool, Doug and I were talking about it today. We probably wouldn't talk as much if we didn't have the bike in common. I can definitely tell you haven't seen me race or sprint to say such things. Now I can never move to Utah with that said. When Brooke and I were reading my bio she jokingly said, "He got one thing right." (Meaning she is the better of the two of us, which she is and I hope someday to get her on the bike). We have had many visitors here over the last few weeks to help with Ethan: Grandma Cottle, Grandma Marcheschi, and Alissa & Rob P. Ethan is growing well. I can't wait until the kids are older, maybe they will ride with me like Daren and T-man.

Rob P. and I got to break away on Saturday and rode in a down pour. He didn't seem to mind to much, maybe that is a good sign since they want to move here for school. I pulled out my old Mario Cipo zebra outfit for him. It was pretty cool. I will see if Lis will email me a picture later. I am planning on riding another cross race on Saturday. It might be cross weather still - rainy. Hope all is well.

GC Explained

Bubba recently installed a counter on our blog. Much to our surprise, more than just our family is viewing this thing. So for both of you readers that check in now and then, here's some explanation.

"GC Connection" refers to Gordon Cottle. He is the common thread that weaves us together. Gordon is my father and would have been 92 this last week. All of us on this blog are either his sons, son in law or grandsons. Gordon didn't get the chance to be a cyclist, but would have been great. He was the best athlete of all of us and certainly the most competitive. He could beat you in anything that kept score. He was a hardworking, honest, spiritual man who I think about and miss every day.

Members of our family have been riding bikes for 20 years. Over that time our numbers have grown and we have spread out. Accordingly, we don't get to ride together as a group very often. Bubba started this blog as a means for the GC Connection to stay connected. It has grown into more than that and that's cool.

Here's a brief who's who.

Doug Cottle. The Doctor, the Pres., The best Uncle in the World. Doug is Gordon's oldest son and a new comer to bike racing. Doug has competed in road, crits, MTB and cross races this year. It's pretty impressive to see someone enter their first MTB and cross races in the 57+ category. Even though he doesn't play golf anymore, he'll still beat you on the course if it matters. My money is always on him. He's a gear head who always wants the best and usually manages to get it.

Kim Peterson. Special K, Pete. Kim is Gordon's son-in-law, the most unlikely cyclist I know and the most competitive person I know (next to Gordon). Kim was an all-conference offensive lineman and heavy weight wrestler in college. Bikes whimper when they see him coming. After a successful high school coaching career, Kim eventually ended up working at Specialized where he caught the cycling bug. Kim will finish LoToJa every year if he has to push his bike across the finish line. He's also learned to hang with the fast guys on the S crew's lunch ride (no small feat). Kim's wife Bonnie, Gordon's daughter, is also a rider when her health allows. Bonnie is the family support team leader at LoToJa.

Daren Cottle. The Throttle (OK, I didn't come up with this. Team Rico gave me this name because I just sit on the lunch ride and never go to the front to throttle it. It's a mocking name, not one that reflects reality.), DC. I'm Gordon's other son and I love racing bikes, any bike. Over the years, I've race BMX, MTB, road, TT, crits and cross. Some I race better than others. I'd love to go to a velodrome to race on the track some day. I suppose I kind of started the family riding when I started 20 years ago. A good day more me is pretty much any day with a ride.

Robby Garrett. The Professor. Robby is Gordon's grandson by marriage and one of the newest GC Connection riders. Robby is finishing his Phd in theology at the University of Wyoming and is the climbing specialist of the family. He is very busy with his work, kids and supporting his wife, who's in law school. Riding in the wind in Wyoming has made Robby tough and he's beginning to realize the big talent he has.

Adam Suttlemyre. AT, Sutt, the Coach. Adam is Gordon's grandson and a junior high teacher and coach. Adam's been riding for years but with a young family and coaching doesn't get to race as much as he would like. Lucky for all of you, because if he could train more, AT would rip your legs off. With limited training, he hurts me every time we ride. Adam's wife Mindi is also a rider, runner and triathlete.

Russell Peterson. The Enforcer, Louie. Russell is Kim's son and Gordon's grandson. Russ is a SLC policeman on the Gang Unit and SWAT team. You mess with one of us, we'll send Russ after you. Russ is a very busy father of 4 and works nights. Therefore, riding time is limited. However, Russ manages to get in enough training to finish LoToJa yearly and has the same drive as his Dad.

Brady Cottle. Bubba, the Commuter. Brady is Doug's son and Gordon's grandson. Brady lives in Oregon and teachers junior high. Brady is the fastest of the family and would be a solid cat 2 if he could just race enough to get some points. Brady commutes to work every day rain (most days), shine or dark. Brady won the 1st cross race he entered this year. Brady's married to Brooke, the best athlete of the family (an All-American high jumper at Weber State). We just need to convince him to move back to Utah so he can race here.

Tanner Cottle. The Thottle Jr., T-man. Tanner is Daren's 15 year old son and Gordon's youngest grandson. Tanner has ridden for a number of years and raced for a couple. He's made a huge jump this year and wins more races than anyone in the family. He regularly hangs with the big boys on group rides and gets lots of strange looks from classmates when he explains cross to them.

There you go. Probably more than you wanted to know, but it's great to have a family that rides. When we do all get out together, it is a good time.

Not Skiing

Well, with no cross race in Utah this weekend, T and I had planned to do some early season skiing. Too bad there's no snow. Instead we did a MTB ride in Park City with the team and some friends. We had a good group of 12. As with any big MTB group, we did our share of waiting but it was a really fun ride. The Glenwild / Flying Dog area was dry and fast. The last time we rode these trails was in July when Tanner visited the emergency room. This ride was much better. T is significantly faster than in July. Good stuff.

Climate change is real and significant. To ride in PC in mid-November is shorts is not right. We've recently began to do something about it by purchasing wind power off-sets and installing energy efficient bulb's. I need to do so much more. I need to charge up my light and commute in the cold, dark winter on my bike.



Getting there early so we can wait longer for AJ.

Lots of guys and one gal in blue.

Chrispy, Mitch "I've got MTB Skills" McBeth, T-man and me.

T in the sagebrush.

More Pics and Tanner's thoughts

My friend Kevin was at the race and took some pics, He then had some fun with the one above, it shows my knew hardware and strategy, eliminate the competition. You also see my other friend in the old porcupine stuff, he took advantage of the free bike rentals and did his second race.

trying to take the corner fast

Getting help changing wheels.

As my father has already said I had a rough day at the races. I don't think I was aggressive enough at the start which led to me getting gaped off the leader in the single track. After that he was out of site out of mind. Then I had the great luck of getting a flat and somehow breaking a spoke in the same lap, I lost two positions which is substantial when there is only 5 in my group. I was kind of depressed after that, so I don't think that I rode my hardest until a few laps later when I could clearly think. In the last lap my front wheel started to go flat again giving out completely right at the finish. I am slightly discouraged because a kid that I beat easily at the first race in Heber has won the last two races. My discouragement got so bad that at one point I was thinking I have got slower and worse on the bike, after some thought I told myself that I am not downgrading my legs, only the little kid got faster. I am still 2nd overall, with some good races which I know I have in me I could retake the lead, 1st or 2nd it is going to be close.

4th

Utah State Cyclocross Championships were yesterday and we all finished 4th in our divisions. Not exactly the outcome we all had in mind. Doug raced really hard and never gave in. He's competing against guys who have raced forever and he's just started. I'm proud of him. No one puts in a bigger effort.

T-man and I had mechanical issues. Tanner suffered 2 flats and a broken spoke. He soldiered through the end but was understandably frustrated. The winner of his group had a very good day, but T would have been there competing without the bike issues.

My race for a championship lasted about a minute. The start was crazy with the A's, 35+ and 45+ all going together. It was a drag race to the first section of singletrack and I was sitting good. I was well within the top 10 overall, directly behind two teammates and a head of everyone I needed to be a head of. However, on the first sharp corner, I went too far inside, hit a hole and cut my rear tire. It lost all air immediately and I rode the rim to the pits. I had trouble with the bike exchange and came out of the pits in last literally 1/2 lap down on the leaders (and it was a long lap). So from that point on, it was a good training ride. I didn't see anyone for a few laps, but went very hard and eventually caught about half of the Masters field to finish 4th in the 45+. John McKone was flying in the 45+, so a win wasn't in the cards anyway. However, my engine was really good on Saturday, so it would have been nice to mix it up with the big boys.

Congrats to Dave on winning the 35+ State crown. I think he discovered a new pre-race plan. It goes like this. Spend all week in California, get about 3 hours of sleep Friday night, fly into SLC the morning of the race, have an upset stomach so you can't eat anything and warm up by slowly riding 1 lap. Then line up and let'r rip for the win.




Doug going hard through the barriers.


The highlight of my race, the start.

My expensive tubular rear tire. I'm no expert, but I think this is probably not good.

Doug had issues with my camera. It was on the video setting, so we have a number of video segments like this. Some funny stuff actually.

Next Utah race is in two weeks, so I'm be over my disappointment long before I line up again. Only three left and I'll be gunning for another win.

Register Guard

This week in the Register Guard, the Eugene newspaper, they ran an article talking about cyclocross. There was a photographer and interviewer at the race on Saturday and they talked to a lot of us and got some pictures. There ended up being two pictures that I was in on the cover of the Outdoor section. One was pretty BIG! A guy named Paul, from my team, was quoted in the article. The article was about the history of cyclocross and the race in Eugene. It was pretty cool!

Sweet Victory - Finally

Indeed it was a good day for the Cottle's! Daren congrats on the win, that is pretty impressive. Doug said you looked really good and were passing the A group that started ahead of you. Tanner is the man. Taking 4th in the C group is a great prep for state next week. I am excited to hear how Doug will do at Nationals with guys his own age. I bet he will tear it up. I almost didn't do the race today, it was cold and foggy at our house, but it cleared up as we got to the race.

Since it was my first cyclocross race ever I decided to race in the C group with the masters and the juniors. It wasn't a real big group, maybe 35 riders. I didn't get a good start, but by the end of the first lap I was in first position and never looked back. It hasn't rained in the last five days, so the course was wet and slippery, but it wasn't to muddy. There were quite a few spots you had to get off and run and a lot of hills, which played to my advantage. I wasn't the best on the down hill, but I increased my gap going up the hills. I ended up winning by about 250 yards. A guy on my team, Paul, got a flat in the last lap and ended up taking 3rd. Overall it was a good first try. There is one more at the end of this month, maybe I will have to try it again.



This is me crossing the finish line.
It was about the crappiest prizes I have ever won. I got a box of SoyJoys (they taste like garbage) and a gift certificate for cube of cheese (I hate cheese)!
This is the first hill after jumping 3 barriers. This was the first lap and I made up some ground by passing all four of the guys in front of me on this hill.
Mom took some great pictures and the kids were a great cheering section. The course was very fan friendly.

Good Day for Cottles

Here's some video of the Men's C race start with Doug and Tanner. Watch closely and you can see them on the inside near the end.

First off, congrats to Brook and Brady on the birth of Ethan. I'm glad all is well and wish Brook a quick recovery. Wish we could see the little guy in person.

Today was a pretty good day to be a Cottle. First I got to spend nearly the entire day with Doug and Tanner. That's always good. Tanner decided to race the Men's C group with Doug and then the Junior 15 - 18 group an hour later. Tanner was a stud. He worked his way into the 2nd chase group behind the leading group of 3 and battled the entire race. With 2 laps to go, he put a gap on the other guys and stayed away to finish 4th out of over 30 adults. I was really impressed and it was a blast watching him. Good job to Mike W for battling for the win and finishing a strong 2nd on a single speed. Mike, get some gears!

Doug rode a solid race to finish 18th. He's improving each race and having fun. The thing about cross is that it very hard regardless of where you finish. You ride at your limit the entire race. Sometimes you just go faster than others. Doug gave max effort for entire 40 minutes and looked good.

After the C race, Doug got a call from Brady informing us Brady had just won his very first cross race. I can't tell you how impressive it is to win the first cross race you enter. This is a hard sport and Brady is making it look easy. I look forward to hearing the details from him.

Tanner then gave the Junior race a go but was pretty worked from his prior effort. He hung in there and finished 3rd. He'll beat these guys next week at the State Championships when he does only one race.

I must have been inspired by Brady because I managed to get my first cross win as well. I got in a good warm up and felt ready at the line. I got a good start and was 3rd into the 1st corner. The 3 of us got a gap and I moved up to first by the end of the first lap. I drilled it for the next two laps and got a good little gap. My teammate AJ disrupted the chase group a little for me and I managed to build about a 30 second lead. About half way through the race, AJ attacked what was left of the chasers and I thought he would bridge to me and I'd be in trouble trying to stay on his wheel. However, my gap never came down while his gap increased over 3rd. In fact, my gap increased the last few laps. I caught my teammate K Wilde with a few laps to go and rode in with him. I caught nearly half of the A's that started a head of the 35+ group and it was very cool. Going fast is a very good thing.

It is very satisfying to see my hard work over the last few years payoff. This win was a long time coming and I've day-dreamed about it many times. The reality is better than the dream. A couple of years ago, I would not have thought it was possible. What made it even better was having Doug and Tanner there and getting great help from my teammates. Our team rocks. Today, we had a 1st, 2nd, two 4ths a 5th and a 10th. State Championships should be fun next week. With any luck, I'll have good legs again. Too bad it isn't at Heber. We've raced there 3 times this year and I've had a 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Tanner in the barriers.

Doug crossing the finish line.

Me and K Wilde near the end of the race.

I finally get to do the victory salute.