I smell the roses!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Ducks!

Some National Pictures

Our home away from home. It worked great! It just needed heat.

Tanner killing it. Little did he know that a crash had left his rear brake engaged.

Tanner trying to keep it upright on a tricky descent.

Stair climbing anyone?

Daren hopping a bunny, great skills!

Daren's in there at the mad house first turn, crazy!

I'm nervously awaiting the start.

Not my best start. I couldn't get clipped in and needed to be three bike lengths up.

This is what the course conditions were like.

The course was icy, snowy and challenging. You make a 180 at the bottom hoping to keep it upright.

The ledge ride up. The ledge was bigger to my left.

My 5th place podium award ceremony! I was pretty happy. We are all home now and unpacked. It was quite an adventure. I don't think I have been that nervous for along time. Not just for the race but packing the right gear, getting things packed, driving, weather, course conditions, not crashing, bike breakdowns, disappointments, freezing and also alot of fun and personal satification. It was great to be with my brother and nephew and Rico and Jana. We met many great people, and maybe we'll do it again? Ride safe. Doug

CX Nationals

Just a quick update from nationals. Daren Tanner and I arrived yesterday, in Bend Ore, after a fun 10 hr drive. We left tue. afternoon and drove to Burns, Ore. It was -12 degrees when we got into town, and our motel was a dive. It was 46 degrees in our motel room when we first arrived. We got to Bend, thursday, in time to set up, and ride the course for about on hour. It was like no other course I have ridden. It is twisty and frozen with about 4-6 inches of snow. It has alot of run ups and crazy downs, with a big stairway climb. After my first lap and thought I can't ride this stuff, but as we road more laps I got more comfortable, but my expectations had gone way down.



Tanner raced first this morning in 4 degrees and frozen course. He was in the under 30 B race. He did great and kept working his way up and ended in 6th place. This was his warm up race for his age group race on Sat. He was strong today.



I next raced my age group championship race. I was nervous and didn't know quite what to expect. I did know I needed to get a good start to have any chance. I was on the second row and didn't get away as well as I would have liked but was in the top 10. I thought we were ice skating for alot of the lap. It took me a couple of laps to feel better about things and start to work my way up. I went as hard as I could, but after awhile it is hard to tell where you stood. On the last lap I pushed hard and caught and after a hard fought section passed a guy. He wasn't to happy, but I was. I all most caught another guy as we finished, but I didn't know for what place. I thought 10th or so, but as I checked the results I finished 5th! My goal was to get on the podium, so I was very happy to make it. I was a very hard, nerve racking race.



Daren raced after my group and was in the 30 plus B group. It had 160 riders and Daren started about 40th. It was a mess! The start was crazy with everyone trying to get to the first corner. Daren got through OK but with so many riders it like just stopped as people tried to get around that corner. Things stretched out over time and the course was full. Daren rode a great race and battled hard for a 10th place finish, amazing.



I am done now and can relax, Daren and Tanner have their big races still ahead so I'll keep you update. Pictures will have to wait til we get back to down load. Check out Cyclingnews.com for results and pictures. It will give you a great idea what conditions were like. Ride safe. Doug

DZ in the house?

As I was looking at the last post I came across the pictures and thought they looked great. Then I came to one of them and had to do a double take. For a second I thought that Daren had dirt on his face from a crash, but after zooming in the photo I saw that he has the DZ inspired stache growing. It must be that Sutt and I's talk about the stache power finally rubbed off on him. Hopefully Daren shaved the rest of the goatee off for the true power. Good luck all at nationals. I will see you up in Bend Friday night.

True Cyclocross!

My number one fan, ringing the cowbell. Thanks Betty!

My grand kids were there to cheer for me. I think they found something more exciting.

The start of my race, pretty cyclocross weather.

I was racing hard to get back to the front after my broken derailleur.

I was passing on the crazy corner.

Eric and Tanner on the tough river bottom section.

After Tanner's break down Daren had caught son, who now had a front flat.

Daren and Dr Cx going over the barriers.

In about ten feet Daren goes down on this crazy corner.

Saturday was the first bad weather cx race of the year. It was freezing and snowy when my race started. I started well and after about a lap one other racer and I had gotten away from the group. I was really feeling good and was plotting my attack and when to go. After about three laps, on the back side of the course I attacked and got a gap and was flying into this left hand corner. I was down shifting front and back derailleur's and I hear the crack and my chain is off. I tried to spin it back on and it wouldn't stay, so I stopped and put it in, as I got passed and started again but off she came. I had to run to the pits and get my back up bike, and was passed by four guys by then. I went as hard as I could and after two laps got back to second. I didn't have time to make up any more ground and I was pretty discouraged with my finish. The crack I heard was a broken rear derailleur arm, and with nationals only a few day away it was a little pressure. After the race I took the derailleur off my tarmac and put it on the cx and then got it adjusted in time to be back to Tanner and Daren's race. By the time there race was on it was really snowy and slick. It wasn't a question of if you were going down it was how many times were you going down. T was coming around a corner and I saw him stop and then start running with his bike. He was along way from the pits so I went a got his back up and rode it over to him and he got going again. I looked down at his rear derailleur and it was broken and mangled. Not a good mechanical day for the fam. Daren had a great race and it was good to see him going well again. He had third, but went down on this tricky 180 turn, and got passed and gaps are hard to close down with so little time left in the race. Daren finished fourth and it was good to see him racing so strong. We are leaving today for nationals and it is a snowy mess, so hopefully we will get there in time to race. I feel like we are packing for a move to a new town, nine bikes and every peice of cold weather clothing I own. We'll keep you posted. Ride safe, and try to stay warm. Doug

I smell roses!

I smell roses! Was that a great game or what? Sutt I am with you - No orange and black. The game was really intense and I didn't sit down the whole second half. Mesoli is the man! The only reason OSU kept themselves in the game was because UO had some turn overs in the first half. I was glad to see that Blount didn't punch anyone either this time after the game.

Bring on the Buckeyes!

I'm finished

I now have my MEd degree (Go Wildcats) and I'm officially done with the higher educational system (although I don't walk/ graduate until the 11th). If you are wondering if I'll head back to get my Admin certification, the answer is NO (I'm done). If you are extremely bored you can read my Masters Project at http://blog.weber.k12.ut.us/asuttlemyre/.

I have no bike related news (haven't been on the bike much) to tell you about, but I hope to soon. Although basketball is now taking up a big chunk of my time now.

Bub, I too want the Ducks tonight. I'm not a real Duck's fan, I'm more of a anti-USC fan and I just can't cheer for any team that wears Black and Orange.

Good article

This is a link for a good article about Goulet.

http://velonews.com/article/100214/from-snowboards-to--cross-bikes


Go Ducks tonight! It's the Civil War - bring on the Beavers.