yah, i decided to combine two entities, dirtybird racing and xcgeek.com. the plan is to have an xcgeek.com team next year. i am pretty confident that combining these two websites will make posting easier and faster. and more awesome.
go to xcgeek.com, a website that is gunna rock your socks.
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no post in 6 months? eh, no big deal. it is fall in boulder… DROP DEAD GORGEOUS
2012 mtb season summary: successful. had a good couple of months before the season when i started training with an awesome coach, danny suter. drove out to sea otter, 24 hours of driving to get there, some booger brought me down in the first singletrack corner of the race and busted the drivetrain up – still managed to get 11th in cat 1. went to nationals, 2nd in cat 1. raced a bunch of open races, was hard in the beginning but got better, won a couple, won a half marathon open series, and got my goal for the season, a pro license. ready for next season right now.
2012 cx season summary thus far: started horribly, got 18 stitches in the knee for the second time in two months, was forced to take time off of the bike… right after i took 2 weeks off of the bike for a “between season” break. it hurt pretty bad when i got going with the open cx boys, they are fast kids. i finally am feeling better, finally pushing some hard workouts again. usacycling is horribly horrible these days – i tried to get a uci license for 2 races i want to do on the east coast on november 24th and 25th. 2013 uci licenses go on sale december 1st and they won’t bend the rules to let me get a license 5 days early so i can save $150. how cheap is that? they must be used to dealing with broke bike racers or something… GREAT NEWS i have broken two wheels in two weekends. stupid cx bikes and their not like dh bike qualities.
still working at sports garage, the bike shop that takes care of business in boulder county. we held an event today called crocktoberfest. a crockpot cookoff to launch our new road and cx brand Ritte. i made tiramisu for the first time today for the event… baller
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we are already rolling into the spring…sorta. time is flyin by. workin 40 hours a week is a time suck, but atleast i love where im workin (the ol’ sports garage, in boulder, co). i wish some of my college buds were around though. i miss the east coast biker vibe.
hey i have a new song that i am sorta obsessed with. i need to tell someone about it, why not the interwebs.
Specialized Henge Pro
my new rig should be showing up next week. it is a orbea alma 29 s30. xt group, reba rlt, and some stock fulcrum mtb wheels. not bad. the geometry seems to be nice except for the headtube angle. i mean, cam an, im a dh kid, 72 degrees? i also ordered a cane creek angleset headset to slacken that situation out. i don’t know how much the angle can actually change with the angleset, but even a degree would make me happy.
i got some new kicks too. they are so new n fresh looking, i don’t wanna wear them. but the
Giro Code
break-in period has begun. i hate breakin in shoes. its always so …stale feeling at first. giro codes with some easton carbon stuff. stiff. very stiff. that’ll be nice for racin i s’ppose. the ratchet on these shoes kicks ass, btw.
so what do i do with my free time, you ask? i am so anti-social it is getting scary. i wake up in the morns, do a little core power workout, do the work thing, come home, eat food, ride, and try to squeeze in a little website work. my website, xcgeek.com, is coming together, slowly but steadily. i still haven’t tried to spread the word about the site quite yet. i want to develop more content first, and get into a groove where i can get a post out at least every day. but i think its looking good. below is just a little screen shot, in case you have never seen the site. werd.
xcgeek.com
well, its my day off. it just snowed 18″ (apparently a january record in boulder). that means ima ride my ol bicycle on some rollers. ima go now. ba bye.
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once again i can’t take the time to write a little post. months it has been, MONTHS! anywho, I have been back to the east coast, and was gunna race in a big cx race, but usa cycling sucks, so i didn’t. but i do have a cool photo to show for the travelin. yeeeah new england, you show your green side!
not only did i get some good time with my parents, but alyssa clem was in the HOUSE! we had a good time. and then some more…
look at that face! man, good picture.
but hey, im workin on gettin the xc season started off right. training hard right now, and hopefully keep it up! im also a little pumped up about the cx season, too. cx is a lot of fun, and pain, but it was definitely a lot more fun than i was expecting. watching jdurrin go all over Europe got me excited to try and get to that level, be it in cx or xc.
anyway christmas was awesome. it was spent with the ol sister and her guy daniel.
yeah, she was excited in this photo opening her present from me.
and then this happened.
this picture might just be too much. too real. oooo so good.
well ladies and gentlemen, another blog conquered. short lived, but packed a punch i think. see yall soon…
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well well. I just got back from a little cx action WITH COLLEGE KIDS. mmm… that brought me back a couple years. what a fun atmosphere college is. dam. all races should have the chill, fuck i like bikes attitude.
i believe it was called the buff cx. the open field was packed with pro duders and college kids i had never seen before. i started the race…probably third from last. ooo sucky. but it was a super fun course. more of a mountain bike course. lots a corners and flowy. a couple barriers. and it wouldnt be a race without a couple elbow oriented racers guys. i probably finished somewhere in the back, but it was fun. especially teasing and wearing out the guys in the back. it was a race where i actually relaxed and had fun. thanks college kiddies.
tell ol' jeremy durrin guy to update his blog. come on... i dont read facebook and twitter like its my life.
on another note, tubulars are crazy.
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the freakin best rear tire.
i have been racing with them for about a month and … well, they are cool and all, but the whole road wheel thing still scares me. did i mention i have already rebuilt my rear wheel once, broke a couple spokes and have had to true that thing a boat load of times? stupid wheels. ok so most of the work i had to do to them wheels was my fault – i was riding a wheelie and my foot got caught in the spokes. that indicates my negligence maybe.
BUT on a sweet note, ima come back to the east soon. december 1st fruitcakes. its going down. but only for about 6 days. and i am going to spend most of those days with the fam. a little pre-holidays visiting.
so coaching is on my mind. i am headed in the direction of a coach as soon as cross ends, but who? who? who? if one of you fellow cyclists that reads this nonsense has a good suggestion, let it flow baby. i am excited to get in the gym and attempt to bulk up before some serious miles are put in com spring time.
so i like this. uri halevs, keep this going since you dont have a blog anymore!
enough. love peace and chaingrease? na i cant say that. i hear that too much at work. you wanna know what is always a good idea? a Sports Garage gift card. yeah. that a better ending.
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after a MULTIPLE MONTH HIATUS. it has been so long, i forgot what my password was to this blog. eh. i was doing things. now i’m getting comfortable in my new home in Boulder, CO. lovely place. a lot of fast dudes.
you know, i hate to say it but dirtybird racing can’t last much longer. i think ill just turn this guy into my own blog or something of the sort. i am most likely going to race for my shop this upcoming year which means my team name will have to do to SG Cycling. not a bad thing. SG is killer.
i started racing cx. oh. my. that stuff is fun. and can be really painful. like road bikes. but on the other hand, there are some killer corners, and …some technical aspects that a mountain bike guy (like myself) can thoroughly enjoy. i started rock bottom in the 4’s. it was interesting. a beginners cx category with half of the field on deep dish tubulars. ?!?. now im racing with the big boys in the open category… i am a cat 2 right now. three open senior men races under my belt thus far and a 19th (oooo it hurt), a 4th (not bad) and a 9th over the last weekend. my legs finally started feeling like they had sand in em last race. time for some recovery.
an unbelievably sloppy race^^^.
so maybe i mentioned working at Sports Garage Cycling a couple months ago on my last post. well, i’m still there, going at it on the sales floor. it is fun. great people, great bikes, and a boatload of knowledge and experience in the bike world. i learn something everyday. really. and its awesome. but, workin at a bike shop has its bad side too. like being broke all the time. eh, i can live with that for a while. they did make a video of me riding my new toy around Boulder last week. check it…
there it is. another update. maybe ill have some more stuff to say next time. just maybe.
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UMBRC. long live em’. i love em.
last weekend was a doozy. so i drive down to the pioneer valley thurday night to be greeted by uri halevi, the man, in the flesh. i stayed over this guys “man pad” for the next two days. couldnt ask for much more out of an apartment: he had a living room with a futon, tv and a closet full of bike parts, a hallway with a commuter beast, a bedroom with a four bike ride (it was full of bikes and road tires mind you) and a bathroom with only the best esssentials (that would be soap, shampoo, tp and bike magazines). i dont even want to mention the hospitality of the guy – i got a spare set of keys to his place, and a free kick ass breakfast both mornings. lets just say it felt good to be in the valley again.
friday, day before the o’hill assault, i show up at the king eduard uhrings house expecting to find nobody, but behold, jeff landfried and eduard uhring in the garage suiting up to go for a ride. well, i was going to spin anyway. i made the amazingly obvious decision to join them. we ventured to batchelor street where i remembered how slow i was on the trail. i started out easy because it is pre-prace day….spinning is where its at. after getting shelled by jeff and ed, i said “oh im gunna just start riding with these guys. i feel bad i am draggin behind.” ya. so i tried to pick it up. they still shelled me. all this techy climbing and stuff…dam. i have not been on a mountain bike for a while. im getting my ass kicked. dh’s are ok, but the uphill im getting killed. it ended up being a good hard ride…for me. and then ed treated me to dinner. he must have felt bad for stepping on my ego and then stabbing it with a pitchfork. i did get to catch up a little with jeff “too cool for school” landfried, eduard “king” uhring, kalin “corvus” wierick, jeff “crone-face
cronin, nate “the guy from comp edge,” “crazy bikereg roommate guy” and j-durdur. bike haus is amazing. i am beginning to miss amherst a little too much. did i mention bike haus is amazing?
saturday, race day. uri got up late. we ate breakfast, and realized he was gunna miss his start. yup, he missed it. i heard he chugged a redbull before he started to try and catch up to his race. *quiver* i tried warming up for a lil bit, but got to talking to everyone a little too much. well the race started slow for me. i just wanted to work into the race. i started in the back, passed some guys in the first lap, killed the downhill in the first lap and started following some guys in the next group. my legs just felt heavy. i wasnt pulling any moves, but i was struggling to keep my legs pumping. once again. i must be in horrible shape. i have been riding, but not enough i believe. basically i was struggling to push which made me tense and my dh’in got a little shady as a result. my strong point got shady. not good. usually the part of a race course i relax on and put time into people. well, lets just put this down as the third race of the year i have not finished. i didnt feel like it. man. great way to start off the season, right? 3 for 3.
oh well. lets ride a lot more and get some miles under my belt. i like miles. and i like mountain bikes. i need to ride mountain bikes more. done. check. finite.
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i still cant believe how much information i can get from the garmin edge 500. i like looking at numbers…
i suppose working with power would be cool, but if i had any more numbers to look at, i might need to go back to school to comprehend what to do with them. i guess that is why riders have coaches to do the looking for them.
i recently found out you can transfer some gps data of your route to the google earth, or as i like to call it, god. you can even see a time lapse of the ride. check it, yesterdays ride thanks to mr garmin:
god at work
i dont know if you guys know this, but aaron gwin, the americana of the world cup dh scene, has just won an epic round 1 of the 2011 world cup season. may i mention that this is the first time an american has won a dh world cup round since 1999? excellent. excellent.
gwiny for the winy
im so proud of that guy^. click the picture to watch the finals vid from DirtTV. not bad. so who is pumped for the UMBRC Orchard Assault? im not gunna lie, the biking is going to be super solid, like it always is in the spring, but it is going to be great to get into the 5 college area. that means there are 5 colleges in the area. i mean… i have been in crested butte, co for too long – i might have to add that there is a 1 girl to 5 guy ratio there. i love crested butte, but dam women are lovely… and i reckon there are a fair amount of lovely people in or around the orchard hill race area.
well i must leave with a video that has changed my life. please enjoy:
i am on a blogging role so who knows….maybe another is in the works for this week. too much to talk about. or rant about. this is what living in nh does to you.
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last saturday. what a day.
race #2 of the season for me. massanoit lung opener. number 2 route 66 race. april 23 in the great 2011. here is how it went down:
so this is a story all about how my life got flipped right upside down…na lets skip the will smith reference. last race was a little bit of a mess: puking and chain breaking. i was determined to make the pre-race a little smoother this time. guess what? it happened. did everything i needed to do. rode about half of the course and did a sweet warm-up on some roads surrounding the trails. i was happy at this point. i was thinking in the back of my head how cold it was, and the fact that it might start raining harder on top of the drizzle that was being bestowed upon us. “should i layer up a little more? maybe toss the ol’ rain jacket on? leg warmers? naa. just do it.” i was assuming i would overheat with a skin suit and jersey on.
first lap done. the rain is coming in now. mud turns. nice. i like riding mud. i started out slow, and built up, catching up to the main pack which was leading the race. i was consistently changing places with the guys in the back of the pack – they would pass on the climbs (i need some new drive train stuff) and i would pass on downhill/flats. i was feeling good n strong…and was loving the fact that the guys i was trading places with were all over the place. i was thinking of just waiting for the last lap to come around and attempt to pour it on.
yet again, i had some struggles. maybe i bonked or maybe some hypothermia set in. i dunno. i was coming through the finish area for the beginning of the third lap and my legs stopped working. no more push. no more horses. i pulled of the course and took a 10 minute cool down on a road that led back to the parking area. race over.
i couldnt stop shaking for a good hour or so…maybe it was a little hypothermia? who knows. do legs stop working when one gets…real cold? oh well. i did get to say hi to my man kent hirshberg. and i got to see some other friendly race guys. and…polish food weekend. couldnt get better than that. just because a race didnt go so well doesnt mean that one cannot sufficiently stuff face with pierogis.
mmm...buttery
in other amazing news: orchard assault is THIS weekend!!! my home course! my beloved o’hill trails! whoever decides to read this…you should go. register on bikereg as always.
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