No looking back

I've had my usacycling norba license upgraded to cat 1 so I'm done with Sport.  I race because I want to push myself and I love competition.  I want to race against the best and cat 1 is where they are at, so that's where I'll be.  It's going to be humbling but winning isn't everything.  There's just as much racing going on in the middle of the pack as there is at the front.   I might even be able to catch a few people off guard.

I've been working really hard and it looks like my first race of 2010 is going to be the Leadbelt XC on March 14.  It will be the inaugural event in the newly formed United Federation of Dirt series.  I'm hoping all the spin classes, road miles and hours on the trainer are going to pay off.

Thieves

Last night someone broke into my Jeep and my girlfriends car.  They broke out the passenger side windows on both vehicles and rummaged through all the contents.  They also looked through my shed to see if there was anything they wanted in there.

All that was taken was an old iPhone that I had hooked up to my stereo.  If somebody wanted it that badly they could have asked for it and I would given it to them.  The biggest pain is cleaning up the mess and getting our windows replaced.

The cars were parked in our carport, and this just gives me more incentive to build a garage.  We reported the break-in and theft to the police and they took the report over the phone.  I guess it wasn't serious enough to warrant a visit.

I hope whoever did it either gets caught or turns their life around.  It's a crummy feeling to go out to your car in the morning and see broken glass everywhere.  I'd hate for anyone else to have it happen to them.

Here's the scene of the crime:

Notice the Atlas security sign on the fence.  Unfortunately the security system is for the house only.  Maybe I need to install some lights out there with motion sensors on them.  I really just want a garage....

UPDATE:  I was called by the officer investigating the break-in and it turns out there have been several in the area lately.  He's trying to catch them.  I also found out our neighbors car was broken into the same night but nothing was taken; just rummaged through.  Same MO, broken rear window and the thief went in through the window.  If they had unlocked and opened the door the alarm would have gone off.  Hopefully they report it; I'm going to give them the officers number. 

New Years Day ride at The Ranch

Friday I was able to ride in the annual New Years Day ride at the ranch.  It was an amazing day. (Thanks to Adam for the pictures)

I arrived at 9am and was on the trail not long after.  It's basically a 14 mile loop and it's some of the nicest singletrack I've ever ridden.   There are lots of challenging sections and tons of variety, but what stands out the most is the way the trails flow.  It's just a lot of fun.

I rode with Zednek Palecek; me on my epic and him on his single speed salsa.

After the first couple miles I took the lead tried to set a nice fast pace.  It was pretty cold and I needed the effort to build up some warmth.  Not long into the ride I noticed my rear tire was going flat so we stopped to check it out.  I had a small slit in my sidewall and it wasn't sealing.  We shot some CO2 into the tire and got it to hold air and took off again.  A couple miles later it was going flat again.  I took the tire off, put on a tube and after airing it up a little, ran out of CO2.  Neither one of us was carrying a pump.

We were near a bailout road so Z went back to the cars to get a pump and after a few minutes a couple guys came by and they let me use their pump to air up my tire.  The standing around was taking it's toll on my feet and my toes were getting pretty cold.  I rode out to meet Z, used hit pump to put a little more air in my tire and we got back on the trail and picked up where we left off.

Before we finished the lap Z got a flat on his front tire; it looked like a piece of shale rock went through his tread and the stans didn't seal it.  When he took the tire off there was a snowflake of rubber inside.  He put in a tube, aired it up and we were back in action.

Here's one of the obstacles near the end of the lap:

After we finished the lap we ate a little and waited while I warmed my toes.  I couldn't believe how many people were there; at least 60 on a very cold day.

We decided to head out for a second lap going the opposite direction, with Z in the lead.  He worked me really hard that lap.  He knows the trails there pretty well and would pull away on the downhills and I'd have to work really hard to catch him going up the next hill.  Z is a very strong rider and I was happy to keep pace with him.  Near the end we caught up with Chris Ploch and David Frei and finished the lap with them.  It was funny because on the hills David kept telling me I could pass and I kept telling him I didn't want to.  My legs were feeling pretty burnt and I didn't want to go any harder.

So after about 30 miles of hard riding we were done for the day and ate pretty much everything that was left of the food people had brought.   It was a really nice way to spend a day.

UPDATE:  The pictures Adam Rybar took that day are on SnapFish. You'll have to register to see them (for some reason). Here's the link: http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3097397007/a=56026446_56026446/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/