CXCN

Hey Guys

2011-06-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

2010-01-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

I saw Dave again. It happened to be on a full moon again too.

2009-11-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Life of Nick - Episode #2

2009-09-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Stoaked

2009-09-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

I was the lucky recipient of a humourous afternoon today. After flailing around all morning trying to get my head on straight from the epic road ride I did yesterday, I finally got out for a cruise out to Mugu Rock. On my way out, a guy in casual clothes on a MTB made turned in front of me through an intersection, putting him about 100 meters or so in front of me. This guy had his head down, arms in a tuck, and kept looking back to see how far away I was from him. Eventually he started swerving a bit, while the gap was more or less staying the same. One of his swerves put him on the wrong side of the pavement and into a ditch, which he was (quite impressively) able to ride out of without loosing much speed. Eventually I caught up to him, and we starting talking. He was telling me he had been watching the Veulta. I don't think I've ever seen anyone as happy as this guy seemed to be. He said "those guys are going like 30 mph!!!" Just after he says this, he sprints up to said speed. I was being towed down PCH at 30mph by some dude on a mtb in baggies while he was looking back yelling "can you believe they go this fast for the whole time?!?" He then described his love for the local wildlife.
When I arrived at the far point in my ride, we parted ways. He said he was probably going to ride all night because the next day was labor day, and it would be bright enough from the nearly full moon.
I wish there were more people like Dave. So stoaked on everything, and I don't think he was high or handicapped.
I called Nick Weighall (who is with the Cal-Giant this year) to tell him about my afternoon, as I know he appreciates super pumped guys like Dave.
As I finished my story he said "Dude! That's so sick! I .... Uh-oh. Oh sh-t. I'm at Holly's (his girlfriend) house and the toilet is about to overflow. I'll call you back."
It was indeed the surface tension that saved him from a rather unforunate incident.

And now it's time for breakfast for dinner.

Shake 'Yo Booty!

2009-06-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Canadian Road Trip

2009-06-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated for a while, mostly due to a lack of relavant activity. However, right now I happen to be cruising Canadia with Nick (the quick) Weighall, Eric Emsky, Peter (Eric's dad) and, of course, the Rad Van. It has been loads of fun! We are staying in Edmonton right now. Yesterday we went out to a VERY remote town of which it's name I don't remeber. It is supposedly home to the largest (fake) mushroom in the world. If my memory serves me well, I'd say that the mushroom on top of the novelty shop in Weed, California puts it to shame, but I digress. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this post is other than to say that I'm really looking forward to 'cross and to more blogging soon!

Gambling...

2009-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

...is something I will never get into for obvious reasons.

Worlds Predictions

2009-01-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Junior: Zach Mcdonald
Women: Katie Compton
U-23: Not the German Kid who has been dominating everything. He is the most logical pick for the win, but it seems like whenever somebody crushes the field as hard as he did the entire season, something always happens at the big one. The race destroying blow may come in the form a broken fork, melted stem or maybe an astroid. Slight chance of pirates.
Elite: Very tough decision this year. I will go out on a limb and say Zdnek Stybar.

Can't wait to see!
Chancius

Ooops...

2008-12-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

Don't make a stupid face, even if just for a second, because it could make you look like a total fruit.

But hey, at least it was not a boring podium.

The Onion

2008-09-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Best News Network. Ever.

I have a book called "A Century of Cycling" that is basically a comprehensive list of influential cyclists of the past century. I remember reading that Miguel Indurain had issues similar with the views of Fred Taylor in the Onion/Jaguar video above, but I have not heard anything about that elsewhere. Pretty interesting if that is true. I think that guy is awesome. He reminds me of Frankenstein, just without the stitches and grotesqueness, of course. He gives hope to taller guys like myself for when the road goes up too.

Oh Snap! (part II)

2008-09-06T17:58:00.001-07:00

You know how bees are dying like flies? I think I have discovered the reason.

They all migrated to my roof.

Take note of the thick tree debris. This has accumulated because nobody is brave enough to go near it, and we haven't rid ourselves of it because it has become somewhat of a neighborhood landmark. I think the neighborhood heathens have learned what happens when you throw rocks at bees too. Barring strong winds or a lighting strike, I think this thing is here to stay.

Have you heard of Danger Doom? Good stuff.

Oh Snap!

2008-09-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

Got locked down in my school's library today for about 2 hours then was told to go straight to my car! Turns out some 16 y/o freaky butt brought a loaded .45 caliber handgun on campus. Nothing malicious though, just for poops and giggles.
It's a good thing 'cause I got out of a test I would have bombed so bad that I'd get tried for crimes against humanity.

Flag This.

2008-09-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

Where was McCain's Flag Pin tonight?

Tour of PA

2008-06-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

Got off to a bad start at the airport. As I had been sitting for awhile in Burbank waiting to board my plane to Vegas, I took a deep breath, stood up, and next thing I know people were trying to help me up; I couldn't see very well out of my left eye and the back of my head was bleeding.

Those head rushes can be a real doozy.

I used to enjoy them. I mean, they are actually kinda fun. Although I think my love for them is starting to diminish as I realize that those few seconds of purdy colors and that floating sensation you get is not worth waking up feeling like you got in a car wreck, not having any sense of time and being in complete confusion.

Opening TT went well, the crit was (really) crazy fast, and the road races have been kinda what I had expected. Not much else to say right now. Today was a hilly (on the border of being called mountainous) 104 mile stage. Reid and Max animated the lead group and I . . . finished. As a side note, Reid had crashed in the crit, ripped out every single one of the spokes out of his front wheel leaving the rim and hub floating in two seperate peices. With stitches in his face, he has been tearing it up. Hardcore.

Huge props to Jamie Driscoll for the W today.

The guys in the follow cars supposedly saw an amish lady in an Escalade yesterday.

I the race is being broadcasted on Versus, but I heard the coverage is pretty crap.

Will write more soon.

Chance

Spell check isn't working.

NMBS #3

2008-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Why do we have to have a heat wave every year for this race? Whatever the temperature, Firestone is always a great race especially because it is within (short) driving distance for home. I don't have much to say about Saturday. There was really nothing of note within my race, the venue, or anything else like that. This was mostly due to the fact that I was just in the back of the car napping all day until an hour or two before the start. The fact that I pulled the plug after having raced for something like 1.5 hrs due mostly to back problems makes me kinda want to forget the day. I think my bike has become a little small for me, so I'll be looking at upsizing to an XL soon.
The Short track on Sunday went considerably better with a front row start from accumulated short track points and a few of the top pro's missing from the race. After pinch flatting about 2 mins before the start on the mother of all brake bump sections, I made my way to the line thanks to the awesome help from the guys at the Devo team tent. Decent start. I was able to hold the lead group until the climb with 1.5 laps to go. Got passed by one more on the last lap. Not much else to say, really.

I went out and rode with Nicholas Weighall on some local trails today, and got three flats within about 10 mins after having ridden out to the farthest point of our ride. After unsuccessfully tying knots in tubes and stuffing grass in tires, I had to ride back on a wheelie for a few miles. Talk about amateur hour.

Chance

Idyllwild.

2008-04-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

$1000.00 for first?!!!

It's on like donkey kong.

Sounds like a sweeeet course too.

*Update*
Nevermind...

Sea Otter

2008-04-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Anyone else pick up some vicious poison oak? I'm dying over here.

Hats off to the flying tomato, Mitchell Peterson. That was just a stoopid good result.

More Soon.
Chance

Garrett Lemire GP

2008-04-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

I think I might have under estimated how fun this road thing can be. As always, the GLMGP was an awesome event all around. Awesome from a spectators standpoint because it is held on the mainest of mainstreet in Ojai, in a venue that is as scenic as can be. On the other hand, it is rad from a racers standpoint because of the bad ass course, strong fields, good announcing, etc.
My race went well; It was fairly uneventful aside from the finish. It is so nice to be able to race in a field in which I don't feel the obligation to be at the front driving the pace, as I did racing in the 3's. Last year (and basically every year previous to that) I was so fed up with the fields going so slow that I couldn't hold my self back, and I would just be on the attack nearly every minute of the race. I mean, that is what you are there to do, right? Race? Needless to say, my frustrations would just grow when, far more often than not, I'd get out sprinted, or just get swallowed up by a group as I was getting pulled in from a break right before the finish. I'm still buzzin' from my event's finish and watching some locals tear it up in the pro race.

I have a lack of images for this post, so I thought I'd share this gem.
Cheers,
Chance

666

2008-04-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend on our trip down to Arizona for stop #2 of the national MTB series, travel partners Bobby Langin, Ethan Gilmour, and I were starting to sweat as we were driving through a remote and barren stretch of desert on highway 10 near Palm Springs. The gas light had been on for twenty miles, and according to the car manual, the Honda element we were in should have ka-plunked by then.

Anyways, after we squeaked into the gas station with a sight of relief, I took notice of the newspaper stands, and thought I'd check out what was going on in Palm Springs. As I was picking up a local interest magazine, I grabbed a plain, but conspicuously placed pamphlet standing alone by itself. As I hopped into the Honda, I wasn't entirely sure what I had picked up. It had some interesting theories about art, sports, competition, democracy, the color red, and the origins of the beast's number among other things.

For starters, I was disappointed to find out that I am a murderous schizophrenic satanic homosexual whore, guilty of idolatry, gluttony, and the general association with the devil. I'll admit, it had occur had to me that I have been guilty a few aspects of that accusation, but I was really shocked to find out my bike itself was whoreish.

"All entertainment is Idolatry." "All humor & prank playing are of the devil." "Voting is Idolatry" "Red = Whoreish" etc....

Near the end of the text is a detailed explanation of the number 666, also known as The Beast's number. I have a hard time understanding some of the fragmented text, so I thought I'd just post an image (which, of course, I deserve death and Hell for because all image making is of the devil.)

I'd like to write more, and possibly even post the included illustration that describes how men and women should look, but I have to go burn all of the photos I have ever taken, rip down all the hanging pictures in the house, destroy my bikes, grow a beard (which unfortunately, is going to take a few months), and work on ridding myself of whatever self confidence I have.

Cheers

A taste of Lieven

2008-04-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

At the risk of making the longer version seem anticlimactic, I have posted a tantalizing taste of the short version of the untitled 2008 Lieven, France World Cup video I shot. I have a few projects I have to finish, and then I can work on the full version. I will post that in a week or two. I'm not sure how long the video will be. I can probably stretch it to the length of "Short Fuse," but I am all about quality over quantity, so I am not sure if want to make it very long.

It is best played loud.

Cheers

NMBS 1 & 2

2008-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Fontana and Arizona NMBS races were the last two weekends. As always, it was fun to get out, ride some sweet trails and see some familiar faces. The Fontana trails held up way better than last year. It was cool to see Liam Killeen there, but I don't know why they didn't give him a courtesy call-up. I was lined up around 5th row, and he was almost in the very back. Needless to say, he came by me about halfway through the first lap. Come to think of it, a lot of people came by me on the first lap. Come to think of it, getting passed is pretty much all that happened to me the entire race. The laps were much shorter than usual, so a significant percentage of the field was pulled. Although I made it to the last lap, I succumbed to incapacitating lower back pain mostly from a lack of riding the mtb an core work.
With pain that would not go away after stretching, or anything else I could think of, I had to pull the plug. It was awesome to see local Manuel Prado absolutely kill it in the pro XC. He had a similar ride to Liam Killeen, as he was lined up near the back and came through the masses of fat asses to get 15th.
Sunday was the Short Track, and to my surprise, I was given a decent call up. From the third or fourth row, I managed to squeeze my way through the first lap mayhem, and eventually make contact with the lead group, only to be taken off the back again by some stragglers. After riding around by myself for a few laps, 5 to 10 seconds off the back, I was joined by some others just as the main group was starting to dissipate due to the eventual winner, B. Nasty's, wicked pace. To make a short story shorter, I was able to stay away from a hard charging group, to finish 15th.

More recently, the Arizona national was equally, if not more fun as I was able to travel with Bobby Langin sr. (of Langtown) and U-23 national team member Ethan Gilmour, who had been staying with me the week between Fontana and Arizona.
Unfortunately, the unclear registration rules and guidelines for the race weekend made a few other southern California locals decide not to make the trip down. The race was arranged as a stage race, with a super-d on Friday, short track on Saturday, and XC on Sunday. Apparently, all categories, sport, expert, semi-pro, and pros alike had to register for all events. Then, once we arrived in Arizona, we were finding out that you could register for the XC only. Bummer.

Super D/Time Trial was fun, Short track was so hard I had to cool down for an hour and a half. There were so many flats in the XC, it was crazy. Bobby stomped all of his races, I had a decent short track race, and I gotta go.

Photo stolen maliciously from Lyle.

Cheers

The Illest

2008-03-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Why is it so hard to write anything of substance after the cross season? The Fontana and Arizona MTB nationals are the next couple of weekends. Yay. Too bad I feel like as slow as a slug right now.

Qbert.

Short Fuse - 2008 CX Worlds

2008-01-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Video and film has always been a hobby of mine but damn, I really forgot how much fun I have doing it. I haven't really had any good subjects for while, so this was a refreshing change. My online classes start tommorow. I hate online classes, but teachers don't seem to give a turd about anything besided ball sports.

SHORT FUSE by your truly.

Cheers,
Chance
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Schwiing!

2008-01-27T13:11:00.000-08:00

Yea, looks like Boom won the Elite Men's race. That was one of the most exciting races I've watched in a while, but I've said that at every worlds so far. It was cool to see Stybar in second also. I think there is a new crop of racers breaking through the Nys/Wellens/Vervecken trend. Radomire Simunek was up there attacking too.
My race was pretty neutral. I started last row, and opted for the very right side on the grid. Thankfully for me, there was a significant crash down the middle. I eventually got up to around 35ish. At one point, a German who had dropped his chain early on flew by the group I was with. I was feeling great at that point, so I tried to hang on his wheel as long as I could. I tried a little too hard and was gassed for the last quater of the race. Props to the yankee juniors this year. I think next year will yield a medal or two. We'll see.

I just got home. I'm working on the vid. I think I'll have it up late tommorow.
Cheers, and thanks to all the readers and voters that have been on this blog!
Chance

World's Course

2008-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

Is really sweet, and it looks like the turf will be relatively solid. The venue is very scenic with a lake surrounded by woods and the Dolimites as a backdrop. As for course details, there are two rises with a 26% grade that are only ridable for a few. There are also some steep off-cambered sections, and gravel downhills. The start/finish straight is a sort of packed sand uphill straight. Nearly the entire team rode to and on the course today.
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Driscoll fighting the jet-lag in the Weighall/Miller room.
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I still have not seen a cloud in the sky. The weather is amazing. The filming is going great too! I can't wait to get home and edit.
Chance
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Italy is just like Belgium.....

2008-01-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

.....except Italy doesn't smell like poop, the riding is incredible, the scenery is awesome, the weather is great, and the toilets don't splash like Shamu.
We arrived at our plush modern hotel. The hotel is almost brand spankin' new, and it is really nice. The whole team is together now, aside from a few elites. We all ate something of a formal dinner together today, with Johnathan Page included.

We flew over some insane terrain today. I believe they were the Alps. Ryanair is a ghetto flight service. I felt like a sardine in a can, but whatever it takes to get the price down is fine in my book. (excluding mechanics, obviously.)

After we got our rooms and had a small nap, (we woke up at 3:30am today)the team went for a ride up and around hills about 15 kilometers away from our hosting town of Treviso. The ride couldn't have been any more fun, as the weather was perfect, bike were in great working order, and we were all free to choose our own route. We departed the hotel as a team, but when we hit the hills, we all scattered. I ended up riding with Nick Weighall and Zac McDonald.
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Me getting some footage of the goings on of our program.
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Mi Bicicleta.
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Sweet,
Chance
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Italy

2008-01-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

The team is flying out to Italy tommorow in the early A.M. (leaving to the airport at 4) I was running around getting gifts today, and had a good 2 hour ride.

Lame post, but time for bed.
Chance

Ughhhh....

2008-01-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Today we raced on the exact course that will be 2009 cross world championships in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands. The course was really cool. Nick "Weegal" and Carson the Cook had great rides and finished in the 20's. My race didn't go so well, as I was lapped on the final pavement stretch going into my last lap as Niels Alberts was finishing. At this point with the form I'm on right now, my only hope for a good result at worlds is a fast course. Thankfully, it looks like it's going to be quick.

Yesterday, I went to the trials world cup / indoor bmx race / trade show in Kortrijk. I think it was cooler than interbike. The show room was sweet, the trials competition was awesome, and the bmx races were equally cool. It's kind of wierd how Philip Mireharge (MTB world champ a few years back, been busted for epo since) is still a hero here in Belgium. He was selling his book called "The Comeback" or something like that and was being interviewed on a huge lit stage with a pretty decent crowd watching.

Anyways, the team flies down to Treviso, Italy Wednesday for worlds.
That's all I got.
Chance

As a side note, I think I went with the right guy for the elite men's world win. Lars boom crushed them today, and I heard "The Specials" on the radio today.

Nipple

2008-01-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Looks like they changed the national team colors once again. I took a moral blow today because an XL skinsuit was too small. It wasn't so bad on the legs and arms, but the torso seems to be cut so short, that it looked like it was a some kind of v-neck style skinsuit.
They are also really see through in the white areas around the nipple. This can be a good thing if you have rippling abs or something, but if you have big hairy nipples it is not such a good thing, unless your into that.

A few more riders arrived today. Kerry Barnhold, Amy Dombrowsky, Zack McDonald, as well as coaches Geoff Proctor and Mark "Gully". I did a 2:15 hour ride in the rain today. I hit a few trails to make it interesting. It seems like you can take a different route everyday, but it still feels like the same ride because the scenery does not change. Grey skies, leafless trees, flat fallow fields, and vast wheat processing plants make up the majority of the view. We didn't make it to the trials world cup.

That's all for now!
Chance

Who Will Win 2008 Cyclocross World Champs?

2008-01-17T04:19:00.000-08:00

My vote is on Boom.

Schwiing!

Quiet Time

2008-01-17T04:06:00.000-08:00

Not much going on right now. Luke Keough, one of the world championship bound juniors arrived today. I went on an hour and 1/2 ride with him and Nick Weighall today. We went through some really cool forests with super slick terrain and aggressive geese. Carson was off doing a more intense ride. It has been pretty funny learning the small idiosyncrasies that the few people staying here have. Sometimes our interests clash a little bit, but it is usually over small things like music selection. Today we had N.W.A. blasting on the boom box, with Tom and Jerry on the T.V.; pretty juvenile, but what can I say?

One thing I will never understand is the rate some folks consume nutella, crystallized honey, and peanut butter. It is not usually apreciated by roomates due to it's inevitable side-effects of mass gass.

There's a bicycle trials world cup and a Quick Step team display going on in a nearby town called Kortrijk. We might go check it out tomorrow. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures if we go.

That's all I got,
Chance

As a side note, Carson Miller is quite possibly the best cook in Belgium right now.

Cheers
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Young Nasty Man Spotted in Training

2008-01-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

There are three U.S. native track riders staying at the house in Izegem right now. Apparently they spotted Mr. Bart Wellens down at the track motor pacing today. I got as much of the specifics of his workout I could for training next year. I think I'll be at the Encino velodrome a lot more next season.

I would like to give a shout out to the guys at procyclocross.com for their great work and letting me review some of their discs this year. Although terribly past due mostly because of my lack of organizational skills as of late, I will be critiquing some early season world cups, and a few other events.

The weather today is pretty bad. It was raining all day, and I thought I'd try to wait it out and hope for it to dry out. It looks like my plan is working, so time to go ride.
If you have some time to burn, I'd check out Carson Millers blog @
www.c-mil.blogspot.com - He had the toughest of racing times at the would cup in Lieven this weekend; it made some really heart-felt writing. Great stuff (although I'd obviously rather be reading stories of success from all of us.)

Chance
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Wellens Rulz.

France World Cup

2008-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Wow. Today did not go well. Again, we had a slightly smaller than usual field (most likely because the race was in France) and I was lined up fourth or fifth row with about 1 & 1/2 rows behind me. After being basically the last on to the dirt, I pretty much stayed there for the rest of the race. I passed a few guys, but that is basically irrelevant. I did not feel any fight today. Fellow U.S. riders had an equally crappy ride for the most part. The North American Women did well today. Jonathan Page did decent today too. Boom Won the elite race, while Alberts won the U-23's.
Next week will consist of a little R&R with some easier training. Not else to say right now!

Chance
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Roubaix

2008-01-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

I just got back from racing in Roubaix. Yesterday I was pretty unsure of my ability to race, because the three hour ride I did just crushed me. The jet-lag really hit me yesterday too. I napped most of yesterday after an excursion through town to find a bank that would exchange travelers checks. I had some good rest, but awoke a few times to things like Ryan trying to stick stuff in my mouth (which usually hangs wide open when I sleep) with a spoon. After a short ride along the canal, I felt much better.
So, the course today was really sweet. We started on the same track the Paris-Roubaix finishes on, although it seemed like the track angle has been increased since I last watched Paris-Roubaix on T.V. Our feild was smaller than usual; we must have had around 40 riders. I was lined up for a second row start, and after the guy in front of me fumbled his pedal, I found myself coming around some others to be third onto the dirt. After a half a lap we were back on the track, and I felt the pace slow, so I attacked. I led around the track, and then got swarmed coming back onto the dirt the second time. At that point I was near the back of the leading group of 7 or 8.
Eventually, I slipped back and crashed hard into a thick wood stake, knocking it out of the ground and getting tangled in snow fencing. In the end, I finished top ten, with Carson a few spots behind. Nick did not race today in prepration for tommorow's world cup in Leiven. I think Ryan was taking it easy for tommorow too.
I brought a few video cameras with me, and will have a short music video type of thing with footage from the house here in Izegem, racing and some sceninc shots around town. Nick was running around with the camera today, but unfortately didn't capture any carnage.
After the race, I was feeling really good about the world cup tommorow, but then I learned that our race was junior/u23 combined, and there was at least one unior ahead of me. Thankfully, he had won the GVA race at the Koppenberg a few weeks earlier.
I've been taking more video than anything, but I'll have some pictures up soon.

Thanks for reading!
Lance
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I can't get this stuff out of my head. Thanks Dad.

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Arrival

2008-01-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

In Belgium now. No problem with travel. Went pretty smooth. It's just Carson Miller, Nick Weighall, and Ryan Trebon here right now, but the entire worlds team will be here in about a week. I did a three hour ride yesterday around the Coppenberg with Carson. It was pretty sweet, but I can't figure out why I can do a three hour ride at home and not feel it, but over here it gives me that involuntary leg twitch you get after a hard weight lifting session. Maybe it's the wind??? I have to go ride before it rains. I'll get back on here later.

Cheers,
Chance

Bad.

2007-10-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Socal race #2 was going good. I led the first lap, and felt really comfortable following Brent Prenzlows early attacks, until about 40 min. or so into the race. It was like an on/off switch for me yesterday. Oh, well.

I generally don't believe that diet effects fitness very much, but I've been eating this weird cereal that I think is really screwing me up. After the way I've been racing lately, I'll be sticking to my usual oats in the morning for sure.

Son, this is what utopia looks like.

2007-10-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon....

2007-10-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

....to a back near you.

Muck(enthaler)

2007-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

First race of the Socal series was Saturday. The turnout was pretty good. there must have been at least 45 guys on the start line for our race. (although the A cat, and 35+ group was combined.) All the regulars were there and we stayed together for at least a few laps. Eventually, Prenslow attacked which made me chase after him, which eventually mde the rest of the race break up behind. Not much else to say, other than that this season feels like it is taking way too long to get started. Can't wait for the USGP's.

There is money on the ground in Vegas.

Photo stolen from pedalpushersonline.com

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

2007-09-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I stopped by Vegas for interbike and, of course, 'Cross Vegas. The trip there was pretty uneventful, and I was pretty excited to be going to interbike as I have never been before. After chillin' with Joey Doloey of OCR racing in Burbank, I arrived in Vegas and got to the Palms hotel. The show was pretty much what I had expected. It was pretty cool to see how sleek all of the companies booths were.

The race venue was pretty cool too. My race absolutely sucked; I think I finished third from last, but it was still loads of fun. There was a great crowd, plenty of hecklers, etc. It was really good to see some of the SoCal regulars doing well. I think our local scene is going to be really good this year.

Anyways, the flight home was a little more eventful. I got to my gate about an hour and a half before my flight was scheduled to leave and got on the plane on time. After falling asleep after what seemed to be a longer time than usual at the gate, the pilot brought the 20+ planes to our left that were waiting to take off to our attention. Apparently Vice Pres. Dick Cheney had been in earlier, which stopped all incoming and outgoing flights. Great. So after 1.5 hrs (almost twice as long as the actual flight) on the tarmac we were in the air. When I got home I updated myself on the news and stuff like that. One of the first things I read: "Bush promises to take steps to reduce air traffic congestion and long delays that have left travelers grounded."

Teh.

So, tomorrow is the first race of the SoCal series. I kinda have my tail between my legs after Vegas, and after seeing how good the other guys have been doing I'm not expecting much. It will be a good time either way.

I got a sweet job for some shirts from a company in N.Y. that makes skiing gloves and beanie caps. This one is on a t-shirt. I think it came out pretty sick.

As I said before, I'm going to have some bicycle oriented designs up here soon. Can't wait to get that done.

Chance

My face, it burns.

2007-09-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of stuff not related to bikes with all the extra time from the lack of training right now. I spent the Labor day weekend at Channel Islands. It took about 4 hours by sail to get there from the mainland, and I decided to take a nap on the deck with no sunscreen on. Although, I did have my sunglasses. A few hours later, I woke up and looked like something between a lobster and a raccoon. Sweet hikes, kayaking and pier jumping were to follow.

My Uncle Matt had been visiting at the time, his trip prompted visits to skateparks, and a day trip to LA, and Santa Monica via train and bus. As somewhat expected, we met some interesting people while riding the public transportation in the LA area. One guy offered to "wipe the smile off my face in the name of Jesus" and kindly informed me that the devil had manifested himself in me. He also referred to me as nothing other than "white boy." Good times.

We managed to document some of our skatepark visits. The aspect ratio is wrong, but you get the picture.

You can see "my" ride in the back of the second to last shot. I saw mile 222222 today.

Real training started yesterday. School started too.

Wear sunscreen, and don't smile in LA.

Chance

2007-07-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

2007-01-25T01:31:00.000-08:00