Super Dan

Today, Dan and I rode out to Mill Valley--then up to Railroad Grade. We stopped at the midpoint and rested for a minute. We blazed back down to Hwy 1 and then home. On the way down I was having so much fun and going kinda fast, that I double flatted! Shoot..... Flats fixed and a short while later I was @ Kaiser getting my sutures removed....

Almost at the gate....

I really enjoyed the ride today, crisp but not to cold... 2.5 hours/56 kms and lots of climbing, this is the longest/ hardest ride so far. I felt pretty good and I'm looking forward to CCCX. should be fun :)

GGP Flashback...... 2004

Tomorrow is the Pilarcitos race in GGP. I will have to be on the sidelines due to my knee injury. I am disappointed to be missing this race for lots of reasons but mostly because it really is in my backyard.

The race in Golden Gate Park was my first ever Cross race back in 2004. I showed up barley on time cuz I had been up late at a wedding party the night before (not to mention a bit hung over).

I borrowed my buddy Brandon's MTB and jumped in the C group. I started practically dead last and had no idea what was in store for me. I floored it and tore threw the 75 rider strong group while Channing gave me Redbull feeds! I had a such a great time and got hooked on Cyclocross from there on out (not to mention stoked to place 16th).

So I figured I would travel back to 2004 to think about all the things that motivate me for CX. I will get my 23 stitches out this coming Monday and although I feel strong enough to race this weekend, I have been warned about popping open the injury and that's not something I want to risk at this moment in time. So I will be out there drinking beer and yelling words of encouragement and jeers. It looks like it will be a fine day in the park .....

"Shaka bra"

Picking guys off.....

Back in the saddle....

OK time to move the horror down the list.

Sooo.... Good news. I managed to get out on Sunday and ride for 1.5 hrs/ 40km. I rode out to Mill Valley for coffee and ran into a bunch of people. Jordi and Aaron were visiting from the east bay to ride Railroad Grade (fun!) I had a nice coffee break with Cam, Brad, and various other DFL peeps. Very nice.

I was feeling good but decided to ride home and pass on anything longer.

It felt great to just be out riding. The knee seems to be healing up pretty good and the stitches come out Wed. Pilarcitos GGP might still not be possible but CCCX is looking better and better. I think I will be strong enough for GGP, I'm just not wanting to open it back up with a fall etc...

Yup.... You know it

CCCX #4

Photo By: Rick

Having a blast in the warm up before disaster struck...

Felt great for the race, got a decent start and it went downhill real fast from there. I only made it about 2 min into the first lap and disaster struck. As I jumped up from the spill, I looked down at my knee and to my surprise, not a scrape,or deep cut. A big flap of skin hanging off my knee and much blood starting to ooze. Crap. I hate hospitals and the thought of stitches had me freaked out more than the injury! I jumped on my bike and rode one legged to the EMT tent and provided them with a big job. I have to give thanks for the on-site EMT's as they were very concerned and professional. Also a shout out to Rob who offered to drive me to the hospital. Most of all to my friend Mack who (drove me to Kaiser afterwards) was in the race also and finished 10th after battling it out with Aaron and Nick. Man it's hard to watch from the sidelines!

Well I hesitated to post the pics of my knee but after thinking about it figured I would share the horror. It looks a lot worse than it ended up being.... lucky for me. After a visual inspection in the ER @ Kaiser, my tendon was still attached and X-rays showed nothing broken. How this happened aside from me hitting a very sharp rock is beyond me. FREAK incident is the only way to describe it.


I have never gotten stitches before and now I have 23+. Interestingly enough It's been over 23+ years since I had to go get "repaired" and that was for a broken wrist after crashing my BMX bike in a failed jump/ stunt... oops


So... 2-5 days before I can bend the knee, 10-14 days to get the strings pulled, so If things go OK i might make it back to Prunedale for CCCX #5.... maybe.


For now, rest and Vicoden. I'm already able to walk around sans crutches and should go back to work tomorrow... Whopee!

If your squeamish don't scroll down.....

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After cleaning ready for needle and thread.....

My 3 ER staff people @ Kaiser were really nice and I flirted with the cute ER doctor to no end...

Why yes, she did have the magic touch, from hamburger to beautiful needle point...

Ready to go home.....

Ya baby

Bay Area Super Prestige Series #3 McLaren Park

Place: 22nd
Teammates: Jesse (7th) and Tim (DNF)

This is one extremely hard course. I looked at the results and a lot of guys DNF'd. Towards the end I just wanted to finish. with 1 1/2 laps to go I got lapped by Dave and Justin and thought I might get my race ended a lap early but crossing the finish line, I motioned to Casey "one to go?" and get gave me "two fingers" and I put my head down and kept the pressure on. I was getting close to empty. I managed to take a few spots back on other riders mishaps. Much to my dismay one of them being Tim, he hurt his back in a spill and was out :(

I had got a pretty lame start and first time on the run up, I missed the pick and ran my bike up the hill. That was a big mistake. Guys passed me on both sides, as I was not shouldering my bike and left lanes open. Crap. From there I tried to get into a groove and pick riders off. There really was not a lot of safe places to pass and at times a little frustrating.

All in all I can't be to bummed about it. After not quite feeling that great this week, I moved up into 22nd overall, from my fall to 29th after my own DNF last round at Candlestick. Jesse however has now moved up from 7th--into 5th place. He is doing a fantastic job.

11 times up this hill... ouch!

I woke up this morning planning to do a super easy ride for about 40 min or so. This is the first time in a long time that I looked at my bikes and just didn't feel like playing. I'm not burned out but I was feeling the efforts from the race. Mostly in the neck, shoulders and upper back. the descents were so bumpy. I feel like some one has been smacking me in the neck with a 2X4....

There was another great turnout for the race again. Thanks to Dad for the water feed. I was having a hard time breathing within 2 laps and really needed some H20 to clear the throat. Thanks Dad! Big props to Scott/ Ritchey teammates Jesse, Tim and Cody (who snapped his derailleur and missed the B's) for showing up.

My number one fan..... DAD

YAH! So happy it was over.....

Well up next is CCCX #4 combined w/NCNCA cup#4. I don't really care about the NCNCA standings as I am not in it at all, but I'm currently 16th overall for CCCX (even after missing a round) and we're heading back to Prundale, which for whatever reason, seems to suit me. Looking at the results from last year (rookie A season) I'm doing better... but have had a lot more drama. Hopefully I can move on and just string together some higher placings that I know I am capable of. All I can do is keep it together and show up ready to go. Maybe a tubular sacrifice to the CX gods is in order LOL!

See you out there!

Blow me

Robbie wins 2 medals in the Lombardi halloween costume contest. Needless to say he blew the competion away. (Pun intended)