There is something remarkable about this video. Something so simple, yet so powerful and I like it.

Inspired...

"My heart and soul are firmly in the dirt." Dave Wiens, 6 time winner of the Leadville 100. This video from the New York Times makes me want to get out and ride. The clip of Dave crossing the finish line triggers this sensation in me-- a desire to grit my teeth, to dig in and push through to the end.

Davis to Santa Rosa

This past weekend I escaped to San Francisco with the intentions of sightseeing with Esther and then catching a little bit of the Amgen Tour of California in Santa Rosa on Sunday. A change of plans meant that I was flying solo as Esther decided to stay at home and fight a nasty cold.

Esther doesn't mind going and watching the occasional race for a short amount of time but this gave me a chance to get real nerdy and bike geeky. I agreed to facebook status my way through California and upload pictures as I took them which I dutifully did on my mobileme gallery. Some ended up on facebook as mobile uploads so you won't find them all. 

This is my pride and joy for the weekend. Okay, I'll admit that Tom may not have been able to fully read the shirt but being able to get 'Tornado' Tom Boonen's signature on this shirt made me happy. He's a pretty nice guy too. Put a pen and something to sign on in his hands and he will do it. Even 3 minutes before he has to be over at the start.

And even though it is not a super crisp shot (I've cropped it way in to get details), seeing Mancebo pull of that stage win after his solo breakaway (minus that little stint with Timmy J and Kemp) was unreal. The weather was just down right awful for spectating so I cannot even imagine what it would have been like on a bike. I crammed in ten feet back from the finish line to a point where I could see the giant screen. Watching Mancebo take off away from Nabali and Van de Walle as they crested the small rise and then see him sprinting all the way down the last 300 meters to the line was pay off for his ride. It left him with 3 of the 4 jerseys he could have won-- the GC yellow, the red KOM, and the green sprinter's jersey.

Trying to shoot decent pictures in the rain is a challenge but I have pulled out a few decent ones and thrown the into my Tour of California Gallery.

REJECTED!

Joel got the mail today with a big fat VOID stamp on our checks with a nice letter saying that for $1250 we can spend a weekend with Carmichael Training Systems and be guaranteed entry into the Leadville Trail 100.

Oh well- I've got better places to spend my $250 entry fee. That means I could race 10 cross races in the fall, or even 7-8 mountain bike races this summer in Winter Park or the Mountain States Cup series. But it sure would have been worth it to ride 100 miles across the sky.

Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance Gala

I had the opportunity to attend the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance Annual Gala Friday night. Dennis and I went representing the Scouts but also as avid riders from the Front Range. It was a worthwhile event. 

I got to chat with some fellow riders from the Boulder Cycle Sport cyclocross team and some other important people within the Boulder County government and the US Forest Service. Those last few people made the night a worthy business endeavor. Hopefully some of the natural partnerships that could exist develop out of this evening and at the end of the day, youth members of the Scouting program get to see the benefit. Really, that is all we want to see happen.