When I got to work today, I had an email from Thor Engblom, a colleague who'd noticed my registration for the cross race this weekend. He and Larry Mauch, also an engineer at Orbital race cyclocross, and they wanted to know where my interests lie. I supply my response because it's a good summary about what I'm up to:

Well, I'm a runner. I ran cross country and track (mile) throughout high school and college. So that's why I like endurance sports. But I love to tinker with bikes and ride a lot. I've been training recently for duathlons (run-bike-run) since that combines two of my loves and I can't swim well enought yet to be a triathlete. I've raced a couple of duathlons recently. But I was riding to work this week and I saw a cross bike and it seemed like a cool idea. So I took my Specialized Sirrus and put in some 35c tires and registered to race. I know nothing about 'cross other than what I've read on the web, but I can't wait to try it out. It looks like a blast. I was originally only going to watch, but the guys in ACS wouldn't let me dot that, so I'm racing.

As for bikes, haha, well, I'm getting the most I can out of my Sirrus. It's a great bike. I bought it to commute through Boston and Cambridge and it performed wonderfully. All I've done to race duathlons is put some borrowed aero handlebars on it and switch the stock 28 tires to 23. This weekend will be my first go at clipless pedals. My plan is to eventually save up and shell out for a Cervelo. I've been commuting three to four days a week from Arlington Courthouse. But other than hammering sections of the W&OD, I don't know much about training. I'd love to get in on the loop for practicing, etc.--especially if you guys race for a team.

If you really want the scouting report, check out my log: http://brewerja.blogspot.com. I'm fresh out of college, so I have time for stuff like that.

I also confirmed purchase of the mountain bike and I'll pick it up tomorrow at 2p. As for the rest of the day . . . I stayed up late working on the bike. I put on the 'cross tires and reattached the crank without the third chainring. I had a lot of trouble getting both derailleurs set the way I wanted, but eventually I got it all straightened out.

My shoes and pedals arrived as well, so I installed those and went for a ride in the dark. I rode down to Iwo Jima and tried to practice mounts and dismounts on the grass there. It was tough doing that in the dark, but I was able to get a hang of the clipless pedals fairly quickly. My shoes, unfortunately, are too big. The size 46 is one size too high. So tomorrow I'll have to track down some better fitting shoes and send these back to Nashbar. I practiced more with the pedals while riding around through the parking deck. The lights there made that time more worthwhile.