I'm a few days late on this one, but I just thought I should mention that Johnny Damon is scum. To see a player switch sides in a rivalry like that is just ridiculous. Do the players not care at all about things like that? I guess not. The extra $12 million did the trick. So much for the brawl at Fenway actually meaning something.

I hope you stink up the Yankees centerfield. I hope you can't crack the Mendoza Line. And instead of booing the hell out of you when you return to the Fens, I hope The Nation just turns their back and says nothing. That way your sorry, POS attention grabbing, girly throwing self will get no attention whatsoever. Judas, here's to your first beaning when you step into the plate in Boston. If only I could be there to witness it myself.

On another note, would somebody up in Boston please go get Theo back. With Theo at the helm, I don't think I'd care too much about this. They should have plenty of money to let Theo run the ship now that they don't have that bearded prick. GO SOX!

I rolled out of bed this morning pretty quick and screwed in my water bottle cage and pump mount. I put on the full pile of clothes I had laying on the floor beside my bike and headed out the door. I got to the Java Shack right on time and was wishing I'd also put on my light as dark as it was.

Dana Matassa was keeping warm waiting in his car, but got got out and applied a bit of lube to his chain when I pulled up. I had some lube in my jersey pocket and applied it to my newly cleaned chain. Not long after, Bill rolled up on his 'cross bike. Surprisingly the weight of his bike and the Sirrus were not that far off. About ten minutes past the appointed time of 6:30a, we rolled out onto Lee Highway and then shortly on to the Custis Trail.

We rode the Custis along the same route I've been running recently, then picked up the W&OD and rode it towards its start. That's the first time I've rode in that far in that direction. It's a nice ride along the creek, but cold at this time of the morning. As we hit the W&OD, we picked up two more Coppi riders: Joe Metro and Rich Fristik. Rich was riding his MTB, and Joe was on the team bike, Javelin Brunello.

We rode a ways until we ended up at the foot of the Walter Reed Blvd. hill. I asked the guys pretty quick which way we were turning. I actually rode that hill not long after I got to Arlington and it is a doozy. Long and pretty steep. It whipped me pretty good. We turned the opposite way and evenutally wound our way around to the Mount Vernon Trail.

Coming past the airport with the sun rising was neat. You can see most of the city laid out before you and it's beautiful. We rode through Gravelly Point just as a plane was landing and boy was it spectacular! I thought the plane was going to hit us it came in so close. Really amazing. We'll have to get out there soon and watch JP land one. It was easy going along the Potomac the rest of the way until we ended up back in Rosslyn where we took Lee Highway back to the Java Shack. I actually turned off just before the shack and headed home off of Veitch St. I reluctantly went to work after a terrific hot shower and some breakfast.

This ride, known as the "Muffin Ride," was exactly as billed: a nice easy spin. It's a great way to start of the morning, making a tour of Arlington. The ride is totally social and nothing like the second half of the Sunday ride. It sucks I had to go to work and couldn't stick around for the muffin portion of the ride. The Java Shack's hot chocolate is quality. Nice and sweet.

Despite my full assembly of the bike last night, the Sirrus performed adequately. I'm not too bad a mechanic after all. I'll have to fix the derailleur hanger tonight though. I was missing shifts in the lower gears because of it.

I'm still sick. Tonight I spiked a small fever and just felt really crappy. I cancelled my violin lesson and chilled out around the house. I did manage to get everything but the brakes back on my Sirrus, so I'm hoping tomorrow night I'll get it finished up. If I can just get over this stupid illness, maybe I'll ride in on Friday? I'm really anxious to be back on the bike. If not, I need to get a run in.

I decided to get in a run during lunch instead of making excuses about the night and cold when I get home. I ran a quick six down the W&OD towards Leesburg, just a simple three out and three back. I never really got comfortable on this one. I felt sluggish and tired. At least this one was mostly on the side of the trail on soft stuff.

As the day progressed, I felt worse and worse. I thought that maybe I'd just run dehydrated and my body didn't like it. But once I left work, I was pretty certain I was sick. I spent the rest of the night moving around pretty slowly and I went to bed early. My joints were all aching and my head was pounding, so sleep was the best idea.

On a positive note, my Nashbar order of a bottom bracket and brake pads finally showed up. I only managed to clean the brake levers and take out the old bottom bracket before calling it a night. Hopefully the Sirrus will be up and running again shortly. I'm really excited to be back on the bike more so than I am about running. Only a few more weeks till Alumni.

Nationals pictures were posted a few days ago. I haven't had time to edit the audio. Maybe I'll just post it and forget about it. But enjoy the photos. My skills were put to the test with the low lighting during the elite races and the white snowy background fooling my light sensor. It was pretty exciting to be shooting a National Championship though.

I woke up and turned off my alarm, only to wake up again at 8:05 and realize I was late for the group ride. Luckily, it meets at the Java Shack, just a few blocks from the apartment, so I was able to throw my stuff in a bag and run over. I was supposed to meet Bill Cusmano at 8a, with the ride leaving around 8:30. I made it in plenty of time and we got the bike setup.

The bike was a 52cm Douglas of Scandium Aluminum. We raised the seatpost and put on my pedals. I rode down the road a bit to make sure all was well. The bike was outfitted with Campy Record and the whole thing was light as a feather. Definitely the fastest machine I've rode since the Waterford TT bike. Needless to say, this one fit a lot better.

We headed out down Wilson and across Key Bridge. The plan was for me to tail off the ride early and return in time for Church. Joe Metro was supposed to lead me home. But after probably ten miles or so, Bill saw me and asked why I was still with the group. Joe had already made the turn for home and since I was riding up front, he'd left me behind. I phoned Jess and told her I'd have to keep riding since I didn't know my way home.

After a while in Rock Creek Park on Beach Drive, we started climbing some small hills and the pace started to pick up a bit. I didn't feel like my legs were that strong today early on. I was sluggish going up the hills and having trouble with the idexing of the rear derailleur didn't help. But I got my legs under me after a few of the ups and downs.

We made the descent into Great Falls and then climbed back out and that was a good test of how I could climb on the bike. I still didn't feel all that comfortable, but I did ok. We rode a nice paceline the rest of the way, returning to DC on MacArthur Boulevard. It's a shame I didn't have a cyclocomputer, I would have liked to know the stats.

Bill loned me some Accelerade since in my rush to get to the ride, I'd left behind all of my water. I guzzled some of that pretty fast. Riding up the hill back to Courthouse wasn't as bad as I've always imagined it would be. I guess that's the benefit of a nice bike.

It was just past noon when we finished and we sat around chatting at the Java Shack. I had some hot chocolate and was happy to be resting my legs some. I jogged home and cooked some pasta to refuel.

Today was a great learning experience. I got the feel of what it's like to ride in the drops, in a paceline, and what this road thing is like. It was a blast. I suck at cornering and I've got a long way to go before I'm comfortable in the drops, but I'm well on my way. It's nice to have the focus more on fitness, but boy is this going to hurt when things get really cranked up. All told, the ride was supposed to be about 50 miles. That doubles my ride to work and nearly doubles my longest ride. Pretty cool. Let the miles roll.

Everytime I try something new, my thoughts about what bike I need change. I'm starting entertain the idea of a pure road bike. The Javelin frames look sweet. Components will be expensive.

I'm hoping to get pictures and audio from Nationals up tonight. It's been a long time coming.

I drove Jess to her piano lesson again, so I parked at the library and ran the same loop that I kicked off the track season with last Tuesday. It's amazing how much less timid I was about what I could handle. I pushed all the hills on the trails and ran up Wilson Blvd. rather than continuing further on the W&OD. That shortened the run about a mile, so I only got five, but it was a quick five. My legs feel terrific. I ran a good set of strides on the baseball fields next to the parking lot. I've got a long way to go on speed, but it felt good to get the legs rolling like that. I'm not really looking forward to trying a workout, but at some point I'll have to throw something in the mix.

On another note, I'm really looking forward to getting back on the bike. The shipping of my bottom bracket and brake pads is taking forever, so my bike is still disassembled in the repair stand. I'm hoping to jump in a Sunday ride with Coppi on a prospective new bike, but we'll see.

I made it out to the Squadra Coppi meeting/supper tonight at Listrani's. They seemed to have a good turnout and I met a lot of the guys. I'm looking forward to donning the powder blue kit. Not sure how long it'll be before I race in it. I've got to get my bike situation sorted out and I seem to have a few leads from guys on the team. I think I may go for a road bike and worry about a 'cross bike when the time comes next season. I had planned on running late tonight but I'm exhausted and elected to work on getting my photos from Nationals in order. I can afford a day off as I was on pace for a fifty mile rolling week. Fifty miles isn't much for a base period, but it's a lot more than I expected to hit in this short four week season aimed at one race.

My flight was out of Providence, which meant I didn't have access to a car today, so I opted to enjoy my time rather than try to get out to the racecourse with my luggage and then to the airport. Instead, I hung around Boston until noon and went for a run with Schmeck.

It still feels great to be running again. I wanted to head West some, since I hadn't yet crossed Mass. Ave., so we decided to run over Summit Ave. and return. That made the usual Reservoir loop short enough to fit my regimen.

I could feel a bit more aches and pains than I have in the last few days. Nothing really critical, just mainly some spots around my kneecaps from all the pounding running brings. I think my shoulders are gradually getting used to doing work again after not moving during all the riding I've done.

I ran the hill well enough and with Schmeck's encouragement kept it going till the top. I jogged in place a bit to catch my breath and then we made our way slowly down the long side. I really want to bring my bike out here and try that hill.

I picked it up for a little less than a quarter mile as we finished along Mass Ave. It was really the first time I've pushed the pace any since I started back running. It didn't feel too rough. I was smooth enough and my legs are still feeling strong. Let the miles roll.

I arrived at Back Bay Station in Boston around 8a this morning and walked over to the Copley T-stop to ride one stop to Hynes where I walked to Schmeck's place right next to the Christian Science Church. After I got my bearings, we hit the streets amidst a steady snowfall. And because it was snowing, there was only one place to go! Bunker Hill. We ran a mix of the usual Bunker Hill loops and the Orange Line run.

It worked out to be eight miles and I felt awesome the whole way. Mainly we just chatted it up and the miles rolled on by. It's great to be back running in Boston. I miss it so much.

After a quick shower and shave, I headed South to Providence to catch the collegiate Men's races and whatever races that were going on when I got there. Unfortunately, the conditions continued to worsen the further South I went on I-95 and by the time I made it to Providence, it was a full on blizzard. Cars were backed up all over Providence and I couldn't go anywhere. I never made it to the racecourse. Instead, I called my Dad on the cell and had him Google Map me to Downtown and the Providence Place mall where I sought shelter in the parking deck. I had some lunch before making my way over to the Biltmore Hotel to see if I could get some information about what was going on.

I picked up my credentials and then walked around P-town a bit until the media event started at 7:30p. It's was a pretty cool event upstairs at 3 Steeple Street, a restaurant and bar not too far from Kennedy Plaza. It was co-sponsored by Harpoon, so there was free beer to go with the eats. It was great to see that most all of the top contenders had turned out on both the women's and men's sides. In attendance were: Ann Knapp, Barbara Howe, Georgia Gould, Tim Johnson, Barry Wicks, Ryan Trebon, Todd Wells, and Chris Horner.

I was able to catch most all of the interviews with my iPod. Should make for some interesting listening as they all try to handicap the coming days races. After the event was finished, I had the great pleasure of driving back to Boston and shoveling out a space to park before finally hitting the sack around 1a. Not too bad for a long day. Tomorrow should be exciting. Seeing all the "stars" out brought back some of the enthusiasm that the snow had muffled.

Man I'm beat. There's lots to report though, I'm just too tired to do it right now. Tomorrow is the big day. Hopefully we won't see any more snow on the ground.

I couldn't let it go two days without some mileage or else my start wouldn't really have been all that serious. After work, Jess rode alongside me as we braved the cold to get in a nice seven miles. We ran across Memorial Bridge and down the North side of the Mall to the White House Ellipse. There we checked out the display of trees decorated from all of the fifty states and other territories. I got the staple comment, "He's crazier'n hell." From some guy staring at me running by. Really people, the winters down here are a joke as far as training is concerned. They could plow and salt a bit better, but the cold's really not an issue this early in the game. I felt fairly strong. I'm not having any cardio troubles on these runs, which has been a plesant surprise. My quads remain sore from starting back. Now it's off to Union Station and the ride North.

Well the toying with the idea became a reality . . . I'm headed to the Liberty Mutual U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships at Roger Williams Park in Providence, RI.

I'll be leaving tomorrow at 10p out of Washington's Union Station. The train will go through Providence, but I'll stay on until we reach Boston's South Station so that I can borrow a car from a friend and have a place to stay. I expect to arrive at 7:50a, bright and early.

USAir didn't have any spots for me to use my voucher, and the train is the easiest way to get there. I'll be flying back Sunday on Southwest out of Providence. I'd fly in with Southwest, but I'd arrive too late to catch a bus to Beantown. All in all, it should be a good trip. I've never taken Amtrak other than from Boston to Providence a few years back, so I'm excited to be riding the rails. I decided it was too risky to try the Chinatown-to-Chinatown-to-Chinatown bus route from DC to NY to Boston. That's by far the most cost effective solution, but also the most sketchy and least predictable.

I was able to get the lens from Penn Camera for tomorrow through the weekend, so I'm all set there. Pat's letting me borrow a laptop so I'll have somewhere to dump the pictures. I've got 3GB worth of flash and a card reader so that I don't kill my camera battery. I also picked up and voice recorder for the iPod so that I can possibly get some interviews or sounds of the racing and record anything good I come across.

It's going to be great to be back in Boston, but the weather looks rough. They're calling for snow up and down the East coast and I think Providence may get hit pretty hard. Fortunately, they know what they're doing up North, so hopefully everything will run smoothly. Right now the plan is to be there for all of the races except maybe the AM races on Friday. I'll probably use that time to get a run in and get my bearings set before driving down to P-town.

With all the planning and packing and violin lessons tonight, I wasn't able to get a run in. So my streak lasts only a day. I'm going to have to be very hard core to get runs in everyday on this trip, but I think I can manage. I should have Schmeck to get me crackin' and for some good motivation. Boston, here I come.

Jess had a piano lesson, so I dropped her off there and parked the car behind the library. I ran to the Custis trail and took it all the way to the intersection with the W&OD where I took my old route home to where it intersects with Wilson. From there I ran back to the library for a total of five solid miles.

I had originally planned to only run three, but I felt so good doing it, I figured I'd just fill all the time until Jess' lesson was over. My legs were sharp and I had plenty of pop in my stride. Man did it feel good to be "Back Out of the Saddle Again." I'm sure I'll have some soreness tomorrow from using muscles that have been taking a break for a while, but it felt like I picked up right where I left off.

I'm starting to believe that running good mileage everyday and dropping in a few workouts, I can actually make some noise in four weeks when I head back to MIT for the Alumni Meet. I'm not sure what I can do, but it will be fun finding out.

On another note, I'm toying with the idea of going to Cyclocross Nationals to take pictures and report on what I see.

I had planned on starting up the running today, but my right knee is really killing me. It's still swollen and any pounding on the ground really throbs. I'm fairly certain that it's just a bad bruise, so I think a few more days will get things straightened out. Four weeks will go quick, so I'd better get started and see what I've got. It was nice to be back in church today after what seems like a long time. Too many Sunday races and trips out of town!

Raceday! Today was the final race in the MABRA series and I was hoping to finish off my rookie campaign with a solid performance. Jess and one of my fraternity brothers, David Hilde, made the ride up to Fair Hill to cheer me on. As soon as we got out of the car, it was clear this one was going to be frigid. The temps were in the thirties for the first time all season and the wind was howling. I was thanking myself for having the urge to buy a base layer last night to race in.

I rode around the course a few times and was a bit disappointed. The course really wasn't all that interesting. It was all grass/gravel/ashpalt and with the exception of one nasty up and down dip was just switchback after switchback. This wasn't a course suited to my skill set. The ground was dry during my recon rides, so I figured the course would be super fast. I decided to pump up my tires a bit--this turned out to be the biggest mistake of my season.

I was thrilled to roll my front tire up to the actual start line for the first time ever! Due to my 7th place in the series, I finally got a call up and started next to Lobito and Hostetter III for the start. Unfortunately, that would be the last positive occurrence for the duration of the race. For once I had nothing to blame but myself for my lousy start, and lousy it was.

I got off the line slow and didn't get fully clipped in until after several turns of the crank. My lack of focus on the race at hand and my nervousness with the pedals put me out of the top ten before the first turn. Chris Mayhew, who had started on the second row sprinted around us all to get the holeshot. I was pissed and embarassed that I'd given away my only shot at a good start. To start on the first row and finish out of the top ten when I claim that my fitness is my strength is flat out horrible.

I rode that first lap mad as hell and that allowed me to keep in touch with the front of the race. All the switchbacks kept everything nice and compact. I ended up riding right behind Georgia Gould, who was again racing a Men's B race for training. I figured she'd be heading to the front soon enough and that if I tagged along, I'd get there too. Well, I think Georgia was chilling out in this race and after about half of the first lap I went ahead and passed her and several others, working my way up to as high as 9th.

But the second lap wasn't as kind, and my race started to unravel almost before it'd began. I started to struggle more and more with the switchbacks. But the real problem came with the quick dip section behind the barns. I slipped going up that and fell down, crashing Hostetter along with me. We were both back up quickly and on our way, but my confidence in my handling must have fallen out in the crash. It seemed like every turn for the rest of the course was on ice. The turns had become much more muddy than I'd seen before the race and my hard tires were absolutely killing me.

In one of the gravel turns--admittedly one of the easiest on the whole course, I was braking because I was so timid and one spectator pointed out that I didn't need to brake. I told him passing by that my tires had too much air. I was so frustrated at that point and I'd started to lose a lot of places. The crash had put me out of where I wanted to be and the frustration just continued to mount. I let it get the best of me. Jess and David were cheering me on, but I was mad and continued to ride horribly.

A few laps from the finish, I found myself chasing Steve Fife and Georgia Gould. It was amazing to me that as poor as I'd been riding, they were still within reach. I busted my butt racing up the asphalt hill through the start/finish are to try and catch their wheels. I got close enough that I could hear Steve encouraging me to get up with them, but that was all I could manage. Going through the first set of switchbacks behind the bleachers, I shouted at myself for struggling so much with such an easy passage. All my frustration was mounting and I had nowhere on the course to let it out with my legs. I was stuck.

On the final lap, I glanced back to see where I stood after realizing I wasn't going to catch Steve. I think I was in about 14th place at that point. I saw behind me that two guys were chasing, but that even as slowly as I was riding that I could probably fend them off if I stayed up. Well, I was right, but mainly about the staying up part. I made it through the dip section just fine, but somewhere in the ruts that followed I hit something wrong. I'm not sure why or how, but my face hit the ground hard and my right knee slammed into the bike frame. It hurt like hell and for the second week in a row, I had to think about abandoning the race.

I got up slowly and was able to get back on. My left side was caked in dirt from my toes to my face. My knee hurt everytime I turned the crank and especially if I tried to ride out of the saddle. One of the two guys passed by me easily as I was continuing on slowly. The other was coming up on me and I had to ride without any more crashes to hold him off. Coming into the barriers, I nearly crashed because my left foot wouldn't unclip from the pedals. I stumbled to a stop and regained my balance before slowly crossing the barriers and remounting. By that time the second guy was right behind me. I easily held him off because the switchbacks made passing impossible. I finished a pitiful and very disappointing 16th??

Today I rode like the rookie I am. I let the course manhandle me like I haven't done since Lilypons and Charm City. I rode timid and without skill and didn't have my equipment properly set up. I let crashes ruin my race and failed to ride with determination. Frustration ruled the day rather than my fight to race hard and win places. Today I sucked. This was without a doubt my worst race and made last week feel like a success.

I really appreciate all the time and effort put in by the race organizers. They ran a great event. But I hate that course. It lacked any imagination and required only one dismount for the standard barriers. There was nothing memorable about the layout except for the fact that we were racing around a horse track/stables area. I guess the placing of the barriers just before the finish line is unique, but not very. The course took away any advantage I might otherwise have and instead favored mountain bikes as was seen in the second place finisher's choice steed. Fair Hill is my least favorite venue, but it will be my future test of how much my handling improves. If I can race well there next year, I'll know I've learned something.

I made the connection today between pain and over inflated tires. I'm sore and beat up in a way that rivals only my first 'cross experience at Charm City. The hard tires lead to a jarring and uncontrollable ride. My shoulders, my back, and my knees are hurting. My knee has swollen up quite a bit from smacking the frame in the crash. I am amazed at how much pain I'm in from that quick little spill.

In reading a few of the other bloggers posts, at least I can find some solace in that I was far from the only person to experience a crash on the course. And not the only one who had trouble with all the switchbacks.

Cross courses need run-ups!