Darrel Parks' great CX photos

Pezcyclingnews photographer-extraordinaire Darrel Parks has some very nice photos of the Capitol Cup cyclocross race on Dec 6th... Check'em out.  Cold, mud and snow were the words of the day!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellparks/4180201758/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Snow sidetracks

So much for getting away to another country to get in loads of training miles.... hmmmm

After a rather longer period of inactivity than usual, I finally decided to get back on the bike and start training for the 2010 season. So on Monday I headed out for 3 hours up the mountains. Not exactly "easing" into it but I was keen, and also well aware that I don't have much longer to ride in these Appalachian mountains before heading home in early Jan. The ride up the first part of the mountain was good, however once I got near 1000m, I was surrounded by snow and even had to get off and walk across some very deep and big sections of ice. The descent back down the valley was rather cold. Needless to say I had the sniffles and sneezes a couple days later. But frankly none of that mattered... snow was on the horizon.

So, we've been stuck in the house for that last few days, with over 50cm of snow. It's been pretty cool (in all meanings of the word). Today we finally got out there and tried to get the car out of the snow. That took a few hours and felt like some serious cross-training. It was actually really good fun, and needless to say, after much shoveling and skidding with the car, the inevitable "play in the snow" ensued. Face plants, attempted slides down the hill on a trash bag... the slides didn't go too well, the snow was too deep and I ended up just getting stuck, totally covered with my face under the snow.

Fun, nothing like being a kid in the snow. And needless to say, the peacefulness is bliss out here in the hoods on Page Country!

15 hundreths of a second of fame on Pezcyclingnews

I made the pictures section of PEZ today. Thanks to Darrel Parks, Pez Photographer who was at Chip's Capitol Cross race and evidently sent a picture to PEZ of me in the lovely mismatched Castel' kit with PEz leg-warmers. I like this pic as it shows the essence of Cyclocross, running through the mud with a bike on your shoulder, and it also shows Lake Fairfax in the background and reminds me of the fun CX racing days of the late 1990s when I raced at the same venue... and of course the snow on the ground is truly epic. :-) Click the lick below to see the full-sized pic.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/cgi/gallerypicget.asp?pic=http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races10/cross10/cap-sim.jpg

Battenkill Part 2 out now and SnowCross!

Here's the latest and the greatest hot off the press from the guys at Pezcyclingnews.com. Part 2 of my Battenkill article is out now.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7777&status=True&catname=Latest

Oddly enough, this was published on Dec 6th, my Birthday. Even odder still, I did a cyclocross race on Dec 6th and wouldn't you know that Pez Photographer Darrel Parks was there to snap some shots of me riding around in the mud and snow. So it was a Pez Cyclingnews day all around!

The cross race was really good fun. Thick snow and the worst mud I have seen in a very VERY long time graced us with their presence. The race turned out to be really good fun, a fantastic course and a solid hour of pain I was very happy to give myself as a birthday present.

Looks out for an article on Pez about the Capitol Cross race in Reston, put on by my old buddy Chip Sovek and Potomac Velo Club, coming soon! (Once I write it anyway... and then get is to the editor... and they publish it; so don't hold your breath.)