Veteran's Day

most people are pretty shocked when they find out i am a veteran. it's true. i was in the coast guard for 4 years and going into the the uscg was definitely one of the best decisions i ever made... right up there with asking beth to marry me. i don't talk about it much i am very proud of the fact that i served my country. a lot of people bitch and complain about a lot things with the government and our country but never do anything about it. i gave 4 years of my life to "work" for our country and do my part. that's something that no one can take away from me. it may sound cheesey but when i hear people complaining all the time i often wonder what they have done to give back or make a difference. ok... enough of that.

so even though my employer doesn't give us veterans day off i always take it off. i deserve it! the rest of this post may be kind of boring... it's just what i did yesterday... a day in the life kind of thing.

so this year i used my day off to get out on the trails in get in more time on the new bike.

i headed out early in the morning and rode over to the trails and put my bike to the test. it passed. i am still totally blown away by this bike and the sram XX groupo. i really can't wait to race it next year.

3:14, 30.31 miles, 5406 ft. of climbing, 2 crashes

after the ride i came home and just relaxed. i can't even remember the last time i did that. we have been so busy that it seems lately that every time i finish a ride or workout there is something else i have to do... like go to work, make dinner, or pack up wedding invitations. so yesterday i just propped my feet up, drank coffee, watched sportscenter, and watched beth do p90x.... which actually looks pretty solid. i may have to give some of the workouts a try.

after lounging for a couple of hours I headed out to SockGuy, my newest sponsor, to hang out and pick up some gear. when i left SockGuy i headed up the street to Green Flash to pick up the beer for Ryan and Sarah's wedding on saturday, which is going to be rad! I couldn't let them kick off the rest of their lives drinking Michelob Amber Bock so I got a case of West Coast IPA and another of Hop Head Red. it's going to be an epic wedding reception!

i also got a growler fill of their limited release DIPA: Palate Wrecker. it's good. (don't worry. i didn't pour this beer until after i was done running around for the day).


after dropping everything off at home i headed up to B&L to pick the Tricross. Gordon was swapping out the crankset to something more CX specific and to give me some better gearing. I also got some white Hudz. i think the bike is complete. once i got back home i cleand the mtb and cx bike while waiting for beth to get home from get her wedding dress fitted... it's getting close!

once she got home we headed up to Bestawan to meet some friends for dinner. a good ending to a good holiday!

I need more weekends like this...

some more photos from Storm the Beach. These were taken by Richard Murphy a Celo Pacific teammate and awesome photog.


it was pretty much a perfect fall weekend.

Friday was a double ride day. Before work I hit the roads, trails, and paths for a good ride on the CX bike and then took out the new MTB for an EZ spin in the evening just before dark. Loving the new bike!

I was up early on Saturday to pick ryan up in huntington beach before heading up to Bakersfield for SCPS #9a. the course was rad and I had a solid race. I actually had a really good start and was never out of the top 5. At the end of the first of six laps there were 3 of us off the front and then it was just me and a guy from Trek/Helen's Cycles and he was just sitting on my wheel half way through lap two. I made a move right before the run up and got a way and then put in more time on the run, and then hammered. I never let up and extended my lead during the remaining laps an got the win. definitely happy with the race and how i was able to handle some of the technical sections. my bike handling skills are definitely improving, but still need quite a bit of work.


The night before I decided I would also do the Elite 1/2/3 race which was only 15 minutes after my race. I figured it would make for great training (the best training IS racing) and also to get an idea of how much faster riding with top dogs would be. So after crossing the line I spun around a bit, slammed a gel & water, and got back on the starting line to race. i got owned! that's the only way to put it. the 1/2/3 start was fast I was pretty much DFL, but I hung on a battled before completely blowing up around lap 5 of 9. I don't think I have really ever blow up quite like that. I had no more juice... but it was rad! It always feels good to blow up when you know you've completely emptied that tank. I can't wait to do it again.


pretty sure i am crossed eyed and blow in this one.

sunday was the perfect fall day... in my opinion. I started the day with some good coffee and then ryan and I hit lake hodges for 2.5 mellow hours on the mountain bike. the weather was perfect and we just cruised. i really pushed on some of the descents to see what the bike could handle. I am really blow a way how good the shock is and how much it sucks up.



then it was home to sit around and watch some football all day. we had some really good beer and watched the bolts come from behind to take a much needed win. after the game we headed up to pizza port to watch the sunday night game and to our surprise they had Pliny the Elder on draft... definitely a top 5 beer if not my #1 these days.

ryan brought a growler of Huntington Beach Beer Co.'s Autumn Rye Season Ale and I picked up a growler of Solana Beach Pizza Ports Booyah Steez DIPA. Both damn good.


booyah steez. new beer in my top 5!

so definitely a great weekend and i hope there are more of the same in the coming weeks.

rolling... Fast!

first things first... I got my new mountain bike, a 2010 Specialized S-Works Stumppjumper Carbon HT, but it's way more than just a mountain bike. it's a race machine! i have even owned a top of the line mountain bike, or any other bike for that matter. i have always had "good" bikes but this thing is on another level. i can't thank gordon, scott, and B&L for making this happen... and so quickly.

beth and i headed out on our local trails/paths for a quick spin last night before dinner and the bike is rad. i can't wait to get more miles on it and do a full review.

beth on one of the climbs. the first time she's been back on the mtb since the race in september. that's gonna change.


she tried to ride up a curb. it didn't work.


racing wise things are going well and i am having a lot of fun which is hands down the most important thing to me right now... and always. training wise i have just been going about it "beth" style and just doing whatever i feel like on a given day. i have no plan right now except to ride. I am trying to hit the swami's ride on tuesday's and thursday's for some hard riding and good times but if I don't feel like riding with a group i don't. i have also just been jumping in with other people's rides and workouts just to mix it up. i have cut my running down to 1-2 x 30 min runs a week just to keep the the legs ready hammer the run-ups and barriers in the cross races. riding is just more fun... especially when you have 3 rad bikes to chose from. it never gets old!

more photos from Storm the Beach. Thanks Andrew....



I am pretty stoked because i have been really consistent with strength training too. i have either been knocking it out at lunch in the our gyms at work, the ymca in the mornings, or at home. i am really stoked on the home workouts right now. they only take 30 minutes and i just go nonstop. a lot of core on the ball, upperbody using the TRX, and planks. simple... and i can do it while watching espn.

ryan and i are headed up to bakersfield tomorrow morning for SCPS #9 and then hauling ass back home. then on sunday morning, and what I'm really looking forward to, is heading out to hodges with beth, the new bike, and hopefully ryan & sarah. we are going to ride a couple of hours before coming home to watch the bolts game, grill up some food, and have some good beer. perfect fall sunday!

ok...i'm out. time to get out on the CX bike before work.

Storm the Beach Race Report

a lot of good stuff going on last week leading up to the Storm the Beach race on sunday. i am starting to get some awesome sponsorship stuff lined up for next year and am really stoked about it. i also got in some good riding... in the cold. the seasons are definitely changing... even here in socal. i know it doesn't compare to the dumping of snow colorado got last week but getting on the bike out here in the mornings when it's below 45 is tough. i am stoked on the gear i have though. the skinfit base layers are money!

Storm the Beach.

first of all my bike was dialed in for the race. i dropped it off at B&L last week and Gordon did his magic. my bike came out of the shop looking fast. we put some new tires on my 404's, swapped the stem, bars, seatpost, and saddle.... this definitely lightened up the bike a bit.

ryan and i showed up early on sunday (630am) to work the gate. storm the beach is put on by our club, Celo Pacific, so everybody had a job to do as well as race. it made for a long day for sure but it was a lot of fun.

my race was delayed a bit so my warm-up was mis-timed a bit but once we got on the start line i was ready to go.


the weather and course were in perfect conditions and i was really looking forward to hammering and going for the win but definitely wanted to race smarter than I did in Long Beach a couple of weeks ago.

i got a call up again because I am still in 2nd place even after missing the race the week before which was key. the start line was only wide enough for 4 riders and getting a good position was key. right off the gun 2 guys took off and a group of 5+ started to chase them down over the fast fireroads. we all came together as we hit the run to the beach and couple of guys went to the front and i just sat in. i made a move and got to the front up the long run up and took lead, but not by much and then blew it when I mis-shifted and dropped my chain in a loose sandy corner. I got back on pretty quickly and then hammered back to the front.



on lap two 5 of us worked together on the fireroads to got a solid gap on the rest of the field. i took a couple of pulls but definitely let the others guys share the load. right before we hit the run to the beach i made a move and got a gap and extended it while running through the sand, hammering on the beach, and then going really hard up the run-up. this gave me a solid lead heading into the 3rd of 5 laps.

hammering solo on the beach.


i continued to ride hard and really push it on the running sections and my lead got bigger with each lap. the course defintely suited my strenghts with the long sandy running sections, fireroads, and lack of tight, technical corners. I was able to hold on for the win and was super stoked.

recovery drink within 5 minutes of crossing the line.


podium on the beach


my kind of prizes. beers and pint glasses!


not so tough post race posedown.


it was rad to take the win on a course close to home with a lot of friends out there cheering... and heckling!

after my race... and grabbing a beer from the keg we hung around to watch the elite 1/2/3 race and watch Brent go for his 100th win. he made a killer move near the end of race and blew everybody away... it was SICK! I am stoked for Brent. He's a fast, humble guy and I am glad i have the oppurtunity to race on the same team as him and pick his brain.

brent dropping the hammer.


crossing the line!


Brandon also had a killer race taking 5th in the single speed 1/2/3 race. he derfinitely left it all out there.


this is one the best races i have ever been apart of... ever! from my teammates on Celo Pacific, the course, my win, the weather, the post race beers, having beth there cheering me on, and watching all my friends race it was just an awesome day.

as always... after a win... i had a great beer in the 22oz "victory" mug!

so another race in the books. i think i am going to be heading up to bakersfield to race again this weekend and hopefully move into first place in the series.

az weekend recap (in photos)

we had a killer time in AZ... as always and can't thank tom and amy enough for hosting us. beth had a great race with a PR and I got in some fun riding in the dirt. so there's not really too much to write... so here are some photos from the trip.

obviously not AZ. the surf the morning we left. it was fun. i actually got in the water 4 times last week. it's been a very long time since i have surfed that much.


i spent 3 hours saturday morning chasing tom and brian around McDowell Mountain Park. they make me feel slow!




after riding we headed down the SOMA expo and got beth all ready to go.


satruday night after some "refreshments" we headed out to Chelsea's Kitchen. great food.

very solid ipa

she cleans up nice

tom and amy


sunday morning we were up super early to head down to the race. tom and i dropped beth off, parked, and the got on our bikes. we cruised around during the race and got to see a lot.

team.


beth.


tom slugging hot chocolate. it was actually pretty cold down there until the sun came up.


bet bringing it home.


the champ. feeling good.


me and tom post race. i think we were more tired than beth.


good times.