Advent Traditions, Old and New

I wanted to share this with all you Lugs out there, brothers sisters mothers fathers wives and friends. It's the first Sunday of Advent today and this year I wanted to do a little more to celebrate and to prepare so I made a book out of the years of Advent writings that Dad typed up a few years ago. It turned out nicely, so now Tomo and have something to read each night and lots of space to add our new memories. In this way we'll be able to share the time together each night and, in our thoughts and prayers, with all of you as well.

 

Videos from the Kansai Cyclocross Race

Here are a few videos from the Kansai cyclocross race that was this past week.

The sand stretch is what makes this race famous.



Barriers in the race. Check out the height difference between Barry Wicks and the Japanese national champion.



This is a racer who kind of got turned around and seems to think that he was racing in the water.

Pro Cyclocross Racers Take on Japanese Cyclocross

Here is an entry from Barry Wick's journal on Velonews.com. He was just over in Japan racing in the biggest cyclocross race series in the country.

http://www.velonews.com/article/85398/barry-wicks--journal-head-speed-concept

Long Time No Post...

...But lots of thoughts of congratulations on your races, Lug Bro Numero Uno. I haven't been riding much here. It's been cold and I've been, well, down, I guess would be a way to put it. Not that a person can't ride when he's feeling down, just that I've figured I need all the rest I can get on the weekends. I do go out on my Bianchi to take photos and hit the bakeries in town. Here are some shots of the autumn leaves. It's peak time for the colors here. The Gingko trees have a rich buttery yellow and the maples are just starting to turn their bright red. It was a three day weekend this weekend so we had some time to enjoy it.

Congratulations again on the racing. I wish I could be there to see it, but the video's a lot better than nothing! Thanks to Corey for that.

 

 

 

 

Yet more Video!

Here is yet another video from my race today. I am not sure who is taking all the views of these races (well, yes, I do know his name, Corey Green) but I could not point him out at the races.

I am the guy in the plain gray jersey (I didn't wear my Bolla stuff today)


Promotion Cross - Rear Camera from Corey Green on Vimeo.

Today's race was in Lexington, at Veterans Park, which in the past has been one of my favorite courses. However it has been at least 3 years since I raced there and the course has changed quite a bit in that time. The region has had quite a bit of rain in the past few days, and so in addition to a new course, the ground was also quite wet and muddy. I had quite a time getting to the race, because I forgot the directions this morning and so had to stop at a gas station in Lexington to ask how to get to the park. Then when I got there I ended up having a flat time about 5 minutes before the start of the race, so between those two things, I had very little time to warm up.

So, here is how the race went for me. I did get past the guy do the video and was riding in 4th place for awhile, then got passed on the 3rd lap, so I was trying to hang on for 5th. I was riding okay at that point, but dropped my chain going over one set of the barriers and then crashed towards the end of the 3rd lap. Also the conditions and the course did not suit my strengths, as there were too many starting and stopping points, and I started to fade by the start of the 4th lap. I was passed by four other racers in the last lap and while I did try to hang with them, by the end of the race I was just happy to finish up. I still placed in the top 10 and came home was an extremely dirty bike.

Some Pictures from Sunday

Well, here are some pictures from my race on Sunday.

They are in reverse order, but oh, well.

Another Cross Racing Video

Someone posted this video to one of the racing listservs that I am on. It is the first lap of my race on Sunday, though again I am not in it. The quality is not the best, but still kind of fun to watch.