Hazed & Confused

Lets see, last week consisted of two days of riding in Fruita last weekend, a mtb ride here in Gunnison, skate skiing in CB, another ride in Fruita, snowboarding in Telluride, a run and it looks like snow as I sit here and write this. If variety is the spice of life then I am chowing down on a chilly-smoothered, Thai-tufo filled, Chipotle pepper, ina basil-feta cannoli. It is a mixed bag of activities right now.

Anyone catch Simoni's debut on the mountain bike (see picture). 5th at the Marathon World Cup opener, not bad for a small Italian roadie, and I thought Savaodelli was the one with riding skills... Is this the beginning of another wave of roadies coming over to the mtb scene? Probably not.

Looks like Tim jumped ship turning in his green colors for those of Fischer, what the hell are their colors anyway? Wonder if this is just a move for mountain bikes or something more permanent. Hopefully this means we will see him at some races this year.

Spring Break

Sandi & I took a week to recharge in Mexico, we were in Playa del Carmen to just drop out, which was perfect. Besides getting a great tan (got rid of those silly biker tan lines!), we did some sea kayaking- actually getting some great wave rides in, sailed a Hobie Cat each day, played lots of beach volleyball, and even some beach bocchia. Ate lots of sea food, and local cusine, checked out the ruins in Tulum, and enjoyed the great atmosphere down there. I was suprised how much the climate there rejuvinated my skin and hair. It was a much needed break, and we feel fresh.

The day we returned to Gunnison it was near 60, and I broke out my tan by riding two days in a row in a shortsleeve jersey and shorts! The trails up around the college are dry, and it felt so good to be on some single track again.

Year of the Townies

There is no shortage of townie inspired rides at the Small Framebuilders Show this year. I love a good commuter, and especially love this Retrotec from Curtis Englis, absolutely beautiful. Curtis turns out some great rides up in Nothern California, and is a pretty good rider, having ridden around Santa Rosa with him and Jeremy Sycip a few years back.

Can't wait to see more pics from the show...

35+

It recently came to my attention that someone was petitioning USACyling for a 35+ class like that of cyclo-cross, sort of an Elite class for the 35 and older crowd. What a great idea. I mean I would ride that class over single speeds! There are Master Worlds and in Europe there are master classes at most events, I have done two Master World Cups myself (Houffalize & Mount Saint Anne). Mountain states Cup has this idea on their forum right now, and while it is great to see a discussion on this topic, it sounds like nothing will happen this year at the National nor Regional levels.

Seeing the influence that the MSC series has is great, but at the same time it seems that the NMBS series is ever slipping into the pages of history. It is time for a change, to go along with the 35+ debate, here is one, how about a MTB USGP series? Only it would be great to see each region host a weekend of racing, (Noth East, South East, Midwest, Intermountain West, North West, and South West), with the respectable regional series hosting each one at new venues each year. These would be UCI and the largest national points events, with regional events (fewer National points) being the next tier and local events the next below that (fewr points than regionals). Riders then could compete for National Point Series titles, and not have to travel accross the land in the process, and this would also create a more structured feeder system for Juniors and beginner classes.

Time to clean house my friends...who will step up to the plate...