2007/2008 Southern California Cyclocross Prestige Series
www.socalcross.org

CLICK THE GREEN TO READ…
The Next Races are this weekend:
Saturday, October 20- Hansen Dam, Lake View Terrace, CA
SCPS #3- CICLE Cross
+
Sunday, October 21- Hansen Dam, Lake View Terrace, CA
SCPS #4- DAM CROSS **UCI (C2)**

The series has been a bunch of fun. Go to the event coverage section to read more!

-DSheek
ride, run, jump, ride+ = So Cal Cross

A few weeks back I posted that Julie and I were competing in the Scott Tinley Triathlon Series at Lake Lopez near San Luis Obispo, CA. It’s taken me a while to circle back to this race but time has finally allowed.

To see pictures of the event go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15147234@N03/sets/72157602445602871/

The entire weekend was a blast. Perfect weather, easy race to get to, our good friends Matt and Becky Smart hung out (Matt raced with me on Sunday) and we were in San Luis Obispo which is one of our favorite places.

Julie’s race was on Saturday at 7:45 am. You could say she brought her “A” game.

On-Road Sprint Triathlon details:
Swim – .25 mile open water lake swim
Bike – 12.4 mile road ride
Run – 3 miles

Julie ended up getting first place in her age group by over ten minutes and 33rd out of 104 overall, including dudes. Not one person passed her on the bike or run. The most impressive part was that she ran 8 minute mile splits. Her run was so strong that day. We stayed and watched her get her medal and stand on the podium. Super cool and you can see the pictures on Flickr.com above.

Matt and I raced was on Sunday at 7:30 am.

Off-Road Extreme Triathlon:
Swim – .5 miles open water swim
Bike – 17 mile mountain bike
Run – 6 miles

Ok, Matt beat me by 11 minutes. He creamed in on the swim and had a better run than me. The swim was my most disappointing part. I felt like I floundered which is frustrating because of how hard I worked on it. But I can say that this was by far my best race. I left it all out there and was exhausted at the end.

My final time was 3:11. That’s a long freakin time to be on course. The mountain bike was by far the biggest shock. The day before the race the entire MTB course was not open and the part that was closed off was the 2 mile 1,000 vertical feet butt kicking climb leading you into miles of single track climbing and descending. My ride time was 1:50, that was the 9th fastest time of the day, small personal victory there. The ride was awesome and the course would be fun to ride without a race. My run time was 57:43 which is 9:37 mile pace. I know for a fact that I negative split the last 3 miles which I am happy with.

My 2 biggest areas for improvement are the swim and run. If I can shave 2 minutes off my swim and 1 minute off each of my miles I have a competitive time for next year. I’m excited to race it again next year. If Julie has her way she won’t be racing but will be supporting with Carter and new child in her belly.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Thanks to MooseJaw.com my new shoes are here and I did a super fun 60 minute run through O’Neil Park tonight. The lacing system is pretty unreal and the fit is wonderful. By reading a customer review on MooseJaw.com I was able to learn that the shoe runs a half size small…which is true. I went with the 11.5 and I am glad I did.

(Click here for more info on the shoes).

More running tomorrow night!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

This coupon just hit my inbox one minute ago.

Use discount code: 1Y0-1-3ZSMQ

Good through: October 30, 2007

Free shipping: Orders over $50.00

Fine print: *The discount will show in the cart. If an item is already on sale, you’ll receive the better of the two discounts. Discount does not apply to Western Mountaineering, The North Face, Burton, Nixon, Patagonia Footwear, Arc’teryx, sunglasses, skis, ski boots, ski bindings, snowboards, snowboard boots, snowboard bindings, and lift tickets.

For more details click the banner below:


Andy B
outsideallday.com

I thought it might be helpful to list out a few of my favorite blogs and or news sites. It’s a good variety of sports, tech, fun and news.

http://www.thecleanestline.com
http://www.simplyjosh.com
http://www.theonion.com/content
http://tnf.typepad.com/endurance
http://www.twit.tv
http://www.xterraplanet.com
http://www.competitorsocal.com

Hopefully you can find something new that will be entertaining. If you hate it all, I’m sorry.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

I was just playing around on MooseJaw.com and noticed their newest sale. All Patagonia is 20% off! How could I resist to post about my favorite outdoor company? I couldn’t, the urge was way to strong.

You MUST use coupon code 921 during checkout to receive the discount.


Andy B
outsideallday.com

Because of the new trail running kick I am on my next race is going to be a 15k at the Xterra Crystal Cove Trail Race.

Details:
Sunday, December 16, 2007
15k Start – 8:00am
5k Start – 8:30am

I currently have 3 buddies signed up to do the race with me. Matt Smart, Bill Daily and Alex Omel. Any other takers? If you’re interested reply to this post and let me know.

After this race I am going to do the race at Mission Gorge on February 3, 2008.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Like I mentioned below working out has not been a priority for the last 2 weeks. Tonight was my first run and I hit up Whiting Ranch. It’s a nice 4.5 mile out and back with a good .5 mile hill climb. It was one of those perfect cool nights where running just seemed like a good idea. It seemed like a good idea until tripped over a rock and did a ninja dive/roll onto my left hip narrowly messing a swim in a dirty nasty stinky polluted deer pee creek. As swift and cunning as I was it still hurt and I stubbed my toe when I kicked the rock. I haven’t fallen while running since I was 6. It kind of pissed me off.

I really need my new shoes to come in as my left knee has a super tender spot on it right on the cap. Julie and I both just ordered new shoes for this very reason. My shoes are supposed to come tomorrow.

Julie’s new shoe:

New Balance – W767 (Silver/Blue/Pink) – Women’s

We ordered it from Zappos.com. They have a deal right now where most shoes get free upgraded Next Day Air. Her shoes arrive tomorrow and we avoided a trip to the store.

My shoe is the:
The North Face Men’s Arnuva 50 Boa Trail Shoe (Fall 2007) – Health Magazine Most Innovative Shoe (2007)

If they come by tomorrow I will try them at O’Neil Park tomorrow night!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

This past weekend we were down in San Diego for Julie’s last race of the season. It was stop 4 of the Subaru Women’s Triathlon Series. It was fun because Julie’s twin sister, Alison, was also competing in the race.

Course:
- .46 mile open water ocean swim in Mission Bay
- 12.4 mile bike
- 3 mile run

Both of the ladies killed the course with Julie edging out Alison by a small gap. Sister rivalries are pretty fun to watch. You could say they are pretty competitive with each other.

Julie’s breakdown:
45th place out of 386
15th place out of 82 in her age group

Total – 1:21:20
Swim – 15:43
Bike – 39:08
Run – 23:47

Please don’t read this post as me bragging about my wife. You could just say that I am really proud of her. She does a pretty good job and is totally committed to her health along with raising a little 15 month old rug rat.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

The last 2 weeks have been rough. Below are 7 reason’s why I haven’t been posting as much as usual.

1. After my last race I got a cold. It lasted over 2 weeks. I was wiped out every night after work. It’s hard to type when you have snot all over your keyboard.

2. Once you feel like being lazy it’s hard to get out of that rut. Baskin-Robbins tastes a lot better than I remember.

3. Since I was sick, I wasn’t exercising and therefore had nothing to write about. The only post that I could have done would have gone like this, “I’m sick, not exercising and now I’m getting fat again”. That’s kind of depressing and I wanted to spare you.

4. My boss was in town for a 3 day whirlwind. Meeting for 12 hours a day. This equaled more grey hair than usual. I hate budgets. Who wants to think about 2008 when we are still living it up in 2007.

5. I realized that my TV is pretty cool and that I had been neglecting it.

6. Below is a screen shot of my calendar from last week. More blue on the calendar means less time to do fun stuff.

7. I’m getting ready to leave for a bunch of 7 to 10 day trips over the next 4 weeks so I wanted to get as much time with Carter and Julie as possible. I love when Carter bites the fat on my arm. Oh wait, that sucks.

I know you are saying, excuses, excuses, sack up. I’m back and I’m sorry if I let you down.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Here is a recent email I received from a cyclist I met at a local shop that has had a horrible experience with one of the larger component companies, which one would expect a lot more from:

Hey Dave,
How’s it been going man? I finally found your email address on your website. Nice site! You sure have alto of information on it. Pretty Cool!!
I finally got my wheel back from Easton. Maaan! How rude do you think they could have been. Telling me,”I was lucky they fixed the wheel. They happened to find a hub!” This is the last Easton product I buy! I’m glad I only bought a mediocre wheelset! If I had spent 500-1000 bucks on wheelset and been told that..well let’s not get into that!

Please let others know…

Thanks,
Bill…You know…

My friend Doug Grant just got back from a Mountain Bike trip to Rwanda. Doug is on the board of Tom Ritchey’s non-profit ProjectRwanda.org and they were over there hosting a mountain bike race for the locals. His story and pictures are incredible!

Click below to read his story:
http://50mileride.blogspot.com/2007/10/dougs-rwanda-adventure.html

Click below for more information on the 50 Mile Ride.
http://www.50mileride.com/

Andy B
outsideallday.com

With the rain coming down hard a few nights ago my surf trip got chucked away with everyone’s trash. But don’t worry about me, a buddy and I paddled out three days later into a solid late season south swell at surfrider. Three hours later we drove away with smiles and enough waves between us to get us to the winter swells. Even one with a cheater five deep in the pocket all the way to the eastern lifeguard tower on this amazing Jacobs.

So back to the rain. With my morning surf filled with sewage I headed up the local hill for a trail ride. Climbing up to Hawthorne the views of the city were perfectly distracting. The Hollywood sign was off my left shoulder. Hitting a section of pavement dirt flew off my tire and into my eyes. I cracked a slight smile. The impeding storm clouds grew darker. The top of the ride came soon and I raised the pace as the downs came more often then the ups.

Ten minutes from the 4Runner the rain came down. In a matter of pedal strokes I could barely see. I stowed my sunglasses and realized my grin was turning into a down right happy face. Before I ran out of trail the sky emptied. When I hit the showers back at the house and dirt was heading to the sea compliments of modern pluming it hit me. I had not felt rain in months. The closest to it I had come was right there in the shower. Here’s to some winter rides, winter rains and some winter surf.

Matt Smart
outsideallday.com Contributor