Reconnecting with an old friend

It has been hard the last couple of months to write.

Just busy being a dad, working full time, doing tech support for races, trying to find time to train between rain drops. This has been the wettest June that anyone can remember.

So when the weather has been good, I have been on the new Yeti as much as possible. It was new back in September but did not get ridden alot last year. It has been a blast riding off road again. Hearing birds chirp, things scurrying away from the trail when you ride by, your heartbeat through your ears, the sounds you make when you are gasping for air, the sound that water makes when you ride through it at high speed. All of this helps to clear your mind of the daily issues that we all deal with. It is even better when you get to share it with your buddies. I got to ride with Pete "coco" Lopez last night...chased him around Mt Falcon and it was a blast.

I have two distinct groups that I ride with. I have the road/cross group. You know the suspects: Big Brian, Dash, Scotty Bates, CMT and the regular kids from Green Mountain Sports, Red Rocks Velo and the Sram boys in the Springs.

I also have the mtb kids. Guys and Gals that I have met over the past couple of years while out riding around, meeting at parties, other mtb festivals in town and what not. They have pushed me this year to get back in shape and start having fun again.

At some point, I think we all go through this. We all enjoy riding but when riding/training/racing seem more like work and less like fun, it is easy to fall off the wagon and just not want to do anything. That is where I have been on the road this year. I have bunches of road miles but all have been my own personal grouppetto ride. Nobody around because I dont feel like chasing all day since my best shape at this point is round.

I started riding mtb's back in 1991 after going to the first MTB Worlds in Durango and have been hooked every since. The pure enjoyment of going on road trips to great places to ride (Moab, Scottsdale, Telluride, Mammoth Mtn, Seattle, West Texas, Fruita) is so much more enjoyable to me than heading out and having to deal with all the crap that goes on with the road scene. 30mph fools on the bikepath in thier aerobars, irate drivers yelling at you becuase you slowed them up by 10 seconds, roadies with white socks complaining about nothing...they just need to complain.

I have sent out numerous emails to the team talking up cross and needing to order clothing, when training will start, just getting everybody in the mood to play in the dirt again. I am truly looking forward to getting back to cross and having the fun, the pain, the laughs that go along with the coolest cycling sport there is.....but only after I have reconnected with my roots