Wow time flies when you’re way too busy. Finishing up my last semester of school has been very time consuming and training has been cut down to a minimum and I have neglected my blog for way too long. It’s long past time for an update. I need to go all the way back to the end of September to catch up where I started my cyclocross season with a bang at the UCI Cross Vegas at Interbike in Sin City. With a starting position of 102nd the chances of seeing the front of the race were nonexistent and with no cross practice yet this year I was in it for the fun and to fly the colors for Specialized. Last year I wanted to do this race so bad and ended up watching it on the couch with my leg in pieces so just being there was very important to me. Despite my leg hurting on the run ups from the hardware Im still lugging around I had a solid race and finished up a respectable 53rd place. The course was fast and exciting and crowds were some of the best you will find in the US.

A quick stop back in Boulder for school and an exam then up to Winter Park for collegiate mountain bike races. It was a solid weekend with a 5th in the xc and 4th in the short track to wrap up a block of 5 races in nine days. I had hoped to follow up the weekend with a trip to Collegiate Nationals but the team decided not to select me for reasons that have never been explained to me. I was the number two rider in most of the races but perhaps not cool enough or maybe just not enough of a true mountain biker to fit the team’s criteria. No matter as cross season was in full effect and with my new Specialized Crux there was fun to be had. First up with the Boulder CX race at Interlocken, a race I hold dear to my heart as it was the first cross race I ever did and the only one I did in 2008 before going to Australia for the Herald Sun Tour with Jelly Belly. The race was on grass but somehow was super soggy and somewhat muddy. I had so much fun and really caught the cross bug doing this race. I finished up a respectable 22nd out of about 65 guys. Add to that the fact that my good friend and former roommate Spencer Powlison’s bachelor party was the previous night and I missed the start of the race and I think that was a pretty solid effort.