Fitness-B-Gone

Here's how you eliminate any good fitness you might have.

Sit yo ass in front of the No-Friend-O. Luckily I only did it for an afternoon so I didn't get sucked in too much.
God damn it, I love me some video games though.

Dopes

Everyone doping or at least admitting that they doped, but only a little or maybe a lot. Even P-Dogg is admitting something.

I told dude that Zabel admitted using EPO in the past. He was pissed. Zabel, really? If he did it then the entire pro peloton is on the juice.


K-Man has been having quite a string of bad luck on the bike. Dog bites, busted tires getting his ass beat by me. The list goes on. Lets hope his luck changes soon....we'll not necessarily the last part.

I'm actually going to race this weekend.

Shocking, I know. Silverton road race is tomorrow. I train out there all the time, although I doubt that will keep me from getting thrashed by all the pros in town getting preped for Mt Hood.

Team Milram/Garmin

As you may or may not know, I work for Garmin and we are a sponsor of Team Milram. All the riders are equiped with Edge 305s. and they are racing the Giro right now. As time and internet access permit they are posting the stages to Motion Based. Good stuff, check it out.

The Odd Rolls Again

There's a nice article about how my good buddy Todd 'The Odd' Duncan is recovering from being run over by a car.

Final Push

It just goes to show you that running IS bad for you.

Lab Rat

Last Saturday I visited Herriott Sports Performance in Seattle to do a little testing. In all it was a good experience, the results where positive and somewhat expected; I'm a stud.

Now I can track my progress with follow up tests.

Basso.

Gee, I didn't see that coming, whatever. At least he was kind enough to leave Disco before the S hit the fan. What an ass. Do you think Riis knew about Ivan working with Funetes when he let him go last year from CSC? Hmmmm. It takes a doper to know a doper.

I better news, LWV alum Tom Peterson won a stage at the Gila this weekend. This is what he had to say about his first win.
"I've been waiting for this one for a while. I kept thinking it was just around the corner," he said. "I mean, I should be winning stuff because I'm fast, but I haven't been. I hope this is the first of many to come."
Classy. I like that kind of attitude.

Deal

I've got two brand new Reynolds Ouzo Pro forks that I need to sell. 1.125" Carbon steerer, non integrated, 43mm rake. Never been on a frame, still in the box. $215 ea.

I will consider some fitness in trade for the forks. I seem to be lacking in that department at the moment.

Pruitt take note, dude is none too happy about the quality and styling of eyewear avaliable to infants. Perhaps he can get dialed in on a pair of 'Baby Raptors'

Mother Ship Has Called

Monday I'm flying back to Kansas to visit the main office. It'll be a short trip, I'll be back Wednesday afternoon. Which is good since I don't think I can really be away from dude for much longer than that.

Besides what is there to do in Kansas? I've heard that the have good BBQ. Lovely...beef, that sounds delicious....gag. I've heard the riding is unique. I think ever bike that is sold comes with areo bars attatched. I'm not even taking my bike anyway. At least everyone I talk to at the facility in Kansas is super cool. Maybe they can clue me into why they like to live there.

Here's a picture of dude. He's growing soooo fast.

Bad Prank

I wouldn't normally post this but it's pretty funny.


Wife Prank Call Back Fires - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Ouch...

Wednesday Night Worlds

There's a local ride in town that's been in existense since the dawn of time, The Wednesday Night World Championships. Basically a race paced ride that uses routes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Each route will use up exactly all the daylight remaining in the day and will be on roads that are vertually car free.

Anyway, today's ride had a first for me. While cresting a hill, I'm 3 wheels back, #2 rider hits the deck. I plow into him and over the bars I go. I land on my hands and nothing else hits the ground. Total damage to me, cut on my finger. Of course I'm too awesome to be riding in gloves so I thank my lucky stars that it's only one cut and not road rash all over my palms. Other guy...broken bars, banged up saddle, ripped jersey and some road rash on his back.

Let's hope that's the only crash of the year.

Fastest Builder

Who is the fastest on their own creation....I think I might be.

John Slawta is pretty quick. I rode with him in Ashland last June on the Mountian Lakes Challenge. He was gasing it pretty hard up Green Springs Hwy. I will say that it was the first climb of a 100+ miler for me. He only did 50ish and didn't drop me.

Sacha is pretty good with the cyclocross. I'm never in shape at that time of year, but if I did race it would be in th A's.

Ira Ryan does crazy long races. The longest I've ridden on one day is 155 miles. In any 'normal' road race i think I'd have him covered.

Mike D still rides when he's not up to his eyeballs in orders so that's not even fair.

Maybe we should have an exhibition race to decide it. Or maybe I should just sell some more bikes and not worry about who's fastest.

Hipster Bingo

Best played in downtown PDX or any Cross Crusade after party.

PoC

Piece of Cake...not really. I did manage to finish somewhere in the top half. Nothing like coming to a complete stop 300 meters before the finish line. They really should move the finish for that race.

Did I mention I might be going to the Sea Monkey. I'll find out next week. They always need help in the Garmin booth and since I'm the only cat 2 in the company it makes sense for me to be involed with the product line....right?

One Down

One more to go.

Ice Breakah was today and it was a family deal as Kristin and Noah were in tow. Dude is pretty portable and Kristin needed to get out of the house for a bit. As far as the race it's self went...Rubicon TTT off the front. Oh well, they basically get paid to race their bikes.

Tomorrow will be a whole lot of fun as Piece of Cake will be on the agenda. That race stinks...no hills, not even an overpass. Rumor has it Donald will be there sporting those tri-spokes he loves so much. That'll make the race much more relaxing I'm sure, nothing like announcing to the entire field what you plan on doing. Of course, lately, there seems to be nothing anyone can do about it anyway.

Marcroft Cycles T-Shirt

I'm going to order up some t-shirts to use as promotional tools. I'll be able to schwag out all the local shops and give me something to wear that isn't 6 years old.

Sleep Deprived Racing

Today was Banana Belt #3. When I showed up everyone was congratulating me on the arrival of the dude. I really didn't do much of the work to get him here but what the heck I'll take some of the glory. Thanks everyone.

The race went a little something like this. Pain, this isn't so bad, pain, not so bad, pain, not so bad....anyway you get the picture. I finished with the main bunch and thought about getting into position to sprint but thought otherwise. Some day soon I'm going to full on sprint in a 1,2 race. I think I can hold my own. BTW Zach won...barring a DQ'd.

Per request, here's another picture of dude.

Take That Suckas!

To all the degative Nellies out there that said 'As soon as the baby comes your riding days are done.' I give you this....4 days post birth and I'm heading out for a ride.

The Future of US Cycling

Introducing Noah Reed Marcroft. 8lb 1oz of fury. Bringing the pain in 2022.
Mom and baby are doing fantastic.

Thanks for reading

Not Yet...

So K$ is ready for the dude to arrive, as she's starting to get a tad uncomfortable. I say a 'tad' because as we're doing last minute mods to the dude’s room she's still moving the crib, rearranging drawers and such without much difficulty. Not to mention she's still working and the due date is the 8th.

As for my readiness....I'm taking a 'we'll deal with it as it comes stance.'

Whoa Now!

For some reason the rumor is floating around that JZA of RaceOregon is me. It's not. Tell your friends.

The site sure is getting people worked up though. It's going to make racing this year just a little more exciting.

O Money

So Omer put his name out there in a big way today. Nothing like spending 140km off the front to make your sponsors happy.

Way to go ace, I knew you had it in you. Just think, you were only 40kms from a custom bike from yours truly.

First Race Ever??

You'd think so by how wicked nervous I am. It's silly how shaky I am this morning, I'm trying to get my mind off this race by designing some bikes but it's not working. My head keeps coming back to this race and it's not even that important of an event.

I probably shouldn't have looked at the pre-registered athletes. Doug O is signed up which means he'll probably have Evan in tow. I've heard that the entire CMG squad will be there hell bent on smacking everyone around. We'll have at least 5 guys which means we'll need to be represted in every break or we get to bring it back. Today will be a bunch of suffering followed be another healthy dose of suffering. I can't believe I wanted this.

At least I'm not in Omer's shoes...first race of the year being to biggest race of the year for the squad. Ouch.

Piece of Pie

The OBRA road season is starting up this weekend. I think I'm ready for it...I don't know. I'm sure I' have more fitness than last year but I'm not sure. My wieght is about that same as it was 12 months ago but I can't seem to recall. I am positive of one thing, I really want to race. It's been too long of an 'off-season.'

Marcroft Cycles is chill'n. Ready to take orders. Any orders for bikes. If you need a bike let me know. My books are empty. I can fit you right in.....Actually it might be a good thing I'm not booked up with orders. With the dude coming soon, I don't think anyone is interested in a sleep deprived frame.

1980...

Like everyone else, I had a Big Wheel that I ripped around the neighborhood on. I also did a little racing on it. I won the Low Rider Rally two years in a row. I was five years old and it was my first taste of competition, leg powered competition at that!

I knew there were some photos of the race floating around my parents house and wouldn't you know it they found 'em. Check it out, 1980.


That's me in the blonde hair, #32 jersey and black big wheel. It even had rear wheel farings on it. I remember being super nervous before that heat race. I thought everyone was way bigger than me....story of my life really.


The start of a heat race. I'm second in from the right. That's my old man behind me. He looks pretty stoked about the start I got.


Little Brian wasn't aware of the proper finishline pose. Both hands in the air, pointing to the heavens.

2007 Race Bike

I got my new bike together yesterday and rode it today. Owning a frame shop means never getting to many mile on one bike.

It's made from Columbus Spirit steel. I have my wheels for training on it right now but it'll have carbons on it soon enough. I'm going to leave it set-up for racing only. It should be under the UCI weight limit. I'll get a scale on it soon.

2007 OBRA Digits

I received my OBRA membership in the mail today. After racing for 4 years with the same lame ass number, 565, I got a new number with my upgrade. 118. Funny because that's my goal wieght for the year too.

Rain Bike

Here are some pictures of a rain bike I did. Of course the fenders are off and the cross tires are on. I guess it's a multi-purpose bike too.

Been Known to Shred

I started off, back in the day, racing mountian bikes. It's been about 10 years since I've got a new frame, well that's about to change. Check it out, it's not quite done but pretty close. I'm going to pair this frame with a 100mm White Bros fork or a 100mm Fox fork. It should be a plush ride.



BTW, it's fricking cold out.

Count Down...

So the clock is counting down, only a month before the season starts and less than 2 months before 'the dude' arrives. Let's just say I'm less than prepared for either one.

My fitness is starting to come around but since this will be my first year in the 2's I have very little idea of what to expect. Sure it's going to hurt and be difficult, but by how much? All I can do is continue with my coaches plan and go out and race when the time comes.

As far as prepping for the babies arrival, we are set as far as physical belongings. It's the mental prep that I'm falling behind on. I'm a little freaked out about being responible for another life. Babies are so fragile in body and mind, how am I going to keep from hurting either one? At least I'm not doing this alone. I'm so grateful to have Kristin, she's going to make a great mother. With luck, she'll be able to mask any of my short comings as a father.

Quit Taunting...

I've been riding a lot lately, in the rain, in the cold, in the cold rain, and it sucks. Saturday was no different, cold and rainy. I was hanging out waiting for the 10:00 ride to start and my phone beeps at me, I got a text message. Cool, so off comes one pair of gloves, then the other pair. I undo my rain cape, fish around in my pockets to find my phone. Who is it....ODogg, he says, "Weather's great in Cali, have a good ride." Bastard! I don't want to hear it. Whatever, sure he get's nice weather to ride in but he also get's his ass beat on a regular basis by Levi. Who wants that? Not me...welll maybe for just a week or two.

Anyway, I have just the thing to beat the nasty NW winter weather. Here's some shoots of a rain bike I just got back from the powder-coater.





We got the bike built up last week in time to ride in the rain this weekend. I'll get some shots on the finished product soon.

Live and Direct

After some doing Marcroft Cycles has a web presence. Of course it's not the best, but it's a start. I have some tweaks I need to do to give the site a sharper look and of course get a better gallery added.

Saturday Extremes

Today I woke up to a 26°F temperature and icy street. Great way to start a 6 hour ride. I cautiously rolled down to Scott's Cycle for the 7:30 ride. When I get there nobody is kitted up and they're trying to figure out where to go to breakfast...whatever, it's not that bad out. Anyway Kyle Gritters was in town and he was at the shop ready to roll, so roll we did with two other brave souls. It was a great ride, a little sketchy at times but great none the less. About 1.5 hours into the ride disaster strikes. As we were all riding relaxed, feeling that the ice was not a problem, we turned left onto a side road. First down, Kyle. Second down, Matt, after rolling over Kyle rear wheel. Third down, Lauren. Of course I stayed upright because I was on my custom made Marcroft that tracks superbly in the snow and ice. After the melee we were down a rear wheel and a rear derailuer on Kyles bike. After jimmying it back together we limped back to the shop. Luckily the temperature was rising, Steve and John got the bike running again and we were able to continue the trek. Six hours, 3000Kjl.

Vertical Integration

I've been trying to get a website up for Marcroft Cycles for quite some time now. Well, after coming to the realization that someting on the web is better than nothing, I started work on the site myself. I'm no programer but I was able to get a program that writes all the html code for you. Here's a sneak peak.

I'm going to try to get the site uploaded this week and a better gallery dialed in.

I hope the pictures of me aren't too much. I'm just trying to bring sexy back.

It Figures

The day after Christmas and I don't have to work. Great time to burn off some holiday calories....in crappy weather. I'm so tired of riding in the rain.

Titanium Push

I've decided to push forward with offering titanium bikes. This is quite a large undertaking as the costs are much greater than building steel bikes. I only need to do a few things to the shop to get it dialed in for building bikes out of Ti. I'll need to do a proof bike too. I wonder what kind of bike I should build? I already have 4 road bikes, 2 mountian bikes, a TT bike, track bike and cross bike. It'll probably be another road bike, they get used the most.

Marcroft Cycles Flyer

I had this flyer made up about 6 months ago. It went up in a few shops around town. Check it out.

Frames

Here are some frames:


This is my new road bike for next year. Columbus Spirit tubing, it's sick light.


Doug's bike back from the painter. I'm looking forward to seeing this built up. Should be sweet.


David's rain bike finally with all the braze-ons. Still nasty with the flux too. It'll be back from the powder coater by Christmas and ready to ride for the new year.


Marcroft Cycles quality control going over a frame...it passed.

Finishing Up

I always do this. I'll end up with two or three bikes 80% finished. This weekend I should have them done and ready for the painter. I'll post a few pictures before they go out the door.

Trimmed Up

I almost busted a gut when I saw this.

Enough Already

Alright we get it, cyclocross racers are 'zany, cooky, dudes.' They like to drink beer and wear speedos while racing in knee deep mud. But you know what, when everyone else is doing it, you're no longer unique.

Cyclocross was at one time a fringe sport of another fringe sport (road racing). Now it's all mainstream. I mean the New York Time ran an article about it for christs sake.



Whatever.

Goes Around, Comes Around

After one seriously wet and nasty November, December starts out with blue sky and great rides. We'll see how long it lasts.

I have a theory: Every year we accumulate X number of inches of rain. Every year its roughly the same number. That means we ARE going to get X inches of rain. The question is how are we going to receive it. One week, 5 inches followed by a week of nice, or will it be steady drizzle for a month? I prefer a nasty week followed by a nice period. I guess we're in that nice period.

Some Bikes

I'm too tired to efficiently build bikes this evening so I thought I'd post some pictures of some bikes Ive already built.


Anthony's Road Bike. This photo doesn't do the finish justice. It's certainly the color of money


My TT bike. Don't let the 54T front ring fool you, I'm still slow on it.


Chris's TT frame. I really like this orange. In fact I think this will be the color for my next road frame.


David's rain bike in progress. It just needs brazing and a Canadian flag, eh.

Epic?!

Sunday was stupid. I should have just stayed in the garage and built bikes. But noooo, I gotta go ride. Of course I didn't want to ride alone so I text messaged O-Dogg to meet up. He accepted and my day was about to turn to shit. With the temperature about 38 degrees and the wind wipping at 20-30 mph I kitted up and rode downtown to meet Omer. I won't get into details about the ride but Omer's built for flat, windy riding and let's just say that I'm not. After 3.5 hours of wind and rain I got home and for some reason I've been in a pissy mood ever since. I think that ride broke me. Stupid bike. I'm moving to California.

Next Stop: Pro Tour

Well not quite but it is the next step for Lake Washinton Velo and world domination:

Todd Herriott Joins Hagens Berman Cycling Team as Director

November 22, 2006 – The Lake Washington Velo Cycling Club is taking another big step in solidifying itself as the premier amateur development team in the Nation with the announcement of Todd Herriot as the Director Sportif. Todd comes to the team with several years on the NRC circuit as a member of the Colavita/Sutter Home and Healthnet programs along with a background as a strength and conditioning coach. "With the increased support from our sponsor Hagens Berman we were able to bring in a great talent and mentor like Todd to help mold our talented yet inexperienced riders into the cyclists of tomorrow. He has the experience and background to direct this team to an even higher level", states team President Terry Buchanan. Todd comes to the team with several stellar performances over the last several years: first American to win the Univest Grand Prix in 2002; first American to win the Tour of Cuba and finishing his professional career 12 th overall at the US Professional Road Championships earlier this year. Todd won't only be sitting behind the wheel of the team's Saturn Ion but will also support the entire team in many areas including coaching, tactics, and mental toughness and will also give us a unique perspective as the season rolls along at www.hagensbermancycling.com or www.toddherriott.com

Pass the Gravy

It's Thanksgiving Day and that means eating until you can't move. For most cyclists, and me especially, this is a very bad thing. An extra 7000 calories in one dinner can set you back a few weeks in training. I found this article about making Thanksgiving dinner healthier. It's pretty much common sense but we could all use a reminder now and then.

I'm going to enjoy my one piece of turkey, no potatoes and one scoop of dressing. Of course the one piece of turkey will be 300 grams and the scoop of dressing will be from a shovel.

Why I Hate CycloCross

I just checked out some pictures from the USGP finale in P-Town...why the hell would you roll to the starting line knowing full well what the course is like. That doesn't look like fun at all. Covered in mud, soaked to the bone and freezing your ass off. At least it's over with in one hour and you can get a beer hand up.

A couple nights ago, after finishing a pint of ice cream, I had a dream that I was guest riding at Mt Hood for a pro team. Odd. I'm going to have to have one hell of a start to my '07 season for that to happen. I should probably lay off the fozen dairy products.

Yeah...

5 hours on Saturday...no rain but cold.
3 hours on Sunday...rain and cold.
7 day forcast: rain and cold.
yippee.

Where's....?

So in order to better prep for playing with the dude when he arrives let's play a little game. It's called find the stuff on the workbench.



-Calculator, because I can't add or subtract
-Bike-o-pain, AKA, time tial bike
-Half eaten cliff bar
-2005 OBRA expert number plate
-Various measuring devices because my eye-crometers are not calibrated
-Remote to the tunes
-Pliers for assisting my weak wrists
-Cell phone in case the orders start flowing in

Big-Tex vs. Cancer Ver.2.0

Over-Competitive Lance Armstrong Challenges Cancer To Rematch

It Figures

Sore throat....Check
Runny nose....Check
Achy muscles....Check

It's officail, I'm sick. It pisses me off too, I wasn't dieting or pushing myself on the bike. I was just exposed to some virus, which brings me to my rant:

If you're sick, stay the hell home!! Don't come to work, don't show up on group rides, don't go to the store, just stay home! Last week I can count 2 people that came to work ill and at least 2 people that showed up to the weekend rides coughing and hacking. I hate them right now.

The Pay-Off

I think all the weight lifting is having an effect on me. Check out my buff legs.

Corporate Sell Out

I added a couple links to my page here. One is Garmin, my corporate job. I have hesitated on linking my 'real' job to my blog. It's not like the need the publicity for revenue. But what the hell it's review time and I think my boss reads this.

The other is Motion Based. Check out their site. If you are using a GPS device you should be uploading your information to Motion Based. Besides they're a good group of guys and they do need the revenue.

Rain is Here

I started raining today. I'm not ready for 3 months of wet weather. I don't even know if my rain bike will make it another 10 miles before it falls apart. I guess I was hoping the nice weather would hold. I guess I was wrong.

The Blazers season started today...with a win in Seattle. Brandon Roy is something special.

Hagens-Berman Hit Squad: Oregon Edition

I got a list of all the Oregon based Hagen-Daz-Borg Riders there are. It's quite impressive. Here's the break down of the players:

Carl Decker: He's pretty fast.
Andrew Fischer: Been known to win a race or two. Won the 2006 Oregon Cup
Ian Boswell: Now that he can drive a car I'm sure he'll be upgraded.
Brian Marcroft: Straight money pimp.
Damien Schmitt: Still racing after all these years.
Alex Newport-Berra: He goes up hill very fast.
Dan Watson: Does he still ride? I saw him dish out some serious pain in 2005...
Joe King: He races a lot, I'm sure there will be some results in 2007.
Adam Curry: If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all...
Solomon Woras: Anyone that races SS Cross in a Speedo is alright with me. Besides we were on Team O together, as 4s...and Omer too. I'm seeing a trend here.
Taylor Kneuven: Altitude training and keg stands.

Don't hate.

Trade Show?!

Looks like I better get off my ass and get a booth set up to show off Marcroft Cycles. I only have 11 months to prepare.

Trade Show in P-Town

I'm sure booth babes are optional.

Oh, I can race again....Thanks

So did everyone implemented in Operation Puerto dodge a bullet, or will there be some more fallout down the line? I don't know but there are some serious problems with the UCI and WADA that need to be ironed out.


So in case you're wondering about my training program for next year is going, I think this pretty much sums it up:


Peace!

Ultimate NW Training Bike

I've been kicking around the idea of building high zoot rain bikes for the crapped out weather we get around here for 5 months at a time. There's been a ton of interest but who really wants to spend a grip of cash on a custom bike that they are going to beat the hell out of? I found one guy and he's stoked.

It'll be a sweet ride. I figure the bike will match the riders race bike in fit and relative handling but the frame will have special enhancements to make winter life better. Including disc brakes, 135mm rear spacing and extra fender clearance not to mention that custom steel feel. Sure this bike will need a special wheelset, but don't all rain bikes? I should make an interesting project. I hope this is the catalyst that sparks some more sales.

I'll post some pictures as the build goes on.

Respect the Riis

I think Bjarne Riis is doing a fantastic job protecting his name and the integrity of Team CSC. By sacking Basso (I know they are saying mutually decided to part ways but we all know what that means) Riis can wash his hands of anything that might come out of Operación Puerto and Basso's involvement.

Riis is taking no chances and if that means letting a potential Tour winner go he's willing to take that chance to protect the squad.

Hillsburrito - 'Cross styling in the mud

Since I'm not doing the 'cross thing this year I gave my bike to a dude outta Corvallis to rock on. Here's how his first race went:


A story doesn’t exist until it’s been told. So with that little deep thought in mind (I made that one up all by myself too), I have a little ditty to tell about my adventure last Sunday. It just so happens that I don’t think any of you were there!

My story has a little background to it. Brian Marcroft approached me recently about riding his custom built Ti cross bike during this fall to get the name out for Marcroft Cycles. Considering that I was riding on a large, heavy Kona Jake I immediate said heck yea! I started training on the Marcroft ‘cross bike just before my trip to Raleigh, NC last week. I returned to Oregon last Thursday and took the Marcroft bike out for some intervals and ‘cross skills in Avery Park (Corvallis) last Friday and peeled the Tufo tubular clincher cross tires off twice! This was very concerning – I didn’t want this to happen in a race. So I bought a new pair of Hutchison cross clinchers and put them on the bike Saturday night. Not good planning to have new equipment that I’ve never tested before, but considering the risks of continuing on the Tufos I decided to go for it.

Race day dawned a beautifully gray morning in a full down pour. I looked like excellent Oregon ‘cross weather and I couldn’t be happier to be headed out to play in the mud. The down side of the rain was the cold wind that was whipping along the race course. I was able to get to the race (whole family in tow) early enough to preview the course with one lap after the C’s finished their race. The course was very slippery and there was a beautiful section where the sadistic course designers decided to send the race through the 25m long mulch pile with ankle to calf deep of lose chipped mulch. It was still raining during the Master’s B/Junior race so I kept moving to warm-up doing laps around the stadium. About 25 min before my race start I decided to do some mount/dismounts and the saddle seemed to slip back so the nose was pointed in the air. I found a couple of teammates near by and borrowed an Allen wrench. I adjusted the saddle to level, tested it and it slipped again. I did this three times total before I realized race time was just too close so I’d have to just go for it and hope for the best.

I staged about 15min before my race and was mixed in the back of a large mob of SS and B’s shivering in the rain. I was able to see my daughter Kate do her first ever bike race in the kiddie kross group riding her trike with her mom to help. Apparently they sent the kids over the six pack too, what a trooper. Back to my race – they flipped a coin and the B’s would start first. So I pushed my way through the SS and rolled up to the start line and staged about 3rd deep. The line had about 20 people wide and about 5 deep total. We then shivered for the next 10+ minutes in the rain. Eventually we started and most of the group didn’t realize that the whistle was going to blow which added to some confusion. At the first corner (about 100m in to the race) someone ahead of me in my line crashed taking down about three other riders. I went to the left through the ditch to avoid the carnage and looked around to realize I was dead last, about 85th position! Well the racing games began and I quickly passed lots of people who were rolling around in the mud on their backs (literally!). There were also a couple of flat gravelly sections where I punched it and flew past people 2 and 5 at a time.

More drama ensued about half way through the race when I dropped my chain coming into the six pack of barriers at the finish. I ran the barriers and then put the chain back on. When I went to remount the bike there was a load crack from the saddle and now it was cocked up in the air and sideways. I decided that the saddle wasn’t going anywhere so I rode it and was very careful mounting the bike again after that. It didn’t feel too good to ride like that but I only lost about 5 more places and finished 45th. I also dropped the chain one more time, and it turns out that the lower rail of the seat post clamp broke off completely. On the positive note the new tires worked great and I never lost traction anywhere, nor did I slide out or crash anywhere on the course.

In the end I’m listed as 45th – I passed about 40 people in the race. …so if I could pass 45 people next time and I started in 50th position I’d be fighting for a spot on the front of the race!

So that’s my story. Next up for me is that I’m planning on racing at the Flying M Ranch October 29th.

Ben

Too Hard?

So people have been giving me shit about how hard my picture looks in my profile. What can I say, that's how I roll.

You want soft and cuddly, here ya go:

It's Hobbes, he likes to sleep.

License to Ill

Ahhh yah, I got my upgrade, I'm a Cat 2. See whining and pestering the officials works. Or maybe they need to raise the sexy index of the Cat 1,2 field. It'll be off the charts now.

Ultra-Sound

Kristin went in for her ultra-sound today to check out the babys progress. It was amazing! Seeing the little heart beating and the little legs kicking, awesome!

BTW it's a boy.

2028 is right around the corner.



No pressure son, no pressure.

Old Skool Mountian Biking

Back in the day (mid 90's) I started mountian biking. I went riding with these guys that were way faster than me and they'd beat my ass on every ride. I suffered so much on these bike rides, I don't know why I kept going. But I did. Fast forward a few years and out of that original crew most are still riding but now when we ride I get to inflict the pain.

On Sunday a few of us got together again and rode Mt St Helens. It was a social ride so no pain was dished out, lucky for them. We rode up into the clouds and across the lava flow, it was sureal. You could only see about 50 feet in front of you.

I brought along my custom painted Edge 305 that has been on my desk for a couple months.

Da' Ride

After rides like yesterday it makes me want to ride more in the woods. It also makes me want to build a new mountain bike....hummmm

True, True

Sometimes it hurts to be this good.

Confusion?

The ladies in the beer garden don't seem impressed by my raw beauty nor my amazing custom made Marcroft Ti Cross bike. Must be gay and DeSalvo fans.

Final 'Race' Report of '06

It's was StarCrossed weekend in Seattle and I was going up to help out and maybe race then haul ass to PDX for the first Cross Crusade. Here's how it went down.

-Up bright and early Saturday
-Pack all my stuff, caffinate, plug in i-Pod and hit the road. Only 4 hours to Marymoor Velodrome
-It's 1:00 and I'm only an hour late. Of course Russ is just arriving too so we go look for Terry to find out what needs to be done.
-Terry is looking a bit tattered and points us to registration and says, 'Make it happen'
-Cool, looks like I'll be helping out with registration for a little while before the others get there.
-6 hours later everyones register and I'm heading off to get kitted up. Why am I racing after sitting in registration all day without any fluid or food in me...I'm stupid I guess. Something I learned about working in registration, be calm and cool. It seems as though a racers IQ drops 20 points 2 hours before their race time. Odd.
-Barrow some water from the Whitman boys and down a Cliff bar. I guess I'm ready to race.
-Random number call ups, I'm mid-pack of 100+ riders on the start line.
-Gun goes off and I set off to get to the front of the race.
-4 laps later I pull the pin and practice my wheelies around the course until the officials pull me because I'm about to get lapped.
-Dickson did give Marcroft Cycles a shout out while I was racing though. Sweet.
-Roll around a little bit showing off my Ti crosser.
-Give Tubbs shit about riding a GT that's as old as I am. Seriously you gotta get a new ride.
-Get changed and watch the best Elite cross race I've seen at StarCrossed.
-Hand out some Marcroft Cycles cards. I hope someone bites.
-Get a text message from home, Kristin just felt the baby for the first time. Oh man, I really hope some one bites on a bike.
-Take off to Anthony and Mire's place. Decide that I'm wicked hungery and Applebees is just down the street.
-Dine on half price appitizers and a beer until midnite. Talked a lot about mountainbiking and racing motocross but we mainly just gave Mire a hard time about riding a 30+lb mountainbike. Why do that to yourself?
-12:30 finally getting some sleep.
-7:30 get up.
-Slam a double esspresso and haul ass to Russ's to meet up for the 9:30 Hagens-Berman team ride.
-3 hours of sidewalks, trails and back alleys we get done. Wierd training in Seattle and it makes me really appreciate living in the mid valley.
-First ride with the SRM and I got 1100 watts in an effort some place. I don't even remember sprinting either. I wonder if I can do 1200 watts in an all out sprint?
-Russ's new wife, Dana, made us lunch. Mmmm pizza. Damn it I'm never going to get skinny.
-Go do some fit stuff at Russ's place of employment. Found out that I'm not very far off in my position. Good.
-Hit the road home.
-It's 3:30, oops I guess I'm not stopping by the Crusade race. Next weekend maybe.

Good time, sweet race and I'm still sexy as hell.

Dang!

Where Bikes Come From

Here's a customers TT bike about to get the chainstays tacked on.

See Marcroft Cycles IS real.

In Case You've Forgot

I'm a bad man.

Fine Day

I rode today, 3.5 hours, big ring. It's amazing how fast you lose fitness in the fall. I think this was the longest ride I've done in 2 months. Like it really matters what I do for training right now.

Tomorrow is the Peach of a Century event ride out of Salem. I think I'm going to fill my bottles with Jack and Coke. I should be good and lubricated by mile 50 or so.

Frame Building

I haven't really had much to say about the progress of Marcroft Cycles lately. I've sold some bikes, I have some others waiting in the wings to make purchases. Things are starting to roll along a little bit.

I read today that another custom frame builder is throwing in the towel. There seems to be a disturbing number of builders closing their doors this year. It makes my second guess this line of work as a full time profession. I'm going to adjust my goals for Marcroft Cycles. Instead of doing 100+ bikes a year I think I want to focus on doing about 25-30 per year. I think that is an attainable number that I can do while still working for 'the man'.

It's a good thing I haven't burnt all the bridges at Garmin. I'll need to remain gainfully employed there for some time to come.

The Finale

I'm done. My 2005 road season is finished. In review it wasn't too bad. I got a win, some top 5s and a shit ton of top 10s. Between WSBA and OBRA I racked up over 45 starts on the year, by far more than any other year. I met a bunch of good people and handed out 100s of Marcroft Cycles cards. I can't wait until next year. Although I still might do some cross races this season but just for fun. And by fun I mean drunk.

Speaking of next year, my wife and I will be having our worlds rocked by a new arrival. Kristin is pregnant. We were both very surprised and at the same time very excited by this news.

I guess I'll have to change my description on this blog to:
Find out what it takes to make it into the world of elite cycling, start a custom frame business, be a good dad and maintain a normal life outside of cycling

Climbing the Walls

I don't know if I've had too much caffine or listened to too much speed metal this morning but I'm busting at the seams to race. I rolled for a couple hours this morning, nice and easy to losen up for tomorrow. Now all I want to do is race. Not just race but inflict pain. Big pain. Like cry to your mom pain. I'm going to be chewing on my handle bars for most of the race tomorrow wanting to attack....gotta stay in control. The last 10 miles will be fun.

NBA vs Cycling

As some of you know I'm a pretty big basketball fan. Well maybe not that big, but out of the major american professional sports (baseball, football, hockey...) I follow basketball the closest. Remeber a few years back when a ton of NBA stars were getting busted for weed. I remeber one of the excuses was 'it's part of my culture.' Maybe cyclists that are busted for dopping should try that angle. It's no more silly than complete denial.

I stink!

I've decided that my win in Washington was a fluke. I rolled into the crit weekend in Portland with a ton of confidece and all I have to show for it is a 14th, 15th and a 24th place finish. Not what I wanted. Today was Woodland and it featured an uphill finish, 13th place. Dang it! At least I'm consistent.

Let's see if I can make some things happen in Bend and Eugene.

Dang Good Look'n

Check it out, I'm 'Photo of the Week'. I'm going to buy this image from Amara and use it for the family Christmas card.

Merry Christams Suckas!

Race Report

Here's how my Saturday went.

-Alarm goes off at 5:00AM. Shit I've gotta get going. I calculated that I needed to leave Salem no later than 6:00AM to get to Gig Harbor in time to get through registration, duke, prep the bike, pin numbers, kit up, piss, roll around looking good and make it to the start line on time.
-Load my bike and gear. Load Cree's bike and goodies taking extra care not to scratch the new bike.
-Hit the road.
-Stop at Starbucks for coffee and a bagel
-Dammit no bagels! Fine, give me that walnut-rasin baggett....yuck. But it was a better choice than frosted lemon pound cake.
-Drive north
-Crank up i-Pod
-Crap I forgot my sunglasses. I guess I'll be squinting all day
-Countinue driving north
-Contunue blasting my playlists
-
-Still driving
-
-Sweet the Tacoma narrows bridge. I then realize I still have a problem with giant man made expanses across bodies of water. As i cross trhe bridge I notice I'm hunched over the steering wheel driving very tense and my palms are sweaty.
-Find the race and park the hooptie
-Get my rental number and go through the pre race rituals
-Hear how everyone is searching for late season upgrade points, myself included.
-Line up at the start. We didn't really have a pre-race meeting, or maybe I just wasn't included, or maybe i just missed it because I was too busy rolling around flexing for the fans. Anyway, it was kinda known that because this was Gillette's race he should get the win and he placed 3rd at the first race of the series. Col by me. He wins, I get a top 5 and get to keep all my toes.
-Race starts. Russ is the offical in the caravan behind us. If I get dropped I'm sure he'll ask the driver to run me into the ditch to put me out of my misery. That's motivation.
-The course is sweet. One longish climb followed by a buch of false flats and rollers.
-Broadmark is active all day marking guys and attacking the group. We had 5-6 guys and Garage had the same. Wines was there and Second Ascent. So there were some teams represented.
-It was apparent that the race was going to come down to a sprint finish as nothing was getting up the road. Typical cat 3 racing. Oh well.
-Race finish. 3 Miles to go: take a flyer with a Second Ascent rider. No soup! We come back. 5km to go I'm sitting 6th wheel and a RAD racer puts me into the ditch! I recover without losing any ground and promptly flick the RAD racer and take the 5th wheel. 1km to go: the pace is getting hgher and Gillette is second wheel. 350 meters to go: Gillette goes long, damn! He's got big balls! 200 meters to go: We get both lanes and I come out into the left lane and wind it up. 100 meters to go: I've passed the five guys that were in front of me including Gillette. 50 Meters to go:....holly shit I'm going to win. Across the finish line: Arms in the air and a holla! I hope my jersey was zipped up for the photos.
-Feel a sense of releif as in 5+ years of racing bikes this is my first win.
-Get congratulated by every Broadmarker I see.
-Find out we went 1-2 in the sprint.
-Hear there was a nasty crash in the group at 100 meters and a Broadmark rider went down.
-Immediately go back to find out if they are OK.
-Find out it's Ted and he's pretty banged up. Damn it! And he's the wheel I was on fo most of the final 10km. Get well soon!
-Ride back to the parking lot feeling on cloud nine.
-More congratulations.
-Change.
-Hand off custom Marcroft for delivery to Russ's brother.
-Hit the road home, calling and texting everyone I've ever trained with.
-Stop at Burgerville for a cheese burger and fries...don't judge! I earned this!

In all: 8 hours of driving, 1.5 hours of racing and my first win. Not too bad.

I Won...

Can you believe it? I actually won a race and it had more than 10 people in it. I'm still in disbief.

If you don't believe me check out the cat 3 results for the Gig Harbor Circuit race WSBA

Nevermind

Apparently that giant cock of Floyds on stage 17 was merely a testosterone injected ego. I hope he's able to clear his name and I hope he smacks his docter for screwing up.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to talk my wife into some rigorous sex to elevate my testosterone level. I've got some big races this weekend.

Peace!!