WINNER-NORDICA PATRON PRO

When it was all said and done, I tried them all on a bunch. I need a stiff low volume boot and at 130 flex and a 98 last, the Nordica Patron Pro won the right to hurt my feet this season. It's a stiff beast, and it's black, and I dig that. The Fischer Vacuum is the shizzle, but a little too pricey on shop form for my taste.
 

Patron Pro from Nordica on Vimeo.

SOME SHOTS FROM THE AUDI BIRDS OF PREY TRAINING DAYS...

MY JOB SUCKS, NO REALLY.

One of those weeks. It can't get much better. Day two of training run announcing at the Audi Birds of Prey downhill course was much better despite some pretty huge technical difficulties. Then this, I get the call at my "other" job that Bode Miller is coming into Christy's Sports with his professional volleyball playing wife. Morgan Beck, to get a boot fit and that I'm the guy who gets the job, to which I replied, well, OK. I mean really folks? What the hell would you have said?

NERVE RACKING AND FURIOUSLY PACED...

Today I began to learn a new game that will hopefully turn into something big in the future. I'll be a bit candid here, albeit humble for a change. Today was a very special day for me as I was asked at the last minute to sit in on the microphone for the training runs at Beaver Creek. These were not ordinary training runs, and they were not training runs in a sport I've had much experience with announcing before. These were downhill skiing runs, World Cup downhill skiing runs, and all though I have a fair understanding of the game, I have not actually done much ski racing in all my years of skiing, I have however watched a ton of it over the years, and listened to Tim Ryan and others paint the picture that takes place during the drama of a downhill race. This is an event that has athletes putting their lives on the line every time they step into the starting gate. The Vail Valley Foundation was put in a bind and I was happy to help them out last minute. FIS rules state that there must be announcers present at World Cup Downhill training runs, and so I was asked to be a part. I knew I was in over my head from the get go and was glad for a small crowd on day one of training to let me get my announcing feet under me as it was day one training for myself as well. I had the assistance of "JC" on the mic thankfully, he is heavily involved with the local race scene and knows the pro scene pretty well, and great to work with.Today, the Austrians had a good day, with Klaus Kroell rolling the fastest time by nearly half of second, which is a large margin in downhill skiing....

It's a funny scene and like any new job. When the curtain goes up, it's show time. There is no room for excuses like "oh, if I had a better warm up I would have raced better". It's just you, the race, the spectators and a thundering PA system that is carrying your voice to everyone in sight. You have to tell the story and paint a picture no matter what is happening, and I was nervous, most of the afternoon, and I stumbled a few times as I knew I would, and I also was right on top of it for a few fleeting moments. The action is fast, furious and non-stop, there is not much time for being cute up there.
To have the priviledge to call the names Carlo Jankla and Aksel Lund Svindal during a World Cup Downhill training day at the notorious Audi Birds of Prey Downhill course is beyond special. I can't wait to get better tomorrow. You really should come out and see the show if you get the chance. Day two of three training days should provide the crowd with skiers pushing the limits a bit more as they look for the perfect line on course and open it up the throttle while holding their "A" games for Friday morning. You can check the live training and race times HERE this week.

  

The Brits were in town representing...

It was a good day on the mic, and I felt much like some of the rookie skiers at the Birds of Prey course today. I tried skiing my own safe lines on the microphone, and will find a bigger comfort zone on day two, from there it's gonna be game on.

BEAVER CREEK AUDI BIRDS OF PREY DOWNHILL

Come see the show at Beaver Creek this week, training runs start today at 11am on the downhill course..

IT'S A CALIFORNIA GIANT STRAWBERRY DAY

 image from Terri Irsik Smith

This past weekend was highlighted by a couple of pretty new and new venues on the Colorado CX scene. Parker provided a great track with the already well documented and infamous "run up from hell" and Bandimere Speedway was the backdrop for a brutally difficult day on a brand new course which saw the California Giant Strawberry/Specialized team sweep the open fields. Yannick Eckmann winning the mens side, and Meredith Miller returned from seven weeks off the bike after a hand injury and surgery to woop up in the women's field...

I'M AFRAID TO PUBLISH THE 10-12 YEAR OLD HIGHLIGHTS...

Parker Cross Run Up From Hell, Cat 35+ 4's from Larry Grossman on Vimeo.

Yeah, it was a full on pier six brawl out there today....

THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO PREP A TURKEY, HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM A2B

What a great world we live in. I can sit here and type Happy Thanksgiving to the entire world just by hitting submit on this blog post. It's amazing. Or I can just go to Bookface and tell everyone something like "so happy and excited the entire family is going to be together for this Thanksgiving!" Letting the world know that my life is so much better than yours because I'm going to travel 2500 miles and spend $1500 on a weekend with people who I actually can't stand to be around for more than thirty minutes when the official button pushing begins and everyone can't wait to get back to the fucking airport and back home as far away from these people they somehow talked themselves into trying to like for the 27th year in a row. It ain't happening folks. Once the glow of that first 30 minutes fades away, you'll be wishing you could watch which football game or parade you want while at the same time saying to yourself, "what time is my flight on Sunday? Can we move it up? I'll pay anything." I guess I've always been a bit of a rogue during holiday season having worked in the resort business for 30 years now. It's a busy time here and it's fun. You get to watch families hate each other on expensive vacations instead of experiencing that yourself, and then you can go ski for a few hours.

 Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be in Denver with my amazing girlfriend, but life has me having to work here in the mountains, and she is crazy busy working on a teaching masters, so we shall celebrate with a meal this weekend in Denver. As for the rest of it, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and do not have to deal with forcing that smile on your face when Uncle Marty cuts a big ol fart at the turkey dinner table like he has for the past 17 years and is totally amused with himself. Enjoy your day, enjoy your bird, and get out and ski or ride...here we go.

MORE CORBET'S

John Spriggs and the rest of the TGR freaks

OK, NOW WHAT

If you think you are probably pretty sound technically on a moutain bike, you are probably not.

SEA OF ROCK from infinite trails on Vimeo.

I BRING TO YOU, THESE TEN COMMANDMENTS..AND A GREAT DAY AT VALMONT

Today was a special day, there were no Twinkies left in the world ever again, Dave Towle was in the house, and Russel Stevenson lit it up at Valomnt.

WE WENT TO THE WARREN MILLER SKI FLICK IN DENVER LAST NIGHT

And to be honest with yous guys, I'm tired of watching skiers get dropped off pf a helicopter and making six turns down a 1500 foot drop in wide open spaces. This is how you do the shit, if you can't turn em, then you can't turn em.

And then this, Corbet's, where after watching the shit on film, Tom Crowley and myself returned after getting shut out by the weather the previous year in 1985 by shit weather. A rite of passage for any new ski bum who has moved to the west. 1986 was the year we beat Corbet's at Jackson, once was enough for me, then it was off to a quick underwear change..

ENJOY...IT'S MORE THAN HALFWAY OVER.

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

You may know this guy, or you may not. He continues to make new friends by posting pics like this on Twitter letting everyone know he is back home and just laying around. He apparent;y has signed yellow jerseys from the Tour de France that some one won. I wonder who they could have been won by.

TERRI, TERRI, TERRI...

Two Words, Pete Webber

SIENA LAKE CYCLOCROSS=FREEZING DAWG BALLS

Yesterday was CycloX at Siena Lake in Broomfield, the day started off reasaonably enough, with cool temps and grey skies. The forecast said the shit would not hit the fan until 6pm, well, they missed by about ten hours. The rain, frozen rain, sleet, groppel, and then heavy snow started roughly 9am and continued all day. It made for some great CX racing conditions, but it was a damn long day on the mic freezing my set of dawg balls off. Winter is here, time for some serious CX. With that said, skiing got blown off this morning due to super sub freezing temps in the high country. The high today up there is 9, and I'm in Denver, where I would have loved to race Urban Cross, seems like a cool idea, but the entry was $45 for a 35 minute race to which I reply...are you out of your minds? French toast, a fire place and football seems like a much better option today. $45 bucks!! Really? No way.

VAIL HELPING NEW JERSEY...

Click the image for details. 11-15-2012 at the Shakedown Bar in Vail. Show starts at 6pm.

LETS SHIFT GEARS...I'M GOING TO BE ANNOUNCING A WORLD CUP EVENT.

Needless to say, this is a monster step forward for me career wise. I have been asked to be involved in the "live" part of the Beaver Creek Audi Birds of Prey World Cup on the microphone as an announcer. I am both flattered and honored to have the opportunity to work at this level and learn a whole bunch of new stuff.....the long term goal of course is to get involved with more ski events and hopefully have the chance to work the 2015 World Championships in some capacity. This is an amazing opportunity. Thank you Vail Valley Foundation.

THIS IS EASY TO DEAL WITH, IT'S THE GYPSUM TV COMMERCIALS THAT ARE KILLING ME..

It's those annoying F'n Gypsum, Colorado commercials that are forcing me to change the channel on my TV every three minutes that need to go. This vij below is all you need to know about Gypsum, Colorado..enough already Gypsum, Colorado. Jeeeeezus the ads are obnoxious.

OK, LOOK, LET'S JUST GET ON WITH IT...YOU LIVE IN COLOBAMA WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

It's done, let it rest. Whether you like it or not ya got another four years in Colobama. Eagle County and Boulder are very blue apparently, and you can roll a big ol stogie and smoke it if you please...or just go ride singletrack. I placed my votes a few weeks ago. I've always been of the mind that it does not make a shit of difference who the president is, my life is not going to change one iota. But I do vote for principle, and that is good enough for me. I'm a registered Independent, and I look at both sides. I do not have a dog in the fight financially as I've lived the majority of my life near broke but extremely happy, because I have a lot of cool friends who believe all kinds of things, but they are fun people to hang out with, and that is all that matters. I think it's important to let every dog have his day and every person should be respected for what they believe. I'm not to keen on people telling other people what they can or can't do with their own bodies or personal preferences. If choices that people make, make them happy then that works well for me, just do not force your beliefs in my face, then it's game over, I would never do that to you...

The world of social media was bat shit last night as results came in, it was an incredible phenom. It was also quite entertaining and funny to see some of the crap coming over the airwaves, just a rambling pile of shit basically. I got some really good laughs and hopefully provided some as well. There is however a much bigger picture for me than raving about who won what or lost what. Instead of bitching about the economy and who is responsible for what, I've busted my ass for the past four years personally to start a new business as a bike race announcer. It's been hard work but also a lot of fun. I lost it all like so many. I've also re-invented myself like so many. I'm 55 years old and completely starting from scratch again. But it is working, and I'm going to continue to get better at what I do. I do not know what the future holds but I know that I'm going to do my best to make my life work better in many apsects instead of blaming every other person who thinks differently than I do for putting me and so many others is our situations. I have control over what I do and I'm going to do what I can to make this a better place regardless of who the fucking president is, how many Republicans and Democrats sit in what House seats, how many there are in Congress, or if I live in a blue or red state. Take responsibility for your own actions people and do something to make it better and shut up. OK?

I'm guessing when the President's daughters walked into the wardrobe room for last nights celebration they looked at the selection and said "you are kidding right?" Zubas would have looked better....

THE FRAT BOY GOES DOWN. COME TO COLORADO AND CHILL MITT.

To all of my republican acquaintances, come to Colobama, the state that closed the deal on the frat boy, and smoke a big ol fatty, it will be ok, really.

SNOW PLOW SEASON...

If you are ever fortunate enough to find this bridge made of snow plow blades while riding your mountain bike, be sure to have stickers in hand to leave your mark...

The motor heads were out roosting singletrack yesterday, thanks fellas.

SO GOOD TO SEE MOUNTAIN BIKERS JOIN THE PARTY, SOUTH AFRICAN DAVID GEROGE BUSTED FOR EPO

Here comes the avalanche in the mountain biking world....this surely won't be the last. Glad to see South Africa be a part of this exclusive club.

GOLDEN CX KEEPS IT ROLLING

Routine Leg Works put on a great event behind the Schoolyard CX race this weekend. Only six weeks left CXers....six weeks.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN NEW JERSEY...

 Please text the word "SANDY" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross and help those in need. Really. That would be cool.

THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING...

Including hanging the fuck on...holy shit.

IS IT ODD???

That the only two entities taking zero responsibility and denying any involvement are Lance and the UCI. I find that rather intriguing.

BACK TO LONGMONT FOR A DAY

 
A perfect day today riding CX bikes on the dirt roads north of Boulder out of Longmont with Bobby Diesel. Some how some way we ended up at Heil Valley Ranch via a myriad of dirt roads on the way to Left Hand Canyon on pretty much the most fun "road" ride of the season. Damn the riding is good in them parts, and I miss it, but I damn sure don't miss the blister.

And if you observed this morning, Sven Nys schooled the field in the mud at the Koppenburg Cross on the way to a great victory....