THE WINNER OF THE A2B DOUCHE BAG OF THE YEAR AWARD IS.....

ENDURO

AND THE WINNER OF THE GINGER BREAD COOKIE DECORATING CONTEST IS....

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM A2B

And too all a good night....eat that bitch.

ALRIGHTY THEN....

This is one sick bastard...

STATES

 This was State Championship Cyclocross weekend in the state of Colorado. The racing was fierce as expected. We have two new open classification State Champions that were pushed to their limits but held on for wins. Georgia Gould and Allen Krughoff rule the roost in Colorado. That is the story from today, Sunday. There are thousands of stories from the weekend that will be told over and over at nauseum by those who participated, and that is a good thing. Thanks for a great announcing season Colorado. I look forward to what 2014 brings.

"YOU CAN HAVE YOUR MANNING, WE'LL KEEP OUR BRADY"

Well, ok then....fair enough.

DID THAT.....

 For many years I always thought it would be cool to do a tour of some of our local ski hills over the course of a day. Today ended up being that day. I had to make the trip to the front range after a week of butt ass cold temps and snowfall here in Colorado so I decided to stop up at Beaver Creek to start off the day with a short session. From there I heard that Vail had opened Gamecreek Bowl and that Ouzo Glade and Farro Glade would be skiing so I stopped there next and checked it out. I'll put it this way, don't be to excited to charge the backside of Vail opening, it's gonna be marginal at best. I took advantage of the free parking for two whole hours at Vail and bailed before they got a nickel out of me before heading to the old stomping grounds of Keystone for a couple of runs. The snow there was my least favorite of the bunch, and it was actually kind of crowded compared to what I expected. Vail and Beaver Creek were empty. Another rumor surfaced that the Pallavcini lift was rolling and that Mainstreet was open and skiing. This was the only way the day could have ended, with a ride up Pali, a rip down Mainstreet, and a tour of the rest of the The Legend the remainder of the day. Angel Pubes....need I say more. That completed the day, four ski areas in one day....bucket list.

 Log Lines almost ready to roll...

 Turbo...ski cut and sluffed

 Pubes blowing into Mainstreet...classic Basin

 Wildcat Ski cut and near ready....

 To the top of the world...Lenawee Parks skied awesomely...

 To the moon baby....

 

And the track laid down the middle of the Little Professor seen below were laid down by one stupid and lucky bitch...

 However this trucker was not so lucky, dumping it off the top of Loveland Pass on his way down the North side of the pass. Dude must have shit all over his self....

I'VE BEEN SKIING A LOT OF HEAD SKIS LATELY....

You might want to check em out as well...they don't suck.

And then of course, there is this sick bastard, Martyn Ashton Part 2....

I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO 15 DEGREES OF SEPERATION...

 It's been cold as a living hell for the past six days since the big snowstorm hit Beaver Creek ski area. So cold that it has not been above 15 degrees for a week. I'm still freezing  my rogger daggers off after working outside all weekend on the front range. Skiing is great, if you can bare the temps. The busy schedule continues this week with the State Cyclocross championships coming up in Castle Rock again...as far as the entire Specialized blow goes, well, it's a simple solution, if you are not happy with what they are trying to do to a Canadian shop owner, don't buy their product, otherwise enough already with your opinionated rambling bullshit on Facebook, that is what this bullshit blog is for, stating worthless opinions that no on reads or gives a shit about. It's actually quite simple.

IF YOU MISSED THE 12-24 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT BEAVER CREEK TODAY BECAUSE YOU WENT TO VAIL...

You fucked up, because there was NO ONE at Beaver Creek today and while you were waiting in lift lines and traversing...we were RIPPING. Nordica El Capo, winner.

KETCHEN UP.......

As usual, things are stupid busy. And even though I'm not working my true winter gig yet, winding up the announcing season has me all over the place. There is something pretty sweet about having "World Cup Announcer" on your resume, and there is more of that to come this week at Beaver Creek and the Birds of Prey men's FIS Downhill. Always have to start things off with obnoxious selfies on the chair lift on A2B....

The inaugural women's Nature Valley Raptor Downhill took place last week on a brand new course for the women. I was very fortunate to be able to announce the first two training run days. Part of announcing properly and having some base of knowledge is checking out the venue which included an early morning chairlift ride up Chair 8 at the Beav to observe the course from above....it was technical and steep in the middle portions of the course, very.

Course volunteers and ski patrol getting their shit together at the top of chair 8 prior to the first day of training...Lara Gut was fastest for the Swiss.

Above, downloading on chair 8 prior to training, this is the section of the course just below the Predator traverse which leads into the Kestral section, where skiers were moving at 80 mph. Below, the media room where announcers sit with a bunch of computer and television screens that are supposed to feed us all the information we need to announce, on day one NONE of this technology was working, and I was rolling solo, which left to some interesting and very late commentary, but it got taken care of...as always. Day two was perfect, with all systems go, which made it a blast to be in  the hot seat on the mic.

Thanksgiving was spent with my significant others, which include my girlfriend and her four hell on legs crtitters....it was a grand day starting with Mila and Mike in the Morning on ESPN, which the dogs dig, and a great day of skiing at Vail where early season conditions are pretty good but deteriorating quickly until the next snowfall, it's also going to be freezing balls off this week which will sour everyone quickly and make the World Cup not so much fun for skiers and especially fans this week. No big deal for me, I'll be in a very warm timing building.

Then it was back to Denver to turn on the lights and announce CX. Here are random photos from the weekend. All this took place around the most ridiculous ending to a college football game I've ever seen. War Eagle.

With all the Chaos on the college football gridiron, Florida State is once again #1, this duct tape has been used every Saturday during the season while I've announced on Saturdays, making it lucky duct tape.

World Cup Downhill delirium at Beaver Creek this past weekend, with more coming this week.

And by the way, suck it Gators. FSU is the State Champion of Florida.

RAPTOR DOWNHILL TRAINING DAY #1 AT BEAVER CREEK

Swiss skier Lara Gut was the fastest on day one...a day when announcing was a bit of a task on day one, glitches in connectivity and video feeds left me solo in the "announcer's booth" with information that was 5-6 minutes old if at all, which left it up to my imagination to create a race for the people who were there to watch day one. No live time splits, no video, delayed results...it was an interesting day. That's why they call them training days. If this happened to the "real" guys announcing this weekend, there would be a shit storm of unprecedented magnitude. Hopefully it goes a bit better tomorrow...

BIG WAVE SKIING....SICK!

This is pretty freakin cool.....

LINDSEY VONN WON'T BE THERE DUE TO INJURY, BUT I WILL...THE FIRST RAPTOR WOMEN'S DOWNHILL AT BEAVER CREEK

Training runs start tomorrow @ 10:45am at Beaver Creek for the first ever Raptor Women's Downhill, Super G and Giant Slalom weekend of racing. Call it a preview for the 2015 World Championships which will be held at the same venue..The Kestrel run will host the women's downhill and it parallels the men's famous and difficult Birds of Prey downhill course. The one major difference is a very long flat section before the infamous Redtail jump which will be a key to the race....flat speed will make a huge difference. I'm calling the action during the training runs the next two days...hope to see you out there.

I AGREE WITH MOST OF THIS.....ESPECIALLY FOR SO MANY OUT THERE.

I could not agree more....the bottom line of all of my social networking and blogging over the past years has been to promote a brand or my announcing career indirectly...for many, that is not the case. I've never truly cared if anyone ever read this babbling pile of crap blog or paid attention to my University of Facebook posts, where everything is true. But it has been a controversial and in the face way to promote....and it's free. Even if you hate it, you know it's there like a bad car wreck. Touche...

CYCLO X WESTMINISTER GOT REEEEAL GOOD SATURDAY...

With the Colorado State Championships less than a month a way, and Nationals in January, CX racers finally god a fair dose of snow and mud this past weekend in Westminister at Cyclo X race #7. Chris Baddock and Judy Freeman won their respective open category races...while other floundered in the greazzzy mud. It was a great day of racing. It's on Colorado.

A SPECIAL POST FOR THE BAYLOR BEARS...

THE BEACH

This is the beach that I hung out at as a high school teenager, it's also where I go back to relax on occasion....

D2 SHOES DOES IT AGAIN, THE POWER WIRE ROAD SHOE.

 This is the D2 Shoe Power Wire. This is the latest offering from Don Lamson at the Eagle based D2 Shoe offices and shop on Chambers Ave in Eagle, Colorado. If you are not familiar with the D2 custom shoe process, check out the website HERE. You will find a picture of Don Himself there as well as the history and the process involved if you want the finest cycling shoe on the face of the earth. They are pricey, but they will fit your foot like Keith Richards fits into the Rolling Stones when you receive them. I've been riding in a pair of D2 Mountain Bike shoes for roughly five years, and all though they are hammered and tired, they feel better on my feet every time I slip them on. The fitting process guarantees a perfect fit, with insole to match your fucked up foot shape perfectly. The latest offering from D2 seen here is the Power Wire road shoe. EVERYTHING about the shoe is custom, like all D2s. You can pick the colors you want and the fit is simply not to be matched by anyone any where. The wire closure combined with one velcro power strap guarantees you'll have the shoe snug to your own anal specifications on any given day. Just get off the airplane and have swollen feet? Loosen up the closures a skosh for comfort. The wire wheel adjusts incredibly easily and can be done on the fly. Turn until the desired snugness, or simply turn the wheel in reverse to loosen the wire and resnug to the desired tightness. The velcro strap is even easier to deal with should you need to on or off the bike.

And talk about customization, I asked don for 1mm extra last in the front of these Power Wires than I had in my MTB shoes and they were lasted to perfection. THE most comfortable road shoe I'll ever own, period.

 The carbon soles are light and rock solid guaranteeing every ounce of power you put into the shoe, is going to directly transfer to the pedals and insure 100% of your effort goes to moving you forward on the bike. The Power Wire is incredibly lightweight as well and worn by many of the top professionals in the world, including Peter Stetina and Matt Cooke. If you are that "custom" kind of rider that needs perfection in every aspect of your gear, D2 is the only choice for your feet...give Don a call to see what D2 Shoe has for you.

DOG DAYS OF WINTER....

The snow is flying in the Colorado High Country. Announcing season is winding down and the ski season is ramping up. The transition has been made to the winter gig. While the dogs sleep it's time to get out and rip it until spring...enjoy the snow, it's here for a while.

DID ANY OF YOU KNOW CHANNUKAH IS VERY EARLY THIS YEAR, IT STARTS ON THANKSGIVING DAY. HAPPY CHANNUKAH FROM A2B EARLY.

XILINX BARRIER VIDEO FROM LAST WEEKEND....JOHN DEIBERT EXCLUSIVE BLUE SKY CUP VIDEO.

Real men don't bunny hop, they face plant. I think there were a total of 12 shoulders and collar bones at this one and that's a good body count for Blue Sky Cup. The world's shortest barriers with the most carnage, every season.

Barrier Bloopers - Blue Sky Velo Cup highlights from John Deibert on Vimeo.

FLORIDA, VISITING MOM AND BASS AND BEACH

 Bass fishing in Florida is usually good, sometimes it's really good. Cold fronts get it really really good. Mom lives in a really really good spot where the bass fishing is really really good, and it's a thirty second walk from the bass.

 I'm glad my mom lives near a warm beach in November rather than having to go Minnesota or Iowa or one of those other sucky places in November.

 Of course the main purpose of these south Florida trips is to check on mom and make sure her ticker is still ticking and that I'm still capable of totally pissing off the neighbors when I just show up and start ripping all of the bass out of their ponds, which of course happened. Mom got an Ipad, and it is the world's job to teach her how to search for Eydie Gorme and Steve Lawrence videos on Google and Youtube because they are so adorable. She also knows how to open e-mail. It's a grand world. The Facetime app was bit of a whirlwind, mom kept aiming the Ipad to try and get a better look at the person she was talking to, she may never get that one, but it sure is fun to watch.