Merry Christmas to all

Enjoy the season with your family and friends. Merry Christmas to all.

Celebrations and congratulations

Oscar on stage receiving his diploma

Time to celebrate with family and friends

The pit b-yatch getting ready for 08 Yummy

After 12 weeks of intense training, class 178 graduated from the Massachusetts Fire Academy. Among the graduates was our own Oscar. This was a fantastic culmination of months and years of patience. First there was the waiting to be selected to join the Lowell Fire Department, then the three months of training. Congratulations my friend on a job well done. Then if that wasn't enough, we headed out onto the town for a birthday party for the same dude. All the gifts in the world couldn't match the new ability to race Masters at next years national cyclocross championships.

Yard House

The racing season is long, and hard. Many cyclists remove any temptations from their lives, skip out on chores and cut back on time with family in friends. This is all done in hopes of maybe moving up one or two spots in a race or climbing just a little bit faster. Once it is done though, it's time to relax and enjoy life. It's these times that I really question why I ride. Heck, I don't look like the typical middle aged guy. Do these guys know something that I don't know? Well, the off-season isn't just a couple of weeks without racing, but a chance to indulge in the rest of lives pleasures.

The end of my weekend - ML

We love to be funny

Cute family photo

OK so we (my nieces & nephew) had fun Friday night. Dinner at the house S cooked and then we watched the Grinch that stole Christmas and then Saturday morning we played Sorry which I have not playe in ages. I have to say I won although A thought she would win. HAHA

Hi Pooh Bear

I love reading

Santa why are you at my house so early????

Saturday took the kids home and then went to my brothers house and stayed over due to the storm. had fun hang out with the family since I don't have much quiet time with my nieces J & C. Sunday the plow didn't come by until 10AM and then we had to shovel the heavy snow until their snow angel came over and plowed the drive way. Thank goodness. Scott didn't come in until 11:20pm to drive home and shovel our drive way at 12:30 AM but our plow angel did a pass by so tired but HAPPY.

Kansas City Day 2

Nice and early, the four amigos left the hotel and headed over to the race course. G and I hung out in the van, staying warm, while we watched Johnny and Chiu pin on their numbers. After about an hour we suited up and headed over to warm up. The conditions were cold and cloudy, but the sun was breaking out. As we rolled to the line, we noticed that the field was much smaller then the pre-reg. What turned out to be the theme of the weekend, record numbers of riders stayed away. Epic rides come from epic conditions, not warm sunny days in the sun though. Starting about four or five rows back, Gary and I were in decent position. At the gun, we were off. Immediately I sensed that the field was gravitating right, opening up a large gap on the left. Taking this route, I moved from 40th up to top five or so into the first right hand course, Gary right on my wheel. Going onto the course, Gary was able to move up to first where he stayed for a lap before settling into second. Great run by the G-man, as he took second place flying his Cali colors, but riding under the NEBC team name!!! The sun stayed out and kept the course warm. The previous days ice melted, giving way to mud. As the race wore on, that mud grew and grew. Lines disappeared and bikes got weighted down by the mess. My goal going into the race was to finish top 20. Props to Johnny B who stayed on the sidelines having just finished his race to cheer us on. Slipping spots late in the race, I gave it everything I had to hold onto my position. Entering the final straight, I threw it in the big ring (note to all those single ring guys, everything has a price. the price of my second ring was another finishing spot. money well spent) and went after the two guys in front of me. Passing the first, he refused to give up, then I heard "Ugh, you've got it" and coasted into the finish line. I never got the second guy in front, as he was still a couple of bike lengths ahead by the finish. Final result, 20th. Maybe I should have hoped for more? Congrats to Gary who held onto 2nd.

Bigger yelps to the ladies of NEBC who took home to national champion jerseys, and two other podium spots!!!

Day 3 in photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.d.brooks/Day3KansasCity

Day 2 in photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.d.brooks/KCCXDay2

Snow and more snow

The snow begins

This was after the first shovel

OK I love having my car parked in the garage because I don't have to clean the snow off and I hate having my car parked in the garage because that means there is more snow to shovel in the driveway. 7:20pm out for the second time today to shovel (first time took 30 minute to do driveway and walkway) when 8pm rolled around and there was still over half the driveway to finish and my arms where heavy and tired I didn't think I could finished. That is when it happened I saw bright lights and heard the sound of metal scrapping on the road it was the plow. Which could only mean more heavy snow at the end of the driveway but no this was a Plow Angel. He plowed the end of the driveway which saved me time and my arms & back.

Hopefully there wont be much more snow because I am not sure the old back can handle shoveling again.

Day 1 in photos

No time for a complete race report, but wow, this was a tough day. Seems that the ice from yesterday thawed and turned into sticky mud. Very slow tough day. Only got to do four laps, on an average length course.

Check the day out in photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.d.brooks/KCCX

Its go time!

The B women, Libby, Julie and others are on the course. Johnny and Chiu are staging. Douville and I are off to warm up.



Details after lunch!

While the Cat is away.........

DAY 1
Dropping Scott and Chui at the airport and heading to my parents to help with Christmas lights and Hang out with the Twins.

I didn't know that i would become photographer for the day. My brother want the kids pictures taken for their cards. I will show only two but let me give you the background 2 13 month old Kids; 5 adults; 2 clothing changes and 4 cameras = about 30 pictures and I am sure a funny video John took.

A few stops on my way home and class ended day one.

DAY 2

Nice day to stay in clean; wrap gift and watch the ESPN with Mitchell Report coming out (for those baseball fans) as the snow falls.

Well Dorothy, we're in Kansas

Operation Frozen Tundra departed Logan at about 10am Wednesday bound for Kansas City, KS through Cinnci. The plan was for Chui and I to meet up with Johnny B and Douville from Cali. As the plane broke the clouds as we landed, it was apparent that the conditions were cold. Every tree, every grassy section and every surface appeared to be covered in ice. Walking from the plane to the terminal, the temps were reported at 28 degrees. Meeting up with Douville and Johnny B, who spent a comfortable 4 hours in DC as his flight was rerouted, we decided to rush to the course and ride for about an hour before it closed. Cool note of the day was observing a lynx or similar feline spotted creature walking in the woods while driving. This was verified by Chiu who saw it too.

As soon as we took to the course, everything was supper muddy, slow and what wasn't bogged in mud was covered in a sheet of ice. Riding conditions were just gross. Three laps on the course were painfully cautious. Turns were wide and deliberate, even the running sections were sloppy. Bringing the bikes back to the car, they were caked in mud. What seemed like a good idea to get some riding in, might have turned into a bad idea as we left our rides dirty, frozen and not in the best conditions. Oh well, we're here to have fun.

Racing starts at 10am for the young B's, while those of us fighting middle age roll off at 11. More to talk about tommorrow.

Ever been to a Capellas? An entire blog could be reserved for this mecca of outdoor life. Picture a Super Wal-Mart, coupled with an LL Bean, toss in Disney World and you start to get the idea. Very cool place. Where else can you buy a $26,000 gun? <-- Not a typo. Or have your childs birthday party at an indoor shooting gallery? Or see dozen of stuffed/mounted animals? Truly an epic place.

Happy Holidays

Not much to say as I prepare to head to the frozen tundra. No, not Green Bay, but rather Kansas City. New reports to come. Happy early holidays to all.

Race Reports

Actually, this was the first weekend in months that I had no races scheduled. Sure, there were some relatively local races that I could have done, but having raced every weekend for so long, it was time for a break. What's someone to do while on break? I headed into the woods for some quality fat tire time. On Saturday a small group of us headed up to Lynn Woods. The temps were about 30 which sounds nice, but with a strong wind, it felt about 20. Two hours of relatively casual riding and all is good. The last hour though was a clinic by huckster MKR. Jumping off rocks, over logs and back onto rocks, it was truly a spectacle to watch.

Sunday took the fat wheels out to Leominster State Park. Philip, Anthony, Mike and I took to the trails even with the temps making Saturday look pleasant. Sunday was low 20's and biting cold. Philip knows the trails like the back of his hands, having been involved in the building of many of them. From the get go, the pace was high and they front never looked back. 45 minutes into the torment, I found myself not once, not twice, but three times looking at the sky as I sprawled on the ground. Goody had the best show, not only watching it, but providing commentary as it happened. "Too much front brake, whoops..." Thanks Goody. Having cleared the technical sections, we headed over to Jane Fonda and the big O trails. Just swoopy, fast, smooth and loaded with fun. Next time we skip the technical sections and take the fire road to the fun parts.

Pics

OK, I've been very tardy in posting pics from cross races, after all, that's one of the reasons I started up the blog. Hopefully this weekend I can reorganize them and put them with races, but in the mean time, enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.d.brooks/MercerCup

http://picasaweb.google.com/scott.d.brooks/PutneyCross

Sterling

Tom Stevens does a fantastic job with course designs. Over the past several years, the Sterling race course has always had interesting tweaks in its design that most course builders don't include. Gone this year was the horrible snow storm of '05 (sure you might argue that he can't control the snow, but two epic storms in the same year on his courses and you wonder) or the triangular barriers on the run-up in '06. The 2007 edition saw some off-camber climbing and descending, frozen patches of ground and two laps of cinder track to open the race.

Again, poor staging position had me lined up well behind the big guns. As we left the track, I had worked my way up to the top 20 and was in a group of 10 or so riders as we went up the "bookcase" and into the horsejump. The group was still together until on the second lap, Zanc took the inside line too tight and went down with another rider. I was able to go around the mess and pick up the pace as we got onto the pavement. The course came back on the grass, up the off-camber hill, then down. Riding with a moderate pace, it was easy to carry enough speed up the hill, make the turn and pick up your pace again. If a rider tired though, it was very easy to be forced to dismount (which I did in two subsequent laps) and cause mahem behind. Once back on the main level, the course dropped down to the barriers, back up to the track level and around to the pits. Going into this race I had decided to stay within myself the first lap and let the front group go. Too many races I tried to stay with that front group only to blow up and drift backwards. Three laps into the race on Saturday and I felt good. I was in a sizeable chase group, but well inside the top 15. On the fourth lap though, having to dismount on the off-camber uphill, then the barriers, my legs just lost all energy. I slipped from the group I was in and chased for the next lap. With less then two to go, my legs felt better and I started to hammer again, alone. As the race neared completion, Gary bridged up to me and passed me just before the pit area. I tried to hop on his wheel, but he was motoring hard. He took the final left hand bend onto the finishing straight with me in tow. Having pushed himself hard to catch me on the final lap, he had nothing left for a final sprint. I went around him as he sat up and we finished 21 and 22 overall.

This was probably the best I have ridden all year. 20 seconds seperated me from the top 15. If I hadn't dabbled in the middle of the race, or lost power in the legs...still, this was a great course, a great race and a respectable finish.

Thanksgiving

Happy holidays to all. A good day of food, family and football!!!

Mercer Cup

For the past two years, the biggest names in cyclocross have come to New England to show off their trade. We have been able to witness these champions race at Nationals in Providence or the Crank Bros national series in Gloucester. This year though, the calendar was empty. The closest that the Crank Bros series would come would be New Jersey. On whim, I decided that this would be a great opportunity to race and watch the reigning national champion Trebon in action...not in the same race though...



Friday afternoon, ML, Dave C and I headed to my buddy Tom's house in Jersey. The plan was to stay there for two nights and travel to the races. Saturday morning we gathered our stuff and headed out bright and dark. For someone used to racing at noon, leaving the house at 7 seemed wrong. The hour 20 minute trip took us through Trenton and an extra 40 minutes. Arriving at the course 35 minutes before my start, I had to argue with the promoter to get my number since registration closed 60 minutes before the start, rather then the typical 30. With number in hand, I quickly ran back to the car, changed and returned to the starting grid. Screw the warm-up, we jut didn't have that kind of time. By random assignment, I started six or seven rows back, it was tough to tell from that far from the front. On cue, the front racers took off, and us in the back rows waited patiently for the accordian to get moving.



This was a great course. There were long sections of straightaways, some twisty technical sections, oligatory barricades, a monster sand section and new to most riders, a fly-over (more on this later). After the course narrowed off the start/finishing straight, the pace quickly slowed down as riders muscled their way forward. On Thursday, I replaced my 50tooth front chainring with a 46tooth. With this more manageable gear, I was able to continually move forward on the straight sections. Dropping into the small ring, I ground around the technical corners. Of caution, many of the corners were extremely greasy. By relaxing though, I found myself able to keep the bike upright. Again, the course opened itself to long straight aways and I move up. The course bend back and forth over itself so many times that it as easy to see where other riders were, but not ascertain if they were chasing you or you chasing them. While my small group hammered along, we took the right hand turn into the sand section. This part of the course was about 150 feet long, six to ten inches deep and perfect for a volleyball game. Not so perfect for a bike race. The best thing about competitive cycling is the amount of testosterone raging. Too embarrassed to dismount and run with their bike, about half a dozen guys tried to ride through it. Nearly all found themselves launched over their handlebars when their bikes slowed. Not to be outdone by the cat 2/3 racers, the elite men and U23 had three times as many people ride through it, only to succomb to the same fate. Check out the resulting photo here.



Out of the sand, the course smoothed out before the flyover. The course creators built a ten foot tall staircase that riders ran up, remounted and rode over and down the other side. This looked cool and was cool. The earlier races actually had reports of riders sliding on their butts, dragging their bikes with them rather then riding down.

The race started out poorly for me. The random staging process had me about seven rows back, in a field of eight rows. When the gun went off, I found myself casually clipping in and getting up to speed, as there were tens of riders in front of me. Starting at the back of the race had a number of advantages I wasn't used to. For almost the entire race I was moving forward, passing riders, and leaping from group to group. Starting at the front typically has me going hard, blowing up and drifting back. While the Saturday course had a number of long open sections where you could ramp the speed up, Sunday's course was more technical in nature. Add in a constant drizzle or rain on Sunday and the course was very tough. I felt I rode strong on Saturday, yet only posted a 30th place finish. If I had started at the front, what could have been! Well, Sunday I started at the front, second row!, and went backwards the whole day. I finsihed 30th again. With such a national presence at the race, this was a good result.

Civic Duty Upheld

I've received my summons for Jury Duty in the mail several times in the past. Fortunately for me, I was moving out of state once and got excused, another time I had non-refundable plane tickets and a vacation planned and got excused, and yet another my entire jury pool was dismissed the day before so no one had to show. This year I received my summons and really didn't give it two thoughts, something would come through to delay this. Sunday night as I rechecked the automated phone system, all it did was confirm that I needed to arrive Monday morning.

I live and work in the suburbs. The thought of going into the city is reserved for ball games and dinners out. To have to commute into the city Monday morning for a suburbanite like myself was nearly enough to give me hives. The extra 30 minutes of traffic and multiple wrong turns, with the impending deadline of 8:30 almost was enough to change me from a juror to a defendant.

Once parked and in the courthouse, I actually started to look forward to jury duty. The obligation to determine someones fate like in a drama movie was almost too must excitement. In the juror pool room, a large courtroom that held the 300+ jurors that reported as required, we received instructions on how to be a juror. Some of us would be on civil trials, others criminal, some local courts, some upper level courts. As I absorbed the 17 minute video, I wondered if this was the same place that David Kelley was inspired for his slew of shows. It sure didn't look like Boston Legal or Ally McBeal, heck, it didn't even look like Night Court. What it did remind me of was old state colleges and universities. Do all public institutions use the same plans for buildings to save money???? After the video, a call was made for the first group of jurors. Assembled they received their marching orders and off they went. Ten minutes later, the next group was called. I must be coming up. Flipping through my book, I continued to wonder. 30 minutes pass. 60 minutes pass. 90 minutes pass. Then my group is called. We leave the fifth floor and head to the 11th. Finally, inside a real court room, I looked around. Seated at one table was the prosecutor and the other was the defendant. Peaking around the edges were various players in this show. That's when I realized it felt more like opening night of a high school musical rather then life and death court. When the judge arrived, she introduced everyone to "cast". Finally serving my civic duty and I was in line to hear a case about an employer and a former dentist from his office. Seems they broke contract and were suing for money. For money!!! And the case was to last at least a week. No life and death here, just to highly compensated people, arguing for more money for a week. Surely not what our founding fathers envisioned.

I never was selected for that jury. They filled the panel with others, before ever calling my name. I returned to the jury pool room, only to find out that the remaining cases were settled that day and we were free to go. For me I never got to play the part in the big show, and next time I certainly won't be so blase about jury summons. I already and thinking about how to stay out of it.

Stage 3 PG

What a view

After two stages of fun, unusual racing, the third day came down to a traditional cross race. We started with a slight bump up of a hill, a tight turn into barriers before crossing UNDER the main road in a pedestrian tunnel and out onto the second half of the course. The two unusual traits to this course was the amount of dirt roads that were used and the two directional aforementioned pedestrian tunnel. Having received a stern warning before starting the race that passing was not to be tolerated in the tunnel, I decided to keep this piece of information for later.

With two great days of strong starts and several hole shots in recent races, I might have been too cocky on the line. At the whistle I had trouble clipping in and found myself quickly about ten deep. Once in, I quickly moved up in the pack and came out of the tunnel top four. As I found out in the crit, these elite riders can hammer. Sure, if there were more technical sections it might have caused them to go slower (myself included), but without them the race was on. After three laps, the lap cards showed six to go. What felt like long laps, began to feel even longer knowing that I was only a third of the way through. With four to go, I was trading pulls with a Legal Seafood rider. He would pull me through the flat sections, opening gaps on my, only to have me close them and over take him on the uphills or technical sections. At one point I was able to use a lapped rider as a pick and roll, preventing the LS rider from following my pace through the tunnel. Then with just over a lap to go, I stumbled remounting my bike, landing on my saddle with my sternum (Ughhh) and the LS rider again opened a gap on me. As the bell was ringing to signify the final lap, I steered too sharp through a right hand turn, clipping my inside pedal on the ground and nearly launching me into my stem. Try as I might over the final lap, I couldn't close the gap and finished up in 7th place.

The funny thing is I finished each stage in 7th place, but took 8th for the overall race. Having debated last week about whether to race the Elite or the Intermediate, my results would have won me the Intermediate title of best all around cyclist, but it would have been a run away. The Elite category was where I belong, sadly eight riders down on the list.

Other notes from the race weekend: Passing on-coming riders in a tunnel that is four feet wide is a wild time. With courses that cross back and forth on themselves so much, it gives you a great chance to measure where you are progressing on each lap. This was consistent with both the crit and cross race. Riders who enjoy crits or cross should definately do this race every year. Those riders that take themselves too seriously though should probably stay away. The spirit of this race was fun and I hope that they can keep it that way.

Oh, and being one of a handful of riders to ride up AND down Mt Washington this year carries its own special reward!!! Plus, I didn't drop $300+ to do so.

Stage 2 PG

Note to all, a cheese and tomato calzone is not an appropriate pre-race lunch. The afternoon stage featured New Hampshire's version of Disney; Story Land Park. This is a 35 acre amusement park full of kids rides and play areas. On a race bike, this is a super fast, tight turning, race along walkways. Prior to the beginner race, the course is open for pre-riding. Instead of checking out the course this is a great time to see where Old Mother Hubbard and Cinderella lived, to see an igloo, and check out mini train tracks. After 30 minutes of gawking, I retreated to the warmth of the car. With 10 minutes to race time, I rolled over and took a place on the front of the starting line. Some quick instructions and we take off to the bang of a canon. With a great start I took the hole shot and opened a small gap over the field. Sprinting hard towards the park, I was surprised when a Legal Seafood rider blazed by like I was standing still. Very quickly a group of seven riders (including Mike) formed up and we rotated around. After four laps it was obvious that some of these guys were cat 1 and 2 racers. The way they cornered through hairpins or accelerated in straight aways was amazing. I spent a third of the race with the front group, a third by myself in no mans land and a third with a chase group. In the final couple of laps I took measure of the guys in my group, increased the speed to drop one, then attacked on the sole hill to drop the other rider to take 7th in my field.



Final result this morning; 7th. Final result this afternoon; 7th. All in all a good result but an even better day to just have fun and ride!!!

Stage One PG

1.75 miles, 14 minutes and 1000 feet of climbing, equals nearly 12% grade. The race was a blast. Having been intrigued by the race by the description, then convinced to do it by Mike and Cathy, we registered then proceeded to warm up. The riders started at 30 second intervals and I was the first Elite rider to go off, following the Elite women and the Intermediate riders. Focused on pacing, I kept it in a moderate gear and tried to spin up. About five minutes into the race, I started to pass riders and my spirits lifted. While the grade was steady and unrelenting, it wasn't as steep as Pac Mac or App Gap. 14 minutes after I started, the finish came into view and I was able to sprint by one more rider for a satisfactory finish. Stage results and placings to follow.

Porky Gulch Race

It's dark, early and cold in Maine, and the Porky Gulch Stage Race awaits! This race consists of three stages over two days. The first is a 1.5 mile race up the base of Mt Washington, home of the worlds worst weather. Stage two this afternoon is a crit through Story Land, with a cross race wrapping up the festivities tomorrow. I've decided to race the Elites, so there is a whole lot of uncertainty in my future today. Details and results to follow.

The Red Sox Celebration-ML's post

Big Papi holding the trophy what a great way to end the parade. It was fun and the crowd was wild. This is the one time I can say i like working in Downtown Boston. Scott didn't want to leave work to join me.