flahute

Art O'Connor and Bo Pitkin at the 2008 Cutthroat Cross

Bo Pitkin on the run-up, Cutthroat Cross 2009

Rachel Cieslewicz, Cutthroat Cross 2009

More later … and more on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veloworks/sets/72157622649040705/

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Started to head up to the Zoo, but ran into a couple teammates from Cutthroat Racing. Turned around and rode with them down through Holladay, up past the Old Mill to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Dan & Mike headed up the canyon, and I turned left and headed along Wasatch to the north, turned around at 33rd South, and then dropped down 38th South down through Millcreek before heading for home. Started feeling some really tight twinges in my right calf and figured it would be the better part of valor to cut the ride short and try to work the knots out at home.

Not a bad ride, just not what I was hoping for today.

I don’t think I’m going to re-up with my current club/team for 2009.

The biggest reason is because I’m broke … I still haven’t worn the clothing I got for 2008; and what’s the point of spending that kind dough on clothes that likely aren’t going to get worn.

Another reason is because the team is more mountain-bike oriented than anything; a few years ago, it was all about the various Intermountain Cup races throughout Utah, but more recently it’s been about the 24-hour races.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a roadie, with a generous amount of love for cyclocross (which I think of as just being a roadie riding off-road).

The main reason, though, is that I have a lot of friends who ride for a lot of different clubs around the valley, and I don’t really feel like picking sides.

No, that last bit is a lie. Really, it’s that I generally prefer to ride alone, or with a very small group of people (a group of 2-3 is perfect, any more than that and it tends to turn into a race). When you belong to a team, you kind of feel obligated to show up to team events, and I haven’t been to a Cutthroat-specific event in months, other than the Cutthroat Cross race.

This is not a diss on the Cutthroat team members, because the ones I know are an incredible group of people, but the team has gotten larger, and I see names coming across the mailing list that I have absolutely no clue who they are.

I’m just not really sure if I fit anymore, and am thinking it might do me good to step away for a year, and just get used to being back on the bike, and then do what feels natural, whether it’s rejoining Cutthroat Racing for 2010, or finding another club altogether.

Or maybe I will just re-up anyway. Who knows … I certainly don’t.

Cutthroat Cross "C" Flight, originally uploaded by skern1.

Look at that Fat Boy go! Run, Fat Boy, Run!

That course was freakin’ brutal.

Got second in my category, and fifth overall in my field. We won’t discuss how many riders there were in my field, nor their ages and gender, but there were more than a mere five riders.

Somehow, I actually look like I’m enjoying myself:

How many laps to go? Oh, only one?

And the obligatory glamour shot:

Photos by Mama T.

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Was going to tackle Emigration today, but the exercise-induced fat-and-out-of-shape asthma kicked in hard today … or the pollen, possibly, since my sinuses have been acting up as well.

So instead, tried to take it fairly easy on Wasatch from Hogle Zoo all the way down to 7200 South, before dropping down Big Cottonwood Canyon Road past the Old Mill and back into Holladay. This loop is essentially what the Cutthroat Racing team used to use for their Monday recovery rides, starting from Spin Cycle, in years past.

I was a little cross-eyed from oxygen-debt climbing up the bike path from the bottom of Parley’s back up to Wasatch, but I think I saw Fastgrrrl (nope, got confirmation it was not she, but a doppelganger) dropping down the path going the other direction; whomever it was got a nod, but I was gasping so hard, I’m surprised I didn’t fall over.

Now, the question is what movie do I want to watch after I get out of the shower?

Ushpizin? Be Kind, Rewind? Into the Wild? Empire of the Wolves? I’ve got time to think it over …

Ryan Miller expressing dismay …

… at the shocking display of upside-down cycling.