Back from Interbike (more later on that...)
But yesterday, I did some volunteer time at Starcrossed 2006. Those of us that weren't racing signed up to help put on the event since Zoka Coffee was one of the title sponsors. Anyway, Starcrossed is a big Cyclocross race here in Redmond. Cyclocross (CX) is kind of a mix between road bike racing and mountain bike racing. Basically you have road-like bikes wiht knobby tires and cantelevered brakes. You go around a circuit that has obstacles on it that force you to dismount. Things like logs, steep hills, etc. I don't race cross (yet), and it's been a long time since I've been to a CX race, but man is it cool. And hard as hell, but that's besides the point. Check out these pictures from last year's event to get a better idea.
So some of our guys did really well, but it was a big field. One thing that really suprised me was how many women racers there were out there. Quite a few! This surprised me because the number of women road racers is very small compared to men, and most people don't even know CX exists. So I'm not sure how these gals got introduced to it, just out of curiousity, I'd like to know. In any case, kudos to them for showing up for a really grueling event.
This year the weather was good, so no mud this time around, but the event was a lot of fun and very well organized. I'd love try cross but with my propensity for running injuries, well, probably not such a good idea. At least not now.
I hope to close on my coaching setup this week. I sat on the bike for about 90 minutes today. Tomorrow is technically my first day training for Arizona. Vegas was a nice cap to the down-time.
Training goal numero uno: get more sleep. So my goal is to make it to bed by 11 at least three nights a week and by 11:30 the other nights. In the run up to Lake Stevens I started focusing on sleep and it really helped my recovery. That'll be critical over the next few months.
Update: Added a picture of J-Dub instead of the flyer.