Todd Wells

Jingle Cross Day 2

It was really cold today. I haven't seen conditions similar to this since Nationals last year. It was 34 degrees and snowing. The course was super slick mud, not to be confused with the peanut butter mud of NJ a few weeks ago. I managed to get the W and Rude came in 4th after getting chain suck, a flat tire and a broken chain. That's some bad luck. 

I'm all about these Youtube videos now that I know how to post them on my site. Here is a video of Andy and I descending this super steep downhill that was covered in slick mud today. You can't really see too much but it gives you an idea of the conditions. 

I hope my flight leaves on time tomorrow. I have a 6:10am which will get me home at 9:30am if it goes on time. We are suppose to get an inch of snow tonight so who knows. 

I wonder what Winstons' doing right now....

Jingle Cross Rock

What a travel day we had yesterday. Got on the plane in D-town at 5:45am, got deiced pulled out to the runway and then shut down. We had to get more gas b/c Denver was having weather and we might have to circle for a while. To get gas we had to pull back into the terminal area, open the door and fuel up. Then we had to get deiced again and were finally off around 7am. We flew to Denver, circled for a while since it was foggy there and had to reroute to Grand Junction which is about 10 minutes closer to Denver then Durango. We pulled into the gate, couldn't get off the plane, refueled and took off for Denver again. When we got there the weather was great and ran to our gate for Iowa, got on the plane and they closed the door. That's 5 hours on the plane to fly from Durango to Denver. I could have driven there about that fast and not been sitting on a stinky Dash 8. 

Rude and I met up with the rest of the Clifbar crew in Denver and have been hanging out ever since. I did a GT clinic on Friday when we got here. It was a blast and I even managed to get a little ride in. 

Today's race went well. Rude and I got off the front after about 2 minutes b/c someone caused a crash around a slippry uphill corner right at the start. From there we rode together till the end when Rude got me in a sprint. The course here is so much fun but it was a little harder this year then last since they put the barriers in the middle of the hill so I couldn't bunnyhop them. 

We just got back from the post race party and the film premier about Nationals from last year. Treboohoo's crash looks even worse on the big screen. 

Here is a link to a video of the last USGP. 

I wonder what Meg and Winston are doing right now....

55 Degrees

It's nice to be home. We got back to D-town yesterday and it was 50 degrees, no wind and sunny. Awesome. 

I'm not sure if I updated the site after the race on Sunday but it went great, I won. I finally felt like I could change speeds during the race rather then just being able to ride a steady tempo like I have all season. I got lucky too in Powers flatted before we had to sprint again. 

Rude messed up his knee in the race on Sunday and I jammed my toes in the hot tub grate at the hotel on Sunday night. They feel much better today then they did when it happened. 

Rude and I played 9 up at Hillcrest yesterday and I played 18 at Pinon with my buddy Simberg today. It was almost 60 degrees down in Farmington today but when I rode at 8:30am here in Durango the trails were completely frozen. 

I'm hoping to go dirt biking tomorrow but Bowman is leaving for Thanksgiving and Herting had a head on with some guy on a quad the last time he went. He messed up his foot and damaged his shift lever so I don't know if he will up for roosting tomorrow. 

Let me see what pictures I have floating around. 

That's all I got. 

I'm over wondering what Gullys' doing. I found out the other day the guy is coming to Durango for Thanksgiving and he didn't even call me. 

I wonder if it's really going to snow here on Thursday....

Long Island Day 1

I'm really looking forward to Mexico. Meg might be more excited then me. This is the best Mexican restaurant in Kinston, The Armadillo. 

We made it down to LI with out any problems. Even cruised through the city. Gotta love the George Washington Bridge. 

Meg got some good shots of the city. Oh, I mean NY City. 

This might be the Throgs Neck Bridge or not...

We have been living in our bubble jackets this week. It didn't even get above freezing today and when I finished the race I had ice on my eyelashes and my hair. 

Meg really likes the gas stations here. 

So the race today was rough for me. I didn't even make it to the front group until about a quater of the way through the race. I don't know if I wasn't warmed up enough or what but I was suffering out there. By the time Jesse Anthony and I made contact with the group Treboohoo was gone and no one was interested in working together to chase him back. We were all racing for 2nd place. 

Powers and I sprinted for 2nd but he got me. Rude popped out of our group with 2 laps to go. 

Here are some race notes: It was freezing and when I say freezing I mean freezing. It was like 28 degrees with 20-30 mph constant winds. The air is bitter too since the ocean is only a mile away. 

TimmyJ couldn't race because his knee is still messed up. Rude was the only guy in the elite field that didn't wear leg warmers and by the end of the race his legs were the same color as his skinsuit. 

Jimmy G has been putting us up at his family's place in the Hamptons. You know you're liven large when you got a custom painted picture of your grandmother in Sicily.

 

I wonder if this wind will ever stop blowing....

Jealous

Did you see the pictures from the Garmin camp? Shorts and jerseys. It's been the same weather in Durango all week. If I were home I'd be playing golf and dirt biking. Instead, I've ridden with a face mask everyday this week. Ouch. 

We're off to Strong Island today to hang out with JimmyG and do some racing. 

I wonder if Timmy J is feeling better....

East Coast

So much for getting more updates up on Monday. It's Wednesday night and I never did get around to much. We have been in a deep freeze here in Kinston. 

Yesterday Rude and I went riding with Christian and Mark M. We even saw another rider on the roads which is pretty rare for Kingston, especially when it's 30 degrees. Here are some pictures from the weekend and the week. 

Rude and I riding the mud. That mud was real nice....

Rude

Meg and Rude hanging out at Barnes and Noble. We haven't been doing too much other then riding, sleeping and working on bikes. It's too cold to do much else but we decided to venture out this afternoon

We have all been representing Winston with our black jackets. 

Speaking of Winston, he has his own placemat.

My Dad was raking the yard today with his USAC jacket. It's a constant battle to keep leaves off the yard back here since there are so many trees.

We were going to go to the movies tonight but once you get inside, it's too cold to go back out. The fire downstairs is really warm and with plenty of vino there is no need to go anywhere. 

One more day at home before we head down to Long Island for a reunion with Jimmy Georgio. 

I wonder what Winstons' doing right now....

Mondays

Monday's are the biggest traffic day for this site but I can't seem to get any good posts up on Sunday night. I'm either traveling, too tired or out having fun. Here is a mini post, hopefully I can get a good one up later. 

 

I won the race on Sunday, Rude was 2nd and probably would have won if he didn't have to fight his way up through traffic for the first 2 laps. 

We made it back to NY last night, had a few beers in New Paltz, pressure washed the bikes at the car was at 9pm and called it a day. 

I wonder what this guy is doing right now.....

Mercer NJ

Man the movie "The Break Up" is funny. It's definitely one of my new favorites. 

So where to begin. Gas is cheap here in Jersey

Winston's Facebook is blowing up. He has been posting a lot of pictures lately. Here's one from the Dog Park the other day.

We made it to Mercer the other night. Got to the hotel by 4am and was asleep by 4:15am. Turns out the host hotel was like 40 minutes from the course so we had to switch to another hotel today. The Marriot is nice and has incredible beds but I can't be driving that much in Jersey. It's bad enough you have to drive like 5 extra miles if the place you want to go happens to be on the left side of the street rather then the right. You have to drive a few miles up to the road to an overpass, get off the road and then drive a few more miles back. 

The race today was muddy. Meg got some great pictures. 

Stylas was in the house. That guy is hilarious. 

Today was also Wick's birthday. Wick's has been having a rough cross season this year but actually raced his mountain bike a lot this season so he's probably a little tired. I don't have a picture of him but here's one of Powers

Wally is back in the house after taking the last few CX races off to hang out in Hawaii with Shonny at the Xtera Worlds. I wish I did Xtera so I could go hang out in Hawaii for a few weeks. Maybe I could just go work for someone for the race and spend the rest of the time on vacation. Any Xtera peeps need a blogger for next year? 

Rude had a decent race today, 6th. He can do better but the course was really boggy. Treboohoo was running most of the race fast but then would be tired when he got back on his bike. I opted to ride the muck slow but be more rested for then you could actually ride fast. 

The bikes got TRASHED today. Thanks to my Dad and Chris for pitting for me. I think they need to be completely rebuild but that won't happen until next week. I'm hoping they stay together for tomorrow. Almost everyone was washing the bikes in the lake because there were only 2 pressure washers in the pit. I'm not sure how those ceramic bearings hold up to sand, mud and lake washing. 

Meg just gave me a sweet massage and hopefully I'll have good legs again tomorrow. I ended up 2nd today and couldn't chase down Timmy J. We thought the course would dry out for tomorrow but it rained hard for about 2 hours tonight so who knows, it will probably be another bog tomorrow. 

I wonder if I will race La Ruta next year. If you have to ride in mud you might as well be on the beach in the tropics. 

Delayed in DIA

Meg, Rude and I are stuck in DIA. Bad weather is hitting Newark right now so we're hanging out in Denver. At least they didn't put us on the plane and make us sit on the runway for 3 hours like they did to Turner. 

The problem is we were suppose to get in a 12:30am and then drive 1 hour to the hotel plus waiting to get our bags and rental car. Anyway, we were looking at 2-2:30am arrival at the hotel in Princeton. Now we are delayed 2 hours so we're looking at a 4-4:30am arrival at the hotel if we don't get pushed back anymore. That's a late night. 

The weather has been making a turn for the better in Durango. Today it was sunny and mid 50s. This weekend it's suppose to be in the 60s and is perfect golf weather down in Farmington or dirt bike weather in Aztec. Oh well, maybe next year. 

I think I have about 12 days left in Durango this year before we head south for the winter. That means after Nationals I won't be back in D-town until late April or early May. That's a long time. 

Wilk took this photo the other day at the Squawker Cross

I think I got the only Mac that doesn't connect well to the internet. I'll get on for less then a minute and then get bumped off. The whole reason I got a Mac is b/c they're suppose to be awesome for the internet and mine sucks. I think I'm going to have to send it back. Bummer. 

Meg, Rude and I all got upgraded to 1st class for the trip to Newark. Meg had been worrying that her upgrade wouldn't go through since Rude and I got confirmed a day or two ago. She got it though but now we're going to hopefully be sleeping the whole way there anyway. 

Winston went to hang out with Doug for the week and hopefully he'll have fun playing with the 4 other dogs and 3 cats. 

Looks like it's going to be a muddy weekend. 

I wonder what time we'll get to Princeton tomorrow morning....

More DB'n

I'm finally getting use to this cold weather and white stuff on the ground. I don't like it but I don't feel like I need to jump in my sleeping bag after I go on a ride. 

I finally got my dirt bike up and running again today. The moto shops here in Durango are closed on Sundays and Mondays so I had to wait until today to get a new perch for my clutch lever? I busted the old one trying to get a stripped screw out of it to replace the lever. 

Anyway, Bowman and I went down to Aztec this afternoon. The dirt was awesome from the rain earlier in the week. Bowman and I have the loop wired now and we haven't been getting lost at all. I love it when you slide into a turn in the sand and think you're going to slide out but the rear wheel hooks up at the last second and you shoot out of the turn. There are probably like 100 turns like that and it happens about once a ride but you gotta take what you can get. 

It takes a tall dude to make a sprinter look like a smart car. 

I did a radio show with Cheney and Russell the Muscle on KDUR.org today. It's a weekly cycling radio show from 11:30am to 12 called Cycle Squawk. Those two are the perfect radio show DJs. They should have their own morning talk show, I'd tune in and might even wake up early to listen to it. Well, maybe not wake up early but I'd listen to it if I was up. 

Meg, Rude and I are getting ready to fly out to Dirty Jersey this weekend. Can't wait for this

Though the four corners isn't much better. We have two giant power plant smoke stacks between Farmington and Ship Rock. In fact, they say the air around here is as bad as in a city on some days. At least we don't have all this traffic. 

I bought a new surf magazine today. I can't surf at all but love looking at those pictures of the beach when it's cold outside. After reading just a few articles I have to say mountain biking is way cooler. There are no territorial breaks or any MTB gangs(at least in the MTB mecca of Durango). You're not going to get your eyeball ripped out if you don't get off the trail when some local rolls up on you either. 

That's enough rambling for one day. Winston has got his own Facebook page so if you haven't linked him up send him a friend request. He's on their all time and has even found a new lady. 

I wonder how much weight I'm going to put up tomorrow in my 3rd to last gym work out of the year.....