Todd Wells

Jingle Cross Rock

Meg, Rude, Myron and I made it to Iowa on Thursday for my third year of Jingle Cross. This year it's a triple header with a race on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. We spent Thanksgiving at the Marriot and had an awesome dinner. We weren't expecting much since the last time we spent Thanksgiving on the road was at the Santa Cruz diner. This was much better. 

So far I'm 2 for 2 this weekend with 1 day remaining. Rude was 2nd last night but got sick today and had to drop out. He's having some bad luck this CX season. Ned flew in last night ended up 9th today. Howes out sprinted him. 

Last night the course was very slick with a lot of peanut butter mud. People were snapping derailleurs left and right. Today was a bit drier but Mt Krumpet was still covered in peanut butter. I was changing bikes every lap last night and Myron and Rich were doing a great job. Today I only had to change a few times just to make sure not to get too much buildup on the tires. It was pretty warm last night with temps in the upper 30s and today it was 55 with no wind. I don't think I've ever been to Iowa when I haven't bee so cold that I took a shower right after the race, put on all my warm clothes and laid in bed for an hour trying to warm up. 

Ask Brady scored the UCI point he was looking for last night with a 10th place. Good job Brady. 

Winston spent Thanksgiving with the Elliots, Gus(their dog) and Teva(Ned's dog). Hopefully he's not too mad when we get home since we're only there for a few days before we leave for Portland and Nationals. All my bikes are going on Specialized trailer tomorrow night for Portland. It's so nice not having to pack and ship or travel with bikes after a race. Just clean'em up and into the trailer. 

I'm off to bed early tonight since last night I was hitting the Matte hard at 7:30pm to get fired up for the race. It's tough to fall asleep after a night race. 

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

Radio Interview

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/DESMOINES-IA/KXNO-AM/kwrcs%2011.22.09.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=DESMOINES-IA&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=726&STATION_ID=KXNO-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=Kim_West&PCAST_CAT=Talk_Radio&PCAST_TITLE=Kim_West_Radio_Cycling_Hour

Google It.

Durango is turning into a cyclocross town. I would say it's still a mountain bike town but there is a lot of momentum behind cyclocross right now. When I was racing cross back in 2002 it was myself, Maple and Barthel. Now every ride has 40+ people, FLC has a 7 race series that goes from Durango to Dolores, Cortez, Aztec and back to Durango. This weekend there was a race in Aztec and one at Santa Rita park in Durango. The courses are rad, there's a good turn out and the temperatures have been in the mid 50s for most of the events. It doesn't get much better then that. 

I opted to skip the NACT finals in Long Island this weekend after coming down with a cold in N.J.. I think it was the right decision since I was able to get healthy and do some good training here in town. It's so nice to actually spend a few weeks in a row here. Usually I don't get more then 2 or 3 weeks at a time in town but this fall I feel like I really live here. 

Every night we have to google at least one thing. We're usually sitting around talking, Meg, Snoodle, Winston and I. We always come up with some question about something we're talking about or watching on TV. Here is what we checked out last night. 
1. Taylor Shift's height: 5'8" to 5'11"
2. The forth person's name in the Black Eyes Peas: Forgot already, maybe Tabu
3. Mary J. Bliege's age: 38 (Meg thought she looked good for being like 50 but not for being 38)

Monday night football is always a must watch too. We have to Tivo CSI Miami though and if it's a bad game like last week we just bag it. We watched the AMAs in about 20 minutes last night after we got back from dinner at The Office. They always have live music, mostly country, 1 man band, covers, etc. Last night we heard an original from cousin Eric of Cowboy Rap. It was pretty good. He even borrowed Meg's sunglasses for the song. 

Congrats to the FLC soccer team for making it to the Final Four for D2. They play in Florida on December 3 and if they win, the championship game is 2 days later. FLC has awesome soccer and cycling programs. 

Meg and I just got a new tent for our Mexico trip. We're planning on camping in San Carlos and maybe Mazatlan. We already checked out the campgrounds and need a little bigger tent to fit Winston. 

Bowman and I are going to tear up the Aztec trails tomorrow morning. I hope my bike starts. 

I wonder how cold it's going to be in Iowa this weekend.....

Achhhhhheeeewwwwww

Ever since I got back from Jersey I've been sneezing, coughing and spewing germs everywhere I go. Speaking of Jersey, just saw MTV has a new show called Jersey Shore that's looks hilarious. Anyway, I've been pretty sick the past few days but have been sucking it up and going out on the bike anyway. I have trained so little the past 4 weeks that if I don't train now I'm going to suck at Nationals. So I would rather either train and get over being sick or get super sick and not be able to race. To just go and ride around with out training is pointless. I'm feeling better tonight though so hopefully I'll be able to do a "real" training day tomorrow. 

The weather in town has been awesome, sunny and temperatures in the 50s. The trails are in pretty good shape too. I wish it was like this all winter here. I am hoping it gets cold soon though so I can get ready for nats. 

When we were going to Jersey, we got to hang out in DIA with Myron's buddy that runs the VIP services and media relations for DIA. He had some good stories about shuttling celebs through the airport inconspicuously. 

So even though i've been sneezing and coughing uncontrollably the past few days I've managed to get out on the bike just to turn the legs over. Today I got to ride some new Specialized 29er tires that are super light. They are very supple, roll fast and grip awesome. Can't wait to race them next year. 

Meg and I have been preparing for our trip south of the border on December 15th. We're hoping to be in San Carlos by the evening of December 15th. It will be a huge drive on Tuesday after nationals but the pull of the beach is pretty strong. We're planning on camping out there, have a camp ground all picked out and it looks awesome. Free WiFi, pet friendly, 24 hour security and even a fish cleaning room. I'm not planning on using the fish cleaning room. Now all we need is tent since the one we have fits one person somewhat comfortably, 2 uncomfortably and 2 + Winston with no sleep. I have another camp ground staked out in Mazatlan too if we can't make it all the way to PV the next day. 

The Dart is way smaller then Schleck but at least he's tanner too. 

Today i worked on getting my phone fixed. It cuts in and out all the time. I think it's the SIM card because after talking with the help center and trying another phone thats what I've come up with. 

I wonder what Winstons' dreaming about right now....

Back in the Saddle

This weekend was my first "real" cross race of the year, other then Vegas. And wether or not I would call that a "real" cross race is up for discussion. It has all the fast guys and then some there but the course could be ridden on a normal road bike. Anyway, this weekend. 

The doc cleared me to race on my way to the airport. The flight was delayed into Jersey because of the hurricane, I made it to the hotel at 4 am Friday morning. The course was a slop fest on Saturday but the sun and wind dried the course out quite a bit by Sunday and you even had to use your brakes before some of the turns. On Saturday if you stopped pedaling anywhere you would stop and tip over. I made it up to 8th on Saturday but got worked over in the last few hundred meters by some young U23s. 

Sunday was better. I felt like I could actually put some power into the pedals. I made it up to 3rd and onto the podium. Timmy J was long gone by the time I made it up near the front of the race from my crap starting position. I could see Treboohoo at about 20 seconds but couldn't close to him. I was surprised to ride so well on Sunday since I haven't been training much at all. I also caught a cold on my trip so that didn't help. 

My butt came through the weekend great. It wasn't sore after the race either day and I even rode for 1 hour yesterday with a normal saddle. I'm all fired up to start pouring on the miles and intensity but now I have to get rid of this cold first. If it's not one thing it's another. Oh well. Wouldn't want to train for more then a few days at a time. 

It is nice to be back home. I had thought about staying out east to do the Long Island UCI races this weekend but I'm glad I decided against it. Gotta get healthy and I'm hoping to do my first ride over 1:45 minutes this week for the first time in 3 weeks. 

That's about it from Durango. We got a dusting of snow this weekend and I think the trails are probably muddy again. It's suppose to be in the 50s most of the week though so hopefully they'll dry out soon. 

I wonder what Hutch is doing right now.....

Tire Testing

I've been back on the bike the last 2 days. I'm not sure how it's going though. I have been using a normal saddle that's much softer then my normal one. I don't have the side cut out it so my left leg doesn't get a lot sorer then my right one like it did with the modified one. I find out on Thursday morning if I can go to N.J. this weekend. I'm finally off antibiotics today. Woohooo. 

Rude took me motor pacing yesterday and I was suffering. I haven't been behind the scooter in a while. He was suffering too since it was pretty windy and cool. Well, I was wearing shorts but it's cold when you're just sitting in the wind. 

We had a good burger night last night. Every Monday night is "Burger Night" at the Palace in town. They have pretty cheap burgers that are made with meat from the local Sunny Side farms beef. The guy who is the chef there use to cook for Oprah and now runs the Palace. Big time. 

The Specialized crew is in town for tire testing today and tomorrow. I missed the last tire test session in South Africa this winter. We're testing some 29er and cyclocross tires. It's going to be a full two days of testing but it's so cool the company does stuff like this. They are so thorough and it's no wonder they make the best products.   

I was finally able to book a hotel for free with my Hilton Honors card. I have had it forever and my points never seem to get put on it. Last night I had enough to book a hotel for Meg. 

I'm still recovering from my running race this weekend. My hamstrings are worked. Who knew running worked your hamstrings to much. As a bike racer, I find my hamstrings are the weakest part of my leg. I have been doing a lot of weight stuff over the past few years to try and get them stronger but they are still pretty weak. 

This past weekend was the local race in Dolores. It had a great turn out, a beautiful day and plenty of good racing. Rude narrowly out sprinted Shriver for the "W". Grant and Howes had a good battle as well as Travis and Ned. There was some action in the pits and I even grabbed a wheel for Mapel. I think he was the only guy to do the running race on Saturday and the CX race on Sunday. Looks like he's back in training mode. 

I wonder if the Gulch is dry yet...... 

Weekend

So today is my 4th day being off the bike. It sucks no being able to ride and feeling fine. I have been logging in the miles with the running shoes. I ran for over an hour and half the other day with Winston and Tad. Winston couldn't even walk all the way into the house after the run before collapsing on the floor. My calves were worked after the run too. 

I did some speed work yesterday to get ready for my 1st 5K race in 9 years today. It's only my 2nd 5K ever. It was a benefit for a local high school girl who was paralyzed during a track event in a town about 20 miles from Durango. A goal post fell on her and she was paralyzed. That sucks. She seems to be in good spirits though. 

I started a little slow and a group of high school guys got away from me. I spent most of the race running with Lee-ro. I managed to catch the 2nd place guy inside the last 100 meters and we got with in about 15 or 20 seconds of the leader at the finish. The 3rd place guy and the 2nd place guy I caught on the last climb both out kicked me on the slightly down hill finishing straight. I can't sprint in a running race either I guess. 4th place isn't too bad and it was cool to run in a group for the whole race and jockey for position at the end. I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow. Even Mapel was out there today ripping it up. He finished behind Lee-ro and they were both wearing red shirts.  

 I hit up the test track for some dirt jumping today also. I rode over there standing up the whole time. The nice thing about dirt jumping is you get to hang out at the top of the run. The weather was awesome, just about 70 degrees with hardly any wind. I hope this weather never ends. 

I'm not sure if my butt is ever going to heal. It's like having a inch and half long cut, half an inch deep on your knee. You're always using it so it never seems to heal. Even when it does heal it's still sore for a while and the last thing you want to do is put pressure on it. 

Meg and I have been logging in some serious "House Hunters" time on the HGTV channel. I like the international version the best. Either Spain or the Caribbean. 

I wonder what Hutch is doing right now.....

No Iceman

So I had the brakes put on the Iceman yesterday from the Dr.. I knew it was going to be a long shot to be able to race this weekend when I was still having trouble sitting on the saddle on Tuesday. After talking with the Dr. I'm taking some time off the bike. I had hoped I'd be able to just train through it but it's not really healing and I'm not able to train that well. Now I'm hoping I'll be able to race N.J. but I'm not holding my breath. 

So instead of lining up in MI with 5,000 other MTBers, I'll be doing a 5K running race instead here in Durango. Every race I do gets shorter and shorter. I bet 5K of running will hurt me much more then any MTB race though. I'm fine to run so Winston, Meg and I have been ripping around the trails here in Durango. They're a little muddy but it's nice to run on soft dirt rather then hard pavement. 

Sager came into town last night, him and Snoodle are off to a MTB race in Texas today. I didn't actually see him though because he got here after I was sleeping and left before I was awake. That Sager is quite a go getter. 

Last night Meg and I made it to East by Southwest for sushi happy hour. Half the pros in Durango were there. We got to talk to Shonny about here Xterra World Champs, Meg was reading the live updates. Too bad she got sick before the race but 5th isn't bad for being under the weather. It's no rainbow stripes though.

The weather in Durango has been awesome this week. Mid to upper 60s, sunshine and no wind. The no wind thing is pretty amazing because it always blows at least a little here. Barthel and I have been hitting the crest the past few days. It's in great shape but they've been spraying the tee boxes and greens with some type of fertilizer paint. It's pretty gnarly and I have to remember to wash my hands before I eat anything after playing up there. 

 Time for some Matte and then I'm off for a run with Winston. He's still a little tired from yesterday so he might only do half today. 

I wonder what the Darts' doing right now.....

Recovery

So things aren't looking too good for me. I went to the doc. yesterday and was hoping he would clear me to go to the Iceman this weekend but he said I have to come back on Wednesday before he could let me know. He also put me back on both antibiotics for another week. I was so hoping to be done with them already. Wether he lets me go or not, the training isn't going very well. Sitting on only one side of the saddle isn't optimal and it makes me pedal crooked. On top of that all the pressure from my body is on my left sit bone and a double dose of antibiotics makes recovery tough. I hate going to races unprepared and just riding around. 

On the plus side the weather is awesome here in Durango. Yesterday the bank sign said 68, although I think it was closer to 60. The trails are all muddy though and don't seem to be drying too fast. When the sun is low in the fall all the north facing areas seem to stay wet and icy until the spring.  Phil's World though is reported to be completely dry and in great shape. I'm sure the road apple and alien run are also in perfect shape after that moisture.  

Winston, Meg and I hit the dog park yesterday for a little while. You have to be out of there by 2:45pm or the sun dips behind Smelter mountain and it gets cold. Winston made some new friends and gave his ball to a husky. Such a nice guy. 

Dekrey got reared on Rude's scooter by some 90 year old lady at the stop sign on ninth street by the river trail. He was stopped and turning right when the lady just ran into him from behind. He wasn't hurt but Rude's fender got busted. The old lady was shaking when she got out of the car. How do you not see someone stopped at a stop sign when you are getting ready to stop at that same sign? It doesn't make any sense. 

I'm glad to see that the LA doctor in that road rage case got convicted for crashing those 2 cyclists. At least riders there will getting run off the road by one less person for a while. Also big news that Evans is moving to BMC. That's a big step going to a non pro tour team, hopefully it works out for him and he can do the tour. 

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

Sunny Days

A few days ago it snowed here, not it's almost 60 and not a cloud in the sky. Gotta love Colorado. I hope this weather holds out for a while since I need to do some good training now. 

My incision is healing slowly but surely. The doc wants it to heal from the inside out so it's still really tender and it's right where I sit on the seat. I got some good advice from Verhuel about cutting the area of the saddle that hits it out. I know it's not the best structurally but at least I can kinda ride. Here's a shot of the modified Phenom. 

When I'm not carving up seats this time of year, Meg and I are firing up the Jack-O-Lantern. 
 

Last night we had a record number of trick or treaters, 10. We also went downtown with Ned and Pam to have a drink at Ariano's. I was sticking to Pellegrino since I'm taking 2 different antibiotics for my infection and 1 of them is what they give alcoholics to make them trow up if they drink. I'm a mess. Ariano's is an Italian resturant that's been in Durango f or 25 years. Last night was there last night open. The space is being taken over by East by Southwest Sushi place and turned into a fancy Thai place.

I've been watching the Boulder Cup on cyclingdirt.com today. It sucks not being able to race. Oh well, I'm going to try and do the night race up at FLC tonight. It's at 6:30pm so it's going to be completely dark since the time changed today and probably cold and muddy. I can't quite jump on my bike correctly so I'm going to be doing some Ned like remounts. 

1st US guy to win the NYC marathon in 27 years today, that's pretty cool. It seems like it's been that long since a US rider won an MTB World Cup too. 

Meg's parents just arrived in Durango on their way back to Vail from Taos. It's their 40th anniversary tonight and her Mom's 60th birthday soon too. Those are some big milestones. 

Rude doesn't look like he's having as good of day today as he did yesterday. Hope he holds on for 10th. 

I wonder what the temperature is going to be at the Iceman this weekend....