new house & some cross

well we've now spent 2 nights in the new abode, and we love it. sure it's a construction zone, but we've been there before. it will be even more okay when we can get some blinds hung, since the density is high inthe neighborhood, so are the number of workers who are constantly within 20 feet of our house. once the copper rose next door closes, we will be surrounded by finished (mostly finished) houses. The neighborhood and the town have a bond to ensure that the developer finishes the landscaping next summer. that will be fantastic, as we will then be able to put up a fence for Montana, and get some privacy ourselves in our back yard. for now, we are just happy to be in here, even if the painter is under the gun with the imminent arrival of winter, as they can't paint when the temperature is under 35 degrees. there isn't much left to do, but if they don't do it today, it looks like next week at the earliest. not a big deal, as long as they finish it before winter is really here to stay.

so this past weekend was the annual cross-in-the-mountains weekend, with both Brecktobercross (finally the name works, as in the past the race was in September) and Friscocross. race reports. saturday we lined up and it was spitting rain and snow, perfect cross weather. i had a good start and was soon in 3rd. then jared and reigning woman's natl champ (yes I race against a woman occasionally, and she usu crushes me) Katie Compton were up with me and we had a huge gap on the rest of the field. after the 1st lap I took the lead and felt awesome going through the techy, greasy singletrack. on the road, my chicken legs were at a sever disadvantage to the roadie jared and the internationally trained tree trunks of Katie. after a couple of laps of us three riding together, Katie went down on a run-up section, and it was just Jared and I. Hats off to Jared for his repeated attacks. I know he is stronger, but I was fairly motivated to pushg myself hard. I survived at least 3 attacks going into the final lap. I could hear him and see him peripherally on the last steep run-up, but I gassed it and maintained my lead. Heading up to the finish at the nordic lodge, he again tried, and once more I held him off, but I was fading. Abotu 15yds from the line he again tried to pass me. We bumped each other, but stayed upright, as he passed me and took the win. seconds later I threw up. yummy. reminded me of my high school cross country days...my body was saying no, you can't do this, you don't train enough. oh well. good fun.

yesterday's Friscocross had a much better course, but I was feeling the effects of 2 days of moving and not getting much sleep. nonetheless, the start was pretty easy, and I was soon in first place for the opening lap. that didn't last long, as the two boys in blue (Ward Baker and ?) passed me, and opened a gap which I could not bridge. then Jared scraped his way back from what I read was a crash in the opening lap. He passed me on the disc golf course section, and again I was powerless to hold his pace, although I know I am a much better technical rider. And then, since I am down, the blue sky velo chump passed me, and I was in 5th. I stayed in 5th the rest of the race. 1st-4th had a sizeable gap, and my only motivation was maintaining 5th place, as the kid, yes kid, in 6th place was a pimply-faced teenager racing for RMCEF. So 5th place for today. not good, not bad, good training.