It's Monday...and as most cyclist knows it's time to reflect on another weekend of racing. First I've gotta say how lucky I am that my family actually allows me to compete at this level. The travel is the hardest part of the 'cross season for me, not the racing. So with this being the middle of the cyclocross season I figured its a good time to access the first 1/2 of the season and fine tune for the rest of the year. It's not too late to tweak the training and peak for States just yet.

My Mondays are often spent getting things done that I put off for the last 3 days because I've been racing or getting ready to race. I usually start by unpacking the car that I didn't unpack the night before. For 'cross you can go through more clothing in one weekend then I typically do in a whole week of training. Between the weather being warm or cold in morning, plus separate clothing for the warm-up -vs- the actual race. Then the cool down...repeat that on day 2 and I often bring almost every piece I have. The wash machine gets the workout on Mondays while I take a rest day..

Then it's time to work on the bikes. First a good wash then check out any problems I may have had that weekend. It may be as involved as changing cables, brakes pads & chains. But it could be as simple as dry & hang. Lucky for us this year has been dry and dusty...repeat with bike 2.

After I get the car straightened out and the bikes taken care of then it's usually time to clean up the house a bit & catch up on work. Taking care of the blog is another whole animal as well. I can't imagine racing every weekend through out the year, I'd never make it.

Was I happy finishing 5th & 8th this weekend? yes. But it's the end of the USGP road for me this year (sigh). Now, If I had the USGP leaders jersey that would be another story & I'd be heading to Fort Collins. The Louisville USPG course was one of the best this year. It had a ton of flow, steep runs, drops, a uphill sand dune & a flat one. Just a really nice mix of everything a 'cross course should have except for mud. It's going to make a great World Championship course when they get all the features completed for next year.

Next up will be Iceman...