Bike Hugger 

Double Landing!

Something interesting always happens on a ride. This afternoon, out for a spin, and some CX drills. Roll up onto a grassy knoll and dismount right as a flock of geese (technically a skein) fly over my head and land in front of me. Then turn in a defensive posture. I came to all stop, snapped the photo, remounted, and rode away. Amazed.

Finally some mud this season

Dismounted, ran, and stepped onto a rock with an injured ankle. So ended lap one of Seattle Cyclocross #7 and that series finale. A descent into an off-camber climb is where the action took place, right in front of the beer garden. That’s where I spent the last hour watching the Cat 3s race and hanging out.

Descend into a turn, up an off-camber climb, then another descent, across a rocky section that punctured many tires

Rubber boots

The ride was enjoyed

Duckface Pringles heckling

The way the sun came out after a rainy week made for a good day, regardless of the racing or results.

See these photos in high-rez and lightboxed on G+ and Flickr.

Well hey there legs, good morning to you too…

— Tim Johnson (@timjohnsoncx) November 19, 2012

What Tim said. After 8 weeks off, it was back to racing at Seattle CX on Sunday at Steilacoom. For me, the course was the best and worst of times. One barrier section was good for not stressing the ankle, but all the climbing tested the lost fitness. After the start, the pack sped away and I raced my own pace. A few laps later, on a fast descent, hairpin turn Tyler Farrar said, “on your left, bro.” I gave him and the racers on his wheel plenty of room, then rode to the finish a lap, or two down.

The legs ache this morning.

On the runup Tyler said, “damn this is hard”

A grippy wedge to carve the muddy ruts

For the sticky mud and gravel sections, I set the D-Plus up with the Reynolds and Limus up front, Grifo in the rear at 28 PSI. That deep and stiff of a wheel with those tires is like a grippy wedge that carves through ruts.

After several intensely painful sessions with my PT Mike Rogers, for race day, he modified my right S-Works shoe to accommodate a still puffy ankle, cutting back the tongue. Instead of tape, I wore a maternity-strength compression sock. The ankle made itself known, but nothing I couldn’t race through. Next week, I’ll pin a number on my back again and work on getting some form back, but I’m not calling it a comeback.

Grandpa socks and modified shoes with orthotics, getting old sucks

Pro Tip: if the tongue slides to the left or right on your S-Works shoe, cut the tip of it back like this. This mod was to accommodate a swollen, puffy ankle, but also discovered it prevents tongue creep, a problem with S-Works shoes and the BOA system.

Ready? One… you will do this four times with the left, four with the right, then eight times with both, then repeat

Step by step, like on a dance floor with an instructor, Matt Hill from Crosssports teaches you how to dismount and remount in this video. Matt is the smoothest, fastest we’ve seen over the barriers and even taught us old dog new tricks, like pivoting with your hips and planting your leading foot.

Matt’s CX Clinic is on our Cross Skills Playlist, joining the still-popular videos with Tim Rutledge from Redline. For a breakdown of the steps Matt does, see our Suffer Faces post.

From a CX meme to marketing, PSIMET’s CX wheels arrive at Hugga HQ with a Joey’s OK decal. What’s so cool about this, besides the tech and ride, is that over a year ago, we released the Joey’s OK! artwork for free and Rob Curtis used it.

To recap, Joey soared over the barriers and into internet fame and it was captured on video. When I busted up my ankle, bros asked, “did you Joey it?”

No, sadly I just hulk-smashed it and then fell over like a Walking Dead zombie. Now, at least, I’ve got a wheelset with his name on it.