Countdown to Stumptown

With no racing on my schedule this weekend I decided to get in some extra training and CX skills practice over at a local park on the mtb trails. I won't face anything like what I was riding today on any CX course so if I could ride this stuff without dabbing I'd be golden come the last races of the year.

I also used the time to finish tying up some loose ends regarding my Nationals trip. Earlier in the week I scored an huge discount and on car rental and got upgraded to a better car at the same time. Epic WIN. I also put my name down to volunteer while at Nationals as well. I'll be helping out in registration on Friday and be acting as a course marshall Thursday-Saturday as well. I'll be rocking my Richie Sachs/RGM Watches sweatshirt and ATMO hat so be sure to say hi. And if you are going to Nats, please be sure to volunteer to help out (there's free food, beer, and coffee for those that do). Contact Gina Miller at gina@freshairsports.com or click here for the Google Doc sheet and put down your name.

As it stands I have 6 official races left this season and 2 just for fun races. Next weekend takes me to Howard County MD for the Howard County CX2X weekend. Then states on Nov. 27. Five days later I'm on the big steel bird in the sky on my way to Portland for the USGP weekend and then onto Nationals the following Wednesday. All told I'll be gone two weeks.

While in Portland I will practically be living in the local Stumptown Coffee Co. cafe. If you haven't heard they have some of the best coffee in the history of ever! No lie, I'm planning on bringing about 10lbs back east with me. I'll be giving some of it away so if you're really nice to me.... :-) I also promised C-dale/CX World rider Jeremy Powers I would bring cupcakes to the USGP (what bike racer doesn't love cupcakes) so I'll be searching for a good cupcake place. If you know one leave it the comment section below. If you don't know who Jpows is, click on the link. He's one of the nicest and funniest pro CXer's you'll ever meet.

Now you can't have CX without beer. In Bend there will be plenty of awesome microbrews to go around. The town even has a "Ale Trail" that leads to the local breweries. The nats course is being held on the grounds of the Deschute Brewery, purveyor of fine food and even finer beer! Check them out here. The special events taking place in Bend in conjunction with Nats are too many to list to so click here and see what's up.

Wow, this post kinda got away from me! Thanks for sticking with me through the season. It's been a great one thus far and I can tell next year is shaping up to be even better!

Best!
Captain Crunch