Las Vegas/USGP

photo thanks to Matt Cook
Another belated update - I'm sure my readership is dwindling but hopefully the family appreciates it!

Immediately following our weekend on Lake Superior I flew out to Las Vegas for Interbike with the Planet Bike crew. Here's a company photo - I work with some pretty darn cool guys.

Worked the booth for a few days and got to meet lots of folks associated with the bike industry. Here's some of our products on display.

The biggest draw to the booth this year was Chris's sweet bike. It was crazy how many people were taking photos of it.
Besides working at the show I was out there to kick off the cyclocross season by racing at CrossVegas. A great turnout for both racers and spectators made for a fun time under the lights. Also got to meet my new teammate Katie Compton and her husband Mark Legg. Katie is frickin' incredible and is known as KFC for valid reasons. She schooled the field of 50 riders and won by nearly a minute. I was happy to settle into a group with LVG, Dombrowski, and Sydor. The dry air ripped my throat to shreds and I tasted blood the entire race. Made sort of a bonehead move and went to the front on the last lap - I blew up and finished in the back of my group - 13th. Totally exceeded my expectations though and really happy to be riding with those girls. I had my awesome coworkers shouting at me all over the course.

Watched the mens race afterward to cheer on the PB guys - Jonathan, Mark, and James. JP was able to snag a strong 3rd place. photo thanks to Lyne Lamoureux
Another day of working the show before the Lalondes and I flew back home to prepare for the weekend of USGP racing in Madison. A slightly delayed flight gave us some time in the airport to read some new cycling related mags. Here James checks out the Special 3D Edition of "Road"


Flew in late Friday night to Madison. We had a houseful of guests with Kenda team mechanic Mike, Katie and Mark all staying over for the races. Fun to hang out with them all and it was awesome to have such a high caliber event in Madison. Huge thanks go to John and Renee for making it happen!


A really fun weekend of racing and socializing with lots of cyclocross folks. Katie put on her usual show and dominated both days.
She's not only extremely talented but also incredibly nice and down to earth and it was great to hang out with her. Here are three of the PB women with myself, Katie, and junior/Elite rider Kaitie Antonneau.
It's very cool to have such a range of ages of talented cyclocross women on the Planet Bike team - from Emma winning the girls 10-14, Katie the Elites, and Diane the Masters. The guys are also rocking it out there in all age categories from Jordan winning the boys 15-16, JP scoring 3rd both days in Elites, and Greg winning both 55+ races.

The races went well both days and the competition was tough - I'm going to skip the blow by blow report - and I was happy to finish 10th on Saturday and 9th on Sunday.
photo thanks to Lyne Lamoureux

It's going to be a fun season for sure. Lots of big races coming up and thanks to all of the sponsors (Edge, Ridley, Lazer, TRP) and especially Planet Bike for making things happen. Check out the Team blog for more pictures and results.

Update from this last weekend to come in the next day or two. Stuck around home for the first Wisconsin series event. And . . . Dave marked his return to cyclocross racing. Check back soon!