Long Awaited Update

Its been a little bit of time since my last rambling. Why you ask? Well, life has been crazy busy. Something to the name of WORK. Not really into it but I got to make the mullah to keep the dream rolling. Quickly recap the past few weeks....

Raced two crits back-to-back in Winston-Salem, NC, my birthplace. Didn't have the greatest of legs. Got punched by a rider in my back. Words were transferred, I filed a complaint with the ref. Now I am writing a letter calling for this jag'off's suspension from USA Cycling. I will keep everyone posted.

Parent's party cooking went well. It was a bit stressful cooking for 75 people but we pulled it off. I think I created a menu of flavors that encompassed SE Asia and pushed people into new culinary nirvana. The most popular dish was my mango salsa which was really only suppose to be a "munch" item. It was incredibly simple in technique. I was hoping that I would get more praise for the green curry. But ohh well, one can't discount praise. I've created a nice little name for myself amongst my parent's friends for my cooking. Maybe it will lead to something out here in Boulder....

Ohh yeah, I've been working a lot which has lead to a steep decline in riding. Since Aug 7, I have ridden 6 days(riding to work is not counted). 3 of those days were racing. Pretty good result at the Boulder-Roubaix which was an epic mudfest thanks to the nice storms we had. Course is 8.?? mi long with 80% being on dirt. A real hard man's course, Belgie Style. Muy Bueno for Me. I had 2 teammates with me in the lead group after we had torn up the field after 6 laps to only 7 riders. So we were looking pretty good. One teammate crashed out and broke his steerer. One was up the road so that left me to just follow the wheels to the finish. In the last turn, I jumped to grab the first attack on the final 1.5k. Unfortunately, my 28mm tires got stuck in some sand/mud which quickly drowned my acceleration. The 4 riders were able to get a gap that I couldn't close so I had to settle for 7th. Would have liked to give it a go for a podium spot but sometimes, weird stuff happens. Next day, I raced the North Boulder Park crit. Legs were done but I managed to stay in the lead group. Very fast and technical course. Old roommates, Jen and Trent were there to cheer me on. Good to see them. Then it was back to work until this past thursday. Got in a nice 3.25hr ride out to Carter Lake. Got a wave? from the Liquigas rider(Boulder riders know who I am talking about). Rode 4.5 hrs in the mtns yesterday. Met up with Shawn and Karl for some cafe in Ned. Good to catch up. Today i opted out of the crit. Just feeling tired all week. Did 4.5 hrs on the mtn bike in Ned. Rode the West Magnolia trails then got lost, then found my way back home. Had a good time. Technical skills are improving but still lack some panache on the rocky stuff. Opted to lock out the rear suspension on the Titus Racer-X. Was able to climb and ride through the rocky stuff much better. Maybe i'd do better with a hardtail. But I digress.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks.

The aftermath of the Roubaix, sans downtube waterbottle cage which broke and I had to rip off mid-race.

Chow,
Mathieux