Cyclocross and more

I went and raced another cyclocross race this weekend. This weeks race was up in Lynden racing on the fairgrounds. Ryan, from cyclocrazed.com, really setup another great course. This course felt much more like my first cyclocross race (at WWU) with lots of tight turns around trees, zig zagging back and forth over slick wet grass and under big pine trees and all the nice soft (slippery) pine needles underneath. The course also included a fast (long) descent on a gravel road transitioning (at speed) onto some long unkempt grass, with more twisting and turning under big trees. The run-up was very tough run up loose dirt with the final 15 feet or so at a much steeper pitch than the first 75 feet. Had to use a big push to get up and over the top each time.

BUT, the course include two unique sections that helped to make this course very memorable. Ryan sent us on a twisting loop with a hairpin turn at one end through some soupy mud in the grandstand area where they hold concerts and the demolition derby during the fair. This section went from soupy mud to more solid ground and back and forth until your bike was just caked in mud and dirt to a short section with a small spiral to ride into one of the barns. This was not just a way to get from one side to the other, this barn has a skateboard park setup inside and Ryan sent us up and over one of the jumps. Very fun!

This was the last event of the 2007 season for Ryan and cyclocrazed.com. I hope he can find more venues and open weekends in future seasons, cyclocross is a lot of fun, you can ride on a moutainbike if you want, so come on out and get some exercise and get a bit dirty next fall.

Drove out with good friend Mike and he took some pictures and wrote about his experience at the race too, check out his blog here: http://mcqview.blogspot.com/2007/11/tractor-cross_17.html

I also worked on a cabinet I'm making for my parents, I got most of my dado's and rabbit cuts done and was able to dry assemble the cabinet, it is looking good. It has been a lot of work, but hopefully be done before Christmas. Still need to cut slots for the sliding doors and assemble the doors themselves. I did stain up a couple scrap pieces to show my parents over thanksgiving to see what they like. I like the no stain area, this mahogany is very nice wood.

I was also able to finally get the roofing on the tree house (I'll post a blog with lots of pics soon now that I'm done). Jacob, Alex and the rest of the neighborhood seem to like the tree house. I may need to rework the ladder as the current rope ladder is tough to climb.