Tradition

Whether it be a stuffed turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, watching fireworks on the 4th of July, or pinning a tail on a paper donkey cutout on the wall during a youngster's birthday party, traditions are, well, traditional. They're reliable. We come to expect them and anticipate them. So, when September rolled around, I naturally began anticipating two of my favorite fall traditions: Cyclocross and running the Grand Canyon over Thanksgiving weekend.

Since pacing Trevor to his first 100 mile finish at Wasatch back in early September, most of my training has been on wheels. Yes, training wheels. I raced the Moose Cross cyclocross race here in Victor later in the month. And other than a few longish runs on some of the weekends (including a wet, windy, sloppy, muddy run on the Boundary Trail outside of Pocetello with my buddy Mike last weekend in which at one point we were running into a 30mph crosswind into an icy 40 degree driving rain for an hour or so), I've mostly been out riding.

A couple weeks ago, some buddies and I drove over to Ketchum, ID (Sun Valley) for a double-header weekend of cross racing: The Idaho State Championships. I got smoked, but that's beside the point. The point is, I love it. And I want more of it. I always will. Which brings me to the present.

This coming weekend, I'll be heading to Rexburg on Saturday to race the final race of The Cube cyclocross series they've been putting on again this year. Last year, I was able to hit all three races. This year, I'll only get the final race, but that's okay because then on Sunday, there's another race in Pocatello. Perfect. I'm trying to see if I can get down to Salt Lake City for one more weekend of cross racing over the next couple weeks and then, I'll be driving the plastic porsche down to the Grand Canyon for the annual double-crossing the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

And after that... more cross racing! Yeah! This time in the heartland of it all: Portland! The US Grand Prix series is holding a weekend of racing out at Portland International Raceway over the weekend of December 6-7 so Buddy and Jake (my cross bike) and I will be driving out there to mud it up and spend a few extra days hanging with the fam back in the hood and hopefully get into the Columbia River Gorge for a run around my favorite loop up Ruckle Ridge and down Eagle Creek.

Giddyup!