Water Bottles 8: I'm an Idiot... But You Knew That

* First off, apologies for all those who left comments that went unmoderated. I was on vacation. Honest... I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD. Okay, fine, I was on vacation. I won't do it again.

* It's time to start getting geared up for cross season. Anybody here know anything about Single Speed 'cross racing? I sure don't. Guess it will be an eye opener. I've found one short essay on the topic, here. His hot tip?

If you have a sadistic jungle cross race promoter in your area, he is your friend. Nothing can even the odds in a race more than lots and lots of run ups and single track descents that prevent pedaling. Especially if they start up hill. Especially if people use the word insane to describe the course. Hilly courses that have lots of up-and-down and barriers are also your friend. . . . Rain, mud and unbelievably crappy weather make your job easy. All you need to do is put your head down and churn, and then get off and run when it becomes to hard to churn

Oh, joy. The worse it is, the better I'll do. Great. Just great. What have I gotten myself into? Oh well. Can't be worse than the Wednesday Hill Ride when Butts, Quijano, and Brewer decide to throw down. (Theme song: Ain't No Mountain High Enough.) Guess I'll be praying for cold, wet, muddy, nasty weather.

* Hey, are you as pumped about the Vuelta as I am? I.e., not at all?

*Can I just say, it's evident from the very start of this video, that this little bike ride isn't going to end well?

* That's all I got. Any advice on single speed cross racing, or cross racing generally, leave it in comments or email me.