Moots Profiles
Slow, steady steps… Ka-Pow! And Sam is in a fine samurai stance at the top of the stairs. Outlined by the doorway, he reminds me of an extra from ‘Harry-Karry’. From karate chop position, he walks through the door and often we find ourselves saying, ‘Good Morning!’ with an overly extended wave that uses the whole arm. Naturally we’ve gone from ancient Asia to synchronized swimming moves without a flinch…
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Every morning I sit at my desk picking at the emails that have sprouted overnight. My desk faces the open door of the sales floor, leading to the stairwell. Reliably, the third person to come upstairs every day is Caleb Franklin, lead finisher turned welder. Caleb is putting away his lunch for the day- which almost always includes cheese and crackers, and he’s followed by his ‘Short Tailed African Cougar Hound’ Luther –my favorite shop dog.
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Matt has one big leg. What makes his big leg bigger than his regular leg is a titanium rod in his shin. You wouldn’t notice unless he pointed it out to you, but his right leg is a bit bigger than his left.
Even bigger than Matt’s right leg is his heart. A strong, honest soul, he’s one of those people that can disagree without hurting anyone’s feelings.
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Cross High….
It’s such a good feeling of doing two races in back to back days I can’t really relay the awesomeness of the 48 hours spent in Boulder over this last weekend. Yep, I said awesomeness. Awesome is a word that is over used everyday but really it’s the only one to fit this time around. Moots had an outstanding showing of cross goodness. We had a Moots in almost every category each day of racing. I can’t tell you the feeling during warm up and the races themselves of having random people yelling go Moots! Yea Moots guy and even “don’t let the guy in baggies beat you”! The inner fire was lit on Saturday and didn’t stop until Monday when my heart rate finally came down enough so I could not feel it in my pillow last night. To me seeing new people getting into cross this year has been the best of all. Corey P., Matty P., Andy K., G-LIght and Sam G. ….all inspire me to pass on the knowledge this old crusty guy has gathered in the now 14 seasons I’ve done cross. They’ve progressed in this short season to the point that I’m now holding back some information as not to be beaten at my own game. Selfish? Yes. Or call it self- preservation of some type. Glen knows the tricks by now; he’s my partner in crime most training days…and a great friend.We all made it to Boulder and completed 2 back to back days of racing in the hard man’s sport. Traveling to cross races is now normal for all of us that live in Steamboat; we all have our own method and race day preparation. Mine goes like this….
Saturday….awaken by the kids…(Ely 4.5, Kelsey 2)….coffee for me & my wife, food for the kids…into the van that had been loaded with (2 bikes, 6 wheel sets, pack n play, toys, DVD player, cooler, wash bucket, clothes for the weekend, run bike for Ely. Off we drive at 7 am for the 3 or so hour drive to the Boulder Reservoir. We make our normal stop at Starbucks in Golden for quick “nature break”, eat one Honey Roasted Power Bar from Golden to Boulder…arrive at race site and boogie to pick up race numbers. Return to van pin on numbers, air in tires, lube on chains, spare bike to pit. Do one slow lap; eat espresso GU, water, one hot lap. 15 minutes before start have one more espresso GU, water, race start line up. GO! The race details are just that, races details…but the flow and feel of the race itself is what I like the best. Rolling through corners at high speed, blasting sand like Sven, trying my best to leave it all out there…somewhere on the course. I hear the words of encouragement from every end of the course…go Jon, hup hup hup Cariveau and the best….go daddy go! A hot day for cross, I feel for the guys in Southern Cali that have to race in 70 degree weather week in and week out….ouch. I felt dizzy after that…..I like the cold, nasty, miserable weather myself. Good race, fun times.
Beer thirty. Saturday night threw back a few with the Boulder crowd, and tried to get the guy that beat me to drink more than me…..it didn’t help.
Sunday….a replay of Saturday with more people and a grass course that would rival those in Europe…..
I guess I’m babbling on at this point but really feel lucky and very fortunate to have a family and friends that give me the support they do. A great weekend that soon won’t be forgotten.
Cross ON!
4 November 2008
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Comments
Ely and Kelsey look like it hurts to be on the podium, it should hurt to get to the podium, not stand on it.
and the Miss for the kisses.....
old and crusty!?!?! My arse, for those of you who don’t know Jon and I just barely do, he is in the Pro class and All class if I say so.
But as a new crosser, the kid effect is the cest. “Go-Daddy-Go!” is the best.
I have to say the thing the impresses me most about John’s riding is that he does have a family and full time job. Somehow he still manages to keep pace with guys that are younger and probably get to ride a lot more. That’s inspiring!
Your blog has given a good inspiration on publishing this article.Fine integration.Awesome man.
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