Well so far it's been quite the eventful cyclo-cross season. Racing the UCI events, having the bikes stolen, the wonderful support I received from sponsors and friends, a new sponsor (sort of, more on that later) and something that I still can't believe actually happened, a dry, fast cyclo-cross nationals in Providence, Rhode Island! While racing in the mud can be a lot of fun, I’ve decided the dry fast courses are much better as I’ve become a bit delicate after living in Colorado. I really enjoyed not having to wash the chamois three times afterwards, and waking up the next morning without dirt in my eyes.

This ’cross season is the first time I've been able to compete in UCI-sanctioned races since racing on the Paralympic team, and I had a blast. It's hard to believe that I’m still racing ’cross after getting my start in college by committing to a race after drinking way too much one night at The Deer Park Tavern in Newark, Delaware. Somehow I thought getting up at the crack of dawn while still half-drunk and crawling into a Ford Ranger with three other people to go to a ’cross race in Jersey was a brilliant idea. Despite feeling absolutely horrible, I did the race on my single-speed mountain bike and loved it, not sure why, I think I may be addicted to suffering, but I was hooked. I guess I can thank Marc Vettori —“Fatmarc” as many know him — for buying me one more beer. I guess I’m lucky that beer and cyclo-cross go hand in hand like Australians, beer and jail. (I had to put that in for my Kiwi fiancé, Mark Legg, who likes to give some stick to Aussies whenever he can.) He would like to remind everyone that Australia was once a convict colony, while New Zealand is a beautiful, scenic country where the people are friendly, kind-hearted and like sheep farming. New Zealand, he said, is where they farm sheep and eat pies.

So back to the cyclo-cross, the big news for the 2007/08 season is I won't have to pay to race my bike. My sponsor is Spike Shooter (www.spikeshooter.com) energy drink. Spike Shooter is in the same market as Red Bull. It tastes really good and gives you a nice energy buzz without the caffeine jitters. Just make sure you follow the cautions on the can about not drinking too much on your first try. You’ll understand why once you have one. The best part is it has zero calories and zero carbs so you get the energy without suffering from the sugar low. It’s made to go well with vodka so if you’re looking for a night on the town, it’s the way to go.

Today, Mark and I stopped by the company here in town to say hello and pick up some more product. We made a mistake and asked a question about caffeine. Now caffeine is a good thing for the most part and you find it many drinks and pills, but if you’ve never tried just plain caffeine, it’s the most horrible flavor you can ever imagine. It’s beyond me how manufacturers can actually put that in drinks and still make them taste good. We tried a very small amount in about a cup of water and it was the most wretched, bitter flavor I’ve ever tasted. It was so bad I could still taste it a few hours later and needed to brush my teeth a couple times just to get rid of the aftertaste. If anyone ever asks you to try plain caffeine, just say no! Sometimes it’s better not to be so darn curious.

So after ’cross nationals we decided to have an early Christmas and stay in Delaware for a few extra days to spend time with the family. We had a great time relaxing and riding out single speeds on the best singletrack ever. Not too many people think of Delaware when they think of mountain-bike riding, but I have to say they have some of the best trails I’ve ever ridden. The fun factor is very high since they built the trails to roll fast no matter what direction you want to ride, and they are all single-speed friendly. Kudos to all those who worked so hard so we could ride away grinning ear to ear.

Now we are into January and we were (keyword “were”) watching blizzard number 2 melt off our backyard steps as of yesterday when it was 60 degrees and sunny, but the next day we woke up to another snowstorm! Yep, that’s right, we’re on to No. 3 since Christmas. That’s what I get for saying you can ride outside in Colorado Springs pretty much all year round. Now it’s not ideal for training for world’s, but I’m making the best of it and watching lots of ’cross DVD’s which makes intervals on the trainer a little more tolerable. And Mark does the workouts with me and lets me set the trainer up about a half wheel in front of him so I can always be ahead. That’s why I love him.

The world championship is coming up faster than expected and I’m super motivated to race again and suffer. I've been hitting the intervals hard recently as my coach, Craig Griffin, also known as an ex-pat Kiwi whose childhood hobbies include racing his bike and sheep farming, is peaking me for a 40-minute race of road, cobbles, sand and some Belgian mud. Mark and I leave shortly for the land of fries, beer and chocolate. I'm planning on hitting the World Cup in Holland as a warm up for the big day in Belgium on the 29th.

I'm looking forward to seeing all my fellow Americans out there cheering us on as we race around the mud. Should be some fun.