On the importance of chamois creme.

Yesss! Benny got a jobby job! I was just non-chalantly checking my email last night and BANG! Presto employo.

I'm pretty stoked about it. The timing works out great. I get to collect my severance package AND have uninterupted income. That makes for a nice little nest egg.

And by "nest egg" I mean "cyclocross bike". And perhaps a few other special treats?

Today was an interesting thanksgiving. It was our year to spend with Junebug's mom, but she wanted to head to the Cape for the weekend, so she, Paul, and Nellie stopped by for breakfast. Which was cool, because even though we didn't get the traditional turkey gorge-fest, we had a really relaxing day. We went to a movie. I got a lot of my off-season training in (peanut butter M&Ms) and then we went over to Larry's to play Wii.

II wiish II could say thiis wiithout braggiing, but II kiick ass at Wii.

And by "kiick ass" I mean "suck".

But it is almost as much fun as riding my Yeti thirty miles on tight, technical single track in 40 degree rain. Which reminds me! Tomorrow is the annual Turkey Burner at Lake Massabesic over near Manch-vegas. Last year's ride was a death march. That's not true. Ok, it is true. I mean, I loved it, but it was cooold and wet and exhausting. It got to the point where I just wanted to burst into tears and cry out "Please, God! Why do you hate my raw, chafed, red butt? Whyyyy?"

So, of course I'm considering doing it again tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be a repeat of last year. Awesome.

Speaking of muddy, difficult rides, I'd like to tell you about my first Cyclocross race. No really. You're going to like it. I mean, what isn't entertaining about a bunch of grown men wearing tights and riding their bikes in circles, jumping off them from time to time in order to awkwardly hurdle over man-made obstacles?

Anyway, my "friend" Evan "The General" Patten lent me his single speed 'cross bike. Thanks, pal. The race started out by sending all 30 or so starters through a 30 foot long, 6" deep puddle. Ok, good. That answers the question about whether or not I would need to pack my stuff in garbage bags for the ride home. The course proceeded to wind through a grassy field, then a tight turn over a stone wall and into the woods with a huge muddy hill to run up. Then some double track through the woods, back into the field, back into the woods, back into the field, and then back into the woods. With me? Then a slippery, muddy descent into a mud puddle so that we were positioned to climb back up a muddy hill, through a barn, then over some barriers and around again through the mud. See what I mean? It all makes perfect sense.

Lap one wasn't too bad. I think I actually rode up the first muddy hill. By the second lap, though, my knees wanted to explode from trying to mash the gear (as much as I wanted to type gears, there was only one gear) as I was trying to ride through the field. I am ashamed to admit that I had to PUSH the bike up the slightest uphill because the mud was so deep. This hill was easily only 1/3 as steep as your average wheelchair ramp. Yeah. I'm not kidding.

By the fourth lap I was in a euphoric daze and was no longer able to send or receive feedback to my legs. I don't even know if I rode the bike at all on the last lap or if I just ran the whole thing.

The good news was that I gave my teeth a mud facial (that's good for them, right?) and I fell in love with psychocross. I think I finished 9th in the Cat 4 race, which was respectable.