"Daya herd dat?"

These are the words of my soon to be three year old daughter Zoe anytime she hears something out of the ordinary.  Could be a motorcycle going by, an airplane, or the sound an email makes coming through my phone. She is a bit hyper-aware of things like this.

Soon, she will hear a new sound.

You can almost hear it now.  Shhh...be quite and listen.  "Daya herd dat?"  I know, its very faint.  But trust me folks, it will soon be deafening.

That's right...its is the sweet sound of cowbells.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls,....'Cross time is almost here!!!!!!

My excitement is starting to build.  I'm at the point of looking at my 'cross bike, wanting so much to put my fatties on and get going, but know I have yet another month before the first race of the season.

It looks as though I'm going to have a pretty good schedule of racing this season starting Sept 24th for the Kross Kickoff in Victor.  From there, we have the following:

Moose Cross Oct 8-9
Jackson/Victor Weekend Oct 22-23
Crosstoberfest Oct 29-30
Cube Cross #1 Nov 5
Cube Cross #2 Nov 12
State Champs Nov 19-20

After that, it will be time to chill for a bit before hockey starts in Jan.

The training is going OK, not a ton of volume right now, but lots of intensity.  Last Tues was a killer with 36min (3x12min) of Over/Under intervals.  Pretty painful, but great training for 'cross.  I've also been hitting the bike park at the resort, trying to work on my handling skills mostly and just getting comfy on the dirt again.  Once I suit up the 'cross bike with knobs, I'm going to bring it out and ride the easier trails at the park to really dial in my rig.

My weight is now down to 226lbs.  I haven't been losing as much as I have in the past, but then again, I'm not riding as much either.  My intake has gotten back on track, still having a lite breakfast, a large lunch, and passing on dinner.  Skipping dinner has been pretty easy recently as Couloir has been absolutely slammed every night.  My only real vice has been beer.  For a while, I was abstaining completely.  However, considering the fact that I'm amped up on espresso and iced tea (Splenda, no sugar) all night to get through service, a beer after work is the only thing that is getting me to sleep before 1am.  I'm hoping work starts to slack up soon so I can have a bit more time to get it all together before Sept. 24th.

Overall things haven't gone to plan, but haven't gone bad either.  Doesn't really matter though, cause the cowbells are coming, and I love that sweet, sweet sound.