Web Site Launch

11/27/07

After holding out on building a page for lack of an actual need of one I broke down due to my abundance of free time this fall and made a first attempt at one.

I have been trying to keep myself busy while taking time off the bike.  My big project was building a desk for Shelley.  It was my first attempt at woodworking.  I think it turned out ok, not great but a pretty good job for a rookie. 

I also started some part time work at a local gym.  I will teach a few spin classes and a computrainer course.  I think it will be allot of fun.  I have also been working at a ski shop in Ketchum.  With any luck this is how I will be funding much of the race season next year.

Snow is here but there is not enough yet.  There is some Nordic skiing but it is thin. 

But most of all I miss riding my bike.

I will continue to work on the site to get it presentable but before I spent too much time trying to get this looking the way I want it to I need to make sure I can post it first.

Still Working on Website

12/7/07

I am still trying to get the website fully functioning.  It will probably take me awhile.  Although I doubt anyone has actually been here to see this yet.  My plan is to put up weekly postings on what is going on, not daily ones unless there is something really worth putting up and weekly in the winter will probably include riding in the cold and working at Sturtevant's and spin classes with nothing else to report.  I will be putting pictures in and hope to have a galleries of some sort set up, at least one of Benny by the first of the year.  I also hope to have an email for the website so anyone can give me a shout.  I am still working on setting up how exactly I plan on paying for the next year of my life and after the website has been up for a while I will start to report on that.

We have gotten snow here and the ground is covered, granted it is not allot of snow but it is snow.  The ski mountain is open and skiing well, the nordic trails are open and skiing well too.  But the trails are now covered and mtb riding is done.  I will have to travel to Boise to put in any time on the dirt and I heard that there is snow above the motor cycle parking lot on 8th street so only the lower trails are clear.

Oh and the big thing with the website, I have placed ads all around, except on the sponsors page and links page.  The sponsors page is for current sponsors there will be logos and links to their websites and it would be great if you went and checked them out.  The links page is of sites that I frequent, this is not an ad or a push to get you to look at the same sites I do but if you look at this site you will probably have visited many of these sites as well.  This is to help fund the effort and give viewers something else to look at.

Sick

12/8/07

I have been sick for days now.  It has sucked.  I have had to miss some work so and that hurts, and I had to turn down spin classes and that was really a disappointment because I really enjoy doing those.  I have missed a few rides and some good skate skiing due to this bug. 

The website is coming along.  I guess it is because I am on the couch with nothing else to do but it could be worse.  My goal will be to update it once a week after I get the site running the way I want it to.  Thanks for actually coming and visiting me online.  I have attached a signature to my emails so when I email people they can see the link to this site.  I know it is only telling people I already contact about this site but one of the main purposes of this site is so that people I do not talk you every week can keep up with what is going on in my life.  I have been looking through to try to make the site a bit better.  If anyone has some suggestions please give me a shout, if you are reading this you probably have my contact info but if not I will have an email that is from this site soon.

Benny went and sat on Santa’s lap for his Christmas picture.  I hope to get that on the photos page as soon as they send it to us.  I got the info so that I can become a USA Cycling certified coach.  I know how it sounds one more rider trying to coach others for extra cash, but I really need the extra money and with as many mistakes I have made in training maybe I learned something that would be of help to others.  I would really like to coach some riders especially locally where we could ride together and race at the same events so there is a better understanding of what they are going through.

Still under the weather

12/17/07

I have been out for two weeks now.  It sucks.  I did not do any exercise at all for like 10 days but still had to go to work which was probably a bad idea.  I have a super sore throat that almost disappears during the day and then keeps me up all night.  The last couple of days I have had to get out on the skis and such just to not go crazy.

I have used this bit of down time to work on the website a bit more.  I have got the email up and running.  I have also put a couple of picture galleries up. 

The Google ads I had up originally were taken down due to too many clicks from too few viewers.  I am working on getting them back or possibly setting different ads up.  These really help fund the site as sponsored links but are not personal sponsors.  If I do get these up again please feel free to take a look at what is advertised and click if you are interested in the ad but please do not just click for my sake, as this actually hurts the website.  I do like having them there to help fill the sides of the page up with colorful content that I am having issues with doing myself.

We have had super cold weather and do not have near enough snow yet but got a bit today and have more in the forecast.   They have been doing a poor job plowing so there is more snow on the roads then there is in the fields. 

I had a meeting with Billy about the kids camp and jr team.  It is coming together and I am really excited about it.  There will be 7 sessions off kids camp during the summer.  They will be scheduled so that I will not miss any NMBS races and will be able to travel to all the Idaho races as well.  I am hoping to do a couple other races that will be able to fit into this as well.  This will be my first fully committed summer job since I started racing.  They will be 3 days a week and will actually allow me to be real member of society not just a racer, but I still get to ride my bike. 

The jr team is one thing that I am really looking forward to.  We will ride a few days each week, typically similar days to kids camp, and hopefully a weekend day as well.  But I am going to really try to travel with the team to a couple of close races and really try to get the parents to take the members to Tamarack for NMBS finals to finish off the summer.  This could be really cool.

I am starting to brainstorm of marketing ideas to get more under 18 year olds involved in cycling and part of either of these 2 programs.  Please if anyone has any suggestions of how to get youth on bikes please email me admin@codypetersonracing.com or check out Road and Dirt for more info, schedules will be shortly.

This is long enough to be a real post.  I hope to have postings be a bit shorter than this and be updating every week or so unless something really noteworthy happens.  Not only will I be updating the blog but will be updating all the pages throughout the site as well so please look around.

It’s a New Year and the snow is finally coming

1/4/09

Every couple of days we have been getting spat on from the sky.  We have had very little in terms of real storms but small inch here and two inches there has been far too common.  But we are supposed to get some real snow the next couple of days.  I am looking forward to it.  Then I am looking forward to a dry and cold January so that I can finally get some really consistent hours in outside.

I have been getting on the skis lately but I have been stumbling around quite a bit.  I need a bunch more days before I feel comfortable on those things.  I finally shot the lock of the wallet and got some new poles but I could not dig too deep and get the cool poles.  But a new toy is here and I now have another reason to go out there and punish myself.

I have also started sitting on the bike again and with the snow we are getting that means I have on my trainer.  I have been really hesitant to put very many hours on the dreaded device because this place has a long cold winter and I don’t want to give into the mind numbing boredom this early.  To make sure I can get outside on my mtb I have been shoveling a path through the field.  It doubles as a trail to take Benny out to poop without having to wade through all the fresh snow a few times a day.  I also went and got a gym membership at Zenergy so I can go lift and swim and hang out at the spa this winter.

But I have about worn out my shovel.  The snow plows get most of the snow but they like to bury my car in every chance they get.

I also got myself 2 spin classes each week at the Valley Club.  And I will fill in for Eva’s class on Monday so I will get 3 in next week.  That will certainly help the wallet and I really enjoy them.  Also the computrainer classes should start up soon and that will help the effort as well.

But the Sturdos job is really taking its toll on me.  Either I need a full reworking of my schedule or I will have to pull the plug on this one.  I keep thinking that it is just the Christmas rush that is making it so bad but I need to do a better job voicing my scheduling so that I can train. 

It is now officially 08 and it is time to really get going.  Fontana is not that many weeks away.

The sun has come out again

1/14

We got the snow that was promised to us and now I am hoping for some good sun shine.  The mountain is claiming 115 inches so far this year and the Nordic trails are claiming just over 90 inches this year and that is more than 3/4 of what fell here the entire winter last year.  So I am really hoping for about 2 more big storms over the next 3 months and a whole lot of sunny days in between.  I am finally able to make it out on the roads out of Ketchum.   Riding to the highway is treacherous at best and I am full on depending on my fenders to keep me dry enough to survive. 

I will be riding Schwalbe tires this year and I am really excited about it.  I have been hearing how sweet they are for a couple years now.  Scott is even putting them on the top bikes they are so cool.  I think this will be another brick for the wall in building a successful season.

Work is getting better.  My Sturdos schedule has improved starting this week.  With everyone out of town it is pretty quite at the store so it is very boring all day in there.  It is nice getting to take it easy at work I still prefer when it is just insane like over Christmas, time just passes so much faster.  Spin classes are going really well.  I am filling in for two friends classes this week so I get a bit more intensity and quite a bit more money.  I am really enjoying these and am still working on figuring out the music that will best fit each class.  I am trying to plan them around my training and have them increase high end as race season draws closer.  I hope they help with short tracks, I really want to get into the top 5 for a race this year, I came close a couple times last year but I need to step it up.

Blair took me out on skate skis and put me into my place this weekend.  I was using my new poles and they where sweet but I think I need to take a bit more off them to get them comfortable.  Went out and skid the Sun Valley trails for the first time this season, EC is doing a bang up job keeping them groomed to perfection.

Other than a couple extra spin classes and getting to ride outdoors it is likely to be uneventful.

Finally a warm day

1/18

I could not believe it I got home from waxing my skis and it felt warm out.  It must suck outside when it hits 18 degrees that it is time to celebrate.  So I rushed into my cycling clothes and hopped on my mtb and cruised out warm springs on the snow covered roads.    This is one of my favorite routes in the winter.  It is a dirt road that has constant snow pack in the winter and it a slight climb out to keep you warm and you get home quick after turning around the best part is there is almost no traffic.

My Scott mtb frames showed up yesterday.  The Scale and Spark have a bit different paint scheme this year and they really look hot.  There are the white and yellow adding to the carbon look but they are more lines this year that just look fast.  The Scale also has a bit of white adorning the rear end that I like the looks of.  I am itching to build them up but there is not really anywhere to ride them right now so I am going to wait until the SRAM parts show up instead of just putting last years parts on now so I have something to play with.  I did get some Schwalbe tires to go play on too.  A set of Nobby Nics and a set of Racing Ralphs.  It feels like spring needs to come quick now.

I talked with Gamble from Dedicated Athlete today.  He is doing great and the new products sound great.  I am looking forward to a steady diet of RapidAde during the cold days.  I am hoping it gets that great slushy consistency on the cold days, you need something to look forward to before the bottle turns all the way to ice.  I am running low on EPNO so it will be good to get some more because that stuff works so well.  It is like motivation in a pill during large training.  It just keeps you from getting that nasty fatigue feeling that keeps you from going out for a ride.

I had a bunch of spin classes this week and they were fun.  I also spoke to Kyl and the computrainer classes are supposed to start up soon and that is the job that I am banking on getting me the money that will get me to the first couple of rounds of the NMBS this spring.  So cross your fingers for me.

And the snow returns

1/25

Just as I started getting used to the super cold days with some good sun, the weather changed.  We got some good snow last night and expect to see more in the coming days.  We need it badly.  After the dry year we just got over the more we can get the better.  But it does make it tough to get out there and ride. 

I have been on the mtb on dirt roads quite a bit to take advantage of the extra resistance to keep the speed down as much as possible to stay warm.  Of course the dirt roads are covered in a hard packed slick snow that keeps the speed down as well.  But I love being on the mtb over the road bike.  I have been itching to get out on some trails.  There are only a couple of trails that get packed out enough to ride on.  It just takes a few sunny days for enough hikers to get out there, hopefully by late next week there will be the opportunity to get out there.

I have been getting to fill in for some spin classes.  I had two at Zenergy this week and have an extra one at the Valley Club next week.   I have been really enjoying these classes.  Some good intensity training and it is so much more enjoyable then the trainer hours that I never seem the get away from. 

My little brother is in town this weekend for a bump competition.  I think it is singles on Saturday and duels on Sunday.  I have to work at Sturdos on Saturday but I am planning on being out there on Sunday to cheer him on.

Tomorrow is my Moms birthday, I lost precise count of the years but I think she is 36 again.  Happy birthday Mom.

It is still snowing

1/31

Well as I sit in my two biggest weeks of the year I just look outside and the white stuff is still falling from the sky.  I cannot believe it, I thought this place was called Sun Valley.  We have already passed the total snowfall from last year.  It reminds me of the first winter we spent back here after moving away from Durango.    We need the snow but I want to ride outside.

With all this snow I have been riding my trainer way more than I should.  I don’t think I have been on my bike outside in over a week.  Boise is getting hit too so going there is not an option.  I need to get out of here to ride, soon.  With all this fresh snow I am having issues getting out and skate skiing much.  I am looking for anywhere dry to go that is within driving distance of this Ketchum.  If you have any ideas let me know. 

The Boulder is this weekend.  I am glad to not be racing my skis but I do not like missing out on big events.  This will be a big weekend up here.  Probably a good thing I will not be riding up the highway with all the extra traffic.

I have been trying to build a pump course out in the field but I cannot keep up with the snow.  It talks all I have to keep what I have built already clear. 

I had a sweet day at Sturdos on Wednesday.  Some super rich guy screamed at me because there wasn’t a bootfitter in the store.  I have a feeling that I have not heard the end of this.  I understand why he was angry and I was the only one who would talk to him which is why he yelled at me.  I think we were all a bit scared of him due to the reputation that preceded him,  so no body else wanted to deal with him, and that is why the problem started.  The other Sturdevants sent him to us knowing we did not have a bootfitter in right then because they did not want to deal with him.  At least there were not many other customers in the store when this guy went off.

We are expecting to wake up to a large amount of snow in the morning.  So I will be on the trainer most of the day.  But I will be watching cycling on my computer on WCSN.  They don’t have a ton of cycling videos but they do have videos from a bunch of different sports. 

More snow and they say there is more on the way

2/4

Here I am starting my final week of base and I have been outside for 1 hour in the past 2 and half weeks.  With nothing but trainer time on the horizon I am starting to loose the will to get on the trainer.  I want to get outside so badly.  I was hoping to get out on the roads today on my mtb to just piddle around but the fresh foot we got last night is holding me back.  I barely made it to spin class yesterday at the Valley Club because the plows hadn't cleaned the roads up enough. 

I am looking for somewhere to go for the end of this week.  I just want to be outside to ride, I don’t care if it is sub 20 out just dry.  The roads can even be snowpack as long as I can stay dry.

I think I will be trying to put in a bunch of time skating in this week.  That should really be fun, maybe I will leave my dog at home a couple of days and go up to Galena for some different trails too. 

On a positive note about the weather is it is warming up.  Maybe the really cold is behind us.  Hopefully the mid 20s are here to stay.

I am trying to put some more pics up on the site and a couple more links, so keep checking back.  I got a new hand me down computer too so I will be upgrading to a laptop that I can actually lift.  There are just a couple of kinks I need to work out then I am hoping for smooth sailing.

I hope everyone’s winter is tough so that I am not the slowest guy at Fontana, last year Longo was making fun of my paleness over every time I rode by, maybe this year he will be wearing darker sunglasses and the suns reflection off me will not blind him.

Almost at the end of base

2/7

It is Thursday and I have only have to make it through a couple more days of riding my bike big hours inside.  I wish I could have found somewhere to go for a couple of days so I could ride outside but everywhere around here was snowed in.  Too bad, I guess that is how it goes sometimes.

Zenergy called today and I will get another try at a spin class on the calendar.  I am looking forward to it, and I need the money.  Also now I will have 3 spin classes a week steady and I can use those for training days.  It is like the best job ever.

I am getting ready to book the trip down to Fontana and Nova, it will be expensive again but all the bike races seem to be.  At least this year I have more work and can do better at affording to make these kind of trips.  I think I will be flying down there again.  I was hoping to drive but I cannot do that alone. 

The pump track is coming together after wearing out the first shovel I was using.  I have resized my plans because I recently made the discovery that shoveling the field sucks, but it took me about 45 hours of heaving snow to come to that realization.  I think I will be testing it out tomorrow and then I get to start reshaping all the spots that I did not do right the first time. 

The ski mountain is claiming to be at 180 inches of snowfall today.  That is the around the average winter snowfall for our mountain.  I know I must sound like we get allot of snow here but we don’t.  The mountain is right next to town so it doesn’t get a ton more snow then we get in our yard.  But this place doesn’t get near the snowfall of other big ski resorts.  That is why we moved back up here.  We do usually get a lot of sunny days that have not existed this year.  And we have reached our average annual snowfall in early February instead of mid April.  So who knows what is on the way for the rest of the winter.  But We are supposed to get our first day where it actually goes above freezing in over 60 days this weekend.  I am looking forward to that weather melting off the roads so I can get out there and ride my sweet Scott road bike that is now made the leap to SRAM parts.

The Boise Bike Swap is coming up at the end of this month and I think I need to sell off a bunch of parts, if anyone knows someone going that wants to earn some money give me a shout.

The sun has come out

2/14

It feels like spring is here.  I know that it is only teasing me but am taking advantage of the weather while it is here.  As soon as the snow stopped falling the sun came out and it warmed up.  We had our first  significant, over one hour, time above freezing since mid December.  And it didn’t stop there.  It got all the way up to 40 for a couple of days, then what is supposed to be normal day around 30 now it is heating up and should be 40 this weekend.  I am loving it.

I went mtb riding today.  I tried to go up hydleburg hill but it is closed for the elk and there isn’t even a path right now.  So I went around to Adams gulch and did sunny side and tried to do lanes trail but there was no path there either.  But I can make a loop out of sunny side and will be going back with Engin tomorrow for some more fun.  I had a couple sweet crashes too as my front wheel ventured too close to the side of the trail then disappeared. 

The roads are drying up fast as well.  Going north is great right now and gannet road is buff.  After all the trainer riding I did to get through base I feel like I am a kid in a candy store with all the riding that can be done right now.

I think Brandon and I will try to get up Galena this weekend for the my first big climb of the season. 

Greg and Kasey are going to take a bunch of my parts to the Boise Bike Swap for me, hopefully everything will sell and I can pay for bike racing.

The pump track is up and riding.  I am still trying to take care of a couple of soft spots, and get rid of the ice that is accumulating in the transitions.  But it is going.  I am in need of some practice though.  I jump like a 12 year old girl and although my aspirations are not great for jumping I do need to get a bit better. 

I need to get a hold of a camera to take some sweet pics of how pretty it is out right now.

The Lubeck's hooked Shelley and I up with a Valentines dinner at the Valley Club tonight and we are really looking forward to it.  Thanks so much it is a great gift.

Fontana is getting closer, I have a plane ticket to Ontario and a ticket home from Phoenix, if anyone has some extra space send me an email.

It is still nice out

2/20

We have had about 10 days of spring like weather.  It has been in the mid 30s every day and the sun is out.  The snow is gone from the major roads and is starting to really melt back on the streets in town.  The snow has really compacted and now it doesn’t look like there is a ton out there any more.  We have had snow on the forecast for days but they just keep moving it back a day.  So now it is supposed to snow again tomorrow night but the temps are looking to stay mid thirties for awhile.  I know that I need to take advantage of the weather and that it will be turning back to winter some time before summer hits so it is time to really enjoy he good weather.

I have been getting all the rides in that I wanted to do during base.  I am now getting more hours in than what was originally planned but after all the time on the trainer it is nice to be outside.  But I have really been slacking on getting out on my skate skis with the good weather.  I made it out this morning before my ride but I really should ski while there is still snow.

The big holiday weekend came and went I didn’t have to work myself into the ground at Sturdos.  Sweet.  But I do like it better when it is busy like that because time just flies by.  But with the biggest rushes of the year over I am starting to think up some rules for rental boot bowling.

Talked to my buddy Gamble today and there will be some Dedicated Athlete products showing up next week.  I am excited I am starting to run low on EPNO and Multi Vitamins and there RapidAde is all ready and I am looking forward to the different flavors.  Maybe I will keep it posted on what my favorite flavor of each week is.

I think I will fill in for some more spin classes next week so that should really help with building some speed for the first races of the year that are fast approaching.

This is my first update using my new hand me down computer from my dad.  It took a bit of time to get the first kinks out to get it all running and then transfer the files I needed between the two.  So now I hope it will be smoothing surfing but it probably won’t.  At least now the laptop is in a docking station and I get to use a real keyboard and mouse again, and that is just beautiful.  Maybe with a real mouse I can get the website looking better.

Sager called me and tried to convince me to go race in Puerto Rico instead of the first 2 NMBS races.  It sounds like it would be much more fun to be on a tropical island the Fontucky or a retirement village.  But I don’t know if I can swing it.  I have been racing the NMBS races for years and am not sure I want to start the season off by missing the first 2 and then never getting a good start spot for the rest of the year after it took me years to finally get called up in the front 2 rows.

We are going to have a new IMBA club up here in the Wood River Valley and I think that this could be the start to a good strong future for the trails up here and I am really looking forward to it.  I am hoping that there will be a good way for me to help out to make sure this happens.

Winter tries and fails to make a come back

2/25

It snowed 8 inches yesterday.  I was late for my valley club spin class because I could not make it up the hill next to my house.  Finally the plow came and I was able to go to work, late but at least I made it.  It stopped snowing around 8:30 in the morning and by 2 the roads where just wet with no snow on them and by late afternoon it seemed like there was less snow on the roads then there was before it snowed.  We did get a dusting this morning so the roads are wet again today.

Had a Zenergy spin this morning and the class is starting to get bigger.  Please if anyone can make it come on by 8:30 on Monday mornings.  I will also be filling in for Claudia on Thursday and Saturday this week so every day I am not at Sturdos I have a spin class, looks like I can make some good money this week.

Benny had to go to the doctor today.  The claw he ripped off in November is still acting up and it needed to be cauterized.  They gave him something that made him sleepy then we had to leave him there for a couple of hours.  He will be wearing a lampshade when we go get him and he will not be allowed to go run for 2 weeks.  He will be bummed.

I am still going through stuff for the Boise Bike Swap.  I now have a pretty big pile of stuff to send.  I am trying to put parts  in plastic bags so loose parts don’t get away and fold the clothes all nice.  I hope it fits into boxes pretty easy so Greg and Kasey don’t have too much trouble taking down for me, it is awesome of them to help me out like this.  I really hope a bunch of stuff sells, I really need some money to get the season started. 

I am trying to get everything organized in our house and put into better places.  I am trying to throw out as many things as possible, get rid of all the extra papers that are littering my drawers.  Put all my books onto shelves, you know clean up so my wife is happier.  It is good this is at the same time as the bike swap so I can try to sell as much as possible.

Training has been going good.  It makes the most important topic always weather this time of the year.  It seems like the nicer it is outside the better training is going.  And now if it is supposed to be sunny and warmer than 32 then I am happy. 

Its now March

3/4

We made it to March.  It feels like spring is coming.  The snow is melting.  When new snow falls it dries off the road in a hurry.  The sun is out most days and the days are getting longer.  Daylight savings time is even coming soon.

I had a bunch of spin classes last week and was left feeling a bit tired.  It is so great to get to go in a get some good intensity in and get paid for it.  I had classes almost every day last week and was feeling it by the end.  I hope it will help me ride faster this year, but if not it will at least help me get to races.

Did the triangle on Sunday.  We have one road ride here that is a loop.  To do it you start in Hailey and go to Carey down to Richfield take Burma Rd to 75 and back up the highway to Hailey again.  So to avoid having to turn around on a road ride you have to ride about 95 miles.  Needless to say I do not do this ride very often.  Burma Rd spent most of the winter snow covered so it wasn’t an option and it just isn’t all that fun to do alone so it doesn’t get ridden as often as I would like.  But we had a good time out there and the weather was great.

My snow jumps are getting close to being done for.  The weather is just too good, they are getting soft, the transitions are getting bigger and the jumps are getting smaller.  They are doable in the mornings but that is about it, and I work most mornings.

Today was my first day with no work or training in quite a while.  I really enjoyed it and caught up on some stuff around the house.   Tomorrow will be another easy day with only a CPR refresher course and a spin class in store.  I think I will go ride the snow trails on the golf course too.

Benny is still out for another week.  He is getting cabin fever though.  Every day he seems to have more bottled up energy that has no where to go.  We are not supposed to run him until next Monday, I hope we have a house left by then.

The Boise Bike Swap did not go very well for me.  I only sold a few items and I guess will be doing another sale on mtbr.com soon.  I really need to sell a 3D frame so that I can pay for racing next year.

Inside of a month to go before Fontana.  I hope I will actually see dirt before I fly down there.  I also hope my training is working.  I always do have a tough time at the first couple of races.  I think I will do the marathon at NOVA this year.  I have never done one before and there is no time to start like the present.  But it may be tough to get through with no time in the dirt before hand.  Also I will only be taking my Spark down there.  I raced it at Fontana last year and it was great there, I wished I had had it for NOVA too.  The only thing I would want it for is the short tracks but it is pretty light and has a good lockout.  I just need to get it together before then.

I got my first round of Dedicated Athlete product for the season.  The RapidRecharge is so good.  It mixes as well as anything I have ever used before and tastes really good, my favorite flavor is berry.  The RapidAde is pretty sweet too.  I am digging the go go grape right now.  Look for guys drinking it out of the red bottles this summer.  I would suggest everyone go out and try some all the bike shops should be able to order it from QBP, the stuff is awesome.  Oh yea and the multi vitamin is different and is now easier to swallow.  Dedicated Athlete is also supporting the fight against doping so check out their website to learn more.

March 13

Shelley’s Birthday

Yesterday was Shelley’s birthday and it went pretty good.  We went out and had a nice dinner and she liked the gift I got for her.  She had her friend from high school up for the weekend and had lots of fun. 

I went to Boise on Monday and got on the mountain bike.  It was so good to be in the dirt.  Tuesday morning I got to hit the dirt again and it was sweet. 

But then I took the noon flight to Portland and picked up my dads new car and drove it back here for him.  I made it all the way back to Boise on Tuesday.  Then snuck in one last bout in the dirt before driving back to Ketchum for my second to last Valley Club spin and Shelley’s birthday. 

The drive was so boring.  Across Oregon on the interstate by myself with nothing but the radio was not the most exciting way to spend an afternoon.  I forgot my mp3 player and had no good tunes for the trip and was stuck listening to talk radio, but at least I learned a lot about the New York's former Governor. 

Tomorrow is the day when dirt was available for roosting in Hailey last year and right now it looks like it is still a few weeks out.  The snow we got today is not helping the situation. 

I did sneak a few skate skis in since my last update.  Benny is now able to go run again so maybe I will take him out tomorrow.  I also took a couple of pics and put them around the site, but not a new gallery yet.  I am still working on getting a few more up shortly.

Scott put up my bio on the team page check it out:

http://scottusa.com/us_en/team_rider/102/cody_peterson

I am trying to raise a few more dollars to get the season started and am trying to sell a 3D frame on mtbr so if you are on the search for a sweet aluminum hardtail frame give it a look.

Now that the season is getting ready to start I will be working on updating more often.  And more and more people have been visiting this page so I will work to keep it up to date.

March 24

Weekend in Boise

I got out of the Valley for a weekend in the super warm weather in Boise.  It was in the fifties and was great.  It was my last chance training before going down to Fontana to be put into my place.

Made it to the Bode  group ride on Saturday.  It is so much more enjoyable to ride with people then by myself.   We did the Emmet Horseshoe Bend loop which I had only done once before, 6 years ago.  So it was nice to see new roads.  Got an early enough start so had plenty of time left in the day to drive around looking for some liquid latex to seal my tires up with for next week.

Sunday I went mountain biking with Brett and Greg, and even ran into Keith out there.  I really missed the dirt all winter and now am looking forward to race season.  It was so much fun to be on the mtb and the trails were in really good shape, but we did have to stay pretty low in the foothills. 

Work went pretty well last week.  Bruce and I built the new rental room pro shop and Sturtevants.  We will be testing out on this morning.  But Bruce did a sweet job on out ski pole putter.  We will set up some mini gold style courses to get the slow days to keep moving, we can't play rental shop baseball all the time.  Really Friday was super busy and we are having a bunch of really good sales going on so people are flocking to the store.  This week is supposed to be busy too.

We had some interesting weather at home this week.  It snowed almost every day then the sun came out and dried everything up.  So I had to wait until the afternoon to ride every day.  I ended up just going harder because I didn’t have the time to go as long as I had originally hoped.  I even tried to ride on the bike path groom.  It was great going to Hailey but after I turned around it started to heat up and the trail was getting mushy and I had to bail out to the highway.  Between Hailey and Ketchum it is like running the gauntlet.  It was the first time I had ridden on any of that stretch since I moved back to Idaho, and I am hoping it will be my last.  We really are lucky to have the bike path to keep us away from the traffic on that stretch.  I am glad to be taking off this week because it is supposed to snow every day this week too.

After a full day of work on Monday I will be building up my 08 bikes on Tuesday.  I am hoping for a few new parts to show up today but if not 07 parts will be rocked down south.  I think it will take most of Tuesday to get the Spark built up and the clothes packed, the tools packed, getting enough drink mix in travel mode.  Then I have to pack the bike without even getting a chance to ride it first, at least it will be all clean going into the box.  I am in desperate need of a ride from the Ontario airport on Wednesday and a place to sleep that night before I hook up with Sammy J on Thursday.

This Tuesday is the meeting for the Road and Dirt Jr Team.  I will be coaching this program this summer and am really looking forward to it.  I hope we get a bunch of jr riders to come out.  It will be at Wise Guy Pizza Pie 6pm on the 25th.  We even got a quick hit in the paper about it.  I have to be all packed and ready before the meeting because I will be leaving from the meeting to Boise so I can catch my flight to Fontana at 7am.  Mountain bike race season starts again.

March 26

Travel Season Begins

Yesterday started off with a nice and early 6:30 spin class at Zenergy.  I could hardly move that early in the morning but I really needed the money.  After that I rushed to build up my new Spark to take to Fontana.  As soon as I finished putting it together I took it apart and stuck it into a box.  I am bummed that I haven’t even ridden the bike before taking to a race but there is not anything that even resembles mtb riding in Ketchum right now.

I set out to find a place to sleep Wednesday night and rent a car for until Ransom show up to be my chauffer in Fontana.  I cannot believe what a rental car cost me there.  But the extra day on the bike and in the heat will really be nice, even if it is Fontana.  I just hope to make it through the race.

I packed so much junk for my 2 week trip.  In the end my bag felt like it weighted as much as I do, which is pretty heavy right now.  I brought some Scott magazines down that were defiantly not light so if you would like one come grab one from me to make my travels easier and check out all the cool Scott stuff. 

After getting everything in order at home I said goodbye to Shelley and Benny, this seems to get harder to do every year, and went to the first Road and Dirt Jr Team meeting.  There was a small showing but it was an enthusiastic group.  There are more kids that are interested but were busy during that time.  It still is a bit early for them to think about mountain bikes while the trails are under feet of snow and the chair lifts are still carrying skiers for a few more weeks.

I drove to Boise to stay with Brett so that I could catch the 7am flight to the warm weather.  I made great time out on the road and made it in by 10, there were hardly any cars out on a Tuesday night.  Luckily for me Laura was willing to get up and drive me to the airport just after 6 before heading to work super early.   I am very grateful to have friends like them.

Made it all the way to Fontucky and even got out on the course.  It is shorter than last year so we will probably do another lap.  It will be fast.  I feel strong but am not riding very fast at all.  I probably need more time on the mtb.  Hopefully the races will go well and I can feel faster next weekend.  The bike made it here without getting lost or damaged on the plane, always a plus.  I am still working out the kinks and hopefully I can get a bit of help at the venue tomorrow to get it dialed in.

Oh yea I forgot the good news.  They have started plowing the bike path.  Just one more step closer to the end of winter.

March 30

First race is in the books

The NMBS series started yesterday and I have been worrying about it for months.  It is so great to have the opportunity to race for another year and I am so happy to even get to be at these races again.  Seeing everyone is so great, it is like my summer family, and I missed them.

I have been staying with Sammy J, Ransom, and Colin in Fontana and we have actually kept the hotel room clean enough to live in for 3 nights now.  We have been cooking most of out meals in Sam’s hot pot and have been saving a bunch of money on food.  We are about 15 minutes from the venue and have found roads that are not too scary to ride there on.

The XC race went really well for me.  I had my typical start were I started on the second row then fell back into the 40s then made it back to around 15th on the pavement climb.  From there on I just pretty much stayed in one spot till the end.  I trailed Andy for most of the race and rode with Carl for a few laps, he was my saving grace out there.  I even was going downhill pretty well for me.  In the end I was 12th which makes the short list for best result at one of these races.  Even scored a couple of UCI points and enough money to get some bubble gum out of the gum ball machine after a good dinner.

Georgia scored a win convincingly.  She is incredible.

I did my whole race on the Jittery Orange caffeinated RapidAde and it worked great.  This may be my race mix for the rest of the year.

I got a care package form SRAM on Thursday and by Sea Otter and thanks to all my sweet sponsors I will again be riding the coolest bikes in the world.

The short track is this afternoon and I hope I still have something in my legs.  Wish me luck.

April 1

In Fountain Hills

Made it all the way to Fountain Hills yesterday and even got to get out on the mtb in the afternoon.  Thanks so much to Dusty for driving me here from Fontana.  It was great to get to spend a day with Dusty and Georgia, I haven't gotten to see them since last fall.  After getting to Fountain Hills we cruised out to the race course and did a ride on some other trails that I had never ridden out here.  Went for about an hour spin with Dusty, Matt, Shep, John, and De.  It was so pretty out there.  The desert is so colorful right now and the with the setting sun it was a sight to see.

The short track was on a pretty sweet course.  I love going up the mountain cross course.  The big berms are so much fun.  I had a great start but just did not have the speed on the flats to have a great race.  I had all the strength I needed on the climbs but as it flattened out people would sneak right by me.  A couple of gaps opened up in front of me and I was too far back.  Luckily a couple of the guys that had passed me early on cracked and I moved up to 12th by the end.  Liam beat me on the last lap but I would not have made it back quite as far without him pulling on the flats.  I just love racing the short tracks.  It is like a mental break from the weekend.  You just go as hard as you can and don’t think about very much.  They are so short I don’t get a chance to worry about all the other junk that gets me down in the xc races.

I rode the Spark for both races in Fontana.  It was sweet to have the suspension on the xc.  I was able to ride a rigid bike up the pavement and them have a super plush bike for the downhills, plus the traction control mode for everything else.  There is nothing quite like having all the right tools at your fingertips when you need them most.  I also ran Schwalbe Racing Ralphs in a 2.2 with stans in them for the weekend.  With how great everything worked I plan on using all the same equipment at Nova.

Thanks Sammy J for booking the hotel this weekend and saving me a bunch of money from having to stay alone.    Good luck at the Continental Champs.  Thanks to Dusty for letting me stay in his teams place for the first couple on nights before my hotel reservation starts.  Again thanks to De for feeding me in the XC.  Thanks to Dusty and Zack for letting me hang out at the trailer.  Matt for helping me with some bike parts that were desperately needed.  Dave for the help with my wheels.  There are so many people that help me at the races that I am so thankful for.  It is why they are my summer family and I miss them all winter because they are all so great.

April 3

What have I gotten myself into?

Well tomorrow is my first marathon race.  I have been trying to avoid doing these for years but am ready to made the leap.  It sounded a whole lot easier a month ago when I registered for it.  But I think what really has me is that right after the marathon I have to the super d.  So it will be  a pretty long day, not that the super d will be all that demanding, but will require a couple of extra hours to hang out in the sun.

Shelley came down yesterday and it is great to have her down her with me.  Ransom and Dirty both had things come up so they will not be staying with me as we had previously planned but it was totally unavoidable for each of them.  Dirty is still sick and is not supposed to even walk, he was at Fontana and was bed ridden the whole week.  Ransom got a promotion at work and has to spend the week moving instead of bike racing.  I hope they both can get what they need and be able to come to Santa Ynez for the next round.

I will be racing the Spark tomorrow.  Schwalbe racing ralphs 2.2 front and rear.  I am planning on drinking a camelback of water and 4 bottles of RapidAde jittery orange for the race and as much RapidRecharge as I can before the super d. 

I think there will be plenty of time to get recovered before the xc on Sunday.  There will only be the stxc late on Saturday to slow recovery but I will be laying really low the rest of the day.  I am sure I will put up some update before then so I can whine about how hard everything is.  But it will probably just be me being a pussy.  Really what better way to spend a day for someone that loves racing bikes so much to do in the spring then spend hours racing through the desert that is in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous. 

April 4

Nova Day 1

Today was the marathon and the super d.  I think the spark could possibly be the ultimate marathon bike.  It is super light plenty of travel and really efficient.  But as good as my bike was today I just could not do it.  I rode in the front until just over half way through the second of 3 laps then Evan attacked and I had no answer.  It split everything up and I limped back to the start finish then pulled the plug.  I was a bit bummed that I could not make it but it was just a training ride and I was able to hold about an xc race pace for about 2:45 which is really good for me, someone that does better the shorter the race.  So it looks like the training is going very well.  And I hope that Sunday goes really well especially since it will be shorter.

The super d went pretty well too.  I don’t think the race earlier in the day slowed me down.  Maybe not pre riding the course held me back but I was recovered pretty well thanks to my RapidRecharge that was awesome today.  I was really happy that Decker didn’t pass me, he did come close though.  I have not seen results but I went pretty good so I will be content with whatever it is.

Tomorrow is a big recovery day, then the short track.

April 5

Nova Day 2

It is was the STXC day here at Nova.  I did not have my best go at it.  It seems as one guy at every race gets a disappointing deal in the short track and for some reason or another is not able to continue.  Well today was my turn, it is part of racing.  I made it two laps in before my mishap then made the best of it until I got pulled 3 laps after the race started.  I did not have to put out too much effort today so I am hoping for a great one tomorrow.  But I did have a good start and did not loose positions in the first lap, so I am doing well there.   But thanks to Dusty and Shep for making sure I will be back out there tomorrow, you guys rock.

Yesterday ended up pretty well 18th in the Super D.  A bit better than I had expected a month ago when I figured out that I had to do it here.  I have not put together a decent TT in a few years so I am happy.  And I am kind of a wuss on the downhill stuff any way.  Looks like the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs in a 2.2 hook up pretty darn well, even out here in the desert on little gravel that wants to slide the wheels out from under at any moment.

April 9

Back Home

After a couple of weeks enjoying the good weather down south I am back in Idaho and back to winter.  It is a much more difficult transition to the cold than it is to the heat.

Sunday was the XC and then end of a weekend that really took its toll on me mentally and physically.  I had a good start, hung in a good group for a lap then tried to make a move forward, but after just a couple of minutes of effort my ability to push came to a halt.  I just felt done.  I kept riding and just trying to keep pedaling without ever jumping on the gears.  I shifted at just about every turn or rise in that desert and my SRAM stuff made every adjustment flawlessly.  After settling into a rhythm, slow, but a rhythm I made it through the second lap and after a couple bottles of Jittery Orange RapidAde I started to come back around.  Someone passed me just as I started to feel better and I was able to stick the wheel and be there as he brought a couple guys that had previously dropped me came back to us.  In the end I was able to hang on to a top 20 finish in a race that I thought I was not going to be able to hang in there for.

My coach and I had set this week up as a training camp of sorts to get ready for Sea Otter.  So I had been working all week with this in mind.  Hopefully all the work will pay off in two weeks.  I am really happy I did the marathon even if I was not strong enough to make it to the end.  But looking back I have never been strong at longer races and just being able to hold that effort for as long as I did shows a strong improvement in my endurance.  The super d went much better than expected, especially since it came on the heels of the marathon.

As soon as I got home I was grated with a huge box from SRAM with every thing cool you could possibly imagine, even a new blue Sid.  But after a quick look at everything I had to get my Spark rebuilt with new parts then my Scale built for the first time.  I didn’t even have time to go ride them around and then went taken apart and stuck into boxes and shipped to Sea Otter.  I booked a one way ticket down there.  With the plans of driving the Scott demo van back here with my bro Engin. 

Today I am getting my last years Scale ready to race the Barking Spider this Saturday  and my CR1 dusted off so that it can race on Sunday.  This will be another training weekend.  Ben said just go hard.  It doesn't matter how I do as long as by Sunday afternoon I am toast.  So the mtb race will be just like any other mtb race, hard from the gun.  But the road race will be a tempo day from the gun.  I have plans of pulling a ton and covering what I can as long as I can, then when all the strong guys that have been sitting on all day go for it at the end I will probably watch them go and wish I could follow.  I seem to remember liking road racing allot more in college.

Tomorrow I have a spin class then work all day at Sturtos.  Should be pretty good, I am ready to stop doing my errands for a day and do something else, work is great for that.  I really hope to get one more day on the mountain this season and I will try to go on Friday, I may even try to get some new boots at year end prices to make it even more fun.

April 15

On the road again

It was great to be home for a week but now it is off to Sea Otter.  I have two new bikes that have all new parts that are awaiting me in Monterey.  I will be staying with the Scott crew there and I could not be more excited.  We will also have a newly stickered up rig to race on the freeways with.

The plan was to go to Burbank and meet Engin who just picked up the freshly wrapped Scott sprinter.  Then we will drive up to Monterey on today.  I will do some easy riding for a couple of days for recovery then start ramping up for the weekend.  And it is a longer drive than I wanted it to be, but we drove up the 1 and it was very pretty.  But it is not quite as warm in Monterey as I had hoped.

This past weekend was I had a couple of training races in around Nampa.  The Barking Spider was first and it was great weather.  I do not think I have ever seen the sun while over there.  The course was great.  Stephen came over from Bozeman to find some race legs before Sea Otter and the Idaho guys were just hitting the season kick off.  Darren hooked us up with some sweet custom number plates for the season so  we could race in style.  It was so great to be mtb racing in Idaho I had so much fun.  I even snuck in a lap before the race and another after the race with Shelley and Benny.  Then we stopped by and visited my Grandma.  Finishing the night off with a great dinner in Boise with Brett, Laura, and Tim.  Sweet.

The road race was not quite as fun.  I just never seemed to enjoy road racing like racing in the dirt.  I had a full on time crunch for getting home and getting ready for the Otter so my shot at actually making it the full distance was done when I realized we didn’t race until after noon, and had a 4 hour drive home, then had to pack up for a week trip, and cannot forget my early Monday morning spin class and 30 min at home time before rushing to my flight.  But I made the most out of the time I had hitting every climb with  force.  I even pulled quite a bit in the wind too.  I was a bit sketched out on the downhills after I broke a spoke fighting for a chance to get to the front early in the race.  But after the first lap we had already shed the field down to 5, dropped another the next lap.  Then I had to bail, but in the end Richard and Calvin kept that gap and built it into a huge 20 minute margin over 4th.  Maybe if  I had the time to race I could have had a decent finish.

I have not been getting the best sleep lately so I have high hopes for some naps while out of town.  It seems that there is always extra time when at a bike race that just doesn’t exist while at home.  But maybe I will just watch allot of TV.  At any rate it is time to resume my diet of bagels and nutella, all day then burritos at night.

The Wednesday after Sea Otter will be the first ride for the Road and Dirt Jr team.  I need to figure out when kids camp ends to see if I will be able to do the Brian Head Epic or not, but I don’t think it looks good.

April 24

Sea Otter Classic

I just got back from the Sea Otter.  It ended up being a really long trip for just a weekend of racing.  I got to hang out with all the Scott guys for a few days and that is always good.  I guess I should start from the beginning.

On Monday I flew to Burbank and Engin picked me up and we stayed at his buddies house.  Then we drove up the coast to Monterey.  We picked up the Scott fleet at Jocelyn's Bike shop and checked into our house.  We spent quite a bit of time driving around lost in Monterey, which was good because for the rest of the trip I had the town dialed.  Our house for the week was interesting.  I think when they are not renting out to vacationers they are renting it out for orgies.  But you had to see it to believe it.  The round sofa, the velvet everywhere all the love statues and ornaments.  The rooms where borderline scary.  It is a good thing we did not have a black light to run through that place, but we all made sure to wash our hands often.

I was able to take a couple of chill road rides with Engin before making up to preride the course on Thursday.  Worked on trying to stay well rested going in to the event.  We got the tents all set up and the boys got the show bikes all displayed pretty.  The van stayed at the venue each night and was just used for storage.  I commuted to the race each day on my bike with some slick tires.  It was nice having all the equipment at the race.  I even got to leave my race bike on site and not worry about packing it around.

The short track was on Saturday and it was windy out.  It was blowing the cold air around enough for me to wear arm warmers the whole race.  I got a front row call up but was late enough in the order to line up on the wrong side.  So when the gun went off I had to fight back up in to the good line and hit the first turn around 15th.  From there on I just kept pushing my way through the group.  I thought I was done for when about 3 laps in I was in 7th looking at a decent gap to the lead group of 6.  But luckily the front group was more than willing to shell a few guys.  I was able to move up to 3rd and get a front row seat at Sam and Ryan going at it.  I was able to hold them at a respectable distance until the last lap when they full on turned it on.  I was hurting pretty bad from sitting in the wind by myself all day and was really happy that I was able to hold off Ross on the final lap because I done.  It was sweet getting to get up on the podium, as it was my first real appearance on the box at a major race.  It was even better to do it with Scott being there.

After the stxc I did a lap of the xc on my hardtail to see if I wanted to race it on Sunday.  Then we went out as a big group to dinner then the showing of Kranked.  I ended up getting to bed pretty late but I did get to sleep in.

The xc started off with me showing up to the venue too late to do a last minute run through nut and bolt check on my bike, but hey it worked sweet in the stxc.  Then I had forgotten my timing chip.  But whatever.  I had an alright start and was moving up to where I wanted to be in the group for the first half hour.  Then right as I was pleased with how it was developing disaster struck.  I had to pull over and work on my rig for a few minutes before getting going again.  I lost a bunch of places and was pretty down but I moved up well and was picking up the remnants of a big group on the major climb.  On the big dirt road downhill on the start of lap 2 I had another issue that needed some off bike time before continuing.  Once I got back on my bike I knew that my shot at the race I wanted was gone and I needed to calm down and just have fun for the rest of the day.  I ended up riding with Weins for awhile and I even got to climb a bit with the captain.  I finished off in the top 25, barely, so it was not all bad.

Monday and Tuesday Engin and I drove the Scott van back to Ketchum.  We stopped off in Auburn to ride mtbs for a bit and ended up running into Kenny and he showed up some sweet trails.  We even got to watch him catch some air on jumps build just off the side of the trails. 

I am glad to be back home and have a few weeks to train before Santa Ynez.

April 30

Back to Training

Now that Sea Otter is over and I am at home for a bit Ben has decided to try to kill me.  Oh well I probably deserve it.  But it is just a bit more work than I have done over the past few years and it is taking me some time to adjust, I guess by me improved race results this year that it is working out beautifully.  I will be going mtb riding this morning on the one trail that is open here, I guess I will be going back and forth on a 20 minute climb for about 4 hours.  But now that carbonate is ride able it is time to get the climbing legs back.

My brother and I went hiking up the ski hill for a last run of the year.  We took Benny because he loves to run and is missing snow already, for some reason he just loves the stuff.  We had a good hike, not that it was easy, but I did enjoy myself and Benny was so happy.  He kept rolling on the snow and sliding down the hill on his back.  Then we started going down.  On the first turn Benny and collided and his front leg was sliced open.  It was pretty bad.  You could see in there and the tendons were right there and you could see the bone.  He only yelped once and then seemed fine.  I on the other hand was super worried about my dog.  We rushed back to town and straight to the vet, only calling home for the insurance info.  In the end we just barely missed the tendon so it was only a cut his skin so all he needed was stitches.  He is on injured reserve for 2 weeks then he is supposed to be back to normal.  Close call. 

Seems like not too much else is going on.  It is supposed to snow today.  My parents are going on a trip and then my dad is going to Santa Ynez to watch the race.  I will be sending my spark with him, so I will be without it for the Coyote this weekend.  But I have gone trough it and made sure it is race ready so that it can go away for 2 weeks then be raced on.  I did get every thing for the Santa Ynez trip booked a few days ago so there is no upcoming stress except for training and all I have to do is what ever Ben says. 

Shelley’s mom is in town for awhile.  So we have company.

May 7

Coyote Classic

This weekend was the Coyote Classic.  There was a good showing and we even had an out of state guy, Kyle Dixon, killing it out there.    I had a pretty good day.  The toughest thing was I forgot my hr monitor, so I had no idea how hard I was going or how long I was out there.  I always seem to slow down when I am by myself with nothing to gauge my effort against.  But it all worked out.

I got to take a couple of easy days and now it is back to training.  Ben is out to get me going good for Santa Ynez.  I had a super hard day today and racked up my best ever time up carbonate so I was pretty happy.  It seems after every hard day with Ben I am just roasted and it is agonizing to think I have to go out and hammer again tomorrow. 

The jr team is going well, we have had a bike work day and some more road riding today.  We will go for our first dirt outing on Friday.  Everyone is looking forward to getting in the dirt.  We are also doing night security at the Bike Swap this weekend and that should be some fun times.  If you are town next week Road and Dirt is showing the new Kranked at the Liberty Friday night. 

I have another spin class tomorrow so I am going  to go suffer early in the morning, so I better go to bed.

Yesterday ended up pretty well 18th in the Super D.  A bit better than I had expected a month ago when I figured out that I had to do it here.  I have not put together a decent TT in a few years so I am happy.  And I am kind of a wuss on the downhill stuff any way.  Looks like the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs in a 2.2 hook up pretty darn well, even out here in the desert on little gravel that wants to slide the wheels out from under at any moment.

May 13

Bike Swap and more training

The Jr Team spend the weekend evenings as night security at the Bike Swap at Sturtos in Hailey.  I think the event was a great success.  I also think all the guys had some fun staying out in the cold.  The first night was pretty tough, it was cold and there was a bunch of traffic to keep us awake, and a bar fight across the street that brought the police in.  But the second night was  a bit better, the cars were few, and it was a bit warmer, the only tough thing was the small hail storm that brushed by soaking things just as the sun was coming up.  A bunch of bikes sold, nothing was stolen during our watch.  All in all a great thing.

I just finished a tough training block.  I am wasted, it is a good thing I have been drinking RapidAde to recover from all the hard work.   I get to rest until later this week just before the Santa Ynez race.  I am looking forward to going back to the heat.  Shelley and I fly out tomorrow.  I get to put on shorts in the morning and freeze my way to the airport then get off the plane and have it be warm.    I have high hopes of not seeing snow until the drive home.

Shelley took her mom to Boise to fly home today.  And my mom was supposed to fly home today from her trip but booked her ticket for tomorrow so she will be in the air the same time  I am going the other way.

My new Mavic wheels showed up and they are sweet.  I cannot wait to go out and get the new shiny wheels dirty. 

May 17

I wanted to cry

Well today was the XC at Santa Ynez.  I had a bit of a hold up at the start but got through it pretty quickly.  I was sitting right were I had hoped to be and then right about 30 minutes in disaster struck.  I snapped my saddle off.  I quickly pulled to rails off the post then rode to the second tech zone where my dad met me with his saddle and Zack put it on for me as I drank some water and tried to cool off a bit.  Because as I may have forgotten to mention it was HOT out.  I got back on my bike and finished the last lap and a half with no further issues but the damage had been done, I had lost about 15 to 20 minutes trying to work on my bike and ridding standing up for a couple of miles, quickly figuring out that standing is a whole lot easier when there is a saddle there to rest on periodically, or to use on downhills.

The other big news is Georgia had some gnarly heat stroke today and it sent her to the hospital.  I have heard that she will be ok, which is good.  But everyone was really worried about her for quite a while today, it was very scary.

So out of the 4 major venues that I have been to this year I have mechanicaled at 3 of them, in one event or another.  So I am hoping that bad luck comes in 3s and that the rest of the year will be event free.  I have worked really hard in training and Ben has me faster than I have ever been before but I need the luck to show it.  I guess that I am putting my hope in Deer Valley for a big XC result, cross your fingers for me. 

STXC tomorrow I am looking forward to it.

May 19

Short Track

Well it went way better than the XC.  I had a pretty poor call up due to my mishap at Nova, but that was expected.  I guess the goal was to just try to get far enough forward to get a better spot to start from for Deer Valley.  The course was difficult to pass on for the first couple of laps.  It was pretty much wheel to wheel and strung out single file.  I seem to have this problem with moving up in those circumstances.  But as soon as it started to break up I moved up from in the 40s to into the top 15 and started chasing a better start spot.  By the end I worked up to 11th which is pretty good, especially with my start.  I am really hoping for a break out weekend in Utah at some altitude though.  To bad I have all this form and no where to go with it for the next month.

My Dad, Shelley, and I drove back to Ketchum from the race.  It was about 1000 miles and we got to put my Dad’s new car to the test.  It seems to go pretty fast really well.  But it was still a really long drive.  I some how lost my voice after the race, there was some good dust, but I was having some allergies that were clogging me up pretty bad too.  So the whole drive I could not talk and that really sucked.

I do not know what is next on the schedule.  There does not seem to be much between now and the next NMBS round.  I don’t know yet what Ben has planned for me but I bet it is gonna hurt. 

May 21

Back home

Well the short track went way better than the XC.  I had a pretty poor call up due to my mishap at Nova, but that was expected.  I guess the goal was to just try to get far enough forward to get a better spot to start from for Deer Valley.  The course was difficult to pass on for the first couple of laps.  It was pretty much wheel to wheel and strung out single file.  I seem to have this problem with moving up in those circumstances.  But as soon as it started to break up I moved up from in the 40s to into the top 15 and started chasing a better start spot.  By the end I worked up to 11th which is pretty good, especially with my start.  I am really hoping for a break out weekend in Utah at some altitude though.  To bad I have all this form and no where to go with it for the next month.

My Dad, Shelley, and I drove back to Ketchum from the race.  It was about 1000 miles and we got to put my Dad’s new car to the test.  It seems to go pretty fast really well.  But it was still a really long drive.  I some how lost my voice after the race, there was some good dust, but I was having some allergies that were clogging me up pretty bad too.  So the whole drive I could not talk and that really sucked.  I still feel a bit sickish too.  We will see how that is developing.  I don’t really want it to turn into me being sick this time of the season.

I do not know what is next on the schedule.  There does not seem to be much between now and the next NMBS round.  I don’t know yet what Ben has planned for me but I bet it is gonna hurt. 

May 25

It feels like spring

Well it seems like spring has hit the wood river valley.  It has rained some every day for a while now and it seems like I have been out riding during each and every storm.  I had a pretty tough day on the road yesterday with snow and rain, I ended up being pretty cold by the time I got home.  On the dirt today I was rained on most of the ride but it was just a drizzle and just made the dirt tacky, it was pretty sweet. 

I just got my new wheels all mounted up and am ready to go out and get them all dirty.  I think the first race on them will be the Teva Games coming up shortly.  I am really looking forward to going back to big mountains for some mtb racing.

Training is getting hard again.  I am hoping to be riding well in the coming races.  Everything is going well, except for the weather, and I am just itching to go do some more mtb riding around Ketchum.

June 2

My first ride with bare knees

Well on the second day of June I finally got my first ride at home that I actually rode in shorts and bare arms.  Mind you I started with leg warmers and arm warmers and had to ride through a rain shower early in the ride but I got to take them off and enjoy the sun.  I am really hoping for some more of that action.

This is going to be a good week.  I got a sweet mtb ride in yesterday with Engin, basically the first ride on all the trade routes in Ketchum.  Today I has an AM spin and an afternoon mtb ride with the jr team.  Tomorrow a ride with the jr team then my first group ride of the year, and I have aero bars on so to get ready for the Teva Games TT so I get to look like a tri geek with the group, if you see me out there you better give me a hard time.  Then I get to put in a full day at Sun Summit on Wednesday then the short track in the evening where I will be testing out the stans job I did on a set of 2.0 Furious Freds that are sub 300g they really make my scale light.  Then Thursday I get to do the long haul down to Vail.  Wish me luck.

We baked Benny up a fresh batch of Buddy Biscuits today and he is excited, he loves those things so much it is funny.  It seems like we had to do it after the nervous breakdown he had when Shelley tried to clip his toenails. 

June 16

Busy

Oh man it has been a while since I updated the site.  I went to the Teva Games and it went pretty well.  But after that it pretty much went downhill.  I had to rage back here after the TT and did not get home until 3:30 in the morning.  This used to be a standard thing when I was in college but it seems a bit harder now.  Anyway I got 4 hours of sleep then worked all day the next day and the day after that and after that, you get the picture.  By the weekend I had finally started to catch up on my sleep and tried to even train on Saturday.  But suffered from that and had issues on Sunday.  Today was pretty chill and I think tomorrow will be good. 

I have high hopes for the short track race this week too.  Last week I suffered greatly through it and just spent the whole time trying to stay away and not just pushing as hard as I could.  This week I hope to feel good enough to just go hard the whole time.

Day camps have been going good.  The sun is out now and I am now trying to remember to keep applying sunscreen instead of putting more layers of clothing on, a huge improvement.  It is sweet watching the kids improve so fast, what is impossible on Monday is scary but doable on Wednesday and by Friday it is easy.  It is great. 

I have been trying to get out an fish for a few minutes couple of days.  But I need to figure out where they are hiding so I do more than just stand there and through some string in the water while my dog looks at me like I am stupid.

I need to update this more often, but this seems to be a slow time in racing.  Starting with Deer Valley life will go back to racing every weekend and getting my travel on, I am so excited for it.

June 21

Long day

Well I guess I didn’t have too long a day but the sun was out for awhile.  I got to take advantage of a weekend day.  I slept in then had a good breakfast.  Went out and let Ben’s interval session work me over.  Then come home for a nap, go to the shop get my bike ready for next weekend.  Shelley got home from seeing Sex and the City, I did not have to go, then we went to the pool for a while.  We had dinner then I got to go fishing. 

Tomorrow is going to be one of my biggest training days on my mountain bike all season.  I hope to make it through.  With some luck I will not have to do near as much hiking as I did last weekend. 

The best news is that the heat has finally come.  It hit 90 here today.  Just 2 weeks ago it was around 40 during the days.  I have a late start to getting my tan on so I had better make the most of my time, just hopefully I will not waste it by burning.

Got the check from the dog insurance from Benny’s last accident.  This looks like it will have been a really good idea.

Deer Valley is next weekend and it starts my big traveling block including, Firecracker 50, Windham, and Mount Snow, and Wilk’s Wedding.  I am looking forward to getting some good rest on the road.

Camps are going well, it is just drop ins now so if you know someone under 15 that wants to come out and do some cool stuff in the bike park in Hailey come on by any day of the week but Tuesday.   Jr Team is also going well.  The guys are doing awesome and we have gotten out and ridden some cool trails already and will get out for some more as the summer keeps going.

June 30

Deer Valley

Race season started back up again for me.  And I am glad to be racing again.  It is not fun trying to be a bike racer with no races going on in the summer.  I think I only raced one xc since Santa Ynez.  One race in like 6 weeks.  I had been training allot and working more, so I was worried about being tired for the race. 

I did laps on my spark and scale to see which bike was going to be my best bet for the xc.  I ended up choosing to race the scale.  There is a bunch of climbing and the downhills are not technical.  I also opted to wear my new white kit that sure attracted a lot of looks and funny comments.

I finally had a good start and held a position inside the top 10 for the first climb, and the first downhill, even after I followed the Turbo guy off course, just long enough for Ross and Andy to slide by.  I kept think that if I could hold a good position for long enough that if I faded I would not fall back too far.  After the 1st lap I was in 9th and by myself and pretty much stayed there just like that for the rest of the race.  The guys in front of me put some time on me and the guys behind me were bringing me in.  But I hung on for a top 10, finally.

The weather was good it was not too hot and the course was not too chewed up.  Everything was perfect conditions in Park City, no wonder I like going there so much.

The Short Track seemed smoother that in years past, but that did not stop me from getting stuffed on the first lap and somehow hanging out around 30th place and the end of the lap.  It took me a couple of laps to get it together, no doubt from being so tired from the day before.  But I finally got going and moved up to 9th in just a couple of laps.  I hung out there alone just like the day before.  But this time I was actually making ground on the couple guys in front of me and not loosing too much to those behind me.

All in all a pretty good weekend, best one so far for the season.  Really happy with it, especially with the work schedule I had going into the race, Shelley was pretty upset that I was working 12 hour days going into what is possibly my best chance for a good result all season.  I am looking forward to going back east to get more time to rest, maybe like it was a vacation too bad I am not going somewhere it isn’t going to be raining.

July 18

East Coast

Looks like my updates are late.  I will make the excuse of not having internet access, or at least not being willing to drive to it. 

The travel out here went good.  Brett and I scored coming out of Boise and we each got our own row on the flight.  Then we met up with Willie in Chicago and made it to Albany on time.  We got a room next to the airport and drove into our sweet set up in Windham.  Momma Sue booked us a bed and breakfast that was pretty sweet.  We ended up with a huge group and pretty much monopolized this place.  We cooked dinners every night in their huge kitchen and used the front of the place for bike storage.  We even got tour coverage.

The XC went really bad.  I had nothing in my legs from the time I rolled out of our place.  I just should have spent the whole day in bed.  I made one about 15 minutes pretty good but by the end of the first lap I was toast and did another one and by the time I got to the end I was so done.  I had to pull the plug early and hope I could get something back before Mount Snow. 

I was on the fence about the short track.  I pretty much was thinking about not even starting because of just feeling worn down.  I rode there from the house and did a couple of easy laps on the course and made the call to race when everyone started lining up.  With no openers in my warm up I somehow came out with a good start.  I was pretty much in the top 10 the whole time.  There was a brief moment like 2 or three laps in when the surge when around me but I got back in.  Basically I was with Jurassic Park and the brothers Schultz and we were racing for 6th and they all worked me over on the last lap but it kind of seemed like a personal victory coming back from the day before and snagging a good start.

We waited until after the tour coverage to roll on over to Mount Snow Monday morning.  The drive went pretty fast as Brett Jurassic Park, and I gave Willie and Lidia grief for much of the drive.  The place in West Dover is pretty sweet, I think Momma Sue should be a travel agent. 

Ben had me resting so I basically spent Monday through Wednesday playing pool and ping pong and taking long naps.  I managed to get in 2 laps on the XC course before the race after being just minutes from it for 5 unbelievably sunny days.

There was super drama in Jurassic Park’s race.  He was on the front doing it all right and not even taking risks and on the first downhill say a dh rider coming at him out of the corner of his vision and then plowed into a water bar without noticing it and that called an early end to his race and he spent much of the rest of the day in the hospital.  It was pretty gruesome.  I was standing next to Dave as it happened and he got some good shots that need to be seen at cyclingnews.com. 

Tomorrow is my race and I am hoping that my legs are back in action and not still lost in transit from the mountains.   Wish me luck

August 5

Back Home

I have not been doing a very good job updating the site.  I didn’t even take my computer on the last trip, and was without internet for the trip before hand.  Oh well. 

Since the last update was Mount Snow.  I did not have a very good time during the race.  I started off slow to help battle the heat but ended up loosing the fight anyway.  I was ok on the first three laps then absolutely shattered on the last.  I ended up waking up on the side of the trail with another racer asking me if I was ok.  I was almost at the top so I got back on my bike and finished, but slowly.  I ended up sitting in the ditch on the ride back to the condo too.  I was with Willie and we were riding back and my head hurt pretty bad.  I guess I just got off and laid down for a while in a ditch, but I don’t remember doing it, just waking up.   The short track was nothing special the next day, I dug really deep but did not have a great performance in my legs.

After flying back to Idaho I went to work for a couple of days.  The bad news was at the jump park Bean broke his collar bone.  It sucked.  I was pretty close when it happened.  He was not doing anything difficult.  Just riding through the rollers and came down with his front wheel off to the side and it took him down.  Defiantly a sad day.

Then I went back to Durango for Pussywillow’s wedding.  It was a long drive.  Good wedding, I am happy for him.  I got to see some old friends.  I had not seen Herting in a long time.  I had a great time and am so glad I went.  We all need to toast another fallen friend.  And Guptil is the only one in my party that has yet to take that big leap so I guess he wins.

Next on the list was Bromont World Cup.  I took a red eye out of Sun Valley and showed up in Canada around noon on Thursday.  I got to ride in my first mud of the year.  It took a couple of days before I remembered how much I hate riding in the mud.  I was all ready for the race but once it got underway it did not go quite as planned.  I had a poor start and had issues moving up on the first lap.  But after that I actually rode pretty well and was doing a good job running, which I did a whole lot of.

Now I am back home and trying to figure out what else is going on.  I have some work to get done the next couple of weeks.  I also hope to get back to training.  I am really looking forward to Brian Head at the end of the month.

 

Codypetersonracing.com

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