JP Weekend

This weekend was the Jonathan Page Cyclocross Clinic here in Madison. Other than being too hot for cyclocross it was great. It was fun getting to know Jonathan a bit better . . . especially with our race using his name and all. Up until now I had only met him briefly at the Planet Bike party although people seemed to think I knew him. He is super nice just like everyone always says and it was great having a chance to chat with him throughout the day. It was also fun playing "foot down" with everyone at the clinic and also just getting to hang out and talk cross and see lots of people I hadn't seen for awhile.

The funniest part of the clinic was when Josh asked what happened with Ben and I that I wasn't doing a Cycle-Smart clinic (and Chicago was). I could have made a ton of pretty fun comments to that one . . . Ben prescribed one too many hard intervals last year and I yelled at him and we haven't spoken since . . . or maybe Ben caught me throwing recyclables into the garbage and he hasn't spoken to me since . . . or something more outrageous maybe. Instead I just told Josh the truth which was that I really wasn't planning to put on a clinic this year but Jonathan was in Wisconsin and was interested in doing one so we ended up having a Wisco clinic after all. I did tell Josh to ask Ben the same question just to see what he says. Ben's nice though so he wouldn't say something outrageous and sassy like I might.

I also had some lovely chats this weekend with Scott Mares who is publishing a new cyclocross book. He contacted me about getting some photos for his book. Who knew that my "fame" as a photographer reached all the way to Colorado. It's good to have some use for the zillions of photos taking up an extensive amount of hard drive space. Once the book is for sale I'll post on MadCross.

Other than that I did get in one ride this weekend . . . I tried not to whine too much about the heat but it was hard after spending 6 days in the Keweenaw with high temps of 75 everyday. I also got lots of work done on race stuff. I sent off another draft of our race's Technical Guide for approval with all the changes requested. I also heard back from the young Swiss guys who are coming to the race. I got them registered and now I just find them housing for 2 weeks. Anyone out there want to host 2 young Swiss guys who don't speak much English? My last resort is the couch and futon in my living room. At least they can spend their time playing foosball at my house so they would have some entertainment.

I also spent an inordinate amount of time talking to my mother on the phone this weekend. She's bored as my sister is working in Kansas City right now so my mom doesn't have her around to harass. Today she called and left a message for me while I was out riding, then called again a little bit after I got home. We chatted briefly but then I told her I need to stop talking so I could eat lunch. Then just as I was finishing eating she called again . . . to see if I had survived lunch as she thought maybe I had choked. My mom has taken to calling everyday and I have a similar insane conversation with her everyday. She is driving me mad! Parents, what can you do?!?!

I can't believe how fast the 3 day weekend flew by . . . next week I have tons to do at work plus I have a meeting in Wausau. I need to go to some other exotic locales as well but not sure how that's going to work or when I'll go. . . Ashland, Hayward, Hurley, Wisconsin Rapids, Appleton, Antigo, Platteville, Darlington, etc.