Puppy update

New Puppy

Pam and I finally got a puppy. We found a great little mini Australian shepherd. She is 11 weeks old. Her dad was a toy Aussie and her mom was a Miniature. She is the best thing.

Broken

Ryan and I both broke our collarbones this weekend at the Harbin Park CX race. Mine was with 3 laps to go and his was in the finish. Can you believe that? Hope we can both get better soon and get back out there. Goal is to be back for Jingle Cross. Sucks because we were both having such good early seasons.

Went fishing.....

Spent yesterday afternoon wading down at Clear Creek. The Creek was just about perfect. Water was a bit higher and slightly stained. After all this rain it will become very stained and much higher. Had ok luck. Pulled down a nice largemouth and a small smallie. Still fun as hell though. The trees are starting to change. It is breath taking down at the creek. Next week I am going to try out some striper.

The Creek

Turtle shell

Smallie with a big appetite

Nice Largemouth. Got him on my second cast.

Chicago Cross Cup #2 Dekalb

Last weekend Pam, Maggie (our dog), and I headed up to Chicago for some cross racing. Friday was dedicated to driving up to chicago and having a relaxing evening at my Dad's condo in Evanston. Saturday Pam and I got up early and took Maggie for a 3mile walk around Northwestern's campus. Starbucks was needed prior to the walk. We then headed out for a nice spin around Evanston and Skokie. Hitting up some sweet skate parks and bike paths.


Sunday was race day. It was a early morning because Dekalb was not as close as we thought it might be. We got there in time to watch the masters race. Great job Pony shop on winning both the 40+ and the 30+. Pam then raced in the 1/2/3 womens race and had a great result of 5th place. It was then time for my race. Was not feeling so good on my warm up laps so I was not sure how the body was going to feel. I took the whole shot and never looked back. The course at dekalb was very demanding on the body. It took a lot of fitness to keep the speeds up. I ended up winning, just ahead of Scott and Popper. Got 3 wins in the books now for 2009. Not bad for only 3 weekends of racing.

Pre Race Park Session

USGP # 1

Last weekend I hit up the USGP up in Madison. What a sweet venue. Saturday went great with a sweet result of 18th. Props to Ryan who killed it for a 12th place. Wish I had a little more in the tank to get up to that group. Sunday sucked. Had a great start but then I blew up. I kept racing and ended up 34th last guy not to not get lapped. Not really sure what happened. There is always the next race. Heading up to Chicago this weekend for the Dekalb race. Should be fun. I have heard good things about the course. Here are some photos that Amy took.

More photos....

Kings CX

Pulled down 2 early season victories for the Pony Shop at Kings of CX. Sweet courses! Dry as hell on Saturday and Muddy as hell on Sunday. Got a little of everything this weekend. Took a early lead both days and held it. Both days had over a min gap over second place. Legs are feeling good these days. Lets see how I do against the big dogs this weekend in Madison. Kinda wish I was racing Vegas tomorrow. There are a more photos but I can not seem to get them off the website. Anyone know how to do that when you try to "save image as" and it just comes up as a blank photo in your documents? Oh well. Here are some.

Big Gap from last weekend...

Kings CX - Wreck-9/20/2009 - CAT 1/2 from Opie Adventures on Vimeo.

Back at it...

So unfortunately I got all my fly gear stolen out of my car. I have replaced most of it and have been back out to Clear Creek. I spent a few hours down at Clear Creek on Wednesday. Did not have great luck but did catch a couple fish. Caught a nice smallmouth, pumpkinseed and a creek chub.

Caught this guy on my last cast of the day.

Nice Pumkinseed

Creek Chub

New Vest

New Rod and Reel.

Picked up some wading boots and waders from JL Waters. They work great. If you ever have any questions about fly fishing head over to JL Waters and ask for Matt. He is full of good advice when it comes to fly fishing.

New Orvis Waders

First Cross race is this weekend. I can't wait! Should be a blast. Heading to Mason OH for the OVCX opening weekend. Race looks really cool. Wish me luck.