Greetings from Seattle!

I have had all these plans for great blog posts with cool 'cross photos the last few weeks (well, honestly, all summer, too!! I have lots of ideas but not the time/energy to execute them) but there just hasn't been time. Getting the photos up on Flickr takes up most of the time I would have spent on blog posts. I am a slooooow post writer and editor...not just a slow singletracker! (the flickr link is at the end of the post)

This week I am away from home on someone's elses computer without quick and easy access to my photos - so I have a free day but I am not in the right place!

And, I am struggling with how to write a race blog when I have been sitting out the races! It's been really hard to not be racing 'cross and to not be a part of it. I am usually one to do every single race in a series. So this is really difficult for me, although it would have also been very hard extending my season this long after all the traveling and racing I did pretty much every weekend all spring/summer/early fall. I miss being IN the races, though I also really enjoy being there.

I had a camera problem on Sunday at the Woodstock race, so it pains me to say that alot of the pics did not come out well. When I got home, saw them on the monitor and realized how much the problem had affected them, I was crushed. I know alot of people really look forward to seeing their race pics, plus I had promised to take some for the race story. I was also frustrated at my lack of experience and knowledge in this situation.

During the first race I realized that a setting had been changed, probably accidentally by someone playing with the camera last week, or maybe inadvertently by me, who knows? Once I noticed it, I tried to change it back using the way it would have been done on my old camera but that didn't work. I asked several other people with dSLR's and they all would have done it the same way, or else they didn't know. I couldn't tell at the race how much of an effect the problem was having. It turns out that many of the pics came out too dark. I tried different modes during the day so some came out fine and some did not! I was able to figure it out at home later with the manual. I don't have the software, the experience, or the time to try to fix each pic, unfortunately.

Not only do I have a lot to learn, but I don't know the extent of what there is to learn!!

That being said, if you haven't already found your way to my Flickr and thought "what happened?", here is a link to the "sets" page and you can see the Woodstock sets at the top. I find that on this laptop I am using, the brightness is turned way up so most of the pics look much better than they did at home. I got the 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 and some of the 2:15 and just a couple of the 3:00 races.

Woodstock Cross #9 sets

Also, congrats on some great results! I didn't see the Masters race but I heard Tim Boundy won the 40+, congrats Tim! And congrats to Lou on his 30+ win!!(originally I had a typo that said Tim won the 30+, I meant the 40+) Congrats to June and Holly K. on 1st and 2nd, and congrats to Mike Sherer and Scott on 1st and 2nd in the Men's 1/2/3 race. Mike was just flying out there! Kevin K. went out strong but got a flat early in the race, which dropped him into last place. After getting a wheel that didn't have enough pressure to really push it, he battled back to regain many places. Congrats on making the best of a tough situation. So many others were riding well that I haven't mentioned - you guys made the race fun to watch. Not to mention the beer and hot dog handups, and later on the dollar handups -those add such a festive air to the race, what would we do without them? It's like two races in one, running simultaneously yet entertwined, the "real" race, and the "fun" race!!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Julie P.'s second appearance in a local cross race. Usually Julie is busy being support crew for Ben on the national race circuit, but she made a rare appearance at the ChiCrossCup on Sunday. And she came up with a funny but apt name for what happens when one wears too-small leg warmers - "thigh boobs" - new word for the cycling lexicon!

I'm hoping to head out to Jingle Cross Saturday if I have energy left when I get back from my Thanksgiving trip. I'm visiting my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in Seattle. It's a very gray, chilly day - I want to get outside but it's not too tempting at the moment! There is a lake just a couple of blocks away which would make a great hour walk - going around the lake.