Lots of small updates here.

First, I did the driveway crit last Thursday on the new (old) Trek Elance 400. I signed up for the P/1/2/3 race, my first official big time race since upgrading to a Cat 3. It was stupid hot, there  was one bad crash, and the attacks on the short course were relentless. We started with 40 riders, ended with 19. I happened to be #15. So, a good showing that I was very pleased with and only hope to improve upon.

This past Tuesday, I ventured down to South Austin for the bi-weekly Run-Far Time Trials. It’s basically a timed workout over 8 miles of slightly rolling Mopac shoulder. It was almost a bit intimidating showing up and everyone’s got skinsuits, aero helmets, and disc wheels, but I hate using technology as an excuse to not do as well, so I left it all out there on the course. Time of 19:19 (24.9mph) was not quite what I had hoped for, but not too far from what I expected, especially being my first time out there. It had me at 30th overall. Just 30 seconds faster would’ve put me in top 20. 1 min faster in the top 10. So, the bar has been set. Time to raise it (or lower it, depending on how you look at it)

I got an email yesterday confirming that I have qualified for Xterra Nationals in Odgen, Utah September 26. More good news, yes, but I will likely decline as it will be a costly trip and I don’t quite feel like I’ve reached national level caliper after only 1 year of doing triathlons-mainly in the swimming development.

I’d like to thank the Travis County Appraisal District for reaming me on my property value. Despite presenting an official appraisal valuing the house $40k less than what they were proposing, they didn’t back off much and so my taxes will continue to climb out the roof. Travis county has been particularly aggressive about raising propertie values this year. Government overspending? Budget shorfalls? Nah, they couldn’t possibly be related to raising my taxes! Don’t bite the hand that feeds ya, Uncle Sam.

Looking ahead, I’ve got an exciting week coming up. This weekend is the Camp Eagle Xterra, the off road tri that launched my Xterra career one year ago! Then it’s back to town for some recovery in time for the Austin Xterra the following weekend. So, keep an eye out for those race reports, and maybe all the other posts I keep saying I’ll put up!