Barry Wicks on cyclocross- true, true.

I totally identify with Barry Wicks' description of his early season prep:

...I will open my cellar door, look at my ’cross bikes, contemplate their functionality, decide that too much work will be involved to get one up and running, and grab my road or mountain bike.

Exactly two days before the first ’cross race of the year I will panic and realize that I am about to leave town to do a ’cross race and should probably think about trying to clean the nine-month old muck from the previous winter off my bikes and try and make the brakes work properly again.

My prep this year was similar. I used the first couple of races -- Pain on the Peak and Battle at Barlow -- to sort of "ease into" this cyclocross thing. you have to understand that procrastination -- along with beer and waffles -- is just part of the whole thing. So my bike still isn't 100% ready. I've got my A and B wheels all discombobulated. I'm trying to decide which wheels go with which tires. I don't know why I'm even making a deal out of it. I'm also wondering if I should rotate the cassettes since the B wheels got a new one and saw very little use in the past 9 months. Alpenrose is just two days away.

Anyway-- Barry's article is a hoot to read.
www.velonews.com/article/83924/a-new-column-by-cyclocross-star-barry-wicks