The sands in the 2007 cyclocross season's hourglass are rapidly sliding to the bottom chamber. With the USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals Championships in Kansas City on deck there is nothing left to do but wait until start time. All the preparation, training and racing has been completed and there is nothing that can be done over the next few days that will make you any faster.

But there are plenty of things that can be done to make you slower, and with the holiday season upon us, it’s very easy to get sucked into the ever-tempting vortex of sweets, treats and libations. Luckily for me, the Boulder Cycle Sport holiday party is after this weekend’s races!

It was seven years ago when Kansas hosted the big race. And who could forget the cold and miserable weather? The course was on frozen tundra better suited to hosting figure -skating nationals than a bike race. Air temperature hovered around a balmy 7 degrees with a wind chill of 30 below.

The course was so slick my Trek-VW teammate at the time, Frank Mapel, came back from breakfast the morning before the race with a bag of little screws and the lamebrained idea to make his own studded tires. He explained his scheme to fellow teammate Travis Brown and me with wild excitement. Travis explained to Frank he would need many hours to make his own studded tires (Travis would know) and with just a couple hours before the start of the race his efforts would be fruitless. Frank ignored him and went about his work. After about an hour of trying to get these tiny little screws into his tires our team manager called to say it was illegal to used studded tires in ’cross races. Frank was bitterly disappointed. Travis and I laughed.

Even if Frank had gotten all the screws into his tires I don’t know if it would have helped because, to this day, the course was one of the iciest I have ever competed on. There was carnage everywhere. The question wasn’t if you were going to crash, but rather how many times. And, I went down many times.

Immediately following the race, Travis, Frank and I rushed into the Trek-VW Vanagon, which our team manager had wisely kept running with the heat cranking. We were all so cold, we just sat shivering for 20 minutes without saying a word to each other. As our core temperatures slowly rose back to normalcy silence turned into moans and groans as the burning and tingling phase of the warm-up process continued. Once completely thawed out, everything was fine and we turned our thoughts to the post-race party. Now, I could tell you all about it, but that information is now classified and I don’t want to get anyone, including myself, in trouble.

At the state championships this past Sunday, Colorado racers got a little taste of what Kansas offered back in 2000, and it wasn’t home-cooked barbecue. A strong winter storm blanketed most of the state on Saturday and sub-freezing temperatures kept it downright cold. The race was held at a new Front Range venue in little town called Lyons, just 15 miles north of Boulder. With all the snow, slick corners and freezing temps it brought pack some not-so-fond memories of Kansas.

Luckily, an epic battle including me, Clif Bar’s Danny Summerhill, VeloNews tech editor Matt Pacocha, Gary Fisher/Subaru’s Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski brought back some great memories, too. When you’re racing in temperatures that a penguin would appreciate, all it takes is a great course, good competition and screaming fans to make you forget the cold and focus on having fun. I sure nationals in Kansas City will offer all that and more.

Thanks for reading.