I forgot.

Hey everyone. Sorry, I kinda forgot I had this website for a while there. I took a week off after Gila, went to nationals with the DU team, came home, trained hard for a week and did a pair of crits last weekend.

North Boulder Park Crit was an excellent crit course with 6 90 degree corners stuffed into a .7 mile lap with narrow roads and tight technical sections. I made the front group and finished 19th out of 21 finishers. Not so hot, but considering there were over 80 starters, I was please with myself. I did manage to crash myself, but luckily didn't take anyone else with me. I took a little flyer with a lap and a half to go, thinking they might let a nobody dangle for just long enough to sneak away since the race winning break of 2 was already gone, but no dice. The pack rolled right on by and I had nothing in the sprint.

Here I am picking my bike up off the pavement after my little mishap.



Saturday night was a ton of fun celebrating a successful season with the DU team, although it put a kink in my plans for a strong finish at the Coal Miners Classic Crit in Louisville. 50 minutes into the race I decided I was done. I never like DNF's but they happen sometimes I guess.

This coming weekend is Iron Horse in Durango. My parents are coming out to watch and hang out which will be awesome. I love the courses down there so it should be a fun weekend. I'm afraid there are going to be like 10 guys in the Pro 1,2 road race since pre-registration sold out. We'll see when we get there I guess. I luckily landed a spot through a guy that I coach, otherwise it would have been a long trip for a crit. It's time to start getting ready for work this afternoon. Thanks for checking in.

Home finally.

I made it home last night, just after 8:00. I'm only home until Thursday morning, but my own shower and bed felt amazing last night.

The Gila was a success I suppose. I was struggling a little with confidence going into it, but it's nice to find out that I'm ahead of where I was last year, and that I can at least hang with the folks in my category. I found one picture from the week, hopefully more will come through with time.



This is of Stage 4, the crit in downtown Silver City. In the front is Allen Krughoff from Rio Grande, next is Brad White (Einstein's) who went on to have an absolutely amazing ride on Sunday, taking close to four minutes out of the field, and finishing the tour same time on G.C. as Taylor Phinney. After 5 hard days of racing, it didn't even come down to seconds, they had to resort to stage placings and Brad's winning the crit and final stage put him in pink. He looked pretty happy riding back to Silver City with a new pink jersey on.

I'm off the bike this week, which I think will be good. I went for a run this morning, but somehow forgot that unlike riding, you can't slam a cup of espresso, and eat a breakfast right before you head out the door to run. I almost made a mess of myself, but made it home just in time.

Thursday morning I head out to go to Collegiate Nationals in Lawrence, Kansas. I think it'll be a fun trip, and the way some of the guys rode this weekend, I think we have a good chance of some good rides there. That's all for now, thanks for checking in, and I'll post more pictures as I find them. If you know where any are, please let me know as I'm quite vain.

Gila wrap up.

13th in the final stage. 8th overall in GC.
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Gila is done.

I survived, quite well actually. Top 15 maybe on the day, should have held on or moved up in GC. More updates later.
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Silver City Weather.

Currently 44 degrees, feels like 31. Chances of rain all morning, with chances of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon.

Yeah, that is rain I can hear on my tent right now. This could be a long 102 miles.

Big news in the Dakotas.

Tornadoes in Yankton, 1/2 mile from our house.


Looks like the news was even there.



Sounds like our house is fine, but some of the neighbors lost roofs, sheds, and trees.

All that work for 31 seconds.

I must have spent like 10 minutes pinning numbers on this morning, and I only ended up gaining 31 seconds over the group. The worst part about it, is that I didn't realize TWO of the guys in the break were actually ahead of me in GC, so I gained 31 seconds on the guys farther up, but not the ones I really have a chance of beating. Oh well, 6 seconds off of 9th place now, and it all really means nothing going into tomorrows road race. I love the crit course here, and the wind today made it spectacularly hard. 4th is actually the worst finish I've had here, after taking 2nd in the Cat 4 race in 2004, and 2nd in the Cat 3 race in 2006. The climbs are steep and punchy, just how I like, and the descent is fast, with a super fast, but wide 90 degree corner at the bottom, so you can really lay into it.



Tomorrow's road race won't be so fun for me. LOTS of up and down on the profile, and the thought of 102 miles gets my anxiety flowing. Should be a fun stage though, it'll be interesting to see how the legs hold up after 4 hard days. Hopefully mine will be better than everyone else's.



It looks like I'll be hanging around Silver City for another night after the race tomorrow. I guess it makes more sense than packing up, driving somewhere and setting up camp all over again, and there is no way I'm driving home in one shot. It was fun last year, (McSurf and Turf Deluxes) but I don't think I'd enjoy it as much alone, and with a much later departure time. Thanks for checking in, I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.

Crit

No rest in the crit. Turned my brain off with 19 laps to go and jumped across to a 4 man break. One guy got dropped out of the break, and I took 4th in the finish. Put some good time into some gc guys though, probaby close to a minute. Taylor Phinney almost bridged alone in the last 4 laps, but ended 20 or 30 seconds behind me/us. Check back later for results.
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Inner Loop Road Race update #2

3 posts, 1 stage. Beat that Brian.

Results are up, I was 6th, which I knew, lost a minute some to the guys who won today, but still managed to catapult myself up the GC to 10th overall. I think I'm 5:31 back on the lead. I know I won't win this race, but I'd love to hang onto top ten, or better that. We'll see how it plays out. If you're in Silver City tomorrow, look for me at the back of the crit trying to rest.

Inner Loop Road Race update

Race went well today. I saw two Rio Grande guys attack at the first sprint, and decided it was the move to go with. I jumped across, as well as a few other people, and we rolled together from there. I felt like crap all day, my legs were just tired, but I tried to help as much as I could, and only skipped a few pulls all day. I got popped out of the group around Hanover on the profile, about 5 miles from the finish. I should have shot way up in the GC, I'll update as soon as I see results.

Inner Loop Road Race

Here we go, wish me luck. I forgot to mention yesterday that I finished 9 minutes off the lead, so now it's time to focus on stage wins, and possibly moving up a little in G.C. Today will either be really good or really bad. Thanks for checking in.

Mogollon Road Race.

Today's stage was tough on me. The break rolled away really early, and the group just decided to let it roll. They gained time on us quick, a minute every five miles, then all of the sudden it jumped to 6 minutes, then I even heard 11:30 at the last feed zone. I hear it came down to around 7 minute at the base of the climb but still, race is over. Especially since Taylor Phinney was in the break, and he had an amazing TT yesterday.

I rode the final climb a lot smarter than last year, still lost a few minutes to the guys I went into it with. I stuck to my plan though, stayed with the group over the first pitch, doing anything I had to to stay with, spun across the flats before the final ascent, and once we hit that grade, I just put my head down, and focused on riding my own tempo. I finished the climb a spot or two ahead of where I went into it, so I guess my plan worked, just wish I was 10 pounds lighter when the pitch hits 19%.

On a sad note, I went to Subway the first day I was in town and must say, that place has gone way downhill since we were here last year. I stood in line for a good 15-20 minutes, only to find out they were out of EVERYTHING. No honey oat bread, no lettuce, no spinach, no cucumbers, no onions, no banana peppers, and the dude making my sandwich gave me like 2 slices of tomato on a foot long. Seriously, if I can't get anything but tomato and green peppers, you'd think he would at least load it up. Moral of the story, I haven't been back. I've actually been cooking all my own food here at camp. It's a lot easier than loading up and going somewhere, although it makes for less fun stories of Silver City.

Man, I just read through my archives from when I was here last year, and I think I had a lot more to say then. Oh well, I'm alright with being boring. I'm just hoping for good legs and then maybe I'll have some stories to tell after the race.

Maybe I'll get a picture of the tourists from the Netherlands that are camped in our area. The dude always wears short shorts, and a spandex shirt. I guess my description is horrible, but it makes me laugh to look at him. Ha ha. Thanks for checking in, sorry if you read all this... It sucked.

Time Trial

The weather cleared up, although I believe it was a little windier than last year. My start wasn't until 2:35.30, so I got to kick it around the camp site all morning, drink a full french press, and relax. It started raining again just as I showed up at the TT course, but blew over before I started. Ian Burnett was my 30 second man, just as last year, and since he won it last year, I figured he would be a good rabbit to chase. I held his pace about halfway up the first climb and he then started to creep away. I kept him in my sights, but just focused on getting into my own groove and riding my own race. I felt pretty good I guess, it's a TT so I always feel like I'm about to die. I felt solid the whole way out, although struggled through the roller section by the turn around, but was able to set a nice tempo on the steep climb on the way back, and gave everything I had left on the four mile descent to the finish.

39.25, good enough for 18th place, but 2.56 down on the leader. He won by over a minute, and Taylor Phinney got second even running Junior gears I heard. I didn't know they made them do that even in TT's. Lame. I spun my 55x11 on the way back, I couldn't imagine what would happen with a 52x13 or whatever those kids have to ride. That's all for now, I'm gonna pin my numbers on and hit the sack. Thanks for checking in.

Rain rain, go away.

There is an awful picture for you. I woke up to rain this morning, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I love riding in the rain, TT's are even more fun when the weather is miserable. On the other hand, I'm living in a tent right now and I'm totally relying on nature to dry things out for me, as well as give me a place to eat and hang out all day. This tent could get pretty small by 1:00pm when I have to leave for me TT. So far it's pretty off and on, so I'm hoping whatever it is, it'll just blow over.

Curb Appeal.

So, for those of you who don't know, I'm living in a tent at the Silver City RV Park this week. I know I could have gotten host housing if I'd gotten on it early enough, and I also know that there are hotels in town, but I kind of like my set up here. As long as the weather is alright it's perfect. Today we even had a little rain blow through and it was still a great place to be. To start off, here is my little corner of the yard.



This here is my kitchen, it's where I eat, hang out, read, "surf the net" that's right, wireless internet here at my RV park.



This is the front door of my tent. It is where I enter and exit. It also works as a mudroom. I keep my shoes out here.



The backdoor is a messy area, although it works out well. I use this area as a clothes closet as well as a pantry. This way I can access all my clothes, and food, from both inside or outside the tent and it's all out of the rain.



All in all, it's a pretty nice set-up.

I got in another lap of the TT course this afternoon. I ran into the Einstein's Bagels team out on course and it sounds like they're staying in a repo'd meth house or something that smells like cat urine. I think I'll take my RV park.

Good News.

I found my camera cord, so if you check back this afternoon, I should have some pictures up. So far I've found that I've forgotten: an extension cord, can opener, rags, sharp knife, cutting board or plate, and most importantly, my headlamp. Oh well, I've made it a day, I'm sure I'll make it a few more.

Yesterday I rode the TT course, it's the same as last year. My legs were definitely feeling the long drive, but I'm hoping they'll feel better today. Today I'm going to pick up my race stuff around noon, then ride the TT course again around the same time as my start for tomorrow. I'm hoping that'll give me some sort of indicator as to what the wind will be doing for the race.

Other people are getting here now too. Ethan and Dawn from Crested Butte are here again, so it's nice to see them. There is another guy with them this year, his name is R.B., and once again we're blessed with a race volunteer. Last year there was a kid that rode on the back of the support moto, this year the new guy will be driving the Cat. 4,5 follow car. Why is it that people who drive across the country to volunteer at a race always seem to be strange?

That's all for now, thanks for checking in. Pictures coming soon.