Last night didn't go so hot.

I felt flat from the gun.

I started toward the back and had trouble moving up. It took at least a few laps to get the the front, and once there I had trouble holding position. I went with a couple moves and then tried to initiate something, but my legs said no. Soon I was back to the rear of the race, and spent quite a while there. Stupid. I managed to move back up a little in the final laps and snuck inside the top 15, but all around it was a less than sub-par performance all around.

I did get to test drive the pool at my new apartment. It's going to be really nice. It was a little chilly last night, which felt great, but I have a feeling that on a hot afternoon it'll be perfect. I need to be careful or I might lose these tan lines.

Thanks for checking in. Here is a picture from City Park a few weeks ago.

ACA rocks.

It's done, I'm a cat 1 with the ACA as well.

I'm just getting to Denver and it's 101 degrees. This could be a hot race, even at 5:30.

Just passed a sign for KS107.5. It said, "Beyonce lives here... So does Snoop Dogg.". I wonder how Jay Z feels about that?
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Curtis Park Crit.

I'm off to Denver to do the Curtis Park Crit, the last stage of the Rocky Mountain Omnium. I didn't do the TT or the Road Race because I went to Steve and Emily Forbes' wedding yesterday afternoon at DU. Steve is one of our fast guys on the DU team. They had a very nice wedding outside on the DU campus and then a reception in some banquet hall afterward. It was fun and a few kids from the team were back in town, so it was good to see them and Jami got to meet a couple of the team members so it was a good day all around.

I haven't done this race before, but it looks to be fast and aggressive, 50 minutes on a 1k lap with 6 corners I think. I'm going to try and hit up the pool at my new apartment in Denver afterwards so that should be fun. It's been HOT lately, so the pool could be just the ticket.

I need to start moving soon, but I'm dreading it more and more with every passing day. I'm super excited to get to Denver, but moving is going to be miserable. I have a lot of junk, and worst of all, I think I'm going to have to throw away most of the stuff from my "fun drawer." If anyone wants two years worth of glasses lenses, old keys, happy meal toys, string, wrestling headgear, darts, and other cool stuff, let me know. It'll be free to a good home.

Alright, I'm gonna get. Thanks for checking in.

P.S. USA Cycling approved my Cat. 1 upgrade this week. I just sent off an email to the ACA, so I'll hopefully have that soon too.

5th at Fort Collins Crit.

Yesterday went pretty well. I was active in the early breaks, winning two primes, one for a case of beer, and one for a dvd player. After a while it became apparent that the break wasn't going early, and I was feeling less than olympic, so I sat back and tried to get my legs back under me. With 15 minutes to go or so, I made the split, which turned into the winning break. With two corners to go I was in perfect position, but got too hesitant when Alan McCormack (Vitamin Cottage) and Allen Krughoff (Rio Grande) both dove hard into the corner, one on the inside and one on the outside. I touched my brakes, just for a split second, but it was all over. I held onto 5th, so I at least made my entry back. Overall it was a great race and a great course. Maybe I'll start putting pictures on here again soon. Thanks for checking in.

I suck.

Apparently at updating this as well as racing my bike. Last weekend went alright, I rode alone on Saturday, one final Estes loop from Greeley before I move. I felt good, and worked hard, and cranked it out a half hour faster than I ever have.

Sunday was the City Park Crit. I decided that since I would try to be aggressive early rather than waiting for the race to happen around me. That planned turned into a few laps alone off the front, then when some people finally joined me, they started attacking each other and I was too gassed to go with. The race winning move of Dirk Friel and Colby Pierce went then, and I went back to the group. The two of them ended up lapping the field, and I ended up 15th in the sprint with a little group of 4 or 5 up up the road, but behind the break, that was leading out the main group. It always gets confusing when you get lapped. Hopefully it doesn't happen again too soon.

I did the Tuesday night training races in Golden, which turned out to be a blast. I went out to get a hard effort in, and I think I got one. I once again tried to be as aggressive as I could, joining a little break after the first of many primes, and then sprinting for a few primes as well as attacking through the prime sprints. In the end it came down to a bunch kick, so I went for it. I felt much better in the sprint than I ever have, and managed to pull of a second place after Jonathon Garcia just rode away from me.

Today was the Rist Canyon Road Race in Ft. Collins. It sucked, I sucked, it's over, I don't really want to talk about it.

What I do want to talk about however is drafting behind a wheel car in an ACA race. To my knowledge it's not allowed, so I stayed off the bumper. A couple guys I was dropped with apparently didn't agree, so they took the ride, trying to pace back onto the field. WE WERE GOING UP RIST CANYON, are you guys idiots? Really, is it worth cheating to get a draft when you're grinding your way up a 12 mile climb almost grannied out? I rode with them for a minute, but once I realized they were blatantly sitting on this bumper I just dropped off and rode alone. I ended up beating at least one of the guys, who apparently never did get back on. Anyway, I suppose it's not a big deal, but it doesn't take much to irritate me on a climb like that. Dang, they hit that climb soooo hard. I heard the lead group crested it in under 40 minutes. That's fast.

On to shorter and better things. New Belgium Crit is tomorrow. I like this course, but had bad luck there with a flat and no wheels last year. I won't make the same mistake again. Wish me luck, it should be a fun race. One more thing, I put a new chain and cassette on my bike last night! Holy crap, it feels like a brand new bike. It's funny how you forget how nice it is to have a bike that shifts when you want it to. Alright, that's all, thanks for checking in.

Oh Yeah.

Iron Horse was good and bad.

I picked my parents up at DIA Friday morning, and we had a very nice drive down to Durango. My dad had the flu, so I suppose the drive wasn't super nice for him, but we made it by late afternoon.

I had time for a little ride, and then headed to registration. Now I hadn't gotten preregistered in time, but I was hoping I could transfer this guy's registration who couldn't make it, but the promoter said absolutely not. I was pretty pissed, but tried everything I could think of, but no one would budge. I was still registered for the crit on Sunday though, just not the actual "Iron Horse Road Race."

Instead of racing Saturday, we drove up to Silverton and hung out for a while. My dad got to meet the one and only Dave Towle, as well as watch Phil Zajicek win the race in a dominating fashion, as well as watch Ned finish his 100th Iron Horse, still a solid 3rd place. I sure hope I'm doing that when I'm 52.

Sunday morning we went out to eat with some of the DU kids, watched some kids races, cruiser races, and the earlier categories before my 5:15 start. It feels weird starting that late, I never know what to do with myself all day.

The race went alright, I felt like I could do some real work the first half, covering a couple moves and trying to initiate some stuff, but NOTHING was getting away from this field. with 20 minutes to go Chris Wherry launched a real attack. Not that I could have covered it if I was completely fresh and rested, but I had just helped pull back a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory rider and had nothing when Wherry hit out. He opened it up to about 20 seconds and we managed to keep it right there the rest of the race.

I tried to help pull him back, but there comes a point when you're riding alone in a race and a USPRO champ is off the front, and you just have to realize it's not coming back, and I'm not trying to get it back for anyone else, so setting tempo is basically pointless. I wish at times like those that I had the option of trying to go across to him, but that form isn't here yet.

I pulled an idiot move and on the last lap I didn't jump on the back stretch when Anthony Colby attacked and I let a little gap open up. With two fast corners and a downhill finish, there was no closing the gap once it opened, but I managed to hold on to 5th ahead of the rest of the field.

I'll get some pictures up soon, that's the best part about having parents at the race. Right now I need to get to work. Thanks for checking in.

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.