Deep Thoughts with Jason Karew

Go Here

2011-01-02T17:44:00.004-05:00

http://jasonkarew.wordpress.com/

Adios.

Wacky, Wild, Weekend Round-up

2010-06-28T22:15:00.005-04:00

A brutally difficult weekend of racing finished up on Sunday at the Tour of Grandview Criterium. To give a clue as to the difficulty of the races, Grandview started with 85 riders and finished with 21, while the Hyde Park Blast on Saturday featured about a sixty percent attrition rate. Let's just say I didn't make the cut.

Start of the Hyde Park Blast

Gotta give props to all the guys that came and made the Cincinnati triple of Madeira, Hyde Park Blast, and Grandview memorable. Painful too! It's a great test for us locals (yeah, I'm finally starting to think of myself as a Cinci guy) to see what we can do when the big show rolls into town. Big props to Eric Knight and Ryan Good for being the only local guys to make it to the end of the Blast Saturday night.

As for me, I suffered like a dog all weekend long. 40 minutes at Madeira on Friday, 30 minutes at the Blast, and about 8 laps at Grandview, which I only went to after a serious pep talk from a friend on Sunday morning. Did get some face time on Sunday, spending about two laps off the front in a solo attempt to bridge to the early break, but luck (and my legs) wasn't with me this weekend.

Following Eric Knight at the Blast

I'm planning on taking this week and the Fourth of July weekend pretty easy in the hopes of recharging my batteries to gear up for the rest of the season and cyclocross. Already looking forward to the fall. Adios.

Hot Ault Park Finale and the Weekend of the Pain Train

2010-06-26T09:32:00.006-04:00

Big week of racing in the Cincinnati area this week. Wednsday night was the finale of the Ault Park Series, and this weekend is the Ohio Triple of the Madeira Centennial Crit, Hyde Park Blast, and the Tour of Grandview.

It is always amazing (read, Painful!) to feel the difference in the speed and ferocity of national level events compared with the local and regional races that I've been doing all spring.

Ault Park

I went into the race sitting solidly in 5th place overall, 7 points ahead of 6th, and 19 points out of 4th. The temperature had soared into the mid-nineties during the day, and was still hovering around 85 degrees at the start of race. My plan was simply to ride with the group and maybe try to pick up a couple points along the way, but mostly try to rest as much as possible in order to be fresh for the weekend.

The race had an unusual start, beginning with a lap one prime, and a three man break went up the road immediately. I happened to be in a good position and bridged to the break on the second lap. We stayed out for the first ten laps, and I picked up six points along the way. I was glad to be back in the pack afterwords, and went straight to tailgunning and trying to recover.

Nothing really happened until the 20th lap sprint, where a break of three went during the post-sprint chaos. The pack was content to let them ride, and I didn't care much at all, continuing to tailgun it at the back. Opportunity arose again a couple laps later and I once again found myself off the front in a group of four. We were getting splits of 30-40 seconds and I thought we were the lead group. Turns out those splits were to the three guys still ahead of us...Doh!!!

Unbenowst to me, Jeff McClain of Team Huntinton, was racking up points five at a time from the break. Our group was reeled in with six to go, and the gap was almost a minute to the break. I went to the front and pulled the last four laps just so we wouldn't get lapped, then rolled in behind the group for the finish.

When the final points were tallied, I had slipped to 6th overall, as Jeff picked up 27 points on the night to pip me for 5th by two points. Not much to say about that, other then a big congrats to Jeff for pulling off the comeback. It was a fun series, and I'm already looking forward to competing next year.

Final Podium: Jeff Mclain, Eric Knight, O'Brien Forbes, Ryan Good (not pictured, John Gatch)

Madeira Centenial Criterium

Big shift of gears to last nights criterium. Where I'm a contender at races like Ault Park and the Spring Series, at these events I simply hope to survive. I started the night with three goals: 1)Survive the first 20 minutes, 2)Finish the race, 3)Top 15. It would require the success of the first to to achieve the ultimate goal of number three.

The race started fast and stayed that way. I never moved up from my mid-pack start position. Survival mode kicked in early. The pack was making huge accelerations out of every corner, particularly the two 180's at either side of the home straight. Gaps were forming early and often. Guys were getting shelled two laps in. I don't think we ever were not strung out single file. Somewhere around the tenth lap, a gap opened in front of me that I couldn't close. The Pain Train came, looking for its ticket. I didn't have the right one. Seat revoked, you're outta here, son! Rode for about ten more laps with a chase group of six, then got pulled by the ref after 40 minutes of racing. Better luck next time, i.e. tonight at The Blast. Thanks for everyone along the course cheering me on, I really appreciated it. Adios.

Ohio State Road Race

2010-06-14T22:21:00.003-04:00

A steamy day greeted the Pro 1,2 peloton at the State Road Race yesterday in Williamsville, OH. The forecast called for highs in the mid-eighties with a 50% chance of rain, promising to make the 90 mile race one of attrition. Staying hydrated and properly fueled were going to be critical, as well as being diligent about maintaining proper position in the pack and conserving energy at all times.

The course was about a 13 mile loop of mostly flat roads, a short, twisty, technical downhill, and one short, steep hill that came about two miles from the finish line. We were scheduled to complete seven laps of this circuit. Early morning rain promised to make the downhill a little treacherous during the opening laps, and the ever-present crosswind promised to make life miserable for those caught at the back of the nearly 50 rider field.

The race started promptly at 11:00, and Dan Campbell of Team Panther wasted no time at all, attacking literally from the word go. Chris Durand of Huntington and one other guy that I didn't know took off in pursuit, completing the bridge within the first mile. And that was that, we never saw them again. Amazing. Dan took it to the line, eventually dropping Chris and being joined by his teammate, Paul Martin for a 1, 2 finish for the Panther team. I think the third guy from the original move also held on for third place.

Back in the pack, Panther and Huntington did a good job neutralizing every attempt to bridge across. The race was super fast at times, with lots of surges coming out of the frequent corners. It actually felt like a crit at times because we were coming out of the corners so hot. The pace would slow to about 20mph for a couple minutes throughout the race, but then the attacks would start back up again in earnest. There must have been close to 100 big surges during the race that had us hammering in the drops in the 53x13. That'll take a toll on the legs for sure!

My day was going great, as I was sticking to my plan and sitting in, waiting for the last lap to make a move. Unfortunately for me, I had a front flat during lap four, and had to ride it all the way to the start/finish line before I could change it out, which forced me to have to chase for about four miles into a headwind to catch back on. I paid the price coming up the hill during lap six, as cramps prevented me from going with the surges that split the rest of the bunch into three groups.

In the end, I knew I was done for, but soloed the last lap to avoid a DNF, coming in one spot out of the money in 26th place. Who knows what would have happened had I not flatted, but that's racing. Adios.

Rainy Days Lead to Relaxing Mornings

2010-06-12T09:04:00.004-04:00

Linnea and I woke up today to the sound of thunder and pouring rain. Since moving to Ohio last July, one thing I've learned in the past year is that adaptability is the name of the game. Those perfect mornings that I enjoyed nearly every day in Tucson are a little more sporadic in Cincinnati; however, it just leaves extra time to enjoy a French Press of Java while relaxing on the couch and enjoying the first round of the World Cup.

Linnea has been doing well with the adjustment to the rain also, she just wishes that her gym was closer than 30 minutes away.

The Ohio State Road Race Championships are tomorrow morning. It's going to be another long one, 90 miles, and the forecast is calling for a humid 85 degrees with a 50% chance of rain. Panther is one of the sponsoring teams, which should make it a pretty difficult day in the saddle. They are easily the strongest team in Ohio (probably one of the stronger elite amateur teams in the country) and I'm sure that they are going to be highly motivated to win. At last count there were 37 heavy hitters registered for the Pro 1,2 race. I'm expecting a tough day in the saddle, and hope that my legs are recovered from the efforts earlier in the week.

Also wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been reading this blog recently. I set the high mark for myself with 23 visitors a couple days back...not quite Facebook status yet, but at least the numbers are up! Adios.

Ault Park #3

2010-06-10T11:50:00.006-04:00

Last nights race was way more aggressive then the series opener, with lots of attacks starting from the first lap. I was suffering pretty bad throughout...don't think I was recovered properly from the race in KY on Sunday. Legs were burning and I was having a hard time getting my head into the game.

Huntington split the field on the mid-race (lap 20) double points sprint. I was tailgating at the back of the group and was caught in the back half of the split. Things stayed this way for the next couple laps. There were some pretty strong guys (John Gatch, the Spaniard, and a Kenda Pro) who also missed the split, so I wasn't too worried.

Around lap 22 the front group was getting a little closer and I saw The Spaniard moving up the right side. I followed him and we rode straight across the gap and through the front group, taking about six guys with us. We kept it rolling because we had established a gap pretty quickly. Coming in for the sprint on lap 25, I went for it and took John Gatch and Ryan Good with me.

We opened up a huge gap to the rest of the break during the sprint, and decided to keep things rolling with just the three of us. A lap later we had 30 seconds and that was that.

The Kenda guy (Ryan Gaam) bridged solo with about 7 laps remaining, making it a break of four. We were all working well and suffering together and made it to the line about 30 seconds in front of the main group. Ryan Good took 1st, John was 2nd, and I took 3rd.

How's this for a tight finish?

Ready for some recovery and the State Championship Road Race on Sunday at Caeser's Creek. Adios.

KY State Champs: Tour of Red River Gorge

2010-06-06T21:11:00.003-04:00

Brutal day today at the Tour of Red River Gorge: Battle on the Bayou road race. This race was part of a three day omnium, and also served as the Kentucky State Championships.

I was a little nervous going in, as the profile looked pretty nasty, five big climbs and a ton of little rollers adding up to 91 miles and 9000+ feet of climbing. I was pretty sure that my climbing legs didn't have 9000 feet in them, but I was still up for the challenge.

Linnea went to the race with me to help out in the feed zones. We actually prepared pretty well by getting our bottles ready last night. They were bagged, tagged, and ready to go, chilling nicely in the fridge overnight. Unfortunately, that's were they remained, which we didn't realize until we were about 45 minutes from the race. Whoops!

Luck was with me and I was able to pick up five bottles at the race that were discarded the previous day. A quick wash and we were back in business.

The first 25 miles of the race were pretty uneventful. I think the bunch was a little hesitant to get rolling, due to the difficult terrain coming in the miles ahead. We rolled steady over the first climb and it was still groupo compacto minus-one as we hit the second climb.

Guys were definitely racing up the second climb, which was much steeper and slightly longer then the first. I rode my own pace and ended up slightly off the back with a group of five. We worked well together and caught the group a couple miles after the first feed zone, around mile 35 or so.

A couple miles later, with the peloton rolling pretty slowly, I launched a solo move into a rolling headwind section on open highway. No one bit and off I went. I was joined a couple miles later by Dan Campbell and one other, and we stayed away for the next 12 miles together, getting to the base of the third climb. My climbing legs weren't working as well as I'd hoped, and I popped off the break just after the start of the climb. Shortly after, the group caught me and spit me out the back, leaving a long, lonely ride to the finish. Lots more rollers, a bunch of rain, and open roads were all I saw for the next two hours. Made it to the finish in about 4:20, glad to be done for the day. All in all, good training but not the best race for me.

Linnea and I did have a fun time afterwards, hooking up with my good friend Marc and his girlfriend, Hillary for some sightseeing in the Gorge. The place is pretty sweet, I'll have to make another trip up there sometime. A quick stop for a post hike double cheeseburger and Blizzard from DQ and we were on our way home. Adios.

St. Leon: Hot One Today!

2010-05-23T20:33:00.005-04:00

Tough race today. Temps were soaring up into the high 80's, making it the first hot race of the year. I've been dying a thousand deaths from my allergies since finishing, so this is going to be pretty short.

Lost the leaders just after we crested the climb on lap one due to a Momentary Lapse of Reason, and rode with the second group the rest of the day. Sprinted for 9th and ended up 10th. More to come later. Adios.

Friends

2010-05-19T22:28:00.003-04:00

Cycling is a funny sport. Some days I am ultra-motivated, and other days it's hard to even look at the bike, much less get off the couch. Take a day like the latter and throw in an overcast, slightly chilly and damp mid-May Ohio evening and it could become the perfect recipe for a night off the bike. This is where the joy of riding with friends comes into the mix.

Last night I rode for a couple hours with my good friend Mark doing tempo intervals in the mist. Luckily, my motivation was pretty high to get in a ride regardless of weather, but I got the feeling that his wasn't. It didn't take much to convince him that we'd get in a good ride even if we did get wet. The rain did come, at one point looking like it might get torrential, but it turned out to be nothing more then a fine mist and we both had a great ride. I think a little of my motivation rubbed off on him.

Tonight was the opposite. I was really dragging after work, and all I really wanted to do was crack a beer and watch the Tour of California on Versus. I practically had to force myself to suit up and throw a leg over the bike. I thought about doing a couple hours solo, but decided to meet up with Mitch and the Biowheels crew instead. That turned out to be a great decision, as once the group started riding hard, my legs also began to open up and come around. Good conversation in the quieter moments made for a fantastic ride, and I returned home with seemingly double the energy that I had before I left.

Point being is that cyclists need other cyclists in order to really enjoy the sport to its fullest. Friends make all those miles click by just a little bit easier. Adios.

Bond Rd: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2010-05-17T11:14:00.007-04:00

Having been a while since I last towed the line, I wasn't sure what to expect at the Ohio Valley Spring Series Race #7, held on the Bond Rd. course in Harrison, OH. I'd been coming off a bad patch of training due to some fatigue issues, the last race I attended started in a downpour (but I forgot to pack my shoes, which I think turned out to be a blessing in disguise), and I bagged on racing in my home state of Michigan last weekend due to a family visit and bad weather. But the positives here were that I used that rainy day to change out all the cables on my bike (shifting is now spot-on), and I took advantage of the trip home to get some much needed rest and a very thourough massage.

Rumors had been flying around the internet (see Facebook) as to the difficulty of the Bond Rd. course. Amoung these were a switchback climb that was a 30% grade (false) and a wicked fast 50+mph technical downhill (true). I drove the course upon arriving to the race yesterday, and my first thought was that it looked a little scary.

I felt a little better about things after a one lap pre-ride with OB and The Pilot gave me a better view of the hill and some good lines on the decent. An added bonus was that the legs were feeling good.

The race was scheduled for seven laps, and started out pretty tranquil, minus the kamakasi solo rider attacking from the gun. I don't think the 40+ rider field was very interested in doing much, as most guys were a little worried about the hill that was coming up in roughly four miles. The first time up was good for me, as I was right there in the top five guys, feeling strong and gaining confidence. It looked like most of the field made it over as well and we still had a pretty large group after the first lap.

First time up the climb

Fast foward to about the halfway point of lap two. There had been several attacks and counters so far, but nothing was sticking. During a lull in the action, I saw an opportunity and punched it on a short roller, easily gapping the field as no one wanted to chase. Unfortunately, no one wanted to come with me either, so I was left on my own. I figured I'd give it a go and try to get to the downhill, in the hopes that a small group would bridge up to me. This worked out perfectly, as three riders came up to me on the flats and we worked well together over the next lap. The field chased for a bit, but then it looked like they lost motivation, and we were gone.

Leading the early break

One lap later a group of six caught us, making a front group of nine riders, and that was how the rest of the day played out. The officials were giving us splits of about a 1:30 back to a chase group of two, and 3:00 back to the main field. All we had to do was ride steady and it was looking good that we would make it to the line. Oh yeah, we also had to keep surviving the climb.

I suffered the last three times up the climb, dangling off the back, but fighting to catch back on each time. It was a struggle because I knew I was running out of gas, but if I could just stay on there it was easy to ride in the group the rest of the lap.

Finish

The elastic finally broke for me on the final ascent. I followed a couple surges, but then it was lights out. A bit dissapointing because I knew if I could make it over I'd have done well in the sprint. Still a solid day, and I rolled in solo for 9th place. Adios.

Back on the Pain Wagon at Spring Valley

2010-04-25T20:43:00.009-04:00

Today's race had potential to be epic. The forecast called for thunderstorms all day, and there were reports of tornado's in the area. Thankfully, the weather held out for the most part until the drive home. As for the race, well, let's just say that the storm hit on the first lap, and only the strong survived.

Things were tranquil on the line, as everyone contemplated what could be coming out of the sky over the next three hours.

We rolled out and I decided to pull the retard card, attacking from the gun to see if I could make it up the road before the inevitable early break formed. I was hoping to get in that break when they bridged up to me. Alas, this turned out to be a foolish idea.

In the windy conditions, the screws were quickly turned coming through the start/finish, and I found myself riding with John Murdoch of Huntington Bank for the next three laps as we worked together to get back to the remnants of the group.

I think this was shortly before we bridged back up to the main group.

With 1.5 laps to go, I attacked the group in a bid for the top ten. Could have sat in, but it was a little boring so I thought I'd give it a try. Needed another 30 seconds in the end, but I was happy with the effort. It's tough out there riding solo against teams of 5-6 riders. Makes for some interesting tactics. The smart play would have been to sit in all day and follow wheels, but sometimes you have to try and make the race.

Thanks to Jeffrey Jakucyk for the photos. Adios.

Mitchel Memorial Race Report

2010-04-04T21:26:00.003-04:00

Tough day at the races on Saturday. Mitchel Memorial featured a technical, hilly, eight mile circuit of which we were to complete seven laps. In a nutshell, I rode two laps with the group and never saw them again after popping off the back the second time up the climb. Exploded was a better way to put it. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. In the Hurt Locker. The bag. Put the kibosh on that one. Chewing the stem. Biting the bullet. Knackered.

Some days ya got it, some days you don't. Back to the drawing board. Adios.

Germantown Race Report

2010-03-28T20:59:00.004-04:00

Ohio Valley Spring Series Race #1

Dusted the cobwebs off the hog and blew out the legs today in the first installment of the 2010 Ohio Valley Spring Race Series in Germantown, OH. The weather-guessers had been forecasting Belgium-style weather, 50 degrees with an 80% chance of rain. This had the affect of scaring off a lot of guys, including myself. However, I decided yesterday afternoon to H.T.F.U. and signed up. I figured that after a winter of training in the shit weather of Cincinnati, a little rain couldn't hurt me, either.

We were only scheduled to race 51 miles (7 laps), can't be that hard, right? Right! Ha. The race started fast and furious, with attacks from the gun. I got caught up in a two man chase group behind a group of three that were up the road during the second lap. Didn't have the legs to hang, so I sat-up, went back to the pack before I was dropped, and tried to recover before the major move of the day came.

The move went down as we were approaching the start/finish at the end of lap 2. There was a stair-step climb on the approach and a group of eight rolled off the front. It wasn't really an attack, more like a split in the field. I was blown out at the time and watched it go.

The next lap was basically spent rolling around with the group and trying to recover from the earlier efforts of the race. I wasn't recovering that well and was actually thinking of calling it a day and heading to the car, but instead decided to try a do or die effort, rolling off the front just after the start of the 4th lap. The bunch was tired and let me go. Great, I thought. Half a lap later I saw O'Brian (OB) Forbes bridging up, so I slowed and let him catch on. For those who don't know, OB was known for years as The Man around the Cincinnati area, and is a multi-time state champion on the road. Nice guy, too! We spent the next four laps together and held off the rest of the bunch by about 45 seconds in the end, finishing up in the last two money spots in 9th and 10th, which was nice because I was suffering like a dog the entire time.

The best part of the day was that the rain held out until the drive home. That made my Tucson blood happy! Adios.

Sports Business - Lots of Memories, and Debris, at Old Yankee Stadium - NYTimes.com

2010-03-11T07:16:00.002-05:00

Maybe the United States is never meant to have the visual history of Europe? No Colosseums to visit 300 years from now. Progress tosses everything else by the wayside; if it's old, do we still need it? Does it make us a better society to tear down and replace or should we preserve and cherish? Thoughts? Adios.

Sports Business - Lots of Memories, and Debris, at Old Yankee Stadium - NYTimes.com

Winter Cross Training

2010-03-08T21:59:00.003-05:00

Winter

As this has been my first real winter since 1998, I've been forced to mix things up a bit from my normal training routine. In a normal year, I usually have between 2500 and 3000 miles by now, and have been racing for almost a month. Now that I live in Cincinnati (which has had it's 5th snowiest winter on record), I've had a great opportunity to add in a variety of cross training to my normal routine. Running, XC skiing, weights, cyclocross, and yoga have all been key additions to my fitness regimen during the winter. Of these, I feel like I have gained the biggest benefit from following a weekly yoga practice at the YogahOMe studio.

Yoga

I have been attending a hot vinyasa class that has really helped me to focus my mind and develop much greater flexibility throughout my body. I can remember starting out back in November, and having to use blocks to support myself during certain poses. Tonight I realized that I was able to achieve those same positions unsupported, which brought a smile to my face. I've had a lot of nagging little aches and pains over the years, which I think were magnified by being a little to focused on cycling and not enough on overall body strength. It's good to visit one's weaknesses now and again to know what should be improved, as this can only serve to make one's strengths that much better.

First Century of 2010

Ok, it was really only 99.9 miles, but I'll count it anyway. We had some fantastic weather last weekend, which brought everyone out of hibernation and made the Sunday Ride the biggest of the year. I started out Sunday thinking century in the back of my mind, but wasn't entirely committed to the idea. Joined the group and was psyched to see at least 25 guys heading out on the longer loop. Things were going great until I snapped my rear derailer cable and had to spend 30 miles riding in the 11. Didn't matter though, I was feeling great and thankfully we were on the flats by then. Made it back to Milford and met up with Kelly at Bishop's Bikes., who set me up with a new cable. I made the change, then rode with the Bishop's crew back to Hyde Park, where I split off and finished up the remaining 25 miles solo. Fantastic day out, spring was in the air, and it was great to be turning the cranks with the sun on my face. Adios.

The Sunday Post, Vol 1.1

2010-02-21T15:05:00.011-05:00

Tucson Trip

I spent last weekend in Tucson, visiting friends and enjoying the sunshine. It was great to be back and had me questioning why I ever left. That place is truly an oasis in the desert, especially after spending the past two months dealing with freezing temperatures and lots of snow. I was able to borrow a Chorus equipped Colnago C40 from PT for the weekend, which made for some great riding. I mostly rode with Dan, and we were able to tackle two of the classic Tucson rides, Big Square and Mt. Lemmon. Kyle wasn't on Big Square, so I declared myself the sprint winner by default! The pic shown was taken at the Windy Point Vista at 6500ft.

A big part of my visit was to see Linnea and make an attempt to gain some closure to our relationship. I don't want to go into to much detail here, but when I left for home I felt like both of us are in a better place with the way things stand. It really sucks when you can't be with someone you love, but sometimes life gets in the way and this is one of those times. I wish her the best and hope that we can continue to remain friends.

Snow Days

Cincinnati was hit with nine inches of snow on Monday, which left us with about eighteen inches on the ground. I watched the news after flying in Tuesday evening and learned that this is the most snowfall on record for the 'Nati in February, and is currently the ninth heaviest winter on record. We might make the top five before winter is over.

The good thing about all this snow is that I can finally get a chance to dust off my XC skis! They were a Christmas present from my Dad in the late 90's. A great set of Fishers, but they have been collecting dust in MI since I left for Tucson in 2000. I took advantage of the snow and cut about a half-mile trail behind my apartment on Wednesday evening. It was tough work plowing through eighteen inches of snow, but worth it in the end. Got out again after work on Friday, but the weather had warmed and the conditions were rough. Probably done skiing for a while, as today temps were up to the mid-forties, but it was great while it lasted!

Twitter

Ok, I am officially a nerd. I have been experimenting with Twitter for a while now, mostly out of curiosity as to why so many people are using the service. I figure that I need to keep up with this stuff since I am in the industry. So check out my page and follow me if you like. I'm setting a short-term goal of picking up fifty followers, and then I'll go from there. Go here or just click on the link located on this page. Adios.

State of the Union

2010-02-06T20:43:00.004-05:00

I hate bots. And I think the blog has started to attract them. Bad sign when you have more bots then followers.

I hate colds. And I think that I might be attracting one of them also. Another bad sign. Might make an appointment with the doc on Monday to get something that will knock this out of me quick.

I do like women. Although these days I'm not attracting to many. Third Strike! Any suggestions?

On a positive note, my brother and Dad are coming down tomorrow for the Super Bowl. Colts win 35 - 24. Here's hoping it's a good one.

Stopped by BioWheels to talk to Mitch tonight and ended up hanging there for a while chatting over a couple beers. Lots of good news on the Cincinnati cyclocross front. Looks like Harbin Park is now one of eight UCI C1 races in the States for 2010, which should be great for the Cincinnati Cyclocross Weekend. 48 UCI races slated for 2010 in the States, I think five years ago there were less then ten.

Tucson in T-Minus 5 days. Can't wait to get there. Adios.

Snow Day

2009-12-07T07:44:00.002-05:00

Well, the skies cracked open the first snowfall of the season this morning. There is maybe a quarter inch dusting on the ground, just enough to coat the roads and make me have to dust off the car. Fun stuff. I checked the forecast and it looks like we might get a couple more days of snow this week. Makes me wish I was back in the desert. Adios.

Quick Update

2009-12-05T10:55:00.003-05:00

28 Degrees in Cincinnati today. I've had three different groups try to get me to ride today, not feeling it, though. Might get out on the cross bike or the mtb later this afternoon. Didn't get into the race this weekend due to missing registration, but I was thinking about skipping it anyway and calling it a season. Time to reset the batteries and figure out the plan for 2010. Adios.

Deep Thoughts About...Deep Thoughts.

2009-11-22T09:29:00.002-05:00

So I was going through the blog today trying to find a classic picture, and realized that this thing is almost four years old. I've thought about killing it many times, and am glad that I haven't. I know that this stuff isn't Hemmingway, and I don't have the followers of this guy, but it is fun to write and get a few comments every once-in-a-while. Besides, most classic artists aren't recognized for there work until they're dead, so if I can keep things going or another fifty years or so, maybe I'll be famous too! Right.

Cross race this afternoon in Indianapolis: Elite Masters 35+ for me today. Should be a fun one, and hopefully dry, let's hope I fare a little better then the last time out. Adios.

Quick Update

2009-11-20T23:24:00.002-05:00

"This update fueled by Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet"

The last couple weeks have been pretty busy. I finally got assigned to a project at work, which is great 'cause now my days have a purpose, which is nice. Can't comment on what it is due to security concerns, but I can say that we are using some cool technologies such as Lombardi Teamworks and Adobe Flex, and I am pretty psyched to be involved with the whole process. I typically spend half my day watching my team implement code, and try to absorb as much as I can in the process.

Not much riding these days due to the increasing work hours, coupled with decreasing light and decreasing temperatures. I have been doing a bunch of Yoga, and luckily haven't paid for any of it! Seems like most of the studios out here give you a free class if it is your first time there, so I've been jumping from studio to studio and riding the free train for a little while now. Unfortunately, that will probably end soon and I'll have to pony up for an admission fee soon. Oh well, such is life...

Cross race this Sunday in Indianapolis. It is the Indiana State Championships and I have signed up for the Masters 1,2,3 35+ race. I am officially old, 9-5 desk job, and racing masters! WTF!!!??? Traveling out there with a friend of mine who is also racing 35+, should be a good time. Adios.

OVCX Gun Club Cross, Quick Race Report.

2009-11-01T19:37:00.003-05:00

Rough day today. Lined up with the Elite men at the OVCX race in Miamiville, OH. Course was 50% roadie, 40% mtb, and 10% xc runner. It was really muddy out there when I road the course on Wed, but most of that had dried and settled in to some seriously sloppy, thick stuff by the start of the race today. I'm still trying to get the mud figured out, after having spent the last ten years riding in sunny Tucson. I think that the time out there has made me forget my mountain biking roots, 'cause right now I am struggling big time cornering in the mud. Either I'm not getting it, or my tires just aren't right, but something need to change soon. My current setup of Bontrager Jones at around 35-38 psi feels like riding on ice in the corners. Might switch to a set of Michelin Muds for the rest of the season...Or just train more...Or do both.

So the race went something like this: Fast start, sliding all over the place, lost position, regained position, lost position again, passed a couple guys, started to feel good, felt bad, slid some more, felt worse, dropped out with 3 to go. Not good. Adios.

Louisville, KY, USGP Weekend Recap

2009-10-26T07:24:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I made the short trip south to Louisville, KY for round 3 & 4 of the United States Grand Prix of Cyclocross. I have dabbled a bit with cross over the years at the local level in Michigan and Arizona, but have never been to a cross event of the size and scale of the USGP. The UCI Cyclocross Festival in Cincinnati a couple weeks back was a good introduction to big-time cross racing, but the USGP series brought the level up a notch.

Almost all of my cyclocross experience has been on a mountain bike, with some success. I experimented with a true cross bike a couple years back, but never really felt comfortable on it. This year I've decided to try it again and picked up a sweet ride from a good friend of mine. The debut ride was at the Masters 35+ race in Cincinnati, and I snapped my chain after crashing on the second lap. Ditto on day 2. Not a good start. Thinking back, I've realized that I have never finished a race on a cross bike, as mechanicals have always came up. Gotta fix that quick.

Bit of a tangent there, so back to the weekend. Bike is working sweet now, I put a new chain on and got in a decent week of training to break it in. Lined up in the last row of the Elite Masters 35+ and figured I'd ease into it and just try to pick guys off as the race went on. Off goes the gun and here we go. Race was brutal, the ground was so soft it felt like you were pedaling in wet cement. I moved up to about the halfway point of the fifty man field, but that was about as far as I would get. Suffered like mad and finished in 27th. I swear my bike must have been ten to fifteen pounds heavier at the end from all the mud caked onto it.

The course had dried out a bit by Sunday, but there were still some big mud holes scattered about. A reroute added a wickedly muddy stair section that came immediately following a nasty, off-camber 180 degree turn. Started back row again, but my strategy today was to hit it hard off the start and try to hold on. Made it up to around 20th, but no further. Ended up finishing 22nd and felt like I had a knife in my lower back on the last two laps. Forgot how hard cross racing can be. Adios.

UCI Harbin Park Pro Men Cyclocross

2009-10-13T08:14:00.003-04:00

Footage of the pro men's cross race at Harbin Park in Cincinnati, OH Oct 11, 2009.

UCI Harbin Park Post Race with Powers, Wicks, Wells, and Matter

2009-10-13T08:13:00.001-04:00

Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series Race #1

2009-09-21T08:09:00.001-04:00

Ohio Riding

2009-07-25T12:45:00.002-04:00

Did a cool ride on Tuesday, here is the route:

07/25/2009 Route
Find more Bike Rides in Cincinnati, Ohio

Adios.

Fun Times on the Mountain

2009-06-15T01:23:00.002-04:00

Woke up early today and did the Eclipse team ride on Mt. Lemmon. A big group of around 30 riders started out from Le Buzz at 6:30. Once we hit the climb the pace picked up and after a couple miles there was only a handful of guys left. Riding strong were Scott Blanchard, Richard Bioca, and Ross Lamb. Not to toot my own horn, but I was giving the climb a good go myself. I think three weeks of training, no class, and some nice supplementation with Athlete Octane has started to pay some dividends in my fitness.

Around 4 miles into the climb, Steven from Sweden decided to turn the screw on all of us and proceeded to ride the group off his wheel. I had never seen him before and found out later that he was a former mountain biker working as an engineer for Ventana Medical. All I know is the dude is strong.

I ended up riding to Geology Vista, cruised down the hill, and ran into PT and double D at the base of the climb. Flipped it and rode back to Molino Basin with those guys, which made for a fun day on the mountain. Came home after 4+ hours on the bike and took my sweetheart for some delicious Pulled Pork from El Paso BBQ. Whoever said you can't train on BBQ? Adios.

Arizona State Road Race Recap

2009-06-08T11:54:00.004-04:00

Even when you don't have the legs to compete for the win, the beauty of the state road race course on HWY 188 in Globe, AZ makes the ride worthwhile. It is not often that riders race 87 miles with such scenery around them. The course leaves Globe and follows an out-and-back course, heading North for 43.5 miles, much of that spent with Roosevelt Lake bordering the course. Great pavement, perfect temps, and minimal traffic (but you have to be out early, lots of boats late morning/early afternoon) make this a great ride whether you are pinning on a number or not.

As for the race, there were several animators throughout the day: Jake Rubelt, Brian Lemke, and one other rider who made the early move about five miles in and didn't come back to the field until halfway up the final climb. Definitely a suicide move, but you have to give them credit for trying. The Waste Management Team for driving the pace on the front once we hit the valley. These guys were on the front of the race for probably 2/3's of it, trying to keep the break in check for their climber, Stevie Cullinan. And finally, to Eric Salstrand, for pulling out the win for the Bicycle Haus Team out of Scottsdale, AZ.

As for my day, I was happy to make it to the valley with the group. Didn't do a thing until after the turnaround, when I tried to jump into the mix during a flurry of attacks that went down over about a five mile stretch. Nothing stuck until Nick Schrieber and Tim Carolan managed to bridge to the break over a small roller about 15 miles from the base of the main climb. I waited a little to long before trying to bridge myself, and ended up in no mans land with Sean Mazich of Waste Management. The two of us were able to open up a pretty large gap to the field, which gave us a little bit of a buffer once the climbing started. Didn't matter all that much in the end, as the front of the field swallowed us up about two miles into the climb. After that I just tried to limit my losses and made it over the climb with a rider from the Bicycle Haus team. We picked up Kyle Colavito on the way in to the finish and came in together. All things considered, I thought it was a pretty fun day. Adios.

Training, TRAINING, Training........Now Find Me a Job!

2009-06-04T15:27:00.004-04:00

It has been a great week on the bike here in the desert. Temps in the morning have been in the 70's with just enough cloud cover to keep the sun away for a couple extra hours. Here is a quick synopsis of my week so far:

Tuesday: Hit the morning ride. Felt a little better then last week, and was able to pull at the front for a bit. Had some gas in the tank, just not the right amount of Octane. Not yet anyway. Frank Barnes of Summit Velo was first over Gates Pass, with Kevin Clegg coming in second. Frank seems like he is getting pretty fast these days; I'm curious how he'll do in the State Road Race on Sunday. On the way into town I ran into PT and Dan, so I flipped it and rode another three hours with them. Shortly after flipping it, I had the misfortune of watching my polar bottle eject from the cage and get run over by a truck. Bummer. Good day on the bike, though.

Wednesday: Nice ride today on the Big Square loop west of town. Brownies at the store, lots of talk of snappers, and some power sprints coming into town. Felt pretty good all day. Rode with PT, Double D, and the Black Cloud. The miles are always fun with those guys.

Thursday: Sierrita Mountain Road with PT and Double D. We picked up a Border Patrol officer named after a famous drink on the way out of town, who kept us entertained with stories of the illegals most of the way. Nice steady two finger tempo was the order of the day, followed by some delicious smoothies after the ride. I was happy because I was feeling better today then I did on Tuesday, so I'm thinking that I finally might be getting the proper amount of Octane in the mix. Thanks Snake.

Other then riding, I've been spending most of my time filling out job applications and trying to get a career started. That has been a little slow going so far, but there are starting to be a few good leads so hopefully something happens within the next month or so. I don't want to jinx myself by getting overly excited so I'll stop there. Thanks for reading this if you've gotten this far, it's been a long one. Oh, and by the way...GO WINGS!!!!! Adios.

Shootout

2009-05-30T17:10:00.004-04:00

Did my first post-graduation Shootout today. The group seemed to take a while to really get going, with the pace steady most of the way out until we went over the bridge. The tempo went up signifigantly as a small break attacked over the bridge, with a serious chase ensuing from those who didn't make the split. The pack was strung out and gaps began to form as we crested the last of the hills before the mailboxes. I was suffering, but was able to regroup and make all the splits to end up in the front group of about 30. The break had been caught somewhere in the hills, leaving those in front to fight it out for the sprint and Shootout glory. Nick Schreiber crushed everybody and won by several bike lengths over a small group of around ten. I saved my legs and just followed wheels to the top of hill, coming in around 7th or 8th and happy that I made it. Flipped it there and rode home solo on Mission Road in near perfect weather conditions. Amazing that it is still in the 80's in Tucson this late in May. Adios.

Hillsboro Day 1

2009-03-14T22:45:00.003-04:00

Long day today. Started with a 4:30am wake up call after a restless 4.5 hours of sleep. I headed over to campus to meet up with the University of Arizona Cycling Team to drive over to the 20km time trial just outside of Las Cruces, NM. Fast forward 5 hours (including the one hour time change) in the car and we had arrived at out destination. The 50 degree temps that greeted us as we exited the car were a shock to the system after the month of 70's that Tucson has been experiencing as of late.

After about a 30 minute warm-up, I headed over to the start. Jon Scholnick was my 30 second man, so I figured that it would only be a matter of time before he caught me. The course was mostly flat, with some low grade rolling terrain and lots of wind. I started a little slow, taking my time to get into a nice rhythm. Jon caught me after about 5km which gave me some motivation to push a little harder. In the end it was a decent effort, good training, and I hope to be able to build on this ride in the weeks to come.

We finally made it to the hotel around 3:30 after a little post-TT ride. Everyone headed out for some authentic Las Cruces Mexican food followed by a impromptu pull-up contest. A couple beers back at the hotel and an early night followed. Tomorrow is the road race in Hillsboro, which is about 50 miles from the hotel, so it is going to be an early night for me and I am going to hit the pillow as soon as I finish this sentence. Adios.

Nice First Day of Spring Break

2009-03-13T22:29:00.002-04:00

Spent the day today doing a leisurely 20 mile bike ride around town, hit up Time Market for an Americano and a Magic Bar, spent about an hour hanging out with Linnea, then played a quick nine holes at Dell Urich. Got paired up on the tee box with a couple of junior golfers, one was 8 and the other was in 6th grade. Turns out that the 6th grader was the number one ranked golfer in Tucson for his age bracket. Needless to say, I got worked. That's ok, though, I still had fun. And I can always look back on that 300 yard bomb on the 6th hole. Now if only I could do something about those 30 footers? Adios.

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-13T02:54:00.003-04:00

Woo Hoo, another spring break is upon us. At my ripe old age I am starting to feel a bit like Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School when the yearly tradition comes around. This year I will be celebrating by driving over to Hillsboro, NM early Saturday morning for my first collegiate race, the Hillsboro Omnium. I'll be racing Collegiate "A", which will be combined with the Pro 1,2 so it should make for some pretty fast racing. I think it is kind of funny that I raced masters last weekend and am racing collegiate this weekend. Still waiting for the day that I can race all three events together, I wonder if that has ever been done before? Adios.

Raffle, Raffle, Raffle... Win A Great Prize!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-08T23:59:00.002-04:00

Check out the following link to win a one night stay and a round of golf for two at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa. All proceeds benefit the University of Arizona Cycling Club. Tell your friends. Adios.

www.uacyclingraffle.blogspot.com

TBC Wrap Up

2009-03-08T23:47:00.002-04:00

Well, I put the cap onto a bit of a crappy weekend by missing my start time and never making it back into the group today, so I pulled out of the race after three laps. Legs were pretty well fucked anyway after yesterdays cramping, but it would have been nice to get some racing laps today. Rode home and was back in bed at 8:30, right about the time the rest of the guys were probably just winding down from the field sprint. Back to the drawing board, I guess. Adios.

TBC Stage 2 Road Race....Bad Legs = Bad Cramps

2009-03-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

3 laps, 20 mile course, lots of attacks. No breaks stuck for more then a couple miles at a time. I started getting little twinges in my left leg about 35 miles into the race. Sat in the bunch for the entire last lap trying to work them out, and thought that I had accomplished that. It was looking like a field sprint when we made the turn onto La Canada for the final 4 miles of the race. Then it happened. First a twinge in my left quad, followed by a twinge in my right. I tried desperately to rub them out. More twinges, spasms, extreme pain. Went from pedaling smooth circles and thinking of who to follow in the sprint to pedaling awkward squares and falling off the back. Actually had to take my feet out of the pedals and stop on the side of the road for a couple minutes. Not good. Felt like Erik Long on the Mogollon. Long story short, lost 5:53 in the final two miles of a 60 mile event. Oh well, I guess that's why they call it training. Adios.

TBC Stage 1 Time Trial

2009-03-06T17:09:00.003-05:00

Well, I just got back a little while ago from my first race in a long time. I'm racing the Tucson Bike Classic in the old mans category this weekend (35+). Today was the time trial through McCain Loop out in the desert west of Tucson. Always a hard ride. I decided to go Eddie Merckx style and road without any areo equipment, since I really don't think my fitness would have been good enough for a decent result, not to mention that my TT position when clipping areo bars onto my normal bike is terrible. Got a good workout out of the ride, and clocked 9:10 according to my unscientific calculations. If I had to guess, I would say that I probably will split the field of 40 with that time.

Tomorrow is a road race down in Sahaurita. 60 miles of rolling terrain. Right now my only goal is to make it through the first lap, see how I feel and evaluate from there.

Currently listening to the latest U2 album, "No Line on the Horizon." I've only heard it a couple times at this point, so I'm not totally sold on it yet. So far there are several outstanding songs, a couple that are so-so, and one that really sucks, but the verdict is still out on if it will be a good album or not. I really need a few more listens to make that decision. That being said, nothing that U2 has put out over the past 15 years (basically since Zooropa) has come close to touching the quality of their earlier work. I'd pay big bucks to be able to go back in time and see them on the Joshua Tree tour. Adios.

Why Do Trader Joes Cashiers Insist on making Small Talk?

2009-02-12T17:05:00.003-05:00

I understand that this is a requirement of the job, but lately it has been getting to be a little excessive. I am to the point that I purposely avoid certain lines because I know that the clerk that is running the register is especially gabby. Yesterday, the handicapped gentleman in line in front of me had to listen to his clerk ramble on about his ADD and love for whiskey, among other things. Like this guy cared about this. I put on the stone face and he didn't talk much to me, thank God. It is great to be nice to people and all, but sometimes you have to know when not to cross the line. Just my two cents. Adios.

Worked

2009-02-11T15:57:00.002-05:00

Just got back from a four hour training ride on Lemmon with J-Rod. Got worked a bit on the way back to town, but that's ok, cause today was the first day that I have felt remotely healthy in the past three weeks. Between the upper back, lower back, and picking up a bit of a cold, it has been a pretty crappy run. Cross your fingers that things are on the way up from now on. Adios.

This is my Blog

2009-02-08T23:07:00.001-05:00

Read it. Adios.

Friday's Update

2008-11-21T12:20:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since my last post. In that time, we have seen gas drop from $4.00 down to $2.00 (a good thing) and the stock market drop from 12,000 to 8000 (not so good). I played the market a bit in late September and have lost roughly 50% of my investment...but it is long term so we'll see what happens in the future. I do go to business school, right? ;)

School has been crazy busy, hence the lack of posts. I've been doing ok, and have been blessed to be hanging out with an angel in my down time.

Here is a better picture of Linnea and I. We'll be doing El Tour de Tucson tomorrow; however, don't look for us near the front. It will be her first big ride (and second group ride ever), so I told her I'd ride it with her and help her make it around the 109 mile loop. Should be fun, and I might try to get my donut count as high as possible along the way. Adios.

Reality Bites.

2008-08-04T17:20:00.003-04:00

You know that things are not right in the world when you just paid $3.75 for gas and thought that you had gotten a good deal. Adios.

Free Wi-Fi

2008-07-30T03:47:00.004-04:00

Last night, after returning to the condo from a short spin on the Rialto River Path, I was preparing to begin the tumoltous task of organization, and decided that a little music was in order. Digging out my laptop became a priority as all of my current music is stored there. Took me a few minutes to find everything, but soon I had my speaker set-up plugged in and running, with my laptop purring like the cat in the background. I powered it on and a minute later things were up and running. Upon start-up, I quickly discovered that there were many available wireless networks around this place, one of which had a strong feed and zero security. Needless to say, I have not plugged into my Cox feed yet as I sit here and write this post. Which leads me to my next subject:

Is it ethical to use a wireless connection that you know that you are not paying for, but are able to simply turn on your computer to access? Thoughts? Personally, I lean in the direction that unless this condo complex has free Wi-Fi, or I speak with the person whom I am currently swiping the internet from, that I probably should pony up and connect to my Cox account. Differing views can be found here, along with this article from Time Magazine, which was referenced here. A large part of me thinks fuck 'em; if all I have to do is turn on my computer to be connected, they maybe I should take advantage. Any thoughts? FYI...it sure is nice to be writing this wirelessly in my new place right now. Adios.

Moving Day

2008-07-29T09:29:00.003-04:00

I spent the bulk of my day yesterday moving into my new place. Should be a nice change. I knew that I was making the right decision when, while we were having lunch on the back porch of my old place yesterday, my super-sketchy, crazy ex-neighbor that moved into a house on the other side of the alley behind my place came walking through clad in a bikini, ready to hit the pool. Two things immediately came to mind upon seeing her:

1. You do not want to see her in a bikini.
2. You do not want to see her in your pool.

Drugs are bad. Adios.

Shootout Adventures

2008-07-27T19:01:00.004-04:00

Bit late with the report because I got pretty busy after the ride yesterday...sorry Kyle, I know you probably lost some sleep waiting for this.

I went to the shootout yesterday with one goal, which was to sit in until we got near the bridge, then bust my ass to make the break. Needless to say, things worked out perfectly. Pace was pretty fast leading up to the bridge, and with about a mile or so out I found myself in a good four man break that I thought might stick. It didn't, as we were caught right before the bridge started to kick up. I was drifting back through the pack at this point, and noticed that a bunch of heavy hitters were all sitting around the top ten. "This is going to be it", I thought to myself, so I slotted in right around tenth or so. Going over the top it was pretty strung out and after moving to the front to take a pull, I looked back and saw that our group had about a 300 meter gap on the remainder of the field. That was the last that we saw of them for the rest of the day, as the bunch of us rolled pretty fast all the way to the sprint hill. Just about everyone was there, including The Laser, Prolovito, Snake, John (needs a nickname) Skolnick, the Wolf Cub (and his brother), Middleton, Curtis "the" Gunn "show", the Colorado Kid, Ricatello (wtf???), and a few others. The Laser kept his record clean and won the hill for the millionth time, while I think I limped in around 6th or 7th.

The pace stayed fast all the way back to town, as we kept it rolling around 30mph into a headwind down old Nogi. About a mile before the sprint, the Gunn show opened up a can of whoop-ass on the TT bike and dropped everybody at around 36mph. I made it home and was pretty much done for the rest of the day. Good ride, lots of fun was had by all. Adios.

Swamped

2008-07-24T11:58:00.002-04:00

So I am leaving my apartment of the last five years for some upgraded condo living. Should be a good move for me, as my new place will have A/C (no more swamp), and all appliances, including a washer and dryer. Bit further north, so hopefully that will cut down on some of the rif-raf that is sometimes found floating around in my current area. I'm signing my new lease on Monday, and have a ton of stuff to take care of before hand. I don't think I realized exactly how much stuff was on my plate until I started to clean out a couple closets yesterday before work. This is going to be a giant pain in the ass, but I think it will be a good move once I am finished.

That being said, it looks like the bike time is going to drop a bit over the next few days. Between getting ready to move and working every night, it has been a little hard for me to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 AM to beat the heat. Whenever my work hours go up, my bike hours usually drop in proportion. No complaints here, because business levels right now are about the same as they were in peak season back in winter, so I'm taking it while I can. Did get out yesterday for the morning ride to Lemmon, but we were caught in a rare, early morning Tucson rain, so I ended up flipping it without seeing the mountain (it was actually shrouded in rain, so no one could see it), and headed home to watch Carlos Sastre put the screws to the GC contenders on the climb of the Alp, taking the yellow jersey in the process. I still think that Cadel can take the GC, but he is leaving things awful close at this point in the race. Adios.

Famous Once Again

2008-07-13T20:29:00.003-04:00

Looks like I am back to being in the news, with a couple photo's on the RideStrong site from the Shootout yesterday. You can read the details in the following link, but this photo will provide a quick visual of what things were like.

Great legs on the ride yesterday, as I felt like I had to try and ride fast considering the crazy getup that I was wearing. Followed "the Laser" up the sprint hill, but couldn't come around him as he still has the finishing kick of a two time Olympian.

Today DD, PT, and myself (albeit in a bit more normal kit) went out for a long one and headed out to Sonoita. Long, mellow day on the bike, with a little bit of rain on the return trip north on Highway 83. 108 miles in just over six hours. We found the fast way there by going out via Kolb, Rita Ranch, Mary Ann Cleveland, through Vail, and out the frontage road to HWY 83. Every other time I've done this ride it has come in right around 124 miles, so it is nice to know that the distance can be cut if necessary. Sonoita is one of my favorite rides, so it is always a treat to get out there. Today was no exception, as there were low-hanging clouds shrouding the mountains as we approached Sonoita Pass. Great day on the bike. Adios.

Tour de France: Stage 4, Time Trial

2008-07-08T11:18:00.003-04:00

David Miller just crossed the line in second place and bumped Cadel Evans down to third on the podium. Great rides for both. Always good to see Cadel up there, maybe this can be the year that he is able to finally win the big one. Miller is a reformed doper. Part of me wishes that he would just shut the fuck up and go away, while another part of me wants to believe that he is truly racing clean (which I think that he is), and doing his part to clean up the doping problem in the sport. Miller was busted several years ago with empty EPO vials in his home, which he than admitted to using when he won the Time Trial World Championship back in 2003. The claim was that he only used EPO once, while training for the Time Trial, but I think that this is bullshit. He came back in 2006 after a two year suspension and has been an ambassador for drug free sport ever since, which is admirable. It would be a little more admirable, however, if one of these guys that are caught doping would admit guilt before the evidence and circumstances made them do so. I can run through a long list of riders who have been caught, such as Hamilton, Landis, Viranque, most of the Rock Racing Team, etc, but to this day the only rider that I can recall ever admitting to doping without being caught was Jerome Chiotti, the French mountain biker who won the 1996 Cross Country World Championships, but was stripped of his title and blackballed from the sport for admitting to doping about four years later. To bad for him, I guess; his conscience got the better of him. Contrast this with the Belgian Filip Meirhaeghe, who was busted in 2005, admitted it by saying that he did what he had to do, and is now gracing the cover of Velonews. Ridiculous.

I realize that I probably sound like I am bitching quite a bit here, and maybe I am. But it would be nice that someday when new people that I meet find out that I am a cyclist, I'll start to get questions about how do get involved with the sport, training, where to go, what bike to ride, etc..., v. the standard three that come up all the time, in no paticular order:

1. You going to ride in the Tour de France someday? No.
2. How's the testosterone treating you? Wouldn't know.
3. So ahhhhh, can you still get it up after riding all day? See above,
want to find out?

Adios.

Tour, Stage 1: Part Two

2008-07-05T10:58:00.002-04:00

Well, the call has been made, now 5 km to go after a big crash has just split the field. I am watching live Versus coverage with a little play by play. Evans looks good and is sitting in the top 10. Pace is about 32 mph. Wish I could have seen the whole stage, as I thought it might be an epic one. Super fast pace being set right now by Team Columbia (formerly High Road). Maybe Hincrappy? Don't think so, but that would be cool. Pace is 40.3 mph???? WTF! Thought they weren't doping anymore. Hahahahahahahahaha. On the climb now, can't believe there wasn't a crash on the bridge. Where is Valverde? Columbia still in front, but things are splitting up. Kuota off the front now, PT would be proud. He's caught, Schumacher leads now. 1 km. Now Valverde is in the picture. I can see Evans there also. All the leaders are on the front. Kirchen leads inside 250 meters. But here comes Valverde! And it looks like I have read the crystal ball correctly today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is gonna be a good three weeks. Adios.

Tour, Stage 1: Part One

2008-07-05T10:56:00.002-04:00

Prediction for the win today...Valverde. 6.5 km to go. Let's see how it goes. Adios.

Happy Independance Day

2008-07-04T14:51:00.003-04:00

The 4th of July is upon us once again. This was the weekend that two years ago I swore to myself that I would never work again, yet here I am back in the thick of things. My friends are out partying and I am stuck at work, fun, fun, fun. ;(-

Jumped back into the pro 1,2's last weekend at the Summit Center Omnium in Flagstaff, AZ. Although the results were not worth mentioning (15th Snowbowl Hillclimb, 13th Clints Well Road Race), it was still great to be doing battle with the old guard once again, as it is always fun to see some of the guys like Rubelt, Drew, Prolovito, and Reid that I have been duking it out with for the past 8 years. Michael "JR" Grabinger won both days and took the overall, followed by Prolovito in second. Prolovito is looking fast these days as he is getting ready to head north for the Cascade Classic in Bend, OR.

Nothing else today is all that exciting, except that it is noon now and the temp is only 93 degrees. Maybe I'll go out for a ride? Adios.

Greased it...

2008-05-27T16:14:00.003-04:00

After a full day of slacking on Saturday, I got the call from DD and PT to meet at the garage at 7:00 for a Sunday ride. "Sounds good" I thought while riding home from work Sat. night...surely they wouldn't want to go to nuts considering that the two of them had probably gone long earlier in the morning.

So I rolled over to Dan's about 7:07, PT shows a few minutes later, and we proceeded to head out through campus down to University. Quick stop at Starbucks for my daily dose, and off we went, me thinking four hours or so, the two of them thinking otherwise.

Dan took us on a new loop that I'd been wanting to do for a while, Sierra Mtn Rd. Super scenic climb that goes above tree-line with ten foot snow drifts on either side of the road! Wait, I must still be dreaming, this is the desert after all. Actually it is a cool loop that goes up this gradual grade for a few miles, then kicks you out around the Three Points area.

Here is where things got interesting. We stopped to refuel, and I grabbed a diet coke. At the counter they have one of those super caffine energy boosters, this one called 7 Hour Energy. Try it, they work, and only 20 cals. PT dares me to do it, so I say sure. While this is going on, they both tell me that we are doing the Square from there, so it looks like it will be a long day. One thing leads to another and the next think I know I'm at La Salsa around 4:00 eating El Champion and wondering if I am going to make it through work. Adios.

Back to Blogging

2008-05-24T16:59:00.002-04:00

I think that I am going to start blogging again. Not that you care. Is it bad to write a post that is basically about writing a post?

I was supposed to hit the shootout this morning, but ended up drinking Newcastle's at Che's Lounge until two in the morning. But it was worth it in the end. ;)

Spent the afternoon watching the Crown Plaza Invitational and wondering when I'm going to start hitting shots like they do on TV. Adios.

Vintage

2008-05-22T12:59:00.002-04:00

I saw that my friend Robert Herriman had posted some old results that I haven't seen in a while so I thought I'd share some of them here:

Pontiac Lake was the first place that I ever rode a mountain bike, and also the Pontiac Lake Time Trial was the first race that I ever competed in, racing in the beginner class with my brother way back in 1994. We used to ride out there in jean shorts and t-shirts, and never made it all the way around without stopping for a smoke at the top of the biggest hill in the place. My how things have changed!

They have changed the course during the last few years, and I hear that it is longer and a little slower now. When I was competing there, that used to be just about the fastest course in MI, and it was full speed ahead all the way through. Everyone that mattered used to come out for the time trial there, so it was a great test to see where you ranked among your peers. Adios.

Tour of California, Stage 3

2008-02-22T00:11:00.002-05:00

I was watching the stage of the Tour of California today, and got to thinking of what my worst day on the bike might have been. It is really hard to say, as there really is not a particular day that really stands out, although there are a few which do come to mind (in no particular order):

1. 24 Hours of Canaan, preride, 1998.
We had driven all day, and when we arrived at the race site, the weather was abysmal, to say the least. I had driven down with my good friend and teammate, Brian Caron. We got to our hotel, and decided to sleep for a bit, since it was about 40 degrees with a driving rain outside. The rain stopped around 4:00, so we decided to go for it and preride the course. Let's just say the course was muddy, and the lap took a loooong time. By the time we were finished and had registered, hosed off the bikes, etc., we were soaked, it was dark, temps had dropped into the high 30's, and we had about a five mile ride back to the hotel (with no lights). Not fun. When a guy in a pickup drove by us shortly after we had started and offered a ride, I took him up on it immediately and put an end to the suffering.

2. San Dimas Stage Race, prologue and stage 1, 2006: California in the spring. Supposed to be sunny and 65 degrees. Turned out to be 40's and cold rain. Why did I leave Arizona? The prologue was a four mile uphill time trial. Warm going up, but you freeze you bleep off coming down. Things didn't improve much the next day. We started in a driving rain that came down intermittently throughout the day. Lucky for me that I didn't have any sort of legs at this point in the year and got to drop out and hit the outlet mall in Palm Springs the next day while my teammates were going through day 3 of rainy racing.

3. Tour of the Gila, Inner Loop Road Race, 2004: The start had to be delayed because it was around 35 degrees and there were reports of snow coming down on the pass that we were going to be going over in the first fifteen miles. Luckily for us, everything was clear once we got there, and the day turned out to be pretty nice after all. This stage really shouldn't be on this list, but it is the Gila and you can't have a list of cycling stories without it.

4. Monday Night Ride, MI, late 90's: There is a group of riders that meets every Monday night at 6:30 sharp at Maple Lane Florists in Clawson, MI for a 25 mile recovery ride. No matter what the weather, the ride will happen. These guys are hard men. During winter in MI, we used to head over and use the ride as a way to get in some base miles, and get away from the trainer for a bit. I rode over to meet the group one mid-winters night with my friend, Danny Klein , with temps hovering around 35 degrees or so, and a light drizzle in the air. We were fine on the way over, but sat around for fifteen minutes or so once we got there waiting for the ride to start. During this time, the drizzle got harder and the temps started to drop. The group called the ride after about two miles, as everyone present was absolutely freezing. I was so cold on the way home that my middle finger on my left hand went numb, which still gives me problems to this day.

I'm sure that I could think of a few more, but that's enough for now. If you have any epic, miserable rides, share them with us in the comments. Adios.

Deep Thoughts about the Super Bowl.

2008-02-04T17:49:00.001-05:00

I went through the full round of emotions during the Super Bowl last night, even suffering a armchair quarterback injury right about the time that Tom Brady completed what should have been his 29^th 4^th quarter comeback with a TD pass to Randy Moss as the clock ticked down towards the two-minute warning. Somehow as I was jumping up to cheer the play, the old shoulder started to talk back to me again, just as it did about a year-and-a-half back. Hopefully I will be able to shake it off soon, or else it might be another trip to the acupuncturist for some rehab. You know you are getting old when you can't even raise your arms in celebration anymore!

Anyway, the game itself was great; although it would have been much better had the Pats held on to win. Some thoughts from the game:

How did Manning escape that sack with about 45 seconds left?
How did the Patriots defense not bring him down?
How did David Tyree actually hang on to the ball?
David Tyree only caught four passes the entire season!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!
Why did the Patriots not kick a 49 yard field goal on 4^th and 13 in the first half? Bet Belichick is regretting that one today.
Why not declare the Super Bowl a national holiday? I can make a case that just as many people get together for food and parties as they do for Thanksgiving. If fact, I was told at a party yesterday that there actually has been a study done which found that people consume more food during the Super Bowl then on Thanksgiving.
Do we really need another reason to consume massive amounts of food? Why not.

On a final note, for those of you out there that root for the Detroit Lions, look back to week eleven of the NFL schedule and you'll see that they played the Giants. Both teams were 6-3 at the time. The Lions almost won. Almost. But they didn't, and went on to finish the season 7-9. We saw yesterday how the Giants finished. Once again, I am proud to be a Lions fan. Adios.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

2008-01-30T18:34:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting in my Organization Behavior in Management class right now listening to a lecture about how to have a positive attitude. As a former pessimist, I do have a few deep thoughts on this issue. Read on if you would like to be enlightened, or skip over this post if you have already gotten there yourself.

For me, my trip to the good side of the force started when I began mountain biking with greater frequency while in my early 20's and living in MI. I found that it allowed me to challenge myself, while also allowing me the freedom to pretty much do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. The abridged version of this story led me to move solo to Arizona eight years ago, forced me to make friends in a new place, which has surrounded me with influential and successful people who contributed to getting myself back into school and work on finishing up my degree. Hence, I sit here now writing this blog post when I should really be paying better attention, but I'm pretty positive that I get the jist of this lecture. Adios.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-26T11:48:00.000-05:00

I know it's a little late, but I think the cold here in MI has partially frozen my brain. Happy Holidays to everyone! (Yes, that would be the two people out there who actually read this blog, you know who you are. ;) ) Adios.

Lions Imitate Turkey, Stuffed by Pack on Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

Hopefully most of you that read this, know that I was kidding a bit with my Detroit Lions Super Bowl prediction a few weeks ago. Since that post, they have not won a single game and are currently wrapped up in a three game losing streak. Let's hope that they can at least rally together and win one more game this year so that I can collect my winnings from my "7 win season" bet(s) with two coworkers, although even that is looking a little grim at this point. I'll try a reverse jinx here and see if we can't get 'em going again. Basement in four weeks. Adios.

El Tour de Tucson: 25th Anniversery Edition

2007-11-17T18:25:00.001-05:00

It was a great day for bike racing with 10,000 of your closest friends at the 25th El Tour de Tucson. This years event drew a record number of cyclists, pushing the entries over 10,000 for the first time in history. I think that this is also the biggest one day cycling event in the country, pretty cool that it is right here in Tucson. To finish well here is a bit of a crapshoot, even if the fitness is good, as there are two wash crossings and a ton of other variables that can get in the way of a good ride.

My day started well, as I went into the first river crossing top 15 and made it through with no problems. The sand was a little deeper than in years past due to the lack of rain, which made riding the wash pretty difficult. After this my plan was to sit back and recover, eat, and stay hydrated until the second river crossing 45 miles into the event, which is where the significant splits usually happen.

Once again, things were going well for me as I led the field into the final corner before the creek crossing, only to get swarmed coming into it, but still able to ride most of the way and coming out the other side somewhere around tenth while sitting on the wheel of 2006 winner Michael Grabinger of the Successful Living team. Great spot to be, as once we made it over the steep climb of Snyder hill and turned onto Sunrise Rd with 70 miles to go, the race was starting to look like it had been made with an elite group of 30 riders at the front. The eventual winning breakaway formed from this group and I screwed up and missed it, but otherwise, things were looking pretty good at this point.

Fast forward about 30 miles and now we are on Tangerine Rd, which has a significant downhill section coming after the previous ten or so miles of rolling hills. A good counter move formed off the front the group and I made the split. The break was five guys with myself, Alexie Martinez (2006 3rd place finisher), Nick Schrieber (2006 AZ Pro points champ), and two others. We quickly put a minute into the pack and I started to think that we may have a chance if we could make it over Rattlesnake Pass, the last major obstacle of the course coming with about 20 miles to go. Unfortunately for me, I had the legs to ride with the break, but didn't have the legs to drive it like it needed to be driven, and I don't think that anyone else had great legs either, except maybe Nick, who was taking some monster pulls at the front. So it was looking like were going to be caught on the flat road leading up to Rattlesnake. One guy sat-up, while the rest of us pressed on towards the hill. Here was where the race changed for everyone. I could see the pack coming up to us, but I was thinking that it surely was only the remnants of the 30 strong pack I had been riding with for the last 50 miles. When we were caught halfway up the pass, I was shocked to see that the pack had swelled to about 150 riders! It was the biggest front pack I'd seen this late in the race. So the tactics changed once again and the options were to wait for a field sprint for the remaining places, or try and get to the line in a small group by attacking on the run-in back to town on Silverbell Rd.

I was able to try one short lived move on the way back towards town. A dangerous group of three riders had formed and was dangling about 600 meters in front of the pack. I attacked solo and tried to bridge with about ten miles to go, but couldn't make it with the headwind and gradual rolling hills slowing me down. I ended up sitting in no-mans-land about 200 meters behind the break for 3-4 miles before I sat up and came back to the pack, which was closing in on me very quickly. So it was going to be a field sprint with about 100 guys left, not a good situation.

The finish was crazy as there were a line of cars that the police hadn't moved out of our lane, causing the pack to fan out on both sides of the road. I was forced to bunnyhop the median and went straight up the middle through the pack. Saw a wicked crash right in front of me, which I was able to avoid, afterwhich I decided that since I had dropped back to around 20th position, I would not sprint and only wanted to make it around the final corner safely. Mission accomplished with the end result being a 42nd place finish, time was 4:16 for 109 miles with a 25.6mph average speed. Adios.

TCX #2: The Goat Rears It's Ugly Head

2007-11-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

When my alarm went off this morning at 8:40, I laid in bed for at least 30 seconds wondering why the hell it was going off, before I remembered that I was doing a cyclocross race today. Finally made it up, fired up the coffee and a bit of food, then headed out the door for my first race on my new Scott cyclocross bike.

I think that things would have gone pretty well, had the goat not reared it's ugly head out on the course today, although that damn thing bit just about everyone else at one point during the race. I was riding pretty well, comfortably in 4th about 25 seconds back of 2nd and 3rd halfway through the race when, pssssssssttttt, double flat. No wheels in the pit. Race could be over. Thanks to Jen Pullen, who pulled both wheels off of her bike and met me in the pit so I could continue. Back on the bike after a three minute wheel change (note: need easier brakes) and I think I was in 7th or 8th, no chance to catch 3rd, but plenty of guys within reach. Made it back up to 5th and was closing in on 4th with about two laps to go when I got another flat on the backside of the course. No more wheels, thought I was done, but luckily my original back wheel only had a slow leak and I was able to put it back on. The leader passed me while I was in the pit, so suddenly I was on the bell lap, way back in 9th. Passed two guys but ran out of real estate in the end to finish 7th.

I hate goatheads.

On a side note, congrats to Brian Matter for taking his second win at the Iceman Challenge, a.k.a. the midwest mtb championships. Adios.

Here is a picture of me on my way to 7th overall in the 1999 Iceman.

Sullivan's after a Long Day

2007-11-09T04:24:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a couple of martini's and some smooth jazz to mellow one out after a night of work. Four hour ride today, got a haircut, went to class and skipped a class to go to work. Can I end each sentence with the word work? Yes, if that work(s). Adios.

Super Bowl Bound????????

2007-11-05T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Detroit Lions are 6-2 at the conclusion of the first half of the NFL season.

Could this be the year?

One can only hope!

Adios.

Underground Means Buried

2007-11-04T20:35:00.000-05:00

So I went to a local cross race here in Tucson today. It was an unsanctioned, underground event that I think was a little too underground with only four guys showing up and two of them left before anyone else got there. Two more guys showed up about 35 minutes after the racing was slated to start, and with a total now of five guys there, including the promoter, we all decided to bag it. I ended up riding the cross bike out over Gates Pass and through the park on the west side, so I still had a good day on the bike.

I still think that a cross series could go off well in Tucson if it was promoted correctly. There is already talk of a series in the works for the fall of 2008, so that could be something to look forward to. The Phoenix series that has started could be a good model for the rest of us to follow, or even build upon to create a statewide series in '08. We'll have to see what happens. Adios.

Found a Pic from Graham, so Here You Go!

2007-10-28T20:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, I was suffering a bit at the moment! Adios.

Cyclocross in Arizona

2007-10-27T14:09:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I traveled up to Phoenix for the inaugural race of the AZ Cyclocross Series. Jeremy Bounds has finally had enough of no one taking the reigns and has thrown together what looks like a pretty good five race series in the Phoenix area. I haven't raced cross since I won 3 of 4 races in the Tucson series in 2005, so I was a bit anxious to see how I'd go and who would be there for race number one.

The first thing I noticed was the field size and depth of the field. There were almost as many guys in the men's open race as we get for all categories in the Tucson series. Most of the local roadies and several pro/elite mountain bikers were lined up at the start. Looking around, the second thing I noticed was that almost everyone was on an Ultegra level cross bike, with a few guys even running tubulars! This was not seen a couple years ago here, and really shows how the sport is growing all over the country. I stood out a bit on my 2.2 inch knobby tired mountain bike.

So onto the race. I lined up on the front row and got a great start, slotting into 4th position going into the first barrier section. Stayed in 4th position for about half the first lap, but decided to go to the front going into a technical section that I thought I could get through quicker then everyone else due to my equipment choice. That turned out to be a mistake due to the massive headwind and I ended up towing the front group for a while. Shortly after this I blew up like the Space Shuttle Challenger and that was pretty much the end of my day. Bit of a bummer, I spent the next couple laps trying not to puke and recover a bit, which I did, but I was half a lap down at that point so I just caught a few guys and tried to roll it in strong to save a little pride. Not the best race, but still glad to be out there. Adios.

State Road Race Recap

2007-10-14T13:16:00.000-04:00

One can sum up the state road race yesterday by looking at the start list. Out of about twenty or so starters, eleven where from the Rideclean team, three Eclipse, and everyone else was an individual. I think the only thing that made the race even remotely interesting was that Michael Grabinger signed up, as he is stronger then the entire Rideclean team, so that put a twist into an otherwise negative race. We went up with myself, the Hoppert, and Glick, while the only other rider of note in the field was World Deaf Cycling Champion, Nick Schrieber.

The race itself was a brutal affair, with attacks flying off the front almost immediately, forcing everyone to have to constantly chase the Rideclean riders who were taking turns putting a pretty good hurt on the rest of the field. I will admit that they rode pretty much perfect team tactics, but it was frustrating being on the receiving end of them, and I voiced my displeasure a couple times during the race. The race played out on the 3rd of 5 laps, as the main break finally went up the road with Schrieber, Grabinger, Forbes (Rideclean), and I think one other. I countered a few miles later and brought out Jake Rubelt and Mark Aasmundstad (both RC), but couldn't hold the pace on the finish climb and popped off. That was pretty much it, as the race was happening up the road at this point and we weren't in it. Rode in with a group of six that I think were the only other guys left in the race, and finished second out of that group for I think about 8th place on the day.

That's it for the road season here in Arizona. It has been a long year at this point, with the season being extended by three weeks with the postponement of the state race from it's original September date. I'm looking forward to picking up a cross bike and hitting a few cross races coming up, maybe doing some running here and there, and basically relaxing a bit while still maintaining some fitness. Adios.

I'm In!

2007-10-14T13:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I found out last night that I've been accepted into the Eller Business College at the UA. This means that I can finally see that the end of my school days is in sight at last. The program starts in the spring 2008 semester and will run for four semesters, which puts my expected graduation date at December 2009. :) Can't wait for that to happen, just in time for the 2010 cycling season!!! Ha, ha, ha. Adios.

My Future

2007-09-29T16:19:00.000-04:00

I just returned from my interview at the University of Arizona Eller School of Business. This has been an ongoing process for me for the last year, as I decided to pursue acceptance into Eller in the fall of 2006, and have spent the last year taking all of the prerequisite business courses and trying raise my GPA to the minimum level at the same time. It's been quite a process, but I made it and today was the day where it all came to a head. I think that things went pretty well, the interview was a little intimidating as it was entirely a Q and A session between myself and my two interviewers, but I think I held my own. I had to take an assessment test afterwards that I also think went pretty well, had a couple questions about two of the answers, but I just looked them up at home and I think I got them right. So now the hard part is over and I just have to sit tight over the next couple weeks until I hear if I am in or not. Hoping for good news in the mail soon. Adios.

You Heard it Here First

2007-09-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

Mt. Graham top five:
1. Michael Grabinger (Succesfull Living)
2. Mark Aasmundstad (Rideclean)
3. Stephen Slabodnick (Landis)
4. David Glick (Eclipse)
5. Ryan Blickem (Landis)

Somewhere way behind these guys...Jason Karew (Eclipse).

Adios.

Mis-quoted????

2007-09-21T17:38:00.000-04:00

From Velonews.com, November 16, 2003:

"I have never taken EPO or any other substance prohibited in sport," she asserted. "Never."

The "She" in this case was Genevieve Jeanson.

Right.

Adios.

Mt. Graham on the Horizon

2007-09-18T22:43:00.000-04:00

One of the classic Arizona events is coming up this weekend, the 28th annual Mt. Graham Hillclimb. There is a cool little story about the history of this event here. Should be an epic day on the mountain, as there is a weather system developing in Puget Sound, Canada that should be making it's way into our area by the weekend. A couple years back, the race was run in hurricane-like conditions, as southeast Arizona was getting the remnants of a hurricane that was hammering Texas and the Gulf Coast. I wasn't there, but I remember how bad it was in Tucson that day, and found out from talking to some people who had raced that the conditions were abysmal to say the least. At least they were going uphill! Now if only I can justify that KOM that I picked up way back in Globe...Adios.

57:44

2007-09-16T18:36:00.000-04:00

That was my time at the AZ State Time Trial Championships today, good for 3rd in the 2's, 25th overall. Also a PR for me, although I've only done one other 40km in my life. Grabinger won, followed my Mark Aasmundstad. Adios.

What Happened?

2007-09-14T13:07:00.000-04:00

I feel like something has happened to my building form this week. Where did it go? I went from feeling like I was actually getting somewhere, to sleeping 9-11 hours every night for the past few days and waking up still not feeling recovered. Maybe it's the cat? Is he sucking the life out of me as I sleep? I'd rather think not, of course! I've been telling myself all week that hopefully I'll start to come around with another recovery day, but that hasn't happened yet and now I am starting to worry that I may have picked something up and haven't realized it. Hmmmmmm...maybe another recovery day? Adios.

Kitt Peak TT

2007-09-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

The Kitt Peak Time Trial was held on Sunday, conditions were perfect but the times seemed to be a little slower all the way around in most categories. Slabodnick won again with a 52:48, followed by Glick, Timmy, the Hoppert, and myself in 2nd through 5th. I think that I was 12th overall. Actually thought that I had a pretty good ride going until I started to bonk with about 2 miles to go and lost about a minute to Hoppert. Would have been 3rd if not for that, maybe I should have eaten dinner the night before? The Hoppert and I rode back to town afterwards and made it a five hour day with a lot of suffering for both of us. I'm still tired, but hopefully I'll recover well this week and be ready to go for my least favorite event ever, the state time trial this weekend. Wouldn't even be doing it if it wasn't right here in Tucson, but since it's so close, I figured why not give it a go. Adios.

MEN CAT 1-2
1 391 Stephan Slabodnick Landis/Trek 29 0:52:21 13.30
2 304 David Glick Eclipse Racing 25 0:53:14 13.07
3 395 Tim Carolan Eclipse Racing 35 0:58:48 11.84
4 368 Jeff Hoppert Eclipse Racing 34 0:59:28 11.70
5 369 Jason Karew Eclipse Racing 34 0:59:52 11.63
6 396 Paul Kealey Summit Velo 35 1:01:01 11.41
7 377 Evan Hyde 1:01:27 11.33
8 375 John Farris unattached 29 1:05:26 10.64

Raining in the Desert

2007-09-06T22:34:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to train a bit after taking an easier week following Skull Valley, and I think that I am finally starting to come around on the bike. Amazing what a little rest can do for you. Anyway, we have the remnants of a tropical depression bringing some much needed rain and cooler temperatures into the Tucson valley over the next couple days. Today the forecast called for scattered showers all day with a high temp of only 87, which looked like a pretty good day for riding, as long as you didn't mind getting a little wet. I headed out this morning at 6:45 in a steady drizzle, but that was ok since the temps were in the 70's. Went the long way out Big Square, with the rain letting up about two hours in, but giving way to a pretty good headwind on the return trip. Cool ride, though, as it is always a treat to view the Tucson Mountains when they are shrouded in clouds. Adios.

Skull Valley

2007-08-26T21:10:00.001-04:00

Who would have thought that 90 miles would hurt so much? Skull Valley road race was today just outside Prescott. We had a pretty small field of about 20 guys, and unfortunately 14 of them were stronger then me, as I finished in the back quarter of the field in 15th. Could be that my longest ride of the last three months has been 80 miles, but hopefully I'll pick up a little fitness here going into September's month of time trial madness. Of course those are all a bit shorter, but what the hell? Michael Grabinger won today, with the Vampire Chris Walker coming in second. Adios.

Racing, Road Rash, and TT's

2007-08-20T13:43:00.001-04:00

So I am back on the bike and finally have been getting in some longer rides and a little bit of consistency over the last two weeks. It has been a while and I can definitely feel the effects of not riding much over a six week period from late June to early August. That being said, I am feeling pretty fresh and looking forward to the end of the season races.

I finally jumped back into it a couple weeks ago at the Tucson Criterium. I was riding ok here until I crashed myself coming out of the final turn while attempting to bridge to the break. Did get back in and finished, but it was not the best performance of my life. Had some nasty road rash on my arm and hip that is just now healing up, the hip took the worst of it, as I landed on my bone and still have a pretty good bruise there.

Yesterday was the Mt. Lemmon Time Trial, which has been seeing greater numbers of riders turning out each year. I think it is really the King of the Mountains title for the Tucson based riders who train on the slopes regularly. Yesterday's turnout was a record 260 riders, a great number for any local race, especially one that has no prize's! Stephen Slabodnick (Landis) won with a course record time of 47:34, followed by Kyle Colavito (RideClean), who came in at 49:04. They were the only two riders that broke 50:00. Guess we know who to watch at the Skull Valley Road Race next weekend. I thought that Kyle would take it after seeing him pass me around the 4th mile going at least 2 mph faster than I was. Guess Slabodnick has been training also. I ended up 6th in pro 1,2, and 28th overall with a time of 55:56. I'll take it considering where I am at right now.

Scott Blanchard has been putting on a Night Crit Series every Wednesday at the P1 Kart Circuit at the Tucson Raceway. I haven't been able to make any due to work, but you should check them out if you can. The picture above is from last weeks race. Adios.

No More Bets

2007-07-26T12:27:00.000-04:00

I guess I'm going to have to stop doing my daily (at least for the past week) over/under bet on the doping stories going on in le Tour, since virtually every story that has been coming out recently has related to that subject. I saw the news yesterday regarding the yellow jersey about 3:00 pm, and frankly, it just made me sad. I love cycling and have spent the last ten years trying to race at a high level. Stories like this really just about make me want to quit the sport. It is just sad these days when almost every headline related to cycling, and pro sports in general, leaves the reader with a bad taste in their mouth. Go to any major sports page, all one reads about anymore is dogfighting, steroids, gambling, doping, cheating, money, strippers, and, oh yeah, maybe an occasional score thrown in just to satisfy the people who seem to care. I guess this is why we see so many bitter old men. Adios.

Why?

2007-07-24T13:17:00.000-04:00

I was going to write about my over/under being up one with three the final tally from yesterdays velonews.com. I was even going to make fun of that a little bit, and then comment on a helluva tour stage yesterday and a great comeback from Vinoukurov for the win. I was going to comment on Cadel losing more time but still being able to make the final podium on Sunday. But then I saw this report and just decided that the best comment would be a simple question...why? Adios.

The Revised Top Ten as of this Morning:

1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), RABOBANK, 69:52:14
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 2:23
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), PREDICTOR - LOTTO, 4:00
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 5:25
6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), TEAM CSC, 6:46
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, 7:27
9. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-MOBILE TEAM, 8:24
10. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, 9:21
11. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), CAISSE D'EPARGNE, 10:41
12. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 12:29

Evans has Cracked

2007-07-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

So I was watching the tour this morning and found myself shouting encouragement at the tv as Cadel was in the process of cracking on the final climb with about 5 or 6 km's to go. He's still holding onto 3rd, but barely at this point, one more bad day there and the lights are going to go out for him. Bummer. One can now only hope that Rasmussen somehow cracks a bit, but I don't see that as being to likely.

I guess I should have posted a number with my over/under from yesterday, but here is the latest dope from velonews.com today. The over/under for tomorrow is going to be set at 2, after all it is a mountain stage. Adios.

Go Cadel

2007-07-21T18:51:00.000-04:00

Cadel Evens did my pre-race prediction well today with a strong second place in the 54km TT, moving up to 2nd on GC in the process. No, I do not think that he will be able to gain any time in the next three mountain stages, but if he is able to hold his position and not lose time to Vino or Kloden, then he may be able to make up his one minute deficit to Rasmooooosen in the next time trial one week from now.

There was one doping story on velonews.com today, what is the over/under for tomorrow? Any bets on when the next day with zero doping stories will occur? One can only wonder. Adios.

Tour de Dope

2007-07-20T18:31:00.001-04:00

So Rasmussen has been booted from the Danish national team and now this just came through velonews.com this afternoon. Sweet. Shouldn't matter in the end 'cause Cadel is still going to take the yellow into Paris next weekend.

I doped this morning with three cups of coffee and then rode extra fast on my hour recovery ride on the bike path. Even passed a family of 4 in the dirt at 13.5 mph! Take that! Might have to dope some more tonight with an espresso so I can make it through work this evening. Man I'm evil these days! Whatever. ;)

On a side note I'm on the cusp of shooting in the 40's for nine holes, last two rounds have been 50 and 51. Adios.

Thoughts on Giving Back to the Sport

2007-06-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

I was on this site earlier today following a thread through the comments section about giving back to the sport. It can be both hugely rewarding and a giant pain in the ass to promote a bike race, or helping out and running a club or race team. We should thank those you do it, especially the guys that run out own teams, if we are lucky enough to have them. Here is my response, just something to think about:

The old argument that we just want to be racers and shouldn't have to be bothered with promoting a race here and there, or helping out in other ways by giving back to the sport is b.s. Since 99% of us have never been paid, even at the pro 1,2 level, most of us rely solely on sponsorship dollars to foot the bill for our week in and week out racing addiction. Where do you think that comes from? Individuals and companies that like cycling enough to want to GIVE BACK to the sport by helping others out. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of the racers (especially the older one's, and by that I mean guys that are in their 30's and 40's that have been at it for years) to help keep the sport alive at the local levels by promoting races or helping to organize clubs/rides/etc...just remember those that were doing that when you were 20 years old and just starting out, where do you think they came from? I can think of at least five guys that made an impact on me through the years as I was learning the ropes, all were racers and all were older. Mentor the young and the sport will thrive. Adios.

Deep Thoughts

2007-05-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

I was thinking the other day about goal setting and why many people find it easier to set a goal that is just outside of the top level, and seem to be happy with achieving that. For example, it is much easier to say that the goal would be to finish top ten rather than setting a goal of winning, or that the goal is to get a B rather than shooting for an A. Perhaps this comes from the simple fact that it is easy to achieve a substandard goal, but takes much more work, dedication, and sacrifice in order to achieve a higher one. This can be applied to many facets of life, not the least of which are athletics, academics, work, and relationships. It is hard to achieve maximum success, and we tend to make fun of those who choose to pursue this. Think about it, we all know one or two people who seem to be always working, rarely taking the time to do anything else, yet these people frequently are the ones who seem to excel in most things that they do, while the rest of us seem to simply exist, being good at some things and average at the rest. Perhaps we are simply happy with that. Adios.

Pissed

2007-05-07T13:10:00.000-04:00

I think that I had one of the more frustrating races of my life yesterday at the Cyclo de Mayo Grand Prix in Scottsdale. Started front row and somehow missed the break that went 4 laps into it and lapped the field. Whoops. Then I proceeded to get second for three straight cash primes, and got caught halfway around the course for two more later in the race. When this guy took one of the primes I was so pissed that I almost quit, but my only consolation of the day was that I did not quit and stuck it out for 14th place. At least I made a little money in the end. The race was actually pretty hard, starting with 52 guys and finishing with only 22. Procon cycling did a great job with the promotion and had a really cool course setup right in downtown Scottsdale. I didn't see 4000+ spectators like it was advertised, but there were still quite a few people milling around watching the race. All things considered, not to bad of a day, and I did get a free lunch at In 'N Out afterwards. Adios.

People You Meet Along the Way

2007-05-02T20:31:00.000-04:00

Just got back in from a pretty sweet training ride to the top of Mt. Lemmon. I rode with the company of my iPod and made it up to ski valley in 2:06:43 with a average HR of 149, not to bad.

Once there, I rode into Summerhaven and stopped at the store for a slice of their infamous pie. Getting it to me seemed a little complicated, not sure why that was, but it was worth the small wait. Blueberry, with a Root Beer to wash it down. I ran into a Harley rider up there who started talking to me about his cycling. Turns out that he was from Austin and rode an M4. The guy was pretty cool, and also was one month into his first chemo treatment for a cancer that he had been diagnosed with. We talked about that for a bit, as both of my aunt's have had breast cancer diagnoses over the last three years. Both are doing well now, and I hope that this gentleman has the same fortune.

We take for granted the gifts that we are given every day. Adios.

Dan in Bisbee

2007-05-02T14:19:00.000-04:00

Good pic of Dan from the final stage of Bisbee.

Big Problems in the Shark Tank

2007-05-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

The Red Wings blew another lead yesterday in San Jose, and now trail the Sharks 2-1 in their best of seven second round series. Game four is tomorow night in San Jose. The Wings always make me nervous come playoff time, as they usually come into the playoff's as one of the favorites, yet somehow find ways to get beat early during most years. Root for them tomorow at 7:00 if you can, they are going to need all the support they can get.

I was up at 5:30 this morning and hit the group ride. Felt pretty good and am getting my strength back after last week's stomach problems. Pablo won the sprint over Gates Pass, and will now take over the Tuesday Morning Leaders Jersey, jersey presentation to come later. Adios.

Recovering

2007-04-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

Bisbee didn't go that great for me. I had a stomach bug earlier in the week that was making it so that I couldn't eat, which had a negative effect on my race there. I rode the prologue and got killed, then ended up pulling out of the road race on Saturday when my legs wouldn't put out any power about 30 miles into the race. Definitely have had better weekends! As a team, we got worked a bit. Our best placed rider after the prologue was Dave, but he crashed out in the first road race, good thing I was already out and could take him to the ER in Bisbee. He'll be ok, just some road rash and some deep muscle bruising. As for me, I've been getting my appitite back the past couple days and am eating everything in sight trying to get my strength back. Should be fine in the next couple days, just need to get back on the bike and get some consistent training in again.

On a side note, I did play nine holes yesterday and scored my first ever birdie on the ninth hole. Adios.

State Crit Champs

2007-04-24T14:46:00.000-04:00

We all headed up to the Firebird International Raceway last Saturday for the AZ State Criterium Championships. I was hoping for some good results here for myself, as I had been 11th and 8th the past two years on the technical old town course in downtown Scottsdale. The Firebird course was the total oppisite, with no tecnical aspects at all, just wide open speed. It is designed as an automotive track, so all of the turns are take really wide arcs to allow for cars to get through them at speed, which to a cyclist means that you never really had to stop pedaling at all. Anyway, the race started fast and stayed fast, with no real moves ever getting away until race winner Curtis Gunn of Successful Living launched a solo break with about 6 or 7 laps to go. I'm not sure how he managed to hold off the field, but he did for a pretty impressive win. As for me, I made it into a couple short-lived moves, one halfway through the race and one with 3 to go, but none worked and I think I was around 20-25th in the field sprint for 2nd. Jared was the best placed Eclipse rider, and finished somewhere around 10-15th, but no results have been posted online yet, so I'm guessing at all of these.

Bisbee is this weekend. I think I may have come down with a cold or something as I haven't been feeling super hot the past few days, but I've been trying to get a lot of rest so that I come around by Friday's prologue. Slept for 12 hours last night and woke up this morning feeling a little bit better, but still pretty flat. Cross your fingers for me.

Below is a photo-shopped pic from the race. I'm pretty sure that it is me in the middle of the pic with the dark glasses on. Adios.

Can you guess what race this is?

2007-04-24T14:44:00.000-04:00

TBC Final Results

2007-04-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

Well, the 2007 Tucson Bicycle Classic is in the books. Today's 45 mile circuit race was marked by some pretty strong wind gusts that were getting stronger as the race went on. We tried to get Jared the 3rd lap time bonus, and had a pretty sweet leadout going into it, with all five of our riders on the front of the race. Dan and Kendal took some pretty strong turns into the hills and headwind about a km from the sprint line. It almost worked, however we were outgunned by the GC leader and 2nd place rider Mark Aasmundstad, so no time for us, but we did succeed in not letting the two riders closest to Jared pick up any time either. As for the rest of the race, I was mostly trying to sit in and conserve, but I had some more leg cramp issues with two laps to go. Luckily, I was able to fight through it and make it to the line, finishing up in 11th place to move into 12th on the final GC. Jared crossed the line in 7th, solidifying his 5th place GC. Full results can be found here.

The guy that took first place out of a two man breakaway should not have even been racing today, because in yesterday's road race he DNF'd with a mechanical somewhere around the 3rd or 4th lap. Must have been feeling pretty fresh today, huh? Nice call from our chief official on that one. Adios.

TBC Update

2007-04-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick update of how things have been going for during the first two stages of the Tucson Bicycle Classic:

Stage 1: McCain Loop Time Trial. I think that I screwed this one up a bit by riding the opening downhill section at to high a cadence. I felt pretty good on the climbing sections, but my plan was to conserve for the first mile until I hit the climbs. Conserve I did, but when I glanced at my computer about a minute in, my cadence was 107, which is way to high for me. Anyway, I clocked a 8:40 and finished in 18th place. Jared Gilyard set the bar for the team with an 8:27, which was good for 8th place, followed by Jeff Hoppert in 13th with 8:30.

Stage 2: Tumacocori Road Race. This race was brutal. Our plan was to try and keep Jared fresh for as long as possible, and hopefully I would be there in the end to help him out in the last couple laps. We finally started the race around 12:30 after a delay of over an hour waiting for the other groups that were on the course to finish up. I think it was the longest delay I've ever experienced, but no one really bitched all that much, which was nice. The pace was fast on the climbs and slow everywhere else for the first 3 or so laps. I covered a move with Chris Wilson from Rideclean, who was trying to bridge to a solo break that had gone up the road on lap 1. We were brought back near the top of the climb on lap 3. The race started to heat up then, as the break had gotten to 2:50 and the Rideclean team was starting to organize a chase. From here on out it was a sufferfest for me, as we were going between 25 - 30 on the flats and hitting the climbs all out each time. I succumbed to leg cramps around lap 7 and that was the last I saw of the main group. The group was down to about 20 riders when I popped off, and once I got my shit back together a bit, I was able to pick some guys off in the last few laps to finish up in 14th place, which moved me up to 12th on GC. Jared rode strongly once again to finish up in 5th, which moved him into 5th on GC.

Today is the circuit race and the finally of the Tucson Bicycle Classic. There is a time bonus sprint on lap 3, and also 3 places at the finish line. We will try and get Jared that first time bonus, because if he can pick it up it will move him up into 4th overall. Wish us luck. Adios.

It's ON

2007-04-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

New Kits Are Here!

2007-04-12T20:42:00.000-04:00

Went for a 2.5 hour ride today in the new Eclipse kit, which was really nice. The team decided to go with the full zip for 2007. This was my first time with a full zip jersey and I think that the convenience will be much appreciated during those moments of last-second-pre-race jitters that I'm sure all of us are all to familiar with. Except Kyle of course, since he has nerves of steel. The kits look very similar to last years, with a couple changes to some sponsor logo's and a new material in the jersey. I'll try and get a picture up as soon as I can get one.

On a side note, the Rillito River path is now paved in it's entirety, which makes for a pretty easy and traffic free 25 miles. Now if we can only get some water in there. Adios.

Finally out of Hibernation

2007-04-12T14:26:00.000-04:00

Well, as you can easily see, I haven't put an update out in quite some time. Must have been all of the secret training that I've been doing from midnight to 3 am every night that has been leaving me to tired to type during the day. :)-

I did get a chance to impersonate Phil Liggett as I was the race announcer for the U of A/Eclipse Racing criterium last weekend. That was super fun, but a long day to be up there talking about various groups of cyclists racing in circles. It was cool to announce the pro 1,2 race, as I knew just about everyone in the field, and you really can see the difference in speeds between that category and all the rest. My teammate, David Glick, rode a really strong race in a three man breakaway to come in 3rd on the day, with Nick Shrieber taking the win followed by Jake "the Snake" Rubelt in 2nd.

The pic from my previous post came from the 2005 fall version of the Tucson Bicycle Classic. Tomorrow begins the 2007 version, which promises to be a ball-buster as the Gates Pass road race has been replaced with the Tumacocori course down in Rio Rico. They split the pro 1,2 up into separate categories, and I think that we have a pretty strong team of 2's that can contest the overall GC this weekend. More updates to come as the racing develops. Adios.

Check Out Those Shades!

2007-03-28T12:03:00.000-04:00

Tumacacori

2007-03-27T01:24:00.000-04:00

Did the Tumacacori road race on Sunday after working 27 hours and two consecutive doubles at work on Friday and Saturday. Not really the best race prep that I've ever had. Anyway, I headed down to the race not really knowing what to expect out of the legs for the day. Turned out that I ended up having a decent day once I was able to get moving, to bad for me that happened after I had been spit out the back on the climb on lap 2. I rode in a group that was about 30 seconds to 1 minute behind that pack for about 3 laps but we just couldn't close the gap. Used the race as a killer training ride after that and pulled the climb every lap until I attacked the group with two to go and caught a few more guys on the way in to finish up in 16th place. David Glick, Tim Carolan, and Jared Gilyard had the best showing for the team, finishing up in 4th, 6th, and 7th respectively. Jared would have been 2nd had he not had his lap count a little screwed up in the end, bummer about that. Full results can be found here. Adios.