1st edition Tight Pants 2006

So, I went out to tight pants this evening...man, I have really missed it. Riding by myself has gotten a little brutal as of late, and having a group of guys and gal sweating all over each other, and attacking the crap out of the group is quite welcoming. The weather was excellent, and the group seemed a bit more pleasant than I remember last year. Anyway, the first tight-pants of the year was good for me...the group has been rolling around for the past month, however, this was my first, and definitely not last visit this season.


Tour of STL was last weekend: weather looked less-than promising for the weekend, however, our Saturday race at Carondolet was actually pretty nice: that is, if you consider 30+ mph wind gusts a good time. Greeker, Chad and Mat made it up for the race and it was on from the gun. The fun thing about STL racing (compared to all of the racing I have done down south this season) is all of the attacking...Seriously, if someone isn't already drilling it, then there is at least 5 others waiting to drill it as soon as the first person comes back. We got Chad up in the winning move, then put Ankney up the road in the second move. Cagle's group ended up lapping the field, and Ankney's group got brought back...good news is, that Mat won the field sprint, and Chad got 4th out of the break.

Sunday was beautiful again...that is, until 30 minutes in. The field wouldn't let anything go up the road at Forrest Park, so it was just attack, after attack. Around the half way point, it began sprinkling, then dumping, then just raining. The corners were super slick, and the race was split up a bit...you had the wusses (like myself), skirting the corners,while all of the big hard men were rocking them. Needless to say, it created an interesting race dynamic. Joe Hill crashed with 2 or 3 laps to go (*the race got called early, at about the 60 minute mark) and then turned around and won. Jensen slid further than any man should, and Mat took 4th.

K and I looked at a house up in the north city...unfourtunatly, I think we are going to have to balk at it. The neighborhood is great, but it isn't exaclty located in the most friendly part of town. More on houses soon. We will take the camera up next time...sucks thought, becasue this house rocked!

But, it was the first one we looked at, and we were excited, and there is probably one as cool as this one out there for us...just not for the price. Oh well, maybe not all is lost.

I tried to post all the pics, but the links will have to do. Sorry

Wow!

I tried to post an audio update over the weekend, however, I assume that didn't work...quick recap: Bob Herbert Memorial SR

I stunk the TT up at Bob Herbert. I had a nasty run in w/johnny crapper, and spent the majority of my warm up on the can. That led to a crappy time.

So, since I was sitting like nothing overall, I went with an early move in the circuit race, which stuck, and put a minute .5 into the field. Now, I am sitting 7th overall. We had two others 4th and 5th, so my job was still to work for them.

I burnt a lot of matches early in the race on Sunday, but things payed off...we popped the two top-placed GC riders, overcame the time gap, and took 1st, 3rd, and 7th for the the weekend.

So, I am not really sure why time has seemed so short lately; maybe I am just more selfish with it. I have been spending more time with K and the pets, which has been good. Sometimes, you forget about the things that matter most in life. Cycing has been tough the past few weeks, but I think I have dug deep inside of myself and found new inspiration. There are a lot of changes I am going to have to deal with in the next several months, but this seems to be my typical life schedule. K and I have been searching for homes in STL, with little success. It seems like you have to have a decent job to purchase a home...who'd a thought?

The Tour of STL is this weekend, and I think some of the OK boys are heading our direction...I should probably not mention that the weather is supposed to be crappy; better let them find out on their own.

So, random post, but this is how things are now.

Here you go Micah

So, it has been a while. Nothing has changed too much. I still work a lot, I still ride bikes, and I still have a crazy dog named Parker.

The only thing that has really changed around the mid-MO scene, is that crits have started. Thank the lord! I have done more RR this season than all other seasons combined. Well, that may be close to being true.

This past weekend was Hillsboro and the Tilles park crit. Hillsboro was a race of attrition (as usual). It was seasonable, but unusually cool for that race. Illinois usually experiences a heat wave everytime that race comes to town, but this year, it was 50 and windy as all can be. The field was as big as I have ever seen it, and with fire power like 10 ABD guys, Nick Riestad, a few Bianchi Grand Dopers, and St. Louis teams so big it would make your heads spin; Java Doug and I had our hands full. The short version of the story is there was a break, and after a TTT by ABD for the first 50 miles brought them back, Trek Midwest sent their guys off like a pack of Saturn Missles on the 4th of July. The race comepletely shattered and nothing good came from it.

Tilles brought several early attacks, and a quickly established break. Java tried to bridge, but after several laps, came back to the field. My turn. No dice. I tried to get accross several other times, but each time was the same story. The break was stuck, so I decided to take a last lap flyer and try and sneak in the money. Tilford thought otherwise, grabbing onto my wheel, while I burned every last match I had. That guy came around me like it was nobody's busines about 20 meters from the line. Physically and Mentally defeated, I sat up and everyone came rushing around for the finish. Bummer.

I have been able to take a couple of easy days this week, and I am going to get out on my TT bike tonight just to putz around. I am excited to get that thing dialed in. We have a TT in a little over a week that will be a good first test.

That is all for now, one of these days, I will make time for things like this.

Old Mushy Man Rock

That is what I am listening to at the moment. Every work place has it's own style of music, and the music at PSCR is a genre I will not miss. Not that I really enjoy listening to the Dead or WSP all day every day, but at least there is enough going on so I can tune that out.

This week has been our Super Sale, and it has been super busy. With me finishing up my hours at PSCR, and working the sale, I have pulled several 12 + hour days. Training has been minimal this week, as I really don't want to get sick, or break my body down any more than I have to. I have been crashing after work for at least an hour, and then getting my usual crappy 6-7 hours of sleep. I can't wait until next week, when I get to sleep in until 6:30!

K, Keven and I rolled down to Flatty last night for some grub. Good times. However, we were somewhat rushed, because we were on our bikes, and well, it looked like there was a tornado comming. K and I have been kind of rashening our food out, so we can hit up Whole Foods and TJ's (you better run Teeje) when we are up in STL. This weekend is packed full of fun; Hillsboro kicks off the weekend with a painful 90ish mile RR, followed by an early morning of Half-Marathoning around Forrest Park and the Central West...later in the afternoon, we will be over at Tilles park riding bikes around in circles for 60 min plus 6. Somewhere in there, we plan on grocery shopping, house hunting, and Parker playing.

Well, that is about it, for now.

Okmoar

No, that is not the name of a Chineese entre, that is where I was over the weekend. Another weekend down, several hundred miles traversed, and a handfull of hours racing.

Flint Ridge, Kansas OK
This was a hard race. I set the pace early so that Brian Jenson wouldn't just roll off the front and away from the field. I got rolling in several early moves, that were all brought back fairly quickly. Finally, the field split, and I as in the second group...no worries, we had Fiddler up the road. Well, we thought we could bridge to the front group, and better our odds in the top 5. A few more times up the climb, and we realized they were gone. I worked with 4 BMC guys, and Chucker. For the most part, I kept it rolling, saving a bit in the tank for the finish. We managed to drop all but me and two guys from BMC and we dropped one of them on the decent. Scott Barnes attacked me at the bottom of the hill, and I waited for him to get gassed, then nailed it. I had the field sprint in the bag, but began cramping about 30 meters from the finish. I saw Scott steaming up behind me, and he got the wheel throw just in time for 7th.

NWA Spring Classic, Praire Grove AR
What a race of attrition. Strong winds and high temps with Jenson driving the pace definitly took it's toll. Our team decided to play a more conservative roll today, so we wouldn't all burn our matches early. We also decided that we were racing for 2nd, as Jenson is a complete animal. We coverd a few moves from Jensen, and MMM, but everything stayed together in the first lap. Jenson strung the field out just after the feed, only to roll solo off the front...this was good for us, because with him out of the equation, we could focus on our goal. MMM on the other hand had a different idea. They were under the impression that we could bring Jenson back, and they organized the chase. Now, I am not sure if everyone bought into the fact we could catch him, or if they were just doing the same thing we were; we had four riders in the field, and if we refused to chase (because we knew he was way gone)then we would seem like the bad guys. Well, to make a long story short, we had an organized chase for a little over an entire lap. Of course, in the end, it was all worthless. However, it may have worn on MMM, and the BMC boys, becasue we did end up accomplishing our 2nd place finish. I popped mid-third lap. I am not really sure why, I just couldn't hold the effort any longer. I dangled behind the field for several miles trying to catch back on, and soon, they slowly began pulling away. My legs were aching, something that doesn't happen too often while on the bike. Anyway, I finished up the race, and took 12th.

BoCoMO, Middle of everywhere
I am trying to not get sick this week. I have a lot on my plate: plenty of riding, finishing up my work at PSCR, and the Super Sale at http://www.waltsbikeshop.com. So, yesterday was a 12 hour workday, with a bit of recovery ride on the side, and yes, a core workout. I am going to take my TT bike out for the first time today and tinker around with it. I am not punching it today, but I want to get my position dialed in on it before I have to take it down to Arkansas for the Bob Herbert SR.

K and I are heading out to Les Bergois this evening for dinner and vino'. It will be our fist official date in quite some time. These "dates" will become much more frequent after I have to quit waking up at the butt-crack of dawn.

Robbie

Let me tell you all a story about my buddy Robbie. You see, Robbie may be new to cycling, but everyone who rides a bike should realize there are certain things allowed, and well, others that are not. Cycling etiquette may go out the window during a 100 man sprint, but it should always be kept in mind on a 45 degree day on your travels through a town called Ashland.

Well, I am sure Robbie did what most of us did when we were green: he saw two cyclists up the road and tried to catch them. What Robbie didn't know, is that he was trying to catch Micah and I, and well, we don't take kindly to strangers. Well, Robbie did indeed catch us, and we made no attempt to change our speed, or our ride for that matter. Robbie sat on us through the head/crosswind section of the ride, then decided to roll up and say hi (after about 5 miles of sitting on silent). Not only did Robbie not introduce himself, but he proceeded to attempt to ride away from Micah and I in his middle ring. Unfortunately for Robbie, there is a little bump in the road by the name of Andrew Sapp just around the corner.

The angry man and I may have hit it a bit harder than we normally would have up Sapp, but it was not a move that was too excrutiating. Poor Robbie was left, possibly in the granny gear, looking about how this all could have happened. To Robbie's defense, he finally did bring us back into sight right before Lakota Ridge.

Moral of the story: Robbie, if you are out there, next time you roll up on a couple of fella's on your aluminum steed, you should at least introduce yourself (I assume your name really isn't Robbie, but hopefully you see the irony). You may find a couple of joes that wouldn't mind some extra company. Here is a scenario that Micah and I played around with on our way back in:
-said cyclists rides up behind two or more cyclists, and sits on for a second to catch his breath
Robbie- Hi guys, my name is Robbie
Elitist snobs- Hi Robbie, you look a bit tired
Robbie- Yeah, I have been pedaling my butt off trying to catch you two, do you mind if I tag along for the ride
Elitist snobs- No Robbie, we would rather you not tag along...you see, my buddy Micah and I have been having a wonderful ride without your presence, and frankly, I am not willing to compromise that. I hope you have a good ride though.

Here is a more likely scenario:
Robbie- "panting heavily" --after the 5 miles of sitting on
Elitist snobs- Hey man, what are you doing?
Robbie-Well uhhh...
Elitist snobs- you are trying to poach our ride aren't you. Let me tell you a little something about cycling etiquette: you see, if you come up behind two cyclists, you should gather your breath, then simply introduce yourself and ask the cyclists if they mind if you tag along. While in this case, the answer would most certainly be no, you may find someone who is willing to toe you around and tolerate your lack-luster behavior. --the two jerks begin to ramp the pace up a bit, bringing Robbie to his LT; just before Andrew Sapp, the two snobs punch it at the base, leaving Robbie with a bit of puke in his mouth, and a sour attitude towards the two elitist snobs.

That pretty much sums up my ride yesterday. It was deceivingly cool; Micah and I rolled out to Ashland from Mexico Gravel. I showed him the sneaky way around the front of the airport, and for the most part, we had a decent ride.

We got home, K and I cooked up a Thai-steak pizza (mmm, Thai and pizza at the same time), had a cup of Java (no, not Brian) and cashed in. Today I am sitting up at work, thinking about food, and anticipating a warm day (hopefully). Micah has all but yet completed the famous "Coffee Loop" which we coined several years ago on cold Friday mornings. I am pretty sure we were the only two out on some of the mornings, but Osama's always had something warm for us when we got there. It was probably the most consistent ride either of us ever committed to: I think each of us only missed one day over a 4+ month period (and it was a mutual decision). Anyway, because I go to work so early now, we decided it would have to be and English Coffee Ride, (you see, the English always have an afternoon cup of tea or coffee), so we will roll around 2.

Robbie, if you are reading this, don't take my satire to heart, however, do take my advice and you will find much more success on obtaining some company.

-Quote of the ride yesterday - "Curt, when did you become a spinner? You are making me dizzy; I leave for a year and a half, and when I come back, you have went and completely changed your cadence. You might want to ok things like that through me from now on" -Angry Man

-and a close second- -Micah-"Watch him come flyign around us in his 62! Curt-"His 62 what? Chevelle???- refering to Robbie, after the Andrew Sapp incident.

Northern Lights

All the crew here in Columbia received a package last Friday. It was wrapped in grey, and said to be 1/2 of the best Minnesota has to offer. What was this great gift you ask? It was Micah (the other part of this wonderful half is Sarah of course). Yeah, Micah is in town for a few days, riding bikes in conditions that he could have stayed in the comfort of his own home to suffer through. We are all glad to have him down though, and the weather is looking up, so maybe he can still get a tan before heading back.

I took a tour of Missouri over the weekend, driving from Columbia to STL, then on into Rolla: from Rolla, we headed south and crossed the border into Arkansas, then back to Rolla and home to BoCoMO. Needless to say, all of that moving around put me in the hurt box.

Saturday, the ICCC crit rolled around Jefferson Barracks in a most uneventful fashion. There were a lot of attacks, and several small moves that ended up no where. I found myself in several of them, however, each move got pulled back. With 5 to go, a group of 5 got away, and of course I missed it. The group stayed away, and I had to settle for a pack finish.

TJ, K, and I rolled over to his aunt and uncle's house for some eats and treats. Thanks you so much Mike and Jeanna for your hospitality.

Shortly after, we rolled down to Arkansas, driving into Mt. Vernon and crashing at the local Durry. The weather looked crappy for Sunday, but it actually held off during the race. An early break went up the road, and our team made the mistake of not going with it, as Butthead rode to a solo victory. I spent the majority of my time on the front, attempting to bring the angry one back, but as it seemed, I was the only one interested in doing so. Luke and Plumer played their cards right, and popped me on the final climb in the first lap. Later, Spearchucker got away with those two, and Ex-pro Ernie: again, good poker by Bigshark, as they took 1,2 and 4 for the day.

Columbia received some unwelcome snow the other day, however, most of it is gone and the roads are clear. I will start hitting it hard today, and getting ready for the Dogwood RR on Saturday. This is probably the worst post I have every written, and I apologize for that. Better stuff on the way-

Another day

This would seem like any normal Friday; however, Micah is rolling into town to throw some Northern spice to our lives.

This week has been centered around recovery...Monday was easy as can beezie, Tuesday featured one of my world famous core workouts, and Wednesday was a nice, aerobic-paced Big Tree. Yesterday required me to make specific watts for specific time periods, and today will bring some pre-weekend openers within a cool ride around town.

K and I cooked Thai last evening. I tried to make a new curry-peanut sauce, that turned out ok...I wish Bangkok would give me their recipe. She also prepared some scones for this morning, however, the recipe called to serve them warm, so we also had one last night.

I sold my cross bike last night: Thanks Charlie, I hope you enjoy it. I had sellers remorse just after it left the house, but of course I get that with every sold bike.

We are heading to STL this weekend for the Sylavan Springs crit, then on down to Arkansas for Hells Kitchen. It seems as though many of the STL guys are rolling down to the RR...should be quite fun. A big portion of the Mercy crew will be heading down to Fayetteville TX for another race in 1,000,000 degree weather. Good luck guys. K and I are heading to Whole Foods before the race, to stock up on some goodies. If we have time, we are going to check on a few houses in the STL area. I should be sending my apps off to Logan soon, so cross your fingers for a lovely July move.

Have a good Irish day, and if you are racing your bike this weekend, take it easy on the green beer.

Hells bells and shotgun shells

I think I may finally have this waking up thing down. Now I just need to get a solid morning schedule so I am not rushing all over the place like a chicken with his head cut off.

There has been some bike riding going on. Yesterday, contrary to Doppler Dave, I went outside, and managed to not get wet. I only had about an hours worth of work outside, then came back after my third shift at work (yeah that's right, 6am-10am at PSCR, 10-3 @ Walt's, then back to PSCR at 5:30 to 7:30. Needless to say, my Monday's and Tuesday's are a bit rough.

Monday, I caught up with some recovery on the rollers, after a hard Ashland on Sunday. After Church, K and I went and did our grocery shopping: the weather looked as if it were going to break, but when was the question. We prepared lunch, and by the time I had the last dish cleaned up, it was just before noon. I wanted to make the noon ride, but it was nice to get some stuff done around the house and sneak out a bit later. Plus, I ended up riding in the peak of the nice weather for the day.

Saturday I busted out Mark's SS 29er; a tornado of emotions comes with a bike like this. First of all, Jason and I went to Cosmo (because it was raining out at Rockbridge). Enough said. Secondly, I haven't ridden a bike with a flat handlebar off road since before K and I got engaged! I used muscles that my body had forgotten about. I began loving the bike, and after a while, I started to hate it. By the end of the ride, I appreciated it. We had a good time, and without really trying, I ended up riding relatively hard. So, as you may have guessed, I did not head down to the Sooner state with the rest of the guys. I did get word that Huffy showed up, attacked the field, Matt Ankney went with, then a few laps later, they came steaming by the peleton. That's right, Huff and Ankney lapped the field in an 8 mile circuit race! That is insane.

Friday was so long ago, I can hardly remember what happened. I am pretty sure I recollect a core workout, and some sort of ride outside. I took Thursday off, to keep recovering from all the travel earlier on in the week. A side note, my father is doing well; he is able to communicate rather well on the phone, and if he could get his tongue to quit hurting, well, he would just be some guy with his mouth wired shut...I am sure there are plenty of women out there that can appreciate such a gesture.

Dropping off the face of the earth

Yeah, so it has been a while since I have updated this thing. I have been pretty busy. Riding went well through Froze toes; however, a few turns this week have set me back just a bit.

I rode quite a bit last week, and on the day of Froze toes, I was out for a long day rather than a big result. I rode for about an hour before the race, and about 1.5 hours afterwords to get in the mileage I needed. The race was as easy as it ever has been, with great weather, and virtually no wind. Somehow, two of Tilford's chronies, Doug Plumer and Bill Stolte managed to get up the road early and stick it to the finish. I chilled out most of the race about mid pack, which was about four times the size it normally is. After the first lap, I moved up a bit to make sure nothing crazy was going down. Towards the end of the second lap, Butthead, Eathan, and a few others managed to clear the field with ~ 2 miles to go. Shortly after passing the 1mi marker, I began turning some screws and brought the field up to the 5 before the finish. I figured it was a "make it or break it" situation. Well, depending on how you look at it, I would say I broke it, because I ran out of steam with about 50 meters to go. Oh well, I got my long day in anyway.

I am no where to be found in the picture, but my dad was manning the camera...don't worry, I still love you dad.

Monday was the day of my final. Just before planning on hopping on the bike, I checked my voicemail only to retrieve a very disturbing message: my father had an accident while cutting down some tree branches. I got a hold of my mom, and she said dad was scheduled for surgery, and that I should take my exam, and get home afterwords. Dad had just gotten out of surgery by the time K and I managed to roll into Rolla. He had broken his jaw in 3 different places, had several lacerations along his tounge, face, and chin, and was suffering a concussion. Needless to say, my father and our family are very lucky that his injury was not more serious. K and I stayed in Rolla for a few days to make sure dad was back on his feet. He is doing well, but will have his jaw wired shut for the next 6 weeks. We are thinking about you dad.

I managed to get a short ride in in Rolla, while my pops was resting. However, all of my workouts this week have been a wash. I have been tired from the travel, all the time on my feet, and the emotional stress that comes with the situation. I have opted to stick around town this weekend, in luie of heading south to Oklahoma to race with the guys. I am hoping by the end of the weekend, I will be back on track.

Hell week

So, getting up earlyier isn't all that bad. It is the going to bed at the same time without a choice that really gets to me. I have been waking up at 1/4 to 5 everyday, which was incredibly rough the first day, a bit more mild the second, and now I just feel like a walking zombie. However, class allows me to get home just in time to not get enough sleep.

Speaking of class, I had something new happen to me last night. I slept through plenty of my freshman classes, however, I do not think I can say that my body has ever completely shut off. I was trying to write down my notes last night, and insted of the usual "dragging the pencil" down the page when you nod off, my hand just completely quit working. That's right, I would be writting, then all of a sudden I would find myself in some state of tranquilly; I looked down, and nothing was shadowing my lead point. Crazy huh?

The past few days I have been riding with Prozenberger. We took picutures yesterday commemerating our first ride in ever together (I know, slightly homo erriotic) but Jason got a new phone and I have stupid ideas. We cruised passed the gigantic tree, and then headed down the crappiest road I think I have ever had my road bike on (aside from the gravel roads that pop up here and there).

The day before, I split some time up between the trainer and the road, and Monday I could be found on the rollers and working on Butthead's favorite part of me...my six pack.

The weekend was capped off with rides inside, the one on Saturday easy, and the one on Sunday was a kick in the junk. My body feels good after the easy week last week, but I am definetly bogged down right now (did you know that in Rolla, I once got pulled over for "bogging on private property"?)

Froze toes is this weekend. The weather looks somewhat decent, but this race by nature always has some extraneous factor that makes it difficult. It will probably be Ethan and Butthead attacking the crap out of each other, meanwhile creating a tornado through the rest of the peleton.

Morning Commute Weather on Your Drive
8am
Partly Cloudy
5°F
-11°F 20% -10°F 42% From NNE 12 mph
9am
Partly Cloudy
5°F
-10°F 20% -10°F 42% From NNE 11 mph
10am
Partly Cloudy
6°F
-9°F 10% -10°F 40% From NNE 11 mph
11am
Partly Cloudy
8°F
-6°F 10% -10°F 36% From N 10 mph
12pm
Partly Cloudy
10°F
-4°F 0% -10°F 32% From N 10 mph
1pm
Partly Cloudy
12°F
-1°F 0% -10°F 29% From N 10 mph
2pm
Mostly Sunny
13°F
0°F 10% -11°F 26% From N 10 mph
3pm
Mostly Sunny
14°F
1°F 10% -11°F 24% From N 10 mph
Evening Commute See Pollen Hot Spots
4pm
Mostly Sunny
14°F
3°F 10% -11°F 24% From N 8 mph
5pm
Sunny
14°F
4°F 0% -10°F 26% From N 7 mph
Sunset 5:50 pm Check Local Pollen Forecast
6pm
Sunny
13°F
5°F 0% -10°F 27% From NNE 5 mph
7pm
Clear
12°F
4°F 0% -10°F 29% From NNE 5 mph

I actually just had the chance to watch the weather raise 1 degree...If the weather was also able to raise 1ml of water, 1 degree celcius, then our little weather world would have just expended one Joule.

It is freakin' cold outside. I am thinking of starting my car (which lives in a garge) before I go to work...yeah, it is that cold. I talked to Matt Ankney, and Mark Teruki yesterday out of Tulsa; they were bummed it was 25 degrees. If I remember right, we went and rode for a hair over 5 hours with 25 degree weahter. There is not much you should do with 3 degrees, aside from sitting inside w/caffinated beverages, and cuddling next to the heat register.

I am going to go downstairs and ride the rollers...it better be at least 6 degrees before I leave for work. If you are attempting the local noon ride today, wear something over your face.

Camp Wrap up

No, I did not just get back from Fayetteville, however, I did manage to just now catch up with my life. I was waiting for some pictures from camp to post this up, but it may be a few days yet, so here it goes.

I rolled down to Rolla Thursday night to hang out with my folks. Friday morning, I met with a local chiropractor who is an alumnus of Logan and consequently a cyclist. Dr. Peterson seems to be a great practitioner, and I would highly recomend him to all the peeps of R-town. I got on the road a bit later than expected to Ar-kansas, but I managed to get there in one piece.

The first night, we just hung around the house, waiting for everyone to arrive; over dinner, we discussed the purpose of the camp, and the expectations of the season. Our director, Andres Angulo , is a great guy. He has a great passion for the sport, and generally cares about people. I think it will be a good relationship for the team. After dinner, a bunch of relaxing and talk of the upcomming year filled the house with excitement.

Saturday brought some pretty challenging weather, as Fayetteville is usually pretty mild throughout the winter. They experienced season lows (14-22 degrees) wind and snow to boot. The snow was not heavy enough to stick, well at least for the first few hours. Our morning ride (which began at 7:30am) was pretty chill. Andres had us do a few drills, then drill it up the Hell's Kitchen climb, which we will be seeing again in less than a month. Good thing too, because I blew my entire wad on the not-so steep section of the climb, which left me red-lined for the part that hits the fan. Towards the end of the ride, we began to ride very smoothly together.

Our afternoon ride was posponed due to heavy snow dumping from the clouds above. We finally got out on the bike around 2:30 and began spinning through the white fog. At one point, I looked up the road, then at Fiddler, and asked if he could see any further than 10 feet in front of him...his reply, "you can see 10 ft?". Yeah, it was snowy. We cut the ride just a bit short, and rolled back to the Irwin's house (another team mate, who's family was gracious enough to let us take over their castle). More chatting about the season and team building commenced in the evening, as we all sat around exhausted from the day.

Sunday we woke up early to get our ride on, however a bunch of ice was keeping us off the road. We waited a few hours, let the ice melt, and got out on the road. Originally, we were planning on riding Friday's stage of Joe Martin so we could take a peek at Mt. Gaylor: instead of riding the entire loop, we rolled up the back side of Gaylor, decended the race side, then climbed back up out of Mountainburg to check it out. I have never felt as good going up that climb, (which, in the three times I have done it, I was pretty satisfied) so hopefully I won't lose 45 minutes to the leaders this year. More drills and paceline work took us back into town. After a short team lunch at Flying Burrito, a quick triple americano for the road, I was back in the car and back to Columbia.

I have been taking it easy this week, and riding when I can. Monday was a day completely off, then yesterday, I rode with TJ and K for about an hour.5. Wednesday was, you guessed it, a core workout, and today will be a short ride at tempo.

For V-day, K and I had Wes and Anne over for Thai food, and then went out to The Forge and Vine for some drinks. We stayed out a bit later than normal, but time just slipped away with the good times. K was trashed, and spilled water all over the place. She provided much of the entertainment for the evening. I also had an interview with Progerssive Spine and Rehab ; I found out yesterday I got the job, and will be starting on Monday. I will still work at Walt's, in a slightly more abbreviated fashion, and keep on turning pedals.

School is almost finished, and that will be a huge weight off my shoulders. On another note, K may go to STL this weekend to become a USCF official. It would be nice to have the option to pick up some extra sctatch each weekend, but the fact that she will be learning more about he sport really excites me. We will see. Pictures soon:

Storm of the century

It's snowing...all the better reason to head 6 hrs south to ride over the weekend. My hell week is nearly over, as I will take an exam this evening to put the icing on the cake. It has been trying, but things will be fine in 3 weeks.

Froze toes is just around the corner, and I can't tell you how excited I am to get the ball rolling with race season again. After the weekend, I should have a pretty good idea of what my schedule will look like: check back soon for details.

On a side note, check out my buddy Brocks Blog on Fly fishing...found just to your right under "good people"

I got my core work on this morning, and a bit of studying to boot. Tomorrow, I will probally hit up the rollers again, and get on the road that evening to Rolla to pay my parents a visit. I hate leaving K for 4 days, not to mention Parker and Paola. I still may wait until Friday morning to leave, but I would like to see the fam too.

Stupid Bowl

The Anti Super Bowl-Super Bowl Party. I really don't care much for professional sports, aside from a select few: cycling, wrestling (not wwf, but olympic), the X-games, and the Olympics. I could do without all the others. However, the Stupid Bowl offers K and I a great chance to have some peeps over and have a good time.

The day began with a little church action, followed by a slightly colder than cold ride. Java, a new guy named Hans, and I rolled out at 11 to make sure I got back in time to help clean house. We rolled up to Old # 7, into Harrisburg, then cruised by Tracy's mom's house, and back in. The first 20 minutes of the ride were the coldest, I believe a mere 18 degrees. As the sun rose higher overhead, the day warmed up (to a blistering 29) and my face became pliable enough to begin talking again.

The party was fun: Keven and Seth from the shop rolled over, as well as the Podium, Wes and Anne, T and Lesley, and a special guest appearnce by Java. I think the Steelers won...good for them.

This week is going to be a bit rough: I have school and work everyday, until Friday that is, when I drive down to Ft. Smith for our final team camp before the season. I also have an exam on Wednesday, which throws a curve ball into the week. However, I will only have 3 more weeks of this crap after I make it through this one.

Holy wind storms batman

Yeah, it is freakin' windy...That was me before I turned into the headwind; damn, I should have taken an after photo. I trudged through however, and managed about 4.5 hrs today. I spent the first hour .5 with Thomas and TJ. We saw this gigantic tree. It was huge! Yeah, so we did a Big tree, then Teej turned off, and T and I rolled up to New Haven...I kissed him goodbye and rolled on down to Ashland. This was the least painful part of the day, because the wind was out of the North West. As soon as I turned into Ashland, it was on like Donkey Kong.

I battled back and fourth with the wind through the turns, and it finally beat me. I had to slow my roll on, in order to make it home. I found out when I got back that it was blowing at 15mph, and gusting to 30.

None the less, the ride was good. A bit chilly, but it seems as though us Midwesterners better get used to 30 degrees once again.