Busy times

A lot has been going on lately, and bike racing has not made the long list of things to do. I took Memorial Day weekend off for the first time since I began the sport, which was a bit odd to say the least. My cousin and former bike racing phenom Jason got married over the weekend in St. Louis; K and I went up early to check out some homes. So, after we got done looking at the set from the Boyz N Da Hood, Don't Be A Menace To South Central, and any other ghetto gangster movie out there, K and I finally got down to business...on our own. Hopefully in the next few weeks, I will have good news regarding our new living arrangements.

Back on the bike this week in full swing has been tiring. Next week, I have the opportunity to participate in a study by one of my mentors, Dr. Pamela Hinton on the long term effect of non-load bearing exercise on bone density. I am excited to get a DEXA scan, to check out not only my bone density, but my tubbiness, and to see if I have any strutural discrepencies...more on that later.

I should have more soon, so stay tuned.

JMSR Wrap UP

To say the race down in Fayetteville was tough would be quite an understatement. 230+ riders began Joe Martin on Friday afternoon and by the end of the weekend, approximately 30 had survived the entire weekend (those thirty finished in the front group of the crit)! I unfortunately was not one of the 30, but my team mate Brian was...in fact, here are some other numbers that are important to Brian; 2--this is the number indicating he was the second-placed amateur overall; 10--this Brian's GC placing; 8:53--that's how long it took Brian to climb a 6.8% grade over 2.5 miles. Needless to say, Java is breaking out! Congrats!

The weekend was a tough one for me. The races have a bunch of climbing, and when surrounded by such a stellar field, I am not much of a climber. I finished about 40 minutes down on Friday eve, just barely inside the time cut, and pulled out of Saturday's stage after getting dropped 50 miles in.

Friday went a little something like this. A group of 5, one of which was Luke, rolled off the front from the whistle. The pace was pretty chill, and there wasn't much climbing in the beginning. A few hills and several crashes later, the race had heated up a bit, and the race was on. Coming into a small town just before the big climb of the day (Mt. Gaylor, 10 miles of climbing, 80 miles into a 110 mile road race), a huge crash had me on the brakes, and nearly on the ground. I was able to avoid the crash, at the cost of chasing back onto the field up a somewhat steep climb. I made my way back on, but as the climb kicked up, accelerations had me dangling off the back once again. I chased all the way into Mountainburg, which is the host town of Gaylor. I had just meandered my way through the caravan as Gaylor began to take it's toll on my legs. I was able to make up some ground, but I could never fully catch back on to the group (as other racers were falling off the pace left and right). I got to the top, grabbed a banana, my first water of the day, and another gatorade (I now despise gatorade) and began my long solo TT back to the finish. Coming into town, I had lost steam and motivation; at first, it hurt to go slow, so I kept going hard...then, everything began to hurt. I was hungry, out of water, couldn't stomach anymore sugar, and nearly defeated. A group of guys (two of which were my team mates) rolled up behind and gave me a whistle to hop on the train...a free ride home. Thank the lord. Later that evening, about an hour .5 after the finish, I saw my arch nemesis (orange gatorade) again, flying out of my mouth from the deep crypts of my empty belly. I couldn't eat for hours. Finally, my body came around, I inhaled a burrito, a sandwich, some fruit and cereal; I was satisfied. Good news for the day...team mate Chad took 7th!--Round one survived

The next morning came early (5:30 am to eat) for our 8 am start. The race was hard for me from the get-go, and my hamstrings were so tight, you would think I had a come-along attached to my pelvis (for those of you non-rednecks, a come-along is a portable winch-like object that is used when constructing barbed-wire fences...how many hyphenated words do you think I can use in one sentence). So, a long story short, I made it up the big climb two out of three times with the group, and didn't have a 40 mile chase left in my legs. I was fried. I came back to the fee zone with my tail tucked between my legs in defeat--Round 2 KO for JMSR

Round three brought me to Rolla, for my first Mother's day appearance in longer than I am willing to admit. Mom, thanks for being so supportive of my cycling, it was great to get to spend time with you one the one day our country cares to recognize the person who has probably sacrificed the most for each and every one of us. I met up with K, then we spent time with each family throughout the rest of the weekend.

Today, I spun around with Tyrone in the morning and worked of course. This week is recover and recoup for Tri Peaks...More thrills, spills, and hills to come.

The week before the weeks before

This week marks the true kick off of the season. It is full throttle from here on out. We travel to Arkansas for the next two weeks for Joe Martin and Tri Peaks respectively. Then, there is Memorial Day weekend, which I will not be attending due to a wedding. I may acutally be able to sneak up for the last two days. The next weekend is the Tulsa Tough Crit series, followed by our State RR, then off to Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. That is just the next month. So, that means I have the potential to race my bike 23 times before the 17th of June!
This pic of me from last year's race is depictive of where I spent most of my time.

This year, expect to see me here...only, in front of the guy in the funny yellow and blue kit. Ok, that probably won't happen; but as a team, we hope to pick up a stage win!

The weather has been doing funny things around here. They say it is going to rain, but instead it is sunny, 75, and hardly any wind. Missouri truly is predictably unpredictable.

Bike riding this week has been good. I missed Tight Pants Tuesday this week, due to the weekend; it actually worked out better that way anyway, because I didn't get away from Walt's in time to roll out there. Every day this week is pretty chill. I may get behind the car later today or tomorrow, but things will be on the creep.

I haven't yet decided if I should leave Thursday after work, and get as far as my eyes will allow me (traveling down to Arkansas), or wake up at the butt-crack and roll down Friday morn. The Friday stage takes off at 1:45pm...anyone from BoCoMO need a travel partner?

As of tomorrow, K and I will have been married for 11 months. Kind of crazy how time flies when you are having fun. We are looking around for a place to stay and celebrate while we are up in Minnesota. Micah was kind enough to toss us a few suggestions. Today is pretty much the deadline for that decision, so more on that later.

On another note, Java took 28th at the Tour de Gila. He also took 27th on the hardest stage, the Gila Monster, as one of the top amateurs. Way to go B!

A tribute to Tucson

Well, Jason had to bring it up, so here are a few pics from our trip to the SW last winter.

This is me, eccentric as can be. This was the first thing I interacted with in Oklahoma...or was it New Mexico??? Who knows, but I tried my hardest to come up with a scheme to lift this ape out of the back of the truck, and into our trailer.

Our sleeping arrangements were not the best, as you can tell, wall-to-wall with beds is something prisioners don't even have to deal with (they just keep thoughts like this in their heads for the lonely days). Jason had his Nintendo 64 Super Sonic Game Cube Spy Bot X-Playstation 7 Gigga-what with him to keep him occupied and avoid...


Situations like this one. 11 dudes under one roof, with three total rooms (that includes the living/kitchen area!) is never a grand idea; but it was cheap. I am not sure that there is anything appropriate on the TV, but with the way TJ is bouncing around on that ball, I highly doubt the program is rated "G".


This was the only means of a bathroom Tucson had to offer. You can see our model Jason here performing the number 1 in a most outstanding way. Notice the excited catcti in the background?


Most evenings were spent in the living area, chilling out amoungst all the testosterone. Actually, a few of the guys managed to escape some of the drama. Ben would frequent StarF#*!$ to read and relax. I spent a lot of time sitting out by the pool, and wondering around, and Matt would just dissapear for hours on in ever so often.


This one time, we rolled down to Tombstone to ride from the OK Corral to Nogales Mexico. It took us through the town of Bisbee, which also hosts quite a stage race (Vuelta de Bisbee) later on in the year.

After crossing the border, and making it back into the states in one piece, we ran into these buckaroos and had ourselves a good old fashioned show-down...yeah, those are real cowboys alright.

This picture is just wierd...I will let your imagination take over from here.....


Ok, back to reality.

So, sorry about the recap, but I just found all of my pics from down there. Expect more to come. I rode this morning; hard. Hard enough to make me want to puke up my coffee...but I kept it down. I am not racing this weekend, due to all of the travels in the coming weeks. I am looking forward to being at the house, with K, the kitty, and Parker. More soon-

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.

I'll tell you who did it

Twas that damn ground hog. He is brining the cold weather over the weekend and next week. Actually, I had a customer inform me that if you look at the calendar, that winter was another six weeks regardless. You see, it is just another way our society tries to fool us (he used more explicit language). "spring is just around the corner!", yeah, no crap, because 6 weeks is nothing. Catch 22.

I rode bikes yesterday. It was fun. I am going to ride bikes longer today. Hopefully someone like the Teej will join me. Wednesday I lived up to my nickname: Court. Thanks Micah. I will probably do all of my work inside on Saturday, and then get out for something longish before noon on Sunday (so I can participate in our Anti-superbowl party) I originally wanted to have a bunch of people over, and watch movies or cycling flicks in lieu of the bowl game...problem is most of the people coming over, would at least like to have the game on. I may be downstairs watching the trainer-vision, with the 04 Paris-Nice kickin'.

Happy, Happy, Happy

Happy Birthday Micah! But I can't believe you, Jason and I are not racing together this year...it didn't really hit me until I read this:


The team also welcomes newcomers Micah Moran, junior Jens Brabbit, as well as upgraded racers Andrew Kruse, Matt Muyres, and Jesse Rients to the team.

*Ian Stanford (Winona, MN) - Cat 1
*Matt Henry (Northfield, MN) - Cat 2
Doug Swanson (Plymouth, MN) - Cat 1
Andy Minier (Anoka, MN) - Cat 1
Aaron Johnson (Princeton, MN) - Cat 2
Dan Swanson (Plymouth, MN) - Cat 2
Scott Ralston (Farmington, MN) - Cat 2
Micah Moran (Minneapolis, MN) - Cat 2
Andrew Kruse (Minneapolis, MN) - Cat 2
Matt Muyres (Minneapolis, MN) - Cat 2
Jens Brabbit (Winona, MN) - Cat 2/junior
Jesse Rients (Minnetonka, MN) - Cat 2
Anne Grabowski (Minneapolis, MN) - Cat 2

* Denotes co-captains

Team website: www.flatcity.org

I guess we will always be together...in other news, I have been riding some bicycles lately. I did not make it to either of the nooners: one, I had to work. two, rest weeks are blissful.

I rode with T today, TJ on Sunday, by my lonesome every other day, for various times and intensities. I really just wanted to update this to wish my boy Micah a good one. Oh yeah, btw, I graduated today. Cool poop huh?

Low Temps=Tempo

I went about my morning in a most lackadaisical way. Most mornings, I am getty-up and go, however, today I was on a mission: to avoid the day as much as possible. It began much like every other morning, the lights went off at 6am, I took a leak, let Parker out to do the same, and while he was eating some breakfast, I made some espresso. Then, I turned the next corner of my day to the office, and began my internet surfing agenda. After I was finished with that, I walked about the house, aimlessly; up the stairs, down the stairs I went. Finally I had convinced myself that if I was going to do anything this morning, I had to get to it.

Sorry about the story, I rode the rollers for an hour today at tempo. I felt a bit rushed after my morning of laziness, so riding out doors was kind of out of the question. Yesterday was tough, with 8 hrs of work and 5hrs of school. I did manage to crank out yet another core workout though!

K is still on schedule to run 13.1 miles 11 weeks from Saturday. I am proud of her: Micah once said to me, "the only reason you would ever catch me running, is if I were running from something much more dangerous than myself"...while that my be paraphrased, it was a good tip. Micah has since taken up running. Speaking of runners (no, not in your panty hoes), Prozenberger is going to do the marathon with K and A...Don't you guys remember, running is bad for you.

I have tomorrow off, so riding and school will be on the mind. Oh yeah, and I will probably do another core workout too; 0

Recover from Tulsa Sooner

Yeah, the weekend has me bogged down a bit. It would be different if I didn't have to come back to work and school right away. That's ok, I was looking for a recovery week anyway.

Quick Summary:
Friday, traveled down to stay with Doug and Amber...thanks guys. You are wonderful hosts.
Start List: Myself, Doug, Chad Cagle, Steve Cate, Matt Ankney, Stefan Rothe, Java, and Brice Jones.
Saturday: Woke up early and rolled to Tulsa. Rode for 6 hrs, 110 miles, 3900 kj=ouch. Tulsa is much different than I thought it would be. Quite rolly and painful. The wind was certainly a factor that I had already thought about.
Saturday Night: The Cagels and Matt Ankney hosted the camp; Chad and his wife Jen had everyone over for dinner that evening. All of the wives were having their training camp too, and cooked a fabulous meal. After dinner, we all headed downtown to check out the Tulsa Night life. Everyone made it to the last stage, except Java and Ankney: Matt was sick, and Java is just a wuss.
Sunday: Start list was the same as above, minus Ankney, plus Fiddler, this Trek VW pro, and uncle pain. Similar route, this time a hair more rolly. Something was way different though. Rode for 5 hrs, 110 miles, and 3800kj (I sat in for the second half of the ride, for fear of exploding). There was little wind today, but the amped up pace sure made it a tough ride.

Amber was kind enough to drive back to SpringPatch, then we had dinner at the Mud House downtown and rolled back to BoCoMO.

Thank you to everyone who helped/hosted this weekend. Cagles, you guys are great. Greeks, you already know what I think about you, but thank you again. BTW, the cake was fabulous. It was great riding with everyone, and I look forward to the camp in Feb.

Out of town

K and I are heading out of town this evening to meet up with the guys down in Tulsa. The weather has been pretty consistent down there, so we should be in store for some beautiful days.

This week has been challenging with classes, and preparing to leave. I had to take a quiz yesterday (that would have been taken this evening), so all of my reading had to be done in advance. I will have a lot to do when I get back as well, but I am off on Monday.

So, in reverse order, Thursday I headed out to the Highlands and did some strength work, and Wednesday was reserved for one of my famous core workouts. Today will bring yet another chronicle of the Colonel's Core Workout. I am thinking about quitting cycling and just doing core work...

Guess who's back?

The Teej is back. T and I met up with Tyrone yesterday for a spin. TJ was in wuss mode, and only rode with us for an hour, while Thomas and I cold-forged for another hour .5. Somewhere in the middle, I managed to do some strength work (which I am still feeling as I sit and type this).

I got a chance to play a quick catch up with Micah and Java yesterday. It is crazy, I talked to a lot of my close friends that I have not seen in a while yesterday. Everyone is great, motivated, and ready for the season.

I am probably going to take the next few days easy and prep for our camp this weekend. This is supposed to be a rest week, so I should take my own advice. TJ, I will be soft peddling with you the rest of the week.

Beatin' the rooster

After I installed the timer on one of the lights in K and I's room, I have miraculously turned around my horrible morning routine of hitting the snooze button and waiting until the last minute to do everything. If you are having any trouble at all, I would highly recommend the timer, or a full blown dawn simulator, which is a bit less abrasive.

T and I did a lakey loop yesterday on the chill bus. We had a chilly, but otherwise beautiful start to an awesome day.

A few treadmill deliveries made my day at Walt's go by pretty quick, and soon I was back home.

K began training for a 1/2 marathon yesterday. I am really excited about her goal, and hope she has a bunch of fun in the process. I know Parker will. Alicia is her partner in crime, so having a buddy usually helps.

Last evening, I hit up my core, ate some really kickin' chicken and noodles (we bought an entire chicken the other, some really clean egg noodles, and K whipped up a fabulous dinner), did some studying and more work on my schedule. There seem to be a lot of races this season: I am getting really excited.

High Noon

My first nooner in nearly 8 months went well yesterday. I could be exaggerating on that number a bit, but for all practical purposes, it is probably accurate. We had a great day to work with, sunny and near 60. I saw a lot of skin on the ride, which is always a treat in Mid-January.

So, the group rolled pretty chill up through the Old # 7, in and out of Harrisburg: things began getting railed up going into Fayette. It was just fake however, as the pace backed off again and we came to a stop at the local Casey's.

Rolling out of Fayette, we had to deal with a pretty substantial headwind. Fish suggested an echelon on the way back. Though I was skeptical (because if you get involved in a paceline on a noon ride, ultimately it turns in to a hammerfest) but none the less began taking pulls. We soon had the pace drilled, and no one was responding to me trying to slow things down a bit. I tucked back into the pack, and chilled out. We came up to a stop to wait for some others, when a local tri-guy rolled up on our group. He was heading back to Columbia so our group invited him to endure the headwind with several, rather than by his lonesome. He was a chatty fella, but just a few minutes of us rolling off, he went around the pack, tucked into his aerobars, and attempted to leave our peleton behind...You just don't do that. Especially to a group of competitive cyclists. So, we sent Jimmy Mc and Tracey across. Call us immature, but hey, you don't poach rides, then attack the guys who gave you an invitation. So, while the two gradually picked up the tempo through the rollers, we got back on the front in our paceline, and slowly brought this d-bag back. After flying by him (and sticking him out of the slip stream) we cruised away at 25+ mph. The pace stayed nailed through some of the toughest climbs of the day.

Guppy attacked on the first big climb of three heading back into the intersection of Big Tree and Home. I countered, but sat up at the top of the hill. BTW, watch out for lil' Fish this season. I can not believe how much this kid has improved over last. He is super strong, and he can ride his bike in a straight line now. Then, we nailed the pace down the hill, and Fish attacked at the bottom...I really did not have much to respond with, so I crawled up the next climb, and did my classic TT chase back up to him. We totally chilled it out up the last climb to wait for the others, and see who would take the turn around the huge tree with us.

So, 82 miles later I was home. You really can't argue with 60 degree days in January; I have a feeling in the back of my head that we are going to pay for it in February and March. I guess time will tell.

Klutz

I made two costly mistakes yesterday: I nearly dropped a treadmill on myself, and I nailed my elbow with my knee while riding the trainer. Note to self; you shouldn't drop heavy objects on yourself, and you should never kick yourself. Let this be a lesson to all.

I endured another five hour session of physics, which was lovely. The cool thing is, I only have to do it now for 7 more weeks. Time flies when you are having fun.

One of my co-workers informed me of a race in KY the second weekend of February. I really enjoy racing in the green country, so I may follow suit. Teej, you ready? The only down fall is that travel will just be starting to pick up at that time, and I could just stay at home. The weekend before, I will be down in Ft. Smith for another team camp...I guess we will see.

Friday, I did a recovery "session" on the rollers (sorry, but we have a group of gravity guys who ride on the order of "sessions", so I figure I can too). While on that note, MU has sprouted several up and coming guys who like to go big and drop their bikes off things that it hurts my neck to look up at. I am excited to watch them develop as cyclists.

Saturday, I had to work, then I dropped the tread, then I came home to try and do my second baseline test (to test the accuracy of the first). I found that I will need to do another (partly because I kneed my elbow, and couldn't feel my arm for the majority of the test) because after being on my feet at work all day, I did not feel like suffering on the trainer. I am really not sure if I feel like suffering on the trainer at all...it really sucks. I am going to do some searching around to see about doing another test out on the road.

Today, I will hit my first nooner of the year. I am bummed, because I missed the sequal to A Cold Day in Hell starring Prozenberger and his second go at a come-back tour on the bike. I hope he may muster up the time to ride a bit with us today. We will see.

Dawn at 6:30...in January?

Of course not. But, I hooked up a Christmas tree light timer to one of the lights in our room, and it is kind of like a rude and abrubt dawn. The little system works pretty well. In fact, this morning I even woke up waiting for the light to turn on. Funny if you mix your routine up in the morning, how refreshing it can be.

So, with work from 10-5 and class from 5-10, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time and strength to get a ride in. Wednesday, I did get some solid core work in, but no ride. I think that may be how my Mondays and Wednesdays go for the next 7 weeks. Today, I am off, so I will be able to ride and attend class. Rock!

Yesterday, I went outside to do a strength workout. I am finding that I should probably just stick indoors to do those, where things are a bit more controlled. I think I say that every week, but it has been so nice, I don't want to miss a sunny day.

Like I said, I am off today, but it is already snowing. This may mean a ride on the CX bike. That may end up being a good thing, because my road bike is partially disassembled. We will see. I also need to take Parker out somewhere, he has been cooped up like, well, like something that has been cooped up for a while. If you read A's blog, you will understand that I am just not fully awake yet, thus, I make absolutely no sence.

Recap...nightcap

Just a quicky...if K finds out I am doing this in lieu of my homework, I am busted. So, Wednesday did nothing but get my core on (TJ, we are going to have an awesome abs contest when you get back...) Thursday I did a strength workout north of town, Friday was an easy spin, Saturday, Pedro and I did the Tour of the Ozarks ride, in reverse, with a killer headwind for the first 40/103 miles. Sunday, I rode down to Skank James and back.

In the mean time over the weekend, K and I had a wonderful visit with my 1/2 siblings and my two nieces. My bros played with Parker, and we did a lot of sitting around, and a lot of sport eating. Good times. On our way back to BoCoMO, K and I stopped at the Vichy tower and ran Little P around the fire roads.

Monday was scary. I enrolled in Physics in the morning, went to work, then went to class for 5hrs. Yup, I am back in class again. Hence, I did not get a good workout in. I have started to commute again, I will let you know how that goes. Today, K and I cleaned house all day, I rode the rollers because it was sh--y outside. Another strength workout (which on the rollers is tough, I had to carry a much higher rpm than normal). We went out to breakfast with Lesbo and T, had the Prozenbergers over for lunch, then visited the podium trio at their place for dinner.

So, things are going to be busy, but for those who know me, I wouldn't have it any other way. Things will be tough, but I will manage.

Square One

Yesterday I rolled down to Jeff City on my day off in pursuit of pancake flat roads. Hwy 94 is the venue for the state TT, also, a great place to do a baseline test. It was a bit chilly (~45) and a strong wind out of the south at 12-15 mph. Good news about time trials into the wind, there is a tailwind at the turn-around.

So, I about threw up on myself, but things went relatively well. As suspected, I am definitely on my way to some sort of form...however, that form is certainly at a distance. After my two efforts, I rolled back to the car, took down a recovery shake, then suited up with some warmer clothes and headed to Holt's Summit.

There is a problem with riding on that side of Jeff...you have to ride down 54 to get there. After reaching the exit, there is a long climb into town, then it levels off, much like a plateau. As I rolled through the small network of towns (Holts, Lake Makke, and New Bloomfield), I quickly realized that the highway seems to disappear (however, I was actually enveloped by 54 and 63. Most of the homes in the towns were quaint, but offered a lot of property. There was not much in the means of farming, but many horses, cows, and vineyards.

Some jackass had to ruin my view of this unique niche; driving a huge Toyota SUV, a group of younger guys swerved from the left lane into mine, giving me the bird, and honking like a bunch of tools. I rebuttled with my classic wave, head shake, and to put the icing on the cake, I gave them Thomas's favorite: the kiss goodbye.

I traversed nearly to Fulton, then turned around and headed back. I do believe I may have stumbled upon a road that would take me to Guthrie...now, I have to figure out how to make a loop out of all these new-found roads. Wouldn't you know it, the same db's past me in their ginormous SUV, this time limiting the antics to honking and waves. Who knows, maybe they thought they knew me. No, they were definitely idiots.

The evening brought a better mood; K and I had the Prozenberger Podium over to the house for some lasagna. Though K has made it before, this was the first time I had really made it from scratch (well, that I can remember). It turned out excellent (if I do say so myself), and everyone else seemed to think so too. Little D is getting so big. Parker finally outweighs him. They paralleled each other for a few months, but P took Dillon at the line.

Today was a quick recovery ride on the trainer, and I gave my core the old heizman. Tomorrow is another day.

Yeah for rain

As you may have guessed, it was raining today. Not bad, but a definite mist. However, it is kind of hard to be discouraged when you are on a new
rig. So, I shoved off. I was discriminatory about the wind however, and made sure I followed the path of least resistance. I had a chilled out ride, with a few sets of spin ups and called it good. I got home, showered and ate, and barely made it to work.

On New Years day, K and I slept in a bit (until 9), after our super late night (~12:03) and made biscuits and gravy from scratch...you know, there is really no reason to ever eat b&g any other way. Mom, you better be ready next time we come to town. So, I rolled up to the shop to help out with some fine-tuning of our inventory closeout (no, Walt's is not closing, we just have to count stuff every so often)and then met up with K and some of her co-workers for a bike ride. We cruised down the Katy trail to McBain, and then K and I took some gravel home while the others headed back on the MKT. Krista has not been out for a ride over 1.5 hours in a while, but she trudged on like a soldier. It is amazing, when you are a bike racer, you hardly think about the little important things that make a huge difference. Take eating on the bike for example, K had no problem determining when to eat...she would yell at me to stop, and then pound a luna bar. Oddly enough, her body told her to eat nearly every hour. Physiology is great isn't it?

So, New Years Eve, we had some really bitchin' Chinese at one of my buddy's restaurant. Ryan "Q" Quian moved to Rolla his freshman year of high school. He spoke very little English, so we made sure he knew the basics. After several confrontations with various teachers and school administration, Q quit taking our advice on word choice, and took up wrestling. Oddly enough, Q always had a plethora of Chinese appetizers in his travel bag when we were off to a meet. Egg rolls and crab rangoon quickly became the fuel of choice for the Rolla Wrestling Team (picture possibly on the way). So, to make a long story short, if you click on this you will get a good idea of what others think of this fabulous restaurant. After our dinner, we grabbed a drink with a few of K's friends, then came home to watch Meet the Fockers. We were both ready for bed, but we managed to stay up just long enough to hear the "First Night" festivities nearly catch the downtown on fire. I love fireworks, but I have decided that from now on, fireworks after 9:30 should be outlawed.

New Kid in Town

Well, I should have pictures of my ride up later this evening. I will be taking the starship voyage on it this afternoon, as Walt's closes at 2pm. A tempo ride seems like a great way to break it in.

Not much has been going on in the world of cycling. Some quick rides when I have time has been the name of the last few days. Beginning next week, I should have more time to ride. More on that later.

You should check out this link http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/dec05/dec31news
and scroll down a bit to the bottom. We are still finalizing our schedule, but it looks like Doug, Brian and I may be around for the infamous "Froze Toes"...That is, unless there is a Texas race that weekend, and we all feel up for the travel. Aside from that, we have planned Gila, Joe Martin, Tri Peaks, Elite Road Nats, Nature Valley, and Crit Nats. To fill in the gaps, we will be doing some of the regional races in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma, while the veterans head out to swing punches with the big boys at the NRC events. So, I better quit writing and go ride.

Man, are we in season already or what?

K and I have been traveling every weekend for several weeks. I thought the off season was for relaxing, and definetly not leaving your house. We have been to STL, Indiana, Ft Smith Arkansas, and Rolla in the past consecutive weeks. Our latest trip to Rolla was good one. Even though we were away from home, we were still able to relax and take it easy.

We had some classic Belgian weather over the holiday, which was actually a great backdrop for each of my rides. Friday, I just took things easy for an hour or so taking in the new scenery. Saturday, I finished up my rest week with a 3.5 hr ride in the misty/foggy conditions; so far, it is on the top five rides of the year. We took Parker on a long hike on Sunday, and I did not throw a leg over the bike all day.

Monday, was another leg calming spin on the rollers, and yesterday I did some strength work before heading to Guthrie, through Ashland, and up north of town quite a ways. At 4.5 hours, my legs were pretty fried, so I spun home. Today looks like more Belgian weahter, a bit colder, but still seems ok.

As you can see, there was plenty of relaxing over the weekend: Parker and Paola took full advantage of the situatioin.

Somehow on Christmas morning, I got stuck in this goofy hat...no worries, it looks like K had it worse than me. Note to self, never agree to be the elf at the Bennett household.

Holy Crap

I am horrible at keeping this thing updated. I think I have SAD, and that definitely cuts into blogging time. There is a lot to recap, but I will give you some of the basics:

This evening, we hooked up with the Prozenbergers for some Mexicano. We haven't got to hang with them in quite some time, so it was nice to get back to our roots. Poots is doing great, growing, farting, and spitting up ever-so-often. Not really, he is incredibly cute! It is nearly disgusting. TJ, I am telling you, take Dill-weed to the mall or something and you are bound to come home with a chick.

Last evening, K and I headed over to our friends house for dinner. Wes and Anne go way back to junior high, just like K and I. They cooked us a fabulous meal: shrimp creole. It was good to relax and hang out with them. I think we may catch up with them back in R-town and roll around the rural roads.

Monday evening was the Walt's Holiday party. Most employees attended, and had a grand time. Seth schooled us all in pool, and we ate a bunch of food, and drank a few cocktails. At 9:30, I was ready for bed...which didn't come to me until shortly after 11.

The ride recap: Rollers. Plain and simple, I have been recovering from what I am about to explain.

This past weekend was Mercy's first training camp of the year. I packed up and headed down to Ft. Smith last Thursday evening. After a long stop at Denny's for breakfast, and a cracked out waitress who couldn't seem to get anything right, we arrived at the fitness center just in time to get kitted up and on the road. We were fortunate enough to have Brice Jones, a local Mercy Alumnus turned Jelly Belly Pro, lead our group rides each day. The weather is slightly warmer in Arkansas compared to BoCoMO, so our weekend outlook seemed great. Our first ride was pretty chill, over a rolling terrain; this ride absolutely killed me! Being that it was only my 3rd ride over 4 hrs, it definitely put me in the hurt box. Good thing the Olive Garden was near by our hotel.

Day two was said to be the big dog. With temps falling on Sunday to the upper 30's, we decided to get Gaylor out of the way. The group took a totally different route than Joe Martin does; Frankly, it is substantially harder. The ride was much more aggressive today, with tempo being launched at the base of Gaylor. Two flats, and two motor paced-efforts later, we had climbed over 8000 ft in the course of 90 miles. I cracked. It felt horribly good. I had not hit the wall that hard in quite some time. The funny thing was, consistent with how I feel during season, I still felt better than day one...Day 3 was looking up. Later in the evening, Brice's family hosted a party for the team. We had a great team meeting, a bunch of great Mexican food, and a pile of dessert. After our inhalation of treats, we limped back to the hotel and rested up for the final stage.

30's never came on Sunday. We rolled out and the temp was 50 and climbing. Secretly, the ride lengthend quite a bit, to nearly twice as long as I expected. The last day was absolutely beautiful. The roads were super rolly, with some crazy descents, and long grinders. We weaved throughout the river valley, and up over the adjacent ridges. I began going delirious at 4 hours. I had not had any food for the last hour, and my fluids were running low. Finally, after a little over 5 hrs, we stopped at a gas station where I pounded things I would never even think of eating on a normal day. My team mate Jason Martin saved my ass and hooked me up with the cash to make it home. The fitness center was in sight, at the 5:50 mark in our ride, with 108 miles stacked on for the day.

So, after the mix, I am really excited about the coming season. I just ordered a new vehicle, so expect pics soon. Other rides have included but not limited to rollers, trainer, CX, the good ol' road, and the carousel at the mall...

Thanks Micah!

Micah has disclosed important information to me several times since I have known him. The latest, is how to spell debauchery: you see, Micah has exceptional spelling and grammar, so I always look to him when in doubt...you may still see me spell it the Colonel's way (debotury), but hey, I am trying, so back off!

Over the weekend, K's parents came up and we went Christmas tree hunting...expect a pic or two soon. Parker came with, and went completely insane out around the farm...he also met his first donkey.

I have been riding quite a bit lately, mostly outside. The weather hasn't been that bad, that is until today. Somehow, I could not convince myself that it was ok to go outside, when the actual temperature was 7 degrees. Who even knows what the wind chill was?! Instead, Java and I watched Old School and rode the trainer and rollers respectively.

I have a trip to Indania this comming weekend for a family Christmas party. I emailed the coach at Marian in hopes of hooking up with some peeps for a ride. However, they are going into finals week, so it may be tough to find someone to blow the better portion of the day on a ride...I hate school. Speaking of school, I am about finished with my first of two classes. Time flies by when you bang your head repeatatively against the desk.

The weekend after next, I have my first training camp with Mercy in Ft. Smith. I am pretty pleased to head down there, as the weather has been much nicer. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the guys, and getting in some good long rides.

"Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything"

Is that synonymous to -- "Man who rides bike in crazy weather accomplish anything". While on that note, I can't believe Mr. Miagge (sp) passed away. Good think they have those Karate Kid movies around to keep his spirit alive. I am even thinking of taking up martial arts...what do you think about my ninja outfit?

This is me getting ready for my ride today. One may ask, Curt, is your helmet on crooked? The correct answer is yes, my helmet was on crooked. You may also ask, is that a knee warmer on your face? Yes, that is a knee warmer on my face.

So, enough banter about me. I went and rode today, and actually, it wasn't that bad. I went out for a big tree, and added a little flavor. Two hours flew by, and I realized I really only needed one today. Good times. TJ, you definitely missed a good one.

Not much else going on in my life right now. I am busy with school, and trying to find a clinic to get into after the first of the year. Anyway, more on that later.

One of my collegiate compadres, Garrett Peltonen got hit by a car the other day. Anyway, that is a link to some really funny thoughts from a super fast dude.

Gobble Gobble

Meet Franklin: no, I did not name the turkey, but certain other crazy people that live in our house did. Not bad for our first bird, huh?

This was Turkey Day dinner. The start list included parents from both K & I, her lil' sis, uncle, and the Podium-ready Prozenbergers (there is three of them you know). I was a bit concerned we wouldn't have sufficient space, but everything worked out ok.

K and I are breaking Franklin's bones here. I tried to convince her that I won, but the reality of the matter is only K's wish will come true. She better have wished for something good. Anyway, her half of the wishbone will be up on eBay later for sale, seeing that you can sell anything for a mint now days. So, happy bidding!

True charisma was captured here. Other than the fact that the Dill-pill is about as cute as they come, when you see a pose like this one from across the room, you can't pass it up. Jason, anytime Dillon is giving you a tough time, take a peak at this pic.

So, lets re-cap. The Prozenbergers hosted breakfast, consisting of pancakes, coffee, some left over formula, a bit of spit-up, and plenty of drool and giggles from Poots. Afterwards, we came home to put Franklin in the incinerator, and headed out to Wagon Wheel with Parker and A. After about two hours of chasing P around, we came back home and met with most of the fam.

Jason and I headed out for a quick off-road ride to Cosmo (it was freakin' cold!), and then back home once again for a stretch, shower, and shovel (food into my mouth that is).

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, conversing, and eating. Not a bad Turkey day. Hope yours was as good as ours--

Back In The Saddle Again

No AC/DC lyrics, but I am back to full the full swing of things. I rode my road bike outside for the first time in I can't remember how long today. I have been doing many days on the rollers, but getting outside was a real treat. I took K on the Lackey Loop, and then came home to ride...you guessed it, more rollers. However, I just received my new rollers from CycleOps so riding indoors is going to be a little better, with the choice of having my gentiles fall asleep, or having my mind fall asleep. Stay tuned:

K and I are hosting Thanksgiving for both of our families and the Prozenbergers. We are really excited, which has sent us hustling around the house in order to reduce the entropy that the animals have brought us. If we could just limit Parker to a 1'x1' area in the house, things would work out fine. Thomas has made his way north with Lesley for Turkey day, so Chief won't be able to help us cut the bird, but we do have little Scout!

So, in previous days, I lifted, took a few days to relax before slugging out base miles in the frigid Midwest; on another note, Tyrone Jerome got his acceptance letter to ASU...that jerk will be riding in 70 degree weather in no time. Teej - if I come up with 3 bills for a plane ticket, and a little extra scratch to hang with you for a few days, I will be there.

People are still racing cross for some ungodly reason. Cross racing hurts. Micah and Josh, how did you ever pick that as your scope? I would probaly do more racing, but the issue of traveling at the moment is not very attractive. I suspect next season when I live in STL, I will not have the same excuse.

The Plauge

I have been stricken with some nasty sort of flu...It began yesterday at work and I have been suffering ever since. I can honestly say that even though I don't get sick very often, this is probaly one of the worst flus I have ever experienced. Fever, chills, vertigo (really bad vertigo), neck and back pain; but the worst pain is in my legs. It feels as though someone has been punching them for several hours strait trying to make me say uncle. However, it isn't too bad being sick around the Kippenberger household, as K tends to my every need. She is really great about taking care of me when I need it most. T is a rock star as well; A, I didn't even know he was hanging around the house today (he has been that quiet, and we have hardwood floors) taking care of Parker as usual. B, he went down to Main Squeeze and is picking me up some go-go juice, and an RBS&Q. Thank you guys.

So, I have my first exam tonight. Should be interesting with me feeling like crap and all. Sorry for the lame post, but I had to share my problems with everyone else.

Since Micah has updated his blog more recently

--than myself, I suppose I should follow suit. So, a lot has happened since my last update in the tales of the Colonel: here are just a few.

-Parker's Sinsae has been teaching him well..."Dog who can catch catch fly with chopstick can accomplish anything"

Spiderdog visited our house on Hollows Eve

So did Super Dawg...if any of you are still wondering, Super Dawg can definetly kick Spider Dog's ass...Isn't it obvious.

Paola is still pissed at the world, but things are getting better. Her and Chief are beginning to get along better.

My wife has began practicing Voodoo. Here she can be seen blowing a flame out of her ears. After that, she stood up, spun her head around 360 degrees, and stuck her tounge out so that it touched her forehead. Sorry, I was too scared to snap some photos of the previous statements.


In other related news, I in my 3rd week of classes. Things are going well, and I really hope Chiropratic school is worth the waste of time I sit through every Tuesday and Thursday night.

I have been riding, lifting, and thinking like a bike racer again (Micah, I miss you). I have been traversing local gravel quite frequently, and will plan to make a road bike appearance soon. As for the time, I am quite content with riding my cross bike.

Today, I have to rake leaves, stain the deck, clean a bunch of crap, and ride down the Katy. I am hoping to drag Jason out of retirement today, so he can pull the Dillweed in the trailer.

Speaking of Dillweed, that kid grows more than my dog...it is insane. He is comming up to be quite the little guy. I am pretty sure he will be crawling before too long, as he grunts and grimaces in trying to do so now. He is pretty hillarious.

What did the Colonel do over the weekend???

Trash Stuff &


Suffer. It was my first real ride since I began my brake. However, through all the pain and agony, and getting lapped several times by Josh, I found the race somewhat comforting. It was just what I was looking for. I have been having trouble finding motivation to get back out and train...well, getting lapped a bajillion times isn't any fun. So, back on the horse.

Aside from riding road bikes in the dirt, I worked on Saturday, while Jason and I stategically planned a gay-rodge sale; our wives and his child suffered through the cold while we remained inside at our respective employers...actually, it wasn't all that bad. K and A shut the thing down just after I left for work. We made 24 bucks...and then went out to dinner, only to blow it all. We are so American.

Happy Holloween...I should have some pics of Parker up soon, he will be dressed to please for the evening. Scary movies and grocery shopping await.

So, today, my ankle is a bit sore, but I will hop on the trainer, and do some stuff downstaris. fun times.

Back to School

...I've got my boots laced up, my shoes tied tight
I hope I don't get in a fight...-Adam Sandler, Billy Madison
So, I am back in class. That is really fun. The class is pretty chill, just an entry level biology class that I need to head to Logan. I think if anything, it will help me study for my internet class that has been plaguing my life for so long.

Riding bikes again is weird. After taking almost a solid month off, it is time to get back on the saddle. I have the cross bike set up for almost everything I can throw at it. I will probaly not ride the road until the last week of November...or maybe I will, due to the weather. Who knows.

Daylight savings needs to come and take over my life...I have had a lot of problems getting out of bed lately. Hopefully, that will solve the mystery.

I may head to St. Louis this weekend for a CX race...I am in no shape what-so-every, but it should be a good time. The weekend after, I hope to go catch up with Jim, Cale, Brad, and Doug in Springpatch. Should be good times.

That is it in the life of the Colonel...take care

This just in

Micah updated his blog, and owes me a million dollars for copywrite infringement. Oh, what the hell, our bikes look the same anyway...stunt double, you will be missed. BTW, I sold my Airborne to a local tri-guy. So, all we have to do is to get a tri-athlete to buy your bike, and the scene will continue.

i suck

i suck really bad and jason oz is a loser

Splash!!!!

NO, not the Guns N' Roses song, but the sound of TJ crashing into the Creek at Rockbridge today. I had the pleasure of catching it after turning around safely from the other side. That was the third time the Teej hit the deck today, but he still had enough in him to laugh at the situation...good thing too, because I was already laughing. We gotta love the Teej.

On a slightly more serious note, TJ has been hanging in there quite well on the cross bike. I am very impressed how well he rides. My wife recently got a CX bike as well, and she rocked it out at Cosmo yesterday with T and I. Let's just say K has this intrinsic ability to ride a bike offroad...wierdest thing ever.

So, that was a nice little round-about prelude of saying I started riding my bike regularly again yesterday. After 22 days of being off, it is very refreshing to throw a leg over...errr ah, ride again.

I visited Logan Chiropractic College over the weekend: I am going to become a chiropractor. Who'd a thought of such a thing. I have to enroll in a few classes to clean up the prerequisites, but I should be starting next October (and possibly sooner than that). I wasn't really excited to move to STL, that is until K and I visited Trader Joes. Seems like a great place to start. Between that and Whole Foods, I think step 3 is taken care of. So, you may be asking what steps one and two are. Step 1: School (duh, why else would I move away from BoCoMO?) Step 2: Living arrangements. now, this isn't official, but there is a possibility that K and I will buy a mobile estate. Reason being???? A mortgage that will not kill us, and it only takes 3 years to pay off. And, apartments start at a billion dollars a month, so sorry Jimmy, but I may have to turn on you (-Jimmy Buffett; Son of a Sailor). So, that is about the most exciting thing going on.

Congrats to Mark and Sarah; my boss duo just tied the knot last week. They have been together slightly longer than K and I have, and decided to be wed before an adventure in Northwest Arkansas. Have fun down south!!

What else>>> Nothing really, just flying by the seat of my pants, hoping things work out. However, T-Mac told me once that I could wish in one hand and s*it in another and see what filled up first. Sometimes the simplest phrases seem the most profound.

Doggy Dogg World

Yeah, it's Parker's Doggy Dogg World...for shizzle. So, this is kind of like being a parent, but not quite. I have had some anxiety that the Prozenbergers have experienced in the past, such as lack of sleep, losing my cool, and disbelief that something so small can eat so much. Doggy Dogg from da Dogg Pound...yeah, it really is a Doggy Dogg world.

So, aside from hitting up the park on a daily basis, and heading down to the Pumkin fest, life hasn't changed a whole lot. I am getting ready to hop on my bike for the first time in 16 days. Things should be interesting. TJ, Jason-son, Dillon and I are just goning to hit up the MKT to Grindstone. It should be good times.

Work is good, things are swell. I am heading to STL this comming weekend to check out a school. That is right, I am going to get more edumacated. I am considering Logan Chiropractic...more on that soon.

That is all for now, tune in next time to KWYfm, for all you in BoCoMO, that's KWBallz.

Stuff up for sale

So, I have my bike from last season up for sale, and my cross bike. Both are in great condition and are specked out really cheech. Anyway, if you are interested in either item, drop me a line.

Oh yeah, not riding bikes is going well...obviously. No, I am just beginning to get excited about next season's training. More to come.