Fun In The Sun.

So at dinner I felt like something was biting me under my shirt...oh how wrong I was....

Damn ergo sessions in the altitude sunshine...lesson learned.

Sucking Fumes With A Side Of Belgium Toothpaste....

...or in other words, motor pacing out in the rain. Being Memorial Day long weekend we took full advantage of the extra day and fired up the scooter in some pretty crappy weather. Fun was had and pain was inflicted, hopefully it put some speed in the legs before continuing racing this weekend with Tulsa Tough Crits in Oklahoma. Some big $ up for the races which should make for some crazy racing. Not sure how the form is but the motivation is high so we'll see how things go.

Went and saw the new Indy Jones movie yesterday...not bad at all. I don't think they ruined it like the Rocky comeback a few years ago, but it lacked that magic of the old movies that's for sure. In other unexciting news team mate Ed got knocked off last week and ended up in the ER. Apparently some clown decided to pull a U-turn in a main street. No broken bones luckily but some pretty nice bruising and soreness. Be careful out there kids....lator, cw.

Pocket Rockets

Spent some time hanging with the RMCEF Junior team yesterday. Man what a cool set up. I wish I had something like that when I was 13. Full set up in team kits, little Primus Mootry custom steel bikes and a whole lotta enthusiasm. It was just rad to see the support and the development of kids at that age in the sport of cycling. I guess the program is a real viable sport option for kids, comparable to something like doing U13 basketball or junior tennis. Except it's bike racing, so it's way cooler. Major props to Jon who looks after the program and keeps the next generation of hitters going....lator..cw.

In Any Weather.

Boulder sure is a sweet place. Spent the last few days kickin' it with Raby for some random adventures. Best by far was yesterday's 4.5 outing, complete with getting caught in a hailstorm and getting pelted by some pretty big suckers.


Being a local, Ben knew the best way to prepare the best for such crappy conditions...I've got so much to learn.

Somehow this pic makes it look way nicer than it was...two tornado touchdowns were reported not too far north from were we were.

No racing on the radar for me this weekend, but will have to dust off the old teaching skills for a guest talk as part of the RMCEF Junior Camp held this weekend. Should be fun....lator, cw.

Sid Vicious!

Nice one Tabs....

The Ears Are Still Ringing.

It has been a massive last three days and Monday morning writing this I'm am in the hurt locker...big time. Friday my new buddy Raby took my on some canyon climbing Boulder style. Riding up to the famous Peak to Peak highway and across to Nederland was so awesome, and the lack of oxygen kept me mixing up my words which was pretty funny. Ben said he couldn't even remember me doing it so I guess we were both pretty far gone. Best part of the day was the free coke found in the machine dispenser at Wondervu. Yeehah.

Saturday Kat raced on the dirt at Bear Creek Park which was sweet being so close to home we just rolled on down there after breakfast. She was looking the goods on the first lap until her chain got munched in the stay and it was day over. No neutral support out there folks. But on the other hand we did see a wild coyote on the way out there so that was pretty sweet. Too fast for the camera tho.

Saturday was also a special day in the fact it was our one year anniversary. Unbelievable. So we headed back up to Boulder for a burrito at Illegal Petes where we first met, and then Kat had secretly organised a night at an Alpine B&B....ain't she the greatest!

Sunday it was time to think about racing the bike with a conveniently located crit just outside Boulder in Loiusville. Kat had the best race I have seen her in, blocking in the bunch for her team mate in the winning break of three, and then smashing it in the field sprint and coming home fourth! We didn't race till like 5:30pm which was a hoot, but there was a solid local field and also Henk and Heath which were the obvious guns to watch. I felt okay but nothing special, testing the waters in a few breaks that didn't stick. Luckily team-mate Eddie found the right one and took a third for the day and put the new RMCEF kit on the box. I was happy to keep my skin in the bunch after a stupid crash with two laps to go.


As soon as i'd crossed the line it was straight to the car to pin it home to unload and then for me to head into downtown for the Mars Volta gig. Oh man. What can I say. These guys were amazing, the best live show I have ever seen. Every single musician in that band is a genius and are zen masters of their instruments. Cedric was off trolley as expected, and pretty much from the opening gun wandered into the crowd dancing and hanging off the side railings and such. The show was intense and featured a good mix off all of the albums, plus plenty of improv. madness as you would expect. Omar is the most incredible guitar player I have ever heard, and seeing him just tear the stage apart live was awesome....and don't get me started on the drummer. Check out the you tube links if you want to see just what the hell I am rambling about....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BH11YFqMoB0

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QhMzzeGrCzo

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NVehchfs8Ec&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Y0aOYXEfl4

Nothing More To Say.

Plug In And Recharge.

Mix 9 days of solid racing and almost 4 days worth of travel time into 14 days, and that would be my last two weeks. So it's nice to be back here at home right now and chillin' although I look out side and we had a little snow action last night. So I guess I'm definitely chillin'! Two back to back NRC races were hard and took it's toll on the last two stages of Joe Martin. Stage 3 was a nice one, sweet roads with some nice rolling climbs. I stayed in the once again Health-Net controlled bunch all day and threw myself in the mix during flurry of attacks in the last 10km, but everything stayed together and I pretty much could do nothing in the downhill finish while powerhouse Ted King from Bissell took the win. The last stage crit was super hard, an 8 corner technical course with a steep kicker uphill finish. One of the top 5 hardest on the calendar apparently. Pretty much I felt like crud from the gun. The legs were dead and the body said nope, we're done. So I didn't have a great day at all really. So when the dust settled in was a 48th on the GC overall. Nothing to write home about. I guess the one thing about Joe Martin is that the whole race pretty much hinges on the first days TT, cause with the firepower of the big teams and the nature of the rest of the stages it is super tough to gain any time. Hats off to Health Net who had Rory in the lead from stage one and just controlled the bunch for the rest of the week. I must say I'm learning all the time. Here's some pics from the week...

The TT was held in this sweet little place called 'Devils Den'. Needless to say the drive out was a ton on fun with Kat's 4WD Subaru,...easy right into hair-pin left..

This mad storm blew in post stage three. We hard tornado warnings to the north of Fayetteville. Serious.

Raby tested and provided feedback on a new prototype Bell helmet .

Our new RMCEF kits arrived just before we left....nice.

SRAM were once again rockin' neutral support duties and doing a damn fine job..

Spied these during the ladies TT. Ouch.

Thanks for an awesome week guys....cheers.

Motor Pacing Behind Health-Net

Thats pretty much what's been going on the last two stages here. With Sutherland in the lead the boys in black and green have been controlling this race to the mega. Yesterdays buck seventy stage I felt good but an untimely flat and a hard chase back on in the last 25kms and badly skipping gears rendered any shot of a sprint at the end. Today hung in there with the bunch in a gnarly downhill finish. So thats pretty much it in the land of bike racing in Ar-Kansas. Apologies for the non super exciting post. I'm pretty tired. Lator, cw.

The Sweat Descends.

Here in a swank hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas for Joe Martin NRC and well, from the dryness and altitude of Gila last week this is a different kettle of fish altogether. Very lush green surroundings in a muggy and humid atmosphere. This place is sweet and the roads are awesome. Too bad I forget my camera cable to post some pics. Oh and we are at like 400m so hello oxygen again! Rooming with ex Kodak-Sierra pro and super nice guy Ben Raby and his wife Sarah, who proved to be great travel partners, especially with their stash of high quality food for the 10hr haul across yesterday. And to make things even better Kat is here too. TT today was short and sweet. 4km uphill and balls out all the way. Still waiting on results but I think I felt semi decent and left it in the dog for the duration. Sleep now. 177 big ones in the soupy air tmw..lator..cw.

Going To Dark Side.

So Kat is selling a sweet cruiser at the moment...check out this email from a potential buyer...awesome...

"....I'm inquiring about the Cruiser……..
Do you still have it? If so, are you considering any trades? I have an unusual item I've listed on Craig's List and am willing to accept trades for a Cruiser (that is where the money will go). It is a replica Storm Trooper Costume. If you are interested please let me know. If not, sorry to take your time. .."

Worth every cent I reckon!

Tour Of Gila Wrap Up.

So I am back at HQ after a solid 11hr trip back from Silver City yesterday, with the van pulling in at 3.30am and all parties concerned well and truly beat. So back tracking, the last two stages of Gila were tough as expected. The downtown crit was sweet with a huge crowd and a cool course with some of the roughest so-called pavement around. Tony Grieg would have definitely lost the keys in the cracks in this pitch. From the gun I felt awesome. The legs were turnin' sweet so I thought I'd get the game going launching an attack 10 laps in on the back rolling hills while Bissell were content to put their whole squad on the front and keep the pace solid. A short lived break away with two other dudes was all the glory I had until I tried to play my hand again soon after a quick breather back in the bunch. Off the front again and being reeled in, a counter attack blasted by while I was starting to fade. I found myself in the fun position of being in no mans land between the break the hungry bunch for the next couple of laps. Waving the white flag it was back to the bunch with the break solidly gaining time up the road. Damn. And then to make this a little more interesting my chain jumped off after hitting a solid bump in the road, and trying to get it back on track it twisted and jammed up. Coasting into the SRAM Neutral pit the lads were awesome. No panic at all, a spare bike decked out with a RED gruppo and Zipp 404's, seat height adjusted, pedal change and still 20sec before the bunch came back around. Getting back in the game I hung in there as best I could for a bunch finish. Needless to say the break was caught in the final lap while Vogels laid the smack down for the big W.

Okay the Gila Monster. The final stage of the tour. 170km and some 9100ft of climbing with 4 major burgs and 8200ft of descending. Did I already mention Silver City is already at 6000ft. Hello lack of oxygen racing. I guess the major split in the race occurred in the worst way. The descent mid race down the Gila Ciff Dwellings was off trolley. Super steep and fast with some gnarly tight corners. I was only a few wheels back from the major crash of two Tecos riders who went down hard sliding off into a rock wall. Later reports was that one of these guys broke his back and now has no feeling from the waist down. Race leader Tom Zirbel went down too and broke a collarbone, ribs and a finger. So this is where the race broke up amidst all the carnage. I survived okay but lost contact with the front group over the following flat section before the turn around point to go back up. The legs were good climbing back up and I managed to slip off the front of my group and by the peak of the final climb bridge across into the next group on the road. Here i stayed rolling in with the bunch in 26th. A little disappointed not to have been closer to the front of the bike race but after the carnage the positive was to finish the tour in one piece. Overall it was a 42nd finish on GC after a rough week. My breathing issues on the first stage certainly killed my time for the week but shit happens, and I learned a hell of a lot from my first NRC. Plus on a more important note the team gelled really well and we had a fun week. So home for two days and then off to sea level Arkansas for another NRC, the Joe Martin stage race...yeehaw. Thanks for reading...cw.

Stage Three: Tour Of Gila

The TT. Kinda a messy day really. A lot of fricking around with the officials for bike measurement checks meant my warm up time was kinda reduced and not as optimal as planned. Whatever. Course was 26km out and back on a highway full of rollers, open and semi windy. I felt okay, nothing special. Caught three dudes and had the bright white of Toyota's Garcia in my sights but was pretty blown out by the end. Early start means the rest of the day is free, with a potential a trip to see "Iron Man" if this town has a theatre somewhere...who knows. Crit tmw afternoon. The gutters here are like two feet high so it will be like Nascar on two wheels. Bring it. Lator, cw.

Stage Two: Tour Of Gila

I found my lungs today. Yeah. What a fast day. With the pink leaders jerseys Team Tecos pretty much controlled the bunch well and set a pretty mean tempo for the majority of the stage. Break went away for most of the day and was caught towards the end before Colavita got the stage win. I felt semi decent and managed to hang and finish with the front bunch for the day which was rockin' after sucking big time yesterday. Wind today was pretty strong once again but luckily there were no major bunch crashes un-like yesterdays debacle. I am loving these sweet carbon tubular Bontrager wheels I am running at the moment..plus with red spokes they look bad ass to the mega. As you probably can already tell I am a little beat, hence the randomness and short sentences. Time for a nap. TT tmw. Oh and the bro finally updated his blog. Good job Roy. Lator, cw.