Tulsa Tough Day 1.

Last night was wild. Once again the night crit left me wondering what the hell just happened once we crossed the finish line. Personally, the plan was just to sit tight and save the legs for the later stages that suit me strengths better. Still, even doing that was a task. On more than one occasion I came super close to tasting tamac with some loose riding and guys clipping pedals causing unpredictability in the bunch. Still, the crowds were huge and the night was pumping...

Stage two tonight....bring it.....over n' out....cw

Tulsa Tough.

Made it. Drive was good with Tucker and Parnesy, despite Garry the Garmin giving us the bum steer trying to avoid toll roads. We handled the $1.60 fare okay but the extra time behind the wheel wasn't really needed. Sometimes technology is too smart for it's own good. Went for a morning spin today and the weather is hot and then some. Currently sitting in the hotel room with the air-con watching Rocky. Talk about inspiration....over n' out...cw

Road Guardian.

Awhile ago I was contacted by Joe Mizereck in regards to his campaign called "3 Feet Please". It aims to save cyclists lives by educating drivers with a jersey he designed advertising to give at least three feet passing room. We have all dealt with poor drivers, close calls and sometimes worse, so I was more than happy to help Joe get the word out. This week Joe has contacted me once more with a new project, www.RoadGuardian.com, aiming to create a worldwide tool to help cyclists report, mark and share cycling incidents and trouble spots. Makes real sense to have some knowledge before venturing out onto new roads that could potentially be a danger for us lycra clad bandits.....we're always going to come off second best when it comes to cars. For me, anything to help make cycling safer out on the roads is absolutely worthwhile. So check it out....and be careful out there....cheers..cw.

Long Weekend.

Breakfast time and it's a Monday public holiday. Nice. Giro is playing and coffee and oatmeal is consumed. Standard routine and I like it. Weekend featured some more racing on the local front, with Friday night suiting up in the skin-suit and egg helmet for the Superior TT. The course featured a section from the old Coors Classic, with a nice couple of climbs and fast descents. Only 7mile but you earned your dinner that's for sure. I was lucky enough to draw the short straw and was first rider off at 6pm. Kinda sucked having no one to chase but eh, that's the way it rolls sometimes. The final wash-up saw me take 6th place, and only a minute behind Zirbel which I was happy about. I mean that guy wins NRC TT's like that (insert snap of fingers here).

Saturday was the Louisville crit, and brought back good memories from last year, with JK in the break and the rest of the team leading me out to take the bunch sprint. This year panned out a little differently, with a break happening just 10mins into the race. With some hitters in there they stayed away...and lapped us....proceeding to make us look like bicycle dorks. 18th in the end, frustrated with those who sat up on the final climb before the sprint, making it difficult to open the throttle.

This week it's back on the road for Tulsa Tough, three days of waay fast midwest crit racing. A nice little tune up before Nature Valley which is edging closer. Bro Town hits town very soon. Over N' Out...cw.

Taking A Breath.

Life has been busy that's for sure. Right now I am sitting on the couch, watching Outbreak with one pair of lightly toasted legs. Okay, maybe lightly toasted is an understatement. Training has been solid over the past week, with today another JH big loop special, along with Donald, Garcia and Tomas. The group would have been one more except the G-Train forgot one vital piece of his $14,000 limited edition Giant. The battery pack for the electronic DA. Bummer for sure, but pretty funny at the same time.

Last weekend Kat and I celebrated two years together. What better way than to head back to where we first met and shared a burrito at Illegal Petes in Boulder. I love that place...never disappoints. Saturday night we went to the sold out Flight Of The Conchords show at Red Rocks. For a couple of Kiwi's they sure know how to put on one hell of a fun show. Check em' out on You Tube if you haven't heard their stuff. I would provide a link but it seems like a whole lotta effort right now. Last weekend was also spent coaching out at the ACA Junior camp, teaching skills to a whole bunch of 8-14 year olds. Very rewarding stuff to see kids pick up and learn new tricks. Ok I'm out, Dustin Hoffman just discovered the virus was made by the military....the plot thickens and I need to concentrate...over n' out...cw

The Latest Craze.

So my new "thing" at the moment is devouring the JJJ website downloads archive, namely all the old "J Files" they have available. I must admit anytime I hear any Australian music here on the radio I feel a real sense of patriotism, not matter how lame or cliche the song is. Mostly it's a rotation of INXS, Midnight Oil or Men At Work, but every time I have to crank them up loud. So already tonight I have listened to the Joe Strummer J File (while cooking a pretty good lasagna) and now I'm on to Spilt Enz. Which reminded me of this which is pretty rocking.

After a rest week last week i have started training again this week with a bang. The weather has been great, with plenty of wind about for a good dose of HTFU. Met up with Ryan Parnes last weekend at Wheels Of Thunder crit, made the trek out to CO from CA and will be my team-mate on the NVGP Pro-Ride. Took him up Brook Forest Rd. today and was a nice introduction to a little 8000ft climbing. Then we started our intervals. Solid.

On an end note I am now writing for the official NVGP race blog....check it..

http://www.minnbikefestival.com/blog/triayourcycling/index.htm

Out...cw

Wrapping Up The Gila.

Looking back on Gila I'm slowly starting to realise just how mammoth a week that really was. Physically it is a super tough race with the amount of climbing and its hard to recover thanks to the altitude. Throw in the mix the strongest field I will race against this year (courtesy of team MJ's, BMC and every domestic pro team there minus Jelly Belly) it's no wonder I'm still feeling like I've been beaten by cricket bats. The final two stages went pretty well for me, feeling good in the downtown criterium (which was huge thanks to LA), but conserving energy for the final Gila Monster stage. That stage is wicked! A tidy 170km day with 9100ft of climbing to finish the week off. I played it cool in the bunch, knowing the Cat.1 climb after the turn around point is where it would go down. Unfortunately there were many crashes up until that point, and seeing Nydam lying on the road motionless as we flew by was a horrible sight.....best wishes for a speedy recovery. Team-mate Tucker also hit the deck and had to get a spare bike and unfortunately didn't finish the stage.

So the split did happen on the steep start on the Cat. 1 climb where the Armstrong group rode away. The early break (which Ian was in) had blew up on the same climb, and by the summit I was in a little group driven hard by a couple of Cal-Giant guys. The last 15miles heading up to the finish into Pinos Altos were pretty rough, just trying to hang onto the group, eventually coming home 33rd, 6.51 down. Not too bad considering some lost over an hour on this stage. GC wise I rocketed up to 41st place. Obviously I gambled hard on the first stage being in the break and lost big time after I blew at the bottom of the Mogollon, but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained right?

My photo taking abilties for the week sucked. This is my only shot (which Tucker took actually). That massive brown RV on the right is Lance's for all those fans out there...

This week is a nice recovery week for me, only being on two wheels a couple of times this week so far. It was also time to finally plant our seedlings in the ground...fingers crossed we yield more than last year! Over N' Out....cw

Singing The TT Blues.

My TT didn't go that great today. I thought I had a decent go but the times and the placing tell another story. Being a light guy I just can't DH too well and on the rollers course I sucked. Thats the way she goes and hopefully I can ride better tmw in the crit. Completely changing tact I found this the other day. Looks like RA is back making music again with what has to be a piss-take metal outfit called Werewolph...too funny. Lator..cw