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If You Have The Time.

Creative...I like it!

The Rest Of SuperWeek, Chicago Criterium and Everything Else In Between.

Firstly...I have some photos! Finally! Actually these were taken by the bro who with his new fancy camera is turning out some pretty solid snaps...look out Ansel Adams. So the last race of Superweek I pinned on the paper for was the Racine Criterium. Kinda a cool race and the hometown event for our host family. My legs complained most of the race and with 20 laps to go I switched to 'prime bandit mode' after we were lapped by the break. Snared one and hung in for the finish but I was starting to smell a cooked goose by the end of the night. Two days of recovery and a little bit of travel we headed down the the Chicago Criterium. Voted the best crit of 2008 by USAC this was a big one, with plenty of $ up for offer, Jumbo Tron TV's around the course and a grandstand on the finish line. I was impressed. So the top photo was taken before the Chicago Criterium....


The above is post Chicago Criterium. I wasn't the most excited bike racer afterwards having a pretty average race, and I guess with the excitement of snaring a top 10 at Superweek I was hoping for some better things outta myself. Getting good results is kinda addictive ya know. But the reality was on a pancake flat course it really was a day for the sprinters, with Brad Huff of Jelly Belly taking out the big W and showing us how its done. I came home in 39th of 185 starters and all my teeth after avoiding a nasty last lap pile up.

Still I'm sure it could have been much worse like this guy.....

You're my boy blue!

I put my wattage to good use powering a slot-car set at the Kenosha Festival....took a little bit of getting used to the effort required after my first pedal mash sent a car flying into the grass...

So I am home back in Denver now for the next few days before flying back out to Chicago again for Tour of Elk Grove. Nice thing about this one is that it is a 1/2 race, with the Pro's doing their own thing....could be interesting. Lator, cw.

Vive Le Cycling.

So Lance stays on eh.....between the new RadioShack Team, Team Sky and potentially the rumor of Contador starting a new Spanish sqaud, 2010 looks like an exciting year for sure. I mean bugger this team infighting business, stick em' all on different squads and let the fireworks on the road begin. Much more productive I say. As for old world doping clowns like DiLuca...sigh....you will all be caught someday.

The racing rolled on yesterday with the LakeFront road race, a pretty cool little 7km circuit with a coupla punchy little climbs thrown in for good measure. Actually the second climb was sweet, followed the road up through this forested section. Being along the lake front we had some wind-a-blowin' and made for a super quick finish spinning out the 53X11 no problems. I had an okay race, taking awhile for the legs to get going and then following pretty much every move bar the one that stuck! Either way I made the major selection of the day after we shelled a bunch early and came home 25th place for the last check in the pile. Not bad.

Not much else has been going on besides racing out here. Life has been very good to us and we are having a great time with everyone here....

Whitnall Park.

Right now this post is written while listening to the new PJ single "The Fixer". If I was a bit more computer savvy I'm sure you could having it playing straight from the site, but you can hear it here if you like...needless to say I'm excited.

So the first two races of Superweek have gone very well for me. Although I didn't have a great finish result at Schlitz Park, I knew the legs were starting to come on a little and I was hell motivated to have a good day out at the Whitnall Park circuit race. After a few laps of letting te legs get going I moved to the front and helped instigate (finally!) the first break that stuck, along with 5 others we were off the front for 4 laps until 6 more had bridged across to us. Sensing this was my best chance for a top finish I made sure I drilled the small climb to keep things going and keep us out of sight of the peloton. As far as a break goes we were large at 13 riders, but we were pretty stacked to say the least. Meatball and Dekkers from Garmin, two KBS riders, Huff from JBC, one of the flying Sth Africans and former Toyota rider Blackgrove were the danger men to watch out for. Surprisingly the other big team here, Fly V Australia, weren't represented but I was confident enough it would stick.

Once we were clear we were a solid unit for over half the race, and wasn't till three laps to go until Heath lit it up with an attack to split the break. We all jumped and it was clear it was going to come down to a mass final lap sprint up over the hill to the line. It was one of those unassuming finishes for sure, as the line was 400m or so after the crest of the hill, and was much further out than you thought. I gave it the gas as much as I could coming home 9th and happy to crack a top ten result out here.

Road race today....150 big ones..lets hit it...cw

Back On Tour.

Yep it was high time for some more travelling and racing. Post Nature Valley/Break/Training block I am feeling refreshed and ready to hit it for the last couple of months of the race season. Right now I am back in Superweek, staying with the number 1 host family in the USA! They are the greatest and it's very cool to be back here and see them all again! We raced last night at Schlitz Park on a pretty fun and fast course. It had a nice little kicker hill in it but I guess after racing Stillwater nothing really compares to that place when the road goes skyward. I had probably one of the most aggressive and active crits in quite sometime which was encouraging for sure. Plus coming back to sea level gives you a nice little boost to I suppose. After trying to get in breaks and get moves off the front for most of the race it came down to a bunch sprint which I didn't have much legs left for. Still, I was happy with the race and look forward to Whitnall Park on Monday and trying to improve on the top 20 there last year. So basically I am using this week to get some speed in the legs in preparation for Tour of Elk Grove in a couple of weeks, and then hopefully (fingers crossed) I will know in the next few weeks if I get a guest ride spot for the Tour Of Utah mid August. I'm super keen for that race and I really hope to be there, but either way I think the form will be there around that time anyway...even if I just have to race the local kids around the block! I just realized that I have been slacking in the photo department but recently cleared my camera of all old pics so I figure it's time to start snapping again.

Thanks for reading....lator..cw

Explaining Cricket. To Americans.

The last two weeks have been solid. Two 20+ hour weeks in the bank and now time to let the work soak in with a little rest and hit some racing. Superweek to be exact, after some last minute changes from the original plan of Cascade. Be the perfect way to get some speed in the legs before Tour of Elk Grove at the end of the month.

With the weather heating up here (although arvo storms are still the norm) it was time last week to introduce the fellas at the shop to the age old game of cricket. Thanks to the bro who upon request brought over a cricket set (bat/ball/wickets), we gave it a bash last Friday night. With the closest comparison being baseball, clear rule definiation was needed, but once we were all on the same page it was a hoot. Special mention goes to Dave for his handy work with the ball and could quite easily spend a summer down under rolling the arm over.

The bro has become quite handy in the kitchen....do I smell a day time cooking show in the near future?

We have lettuce!!

Morning Outrage.

This is an interesting situation. And it annoys the hell outta me that after two years he is back and already pushing his weight around like the sport owes him something. Yes, this is after he got popped for blood transfusions back in 2007. In fact, its the total opposite situation and I can't believe how forgiving this sport is sometimes to people who have forever tainted it by doping.....

Finding My Feet Again.

Yes they are still at the end of my legs. But in a metaphorical sense it's been a bumpy last couple of weeks coming off Nature Valley and trying to recover but not feeling that great. I guess it makes sense after a solid amount of traveling and racing for the first half of the season. So I ended up missing Winghaven after feeling like mouldy socks, and I'm going to pass on Tour of Lawrence this weekend too. Sometimes you just have to be patient and let the body catch up to where it needs to be...as frustrating as it can be. The next focus will be a solid three week block, heading to Boise for the twilight crit, Cascade Classic and then onto Elk Grove while the rest of the team stays on for Nationals. Sounds pretty good to me....


Hit the dirt up yesterday with the bro which was a blast. Gave the Anthem a solid workout on some pretty techo trails....shame I left my brain at home..almost had a big off which would have easily resulted in some broken bones!