Monday, April 30, 2007

Madera madness

This weekend had its ups.. and downs...it started off my co-pilot for the weekend Tim G (Biscuit) calling in sick due to some bug type thing that kept him on the DNS list for Madera. The Ben Hur TT on the road bike for me was a lack luster ride, others picked TT's and thats what I'll do in the future. I could see that the bets were stacking up on Hernando's blog for the following TT with me VS BPG's JA. It kept me motivated, but I always feel better the second day and I rolled pretty good ride. Thats the thing, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like winning, but with a TT' I just want to ride to the best of my ability.

I do have Marco Hellman (AMD) and Dario www.wholeathlete.com to thank for getting me closer to my best on the TT bike this year!

The real madness started with Tracey and Julie (the other biscuit). At the crit they had a combined 4 flats before the thing even started. There were a couple of guys around to help the maidens in distress- Hernando was there to lend a hand too. (Thanks)
Then I met them back at the Madera Inn for a TT set up. I got Tracey set with my DISC and funny helmet for her TT, we put the bikes on JG's car rack...(back mount) which I thought would be fine.....WRONG!!!!! About 10 minutes later I get a call...the bike went flying off the car on 99 at mucho MPH...uggghhh. Just before they realized it flew off...JG says"Tracey where is your bike?" its sliding across 99 HWY. Good thing another racer was following and didn't run it over! Tracey put it back in the car and I asked her if it was OK???she said that she would take a look when they got to the TT..Heart rate must have been max-ed at this point...
They gals get to the TT...Tracey says"Julie, where are your pedals?" Julie says..."^%U%^RTGV@%! They're on my other bike back at the hotel!"

then she says..."thats it I'm going home"...Tracey says "go find some pedals" another knight comes over to help and gives J a set of pedals for the TT.
TT starts...I told them not to miss any turns-it happens every year...no problemo they say, well 5 minutes into the TT Tracey's left bar goes straight down and she has to balance it for the entire ride so that it wouldn't go into the front wheel...then when she missed the last turn and goes over the train tracks she had to circle back and finish...for almost a top 10! Madness!!!!

Ok onto the RR, for us long and pretty tactical. Spine, BPG, Strawberry's, & AV were all being pretty agressive. AV got stuck chasing most of the day when we had Spines up the road. Then Kyle (Spine) and Miller (Strawberry jam) went on the long ball busting break, Kyle won with Miller coming in pretty close behind. We won the Pro 12 RR, TT & GC- I dropped down to third just by a few seconds, Buckley (6th GC) was on the BPG like glue in the next group and that stuck too. BPG's JA was giving it a soild try for the first few laps,he took a few shots at me in the final K. good fun and kept me on my toes.
It was good to see Briggs n Straton back out there getting some race miles in on the healed up femur. I never really warmed up to him until recently, but since we have broken legs in common things are much more social and I'm looking forward to seeing him light it up very very soon.



The real madness was in the feed zone. There was exciting stuff..."feeder down" flopping into the pro 12 women. Never seen that one before, then the Velo Promo tent almost flew into the woman one lap later. The poor Velo Promo guy took a shot in the head. Not to much damage, but sure made for some madness.

I also have had a question burning in my head for the last few weeks...how many miles does Sputnik have on ther OD????

Here it is under the dust.



Thanks Velo Promo for getting me to Madera for all the Madness!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Madera....its gonna be a cooker.




Well I settled for Madera rather then doing Bisbee. Lots of reasons its closer, travel's gonna be big the next two months, the GF,etc but I do want to do Bisbee and Gila next year for sure! This marks half time for the season for me and I'm happy that I won't be going to the Central Valley anytime soon (No offense CVC) and I'm ready for a break. Been training since November and I can see the signs of overtraining are getting closer..recovery takes longer, harder to get motivated to get on the bike, not wanting to race, not sleepin well...

I must admit, I am looking forward to them TT-zzzz, one with a uphill and the flat one the next am. Air should be good for both, fast and I hope the messin around with my position last night helps..not hurts. I've never been able to do a good ride at the flat one so I hope to get the monkey off my back. I'll have a couple of Spines there to back me up too, or maybe I'll be doing the work all weekend. Either is fine with me, I just want to nail the flat TT.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Franks and beans



A week on the TT bike every day..makes for chaffing. I tried a little Brave Solider chamois cream and looked down after a shower only to find...a serious irritation..stay clear of the brave soldier Friction zone FYI.

If you hit the deck this stuff Brave Soldier is great! Just don't try the friction zone..stick to Bag Balm or the Udder balm..

Cycling news is crap.

I think I'm done with cycling news. They say if you watch the TV news in the am its a sure fire way to start things off on a bad foot due the the shootings, fires, accidents, drugs, etc.

So for the past 5 years I get up every moring, fire up the coffee maker and sit at the computer to see what the bike racers are up to around the world. Today I cracked, I'm changing the page..all I saw was Unibet is bitter, WASADA is on a witch hunt before the tours start, Pro Tour teams (I never really understood that one) are all confused as their leaders are vampires, Basso's fucked-finally a needle in the Disco's balls and they are going to nail his sister too...guess looks and brains don't always go together (I got the shaft in both)...they deserve it, drugs, liars, lawyers. I'm sure they have a little mini fridge somewhere..I mean come on how the hell could they win 7 tours when all the other players were running on top fuel...?? I remember seeing commercials with Bristiol Meyers Squib and A..rong...you think they didn't make a recovery drink?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Blah, blah, blah..Albarino or Hondarrabi Zuri Tracey?



So I'm tryng to be good, not great just good and not drink a bottle of vino tonight. Its hard because this is when all the new fresh vintages come out and I get a ton of samples to taste...I know...I know its a tough job...I'm not going to give it up anytime soon.
So I say to Tracey, you want to try the Albarino from Rias Biaxs or Hondarrabi Zuri from Chacoli de Guetaria...and she says...when you ask me which wine I want to try all I hear is blah,blah,blah,,,you just pick one.

It was the Hondarrabi Zuri from Chacoli de Guetaria, tasting notes to follow. Its so frickin good, I'll probably drink the whole thing.

Grilled salmon burgers and Pancetta with pasta..yummy. Make that 3 hr ride on the tt bike 4hrs.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Wente Crit with Proman



I'm here thinking about this weekend's racing. Feeling pretty fresh after only racing one day and was happy to be a "Bike bitch" at the Wente crit for my girl and then ended up being promoted to DS Proman woman's team. Tracey was really getting excited weeks before this race, I got daily weather reports, leg reports, team reports etc as the days got closer she got more anxious. Since I'm not much a fan of the fast twitching races that go round and round industrial parks and this one seems to have a good history for bumper bikes I wanted nothing to do with racing.
Then Tracey asked me to do a little DS for the Proman team...man I thought I must have them fooled. You would have to scroll down pretty far to ever find my name in the results at the Wente Crit, but at least I had something to do and was a little nervous and excited all at the same time.

First off, these girls are serious and so willing to help each other I was totally impressed. They all have different strengths and are a very well balanced team. Nicola has done a great job with her recruiting and Tracey always has nice things to say every time she is able to race with her Proman chicks.

Then out came the radios...the only fast twitch muscle I have in my body is my mouth and I was going to try to keep the f-bombs and filter on so I didn't embarrass my girl. The race started out pretty aggressive with Rachel on the front, then Kristina went up the road. I noticed that she was on the hoods into the headwind and I told her to get down on the drops. She did it immediately...holy crap these radios work...it was very very cool. Then a break of 4 had Emily and Kristin trading pulls smooth as glass until one lap to go with a 20 sec buffer. I saw that Emily was on the back just after the start finish and told her to attack up the left and she took off with one other rider jumping on...holy crap..if this didn't work out I was going to feel like a jack ass and would probably never be invited back...then Kristin who is ultra savvy in a break attacked the other girl and was trying to bridge to Emily..E was able to sit on patiently and jumped into the headwind with 150 meters with perfect timing to the line for 1st place! Kristen came in 3rd, then Lori, Kristina, Rachel gave it 110% with keeping the pace up on the last lap where Nicola and Tracey took the next two spots (5th & 6th)! All the girls thanked me at the end and I thought I'd like to help DS in the future, but then I also thought it would be good to keep a perfect record.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

this is where it all started...



At Wente someone who will remain nameless said" act your age" and implied that I should be doing the Masters race. I gave it a bit of thought and if I was going to really act my mental age,,of where I stopped any type of mental development I'd be the only bald guy in line at the Jr roll-out.


However when I woke up at 2am and had to get some advil for my hip and back, well the age thing sank in.

Wente was more Brutal this year, it was fun just racing flat out for the day and I was in most of the key moves. Just ran out of a little gas on the final climb. Today I'll be Proman support and looking forward to not even riding my bike.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Scooters and strawberries


After a quick lunchbreak and scooter session with the girl (I only almost took her out twice) I noticed that my hip was a little stiff from the previous days washout. Then after I got home I took a look...this is what I found, an all too familar Hemotoma. I had one of these when I went a little to fast on my zippey 404z at Nevada City last year. I was a little shocked that it took 24 hrs to swell up the size of a grapefruit. Ice, ice and more ice...hope this goes down today so I can do Wente.


To bad, because the ride was spectacular up Montebello (Ridge make world class Cab up there at 2500 ft and will set you back like $150.00 velopromo bucks a bottle) and down singletrack to Moody.

Vanden - puke!



Please just stop racing your bike, doing drugs, feeding your dog EPO, racing under another name, etc...

Last year at Flanders when he got to ride on Unibet he was the only rider who had an umbrella girl. He got shelled in 50K.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Spankings are coming my way:)




Not quite sure what to do with this thing for a few weeks until the track opens up. I just hope I don't get spanked by my GF, thats tough on the ego. Maybe I could ask them to put a hill in on the back straight:)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Tinkle tinkle little stars




I so hope they have drug testing for every stage! Not sure what I feel about them being allowed to race while Kodak and other teams got shutout. Check out the Kodak site for the letter saying thanks but no thanks your not racing for peaches.

The Kodak guys were impressive this weekend and I had a chance to see them dominate at both Sea Otter & Santa Cruz where they won lots of strawberries and medals.

"i'd never want to be a member of a club that would let me in" WC Fields

Bicycle racing hang-over


A Bicycle racing hangover is associated with a variety of symptoms that may include dehydration, tiredness, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, elevated body temperature, hypersalivation, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, irritability, sensitivity to light and noise, erratic motor functions and trouble sleeping. The symptoms vary from person to person, and occasion to occasion, usually beginning several hours after racing. It is not clear whether hangovers affect cognitive abilities.

Wanna bet? I felt like I was stuck in a rotary all day just going around and around. Then I thought of the 4 stages that I did this weekend, house guest, two trips to Sea Otter, one to Santa Cruz, etc...

Now we are back to the work week for some good recovery!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Dumb and dumber Sea Otter II



The second day was a slight better at Sea Otter. The weather was sunny, calm winds, no broken fork, changed to the zippy 404zz for the Pro 12 RR all was looking good. We had to park in East Butt-F in a dirt parking lot which looks like fun for the MTB types, but its not the place for tires that cost 75 clams.
I asked my Reno team mate what time our race started, "12:30" he said with confidence! Cool, after we waited in line from 11:30-12:00 and finally got our numbers. The delay was due to one of the numbers filed in the women MTB and the other was under K..its amazing how Otters are so good at taking your old CC info and getting paid, but after that your on your own..
This is where the fun starts, I had a jug of vino for the guy at Ritchey to say thanks for the help that I had to deliver and needed a little adjusting on my rear wheel from Andy Stone from Shimano. No problem, that won't take long, I've got plenty of time....

Got a quick adj, dropped of the jug and casually headed over to the start..it was 12:15..

I see a field of women on the line, thats strange why would they start them before us, no offense. Then I look a bit further up the track and see a couple Pro team cars heading out on the course...shit! Something didn't feel right..then I see Kerri our team manager and she says I missed the start and they were "long gone" by a couple of minutes...

Head down, I'm going to get in my warm-up! I came up to the Pro cars and was hoping for a pace up...nope...then pass the womens field ...then drill it for another 15 minutes and finally see the group and caught on. As soon as I got on, I pulled up to my Team mate and said"what ever happened to 12:30?" Then I attacked and went up the road for most of the next lap solo.

I attacked a bunch several times over the next few laps, then finally bridged to Walker and a BPG youngen that was along for the ride. Walker is one of my favorite riders to be in a break with- just don't get to close to the snot that usually hangs off his schnozola. We were rolling along then the http://www.kgsncycling.com/index.html (Sierra train arrived) 3 of them, Healthnet, Jelly Belly, J Baker, and a couple of others. WE were all pulling thru pretty good then I got dropped with three laps to go, crawled back hoping to get over the last two laps with this group. No dice, I got dropped on the next lap and was riding solo for a while into the headwind when Kevin Klein and another rider caught me. I sat on and they pulled me along and didn't mind, I thanked them both, made it over the last climb and started to pitch in with some work in the flats..then we started to catch riders that got shelled. I figured I'd be one of them on the climb. I pulled up the final climb because we could see Walker and a few others about 30sec ahead and they were all over the road.
We caught the three and I attacked it helped launch Klein to the finsh. I came in next with Walker just behind for 11th. Good racin!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Cup is half full ..but getting empty

Holy crapola!

You may of heard my bike flew off the roof after a strong gust of wind and snapped my fork. Thanks to Jessy from Ritchey they gave me a fancy new one on the spot...a big thanks and a bottle of vino will go out to those guys today!

The race was looking great!!! I went up the road on the first lap and was just cruisin and waiting it out to see who was going to join me... Jonathan Baker, Mark Mccormac(sp) arrived on the thid lap. I felt great and this was for sure the move. We were all rototatong smooth as a baby's bottom and then I heard and familar noise of a nail in the tire...no support car so it went flat.

I was out of the race, the winning break went on to put 4+minutes on the field...

Legs should be rested today!

Going to give her another early go and the field will be alot tougher.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Kemmelberg too dangerous? no shit.

Last year Clint and I went on a Veloclassic tour and we rode Flanders, Gent, and yup..the King..Paris Roubaix. It was a rainy day when we did the Kemmelberg and the descent was one of the scaryist things that I've ever done without falling off my bike. Cobbles, sand, gravel, barbed wire.. and I was only going 20mph. We went to watch the descent during the race when these guys are going full speed (40-50mph) they are holding on for dear life. Bottles were flying, wheels were creaking and a few tires were popping. I don't remember any bad crashes like this year, but thats one race I wouldn't want to do. The funny thing was the Spainish guys were all descending the cobbles at a snails pace, I guess they are better at going up hills..

The day we rode Paris Roubaix was very very cool. WE started off getting CSC radios and our DS for the day was Scott Sunderland of CSC. We started the ride with the plan of all staying together, then helicopters, camaras, cars...wtf is all the fuss about???
The next thing I see is a train of Quick Step coming by with Boonen leading the bunch. I look to see where Clint is and he was bridging across to the QS train. I looked back at Peter (owner of Veloclassic) and he says go...

There were about 20 of us Freds...riding the QS train ocassionally getting yelled at by the paparazi on moto taking pictures until we started hitting the cobbles. The QS/Boonen would hit the front and put my SRM up to around 400+ watts of hell, Clint was in his element and after about an hr and 15 sections of cobbles we were the last Fred's hanging on....we spoke to Boonen a few times and he was pretty cool...then pop goes my tube....shit! I left my tube and pump in the CSC car which was back a few miles...

Clint hit the brakes, said later to Boonen and helped me with the tube. Thats what I call a friend!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Sea Utterly ridiculous-or is it?

Extra-Extra.
Ladies and gentleman, its time for the greatest show on earth! The three ring circus comes to the Laguna Seca raceway once again. The Sea Otter extravaganza.
I know alot of the hairless (legs that is) bike racers are boycotting this race for your own reasons..$$, promoter, days off, parking, etc- but I'm getting all worked up to race. Legs are shaved clean, shiney new Fulcrum 1 wheels, and I'm actually pre registered. The turn-out for the Masters 30+race is as dismal as the current weather, but I'm going!
Why??
I"ve always liked going to the Big Show seeing the other two wheeled lovin types playing on the infield riding wheelies, stump jumping, the vendors, faces that I haven't seen in years, never knowing quite what to expect. In the past when I lived a few zip codes north we would always make a team weekend of the race and have dinner at Cafe Napoli in Carmel (love that place). It was a great weekend getaway. Now that I live 45 minutes away (triple digit driving) I'll avoid the two night minimums that always pissed me off and stay here in San Gatos. There will be a bit of team bonding however as a trusty 30+ Reno teamate will be flying in here for the weekend and I'll try to gather a couple more Spine's along the way for a dinner or two while Borat and Jasckass 2 have been added to my Netflix que. Somebody lock the wine cellar...

I've ridden those roads dozens of times, won a few Otters & Bears along the way and I really like whatever tough course they throw at the racers. This year I'll be doing my own Stage race and wonder if I'll be walking on Sunday after two RR's (Master 30+ & Pro 12RR) and then my first attempt at Santa Cruz in the master & $12k dreamerzzzz.

Its all in good fun and I'll be stopping by the Velo Bella bar where I hear the margaritias make you dance funny.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Lollipop's suck!-I'm still bitter

http://www.7springs.com/bike/images/Lollipop_Course.pdf

I just had a chance to check in on the Masters Nationals this year. Yawn,,Boring!!!!!! oh yhea, now they increased the field size to 175 riders too...U$A Cycling cha ching!

The TT is a saw tooth with jagged edges that have you crossing your chain back and forth thru the gears. At least this year I won't have to fear for my life going over bridges and around corners at 45mph in the pouring rain. Its much straighter, but those PA kickers are tough to get steady wattage which is what I prefer.

Then last years crit course which was another deathmarch...why in the world would you hold a crit around cones and temporary fencing on the infield of a race track for cars??? (the Pit) This is where they spill gas, blow engines, etc...makes for a pretty slick surface. Then pour two inches of water on the course and 80+ Master riders= some slipage and spills for sure. I made it thru alive w/o hitting the deck, but did a two wheel drift on a few turns. The skid marks in the shorts were washed away thanks to mother nature dumping rain the entire race.

My heart broke when I saw how well Tracey was riding all day covering moves, being patient, and getting ready for the final turn. She was sitting in 5th wheel with three turns to go and the girl in 4th slid out--- it was like watching one of those Blue Angels videos when they all followed the rider in front--- 15 of the women went down with two corners to go. All that effort, work, $$ and hope...on the ground. Its a tough sport and at times like it totally sucked. They ran out of medical supplies halfway thru the day. Nice job!

This year it will be in a industrial park...double yawn..


Now the RR

Looks like a brainless ride again. They do have one climb to the finish, my guess is like last year this is where the selection will happen-- its about 600-700 ft of climbing to the line. Othewise it will be 4 loops on a flat LOLLIPOP. Last years course was pretty tough and I thought it was one of the best for me. I came into the Nationals with some fitness that I tried to put together to quick and fell short in the finishing 3k where I got gapped by Ramon Benetiz. I'm still bitter, not about him beating me fair and square...but by the USA Cycling officials letting a rider (nameless and got DQ'd) do the race w/o being registered. He was registered for the TT but didn't get into the RR and jumped in anyway, I was riding on the front towing Ramone for 5k up the final climb to the nameless rider who had a 30 sec gap. Benetez jumped me with a k to go, I was blown and didn't really care about if I got 2'nd or 3rd..there is no jersey for that..I finished 3rd, but got 2nd due to the DQ. Is that guy who jumped in and went for the win stupid or what???

Bummer was Ramon who finished 2nd is now the National champ and told me he didn't feel right wearing the jersey...Nice job U$A cycling.

Not to mention no support for the Sr Elite RR 113 miles 13,500 ft of climbing... feed zone No water, No neutral bottles, and No water for anyone who could have helped. I was a little fried from finishing the SR Elite with a dismal 22 or so, but at least I finished. This year I won't be sitting in a crappy hotel eating at the same restaurant for like 10 days, it will just be three.

mjh

Monday, April 9, 2007

Back to work..35 Pinots later



I was lucky to be invited to a Pinot Noir tasting today and I just couldn't say no. John Haeger literally wrote the book on Pinot Noir and was having some winemakers, vineyard owners, etc for a blowout tasting of 35 Pinots. It was very cool as they were mostly from Carneros (CA) & Willamette (OR).

I made lunch

Grilled Lamb over spring greens

Cannellini beans
cooked for over two hrs..in a heavy pot - saute three cloves of garlic, one yellow onion in olive oil until clearish and a small handfull of fresh thyme, add beans that you soaked overnight, cover beans with water and bring to a slow simmer for 1-2hrs while your reading emails..

Then when they are done add salt to taste! There are leftovers for Tracey:)

Point .078 almost over



The day was great start to finish! Shelly (Proman) and Rob (BPG) stopped by on their ride to Gilroy for Easter dinner we joined them out Uvas and over Mt Madona then thru the park where we rode home. Tracey's been after me to take her on some of my favorite rides and this is one of them--but, after all the four letter words up Mt Madona I don't think we will be going up there for a while..(1900 ft+steep+dirt=pain)
Ok after a 4+hr ride time to start Easter dinner. All was going well, maybe to well...

We had some bubbly, got a little giggly and watched the finish of Flanders..sound romantic??? I even thought about putting out the flag of Flanders for the day on the house, but to much cooking to be done. Then bottle number two..and it was down to only two of the original three starters joining in to finish it off.

Then we pulled out the Vino meter and it was to close to drive, what to do?? have another glass.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Easter

Flanders video

Ride with the Proman chicks and hope I dont get dropped or beat in a sprint...at least I can cook.

Dinner for four.

Champagne Krug Multi Vintage

Grilled Leg of Lamb marinated in honey, soy, & ginger
Risotto with white wine and morels
Grilled Veggies
Willakenzie Aliette 2003 Pinot Noir

Poached pears with vanilla stuff that tastes good.

Sopranos

Life is so good!

Craper---opolis

Not much to report on the race..but I did have a great day doing a few laps on the course with Tibco's Victoria. We had a chance to shoot the breeze about TT's, the abc's of the NRC's and such. She is a huge talent and we dropped a few riders along the way.

Hernando was lookin pretty fine off the front with Metcalf and Clint was in hot pursuit. Man I wish I could have been in the mix..until I saw Levi in all black towing a couple of locals around - thats when I thought it would be cooler to sit on the man in black. Ah well a good day start to finish with one exception..tomtom (gps) got Steve and I alittle off track. We did however it did navigate us to the nearest In n Out.

Then it was back to reality..fixing toilets, cutting the grass, taking out the garbage.

Was I dreamin?

Friday, April 6, 2007

Good Friday!

Girl=good
House=good
ride=good
legs=good
mom and dad=good
uncle sam send me some $$$=good
weather=good
Copper Droper opolis=can't wait.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

I'm not saving the world...but I am helping villages one bottle at a time.



There is a little village called Quintanamanavirgo in Spain that is about the size of Snelling. There are about 120 ppl who live there and I import their wine and 70 depend on this winery for income. I'm soooo stoked that Whole Foods has it in every store in the US...

Pink dream



Ok, this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. Wohlberg is pretty good around the kitcken and this xmas brought over this Pink Dream. It looked like something you fix dents in cars with then sand when it dries. I was pretty suprised how much Tracey enjoyed it the day after. I think she pulled a muscle in her arm when she was spoonin it in.

Wohlberg..I remember the first time I met him when I flatted on a ride...no pump..duhhh. Co2's were gone...double duhhh.
He rolls up with a full Saturn kit and gives me his pump and I look down and notice that he had written his name on his wheels, bike, saddle bag, helmet, shoes, etc...wtf??? who is this guy???? After a pathetic job of pumping up my front tire he rode with me all the way back to town. I said thanks then when I got home and called a friend and said I met some guy named Wohlberg gave me a hand..he said jackass! The guy has won a ton of National Championships, Pan Am games, etc...

Still to this day he such a Class Act! He is always the first to help out on group rides and makes sure everyone is all together. He gets my rider of the week..year..decade award.

Maiden voyage..come Hell yr or high water




Here is Tracey's the frist ride on a new bike, she can kick my ass in a spting wearing slippers.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

People should drink more Cava...so I can buy fancy suits



My day job is so much fun, but it does get in the way of my cycling...I think I rode triple digits this day and got home at midnight after alot of great Vino.

Gila monster...saved




I saved this little bugger from getting flatened by a SUV in Tucson today. It was the highlight.

I hope next year I'll do The Tour du Bisbee and Gila.

I did meet some very nice folks that have a B&B in Bisbee www.coppercityinn.com ask for Fred.

Um an um..



This is whats on top of the hill behind my house..they threw us out pertty quick like.

Bike racers not prize fighters...

Masters racing is still heating up and this weekend was another bad example. A team mate getting a fat lip and bloody jersey at the start of the race while clipping in to his pedals. There may have been a little push and shove to start it by both, but come on...

Then to continue to make threats while the race was happening...it was like a bad dream.

Thats unacceptable,

I've also noticed that there has been some Teams getting greedy with the old greenbacks...funny really. I race for the efforts, and try to do it with my heart, legs, and have fun. I've been thinking of triathons recently..

Its getting tougher and tougher with all the negitave racing...btw thanks for the complements post race..."Our job was to follow you"

I thought...hmmmm was it fun for you? When I crossed the finish line you were still back there.

The Secret---

Its been on Oprah and in the news..it was reccomended to me a few weeks ago and now I got me a copy. For all these years friends have been saying to me "things always work out for you"

You ever have a friend or someone you know where they always come out smelling like a rose?

If you belive and think good things then good things happen.

Try it.