What a year

Well, the road season wrapped up with Univest for me. It was an amazing experience, and after the crit I spent time with the promoters, podium girls, and other officials signing autographs for the fans. That was by far one of the coolest things I did all year and I really loved "playing the part" and interacting with people that genuinely loved watching what we do in their town.

It was the cap to an amazing year. This season's ride was the most undulating of all my seasons, and actually, years of life I've had. Those that know me well know have seen me go through some incredibly low times this year, but that was coupled with the highest highs I've had.

On the bike I managed to break through the chains that have been holding me back the previous seasons. Some chains were physical, like the after effects of my surgery. Some were mental, like regaining my confidence on the bike. But I busted my ass last winter and seemingly managed to pull myself through that BS.

I had a great team and together we accomplished some great results. Turkey Hill was a breakthrough for me and that confidence led to a win at Wilmington and a string of fantastic results. It was the most amazing of feelings, accomplishing some of what I knew I was capable of and having people I had always looked up to as racers compliment me and my racing.

I've made some incredible friends this year. Friends from all over the globe. Relationships I hope last a lifetime. My older friendships became strengthened. I got to spend time with great racers and learned how to use their experience to understand what I was doing better. Guys like Elliston, Kincaid, Pat Raines, the whole Mt. Khakis crew and Chad Andrews.

My teammates, Andy and Kyle who are also a couple of my best friends, and the rest the amazing Dynaflo crew were there every step of the way and I owe them a great deal of thanks. Their confidence in me helped me realize my own potential. And my family who have, albeit with great, but understandable, hesitation at times supported me through this whole ride. Oh and Bill Fleming at Dynaflo Pumps who is the greatest sponsor and boss and allows me to put food and the table and puts up with the time off and crazy mishaps.

Also thanks to all the people that cheered, supported, and followed my racing. I appreciate it more than you know.

Off the bike plenty of ridiculousness ensued as it seemed the faster I was on the bike, the less things went right off it. Cars were crashed, engines were blown up, relationships came and went, but I learned to use it as fuel for success on the bike.

So, here's a toast to great friends, great competition, great teammates, great teachers and always going for bigger and better.

To big things next year!

Buy my stuff - help me race this fall!!

Ok so I need to sell of an accumulation of parts and what not to fund my racing this fall, if you need something I don't have listed here, ask, I probably have it somewhere! If interested in something let me know and Ill work a cheap ass price with you. If i don't dump this stuff soon, the better stuff will go up on eBay.

Dura Ace 7800 39/53 Chain Rings - used, but not worn out, will work perfect with a new chain
FSA RD-88 Wheelset, straight, true, used for a training wheelset on the cross bike last year
Vision Clip On Mini Aero Bars - great set up for clip ons when using a road bike in a time trial, nice and short to put in a good position when not messing with your road set up
Dt Swiss 470 SL 29er wheelset - used probably less than 15 times. Straight, true, work like new, look almost as good (came off my stumpy 29er)
Specialized Carbon seatpost 27.2
Dura Ace 7800 front and rear shifters/brake levers - used a couple seasons, still function as they should
Hutchinson Fusion Road Tubeless Tires - barely used
Michelin Cyclocross Mud 2 Clinchers - still have full tread, will go the whole season no problem
Sugino Messenger Track crankset - 42T ring 130 BCD, 170 mm arms
TruVativ 144 BCD 48T 1/8" track ring Brand NEW

also have 2 carbon specialized forks if anyone needs a 1 1/8" integrated carbon road fork. Both brand new.

also may be selling my Kreitler Rollers - the smaller 3" diameter drums - wonderful condition, work great, bearings great

P-Burg

For some reason I was ultra aggressive today. Started early and stayed aggressive all day. A break got established shortly after I came back from a move and I honestly didn't realize as many guys as did got up the road. There were 7 up the road. The rest of the race was just a flurry of attacks that weren't going anywhere. At some point Ramone Benitez and Gui Nelessen got up the road and with 4 to go I bridged up to them. They outsprinted me and I came in 10th.

Year of the breakaway (or chase breakaway?) for me.

Wilkes-Barre Twilight

Good first year race. I love twilight crits. 1 mile, really wide course.

A few laps in, when Bobby Lea was sitting at the front and sensing he was a marked rider, I made a move and stayed out for 3 laps, taking a prime in the process. A few laps later my teammate, Andy, made a move which I countered and stayed out for a couple laps with a Richmond Pro rider. Right as we were brought back, Fuentes and DeWald from Battley Harley Davidson took off.

I was tanked from just getting brought back and sitting at the front, but knew I had to make it across. I took off with Jackie Simes from Team Mt. Khakis and we made it across in a couple laps. Mike Miller from Alliance and Gavi Epstein from Champ Sys and Shane Kline from Kelly Benefits joined us.

I took a prime in the break on the backside line. One the last lap there were a handful of attacks and one point I found myself at the front of a chase, which was countered, then I just barely couldn't get the last wheel as it came by at the last turn. So I came in a few lengths behind the sprint for the win. 6th place. 2 premes. Not too bad of a night.

Being aggressive paid off.

Thater

So I've been on an antibiotic and antifungal for the last week and I thought it wasn't affecting me until I raced Thater this morning. I found myself getting dizzy through the turns, which I decided was probably a good indicator that I should drop anchor and save my body for the rest of the season...like Univest.

Don't need to dig myself a massive ditch right now. Should be off the meds mid week.

Real bummer, the legs felt really great.

RIP M3

So, last night I was in an accident and I'm pretty sure the M3 is totaled. All the body panels are screwed, the front wheels point different directions, etc. I don't feel like rehashing the details here since I've told the story so much already today, but no - I did not wrap it around a tree going 150 like most people thought it would meet its demise.

Sucks so bad. I might never find another E36 M3 Sedan that clean. Ever. Without spending $25k for one that sat in a garage with 15k miles on it. And I only got to drive it for a few weeks.

Yay Infected Road Rash!

So my road rash on my hip from hitting the deck at nationals has gotten infected. It looks nasty and boy does it hurt. It might explain a little why I felt like such crap at Mengoni. Probably the worst I have felt on the bike all year.

I was still able to put myself in all the moves I wanted to be in, and chose to not go with the last move that finally stuck. Figured we'd drag it back right at the line, and it nearly happened. A crash in the final 500 meters put the brakes on that plan. Literally. Anyway, chocked back a 14th place. Good prize money, though, for a race that size - $70 for 14th.

So if you want to see the nasty infected road rash on my hip, CLICK HERE.

I'm on antibiotics. We'll see how it feels for Thater Sunday. Planning to still race it. Hope I can - it's an awesome race for a good cause.

Crit Nats Report

Well, it could have gone better, but I can't be too mad.

I was sitting mid pack, then about 10 laps in the skies opened and it Monsooned on us. Realized the danger of that course when it was wet I floated my way through the pack to the front of the race and held top 10-15th the rest of the race. Every couple laps I would hear dudes hitting the deck in turn 7 behind me. A small break went later in the race with Mike Margarite from Empire (he got 3rd, so mad props to him!), which I am really perturbed that I didn't go after because my legs told me to and my brain for some reason figured it would come back.

Anyway, I was sitting pretty for the sprint, about 10th wheel when with 5 laps to go, my front tire decided it couldn't grip turn 7 anymore and I slide across the ground like Raggady Andy. I managed to get to the pit in time and got placed back in at the front, but as the adrenaline left my body and I got cold, I just couldn't put the power out in those final laps.

After the race I noticed a crack in my front carbon tubular I was racing on. I thought I had heard crack down in NC at the crossroads series one night when I attacked in the gutter, but had not found the crack till after Nats. Wonder if the cracked rim could have cause the rim to deform enough under cornering load to have contributed to me wiping out....?

Cool race. Awesome atmosphere. Anxiety producing course. Geronimo rode a great race and placed 7th.

Up on tap:
Chris Thater
Phillipsburg Crit
PA State RR Championships (in my backyard!)
Basking Ridge
UNIVEST!!

Plus maybe a Tuesday night Madison next week??

Downers Grove Pro/Am

Quick race report. Cliff notes version.

Felt good. Course had some sketch spots where the tar repairs made it feel like your rear tire was flat and washing out. That took a Jelly Belly guy out in front of me before turn 2 half way into the race.

About that same time I heard Pat Raines's voice saying, "race every race with all you got, it'll make you stronger later." So I started to really position myself and I really started to have fun. Again, I did too much work, but felt good. Last lap, I was a few wheels behind Wiswell and really happy with my position for the sprint (there were a couple groups up the road).

At the top of the hill, Wiswell got chopped in the turn starting a chain reaction which caused a major position reshuffling behind which I got caught in. My fault for being too far back at that point of the race, but I also didn't want to take a dive in the last couple turns on the last lap before tomorrow.

Good sensations for tomorrow!

Downers Grove Day 1

Just got back from riding to the course and Trade Joes to get some groceries for the weekend. My hotel is about 4 miles from the course, the Marriott Downers Grove, so I'll be riding to the races each day. Stopped by the Trek of Downers Grove on the way back to pick up some stuff and put some air in my tires since I didn't have space to pack a pump! Good guys, they were very interested in helping me get ready for my races since they were surprised I flew out here by myself with no knowledge of the area. I told them an iPhone and common sense were all you need.

The flight was good, as any flight that touches down in one piece is a good flight. Pilot was definitely a Navy pilot as he hooked real hard looking to catch that cable as if on a carrier.

But, someone on the flight felt it was a good place to evacuate some noxious gases....THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! The flight attendants kept walking by the area of suspected offended with a pained look on their face while trying their best to discretely spray air freshener. At one point it got so bad I walked to the back. They asked me if I needed anything and I replied "fresh air." We all had a good laugh and I stayed back there for a while so they fed me all I could handle of wheat thins and peanuts.


Tonight is the Pro/Am race. Its just a race for money, not for the title. I'm doing it primarily to get a feel for the course so I am as prepared as possible for the real race tomorrow - US Elite Criterium Nationals!

Crossroads, Mt Khakis, Learning

Went down to NC to race the Crossroads Crit series and Hanes Park this past week. I stayed with the Mt. Khakis team. They were kind enough to take me under their wing and teach me a thing or two. Racing with those guys actually taught me more about racing in a week than I learned in the past few years of racing.

The racing was really good. Tuesday through Friday were night crits on really cool courses. The one course was .4 miles and we did sub 40 second laps all night I think. Adam Myerson really paid attention to what I was doing during the race and gave me some really great constructive criticism and really made me think about what I was doing and why.

Pat Raines gave me a lot of super solid advice before the races which was great in combo with Big Willy Elliston there to give me the heads up on how stuff would go down and generally make me chill out. Friday was great because I got to ride a lap with Kincaid before the start which really helped my positioning once the defecation hit the rotary oscillator.

I made the break in Saturday's race to advance my overall position to 9th in the omnium for Crossroads. Room for improvement, but not too shabby. Issac Howe really had some breakthrough performances getting into the winning breakaways in two of the races and placing second in each then cinching up 2nd overall. Barlevav pulled of the overall victory.

Gabe Lloyd rode really really well. I was impressed, but poor dude had some unfortunate mishaps and hit the deck twice. But he soldiered on like he always does.

Sunday was Hanes Park Pro/1 NRC race. I felt the best all week at this race and followed some moves. It was the first race all week I actually felt like I had some snap. I was sitting pretty coming into the last lap right behind the Mt. Khaki train when a rider towards the very front ate tarmac in turn 1 on the bell lap. So I had to come nearly to a stand still and restart. Frustrating, but incredibly encouraging that I felt like I could go with almost anything during the rest of the race.

Next up - Crit Nats!!

Mocksville

First night done. Half-mile 4 corner crit, slight rise between turns 3 and 4. Parts of the course were incredibly dark. Race started at 8:45pm. Word is I might have finished in the money. Like last spot. So, we'll see.

I gotta work on floating in the pack a little more smoothly. 5 more nights to do that.

My bi-weekly update

Down here in Winston-Salem with the Mt Kahkis crew for the Crossroads Classic crit series. Plus Haynes Park on Sunday. 6 nights of crit racing. The races during the week start at 8:45 PM and are pretty crazy little short courses. Hopefully I'll be able to get in on the action Saturday night at the Charlotte Criterium, but its invite only and haven't found a composite team yet.

I'll try to update on the action as the week goes on, but you know how good I am at that.

Back to it

Got some racing done this past weekend.

Saturday at the track was a bust. Legs still feeling junky, but I think the track blew them open a bit. Sunday I was able to put them to good use in the break at Mullica. The blogs have already blown up about what went down, so I'm not gonna rehash the details, but I'm putting an end to it right here, right now. And I can do that since I was in the break.

Mad respect all around for all those who get on their bike every weekend and show up and lay it down. Let's continue to talk with our legs, good or bad decisions abound.

So yea, legs felt good again Sunday. Was happy to have something left in the tank after getting caught to lead Andy out for a decent result. Dude has slaved for me and guided me all year and I'm glad to give some back.

Crack your favorite brew tonight. It's hump day. All downhill from here.

What a rut

Found myself in a bit of a rut here. Had a fantastic run of racing and life in general there for a while. Then, I took a break. Few days off the bike, another week easy. That was the beginning of a downward slide, but it should have been the beginning of another period of tearing it up.

That's the way it goes though. Cycling and life. Just ebbs and flows.

I did get my cat 1 upgrade following the mess that was Fitchburg. That feels really good. It's sort of a symbol for all the dedication and sacrifice I have made to get to this level.

Though since then, I've been struggling to regain the form I had earlier in the season. Top it off with a hard crash at Fitchburg and a stupid, ridiculous crash in the Thursday night training series at Rodale last night, and I'm in need of a new groove. Some old DB last night decided he wanted to get in front of me. Too bad he didn't wait till he cleared my front wheel before swinging over and sticking his rear mech in front wheel sending me hurtling to the ground to reopen my wounds from Fitch.

I'll try and hit the track tomorrow morning so I can get an invite to Tuesday nights on the track and if my frame is good (it might have been f'ed up in the crash last night) I'll hit up Mullica on Sunday.

Hopefully it clears up for some good Friday night racing action. Need some beers, racin, and friends to lift the spirits.

Update soon

I swear. I'll write something here soon. Dropped of the blog radar for a while. In the meantime, check out Andy's post about the hard time we had at Fitchburg.

Back to healing the road rash...

Shamwow In Jail

http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=1453

Wilmington Grand Prix

132 Starters. 48 Finishers.

Normal pack jockeying for first half of the race. Couple moves go and come back. 13 laps to go, two guys are sitting off the front like 10 meters not going out or coming back. Feels like the right time to make a move.

Take off, pass the two out front and hammer my brains out alone for 3 laps. The two I passed bridge up and we work together from there. The gap went up to 25 seconds at one point, but then started to come back down to 10 seconds with like 5 laps to go.

Thanks to some work breaking up the chases from the teammates and some extra burying of the legs we get the gap back up a bit. Last lap I sit on and coming out of turn 4 I just let it all loose and take the win by a good gap.

Solid day in all.

Habitat

Cool course. 2nd time I've done it.

A few laps in, Fader and another rider are up the road a little bit. I roll up to them and get on the front and drive for a little bit and a good little gap opens up. We collect a few guys and get rolling, but never too well. So we spend a few laps out there and get caught. I try another move which also fails.

Finally, Whitman and Miller get up the road a bit. So I decide that is the move. Spend half a lap to roll up to them. We get going pretty well, have a good gap. A Colavita guy rolls up and works with us pretty hard. 4 more guys bridge up to us, including Fader, a KBS Pro, another Colavita guy, and someone else I can't remember.

Nearly repeated the Deer disaster of last year on the 2nd to last lap. A whole herd crossed the course in front of us.

I was stupid and got caught up front on the last lap on the back stretch. A Colavita guy went solo off us. Should have gone with him, but I was a pussy. We were guttered hard on the left side of the road and I attacked to the right side of the road and put my head down just long enough to ride right off the road. So after acknowledging my retardedness I came back and was still caught out front. So I went real hard into the final hill as my only hope. Got passed by just about everyone.

Got 7th.

True Athletes

Memorial Hall

Before the race I told myself I have never seen a break away succeed in the P123 race on this course. So, I planned to just sit in till the end, which I should have done. But instead I went with a bunch of moves by Geronimo and Elliston and did way too much work. Sprinted in the money for 13th. Not too bad, but not great and not smart. Oh well....still have lots of lessons to learn.

On a side note, how is Turkey Hill not a PA BAR race?

Turkey Hill

So, the day started with a little pre-race crash in the parking lot. There was the film of oil and water just on the surface of the asphalt that made it slick as hell - I was slipping in my street shoes. Came around a turn and the front tire gave up the ghost.

I roll up to the line with some road rash and beat up kit and get the expected comments. Starting out batting a thousand here.

Race starts and stays together till 5 laps to go. This whole time I am on Stephan Kincaid's wheel like white on rice. I have a tendency of blowing my wad early and being overly aggressive chasing shit down, so I figured it would be the best learning experience I could get to just see what he does. As a former winner of the race and one of the most experienced dudes in the peleton, plus someone I highly respect, I felt comfortable knowing I could learn from his knowledge.

I was so much so on his wheel that I got some comments. Skip (George) on Alliance said, "Hey Stephan, scratch your ass. I want to see if this guy on your wheel will scratch his too!" I'll come back to that in a moment.

So, a break got established, I believe, with 5 to go and gained a 1:15 on the field. Still, I sat in. On the last lap just out of the feed zone, Miller attacks through the rollers. Geronimo gets to the front, pulls through, pulls off and looks around and put his hand up in the air. At that exact moment, it got real slow, so I decided it was time to go and get up to Miller, who was in No Man's Land.

I made it up to Miller along with some other guy just before the gambler wall. We worked and caught the break on the finish stretch about a mile from the line on the last rise. The break had two Harley guys including Dewald, a couple Kelly Benefit Guys, a Hershey dude and some others. I think it was about 12 guys once we got there.

Tried to find the right wheels in the sprint, opened her up, and came in a solid 3rd!

I'll take that.

After the race, I went up to Skip and said, "That is why when Stephan scratches his ass, I scratch my ass."

The 1st and 2nd place names escape me now, but winner was a Kelly Benefit Pro, and the 2nd place was a Latitude guy.

Team Work

Did the Oley Training race last night. Had my backpack on since I rode to work, then to the ride, then back home. Figured it added good training resistance. About 5 miles into the ride there was a small move about 100 meters up the road with Nick, Rasta, Big Jim, and a couple other guys, but it wasn't gaining any ground. So, I bridged up to it, told everybody to enjoy the draft afforded to them by the backpack, and got on the front and drilled it to open up a gap that wouldn't close.

The last five miles or so we started to up the pace up some of the rollers which shelled everyone but Nick, Rasta, and Big Jim. Coming into last couple miles we finally were able to shell Big Jim (he's pretty damn strong) and then Nick and I decided to work on a little team tactics.

I stayed back and let Nick drive us towards the line. He rotated with Rasta a bit, with me hanging off the back. Finally, before the last sweeping turn, Nick attacked which forced Rasta to chase. Once Rasta caught Nick, I countered hard on the inside of the turn and soloed the last mile for the win. Yea, its just a training race, but its cool to see tactics come together to win a race.

That's what training races are for - not just to get a hard ass work out, but to practice the skills and thought processes you need on race day that will culminate in a win.

Fucks my shit up

Lesson...

Don't put your Nalgene in the dishwasher. The lid might melt off and land on the heating coil.

Ephrata Crit

Wow. That was hard.

After yesterdays mental meltdown, I decided before the race I was going to pick 1 move I thought was a good move to cover and keep it to that. Well...I picked the right move, but picked it too late and couldn't get across to it. So I spent a lap tanking myself to get there, never did, and came back to wait it out to the finish. I stayed about 10 wheels back the rest of the race and with about 10 laps to go Bikereg.com, Empire, and Battley went to the front and really started to string shit out.

So I stayed on either Geronimo or the Bikereg Sprinter guy's (name is escaping me now) wheel. With 2 laps to go, some Jabroni cut inside on turn 3 and swung wide and I made an instinctual bonehead mistake and grabbed my rear brake (at least I didn't grab my front). The rear slid and hop and caught just as I let off the brake and I saved it. I lost a couple spots there. The last 2 laps were insane fast and I finished right at end of the sprint group. Came across the line about to throw up and not being able to see straight, so it was lit up pretty well.

I'm getting there...

This is why I am an idiot...

Ephrata RR

80 miles in just under 3 hours. I covered every single move like a stupid moron. I know better...what the hell was going through my head? Was it the heat? WTF?

Like Knight Rider

So I'm crusin' down 476 south on Sunday in my '85 Trans Am. Knight Rider Style baby. Ok, so it is actually my Dad's car that I was borrowing until I find what I am looking for, which is weird for me because this is the first time since the day I turned 14 that I have not owned my own car. First car was this:


Anyway, I am rolling along at about 75 with the windows down and the stereo blaring. I go to accelerate mildly and the car downshifts, but cannot get out of its own way. All the sudden, I can't even maintain highway speed. So I take a gander at my gauges. Well, the engine temp and CEL are located on the cluster furthest away from the driver on the right, partially obstructed by the dash and completely out of line of sight, so you would never notice a problem unless you crank your neck like 60 degrees to check it (see red circled gauge below).


The temp gauge is off the scale. Big time. I pull over, pop the hood, and notice a melted fan shroud and the coolant boiling ferociously in the reservoir. No good. Bottom line: I toasted the motor and associated cooling components. Good Shit. That's a first, even for me.

Battenkill Report

Battenkill. I guess you could say it went well. Race was actually pretty sedate until the last 15 miles or so. We'd drill it up climbs and through dirt sections, but then the whole field would slow up to a crawl and everyone would catch back on.

On the last true dirt descent, which was very fast, loose, and on a sweeping left hander, I was about 10 wheels from the front of the race sitting in perfect position feeling freakin' great. Two Jabroni's decided they could take the turn twice as fast as everyone else and swung wide, forcing me into the forest. Seriously. I was bombing through leaves, twigs, tree stumps, dead bodies, who the hell knows what. I'm not sure how I saved it and stayed on my bike and made it back on the course, but I'll attribute that to my Cyclocross skills.

50 guys must have passed me as I was trying to stay alive through the brush. The dirt road led us onto a paved climb, which I hammered up and found myself in a group I thought to be the lead group... until I crested the hill and saw the pace car up the road. So I jumped off that group and bridged up to a chase of 5 guys. I asked, "Is that our group?" to which some punk ass replied, "Shut the fuck up and pedal." Which was funny, because NONE of them knew how to paceline. I coached them for the next few kilometers and we finally got something resembling a paceline together and got within 50 meters of the lead group at the final climb which was dirt and quite steep.

I tried to bridge across, but it didn't happen. So I rolled in with the chase group. The initial results had me at 16th and now they say I placed 20th, but I'm positive 16th was the right placing, since I came in 2nd in the chase group. The timing on the latest results has me finishing 2nd to last in terms of time in the chase group, so that's not right. But oh well, no more glory in 16th than in 20th.

So that was Battenkill... that's racin'.

Speaking of messed up results, USA Cycling has me 22nd in the Omnium for the Philly 2Day, but the official results have me 15th. Oh well, again, no real change in bragging rights.

Fun things to come

Report on Battenkill plus how I seized a Chevy 305 motor in an 85 Trans Am this weekend. Oh yea....

Not for the average child...

Off to Battenkill

Got my wheels all glued up. Might actually train on these bad boys after the race since my current training wheels are just about to give up the ghost. With Stans in them I won't have much to worry about.

Did the Thursday night training crit across from the velodrome tonight. It was pretty awesome, got some good sprinting in. I need to really work on getting my snap back, but that'll come.

Also: 8th in the bar isn't too bad of a way to start the season. Sure it'll change, but a nice little confidence boost for now.

Battnenkill Prep

Walked into my Parents' basement Sunday night. Found a brand new pair of tubular wheels I totally forgot I had. Sweet find right before Tour of the Battenkill.

Got me some Vittora Pavé EVO-CG tires. Will put some Stan's in them. Should be a bomb-proof set up.

And yes, I know. They aren't centered. They are just on there to stretch them out.

First race of 2009

First weekend went off really well. Raced at the Philadelphia 2 Day Cycling Classic.

Pulled 15th in the circuit and 20th in the crit for 15th overall in the P123. Not too shabby for the first race of the season, especially since I was on the front covering everything I could for the entirety of both races.

Kyle hit Stefan Grecu's dog in the circuit race. Jason flatted two laps in. Fun stuff.

Anyone know any websites of any of the multitudes of photographers that were there that weekend? Those people need to hand out business cards.

Demons

So, my neighbor of like 10 years committed suicide yesterday. Really nice guy. I had always sensed a sadness in him, but it seems like everyone else was completely shocked.

Guess the whole point of this post is- we all have our demons. Some of us find ways to cope with them, some spend a lifetime running from them, some of us even make friends with them, but we all have them and life is a long process of figuring out what to do about them.

I hope to god he finally has the peace he was looking for.

Daddy needs a new car

Should I get this:



2002 BMW M5

Not the MOST practical for a cyclist, but fun and would put a smile on my face every time I drive it.

Or a boring Subaru cause its a good cyclist car...

Remember, no mortgage or kids yet, so...

This guy (or girl) deserves an award

I said this when I first saw this a couple years back - whoever came up with this marketing campaign deserves an award, a raise, and some sort of sexual favor. If you can find me any other ad that so perfectly blends the visual with the audio to create the desired emotional response, I will go down on you. Of course, I am the ultimate judge of any submission.

Makes me want to sign up.

Fat Pussy?

Real Screenshot from weather.com tonight...

Balance

Life is all about balance. Something I have been without for a long time.

Being out of balance can tear your life apart. You fail to see the forest from the trees. Personal relationships suffer, you forget to laugh at the things you find funny, you forget to compliment those most deserving of it. One of the worst things I end up doing when I am about of balance is failing to let those around me know how happy I actually am. Even when I was incredibly happy, I acted miserable. I didn't realize I was acting miserable, though. I thought my happy thoughts on the inside were making their way outward.

Weird, right?

Bottoms up to Balance tonight!

Arrivee

What I want to say is phrased very eloquently in my head, but I realize I will not get them out so cleanly. So I apologize if I fumble at the words like a pimply faced teenager asking a girl out for the first time.

There are periods in our lives when we truly are in hell. The problem with being in hell is not what you go through as you are there. The problem is the person it turns you into while you are there and how it clouds your clarity such that you don't even know it that you've become someone you wouldn't recognize.

During these times, some of us are fortunate to have someone in your life that stays by your side regardless of how trying that becomes. Unfortunately, we don't realize that sometimes we don't treat these people as the angels that they truly are. We don't see how the pain we are going through changes our behaviors. The effect of our suffering runs so deep that we no longer have the capacity to express positive emotions and we end up poisoning our lives and the relationships with these angels with the pain we can't seem to shake.

These angels try to let us know we are hurting them, but pain is a selfish emotion. We know we are hurting them and we desperately don't want to, but the pain doesn't allow us to consider the severity of the consequences of our actions on others. We can react so negatively to positive things that its nauseating. We get so mad about stupid trivial things that outside of hell, we would be able to laugh off.

One day, the angel can no longer take it. We've coated their wings with the black oil of our negativity. Eventually, we leave hell. We go back to being the person we were and our friends and loved ones truly love and appreciate. However, sometimes this is too late for the angel and that angel finally leaves to cleanse their wings of your poison.

You can't blame them, really. You just wish, harder than you've ever wished before, that you would have had the clarity to see what you were doing and you would do anything- ANYTHING to go back. To see the hurt your pain was causing in others. To see how you reacted so stupidly to so many things. How the best things in your life, you drove away.

Unfortunately, as a cruel twist of life, we sometimes lack the ability to save the things we need the most until they are past the point of saving. We reach the Arrivee banner a little too late. Your fans have long since left. Underneath the Arrivee banner we can look back on the roads that got us there. We can see what we've done, what we should have done, and what we need to do.

The lesson is this- every night, force yourself to stand underneath an Arrivee banner so you can gain the clarity you need to keep your angel close. Even in Hell, the banners exist, though they are so, so hard to find. As you sit there at the end of the day looking back at the path you just traveled, think about how your every action impacts those around you. Think about the great things people are doing for you that you never notice. And notice that the things you think you dislike or irritate you are the first things you will miss with all your being when they are gone.

Pics...

Holy Shit!

Better Pictures to come, but to cap off one of the most horrible last 3 days, my prized possession, my Colnago frame, met its demise today.

You can't see it in this picture, but a steel wire, about the gauge of a spoke, with hooks on either end found its way into my wheel and hooked onto the spokes, wrapping around the chain and derailleur, thus ripping the derailleur and hanger from the bike. The hanger is not replaceable, therefore the frame is toast.

Inspired by Drunkcyclist...

a Haiku

Cold wet icy roads
Punish me for miles and miles-
It keeps my soul warm.

The mystery pooper

So every morning around 9 or 10 I make my way to the Men's room in search of a welcoming stall to perform my daily duties (pun intended).

Every so often, I swing open a stall door only to find a large turd sitting in the bowl. Immediately I am upset that there is someone in this company with no respect for his fellow man. But then it becomes a mystery. Because not only is there a giant turd floating in the bowl unchecked, but there is NO TOILET PAPER mingling with the offending bowel movement.

This means that some sick bastard sits down, takes a dump, says "You know what? I don't need to wipe my ass and because of that, I don't even need to flush." I'm sure the offender doesn't wash his hands either, because he didn't have to get his digits near his rectum.

I am totally at a loss here. I can't figure this one out. What is the motivation? Does he leave shit streaks on all his clothing? At one point I thought, maybe this dude is so proud at his ability to "ghost" a turd every time, that he has to show it off. But then I came across several instances where the turd was clearly not ghost-able. At least by modern standards.

Anyone got any ideas on this one? Its freakin' me out.

Spotted at the Mall

If I had time, I would have gone and talked to the guy. An old guy like that has some stories for certain.

A little backtracking race reports..

I owe you guys these...but since they are so old now, they will be short.

PA CX State Champs B race - Really cool course, hope it comes back next year only bigger. From the gun Colin Prensky takes off and I take off in pursuit. Couldn't quite close the gap. Zach Adams bridged up to me and then up to Colin leaving me still in pursuit. On the 3rd lap, I catch (they let me catch) Colin and Zach and ride their wheels until the penultimate lap through the barriers. I focused on NOT crashing so much that I stared at the barriers until I rode right into them. It only cost me a couple seconds, but it was enough to shatter me. So I soloed in for 3rd. Zach and Colin were killin' it.

Staten Island CX B Race - AWESOME course. Weather was just what cross should be - absolutely atrocious. Rain, wind, cold, tons of sloppy sloppy mud and a beach run. On the first lap, Colin and I get a good little gap. 2nd lap I crash hardcore because I had two pairs of gloves one and my hands popped off the hoods riding through a culvert. Once catching back on, we just drilled it all the way home. Colin dropped me like bad habit in the last 200 meters. The atmosphere around this race was amazing. They had killer handmade trophies and Belgian waffles (pics to come). And like 50lbs of bacon.

Phillipsburg Riverfront Cross - Props to Bill for putting on a great race. The course was awesome and it was well put together. Its too bad his race was the same day the big MAC race in Reston, VA. Turnout was low, but it still was great. I knew I had to continue my progression from 3rd, to 2nd, and to 1st. So I went as hard as I could right off the line and never looked back. Soloed in for 1st I think about a minute 30 ahead of 2nd place. Finally got to put the arms up in victory salute, even if I did have a retarded looking face. Props to Lou Devlin for coming out and doing well in his first cross race.

The real excitement came from the A race which I jumped right into after my race. I was sweaty from the first race and it was getting colder and windier out. Around the 4th lap, I smelled hot dogs at the top of the run up where all the heckling was taking place. So I yelled "get me a hot dog!" The next lap, my buddy Sam, had a hot dog and PBR waiting to hand me. I grabbed the hot dog, shoved it down my throat, and took the PBR and chugged it as I rode the next half lap or so. Beer and a hot dog had never tasted so good! I was bonking hardcore at that point and I think those are the only things that saved me enough so I could finish. I still have mustard stains on my bar tape and hoods.

Gotta ease into this...

...so I don't blow my wad too early.

Wow I let this thing lapse. It has been lonely without you guys.

Lets see....Cross season finished really well. 3rd at PA State CX Champs, 2nd the next day at Staten Island, and 1st the following weekend at P-Burg. Can't complain for my first season of cross.

Starting to rack up the miles for the upcoming season. Spent 4 hours in the saddle yesterday on the 'cross bike on the road. Knobbies on the road are great when its cold as hell, windy, and icy/wet. You go much slower for the same effort and cadence, so you don't get as cold.

At one point the road was completely iced, so I had to ride in the adjacent field. The field was also iced over, but the surface was bumpy and rough enough to garner some small amount of traction.

Have lots to say and have some good pics to post. I also have to talk about the beer and hot dog feed in the P-Burg A race. But like I said, don't wanna lose it too soon.