Dopers!!!

Sad day in the world of cycling. Check out cyclingnews.com and you will see why. I just read that Ullrich, Basso, Mancebo, and Vino among others are not racing the Tour this year. More saddening is that in light of this Paco Mancebo has chosen to retire over this affair. All I can say is if you cheat you will be caught........ someday. Thats all I have. I will not watch the Tour this year unless I find a true reason to believe in cycling. Other than Floyd, Zabriske, Julich, Hincapie and any other Americans I could care less. Later!

Tubulars, Mufflers, and Stuart

So I have had a good few days. I glued my own tubular on with no one elses help and wouldn't you know it I succeeded. Bet I had a few people who never thought I could do that. Second, I took my car into Tuffy yesterday and today received a brand new exhaust, the price was steep though, nothing. It was under warranty. Last I had a run-in with "Stuart" and he brought me a book from his bookstore, which was "600 tips for better cycling". He also mentioned he had looked me up on the internet and I was a little creeped out, but it did feel good saying he was impressed. Lastly, I received an email today from a student who wants to be a sports psychologist and he wanted to pick my brain a bit. Here are the emails contents.

Hi my name is Ben Devries and I am pursuing a career in sports psychology. I was asked to pick an elite athlete who is relatively new to a sport and want to see what drives athletes to suffer and why they are pursuing certain goals. I picked you because I knew your name and I am a big cycling fan and I always see you around Kalamazoo riding. Anyways I hope I receive a reply and I thank you for your time.

1. Why did you get involved in the sport?
I started with the whole Lance craze to be honest. I was sick of running and realized I was not very good at it so i gave cycling a shot and I am happy I did.
2. Who or what challenges you to perform at a higher level?
I challenge myself everyday to do something that I consider worthy. I have had ups and downs like every athlete or person, but you will always remember the ups more than the downs.
3. What is your mindset before a race?
In the past it was go out and have fun, lately though it has been all focus, focus on maintaining good position and not riding stupid.
4. What would you say is your biggest asset?
Aggressiveness. Sometimes it plays against me, but i would rather try because that one time it works it will feel so good after it is said and done.
5. What would you say is you biggest flaw?
I tend to care way too much no matter what I do. I am a very giving person and can go overboard, but I am working on that.
6. What is your average training week?
Really depends on the race, I try to focus on things and play races out in my head. When you know the courses everything is easier to consider. But I train hard and I train a lot!!!
7. What would be your ultimate goal in your sport?
I would like to say racing up one of the giants of cycling. Ventoux, Galibier, Motirollo, and seeing everyone around me suffering because that is what its all about.
8. Do you consider yourself to be a confident person?
I have my doubts about myself, sometimes daily, but I have realized I have a lot more to offer as a cyclist than being a champion. I am confident that I am taking the necessary steps to better myself everyday.
9. Do you ever race against anyone who "scares" you?
I used to be scared of some guys, but now I realize everyone is human and no one can do anything I can't do, well sort of. But no I am not scared of a bike race or anyone there.
10. Would you ever resort to cheating to acheive a goal?
HELL NO, I do not cheat. I hate people who cheat. Anyone who cheats has a lot to hide, or they are not truly happy with who they are.
11. Finally, what truly drives you?
What drives me is my urge to be better, better than the day before better than the last minute even. I used to get complacent when I was running. I found with cycling that you can never be the best unless you are willing to sacrifice a lot, sometimes everything you hold very close. So what drives me, knowing that when I am not out training that someone else is and I am losing out because they are getting better!

Any other questions that you have Ben I would be glad to answer.

I am talking to Chris Boer currently and he says the Tour is gonna suck, but I want to read it for myself, but I hear Jan, Basso, Mancebo and a host of many prolific names are out of the Tour. WOW!!! Go take it Floyd!!! OUT!

Thumbs up for the crowd

Look at the Ada boys at Grattan, I am the one obscured with the white shoe covers, stay on wheels kids, and keep your nose out of the wind!!!

A big thumbs up for Chris and Danielle before the race, although I thought I may vomit at some point, but you race nonetheless. Boy am I a handsome devil....don't ya think????

Here are 2 pictures from a few weeks ago, at Grattan Raceway. I believe I got in a break and ended up 7th, but I felt like hell. Anyways off to the ride I go. PEACE!!!

The doping world

So a lot of this has been going through my mind and I am gonna scribble some shit down about it. How do you race 100 days a year and recover so well? How do you race for three weeks straight and recover? It is my contention that a lot of bad practices are going down in the pro cycling field, guys who will do anything to win or keep their contract. So they turn to EPO, HGH, or steroids. If you are out of the loop, there are a lot of people who have been implicated in "operacion puerto" in Spain and it makes me doubt a lot about cycling. Hell what if guys that I race against are not clean, then I am being fooled into believing that these guys are better than they really are. For me though, it is a sport and a passion, and I am not willing to throw away my health and love away for a drug. To say i won a race I want it to be pure, not tainted. But as my buddy Alvin puts it, EPO doesn't make you smarter. Thanks Alvin and good luck in France this weekend. Send me some pics from Le Tour too. OK, thats all I have to say about that. I could write a book but I am not gonna even get started.
Second I read a friends blog, Bill Canfield, and he mentions a lot of points about peple who touch our lives. To those of you who know me and consider me a dear and true friend, thanks for everything. For those of you who have been passers by in my life, thanks for the good times. Here is how you know if we are friends or not: A) If we talk on a regular basis, and not on AIM, or some stupid website. B) If you race bikes or work with me and know what I am really about. C) If you have been in my life and you realize that we are talking less and less, then you probably get the point. I know who my true friends are and I try to regularly contact them. I also thought I had some friends that I tried to contact, but they are "too busy". If you are someones friend you are never too busy to call or attempt to see how people you value are doing. There that is my schpeel for the day. So call ur friends and tell them how much you truly do value their friendship. If not then be happy for those friends that you do have. Off to the Wednesday night ride to punish some tourists. OUT!!!

Pardon my Interruption

If you are reading this then I have succeeded in interupting your life for a few moments, so I win. Feeling really swell after my 9th place in the State Time Trial Championships. I keep proving myself and my detractors wrong. I knew what i could do on a great day and I went and did it, but it was not even a great day, I actually felt bad, but as recent winner of the Rochester Crit said sometimes when you feel bad is when you have your best results. So I took it very easy yesterday and did a DB easy ride, a very easy 2 hour spin. Then I decided today to throw down some monster efforts and worked on some hard long sprints. Did 60/90/120 second intervals x 2 with 10 minutes in between sets. First time all year I actually did specified intervals. The 120 seconds hurt like a bitch, but I felt good on the ride as a whole. Actually almost bit the dust over by parking services taking the corner way too hard and hitting a bump and my rear tire came off the ground, but I saved it, and I am getting good at saving possible wrecks. Onto my last weekend and why home is boring now.
Algonac, or as I like to call it heaven or hells waiting room. Anywhere in Algonac is very low key, and you can only ride 15 minutes either way before you hit a hick town and have to turn around. Why you may ask??? Hicks do not like men in spandex. Nuff said. I also feel really tired when I am there, maybe because of the atmosphere or maybe because it will always be home. Needless to say I will not go back the day before a race anytime soon. But it was perfect to see the parents and eat some aspargus, prime rib, and stuffing. Thanks for the meal mom. Other than that I have no complaints about life or anyone in general. Oh wait I always have a complaint. But I will let it boil and simmer inside for a bit, it makes me get out and want to tear legs off. I would also like to extend a very big congrats to Jay Rafeld who did an 8 hour endurance mountain bike race at Pando I believe. He got second and I can't wait to get in a race with him, Jeff, Gary, Andy, Rob and any other Cat1/2's I may have missed, oh yeah Derek, because I have not had the chance to do a team race with them yet. This weekend I know Rob and I are doing Mike Rabe stage race, so we will see what we can do. Until then keep your chins up and keep the legs tan. OUT!

Monday- 2 Hours. Super easy, I felt like a touring cyclist and I loved it.
Tuesday- 3 Hours. 60/90/120's 10 mins between sets. Felt uber fast!

State Time Trial Championships

So today was the State Time Trial Championships race, and honestly I woke up at home in Algonac and really did not feel like doing it. After laying in my huge bed at home for an hour I got up and packed my stuff and said by to mom and dad and I was off. I got to the race without getting lost this year and got a warmup in that was decent. Honestly I did not feel good at the start, but after a few miles I was off and rolling at a good clip. I actually turned around too early and had to turn around and go back which cost me 10-15 seconds, but thats life. I had my I-POD on and I saw a lady waving so I assumed that was the turnaround. Well I realized very shortly my mistake and I continued on. Halfway through I looked at my time and I was around 28 minutes flat and I think that got into my head, I was going way too fast for a long effort. I slowed down quite a bit the second half, but was still strong. My head was begging for forgiveness and my glutes and hamstrings were as well. I pushed so hard through the pain and I think my lactic threshold is way up from last year. I suffered like a dog as there was no true tailwind, but crosswinds the entire time. So I look down and my time was on for what I had wanted to do and I crossed the line in 57:51, a HUGE beating of my previous best of 61:37. After the race I had a super effort headache and needed a nap, but had to drive back to the zoo. I could barely keep focused on the drive so I just pegged it at 74 MPH and cruised. I got home and jumped into bed and I could not sleep because my legs were throbbing. So what do you do in that case, well I go for hour and a half rides to get the lactate out. So overall I got 9th in the Pro field and Brian Sheedy was there, the true Michigan pro, and he blazed everyone. I am happy with my performance and placed better in the Pro field then I did in the cat 3 field last year. Seems to be a recurring theme. I have a lot of shit I would like to write, but this has already became a book, so I am out. I will vent on why going home is boring later.

Friday- 2 Hours 15 Minutes
Saturday- 1 Hour 30 Minutes in Algonac on the TT bike.
Sunday- State TT- 9th 57:51, 1 Hour WU, 40 k TT, 30 CD, 1 Hour 30 Minutes spin. 4 Hours.

It has to start somewhere, It has to start sometime

What better place then here, what better time than now. I have that Rage song stuck in my head and it is ringing true. Road really hard tonight although I shouldn't have. Got some efforts in on the TT bike and an easy ride on the road bike. I felt weird after switching bikes due to the different positions. Regardless, I just got a call from Brad, an old WMU track buddy and he is coming to kalamazoo tonight and he says, "yeah we are gonna get fucked up." I am gonna pass on the drinking, I have got a dragon to slay on Sunday. I also talked to Kelly last night for the first time in a year and she is doing very well for herself. She is working at a hospital as a dietician in the ICU and just bought a new condo so that is awesome. It was weird after not hearing from her in so long and then she called and immediately I recognized why we do get along so well, not gonna lie though, it felt a bit weird. So I am gonna roll Sunday and see what I can do, a 4 minute improvement isn't too much to ask is it??? Last year I went 1:01:37, this year I wanna go under 58 minutes and I know I can do it. Just focus and push some monster gears as best I can. OK, I am gonna go pack for home and then go out with my boys for a bit. Later Dudes!

I am a no talent pussy!

This one is for the boys not doing the TT in Ohio!
And I AM OFF!!! This one hurt a bit!

So I am super pumped for a new adventure. I have chosen to go back to school, undergrad that is, to become a high school math teacher. We will just say that I was not happy with what I saw my life becoming over the next few years. So I am gonna go back and try to get this thing done in 2 years. No general education classes or B.S. like that, just the classes I need and I am done. Second, I met a lady and she is gonna come watch my race this weekend. Honestly I am gonna not try with this one, every time I try to be a nice guy and make everything perfect for a woman it blows up in my face. Women are the fuckin rake man. OK, I got in some solid training today, even though I felt like a pile yesterday. State Champs TT this weekend. Concentration and focus is all I need, but it is just a bike race, it is not the end of life if I do not blze the world. Hasta Luego.

Wednesday- 2 Hours 30 Minutes
Thursday- 3 Hours

Ow that hurts

So I figured out why I am never happy with myself. I am constantly being reminded by people close to me of how I always fuck up. Excuse my french there, but honestly, would you rather have me lie to you and then you find out after the fact? I understand it is stupid to speed, but it happened and I told my parents it wasn't a good thing and I am getting shit for it a month after the fact. What can you do though, my life is a fucking blur. To top that off tonight at the Wednesday night ride I have some Gent I have never really met say, " I have never seeen this guy make a pull in my life." And he gestured towards me. Never make a pull??? Well he is one of those guys who sits on the back at these rides hoping to survive. Funny thing though, two weeks ago he was not in the group after some of us made some hard pulls......asshole. So I am pissed off so much that I just want to kill someone or something. I am even contemplating not going home this weekend now, because my mom is pissed at me, sorry I was having a bad day and i hung up on ya mom. I know she wouldn't call if she didn't care, but do I constantly have to be reminded that I made a mistake??? I owned up to it right away, I guess I suck at life. I better go to bed now, cuz I hate everything else. Goodnight, and I love you mom!!!

Monday- 2 Hours 30 Minutes. Half road bike, half TT bike.
Tuesday- 4 Hors 30 Minutes.
Wednesday- 2 Hours 30 Minutes.

Game, Set, Match

So its been a busy week thus far, but I have still managed some good rides and more importantly some good rest. This weekend is the State TT Championships and I am going there with no expectations other than laying down my best possible performance. I would like to go 57 to 58 Minute range for 25 miles. We will see though. I did a very tough ride yesterday and I felt like a bull. There are absolutely no pains, problems or even negative thoughts in my head. I am just ready to roll. Hopefully tonight will be a hard Wednesday night ride and I can get in one last workout before the race this weekend. One a huge positive note I get to see mom and dad this weekend and that will be splendid. I havent seen them since early April and I miss them and the dogs a lot. I really wanna see the new toys they bought and just relax with them. Too bad everyone can not be as blessed as I am with the parents I have. Other than that I have found out what an old friend has been up to, it was almost a year I believe since we last talked, but she seems like she is doing very well for herself. So overall very happy, but I have a chip on my shoulder from something, but can not let that get in my way of having a damn good time. If anything it is fuel for the fire. C'mon legs lets roll!!!!

Pretty Damn good

Ah a new day. With the new day I am over the whole Summer Solstice fiasco and feeling good. I got home last night and took a nap and went for a ride. I can not understand how after beating the hell out of my body I can feel so good. I honestly felt like I was barely even riding, I felt really good. My recovery is honestly the best it has ever been. In the next few weeks I will be doing the State Time Trial Championships, then Mike Rabe Stage race, then heading to Wisconsin for Superweek. I am doing some long hard road races at Superweek which should be interesting. I found that I don't have to prove to myself that I can race in the pro 1/2 field. I can't understand why I constantly have doubts about myself. Maybe someday I will sort that out. Oh well, its time for some good racing and some hard training. The Tour also starts in a week and a half, but I probably won't see much of it. I would rather race then watch any race on TV so that's what I will be doing. OUT!!!

Wednesday- 2 Hours 30 Minutes.
Thursday- 3 Hours 30 Minutes
Friday- 2 Hours 15 Minutes. SS Crit- 37th out of 62
Saturday- 5 Hours 15 Minutes. SS RR- 14th out of 56, SS TT- 18th out of 42
Sunday- 1 Hour 15 Minutes.

Week Total- 18 Hours 45 Minutes. 640 Kilometers!!!

Summer Blunder....I mean Solstice Stage Race

The title sums it up...worst race ever that i have been to, whether it is cycling or running. The promoter dropped a huge chance to make it a great race but I may be getting a refund. Here is how my weekend went.

Friday- Left at 10:30 to drive down to Ohio and race
Friday night Criterium- Started at 8:35 PM, yes that late and immediately it was fast. The course was a straight away, 90 degree right hander, 200 meters into a 180 turn around 100 meters then a 90 degree lefty, straightaway, then another 180 turnaround then a a small chicane, then a starightaway. The race was very technical and I felt extremely good. About 10 minutes in a guy sits up 2 wheels in front of me and caused a huge gap. Then no one wanted to close it, so I spent about 28 minutes with 4 other guys trying to chase back into the group to no avail. I was pissed because for the first time ever I was cornering very well and jumping out of the 180's really good. We got pulled with about 15 minutes left, but shit happens.
Saturday- woke up early and rode out to the course, which was "5 miles away". How about 15 miles. We got there at 9 am when we were supposed to roll out for the 85 mile RR. After a bit I realize we are delayed again. At 9:45 the race started and I told Sven and Graham I would help them if they need anything as my GC plans were shot. The first 4 laps were so boring and nothing happened other than trying to stay out of the crosswinds and keeping up near the front. Lap 5 chaos insued. On the first corner there was a truck with a long trailer stopped and I got around clean, but then heard bikes clanging off the trailer and it was a massive crash. I knew Graham was behind me so I sat up for a second only to see him some out of the dust of the crash without going down, so I had him get on my wheel and killed it to get both of us back into the group. With 2 miles to go I see 5 guys go down in front of me again and it caused a small gap, with Mike House driving it on the front for his teammates to sprint. I got to within 3 seconds and another crash 50 meters from the line, which I narrowly escaped. I got the same time on GC as the 16 guys who finished and also took 14th in the race, so that was very good for me. Sven got 4th and Graham got 13th.
Saturday night- 5 mile TT. All I am gonna say is another Hour plus delay to the start and the course was an out and back with massive headwinds on the way out. I started out much to quickly and was a little tired from the road race earlier in the day. Still managed a 9:36, which was only 20 seconds slower than Graham. The course was not 5 miles, but about 4- 4.5 miles.
Sunday morning- We left early to go to the race and come to find out, it is not starting at 9 am, but 11:15. I got so pissed I turned in my timing transponder and asked for my license back. The wanted to shorten the race for 104 miles to 56 miles, all I said to the was, "if I wanted a race to end up in a field sprint I could have stayed in Michigan to do that." And with that I left my 13th place on GC and came home. I may have had a chance at a top 10 but I was sick of the bullshit. I am gonna talk to usacycling about revoking the promoters permit and getting my money back. As a lot of people were planning on doing. Regardless, I learned a lot. I guess we were averaging 410 watts for the crit, which for me is huge. I also learned that my work on riding in groups has improved a lot and my placement is doing well. I hung with some very good riders this weekend and am happy with myself, I just wish the race was not run so poorly. What can you do though. I also met a lot of people in Ohio and got some compliments on how I race. I even had a thanks from Graham for dragging him back into the group after the crash, so all in all it was a great weekend and a piss poor weekend. I have some pics from the TT, but will post them later. Thanks for taking the pics Tim and heal up buddy. OUT!

How does that feel

So it has been a while. I have been to busy to want to blog and trying to recover from that damn cold. I am ready and pumped for the big races this weekend ( Crit, 87 Mile RR, 5 Mile TT, 96 Mile RR), all in 38 hours. We will see what I am made of. Some things are great, my parents just dropped a shit ton of money on an F-250 and a new trailer to travel. Good for them, they are doing things they want to and I love that. Other than that I have been working and riding...yada yada yada. I have been having a lot of great news lately but I dont have time right now to do a long story about it, so Ill catch ya on the flip side.

Friday- 30 Minutes, SICK
Saturday- OFF, SICK
Sunday- 3 Hours easy
Monday- 2 Hours on TT bike, really hard
Tuesday- 2 Hours easy.

Roger That......Message Received

So I think the lord is trying to tell me to ease off the bike a bit. I worked Thursday night and had a sore throat, but thought it would go away before my race this weekend. I go back to work Friday morning and it was full on. I almost passed out at work from being so light-headed. So I went home and got on my bike hoping that may clear my head, I honestly felt like I was not pedaling and it was hard to just concentrate, so I only managed 30 minutes. I figured I would have some Nyquil and wake up Saturday morning feeling good..... WRONG again. I slept from 7:15 on Friday night to 11:30 AM on Saturday morning and no signs of recovery. Anyways I have been sleeping and eating crackers and drinking Diet Vernors to combat this. So a few days off the bike are not so bad, but my debut with Sunrise was supposed to be this weekend. There will be bigger races to come so I must get healthy. On the bright side I get to work again tonight, boo. OK, I am gonna go shower and shit now as it is 6:30 PM and I have not seen much of the world today!!! Later!

The Ada/ Sunrise Dilemma

OK, so a LOT has went down since I posted about 3 hours ago. I talked to Dave Baar from the Ada team and he REALLY wants me to stay with them. He told me they would do whatever I needed to keep me there. I guess they are all talking me up and saying how great of a season I have had so far. I talked to him for about 45 minutes and honestly this is really hard for me to deal with. Everyone at Ada is amazed how much I have transformed myself this past year. I really like those guys as people, but if I do not do this I may look back and regret it. Damn am I sorry to my Ada buddies. After I got home from hanging out with Matt and Christi I checked my email and this made it all better. "We have a new team member. His name is Jeremy Woolcock. He has a strong engine and is an aggressive rider. More importantly he is a team player and is willing to do what is best for the team." That was sent to my new team by Jeff Hamilton. I am floored that I have came this far in just a few years. I am really looking forward to this if I haven't mentioned that yet. Regardless, me seeing thta in writing from last years Michigan State Criterium Champion is enough to make it worth it for me. So I am tired and cranky, so alas I will go to bed. Goodbye cruel world!!!

Slugfest and Weird times!!!

First I will comment on the Wednesday night ride, which ended up being a decent slugfest. About 10 miles in I look back and half the group that began the ride was already dropped. Then we proceeded to just keep a decent tempo with me being the jerkoff who was pulling flyers for most of the night. It was fun, and German looked really strong which surprised me. Nice job Seibert. Luke looked really good as well, I am happy to see them back on their bikes. Nice to have you boys back around. We ended on 6th street hill and most guys sat up except me, Jeff, Taylor, John and Todd. That hill is one of the toughest in Kzoo, so it was nice to ascend it. On my way home I stopped over to Emil's to wish him well in Norway, I will miss ya buddy and take care of the Euro trash over there. Second, last night I am at work. I walked outside and see a massive pile of ants. I decide to get the RAID and attack the problem. As I am looking for any survivors a car pulls up and I pay no attention. A girl steps out and I recognize her from about a year ago. One time she was in Munchie Mart and one of the guys working tells me to whistle at her, and she gives me this weird look. Now fast forward one year (give or take) and she is talking to me like we are old friends. She buys her booze and I am still just making conversation and being polite. Then BOOM, she says, " you are really cute...... I think I want to give you my number." In my head I am thinking haha, funny joke. I see she is serious though. Well I got her number and me and Erin comment on how weird the whole thing was. Don't get me wrong, I am not gay nor do I think this girl is trash, but I am happy with my life. I do not want anyone around me right now. I am focused on one thing..... racing my damn bike. I am getting good sensations while racing and I am becoming strong. I do not need anyone to take that away from me. I may be missing out by not calling her, but I am willing to let that happen. If I want to do this and get out of it what I want I have to make HUGE sacrifices. I guess my old man was right, when you are not looking for the ladies is when they come along. Sorry I am kinda engaged to my bicycle at the moment. OK go on Luke and Germ you can laugh at me. Now I must go hang out with Blanch, Valanty, and my man Matt Sackrider. UP>>>UP>>> AND AWAY.

Sweet...... I found a dollar!

Yeah I said it, I found a dollar bill. While doing my laundry to be exact so it obviously belonged to me. Not much to report on other then some cycling today with some good solid efforts. I also ventured into cleaning my apartment for the first time in almost a month, haha. Oh yeah I registered for Summer Solstice Stage race too. Other than that I got everything squared away with my new team. I am very pumped to race with these guys, not shitting ya. Other than that I want to vent on RECREATIONAL ATHLETES. Whether it be runners, cyclists, or any of the sort. I saw this girl as I was riding today, and she was a very attractive girl, but I was pissed at her. It did not matter how good looking she was or how well endowed she may have been. Working out or going for a run is not a fashion contest, but she did have her matching sports bra and shorts, not to mention her damn matching shoes. BITCH!!! I dont know why that pisses me off, but it does. I know I look like a goon when I am riding in the middle of the road. Oh well I am not in this for fitness. I can not say I have ever been in anything for looks, I am too competitive for that. Sorry about that venting, but rec runners and cyclists kinda piss me off at times. Finally I also got popped by a guys mirror today as he drove by. He cracked my elbow pretty good and I followed him to tell him so. I guess a guy in spandex is a bit threatening, because he apologized immediately and was almost begging me to not call the cops. So a day full of this, a little of that, and some morons to boot. I AM OUT!!!

Transfer to Sunrise

So it is official. I am now a part of the Sunrise Sports elite cycling team. I talked with their 2 directors this morning and they welcomed me aboard. So once again I will be getting some new uniforms and now no one will notice me around town. The colors are Orange and Black. So I have to do one last farewell race with the Ada boys on Wednesday and say goodbye to my buddies. I will still see them, but I have to do this for me. Today other than that I got in two rides because we had a work meeting at the Munchie Mart. Tom wants to know what we think would make it a better workplace and what would make us more money. It was fun actually being listened to for once. At the end he even told us we are all getting raises, so thats a big plus. My rides today went very good and I am not sore at all. I got in 128 km's and it was warm out, so it was nice for the tan. I also met a girl today that said she sees me riding a lot and I look good. She gave me her phone number to call her, which is always nice. You know what....... I am not going to call her. I have ruined enough lives with women and I will not do it anymore. I can make it easy on both of us by not calling and getting to know her. I do not need anyone to rely on, I am perfectly fine being alone and I am happy with who I am, so yes I have been very well lately. So now the "Sunrise" experience starts. I have full confidence in Jeff and Jay, we will find out about the other guys soon enough I guess. Later all!!!

Monday- 4 Hours. 128 km's. Nice ride, no pain anywhere, and sunny!!!!

Look at the GEEK!!!

State Road Race

The state road race has come and gone. I did well and attacked enough and stayed near the front all race. The only problem was when you are reloading with an energy gel and the breakaway goes it is really hard to go with it. Needless to say they were 45 seconds ahead of us for 30 miles and WM Coast had 3 riders in it, so this means their other 17 guys in the race sat on the front and slowed everything down to allow there teammates the chance to stay away. Well coming into the sprint there were still too many guys left and it was impossible to do a full sprint unless u were in the top 5 in the peloton. As I was about 15th wheel I never got up to full speed and ended up with a top 25. Not bad considering how far I have came in 2 years, but I am very disheartened. Having only one other teammate in the race and seeing him for about 35 seconds of a 3 and a half hour race says enough. You can not do much without some artillary in the group. I have had a lot of people tell me how much I have improved and how strong I am, so after the race I made a decision. It was time for me to find a TEAM to ride for. This is in no way a discredit to the Ada guys, because honestly I have some truly great friends on that team and I care deeply about those guys. I got an offer straight after the race to ride for the Sunrise Sports team for the remainder of the season and all my gear will be covered for free. Jeff Hamilton and Jason Rafeld are two of my best cycling friends and they finished about 5 meters ahead of me today. Jeff responded to my comment of having no team members at the front for the day by saying, " come ride with us, I will get you what you need for free." The hard part about parting ways with Ada is how much I do respect the guys I raced with and how much I love the comraderie of the team. Lets be honest though, I have a chance to do something in this sport and 9 guys is better than 3. As Chris put it, it is really hard to have a team that brings riders into the sport and then can not facilitate any help for them once they improve drastically. I have done so much for this and I can not let it go to waste. It is just sad that i feel like a turncoat over this. In the long run though it will work out for the best. I can not cut ties with my Ada teammates, I will always go up and see how they are doing and ask about their lives. I just want a chance to prove I have what it takes to be a team player with a team. So to Chris, Bubbles, Baar, and Charles I am very sorry but I hope you all understand this. I was so disappointed in myself that after 4 and a half hours of racing/ riding I even got out and did another ride in the evening. It was the hardest thing that I have done in a while to tell Chris what I had been offered. But he wished me the best and told me to do what I thought was best for me. Ok, so I am tired and still disappointed in myself. What should I do though???

Friday- 2 Hours 15 Minutes.
Saturday- 2 Hours, easy with some sprints.
Sunday- 30 Minute WU, State RR- 3 Hours 30 Minutes, 30 CD. 1 Hour 30 Minutes solo after.

Week Totals- 21 Hours 15 Minutes. 720 kilometers.

I am disgusted!!!

So I really did nothing today, rode, worked on the cables for my shifting (actually Josh did this, thanks Josh), and got ready to race tomorrow. I did two rides because i am really antsy and ready. Nothing hard, just a few sprints and easy riding. The reason I am disgusted is I decided to stop at Wendy's to get a frosty, good idea right??? WRONG, I saw another man, a fat one at that, drop part of his frosty on his shirt and then spoon it off like he was missing that lint in his diet..... Needless to say after two delicious spoonfuls of my frosty I was so disgusted I walked out and threw mine away. Fat bastard!!!! OK, so now I am going to bed as I have to wake up at 5 AM and go to the race. I got good news that German will be racing with me Baar and Bubbles, but he hasn't really been riding if he has it is news to me. Well any help we can get even if it is for 10 miles will be much welcomed. I AM READY!!!! Bring it on. Wish me luck! Later!

And when I'm on the mike I come correct!!!

Beastie Boys baby!!! Same old stuff today, worked for a nice 8 hours then went out and rode. Weird thing though.... It stopped raining when I wanted to ride, ah thats always nice. Sweet ride though I did lack some pop when I did my sprints, but maybe I just need to racover. I got some good compliments about Wednesday from Ryan and Dave. Ryan told me I raced good and he apologized for being a jerk after the race. I can understand where he is coming from though, he can't race this year and it is hard for him to deal with. I remember a time when I ran and was injured almost every season, so hang in there Ryan everything happens for a reason. Bubbles told me my ride on Wednesday was "pretty impressive", so thanks for the confidence guys I really appreciate it. Now all I have left this weekend is the State Road Race Championships. I know I am in good form and Dave told me he is going to keep me out of trouble early on and that Dave Baar is going to cover the early attacks. So I have the weight being put on my shoulders and I am ready to carry it all. Things are incredibly great and I am anticipating this race more than any I really have, no nerves at all, just supreme confidence in myself. I am off to watch "The Ringer" with Johnny Knoxville so I hope its funny!!! Later!

Caloric Intake: 2880 calories
Calories Burned on ride: 2200 calories

Friday- 2 Hours 15 Minutes, some sprints mixed in.

Insanely strong!!!

I guess according to German I am "insanely strong this year" Thanks brotha for the pick me up. Actually I have been very happy today, for no apparent reason. I did receive my new Smith Optics last evening, along with a good finish in the race, and I really am not worried about anyone or anything, so all in all I am very satisfied. I thought about the Cedar Creek race today, and last year I dodged having myself be the team leader a lot because I was not confident enough in myself. Now I want that responsibility. I want to be the one who can come through for the other guys, and if I am not I want to be able to work for them so we call all aspire to achieve our best results possible. Other than that I am really anxious to race this weekend. I realize I have ridden about 9,000 miles thus far this year, which for any cyclist is a lot in 5 months. So I am going to just keep my cool and if I see anything that interests me in the race on Sunday I will go with it, if not I will relax and try to read a race for once and be patient. Here is the link to the results from last night if anyone wants to check them out. http://mwsport.com/results_detail.cfm?result_id=331

I also started a calorie count for my daily activities. Daily Total = 2090 calories, Total Burned on ride = 1600 calories!!!!


Tuesday- 1 Hour 15 Minutes.
Wednesday- 20 Minute warmup, 1:50 Race, 35 Cooldown. 2 Hours 45 Minutes.
Thursday- 1 Hour 45 Minutes.