Tour de Grandview

Awesome venue! I will be sure to come next year. No rain. Ton of fans. It was really cool.

I took a warmup lap and somehow ended up lining up very last in a 73 person field. Not the place I want to be if I was planning on placing well. Regardless the laps flew by, and the announcer as we were coming around mentioned how the breakaway was ahead by a bit. Sweet. I didn't know there was a breakaway. I guess that is what happens when you line up in the very back of a huge field. Well, final lap comes, and the hill finish comes. I put the afterburners on and won the field sprint. I felt so good too, i wish i found my way into the break. Regardless, I still ended up getting in a money spot for 11th place. Next up is TOTV -hopefully 'the man' lets me off for it.

im coming for you

Request to change category from Cat 4 to Cat 3: approved

Not sure which attitude to go in with.


A: Dear Cat3's- I am coming to eat you alive!

or

B: *Gulp* *pee pants* cry.

idiot

I had a customer ask me 'whats up with all those faggoty guys on bikes in the road in the parkway' 'Is that even legal for them to be there?'

I got caught offguard and didn't want to sound like a jerk to him, so i politely said yes, it is completely legal. It was tough to hold back a long verbal lashing of his stupidity.

After a few more minutes of kicking tires and in amazement of 'insane amount of money for a bike' and checking out the 'oh are those shocks n shit' on the entry level comfort bikes; he proceeded out the door, hopped onto his harley and drove off without a helmet. The theory of natural selection comes to mind here.

I've been feeling great lately! And finally some seasonable weather!
Tuesday worlds, and then 'the man' has allowed me to escape down to the tour de grandview this sunday.

why did it take me so long to discover the kaiser chiefs? I mean I've heard of them, just never gave them a listen. Pretty good stuff.

6/16 t nighter

Monday was awesome. 78 degrees and Sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. I went for a nice 50 mile ride, and then used the rest of the day to go to cedar point. Super cool, except for the part where after waiting in line, the Millenium Force broke down when we were about 2 min from getting on. Luckily I gave in and bought the Platinum Season Pass, so I will get my chance some other time this summer.

Another Tuesday nighter came and went. 48 miles. Man, are they getting long! I was ready to go home and relax after about 15 laps. I did the whole thing and got a great workout in. I even took a prime on the first lap. Dear entire 'A' group, thanks for letting me take that. It really boosted my confidence. I spent much of my time trying to close gaps. By the final 4-5 laps, after spending a lot of time upfront in the wind, I moseyed on back to the rear of the pack to slow it down a bit. Couple guys went down on the 2nd to final lap, some bikes were totalled, but luckily, everyone was okay.

Thoughts of Cross season have been entering my mind.

Worlds

I had a fun ride on Monday. I hit up harley hills as quick as i could. It then started to rain- it only lasted about 45 minutes, and then the sun came out for the rest of the ride.

Tuesday I went to westlake.

I DNFed but I am happy with my performance. I made the break with the big boys. It was cool/super hard to hang with them. It was RGF/carbon/TLE and myself. About 12 guys in total. After taking a pull, I couldn't hop back on the train, and got rode off with 5 laps to go. I joined the main group when they came around, and somehow ended up on a short breakaway with sam house. I just couldn't take it anymore and with 2 laps to go decided to watch the finish from the sideline. Hopefully next week and I can get in a break and stick with them till the finish! No racing this weekend as 'the man' has me working.

W.tf VIRGINIA

That was the hardest thing I have ever done. Reading other racers blogs that seems to be the concensus.


We get there Saturday morning around 10am after a long, foggy drive. The doors are locked so there are no facilities. Not good when I gotta go! We warm up for a bit, and then its a rider meeting. At the riders meeting we were told there would be a neutral roll to the bottom of the mountain. It ended up being about 6 miles to the start. It was super sketchy. Had a ton of riders flying down a narrow gravelly mountain road. I used about 2 months worth of brake pad; rims were hot to the touch.

We were sitting at the bottom right by a waterfall, it was wet, sunless, and chilly at the bottom as we were all waiting to take off. Finally it was time for the 4/5 field to take off. The first few miles were mostly flat with some rollers following a river. Next we take a turn and the first climb is on. People are dropping off one by one. I wanted so bad to just have the sag wagon pick me up about half way up. I didn't win the $50 KOM or even come close, I was around the 9th up. But, I couldnt latch onto the lead group.

Next is the sketchy downhill. One lane road with blind corners and some very sharp turns, some with gravel almost made me take care of my unfinished business(due to the lack of facilities in the beginning). It took out quite a few people I believe, including John Kulbis- If you see him, ask to see his helmet! Hopefully his bike is alright.

A small group - 6 of us got together and caught up to the lead group right before the final climb.

The final climb was a sick joke. It was stupid. What the fuck were we thinking? The last climb was 7 miles and averaged 10% with some parts going upwards of 20%. I hurt so bad, it was the most pain I've had on a bike. Yes, I got off of my bike and walked it on two different occasions! Despite that I still finished decently. Again, I didn't get any points...cough cat 4 forever cough. But I ended up with 15th/50.

Props to Joseph Holmes for getting a flat in the last mile and still finishing by ripping off his shoes and walking up the rest of the mountain in his socks!

Thanks to Greg Fletcher for making a 5 hour drive less boring, and finding a nice B&B.

We saw the countrys smallest church, a bike sale, we found a beer store, had the longest checkout in a gas station, a ford GT, more hillbillys than we could shake a stick at, and a cool looking area called deep creek in maryland.

a week off the bike

I hadnt had a chance to even touch my bike in a week. So Sunday I finally had the time to get in a ride after work. In preparation for my next race- http://www.iplayoutside.com/Events/?eid=2009/06/11707.html Voted one of the top 10 hardest race courses by velo news, I decided to do a few climbs on my ride.

I hit up Wallings Rd, Cady Rd, Wiltshire/Boston, Truxell, and Boston Mills. I got passed by a Gallardo on truxell. The exhaust resonating off of the trees was awesome. Got in 57 miles.

Tuesday night, I am going to try to rush over to westlake and race after work.
And then Saturday is WV.