Finally

Got My TT frame in Saturday was up to 1:30 am building it Monday night. Got Teton to hook me up with a bike fit Tueday, and rode it for 1:30 that evening Just in time for CCTT #2 on Wednesday.

Boulder Roubaix & AFA 4.14.07

Roubaix - Rolled to the race with Taylor. I was excited to finally get to race with him, since we train a lot together. Since it was so nice out DBC Events added a lap at the start to make it 62 miles of fun. Pretty uneventful race besides the roughness of the road, every lap guys would pop off the back. I found some good lines and tried to stay in those areas most of the race. Last lap couple guys attacked, so I moved to the front to see what was going to happen. My calves were starting to crap into and over the last hill, so I backed off a little. I drank 2 large and 1 small bottle with electrolyte mix, and didn't feel dehydrated, so i don't know what caused that. Was sitting about 25th coming out of last corner, (had about 50/85+ guys left at that point). I then moved up trying to get ready for the sprint. The pace really picked up about 600m out, and I lost the draft behind a guy that poppped and couldn't close the gap. Held everyone else off for 16th place about 5 seconds back from the winner. Taylor rocked a 6th place. There was a spectacular crash at the end of the 3s. heard everyone was ok, which was good, b/c it was nasty. Overall I felt great about the race. My goal was top 30. Big confidence booster considering there were 85+ starters and that course is hard. Felt 10 times better than Koppenberg. Only
felt like i was going into the red one time before the finish, and I was able to recover pretty easy.

AFA - Ouch. 4 laps/50.3 miles with +1000ft climbing per lap on the 1986 world championship course, 65+ starters. 1st time up the long climb field shattered. Kept 10 leaders in sight. Got back on after descent with a group of 9. We had a huge crosswind on the descent and a huge headwind on the flats leading to the climb. About 35 guys in the main group for start of the second climb. Got dropped again. Rode a teamates wheel the rest of the climb. I regrouped with 6 other guys and we
chased. I popped on a flat headwind section, about 100m off the main group. I almost got back on, but we then started the climb again. Rode solo for half a
lap. Another rider caught me and we rode the last lap together picking off a couple guys. I finished 27th. I was tired when I started so I was happy with my
finish. Chalk it up to training. I was absolutely cooked after the race, and the next day. Man that course is hard, especially with the 20+ mph wind. Marty had a great day scoring a 9th place. Kid can climb and should pull some good results this year.

CCTT #1 4.11.07

That TT bike I've been stressing about still isn't in, so I rolled it on my road bike, training wheels and all. Turned in a time of 26:03.3 for 18th/24 guys. I My time was 26:03. I was 2:17 off the winner, and 1:15 off the top half of my field. Just as a comparison my time for the 1st TT last year was 28:37. My fastest time last year was 26:26. While I know conditions aren't the same for every TT, I so feel confident I already faster that my best TT last year.

Koppenberg - 4.1.07

Koppenberg was mr first race this year and as a Cat 3, and it hurt. It was also my first race with VC. I hadn't done any VO2 max training, and it showed. I got spit out the back on the 4th time up the climb and rolled it in with 8 others for 51st place. I kind of expected that it. Looking forward to more intervals in the upcoming weeks.

Catching Up

I'll try to catch up on my post in the next few days. Gunz told me that if your not blogging, you must not be training, so I want to put that myth to rest :)

What's This?

Oh yeah, it's my blog, which I have seriously neglected over the last couple of months. To get up to speed.

Man Trip 06 was off the chain. Highlights - Gordon lost his wedding ring, Ty was a dancing maniac, I had a drunk philosophy battle with some chick at a bar, Todd bought enough cheese for 4 sandwichs, when we had 16 to make. Brian tossed his cookies first night. Clint had a spectacular wipe out on the slopes. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. That all I remember :)

Had a 4 day hut trip 1st of February, which turned nasty. Our group got seprated in a white out on top of a ridge at 12,500 ft. Spent next 3 hours in -50 degree windchill. 2 guys had to drop packs. We all eventually got to the hut. I had frostbite on 2 toes, and nerve damage in 3. Lost all the skin off the left side of my nose and cheek the next day. I was just happy everyone made it ok. Scardest I've ever been for my and my friends survival. Wife wasn't very happy with me when I got home. Toes didn't heal till the middle of March. Lost one toenail.

Got droppped hard on first group ride of the year. Just didn't have the motivation to hit the trainer hard with all the shitty weather. Have had some great rides with the VC guys, and have enjoyed getting to know them.

Went home last weekend for my godson's christening. Got in a epic ride in my home county along the river, and even got some fishing in one afternoon.

First Race is this weekend, and I'm pumped. I probably get spit out the back pretty quick, since I haven't gone into the red much yet this year, but who knows. I finally feel like I'm starting to come around with my training. I behind where I wanted to be, but still better that where I was at this time last year. Shooting to get some results towards the end of April and early May. I've been stressing trying to get a TT bike together. Spent my money for a frame on replacing the tires on my car after someone decided to slash the tires of 4 cars on my block. Guess I'm just lucky ;( Hopefully, I'll have one before the stage race in Nebraska.

Watched Blood Diamond last night. Great Flick. Also the Planet Earth series on Discovery is awesome as well.

Man Trip 07

L to R (Gordon, Casey, Todd, Clint, Brian, Ty)
Man Trip 07 is in the books. More info to follow

Tired of the Trainer?

Then read this. I thought 2 hours was a lot. I've heard of guys riding centurys on there rollers, but this is nuts.

Cali Anyone?

Alright, who is ready to go to Cali for the weekend?

California on Sale!
Purchase by January 11, 2007.
Fly by March 9, 2007

For ALL sale fares and complete details, please click here.

To/From Denver:

Fresno $99*
Los Angeles $104*
Orange County $104*
Sacramento $119*
San Diego $104*
San Francisco $114*
San Jose $119*

Want an update?

Weather in Denver right now sucks, and isn't supposed to improve for the foreseeable future. Need to ride my bike, getting very cranky. Did take my first skate skiing lesson at Eldora Saturday which was challenging. Would have been better, if it was warmer than 15 degrees and the wind wasn't blowing 25mph. Look here for some pics of what Skate Sking looks like. Felt the need to include this b/c most people don't know what it is. Sunday I went with Ty to Keystone to freeze my ass off, ski a few runs, and then sit in traffic for 2 1/2 hours back to Denver - YEAH!

Gage's 1st Christmas

My nephew Gage enjoying his first Christmas. He is almost 3 months old now. Unfortuantely I haven't seen him since he was born. Hopefully the weather around here will clear up and I will be able to get home soon.

Christmas in Vail

I would have to say that if I was stranded anywhere for Christmas, Vail isn't too bad. We headed up last Saturday and started our trip at Beaver Creek. I didn't ski here all last year, so it was nice to get back. Snow and weather conditions were good. Had a good lunch at Red Tail Camp, and then headed to the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa.

The Cascade was very nice, and moderatly priced considering it was a holiday weekend. That night we drove to Edwards to eat at Sato Sushi. I know what your thinking (Sushi in the mountains?). Trust me this place is really good, they get fresh fish in daily from the vail/eagle airport and it is more of a locals place, so the atmosphere is laid back.

The next morning I woke up to falling snow. Ty and I caught 1st chair on the Vail Cascade lift and our day began. On the front side they had about 2 inches of fresh when we started. We instantly started making our way to the back bowls, were the snow got progressively deeper. Game Creek bowl to Sun Down Bowl to Blue Sky Basin. We were the first ones to catch 4 differnt lift that day. We laid fresh track for over an hour before we saw someone. By the time we got to Blue Sky the snow was 8 inches deep and it kept snowing all day. We had some epic runs down resolution. After lunch we hit China bowl and then made 3 runs down Red Square in the Siberia Bowl before ski patrol closed it for avy control. Overall one of the top 5 days I have had skiing. It snowed the whole day so the track kept filling in as fast as you could ski them. There were times the powder was almost up to my knees in spots.

That night we took a sleigh ride and had dinner at the Vail Golf Club. I had a good time but it was overpriced and not what was described when we made the reservation. I would not recommend going here.

The next day we got up and skied Vail again, but my legs were shot from the day before, so we stuck to the groomers with girls and pulled the plug early to catch lunch at the Red Lion I recommend the Nachoes and Burgers. After lunch it was back to Denver for a night of laying on the couch.

Denver Blizzard

The blizzard that hit Denver last week, dropped about 2 feet of snow in 24 hours and therefore cancelled our Christmas plans. We had planned to make it home to Illinois to spend time with friends and family, but instead made the best of the situation and went to Vail for the weekend. We weren't alone, as Ty & Jen couldn't get back to North Carolina either.

Midyear

Just got back from my annual pharmacy conference, not much to talk about there. Did have a good time driving down Pacific Coast Highway from Newport Beach to San Diego. Had a good lunch at 3 thirty 3 in Newport, saw lots of fancy cars and real life Barbies. Also had a great dinner at 21 Oceanfront . Ate at The White House, but thought it was a bit overrated. If you are every in the area and looking for a good time try the Rockin Taco . We went there 3 differnent nights for drinks and had a great time. I did however catch the flu from someone on the flight back wednesday, so I'm laying low trying to recover.

20 Questions

Click here to see what I had to say regarding the 20 questions my friend DB asked me.

Linkage

I've added state racing links, so that it is easier to search for certain races if you plan to travel. Feel free to send me more that I've missed.

Thanksgiving

Had a nice Thanksgiving with Ty, Jen, Joel, and Anna. The wine was probably my favorite part. We then heading to Brenckenridge for a couple of days. Had a few Vanilla Porters at the Breckenridge Brewery, then ran into Chris Nunez at the Blue River Bistro. If you watch Miami Ink on TLC you might recognize him. The skiing wasn't much to talk about, except for Ty throwing an unexpected heli and landing it. I guess, I'll have to give it a try next time.

Made the Jump

I joined the Vitamin Cottage 3s team this week. I got in a couple of good rides with team, and I'm super pumped about the upcoming season. We should have a strong team. It was a great opportunity to jump to a team that was dedicated to racing, and to train with a group of guys who take cycling as serious as I do. Several of the guys have the same goal as I do, to cat up, so it should be a fun season. 5 months to the first road race.

U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross

High jacked this picture off Jared Roy's blog. Check it out for some good pics and video.

I think the pic says it all.

Had a great weekend working the pit for Taylor during the 2 USGP races this weekend. Taylor had a great ride saturday and even better one sunday. He finished 26th saturday and 18th on sunday. Considering the field, it was a awesome result. It has got to be fun beating guys that get paid to race for a living. A few thoughts:

1. Ryan Trebon is a freak, kid is crazy fast. In my opinion, he would have won going away on sunday as well, if not for the 4 bike changes.

2. Boulder Cup course was awesome to watch, best race atmosphere I've ever seen. The hill run-ups were sick.

3. If you don't get called up, or have a starting number in the top 30 you are already out of the race.

Sat. Race Report
Sun. Race Report

Sat. Results
Sun. Results
After watching the races, I almost want to race cross myself.

The Nut Cup

I had a great time playing golf in Pinehurst. I went with my father-in-law and met up with 10 other guys for a weekend of fun. We were invited by my wife's cousin, Michael Landsberg to play in his private 72 hole tournament named the "Nut Cup". I know what you thinking, but it is actually in reference to Michael's life threatning allergy to nuts. After I finally got my clubs and clothes (American Airlines lost my luggage for 24 hours) I was finally able to relax. We played all weekend at Forrest Creek Country Club where Michael is a member. It has been voted top 50 private courses in the USA. I played 27 holes Thursday, 18 Friday, 36 Saturday, and 9 on Sunday. Needless to say I was a litte worn out when I got back to Denver late Sunday night, but can't wait to try to claim the 07 Nut Cup.