Can I just say that I am Stoked? I have just been watching video clips from Cyclocross races and the '07 tour and I am more ready to ride then a drunk 18 y/o slut on spring brake. Out of shape? Yes. stuck at work? Yes. Itching to leave a rubber foot print on something? Oh Hellz yes! So don't let the boss know I rode my bike around the shop a few times (the carpet is in bad shape anyway). Just one month and racing begins. Oh the pain of pushing past the physical limits of this carbon based goo bag. its like a splinter in my brain its such a necessary evil and I love every masochistic second.

Pe@ce~

good times again

So i got out on the road bike on the 27th. I was cold a little wet but mostly frustrating. I is hard to believe that in just 2 months i have lost so much fitness. Then again it is winter and i do have a few weeks to work at getting as much back as possible. So i spent 2 hours on the trainer the other night and thought back about the past season. so here are some pictures and just a reminder that I WON WINGHEVEN!!

Casey Ryback snapping my wrist as we race through rockwoods

Berryman

About a week ago Chris and I headed out to Mark Twain National Forest to ride Berryman. Seeing as this would be the first time I ever threw myself and my bike down this trail I was pretty stoked. However despite the sunny morning we were greeted with our ride became rather overcast. The clouds lead to rain but no worries a little water never hurt anyone. Then I sliced a side wall. Oh well a new tube and we'll be rolling again. That morning while grabbing gear i mistook a 26inch tube for a 29inch. Good thing rubber stretches (Insert birth control/condom joke here). So now I am back to the came of "Was that Chris's jersey?" as the rain begins to come down a little harder. As the trail does it best impression of Hollyfield vs. Tyson fight on my bike I realize exactly how much fitness that I have lost with my new diet of whatever i want washed down with Monster. It was about this time that I noticed a wobble on my non drive side crank arm. I thought it was the pedal stripping its self of the constrains but then the entire crank arm came of with one massive push from my Kankle of death. Talk about bad luck I had lost the tension bolt somewhere behind me and and had to "tighten the hell out of it" as Chris gently put it. Back to riding and I got the run down of what was left in our ride "Then one more bad ass hill...its all down hill from there except where is goes up hill." Some how i did find comfort in those words and before I knew it we were back at the car.

Back at the shop I stripped the Pheonix down and took inventory of what was needed: 20tooth freewheel and a new FSA tension bolt. Not bad lets just hope my luck gets a little better I'm getting tired of mechanicals!


PS- Rumor has it that I am buying a cyclocross bike something like this

"I can't believe the news today. Just close my eyes and make it go away." What is wrong with a sport that causes its governing leaders to attack the athletes rather then help them. I understand that doping is unfair and isn't allowed but at the same time it seems like these guys sneeze wrong during the off season and the next thing you know they are being banned or smeared. For Christmas all I want is a 2008 tour that doesn't have a criminal it just has some hard nosed heros who ride really fast in tight pants. Check the link!!

So last nigh I was riding out at the ranch and took my routine place of trying to catch back up to the pack. This is harder to do when you take a wrong turn and wander around on fire roads for bit. At one point I stopped to figure out if I should turn around or keep moving forward when I noticed a small armored nocturnal animal on the side of the trail. This was the first time I have ever seen and armadillo up close. The little guy seemed to be pretty tame and walked right up to me. However, he didn't help me out much with the problem at hand and just wasted more time so I took off again. I ended up finding LB's park and from there my way back to the house. Happy ending.
To change topics slightly I am sure we have all noticed the changing colors in nature and now the changing colors of my blogs layout. There is also one other thing that has changed color and that is my jersey. I was finally picked up by a race team. Not just any team though, it is the team that holds mountain biking in Missouri in a sleeper hold. A little team known simply as DRJ. So now its just a matter of me getting better and deserving of these colors.
So I started out talking about an insignificant animal and ended with a tear jerking (at least for me) story of fall and me receiving some of the biggest news I've gotten all season. I think it is only fitting that I end this post with this.... I WON WINGHAEVON!!!

pix

Levi at the Branson TT

C. Ploch @ Cape
Matt G. of team Seagal snapping wrists at chubb
Dan Schmatz at the Chubb TTHalf of my ugly mugTank and Scott at Cape




Dan Schmatz technical skill @chubb and yes I know its sideways deal with it (tilt you head)

Chubb TT

What a mind blowing face melting experience. After rolling out of bed at the time I was supposed to be there I grabbed my wet cycling clothes out of the washer and headed out. I got the the hi-tech registration 20 late (similar to Floyd Landis at the 2006 TDF prolog) and was given my number (6). after scouting out competitors one through 5 I realized I has out of my league. This dude from Mesa Cycles and his girlfriend (both looked menacing), Eddie Kline (uber fast single speed icon), Chris Ploch (If you don't know who he is flip your dictionary to fast), and lastly some roadie from ballwin name Dan Schmatz. I ended up going fifth after the roadie threw a fit (something about the favorite goes last). So Eddie started, then Mesa dude fallowed by his girlfriend, Chris, myself, and lastly Mr.Schmatz. As I bombed down he first hill I ran up on some 2 ton trail destroying shit machines and their dark hearted masters and proceeded to piss them off for Dan to enjoy. I caught and passes Chris who had kindly stopped to the pre-production glue. However, he kept me in sight and we crossed the second set of track together just as a train (which had stopped everyone except Eddie) finished passing. I was then passes up the hill to the staircase by Chris then Mesa Dude. Schmatz flew passes me, in a whirlwind of spinning legs, before we reached the gravel pit s-turn climb. I was still fifth since i had passed Mesa Dude's GF at the tracks so I settled in and kept riding hoping i was going faster then everyone but knowing I wasn't. right before getting to the picnic table on the return trip I came upon Eddie who had run across the only thing that could stop him, the flat tire of death. Since he is an Icon he needed no help so I passed him to move into forth. I blasted back down the downhill, over the staircase, two sets of tracks with a rock garden in between down the never ending fire road and up the last climb of the day to lay down a at skid and finish with an unofficial time of about 1hr 15min.
Chris ended up with the win which is sweet for him and Eddie still had a pretty fast time with the flat. All in all it was an extremely baller event that more people should have attended. Major Thanks to Team Seagal!!!!!1111

After the event we had a pretty sweet group ride with the entire Seagal Team and Dan Schmatz. This ended up being the longest group ride ever due in large part to 2 flats and a couple mechanicals. All in all a good Sunday.

I really do not care what the final outcome of the 2006 tour is this picture gives me chills every time I see it. Not only does it it symbolize the story of Floyd snapping the wrists of the best cyclists in the world but, also the struggle that is still going on. Floyd's last chance at apple is underway I hope he is finally recognized for his achievements. This picture is going to be taped up everywhere for me this winter. I need to focus like Floyd excuse me while I practice wheelies on my road bike.

seasons end

With the last cross country race completed I look back at how I did over the season and how I feel about my proformance and I am disapointed. Sure I had some highlights such as moving up to a cat4 and the 5th place team finish at Burnin'. I just feel as if I slowly deteriorated over the season. I gained weight back and just didnt feel like putting in the hours of training needed to stay compedetive. Next season I will be moving up to expert class on the NORBA circut. I some how have to find my focus through the winter in order to stay light and get stronger for next season. Either way I just am not feeling the cycling love right now.

pe@ce~

New again

So i just dropped a G on to my bikes and as the burning sensation i have in my right ass cheek fades i must say the girls are looking pretty fly. I completely overhalled the SS. Geting ready for 24 hours of Landahl. and i put some XTR shifters on Airin just because i figured out how to get them for free. Now if i could just solve this problem of feeling tired all of the time and get my ass out and ride i might be worthy of the bikes i owen. Pictures to come.

Home Again

With the risk of sounding like a broken record COLORADO WAS AWESOME!!!!11 I could not have picked a better group of guys to ride with the. The mountains, the single track, catching Downhillers, it was amazing. THANX to Brennen for letting me crash with them.

My 2 weeks of 2 wheels in over. But the riding/racing/training is just about to heat up again. Despite missing the Gateway Cup I should be pretty busy between Norba races and crits. I am even getting some invites to be on teams for 24hr of Landal and Burnin' at the Bluffs. This is still up in the air. First and formost is the Cape Race. I have never been on this course so it should be interesting. I really hope that I can break my 4th place finish streak I have going on.

Lastly I hope all went well for Team Seagal and DRJ at Rapture in Misery.

fairwell

Yesterday was my last day of riding here in Moab. I got up early and rode from my camp to the Porcupine Rim trail. I was a 30 mile loop with a couple thousand feet of climbing then an AMAZEING decent into some unmatched single track. Later I went to the Monitor and Meramec trail but didnt have it in me to do the entire figure eight and copped out finishing with only 10 miles.

I has once again Been a blast riding here In moab. I have 98miles on the mountain bike and 129mile on the road bike. I climbed a mountain, ran out of water, broke a chain, bent derailure hangers, and didnt get once flat tire.

From here it is on into Colorado where I will meet up with Chris and some of the guys from DRJ. I am not quite sure where but I'm thinking that I would hold u in Crested Butte then head to leadville and watch Landis, Armstrong, and ross so who can ride 100 miles faster My money is on Landis.

Smart....not really

So Here is how my day off went

Got bored

went for a easy road ride

Decided to drop the easy and do a 62 mile loop into the La Sal mountains

Ate all my food on the climb and drank most of my water

Started the 20 mile decent back to Moab

bridge was out had to turn around and climb 3 miles back to the summit

8oz of watter left and 39miles

Descending at 30mph

hairpin+brakes+grave=bent derailleur hanger, out of true wheels, and blood

finish the 20+ mile decent with about 4oz of water left

1/2 oz drinks as I limp the rolling road back at 16-17mph

GET BACK TO CAMP 79MILES 5.15HOURS WITH A 15MPH AVERAGE AND 4500 FEET OF CLIMBING.

Hind sight: Maybe I should have gotten a cassette with a bigger ring then 23

Rest Day

After logging 100mi in the last 3 days i decided to leg the legs get so recovery time. Although i really want to be out on the bike. I will probably take Jess (Fuji Team Pro) out for and easy going road ride later. Nothing too major though. Tomorrow I am planning to hit Porkupine Rim early then maybe Moniter & Meramec. So until then.....

MOAB ....NEW HOME?

The first day I got to ride here in gorgeous Moab Utah was on the 4th. I decided to start out slow and ease into the MTB scene here. YEAH RIGHT SLICKROCK HERE I COME!!!!!11 It kicked my ass. I crashed twice bending my Derailure hanger both times and skinning up my arm a bit. Then i broke a chain near the end but im a mechanic so i was able to trail fix it all (I love using an d XTR derailure as a leverage tool). I decided the 13+ miles there wasnt enough so I headed out to the Bar M trail which was rated as an easy trail. Well i got a little off track and ended up on the Soverign trail which had some whicked single track but took me way out of my way. All said and doen day one about 25 miles. that night I met up with thei guy Andy who was originally from STL and we planned a road ride for the next morning. We met up about 830amand road to Arches National Park. Gorgeouse Scenary and gigantic climbs totaling 50 miles. Today i decided to try to do the Behind the rocks 16mile loop that is used for the 24hrs of Moab enduance race. I got out there early and it was over cast so the cool temps really helped me out concidering i got lost again and added 2 extra miles onto the course. Still not satisfied I headed out to Klondike tail (picture). This trail is an out and back which is 7 miles of climbing to and over look then 7 miles of down hill. total milage 33 miles. I AM HAVING A FREAKING BLAST!!!!! Check out some of my trap vids on mysapce

So after i got back in the saddle after the races of death i took a relaxing ride with Any and Matt through west county nothing major 40mi low average. Then Rode out at the Ranch with DRJ's big guns. That place is like heaven! then the Thursday night ride from west county which was a blast. I am feeling better on the bike then i did in mid July. Now I'm on vacation in Moab then ill be in Colorado. two weeks of two wheels pretty catchy.

So much going on

Way back on July 9th Floyd Landis was having a book signing up in Chicago. I decided to take some days off of Charter and drive up there to shake hands and maybe get a sponsorship lol. I was a good time however, the 10hrs of driving in one day screwed my sleep pattern up for the next week and just got me off to a bad start for training. The tour of Sulard was on the 15th of July and I entered the 4/5 race and the 3/4 race. As I said before the week leading up to the race I got poor sleep and I only managed one training ride (one ride for that matter). So the day of the race came and I was under prepared and could feel it. The game face went on anyway and i set up on the line. I had a poor start ( looked like a roockie because I couldn't find my pedal). I worked my way back up to the lead group (about ten riders). I was getting ready draft to get my legs back when my front wheel caught the back wheel of the rider in front of me. Asphalt is hard and it is even harder in front of your friends. I got up and restarted but got dropped and DNF'ed. I cleaned my wounds and got set for my second start. Once again i had a poor start and spent the entered time trying to gain ground back. However, the Cat 3s are fast and even faster as a group. Once again I DNF'ed. Bruised and defeated I packed up and went home. Since I had the next Tuesday night off I went out to the Tuesday night crit races. I raced the B and C races but just didn't feel ever good and ended up with a poor showing. I think the only thing that will help me Is more training and less work.

Im bak in a way

20 days since my last post. A lot of thing have been keeping me busy or away from my intranet connection. I am short on time not so i will post more details and pics later. But is in the last 2+ weeks i met Floyd Lanids, moved up a cat, raced, wrecked, raced again, road at the top secret ranch and had a nice road ride in west county. write more soon!!!!11

Full Speed Ahead

So in in the last week I have put 240 miles on the bike and scored some really sweet tan lines. It has been really nice I wish I could spend that much time on the bike every week. Even though I have felt extremely strong on the bike I am getting nervous about the up coming The Tour of Soulard. I do not really Mentally or physically prepared and my diet has been horrible lately. This all leads me to one conclusion: I have to train as if my lifek huge in the ballance and get as close to the breaking point as possible. With cating up and racing a double header I need to be peek. Late night hammer fests on the trainer and crazy hours at the gym will hopefully set me up for two solid races. One this is for certain when the time comes I will be racing with every ounce of determination I have.

THANK YOU to Chris and Matt for their support, encouragement, and teasing!!1

Gone Riding

Okay, so the reason that I have not posted on here in a little bit is because any time I have not been at work or in bed I have been out riding. Saturday was a mountain ride for about an hour and a half. Sunday was the chop ride with 50+/- miler with a 18odd average. On the 4th Matt, Chris, and I did 111 miles in 6 hr 29 min with a 17.1 average. A really nice ride from Manchester to Alton then through Grafton back through St. Charles. My legs still wanted more so thursday night after dinner I put in another 29 miles with and 18.9 average. Since today was a late start (9am) i got up and road into the bike shop i will then have to to commute to SBUX then home at around 1130pm-12am. The first leg of this i already have 15.25 miles and a 19.3 average. Either way I am stoked to be putting in some miles. Next week I will have to focus on training for The Tour of Sulard so it really is nice to just get out and ride.

RACE\\//ECAR

The Webster Crit was a blast. Despite annoying some more seasoned riders I had a good time. Bob,Wes, and Scott from DRJ Racing gave me lot of encouragement during the Cat 5 race which I ended up third in. I am still not sure where the Guy who took first went after he passed me but congrats to him for blowing us away. The 4/5 race was a different story. Without having a team I leaves me to have to fight a little harder. I pulled more than I should, couldn't defend against attacks, and did win any sprints. Not to mention I seriously angered (not intentionally) a few riders/teams. Basically it came down to this: 2 laps left I am in the lead group, attacks on either side leave me deep in the pack and i had no legs left to sprint. Oh well i got to ride for most of the day and I learned a little bit about racing crits so hopefully i can improve for Soulard. Congrats to Bob on his 4th place finish in the cat3/4 race.

PS- if anyone has any tips, secrets, or things i should know about crit racing I am all ears.

yada yada

So I have been training and not posting with the hopes that I will do well in the race tomorrow. Mostly on the bike at the gym where i can watch my power, cadence, and speed all at once. my weight has be off the wall from 160lb-168lb. Either way I got out Tuesday night and practiced at my top secret track after work. The bike feels good but I decided to replace the rubber with a set of Conti Grand Prix 4000. A tad bit baller i know.

Another development is that there is a cat5 race and a cat4&5 race a few hours apart on Sunday. seeing as I want to cat up and I do not get ride time that often it only make sense in my crazy skull that i should race both so if spots are available tomorrow morning at registration I'm going for a double header. I goals: Finish without crashing, Finish top Five in the first race, and finish any place but last in the second race.

Webster Grooves

My powerful and majestic boss was able to get me next Sunday off so that i will be able to race in the 4Th annual Webster Groves Criterium. This will be the first crit race that I have ever entered so I am a bit nervous. However, I figure that if i work on sprinting and cornering this week I should be able to finish in one piece. I also figure this will be a good way for me to check out the campus seeing as this is a School i would like to be attending in the fall. This race will also help prepare me for the Tour of Soulard on July 15Th. Either was any racing is better then no racing. be definitely check out the race.
So its back to training I think Will start with the Seagal movie Hoff recommended then the G-Y-M tonight. Pe@ce

Two Words For ya

GOLD'S GYM
I worked out for the first time there with my shinny new member ship. Its nice that they opened a 24hr location right down the street from my job. It will really help with my training. I hope to get some more leg endurance and increase my power to weight ratio. If anyone has some sugestions on how to do this let me know.
The down side of this week has been that lack of time on the bike. I need to stay focused hopefully i will have better luck next week. I know Friday night ill be at the wood for sure so if you are down it will be around 4-430ish.

Fatty-Fatty 2x4

I stopped by Sports Authority last night and picked up my latest and greatest training tool. A scale that measures Weight (duh), body fat %, and body water %. This morning on her christening mount I was 165.5 with 14.2% body fat and 54% body water. pretty much was I learned from this little journey, was that I can get light and faster. I am hoping this is the case. Now if Sports Authority sold will power.Publish Post

Alpha

"Since i was a little Kid i loved to ride my bike." Such a sweet start to the usual story about another mountain bike racer. Yet it is a truth for me. A red huffy single speed like everyone else. I would Skid in out grave drive way all day long much the grief of my father. I graduated from that to gears then to a Kona Caldera with 9spd XT and a bomber. The full supension was another Kona. A Kikapu again with an XT drive train and a marzocchi fork. A job at the Touring Cyclist coupled with being dumped fueled the obsession with riding. A Fuji Team Pro with full Ultegra was the next addition to my stable followed closely by a Surly Karate Monkey Single speed 29er. Racing was logically the next step for me and I had a pretty good season in the beginner class. As the season ended two things were staring me in the face. One: I had to move up into sport class,and two: I needed to Upgrade the mountain bike. So I ordered a Kona Kula Primo (easton ultra light aluminum) frame and a Reba race fork. A 07 XTR replace the older version and i swapped the rest of my other parts over. So far this season I have achieved all of my goals for racing sport class. Since life is about progression it is only natural that i try road racing. So i purchased the cat 5 license and sprinted it out with the fastest guy in my class. That is were I sit now. I don't really see myself as someone who has been riding for ever to me it is as if the first chapter has just been finished. All of the main characters are introduced and my back story is laid out. Now it is time to make the future happen.