No Soup for You!

My body isn't happy with me right now. I pulled the plug after completing 2 of 3 laps in today's race. All systems were beginning to shut down just like 80 miles into the race yesterday. I've had a sore throat with occasional cough since Mon. evening, but the kicker was the constant achiness and lack of energy. Time to shut it down and let the recovery begin. The King brothers are both still sitting good on GC so that will be the focus for the rest of the race. I will now turn into soigneur extradinaire and help out where I can - but I don't do massages, so don't ask.
Hey - for all of you Priority Health Faithfuls, there will be a friends and family team gear order going through if you would like to get your hands on some sweet team goodies. We have bibs, jerseys, t-shirts (3 colors), fleeces, hooded sweatshirts, ball caps, polo shirts, 3 season jackets, knit beanies, gear bags and even foldup chairs all for sale if you so desire. Prices aren't stellar but they're not too steep so send me an email or a comment if you're interested. The order is supposed to go in Sun. night so you'll have to act fast (sounds like a shady car dealership). Sorry that the online store has taken so long but this just goes to show you that constant complaining really does get results.
I forgot my camera on this trip but I'll try to borrow one so I can get some hot race action photos in the next few days.

Eddy w/ a side of Toona

Hi All,
a lot of you have asked me how Eddy is doing and I thought I'd just post the email that he sent us last week (with his permission) for you all to see for yourself:
hey boys,

dang, you guys have been rockin', way to tear it up! that sweet article, Brentmaster general - holy sweet ride, Zirbel, you've come SO far, i mean attacking the biggest names in US cycling and winning - Tommy ALMOST getting the win - i love it:) i appreciate the back and forth emails and phone chats, it's been great keeping in touch w/ several of you lately.

i thought a little overall update would be helpful... Carlee and the kiddies are doing wonderful, lots of time together as a family these past few weeks. We've had more time with friends and my family coming to town in 3 different incredments than I can remember. our business is coming along nicely, i've had more time to market, advertise and devleop a t-shirt line, which is due to come out this fall.

the pelvis healed quite quickly for normal day to day stuff, whereas getting on the bike has been a bit slower. i guess i had grand visions of returning quickly since it healed so quickly for every day walking around. i had some nasty times, a bit of depression i think, not too bad but not being active for 3-4 weeks was tough. it's not like just taking time off and then hopping back on. i don't say that as a pity party, just for those of you who may get injured in the future... i've been told it is a physiological response when athletes are so used to getting that endophin and adrenalin rush. i know that's true, but it sucked nonetheless:)

i got my longest ride in this weekend - a whopping 2 hrs. i pushed it a bit too much, and had to take sunday off b/c my back was tweaked a little.

well, thanks for the extra motivation of doing well and things coming together as a team. I don't know when I'll be back to racing with you guys, as Frank and I are taking it a day at a time. i look forward to supporting you guys when I do get back.

rest well before Toona, for those of you doing it, and have a blast!

--
Eddy Hilger
Priority Health Pro Cycling Team
VP Hilger Higher Learning

As far as Toona, things are going alright so far. We all stayed upright in the technical TT course which was good. And the showdown between Sheeds and I to be known as the team "Prologue Specialist" went to....Teddy King actually. Nice ride, dude! Yesterday was a hectic bunch finish which I wanted no part in but Teddy, Glen, Tommy, and Robbie did a good job of finding position and setting up Robbie for a good finish. Today will be the first real GC mixup with 2 big climbs in the middle of a 95 mile death march during the hottest part of the day. Wish I could say that I'm ready to unleash, but the truth is that I'm feeling pretty sick and I'm not sure how my body is going to react to the effort. Either way, our team is deep enough and strong enough that we should have at least 2 guys in the front group. Should be interesting...

Craziness

These last 2 weeks have been quite the blur. A lot of good times, memories and results but hectic and busy nonetheless. Two weekends ago we headed to Clear Lake for the BBB festival and had an awesome time. Did a lot of autographs, interviews, and other silliness but had time to enjoy time with friends and family and fellowship with other riders, too. The race ended up well but was a little stressful at times! Even though there were only 25 or so guys on the start line, every one of them wanted to take it to me and so followed my every move as long as they could. I had 2 allies in the race who helped me bring back a solo break close enough where I could bridge without too much effort and then 3 of us rotated through the last 20 miles before I attacked to come in solo about 2 miles from the finish. Thanks for your help, Lee! Even though victory was not assured until the last part, I knew that my legs were coming around and would be feeling good for Cascade. So, after the race Kira and I flew back to Boulder and then I jumped in a car Mon. morning with Scott and headed to Bend, OR for one of the most scenic and challenging stage races the country has to offer. During the first stage, my legs felt incredibly good and so it was mucho frustrating when I reverted to my old ways and filtered to the back of the pack just before the decisive left turn into the crosswinds. The peloton quickly shattered after the big teams worked together to drill it at the front and form an efficient echelon. I was caught back in the third group with about a 40-60s separating each group. I was able to bridge to the second group at about 5k to go and then tried to recover before the steep 1.2k climb to finish the stage. I finished over 2 minutes back and just like that a podium gc finish was likely out of reach. So, our focus changed to stage wins. From that point on, Glen along with Omer, Jonny, and Ian worked flawlessly to help me reach the decisive points in the stages in good position as fresh as possible. It all worked perfectly on Stage 2 as I was dropped off in the front group on the final climb and was able to attack solo with 1500m to go for the win. My missing the front group the day before helped me get a gap before the heavy hitters chased. That was just enough to hold on for the victory. It is the biggest win of my career and I was so thrilled that it was a total team effort to achieve the result. There are great photos on the Cascade website that do a good job of documenting the guys on the front of the race drilling it to whittle down the field and catch the break. The picture of me crossing the line was good except for that I did not feel like I had time to zip my jersey (so un-pro) and the way that the sun is hitting my helmet makes it look like I have my tongue hanging out. I have been catching a hard time about that one! The rest of the race went well with a good result in the TT and a bunch sprint win in the circuit race. The only disappointment being dropped on the final climb of stage 3. Mr. Nydam showed his mettle with a gutsy breakaway on the final day to snatch the KOM jersey and sneak by me in the gc. I will get you next time you sneaky rat! So, overall, a very thrilling and successful race. Plus, our host family (Robert and Terri)lived in the most beautiful home in all of Bend with stellar views of the Cascades from the deck. They were big-time cycling fans as well. Nice job with the hookup, Omer. After the race, Scott and I hopped into the Toyota once and again made the trek back to Boulder - braving the 90+ heat without ac was almost as tough as sticking with the best climbers in the country in the Cascades. So now it's Toona time where I will be reunited with the full squad (minus Brent whose in Europe and Eddy who is still getting back into things after his crash). It should be a fun, hard race. I'm excited to be lining up with my team again. Thank you for all the congratulatory calls, emails, texts, and blog comments. They all mean a lot. Sorry for the novel, but that was an eventful 2 weeks!
Taking a moment to stretch during a hectic autograph session in CL (I'm the one in the middle, not on the right)








Russ Rayburn of Lakeside Cyclery making my bike race ready for the big hometown race (after 9pm on Fri. night, by the way)









Enjoying some BBQ with the fam at the Clear Lake festival post-race.








An Oregon sunset from the deck of our host family's house

Momentum

So, when Tour de Nez was all said and done, 3 top 5 finishes including a stage win, top 10s in every race, and 3 in the top 20 overall. A good outing for Priority Health, I'd say. Letting the country know that we're just getting started (dramatics), the boys at Fitchburg got our 2nd NRC stage win of the year, held the leader's jersey for a day, again placed top 10 in every stage, and had a 5th and 6th in the overall. Great job, fellas! Next, Brent will vie for 2 U23 National Championships in the road race (with help from Frodo, Birdman, and Stewie) and the TT on Mon. and Wed. of next week. Kick some espoir tail, Brent!

Well, after having my first weekend off of racing since mid-April you would think I would be feeling as fresh as daisies, but that just hasn't been the case. Between recovering from that Tour de Nez crash, having a bout of food poisoning, traveling to a family reunion, and attempting to fix my bikes - it seems like I've been missing out on the recharge aspect of being home. Ah well, I'm starting to get my bearings (and my apetite) again just in time to fly back to the homeland of Clear Lake, IA for a hometown bike race. The promoter of the race Tim Putnam raised enough money for me to fly back for the weekend to race and help promote the sport in the area. It should turn out to be a fun trip with many activities packed into a short amount of time. The festival can be found here. A big thanks to Tim for making it possible for me to take part in the festivities. And Kira will be coming with me to meet some more family and friends - yippee! After the Sun. race, it's quick fly back to Boulder, so I can jump in a car with Scott and head to Oregon for Cascade starting on Wed. I'll be racing with Glen, along with 3 guys from Team Axley whom we met at Tour de Nez. It'll be a fun, hard race. And it's the only NRC race that I did last year - so that'll give me an upper hand, right?
For those of you who think Sheeds is a nice guy, look at this picture. This is the face of someone who will rip your legs off at every opportunity and put you into the curb at a moment's notice. (pic pirated from cyclingnews.com)


Allstar sponsor Lance of Sinclair Imports (far left) who provide us with our beautiful steeds, treating us like ProTour riders at Nez. Yeah, that's a stretch limo. Reno in the background.

This was the extent of my training last weekend at the family reunion. Pretty intense stuff. I should be prepared for the next round of racing.

Rollercoaster ride, anyone?

Ah, the joys of bike racing. I had about 8 hours today to bask in the joy of our first NRC win this year before I found myself dazed, tangled with my bike on the ground, missing over a square foot of skin. Shit. I feel like a manic depressive. I had a rear blowout mid turn. But let's focus on the positives: I got to wear a leader's jersey in an NRC race for about 25 min. or so. Anyway, I'm planning on starting tomorrow. I should be lighter considering all the skin I donated to the pavement tonight so the climbs should go well.
In other news: my girlfriend can now legally buy an alcoholic beverage. Suck it, Betts! Happy Birthday, Kiks. I wish I were there.

pop quiz: Today's crash makes how many total in 2006 for me? so far, anyway :)
Bonus points if you can name the races.

Not Infiniment Bon...but good.

Okay, okay - a little behind on the updates, but (no readily available internet access) + (no surplus energy for anything other than lifting a feeding utensil to my mouth) = (no blogging updates). Some good racing has transpired since Lancaster. Philly went well with everyone on the team making it at least 2/3 through the race (which is an accomplishment in itself) and Glen and Brent making the final selection. Glen (always the crowd pleaser), made me cheer ballistically with 2 solo attacks off the front in the final 3 circuits of the race. Pretty exciting stuff. The atmosphere was so incredible at Philly with something like 200,000 people along the course. Unfortunately, Brent continued his crashing streak when he got tangled up in the last 200m, but Glen finished in the top 20 in the most prestigious one day race in North America.
2 hours later, we hopped in the van and headed for the border. We pulled into St. Georges, Quebec on Tues. afternoon and it didn't take me long to realize that the Tour de Beauce was going to be the biggest, hardest, and most professionally run race that I've ever competed in. Everything was tip top: the venues, media coverage, officiating, competition, and most importantly the meals. We ate like King Bros. all week.
Stage 1 started off pretty rough for the team because everyone was smashed after Philly except me, and I just happened to have all the shit happen to me on that first day. In the last half of the race, I had 2 flats and then had a loose crank arm that forced me to get off my bike and have it tightened 3 different times. Faulty bolt or something. Bad luck combined with bad timing. Anyway, my GC hopes were over so the focus shifted to helping Teddy and Brent in GC and getting stage results, if possible.
Stage 2 was the hardest of the race for me because Glen and I got in a break of 18 riders early on and tried to hold out as long as possible. Glen was still feeling crummy and so he did all the work for me so that I could sit on as much as possible and hopefully take it to the line. It wasn't to be though, as I got popped on the last KOM with like 20 miles to go in the race. There were 7 of us at that time, and the remaining 6 dudes finished with a 2 min. gap on the field. Bummer.
During the TT, I was allowed to give it my all and I managed a fair result which I was content with. However, I realized that those first 3 GC riders are in a different league right now and I have a ways to go to be at that level.
Stage 3, 5, and 6 were basically the same for me: try to keep Brent out of trouble and into the climbs in as good position as possible so he can keep that red jersey (which signifies the best under age 23 rider) on his back. I don't know if I actually did much good for Brent, but I know it helped me to ride in good position for the race and work as a unit with my teammates. It was a great experience for me in that regard. And it was inspiring to see Brent gut out some good performances in those first 3 days while having terrible legs. It took a lot of toughness and grit. Teddy and Brian rode very well, too. Those dudes are both getting stronger every week so it should be fun to see how Fitchburg and beyond goes. The team support was absolutely phenomenal at Beauce. We had a sougnier for the first time all season in Jo, which was fantastic. Plus, she made us feel important because all the other teams were constantly asking about her, taking pictures with her, or giving her flowers :) In addition, Mark, Ben, and Kate were there to take care of us as well. It takes a lot of motivated and organized people to keep a team running smoothly at a race as big as Beauce and they pulled it off without a hitch.
All in all, we had a shaky start but finished well with several top 10 stage placings and we came home with a jersey in the 3rd biggest stage race in North America. It's hard to be disappointed with that.
Right now I'm in Reno, NV getting ready to partake in the Tour de Nez omnium starting Thursday. I'm excited and am expecting my legs to be fully recovered from the 20+ hours of racing last week. Jake, Robbie, Tommy, and Glen will be joining me for the racing fun. And now, muchas picturas:
Brian coming up Lemon Hill in Philly - notice the crowd and this wasn't anywhere near the finish
This was the finishing straight at Philly when the final 32 riders were coming through (containing Glen and Brent)
There were a lot of beautifully ornate churches in Quebec and nice weather too - this was at the start of stage 2 (with Easton wheels showing for crafty product placement)
Glen improving team morale with chamois cream before stage 2
le Brent Bookwalta - Priority Health...ADVANTAGE BENEFITS!!! (must be said in deep voiced, loud, French accent)
this was Ben's ultimo pack job fitting 2 bikes in one bike box - keep in mind that these are my Sasquatch frames, not one of my wee teammate's.
This week's "poor me" picture: 22 hours of traveling yesterday with over 9 hours of it with exactly this much space. Next time you wish you were taller, instead wonder what it feels like to have your knees disappear into the back of the dude's chair in front of you on a plane. Message to the kids: don't drink your milk, drink coffee instead. Who wants to be 6'5" anyway?

Rough Week

Wow. I'm sorry that I complained about how poorly Captech went for us because now I realize how bad things can get. At least at Captech we all stayed upright and left with our bodies still intact. At the CSC Invite, we weren't so fortunate. Worst for the team was the loss of Eddy from the racing scene for a few weeks at the least. Eddy went down hard midway through the race and broke his pelvis. His spirits were good that night (considering how much pain he was in) and knowing Eddy, he will do everything in his power to be back on his bike riding in less than the 6 weeks that the doctor predicted. Our other ER visitor that day was Richie who suffered a gash on his chin from a crash with 6 laps or so to go in the race. Richie ended up with 14 stitches but was otherwise feeling okay and decided to sit out Lancaster for a couple more days to heal and recoup. Crash #3 came courtesy of Brent Meister General who was killing it in a 3 man break when something caused him to slide out on a corner. Brent hit his knee hard and got some scrapes on his face and wasn't able to continue either. A rough day indeed for the Priority Health squad. Robbie continued his dazzling form with an 11th place finish and Teddy gutted out a 23rd place after covering a ton of moves early in the race.
So, by default, I was on the Lancaster roster and raced a good 2-3 minutes before I got caught up in a crash and landed hard on my toosh. Bummer for me, as the pace was so high that I wasn't able to catch back on and my race was over after 2 laps of time trialing in vain. Robbie, Brent, Teddy, and Tommy all finished with Robbie in the lead group and Brent 1 min. back after suffering a slight mechanical on the last lap. Another super hard race from the start to the end where finishing is an accomplishment in itself. Reading is on Thursday and probably won't be any easier so it's time to put these races behind us and suck it up. No excuses, we can race better than this.
Enough of this - it's picture time!
Cool one of Brent on a corner while in the break at CSC

Teddy working hard in the early going at CSC
Robbie getting a feed from Ben during Lancaster
Team ride in Amish Country
Intercourse, PA (no joke) where we're staying this week. These Amish carrying buggies zip by every 5 minutes or so. Kinda cool.
The team is sporting new Ergomo powermeters (lower right), but they just don't compare to Glen's ultralight super power meter that includes everything that we have plus Seinfeld episodes, a mobile phone and more! (upper left)



Here is an article in the Richmond newspaper after CapTech - needs no explanation.

Mulligan, please

Is that the word I want? Isn't that the term in golf for when you slice your tee shot into the drink and you want a "do over"? You just pretend that the shot never happened and try it again. Well, that's what Captech is for us. I think we're allowed 1 or 2 mulligans per year - and this was one of them. Everyone save Robbie had a crummy race and we're not really sure why. I was disgusted with how fast I was popped off the group, but I'm not going to dwell on it. Robbie did an awesome job sticking with the group in what many say is the toughest crit of the year. Even though he started cramping bad with 4 laps to go or so, he hung tough and finished the race.
Moving on:
CSC today and Lancaster tomorrow. I've been told these are hella-fast races and should be fun to watch. The guys are looking for some redemption and are ready to suffer. I will be racing Reading on Wed. but will not be racing Philly next Sun. Instead, I will be racing a 9mi TT on Sat. and resting up for Beauce. I can't wait to get out there - you're only as good as your last race, right? :)

Home.

Our 6 week road trip has come to an end. Tri Peaks was good for the team with 3 top 20 GC finishes, a 2nd and 2 5ths in stage placings, and a constant presence at the front of the race. You should be able to find race reports written by the riders on the team website real soon. and we will do a better job of keeping those updated as best we can. Highlights (and lowlights) of my race:
1) attacking in the crit and getting a 30m gap (yay!), crashing myself out of the race 3 corners later (aawww)
2) Attacking in Sat.'s RR and getting a 1:20 gap on the field (yippee!), being led the wrong direction in the race by the lead vehicle and losing at least half of my advantage (shucks)
3) Attacking with 2.5k to go in Sat.'s race and having a 40m gap and 1500m to go between me and ultimate glory (oooohhh!), being caught by a schmuck and pipped at the line for 2nd place (looooser)
As for Sun.'s race, the highlight for me was definitely our leadout train heading toward the base of the final climb. Having all 6 of us in a line smoking it with Toyota, Health Net and all the other 100+ riders taking a back seat to the Priority Health Express was exhilerating for me. Nice work boys - good practice for the big 'uns coming up. A very special thanks to Don, Margy, Don, Doreen, Liz, and Z-Man for coming to cheer on the team in our Arkansas campaign. It meant soooo much to me to have you guys there! I hope it was worth your while.
Now it's home for 9 days to rest and recupe. Yeah right! 12hrs and 380ks in the last 2 days - beat that Tommy!! It does feel great to be home and back to homeostasis. The weather has been fantastic here in Boulder and I've done my best to take advantage.
Here I was trying to take a picture of the swollen Boulder Creek, but some hottie got in the way.


Scotty and I enjoying the view and the weather at 9000+ ft during our 6 hour day "at the office"

Here is Frank and I after our first ever motorpacing experience. This is actually what I look like when I'm faking a smile while trying to avoid passing out from exhaustion/dehydration.

I'm posting this for legal purposes: this was my attempt to catch a vicious canine in the act of trying to bite my leg off as I was riding back to our Fayetteville place (this happened roughly 4-5 times per ride by various dogs). "Fido" had just given up on me to avoid being smushed by the oncoming car. The reason he looks so small is that he's actually 1/4 mile away from me at this point.
So, upcoming races for the team:
June 1 - Captech (VA)
June 3 - CSC Invite (NJ?)
June 4 - Lancaster (PA)
June 8 - Reading (PA)
June 11 - Philly (PA)
June 13-18 - Tour de Beauce (somewhere in Canada, eh)
theme: big, big, big
I won't be racing the CSC Invite or Lancaster due to roster restrictions in the race, but I will still be the ultimate cheerleader (think skirt and pompoms). Here's to tailwinds and no bad luck!

insomnia

ugh. can't sleep. will attempt to post amusing material to pass the time. I'm not so good at impressions but I'll give it a shot: Here is my impression of Scott Nydam attempting to race Tri-Peaks this upcoming weekend -

You may or may not recognize this bloke, but he is a brilliant photographer from the Miami area. If you have a chance to check out his work, I highly recommend it:

I know stereotypes are wrong, but this home sure looks Arkansawn, doesn't it? This one is about 1/2 mile from where we're staying right now.

I pirated this from Phil Zajicek's site, but I just can't help it this was too funny not to pass on. Here is the english version of Jan Ullrich's blog. Die hard cycling fans might not get quite the amusement out of it that we did.

Okay, possibly getting tired now. It's worth a shot anyway.

Mas o Menos

We had an up and down weekend here at the Joe Martin Stage Race. First off, Rich is riding on amazing form right now (any correlation with the arrival of his girlfriend??? You make the call.) He finished 3rd in Sat. road race, 8th in Sat. afternoon's TT, and 3rd in Sun. crit for a 5th place overall in the tour.

iamTedKing rode exceptionally well also with a killer 4th place in Fri. road race and spending 80 miles or so out in a break during Sat.'s RR only to be caught with 4k to go. It was a heartbreaker as they would have surely stayed away if there would have been full cooperation and organization in the break. Robbie and Eddy also rode well late in the races in attempts of delivering Richie to the sprint in good position. And of course Brian was Brian - doing everything in his power to help us along: covering moves, leading the chase, getting bottles, etc. All the things that never show up in the results or the race reports but are essential to a good team result. As for me, I was somewhere in between a useless lump of shit and a valuable team rider. The only times I was present at the front the entire tour was in a break of 8 guys late in Fri's RR and for about half of a lap during the crit. The road race break looked like it might stick at first but there were too many people not pulling through for us to take it to the line. That in combination with me cramping up caused me to sit up and wait for the field. This conservative, no-presence-at-the-front style of racing would have been acceptable (not good, but at least tolerable) if I would have done a decent TT on Sat. afternoon. But alas, I was crap in the TT going 5s faster than Glen Mitchell who was so sick that he didn't start the crit the next day. In my defense, my brakes were rubbing the entire TT and my pedal broke halfway through so that I was pedaling one-legged the second half...oh, and I think I had a slow leak in the front but I can't be sure. So, there seems to be some bug that is running rampant through our team. As mentioned, Glen "I am a Racing Machine" Mitchell was out of commision the whole week, TommyTommy has been puking or more recently had loose bowel movements (which he loves to describe to us in detail) to the extent that he's not getting any nurishment from eating. The Kings have both had illnesses that seem to come and go quickly but then reoccur without warning. I have been dealing with what I think is allergies for 2 weeks now - slight cough and occasional runny nose that hasn't gotten better or worse with time. Bottom line: annoying but we're feeling that we're getting it out of the way now so we won't have to deal with any of this come Philly Week and Beauce. how's that for a positive spin? Okay, so overall, I'd have to say I had a good time racing this weekend due in part to my dad, uncle Don and Margie showing up to cheer us on. It was really nice to see them, especially during this rather long hiatus from home. I was pretty down after the TT, but the fact is that I felt absolutely satisfied with my effort and the most important thing right now is that I got some good racing in and some good experience to boot. Oh, and to end on another positive - Brent Meister General, Scott Stewart (U23 team) and the Lees-McRae Cycling Team won Collegiate Nationals again this past weekend. Brent won the road race, team time trial, and won the bunch sprint in the crit (letting his teammate win the race from the breakaway). I believe that makes 126 National titles for Brent - or somewhere in that ballpark. I'm sure all the competing coaches and underclassmen had a huge party to celebrate his departure from collegiate racing. Alright, thanks for reading. 7 days and counting till I'm reunited with Kira, Boulder, and Masa...

Oh, and this is the team guilt trip of the day: this is Benno hard at work on our bikes since 10 a.m. or so today (Monday) while the racers have been lounging about aimlessly drinking coffee and "internetting" (a verb I learned from my sister) ALL FRIGGIN DAY! Thanks Ben.

Yous ain't from around these parts, are ya'll?

Continuing on with our Southern Tour, we are stationed in Fayetteville, AK right now. I made it through the rest of the crit series with the rubber side down. We had another good result with Tommy's top 10 at Sunny King but we're looking for some Ws! Joe Martin starts Fri. with Tri Peaks the following weekend. It's been nice not having to travel these last two days - the days sure seem longer when you're not spending hours in the car. We've got some sick dudes on the team right now, but hopefully we'll be 100% by Fri. The weather here in Arkansow' has been warm and muggy so far. We are in a beautiful area though and the scenery is nice for riding. I can see why my Uncle Don has chosen a place like this to habitate. I had some excitement last night with Rich when attempting to pick up his woman from the airport. First off, we had to deal with torrential rains and lightning on the way to the airport only to arrive and find that the airport was closed for the night. Huh? Whoops. Wrong airport. So by the time we arrived at the correct airport, Kate had been safely landed and waiting for a good hour (this is after roughly 14 hrs of traveling all the way from Germany). She took it surprisingly well and if there was any screaming or physical abuse it was not in my presence.
Alright, I'll try and get some pics of the area in the next post, but here are some from the past week or so:
This one makes me laugh. This is Rich on the trainer on an 80 degree sunny day in the beautiful hills of northern Georgia. Is this what it takes to be a national champ??? At least he's outside, right?





This is some of the team with our host family Dave and Brenda who we stayed with after the Spartanburg crit. Dave likes to do ultra marathons and other crazy person events - so we fit right in.






Here is proof that Sheeds is fast on bikes AND in cars. Doh!







Oh yeah, we conquered it. I believe this was at 2700 ft. above sea level (or exactly 1/2 of what I sleep at in Boulder)







This is the highlight of Sunday's ride for Brian and me. Here we are passing the "sag wagon" of the Cheaha Challenge which means that we will get to the last aide station before they pack everything up. Translation: free pb&j, chips, and brownies for Sheeds and I!

#2 in the books

Okay, so I've got crash #2 on the year over and done with so I should be good for awhile now. On the 1 week anniversary of my last crash, I went down again in the Greensboro crit last night. Nothing too nasty, just a sore shoulder and a funky looking puncture wound on my elbow. I went through another set of handlebars, though. I'm kind of tired of this crashing business. On the positive, the King brothers continue to step up their game and get good results for the team. And Richie keeps riding like a star, we just need to help the man out a little in the last few laps. I may or may not saddle up tonight, we'll see how I feel.
In other news, my man Scott Nydam is ripping up the field at Tour of the Gila. If you're not following the daily action - be sure to check it out at www.tourofthegila.com
Alright, no pics today - I'm a slacker. However, there may be some shots of my mortal wounds showing up on other blogs...
Today's mantra: I love crits. I love crits. I love crits. I love crits.

yes!....crap!...phew!

Ahhh! Back to society again. We've just been roughing it deep in the Shenandoah mtns for the past week. We stayed in classic summer camp cabins with bunk beds and the whole works. We did have such amenities as running water and electricity but were without essential cell phone reception and internet access. Thus, communication was difficult and updating blogs wasn't happenin. So, I'll try to overload you with pictures and stories to make up for the void. First off, we went 1st and 3rd in the prologue to get things rolling. It was a very high pressure situation 'cause Mark (our director) made it clear that he wanted the first position in the caravan that only comes with 1st place on G.C. So we had to dig a little deeper to appease the "slave-driver". Later that night, we successfully defended our G.C. and U23 jerseys (Brent)without much trouble but got shut out in the stage placings which is pretty much unacceptable considering the talent level of our team. I definitely didn't spend enough time up front during the race which always a weak point of mine. The highlight of the crit for me was going for the mid-race time bonus while trying to knock out the peak 1 min. power "Power Preme" that was worth 500 bones. Both ended up working out but was small consilation for bungling the finish as a team. In Stage 3, Eddy, Jake, and Graham all got themselves in a break and were able to gobble up the KOM points while Brent, Sheeds, Scott, and I were trying to make to make it over the climbs with the lead chase group. As the breaks started flying in the break, Eddy was able to hang on and deliver with a much needed stage win after our crit performance. The time gap from the break ended up being enough for Eddy to pull on the leader's jersey. 2 days, 2 leaders, same team - not bad so far! Stage 4 contained a huge cat. 1 climb in the middle followed by a cat. 2 climb near the finish. We now had 3 protected riders: Eddy, Brent, and I which made it extremely difficult on the remaining team members: Scott, Graham, Sheedy, and Jake. During the race, we were all near the front of the group heading into the cat. 1 climb when I flatted. Jake was nearby to give me his wheel so that I didn't lose toooo much time but I think I need some work in quick wheel changes. I set a hard tempo up the climb and tried to slowly pull back the leaders while passing dudes all along the way. I was probably within 30 seconds or so of the leaders by the top so I decided to take some risks on the decent in order to make up some time. So, because I'm tired of telling this story: I crashed on a decent and got a mild-concussion. The conversation I had with our mechanic Ben right after was kind of comical. My end went something like: "What race is this? What state are we in? Who's in the leader's jersey? Eddy? Really?!?" So, my race was over as Ben hauled me off to the hospital. I came out pretty good actually with a mild concussion and a little road rash on my face. My back and neck are pretty sore but nothing too damaging. 2 lessons came out of this event: avoid racing with triathletes at all costs and don't put someone behind the wheel of a car in the caravan without any experience or instruction. Okay, so at that point Brent and Eddy were on their own and after all the attacks were said and done, Eddy found himself in the lead group again with the same opponent. This time, the Fiorda Fruita dude got the best of Eddy and he ended up 2nd on the day but retained his lead by 15s. After this stage, Brent was 4 min. or so back on G.C. so we were basically down to one option. For Stage 5, we decided we would try to get Brent in a break to get about 3 min. so we could have 2 options coming into the TT on Sat. Well, he got into a break, but because of a communication breakdown, the break was able to get 4 mins. on Eddy's group and as a result we relinquished the G.C. lead to another team! Not the way you want to go into a time trial. So, it was clear what we had to do now: put a massive amount of time into the lead G.C. guys in the time trial. Easy enough, eh? Well, it ended up being (looking anyway) that easy as Brent scorched the course to put 70+ seconds into 2nd place. After the TT, the tension on the team was released like a giant exhale and all was well. We even cut loose a little Sat. night even though we still had to defend in the crit. After a glass of wine, 140lb Jake became a singing and dancing wildman that had people rolling all night. The crit was exciting to watch as Graham did some superhuman efforts and Scott continued to amaze. The little blonde freak was a super-domestique in his P/1/2 debut! That's another thing: This was such a great team effort from everyone involved. It took great riding from all 7 guys in the race and UNBELIEVABLE support from Mark and Ben to pull this victory off. I wish everyone could witness how hard Mark and Ben worked for the team this past week. It was astonishing and invaluable. Speaking of freaks and support, Brian Sheedy is the man. On very little training, that dude was able to dig deep everyday and somehow find the reserves to help out the team to the utmost. It was inspiring. So, I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to help the team seal the deal those last 3 days but I'm just glad we pulled it out. Winning is fun. My legs are feeling really good right now and if I can take care of a few crash-related issues and figure out what's been bothering my knee, I should be keen to do well in the USA Crits coming later this week. You can follow us at www.usacrits.com , I believe. Brian and I will be reunited with the crit boys who have managed 2 top tens and several top 20s at Athens and Roswell. Nice work, fellas!
Check out the pics below.
Scar Face



This pic doesn't really do it justice, but this is the e.r. parking lot with scrapes and dried blood on my face - mullet still intact.

Eddy getting aero on a spider - during post TT celebration time.

Brent's podium pic with other jersey holders - doesn't he look fast?!?
Jake living up to his namesake after consuming the amount of wine produced from 2 grapes.
Graham spending time in his favorite place: the break. This was during the 2nd critJake in a break later in that same crit. Shortly after this photo, Jake unleashed what was deemed "The most vicious attack of the race"

Good, Clean Fun

While Tommy was out for a ride - Jackson, fresh off a bath, decided to have a go on Tommy's new laptop. Fortunately, the paparazzi was there to catch all the action.

Brian, Eddy, Ben the mechanic, and I are leaving for the Tour of Shenandoah today. We will meet up with the college boys: Brent and Jake, as well as Mark (our director), and Graham and Scott (2 fellas from the U23 program). It sounds like everyone is ready to do some damage. The other guys on the team: Richie, Robbie, Tommy, and Teddy are staying in Georgia for the Athens and Roswell crits next weekend. Glen will be flying out to join them Thurs. Those are a couple of the hardest crits all year long - the boys will have their work cut out for them. But, on the other hand, they'll be sporting the new Easton Tempest II carbons so they should tear some legs off. I'm just sorry they have to wait 4 days longer to race than us (hehehehe). Later on.
I'll try to update ya from Virginia.

just add salt...

..to the wound, that is. Hanging out here in Georgia training rather than racing. The training has been great but is little solace for not getting into the Tour. The TdG time trial went by about 3 blocks from Eddy's house yesterday. Some of us went down to watch and cheer our buddies. It definitely burned a little. In a previous email, I said some negative things about TargetTraining that I regret. They are a quality team and I wish that both of us could have raced Georgia. Anyway, I tried to get a pic of Landis as he went by but he was so fast that I only got his follow car (it has nothing to do with my picture taking skills). The pic is a typical road that we've been training on the past few days: rolling, surrounded by trees, no traffic, immaculate roads.



Sooooo, the answer to the pop quiz posted earlier:
I made it 7 more miles on that tire before the tube finally blew. I was getting ready to hoof it home when I had a MacGyver-type idea. I used the foil wrapper from some poptarts that I had eaten to use as a barrier between my patched tube and the ground. It was enough to get me back the remaining 3 miles home. I was feeling pretty smart - well as smart as someone can feel having left for a ride with a tire that badly worn...

For those in the midwest, I'm sorry but the schedule on the team site is wrong at the moment. We are planning on doing the Tour de Beauce in Canada that same weekend as Nature Valley. I will lobby for a midwest race, though. Now a little advice: try not to shove 8 pro cyclists into a house for days at a time when they haven't raced for weeks! Restless to say the least. There are a lot of blank stares and "lost puppy" looks going on around here. I think it's going to be like releasing a tiger from its cage when we finally do race, though.

Drat!

Well, we made it down to Georgia in one piece. Tuesday, we had a beautiful ride on some of the most georgeous roads that I've ever ridden. It was 85 degrees and no wind. Perfect! Today, however, is a different story. We are in the midst of a southern thunderstorm. The pic was taken at 11:00A and it really is that dark out. We are still optimistic that it will clear up enough to get out for a good, long ride. We were riding up till 8:30P last night so we still have some time. I've been occupying myself by watching how far Jackson (Eddy's 3 yr old) can leap off of the couch. It's quite incredible, he's like an airplane. Okay, more later.

Mullet Mania!

As you can see, the weather in Michigan has been surprisingly wonderful for mid April. For some reason, I don't feel like I need sunscreen when I'm not a mile high. I guess I can put that theory to rest now. The hairstyle is for my WXC boys - I'm bringin it back bee-yatch! FTR, this haircut has been Kira-approved and certified "hot".


For today's pop quiz: Based on the photo above, taken on Sun. afternoon, did the moron riding this wheel flat before making it home? And if so, how far from home was the moron and did I have to walk back to Bob's? Facts: at the time of this photo, I was 10 miles from Bob's, I had already let out air to about 60psi, being in rural Michigan - I had "0" cell phone reception, and the bulges you see are actually a Slime strip and not the tube. Answers submitted to the comments section will be graded. The "key" will be posted in the next couple of days. Good luck.

Heading to Georgia tomorrow. The 4 biggest guys on the team will be shoved into the team Vibe for 12 hrs of fun. Look out Eddy, here we come!

Yep. One of those guys.

Okay, okay. So I started a blog. It's really not as bad as it sounds (I'm talking to you, Scott). I'm just trying to make things easier on friends and family who would like to check up on things at their leisure rather than have me sending them novels over email. And this way I can post pics easier without filling up mailboxes, etc. Now that I've justified this and feel better about myself - the truth is that when I'm traveling I often feel disconnected with everyone and this is a good way for me to hold up my end of the communication struggle. That, and I typically have some time on my hands when on the road. Hey! Even if I train 7 hrs/day - eat for 2 hrs/day and sleep for 9 hrs/day - that still leaves about 2 hrs/day of free time after you factor in stretching, massage, applying chamois cream, etc. So, check in when you feel like it. I'll try to be diligent about updating and I'll make an extra effort to at least entertain myself with the material posted. Comments and feedback would be appreciated as well. Here we go!