Training again...Finally!

Cruise control!
The pain face in the sprint, Riping into it!

I have finally gotten back to training normally. Last week I was so cracked still from Tour de Georgia but I also ran ran into finals week. I didn't get to do many rides, even short recovery rides. Studying and working in front to the computer all day, then going out for a ride, just wasn't happening. I am starting to come around again though and am feeling pretty strong.

On Friday I was out spinning a valley loop, ran in to Danielson. He asked if I wanted to ride the passes on Saturday. After graduation we met up at Bread. The plan was to go to Molass Pass and back in the passes and hit it about a medium pace. I hung with Tom all of about 4 minutes on Shalona. Shalona is the first climb. Pretty much blew my doors off right from the start. I felt better though as the ride went on and it was a perfect day in the passes. I haven't been up to 11,000 feet in a little while. It was a good ride and I am looking foreword to getting up there soon.

Today was the last Durango Wheel Club criterium out at the new hospital. I decided to give it a go and the field was small, really small. Former teammate Anthony Colby showed up. With some big $$$$ on the line, the guns always come out of the woodwork. Anyway, I attacked on the 2nd lap. We rode together the whole race. Then we gave it a go in the sprint. The face says it all! It was close, even had to do the wheel throw. I scored the victory and got a good workout in when I wasn't motivated. Thanks to the DWC folks and Mercy Medical Center for putting on a great race series.

No school tomorrow. Some good chamois time tomorrow for sure. The weather has been perfect.

Live update from FLC Graduation.

Wells and I getting ready to graduate. Nice day in the mountains, headed into the passes after this. After school, what is next besides paying ack student loans? Hopefully good things to come..

Georgia is over!

Stolen photo from the DWC website. Thanks Mr. Wallace.

I am in full on recovery and school mode. Trying to get the last bits of finals done today and tomorrow. It is almost over. Hit up taco night and drank a few Tecate's. I am back on the bike tomorrow. No Gila because it is totally full and closed. Working on getting the mountain bike on the way. Love the white kits huh?

Nashville's Bread

On the way back to Durango. Stopped in at Nashville's version of Bread the bakery. It wasn't bad and had similar breads. Not the same though of course. Tour de Georgia went good. I was a little dissapointed with the form, but it will surely come now after those efforts. It was so hard. Totally different racing and much safer. Super fast and long stages. I was happy to just finish and do some good work for the team. I am back to school tomorrow, missed a final today on accident, oops! Rest now and maybe go do the Gila. We will see.

Put a fork in me!

Quick mobile update this morning. This photo doesn't do it justice. That is our team bus, which is bigger than Discoveries, our van and trailer, and two mini coopers. Brass Town was crazy. I was in the box all day. It was so fast from start to finish. We were on the front all day chasing. I didn't last long, but it was important to keep the break close. I am super impressed with my teammates. They are all so strong and professional. All of them poured their hearts into it. Good work. More later after 117 miles in stage 6.

New Kits

Brass town today. Huge stage. I feel much better today and hopefully have the legs on the climbs. More later....

Brass Town Bald awaits me!

Well I have made it this far and it has been a very tough race.. Tomorrow is the Brass Town Bald stage. I had no idea that the mountains in Georgia would be this tough. They are much different than the Colorado style mountains. Long and steep climbs here. They aren't endless, but steep.

I have to keep this short because I need to go to bed. Tomorrow is very important. I am still trying to recover from a time trial that even though I tried to save it a little, was still freaking insanely hard. The climb in the time trial was super steep. For those of you that are from Durango know the cliffs climb. Well the climb in the time trial was steeper or as steep for about 1/3 rd of a mile. Tons of people cheering.

Thanks to everyone for all of the support. By the way, be on the lookout for some new team duds tomorrow during the race. The entire team will be rocking a new kit. It is pretty sweet. Wish me luck on Brass Town, I hope I survive.

"Poor Matt Shriver still in no man's land!"

Those words pretty much sum up my day. I was sitting a little to far back. Saw the move go. Then we set up to try to get into it. My teammates and I attacked until one of us got away. First it was Austin who went. Got a gap and came back. Right after that Big Evan launched it, got brought back. Then Neil Shirley went, got brought back. So it was my turn I went and no one came with me. A huge tailwind 53x11, 56kph, almost spinning out. I thought I might catch, got very close, within about 10 seconds and then the gap started to open back up. In this situation a grizzled veteran would sit up and go back to the group. What did I do, kept my head down like the still developing roadie that I am and tried to close it. I help the gap for a long time. No radio contact so I couldn't hear all of my teammates and director yelling into the radio for me to sit up. I knew that I should have sat up, but the tailwind made me feel like superman. I felt good, no advice except from the Mavic guys on the motor bike who must have wanted to see me burn "You are right there, only one minute down and holding" they kept saying. I chased for way to long. Burned a few matches and didn't have anything to show for it at the end. Finally the team car showed up and Jesse"Was like, what are you doing?" The first time it officially crossed my mind that I was being an idiot. I sat up, group caught me. Missed the crash in the finishing circuits, went right out the back on the climb, lost some time. Shit! Rookie maneuvers. Lesson I learned today: "When the break is gone, you aren't going to catch by yourself, sit up!".

Congratulations to Tommy Nankervis, my teammate, who is wearing the best young riders jersey. Nice work! Cesar looked good as well and was right up there in the end. I wish I could have got in the move, I might have been able to do something, I was feeling strong today. There are still 6 days left. Better get some rest. 136 miles tomorrow. Oooh Snap!

Georgia throw down tomorrow!

Bunch of Clowns!
Cody "The Roadie" Stevenson
Athens, Ga. Five points location....mmmm!

Stage one tomorrow. SEND IT! Some stacked teams here. Lots of Tour de France Stage winners, Danielson, Leipheimer, Hincapie, and other guns. Gilberto Simoni Giro winner. The only person that knows about the Shriver Surge is Danielson. Just wait people, Brass Town Bald will have the surge. Somewhere during this Tour, it is bound to show up.

It is going to be a hard race tomorrow. Flat and possibly windy. From what I hear it will be a totally different style of racing with all the Euros here. Look for one of us to be in the break. I hope I can do something. I am very exicted to be here.

Ceasar's Palace

Neil and Willo are both a little overly excited about Tommy's Postcard
Some of the guys have their bios on the Coffee sleeves at the Jittery Joe's Stores
Coffee heaven!

I am staying at Ceasar's (Say-zar), not Ceaser like the salad. He hates that. Anyway, it has been comfortable and Athens is a nice happening town. I am definitely looking foreword to hanging out here a bit this summer. Pretty much getting back in the groove of just riding and resting. I am enjoying the calm before the storm. Still hasn't hit me yet that I will be racing as hard as I can for over 700 miles next week. You think I am cracked now people, you just wait.

Georgia is definitely different. There are dogs all over the roads. We got chased a few time today on our ride and I guess there are usually more dogs. The spray them with the water bottle trick doesn't really work either. They just show more teeth! I saw about three Confederate Flags on the ride. It is interesting to be in the South. You can see where the stereo types come from. There is a fried chicken restaurant on every corner, frat houses, and lots of equestrian centers out of town. That is big around here I guess. It is a totally different culture, but I am digging it here for sure.

I saw Alex Hagman in the parking lot at the grocery store near the Jittery Joe's location were the publicity session was. I knew Shaggy was in Athens, just funny to run into he and his brother. Good blokes, as the Aussies would say.

I have some more pictures from today's ride. We stopped to take a pisso break on the side of the road and within seconds Tommy was getting carried away and eaten by Fire Ants. I have some pictures of him with his shoes off in the middle of the road trying to get rid of the ants. It was great! I only got a few bites, but the little buggers will get you good if you're not paying attention.

Off to Peach tree tomorrow. I am listening to some of Ceasar's music right now. He has some incredible stories about Colombia. It doesn't sound safe. Guns, knifes, broken beer bottles to peoples necks, corrupt police, drug cartels, crazy stuff. Here we are oblivious to it all.

Ceasar to race Georgia!

I am just about to head down to Athens, Georgia in a few minutes for my first visit to the team headquarters. Finally I will be able to see where the amazing coffee is roasted and meet the people behind the scenes roasting beans. I stayed in Nashville, Tennessee last night at the Director sportif's house, Jesse and Jenny. Nashie is actually a very cool town. Lots of music here and Jack Daniels whiskey of course. There is a young crowd having Vanderbuilt University, I think. Very trendy people, lots of fashion going on, even more than I have seen in New York City. Nashville is very green, and from above it looked like one giant golf course.

I was worked yesterday after the travel and just a releif to be out of Durango with school behind me for a little while. I still have to finish a couple finals the day I get back, but for the most part I am finished. My health feels good, and the fitness is there. I think I will get better as the Tour de Georgia goes on.

Ceasar is scheduled to start the race. He seperated his shoulder and broke his scaphoid in his wrist about 4 weeks ago in Redlands. I am surprised to hear that he will be racing. What a tough guy. That means we will be working our butts off to help Ceasar stay out of trouble and keep him near the front for Brasstown Bald. A stage that he has continuosly crushed it on, including Lance Armstrong. That says allot right there.

Anyway, I forgot to mention that I went to the B+ ride two nights ago to just keep it chill. As we were leaving I looked up and saw one of the riders get hit by a car. I heard screeching tires and saw the guy roll off the hood. He was o.k., bike wasn't though and it looked bad. It was hard to get motivated to ride after that and dodge cars up Hesperus Hill going 65 mph. The risks we take to ride.

On way to Georgia!

Mobile update from Salt Lake. i have been off the back with updates. Finished school for the most part yesterday. It has been epic getting two weeks worth of homework assignments done so I can race in Tour de Georia. My health is almost back to normal. Antibiotics are working well and i should be golden in a couple more days. The legs feel good. More later....

Back on the horse

The weather has cleared up a bit and it was gorgeous today. No moisture and sunshine, temps back in the 50's. Not to bad. Still had to bundle it up a bit, but it is much better than waking up to snow like yesterday. I went for a solid 3 hours today with three long tempo intervals in there. My illness is subsiding and I felt o.k. today at the begining and fine toward the end and I am a bit sore now. I guess not doing anything intense will do that to the old legs.

I saw Blades of Glory last night, the new Will Ferrel movie. It is genius of course. I wanted to laugh more but the coughing from the laughing hurt to much. I am definitely going to have to get that one on DVD.

School is winding down and I knocked out two huge projects this last week. I have a few more and it is all over. I am counting the days, 32 by the way. Anyway, not much to talk about. Go see Blades of Glory if you are looking for that kind of humor.

Durango Crit Series

The local Durango Crit series starts this weekend on Saturday out at Mercy Medcal Center. It should be a great course. Brand new pavement in the parking lot. The new hospital is a perfect venue. If you lay it down you can crawl into the E.R. I think they do give free emergency service up to $100 as primes. I will take it. You never know when you are going to need a couple of stitches.

I have been laying low for the last 5 days. I caught the Redlands funk and have been sick as a dog. Actually, I am doing better than ususal with this illness. I feel like I should be able to get back to hard training by Saturday and Sunday. I was planning on taking some good rest after Redlands anyway, but this has added a couple more days of intense resting.

There were horror stories going around about all the people that got sick after Redlands last year from the pollution. I guess it gets so bad it just builds up some funk in your respiratory system that turns into a chronic illness. I started to feel sick the last stage when I woke up with a sore throat. I thought it was just allergies. The net day after having a couple beers the night after getting my ass kicked in the race, full on ill.

I got the new training bike last week. It's as awesome as the race bike. I even go my wireless powertap back from warranty. Had some issues and now it works perfectly. It is a good tool to have and nice to know that at threshold I am putting out 420 Watts. I wish!

Good luck to all the Durango-tangs headed down to Nova for the first Norba National of the year. If I had aMTB bike and wasn't sick, then I would probably have done it. My prediction, Todd is going to win the XC. Troy will crack his first top 10 and Sager is going to show up and race under an alias named "Juan Antonio Perez de la Vargas". Those Spanish names are always long and flowing. Inconspicuous, good luck Juan.

Last Stage of Redlands: Sunset loop

Well this week of racing has flown by. Today is the last stage or the Redlands Classic. The infamous sunset loop. It is a very hard circuit. Extremely fast with lots of tight corners at high speeds and climbs that are twisty and drawn out. I have heard that it is tough to finish this one with the lead group.

Our team plan changed dramatically after Stage 1: Oak Glen. We were aggressive early on that day hoping to have Cesar get to the top of the mountain first. Unfortunately, he was taken out in a bad crash breaking the scaphoid bone in his wrist and separating his shoulder. Our plan changed quickly as we were on the road during that race.

I was pretty tired as were the rest of us from attacking early on trying to get into moves that could produce a good result. Nothing went and by the time we hit the bigger climbs, I had burned a few matches. The icing on the cake was when I pulled a rookie move and tried to shift my bike into the small ring at the bottom of the 5 mile climb for the second KOM. Dropped the chain, and had to get off the bike and put it on. That was all she wrote! Evan Elkin my teammate dropped back to help me get on and we did get onto the back of the group, but guys sat up and the main field rolled away. I lost 18:00 minutes that day. DONE!

Yesterday was the crit. I actually felt really good in the criterium. I threw a few attacks myself and covered some moves. Tommy Nankervis got away in the break and ended up 4th in the sprint. Not a bad result.

Tomorrow it is back to the real world again of school. I am very burned out on the whole school thing and can't wait to be done. I enjoy school very much, but don't enjoy trying to juggle a full on racing and training schedule around it. Well we will see how the race goes today. Wish us luck, we will be going for the stage win today of course.

Correction. Scott Moninger from BMC

Correction. Scott Moninger from BMC won. He won this race win I was 5, back in 1985. I think he had a mullet then and some stonewashed jeans.

Oak Glen is over. I

Oak Glen is over. I heard Chris Baldwin fron Toyota United won. I had no legs, lots of early attacking. Ceasr crashed out. More later.

I put myself in the hurt box!

Today's time trial was very hard. I haven't put myself in the hurt locker like that in awhile. I felt pretty good. A little low on power, but overall, the legs were turning over. It was so short that I didn't even have time to think about not blowing up. By the time I was thinking about it, it was happening in the last 150 meters. It felt good to suffer and I actually hit a heart rate of 199! That is allot of bike squawk I know, but I haven't seen that in sometime. After crossing the line I could barely see straight. Some guy had gone so hard he hit the wall, literaly. He blacked out at the top and crashed into the barricade. He was done! I ended up a respectabel 33rd out of 190 today. Not to shabby! I gave'er all I had, there is more for tomorrow though.

My teammate Cesar (The Mexican) Grejales is sitting in 3rd. I think he has a good shot at pulling of the Win tomorrow. That means it will be Jittery Joe's on the front all day in the crit. OUCH! Whatever, I am happy to sit out there out of the crashes. Things are going good, the racing looks to be tough tomorrow for the infamous Oak Glen stage. They have shortened the race this year, but added much more climbing and there is a bad crosswind section.

Anyway, I have to hit the sheets, more from the race tomorrow. I love bike racing and it is good to be back on the road with the team....

Redlands time trial today!

My First go at Redlands

I am off to Redlands tomorrow to give it a go. I have not raced there before and have hopes of doing descent and helping the team out for a good G.C. position. I am looking foreword to the time trial. I know it is a short one and super hard with a good climb at the end. I hope that suits me, but I am actually looking foreword to suffering and putting everything I have out there. Overall, the race looks really difficult. Oak Glen is on Friday and I have heard some seriously brutal stories of that stage. Sunday's stage sounds epic as well. I feel ready though, the legs have come around a bit more since Fresno, so hopefully I can give it a good shot.

This past weekend was pretty good for training. I hit it really hard on Sunday. I went out with the group at 10 o" clock from bread and tried to do tempo and hit the climbs hard. I did allot of sitting on the front and drilling the climbs. We finished up the 3 hours going up the cliffs. That is hard after doing allot of tempo and some hard sustained efforts. After the ride, Hagman motor paced me for an hour on the scooter in the valley. I was worked! After all the resting the power was a bit low, but after the Cliffs climb motor pacing seemed easy. Well, not that easy. Alex kept putting the hurt on me.

Well, I will update from Redlands. I don't know where I am staying, hopefully we have Internet. If not, I will post some mobile updates from the phone. Until tomorrow....