Tour de Gastown: NOt good folks!

Cycling is a mystery. One day you are flying, super confident, killing it, tearing the legs off everyone. The next day, your legs are being torn off, hanging on by a thread in the back of the group.

I don't know what just happened out there. I got all pumped up to race in the rain, was totally fine with the ice skating around corners. Most of the riders were going through safely. I just didn't have the legs tonight, that is my excuse. No excuse really just didn't have it. It sucked.

Poor start with an amateur missing his pedal. I was slow to get going toward the front and just couldn't go hard. Kinger moved up in front of me on the 3rd lap, I followed about 3 bikes behind him and then some idiot dumped it right in front of me. Race over! I should have gone to the pit and taken a free lap. It was so early in the race I thought I could get back on. Got back on and started to feel a bit better. Then another amateur dumped it in the corner in front of me. I went sideways, that was it. Race over.

I am actually a bit pissed off with myself. I have good form and I didn't capitalize. This would have been a good opportunity and I blew it. Tomorrow I will be in the mix for sure. I have to catch some grub with the teammates.

The good news is I won the Saeco Espresso machine in the raffle. Sweet! It isn't the top of the line one, but it is nice and I am sure I can put it to good use. Yeah!

Check out the Jittery Joe's website for the race report from White Rock, it is a long one. www.thebeanteam.com

Pouring rain now-2.5 hours to start

Only 2.5 hours to the start of Tour de Gastown. It has been pouring rain all day and there is no sign of it letting up. I am having some difficulty getting pumped up to go race a Big money crit in the rain. I know I am not the only one out there cursing this weather. I knew I would do at least one race up here in the wet nasty rain.

Just checked again, still raining...............

White Rock to Vancouver

White Rock was about the best climate and most beautiful area you could as for!
Some totem poles down by the beach in White Rock
We went from White Rock, to this only 50K from white rock Vancouver, B.C.
I took this photo on the way in. We ended up going to the top of that Space Needle thing.
On Monday we went for a bit of a rest and played nine holes, Hoppy ripping into a drive.
Look at that form. All those golf games with my Grandma, I still have it and even Pared a few holes.

True Canadian Geese in Canada!

I can't say enough about the city of White Rock. I really enjoyed my stay there and the racing. The ocean is so different for me having grown up in Potato land of Idaho and the Tetons in Wyoming. You get a bit of both here, with mountains and the ocean, nice temperatures and some good mountains.

We went from White Rock, a city of probably 20,000 people or so to Vancouver, B.C. which I am estimating about 3 million people and the cities are only 50 k (32 Miles) apart. The accommodations with a nice quite town and ocean views with no traffic has been replaced with a high rise hotel room with beds facing each other. My ocean view has been replaced with a view of air conditioners on rooftops and a 7-Eleven convenience store. Although Vancouver is a beautiful city I must say, if I had the choice I would call the Martin family back up in White Rock and continue my stay there.

Next up for the team is the Tour de Gastown tonight. A twilight style criterium in the Gastown area of Vancouver. Hoppy has done well here before and hopefully he and Evan can give it a go in the end tonight. The forecast is calling for rain which is always a huge factor in how the race will play out. I am feeling rested and ready to give it another go, although the legs feel a bit strange. We did a ride sweet ride from our hotel down to the ocean along the beach through Stanley Park. It was an amazingly scenic ride along the ocean. There is allot going on here and the mountains that tower above the city are pretty nice. Still, I don't think I could live in a place like this because of the amount of people and rain. It rained on us the entire ride. I don't mind riding in the rain, but every day would be a bit demoralizing. Props to the people that can handle it all the time. Maybe I just need to harden up a bit?

Well, I have to head over to the 7-Eleven on he corner for something to drink. I will try to post some results a bit later on the site tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. It will be a mess if it does. I also wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the support. I have received a ton of emails, comments and phone calls from friends after the White Rock races. Thanks to everyone. I wouldn't be here without all of you in my corner and helping me throughout my career as a cyclist and just life in general. Alright, enough of that, thanks everyone for the support. More later, hopefully good news.

Tour De White Rock Overall Win!: 9th in road race.

Power was out, so we had to sit down to a nice romantic team dinner. Hoppy was elated! Hoppy enjoying a stage celebration brew

Out for a ride before the crit The flat land tricksters were out. Sweet tricks, not so sweet pants!
Evan enjoys himself and a few brews ( I had none!) on the wagon.
I wouldn't eat any food smiling back at me, David ordered the burger.
Moby Dick's Fish' n Chips: The best fish and chips ever!

I cracked like an egg today under the pressure of the Symetrics Army. I felt pretty good on the climbs but when you are wearing the leaders jersey everyone attacks you. I think I even got attacked during my warm up today. Anyway, he race was a tough fast circuit. About 80+ miles with 12,000 feet of climbing. I felt good, but the attacks from Cam Evens the Canadian National Champ were unbelievable.

The team race awesome. Austin was in moves, covering moves, and riding tempo on the front toward the end to keep people from attacking me. David is a monster and was on the front as well. He even attacked me one toward the end. I don't know what he was doing, but whatever, I didn't have a radio to yell at him to sit up. On the 3 small circuits at the end I came unglued when I tried to cover an attack from one of the threats to my lead. I covered it only to be attacked by the two guys I was most worried about. That was the dagger. Then the rest of the 4 remaining riders continued to attack me and I came in 9th in the road race. I was shooting for a top 10 again and the overall win. It worked out pretty well.

I am off to grab some lunch at Moby Dick's Seafood Shop. Some of the stores in the town of White Rock have adopted riders. The owner Ralph has adopted me and is gong to hook us up with the best fish and chips. Anyway, more later and some photos.

Hanging on to the lead in Tour de WhiteRock

Threw down pretty good tonight in the criterium. The course was a good one for me with a nice good 400 meter climb at about 6%. I followed the Symetrics guys all day that were a threat to the overall. Cam Evans attacked a bunch and I just tried to follow him and Andrew Pinfold. Both strong dudes. I felt pretty good and was running on pure suffer, motivation and just excited. I attacked a bunch and eventually ended up in the lead break. Stoked! I ended up in there with 3 Symetrics guys, two Navigators (Kyle Wamsley, and Chistian Powers i think?) and one Harley Davidson guy, Ken Johnson. Anyway, I felt pretty good and with two laps to go it was just about to come back together. I hit out to early at the bottom of the climb and the guys just jumped on. Rookie move,Shit! So I ended up cracking myself before the sprint and ended up coming in 4th place. I am super happy with that and was just shooting for a top 10 to maintain the overall leaders jersey. I have a pretty good lead in the overall but have to run a top 10 tomorrow to win it. Omnium is difficult. I think I would have a pretty good lead if it were by time.

So tomorrow I will have to just watch the Symetrics Army again. There are only 8 guys, but it seems like there are a hundred in the race. Every time there is a move, there are at least two Symetrics guys in it. It is impressive and they are all very good riders. It will be tough to hang on to it again. But the course suits me with some good climbing and the legs are strong right now. I am tired sure, but so is everyone else. Except maybe Swain Tuft.

It feels good to be riding well finally. Hope tomorrow I can just keep it together and not crack. The teammates rode awesome today. David covered a thousand moves as well as Kinger. Evan cleaned up the field sprint for double omnium points. Nice work guys! One more tough day to wrap it up. Wish us luck. 8 am start tomorrow. Good night.

Stage Win and Leaders Jersey!

I look a little comfortable in this photo, don't be fooled, I was ripping into it and hurting

David giving it a dig on the climb for 9th place.

Podium! (photos: Greg Descartes-www.descartes.com)

I am off to a good start here in British Colombia. Actually a surprisingly good start. I won the stage and am in the leaders jersey tomorrow. It wasn't an easy stage to win. Obviously I felt pretty good. My typical race routine, "I don't think my legs feel good", turned into lighting it up. The course was a steep climb with 18% grades in spots and seven hundred meters. The format was a two up drag race for the first heat up the climb but it was timed. You could definitely go to hard to soon and blow up before you reached the top. I tried to take it easy for the first 100 meters and not go to hard, then hit it for the rest. The riders that post the 5 fastest times of the day up the climb have to do it again in a 5 up sprint. The firs time up my arms were numb, legs numb and loaded with lactate, and totally cross eyed out of breath. My time was good enough for the 3rd fastest time.

In the finale it ended up being Canada vs. Shriver. I went up against 4 other Canadians, 3 of them being strong Symetrics riders. Recently crowned National Champion Cam Evans and Andrew Pinfold were the two guys I was most worried about. I started out the climb and was at the front most of the way up sticking to the right side of the road. The finale wasn't as hard until the end and was much more tactical. I had to watch each guy and try to keep in good position. In the last pitch with about 300 meters to go Cam Evans took off. I jumped on his wheel and looked back, it was just the two of us. The crowd was awesome and as we went over the climb the road split into two, I went right and Cam went left. With about 100 meters to go we were both totally cracking ( I was for sure anyway!) and sprinting in the hoods. I went for the drops, weaving and gasping for air. After hitting the drops it was much easier to give a good dig for the win.

It was exciting. The Symetrics guys are tough and will be out for blood all week. It will be tough to hang on to the jersey because this is an omnium and means I have to be in the top 10 of each stage. Who knows what will happen? The legs feel good, I am positive, and happy! I think that will be enough to do well this weekend. Tomorrow is the crit. There should be some good photos soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Comments Open!

I opened the comments section for everyone. You no longer have to be a subscribed blogger to place a comment. Feel free to leave a comment, just be aware that it is still moderated. Thanks for stopping in!

The rest of the story from Seattle

And now....the rest of the story. Johny Sundt grew up in the Seattle area and took us by Kurt Cobain's house on the ride. If you don't know who Cobain is, then I don't know what to tell you. He was the lead singer of Nirvana and the creator of Alternative grunge rock music is the way I remember it. Anyway, this is the house were he and Courtney Love lived when he committed suicide in this house.

So of course we decided to stop and take a picture real quick on the way back toward the end of the ride. It was funny because Johny said, "oh the gate is open, it is never open, quick take the picture before it closes". I busted out the camera and took a couple shots, and as I did the owner I am assuming in the silver Tacoma came out the driveway. Well the owner flipped out! This is the conversation as I remember it and maybe Austin can add in any commentary if he remembers it differently.

Owner: "Did you just take my picture?"
Me: "No I just took one of the house."
Owner: "Yeah, but I am in it!"
Me: "Sorry man".
Owner: "Why are you taking pictures of us You just took a picture of me and my niece, why?"
Me: " I was taking pictures of the house, it's a nice house." Not the real reason, but it was a nice house.
At this point the guy in the truck was very unnerved and I couldn't tell if you was scared of me in my orange cycling spandex or if he was angry. His voice was kind of shaky and there was a large amount of tension. The conversation continued.
Owner: "You need to erase those photos!"
Me: "Sure sorry, no problem, I was just taking a picture of the house. Is it o.k. if I take a picture?"
Owner: Very agitated and shaken said "No, it's not really o.k."

Austin looks at me and says under his breath, "dude, don't erase it. Lets go" . I said sorry and we started to ride away. As we were riding away the owner of the house threw it in reverse and quickly went back up the driveway to the house. I don't know if he was going back to get a gun, call the police, or just forgot something. Either way, were didn't stick around to find out.

I am sure he knows that the house he is living in is a part of music history and is probably bombarded with people taking photos all time. I felt kind of bad and can understand if he doesn't want to be in the photo. But seriously, I was on a public sidewalk and obviously I am not the Paparazzi. It was a bit strange and the guy kind of freaked me out. Putting myself in his shoes, I would definitely be over people taking pictures of the house all the time, but dude, get used to it. YOU ARE LIVING IN A DEAD MUSIC LEGENDS HOUSE!

That's the rest of the story!

Another quick note. Checked out the Time trial hill climb course today. It is steep, and about 1Kilometer long. We race two at a time up the thing. I felt o.k. on the ride today. Hopefully the Shriver Surge is there today. We will see. Hope the weather holds as it is looking like rain. More tonight after the TT.

White Rock, British Columbia

Kurt Cobain's House: The guy in the truck completely lost it for taking this picture.
A westy in great shape, just like my brother's. I think I might try to get a Westy someday.
The Seattle Skyline cruising on the ride.
Jeff Hopkins eying the cupcakes.
The mates and a former Jittery rider Johny Sundt
Sundt laid an attack! The climbs in Seattle were steep like San Fransisco
A panoramic view from the place we are staying in White Rock looking over the ocean.

Kickin me while I am down

Yesterday got worse before it got better. I pulled a major amateur move at the airport. I showed up an hour early ready to go and upon check in noticed that I had left my ID in the copy machine at the bike shop. I had to make a bunch of copies of it for my Birth Certificate and left it there. After my mental breakdown at the counter from having a hell of a day that just kept getting worse and worse, I called MBS and Mike drove all the way out to the airport to give me my ID. I ran back into the airport with 10 minutes to spare. Apparently though when you forget your ID you automatically are considered part of the Axis of Evil. The TSA people pulled my bags of the plane to research them again. They rifled through all of my stuff, and I got the "Hands on" blue latex glove search. All my bags were torn open with less than 5 minutes till take off. They opened everything, my laptop (yep just a laptop) and even opened my books to make sure that nothing was hidden in the pages. What could you store between the pages of a book?

I am all about the security and don't really mind. It is for our safety right? It almost seems like it is a bit of a power trip or a control thing?? Whatever, I made it onto the plane and it was the Jet from Durango to Denver so the flight was only 35 minutes instead of 60.

The day started to turn around when the lady at the counter didn't charge me the $80 for my bike (saved some coin for the team), and then on the plane the movie was "Blades of Glory" with Will Ferrel. It was awesome even on a 4 inch screen.

We made it into Seattle late last night, everyone got in including the Quebexican De ja Vu (David). All his bags are missing still though. Johny Sundt took us on a sweet down by the water on Lake Washington Blvd. Nice ride and it is very nice here when it isn't raining which apparently is only July -September.

My birth certificate showed up from UPS. Those Wyoming cowboys are on it up there so now I won't have to wait in customs all day to get to the races. I thought I was going to have to hike through the weeds and meet the teammates on the other side. Nope, I am all good now. More later, weird experience on the ride and I need the photos to tell the story. I am not on my computer so I can't download. More from Canada...

The Canada Predicament

I am off to Canada today for BC Superweek. I am leaving Durango in a couple of hours, taking the late night flight into Seattle, meeting the rest of the teammates and driving into Canada tomorrow.

I have been to Canada before when I was 18. Back then you didn't need a passport, just your drivers license or state issued ID. Well it's different now that old G.W. considers everyone in the world part of the axis of evil. I applied along time ago for the passport and still have not recieved it becasue it is all backed up due to everyone getting passports. No biggie, just print out the nifty little proof of application, present your ID at the border and you are golden right? Nope! I recieved a letter saying that they got my application, but I tried to print out the proof of application and there is no record. Sweet! I call the passport people and explain my situation. Thier answer is that you just need to provide a birth certificate along with your ID and you can get in and out of the country. O.K., something that should have been brought to my attention much earlier. I sent my birth certificate in with my passport application as it is required. Thanks people! I wouldn't have even paid the $250 to get the damned passport if I knew I could just use my birth certificate! Now I have neither.

So hopefully I can get into Canada tomorrow. What a junk show this has been today? I called the US Embassy in Canada hoping to get some help, forget it. Finally I got an emergency brith certificate overnighted to Seattle which won't show up before I leave for Canada so I am screwed. I might just be heading to Seattle for a bit the way things are looking. Shit.

Enough wining! Did the worlds ride last night. It was like the old days, Danielson, Wells, Ned and other guns. Tried not to go to hard, but it was fun to be out there throwing it down with the guns. They were all flying. I felt o.k. myself. Anyway, more from Canada hopefully and some photos as well.

Good times in 'Merica

George W. has changed the way we say America with his Texas accent. It is no longer America, just "Merica". From now on , Merica, land of the free!An hour into the ride and my bro looks angry in this photo, only 4 hours left to go, cheer up!

A look ahead: only another hour of climbing from here and we are at the top of Kenebec pass.
A quick refill of the camelbacks at the campground becasue it was roasting out even in the high country.
It was a mob scene at the top of the pass. All these people paid $50 for a 2 hour jeep ride to the top. We rode from town for free and made it to the top only a few minutes behind them. Suckers!
A quick look out over the Needles in the San Juans. Hard to beat that view!

Roosting the single track at 11,000 feet in the wild flowers.
The flowers were going off. I don't care who you are, you have to appreciate the flowers in the mountains!
After 5 hours of riding, 2 flat tires, 150 ounces of water, 53 miles and 7,500 feet of climbing, I had to finish the Annual Kenebec Pass ride with a BBQ at my place with friends and family. I made some killer homemade chicken kabobs. A good barbie that even the Aussies couldn't rival.

Neighbor Randy digs into the great food that everyone provided. It as kind of a pot luck style BBQ. All who came threw down on some wholesome goodness, Margs and brews, tater salad, cake, ice cream, fresh berries, salad, Portabella burgers, amazing mozzerella with fresh basil and tomatoes, and did I mention the Margaritas!
Corey couldn't get enough of the whipped cream. Whip it, whip it good! How pro is that whip cream dispenser? Co2 cartridge is not included.
The copper showed up to break up the party, instead he just helped himself to the cake and ice cream, a chicken kabob, told us to keep it down, and went on his way next door to bust the 6 year olds making to much noise with the Snap and Pop poppers. Sean is just a hard ass when it comes to breaking the law, he will not hesitate to lock you up!
Mary and Corey! These two provided the necessary skills for making a mean Margarita! Ouch the next morning.
And of course, the Fireworks were going off downtown. It was a great 4th, definitely one of my better ones that I have enjoyed with friends and my bro. Until next time.

Fuego en el Dumpster!

The dumpster from my window
Durango Fire & Rescue get ready to blast the garbage fire, exciting!
No Mas Fuego!

I know that my Spanish is no good. Someone keeps lighting the dumpster on fire outside our townhome. It stinks and is dangerous with cars parked next to it. This has happened about four times now.

I am off to enjoy a brew with my brother and the best NRC amateur rider Corey Collier. More tomorrow! Matt Shriver reports again!

Sticking around!

I decided to stick around Durango and not go to Breckenridge. I get enough racing and traveling that it just doesn't make any sense to go. Plus I couldn't find anyone to ride with and after paying entry fee and gas, it would just be to much cash to go get schooled on the mtb.

Yesterday's ride was awesome. I wish I had done more mountain biking early on in the season, i can feel it really helping my climbing legs. The dirt gets you strong quickly. My descending skills are not as stellar as they used to be that is for sure. Coming off the high point I caught a stick in the front wheel and the stick exploded but I thought for sure I was goign down. Did a little damage to the front wheel which sucks, they are expensive, that's part of riding though.

I tried to play bike polo after the ride last night and I was having a hell of a time. First, I kept getting knocked over. Then I was sprinting and my handlebar snapped off right at the stem. I quickly cruised back to my place and swapped bars Nascar pit crew fast. The bike just didn't feel the same though. I crashed a bunch more and the Polo mallet I always use broke as well.

Rest day today, with some easy mtb action this morning. I am off!

Colorado Trail: High point adventure

A quick regroup on top of Gudy's Rest
Not to the top yet, Silver Peak, La Platas
Dave Hagen, gettin er done Old School
Chad Cheeny, Spooked!
Me, Rich, Chad, Robin G, Dave, Mitch
A 180 view from High Point

What a ride? More later

Breathing through a straw!

I raced the train on the way out of town along the bike path.
I beat it, thankfully, as it goes about 10 mph a top speed
A view over the Animas River Valley from the top of the cliffs.
The La Platas towering above Durango

After I scarfed down a muffin at Bread this morning I decided to hit up the hills in the Durango area and do some sprints. For my first workout back from the dead it went pretty well. I rode up the newest climb "The Cliffs" to start things off. Being back at altitude is tough and I don't think my body is used to it yet after sea level for a month. I was breathing through a straw and almost yacked at the top after giving it a solid effort on the climb. The Cliffs is an average of 13% grade for over 3 miles with 2,000 feet of climbing up to 9,000 something feet. It hurts. It is also probably going to be off limits to riders soon as the billionaires continue to by out the millionaires. There are new signs on the road saying it is Private and you can't go up there without a Realtor. I hope we can get away with sneaking by the gate for another year or two. So far so good.

It is still hot here in Durango, but not unbearable like the East with the humidity. I have actually enjoyed the training in the heat. Mountain biking is another story though, it just gets to hot out there on the trails.

Not much else going on. B.C. Superweek is not far off, hope I can do something there. I am still not sure about Firecracker 50. The altitude today was allot for me, and racing on the 4th would only give me 9 days back at altitude and Breckenridge is higher. The race goes up to 11,500 feet! Talk about breathing through a straw, maybe not even breathing at all. I am still toying with the idea of the mountain bike comeback for one race to get my ass kicked.

Tomorrow, epic mountain bike ride up the Colorado Trail again but further this time. Hopefully I won't run into any deer looking to trample me on the way up there.