MEXICO

At first i thought that racing mexico was going to be scary and crazy, but in fact it was quite enjoyable. i went down to mexicali this weekend for a 3 day stage race, and i don't think that we could have seen more hospitality from the mexican people than we saw.  The people down there where awesome, from the organizers to the rival teams everyone down there was more than nice to four americans who don't speak spanish.  I would like to thank everyone associated with the vuelta mexicali 2008.

     The weekend however was plagued with bad luck for me, the first stage I had three flats and the chase  back on was into a charging head wind, not something that i would recommend for fun. then in the final 5k i created a break of 6 riders and we where fighting for 12th place or so, wining that sprint for 12th was actually very satisfying because of my other mishaps. 

     Stage 2, a long climb looms on the race profile, 12 miles and 4400 feet of climbing, the climb went well for me considering i am not a climber by any sort of the word. crossing the top 4-5 min behind the first rider over, i tried to pull back as much time as possible on the downhill.  after the downhill i tried to keep it as steady as possible but started to fade in the ruthless beating of the headwind. joining a small group of about 4 riders we took turns and crossed the line about 16th place, surprisingly still a very satisfying finish.

     Stage 3, the crit that was supposed to be shorter, we where reassured at the start line that the crit was going to be 60k well the race organization mis-measured the course and it ended up at 100k.  however i was not even able to finish and sprint against Justin Willams "rock racing" because my chain broke,  hopefully this string of bad luck has  been cleared of my system for next season, and i can get back to racing my bike!

San Diego

As i have told all my relatives and close friends i recently moved down to san diego, let me tell you traffic sucks! aside from the traffic i am really enjoying it down here, there is alot of cycling energy which motivates you tremendously to get out on your bike. The day that you opt to take a rest day, you ride to starbucks and see 6 people on bikes, then you are like shit they are out training what am i doing. then you have to go get on your bike, this makes for a good riding atmosphere. it really puses you to succeed and as most of my friends and family know that is what i moved down here to do.

living in the city is a whole diffrent experience for me, the fact that everything is so accessible and close to hand is a feeling that i have not yet adapted too, the ice rink, starbucks, apple store,trader joe's, whole foods, and any other shopping endeavor are less than a mile away. this is quite the feeling when everything you need is so close. i belive that tis is the reason americans are so fat, also because they use their cars as wheel chairs but thats another story.

cheers

CHAMOIS CARE

The amount of work or asses do on the saddle is heroic and to punish them by not using chamois creme is ridiculous, this is the best product that i have found, lets put it this way any time i do a long ride without it i don't do myself any favors. thhe contact points to a cyclist are the most important to your success on the bike, you have to enjoy riding your bike to be able to progress. this is a product that helps to make sure you wont regret doing a few extra miles!
try it!!

Cheers

CYCLOCROSS

Cyclocross is much harder than it seems, i raced professional mountain bikes and now pro 1/2 road but cyclocross is a whole different animal. i did my first cyclocross race last weekend, expecting at least to be able to stay with the leaders for most of the race.  This was not the case however, i was only able to stay with them for 4 laps, and on the 5th lap i really realized that none of these sports are the same.  The complete skill set, bike handling, strength, and finesse that cross requires is very impressive.  to the casual spectator or rider these skills that elite cross racers posses are not evident, but after you race along side these talented athletes it becomes apparent that these racers are a much different breed than any other subdivision of cycling.  so this is me giving major props to cross, and i can't wait to race again,

Cheers