Colby Elliot Photo

Racing

2011-08-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog, I have some big news however. I have recently decided to stop racing bicycles, there are many things that I attribute to this decision. Last year at this time it was very much the same story, I was a bit on the fence wondering if it is all worth it.

Even tho cycle racing is going to no longer be a big part of my life I'm going to continue to ride my bike a lot and rather enjoy myself. I will still be enduring severe pain In order to stay in shape and would like to do a lot more mountain biking, and endurance efforts. The new doors that have been opened in my life will allow me to do cool things that where a bit limited while racing in fear of getting hurt, like backpacking and skiing. The blog will not be going anywhere I will keep those interested in my travels as I expect those not to go away as well. Colbyelliot.com will be turned back into a photography website at the end of the week and you can also expect to see a lot more photos posted on this blog as well.

This has opened many doors for me and I am very excited at what the future holds, I would like to thank all my supporters and fans who have followed me for the past 4 years. Everyone has really been supportive of my cycling career, and maybe in the future I will find it again. Until then

"Goodnight and good luck" - Edward R. Murrow

Redlands Cycling Classic

2011-04-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

The week before the Redlands Bicycle Classic at the San Dimas Stage Race, I had a bit of an accident, the result was 30 stitches in my left arm and a cracked collarbone on the right. It was Probably an unwise decision to start RBC, but after all I was finally in the race that had eluded me for the past two years, couldn't simply not try. After the prologue it was evident that my collarbone and stitches where in no shape to be racing, with 120 miles on the plate for the next stage by morning I had made the decision not to continue. After my withdrawal from the race I stuck around to help out with the rest of the stages, and whatever else the boys needed.

Stage 2 was a long hard day in the saddle for the riders, and stress filled day in the car for manager Pat Jak and I. the heat got to most the riders the most I think, but it didn't get to my friend John Bennett who took out the stage with a magnificent victory!

Out of the original 8: Orion Berryman, Colby Elliot, Lars Finanger, Dirk Friel, Alexi Grewal, Alex Jarman, Julian Martinez, Anton Villatoro. 5 now remained for the crit, lots of good photos came from the crit, and the guys did really well in a technical fast race, however we then unfortunately lost Alexi and Julian. A great victory to another one of my good friends Roman Van Uden, well done mate!

The final stage in Redlands was sunset loop, a technical and challenging course, would hash out its punishment for the majority of the riders in the field. Amazing work however by Orion Berryman, Lars Finanger, and Dirk Friel, also good work on the behalf of Hans Finanger for the massage work and double bottle feeding. Overall a fun weekend, thanks guys!

Now that my string of bad luck has been going on for a while now, I have decided to take a 2 month break from racing get some fitness and come back strong for Mt. Hood Cycling Classic in June. This will be my next target race and should be bit refreshed from my collarbone mishaps, see you all there!

Callville Bay Classic 2011

2011-02-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

This weekend a few swamis attended the Callville bay classic in Lake Mead, NV. The weather report showed rain on sat and sunday so yet another epic race was in store for us, we just had no idea how epic.

The first stage was a short RR coming in at just under 50 miles, team Exergy sent a guy in the breakaway and kept the race under control there where without a doubt hard moments. I tried to get in or make a few moves early on, but this was all chased down. near the end of the race the wind or the weak before had worn on my legs a little to much and I finished right behind the pack.

The next stage was the TT, slightly uphill for 4 or so miles the TT was actually not much of a deciding factor in the race. I felt fairly good for the TT in the

morning, but my result turned out average. It was pretty interesting that the tailwind was so strong it took nearly twice as long to come down the gentile incline than to go up it. The rain had not come yet but it was due that night, and was to continue through the next day.

The next stage was another RR, this one was a decent length just over 80 miles. I woke up the morning of however starting to feel the onset of a cold, sniffles and a little tickle in the throat was not a good sign when the day consisted of riding in the rain and cold for 80 miles. The whole race our worst suspicions where confirmed it rained 80% of the time, and was not ecatly the warmest race in the world. that night it snowed in las vegas, at this point I'm fairly certain that the snow is following me around, look just because I miss winter in Chester doesn't mean I want to race in it every weekend.

The next day was the Crit, kind of an interesting course the crit was held through the parking lots of the Callville bay marina and was by far one of the highest speed crits I have done. throughout the race I put in attacks to try and escape the clutches of the speeding group, but the all proved futile, as the group stayed together in the end.

A pretty successful week of racing although struggling with a little sickness and cold weather where not pleasant. I was happy with the weekend and now must recover and get ready to do it all again in 2 days.

A massive thanks to the Shackleys for putting up with our crap over the weekend! you guys are awesome!

3 Days 3 Breaks 2 sore legs

2011-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

The past three days my teammate Matt Shackley and I did a mini stage race of our own from individual races in the southern central part of California. From valley of the sun stage race a week ago until redlands bicycle classic at the end of march we will be competing in a stage race every weekend, for some we will have as little a 2 days rest between them. This weekend however went a little something like this:

UCLA Road Race: The UCLA rr course was not exactly suited for me, with about 8-9,000 feet of climbing per lap and me not exactly being a climber it made all the sense in the world to go do it. the first lap was relatively easy Matt and I where sitting around the front waiting for the decisive move, on the first lap teammate Lars Finanger decided that he was going to make the move. After the climb lars was a wee bit tired, being a big boy as well climbing not a strong suit he hung out keeping pace on the climbs to finnish the race. on the second lap there was a break away with a lot of good contenders in it, this was the move that I decided to get in! there where 6 of us for a little while but for me the climb proved to be a little too much, I went back to the

peleton, but the race was not yet over. I started to unhitch at the top of the climb, a long way into the pain cave from the breakaway I thought I might not catch back on, but about half a lap later I was back. When I got back to the group the impetuous had disappeared from the group, however I was not going to let that happen. I started to work at the front and the rest got the idea that this race was not over. Matt, Chris Burnham and I did a lot of work at the front to bring that group closer while Pascal Bonaventure and Orion Berryman sat in. On lap 3 it started snowing, second race in my career that has been in a snow storm, and they where both in Southern California go figure. This lap we did alot of work to bring the field back to contention again, right at the top of the climb I began to unhitch again however this chase back to the group was a bit easier. When I got back to the group I had decided at this point or maybe a few laps ago that I was not going to climb myself back into this race, and was now working. After doing a good amount of work up the climb on the 4th lap, this time the hill proved to be too much, I did what I could now it was up to the others, wreaked from doing a bunch of work and getting in the early break and a little cold I pulled out of the race. the group that was left was very small on the 5th and final lap and the finishing order ended up being,

Orion 6^th, Pascal 9^th, Chris 10^th, Matt 12^th and Lars 13^th

Pine Flat Road Race: After UCLA Matt and I continued on to go the next few races in the Fresno area, next on the agenda was pine flat. The race started out real relaxed and slow, well we can't have that now can we? this is a bike race, rolling down the downhill in the beginning a group of 7 of us rolled off the front. When we saw that we had a gap we started to push the pace a bit more and grow our advantage, after 25 miles our advantage was near the 2 min mark and we decided to do a bit of weeding out. After a few attacks up one of the climbs we brought the group down to the 5 strongest guys and decided to roll with that. After the decent and a bit of flat the race official told us that the group was only 1:20 back so we had to push yet a little harder. At about mile 50 right before the climb, the attacks started to come out of the breakaway group, I was able to follow some, but when we got to the base of the climb that was it for me. I rolled in at about 15th position and matt rolled in slightly after me, It was yet another good day in the break.

Dinuba Crit: This being the first crit back from my broken collarbone I was a bit apprehensive about taking the starting line, however once I did the racing gears kicked in and there was no problem. Yet again in the first portion of the race I found myself in another break away, after a little bit however the accumulation of the weekend had proven too much to stay with the two others, and I slipped back to a group of 3. I was able to stay with them halfway through the race and then my legs could not handle the accelerations that where put forth by these guys. I was on my own doing work for a few laps then I decided that I need that little bit of a break from the wind so I waited for the group to catch me so I could find a few people to work with. When I got back to the group Matt was on the front covering moves and willing to do work, so I told him to attack. He put in a good few accelerations and when that didn't work, we needed an alternative. We both went to the front and put the hammer down to get a smaller group off the front, when we had 3 guys to do turns it was gold, unfortunately Matt slipped back to the group after a few laps. The rest of the race I was in a group of 3 working pul for pull trying to limit our losses, with the first 4 spots up the road we where going for 5th. Blake Anton put in the attack for 5th, doing a bunch of work to chase him back I ended up 7th, after all a very solid week of racing.

The true heros of the week where however our hosts in Fresno, Byron and Cindy Beagles. they cooked us a lot of food and gave us a place to sleep, and so much more! couldn't have done it without you guys. Thanks a Million!

Valley Of the Sun

2011-02-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

Valley is usually one of those races early on in the year that is good for me, however this year it did not go so well for me. Recovering from my broken collarbone this was my first race on the year and I had the goal not to crash in it, I did not meet this goal. I had a ok TT, but returning from my injury it took me a while to get back into the whole suffer mindset. The secondstage was the road race this unfortunately was the day that I crashed, making sure I fell on the right side so I didn't break the collarbone again, I came out with a few scratches, but my bike was a little less fortunate. A bent derailleur hanger made it quite hard to chase back to the group, also the fact they where going quite hard in head and cross winds didn't help.

The weekend however was not a

total loss, kudos Lars Finanger who won the cat 2 field with a strong TT performance and awareness to make the break in the road race. Well done mate!

Moving on there is lots of racing on the plate, this weekend we will be attending the UCLA road race in Pearblossom CA, then heading up to do two races on sunday and monday in Fresno CA. For the next 6 weekends in a row me and teammate Matt Shackley will be attending stage races, which will be quite the adventure. Lots of racing to come so please keep checking back for updates and race reports.

Long Training, and fun in the sun in San Diego

2011-02-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

San Diego has been quite fun over the last few weeks, lots of sun and good training. the past few weeks i have been fortunate enough to get some of the hours necessary in preparation for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Phoenix Arizona, this upcoming weekend. I have been looking forward to this race for many of reasons, this will be my first race back after my collarbone, which is reason enough. I have lots of good memories at this race for the past few years and can't wait to go back and make some more!

This last weekend Swami's cycling team participated in the Boulevard RR and Red Trolley Crit, races that I also have memories at, however many of them not so fond. This year the weather seemed to cooperate a bit and it was quite pleasant at both of these races. The Swami's racing team did reasonably well at both the races this weekend, although lacking in the results a little bit. I feel as tho these first races of the year are critical of getting the sea legs under us and also giving a good gauge of the fitness compared to the competition, the results will come after the fitness and comfort is regained. It was a pleasure helping the boys out this weekend, and hope to be joining you guys on the bike soon. Good Job!

Swami's Training Camp 2011

2011-01-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I was unable to participate fully inthis years swami's team camp due to my broken collarbone, however I was able to to take pictures for the team. The nice sunny days of the team camp was an excellent change of weather, coming from the single digits in Chester CA. I was eventually able to join in part of the last day after a long endeavour assembling my Cannondale machine in a hurry before the ride.

Since that ride I have been on the bike multiple times trying to regain the lungs I had before the injury, but the road back is going to be a bit longer than a few weeks, it looks like I will be racing myself into shape in the beginning of this season. Valley of the Sun Stage Race in arizona will be my debut race of the 2011 season, see you there!

Home & Healing

2011-01-13T09:45:00.000-08:00

Healing at home has been a good experience, I have found that I still have a great desire to take pictures and still have a great desire for cycling. This time of the healing process is however most critical and I must stop myself from doing things that I think that I can do, but really can't. I feel that the collarbone is at 60-75% and gaining much strength everyday, everyday I have a greater range of motion and can function with my arm just that much more. Since the two week barrier I have been able to ride the trainer seriously with both hands, this will prevent my legs from completely disappearing.

The next few weeks of my life are about to

get very busy again with cycling and all that goes with it. On monday I will hopefully be heading down to chico to sort out some stuff and visit friends, then by the 20th I will be headed down to San Diego to attend a training camp the weekend of the 22-23rd. This trip down south starts the beginning of the seasons travel, which should be non-stop until May and then non-stop again from June on, looking forward to the travel of the season makes me a bit antsy to start riding and traveling, but it shall come soon enough.

See everyone out there soon!

Collarbone

2011-01-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

unfortunately the last few posts have been about accidents and injuries, this might be good however because im getting these out of the way before the season kicks off. last tues i regret to inform everyone I broke my collarbone, for what is now the 4th time. One week later and im starting to feel a bit better, hopefully within the next few weeks all be able to be back on the bike. This hindrance comes at the best time of the year with the cycling season getting started around early feb, it is not the best to keep to the training schedule, however I will not miss any races.

I would love to write more however writing with one hand is proving to be difficult, but i would like to say thanks for all the wishes and will see you on the road soon!

CARS!!!

2010-12-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Really tired of cars!

Living in San Diego over the past few weeks has really shown me the reason that I hate the city, and how truly great places like Chester and Chico really are!

Yesterday I got hit by a car again, luckily (knock on wood) the two times I have been hit now have been relatively minor. It is still however no fun to get hit by cars, moments of inattention that people have when they are driving. As you may recall I posted about this on twitter a few days ago, and yet again I strongly feel that we need a much stronger system for driving in this country, much like the one in Finland! People must realise that when they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, they have in their control a deadly weapon. Pedestrians and cyclist are not incased in a metal box that will protect

them, and when they are involved in a collision with a metal box usually the outcome is less than desired.

Obviously since it is my job to ride my bike living around cars is not ideal, and a place with less of a populous is more ideal. However there are many people who do live within large concentrations of people and cars, this is a cry out to drivers anywhere!

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOU GET INTO A CAR! PLEASE!

Swamis / Michelob Ultra Cycling Team

2010-11-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post simply due to the lack of news, until now. My new team for the year will be the Swamis Michelob Ultra Cycling Team, out of San Diego California, we will be doing an array of larger races near home and scattered about the USA. I am very excited to be a part of this developmental program, as we have some fast racers and I believe that we can come out with some big results on the year. The Swamis development cycling team has been going on for a few years now, but this year it is about to take off in a big way, no year has the development team had this sort of schedule or this sort of talent all bundled up into one. For this reason I feel that not only will the team help to bring riders to the next level I also feel that the riders are going to help bring the team to the next level. With the amazing pool of talent that is in the San Diego area it is a surprise to me that this sort of team has not already sprouted up. This just tells me that we are on the ground level of something happening that has the potential to flourish into something much larger, and I'm excited to be a part of it!

Winter Training

2010-10-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a good while since I have posted on the blog, sorry about that. After Cascade Cycling Classic, my season had pretty much ended, without any large races for the rest of the season, my intention was to race throughout Aug- Sept, however after a few races in Aug I quickly realised that the compounded exertion of the season thus far had caught up to me.

For the past month I have been managing the bike shop, and doing pre season prep in the gym getting ready for the much anticipated start of training on Monday the 11th. I am really excited about the upcoming year, with the additions that I have made to my pre season training this year, and the abundance of knowledge that I have coming to me from 3 or more coaching sources I feel really confident about the season, and my abilities to help the team a lot.

This year I will be living and training in Chico, CA. I have been sorting out a shed behind my friends house to live in that is coming along quite nicely, a few more necessities and will be the perfect getaway for the long winter season that is upon us. anyone who would like to come and train or visit is more than welcome!

Cascade Cycling Classic

2010-07-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I have put up a post about my travels, most recently we traveled up to the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, OR. The trip was a blast, this would be the the last major trip with the team for the season, and it already started off interesting. As the team arrived to pick me up in Red Bluff, CA they thought they had room for me! Cool, good start. Well turns out that they did have room for me, and we made it up to Bend after all.

In bend we stayed with a very gracious host in Sun River, it was a bit interesting on getting rides to the start of races as we hijacked Bosco's van sorry bro, thanks for letting us use it all weekend man. Cascade is a very hard race as most of us had figured out quite rapidly, the quote of the trip came from our best placed rider Dave Santos "why do people do this?" good question my man.

My tour started off rather bumpy, with a crash in the prologue I was then at the bottom of the GC, and a rather hilly stage the next day put me even further down. I however did my work for the team and was not so bad in the end. I am looking forward to the Cascade Cycling Classic for next year, and would like to thank all those involved in this years edition.

ToAD

2010-07-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post, mostly due to lack of motivation to post something on the blog. the last race that I participated in was the ToAD (Tour of Americas Dairyland), this was a great race. Situated in eastern Wisconsin, the race had a bit of variety for everyone, leaned mostly to the crit side of things but that is ok. Unfortunately upon arrival I had encountered some difficulties with Fed Ex and not all of my equipment was delivered in the box that it was supposed to be in, after some fighting with Fed Ex and not getting much of anywhere it was time to just get on with it.

The racing in the midwest was faster than expected, after a few races I finally started to get the hang of things a little bit, with a 24th as my best finnish it was not a great toad for results but the experience of racing there and the people that I met along the way made the trip worth while.

Some of those people, That I would like to thank again include the Verizon u25 cycling team, and our gracious hosts Peter & Margie. Thank you all for the good times and your generosity it was much appreciated.

Mt Hood Cycling Classic

2010-06-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

This past week, James Williamson and I competed in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, a 6 day stage race in northern Oregon. The prologue was a wet 2 laps around the Portland international speed way, no hills and smooth surface made for a good opener to the race, except maybe for the standing water on the track, and maybe the fact that they ran the majority of the riders in the pitch black.

Stage 1 was a so-called crit! more like an extremely short circuit race, every lap had about a 1.5 km climb, also the road was covered in green moss that was really slick. After a bit of rain earlier in the day, the first few laps where quite dangerous, but still a fun race and a great course in the right conditions.

Stage 2 the first road stage, I think it

was a little harder than some people expected and was really really fast! I had decided to make it even harder on myself by attacking and going into the break for the first bit of the race, good idea! after I had my go I got popped from the group and had to do the majority of the second lap on my own. ended up finishing over 20min down on GC which was not to my worry because I was not really going to have a chance in a climbers race like this one.

Stage 3 The TT stage was fun and scenic, but as far as the race went not the best for me, also didn't have a TT bike.

Stage 4 Mt Hood RR anticipated to be the toughest day of the tour, so my goal today was to survive as long as possible, I successfully did this feat until just before the bottom of the last climb on the day. The climb was the last 20k of the stage, boy that was fun I tried to climb my pace and finish with a respectable ride, which I was successful and was able to move on to the next and final stage.

Stage 5 it had been raining all day outside of our host house in hood river which only could add up to a rainy crit. The course had

some scary parts to it but was good over all and with the exception of the Portland International Speedway, followed the trend of the rest of the tour, climbing lots of climbing. All in all it was soon over and I had finished this hard tour, happy with my performance.

We have already booked our tickets for the Tour of the Dairyland in Wisconsin, we will be leaving the Reno International Airport on tuesday and the next few weeks will be doing some good rest and prep for the 10 days of racing ahead. Fun times ahead!

HOME!!!!

2010-05-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Tour of the Gila went well, although I suffered a knee injury from using another bike for the TT. The first few stages went ok tho, I enjoyed the racing and enjoyed my time there, although I could not finish. The best part about Gila was the fact that we where the main spectacle of the town, to me it seemed like the people wanted us there, as compared to cyclist just being in the way. Silver City is a very cool town, maybe sometime I can spend some time there and venture around to see everything the area has to offer.

After Tour of the Gila, it is good to return home. Being in Norcal again has just cleared my mind I don't have to deal with traffic and people, and it is some good time to relax and get in some good training. This past Sun I did the Crit at the Tour of California before the stage finnish in Sacramento, this was a great experience and a good tune up race before the journey up to Portland OR for the Mt. Hood cycling classic. Unfortunately I was brought down with 3 laps to go in the race, so another pack finish was chalked up, but that is bike racing.

I'm looking forward to spending some more time at home before I have to head off on more travel, which doesn't look like it will slow down in the near future. Next stop Portland, OR for the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, hope to see some there and will let other know of my progress.

Ciao

La Vuelta de Bisbee

2010-04-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

La Vuelta de Bisbee, is a classic race in a classic old mining town in the southeast corner of AZ. This race was said to be a very good race, and it did not disappoint, we headed out to the Vuelta de Bisbee as the start to a 2-3 week trip including Vuelta de Bisbee and the Tour of the Gila.

We left Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon before Bisbee, after doing the whole drive in one shot we slept well that night. The next afternoon we went for a training ride on the TT course and prolouge course, both of

the courses where either uphill or had decent size hills in them. The prolouge was very hard only 2 miles but all out uphill effort defiantly burner. Stage 1 was a 90 mile RR, in which a break was let away from the field early, to begin we had two people in the break but they both came back to the field, so I spent all day with team Exergy and Bike Religion trying to pin back the riders whom had gone up the road, we where however unsuccessful. Stage 2 was a Time Trial, 7 miles out and back which I soft pedaled most of in effort to conserve energy for tomorrows stage. The last Stage I unfortunatley got dropped, but such is life, it was a fun race and a good time.

Now forward to the Tour of the Gila!

SoCal

2010-04-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

I am not a big fan of the SoCal area, the city and amount of people condensed into a small are is not exactly my cup of tea, but as I have stayed down in so cal for the past 2-3 months I would like to say thanks for the hospitality that I received. Be it from teammates or good friends and family, I was housed and taken care of grandly and this most beneficial in my conquest in cycling.

Thank You All!

Picking Up

2010-04-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is the point in the season when things start to pick up quite considerably, the training becomes harder and lots more races packed into small amounts of time. I have been down in southern California for the first part of this year, the racing down here has been good, the riding not so enjoyable. I am quite ready to get back to sane amounts of traffic on the roads, I will be finishing out this week in southern California then next tuesday the team will be traveling for a 2-3 week trip to Arizona and New Mexico, where we will be doing the Vuelta a Bisbee, and Tour of the Gila. These two races are big races on the calendar and events that I have been looking forward too for a while now.

I have had some ups and downs in the past few weeks, and sometimes motivation is hard to come by, but as the classics season has gone on it has given me much motivation towards cycling and now realizing that the tour of the Gila is just the start of things here for me. My main focuses for the year are to come much later, this is when I intend to get the better results so as I have had a slow start to the season this trip is a bit of a turning point and things are about to get crazy and exciting.

There is only one thing that I can do, that is ride my bike! everything else will fall into place.

San Diego

2010-03-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

San Diego holds fond memories for me, I recently went to spend some time in San Diego with my friends the Klinesteker's. Bryce is a professional baseball player, working his way up to the BIGS, and all around fun guy to hang out with. Shawna is a doctor and Cathy (mom) is a teacher. this is my second family. In san diego I was planing to get lots of training in, in preparation for San Dimas and redlands, now Redlands has been removed from our schedule, so the prep. was all for San Dimas and the rest of the season. There is lots of good training in and around San Diego, to the east there are many hills and remote roads. If its a relaxing type of day up the coast to carlsbad is always a good ride, little busy at times but good overall ride. In San Diego proper there is fiesta island and the velodrome to ride on. Last but not least north east county of San Diego there is the famous Mt. Palomar, a good long climb and a day that held many adventures. I had a great time staying and training in San Diego, Torrey Pines is a really cool place to hang out, spent a little time there but not as much as I would have liked, oh well a reason to go back. I have always like the energy in San Diego, as far as active people, there are always people who want to get outside and do something. Except on rainy days, I figured something out when I was riding in the rain one day, there are only two types of people that are generally out in the rain. Professional Athletes (who have to go out, rain or sine), and women. Women where always out and about when I was riding my bike in the rain it was pretty cool to see a lot of athletic women who where not deterred from a little rain. Good job girls!

VOS 2010

2010-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

Valley of the Sun is a stage race in phoenix AZ, It usually beckons riders with good weather and a laid back atmosphere, but not with payout, although the winnings are quite low its still a fun race to be a part of. This year VOS was a great time, 80 degree weather and good racing always makes for a good time. My TT was decent, not going to put me near the top of the leader board but yet a respectable 25th. After the TT we rushed back to the hotel room to make sure that we Didn't miss any of the opening ceremonies for the olympics, after watching the malfunctioning ice formations we retired to get good rest for tomorrows adventure. The RR was great, we departed at 12 and this gave it plenty of time to get as hot as possible, when we left the start line the temp had gotten up to 75, being from Norcal this was great weather to ride in. The RR didn't quite go as planned i thought we had one less lap than we actually did so I buried myself to make up a little time on the group, I finished 1 lap to go off the front of the pack thinking it was the last lap and thinking i made up some quality time on the group when in fact there was yet another lap so I was hanging on to the pack for as long as I could, and finished the day 10 min behind the group, oh well that won't happen again. Finally the crit and time for a little redemption, the race went well, and I tried a few attacks without sucess so then I saved myself for the final sprint. 5 laps to go I was at the front in good position right behind BMC, then final lap still in good position, then second to last corner BMC attacks, and i hesitated, shit another mistake I won't make again. I ended up 13th but BMC won and if i went with him who knows what would have happened, oh well next time!

Results at: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/valley-of-the-sun-stage-race-ne

Boulevard Road Race / Red Trolley Crit 2010

2010-02-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

New Team Bike Religion!

It has been a little while since my last post on here, But since then I have been quite busy getting things together for the upcoming race season. I Traveled down to Socal in the beginning of February for the mothballs crit, and to pick my bike up from the team, also the weather forecast was looking pretty grim for next few weeks in Chico. I took the train down to SLO to meet up with some friends and drive down to santa barbara the next day, I would miss out on the Road Race in Santa Barbara because I would receive my bike on this day and I wanted to dial it in a bit before I raced on it. That night I got to hang out with a few of my new teammates, and we went bowling which was a great time. The next day wast the Mothballs crit in IV, so that day we hung out in IV for a while and then went and watched some racing before getting suited up to race. The race was fun, I got a pretty solid first race 22nd, after we had some pretty solid burritos at a special place in IV and hit the road home. Over the next two weeks I stayed at three different teammates houses, and the first weekend of February did the Boulevard RR and Red Trolley Crit. As usual the RR was miserable conditions and the crit was nice weather, we had more of a team turnout in both of these races and I got a 21st in the RR and 8th in the crit, Marked up as another quality weekend. Now its time to get on the TT bike for Valley of The Sun.

Team Camp Escalera Racing

2010-01-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

This past week I was given the opportunity by Escalera racing to join them at team camp for a week of hard training down in Ventura CA. The week was one of the best experiences that i have had, associated with cycling. Everyone on the team was really nice and I enjoyed the company, I started off the training camp a little later than the rest of the boys, and right away was doing 5 1/2 hour rides in the sunshine. Through the duration of the next Five days we logged over 24 hours and 440 miles. At no point was the weather bad enough to force us to have to wear knee warmers, a few times we had to leave the house with long sleeves or arm warmers abut those where quickly shed. All in all the training camp was a major sucsess, Great riding, Great company, and Great weather. I would like to thank everyone who was a part of it, It was a great time!

check out http://www.escaleraracing.com/ for more on this team.

Thanks Guys!

Colorado

2010-01-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

This year I did something a little different than usual, instead of staying home for Christmas i went to go visit some friends in Dolores, CO and it was a great time. Its always great when you meet new friends, I met plenty in the first few days I was there, although most of them are snowboarders, I forgive you (Gus and Brittany, good job, my fellow skiers). A few days after I got there my buddy Sam Kelly who has a band Plying In Traffic, took me to one of his gigs in Durango, CO. naturally this was a great time, but that is often the case when you mix good live music and good friends. Christmas was a breeze this year, everyone was so nice and it made for one of the best Christmases I have ever had. The day after Christmas Sam, Clare, and I went up to Telluride for some skiing, Initially we where only going to go on Sunday, but some events made it logical to go both days. The skiing there was top notch, but most of the mountain had little snow cover, this however did not stop us from having the time of our lives. After two days of skiing I was sore in my whole body, which is how you should feel after skiing, so this required two days of recovery. After my two days of rest it was unfortunately time to leave all my new friends and head for home, so I could spend New Years with the folks. Great memories, great times.

BIKE TOUR DONE!

2009-12-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Right before thanksgiving I ended my bike tour a bit short due to an outbreak of poison oak that I inhaled from a campfire. The wicked rash started in my core and b lew outward to my extremities, it made for a very unpleasant and irritating thanksgiving. The trip however was very good, It helped me alot to relax and build excitement for the next season. I am very lucky to have the chance to do such a wonderful adventure, even though it happened to be cut short at big sur. Now I have returned to Chico for winter training, I hope to have a great training season and this will equate to a very strong racing season. Here are some of the pictures of my trip!

Pacific Coast

2009-11-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

The trip has been fun so far, met some company and discovered how nice it is to have company in the campgronds. Many of the roads have been great so far but I have a feeling that the traffic situation is just going to get worse untill I get passed Carmel, once I get into the big sir area it will be smooth sailing for the rest of the trip as I am missing the whole Los Angeles area with the help of trains. I have really enjoyed the time to think, time on the bike always helps to clear the head. Still not quite sure on what I will be doing for next year, but as the riding has helped me to relax about the whole situation, something will work out. I have also adopted a gluten free diet for the duration of the base season in hopes of loosing a bit of weight, so I will have to see how that plays out over the next few days and when I start my training for next season. Travels are well here and I will update again when I get to grandmothers house and can upload a few pictures of the journey.

BIKE TOUR

2009-11-04T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I have decided to take a break from all the chaos and take a bike tour down the california coast to get to grandmas house for thanksgiving. The bike is packed and ready to go, and I'm feeling the last minute jitters, yep I'm about to go on a trip. I will have some communication through emal and facebook throughout the trip but will be limited. I am using this trip as a pre-pre season training, as it will give me some good strength to start base with. I also want to congratulate Boz on his new team, awesome dude awesome. Keep checking back here for some updates along the way.

Ciao tutti

Thanks To ALL !!!!

2009-10-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank everyone that has helped me out this season, through the good times and the bad. It has been a long season Indeed, I have visited more countries this year than any year to date, I have had good experiences and bad, overall a very successful year. I would also like to thank the individuals that believed in me, your support has been a major part in my success. last but not least thanks to all my family and friends in Italy, you guys are awesome! Here are some of the best pictures from my great year.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles

2009-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

sorry that I have not written on the blog lately, but I haven't had time upon my arrival back to the US, things have been quite hectic. I left Italy on the 23rd of august the day after my birthday, from Feltre I embarked on the journey back home that i thought would be quite a costly experience, however it was not, only 28 euro to return and 200+ to get there imagine that. the train ride from Feltre to padova was pretty uneventful because I had done it a few times already, Padova to Milan was unexpectedly fun however. I had some unexpected company on the train ride from Padova to Milan, I sat next to one Oregonian and an Australian, so time seemed to go by quite quickly. After we departed from milan we had to go to Brig, Switzerland where I was switching trains to Geneve, then i ran into some more unexpected luck. In Geneve the conductor to the train was really nice, and let me ride the train for only 18 euro which was much better than 77 for this leg of the journey on my way down. Paris! (ok that needs a new paragraph)

at Paris nord, and had to grasp where I was for a second, I had just gotten off the train in the ghetto, I'm sure Paris was interesting, not a fun city to be in at night let me tell you, maybe the more tourist areas are better, but where i was was not good news. so I got off the train at Paris Lyon from Geneve and then made my way up to Paris nord where I would catch the train to Brussels, this was my first mistake. I got out of the train station there are worse parts, but this was not the best of neighborhoods. I immediately started to search for a hotel that would suffice, this was quite the chore. I must have gone to 4 hotels before I found one that would take a credit card, and then two more because of vacancy issues, finally I found one that took a credit card and had internet so I was set for the evening. In the morning I was in quite the hurry to get to the train station as of my train was leaving at 8, once inside the train station all was well, the paris nord train station was actually really nice inside. After a few cups of coffee I boarded my train and was on my way once again.

Back at the garage, I packed all my stuff as quickly as possible, because I got the wild hair to go and do some tourist thing in belgium the next day, not knowing that I would in fact have to go to the airport that day i undertook my new journey. Brugge was very nice, and i couldn't get the phrase from the movie In Brugges out of my head, "Its like a f@#*ing fairytale." after I had finished with Brugge I made my way out to the coast to see something different in Belgium. The coast was great i was, however expecting to see the big JAX things left behind by the last world war, I was disappointed when all i saw was sand. After the coast on my way home i stopped to visit the Delirium brewery, and made my last visit to Geeraldsbergen, then arrived at the garage at about 4 o'clock.

At the garage I was in for another surprise, still to check the time of my flight in the morning i made a bit of din din and watched a bit of TV. It was a good thing that I had already packed all my stuff, because when I finally got around to checking the flight time I found out that i was to leave at 7 in the morning, oh shit! At least I didn't check this earlier because I probably wouldn't have done my day a round belgium if I would have discovered, I have to be at the airport tonight. saying my farewells I boraded the train to the airpot, and I was on my way home.

At the airport, I met this indian guy who was a pilot on a standby flight in the morning as well, so we had a few drinks and a few laughs and watched each other's stuff, while using the bathroom, very helpful. In the morning , we went to starbucks and grabbed a cup of coffee then he helped me to check all my stuff in which was nice. A few problems with luggage weight, but 70$ later and I was on my way home, because of the weight problems I only had 30 min to get to my plane. It was perfect timing because then I had no waiting around.

My delay at london heathrow was 4 hours, which was not the greatest part of my trip, but i could manage after all i was on my way home. I slept for most of the plane ride home so that i wouldn't have any jet-lag, because i was racing 2 days after returning. when i finally arrived in the US it was good feeling because even in england i had to work in my head to understand the language but now i could finally let my brain relax, It is good to be back!

BACKPACKING

2009-08-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Two days ago I went backpacking for three days in the dolomiti, it was one of the best trips of my life. vibrant colors with the blooming wildflowers and beautiful pictures the whole way, however those pictures are stuck on my camera until I get home.

the first day there was a lot of climbing and a very heavy pack because I had not eaten any of the food. it was a long day but the most beautiful. I took over 200 pictures that day alone, after about 6 hours of hiking tho I was tired and just wanted to get to the bivaco where I was spending the night. bivacos are little backpacker hut's. I still had about an hours hike too it tho, so i put the camera away and made my way. the bivaco was very nice it had a table candles fireplace and a few other amenities, i shared it with 4 other hikers that night.

Day 2 was a very hard day, I did not realize how dramatic the country around here is, and i climbed all day, or so it seemed. the plan was to get to refugio BOZ and have lunch then go on to bivaco feltre. well during lunch i got a bit of thunder and lightning and dicided that the trail to bivaco feltre was too dangerous after these events, and spent the night at refugio BOZ

Day 3 was a long downhill hike, and i found out that there was a bivaco only 20min hike from BOZ that i could have stayed at and not paid, but thats ok. I had lunch after a late start from BOZ and then continued down. i dropped over 5,000 feet in elevation and ended up at my end point Vai Canzoi. it was a great backpacking trip and good to get out of the house for a while. will not soo forget this one.

6 Days, I have 6 Days before I come home, I am ready to be home. this year has been very fun and i have had some great experiences and i hope to have more in the future, but next year i will be staying in the US to race. I will return to Europe to race, but not for a while. It has been the biggest adventure of my life and i will not forget this one either!

Family & Bella Vista

2009-08-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Since I have arrived in Feltre I have been very busy, this is why I have not written on the blog for a while, I have been busy living what feels like a dream. Since I have been on "vacation" there has been very few days when I have not ridden a bike, and now I have started running to try and slim down more before next season and to try to keep off all the food I have been eating. Feltre is one of the most beautiful places on Earth I keep having to pinch myself every morning to make sure I'm still not sleeping, the most amazing views have come from the tours on Mt. bikes. My uncles are all very into riding Mt. bikes and they have taken me to some very cool places, there has defiantly been no shortage of adventure in the trip. It takes a little getting used to, for the times that they eat here tho. In the morning it is a little breakfast, then lunch is usually very big and then dinner is a little smaller than lunch sometimes but very big as well.

Palio de Feltre, a big festival that takes place every year, the festival is all about the birth of Feltre and

how things where done back in the time of the city's creation. As the times have changed tho everyone uses it as an excuse to party for 4-5 days, its really diverse however in the us if this happened after dark it would only be kids out partying. Here everyone from old women and young kids are out until 1-2 in the morning, and there are festivities and the whole nine yards. on the last day there is a parade and a horse race, then the Palio is over until the next year. I did not think much of it when my aunt asked me if I wanted to be in the parade and I thought for sure I would be no one important, as the costume I got was not that elaborate. then I learned that I was representing one of the leaders of Feltre, that was kinda cool. after the parade there where a few events and then the horse race. The whole thing was all very cool and makes me want to come back for the Palio all the time, maybe i can come back in the next few years to enjoy it all over again.

FELTRE

2009-07-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

The trip was interesting to say the least, when I got to Brussels Midi/Zuid I found out the europass is not really worth anything so I had to pay full price for a ticket from Brussels to paris, and then agin from paris to Geneve, but the rest of the trip was covered. I am very glad that I decided not to go to the tour de france stage the next day because paris Nord station was enough of a crowd for me I could not imagine what TDF would have been. Paris to Geneve was a good trip however it was all rolling hills and was not that spectacular, but what was about to come was sheer beauty. I would say that the train ride from Geneve to milan was the best train ride that i have ever taken in my life, but it was so much more. It was like I was on a magic carpet, dramatic views all over the place, cool little towns, and passing into italy people started speaking italian and it was a truly an amazing experience.

Milan to Padova was interesting, not much to see because it got dark soon after we left the milan station, upon arriving in Padova our train was late 30 min so I missed the last train to Feltre. I was in for a long night in the Padova station. I fell asleep for a second at about midnight, and then woke up at 1 to a police man kicking my foot, he told me I have to go outside because the station is closing until 4am so I moved outside where there was no possibility of sleep because of the drug dealer and other shady people walking around. In the morning I was going to catch the 6:00 train to Feltre but it was actually the 6:50 train because they decided not to run the 6:00 train. I could hardly enjoy the view on my way there because i was so tired from the night, so I got about 2 hours of sleep on the train. When I arrived at Feltre I was asleep and the guy next to me woke me up, so in a panic I got off the train and forgot the camera. I went to the train station window and asked if the camera could be put on the return train and the guy had to see if the train

conductor could find it, so I went on my first tour

of Feltre.

I knew that my family had been waiting for me last night so I felt really bad when I didn't show up, so I walked up to the shops that they own in Feltre to see if any would be open it was a chance in hell because it was sunday. when none of them where I went back to the train station to see if they had found the camera, when the stationer gave me the thumbs up I was realived because all the picture from my trip where on it. After I got the camera, I started to walk back to the center of town with the intent of taking as much pictures as I could, I only got about 500 meters when a truck pulled up next to me, it was Anna and Christian. I had arrived, and found my family, it was more than I could have asked for.

The Journey Continues

2009-07-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Belgium has been good to me over the past two months, I have learned a lot, and raced a lot, but I must continue my journey through Europe. I came here to race my bike, but as Belgium has worn on me I have realized that this season has been long already and its about time to take some time off the bike. I have decided to take a month and travel around europe, I have not seen my family in the northern veneto region of italy in many years and it is about time for a visit, I am leaving from belgium tomorrow morning bright and early. Getting on a train to paris, then on to Geneve then onto Milan and then finally to Feltre, where I will be arriving at midnight, looks like I will be sleeping in the train station for a while.

I will stay in Italy for two or three weeks and then return to belgium for a day then head up to Amsterdam, just to say I went. then back to belgium and by then I will be returning home on the 26th of Aug, this leg of my adventure was a decision to clear my head from cycling for the rest of the season, if you let it build up it can be an overload. since I have made the decisuion not to take the bike and everything that entails, I have been much more excited about the trip and the weight feels like it has been lifted now I can go travel, no rules and have some fun.

I will be leaving tomorrow with a 20lb backpack and a camera bag on the third stage of this trip to Europe, this is my vacation!

2 WEEKS OFF

2009-07-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

after two weeks of really hard solid racing im going to be taking a very large break for the next two weeks, there will obviously be a few long days and a few races, but for the majority of this time coffee shop rides will be the norm. over the next two months I also plan to stay very focused in my training, this means little chocolate, no snacking and good quality training. The tour will help me over the next three weeks to accomplish this, after that I have asked my girlfriend Alyssa to keep me focused. The reality has hit me in the past few days, this stretch of my career is the most important and if I can take it for all it is worth, and get my head straight then, I will be on a much faster track to the european pro scene.

Things have been starting to look up lately good weather(except the last two days), and good company, TDF is on TV live everyday, all these things have motivated me to be the best i can be. hopefully this attitude will transfer over to when I am racing, im hoping that the better I feel in general the better I will race, which is generally how it works, so we will se if the form starts to come around.

It has really boiled down to a simple truth, Belgium is a HARD ass country to live in, and Im doing the hardest sport in the world, so its not about anything but surviving in this country as a cyclist, when you survive then you make it. It is such a HARD sport mentally an physically that only champions survive, lots of people fail, stick to it and ride till you can't anymore and good things will happen.

START OF A LONG WEEKEND

2009-07-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today I did a race in Melle right by Ghent it was a 1.12A race which means its a little longer than a regular kermis, at just under 140kms it was a very hard race for a kermis but it had all the big teams there so it was ridden like a Interclub. This race differed from a regular kermis because it was a lot smother through the corners and just a constant fast pace, quality of racing. so the race was supposed to start at 230 and then the organizers decided to delay the start for 15min for whatever reason, I don't know. When we finally started I was trying to stay at the front as much as possible but in some of these races it is impossible to start at the front, I lined up at the line and crept up as people kept coming in and we where probably 10 meters in front of the line and still 40 back in the peleton, its is crazy at the start. the race started somewhat tame, about halfway through the first lab the pace started to pick up considerably, but we had yet to get to full throttle. laps 2-6 where however where fast, with the occasional hot lap, or full gas lap. laps 7 & 8 where relatively easy and then the last two laps where full on, good quality racing for a kermis thats for sure. I ended up getting caught behind a crash on the last lap so a young kid and I rode in by ourselves in front of a group of about 40-50, and I ended up about 60th of about 130 finishers so not too bad at all.

That race however is just the beginning of a very long weekend, last weekend we did 4 races in a row and this weekend I will also be doing the same, this weekend however will be harder because of the quality of racing. MELLE was today, tomorrow we go 8ks north to ZOTTEGEM, then Monday we go 8ks east to NINOVE,and those three races are all kermises, then finally we have a race only 2ks away from the house to wrap it all up in LIERDE, and that is a local race. I expect to be so nuckerd after tuesday that I might have to sleep for two days straight, for the next two weeks I will have a lot of rest and coffee shop rides, after that I should be on the best form yet. It is truly amazing how much racing there is in this country and how much racers can develop here, I truly think that Belgium is the worlds cyclist factory.

FLYING

2009-07-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of races lately, the past weekend I raced all weekend and did about 400 miles in five days, including the races. so my form should be coming around soon, I was feeling very strong in the past few races that I have entered, however im trying to recover from an infection that I got from crashing a few weeks ago. I spread throughout my leg and I broke out with pimples all over my lower leg, with the help of tea tree oil and clay I have managed to clear up about 80% of it in two days however. So I am going to race again today, just for training i have no expectations unless I find myself in the break halfway through the race then I might gain expectations. I know all this racing will benefit me in a few weeks, I should be flying when it comes time for some of the big tours in July and August.

the weather has been unusually nice for Belgium, it has not rained for a few weeks now (knock on wood) and shows no sign of rain on the weather forecast, so lets hope it stays this way it is great for the tan lines. the hardest thing with living in Belgium is watching how much you eat, on the sunny days, after training it feels like you have burned enough to eat a lot, which you have but the sun is up until about 11:00 so you continue to snack until late. and on the rainy days it is hard to stop eating because there is a lack of things to occupy yourself with. it is a deadly cycle, basically all there is to do is eat, sleep and ride which sounds all dandy until about your second week here, then it starts to get really really boring, oh well living the dream.

MASSAGES

2009-06-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

Since I have been doing kinda crappy in most of the races I have been doing im going to talk about something else, the last race that I did was fun, but for some reason it was fast and you had to really fight hard to stay at the front. the first two or three laps where fine, I could hold my position no problem, but at lap two we went onto smaller roads which strung out the group to the max. After a lap of this I was near the back and playing a game of catch up with a 2km long line, that sucked and I eventually just got bungeed off the back at about 6 laps in.

Back to massages, when you get a massage it is great for everything, recovery, mental recuperation and muscle recuperation. massages two days before a big race or a race weekend always help you race better, and my situation is golden, I have a masseur in my house he is also one of the cyclists. I get a massage once a week and that usually holds me over for a while, but by the time that week is up I am in need of my next massage. Massage is also like a chore however, because after the massage the stretching and hydration are the most important parts and that is usually not something you want to do after your massage, but its all good because as long as I give it a day before racing to get the crap out of my legs, then I am flying when it comes race time.

COMING TO FORM

2009-06-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

It has taken long enough, but I feel like I am finally coming to form in Belgium. my first few races in this new rigid land have not been the best for my confidence and for my legs, but finally on Tues at an Interclub Race with the PRO's my legs felt strong. My form is also starting to come around, by this I mean that I am starting to get used to the racing style and intensity that is consistent with Belgium. Now that I have found some form and finished my first 160+ km race the hard part is over and now I can attempt to get some results.

The race this weekend was really good for me, the course was flat with 4 pave sectors, not only that me finishing a race has really done wonders for my head now I can focus on my racing. the course being flat and cobbled was right up my alley, when the sounier said that it was a long course that was flat and cobbles I started to get excited about the race and rejected any of the thoughts about what a sufferfest it actually was going to be.

By the way our sounier is the coolest guy ever, and we appreciate everything Roland you are the best.

The start of the race was not all that hard I spent some time at the front for the first four laps, after that I started to creep backwards and remained there for the rest of the race petty much. There where a few times that I came back up to the front, but mostly stayed mid-pack and just hung on, because my goal for this race was to finish. At about six laps to go I ran into some trouble, is tarted to get cramps in the legs, so I drank the two bottles that I had a fast as I could, and grabbed another in the feed zone. the next four laps I grabbed a bottle in the feed zone, this subdued the cramps for one lap. then on two laps to go the break away and another group of 30 was established so one of the boys from a rival team got on the front and slowed down the race as to say don't even try for the next few laps. So about six of us got on the front and started to drive it, since the impetus was not so high from the group I sat on the front driving it for about half a lap. After this pull I was completely nuckered, so I sat on to the back of the pack for the remaining minutes of the race. When I came across the line I felt like raising my arms in the air in victory, but I figured as pretty much the last person on the road that might look kinda stupid so I just celebrated in my mind.

CRASHES

2009-06-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

It is commonly know that bad things come in three's, well I have had three meetings with the pavement in this new country, so hopefully that is all out of the system. the first crash was in the wet, at a kermess and I took a corner too fast. the second was at a dry kermess, and the guy in front of slammed on his brakes to go into a 90deg corner and I hit the back of him then kinda ran off my bike, third was the worst.

The third crash happened yesterday, I decided to do a kermess yesterday over by brussels. The race was a long 15 laps on a very hilly circuit, as I do at any other kermess i grabbed my number and went out in front of the bar to put it on. Sitting on the curb having a bit of a nap was none other than a Helens Cycles rider from LA, he is racing for a team in paris. After talking to this guy for a while I went searching around with my South African teammate to find some fellow South Africans that where also at the race, we sat and talked to them for about 15min and before long it was time to start. Lining up was more intense than at any of the previous races because there where several PRO's there, topsport, and beveren 2000 which is the Quickstep development team, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The race was tame for the first lap then the next 3 or 4 laps where balls to the wall, then it settled down a little but not much. This was the first race that I actually did decent in, even though I didn't finish I lasted the longest I have so far and felt pretty good.

The deadly ride home, everything was ok on the ride home until we went through Ninove. After Ninove it started to rain, so we naturally started to go faster. With the rain coming down a little bit harder I was following my teammates wheel, and he didn't see a brick in the road until the last minute, so naturally I didn't see it at all. my front wheel missed it oddly enough but I nailed it with my back wheel and went ass over kettle ended up about a meter off the road in a muddy ditch. what a way to have the third crash eh? luckily I was not hurt to bad just plenty of road rash and some bruises, nothing broken or re-broken. Let's just hope i can be well enough to race this weekend, some big races coming up including a mountain bike race which is going to be fun as hell!

RIDING IN BELGIUM

2009-06-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Riding in Belgium, is so much fun, maybe its because its a new place to explore for the moment or maybe because it is actually that good, but the other day i was actually excited to ride my bike which has not happened for a while. usually riding is a chore, or known as going into the office, but my riding here is so enjoyable. Most of the big roads that you have in Belgium have large bike lanes or separate bike paths, but most of the rides that i have been doing lately, i haven't hit a main road for more than a kilometer. most of this country road riding consists of me going out for long rides and getting lost then trying new roads to find out how to get home. Sometimes however these rides actually have a plan and a direction, which if you know which direction your destination is then these roads are faster than the main roads. The cities are places to stay away from, after riding and driving through the cities i have finally figured out that its best to stick to the small villages, it took me a week too long.

We had a big race this weekend past it was an interclub, which is just a few steps below pro racing over here. I did not finnish, but i did feel a lot better than in the first two races that i have done so far, there was a 400 meter cobble climb and that didn't fair to well with a broken finger, but thats life, GRAB A CUP!

New Experiences

2009-05-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

I went for my first race in belgium Two days ago, just a real genuine experience it had all the factors to it. The race started out really fast and i attacked from the gun which probably wasn't the best idea being my first Belgium race and all, but I figured what the hell and gave it a go. No surprise that about halfway through I would pay for my early efforts, and got spit out the back of the pack but i did my go and happy enough with that. My teammate Eliot did do fairly well however and finished with the bunch after being off the front all day long covering attacks.

the real story tho doesn't come from the racing it comes from the sidelines, from the moment you arrive the experience is overwhelming. All the old guys at the race are looking at you, and your legs to see how good you look and they all have start sheets that they mark in to see who wins the race because they are betting on all the riders and how the riders will do. It is truly great, they also know all the

names of the big riders, it is much like baseball in the US lots of stats to keep track of and other things, but its all for betting.

the next day we did a coffee ride with all the guys from the house Peter, Matt, Eliot and me, we went into Ghent to get some coffee and pastries in the main square and man was that ever an experience. All these old buildings and small alleyways full of bakeries and shops and it was just an epic adventure.

Today Matt, Elliot and I went out for

our adventure, we went to the Muur today, the famous climb in Ronde Vanlaanderen. The view that overlooked the top was just epic however when i left the house I forgot the camera, so I promise that when I go back next week I will take pictures and post them on my blog. After the Muir then we adventured through the farmlands on cobbles and small roads, it was truly one of the best rides i have had in my short career.

After this epic ride I went out again right away on a shorter ride to go see my mate Ian who was racing just 4km away from the team house. So I went to go see what all the fuss was about and it was a huge junior race, team buses and the whole bit. It was good to see Ian and i hope i will be able to see him again before he goes back to the USA. I hope that the stories to come will be the same quality, as I'm sure they will be I will keep writing.

Caio

Belgium

2009-05-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

As some of the people close to me know I was thinking about moving to belgium, because the UK has not really lived up to the expectations that I had. There is much more races and much more quality over in Belgium, also I feel that the racing best suits my style over in Belgium so it is the obvious choice. I will not be riding for any teams in Belgium, but will be racing alot and looking for teams or contacts to help me out in any way shape and form.

I have also been very sick over the past two weeks, so I hope that I am past the sickness for my adventure to Belgium. I feel much better, but last night when I ramped up the speed in a training exercise I found out that I had lost quite a bit of fitness from being sick, but being in belgium and racing and resting I am fairly confident that my fitness and speed will return soon. As i am not sure exactly where I am staying, I believe it will be somewhere around Ghent, in the Flanders region, as this is the area with the most racing. soon I will know more about my adventure because I will hopefully be going as quickly as next week, Keep checking the blog for updates on this new adventure.

caio for now

LOCAL RACES ARE GREAT

2009-05-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

I love the local race they help you to get your confidence back when you are feeling down I was feeling pretty bad after the last few weeks going to large UCI races and getting dropped just over half way through was starting to get to me a little bit. so this weekend I did a local race in Essex and even though i had been pretty sick for a few days I finally felt like I was starting to come around and my legs where starting to get back under me. I attacked early in the race, and got away for a few miles but the only person to come across the gap, of course was the smallest guy in the field. so that didn't last too long on a windy course. Then three laps in my teammate Joe Skipper attacked to bridge up to a breakaway that had already been established, so naturally as a teammate I did all the chasing. I spent two laps chasing down all the attacks from the main field to make sure that no one else got up to the break. After this I was pretty tired so I sat in the pack until the last lap. On the last lap, cramps and all, I figured it was now or never to try and get away, the breakaway was not coming back so I put in my flurry of attacks. within 12 miles or so I put in about 4 decent attacks that gave me a slight gap over the main field, but every-time they chased us back. then in the last kilo I put in my last attack, and basically didn't go anywhere so that was it I was done!

Right when i'm am starting to feel good, I was very happy that my legs where starting to come around, but because I went into the race this weekend sick, naturally I came out even worse off. So now I find myself taking anything that will help me get better for next weekend, another big premier calendar race this weekend and I want to be able to go into it with the best possible chance, even though i'm not quite right still from the transition.

Rutland UCI 1.2

2009-04-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Last weekend I did the Rutland CiCLE Classic, its a fun race in the middle of the country of England. It was a very tough race as most of you can see from the title, some people call it the Paris Roubaix of England. It is even complete with the Paris Roubaix style of counting down the sectors of cobbles, in short this race should have suited me.

The race started out with two big laps of Rutland water, a reservoir in the area, these laps where fairly flat and suited my style of racing, being a big guy. Then after the reservoir there came the tough real man sectors of the course much like the famed classic Paris Roubaix these sections separated the men from the boys. I was good for the first few sectors, but after while came the KOM (King Of the Mountains) not suiting my style of racing I went from the front of the group to the back of the group on one measly climb. Maybe it was my weight that prevented me from staying with the group, or maybe it is just getting used to everything over here. What ever it is it defeated me in a way that I will try to prevent from feeling ever again. That day, that bright sunny day in the middle of England I almost got in the broom wagon! when they pulled up by my side and said would you like to continue no almost rolled off my tongue, but i held it and said hell ya. I chased and chased, but i did not give up and then about ten miles later they told me to hit the showers, but I did not give up, and I hope never to stoop to that low again in my career as a cyclist.

after racing the two biggest races of the season in my two first weeks in Europe, I am now going to a smaller race this weekend and hopefully this will bring my spirits up. just gotta hang in there and give it some time, everyone keeps telling me I'll come around, sure hope so!
Thanks for all the support
cheers

P.S. I know I will come around, just takes time!

INTRODUCTION TO EUROPE

2009-04-20T02:38:00.000-07:00

The first race that I was to do in Europe was the Souvenir Michel Roques, I thought this was going to be a local road race in northern France no big deal. Well as it turns out every DS1 team in France showed up to this race, and then there was us. At the beginning I was a little nervous, but more excited then after two laps of racing I got dropped. After getting dropped I was slightly demoralized, but I continued to press on thinking that I would finish the race, wrong again. I continued in the race until lap 7 when the field lapped me. Here I was racing in France and getting dropped right away, at this point I'm still thinking that this is some local road race, until I see two of my other teammates who are having coffee at the finish line. this brought my spirits up a little bit, then I talked to them and one of them said "this was the hardest race I have ever done." that helped to bring my spirits up a bit more.

The biggest boost of the day however was just before the end of the race when I was getting something out of the team car I gave my first autograph as a professional road cyclist, this was a very big moment on the day.

When we came back across to the UK we had some border issues with my passport, but we finally got in. I now can no longer travel back and forth, so i will have to talk to my team manager and see what our options are. because that is the whole reason for me moving here is to be able to race in Belgium and France. The next day the team sent out an email that made the disappointment of the weekend go away almost completely, every team in the peleton was a ds1 team in France, that is the level right below pro tour. So my prediction is that 20 or so guys from this weekend will be racing pro tour in the next 4 years, this made everything a little better, but it was still an eye opener to see how far i have to go. so now I'm not eating, at all!

WRONG SIDE OF THE WORLD

2009-04-17T02:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
writing to you from London, England I got here two days ago and already have had some great adventures. The plane trip was great a little long, but didn`t bother me too much, the food was actually really good just not in large quanity. getting through the airport was a bit more of a hassle than I anticipated, immigration wanted to know everything and the baggage boy rolled up with an open bike box and shifters in one hand and said "these fell out", great what else fell out? As soon as I met our team manager at the airport things fell into place, we went straight to the hose of my host family, then I had dinner and went to bed, with no knowledge of what troubles the next day would bring.

The next day we went to the local bike shop bright and early to get my steer tube cut and some cables for my new BMC. After the bike shop we went to james`s house to put the bike together, except all the houses in Europe are very small so we had no space to do the bike in the house, and it was raining. So after two hours of putting my bike together in the dreary misty rain we could begin the real fun. On that note we set off for a 3 hour ride in the rain, man i love England so far. The riding here is very nice the roads are small but every car waits for you then passes you with a lot of room to spare when it is clear. Where I am based it is very flat, But it is still rolling hills however small the hills may be, it makes the training very hard when you mix in the rain and wind as well.

I have enjoyed my first few days in this backwards new world, and can`t wait or predict what the next steps. This Sun we are going to be racing in northern France, a great introduction to European racing on the road. then back to England for two Premier calender races then off to Belgium for some really tough shit! I have enjoyed what little bit i have seen so far, and hope to enjoy the rest, but i have to learn how to ride on the bloody left!
Cheers

WEEK OF LASTS

2009-04-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today as many of you know I am embarking on a very long journey that will take up the next few years of my life, as i sit here at the LAX airport I think of the last week and all the good times that I had in my short time in San Diego. This last week I did many things knowing that they would be the last in SD, just enjoying every minute of my adventures. I would like to thank everyone in the San Diego area that has touched my life in the past 6 months, you all are so special and I will not soon forget my time in SD, cheers

A flood of emotions have been running through my body over the past few weeks, and finally it is all coming together. making this trip happen is something that I anticipated that I would have to do i just didn't expect to be doing it so early, the earlier the better for this adventure tho. The reason that this trip is such a big step is simply because it will direct my career as a professional cyclist and tell me if I will make it. Kind of a scary thought that your whole career boils down to the next few months in europe. Even tho its a scary time its also a very enjoyable experience and I will learn a lot. So that is why I would like to thank all those that have helped me to get this far, and to those that impeded my progress JUST WAIT!

BMC UK RT

2009-03-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I just confirmed some very good news. I will be riding with a new team for the remainder of the season, but no this isn't only a team, it is BMC. That's right i will be racing for the U23 BMC RT in the UK. I am so excited because i will be racing in Europe this was the goal for myself a lot further down the road, however when this opportunity presented itself it had to be taken. Not leaving myself much time partly due to races that I will be going to over there, and partly due to excitement, I will be leaving for the UK april 14th. Early I know, but if all goes well I will be racing in France and Belgium the weekend after I arrive, so my dream of starting my carer in Europe is in fact happening a lot faster than expected, and I LOVE IT!!!!

Confirmed Suspicions

2009-03-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

At the San Dimas stage race this weekend I confirmed my thoughts that it might be time to take a break from the training for a little while. So I will be taking a break until sea otter, now for those of you who do not train as a cyclist, taking a break still consists of 8-10 hour weeks but it is just rest weeks and therefore gives the muscles time to recuperate.

After my break however I will have some very big races right in a row so I'm going to have to step back up to the plate as soon as my break is over. I feel ready to do this however because right after that I will be going to europe to try and prove myself on the big stage. It is not yet clear on what team i will be racing for in the UK, but I can assure you that i will rock their socks off over there!

Cheers

Tour of Murietta

2009-03-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

(teammate Chad Derosier after flying over the bars)

They should seriously think about re-naming this race crashfest, in the PRO field there was at least 15 crashes over the course of two days. This was the most crashes that i have seen this whole year, I'm very glad that i was able to come out of his weekend without breaking anything.

The crit was pretty fun, a wide open four corner crit, lots of wind and a corner that went from 3 lanes to 1. (this might have been the reason for some crashes) however i forgot to put fuel in the tank throughout the whole race this makes it very hard to get to the front of the field at the end of the race for the sprint so I got a mid pack finish, with the wind and crashes i was just glad to finish the race on two wheels.

The road race, I thought that this day would be much better because i would remember to eat, oh man maybe i just need to take some time off the bike. the same thing occured i just couldn't move to the front of the field, after a 60mi RR this should be no problem, but i was stuck with another 30th or so finish. After San Dimas this coming weekend i think that i will takea few weeks very easy and try to reset myself before sea otter classic, we shall se how that goes.

CHEERS

Merco Cycling Classic

2009-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

One of the best races of the season, the former NRC Mclane Pacific, is now the Merco Cycling Classic. the crit was very fast very intense and very fun with an average speed around 30mph this was no simple walk in the park. 2 laps to go and misfortune came over me coming down the back straight away I was on the wheel that would go on to take the win, and a sudden move took my front wheel out from under me and next thing you know two or three riders are on the ground, this race I felt really good in as well, oh well thats racing!

A time for redemption, the next day was the road race a 120 mile monster i was ready to get the win. we started out at a pretty fast pace for the first two or three laps out of 5 then the 4th lap was really easy, because there was a group of 10 riders off the front, and in this group where some very strong racers. Well as we come to about 5k to go we indeed caught the group of riders and first place was up for grabs once more. Coming up to the sprint i simply was in the wrong position so i managed to only grab 8th place, not great but will have to do. The Merco Cycling Classic still remains one of my favorite races of the season.

Snelling RR

2009-02-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

Long flat and cloudy this sums up the eventful day just outside of Merced CA, at Snelling. the race went very well fast pace and good riding, enjoyed this race very much, walking away with a 7th is not too bad either. However the next day was much less fun, racing in downtown Merced we had a crit, and this day it had rained in the morning then let up enough for the pavement to become completely dry and as the pro race was starting the rain decided to plague us again, an entire race in the rain so much fun. to make a long story short i did a whole lot of work with no reward, but had fun none the less.

Valley Of The Sun 2009

2009-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

The valley of the sun stage race, I was given the idea that the valley of the sun stage race was a large important race. Man was I wrong, the valley of the sun stage race was not a race i would return to if it hadn't been for the great company that I was in throughout the trip, spending time with my new friends from San Diego. The best part of the trip was not the racing, but the company, that we all had such a great time around dinner.

The races however where very fun other than a few downfalls that occurred during some of the races. During the Time Trial I got a horrible time and was placed 78th in GC, this was my only chance to contest the GC. Then the road race, I was very excited for the road race because I had a very good chance of winning in this discipline, but Arizona racing being what it is inhibited us from doing this. Because of a crash around the finish line they didn't allow the pro 1 field and the CAT 2 field to finish, when the race could have simply had another lap added on to clean up the crash and give us a finnish.

That was the bad news, then followed the good news the crit, the crit course was very fun lots of turns and uphill and downhill I took a 7th place not too bad of a result considering that I didn't have this luck the previous days. To cap off the last day I met a very beautiful girl who shares with great interest the racing bug Ivy, drove down with her mom from Missoula MT, for a small stage race in Arizona now that is dedication.

Boulevard Road Race / Red Trolley Crit

2009-02-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

Boulevard Road Race:

usually an epic battle that takes place in early feb in southern california, well this year was even more epic than ever. Right before the start of our race it stated to snow very heavily, within the first 200 meters there was a crash, actually the only crash of the day, but I looked back and all I see is Jelly Belly riders sliding across the ground and they pretty much just turned around and didn't race. I lasted for three laps of this early season classic, then I was dropped going up the hill, the cold was so intense that i was forced to turn around half way through the last lap in order to preserve my health. Valley of the sun is my next race and it is vital that I am in good health for this race. Whenever you get to race in the snow, it will always be a battle of epic proportions and even though I was forced to abandon this was a great race for me.

Red Trolley Crit:

The day after the Boulevard road race is the red trolley crit, it is a fun short course with a slight riser at the end of the back stretch, however on this day I was not feeling my best because of the brutality that occurred the day before, i just simply didn't have any thrust in my legs, but I had fun, so this was a good weekend.

SANTA BARBARA WEEKEND

2009-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the first road race of the year, it was located in and around Solvang CA right above Santa Barbara CA. It was a fun race, however team type 1 showed up with everyone on the team, this however was not fun. team type 1 put ten men up the road and then controlled the race to a T. they would put 4 guys on the front of the pack and then go attack over the yellow line so no one was able to chase after them, and this made for a very uneventful rest of the race. Due to the team type 1 debacle the main field had lost the incentive to race hard because of the simple fact that we would be racing for 20th position. other than the highly annoying team type 1 squad the first road race of the year was very fun and went very well.

Mothballs: the mothballs crit the next day, this was a big chance for me to get a big result on the season, the first part of the race very uneventful, I put in a few early attacks and tried to bridge a few gaps early on. Then disaster at the 20 laps to go I feel my rear tire start to slip in a corner and then to realize i have about 20lbs of air in my rear tire , damn a flat at this time. This is perfect time as teams are starting to get organized for the sprint. going to the pit i take my free lap and back in the race in no time, however my adrenaline being so high i went with the fist attack that went off the front as soon as i rejoined, this was the wrong thing to do, because i just wasted a bunch of energy with not much time left in the race. After recovering as much as possible i lined up behind teammate Paul Che, my replacement wheel however had a 12 tooth rear gear and this was impossible to sprint on with speeds reaching 40 miles an hour. ending up 12th i was not incredibly happy but still a solid finish.

LEARNING SO-CAL

2009-01-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend i had my first so-cal crit, It was a learning experience. After the race i learned from a teammate that many of the so-cal crits end in a breakaway which surprised me because a lot of the crits in the north country end in a field sprint, also it was a great time to learn about the people on my team and other teams that i will be racing with this year. I learned people and how they react to situations and how they perform in certain situations, stuff that is valuable to know during the course of the season.

The race was not as fast as i thought it might be, early on there where many breakaway attempts, but nobody had promising look until about 2/3 the way through the race then a break went up the road with the right mix of riders to succeed. there where two of the major teams in the race represented in the race therefore the impetus for the group to chase was not strong. Through out most of the race i did a lot of work because i was under the impression that the break would be pulled back at only a 20sec gap, but this was not the case and i burned al my matches, so when i finally did figure out that the group would stay away i simply didn't have the pop to put in an attack that would put me in the front group. I just tried to follow the final attack by Justin Willams of Rock Racing to contest the field sprint, but some things unfolded and my lead out fell through the pack as soon as Justin attacked, therefore putting me in 18th position for the finish.

OH WELL THAT'S RACING!!!!

ARROGANT BASTARD TRAINING CAMP

2009-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

New team sponsors Pista Palace bike shop and

Stone Brewing Co. present:

Arrogant Bastard Training Camp

DAY 1:

We had the first day of training camp today it was interesting, as it always is to meet your new teammates. With limited numbers we made it work, Paul Che, and Shane Lawlor joined myself and team director Justin Beope for a four hour cruise up Palomar MT. the first part of the ride was at a leisure pace but as soon as we started to climb up Mt. Palomar the pace quickened and we where able to test each others strengths. Today being the first day and limited turnout was very fun and successful, I expect tomorrow to be much better because we are combining training camp with the ever fast Swami's ride and more teammates should also be there!!

François Parisien

DAY 2:

The team did the swami's ride for the second day of training camp, even though all of us didn't do the long loop. team director Justin and Paul Che had to cut out early, but Chad DeRosier and I continued on. Thanks to former teammate James Gunn and François Parisien the long loop ride was very fast. even though the pace and the strain on the muscles was a lot it was excellent training especially for the 100+ mile road races that I will encounter during the season. We can mark this one up as another beautiful 80° day of training in beautiful San Diego!

Day 3:

Free Day, due to the conflicting schedules of the team we where able to do a ride of our choice today. I started my ride with former teammate James Gunn and François Parisien and also some other strong guys visiting from Quebec. half way trough the ride however i split from the group to take a scenic loop home, so i wouldn't exceed my hours for this week. this week i was supposed to do 22 hours so if i would have continued to ride then i would have exceeded the 3 hour ride i was to do today to make that limit. So i cut off and did the SDBC Saturday ride backwards back to my place. That however lame it my have been was the Arrogant Bastard Training Camp!

Racing Blues

2009-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Its the time of the year right before the season, most of the racers around the US are starting to feel anxious to get into the racing season. personally i know that i am tired of training for the season and not being able to race on the weekends. the season starts to come into full effect in the beginning of February, this month seems like it continues to evade me. yet it is still another month till the first race of the season, when the season starts i know that everything will move at a much faster pace.

From the month of Febuary to September there is more packed in the schedule than there are animals in the aquariums at sea world. except for the month of July which only has two large races one of which is in PA. therefore it also makes it a busy month just not as many races, the ominous schedule proves one thing true for the upcoming season, the fact that i won't have much time at all!!!!

Damn the cycling coverage! cycling coverage just makes the blues of the ominous racing season even worse, as i was watching the coverage of last years paris Roubaix i was so excited for the season that i was literally bouncing of the walls. this is probably because my excitement for the 2009 season can no longer be contained. in the upcoming season i will be racing in many PRO peletons and having some experiences that will be unmatched, YOU WOULD HAVE BLUES TOO!!!!!!!!!!

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

2009-01-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

SCHEDULE

SUN 25 CBR LONG BEACH 18th
SAT JAN 31 PO KIDS SB 28th

FEB

SUN 1 MOTHBALLS GOLLETA 12th

SAT 7 BOULEVARD CHULA VISTA DNF 3 LAPS
SUN 8 RED TOLLEY SD LAST
FRI 13-15 VALLEY OF THE SUN LAST,7TH
SUN 22 SNELLING RR SNELLING 7TH
SAT 28 MERCO GP MERCED CRASH

MARCH

SUN 1 MERCO RR MERCED 8TH
SAT14-15 TOUR DE MURIETA STUPID
SAT 20-22 SAN DIMAS SR

APRIL

SAT 3-5 SAN DIEGO CV OMNIUM
SAT 11 FORT IRWIN ROAD RACE
SUN 12 EASTER CRIT ONTARIO
FRI 16-19 SEA OTTER MONTEREY
SAT 26 DANA POINT GP

MAY

APRIL 29-03 TOUR GILA SILVER CITY NM
SAT 9 ENCANITAS GP
SUN 10 LA MIRADA GP

JUN EUROPE
JULY EUROPE
AUG EUROPE

SEP

SAT 5 SAN FRANCISCO TWILIGHT
SUN 6 ESPARTO TT
MON 7 GIRO DE SAN FRAN
FRI 11-13 CYCLEBRATION FOLSOM
SAT 19-20 CHICO RACES

New Team

2008-12-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased to finally get some closure the other day, to a long dilemma of what team i would be racing for in this upcoming season. I am pleased to announce that I will be wearing to colors of Five Star Waste Vegetable Oil its a local pro team in San Diego that has had some great results in the past few seasons. Under the watchful eye of director Justin Beope I hope to be given some great opportunity's in this upcoming season, we hope to be able to attend some pretty large races. On the table for next season is tour of Missouri, tour of Utah, Super-week, and all the NRC races on the west coast, and possibly some on the other coast. So in short this year is going to be a lot of fun.

The thing that the team and myself will be focusing on for next year is longer road races and stage races, for the team the glory will be enhanced at these larger races and it will give much more exposure to sponsors. For me, I hope to progress in longer races in hopes of readying myself for the races that I will encounter in Europe, I would like to ride my way to Europe in the next few years and the only way to do this is through longer road type races, rather than the shorter Crit type races, which are nonexistent in the European racing scene.

these are some of the reasons i believe this team is a great fit for me, there are some other reasons too, the fact that we will be riding Colonago Bikes and the new Campy 11 speed are just some pluses that I guess I'll have to live with!

Cheers

REST

2008-11-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

resting is so important to being a cyclist that it cannot be pushed enough, the end of the season taper is far more necessary than any miles during the long season. after the season the rest period acts as a reset button, no matter how hard the season has been or how long the season has been the one or two months off at the end of the season is the best thing that a professional cyclist can do.

During this rest period it is also good to remember to not take this time completely off the bike i like to ride 10-12 hours a week which is pretty much no riding at all, but during this period it is very important to keep the legs used to the bike even if you are not putting in the long miles.

Another great thing to do during this period is to find some type of cross training. since these are the winter months if you live at high elevations, nordic skiing is the obvious choice for cross training. most people will make the transfer to cyclocross, but this is not big enough of a change for me, i need a completely different sport. another great cross over is ice skating, preferably speed skating, but unfortunately we don't all have speed-skating ovals in our back yards, hockey will also do. another great thing to do in the off-season is to ski or surf these two activities have no similarities to cycling and therefore promote a well deserved break after the season.

whatever sport you do chose in the off season just make sure that you don't push the limits and hurt yourself. also make sure that you don't come back to the bike to early this will prove as a much disservice

WAVING

2008-11-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

A timeless question that has bothered me over the past few weeks, if birds of a feather flock together then how come cyclist don't wave to other cyclist? its a simple harmless hand wave from a person to another, simply implying that i would like to say hi to you today. since when has a hand wave been elevated to the point where the passing cyclist doesn't rate high enough for a competitive cyclist to be able to exchange had gestures of the complementary type? Just because someone does not compete in the cycling world and does not have the same status as you doesn't mean that they don't deserve a simple hand wave. the superiority complex that many cyclist suffer from, i believe has to do with racing status, and the value that they give themselves over others. the truth is that the competitive cyclist actually less deserving of a complementary hand gesture than the non-competitive cyclist. why you may ask? i believe it is simply due to the fact that the competitive cyclist has some goal that he is training for,m the non-competitive cyclist does it for the love of the sport and overall fitness.

as a competitive cyclist I believe that we owe the weekend warrior cyclist, more than most would believe. the weekend warrior cyclist pays for our careers, between the jerseys that they buy and the coverage on tv they pay for, we owe them more gratitude than realized. however I do not believe that the problem en-lies within the professional cyclist, professionals realize where their support base is. the real problem en-lies with the weekend warrior that is no better than the other fitness nuts that they may pass and not wave to on the few rides that they do. I have been out on rides and gotten dirty looks because I'am in my kit, simply because the weekend warrior doesn't believe that he is riding next to a professional, this gives him no right to not greet the passing cyclist no matter what class.

So please if you are a weekend warrior cyclist the next time you see someone out for a ride pro kit or not please give them a friendly gesture and make sure to promote the sport that we all love and share

Cheers

MEXICO

2008-10-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-10T16:20:00.001-07:00

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

Colby on the Scene

2008-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Colby Elliot was here