Dreams of Summer

At Marysville this summer some friends of ours showed up to film the race. They are starting a production company and just wanted to add to their experiece filming live events. This was just a (very) short clip (since it takes forever to upload) that they shot. Take note that I am not busting out of my skinsuit mid summer. Cold weather is crappy.

Did anyone notice who took the CX Elite National Title? Mr. Ryan Trebon, no surprise there. Tim Johnson ended up 5th behind his teammate James Driscoll, Jonathan Page (Planet Bike), and Never Trust a Man with Two First Names Jesse Anthony (Jamis). Powers ended up 19th about 5 minutes off the pace. Wes Schempf had a very respectable 22nd (of 74 finishers). Molly Cameron 28th about 7 minutes back.

Bad Andy was a DNF along with about 20-25 others. I will have to talk to him about that.

On the women's side...Katie Compton took her 5th National Title in a row. She's been kicking some butt over in Europe so that was no surprise either. Georgia Gould gave her a run for her money but in the end fell 45 seconds short. Laura Van Gilder (C3) took 4th.

'Cross Nationals

I was checking the updates at cyclingnews.com and saw that our Temporary Milkman Jake took 38th and Zach (C3/Slippery Rock) finished 28th in the under-23 category. Not too shabby considering the field these guys were up against. Wes Schempf of C3 took 3rd in the Masters 30-34 group and another C3 rider Kris Auer grabbed 8th in the 35-39 field. All of these races had over 50 racers at the start line. Rob Lea won his age group which I think was 60-69 but I'm unable to find the results right now. Awesome ride guys.

The best result so far for any Mid-Atlantic rider would have to be Jeff Bahnson (Van Dessel/Henry's). He took his second consecutive National title in the 15-16 age group. The kid is simply amazing. His margin of victory was 40+ seconds. That is an eternity in a 'cross race.

The Elite Men and Women are set to go tomorrow. I'm pulling for Bad Andy, Wes, Molly Cameron, and Jeremy Powers. Of those guys Jeremy has the best shot but I think it will come down to Powers' teammate Tim Johnson and Kona rider Ryan Trebon.

Johnson won last year after Trebon was taken out by a head on collision with another rider. Ouch!

In team news...

I'm pretty excited about the 2009 season because we have some new sponsors that will be revealed very shortly, uniforms are being slightly altered, and a flood of new riders. The road team has been given a big boost with the pick up of 3 new riders (two of which will race 'cross also).

The mountain team still has one opening left. If you are interested just leave a comment with your email address or phone number(I won't publish it) and I'll get back to you.

States

Yesterday was PA States. Seeing as it was just my second 'cross race of the season I figured I would be fairly fresh. Another good day to bust out of my skinsuit. I started warming up on the course and noticed that there was only one barrier section and no run-ups. It was pretty twisty though so I knew that blazing speed was not necessary.

Now let's go back to last week. In that course there were two sets of barriers, two run-ups, and a sand pit (this year it was rideable but last year the sand killed your brakes if you rode it). During the four dismounts per lap (I think I did 7 laps) I must have aggravated my "special" muscle. It was really a discomfort thing not a big deal.

Fast forward to Wednesday. I was walking my dog Skellington. Sometimes he likes to run so I run with him. I felt a little tweak in the special spot. I hoped it would be better by Saturday.

Now back to Saturday. During my warm-ups I like to hit the barriers with some speed to get a feel for what they will be like in the race. I did just that. I felt a "pop" in said "special" area. I raced anyway. Hey, I'm not some pansy football player or something.

From the start I was chasing. I missed my pedal and was stuck in the back. These things happen. Now not to give away my training secrets (like anyone reads this anyway) but I've been working on 8 minute and 20 minute TT drills so I felt confident that I could chase down most of the riders in front of me. Some of the others I knew would have too big of a lead by the time I got up to them. I picked my way though traffic. Passing little groups of riders here and there. Every time I hit the barriers though my special area hated me. With about three to go I heard the announcer talking about Vegan Rob being in 5th. I could see him and knew how many people were in between. I was sitting in 11th. I put in another big effort and got within 10 yards of Rob's group of four riders. Just as I was about to make contact the whole group took off. That move demoralized me. I had just put in a huge effort just to get close and had nothing left to respond with. One rider that I had passed earlier managed to get around me. I was just hanging on. When I crossed the finish line I felt pleased but also disappointed. I know that I raced well but if I had a better start I could've been in the top 5. Overall 10th. I don't think anyone could beat Zach (C3). He doubled up with the Collegiate and B's State Championship.


Big ups to my man Bad Andy (C3) too. He took the Elite field for (at least) his second PA State Elite title.

I have some exciting news about the Wonderland race...I finished 6th! (out of 7 finishers).

Looking ahead, this Saturday is the PA State CX Championship. I made the wise decision to drop back into the B race which is set to go off at 11am. I checked the weather forecast and it looks like another wonderful day for a 'cross race. I think the high was 35.

To get there...

Google Maps – 1401 Lehnert Road, Allentown, PA 18052

My only hope is that everyone else gorges on their T-day feasts and are all still bloated. I'm not feeling very fast.

Please Dewald Don't Hurt'em

I made a little trek across the city to Wonderland 'Cross yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a 'cross race. The wind was gusty, temps hovered around freezing, and there was even a little snow falling. Perfect weather to bust out (of) the skinsuit.

Let me just say that even though I haven't been racing, I have been training. Also, let it be known that I had no delusions of being anywhere near the front at the end of the race. Hey, I was racing A's. My goal was to not get lapped.

At the start line there were only 8 of us but they included guys like Ryan Dewald, Kyle Wamsley, and Jed Schober. I knew it would be a long day. As with any race that has a low attendance the start was uneventful. Actually, the gun when off and we all sat there for about a second or two looking at each other. When we finally took off I took up last place behind Kyle. I figured I'd be there anyway so why ruin someones race. To my surprise Kyle was moving slow so I passed him and a guy from Engin on the barriers. I flew over those barriers faster than I ever had before. I felt like Sven Nys, Neils Albert, or Lars Boom (soon to be Jeff Bahnson, no pressure Jeff). Pick your favorite. I was in the pace line with the front of the race in 5th! For about 2 seconds. I let a gap form while we were riding into a headwind and I just couldn't put the power down to keep up. I redlined. Kyle and the guy from Engin showed no mercy when they passed me. I was alone. I decided the best thing to do was to not get lapped, which I managed to do very well until two laps to go when Ryan came up on me. He'd be the only guy to get around me though. I'd have to say for my first A race I was pretty pleased with my performance. I had a good race and I had a lot of fun trying to hang with those guys. The best part was that I wasn't even last. Seventh out of eight. I just wish I had raced the B's race too. I love the Wonderland course.

Little Chad gets a Tattoo

For a few years now I have been throwing around the idea of getting a tattoo, but as we all know it is some thing that after its on you you can't change it. I never got one due to me not knowing what I wanted or even where to put it. I am a big dreamer, and most of the times I listen to my dreams. Well 3 months ago I had a dream, a dream about a tattoo, I knew where I wanted it and what I wanted. With in a week I had it drawn up and getting it done. When I went into the shop, I showed him my dream. It is a bike, but if you are not a cyclist you may not realize it right away. So I went in not expecting to get much from the artist, I mean came in with shaved legs, wanting a bike on my ankle. But as soon as I showed it to him, he was so excited! He said that he has always wanted to do a bike, and proceeded to ask me what Cat. I was and what bike I rode. All of the sudden I felt all my fear disappear. I knew he had that same passion as I did. I knew he would do his best. I told him I wanted it on my ankle because that way I can show it off but also cover it up if I ever make it to the higher ranks. As I was laying there while he was tattooing (which feels like lactic acid build up) me we talked about him racing in Colorado, and having about 4 bikes, what cleats he likes, and so much more. It felt like I was in a bike shop. After it was done I asked him what I needed to do to take care of it, and he said with a laugh..."For once I can tell a customer to take care of it like road rash and they understand what i am talking about."

After a month I was due for a touch up. After he was done, he said "Hold on, I have some thing for you." He goes in the back and brings out a small Cannondale bike model. He said "Here you go. I found this at a store and thought about you so I got it for you." I am all ready thinking about my next tattoo. As for me, who went in not thinking they would understand, turns out they understand more about me than I do. I have a feeling this friendship will be a lasting one.

The beat goes on...

The Allied Milk Cycling team has realized the dreams of yet another fine young rider. The rider formerly known as Fort James has inked a deal placing him in the center of the finest mountain bike team in the nation.

So apparently this is what sleep deprivation does to me.

Seriously though...James is a fine rider, person, and ambassador of the sport of cycling. He is heavily involved with the Delaware Special Olympics TT and is a regular volunteer at any MASS event. Dairy King James plans on competing for a podium in the MASS Sport Single Speed overall.

'Cross season is still going. Jake has a full schedule for the next 4-5 weeks and I will be finally getting out there at the Wonderland 'Cross in good old Lancaster on the 22nd. If you want to see me get my butt handed to me go here...


Directions: From Rte. 30 and Rte. 340 (Old Philadelphia Pike), proceed east on Route 340 for 0.5 miles to 2nd traffic light and turn right onto Oakview Road.Go 0.5 miles and turn left onto Hobson Road (before Rte. 30 intersection).Continue for 1.1 miles on Hobson Road (straight through stop sign at HarvestRoad) to East Lampeter Community Park entrance on right. If traveling from points east on Rte. 30, turn right at 2nd traffic after Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park onto Harvest Road, turn right at stop sign, and go 0.8 miles to Park entrance. Please park in designated parking spaces only.Google Maps or Mapquest: 2320 Hobson Road, Lancaster, PA 17602 .


I will be racing in the A group which is set to go off at 12:45. 60 minutes that will probably feel like 600 minutes.


Shawn had to have surgery on his thumb but is healing up nicely. He should be back to training at the end of December.

While I've been slacking...

Jake has been hitting his first 'cross season hard. He started in the C's but has already moved up to B's.

Check out his very own blog here: http://chicksdiggeologyjake.blogspot.com/

In other news...

It looks like Shawn will be working the pits for the rest of the season. At the very least he dislocated his thumb and has bone chips. Most likely he stretched or tore tendons though. Good thing that there is only about 3 weeks of racing left.

Also, I just got a call from Ronne saying that Jeremiah had to leave work in a hurry. His wife Kim, who is also a rider but had to sit out the season, is pregnant and was due 11-7. You figure it out. My guess is that he will be a daddy very soon. Jeremiah plans to start his little boy on a strict training regimen so he can race for the Allied Milk Cycling Team very soon.

A bicycle built for two...

I've taken the last few weeks off from racing and honestly, it's been nice. I've had weekends to actually do other stuff and/or relax. I've still been riding because there are a few races that I want to do yet but I think everyone on the team is about where I am right now...tired. If you think about the thousands of miles we ride all season while balancing our families and jobs it really is a large chunk of our time. I'm not complaining because if I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it.

As for the team...It looks like we will be changing some of our sponsors (we got some pretty good offers). As I mentioned before the money sponsors are all back which makes us super proud. For me it makes all the sweat, blood, and trashed parts worth it, knowing that we have their support for another season (especially with these crazy economic times).

We are still searching for new riders. If anyone wants to race for Allied Milk Cycling next season feel free to contact me by posting a message in the comments. I promise I will not post your e-mail address. Stupid spammers!

The picture is of Staci and I riding our tandem. It's a blast riding with her so I asked her to marry me. She said "I guess." Hey, I'll take it.

In the "Better Late than Never" Category...

Chad did some two wheel burnin'. It seems as though things turned out pretty well too...

Two weekends ago I had my last race of the season. It was in Clearfield PA, a 5 mile up hill TT that saw over 1000ft of elevation gain. This was was like any other TT, riders were sent off every 30 sec. There isn't any grand tactics in a race like this. You just get to your lactic threshold, stay there, and suffer for the 5 miles. That's what I did. One of our new team mates was there for encouragement, and rode beside me feeding me bottles (Thanks Mike!), I was able to keep my pace up. At the awards I found out that I came in 3rd place. Not to bad for a last race. I was 2 min. behind the defending champion Jeff Miller who has was this race 6 or 7 years in a row. Now it is down time for me, with some fun riding. I will start training come Jan. for my first race to be in March.

Chad

All I have to say is, next year you better win Mr. X(tra)S(mall).

Seriously though, it's been a pretty successful first season and Chad has been a big part of that. After a broken $900 wheel on the first race (5 miles in) to a string of podiums to finish the season. Great job Chad!

Click Here.

Ahhh. Dirt Rag. I was reading my e-newsletter when I spotted a picture of Shawn (right) and I think it's Joel (left) in the background. Way to go Shawn! You hold the record for Milkmen in the Dirt Rag archives, 2. Joel only wishes he had two! But that's just how you roll.

Shawn has also been racing 'cross (which I will probably start next weekend). I will pry some results from him next time I talk to him. He also has to help me get my screen door (Thank you Mr. Skellington) from Ace hardware. That probably doesn't mean much to you.

The Race

It turns out that the race at Blue Marsh was a USACycling race. That means you need a license to ride. Who knew it would be worth points?!?!? Had I known I may have left my gears on to race in my age group but being the end of the season it doesn't really matter anyway. Qualifiers are over. Nationals is over too so at this point, points don't really mean anything (unless you want to upgrade to Pro, me, not really).

It was a beautiful day just to be outside. Mid-70's, a slight breeze, and sunny. Wow! It was nice just being there, let alone doing what I love to do. I showed up early, about 9:45, for a 12:30 start. I wanted to see how they laid the course out and when I pre-rode the course I was a little shocked. They ran us backwards from the normal race loop. This actually makes the course easier in my humble opinion. When I got back I watched the Sport riders finishing up. They we truckin' pretty good. The winner came in at something like an hour 10 on the 14 mile course. Not bad. I looked around to see if any more Expert/Pro riders showed up. I noticed a few, my arch nemesis Erick Marklund of Bike Line, the Alieso twins, one Ryan Dewald, and the super fast Harlan Price. This guy won everything at Marysville back in July and he rides the 100 mile NUE races like they are walks in the park. Brother!

I started out ok. I'd say I was about mid-pack just trying to hold on as the start was a negative false flat of 1-2%. Not the greatest for a single speed. Harlan, Erick, Ryan, and the twins took off. I spun. Once we hit the singletrack I started reeling in a few riders here and there. The first climb was about 3 miles in. I was still behind some guys and I couldn't turn my cranks slow enough as they were spinning up the climb. I started walking. Another single speeder caught me and passed me as we walked together. I asked him what gear he was running. He said "a 32x15". On a 29'er! Holy Cow! That's 62 gear inches to my 55. I thought I was running a tall gear! I let him go since he was obviously moving faster. I spun just trying to keep him in sight which I did. About half way on the second lap we hit a climb. He got off and walked so I attacked him. I put a huge gap on him and just keep pushing until when I looked back he was out of sight. I know from personal experience that keeping the rabbit in front of you is huge psychologically. I was hoping he was human and I broke him. I never saw him again. On the third lap I caught up to Erick. We talked a little. He was hurting. I offered him some Honey Stinger and water (in the name of good sportsmanship). Then I rode away from him. I put a nice gap on him and held it to the finish. I ended up 6th or 7th overall (not bad seeing as there were at least 4 Pro's) and 1st in the single speed class. Finally.

Blue Marsh

One more last time for the mountain bike season. I decided to take the gears off and race at Blue Marsh Lake on Sunday. That's right, single speed baby! Back to my roots. Only this time instead of using my usual 34x17 gearing I'll be mashing a 42x20. There are two reasons for this. The first is the added speed (I will probably (definitely) have a hard time on the climbs). It's a taller gear so on the flats I should be able to motor about 1-2mph faster than someone with a more traditional 34x17, 32x16. I figure this more than makes up for the slow grind up hills I will have. The second reason is that it is a magical gear. No chain tensioner required. It just has a super clean look to it. Cross your fingers.

Now I've been testing this gear for oh, two days and so far so good. My overall times are close to riding with gears. That's a good thing.

10-12 Blue Marsh Lake 12:30 at the ski slope (eep, 42x20 up a ski slope am I crazy?)

MASS Finale

September 21st was the last Mass race of the season and it was worth double points. I decided it was worth taking a day off to try and get on the overall podium. We had all four of us in the Expert field and we all had a chance to move up in the standings.

Bear Creek is a tough course. It's one of those courses where you go up faster than you descent and I was starting with a head cold looming. The gun went off. I took the hole shot and was feeling pretty good. I love the uphill starts. They suit me well. About halfway up the first climb I looked back and saw Joel about 40-50 yards back in second. "Did I start off too fast?" I thought to myself. I was still feeling good but I decided to back off a hair. Joel, TJ, and Shawn quickly caught up to me in the singletrack. I've been having lots of problems in singletrack this year. I've been picking bad lines, pressing too hard, or just losing focus at the wrong times. Bear Creek was no exception. I bobbled and Joel got around. I quickly got on his wheel and we flew up the hill trying to break TJ (US National Expert Champion). It was not to be as I bobble in a technical rocky section and Joel, TJ, and Shawn hammered on. I put it in full pursuit mode trying to keep in contact with them only to see them getting farther and farther away. I backed off as I felt my lungs starting to get a burning, wheezy feeling. Tim Collins caught me on a climb. He's a super rider and does really well at solo endurance races.

After he passed me I was completely out of it. My lungs were fried. My head was out of it and my butt was, well, raw. I told you Bear Creek was rough. I pulled out after one lap and spent the remaining laps handing water bottle to those guys and tripping the other riders (just kidding).

Final results...1st TJ (duh) 2nd one Mr. Tim Collins and 3rd (drum roll please) Tom Fenush of Allied Milk Cycling. His previous best finish of the season was 10th. Nice ride Tom. Joel 5th, and Shawn 6th.

That put Tom in 7th (9 points from 6th), Me in 5th (99 points from 4th), Shawn in 4th (15 points from 3rd) and Joel in 3rd (21 points from 2nd) for the season in the Senior I Expert field. The team was 7th overall (223 points away from 6th) but not too bad since we only have 6 riders on the MASS roster and one did 3 races while the other did one.

Our sponsors will be back for next season and we are looking for a few more riders. The mountain team will max out at 10 riders so e-mail me if you are interested. The road team is looking for 3 or 4 riders as well (prefer cat. 3 or 4's so we can race in the same field). If you can do both mountain and road, cha-ching.

Next...'Cross is boss...

Back to the Races...

Chad had a road race a few weeks ago but since I was inside a 36" pipe I didn't have time to post it. Now I have all the time in the world. Here's what he had to say...

Saturday was my local bike race (Milton Bike Race). It is a 28 mile race with 3 climbs in it. Within the first 2 miles, there's a grade up to 21% that is over a mile long and one with less then a mile to go that has a grade at the top of about 22%. Over these 3 climbs the field will dwindle to about 10 to 20 riders. The last half mile is through the streets of Milton with 4 turns right be for the finish. I was not hoping for that good of a finish, just because it is flat at the end and I wrecked in a training ride on Tuesday which I was still sore from. I did not ride since that day to tried and recover. As I was waiting at the start line, I am informed that there are 2 or 3 pros that are doing this race this year. But that's not all -- they are wearing different jerseys and they all help each other. Not that promising for a Cat 3 racer. At the start, one pro attacks within the first half mile and stays until about mile 13. After we go over the mile climb, I am sitting in 3rd place with a buddy of mine and a good rider. There are a few other riders and of course the 3 pros. As we are riding, they do all the pulling. Hey, if you have 3 pros in a citizens race that are all on the same team, you are going to make them do all the work. So we all did. Since my buddy and I were the strongest in the group other then the pros and we wanted to try and win this, we worked together and took turns covering the attacks that the pros threw at us. We formed a breakaway of about 15 riders, a little bigger than what we were hoping for. Up the last climb, the strongest riders took off to narrow down the field. As we were going through the corners, I was trying to move up but I could not since the corners are so close together. As we were getting ready for the spring, the pros pushed the sprint and led each other out. The pros got 1st and 2nd and my buddy got 3rd with me coming in at 5th. Not bad for what we went through. After the race, I looked at our average speed and it was an amazing 25mph. Next weekend I'll be heading to Smethport for a 53 mile race.

Good job Mr. Chad.

Tick Tock

It's been a few weeks since I last updated. Hey, I've been busy as these photos show. Working an outage at a nuclear power plant can be fun...annoying...frustrating...and fun again. There are several reasons for the range of emotions that you go through.

First the annoying. There are many different personalities you come across in an outage. You have your "I don't care" people, your "What are we waiting for?" people, your "find any excuse I can not to work people" and people like me the "please don't make me sick" type. Which ultimately happens anyway. To be honest I fall in all of the other categories too.

Next is frustrating. It seems that everyday there is mass confusion for everyone. It seems when you are ready to go, the plant stops you for one reason or another. When they want you to get something done, you want to take a lunch break. Or when you are dressed out (anti-contamination clothing) with all your safety gear on it many times seems unsafe. Your anti-c's are way too big (so they come off easier) and then you top it off with an air sampler, a safety harness, gloves that are the equivalent of boxing gloves and so on. You get the idea. Safety to the utmost. Not to mention the 7 days a week, 12 hours a day part.

Then there is the fun. There a ton of different things to do in a nuke. There is ISI which basically we remove paint (this can also be frustrating/annoying) from pipe and welds so they can ultrasound the pipe to get an accurate pipe wall thickness. Pretty easy stuff. Then there is the super technical pipefitting. This year we did 3" schedule 160 (.499" wall thickness) and a 36" weld repair inside the pipe. This is what the pictures are from. I hope you enjoy as I cut this short since this is suppose to be about Allied Milk Cycling.

2nd, 2nd, 2nd...

Chad's been racing hard in the last 5 or 6 weeks of the season. Here's what he did this weekend.

Last week I headed up to Meadville for Tour de Tamarack for a 30 mile road race. This was 3 loop race with 3 climbing primes. For those who don't know what primes are, it means who ever goes across the line first at the top of the climb gets $10. Same thing as KOM. Anyway this race had an uphill finish which is great for me. The peloton stayed together for the most part, and with the first KOM coming up I attacked. With only one person to hanging on my wheel. Unlike Kinzua I made sure that I attacked again so I would go across the line first. After the line I just spun out waiting for the group to catch up. There is no way I was going to stay away for another 20 miles by myself. As we approached the 2nd climb (1 mile with an average grade of close to 20%) I thought I would attack again and see who could keep up this time, to my surprise no one could. Two down one to go. For the next 4-5 miles I road my pace and the peloton was not catching up to me. I lost track of laps and I thought maybe I can win this. Silly me, there was still one more lap to go. As we approached the start/finish line the group caught back up. My legs felt shot. I was not even thinking about winning the last KOM which was a quarter of a mile away. As we climbed I just did my pace. When I looked behind me, no one was there. I got all 3 KOM. This last climb destroyed the main field and it came down to 6 riders in a break away. I was not looking to win to be honest because I just won $30 and my legs where shot. We stayed away all the way to the finish, and as we started climbing too the finish someone attacked with only me and another rider able to counter attack. As we go across the finish I was able to hold on to 2nd place by 4 sec. The season is starting to slow down, but I still have 3 major races and one fun one. Next week will be my home town Milton Bike Race that is 28 miles, with the weekend after that a 53 mile race in Smethport PA, and the 2nd week in October a 7 mile uphill TT in Clearfield called King of the Mountain.

If you hadn't noticed...

Blog entries are slowing down. That's because races are getting fewer and farther in between. What was left of the road series is over and only one MASS XC at Bear Creek on the 21st remains. There's still a few good races but the energy behind them is fading. Promoters, spectators, and riders are getting worn down. I'm fine with that because 'cross season is flying towards us.

There will only be a few of us racing CX but I think we will do well. Check out the Mid-Atlantic 'Cross site for a relatively complete calender of the '08 season. This weekend will be the first in the PACX series and on the 21st Van Dessel will be putting on the Hole Shot race. Last year they gave away a brand new Van Dessel Hole Shot frame to the rider who took the hole shot (leader at the start of the race) in the C race. I believe this year will be the same. Unfortunately for us we are not C's and we will be at Bear Creek trying to hang on to our overall placements in MASS anyway.

Race Ave.

Saturday Shawn and I took the long trek (maybe a mile) to the Race Ave Crit. It was a very standard 4 corner, .7 mile rectangle course. Basically, you went 2 blocks, turned right for one block, turned right...

Shawn did pretty well in his race. He finished in the top 10 (6th if I counted correctly). He looked strong too. Getting late in the season that can be hard to do.

As for me, it was a struggle to hang on to the group. My legs just never felt powerful. I knew a sprint finish was a bad thing for me so with about three to go I put in the most feeble attempt at a breakaway (like I said I had no power). I made it to the front only to be immediately caught and spit out the back. I tried to hang on but I couldn't close the 10 feet of gap in front of me. Eventually I was all alone so I nailed it for the last two laps just trying to not get lapped. I even caught up to some other riders that fell off the back after me. The end result was still not very good. I didn't stick around to see the official results but I'm guessing between 15th-20th. It was hard to tell because so many riders were dropped earlier and I don't know how many were in the peloton when I fell out.

Ben was there lending support. He also snapped a few shots. Here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21124578@N08/.

Next weekend there are two races I'd like to do but there probably won't happen.

There's the Laurel Mountain Classic in Wellsboro and a new road race called the Cheyney Challenge in the West Chester area.

The grand finale for MASS is coming up. 9-21 at Bear Creek a double points XC race (they also hand out season awards which a few Allied Milk riders should get). This course is probably the hardest of any race in the series. One year it was a 4.5 miles lap that took about 40-50 minutes to go around (do that three times). Compare that with something like Sewell where we went 22 miles in about 1:30-1:45. I've heard they changed the course this year to take some of the abuse out of it but the singletrack there is about the hardest I've ever ridden. Should be fun...

Chad's version of events

Last Saturday was Sunbury bike race. It is a 26 mile races with all hills. Dan drove up from Lancaster to support me. The weather for the day was not bad at all, not in the 90's how it is every other year, but in the 80's. Dan and I decided to try and have me win this race, since the race is all hills and i am peaking for this race. The gun went off and Dan took the lead with me on his wheel, his plain was for the first 1 mile climb to weed out most of the weaker riders, which he did a great job of doing. We were climbing the hill at about 15-17 mph with no letting up any time soon. towards the top of the hill a rider from VisitPA flew past us. I grabbed his wheel and followed him. Dan I found out later blew a tire with in the 5 mile marker. Through the whole race we kept the pace high, dwindling down the field till we had a break away. With only one last climb to do, (a one mile climb with a ave. 18% grade and top at 20%) this is where the race is decided, It was down to me and Ray Adams (VisitPA) We worked together on the decent down to the finish, with one rider catching up to us to help build our lead. With the finish line in sight Adams started sprinting and i was right on his wheel. I started coming around him but did not have enough time to pass him be for the line. With the results in I got 2nd with less then a second between me and Adams. I was disappointed that i did not get first until Dan informed me that he is semi-pro in mountain and Cat. 2 in road. After the race i packed up to head to Kinzua for another race, this one was a 30 mile with lots of hills and a 1 mile up hill finish. The race started as any one does, staying in the front in the best place to be, so you can cover attacks and stay out of trouble. With us starting the climb to the finish we had a group of 5-6 riders. We were keeping the pace high, until we had a quarter mile to go. At that time i attacked with with no one responding except for one rider. I tried to shake him off my wheel, but he was glued to it. I knew at that time that he was saving all his energy and it would be very hard to beat him at the line. As I predicted he got me at the line. Another 2nd place in the same weekend with over 55 miles of racing. Next race for me is this weekend in Lewisburg. It is a Triathlon that i am only doing the biking for a 3 person relay (I don't do running or swimming) This will be the first time i will be using my TT bike, and hoping to be the best time. Pictures coming soon.

Last Saturday Chad and I were in Sunbury racing in the YMCA fundraiser. It's not a USACycling event but it still draws a good crowd like cat.2 (I think) roadie Ray Adams (he also happens to be a semi-pro mountain biker on VisitPA.com).

It was an interesting day for me since I had no bike but was still racing. I had a mishap with my Rivet so I had to get my 'cross bike into somewhat road gearing. I only run a single ring (instead of the double on a road bike) and it is normally a 42. I had a 46 laying around so I put that on but then I thought "those climbs are going to kill if I only have a 46" so I put a 27 on the rear. This gave me almost as low a gear as a 39x25 but my top end was way short. About 19 gear inches to be exact. I figured I'd pull Chad as long as I could keep up.

Just as we were about to start Chad's brother pulled in with his bike. A 52cm (50 is about my limit) but it had a big ring! Woo woo! I quickly put on my wheels, adjusted the seat and lined up.

Being an open category race I took the lead out of the blocks to weed out the pretenders. It worked pretty well since the first three miles were up hill. I pulled the whole way until about 3/4's of the way up when Ray took off. I guess I was going too slow for him. I saw Chad hang on his wheel so I dug deep to stick with them. Just as we were about to crest the first climb I heard a "hiss". Another flat for me. The wheel support was way back and it took them about 3-4 minutes to get to me so I just called it a day. There was no chance of getting back on now. I got a lift back to the start line and waited.

While I was waiting I checked my computer. Three miles, just over 10 minutes, and 1000 feet of elevation gain. Seems fast to me.

Tomorrow is Iron Hill MTB. It's #9 in MASS. Tom, Joel, Shawn, and I should be there. I haven't heard if Brooke will be there or not.

Next for the road is Race Ave. Crit on the 23rd in Lancaster city. It should be a blast.

The season is starting to wind down but 'cross is right around the corner. 'Cross is always fun, even if it's not.

Well, well, well...

If anyone had been paying attention to the Saturday Lancaster New Era they would've noticed Shawn and Joel on the front page of the sports section along with an article about Shawn and his Nationals experience. Unfortunately I'm not really sure how to (or if I can legally) put this on the blog but if you missed it and would like to see it, I can e-mail it to you.

Things have slowed down a little with the race series' winding down but Chad managed a 4th place at the Hammer Creek Road Race. He said he was going to do a report but it never came. Haha.

Anyway...it looks like this weekend it will be Chad and I (Joel is still undecided) up in Danville for a race that apparently has a one mile climb with grades up to 20%. That's pretty steep and it sounds painful but oh well.

8-16 is the Iron Hill mountain bike race. It's a short (4-5 mile) loop that is pretty fast. I believe we will be doing 4 laps. It's usually hot and muggy. Duh, it is mid-August but really it's hotter and muggier there.

Grandview (plus or minus 13 laps)

Since I took last weekend off completely I decided that this weekend I should hit a race somewhere. That race would be Grandview. A 25 lap/mile crit. Things were going fine for me at the start. I was about halfway in the pack and feeling ok.

Crits are a lot like cyclocross (to me anyway). I like to go hard, recover, and blast again. It's pretty violent on your legs. Fun right?

So at lap 5 or so two guys went out and were away. I decided that without teammates my best friends would be breakaway buddies. I quickly moved to the front. On lap 7 I was sitting third wheel and noticed that we put enough of a gap on the peloton that we could bridge without pulling the gang along with us. I jumped from my spot to the front and pulled. I was bridging the gap to second. I figured the four of us would chase down the solo rider in front and make a group of five. I also figured that if we worked together we could hold off the peloton.

When I got across to second I looked back. The other two hadn't come along with me. "Oh boy." I thought to myself. "This is going to be hard work." The two of us worked together nicely until I noticed his pulls were getting slower and shorter. We were no longer gaining on the solo leader and the peloton was coming hard. I decided to sit up and wait for the pack. When they zoomed past, I'd hitch a ride I thought. It just wasn't to be I guess, as the group flew past I couldn't hang on a wheel to save my life. I was toast. Burnt to a crisp.

I looked down at my computer and saw an average speed of over 25mph. I knew I wasn't going to catch back on the back so I bailed. I was ok with it though since I blew up going for it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Next weekend is the Hammer Creek road race. It's a 4.25 mile loop so there should be lots of action. I have 10 laps. Yum! Check it out at: http://www.richruoff.com/.

UAPM is selling the lovely re-usable grocery bags you see pictured. They are $3 each. UAPM does a lot of good work so help them out if you can. Check out their link on the right side of blog.

Yowza!

Semi-Pro Wes Schempf won the XC at Mt. Snow. That makes him the Semi-Pro National Champion! Way to go Wes. We are happy not only that one of our own won but that it was you. You truly deserve it. Is a Pro License in your future?

The Milkmen sent two to Nationals to compete in the Expert field. Tom held his own with a very respectable 14th. Shawn was in the Allied Milk slot of 4th. We've been in 4th so many times this season it's getting a bit annoying. Either way though, we are proud of both riders efforts. I'll be trying to finagle a race report out of them (probably to no avail though).

The next mountain race isn't until 8-9 and that would be God's Country. It's a 50 mile point to point style race. I think only Tom will be doing that one though. Most of us will be supporting Chad at the Sunbury Road Race. It too will be on 8-9.

If you are in the Lancaster area (7-26) or just like to watch super fast bike racing, check out the Grandview Grand Prix. It's a criterium, which means it has super short laps. Pro 1/2/3 race is 35 miles (roughly) which is 35 laps. I'll be doing the 3/4 which is 25 laps. It goes off at 2:20.

Check it out.

Mt. Snow

Here we are, it's Friday. Tom and Shawn are heading up to Mt. Snow VT to compete for the old Stars & Stripes jersey. Nationals...you remember the Greenbriar race in April, yeah, that's how they got in (and I didn't...stupid brakes). Shawn and Tom will be starting bright and early tomorrow...8am! I haven't seen a start time that early in a few years. Haha! Best of luck guys.

The rest of the team is off this weekend which is a bit weird but nice. I went back to training mode, over 240 miles this week. Time for some rest.

My plans for this weekend were to head down to Lancaster to do a race then head up to Clearfield for another race on Sunday. The Lancaster race did not happen due to a whole bunch of/lack of communication on the race organizer and myself part, hey it happens. So I had Sat. off and started to get myself prepared for Tour de Susquehanna. Since the race is north west of us it has plenty of hills, just what I love. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and headed to Clearfield since the race started at 8:00. The race started as it all ways does, fast, with only 1 mile in you have to climb a 1 mile hill, this is when you have to be in the front because there is always a gap and most of the time the group can stay away. I was feeling great by the time we got to the top and i realized that we had a 5 man break. Half way through the race a guy from Ski and Spokes attacks to get rid of any weak riders in our group. After the attack it was down to 3 riders including myself. We knew we could stay away if we all took short even pulls. With only 1 mile to go to the finish I was sitting in 3rd, (the best place for a sprint since you can cover attacks) The rider in the front attacked, and the guy from Ski and Spokes tried to cover it but I had to sprint around him and try to catch up to the attacker. I was gaining on him, but unfortunately the finish came up 15 feet less then what I needed. With it all said and done I came in 2nd place overall, and about 1 min. ahead of the chasers. I recommend this race to any one, it is always a blast! My next race is in the air, I am not sure what my next race is even going to be (my manager may have a few ideas) But I can say that in August we are going to have a strong team showing up my way. Out.

Awesome job to Chad, Joel, Shawn, and Brooke (we didn't even see you at Fair Hill but you still managed second). Just so you guys know, I am so jealous of your pilsner glasses that actually say "5th" and "3rd" on them. Nice shorts too!

Oh and Marc...I wish I would've jumped in the pool. I lost 6th place to that guy anyway. I thought I could hold him off though. Oh well, maybe next time.

5 Races in 9 Days

Saturday I did the Peiffer Hill Road Race. It's a pretty cool course. It goes down, down, down and then the final 3k or so is mostly up (with some rollers) to the finish. Of all the road races left I felt that this would be my best chance at a win/top 5.

The pace was gruellingly slow even though Kelly Benefit Strategies had 10 riders in the field. They never attempted to control the race at all. It was a bit weird. I was expecting a move like at Brownstown. On the third of six laps I saw an opening at the base of the climb. I figured with the pace as slow as it was I might get lucky. I shot through the hole and made my escape. After my attack I looked back, I was getting away but no one came with me. Now if I was a pro, didn't have a mountain race the next day, and was just plain crazy I would've attempted to hold them off for the final 30k. This would've been next to impossible but worth a try with the way they were(n't) working together. Me being me however, knew my chances were slim and that I would really suffer the next day at Fair Hill eased off the throttle. I did however make sure I crossed the line ahead of the peloton. I figured I at least earned that. Lap 4 I sat back and rested. I was still thinking Kelly were going to make their move on lap 5. I wanted to be ready. Lap 5 came and went with nothing at all. Lap 6 was the final lap, surely they would move here. Again, nothing. I positioned myself for the final climb. I was three back, a great spot to launch a final attack. I was going to go at the same spot too but when the time came I somehow was completely boxed in. I weaved in desperation to get through as the attacks started. By the time I got past all the other riders I could tell it was pretty much over for me. One rider was away, and the peloton was in full throttle. Not being a sprinter by any stretch of the imagination, I got out of the way and let them do their thing. My final result my not be that great but it was a good race. I felt good and I had a chance all the way to the end. Sometimes things just don't work out though.

Today was Fair Hill. A 27 mile point to point style mountain bike race. These trails are maintained by the Delaware Trailspinners. They do a great job.

The start is a Jeep trail (two dirt tire lines with grass everywhere else). It is fast and furious. Everyone fighting for position before the singletrack. I got off to a bad start because the guy next to me missed his pedal and cut me off in the process. I know he didn't try it but it still stinks with a start that is that fast. I was in the back so I pedaled as fast as I could to make up as much ground as possible. I did ok too. I was probably in about 15th or so. I was riding with Tom and we could see Joel and Shawn up ahead. This was a pace line race for the first 12-15 miles. It was crazy fast. We started picking off riders that couldn't hold the pace. Tom then dropped back. Then me. I spent the next 5 miles or so with a rider on my wheel. I'd kill him on the climbs and he'd catch back up on the descents. It was a lot of fun. I then had a minor mishap with a course marking (aka I didn't read it) and took the Sport loop. Oops! Luckily the guy I'd been battling yelled so I didn't get too far but that was all she wrote for my legs. That zapped them. I did manage to catch up to the rider but like I said, I had nothing left. I went into conservation mode. I knew I was riding well and wanted to make sure I didn't crack and lose my position (whatever it was). Turns out I was 7th. Tom 10th. As for Joel and Shawn, we never did see them again. Seems they were sipping martinis for a few minutes before I crossed the line. Joel 5th. Shawn 3rd. The first Allied Milk male to podium in a solo event. Allied Milk riders will be moving up the leader board now.

Next week Tom and Shawn will be at Mt. Snow competing at Nationals. For me, a much needed break. 5 days of racing in 9 days (plus working full-time) equals not much down time.

A little MooJo

I wasn't having the best of luck this weekend so I added some "moojo" to my bike. That didn't help either. Joel was the only one of us that cracked the top 20 (18th) in the rain soaked night TT of Friday. It was slick and I was just too cautious I guess.

Saturday was the XC. I had a great start, leading into the singletrack. I know I'm not as fast as many of the guys in our category so I wanted to be in front in the tight twisty stuff. That way I could keep everyone in check and race my race. All was going to plan and when I went to shift to the middle ring and it didn't drop down I recovered quick enough to still be sitting in 6 or 7th place. I was still in the pace line. We were moving pretty good when I hit a huge muddy/standing water soup of a mess. I got on the throttle a little too early and washed the back end out. Down I went. There was some horrible creaking noise. I tried to get back into the race but my handlebars were askew. Heh. That's what that horrible creaking noise was. After a quick fix I was back on. I had lost some time but I felt pretty good so I went to catch back up. I hit the redline and pushed beyond it. I did manage to make contact with the group only to completely explode when I did. I was fried. The rest of the race was for pride. 13th. I guess it could've been worse. Joel had his first DNF ever (I believe).

His race was a bit different though. He was in the same pace line I was in and when I went down he kept motorin'. When I got rolling again I passed him. His chain broke and he was fixing it. Unfortunately, his chain tool was broken as well so he ran. He ran so far away. Oh but wait. Somewhere along the way there was a snake involved. It almost bit him or something.

Thomas the Tank cracked the top 10. Mr. Consistent rode his race (as always). I think it's impossible for him to make mistakes. He was on a new bike (third ride) and it didn't even phase him.

But Shawn was the star on Saturday. Seven minutes back of the winner (TJ Mosher) in 4th. One of these races we will get to actually step on the podium. The competition this season is incredible. No one is really faster than the other. It comes down to who is having the cleanest race.

Sunday was the Hill Climb and Short Track. I was 20th overall in both (that includes the pro/semi-pro guys). I was pleased but if I would've had a cleaner race the day before I would've had more energy on Sunday. Joel was 15th (if I remember correctly) in the short track. He said that was because he DNF'd the XC and had more energy. Haha. Good strategy Joel.

The podium didn't have too many people flying their team colors. I attribute this to stench. It was a weekend festival and jerseys and shorts were pretty nasty by the time awards were handed out. Sorry sponsors.

I've been Slacking

Many of you may have noticed that I have no idea how to get the pictures to go where I want them. So if captions don't line up with the picture I am sorry but you will have to deal with it. Kenny is an apprentice. He is the one in the white shirt. He is one of the few that didn't make a rude gesture when I took his picture (I'm trying to keep this blog PG). Tommy is the guy smiling over the edge. I have to deal with him for 10 hours a day (aka he is my partner). The pictures are from the 9th floor of the new Lancaster Convention Center/Marriott. We will be moving up to the 10th floor Monday. I'm not really sure if my boss cares that I waste his time with these shots but I don't really care either (just kidding Justin). We keep the slacking to a minimum I swear. The little gray guy is Baby J. We are fostering him until he gets big enough to go up for adoption. That day is soon. Go to the Humane League and get a friend.

Finally...

With me coming of an injury from last wed. when i crashed during a training ride, i was not looking to do too well because i was still very sore. Dan and i decided to just wing it and chances are have to lead him out for the finish. The course for Brownstown was a 5. something loop with a little hill at the the finish. The race started at a nice speed and with in the first 2 laps there was a break away 7. With a kelly-benefit rider in the group the whole team moved to the front to slow down the peloton. Dan and i realized this and knew that if one of us did not get in the breakaway then we would have no chance of a top 10 finish. Since the yellow line rule is in affect except for the last 1km we decided to attack there so we could use the whole road. I went first with Dan right on my wheel, after going across the start/finish line i knew that i would catch them. After Dan realized that i was in the break he slowed down and drop back into the peloton knowing his job was done for the day.

With the break away 8 riders strong we knew we had a good chance of staying away since the course is very windy and it will slow the peloton down. We all made even pulls for the last 5 laps of the race. On lap 5 it started raining, an advantage for us because this would slow the peloton down even more. With only one lap to go i went across the start/finish line and realized that i was cramping up in my thighs, even for a climber like myself this will cause a problem on the climb at the finish. I tried to conserve energy but it was no use, at the finish i just sat up, knowing i had nothing left and knowing that i still got 8th place. After the race was over i realized that Dan flatted with only 2 laps to go, and the peloton came in around 1 min. behind us. I will survive to race another day, and so will Dan.

Chad.

The only thing that I think was wrong was that I led you to the break my friend. Otherwise I would have made it too.

Check out Marysville. It's a festival so even if the racing is boring there will still be some food, games, and/or bands. http://www.masuperseries.com/ for me details.

I've Been Everywhere Man

So I finished up another week of mountain bike camp. These were hands down the best kids I've ever had. They listened, for the most part. They are kids after all. They rocked the trails too. We covered 70 miles this week. 50 of that was by Wednesday! The final two days we decided to slow them down out of fear that they were too tired and would make mistakes. Really though, these kids got it. I'm not saying we had any Geoff Kabush's, Harlan Price's or any local Joe racers for that matter but we did turn out 12 fine mountain bikers. That the whole point of the program. Chip (trail crew guy) took pictures throughout the week. He then compiled these pictures (and some film) to make all the kids a 3-4 minute dvd of themselves hurtling though the woods. Things like that are what hooks kids into sports like these. It keeps them coming back on their own too.

On to Brownstown...It was another hot day. Temps were close to 90 and the humidity was something like 93% this morning. Yum! At the start line everyone was complaining about the heat so I decided to do a 'cross style start. 100% out of the blocks. This caught a few by surprise but the strong hung tough. After about 3 miles of attacks and backing off I decided I had weeded out the pretenders. As I was catching my breath after a long turn in front, two from Kelly Benefits (along with 4 others) went clear of the group. They put a nice gap on us too seeing as their teammates were sitting on the front blocking the peloton from catching them. Good team tactics. When the road opened up a bit I made an attempt to bridge but I only seceded in pulling another rider within 30 yards of the break before I was spent. I backed off and waited for the peloton to catch back up to me. I drifted to the back of the peloton and rested a bit. On lap three Chad, a rider on Vortex, and I decided that this was the lap to catch the break or it was over. Kelly was playing the race perfect. We waited for the road to open up again and all three of us went. The Vortex rider leading out. He faded, I was on his wheel and pulled through. I started to fade and Chad was launched into the break. A sigh of relief came as I quickly tried to catch my breath again as the peloton caught up to me. I hung on but my job was done, Chad was in the break. I sat in the peloton the rest of the race. The rain was pouring down on us but I didn't care, Chad was in the break. I eventually got a flat and had to bail but I didn't care, Chad was in the break. Haha! Chad is writing up a race report so you will soon have his side of the story.

Next week is Marysville. This is a three day stage race. Night TT, STXC, Hill Climb, and an XC race that is always harder than it looks. We will have five riders and potentially a film crew. It's a fun time.

Mountain Bike Camp

My job at White Clay has to be one of the coolest in the world. I get to work with great people and ride my bike with some pretty amazing kids. I take the weeks off from work (without vacation pay) because I believe in this program that much. I'd do it for free.

This week we have the level II kids. Most of them are 13-14 years old but some are as young as 11. That is a pretty big age gap. Today is Wednesday and we have over 50 miles in for the week already. 20 of that was today. These guys are lucky this week because the trail crew has donated the time of two of their full-time trail builders to ride with us. This is cool on several levels. First, they built the trails. They know all the new ones, secret ones, and future ones. Second, they know what it takes to build them. We really stress trail stewardship in this program. Things like being a courteous trail user, volunteering, and maintenance. Not every ride has to be a race. Good stuff to know. The trail crew guys can really enlighten the kids more than the rest of us because they know how long it took to build something. They know what riding on soft soil does to the trails and so on.

On Tuesday we sat the kids down and had a chat about all of these things. We asked them if they knew how long it takes to make a trail. Obviously, none of them really knew. We rode 10 miles at that point in the day so I said to Adam (one trail crew person) "How long does it take?" He said (which is pretty amazing) "10 feet and hour if cut by hand." (a lot of it has to be)

10 feet and hour!

I asked the kids if anyone knew how many feet were in a mile. We came up with about 5000. Close enough right? So I asked them how many hours it took to make the 10 miles of trail we just rode. They scratched their heads and realized it was 5000 hours. I think it hit home with them. Adam and Chip did some quick thinking and said that it actually took them about to 3000 hours to build those trails but still a long time.

Tomorrow is another day to teach them something else.

Saturday Chad, Jeremiah, and I will be in Brownstown racing for 55km. It will be hot and possibly wet since they are calling for T-storms.

One more thing...If you haven't been to Downtown Isaac's lately, GO! They really went the extra mile on the outside dining. Big planters, fancy plates, and linen! No more paper napkins. And from what I understand they buy their veggies local when possible. Care to comment on that Mr. Jacobs?

Go now.

Neshaminy

What can you say about Neshaminy? It's a fun course. It has lots of flow. There is a super cool switchback off-camber 60% (probably steeper) grade downhill. They used the EMT's like 5 or 6 times steep. I thought it was awesome. I had no idea I was riding in 5th when I had a mechanical. I decided to pull out (instead of fixing it) and missed a chance for some good points.

I did manage to take some pics of the guys coming through though. Not a complete waste of a Sunday. Everybody did awesome. Brooke took third in her class. Tom 9th. Shawn 7th. Rocketman Joel with another 4th.

Marysville is next for the mountain team. It starts 7-4 and goes until 7-6. It is a great time.

The road team has Brownstown on the 28th but we are still undecided on how we want to handle all that has happened. First they canceled all the races. Then they re-open two or three. There is all kinds of gossip going around about it and we think it may be best to step back and let it settle. I don't want us to get caught up in the emotion of it all.

Today was my first day back at White Clay. The mountain bike camp is a blast. I have a great time teaching the kids how to ride trails. It's awesome when you see them "get it". Like when you show them how to apex a turn or go over a log. It's just really cool. Today we probably put in about 7-8 miles. Not bad for a bunch of little legs on the first day.

If anyone is paying attention they would see that our team is moving up in the standings. Tom is 10th. Shawn sits in 8th after a 4th at Danville. Joel is in 6th and about 200 points up on 7th. I moved into 3rd about 30 points up on 4th.

This weekend is Neshaminy. It's a cool course and reminds me of Granogue. My favorite section is in the beginning in the twisty, fast, wooded section. We should do well here.

We are still working on getting the road team reorganized.

Finally...

I finally replaced my broken camera. It's about time. The blog was pretty boring with me just typing away. Here are the pictures I promised from a few entries ago.

The green dome is the copper clock tower on the Lancaster courthouse. The crane/steeple picture is of the parking garage being built for the convention center (that I took the picture from). It was taken from the 6th floor. I will be leaving for a few weeks to teach the rug rats at White Clay to ride mountain bikes. That takes us to the rug rat picture. I was guest of honor at a daycare. They were learning about bikes so I was requested to answer their questions. They knew all the basics like shifters, brakes, and tires. What they didn't know was, "Do you like hockey?" " Do you like to fish?" Hey, they are pre-schoolers (and that is why they are all holding papers in front of their faces).

Next week I will be at White Clay. No racing. Shawn, Joel, and Tom will be at the Stoopid. Chad will be at the Strawberry Festival Road Race.

Keep the rubber side down.

It's the Simple Things.

I've never been so happy to pee. Here we are 7:15pm or so and it's the first time since before the race at 10:30am. It might not seem that long but when you consider what I drank in that time, it's pretty amazing. Here's the list: 2-32oz Gatorades. 2-16oz bottled water. 4-21oz water bottles. 1-16oz Naked. 2-pilsner glasses of water (16oz I believe). 228oz of fluids to one urination. That's a heck of a ratio.


Let's just say today was HOT! It was 95+ with a humidity level that was up there. I don't know if it was the weather or what but I never really felt right out there. Danville is a good course for me with lots of climbing. 4500 feet (I've never granny geared so much) in 18.5 miles. Compare that to Sewell with about 1000 feet (Big ring all day) in 22 miles. Shawn and I knew that we had to pace ourselves and gauge our efforts closely. It was just too hot to hammer every climb. So we did just that and we paced ourselves into a 4th (Shawn) and a 5th (me). Now I know when someone checks the results they will see only 7 finishers. This is true but today was a day of hanging on. There were very few who managed to ride at their best. Plus, 4th and 5th are the same points whether you have 7 riders or 50. Points are points right?


Next weekend the team will be at the Stoopid 50 (www.masuperseries.com) for a 50 mile day in the park. Lucky for me, I have to go to a wedding. Shucks.

Chad's two cents.

Another Astana?


As you read in the most current blog, we have no more licensed road races. After reading the e-mail from Butterworth, I just could not believe it. With me and Jeremiah being 100% road and a few team members 50% and our team covering every part of cycling Cross, Mount., and Road this is a huge set back. With my hopes now destroyed of not being able to do the race that our team wanted to do well in, and me trying to get the points to upgrade to Cat. 3 I am in a frantic mode. I feel some what like Astana did at the beginning when they could not do the races they planned on, or having to train differently to peak for other races, (not to mention the Giro at the last minute) and luckily their sponsors stood behind them. I am now looking all around for races, even in different states, because this just does not affect just me, but also Team Allied Milk. My next month and a half is now open to any thing. If any one knows of any USACycling races please let me know. Who knows, maybe this will turn out like it did with Contador, wanted to do the Tour but won the Giro instead. Only time will tell. Out.

Chad




Updated MASS standings show the team currently in 7th place. Not too bad. We are about 400pts away from Mountainside Racing and have a slight margin of 130pts on Human Zoom/PBR (yes, that is Pabst Blue Ribbon).