Thursday, July 31, 2008

OVer the bridge and under the rain


I'm in the open, I'm in the way.

Very few who read this blog know adam turner. I lived with him and hippleshevit when I first moved to VA Beach waaaaaay back in summer 01. Jackson was Adam's big yellow lab. He was the best dog I have ever known. HOWEVER, this gentleman pictured above has taken the lead. Ozzie is without question the best dog I have ever known. He loves everyone. He even humps the face of the giant Rottweiler hugo. YOu have to be liked if a Rottweiler will let you hump his FACE! Bryan, can you explain that behavior?

Anyway, Ozzie just got his therapy dog license and I wanted to give him a shout out. What a great guy. I dog sat him a bunch of times and he'd shed like a catholic in a house of ill repute. THat'd make me mad because I would have to spend about 3 hours vacuuming up after him. But how can you stay mad at a puppy like this? I made his bed on the floor next to mine and somehow he'd end up on my bed by about 3 am. YOu just cant kick a guy like this off!

Happy b-day shippy.

Lastly, the insurance adjuster FINALLY called today. She sent me an email that I never received and is asking for proof of ownership. I might have her call some of you to verify my possessions. I know she is going to drop her jaw when she sees how much bike gear was stolen. I have already spent $8779 replacing tools, clothes, bike parts, and missing items. I am about $1000 short and have a $500 deductible. Lucky me.

Meet the 4th roomate tonight. So far everything is peachy. I need a new computer for class. Anyone have any suggestions?

Oh, rode 35 miles today down wildcat canyon. This descent is crazy. 40mph without a single pedal stroke and sitting up in the wind. I am sure that if I pedaled, I could fly off the mountain and no one would ever knew I were missing. I love that kind of adventure/risk. Come ride with me. Tall Capo socks rule!

New fav shirt

The bear shirt was pretty awesome, but this one may be my new
favorite. Possible poll coming for you to vote for your favorite!
Leave a comment and let me know if a poll is order.

By the way, 60 mile rr sat and a 25 mile crit Sunday. I need to race
to find some normalcy in my life!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

California Dreamin

Top down switchin 4 lanes....

iPhone wallpapers



Just a couple pics taken on the iPhone.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The road to my house is legit

I received the below from Chris Brianas. Check his blog out. I live on a really really steep hill. Need a 27 just to finish my rides.....





JW,

The official ruling on Marin Ave is that it is max 3.5% grade. Ha ha ha... just messing.

Well, it is insane and legit. Let me give you some geeky stats.

Along Marin, from San Pablo to Hillsdale, it is 2.09 miles (11,035.2 ft). It climbs 817 ft. 817/11035 = 7.4%.

And the REALLY steep part: Along Marin, from Arlington/Sutter to Hillsdale, it is .61 miles (3,220.8 ft). It climbs 541 ft. 541/3220.8 = 16.8%!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that right? I gotta check another site. Bender interjection: this doesnt account for the flattening at cross streets. There are sections here that are well beyond 20%! It is all I can do to get up these hills in my 39x27!

See the attached pics for all the details. It's actually pretty cool. The site is www.bikeroutetoaster.com You can click on "Map" then click on "course point" in the upper right, then away you go. You can create an account to save the routes.

By the way, awesome news about the 2009 Tour of California this February. The last stage is a mountaintop finish on Palomar Mountain!!! Are you kidding me? That is frickin awesome! When I told Cezanne she was like "that's exactly what you said they should do!" I thought that would be so cool. Not to have the last stage be Palomar, but to finish up Palomar.

The Tour of California organizers are working with ASO, the Tour organizers, so they've expanded to 9 days to cover more of California. Palomar is the Alpe d'Huez of California, I think. It's got all the swithbacks and kind of the same length and gradient.

I actually did the pics of the ride up Palomar and the gradient, etc. Turns out to be 6.65 miles at 7.9%.

Here is the link to the article about the ToC.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/tour_of_california_jul08

I love this stuff! I can't wait to retire from the Navy then get hired on as a Soigneur for a pro team... :)

Alright, enough geeking out, time to have some icecream.

-Chris

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Just a little sunday laugh





Need I say anything more?

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Happy birthday mom!!!

She never wants anyone to know, but celebrate my mom's birthday with me.

Finally got an opportunity to wash the car and take off the 23tooth
cassette on the slc. Otherwise, unpacked more of the kitchen and
worked in the garage. Not much else.

The morning is a huge day for the tour and my 1st official sat ride
with the team. I am almost done with the insurance replacing items,
now I just need to get insurance to pay up.

This pic is 1 block from my house. Any riders want to come out for a
while?

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Unpacking day 2

Had to drive up to travis AFB just to be sure that the last surgeon I
saw wasn't crazy and that I do in fact have a hernia. This whole mess
is frustrating me because it's going in 3 months now and no one is
willing to just schedule me for surgery. I keep telling myself, and
annie reminds me daily, that everything happens for a reason.

While I was at travis, hit up the commissary for some reasonably
priced groceries. Berkeley is insane for grocery prices! $300 of
staple nutrition.

Then I came home, missed the group rode by half an hour, then I
chipped my tooth. It was just a bad day.

But this shooting/warmup jersey made me smile. I used to live for
basketball, played 11 months/year. I was even the 1st walkon at navy
(all varsity athletes are recruited and navy never takes anyone during
tryouts). I could shoot the ball. Those were the good old days.
Plus I had the number 30, which ended up being my squadron number
too. Funny how that stuff works.

Tomorrow will be a better day. We are finally getting Internet and I
need to craigslist a ton of stuff. Anyone need size 46 sidi black
dominators? They'll sell fast.

High school basketballer

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Foreshadowing

This pic is for wick. This explorer is more rad than yours because of
the plates. Va is out of control with personalized plates. I love
you keith and "I drop u" is one of the better ones, but seriously
peeps, take a pill for 5 mins.

Thanks to emma for reminding me how to spell polka-dots. Read her
blog on the right and pray for her health! Get better girl.

Today was unpacking day 1. I will have many of these days.

I have to go get my hernia consult tomorrow and that means driving to
travis air force base to the clinic. Haircut from Wang lulu turned
out not too bad for my salad. Of course Wang lulu didn't take credit
so she kept saying "you pay now!". I kept thinking of dude where's my
car: "and then......"

Then I met a dude for a cal group ride. About 15 kids showed up and I
was the oldest by far! Weird. Wick replaces me as youngest now on
sr, but flipping roles is interesting. Imagine 15 kids like elliot,
Lucas, and Tyler who all think they know everything about bike racing
and what I need to do to compensate for my 200# frame. I didn't tell
anyone that I have had some decent success on the bike. It is funny
to me that people who don't know you and have never seen you ride will
talk down to you even if you are in a pro-tour team bike that costs
more than their car.

I was ok with it because their were all congratulating me after I
climbed with the lead group of 4 guys. It was just fun to watch them
flip sides/attitudes: It was possible I had a clue as to what I was
doing, and maybe I had raced something beyond cat 5. Fun.

Anyway, great 2 hour ride with some serious climbs and a 55mph
descent. Cool. Met a cool kid who was very interested in my riding
and why I quit the navy. All these people soak up the pilot stint.
He was a metro-mint rider in light blue polka-dots. Maybe their kit
will grow on me.

You should be studying for an exam instead of checking the blog!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Long sleeves and a bottle of wine

It was just too cold to ride and warm up in the short sleeve kit. 60
degrees plus the wind chill saw me shaking like a ninny. I raced in
short sleeves though.

Prob 70 racers and in typical fashion, I rode a lap then vaulted off
the front. Another guy joined me for a nice 8 lap solo effort never
gaining more than 15 seconds. No biggie.

I countered the 1st preme and had 4 guys away again. But apparently
the big teams didn't like their players in that break. Brought back
again. There were prob 5 teams with 5 or more guys. This made for
some predictable and reasonable racing. Teams controlled the race as
they should.

This meant that instead of making something happen myself, I was at
the mercy of the larger teams. Just as I realized this, a group of
six got away. Teammates were blocking forthis group. Great
opportunity for me. I waited until they were almost a complete city
block ahead and then took off on my bridge. No one came with me.
Nice, two laps by myself and I was able to close. But when I got
there, too many softpulls allowed the single file main group to get
within 10 seconds.

Our break didn't stick. I never understand this, all the $ is up the
road and no one is willing to work.

Some kid was sitting in front of the lap board and I didn't see it
until one to go. Bad news for me. Finished in the teens.

The good news is that I felt fine even after only 2 serious riding
days in the past 14. And the race announcer loved it that I tried to
innitiate or cover every break. He named me the most aggressive rider
in the race and gave me a bottle of wine. A Pinot called cycles
gladiator. Cool.

After this accolade, a bunch of dudes congratulated me and asked about
le bleu. I guess it's time to look for a new bay area team. One team
is light blue pocadots. I don't think I can do that.

Long sleeves and a bottle of wine

It was just too cold and windy to warm up without long sleeves today.
I didn't have my rollers

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Rollin

Did my 1st real ride today. 45 miles up and over two passes in
Berkeley. The passes are called canyons here, but I call 1/2 hour
granny gear climbs mountains. I know I will become a better climber.
Crit one mile from my house tomorrow. I will be sure to let you know
how it goes.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Steep!

RICO is out of the tour. To be honest, I had never heard of him
before this years giro. You don't climb your way into pro peleton
stardom and rock a major tour without being around for a while. I
remember when tom boonen was a postal scrub. Like anything else, you
have to pay your dues.

Anyway, this pic is the street I will have to climb everyday on my 2
mile ride back from school. You really can't appreciate how steep it
is in this pic. Both of these cars dropped down to super low gears to
aid in slowing. I had to get out of the saddle in my 39x23 and could
only manage 4 mph. The mtn bike will make it easier. I need to find
some fenders.

I got back to tony's house and ben had locked us out. It had dropped
to 59 degrees and was windy. July 17 and already below 60. I am
excited about this place. And I have a feeling I am going to be a
better climber.

Officially a student

As buckles would say, its getting pretty real around here.

Leaving Las Vegas

>
>

> I wasn't really sad when I drove away from my longest vegas stint.
> I came out of there with all hotels comped (premium room at the
> palms in the new tower danny), all meals paid, all partying paid,
> all cab rides and club admissions paid (never any lines for this
> guy), enough cash to pay for all the fuel from Norfolk to Berkeley,
> and enough cash to cover my $500 theft deductible and buy a new
> school laptop. Yeah for me!
>
> The drive out of vegas wasn't that bad. 9 hours to drive 550
> miles. When ben, my new roomy, and I got to tony's house (99
> Annapolis seal just completed his 1st year at haas and currently
> interning with a military owned comm real estate firm in la), there
> was absolutely no where to park. Every spot was reserved so I had
> to park near some school and I am sure I'll be towed. However, I
> took everything out of the truck so there'd be nothing to steal.
> All of my possessions are in tony's office not getting stolen.
> Quick note: absolutely no problems with parking lot security at the
> palms.
>
> Tomorrow I am driving to see the rental. 901 hilldale ave,
> Berkeley, ca 94708. Please send all house warming gifts now so that
> when I take the house on Monday, I'll have some mail.
>
> Kblog, wick nasty said you are adopting him now that I am gone. I
> think that job will take more of a team effort from you family
> guys. Wick can have a thick skull about some things (like guaging
> efforts on the front) but is a pretty good kid otherwise. Big ups
> to tkarnes for showing up at wed night circles race. I hear kid's
> getting stronger. Bigger ups to wick nasty for being there at the
> end. Took longer than I thought, but you are speeding up guy!
>
> Finally, thanks tommy urso for taking care of me at the palms.
> Danny e, how was your poker game?
>
> Corey carp-dawg, call m&m immediately.
>
> Gf, chill pill for 5 seconds while I figure out my skedg.
>

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Black jack

My boy dan marjle has been getting crushed playing bj. It is pretty
cool playing $15 a hand with one of my childhood heroes. He played
for the suns with kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley.

J.W. Bender
jwbender@gmail.com

Dan marlie fan

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Shopping

This is the view of the mile long mall in planet Hollywood aka the old
aladdin

Pretty cool ride

Red rocks

Burglars did not get my team kits! I had them in a bag on the cab and
just found them! Yeah twigs and berries!

Those are some red rocks. It was basically a 25 mile climb from the
palms to red rocks. I have done this ride before and it is
beautiful~all granny gear, but a great training ride. It was 90 plus
and I went through 6 bottles for those who want to know.

About 3k of climbing for me today

Rode today

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Gwen stefani's harijuku girls

This was some seriously crazy makeup and hair!

N9ne steakhouse

Change your life good

New residence.

I figure I can last a solid 1/2 year here with my school money. Who
needs business school when you have this? All my friends could come
visit. That would be fun.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

For glover

Let me know what you want g~lover

Best insurance tshrt of all time.

Some have seen my bear scar. This is a pic of the bear.

Brenner

Det 5~in full force

This place sucks!

Hard rock

The weekend house

Kid's not bad

Friday, July 11, 2008

Ribbon flow

Thus was the start of the best Mountain ride of my life.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Notso

Notso fun driving to Denver wondering what would come of the loss of
everything in my truck. It wasn't until 4 pm that I finally got a
call from the insurance man. I had a unique opportunity to go to
excelsports.com's showroom and replace 90% of the stolen bike gear and
tools. So I am back in that respect.

But they didnt have any shoes or cycling clothes. I am staying the
night at my futture roomates house in Colorado springs with intentions
if driving over to Colorado cyclist in the morning. I went to school
here at usafa for fall 97 semester, so I know the area well enough.
Looks like my quiet evening in Moab is out. I am still going to do
everything in my power to ride in Friday.

More news posted as I get it.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

I count my blessings

So its 2 am est. The last thing I wrote to the blog was "lucky me." Normally I wouldnt blog at this hour but I just cant sleep. I parked my truck and trailer (and car) at the walmart parking lot while corey, his brother, and I went to the KC game just 3 miles down the road. When I got back to the truck, I rolled into wallyworld to get some supplies. When I got back to the truck, I checked my tire because I had replaced it earlier in the day. Like a good pilot, I walked around the entire vehicle looking for obvious problems/damage. Looks good. 25 miles to corey's apartment.

When we parked, I went to the shell of the truck to get some clean clothes for the night. Well, thats just the thing, there were none. Look lower in the blog and you'll see all that I had in the truck when fully packed (even posted a pic a couple days ago). In the well lit walmart parking lot in Independence, Missouri, everything I own was stolen out of the back of my locked truck. So I have no more leblue kits, no more craftsman tools, no more bike tools, no more spare parts, no more luggage, no more underwear, no more socks, no more jeans, no more shorts, no more nothing.

The biggest blessing about this story is that my SLC-SL, Intense 5.5, and Felt B2 time trial bikes along with a set of 58 mm American Classic carbon wheels, a zipp sub9, a zipp 1080, and chris king wheelsets (road and mtn) were still neatly tucked away in the truck. You do the math on that one. They left easily 20k of bikes but took all my sears tools and my lucky jeans. I guess I am fortunate that some people are ignorant. I feel sick right now because this is the second time in 2 years that I have been robbed. I cant sleep and am just upset. I have to keep driving west and dont have time for the police to take their required 5 days to "look into it."

So I am blessed. I thank God that I am adamant about insurance. It should all be covered under my personal property policy. I may even get a new truck shell depending on how much damage they did while destroying the back door/window. Not that I want to deal with any of this while I am moving XC.

They took all my bike tools. I had absolutely every shimano tool made, yes, even a headset press. I didnt have a race puller, but I did have a breaker bar, mavic metal trueing kit, 10, 9, 8 speed chain pins,
two dura ace cassettes
sram 970 cassette
9 speed chain

3 camel backs
4 water bottles
2 carbon water bottle cages
niterider light headset
niterider light bar mount set
easton monkeylite carbon riser bar
3 shock pumps
maverick fork seals
enduro ceramic bearing bottom bracket
giro atmos helmet
atmos helmet pads
sidi carbon cycling shoes
nike carbon cycling shoes
2 pair speedplay cleats
avid juicy 7 rear disc brake kit
white lightning
brake housing
ritchey multi-tool
park multi-tool
ritchey chain tool
big 10mm allen
8 mm allen
cable housing
portable electric generator
cane creek headset
4 rolls of bar tape
white dura ace hoods!
selle italia flight saddle
selle italia slr saddle
teflon brake/derailleur cables
4 disc brake rotors
extra dropout for the intense
2 zipp tangente tires
bleaching kit
stans sealant
headset press
individual hex wrenches
complete park shimano tool set
park tool grease
shimano tool grease
grease gun
extra tire levers
extra cassette removal tools
disc brake removal tool
complete intense bearing set
xtr bottom bracket
american classic hub body parts
fork lube
co2 inflator
digital hanging scale
digital pack scale
carbon fork saw guide
co2 20 pack
park saddle bag tool kit
specialized saddle bag
extra tubes
extra michelin tires
carbon brake pads
plastic storage bin
plastic laundry bin

extra disc brake pads
chris king hub adjustment tool
chris king hub lube
rock shock fork butter
spoke prep
lock tite
extra spokes for all my chris king wheels
cable clamps
emergency light and radio
electrical tape
headset press
race setter
headset remover/puller
race face 31.6 carbon seatpost
salsa shorty stem
avid disc brake bleed kit
box cutter
box cutter knife
victorinox swiss army knife
mil spec led flashlight (small)
plastic tool box for the bikes
plastic small parts tool box with removable trays
intense bearing press
thomson seat post, selle italia flight saddle attached to it for intense 5.5

4 pairs lucky jeans
6 pairs of summer shorts
25 of my favorite t-shirts
10 of my favorite polo shirts
5 button up shirts
puma shoes
pair quik flip flops
casual steve maddens
quik swim shorts
2 oversized towels (one Tommy Bahama-a gift)
7 pair white cotton socks

2 pair cycling baggy shorts
6 pair cycling shorts
20 pair cycling socks
8 cycling jerseys to include my brand new indy fab jersey
1 cycling skinsuit
5 pair cycling gloves

complete craftsman toolset to include
3 drawer metal toolbox
1/2, 1/4, 3/8 in drives with deep sockets, regular sockets, adapters, extensions
socket holders
3 vice grips
adjustable wrench
hammer
mallet
screw driver set
torque wrench x 2
file x 4
3 crescent wrenches
complete drill bit set
breaker bar
magnetic flashlight
magnetic tool extension
4 tape measures
1 laser leveling light
wire brushes
scrub brushes
tooth brushes
5 various locks including my academy con locker lock (13 years old and very valuable to me)
stud finder

chris king sticker for both tool boxes
indy fab sticker for bike tool bike

Basically, this is everything that I thought I would need (tool boxes and bike parts) plus clothes to live while the navy has the rest of my gear in storage for 3 months. If you can think of anything that I am missing, please comment. Wick, you prob can think of some things, but gener, geno, bryan, keith, elliot, tyler, rob, chris, robd, danny, toon, brett, britt, shippy, ect, if you can think of any tool, please list it here. I cant remember everything in my absolutely shocked state.

Big tv

This is the worlds largest hd tv at Kaufman stadium (kansas city
royals). I met up with my college roomate corey carpenter for a free
seat and some light rain. Pretty sweet driving break.

Had to buy a new tire for the truck because the trailer load was
wearing one down. Lucky me!

Long line of leavers

There were a couple times today where an I70 accident put me behind my
mental scedg. People would get out of their cars and more or less
tailgate. Weird.

Runnin'

I was terrified this middle of America weather would result in tornado

Middle America-westbound

Monday, July 7, 2008

Doesnt mean much, but still pretty cool

Ryan (the male model) directed me to the current USAcycling.org crit rankings. Though this doesnt mean anything, it is still pretty cool. (click on pic to make bigger). Rat is #11.



Cumberland gapped

The drive west started this morning. 10 hours in the truck so far
today. As my mother likes to say, I have bad case of tired butt.

Planning on riding Moab Friday morning then yes danny, weekend at the
palms!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Finally a race that suits me

I started to think about it last night. I really have never done a 4
day race before. I have definately put in 4 hard days of training.
But never efforts like this. Hindsite is 20/20 and I learned a lot.

Lesson one, get a better race report than a junior that's never raced
Fitchburg before can provide-use the 27 on the crazy climb.

Lesson 2: don't go off the front in a 70 mile road race with improper
cassette.

Lesson 3: some one who listens to heart rate monitors or power meters
to determine their racing effort should NEVER be trusted.

Lesson 4: teamates who race well together will do well. Racing
against said teams is hard.

Lesson 5: just because someone is wearing the race leaders jersey does
not mean they have any idea how to corner at speed.

Lesson 6: a little luck and tons of effort can bring results.

Ok, now for the race report. I was delighted to not have to be up
early for junior race. Elliot and Lucas hung up the towel yesterday.
No legs. I was hurting after yesterdays circuit race and nasty
climbing each lap. I used some of the starkey massage cream on my
hamstrings and that goo worked well to keep me warm (tim aka father
time, where can I find more?). My race was at 1030.

I got a good warm up and was first onto scary last corner. Thank
goodness I was checking my speed. My rear wheel skipped out and
somehow I stayed upright. Foreshadowing.

I think everyone's legs were tired because no one could really put
down any power. I tried once but no one came with me and I was sure I
couldn't solo away from 103 of the best 3s on the east coast. So I
conserved and stated near the front through the first 20 laps.

Lap 21 and the 101lb race leader somehow manages to cross up his front
wheel through the scary rough corner. I was only 5 wheels behind him
but couldn't avoid it. Honestly, I was more worried about my bike
than my body. Two years without a crash. Guess I was due.

The part that is less than wonderful is that there were at least 40
dudes in this crash. So as I was trying to get up, a guy would come
and plow into the back of the mess and knock everyone over again. My
knee is bleeding. I think we had 9 to go at this point. I had to run
half a lap to sram nuerral support for a new front wheel. I had no
sea how the officials would deal with us since there were so many
crashers. By the time I got there, the field had already passed and
at least 30 crashers were already back in the field. 10 or so of us
were still in the pit looking for gear!

I was back in with 7 to go. I was sure to stay top ten and everyone
was all of a sudden super cautious through the rough turn.

Worked my way to the front and foundd the wheel of the Aussie leadout
man. He pulled with 1/2 lap. Another few guys pulled through and I
fought for 2nd wheel through the rough turn.

I thought this would be a great plan but the dude on the front didnt
pull off, he just sat up. I had to brake and swirve to avoid another
crash. Then it was a 250 meter drag race with 103 guys. I got 6th.
12th in the uphill tt and 6th in the crit. I am certain that if I had
raced just a little smarter, I could have easily preserved my 12th
place in the gc. Oh well, live and learn.

My knee is jacked. Got a hole in my fork. Dani, does cervelo have a
crash replacement program? And I need a new dura ace right shifter
top cap. wick can you look up that piece for me?

Now we fight the 4th of July traffic home. Then tomorrow morning
bright and early I am off for the west coast.

Miss you Hampton roads riders. If anyone wants to come to the bay for
a serious training camp, holla!

Leave a comment if you've been following this past week!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Fitchburg Circuit Race

Click to make this pic from Brian at Stefanish.com bigger. This is the Reston sprint. My head is down because I was trying to see where everyone was because I thought I had gapped them. It all worked out. Two reston starts, two w's!


Today's 28 mile circuit race was crazy fast from the gun. I made sure I had a decent start because I didnt want to chase from the gun. Plus I wanted to see how the double step up hill would treat my legs. 9 laps total. From the gun it was a points lap. It was a false downhill to start with a nice left then right hander. Fun. Then we had a steady downhill where I couldnt go any faster than my 53x12 allowed. I put on the 12x27 because of the 30 second climb/lap. That way, I never had to come out of the big ring.

Anyway, was first into the last turn up the big hill and my momentum carried me halfway up. I was happy to pick up some points for the effort. The rest of the race I just didnt feel all that great. I easily floated down the back hill with hardly any effort. This was good because I could go into the final corner in the top 5 and then use my momentum to get up the shorter 1st hill. Then, the 125#ers would start sprinting up the 30 second 15% climb. It was funny because they would easily pass me as I just rode tempo up the hill, floating to the back. At the top of the hill, there was a serious right hander and everyone sprinted out of that too. Again, funny. I just rode easy and let skinny dudes pass. Then, on the downhill, I didnt even have to sprint to move to the front. I would drift up and take the top5. I would then just use my momentum to get up the 1st hill and then the skinny kids would roll past me on the 2nd steep climb. No big deal. I think I finished in the 50s or 60s without losing any time. Fine with me.

Tomorrow is a bone flat crit. Thank goodness. I know that I am at a disadvantage because of the work I put in on the road race. Thats ok. I love the challenge. All I need is to conserve for one good sprint.

One interesting note is the race leader's story. There is an under 20 Aussie national team racing the 3s. They looked on bikereg.com a month ago and only saw 20 juniors signed up. They didnt realize that hottubes and hincapie would be at fitchburg. I am certain the juniors are just as fast but there are less of them. Anyway, the Aussies are doing a great job for their GC man. He's an 18 year old kid who cannot weigh more than 115#s. He earned all his time on the 5k climb summit finish in the RR. All he has to do now is sit on his teamates wheels to cruise to victory. Good for them.

Redux


My boy T-karnes has cut his hair. Bring that hair back son! Great job in Fitchville. You got my vote for toughest VA JR rider.
This is, without question, the best T-karnes pic ever. Yanked off jokerblog.

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