tidewater challenge and stuff

The 20th Annual Tidewater Challenge was this past weekend. Quite enjoyable as always! This is the forth year in a row I've done the event, although I think the 8th time I've done it? Turnout appeared to be higher than the past few editions. Despite not really training much at all, I signed up for the Pro/expert. With twelve starters and cash payouts ten deep, the odds looked alright. One guy double flatted and Dave was pooped from doing the cross race in Richmond earlier in the morning.

The first four laps I was well focused, but not blazingly fast. The fifth and sixth laps hunger got the best of me as I began slowly bonking. The aroma of carmalized worcestershire sauce wafting through the woods from the Trek/VW RV did little to satiate the hunger...

I started well, but then realized my pace would not be sustainable. After settling in, it was time to sit back and have fun. I used the iPod for the race with a diverse amalgamation of all things rock, hip hop, acoustic, jazz fusion, and alt-country rock... with the volume low enough to hear other riders and spectators, but just right in order to hear the music. Anyways, i ended up 10th, in the money, with (I think) a course PR. Dave dropped out on the forth lap after cramping.

The team had a great catered tent (thanks to Equilibrium Exercise Gallery) and cheering section.


Afterwards Katie, Gordon, Kristen, Dave and I hit up Peking in Williamsburg for some scrumptious Mongolian BBQ along with other Japanese/Chinese fare.

The weekend was also host to my 10 year high school reunion. The whole ten year thing made me feel old... especially as the last 7 years have absolutely flown by. After a family oriented lunch, we had a reserved section at McFadden's in the Hampton Power Plant. McFadden's looks like a great place to catch a game on Monday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday... a lot of BIG TV's. It was also the Halloween Ball, which featured many creative and grotesque costumes.

I was supposed to start Base 1 this week, but several variables thwarted that.

On a separate rant... where did Fall go??? It's been below freezing almost every morning this week!

picture in the paper!

Alright... even though I'm done... I'll still get out to have some fun from time to time... (note: I caught that guy at the line with a bike throw!)
(Roanoke Times 10/08/07 Virginia p. 5)

if you thought the Vuelta was boring....

Check this out... http://www.velonews.com/race/dom/articles/13387.0.html

But seriously... 30 days and 27 stages???? Might be tough to pull off...riders have a hard enough time getting through a 21 day stage race without doping. It'd be cool though! (the race, not the doping...)

The Madone is just about ready to begin building for next year.

done for the season!

I've been done for a while now... nevertheless I'm officially done! (thanks to K. Dillard for the photo)

Chesapeake Crit

Promotional Shot!

Thanks to the K-Dogg for the pic from the start line at the Tour de 'Peake... and thanks to BikeBeat for being a sponsor! I ended up cracking hard halfway through, but enjoyed the race.

Close call at Reston #2

Here's a pic I found on the net from this year's Reston 3/4 race. This is the second crash I was caught behind. Pretty close call, at least I stayed upright! (not sure who took the pic)

wow.

Next year's race bike!

http://www2.trekbikes.com/madone/

City Center Cat 3 pics

Thanks to my Dad for the pics!

Norfolk

Here's a pic from the start of the 1/2/3 race by JB!

It was windy. That pretty much sums it up!

We had a strong team for the Cat 3 race, unfortunately we fell short of the win. I'm disappointed in myself for not being able to make it across to the winning break with Bill from CRC. We were almost there, but fell way too short. On the last lap, 4th was still up for grabs from the field. Another mistake on my part. Perhaps a two part mistake? Number one was failing to alert the guys that I was pretty well positioned in line. Mistake two came as I began my sprint (just before where Matt and I had staked out!), I came along the inside, where the inevitable squeeze play against the curb jutting out in the road began to rear it's head. With the slight tailwind and excellent teamwork from the stormin' Cat 3 JRVS/Casey Auto Group squad, I was envisioning turnin' it up to the 11(tooth)! Right as I was calling up to Matt to let him know I was coming through he jumped, and then had to cut right to avoid a popped dude. I saw the curb, I saw a rear wheel, and I had to slam on the brakes. Oh well. I guess, as Savodelli and other pros remark, "The sensations were there". Which is good... since I should be peaking very soon. Nevertheless, I'm not frustrated with anybody but myself. Great things to come from the Cat 3's of JRVS/Casey Auto Group!

As for the 1/2/3 race... the wind was even stronger! I used a top secret starting technique to get in good position early on. Eventually I found momentum allowing me to roll off the front. I took a (rather pointless) flyer off the front for a lap and a half or so.

It wasn't long before the field was shrinking smaller and smaller. Mark Connely and I were caught behind a flatted rider and forced to chase and chase... and chase. It was a futile chase, but and important one. My goal was to hang in as long as possible. I'm really trying to work on suffering. Suffering in training, and (especially) suffering in racing. After the leaders passed me, I was pulled.

In other news, the City Center Crit 1/2 race is now open to 3's. And... Katie says "hi".

Casey Auto Group Criterium

US Open

Very cool to see such a race on national broadcast television! I hope to see the race stick around for many years to come. How appropriate were the conditions and the course with Ronde van Vlaanderen today??

I was surprised to see Toyota-United, BMC, and Health Net unable to pull McCarty and Tuft back (I didn't look at the results until after the broadcast finished... Katie on the other hand knew the whole time!). The "little guys" definitely took advantage of the course, conditions, and lack of organization by the other teams. I did a double take as Rite Aid's Barrajo took third, which is an awesome result for a local squad. KBS' Nick Waite held on to be the final finisher, as only 54 finished out of 141!

Anyways, enough jibber-jabber... I gotta go and get 3 hours in on the bike before Easter Lunch.

Happy Easter!

(the new frame rides great by the way... thanks!)

photo update!

Things have been pretty busy lately... so here's a photo recap!

This morning! (it's really cold)

the new frame finally arrived!

Conquer the Canal TT (photo credit: Trevor Weiland)

I hate pork!

It's past the point of "strongly disliking"!

http://www.examiner.com/a-640957~Senate__emergency__war_bill_has_almost__20_billion_in_domestic_spending_tacked_onto_it.html

Sneak Peak at SNowball Crit #2 (#1?)

Check out JB's Photo Blog for a preview of yesterday's crit action in Chesapeake.


The team rocked it on the last lap with Rick Flair sealing the deal!

Panoramic shot

3/4 Video Clip

Here's a clip from Sunday's Sonny Hutchins Crit.

Photo Recap: Boulder

Here's a quick photo recap of my Serotta Fit School (SICI) experience. Monday night we went to Wheat Ridge Cyclery to check out Phil and Bob. For all of my former BikeBeat and HDK colleagues, check out that POS! Lastly, you can get a glimpse of what conditions were like as we were leaving town. They must've lost the keys to the plows in Boulder!
(note... Ned's standin' on his toes!)

hmmmm... interesting...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

How long before National Geographic is labeled as a "fascist" organization? Ha!

Cole & Frank do Boulder Part 1

Ok... so part one isn't really excited. We flew out of Roanoke at 9:50am Saturday, made a quick stop in Chicago... then landed in Denver at about 1:30. We were optimistic in thinking that we could get to Boulder early enough to rent a sweet Colnago C-50 and get a couple hours in before sunset. Enter Advantage Rental cars... after waiting 20 minutes for the shuttle to pick us up, then another hour waiting in line for the car, and then 10 more minutes standing waiting for our car (until somebody finally told us our car was practically right in front of us the whole time!)... we finally arrived in Boulder shortly after 4:00, promptly finding our hotel and checking in. With no time for a ride we set out to explore town.

The Downtown Mall is pretty cool, and there are some sweet shops in t he vicinity. One in paticular (name escapes me at the moment) sells only high end stuff and was pretty cool... more on that to come. Anyways, people are waiting for the computer, so I must oblige. We ate an awesome dinner at BJ's (a microbrew/restaurant), Cole had Cajun Pasta and I had a small deep dish pizza with Chicken and Garlic... undeniably delicious. Afterwards we continued wandering, window shopped at University Bikes, then hit up Target, Barnes and Noble, and Whole Foods for supplies (i.e. Virgil's Rootbeer). Cole was unsuccessful in finding a 6 pack of beer. Afterwards, we essentially called it a night. Today begins a long 10 hour first session of Serotta Fit School. Gotta roll!