Truckin

Yes I am listening to the grateful dead while I post this. Love that band, man oh man!!!
So yeah we raced again this weekend, woke up at 5am to drive to tn, did a cool point to point road race on saturday morning that ended on an 8 mile climb, rode back to the car after the road race completely cracked, ate chicken tacos, did a TT saturday afternoon, drove back to asheville, drank 40s (yes plural) on andy's porch, drove back to tn sunday morning, raced a crit, won the crit and the omnium. It was AWESOME!!
It was a really good weekend, we had a TON of fun and got to see a bunch of familiar faces. The SE region is by far the best region to race in. The racing is hard, the people are cool, the teams are evenly stacked, and the prize lists are big.
It was just rich, andy, and myself and we raced like a true team and it worked out for us. It is fun having a small cohesive unit like that were everyone races together. It feels good.
Is that a good enough race report? I think people like the picutres more than my awful prose so here are the higlights from the weekend.
The criterium was in downtown Bristol TN and in VA these markers were down the straightaway. Half in TN half in VA. Pretty Cool

Bristol has a bunch of cool shows coming through town...mark that date on your calendar.

It was cool to see the regional guys. Here is geri showing us his hidden talents.


$RICH$ having to check the tire pressure after having a very tall cool one. Rich crashed in the road race and literally almost got run over by a dualie towing horses...NO JOKE. It was scary, but everyone was ok.

The new crit monster A2. Andy hit the deck real bad on the last lap, he will be ok. His haircut is amazing...

I love cheetos...LOVE THEM

The secret to racing fast in a criterium on sunday after racing hard twice on saturday is proper recovery. I opted for the high life, while $RICH$ is more into the king cobra. We enjoyed those on A2's new huge porch. It was sweet.

I am home for 5 days now. I fly to austin for USA CRIT race #4 friday and then go directly to TOUR OHIO on monday so lots of racing coming up. But for now it feels good to be home.

TN

I wish I still had my Arrested Development cassette tape; remember the song Tennessee? I remember because my friend brad used to sing it all the time when he was going to go to TN for a swim meet.
Anyway we are going to tn for some bikin this weekend and it should be sweet. I haven't done a road race in a long time and I don't think I have done a road race that ends on an 8 mile climb in a really long time. There is the rr tomorrow morning followed by a 5 mile tt in the afternoon and then a criterium on sunday. It should be fun as it is just $Rich$ Andy and myself going.
It is hot here in NC. Not much has been going on here, just been riding and working and sitting in AC.

yes I know

I know I know I know I haven't updated in a while. There are good reasons for that, mainly that I have f-in busy OKAY?!!!
HA people would be amazed at what I consider busy.
Things have been so amazily wonderful lately that I am scared that something tragic is about to happen..oh wait, maybe this is payback for spending 4 MONTHS in a cast this winter!!!!
Anyway bike racing is going well, I am still leading the usa crit series--pinch me I am dreaming. I have been traveling traveling traveling. I just got back from washington dc this weekend where I did my fanciest race to date--the CSC Invitational. It was sureal and super cool to be able to participate in a race like that. Amateurs are not allowed in that race, but since it was on the USA Crit circuit, they graciously allowed me and marco to be part of a combine team with 6 other amateurs. We were part of the "Arlington Sports All Stars" It was cool it worked out great because they had a bunch of people to support us and give us water in the feed zone--it was SO HOT!! Anyway it was a pretty uneventful race--I was off the front for a little bit, then tailgunned the rest of the race and ended up 13th.
So enough talk. Here are some pics that more aptly show what I have been up to.
Breakfast on the porch with Jill, Josh and UH

Complete with screwdrivers

$RICH$ trying to cure some serious swamp ass by drying his drawers out on the dash.

Look at KYLE--my personal DS. I haven't seen him in years, but traveling has brought us back together a few times in the last couple weeks. YEAH...nato you are missing out.

All star teammate Jon Hamblen showing off his new jeans...WOW!!

I dont think my jersey for CSC matches too well with my A&F Shorts. Its ok though it was so hot and if we didn't have them feeding us, there was NO way we would have finished. THANKS!!

Who wants Chocolate??? Happy birthday LIZ!!!

Travel Buddy and long lost brother for memorial day weekend PHIL taking racing and recovering seriously...

not much

Not much has been going on, just recovering by watching baseball games, drinking beer, playing fooseball, going out to dinner, playing pool, watching sunsets, drinking wine, going out, dancing, sleeping in, sitting on porches, having really deep conversations late at night with writers over wine, sleeping in some more, and finally getting sick. My off the bike habits have always impressed many.
I came down with a mild sinus infection, but it seems to be clearing up nicely.
Racing starts again tomorrow with the winston-salem world championships. It is funny, I can win athens, but the dixie classic fairground victroy this year has eluded me so far.
We have a big race weekend coming up. Friday night is the NRC Raleigh Twilight Crit, saturday is the NRC bike jam in baltimore and sunday is the Tour of Sommerville. The legs feel awesome and the confidence is high so it should be time for a reality check.
Congratulations have to go out to 2 people, Danille Musto for winning the 12 hours of tsali solo YEAH DANIELLE!!!! Andy Applegate, won the 6 hour solo race at the 12 hours of tsali also. So good job andy!!! He said he is sore from the lemans start, not the actual race. I guess they had to run 1k uphill to get their bikes. OUCH.

no rest for the weary

I am back and I am alive.
After driving 16 hours back from arkansas and being home for less than 12 hours I am on my way to work.
Arkansas was SWEET. The joe martin stage is a wonderful race and super tough.
I finished 18th overall which is my best placing yet in a nrc stage race.
The farm is once again at capacity which makes for some good stories so I am sure I will have some soon.

more later

GOING ABSOLUTELY NUTS

So my two day stay at home is over, tomorrow morning we leave for Arkansas, which evidently is quite far away.
After talking to many people about what I should do with the prize money we won, I decided to buy a motorcycle, and not just a motorcycle a HYABUSA!!!! I figured if you wanted to get a bike, you might as well get a big one. JUST KIDDING MOM.
I did buy something, I bought a piano!!! After getting laughed out of a piano store with the amount of money I wanted to spend, UH and I stopped by the salvation army, and they had 2 to choose from, so after calling in a favor from cameron and talking the checkout lady down on price, I have a new piano for the grand total of 67.35. What a deal. To bad we dropped it loading it in and dropped it taking it out of the truck...yeah it is a touch out of tune, but I love it. Now I can sit and play "NOVEMBER RAIN" til my heart is content.
Here is Cameron smashing his fingers.

They had children on sale when I got the piano, so I bought a baby also

SUCCESS!!!

I was lucky enough to have set up a surveillance camera which caught the vandals this past weekend...

Jessica and her tiara TAGGING my house.

There was a big big party monday night in winston, you can read all about it here
I probably won't have internet for the next week, but I am sure I will have some good stories when I come back.

BACK IN WINSTON-SALEM

So the USA SE CRIT series finished yesterday in decatour AL. I managed to pull out 2 top tens in the last two days to secure the overall series.
This was the coolest week of racing ever. Almost all the crits were at night, the courses were disgustingly and dangerously fast (good thing), and the crowds were absolutely HUGE. It was good old american crit racing at its finest. People may think that crit racing is not an extreme sport, but it is and it makes the x games look like it was designed for pansies. Nothing like cornering at 30+ mph elbow to elbow in a group of 100+ spandex clad dorks. GOOD STUFF.
So I am home for a few days before we go off to Arkansas for the Joe Martin Stage Race. We drove home after the race last night and didn't get in until 5am, poor rich then slept for two hours and then had to drive two more to work--AHH THE LIFE.
When we were pulling up into my driveway, I thought someone had spraypainted the entire front porch of my house, but it turned out to be a whole bunch of decorations and balloons welcoming us home and saying congratulations, it was awesome...there were even some red vines and a tiara...P.A.'s rock...
I'll post some pictures once I find my camera and clean out that nasty van.

Seriously

I love the south...we pulled up to the gas station down here and we saw this guy filling up his car and then going inside to buy some 24oz Bud Heavies!!! LOVE IT.

Here is a wonderful picture of $RICH$ recovering properly...he was jealous of the guy on the lawnmower.


We are having an awesome time this week. We are so fancy there were only 7 of us in one hotel room with one bed last night. AWESOME. We did manage to get another room after debating for a few hours whether we could make the housing work or not.
Round 5 concluded last night, these crits are off the hook and a ton of fun. The last few courses have been really fast. I snuck in there for 8th last night and I think I am still 2nd overall, we will find out later today.
We are on our way to spartanburg sc which is only 2 hours from my house and then we drive to AL for the weekend which is 9 hours. It is kind of a cruel joke, to be so close to home and then drive all the way over there for two days and then drive home for 2 days and then leave for arkansas on wednesday.
Check out marco's blog to see the best picture of the a&f team in fine form. $RICH$'s back is pretty much burnt up right now.

on the road

I am currently hunched over probably the most disgusting computer i have ever typed on, in a total dive hotel, in the wonderful south.
I don't have much time, as we are headed out to go give a high school presentation and pretend how glamorous the life of a cyclist is. I am not saying that it is not glamorous, but some of us almost did have to sleep in the van last night.
Round 3 was last night and I am still going well. My confidence is up and people seem to be giving me room in the peleton which makes for easier racing.
The course last night was absolutely insane, we went down a dark super narrow alley!!! The race didn't start until 9pm and it was super fast.
I ended up winning the mid race prime $$$$ and then taking fourth at the finish. Yeah!!! I think I may be back in the overall lead, but I will find out later.
Things are going great and the team is having a ton of fun, although my stomach feels weird--i think it might have been my rare double quarter pounder with cheese and extra large frie at 1230 from mcdonalds last night immediately followed by sleep.
Hopefully I will have pictures soon.

PIGS FLEW TODAY

HOLY CRAP...did that really just HAPPEN????

PIGS FLEW YODAY YES THEY DID AND ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH WON THE ATHENS TWILIGHT CRITERIUM. NO JOKE. I can't believe it myself.
I found myself in an early break and 8 of us lapped the field. My teammate marco aledia dragged me around for the last 15 laps, turning himself inside out for me--there is absolutely no way I could have done it without him. With 6 laps to go there were 2 enormous crashes that I managed to avoid. I ended up staying upright and taking the win.
It was INCREDIBLE...I still can't believe it.
YES I DID WIN TWILIGHT...UNBELEIVABLE!!!!!
Gotta love the crits. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN SO DON'T STOP RACING UNTIL ITS OVER.
There will be a full report and tons of pictures of all the podium girls and myself coming soon!! Check this out in the meantime masiguy
Here is the only picture that matters out of everything...

Fastest Lap--have no idea when it was, but I'll take the $$

Podium

THE A&F BOYS AND GIRL

so far so good in athens

so far so good on our huge road trip. We did the qualifying on computrainers last night. I managed to win my heat with an average wattage of 449 for 6k and went on to get 2nd in the finals. It was sweet, and as a result I get a first row call up and get to wear #2 in the race today. The finals had 8 podium girls who were very easy on the eyes. I will post pictures in a little bit, but it was AWESOME. Our team is having a great time and everything is going well. Tonight is the big race so hopefully the front row call up will make life a bit easier. $RICH$ is currently telling me how good combos are for you for pre race food and then how they help the beer afterwards.
stay tuned.
Jim Baldesare has bleach blond hair and is super pretty right now.

waiting to race

Not much going on here these days. We leave fri for the USA SE CRIT SERIES. 8 races, all at night, and all worth 10k. I can't wait. My leg is bouncing up and down as we speak. It will be a ton of fun. 7 people living out of a van for a week and half. WOW.
Happy Birthday to my brother Rich. He is 31 today...gettin old. crazyness. So i thought I would post some pictures for him. Here is chad (boss man) lubing up his legs. So sexy.

This is $RICH$ not my brother...thank goodness. $RICH$ is modeling his new rudy project "hater blockers" looking good there playa.

finally did it

I finally did it!!! I cracked the top ten in an NRC race!!! I somehow managed to lap the field in dark rain soaked 90 minute crit! IT WAS INSANE.
It was pouring at the start (8pm) and I hit the deck within three laps hard, no worries, took a free lap, worked up to the front again, hit the deck hard and slid 15 meters into a curb, took another free lap, worked my way up to the lead group again, three slid away, i was in the first group, crashed for the third time, took another free lap, worked my way back up, pretended to go for a prime and took off, two bridged up to me and we lapped in probably 9 laps, after that I sat in and tried not to break my collar bone (i think there were at least 2 of those breaks last night). I ended up 6th. There were 120 starters, all super fast people. It was surreal. One racer commented that it was like vietnam. I wasn't in nam, althoug I am old today (my birthday is today--shameless plug) 29 Years Old now...WOW. Anyway it was straight out of a vietnam movie. It was dark and pouring with random super bright lights and there were literally bodies flying EVERYWHERE. One crash I slid 15 meters on the pavement into a curb, really. I would like to thank those kind drunk people on turn 1 for catching me and pulling me back up and encouraging me. People were dumping it everywhere. It was an epic race and I can't believe that I managed to pull out that result. It may not seem that big and all, just 6th, but NRC races are the real deal and to get a top 10 as an amateur is a dream i have had for my entire life.
I almost quit after each crash, but I kept on going, you never know what is going to happen in these races. This is so exciting for me, as the criterium season is gearing up in full swing here within the next two weeks. Hopefully I will survive these crazy races.
I like the rain for the simple reason that if you crash, you slid, and it doesn't hurt to bad, although I have random bruises and cuts all over my body and i tacoed a $1000 wheel--on its maiden voyage. Thank goodness for sponsors.
Ha this is a birthday i will never forget(i think it is narcisistic to mention that a second time). I am so happy, i think my broken wrist was the best thing that ever happened to me by forcing me to chill out and put everything into perspective.
So enough gushing--it is 230am and I just got home from driving 8 hours in the car so I feel a bit weird now and i should prob just go to bed.

FLORIDA HERE WE COME

So the season is already here already. Tommorow night is the first NRC criterium on our schedule for the year, and after that it is balls to the wall for while here. I can't believe it is already the middle of april. Time goes by so fast its crazy. I am more excited to race this year than I can remember. I don't know if it was the long layoff, or the feeling that I actually might have trained properly for the last four months; either way I am excited to race.
This weekend is going to be fun $RICH$ harper and myself are driving down to jacksonville together and stopping in at the rock hill street sprints on the way. $RICH$ is hoping to choke again this year and get second after a stellar leadout. Saturday night is the big race under lights in downtown jacksonville. Sunday morning we do a 100 mile road race in fl as well, and then drive home.
Should be fun, the team always seems to make things fun regargless of the situation.

What does this thing sound like?

I wonder if I remember how to put this thing together?

Oh yeah...reeds...yeah.

I wonder what all these buttony things do?

Look, pigs must have flown today, I am actually practicing. Oh yeah, I actually enjoy this, I keep on forgetting.

Yes I did it, I finally dusted it off and put it together, I guess I have thinking about it quite a bit lately and finally decided that with my obscene amount of down time (when I am home) I might as well be productive...go figure. I forgot how much I actually enjoy playing, isn't that funny. I was relived to find that I didn't forget at all how to play. I even played for an hour before my lips completely gave out. In bike terms the way I played today would be the equivalent of taking an entire year off the bike and then clipping in and IMMEDIATELY doing zone 5 sprints for an entire hour. In bassoon terms I instantly played through Rite of Spring followed by Beethoven 4 solo followed by some Marriage of Figaro and now my mouth feels really weird. No long tones in this house!

The Party Continues

Winston-Salem is the best place to live. It has been so warm here, in the 80's everyday. It has been wonderful. I hear it is cold in MI, that is really to bad.
My brother, Rich, and sister in law, Rachael came down to visit me this past weekend, it was great weather for them and we had a bunch of fun. Rich and I got some good warm weather riding followed by some really tasty beer. They brought down oscar (dog) who evidentaly is terrified of cows.
Rich and Me after the ride (with oscar)


Other than that I have just been quietly training my ass off in preparation for our first NRC (National Race Callender) Race next weekend in Jacksonville FL. It will be interesting to see how we do. I feel like the fitness is coming around, but those races are so dangerous and such a crap shoot that anything can happen. I LOVE IT. It is like you are either going to do well or leave on a stretcher...JUST KIDDING MOM. They are actually quite safe...nothing like racing at 30+MPH at night, in the rain, around painted turns, in a pack of 150 crazy cyclist.
I can't wait .
Enjoy the snow MI...I am on my way to buy more sunscreen.

COMING SOON TO A MAG AT YOUR BIKE SHOP

THANKS KENDA!!!

Roadies Gone Wild Part Deux

So the roadies whooped up on the mountain bikers again this past weekend. I won my first pro/semi-pro race in my life. It was sweet. I think the mtbers are going to be happy when the road season really gets into full swing. The course was good for me, hardly any singletrack and lots of dirt roads. I did a full roadie attack with about 6 miles to go and road home for the win. Oh YEAH.
I actually did a ton of racing this weekend. Rich and I went down to a road race on saturday morning. It was hot and fast and there were a TON of people there. The race was 100k and within 10 the break was established and I found myself in it. The break hammered for the rest of the race, nothing like a 90k Team Time Trial. Anyway with about 10k to go everyone starts attacking each other. I followed a few moves and then promptly fell apart--completely. I managed to hang on and not get caught for 7th. We went from a 3 minute gap to 15 seconds at the end. It HURT.
Sunday Andy I got up at 530 am to go to the mtb race. I thought that I would feel ok because I tend to feel better after a huge effort the previous day. The mtb race was at 9am and we knocked that out. After the mtb race there was a crit on the way home, so I figured I would hit that up as well.
The crit was all the same guys as the road race so I knew a break would go early. Rich was there so between the two of us we made sure that everything was covered. Of course one of the splits I made ended up working...why??? All I wanted to do was sit in the pack and this meant I was going to have to suffer for an entire hour. Our break was flying and Rich was controlling the field so we ended up lapping. Once we lapped rich continued to work his butt off so I would have an opportunity to win. i choked and ended up 4th. Nuts. It was a good race though and a bunch of fun.
The weather here has been outstanding. High 70s and sunny, everything is turning green already...love it.

I feel guilty

So today Andy and I went to tsali and rode. It was one of those magical days where everything is perfect and then you get on the bike and everything gets even better. 4 hours went by like it was ten minutes. I have talked to lots of people who ride a lot and they all say that on some days, everything is absolutely wonderful. Those days don't come around all the time, well quite a bit here, but this was exceptional.
The weather was Perfect, about 60 with a few clouds, no wind, the trail is in absolutely wonderful shape and Andy and I carved that singletrack like it was nobody's business. The hills didn't seem too steep at all and the downhills had some amazing flow to them.
This is why I ride my bike. I felt guilty--for a little bit, putting my bassoon life on hold for a bit, while i pursue racing and enjoying the life of a bike bum. This ride reminded me why I am doing this, and that is because I LOVE IT, I absolutely love riding my bicycle. It was so wonderful and I was so content with my life and everything involved with it afterwards. It definately made the 8 hour round trip worth while. We used to come down here when I was living at home, but I don't remember loving it this much, maybe it is my sweet mtb I get to use this year. Thanks Paceline Bicycles.
Tsali is the best trail in the world for a roadie, it is so fast and so smooth, you can just go the whole time and not get tired.
We almost ran out of gas on the way there, which is in BFE..good thing i have more gas after when the fuel light goes on than I thought.

OUR SWEET BIKES!!
Western NC at it's finest


What a way to spend wednesday.

So congrats to Sanjaya Malakar, who is the least favorite american idol...he just made it to the final 10...YEAH!!!
Gotta go, I have some Dogfish 60 Minute IPA in the fridge calling my name.

Roadies gone Wild

Went to a mtb race this weekend...it was 24 miles of the most tight, twisty, rooty, muddy, gullieing, annoying singletrack ever. IT WAS AWESOME. I got spanked, by the ground, trees, my bike, mud, and more trees. It was a cool course, but my mtb skills are not up to par, but I am working on it. The race went well I ended up 5th in the pro/semi pro category while andy got 9th. Jon Hamblen was there also and he stuck it to all the mtb ers there by winning by a good margin. It was funny to see all us roadies showing up to a mtb race where technique is so important. I guess that is a good way to get better and it will help this fall in cyclocross.
I ate this because I figured that this is what MTB racers eat...yum


The weather is supposed to be awesome this week and I am looking forward to a week of solid training. I am going to tsali on wednesday and I can't wait. I haven't been there since the secret training camp days.

GO to www.votefortheworst.com and do your part to ruin the show "american idol"
lets not worry about global warming or anything, just taking down that show...see i am doing my part to make a difference.

Spring Break Madness!!!

So the spring breakers have just left...booohooo. We had so much fun I can't even beging to explain. Last night dave (guy with his hand in the gumball machine) cooked a fantastic dinner, it was wonderful. Some of Ryan's female friends stopped in on their way back to Miami University and they were super cool. It was a top ten night of all times--no joke but now my foot is discolored because I actually finally went swimming in my pond. What???


This was lunch yesterday on the ride, YUM!!

Gammers BACK!!!

The Gammer is back here for some spring break action

This is Dave...HI DAVE.

Ran into Garth 2 weeks ago at a MTB race. I always bump into him in the most random spots. Why are you eating doritos and wearing those shades?

It is going to be 80 today...going out for the triple hump.

A&F Gettin It Done

Look at all these people watching the finish of the road race.



So this weekend was the first weekend of "REAL" racing, not just training races. Rich Harper, Andy Applegate, and myself all headed over to beautiful Knoxville TN for some racing; no we did not make it to Dolly World, although I really wanted to.

The race on Sat was a 85 mile road race through some awesome rolling country roads. The racing was pretty negative at first, but we were attacking and trying to get something going. I ended up the road solo with about 40 miles to go while Rich and Andy controlled the field. A group of three bridged up to me after ten miles and we worked real well together until about 7 miles to go. I attacked up a hill and went solo to the finish for the win. It was great. Rich and Andy totally shut down the field and allowed our break to ride away and it was a great team effort. YEAH!!!!

After the race we did some serious recovery with 32 oz dos equis and burritios followed by more high carb adult beverages--in pure Mark Hendershot style.

Sunday was a very technical crit through downtown Knoxville, which is gorgeous. Andy did a flying start and just took off like he doesn't need glasses anymore and just stole his bicycle. I managed to bridge up to him, by following a move from AT (1st grade teacher extroidinare). Andy, Dirk (local super hero) and myself lapped the field while Rich controlled it. I ended up going up the road again without any other lappers for the win while andy took third and rich took the field sprint. OH YEAAHHH!!!

All I can say is that is so cool traveling and racing with this team. We don't discuss what we are going to do, it is understood and we just get it done...it was great. We are racing as a team and it shows. It doesn't matter who wins as long as it is Abecrombie and Fitch.

Yeah I know this is a cheesy post, but A&F rocked it and we are excited for the season. I am enjoying this now, while the enivitible burnout is looming in a few months...

A shout out goes to Tim Jackson, who helped us out with our race rigs...I have never been on a full carbon bike before, and our bikes are not just carbon, they are "TOP SHELF" carbon and they are so sweet!!!! I was always in the mindset that a bike is a bike, but that is false. A racing bike is light and stiff and that is what we have and it feels like a weapon, not a bike. LIFE IS GOOD.

Back in winston, back to GA

Wow this week has gone by fast. Training camp wrapped up on sun morning after a night of good old fashioned male bonding which included tearing up downtown macon--it is actually a lot bigger than one would think. The team is awesome and going to be awesome all year. The personalities are very diverse and there is a comfortable cohesion among everyone.
So after 4 extra days of training this week in cold weather (50s every day) i am off again tomorrow for a day of mountain biking and the first circuit race of the year on sunday. Looking forward to it, nothing like driving to GA and back two weekends in a row.
I did manage to go to work this week. Paceline is moving this weekend to our new location right around the corner, unfortunately I am going to have to miss the pleasure of trying to move an entire store in one day. The new store is absolutely fantastic and it will increase our visibility dramatically.
So thanks to Jim B (teammate) my repertoire for cuisine has increased dramatically. I didn't realize I had a rice cooker in my possession, so I actually have made some real good meals as of late. I am not saying that I couldn't make rice before, but it is much easier in a rice cooker. Just be sure to put the water in the bowl and not underneath on the heater.