check out the wedding pics

We had the best wedding ever with the most awesome photographers.
Here are the pictures. Click on the slideshow and then you can see the proofs.

best quote ever

I have so much to report its ridiculous. Here is the important stuff:
I got married!!!!!!!!!
I got married to Aliza who is the most awesomest person in the whole world!!!!
We had the best wedding ever with the best friends and family in the world!!!
$Rich$ is the best entertainment ever at a wedding!!!!!

Thats the important stuff. I will put up endless pictures soon so don't worry.

This weekend is the Iron Hill Twilight and here is the press release
I love Frank's quote, "after the race he will wish he was still a bassoonist!!" HA!!

Bad Luck

Philly was yesterday and the team raced awesome. Philly is a super hard race and super long (156 miles or something like that). I was feeling good but with 5 miles to go we were flying and I got a flat tire. I got a wheel change but being a gigantic wuss, I couldn't catch back on to a peleton that was going 30+ mph. OH well that is racing for you.

I realized the other day I never give my coach enough props. Andy Applegate has been coaching me for 3 years now and ever since I started working with him, I got fast. He is the best coach ever and works for Asheville Velosports.
Andy has been so influential in my training, racing, and mental attitude and I owe him so much and couldn't be where I am in cycling without him.
We did a podcast via the phone last week for his website. It was a ton of fun so check it out here.

We love Tulsa

Tulsa Tough is the best bike race in the world. It is a three criterium omnium over 3 days on three distinct courses. There also is a ton of prize money, which makes it an even cooler bike race, AND they pay out on the spot which definately makes it the coolest ever.
Anyway on the last day, Daniel rode away with 4 laps to go and stayed away for the win! It was by far the biggest win I have ever been on a team for and it is super exciting. Good Job Dan!!!!!!!!!
Next up is Philly on sunday so I better start training now...

just for the record

It hasn't been a month yet. We are in Tulsa OK. 3 of us drove here from Somerville NJ and it feels good to get out of the van for a while. Tulsa seems nice and chill. We are racing a three race omnium here for the weekend and then driving home.
During speedweek I had a camera on my bike thanks to Oregon Scientific and Race announcer Chad Andrews from Total Cyclist. Here is the first video which is from Dilworth NC.

Team Mtn Khakis won the overall, team comp, and lap lead!! Now we are eating big bufords and fries...w/ diet cokes tho.

Technology

So i can post from my phone, but unfortunately they come up in reverse order, so I'm going to have to start typing backwards which is kind of difficult.
We are neck deep in Speedweek right now. We have done 4 races and have 3 to go. Tom won in Beaufort which was totally amazing and sweet and hardcore and just plain crazy and he is such a rockstar and I'm so happy I'm on his team, check it out here and he took the overall lead in the series.
Last night was Walterboro and was a super fast non-selective course which was difficult to get away on and difficult to sit in. I ended up 8th and Tom was 11th so we are still leading the series, but lost some points. The team is racing super strong and it is so much fun to be a part of it.
Here is the link to the results page of Speedweek.
We had off today (thursday) and I actually hitched a ride home with Jay and Joe last night, so Uh and I have been able to hang out today in the dash and then we are going to roadtrip it together for the rest of the series...I'm sure traveling with her won't smell as bad as that team van does...

til now. Unfortunately now I don't have an excuse for not posting.

So technology is crazy. Apparently I can post from my phone now. I probably could have done this for a while but with my lack of blogging I didn't notice

Here is the "official" race report. I'm sure glad we are on the same team...

Soladay Displays Raw Power to Take Big Win
At Historic Roswell Criterium
By Daniel Carruthers
Tom Soladay (Team Mtn. Khakis) took the biggest win of his career at the Historic Roswell Criterium, Sunday in the second race of the USA CRITS Speed Week series. Soladay won with such a tremendous display of raw power that he took the Gamblers prime on the penultimate lap and still managed, comfortably, to cross the finish line ahead of his more favored breakaway companions: Kyle Walmsley (Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light), Zach Bell (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Frank Travieso (Champion Porsche P/b Herbalife/Racers Edge) and Bobby Lea (OUCH).
How it unfolded:
150 riders lined up on the one mile, tree-lined, Roswell course under sunny skies, Sunday. Besides the USA, there was quite an international flavor, with riders from New Zealand, Australia, Cuba, Ireland, Mexico, and Canada to name a few.
The race at Roswell was not as lightning fast as the Athens Twilight, but a high pace was still maintained throughout, with an average speed of 29 mph for the 80-minute contest. The hill on the back side of the course, combined with a slight cross-wind, served to stretch out the field each lap. But it usually came back together on the home straight where speeds were hitting 31 to 34 mph through the start-finish line. Riders would fan out going through the first turn and allow for some recovery before the hill.
Various attacks from different teams went up the road, but were quickly snuffed out by the spritely peloton. Nothing changed until a late race attack by Zach Bell of Canada started the winning breakaway. His move was quickly followed by Kyle Walmsley, Frank Travieso, Tom Soladay, and Bobby Lea. The five escapees quickly established a large gap that grew to 30 seconds through some slick work together. Teams that missed the break, such as Fly V Australia, Team Hotel San Jose and Team Type 1, were trying desperately to either bridge across, or bring it back to set up for a field sprint. Carlos Vargas (Team Hotel San Jose) was one of those riders doing his best to jump across but to no avail.
It was interesting to note that Jonny Sundt (Kelly Benefits) started from the back of the field at the beginning of the race and spent the majority of the time moving up slowly but surely on every lap. By the time he hit the front of the race, his teammate Bell was already in the breakaway group. Sundt then concentrated on protecting Bell’s advantage. He commented later that it was “difficult for the guys [Kelly Benefits] since we are recently back from stage racing in Asia, and are just getting back into the criterium style of racing.” Sundt was full of praise for Team Mountain Khakis. “They are racing extremely well and clearly have come to dominate; so my hats off to them.”
In a post-race interview, Soladay commented that the team had come to Roswell to win the race and were following the same plan as they did at the Athens Twilight Criterium a day earlier. Soladay’s win is even more remarkable when you consider that it wasn’t that long ago when he was hit by a car and suffered slight nerve damage. He seems to have made a speedy recovery, and the whole Team Mountain Khakis squad was right behind him Sunday. If the break was brought back, there were five other strong riders poised to do what it takes [to win].
Bell, who finished third, said that his teammates “dug in very deep today” and the Roswell Criterium was only his second crit this year (Athens Twilight being the first one); so he is still re-adjusting. Bell said that he thought Travieso “would go harder coming out of the final turn, but he eased up, and I ended up leading out.” Bell still held on to claim the final podium spot behind Kyle Walmsley.
Aldo Ilesic (Team Type 1) of Slovenia took out the bunch sprint by at least a bike length in front of John Murphy (OUCH) and Ben Kersten (Fly V Australia). Mark Hekman (Team Mountain Khakis) and Carlos Vargas (Team Hotel San Jose) rounded out the top ten.

Pigs almost flew again...

but not quite.
Athens was good to Team Mountain Khakis this year. The team raced awesome and everyone contributed an insane amount. The race this year had more spectators than I ever have seen in my 5 previous times doing it and it was so much fun to race in that atmosphere. I was lucky enough to make the right moves and end up in the winning break. I was pretty tired toward the end and am super happy with 2nd. Here is a good right up about the race.
Life is good here in GA. We are staying in the woods outside athens in this little compound and it is sweet. We have learned to watch out for vines ripping the bikes off the roof rack though. The bikes are okay and I have an amazing picture of it to come.

Older and wiser

So I turned 31 last week and you would think that my wisdom with regards to bicycle racing would be that much greater. Apparently not. We traveled to the Tour of Battenkill last weekend which was a 13 hour car drive one way. The morning of the race I thought (in my infinite wisdom) that I should adjust my cleats. So with two hours til the race start I managed to strip the threads out of my shoes. Sweet. With no other option I did what every other hack bike mechanic would do and I welded my cleat on. It lasted 20 minutes until it fell completly off and my trip was over. Double sweet. I was really proud of myself and luckily had a 13 hour drive to think about it.
We are enroute to Athens for Speedweek. I'm excited for this trip. We have a ton of fast guys on Team Mtn Khakis so it should be a fun fast week.

I love the south...

but I will still be rooting for MSU tonight!
Here is my apology for not posting, I'm just copying it from every other post on this blog.
It is good to be home. The Cali trip was a great time and we did some really hard racing which is good for training and now we all feel much stronger and faster than when we got out there.
This past weekend we traveled to Rock Hill SC for a local race weekend. I have done these races many times in the past and have always enjoyed them. Here is the official race report from the official Mountain Khaki Website!!!!!!!!
The best part of the trip was when Logan and I were driving home at 80 mph on the freeway and we get pasted by this:
I'm now home for a few weeks before my next race which is the the Tour of Battenkill in Upstate NY.

GO SPARTANS!!!!

Reason # 2129 why Cali is the best

Reason # 2129 why Cali is the best
I'm on a public transit bus and it has wifi. That is crazy.
I'm on my way back to Redlands for the Redlands classic. I just
spent the last 3 days visiting with Aliza and her brother, Taylor and
his wife, Sarah. We had a great time. They picked me up after San
dimas and we spent a couple days riding beach cruisers around Venice,
eating, bowling, eating, being tourists, eating, hiking, eating and
just relaxing. It was awesome to see them and Aliza. Now taking the
bus halfway back to Redlands and then Im gonna ride my bike the rest
of the way (they have bike racks on the busses).
The racing has been going good. No crashes yet and we have been
consistently finishing in the front groups which is no small feat on
the west coast this time of year. Redlands starts tom and that is our
final race out here. I'm definately going to miss California but at
the same time am excited to get home.

Sent from my iPod

cathcing up on california

Here is the official race report from the official website!!
What it left out was this awesome prime that David Guttenplan won! Check it out:

My stitches had to come out, but I didn't want to have to pay for it so luckily my parents had given me a sweet multi-tool for christmas.


We are still staying in Redlands and the weather has been amazing. The roads here are really nice and have shoulders!! Look at how big this shoulder is!

The San Dimas Stage race starts tomorrow with an uphill time trial.

Fun video from camp

We made it!

We made it!
After three days of driving on I-40, we have made it California. The
drive was uneventful and actually quite fun. We all took turns driving
and the time just went by.
We are now staying at our awesome host house in redlands. The hosts
are amazing, they are putting us up for our entire stay here which is
18 days. The rest of the team is flying in today and we have our first
race tomorrow which is a criterium. I am excited to see how my fitness
is and to race with the team for the first time.

Sent from my iPod

whoops

So I ws showing off my mechanicing skills and this is what I ended up with. 6 stiches compliments of a star nut and rusty hammer.


Training camp concludes today and we leave tomorrow for California. I have never driven out to California before and I hear that it takes a little while to get there. I guess I will find out. We will be there for 3 weekends of racing and then we are driving home.
These last two days have been 80 degrees here which is quite the contrast to the 15 degrees it was three days ago. I'm not complaining.

Snow day at training camp

The Team Mountain Khaki training camp is going on right now here in Winston-Salem and everyone has been lucky to experience the absolute WORST weather I have ever experienced in NC. I am sure the guys from Southern California are loving it. Here is what we woke up to today:


I was lucky enough to have and know what one of these are. I rented it out to my neighbors after I noticed their puzzled looks when I was scraping my winshield off.


At least the precipitation is done so now we just have to deal with the cold.

I thought I was gonna be a hero.

I was outside yesterday and a lady walked by and asked if I had seen
an orange cat. Hers had gotten out and she was worried about it. I
hadn't seen it but she told me where she lived in case I did run into
it. So later I was walking burger around the block and I saw this
orange cat sitting under a car and it matched the description. So I
quickly took Burger home and went back to where the cat was; it wasn't
under the car anymore but it was in this frontyard. So I gently
approached this cat and i waa thinking how much of a hero i was going
to be for gettimg this ladys cat back. As I was bending over to pick
it up this guy opens his door and yells, "what are you doing to my
cat?!?!" Evidently it was the wrong cat.

Fortunately he had a sense of humor and after I explained to him why I
was trying to steal his cat he was okay with everything.
My life is so exciting now that I live in the city. I can't beleive I
just blogged about cats.

Sent from my iPod