Congrats!!

To adopted Utahan David Clinger on running 2nd in the Elite Nat’l. RR Champs.  I am sure it hurts to come so close, but the progress he has made this year is huge.  That is what I call a comeback!!

Oh yeah, and Eric Slack was 3rd.  He is from I-da-ho, which is basically reallllly northern Utah.  Good on ya.

On the DreamTeam front, Chase and Dustin have the TT today, so send all your positive energy their way.  I have a good feeling, but I won’t make any predictions.

As for me, I am more than a little pumped for the AB Memorial Crit this weekend.  It means a ton to me for obvious reason, so hopefully I can pull something off again.  There is another crit the next day in Jackson, but the prize list really makes it hard to justify driving further from home.  Especially as it will be Haley’s birthday!!  Yes, the girls are going with me.  Road trip city, baby.

In other news, we are supposed to hear something on the house today.  As it bank owned, that means nothing as they can pretty much do whatever they want, apparently.  If you don’t know we put an offer on a house.  A definite low ball, but it’s been on the market for some time with no offers.  It is simply rad and I think we’d be there forever.  Yes, it is in Provo.  Frustrating, exciting, scary all at the same time.  Fingers crossed!

Grandparents Visit and Morgan Makes it 3

 We were lucky enough to have my mom and her husband, Ken out for Morgan’s 3rd birthday and the weekend.  Here’s some highlights, stolen from Kelly who has more:

Haley’s on guard in case Morgan can’t blow out all 3 candles:

Morgan was pretty stoked on having her own party.  Haley’s birthday is next week, so in the past they have shared.  I don’t think that will fly ever again.

Last night with grandma and grandpa. 

I had a fun and relaxing weekend, but I am super amped to get back into the wide world of bicycle racing at the Allan Butler Memorial Crit this weekend.  I have been out of the game for a bit, so I am chomping at the bit, as they say.  As I said to someone on Facebook the other day, I am going to have to step up my game if I want to keep a spot on my own team.  The boys have been crushing it.  Sleevie won the first stage at Cascade in the Cat 2’s and ended 2nd overall.  Yes, Cat. 2’s of the world, he has since upgraded.  Elite and u23 Natz for him, Dustin and Chase this week.  Good luck, fellas!!

Nostradumass

I am not going to say I told you so about DiLuca. 

Wait, what’s that? 

I just did?

Yeah, I guess so.

On a similar note, Contador broke Riis’ record for VAM, an equation popularized by Dr. Ferrari (a fitting name if ever there was).  Obviously, this is not proof of anything.  It knocked Pantani to 3rd in the podium of VAM, but you know, it’s not proof of anything.

Do I sound like Lemond?

Go Wiggins!

That is all.

I guess that’s not all…

UPDATE: You know who the last person to beat Cancellara in a Tour TT was?

Schumacher.  Just a random fact.

We Will Never Be Here Again.

It’s not just a tattoo on Svein Tuft’s forearm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truer words seldom spoken. 

Tommy’s  post about the passing of Chris Hipp gave me pause to think about this.  I have been fortunate to have lots of fun trips and memories.  On the other hand, in an age of digital everything where it should be easy as to take pics at any moment, I have been pretty horrible about documenting any of the adventures.  In general, I think I need to slow down and enjoy the moments a bit more.  Who knows how many are left? 

Thanks for the reminder Tommy.

Follow Up

“As a songwriter and a life liver I try not to sit in a pool of distress.  It is fun to complain, to blame, to talk shit and sit sour and bitter.  But totally not useful in the growth process and that’s the positive side of distress and suffering.  Observing your faults.  Seeing yourself beyond the ego and making an attempt at healing.  Making yourself stronger.  Getting to know yourself better.  Seeing things in perspective.  That’s the gift of pain.”

From the liner notes of Shelter’s “The Purpose. The Passion”.

Outside of the guys putting up some huge results, I had some good conversations about our team directly and indirectly over the weekend to remind me why I decided to do this team in the first place.  Onward and upward!

A  tippy-tops weekend for the boys.  Ben was 5th at the Sundance HC.  Chase WON 2 of 3 stages and the G.C. at Capital Reef and Sleevie WON the Cat. 2 Boise Twilight Crit, after a stellar lead out from Andre Gonzalez from the Canyon shop team, who hung on for 2nd, making for a rather nice photo op:

Since The Mop Did It and All

1. What is your current obsession?


Same as it ever was.

2. What do you hate that everyone else seems to love?

I am not that much of a hater.  That godawful morning show on X96 comes to mind.

3. What are you wearing today? 

Now, I’m wearing a plain white t and boardshorts.  At work, I stepped it up a notch with non-bathing shorts and a team polo from 2 years ago.

 4. What’s for dinner?

See below.  Burger and fries.  I am stuffed and I like it.

5. What would you eat for your last meal? 

See above.  I’d say there’s decent odds of me eating to death eventually.  Just keep bringing plates ’til you can’t find a pulse.

6. What is the last thing you bought?

Gas.  This morning.  That answer sucks.

 7. What are you listening to right now?

Kelly on the phone with her folks.

8. What do you think of the person that tagged you? 

Nobody tagged me, but I saw it on Kelly and The Mop’s blogs.  Neither tagged anyone.  I am more than a little fond of Kelly and I love the intrigue of the elusive Mop.

 9. If you could have a house- fully paid for and totally furnished where would it be?

Seal Beach in CA. Pasted straight from Kelly’s.  I could live up on the Alpine Loop too.  Maybe one in each.  Yeah, I think so.

10. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would it be?

That’s a stupid question.  Free money land?

11. What is one of your hobbies?

Making up excuses.

12. What is your favorite quote? 

Too many to list.  Lots from Shelter and lots from stupid movies.

 13. What is your favorite color?

Black like my soul.  Stupid question.  I like lots of colors.

14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?

I am pretty fond of these boardshorts atm.

15. What is your dream job? 

Pro cyclist who makes lots of money and gets to pick his own schedule and be home as much as he wants.

16. Describe your personal style?

You can buy fashion, but you can’t buy style.

17. What is your favorite tree?

I know there’s supposed to be “no dumb questions”, but this is a(nother) dumb question.  I like palm trees because it is warm where they grow.

18. What are you going to do after this? 

Sit on my can for a bit.  Probably talk to Kelly about houses.  Hopefully, I will sleep as this week has sucked in the sleepage dept.

19. What is your favorite fruit? 

Perez Hilton.  No, I don’t like that guy.  I like pretty much all the fruits.  I like grapefruit and orange juices plucked from the tree in my grandparents back  yard and blended.  They both passed on some time ago, but it’s a great memory from my childhood.

 20. What inspires you?

Kelly.  And I’m not saying that because she said me.  I don’t know how she does it.  FWIW, I hate it when other guys gush about their lady friends on their blogs.  It always strikes me as a show.  So, if that’s the feeling you are getting reading this, so be it.

21. Who was the last person that you kissed? 

Haley and Morgan before bed.  And let me tell you, getting them to bed was a story in itself today. 

22. What are you currently reading?

I majored in English and love to read (and write), but seriously I am on the fast track to illiteracy.

23. Go to your bookshelf, take down the first book that you see with a red binding, turn to page 26 and type out the first line.

“The new president tried to increase sales at Carl’s Jr. restaurants by purchasing food of a lower quality and cutting prices.”  From Fast Food Nation.

24. What delighted you the most today?

I gotta tell you, I have not been super delighted lately.  It made me smile when I saw Kelly’s version of this and it said I inspire her.  I haven’t felt very inspirational (or inspired) lately, so that was nice.

25. If your life had a theme song, what would it be? 

My life has a soundtrack and it is Shelter’s “The Purpose, The Passion”.  Krishna-core?  Whatever, it is the most positive, uplifting record I could ever imagine.  Makes me want to rise and shine.

 26. If you bought a wiener dog today, what would you name it?

I wouldn’t buy a wiener dog today.  Or any other dog.  The dogs we have are kicking our collective can as it is.

27.What is a character trait or habit of yours that you inherited from one of your parents?

OCD from my dad.  That is a good trait if you want to be a bike racer.  Understanding from my mom.  That is a good trait if you want to be a good person.

Reality Sets In.

The man credited with inventing the term “12k dreamer”, Chris Hipp, died today, apparently suffering an aneursym on the way to a group ride.  I only knew him through others, as a larger than life character, regularly taking it to guys half his age.   As we mourn the loss of our brother on wheels, remember to cherish each ride and each day.  Eventually you won’t have any more!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have been going back and forth on Tour of Utah since the announcement of the All-Star team a month or so ago.  I won’t lie.  My enormous ego struggled with the fact that I was not selected.  And with good reason.  On paper, I am definitely among the best Utah riders.  Off paper too!  Even throwing past years out, I’ve still won a couple races this year, which is more than most and that’s with intentionally letting some races go to give the young guys on the team a chance. 

On the other hand, I did drop out last year.  Early.  I get that.

If you really want to get to the heart of it.  I have a hard time with the non-selection of the team I put together this year.  This will piss some people off, but we are clearly the best team in the state.  Results don’t lie.  I am proud of what we have built. 

Again, there’s always the other hand and we only have 4 Cat. 1’s, and it’s a Pro-1 race, but there are plenty of teams that are taking on composite riders.  I would also point out that we started the year with only 1 Cat. 1! 

So, back to the beginning.  My enormous ego and I had been going back and forth.  I was tempted to find another team to ride with, to kind of prove my worth.  However, now that I am putting it out there, I think it’s probably a good call for me not to do it.  I am a racer.  I thrive on competition, and suffering it out just to finish doesn’t suit me.  Eventually I will clear that mental hurdle again but that’s where I’m at. 

I have the ability to compete in a race like this.  I know it.  But my current schedule does not offer the flexibility to prepare at that level.  And I am not willing to make the changes necessary to make that happen.  When you get to the heart of it, cycling is a lot about what you are prepared to give up.  And that was ultimately what lead me to give up the dream of pro cycling.  As much as I love it, I was not prepared for the sacrifices I needed to make to continue on that path.

Of course, I could still change my mind.  The 12k dream never really dies, right?

The Great American Road Trip is Over

I don’t remember where I left off exactly, but Tuesday being the last real day of vay-cay, we tried to fit in as much radness as possible.  Kelly and I rode to breakfast in Seal Beach.  Seal Beach is right up there with the Alpine Loop in terms of my favorite places on earth.  I could totally live there if I had a couple mill for a house and didn’t have to work.  Anyway, after that we tried to take the girls to an equestrian center to ride ponies, but they were closed, so we just walked around and looked the horses.  We then went back to Seal Beach and walked out the pier.  Despite what I said in the previous post, it was a postcard day and warm even on the beach.  This made me really not like the prospects of going home.  Anyway, we watched the kids skimboarding and saw somebody catch a stingray, Haley and Morgan chased birds around, and played on a playground, and then we headed home. 

Went out to the world’s best Tuesday night race that night.  I felt awesome and spent most of the evening in breaks, most notably with my ex-teammates Jaime Paolinetti, Michael Johnson, and Sean Watkins.  If you know these guys, you know they are pretty much guys that can ride a breakaway, so I was surprised when we got caught with two laps to go, but it was fun while it lasted.  I was sitting second wheel for the sprint, but Rahsaan Bahati lead it out and literally just killed me.  He went from like a k to go and just went ballistic.  I tried to stand up when he pulled off, but had nothing left and sat back down.  Blows me away the speed that guy has.

I considered getting up early to go surfing before the drive home, but figured I’d be better off with more sleep, so that was pretty much the trip.  The drive home was uneventful.  My iPod crapped out, so that sucked.  In-N-Out in St. George was the only significant stop.

Back to the grind, but feeling refreshed.

Vacation’s all I ever wanted…

Yeah, vacay, kicking it.  I am pretty much doing it right, and I don’t want to waste time on my stoopid weblog.  Short version.  Got in Thursday night.  Bike ride Friday morning, and beach time in the afternoon.  It was cold as at the beach though, so Morgan napped on Mom under a blanket.  Haley was unfazed.  Tangent- Baywatch is a crock.  It is always cold at the beach in CA.  There’s like 3 days a year where you can get in semi-comfortably without a wetsuit.  Or maybe I am just soft.  Saturday, I rode to Food Park and back, catching up with some of the old crew.  Lots were MIA with Master’s Natz and a race  few hours away, but still plenty of action.  Plus, Sleevie was there.  Anyway, I crushed it there and home and that ended up being a long and hard day.  Saturday night we watched fireworks from Kelly’s grandparents roof.  Sunday, I hit up yet another group ride, the infamous Como Street.  One thing I definitely miss about CA is the riding.  All the stoplights suck completely, but the fact if there’s not a race you can still go out and ride just as hard is gooood.  Anyway, that afternoon I took the girls on a massive walk to the park and tired them out but good.  Kelly’s mom is hosting a tea party for the all the women folk this afternoon in celebration of her test coming back cancer free(yaaah!), so I am going to ride while they have that going on.  Reading back through this, it seems I am riding an awful lot on vacation, but OTOH this is probably the first vacaction we’ve ever had during the season that was not centered around a race.  In any case, this is a cycling blog and mostly that’s what the readers care about.  I am feeling strong again and ready to crush through the end of the year. 

In other news, there some kind of big bike ride in France right now.