Saturday, March 31, 2007

April?

2 blog updates in 1 week. that could only mean that I'm in Belgium. Not a bad week though. Lots of the usual, settling back into the routine here. Racing a good ole Belgian style 1 day race tomorrow. St. Truiden Aalst, or somthing like that. every Belgian that i talk to about it calls it somthing different, so I'm not actually sure what the name of the race is. sounds flattish, windyish and hardish of course. should be good to rev up the legs again though. unloaded a few pics from my camera. nothing too fancy but....

sweet belgian terrain from this past week.

The first year guys (19 year olds) did a big u23 race with a strong international field on Wed. They all rode solid. Bjorn after finishing in the front group.
Walker rockin one of the smaller cobbled climbs at GP Waragem.Of course, plenty of canal time this week. One from spain last week. not a bad hotel room view if you take all the sweet constuction away.and another. and a few clouds that i thought deserved a shout.
thats all. Wish me luck tomorrow.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

almost...

here we go. back at it.

the last week or so of the banner elk time was nice. good to be in once place for a bit and even better to finally knock out some decent training. I forgot how much I enjoyed a few of the rides in the area. It was quickly rapped up though, and before I could settle in any further, it was off to Belgium to begin my first Europe trip of the year. Travel day was rather bon considering the magnitude. one layover and no trains, I can dig that.

Hung at the mostly empty house in Izzy for 2 nights, then hopped a short flight to southeast spain to meet up with a good chunk of the crew who had been there for the previous week. Vuelta Cartagena began this past thursday. plush hotel. for the week. and internet at a race in europe? weird. 4 days, 4 stages. its in the books now and i think everyone is happy with how it went. heaps of top 20 stage finishes and 8th and 12th on the overall.

First race I've ever done in spain.Painfullly close to snagging a W the past 2 days. At yesterdays TT they actually said that I won at one point since the only guy with a faster time was initially penalized for hanging onto his team car on the climb. Sweet! oh wait, they changed their mind. 2nd by a close 14 seconds. bunk or rama if the guy really cheated but what can ya do? stage 4 today. a short one, but a wicked profile with 3 stout climbs, especially with these wiry spanish chicos. team rode great and caleb and i hung tough to make a final group of 20. brought home a close 3rd in the sprint with caleb in 5th after a vicious attack in the closing meters that almost held off the field. we're gonna get it right sometime soon. thats the latest. back to belgium tomorrow. 2 more weeks and its to the states for Tour of GA. see you then?










Monday, March 05, 2007

i used to read word up magazine

i think that past few weeks (since mid Jan.) have been the longest running "in country" trip I've ever completed. and in Feb!? thats one way to get the cycling season going I guess. Tour of Cali is a wrap. What a race! not the most stellar race from me personally, but a world class event in the U.S. so you gotta dig it. my week in cali was a long one. a brutal awakening after a tough winter of less then stellar prep, but i'm happy to have made it through.

giving what i had left in the tank during the tt...

Back in banner elk now. trying to ward off the last stages of the plague. good to be back in the area. extra good to see the peeps who i hadn't seen in a bit. flippin chilly here tho. the collegiate team is already on a tear with some solid results in the greenville, SC training races this past weekend. Its a bit weird to not be rockin and rolling with them like usual, but exciting for me to hear they are stronger then ever.

The lack of classes is slightly odd too. hence the time for the blog post. odd in a good way i suppose, but I have to say this past week is the most its hit me. now i can look forward to being the creepy guy that graduated and still hangs around!!
A big thanks to Jason Lummis for reminding me how old I am with these sweet blast from the past pics....

sooooooooo???