The Third Brake

The pinnacle of summer racing in the Midwest is the Tour of KC in Kansas City, KS. This is usually a three day race consisting of 2 criteriums (KCK twilight crit and the Overland Park crit) and 1 circuit race (Cliff Drive Classic). Due to construction near Cliff drive this year the Cliff Drive Classic was cancelled and the KCK twilight crit was moved to Saturday.

Since Saturdays races didn’t start until 3PM, sleeping in was a welcome luxury to a race weekend. We hit the road around 10AM and was able to make the three and a half hour drive with no stress and arrived around 1:30PM. Plenty of time to walk the course, warm-up, and carb up.

My race went off at 6:15PM. For those who don’t know the course it is a simple square course with a steep climb (8 degree grade) from the start finish to a fast and furious downhill with a 90 degree right hand turn at the bottom of the hill. Shortly after the hill there is a 2 block 2 step stair stepper hill (8 degree) with a right hand turn at the top of the hill. Then it’s flat for about 4 blocks then a right to the start/finish.

The race was off (50-60 starters) and I was feeling good even with the 20mph south wind and 101 degree heat index. The hills were starting to take their usual toll on me but I just hung in and stayed in the top 15 throughout the race. With 6 laps to go my body was just wanting to shut down and pedal easy and let the pack get away but I wasn’t having any of that. I dipped into my bag of tricks and shut the pain out. With 3 laps to go I knew I needed to move myself up to be in good position for the last lap. At the start of the last lap I was sitting 8th wheel. Only a couple more minutes of hanging out in the pain cave and I would be happy. Going up the hill my legs were starting to shut down. Slowly I was falling back, 10th, 12th, 15th. “Dang it, I’m not waisting this effort!” Made it to the finish in 19th with the pack. Very happy. This is how an A race is supposed to go. Now it was time to recover in the next 16 hours for the next days race. I knew I could do this.

Sunday morning had a great breakfast at our host house. (Thanks again for your hospitality Sherri and Rick.) I didn’t want to overdo my warm up so I made sure not to do too much like I did at the Papillion Twilight Crit.

Another 50 to 60 of us lined up and were ready to go at 10:10. I had a good sound strategy and it was paying off throughout the race. My legs were feeling the best they have been in a long time. I was staying in the top 15 for most of the race. With 5 laps to go I started moving up in position. With three laps to go I was in 8th position. Now I was in the position I wanted to be in. If I could hold this out for 2 more laps I would be able to enact my final part of my strategy. My legs were feeling great. I had plenty more in my energy store and could pull this off for a podium or top 10 placing. Three quarters through the lap we had a downhill with a left turn. A rider who was two places ahead of me locked his brakes and went down in the turn. Being in a turning position I had no choice but to keep straight. In the blink of an eye my front wheel smacked into the rider on the ground at 28mph and I went over the bars and used my face to halt my progress.






I didn’t know the extent of my injuries at the time. My side was hurting and I was spitting blood, so I didn’t want to move unless I made matters worse, so I made the smart decision to just wait. Here you will see pictures of my face which we took while I was at the hospital. I could feel my face being swollen and the blood dripping all over the place. Ended up with 8 stitches in the chin, a black eye, 2 avulsions which will need a plastic surgeon to take a look at, and a chipped tooth. Thankfully no bones were broken in the accident.



Upon leaving the hospital I saw my bike and almost broke down in tears. Yes, Shaniqua was beyond repair. She has gone to the great bicycle rack in the sky. I don’t know what I am going to do at this point in time about a bike. More than likely it will be another Madone 5.2Pro or greater. The components look in good shape and it appears that it is only the frame that broke.


My overall thoughts on this is this….That’s bike racing. These things happen and there is nothing one can do about it. I will race again. I am hoping to have a replacement road bike and be ready for the Gateway Cup races in St. Louis on Labor Day Weekend. By the way, the Tour of Missouri starts in St. Louis on that weekend too. Nancy gave me the idea of printing out a picture of my face next to Jens Voight and see if he will autograph it. I think I will do that.

Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and offers of help, I greatly appreciate and it makes me happy to know each and every one of you kind souls. A special thanks goes out to DaTerm, without whose presence and help the weekend would have been miserable. I owe you BIG.

For now I will be riding the Grinch. Hey, cyclocross is only a month away.

Taming the Snake...

The Alley, the Serpent of Pain, and many others are names I have decided to give Snake Alley. You may have heard the stories, you may have seen the pictures, but non of them do it justice. The only true way to appreciate the Snake is to see it in person. It is a 12 degree grade of 5 switchbacks, all paved with cobblestone. There were sixty-five participants in the cat 4 race, including yours truly. From the start we made a right turn onto a hill, which is very similar to the Iowa City Crit hill. Once at the top of the hill we entered Snake Alley.

Cat 4 Entering the Alley

Once we were in the Alley we stayed together for the first couple laps. Several riders made mistakes and ended up falling over on the climb. Once you fall over, you can only hope for some one to help push you back up the hill; otherwise, you can't clip in and you have to run up to the top. Thankfully I climbed the Alley every single time.

Climbing the Snake


Once at the top it was all downhill. The only thing to do here was to recover for yet another climb. It was easy to get speeds upward of 30 mph without having to pedal, which made it that much quicker to getting back to the Snake. I ended up 38 out of 65 riders. I felt great and will definitely be looking forward to doing this race again next year. Many worthwhile lessons were learned and I will use those lessons in future races.

The pain of climbing



Joe Savoie helping out Vaughn after a slight mishap on the Snake.

There are many more pictures, and a big thanks go out to fellow teammate Janna Vavra for using my camera and getting some great pictures of the cat 4 race.

Staying vertical

This past Sunday saw some fellow Nebraska cyclists racing the Auburn road race in Auburn Kansas. It was probably one of the more memorable races so far this year, and that is not meaning it was a good memory either.

We left Lincoln at 5am and arrived with a little bit of time to get registered and kitted up. There wasn’t time to go drive the course, so it was going to be a blind race. The cat 4’s were to do 2 laps with an approximate mileage of 67. The sun was out, the wind light, it was perfection for a bike race. We kept overhearing people talk of a place on the course called “Girl Scout Hill.” With a name like that, what is there to worry about? The first group off was the Men 1/2/3 and the Women 1/2/3. Five minutes later we were off.

The pace for the first couple miles was very light as we were getting our legs warmed up. Then the pace started gradually picking up. I kept myself between the middle to the front of the pack and was feeling good about this race. I really was thinking that I can hold on to the pack for a good length of the race.

Around mile ten, just past the feed zone, someone up front locked up their brakes and caused some mayhem. Bikes and bodies started hitting the pavement. I spent enough time making love to the pavement last year that I wasn’t going to do it again this year, so I just kept pedaling. I realized I was riding on someones body, as I looked down it was Rich Anderson from the Bike Way team, he twisted and I came to a halt, thankfully still upright. The pack was getting away from me, so I clipped back in and started to bridge the gap that had formed. I really didn’t want to start burning matches this early in the race, but I was determined to get back on. Finally I caught back on just as we were making the first turn. Then I kept hearing a "flip flip" noise. Sort of like a derailleur issue. It would drive me nuts for the entire race. Silly me for thinking I would have time to recover. As soon as the turn was completed 2 riders attacked. As soon as they gassed out, 2 more would attack, and this kept going on for 3 to 5 miles. Needless to say my supplies were running low and I just could hang. Four more people dropped off and we had a real good rotation going. No more than 15 second pulls. We kept the peleton in our sights for some time.

Then we came to a one stop sign town where we made a right turn. Here is where “Girl Scout Hill” is located. Two of our train had fallen off by the time we made the turn, so it was just 3 of us, but not for long. A long false flat with a huge climb 2 tier climb was just painful. By the time I reached the top I lost lots of gas, no not the flatulent kind. I was soon soloing it for one more time around. Nothing really exciting happened on the second lap, except when I got to the hill a second time. This last time up I could barely keep my average around 8 mph, and my muscles started some painful twitching, thankfully it subsided rather quickly.

Crossing the finish I was rather spent. Definitely needed a little more energy juice on the road, something to add to my bag of goodies for the next road race. I felt great the entire race and was very happy with the numbers I pulled off my powertap. Getting this 40 year old body into decent shape is a hard and painful process, but well worth it.

As I rolled back to the vehicle Rich was standing by his vehicle with his front tire in his hands. Upon closer inspection part of his fork was still attached to the wheel. Apparently his fork was snapped in 2, thankfully it wasn’t because of me. Sure hope he gets a replacement before Snake Alley this weekend. As for the "flip flip" sound, it was my tire. There was a slit along the tire that was slapping against my bottom bracket every time it went around. I never flatted during the race. I love my Bontrager HardCase tires. They last a frakking long time.

Well, that is my adventure for this past weekend. Next up, the memorial day races in eastern Iowa, which features the Snake Alley race on Saturday. I am so looking forward to it. I will definitely be happy with a top half finish, the field will be large, I think there is at least 50+ registered so far. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend, no matter what you do.

Iowa City Redux

As I sit here, watching The Biggest Loser and eating dinner after a nice ride, my mind has been filled with thoughts on this past weekends race. I headed out to Iowa City for the 32nd Annual Old Capital Crit and Road Race and comparing it to last years performance.

Both days saw the rain gods tormenting all of us. Saturday morning it was raining and the thunder was rumbling. By the time we got out to the course it was just a tad drizzly and stopped when the races started. The 4's went off at 9:05 and it was wet and windy. So glad I remembered my fleece knickers, but I forgot the arm warmers, but it was just warm enough I didn't need them. I felt good the entire time and just kept pushing, even though I fell off the back soon after lap 1. Three of us began to work it and started making some ground on the pack. However, not soon after one of our number fell off and it was just two of us working it. Though we picked up another lonely rider and had another 3 man team. The last stretch of about a mile my legs just blew up. I couldn't keep up the wattage for the push into the finish, so I just kept spinning as best I could. Ended up 29 out of 32, avg speed 22 MPH, 4 MPH faster than last year. Once again, I can see and feel the improvement.

Sunday was the crit. Last year saw me crash after the start on the downhill turn. I wasn't too happy. We arrived at the course in time to get on the rollers and warm up for about an hour. It was raining. I was suffering from some serious anxiety because I just kept thinking of sliding and crashing in the same spot again. About 20 minutes before the 4's race it stopped raining, but the road didn't dry instantly. I lined up and was ready to go, my heart rate was definitely racing. From the start I had trouble clipping in, I'm pretty sure it was my psyche trying to delay the ensuing torture. Everything clipped in I was on the back of the pack, which sort of made me feel a little better. Then the hill came and I was ready, and I made it. With that out of the way I was ready to race. After a couple laps I was blown off the back on the hill. I felt much stronger than last year, but so was every one else. I was out for myself and no one else. For a while there were 4 of us and I was trying to get everyone to work together, but I was getting pissed. Every time I went to pull I pulled hard and fast, and when I rotated back the others went half the speed I was holding. Once we got lapped by the leaders I had had enough so just rode hard and shredded the guys who wouldn't work together. Ended up 17 out of 23. Very happy even with it being a B race.

Well, my mind isn't into blogging tonight, so everything is rather short and sweet. If you want to hear more details ask me in person, I will be glad to talk about it. Hopefully the next race will be the Swanson MTB race this Saturday. Hopefully I will see some of you out there.

That Dam Race

The second race of the season was located at the Perry Lake Dam in Perry Lake KS, which is located just northwest of Lawrence.

Thunderstorms came in the evening and dumped a whole lot of water. The power had been knocked out, while we were sleeping; thankfully, we were able to get up in time to get some grub and head to the race. I had hemmed and hawed over doing 2 races on this day. The masters race at 10:30AM and then the cat 4 at 2:00PM. The morning temp was 41 and falling with 25+ mph winds, not to mention the roads were soaked. After standing in line for what seemed an eternity in the cold, chilly air, I opted to just stick with the cat 4 race. Craig Harding decided to do the same thing. Since we wouldn’t be racing for another 4 hours, we headed back to Lawrence for some place warm to sit and get some nutrition.

We arrived back with an hour till race time, at which point the temp fell to 39 with 20 mph winds gusting up to 27mph. The only difference was that the sun was peeking out from time to time. We kitted up and got warmed up. There was a fairly good showing of riders, there were 29 in our cat, and it looked like about the same for the cat2/3 race which went off 2 minutes before us.

Lap 1, everyone seemed to stick together, I was sitting in the best I could to save energy for the climb to come, not knowing how well I would do. My legs engine were feeling very strong. We made the fourth turn onto the big hill climb to the start/finish line and I felt like I was flying up the hill. I’m pretty sure I was in the top 10 or 15 to crest the hill.

Lap2, the pack had spread out a little by the top of the hill; however, everyone seemed to have regrouped on the descent to the dam. Stayed close to the team mates and toward the top third of the pack. On the third turn everyone seemed to be slowing up a little, probably in anticipation of the hill climb and wanting to save energy. I didn’t do anything, still trying to gauge the race. Fourth turn onto the hill and I notched up the effort a little more; about 25 yards from the top I was feeling some of the effort. But made it up, I believe, still in the top 15.

Lap 3, made a slight mistake in letting up at the top of the hill. About 10 or so riders off the front had kept the pace and opened up about a 50 yard gap. I had to close it now and didn’t want to wait until the second turn into a head wind. It’s not easy bridging a gap with a tail wind, but I caught back just before the end of the damn. The rest of the pack behind me caught up too as we were making the second turn. At this point I just sat in and did my best to conserve as much energy as I knew I was going to make. Through turn 4 onto the hill I decided stay in the saddle and go up with the pack and not let any gaps form. This was definitely my best climb of the day. I felt like I worked it but I didn’t feel like I killed it. Stayed in the top 15 through the top and onto the last lap.

Lap 4, final lap. Riding next to fellow teammate Dan Spray, we were talking about when and if we wanted to initiate an attack. We had been discussing that turn 3 was the best point since the pack usually slowed down for that stretch of road. I told him that I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to try and go off the front, so we sort of let it go at that point. Approaching turn 3 I made the decision to go on the attack and up the pace. I was sort of hoping my teammates wouldn’t try to join me, because I knew that I was going to probably blow up. For the next half mile I was pushing the pace hard and into the wind. Then Zack (KC State guy) wanted to do another attack before the turn, so I thought, what the heck. So out of the saddle I went to up it one more time. Zack took point and I was on his wheel into the turn. I was ready for the climb, about halfway up is when I blew up. I just settled in and pedaled my tired butt up the hill as the pack began to pass me. Just no more energy, I used up all my matches. However, as fate would have it, my team swept the podium. Vaughn Pierce, Dan Ertz, and Dan Spray took the first three positions. WOO-HOO!!! I would like to think that my efforts helped push them up there.

This was a fun race. These last two days of racing I have learned some valuable lessons on what I need to do to prepare and race this year. One of them being not to burn all my matches. My hill climbing is much better than last year. If I did this race last year, I would have probably been off the back after the second time up the hill and never would have caught back on. I think my nutrition is pretty darn close to being spot on. Probably could have used an extra gel back before or during the race. Now the build phase of training begins. Next race I am going to do will be the Twin Bing Road Race on the 21^st of March, then the following weekend is team training camp.

The road season is now in full swing.

That was fast...

Well, first road cycling event of the season is in the bag. Arriving in Lawrence KS, we were greeted with a temp of 66 and a possibility of some precipitation. The winds were out of the southwest at 12 mph with gusts of 24.

The race started like any other race, the cat 4 field was the largest of the day with 52 people starting. After the officials briefing we were off for 22 .84 mile laps, and it was fast. From the start we had a slight incline from the start for about 50 yds into a headwind, at which point we turned left for another 50 yds. with a cross tailwind. Then it was another left turn with a modest tail wind for 100 yds where we then turned left for 50 yds into a nasty cross headwind. Then it was another left turn for the stretch to the start finish line. Repeat.

That was a brief description of the course. It was fun. From the get go were were riding at 24 mph average for each lap. The teams there were many and each one had numerous members. Attacks were being shutdown before they ever happened. At any point in the race, people were yelling, "Attack left/right" at which point the speeds went up and the attacks never happened. There were many sketchy moments in the race where we were expecting someone to crash big in the turn. Too many people were cutting into others lines as well as not keeping their own lines. Very hairy at times and it can mess with your head.

I stayed in the top fourth of the pack the entire race. This makes me very happy, especially since I am just coming off my base phase of my training and should be starting the build phase this coming week. I'm thinking now that my goals for this season will be within my grasp. My fellow teammates did a fantastic job as well. Dan Ertz, and Vaughn Pierce finished in the top 5 and Dan Spray finished in the top 10, as for myself I finished in the top 20. Joe Savoie gave a great effort in both the Masters and 3/4 race. Craig Harding also did a fantastic job in the Masters and cat 5 race.

Tomorrow is the dam race, which I am thinking of doing 2 races but that is not a definite yet. I'm going to shower now and get some sleep. Sure sucks that the clocks are changing this weekend. At least it's supposed to be in the upper 50's tomorrow.

Wilderness and Mountain Lions

I have been away too long. The new job is going well. It's very hard to leave a job you had worked at for over 9 years where you knew the ins and outs of everything to something completely new. In other words, I'm actually working for a change. Still getting plenty of time on the bike too. I bought some rollers back in December and have been enjoying them. They make the time inside a little more enjoyable. I have finally gotten to where I can ride them for 4 hours, though every forty-five minutes or so, I am in dire need of nether region relief.

Recently we have had some great weather and some not so great weather here in the lovely state of Nebraska. This past weekend being one of them. Here is what happened.

Sunday after being on the rollers for a little over an hour, I received a call. Someone whining about wanting to go out and ride Wilderness. Here is a sample of the conversation.

I said, "Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there with a 10mph wind out of the north."

Caller, "But you will warm up and you will be out of the wind because of the shielding the woods provide."

"Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there."

"But I don't want to go to the Y and sit on the spin bike."

"Are you nuts? It's 7 degrees out there."

"But nobody else will ride with me. Besides there are mountain lions out there."

"grumble, grumble, grumble. Okay, I'll go. But so you know, IT'S 7 DEGREES OUT THERE!"

Now, I am one who has a hard time retaining body heat, no matter how much I move around out there, so it was with great trepidation that I went. Got myself all bundled up in several layers, prepped the cross bike, and headed out for a cold weather adventure.

In the open it was completely miserable, my nose, fingers, and toes were hurting from the cold. However, I will admit, after about 20 minutes into the ride, the trees provided enough shielding that my fingers and nose were warming up. My toes were a completely different issue. They did not get warm until late in the evening.

My riding buddy kept talking about the mountain lions that live in Wilderness, so I was trying to keep in front so if we were attacked, they would go after the slow one in the pack. Much to my chagrin they went after the leader. The picture above was taken moments before my tussle with the ever elusive Wilderness cougar, which is almost as elusive as the photographed Gravy. Thankfully, I won with only a bruised knee.

Riding the cross bike was great fun out there. I probably should have taken the mountain bike, as the larger tires would have provided better traction; but the ride was still just as sweet. There were many moments that I would get hung up in a frozen rut or on something that was lurking beneath the snow. I even managed a really sweet save that you just had to be there to appreciate.

This coming weekend is looking to be fun. Road Racing season begins! WOO-HOO!!! I will be heading down to Lawrence, KS for a crit race on Saturday and the Dam race on Sunday. Some fellow teammates will be down there too and hopefully we will kick some butt, and make them fear Nebraska riders. If not, then at least we will have some fun.

Till next time.

Last Day....

The showdown will have to continue in a new location. I have only an hour or so left until I leave my current company for the last time. It's amazing how much junk one accumulates over nine years of working in one place. I'm almost in need of a moving van.

Monday is the start of the new job in Lincoln and I am very much looking forward to the new job. I will still be writing computer programs, so I will still tend to be geeky from time to time. Not wanting to spend much time writing here today as I am getting a little misty eyed. So, maybe now, people will see me more often on the bike rides instead of just showing up at the starting place and saying hi, before I head on home.

I'm also thinking of heading down to Kansas City tomorrow morning for the Boss Cross race. Hmmm....do I want to do 1 or 2 races. Guess it will all depend on what time I get up and get down there. I'll try to provide a report if I go. :)

Grand Ol' Time...

Yea...it was that fun. I decided on Friday that I would head out to Des Moines, IA to ride at least one race of Spooky Cross. I have been getting a little antsy for another cross race and thought that since this one isn't too far away, then I wouldn't have much to lose.

So, Saturday morning came and we were out the door by 7am. The first race, Masters 40+, was to go off at noon, and I figured this would get me there with some time to spare. I didn't head out alone, my dog was anxious to go to, so Baylee took her seat in the car and was ready as I. As you can tell in the pic above, she was very excited to be going to a cross race.

I pulled into the location around 10:30. Tom Price was the first person there and only a couple minutes after I showed up Craig Schmidt, and Troy Krause were joining the fray. The course was looking very juicy and appeared to provide hours of entertainment for spectators and riders alike. I go to get my bike off the car and notice that my rear tire was flat.....*&^#!!!! I go to get my spare tube out of the tool box, and darnit, it was my mountain bike tube. Double *&^#!!! Thankfully I had brought a spare wheel set so I wasn't in too much trouble. However, if I flatted on the course, then I would be screwed. Not wanting to chance causing a flat I just switched wheels. The one that flatted was my PowerTap wheel and I so wanted to get some hard data on a cross race. Well, there went that idea.

Here are a few shots of the course taken with my cell...

The short stretch into the finish...mmmm...juicy


A little stretch through the trees passing some cows on the left.

I felt that the course was just plain fun. It went through some bean fields, which just became a nightmare to get your bike through because it got soggier and slipperier each time through. Down through the trees and up a nice little grade with 2x4s spread out up the hill. Some people were able to ride up it, I just couldn't get the correct line and would get slogged down by the mud. Then it was back through some more trees and what I thought were a couple of compost hills you had to ride over, a set of barriers to hop over then through the juicy start finish area. Then between there and the bean fields was an open field with a couple of barriers to hop over. The open field I thought was just a little rough. Mostly because it wasn't smooth and I thought I lost all my fillings riding through there. The whole place was just dog gone beautiful, on and off the bike.

As for the race, well, when you are up against Troy and Tom, you pretty much relegate yourself to doing your best and not expecting great things because these guys are just plain incredible. Nothing seems to stop them. There were 16 of us in the Masters race and we were off. I was fifth out of the blocks and stayed that way after 2 laps. Then one guy passed me, I tried my darndest to keep up with him but just kept telling myself, "You didn't plan and prepare for this race so don't get too frustrated." Then with about 4 laps to go, Craig and another gentleman passed me. Craig was off like a screaming banshee and I just didn't think I had it in me to keep up with him, but I was able to stay right behind the other guy. We had just entered the bean field with 3 laps to go when Tom Price came by us riding like the course was flat and smooth, we thanked him as he passed because we knew we only now had one lap left after this one. Sometimes it sure feels good to get lapped. Ended up 8 out of 16 and I was extremely happy with that.

The whole thing was just a great time. I stayed around to watch some of the other races. The 3/4 race had a boat load of people racing. Looked close to 30 or 40 riders. I had thought of doing this race also, but just wasn't feeling suicidal enough. Oh well, maybe next time. Nebraska was being represented well at this race as there were several in the 3/4 too. Including Rich Anderson and Paul Eichler both on the Elkhorn Valley Cycling Team. They finished real strong, not sure where since the results hadn't been posted by the time I left, but I think they finished in the upper half.

Now it was time to decide what to do. I figured that Iowa City is only an hour and a half away and I would see what my brother and his family were up to and meet them for dinner. I get there around 5PM and realize that I am starting to slog. However, my niece and nephew were able to spur new doses of energy into me, though it was somewhat short lived. Then as I was thinking about heading back to Des Moines, get a hotel and race the next day, my niece was sort of upset that I wasn't going to be staying and wanted to know why I couldn't. Upset kids tug at my emotional strings. So I am deciding to just skip the race all together on Sunday and spend the time with them. Will I miss the glory of the race, you betcha, but it will be there next year again. Visiting with my niece and nephew is something I just don't want to miss. I hope everyone can understand.

Well, the kids will be up soon so it will be time for me to play. :) Those of you who didn't come out to race Spooky Cross, you have got to do it next year. You will have a grand old time. Here's another picture of some of the scenery out there...

The banquet...

Saturday was the annual "Bike Bash" where both roadies and mountain bikers come together and celebrate the year of great cycling in Nebraska. I decided to take "Zod" and ride the Platte River single track. I love this course and this was my best ride on that course to date. I didn't crash once. Probably because I was going through at an easy pace and not a race pace. We'll see next year with how many gashes I end up with.

My performance in the road series wasn't very spectacular, mostly because this was my first year as a cat 4 and the guys who were tops were also very strong riders all year. Congrats to Mr. Algomaha who took first place for the cat 4's and will be getting free entry in all the Nebraska races next year. As for the MTB side of things, I ended up with 2nd overall in the Men Masters 35+. (The gratuitous geekdom in the picture is for you Marc.) This doesn't give me free entry, but hey, I got a trophy out of it. Sure doesn't take make to make me happy. hehe

Just a little over a week and a half left until I start my new job. More and more I am looking forward to this change. I won't write here why I am feeling that way. If I have already talked to you about it, then you know to what I am referring.

The weather was near perfect on Sunday with temps in the low 70's. It was made even better with a ride through Wilderness with good friends. Biking is always made more fun with others and one always wants it to keep going long after the ride is over. Then it was off to home to do some work around the house and then just some relaxin' time. I have figured that I will have an extra 3 hours a day when I start the new job. What am I going to do with all that extra time on my hand? Do more biking? or find something else to add to my life? hehe Who knows.

The weather outlook this week is looking rather bleak. It appears to be time to pull out the ol' trainer and start riding indoors. I've even been throwing around the idea of getting some rollers too to help break up the monotony. Oh well. I'm also tossing around the idea of heading to Des Moines this weekend for Spooky Cross. It's only in the thought process at this time, not definite.

Well, time to get some cube cleaning time done. Congrats to everyone who won the Rider of the Year categories. You guys did awesome.

A moment of silence...

Well, after 9 years of working at the same company and commuting between Lincoln and Omaha I have given my notice. Starting on November 3, I will be working in Lincoln for Interact Incorporated. This wasn't an easy decision on my part and I didn't realize how much until today. I'm looking forward to the new change. A big amount of money will be saved on gas alone. Also, I will have more time for riding my bike and training.

This is yet another short post. So much to do now to get ready for the transition. I will try to put more details and such as the days progress.

Ouch...

Okay, this is going to be a short post. I had told some people about this article I came across on the web. The story is about David Feherty and his ordeal with getting hit by a truck. Thankfully my accident was no where near this bad. It's a very interesting read and I think you will enjoy it.

Here is the article.
Here is the podcast.

Enjoy.