Roadrunner Day

It's the same beautiful day once again in Tucson, it's almost like Groundhog Day. Only there aren't any of those around, so maybe I'll declare this Roadrunner Day. I separate the days so far like this...Sunday-Mt.Lemmonhead, Monday-Throwing oranges on 3rd St, Tuesday-Intervals up Gate's, Wednesday-Hotdogs, Thursday-Open mic, Friday-P.P.Pizza, & Saturday-"Shootout+2hrs". Anyhow, today is all about rest and refueling for the hard weekend. My body is still in shock from the criterium, but all is good. I've met up with a couple of really nice riders this week who are following us to do a report on their website. You can hear my interview at www.cyclingradio.com I haven't listened to it because I hate listening to myself, so I don't want any comments about how stupid I sound. After this busy week I think I may even take some advice and start Yoga. The UofA yoga club meets Monday, right after work. I'm heading to dinner and the mall now, Sweet. Everyone, go have the best weekend, Laters!!

Blogcards

Consider these postcards, they are prettier but don't cost anything...

<-Mesa Cycles, helping mentally challenged kids ride their bikes.
Todd on campus. "We're late for Class!!!"->
<-Third street near campus that we cruise around on rest days, and maybe throw a few oranges at each other. <-Gates Pass, one of many torturous climbs out here, especially after 6hrs on the bike.-v
Here is a picture of where I live. Cloudy day, haha!->
<-There is always an airshow in Tucson! These I found on a recovery ride. -v

Last in training, First in racing!

I haven't known what day it's been for awhile, but after this past weekend I am no longer in the offseason. Last Friday night I couldn't get anybody to go with me to a show on campus, even if I paid their $3 cover. Oh well, we had to wake up and do the "Shootout" at 7:30am Sat and it was Mike's last day/ride in Tucson. We are all really dedicated to riding and training which is a good thing for the team. I could barely wake up in the morning, having not even gone out. We all made it through the 5hr ride and I decided to go out more and make it a 7hr ride. Perfect pre-race day ride, right? It's January so I don't even know what I'm doing racing anyway.
Sunday, Josh and I set out for Phoenix to do our first race in both of our new colors. The orange kits really clashed with both of our old team bikes, but we dealt with it since our Specialized bikes are not here yet. We were lucky enough to get clothes rushed out to us for the first race of the Arizona season. I was in a small skinsuit and it was tight! As we were warming up I told Josh, "The last race I did was Superweek, How bad could this be?" Two laps into a completely flat, three turn crit and I was put right back into Superweek! Basically we did 29.1 miles in a 60 minute crit. It was fast, not just because I was in it, but because a lot of well known Pro teams were represented (like...Navigators, Jittery Joe's, Tiaa-Cref, Discovery, Colavita). I went with a lot of attacks despite the 30mph speeds but it stayed together for a field sprint, which Josh won by three bike lengths. I wish I could say I led Josh out for the "V," but instead I placed 17th in the field of over 50. It was awesome to be a part of our first team victory for the season. Josh was not at his best this past week and still outpowered everyone in the end. We definitely did not expect to walk away with a victory, but it is exciting to start our first "training races" this way. I'm waiting for my first climber's race, and one with a lot of podium girls. Then everyone watch out!


**Race Schedule: Feb 5th Usery Pass Road Race, Pheonix; Feb 11th McDowell Circuit Race, Pheonix; Feb 17-19th Valley of the Sun Stage Race, Pheonix; Feb 28th-March 5th Vuelta Sonora, Mexico; March 12th Sylvan Springs Criterium, Saint Louis.

That's Rad Dude!

It's funny that busting my head in against a headwind yesterday and bonking after 4 hours of January intervals is not considered work to me. I am lucky enough to be in the most ideal place to do this all winter. Yesterday, however, I was subtlety reminded how much I take for granted after a small accident with a car. I'm glad to get the first road rash out of the way, especially before my first race this weekend. I'm definitely okay and so is my bike, just in case the driver who just sped off is reading!!!....So today I didn't even go out for my recovery ride because I was tired after working 7 hrs. I officially started at the Rad today and it is pretty awesome. In fact the Chicago White Sox are occupying 85% of the hotel at this time and I will probably be serving the "Big Hurt" some lunch soon. So far the job seems too good to be true. (See pic!) The staff all seem very nice and the perks of working at this hotel are unbelievable (Free Balley's, Starbucks, Penthouses, Spanish classes & Golfing,... to name a few). Monday I have to go to this tuxedo place to get fitted for my official uniform, which is a tuxedo. And I thought the Rad in Bloomington was nice! Well I apologize, but I am so tired to think of anything cool and interesting to say tonite and I have the 7:30am "Shootout" tomorrow morning. I hope to put up my blog about Uggs soon! or maybe the one about my tattoo, That should keep ya'll coming back! Buonas noches!

Wienerschnitzel Wednesday:

Sweet Wednesday! Today is awesome because from 5-8pm they sell hot dogs for $0.25! That's 25 cents each, with NO COOKING!!! That means I can completely get wasted on my ride today and know that I'll be saved by this tiny hotdog shop on Broadway. Last week I got 5, and tonite I only got 4 but added a side of chilli for 40 cents. I rode 120 miles today after starting the 7:30am group ride. I actually dropped myself 30 miles in because I had to pee. Seriously, it happened again but this time it wasn't during a race. The locals take these rides a little too seriously, and they aren't even that strong. I've been using the "first in training, last in racing" mentality considering it's J-A-N-U-A-R-Y !!! My team and I are getting in plenty of shape though. In fact I will be racing this weekend in Pheonix, then again two weeks from this Sunday. After that I will be racing every weekend from then on, including the Vuelta Sonora in Mexico. I just realized this today, so I'm definitely shocked that the offseason is really no longer. Well, I'm once again at my favorite cafe but that could change because their internet is not working well tonight. That's not really the only reason I show up here though. I can't wait till tomorrow when they have open mic. It will either be very loud and bad forcing me to sit outside, or mellow and sound awesome. Last time it was awesome and I believe I was the only person in the place without a guitar and my name on the list. I'll be wearing my Scum T-shirt for sure to put all these trendy hippies in their place. Plus it's HOT! Tomorrow, I'll get to sleep in too and ride whenever I get up in the afternoon for only 3 hours, but mostly by myself.

***I have a picture of what $2.78 can buy. Those are 58 cent 2L Sodas btw!

"Stage-Five-Clinger"

That has been the saying around this place lately. In case I wasn't the last person on the planet to see the film Wedding Crashers, I encourage thee to see. There isn't much a person can do with ice bags wrapped to their knees other than watch movies. So I've been catching up, and with that, laughing histerically. I've already watched that movie twice this week because it is sooooo funny. I was also the last person on the planet to watch Napoleon Dynamite until my sister forced me to watch it. Then I went all around for weeks telling people how funny it was. They were all like, "So, we saw that a long time ago." Oh well it was new to me. Not much other than that and riding is going on around here. I do apologize to those who have not received a post-card from me YET, (that's everyone). Days here are so short when 6 hours of them are spent on a machine which I like to think is unattached to the world. I promise it is not because I'm having too much fun or meeting too many sorority girls. Although I heard saying you're here as a professional cyclist draws their attention. Anyway, keep checking the mail. I'm at my favorite free-internet-cafe right now (the only one I need to go to), and I hope I get to blog about all the cool events that happen here and around. For now check out more pics...

These are pictures taken atop mt lemmon at maybe 7 or 8 thousand feet. It climbs to well over 9 at the very top. That is my roommate Todd, who races in Belgium all year. It was funny to watch Wedding Crashers because there is a "Todd" in the movie that we like to joke is him. Everything is funny to me anyway at this altitude!

Loans and Vanilla Skies

Torturous indeed was the "Shootout" today and another 100+ mile day for me is in the crate. The past two rest days really brought to my attention of how much my body has taken a beating. My head feels normal for the first time, however my legs are officially zapped. Today started out with at least 150 riders and dwindled to maybe 12 at the end. I finished the ride and did even better than last week up the 11 mile climb. I've dug really deep to do these rides around here lately and I'm paying for it during my dinner and rest. The good thing is that I know I'm not in shape but when I do get in shape it will be more fun to endure such pain. For tomorrow my roomate and I plan to climb the big Lemmon if it's not raining!!!...Yeah I said rain! Ever since I've been in Tucson I haven't seen a cloud in the sky. It's kinda like the Sun for the Midwesterners lately! Anyway, today the sky was littered with clouds and it made for a most beautiful sunset. There is a 30% chance of precipitation and I hope for the cacti's sake we get a small shower over night.

Fauxhawk a Little to the Right

In no way is my blog suggesting political ideas or sides. I write using common sense, human dignity, and equality, SEE! However, when Crash told me my fauxhawk was a tad on the right I began to sense new sorts of feelings. So, I'm really excited about next season because I think I'm being given an awesome opportunity to kick some butt and have fun doing it too (I am in cycling boot camp right now, but I Love it more than anything). Right now I am on such a high from being out here, from learning my new team, and the altitude, possibly. Our team meshed really well at camp and we're all on the same page for what we need to do this season. It is going to be exciting, I just can't explain it as much as I can feel it! My roomate is however not on the team because he races all year in Belgium, but he is as cool as is strong. Plus he is a climber so I'll be spending even more time with him. It's cool that we are all very different but we get along pretty damn well already. That is crucial when riding for a team. I am almost done with my cold, so I'll look forward to another rest day ride tomorrow. This might be it for awhile because the weekend will be torturous!!
*(Picture: Mike, Me, & Crash's white chest!)

School's "In" for the Summer

Okay, it's not summer in AZ right now even with the T's, shorts, and shades. However, if you take the nicest day out of the entire year from the Midwest and put it back to back to back, then you have an idea of the weather that I'm enjoying thouroughly. There are zero clouds and the temp is hot enough to get tanned but cool enough not to break a sweat while walking across campus. Which brings me to this blog...School is back in session (Not for me, because I have officially graduated now that grades are well posted) and the students are all over the place. Our apartment is on campus so I decided to walk to the library to use the web. I know for sure that if I went to school here I would never make it to class, ever! But now it is like a dream that I can simply walk around like a college kid and not have to worry about getting that piece of paper anymore. Who knows, I might even sit in on a lecture if I really start to miss class. But really this entire place is awesome. Especially as an Exercise Physiologist this place is the greatest. Everyone is in shape or tan and they even have workout signs by the benches on the quad (15 minute abdominal workout instructions on a bench couldn't hurt anybody). It's so awesome I could really get burned out because I want to ride 150 miles every day. Today I am not touching my bike because I want to get over my cold I forgot to forget to pack from home. Get it? Anyway, I think my meter time is up so I am going to go and enjoy running errands and maybe playing frisbee. Thanks for the three visitors so far even if you accidently stumbled onto this site. I should be back hopefully with some pics, dangit!

Stupid Idea?

Hi. What the heck am I doing jumping on the bandwagon?-The internet profile wagon that is. It's not a matter of just giving in, so I promise to make this worth your while. Anyway, recently I have moved to Tucson, Arizona. The greatest place on Earth, if you're from the Midwest and love to wear lycra. It's so nice I might decide to stick around, learn Spanish, and find a wife. However, right now my job is to bust my ass on the bike with all the pros that are crazily fast, -and work at the Radisson for pay. There has been so much going on that there is not much time to talk to everyone between resting and eating. I swear this blog will be the coolest and sexiest (as soon as I get pics uploaded). See You Soon, -via blogspot!!