This is how I roll!

This is a photo of me following a couple Schwinn teammates (Brian & Matt) in the practice crit. It is amazing the type of speed those two guys can carry when the decide to attack, or bridge or chase. All I can do is hold on. There are some other great photos of me (and Hertz, Kelson and others) as well at this link. I think the practice crits will have to happen every week, it was a blast! Thanks Renee for the photos!!!

Lots of other big things in the works...stay tuned...

Here is another picture of Anna. Larkin seems to have that glazed-over look of not getting enough sleep. Two weeks ago I was hittin' some original Red Robin and some awesome Alki bakery cookies...seems like ages ago!

Volleyball starts tonight. I am not as optomistic as the Riz is. Last year we were second place in a league entitled "recreational." Tonight we start a league called "Intermediate/Advanced." Last time I played in an intermediate league we won like 4 matches and a total of 17 games 17-31 or so. Last time I played in an advanced league, I played with great players (I subbed for two games) and we got ran, 0-6, probably scored like 3 points total. Hmmm.... I just hope we can compete...

I wonder what Shiroma is doing right now?

Turning Pro?

OK, well maybe not. Last night was the first practice crit of the season. After probably the worse work day I’ve ever had I decided I should do some crit action. I did ride 32 miles at lunch at a pretty good pace (right around 20mph) so I thought maybe I rode a bit hard to have an effective crit. I decided to do the B race and then maybe do a couple A race laps. The B race was full of Brazen Dropouts, I think they started 8 of the 30 rider field. Throw in 3 Atkins and 3 UW riders and team tactics were full blown. It was the BD strategy to get someone off the front. So they continued to launch riders non-stop, we’d bring them back and then the next one would go. After a few laps, I had enough of this and when we caught the BD rider of that lap, I attacked. I held it for over a lap but got absorbed. There were some good riders in the field. The UW guys and some Endeavour guy pulled a lot back but basically no one had the strength to make something solo. The laps winded down and I sat in the middle. With one to go, we caught yet another BD attacker. The Endeavour guy led the pack down the second to last straight. I started my sprint about 50 yards from the last corner, had a decent lead around the corner. Sprinted about half-way to the line, got passed, grabbed his wheel and held it for second. Finally! A tactically perfect race for me. I think next time though I would get in 2nd wheel coming to the line but I wasn’t sure which BD rider would sprint so I decided to bury them as soon as I could. I think I raced as well as I could.

So feeling all confident…what the hell, let’s do A’s! Well right from the start Rybarik attacked and my legs were dead. I preceded to get dropped about a half of a lap in. I went over and talk to the Tank. He told me to try some more so I jumped in (it is a practice crit afterall.) Awesome! I did like 8 or 9 straight laps in the field before getting dropped after a series of hard accelerations (thank you Hertz!) :) I figured at this point I was fried, but Hertz told me…jump back in. So I did and I was able to hang for the final 10 laps. With about 4 to go there was a 3 man break ahead including Jordan. I figured, what the heck I didn’t expect to be here so I’ll try to chase them down. So with Hertz on the front, I attacked. I gained some ground and got about halfway between the two groups. I also maxxed out my heart-rate (199BPMs) and a half a lap later I got absorbed. But this is the part I am ecstatic about. I didn’t get dropped when getting absorbed, I was able to get back into the group and hang on and even be there for the sprint finish! The finish was almost awesome as Jordan shredded his breakaway companions and Rybarik bridged up, the held it until right before the last corner, but alas they were caught and some random won. But nothing could wash the smile off of my face, nothing like over an hour of riding with a heartrate averaging in the high 180’s and getting experience and seeing surprises on people’s faces when I was in the pack at an A race. Despite my crappy day at work, I was all smiles last night! Also props to Kelson for not only finishing the A race but being a key participant, chasing down breaks, getting in a couple of his own and being in the top half of the field all race. Renee took alot of pics so I'll have to hope she posts them soon! :)

Battle of the Dead Blog Superstars!!!

Who’s going to win? Time-wise it is Gasner, Not meeting expectations-wise it is Hez, Lack of recent quality posts is Tank, Lack of recent love is the Riz. Here's to hoping for new posts and some love sent this way! Minimal posts and no comments in the past month makes me sad...

Not much else is going on here. Got in about 30 miles last night, only getting rained on once and avoiding the deluge that ensued 15 minutes after getting home. Tonight is the first practice crit, not sure what my riding will be like though.

Looks like I won’t be doing Madison Marathon after all. I’ve toned down my running schedule so I could become a better cyclist. My cycling form is great and is my bread and butter so I have to give a full cycling effort right now. After figuring out what Ironman training plan works best for me, I’ve decided to limit my running and to focus more on cycling and swimming. I’ve heard there isn’t that much running to be done in the Ironman anyways and to save my knees from running to avoid injury. Ha! Someone told me that in October but it took until now (I mean mid-April) to believe it, and I believe it mostly because I no longer enjoy running! But I did need that time to learn how to run, now I can run, in November I couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still run, just not as much. Plus big picture…If I do well in WORS and it costs me a half-hour in the Ironman but I still finish, I’d be happier than devoting a whole summer to Ironman and being a bit faster. Under 17 hours…that is the goal, not under 16 hours, not under 14 hours, anything under 17 hours = Ironman. 2 swim + 7 bike leaves 8 for the run, finish by midnight, Taco Bell Drive Thru open until 1am on Sundays, everyone wins! Of course I’d like to do better, but the #1 goal is to finish! Packers play at 3:15 that day…it’d be cool to be running around then so I can listen to it on my headphones and tick the miles off!

Haven’t heard from a lot of you in a while…don’t be blog voyeurs, be blog participants! Seems like a lot of people (mainly everyone but Jerry and Brozek) has lost that lovin’ feeling. Iola is Sunday and everyone is excited! Hope all is well with everyone and that I hear from you soon.

Sorry for the lack of updates…busy at work, busted internet at home and a new computer game are my excuses.

Last week was a good training week. Monday was a nice long road ride and I ran into Hertz which was cool and we rode together. Tuesday was tough, we did the Schwinn team ride and the big guns all showed up. It was a rough 60 miles (fortunately the first 20 were a nice Paoli loop) but I was able to hang on the whole ride. Nice! Wednesday was a rest day. A 15 mile lunch ride and then over an hour riding to and from Quarry Ridge and trying some of the trails. Thursday I had 2 32 mile rides. It was my first ride with shaved legs, it was nice. The early ride I hammered solo and felt great, the later ride was nice and easy with Jerry and Mike. Friday I was off from work and riding. Saturday was ride time at the Kettles. A great ride, Blue, connecter, Emma and back. Ended up being like 24.1 miles. I spent the day trying to stay with Ryan who kicked my butt last year and I hung pretty well. A little more technical work and a better shifting front derailleur and I’ll be ready to rock some Iola!

Random stuff:
-2 for 3 against Jerry in Gran Turismo 4. The random part of that is that the course I should’ve been good at (Seattle) I lost and the 2 I won (rally and some random 8:30 per lap track) I had never seen before.
-Thursday’s lunch ride was a rager. I was kind of pissed at someone (I love people who are misguided…on the plus side I think they are more lying to themselves as they are to me so no worries) and I had my review at work when I got back so I was pretty amped. The review went surprisingly really well, still no raise though.
-Mountain bike front shifting sucked…don’t know if it is Sram or what. Also had my first flat of the season at Kettles.
-Rain forecasted all week, but perhaps it’ll be clear tomorrow, so I’ll plan to train as much as possible then.
-Ate too much food this weekend, most of which wasn’t good for me.
-Crazy shenanigans went down last night…it was hilarious! Also good food and good company.
-I am not a good Madisonian, I’ve never been to the Farmer’s Market, ran Crazy Legs or really watched Rhythm and Booms. I did lose my brat fest virginity last year but that is downright dangerous (I think I had 2 brats, 2 hot dogs and some ice cream all washed down with a Mountain Dew.) I also took in my first Taste of Madison last year, so promise me food and I’ll usually be somewhere! I suppose it doesn’t matter anyways since I am a Fitchburger anyways!
-Sunday’s Mountain Bike race got rained out. I kind of figured it would so I rode harder on Saturday than I should.
-Contemplating the Tour De Dells on Saturday
-I got 3 new food t-shirts…awesome!!!

Movies: Saw tons of movies this weekend with having Friday off.
Lonesome Jim (Westgate): OK movie, not that funny but still entertaining
Off Road To Athens (DVD): Most excellent, I loved it and couldn’t get enough
Thank You for Smoking (Westgate): Hilarious Satire, recommended. A lot different than I expected but still excellent
Hitch (Cinemax): Second time I saw it…never realized that guy from War at Home was in it. I like Kevin James.
My Date with Drew(Showtime): Good movie, I like Drew Barrymore and liked the path he took. Guy is kind of a tool but it was funny like Supersize Me.

That's all I've got right now...