Not quite all of the 7 deadly sins = suffering & disappointment

Ok - my extended vacation over the summer was not sinful, but in the cycling world, it definitely has caused me pain and disappointment.

The seven deadly sins committed: Pride, Envy, Sloth, Greed, and GluttonyOh yeah, and lust too, but that probably helped me keep thin!

So How has this affected me --- Well, In June, I believed I hit a new plateau which has all but fallen.
Wed. Night Hub ride was my first team ride back - I made it to... Clayton. That's right, dropped like a leaf. Wow, I leave for a month and The Hub Racing Team has turned into the long lost gay program of Rock Racing - no wonder I was dropped.If you think Florida is hot - Holy Crap - St. L was 100 degrees at 6:00 pm.
Saturday was my second team ride and I made it to Conway (a lot farther) and was dropped again.
It was really fun to get back to doing what I like - I need to work on the performance aspect of it. I hope my weight will drop quickly and my ability return.

The disappointment aspect involves Gateway Cup. Truly my favorite weekend of the year - however, I think I will bow out. It is too expensive to be pack fodder. If Gateway was in June - I would be drooling, but the way I am doing right now, I would be throwing money away. I might do Lafayette because it is so fun racing at night, but we will see if I can get some speed back.

Now the happy part.

On Sunday, Judy and I did the Urban Assault - A great time. Our theme this year - Dora and Diego.
The only negative was no costume contest - WTF - We were the reigning champs from last year - and would have won this year. Also, I was amazed how many people had no fucking clue who Dora or Diego are. I mean, I get the no kids thing - but it is Dora, come on. Our stops this year were Mesa, REI, Big Shit, City Museum, City Garden, Bicycle Works, FoPo Holiday Inn. We cycled, we played, we rode Big Wheels, we drank New Belgiuma great time. Super Props to Judy for finishing the course with a 12 pound helmet in 95 degree temps!

On Tuesday, Jeff and I began our after school rides. I miss Michael, my friend. it was a great ride, rode the Carmen loop.
Jeff is riding so strong.

On a super positive note - my shit seems to be getting re-born. I got new cranks for free from Zipp and Garmin is sending me a new Edge 500 at no cost. My new cranks are bad-ass for sure.

Goodbye Naples - Hello Disney World

Goodbye Naples - Goodbye 12 million dollar mansion on the beach - Goodbye hot looking people in thongs
I will miss you - until next year (hopefully)

Riding has been light this week - enjoying vacation. The good thing is I have not gained weight. God, I feel like a fat tub - I know - beer every day and ice cream every night - huge meals- but at least I'm still at par from when I left home. Did the normal rides, minus one because of rain. I saw the ride go past the house and about 20 guys still rode - I felt bummed. My last ride was the Saturday morning ride with Drill Sgt. Kitchner. I managed to take a picture of Kitchnerhe's the one in the Marine Corps jersey (go figure). He was a really nice guy. My finale in Naples was Sat. morning coffee a 5th Street Coffee House.
It was kind of cool fitting in with the cycling scene - I swear I have been down here so long, I feel like I have moved here (except my salary could not cover the yearly taxes on this place - no shit)

Oh well, off to the Disney World - no cycling until next weekend - but I will be home for the Sat. Hub ride - just in time to get dropped! Remember, I haven't seen a hill in a month!

Still in Florida - Hell Yeah Sucka!

Florida - still good times! Highlights - Still on the beach living the good life.

Went to South Beach - For the guys: everything you think of when you think of South Beach is true - yes, girls are laying out topless- yes, girls are walking around in thongs and dental floss bottoms - yes, my wife looks hot. So the question - did my wife lay out topless at South Beach - well, you needed to be here to find out! (this needs to stop becoming a theme)

Onto riding:

Although I am getting fate by consuming too much food and beer, I am still riding fine - maybe a little slower, hard to say.
I have had a blast even riding with Bella and Judy.

It is kind of neat fitting in with the groups down in Florida. In a short time, I know people and have been invited out for post ride beers and coffee (depending on the ride).
It is also funny to match people's personalities with people at home. One guy reminds me so much of Andy Berger, it's like a doppleganger. I have met a Bill, Devin, Ryan, Stephanie (there are very strong women riders down here), kevin - I think I have even met me!
The three rides I have done are:
Tuesday/Thursday Naples Cycles ride during the evening (Naples Cycles is like the Big Shark of the Naples area - huge and pricey bike store) - reminds me of a Wed. night Hub ride.
I have backed off from the A group for two reasons - One, I don't really want to push myself in the red zone down here and Two, the ride way to aggressive - not following any rules of the road. The think it is a race on the road with traffic by blowing through stop lights, etc. - it is kindof like Russian Roulette on this ride - I'll pass. The A- group has been fun. It is still aggressive, but I have never thought it was too tough and I am easily able to finish the ride. Although many people suffer on the A- ride, the people start and finish on a much more friendly grounds, which has been nice. The pace is between 22 to 25 mph - averaging on the lower side.
The Saturday ride is called Kitchner's Ride.
Kitchner is a former Marine drill sergeant and runs the ride like it - barking out the pace and turns from the back - he is the anchor of the ride. His idea is this is to be a weekend warrior training ride. The group keeps together but breaks in half around him. In front of him are the people who take turns pulling and rotate and behind him are people who hang on for dear life - kind of funny. The ride is about the same pace, but is VERY directed by Kitchner - he will yell, "the pace is 24 - not 25, not 20 fucking 6, 24!" It is really funny to hear. Next week I will get a picture of him.
All these rides are huge - much bigger than St. Louis. The Tues/Thurs ride starts out with three groups and has easily 75 plus people. With people joining the ride, the three groups could total 100. The Saturday ride easily has 40 plus people.
I swear I am sitting mid-pack in this photo.

The last thing - and the best - every ride I have been on has had yelling matches - it is a trip. Because the pace lines are long the terrain so flat and people want to keep the groups together - you really do fall into a time trail mode - when someone upsets the process, people get pissed. Last Saturday, two guys were going at it over something and last Tues, the same thing, and then Thursday, one guy got so pissed, he started yelling and turned off. It is quite fucked up. On the last Saturday ride, one guy yelled at me for pulling too fast in the front - nuts.

Well - peace out and I'll see everybody in St. Louis next week - NOT!

Life Is Good (Copyrighted) - and Florida is A Cup Flat

Many of you have missed me, I know - You know you hear people say - yeah my wife's rich uncle - well, Judy really does have one - Oh Yeah - Sucks to be you!

So right now I have temporarily moved to Naples, Florida where I am sitting on the beach typing my blog. This house is the shit. We are staying in the guest house which is two bedrooms and two full baths, kitchen, laundry, and even cable. You got it, I am even getting Versus so I am quite well aware that Lance bombed out and Mark Renshaw lays down a good headbutt during a sprint.

So this is the part where I gloat - I am living in a 12 million dollar mansion on the beach and you aren't!
Now I will gloat with pictures:
This is my view from my left:
This is my view from my right:
This is my view from the front:
This is my view of the house behind me:
This is my hot wife:
These are my kids in front of the house at sunset:
There- now you feel jealous.

On to Cycling:
Saturday, July 3: Judy did the Hub Ride! She hung with group - unitl Mary Queen - but we rode on, caught up with Stephanie and I joined up with the guys and it was all good in the end. Afterwards, we went to the Webster 4th of July Parade in front of The Hub and had a good time with Dave Smith, Rock, and many others!

On the Cycling in Florida:
Florida is flat - Like riding on rollers flat. It takes some getting used to. It has been very difficult to take pictures while riding because the groups of so rank and file. This has to be doing wonders if I wanted to practice my TT skills. Unfortunately I brought my Jake the Snake and not my race bike with deep dish carbons - man, those would rock out here. The terrain is so flat it seems be going downhill both directions. The group rides are super fast - but I'll be honest, it is a little boring with no hills. Guys get into a pace line and that is it - you wait until it is your turn, pull and fall to back, repeat, repeat, etc. I have fallen in with three group rides - Tuesday and Thursday from Naples Cyclery. This is the shit shop out here with a large race team. The ride is super large (maybe 70 plus) and breaks up into 3 groups - an A group (pace 27-28 mph) - an A- group (pace 22-24 mph) and a B Group (pace 20 mph). The first day I arrived (last Thursday) I rode and try to hang with the A group - big mistake - I was wiped out from the drive and I ate Skyline Chili for lunch - it started coming up so I fell back with the A- group. On Tuesday I rode with the A group again and was feeling fine - I pulled, pulled off and there were like 30 people, so I waited for the train to go by and jumped on the back - and than I pulled again later - and the third time a guy opened a gap up to three guys in the front and I tried to close, but we all know I suck at that, so I closed half way and pulled off to let the guy behind me finish, which he did. I pulled off to wait for the train to pull by and,,, there were only like 10 guys left - well shit. I wasn't paying attention and before I knew it they were by me and gone - AHHH I hate that - I felt fine - so I hammered back with this other guy and still had fun. The pace was 27 mph. It seems so fast, but it is so flat, it is so doable. I would love to see what Devin, Ryan, or David Mark would do out here. If Devin can pull 28 out Clayton and David can pull 24 up Conway, I can only imagine what they could do to these guys. On Sat. i did a training ride led by a retired Marine Drill Sergeant. I kid you not - this ride was a trip - he told everybody how fast to ride and did a hell of a job keeping the rather large group together. It was a hilarious. He rode on the back and shouted commands to the person on the front - you have to experience it to understand - I will get a picture of him for next week.

Oh well - I miss riding at home - Peace out! One more time of me at the beach:

More beer than biking- The Webster Crit- and why is my shit falling apart?

The Week in Review:

Keep doing the commuter thang - good times.

Could not race on Tuesday - I don't remember why. It was really hot out (high 90's) and I can't remember if that factored into it. I decided to ride with Andy, Loren, Alex and Joe at night. We left at 8:15 to do the Maplewood shop retired ride. While going up Southwest I heard a snap in my right pedal and the next thing I know, I snapped it off - WTF. It was screwed so I turned around and rode back on the spindle.

Wednesday - super freaking hot - the hottest day of the year so far - over 100 - and I did the Hub Wednesday ride. There were only 10 people who showed up and it started out so fast. Since it was such a small group I was pulling up front for the first part. I totally started to bonk - for no real reason. I had to fall off before the hills on Geyer - I was dropped going down hill - man, did I feel like shit. I cut the ride short and met up with the group on Conway and hung with them fine until I was dropped on Litzsinger - Man, this ride sucked - I hate the heat. The whole ride it seemed my bottom bracket was slipping or my left crank was "skipping." So I took it into The Hub on Friday and Ron looked at it - The problem - not the bottom bracket, not the peddle - no the fucking carbon separated from the metal - are you kidding. Devin contacted Zipp and they are going to send a brand new one - in 1.5 months!

Thursday - Went to the Velodrome for the first time with Andy and Ron- what a blast. All the Hubbers were out there racing. Devin is a beast. Chris Miller, Heine, All my Cat 4 peeps - Matthew, Bill, Robert. Stephanie, Kate and Soli representing the women's team, Phil and Todd, my Gizz-Swallow friends were in the mix - Todd even won a C race - rock on!
Andy and Supported the cause by drinking a lot of beer - Bill even let my ride his bike a few times around - I have to do this. I am leaving for Florida next week and this week Thursday is out - so I guess next year!

WEBSTER CRITERIUM

After track night, we went out to patch the road for the race. Me, Ron, Andy, Kevin, Devin and Taylor were all out there - and we were pretty drunk. The whole time I was giving Ron shit about wearing yellow vests so we don't get hit - he, of course, would call me gay and tell me to shut-up. Well, it wasn't long before the cops showed up, lights and all.
Ron and Kevin explained to the cop what we were doing and the cop said OK - the last words he said before he left - "you guys should be wearing yellow vest." Goddam right Ron Clipp! Well, at least Ron Clipp didn't get me killed that night (who hasn't said that once or twice).

Saturday was The Hub Ride - super nice pace - large Hub group
- had a blast. A lot of guys were resting up for Sunday's race.
I rode my Cross bike and while I was going up the outer rode hill, my chain slipped and I almost went down. Somehow I saved it, but I scuffed my right shoe - yes my patent leather SIDI carbon shoes - AHHHH. No, The Hub cycling team is not a gay group

Sunday - The Race. It was a hot day and I did not race - Why - A) I'm a pussy B) I had no bike C) I'm a pussy. It was a blast. I helped set up
and ran registration and drove the pace car for the 4-5 race and the Pro 1,2,3 race. The winner of the pro race lapped the entire field - the guy was crazy fast. I was driving the car and we were closing in on the back of the field so I had to call the refs to find out what to do - crazy. Isabella raced the kids race and came in 4th! You go, girl! Afterwards we partied hard at the race and at Llywelan's - it was a rough morning!

back in the game - oh yeah - and nudity too!

OK - the WNBR - that stands for World Naked Bike Ride in St. Louis! which equals a lot of boobs.But more on that later!

Still Commuting daily. I took a couple of days off because of the weather and lack of desire - but still keeping it real. The weather has been HOT and some of the rides home have wiped me out.

Tuesday - I decided I need to get back in the game so I raced on TNW. I really wanted to race The Grove - but for $45 - WTF! I mean that is some serious cash. One of my teammates said he feels that he is paying for the higher CATS to race - which I feel the same way. It's great the Pros who showed up got the highest payout in a MO crit - but the lower CATS sure paid for it! They even had to shorten the other races because they started late. I like Bill's comment - They reduced the distance but not the entry fee. SO in the end I said FUCK THAT! Now TNW for $10 - that is more my speed. It felt great to get out and race again. I feel strong, so I was anxious to race. At about 10 min. into the race, I was up front for the first part of the race, feeling strong, and everything seemed to open in front of me and slow down - I was like - GO TIME! - I took off up the hill and was joined by 3 other guys - all strong CAT 3-4 types - not the power dudes. Andy and Loren told me before the race they expected something out of me and when they saw me, they would shout their balls off. Not wanting to disappoint, I came to the top of the hill, in my power break away and there they were, not watching the race and petting a fucking dog - I almost started to stop racing and yell at my small fan base! - Just joking - We were able to stick the break for a full 3 laps which was awesome. The worst part was a pulled the hill on the second lap and that smoked me. When we were caught, I drifted to the back, but a few A racers were tagging along, like Mike Weiss. I tried to snuggle up and rest, but Weiss gapped me and I was blown off the back - I was pissed - That is the thing about the B race - by allowing these big guns to race our race, It ceases to become a true 3/4 race. Example - The guy who won the A race was a pro from Texas Roadhouse Areocat who raced at The Grove. He destroyed the field and won by 30 yards - yeah, he raced our race - and won - what a douchebag. OK, bitching over.

Wednesday - Hub Ride - Although the pace was a little slower (20.8 - 246 Avg watts) it was still super fast and fun. To date - I have not been dropped on a Wed. Night Ride - credit to how good I have been feeling. Ride was awesomeIt's nice to be in the front group at Ballas!

Saturday - did the Hub Ride in the morning - What a great ride. The pace was fast - almost 19 mph with 222 avg watts - but not super fast, so the entire group for the most part stuck together! That was so fun finishing with a large group.
I felt really tired starting the ride, but after a goo or two, I was able to wake up. The best part was going onto Conway - I was second in line, behind Bryan Sauter - When we turned onto the road I said "Man, this is last place in line I want to be - I expect you pull the entire hill!" He laughed and picked up the pace. He made it half way and pulled over and I took over and took it to the top - we kept the pace at 21 mph - I felt rock and roll! It was the Sauter/Saxton Cat 4 team laying the smack down!

Saturday Night - THE NAKED BIKE RIDE! What can I say - A bunch of crazy people acting crazy, mostly cycling posers, riding their bike almost naked and supposedly protesting oil. So let's go through this sentence, phrase by phrase.

First of all there were a bunch of crazy people - including Phil, State Champ Stephanie, Todd, Bob, to name a few
a great group of people!

Second - acting really crazy (how come every ride I do like this we end up taking boob grabbing pics?) So the question is - were the people really ugly? Well, yes and no. There was a lot of flat out nudity - total nudity - there are a lot of bicycle seats that should be destroyed - however, there were a lot of hot chicks too. A huge display of boobs! So... I give it a thumbs up (A thumb - get your mind out of the gutter).

Third - A bunch of cycling posers. The best part was when we were climbing some hills by SLU, people had to get off their bike and walk. When we passed them, one guy yelled - I guess they are too dependent on oil!

Forth - Protesting oil. Most people, including us, drove there and there was even a HUMMER in the parking lot - yeah - I hate oil dependency - let's Critical Mass - what a bunch of DB's! However - Judy and I had a blast, which is why we went! Oh - did the wife go topless - you'll never know because you weren't there!

Louisville

Went to Louisville on work - So... what would a teacher being doing in Louisville for 8 days - grading tests - Oh, about 1,365 essayssounds fun - not.

So onto the cycling. The best part was riding with Tom Zoumaras - former Jelly Belly rider and current Big Shark Masters racer. The guy is a stud and a half
Last year I could barely keep his wheel - this year I am in better shape and did OK.

Showed up on Tuesday and did the Louisville Tuesday Night World's road ride. This was a racer group ride and did not disappoint. I felt great and did great
The Average was 22.1 and my average watts was 246. The ride was fun, but lacked any challenging climbs. Nonetheless, guys were shelled from the back because of the speed at certain points. The ride was large too - probably about 40 to 50.

On Wednesday, I went over to this group ride in Indiana - It was a relaxed 36.6 mile ride on some awesome rolling backroads - almost no cars. The ride was very relaxed, about 18 avg. The scenery in Southern Indiana is really nice.

Thursday - did the smaller version of the fast ride - this was not that large, about 18 guys. Tom went with me on this one. The only thing shitty about this ride is Tom flatted and nobody waited for him. I pulled off, but he yelled at me to go, so I caught back on and stayed with the group. Once the ride picked up, guys started launching mini attacks off the front - why, I do not know, but unlike Tuesday, which had some Cat 1 and 2's, I felt like I was able to contend with the stronger guys. We hit this flat land along the Ohio River (really pretty), Everything opened up in front of me and I launched my own attack, except this one was huge. With grading all day and being really tired, one might ask WHY? and once I did it I strated asking the same thing. Three other guys went with me and after I started getting smoked, I pulled off and let another guy pull through. We had a pretty good break on the group and we started taing short pulls. Everybody was working except for one douche bag who would immediately pull off when it was his turn. Soon we lost one guy and I was left with another dude and douche. We hit a light and I was on the front. I braked into the light and the light turned - the group roared past me and I sprinted up to the back, but I was smoked. I was close to downtown and my hotel and decided to cry uncle - Oh well.

Friday - rode with Tom along the river, had a blast.

Sat - Tuesday, no riding - Too much workbut I did eat a lot!

Wednesday - returned to the Hub ride - It was nice to be back - thought I would get dropped quickly because I was super tired after my trip. Once I started riding, things picked up. I made a great move on Geyer which felt great. On Conway, I was totally getting smoked as the pace picked up to 25 - It seemed like everything was going wrong - I initally got behind FuckKnuckle who cause me to have to close a gap, than another person dropped so I had to close anouther gap, than a Big Shit guy dropped and I had to close another gap. Than I started to fall back and gap, but thank God for Matthew Crews who pushed me back into the mix twice! Matthew is a stud. It was great keeping up and finishing - especially after just returning from my trip - good times.

Still a little uncertain about the Tour de Grove - we'll see. I am kind of happy where I am with cycling and I don;t know if a race is what I want.