Back in the saddle?

Well it is true, you are only as good as your last race! This weekend proved that I do have some fitness left despite turning 35 this year. It was a fun day to race in the lead train even though I had to work hard a couple times to chase it back dow nto be there!! When the dust settled I finished 4th on the day with teammates in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 13th! Awesome showing! Here is our podium split:

We are there every weeekend but just cant get that topstep! Still some racing left so we will keep going for it.

Also I have to give a shout out to the Little Col for completing her 2nd ironman down in Lousville, she came in with a time of 15:04!! Nice work!

Rabid Bees.............

Wanted Dead:

Please kill any that you find! I have been stung on the bike 4 times in the last week. Today was another great adventure as one flew into my helmet and ended up stinging me on the forehead!

To add to my adventure today I also flatted. Sweet!

Good times.......'bout time!

So with the week starting out just horrible, the weekend actually went well. I am going to skip the bad and move onto the fun. Started out Saturday morning when the Little Colonel came over to ride with Michelle and drink some coffee. Always entertaining and this time was no different. I followed Michelle and Kim out on their ride as a warm up to mine. We got about 6 miles from home on a nice downhill section and kim blew out her front wheel with a shotgun boom!! If it is possible, it actually happened at a good time cause we had a dog that was just coming out to chase us and when the tire blew it scared the dog so bad that it took off with its tail between its leg. Hopefully it thinks twice before chasing the next time. Back to the tire, it blew so bad that it peeled the sidewall off from the bead and left a hole about 3 inches long. I ended up stuffing a gu packet in there and slowly riding it home to get another wheel.

After a good 3 hr ride, we then headed off to Lambeau field insearch of Matters secret training. I think I found it in the form of too many beers and bad food. Sweet!

After the game Michelle and I drove dow nto near the Dells to stay at her parents house for the evening. At first I was not happy with the late night drive but the next day activities made everything worth it. We ended up hooking up with the Krayers for them to show us around Baraboo. It was a good time meeting 15 other cyclists for a breakfast ride. It was tons of fun! After Breakfast, Ryan, Spencer and I headed out into the country side to make sure we had sore legs and enough of an appetite for some beer and pizza at the end. We ended up being successful and at the end we had 80 miles in!! Loads of fun and it was just what I needed to keep me going with my training. I forgot how much fun a good group ride can be!! This is my first one in almost 2 years, minus race warm ups!

See everyone in GB!

The meaning of 212....

Well the real meaning of 212? For the Adventure 212 name, it has to do with the boiling point of water and pushing the extra degree to achieve the transformation, because you can do so much more with steam than you can water. Here is a little motivational movie on it http://www.212movie.com/

As for me I am thinking 212 is now the number of things that have gone wrong this year. They seem to just keep piling up and I think I am in a death spiral cause you stop paying attention so that you can decrease the dissapointment! Anyway, more freak bad luck when someone rode into the back of me, when I was stopping for a crash in front of me at the start and bent my rear rotor. I had no clue till I was working like a dog to climb any hill and then when I went to use my brakes on the 2nd lap they were completely toast! Oh well, another donation to Don with no result for myself.

Anyway, onto the positives! The team is looking good going into the later part of the season and the top step of the podium is going to be in the near future. This weekend we had Mikey and TJ rocketing around the course with a select few riders, the LaLondes and Brendan Moore. The one thing about sitting out was I was able to watch it all go down. From the post race stories sounds like everything happened on the last climb with TJ and Marko getting away, Mikey playing some team tactics making Brendan chase till Mikey was able to get rid of him in the open field section. After that, sounded like the gaps were formed and with the lap traffic it was difficult to close any gaps. In the end TJ ended up 2nd with Mikey rolling in for 3rd. The new kid on the block, Darrin, rolled in for a respectable 14th place finish after taking 2 weeks off the bike. Scott today struggled on the bike and ended up riding the course, having fun, and displaying the team colors for the entire 5 laps. Nice work to all!!

Next up is a weekend off from racing. Should be able to get some good training in before a nice 4 week block of racing that starts with the WORS marathon race in Green Bay and ends with Chequamegon. I love fall racing!

Put down the voodoo doll!

I am completely floored! There is obviously someone out there that does not want me riding a bike. Tonight was interesting and I am sure I will be dealing with it for months to come! What a joy!!!

Miles and miles of squares......

We have all been there at some point and if you haven't then your time will come. The time in the season where motivation went to an all time low and the urge to ride a bike is no longer at the top of your priority list. I seem to hit this every year in July. This year was the worst I can ever remember and I think the mental and physical stress associated with the BC bike race is what really pushed me over the edge. Now that I am back from vacation, addicted to beer and caffeine, 8 pounds overweight, and still not completely there mentally; I have started spinning the squares on the bike! I have a lot of work to get into form with my next big goal of the year being Chequamegon. I am extremelly excited with taking our team up there and would love to get one of the team members onto the top step of the podium. Last year we had 2 in the top 5, and 4 of us in the top 10. Now we have added Darrin to the mix as well so it should be good.

Before then, we have Ore to Shore. I meet Mikey tomorrow and then catch up with TJ in Marquette. Since I am just getting back in the grove I would just be happy to hang on and help TJ and Mikey. I do have the bike ready and I am rolling on a new rear wheel after the other one came unlaced at the Levi Trow 100. The new set up is a bit heavier but is also much stiffer so it should balance out nicely. Hope to see everyone up in Marquette for a good weekend of bike riding!

Leaving on a jet plane.....

Headed outta here! Should be enjoyable with a 16hr flight to get back into Madison followed by a 2hr drive. Better hit the 3 lattes and skip the afternoon beers!!

Nice job to the team this weekend at Crystal Ridge! 3rd for Mikey, 4th for Darrin, and 31st for Scott after a struggle with some local brush and a crash.

Congrats to Nathan on the win. It is nice to see courses that offer different racing conditions and can offer others with the chance for a win. Now all we need is a race to come back in similar to the days of Bluebird or Wilmot!

See everyone on the flip side!

Nothing to see here, just keep moving......

That was the name of the game in Slovakia. We just cruised through without stopping. We are now in Budapest and will remain here till Tuesday. The town is seperated by the river and actually used to be to seperast cities, Buda and Pest. I did finally ride a bike yesterday though! Here is Michelle in front of me as we cruise along on the ship bikes!

Notice the dedictaed bike lanes! They were everywhere over here and like everyone rides bikes!! Sweet!!

As for the intervention, forget it! I am set in my ways now and feel that I no longer have an issue! 3 lattes by noon and then followed by beer till I fall asleep. I am scared to step on the scale, good thing Ore to Shore is all down hill so maybe the extra weight will help me! That is assuming I come home, I found the storage facility for the Travelocity gnomes so if each one represents a free week of vacation then I will see everyone in a couple years!!

If this does not work then I found a nice fix me upper in Austria, yeah it needs work but the views are nice!!

Out of all the stops I think I liked Austria the best. It was pretty cool and all the towns we went to were very unique.

Back to bikes, I think I am finally starting to round the corner with my melt down and have a little itch to get back on the bike. Unfortunately I have a cold that has settled into my chest that I hope goes away before our flight on Tuesday. See everyone this next weekend at Ore to Shore and Good luck to the team in Franklin!