I guess I'll update this thing finally

I guess I'll update my blog since I had one request from Andrew. I imagine there is a silent majority of thousands that also want an update too, so here you go.

Well, let's start with BABY NEWS. It is still due on our anniversary, September 22nd. I hear Lance's b-day is the 18th, so 3 days early would be kind of cool. I share my birthday with none other than Eddy Merckx, so having those two b-days in common would be nice coincidences for a cycling family. We keep accumulating baby stuff, both hand-me-down and purchased, and all the tests etc. are good.

And now, RACING UPDATE: Let's start with the Methow Tour. The racing was super close from the TT on. There were 5 of use within 3 seconds of each other from 5th place down. I hate thinking about a couple of seconds. I'll take a 15 second beating any day. Needless to say I was happy with 7th, but mad about being a tiny bit too slow.

In the crit I took 4th and the $100 prime. No, there was no $400 prime on offer. The wind, etc. made it hard to hear so people thought there were different primes that really didn't exist. I was lucky to be on the attack when the $100 was announced so it paid to be aggressive. The finale got botched due to a guy blowing up right in front of me through the last 2 turns.

I really wanted to repeat my win in the road race, especially since it was my birthday too. The possibility of 2 nights at Sun Mtn. Lodge was also motivating, which was the stage prize in 2006. Anyway, 3 guys attacked early and it seemed like suicide. Hagens-Berman chased, but didn't get the job done. Maybe rotating the wrong way in the wind was the reason?

Shawn Ongers ended up keeping the gas on when Ecker and the Recycled kid sat up and then Morgan Schmidt jumped across to him. I tried too, but got reeled in, and that was the last we saw of those two. In the end I had to settle with 3rd. Turns out I tied for 3rd on GC and was given 4th on tied-breaker rules. The lame thing is that 3 of Ongers points came from the charity rule that gives a free 3 points to anyone finishing on the lead lap in the crit. If it was a timed race he'd have gotten 2nd on GC though, so I can't be too upset. Needless to say, it was nice to get a podium finish after quite a while.

The chronology gets a bit jumbled now...I'll get back to this in a bit, gotta watch the finale of Stage 2 of the TDF here.

The BALLARD TWILIGHT CRITERIUM was in there the next week I think. No, it was actually the week before...I was starting to have some form and looked to be aggressive in front of the crowd. Maybe my attacks would result in the winning move or some nice primes? Nope. Futile solo move, failed breaks, and some lousy primes. I ended up 12th and out of the cash. Fun to see some friends at the race though. At some point I will redeem those 25 Dicks dollars. Maybe all in the form of fries. I wonder what $25 in fries looks like. A grocery bag full?

Uh, what was next? No, what was before? The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. Since I was still teaching, I couldn't do the whole race, and I was only going to have a remote chance in stage two (or the final crit. stage) so that is what the team focussed on. It was nice to go to a big race and be with the team. I got a lot of protection and feeds from they guys. Rose did an awesome ride on the NRC stage to take the climbers jersey. Things were pretty easy until the last big climb when the attacks came. I was a bit too far back, wove my way up to the last wheel who was Kenny Williams, but he up and sat up, losing the the wheel and making it just that bit too hard to stay in contact. And that was that.

The Boston Harbor Circuit race stage championship was poorly attended. Too bad. Home course and one I designed when I was with Broadmark. Team tactics won out as a move slipped away on an easy section of the course and the blocking/chasing down ensued. I blew it and the break was gone. I was happy to at least take the field sprint easily from Kenny (yes, he was trying because he was the next guy behind me.) So, 10th WSBA rider on the day. Not great, but got some coveted points.

The next week was another hometown event, the State Criterium. I failed in my bid for my 4th consecutive win in the Masters race and lost to Todd G. who took 2nd last year. Cool for Flack to make the move with him and get a nice result for once. I took 3rd and a $50 ibike gift cert that I used to get an oversized bar mount finally.

In the 1/2 race Nikolz and I were the only two riders to really not want to lose to the two-man break of Nelson and Johnson. We dangled, they dangled. We got caught by the field. The same four guys as last year sprinted for 3rd with the same result for me, 6th. I did my best and also snatched 2 Axley sunglass primes.

And so the blur of criteriums began...next was the Masters State Championship in Des Moines. (I don't think these hyprlinks are going to lead to the results directly, oh well.) Anyway, I won it. It sure wasn't easy either. I sat in for a bit and then went on the attack. I think I was in three different breaks. I took a sweet Skuut prime that the baby will love once it is a toddler. Flack rolled across for the beer prime which he did not split with me, deadbeat. Thus I had to purchase a Maudite once back in town, and it was cold, not hot from being on display. By the way, what is with the single bottle of beer prime anyway? Yes, it was 22 oz., but coundn't they pony-up for a 4 or 6 pack?

Back to the race. The final break was me, Flack and Gallaher and it looked like we had it sewn up with 2 to go. Turns out the long downhill into the headwind was taking a bigger toll on us than the field and they had a lot more pop for the uphill stretch. With one to go they were on our heels and the catch was made right before the 3rd turn. Not to be denied, I forced my way in about 7th and opened up my spint after the final turn with quite a few guys ahead. I didn't panic and increased the speed, eventually moving up the left side where there was some room and finding the wheel of Aaron Levin with only 30 or so meters to go. I was able to come around him just before the line and combine the bike throw and victory salute in a single motion. It was Masters, but they were all cat. 1's and 2's so it was not easy in the least. 1 win, 1 gold medal for the year. My brother Dave was there so it was nice to do well in front of family.

Next up was the Joe Matava crit after two days of 90 mile training days. This race has one of the jittiest prize lists in the NW, but there is always a big field since it is close to Seattle and a lot of those guys will not travel more than 30 miles to race. I was conservative, but did get in some breaks, unfortunately the last one was with two to go, yatta yatta, swarm, sketch, sit-up, have a nice parade Burien.

Sarah dropped me and Flack off in Tacoma to ride back the long way to Oly to get some nice training in.

I kept up the miles on Thursday and got in 85 or so with the last 2 hrs. with the Oly 6 PM ride. The racers have been spotty at the 5:30 ride, so to avoid a solo or small group slog I had to deal with the potentially sketchy and slower group. It was good to follow wheels and spin the hell out the little ring to try to get my legs to come around as I had been feeling pretty blown the first two hours out. I was able to ride in 39x13 up to 27-28 mph for 30 min. before going to the big ring.

Friday I opted for a few errands on the bike in place of the scheduled 4-5 hrs. after feeling cracked on Thurs.

Saturday was the thankfully the last of the criteriums for a while: Redmond Derby. My highpoint was losing a $100 prime by an inch. That would have equalled 4th in the final.

The next day was the Masters Road Race at Longbranch. This has to be my favorite road course. It's where I took my Sr. Gold medal and later my Silver and Bronze medals in the Masters. Yesterday I was able to take the Masters Gold for the medal rainbow. All the climbing lately has paid off as I got stronger and stronger especially on the steep hill, now the finish, where I was able to sit using 39x23 quite a bit. After an attack filled first lap I was a bit frustrated that no one was really counter-attacking and the next thing you know, 6 guys have a 10 second gap through the start area. Perfect! I made the bridge and commenced working and we stretched the gap to 2 minutes pretty fast as all the teams of the small field were represented.

We rode cohesively for the most part until 2 to go where Gallaher made a vicious attack on the old feed hill. I covered that thinking that might be "it" but then Mick Walsh countered that. I covered Mick and we worked, thinking this was "it" but we caught by Gallaher and Holmes, with Garage now gone completely. Mernaugh from Excel had been cast away a while before. So the four of us pretty much saw that we were at a stalemate after last attacks by Holmes and then Walsh. I wasn't going to risk attacking and being chased down by the three of them when I could wait for a sprint. And that is what I did. Holmes made last-ditch big-ring attack on the wall and after he blew I held the front and waited quite a while to ramp it to the line, not wanting to give a lead-out to Gallaher on the slow ramp to the line.

So, two Masters Championships and two Gold medals. That will be my last race until joining Team Bobs-bicycles.com at the Elite Road Race in Pennsylvania. I was happy to perform well on the steep terrain and over 4000 ft. of climbing in less than 100k. If nothing else a bit of a confidence boost before the big event.

Besides doing a big build-up for nationals I found out that I got 1 of 3 spots for the composite team we will be on for the Tour d'Indonesia! That is is going to be crazy for a number of reasons: Asian, never been; 10 road stages; super international field; 4 star hotels.

I will try to blog from Indo if I have the means and energy.