Friday, October 30, 2009

Hi from Invercargill

Well, I made it to New Zealand...after a long trip from AUS, to LAX, AUK, Christchurch, and finally to Invercargill here in Southland, NZ. Only problem we have now: all our bikes are M.I.A. - hopefully they'll be here by tonight.

We got some great food from our hosts, the Irvines, settled in our sweet little Motel and now are waiting to go and meet our sponsor, Jackson Plumbing, at the local pub. Yes, pub. NZ has a lot of British flavor to it.

The Tour starts Monday with a 8K TTT in the a.m. and a 50mile circuit race in the afternoon.

@Auckland airport....maybe in the USA one day ?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cross!

Cross Season is here! Well, the weather is not really "cyclocross-like" here in Texas but nevertheless there's some good, hard racing available here down South thanks to some promoters like Rob Kane who put on a weekend of CX in San Antonio.

I took out the Addict CX RC for it's first real ride. Fast course with only a few obstacles for us "roadies". 15minutes in I realized the legs were going well and I took off, putting some pressure on the boys and just rode consistent laps to win the 1st CX race of the season. Thanks to Pam+Rob Kane for hosting us at the Police Academy Center. And of course Robert Biard for letting me use his wheels, Austin Bikes/Doug Looney for some 'quipment, and KC Crosby for some sweet shades!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Happenings

It's been a while. Quite "interesting" two weeks in Texas bike racing. Did two in Crits in Denton and spent a good weekend at "home" in Ft. Worth. Results-wise it was pretty average as being "solo" and having field-sprint-esque courses/races did not suit me so well. Saturday's race was very cool and I tried hard to force a serious split but it came down to a - almost -field sprint. Sunday's race was much easier by looking at the numbers, even though 10 of us lapped the field. My old teammate Mat Stephens showed that he's still got the sprinter legs and won while I got 6th. Some great riding north of Denton, Horse County & surrounding area

A week later, a training ride to Johnson City was long overdue so I rode out West with a few THSJ guys and it was a pretty good ride. 5 1/2hrs, half of that in the rain, and just sub 120miles. The cool temperatures made the time/distance feel very manageable comparing to doing rides in the 100 F heat a few month back.

A few days later some news broke which were quite upsetting, disappointing. I felt cheated on. At the same time it's a 'positive' thing as it shows that guys get penalized who cheat; very knowingly cheat to be exact. Knowing I (and a handful of others) can ride faster than someone who is "juiced up" to the top makes the whole thing quite funny, actually. Why would you take stuff if you can't even beat the "clean" guys? Oh well.

The week finally turned back into a good one as the State RR was on the schedule. I had lots of fun and Kolt and I did our best. He was in the winning break for 94 miles, just the last few rollers got onto a few guys and the field caught Kolt, Lalla + Adam G. Six guys stayed away for the win (JT Cody!). I still scratch my head about some teams' tactics...If you're not in the break why not chase? Oh well, none of my business. Sunday's race was held on the same course, with similar temperatures, but with a bit rain and only 66miles. The turn-out was not as great as the day before but that made the race actually quite a bit harder in my opinion. After being in a 7-man break for most of the race I gave it one "shot" at the last climb and Helmig + Vargas came along. It was a mix of tactics, discussions, and strength which followed for the next 10miles to the finish. In the end, Helmig got me pretty good in the sprint for the win but 2nd was okay at that point. Even though we're both foreigners by passport, I got another blue-red-white jersey since I'm more of a permanent Texan...:-)

The next few month will actually be quite exciting rather than just another "boring" off-season: There's some Driveway left, a few punchy Cyclocross races, a trip Down Under, the local MTB race p/b Mellow Johnny's, and finally some "real" winter time back home in Germany.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Breast Cancer Awareness Month October

If you know a family member, friend, co-worker, or teammate who's affected - find out how you can help and/or donate by visiting the National Breast Cancer Foundation !

Or, come and ride your bike with me October 25th at the Livestrong Challenge in Austin, TX.