2 1/2 days of Vegas

I'm back In TX for half a day and found a minute to post some pics from Interbike and the crit. After walking our feet sore at the trade show my buddy Pat from Arizona and me line up for the USA Crit Series World Championship/USA final race. It was simply nuts: 120+ guys on 1K course going for the Parking Lot World Championship title... It was basically a race course setup with metal barriers left and right and crashes were programmed. But it was tons of fun and a big party. I survived and finished the race on my bright yellow MAVIC spare bike with the yellow SRAM hoods after my own ride didn't make it to Vegas. After that, it was time to party and we headed to the Rum Jungle at the Mandala Bay Hotel. After a few hours, $50 poorer, some dancing, and still thirsty we headed back to our hotel (Circus Circus) in style by taking the Scott CR1 instead of the bus on the "Strip".

You can watch the race on-demand for free at WCSN.com

Greg and me having some margaritas

G-Dog getting coffee

former teammate "Huffy"

a 308g (!) front wheel is not bad at all

a MAVIC a.k.a. Cannondal CAAD 9 was my bike for the night

Cipo cool as always...

Ernesto Colnago always ready for a pic

From Denton to Vegas

After a 3 week break from racing I pinned on a number again for the two Denton crits just north of DFW.
Arriving Friday afternoon from a 15hour plane trip was not ideal for a 75min crit but I can't complain: it was fun and I got in the right move with the THSJ boys Vargas and Jewell. To show you deep I had to dig just to get 3rd place here's are some numbers: HR avg. 191 bpm, time 1:15h, avg. Speed 25.9mph.
After 24hours of rest Sunday's downtown crit went way smoother. I got in the right early move again, this time with 8 riders, and we lapped the field with 7 to go.
THSJ had 3 guys up there so I knew repeating my win from last year would be very tough, although I had my buddy veggieburger with me in the break :-)
Going into the last corner I was 5th wheel but couldn't close it to Vargas and Fawley and settled for 3rd, again. Thanks to Christian + GS Tenzing for putting on a cool end-of-season event and letting me DJ my first crit - the women race that was ;-)
Now its time for Interbike and some more crit action Thursday night...you can follow it live on wcsn.com

Out!

kaltes Deutschland (cold Germany)

Unfortunately, due to a family emergency I had to fly to Germany really quick last Friday. Well, things are going a bit better now but still it's a bit depressing right now. In order to keep myself busy with other things, I ride my bike, or run 1-2 hrs/day! It's getting colder and colder here, though. Today I rode on my dad's trekking-bike (28mm tires) 2 1/2 hours in the high 50's F. That was definitively a good workout. I might be back on the "real" bike this weekend in Denton but there are more important things going on right now that this might change really quick again.
Out,
Stefan

getting some quality miles in

It's amazing how less than 3 weeks of structured training can get you back to fitness. After I hurt a lot in the HHH Crit (was only able to go for some primes), and quit the RR 25miles out, my legs are finally back to "endurance mode". Gateway-Cup was already a good indicator as I finished 5th on the last day, but in the last 10 days I got to spent some quality hours (yes, including a rally...) on the SCOTT in order to be competitive for the remainder of the season. Long, steady rides coupled with some TCC Tuesday nighter's and today's famous "Les Akins lunch ride" will hopefully turn into results...

Will keep you up-to-date how it goes....make sure to check out the Tour of Missouri Live Coverage in the upper-left hand corner of the blog.

Kicking it in St. Lou

Team "SuperBad"...
Bam-Bam, me, the Greek, McLovin, Cagle, Fid, Ank the Tank before the start of Stage 2 of Gateway-Cup on Washington Ave in "St. Lou". Did a lot of "work" over the last 4 days, collected some primes, finishing in the bunch except Monday University "Loop" in Stage 4 where I made the Top 5.

Worth going to the movies for: SUPERBAD
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/superbad/