CX and LiveStrong Weekend

My new off-season training includes doing some Cyclocross races thanks to the guys at Austin Bikes and SCOTT who helped me out with some gear.

After last weekends race in Manor I headed out east this Saturday to Richard Moya Park for the 4th race of the LoneStarCX Series. Fawley and Will Ross were busy racing out-of-state but I still got taught a few lessons from Scott Henry who took the win. Actually, I followed him off-course twice while being glued to his wheel! That didn't impact my finish, though and I got third just behind Keiran Sikdar and ahead of Joel Trinity from UT. There's one more LoneStar CX series race November 8 in Del Valle where I hope to a) stay upright again and b) follow Fawley & Co. as long as possible :-)

Check out another homemade video about the race made by Stackhouse:



Then yesterday, after having raised +$300, I did the L.A.F. Challenge out in Dripping Springs which was a good 90mile ride and fitted well into my training schedule. I never done the Ride for the Roses or L.A.F. before so it was pretty interesting and next to seeing some roads I've never ridden on it was good to chat with some folks in the cycling community. It was more like a social group-ride but at times you could sense the "competitive nature" found in most of us participants in the front group :-) Lance and Phinney Jr. didn't mess around and surged w/ 20miles to go, and Nick Reistad and I rotated along with them until our legs said "no more". Good times.

Here's a slide show with a few pics, courtesy of the Statesman:

http://www.austin360.com/recreation/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=126357

Manor CX Race

Did my first CX race yesterday at the Manor "Mayhem". What a blast. Bryan Fawley is the "Godfather" when it comes to CX in Texas. I got 5th. Check out Stack's handmade video review...

Separated at Birth ???

Schumacher and Kohl's confirmed positive on CERA led to series of happenings in pro cycling over the last 3 days:

• German Public TV stations ARD and ZDF won't cover the 2009 Tour de France
  
• the Pro Tour Race "Tour of Germany" is canceled for 2009
• Pro Tour team sponsor MILRAM is thinking about "reassessing" it's sponsorship engagements after 2009
• Bert Grabsch, reigning TT world champion, thinks about retirement because of the most recent doping cases
• more and more German politicians are calling for a stop of funding the German Cycling Federation (BDR)
  

LIVESTRONG Challenge - Fundraising Goal met!

The flow of donations already exceeded all my expectations and + $250 were raised in less than a week! Thanks Everyone!

What a week !

An exciting week lays behind: On Wednesday I resigned from my current job and - after a brief moment of relief - I got going on my new, own business: ROTHE Training. If you are interested in affordable but at the same time professional coaching (road, track, CX) feel free to check out my new site at www.rothetraining.com.

After that, the focus shifted toward the State RR in Chappell Hill. It's beginning of October and not many people were too fired up for a 85mile road race so late in the year but I was looking forward to it. I like the challenge and - oh boy - a challenge it was. Without teammates, races like that get very political, tactical and oftentimes you gotta throw in a lot of effort to get a minimal result. That's what I did today. Thanks to my two secret red & white shadows who would never put their nose in the wind and sucked my wheel all day I got a great workout in and finished 8th. Ahh, racing can be so much fun sometimes. Congrats to Wheeler and Korioth who took the race by the horns and stayed away until the end.

I'm excited about the upcoming Fall - I'm looking foward to switch it up a bit this off-season. Stay tuned.

LIVESTRONG Challenge

I signed up for the 2008 Livestrong Challenge today - formerly known as "Ride for the Roses". It's going to be a 90mile ride on October 26 through the Hill Country just West of Austin. If you have a friend or family member who has to deal with that disease, or are interested in the initiatives to fight cancer I'd appreciate if you check out my fundraising page here.

My goal is to have raised $250 by October 18th, 2008 - one year after my mom passed away because of cancer.

I Heart Bert Grabsch !!!

Word Champion!!!

Toughin' it out at TX Tough

Finally, there's a BIG race in Dallas, too: The TxTough Crit. Thanks to the Euro trip, I got 16days off the bike, and was well recovered. Not the best preparation for a $25K crit but I survived, thanks to some last-minute training and Adam's "I'll drop you" moto-pacing sessions.

There was some serious sprint horsepower on the start line so we got rolling fast and furious once the 15mph neutral lap was over. My goal was simply to hang in there and see if I can contribute something to teammate Chad who's been on fire over the last few month. I found my spot in the peloton as we circled around the fast city-course at 28mph. It wasn't too bad actually and 45minutes into it I found myself off the front with Matt Seagrave. We worked together well, quickly got a nice lead and they kept throwin' $250 primes at us. I was in the "red zone", especially after Emile A. came up to us and we kept going faster. Chad was chiling at that point, waiting for the end. We got pulled back quickly, though and I needed the rest of the race to recover :-) Chad finished it up for us, though with a strong 3rd behind Blackgrove and Escuela.

Here's a short write-up from the Dallas Morning News.

And that's how much it hurt...

Come on, Jan!

After both L.A. and Floyd announced their comebacks, Germany is looking forward to Jan's return. When asked by German gossip newspaper 'BILD' if he intents to return to competitive cycling, he simply said: "If he [L.A.] starts, then I ought to start again, too. But I haven't thought about that. You should never say never, though. I'll give him a phone call in the next couple of days."

taken at 2004 Tour of Germany

un poco de Espana

Thanks to Ryanair you can fly around Europe pretty cheap and so we headed to Eastern Spain for a bit, flying into Girona and taking the train to Barcelona the following day. Lot's of things to see there and a good place to see what I've learned in 5 years of spanish in high school - or not :-)

...Girona - now wonder why so many cyclists claim a home here

...Palacio Nacional in Barca

...'Estacio Olympico' from 1992

...late night bike training through Barca on a rental

...La Sagrada Familia with Gaudi's influence

...over the French Alps, Le Mont Blanc?