1 year adventure

The End.......or is it?!?

2011-09-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

Here we are nearing the end of September. Looking at the title of this post, it's easy to think that it sounds negative in thought; however it's actually a great thing, a new beginning and another chapter. Before I get carried away with the now and moving forward, let's take a few steps back to Univest.

Univest:....would prove to be another learning experience. I was fortunate enough to guest ride for Team Mountain Khakis presented by SmartStop. Thank you to Jamie, Neil, Ben, Thomas and Clay for bringing me on board for the day. Also, thank you to my wonderful and supportive father for flying in to see me race. I'm sorry I couldn't deliver the goods. Friday night found us at Palermo's in Blue Bell dominating pizza/pasta and having a team meeting. Thank you to Yoram and Maria for supplying us with great food. Saturday morning and we're off to Souderton to tackle this 100 mile road (circuit type) race. I felt so good it almost made me wonder if something was wrong. Looking back, my coach Brian Walton, had done an unbelievable job of preparing me for this race. I rode as smart and strong as I've ever ridden and was feeling very confident going into the last portion of the race. I could bore you with details, but I'll get to the point. We came into the finishing lap and with 3 miles to go, climbing up Wile St, my bike gave way. As I was out of my saddle climbing, the back end simply dropped to the ground. At the time, I had no idea what happened, but my race suddenly came to a stop. I couldn't believe it, but as I frantically tried to replace the back wheel, Dave (riding in our team car), made it clear that my day was done. The chainstay and seatstay snapped under stress. The bike was shot!! HR went from 190 to 120. I was sad and in disbelief. I had dreams and goals of a top ten finish and the way I way feeling that day, made it all that much more possible. I also knew my dad was waiting at the finish line just as dialed in as I. I just couldn't believe it. I finished the day with a "DNF" (did not finish). Amazing how quickly things can change. I was sitting 10th wheel with 3 miles to go in what could have been one of my biggest races.....5 minutes later....I'm riding in the back of the team car to the finish line, head full thoughts and feelings of anger, sadness, and discouragement. I just wanted it so bad. The stage was set so perfect....last race of the season, father in town, guest riding for a well known team....a perfect way to end a chapter.

Thanks again to Team Mountain Khakis

Saturday, Sep 17th, 2011

Hmmm.....not a good thing when this happens.

Onward: After a frustrating number of hours, both my dad and I changed our attitudes and had a wonderful time together. With the DNF, I was unable to participate in Sunday's race; therefore we went out for burgers and beers. Such a good time to just hang with my dad at a bar and not care about anything. We shared lots of conversation about the race, life, next steps, Wisconsin, jobs, relationships and more. It was great! The next few days would bring more fun. Thanks to Bryon Kremer for hooking us up with Cannondales, we were able to get some riding in as well as a evening dinner with Bryon and his wife Monica. We also visited the coveted Seven Stars Farm in Phoenixville. They produce well known organic yogurt. What a trip that was. My dad has been huge into this product and we headed out for there for a tour. Did I say tour??? Not even close...this place is so granola, organic, grass roots!! We could not believe our eyes. They have such a simple set up on that farm. Again, I could share a lot of information about this, but I don't want to bore you. I leave it at encouraging anyone to head out there for a look. They make a great product and are so passionate about it....admirable. Wednesday morning came all took quickly and with a few tears, we said our good byes. (keep in mind...these tears were coming at 5:30am as we thought it was a great idea to schedule a 7am flight!!...hmmm).

Thanks Bryon Kremer for getting my dad on I on bikes.

There he is....love how he is displaying that yogurt!!

The real stuff: It's safe to say, I've got a mindful at the moment. I'm tossing around idea's of what comes next. 1 year ago, I set out to go after my cycling dream. I walked away from my career, simplified my life, and went after it full speed. It's been an awesome ride to say the least. Unfortunately, I hate to think that it all ended with a DNF at Univest. Hard to swallow ending it all on that note. Not sure what to do next, but I'm tossing around a few ideas.
Option 1:... Thinking about staying out here and giving it another go, finding a part time job and chasing that top ten one more time. It's a drug...it's an addiction. I cannot even begin to explain the feelings and drive associated with cycling.
Option 2:...heading back to Wisconsin as I miss my family more and more everyday. It hurts to be left out on important family events (nieces, nephews, siblings, parents, Erin, gatherings, bbq's, life). Not sure where cycling would fit into this option as Wisconsin is pretty cold in the winter time. The race scene is also lacking. Simple put...it doesn't have the cycling vibe that the northeast does. I've created an awesome support structure out here and that could not be matched in Wisco.
Option 3: Finding a 'real' job. What does that mean? I'm not sure if I can adapt to a 'real' job at this point. I seem to run from it and seek out ways to avoid the 'realness'. I've thought about getting back into recruiting in PowerGen. I've also thought about seeking out a job in the cycling industry. Again, I'm going back to this drug of racing my bike. My mind puts that as a priority and looks for ways to work (job stuff) around it. If I go with option 3, I need to rearrange that priority. I don't foresee this as being an easy transition.

So there you have it. A recap of Univest and my father's visit as well as a taste of whats running through my mind in regards to moving forward. I'm seeking any and all suggestions.

Suddenly September

2011-09-12T11:42:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've last blogged so we'll have some catching up to do. Hmmmm, what's closest in my mind? Had a great time last night as I saw my old Parc Bistro friends Bob and Greg for some drinks and dinner before watching a killer thunderstorm roll in. Good times.

So let's go back a bit to VT and the Green Mtn Stage Race (GMSR). I had a lot of excitement rolling into GMSR as I was meeting Erin and my parents there. They flew into Burlington, rented a car and met me at the rented cabin. What a great place!! I made the drive up solo and soon saw the devastation that the media had been talking about. VT got hit hard by Hurricane Irene. The best part of the whole scene was that the locals had such a great attitude about the whole situation. Welcoming us riders to their state and accommodating us in anyway they could. Looking back, its rather impressive that the 4 day stage race still took place. The race director had to make a number of last minute changes, but overall all things considered....it was a success and we had fun. I love the fact that Erin and my parents were able to come up and see VT. The state is a lot like Wisconsin expect it has mountains. For some reason, the coffee tastes a bit sharper, the Oktoberfest beer a little more fall-like, and the pancakes have a more earth like feel/taste to them. I like it!! Thanks to my teammates Blair Berbert (his dad Bruce) and Andrew Suchocki (his girlfriend Kelsy) for joining us. Both Blair and I were wishing we had the whole squad up there as it's a very enjoyable scene.

Race details:

Stage 1: TT- this was an 8k TT required to be done on road bikes. The first half was an uphill kicker and that usually works to our advantage. I was happy with my result as my TT's have been rather weak this year with my back injury from last season. I ended up 12th while Blair had a very respectable 5th place finish. The fun portion of the story. Warming up for the TT, I noticed my headset was making all kinds of noise. I ignored it as I needed to race soon. Early on in the TT, the horrific noise was growing louder and I was thinking my bike would fall apart in my hands......onward...ignore it. I finished and as Blair and I were cooling down, I began to worry about my safety because the handlebars had so much vertical flex. Here I come to find out that the steer tube is cracked. If you know about this problem, you know that I could have died if it were to have cracked straight through as I would have lost all steering. Happy to be safe, but frustrated as I no longer have a bike for the rest of the stage race. Good old SRAM neutral support would prove to be my savior as they set me up with a Specialized for the remainder of the race. Thank you thank you thank you SRAM. In the Cat 2 race, Andrew would slide in for a 67th place...don't worry, he improves this significantly over the next few days.

Yep...that's my steer tube for your road junkies!! So cracked and so lucky I didn't die.

Stage 2: My kind of race. A 60 some mile circuit race with punchy climbs. I was stoked about this race and even more fueled to do well as it was my mom's birthday. I rode very smart, yet aggressive enough to be ready for any move. In the last portion of the race, 500meters before the King of the Mountain.....I flatted! Not an ideal place or time to flat. I quickly got a change, but was forced to chase the rest of the race and in the end would lose 2+ minutes to the field. With that, I lost my high spot on the GC and was now pushed back into the 60's overall. Blair on the other hand, rode very well and hung in for the field sprint keeping him in the top 10 GC. Needless to say, I was very disappointed as I had my mother in mind, feeling well and shooting for a top 10 finish. Everyone has a bad day here and there. Andrew rocked out a solid 6th place in the sprint finish of the Cat 2 race.

Stage 3: This was the race that was significantly changed do to weather. The entire course was rerouted with the exception of the mountain top finish that 'baby gap' and 'ap gap' provide. In other words, they changed everything except the brutal, painful, death like climb at the end...30-40 minute climb leading to the top of 'ap gap'. The real climbers do well on this one, while the fake climbers (Jacob Mueller) hang on for dear life and pretend like they belong with the leaders. Blair and I would ride hard all day, but unfortunately miss the winning break. That break would have a 2.5minute head start rolling into the final climbs. Blair put his climbing legs on and crawled away from me as we throttled in for the pain. I put myself in that happy pain cave and settled in for the death march up the mountain. Ears starting popping, sweat dripping off onto the handlebars, road surface moving so slowly underneath you and hearing your breathing and heart rate so loudly. It's not a fun place to be, yet somehow you overcome the challenge. Switchbacks give you a little relief only to find you have 3-5k more to go. It hurts.....a lot. I just kept thinking 1 pedal stroke at a time and sooner or later, I would be seeing the refreshing faces of Erin and my parents. Next thing on my radar is my father, cheering louder than I've ever heard before. Gave him the look of "here it is dad....all my effort....keep cheering for me even if it looks like I don't care or if I can't acknowledge all your cheering efforts...help me get across the line" I made it... and finished 31st of 100 some riders on the day. Maybe I am a climber!?!?!?!?....No. Cooler, windy weather on the top were followed by happy chatter with fans and supporters. Climbing that beast is one of those experiences that you lay down at night proud of. Looking back, I'm so happy to have had loved ones there to watch and encourage me on. Blair, as always, did awesome coming in 15th on the day. Andrew would come in 28th in the Cat 2 race. As we all noted, he was chatty Cathy afterwards with his always positive vibes!!

Blair Berbert on Ap Gap.

That's me..pretending like I can climb like Blair!

Mr. Andrew (Doc) getting it done.

Stage 4: Burlington Crit......cancelled do to rain! Sad. I like this crit and have been riding them well lately. Mother nature gave it a no go, so instead we found a bar, drank some beers and had a great chat with long time friend Ben King who goes to med school in VT.

The next 48hours were spent with Erin and my parents. We had a great time relaxing, touring chocolate factories, breweries, and eating like kings. I sent them off to the airport and started my long trek back to Philly. The first few hours were gorgeous driving through the Adirondacks but soon rain would come and last the entire rest of the way. Overall, it was a great trip/race, although I had high intentions of doing much better than I did. Luck would not be on my side breaking my bike, flatting and having the crit cancelled. That being said, I still had a great time with Erin and my parents. VT is special place and I'm glad I got to share it with them.

Die hard parents/supporters/fans/adventures pictured here at Magic Hat Brewery!

Always supportive and patient girlfriend Erin after a long weekend of racing!

Next: Univest baby!! (http://www.univestgrandprix.com/) Game on and probably the last race of the season. I will be guest riding for Team Mountain Khakis. This race is in my back yard and has always had a significant meaning to me. It's a good measuring stick of how far I've come the last few years. I've done this race 2 of the last 3 years (last year I was hurt) and am happy to be racing with a quality group like Khakis
(http://teammountainkhakis.com/) (http://www.facebook.com/cyclemk) and looking to help them out anyway I can. It's a 2 day race consisting of a 100 mile circuit race Sat (9/17) in Souderton and a 50 mile crit (9/18) Sunday in Doylestown. It's a great scene and I would encourage any local folks to come out and watch. Details can be found on the website provided above or feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions. Would love to see local folks come out!

That's it for now. Summer is coming to a close and fall is rolling in. Change is on the horizon.

The Man!

2011-08-23T12:37:00.000-04:00

So I had to post this quick. I found a picture of my dad from Sunday's race. Check him out...full KBS kit, focused and probably nervous as can be. I'm so proud of him!

Love you Dad!!

A Monster!!!

2011-08-21T19:53:00.000-04:00

So, I'm happy to be writing to let you know that I did no racing this weekend.....none!! Felt good to be able to relax a bit, stay local and just train. No race nerves, no alarm clocks, no fighting Friday afternoon traffic....just a weekend of sticking in the Skippack area, riding with friends and catching up on sleep.

That being said, I experienced a new kind of nervousness. Yep, I'm happy to say that I am the proud brother and son of a Mueller clan of racing. Both my brothers (Sam and Isaac) as well as my father (David) decided to jump in a little race in my hometown, Fond du Lac, WI. I say little race as a joke.....because it was actually a 92 mile point to point road race. So you can imagine me this morning....making coffee, eating breakfast, getting ready for my training ride and feeling more nervousness than when I race. All 3 of these brave souls have jumped in little fund raiser rides and races here and there, but after I got thinking about it, I started to ask myself, "What kind of monster have I created?" Here I am a million miles away and I have 2 brothers and a 63 year old dad racing bikes. A 92 mile road race mind you. Crazy!!! By the way, I'm also happy to report that my dad was rocking a Kelly Benefit Strategies kit. I'll be able to rest easy tonight knowing that they all finished safe and sound. I'm proud of them and love them dearly. I look forward to riding with them in the future. Congrats Isaac, Samuel and Dad! Pictures below:

Samuel on the left, Isaac on the right.

Isaac and his family (wife Kate and three boys David, Nathan and Matthew)

He's the bull!!! No picture of my dad from today's race, but here he is before a recent 100 mile fund raiser ride called The Ceboride.

As for me. It was an extremely hard week of training. I've got another big week coming up with a NRC race (crit) this Sunday in Binghamton, NY. I'm gearing up for Green Mountain Stage Race and Univest in September. I'm hoping to go out with a bang.

Thanks for reading.

Millersburg......a success!!

2011-08-18T10:07:00.000-04:00

Back on the scene! Sitting here drinking coffee, eating eggs, and getting ready for a long ride. It's been a week of intensity and volume as I'm trying to get ready for the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont. Should be fun!

We just had a great weekend racing in the Tour de Millersburg. We put 5 in the top 10 GC with 2 stage victories. We also went 1st and 2nd GC!! It was a great weekend for KBS/LSV. I put together a race report for our club and sponsors to read and have included it below. I've also shared a few photo's from the weekend below.

Race Report:

Tour de Millersburg- Millersburg, PA (Sat AM TT, Sat Afternoon Crit, Sunday AM Road Race)

Sat 8/13-Sun 8/14

Results/Squad:

Jacob Mueller (GC-1^st, RR- 1^st, Crit-2^nd, TT-11^th)

Blair Berbert (GC-2^nd, RR-3^rd, Crit-13^th, TT-2^nd)

Russ Brown (GC-7^th, RR-16^th, Crit-9^th, TT-6^th)

Todd Hesel (GC-8^th, RR-19^th, Crit-11^th, TT-4^th)

Jake Tremblay (GC-9^th, RR-28^th, Crit-10^th, TT-1^st)

R Muio (GC-18^th, RR-29^th, Crit-16^th, TT-16^th)

Andrew Suchocki [(GC-44^th, RR-21^st, Crit-DNF, TT-52^nd (Merckx Style)]

Millersburg, PA has always been a favorite for the Kelly Elite Amateur Team. This cozy, sleepy, little town sits 25 miles north of Harrisburg and has been home of this stage race for 5 years and we’ve always made a point to attend. Coupled with a great host house, we are always excited for Millersburg as it has traditionally suited our strengths as a team. This year was a bit different as they shortened the TT and road race as well as changing the crit from a challenging non-traditional course to a typical 4 corner drag race. That being said, we brought it together Friday night for a great dinner at the usual Wooden Nickel in the downtown area to talk strategy going into the weekend. We had the strongest team and therefore would be expected to perform. That we did.

Time Trial- A short 9.5mile out and back flat course would suite us real nice. Our plan was to stack the top 10 with as many riders as we could. This would give us a number of weapons to use going into the crit and road race. Our results speak pretty highly as we put 4 in the top 10 GC. A great job by all and a bold statement to the rest of the field that we were there to dominate.

Crit- 4 corner, rectangle, 35 mile, 44 lap crit. We would soon find out that this course was rather sketchy. While the turns were clean, they were very tight causing some havoc within the field. Our plan was to make the race as hard as we could. From the gun, the game was on. Again, we made a bold statement early on as we set a blistering pace launching non Kelly riders off the back. One by one, we were attacking the front in hopes that something would stick and get away. Missing our true sprinter, Evan Fader, we wanted to create a break in hopes of bettering ourselves on the GC for tomorrow’s road race. If that couldn’t happen, we simply wanted to maintain our positions as we knew our strength would come in the next day’s road race. Attack after attack and you could see the faces of many non Kelly’s growing tired. Finally with about 20 miles to go, I would attack on the back side portion and get away. Soon after an Alliance rider would bridge up. We would roll for a few laps before we had a Boston Bicycle School rider bridge as well. Now the break was 3 and we rolled well. I was in great hands as my wonderful teammates were shutting anything down that tried to come off the field. They blocked and followed anyone that attempted to bridge up. Unfortunately, a wreck would occur involving both R and Todd Hesel. Troopers as always, they would rejoin the race as soon as their bikes were ready to go. Meanwhile in the break, I noticed that 1 of the 2 riders seemed to be putting on a show that he was severely fatigued. I also knew that I did not want to go into a sprint with Alliance rider, Ryan Shebelsky. That in mind, I attacked with 2 laps to go and dropped Shebelsky. Unfortunately, Boston Bicycle School guy would linger behind me 5 bike lengths the entire rest of the way and nip me on the line to take the stage win. Not cool! In the meantime, Blair would make a solo attempt to jump the field and solo in for a 4^th place finish but would get caught heading into the finish line for a respectable 13^th place. Big thanks to my awesome teammates as the break would not have succeeded without their help governing the field. They willingly sacrifice their own results for the bettering of my GC placing. Thanks guys.

Road Race- 74 mile, 4 lap rolling terrain course. After host house Duane put on a solid table of ‘baked oatmeal’ for us, we headed out for our 8am start time. Rain would fall on and off throughout the entire race. With 5 in the top 10 GC, our plan was to sit quiet for the first 2 laps, than implode some serious fireworks the remaining 2. We did just that and rolled with a few early moves doing our little bits of work here and there. As we passed the start/finish line with 2 laps to go, we started the entourage. R would throw himself out there, followed by attacks from Blair, Jake T, Todd, Andrew and Russ…etc…etc… We hit it hard and made the race tough in lap 3. Again, you could see the fatigue setting in on non Kelly’s. Unfortunately, to that point no move was staying away. With a few miles remaining before the beginning of the final lap (lap 4), I attacked off the front solo on a small hill. Putting a bit of a stiff effort in, I looked under my shoulder to see no one was coming. Without blowing myself up, I settled in for a hard tempo effort, passed the start finish line and into the somewhat hard portion of the lap. Soon thereafter, I saw a lone rider bridging up. I let off a bit and welcomed him onboard. Being a non-Kelly rider and having at least 15 miles to go with nothing more than a 45 second gap from the field, I assured him I wasn’t going to turn myself inside out to stick the move. He agreed, and we rolled together until the last 6-8 miles when I heard a loud, high pitch “Jacob” from behind and saw a motivated Blair Berbert bridging up. He would catch, take a little breather, and soon all 3 of us committed to the move. The Kelly squad behind was doing a phenomenal job covering all moves and blocking again as needed. The 3 of us worked well together and stayed away. Blair, with all the conviction in the world, would give me a little “you’re sprinting this out” sign and take one more hard pull, before I sat on the wheel of the non Kelly. He looked back, looked forward, looked back and once more forward before I jumped and opened up the gap that he wouldn’t be able to close. I sprinted in for 1^st place thanks to an awesome job by Blair (finished 3^rd on the day) and an unselfish squad of Kelly’s (Jake T, Russ B, Andrew S, R, Todd H) to monitor and cover all moves from the field. Again they would forgo their own personal winnings to monitor the field for Blair and I. What a finish for a great stage race.

Special thanks to the glue of this team, Murray Davis, for all the support, feeds, laughs and organization he brings to our squad. Your efforts are often times overlooked, but a huge part of our success. Also, thank you to the DeWees family for graciously putting us up in your home. Your support and enthusiasm for what we do is priceless. Thank you again.

Thanks for reading.

A story is nothing without pictures:

That would be Todd and Andrew working the tooth brush!

A peak of our awesome host house garage/KBS camp..such a perfect set up!!

Thats me!!...working on my belly.

Our Millersburg dad- Duane DeWees. Great host family...thank you again Duane!!

There you have it. A great weekend for our team. As far as the rest of the season. I've got teammates heading to MD this weekend to defend the MABRA TT Championship Jersery...good luck Todd, Blair and Jake T. I'm entering a little training block and looking forward to staying local this weekend. Not too many races left on the season, but rather very important ones: Chris Thater, Green Mountain Stage Race, Univest and Capital Crit.

Planning my ride today and looking outside seeing sheets of rain falling down....awesome!!

Rainy day, but a good Tuesday!

2011-08-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

Lots of rain falling here today in the Skippack area. I got out this AM to ride, do a few little intervals and see if I could beat the rain. The first 45minutes, things were looking good.......... than a wall of water moved in and would stay with me the entire 2.5hr ride. You kind of go through the initial "damn... I don't feel like getting drenched, dirty bike, can't see, blah, blah" Than after you fall into your trance, you come to accept the warm rain, the looks from all the cars as they think you're crazy, and the refreshing feeling of accomplishing something that most people wouldn't dare do. Needless to say, it was a great ride. I felt like a child again playing in the rain. It's always a good change of pace.

Rewind a few days. Last weekend we were in Page Valley, Virginia fighting for the MABRA RR Championship jersey. Long story short......we didn't win. We had our chances and played our cards the best we could. We lost the jersey to Harley and congrats to Russ Langley as he pulled an impressive 1 man move late in the race. He stuck it and deserved the win. I actually felt really good and obviously wished I would have been in the break to contest for the win. Earlier in the day I had a bit of bad luck as I found myself on the pavement. (See picture below)

Joking!!! Joking!! No, actually it wasn't bad at all. Little road rash on the left knee and glutie, but overall not bad at all. I did have to crush myself trying to get back to the field and somehow made it. Afterwards, I sat in and waited for anything to go up the road as we had Todd, R, and Blair in the break. Chance didn't work in our behalf as we walked away with no MABRA jersey. Although no victory, I still had a great pizza and beer with my teammate Todd as he is always good for a chill night in Baltimore.

Next weekend, we head to the quiet, sleepy town of Millersburg, PA, which sits on the Susquehanna River 25 miles north of Harrisburg. This is the 5th annual Tour de Millersburg and we've always made it a priority to attend this race. We have a great host family that graciously puts us up in their home. Saturday morning we will compete in the individual time trail followed by a crit later in the day. Sunday, we finish up with a beautiful road race in the rolling hillside of central PA. Traditionally, we've done very well at this little stage race and look to do the same this year. As always, we'll be sure to have a good time as well.

Look for my next post early next week for results.

August....here we come!!

2011-08-04T20:52:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted. It's been a ride indeed. Lots of ups.....lots of downs. Overall, no complaints. I'll start by getting the negative out of the way. After returning home from Kansas City, I had a horrible week or 2 of training. Could not seem to find my legs and had a few races that didn't go all too hot for me. Did a hard road race with Todd and Jake T. in West Virginia and had a rough day on the climbs...got popped out just 30 miles into the race. Not good! Came back the next day to race my heart out at a local crit.....found myself in the break all day (trying to disguise how terrible I felt) and held on until the last 1/2 of the last lap when I blew up. Again, no legs. Went into the following week of training and didn't finish a few of my rides. At this point, I'm ready to pack up, head home and call it quits. A solid conversation with my coach later and I'm back on it. Sometimes we just need a reminder that this sport is not only hard....but long!! Everyone goes through spurts of having great legs as well as horrible legs. Anyway, all this was leading up to the PA State Road Race Championship in Birdsboro, PA. 5 of my teammates were making the long drive to come and do whatever they needed to do to get me the win/jersey. I'm proud to say that we accomplished our goal. I wrote the race report for our team website and copied and pasted it below.

Robeson Road Race (PA State Championship), 84 mile road race P 1/2/
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Birdsboro, PA

Results: Rick Norton (3rd), Jacob Mueller (5th, 1st PA finisher-jersey, gold medal), Todd Hesel (12th)

Squad: Rick Norton, Blair Berbert, Jake Tremblay, Todd Hesel, Russ Brown, Jacob Mueller

Tough, rolling 7 lap course with 2 climbs significant enough to cause a selection. Being the only PA resident on the team, the plan was that I would be in either a late race break or keep me fresh for somewhat of a sprint finish. Bottom line....we want the PA jersey. Mission accomplished. First and foremost, I have the best teammates in the world. The race started off fast with Russ Brown setting a pace that PA riders are still gawking about. He was also responsible for covering early moves which he did a fantastic job of. The first 3 laps were rather uneventful, but it was evident to all that we were out to race as we set a high pace. The rollers/2 climbs per lap, were starting to wear on most riders, and during the 4th lap, after a hard Rick Norton pull, I rolled off the front solo. Without putting too hard of an effort in, I looked under to see a lone rider bridging up. We would roll together for a few miles before 2 more riders made their way to us. We now had a group of 4 with roughly 36 miles left to race. I knew I needed and wanted at least 1 teammate with me so I decided to take easy pulls in the break. Just as I thought, 12 miles later, Todd and another non Kelly bridged up. We now had 6 total with both Todd and I included. We would roll the next 12 miles with Todd doing a great deal of work. It was somewhere during this episode that Todd quietly informed me that he had nothing left. He would prove himself wrong later in the race. He worked so hard to keep me fresh and going into the last lap Rick and 6 other riders bridged up. Perfect!! This was the perfect scenario for us as Rick and Todd would turn themselves inside out to keep me ready for the finish. Several riders would attempt little attacks here and there as Rick and Todd would cover them all. Finally, 2 non-PA riders got away and we decided to let them go. Soon thereafter, Rick would roll off with another non-PA which would prove to be the perfect scenario as this would force others in the break to chase. We would not see them again as Rick ended up taking 3rd place. Meanwhile, our break was rolling along with everyone looking at each other for direction. With Rick securely gone, Todd got on the front again to make the race hard. I would sit and wait for my jump. With 1k to go, all uphill, the attacks began and I knew I had to pull through as Todd's job was done. I went with the attack, sat in and jumped as hard as I could to take the field sprint and the PA State Championship.

Huge props to my teammates. They did a fantastic job. Murray, as always, was huge for us. As some may know, I go through bottles more than anyone else in US Cycling. Without Murray and feeds, we don't survive. Thank you Murray. Poor Blair had a mechanical early on and after pulling over to fix it, he would not be able to reattach to the group. He'll be back and ready to go for Page Valley this Saturday. Rick Norton crushed himself on this race. Again, his late race move would prove to be priceless in taking the pressure off me. Jake Tremblay coupled with Russ Brown set a killer pace early on. It was their job to make the race as hard as possible for everyone. They clearly succeeded. Jake would flat somewhere nearing the 4 lap mark while Russ pulled himself out after his workload was done. Todd would stick with me till the end. He carried me in the 6 man break, and than again in the last lap as things got dicey. He also learned a lot about himself as he rode through the 'red' the last 24 miles. Impressive! It was a great team victory and we plan on carrying it out this weekend for the MABRA RR Jersey.

Pic 1 of 2 of the crew from the PA Championship Road Race...(L to R) Rick Norton, Todd Hesel, Jacob Mueller (tiny medal...jersey to come soon), Jake Tremblay, and Russ Brown.

Pic 2 of 2

This week has been awesome. My training is coming back....slowly. Tuesday I got out with my good friend, Stephan Kincaid on a recovery ride. We hit up the Java Coffee shop, Suloman's Ice Cream Store and than the swimming pool with Hunter and Scooby. A great day of riding, conversation and quality time with my friend. Good stuff! Random pictures from the ride below:

Random "Murphy House" at some camp/resort we biked through...private property...we got chased out!!

What!?!?!?....a pay phone??? Had to get a picture of this as it was on the Murphy House.

Seven Stars Farms Yogurt....found at Sulomans Milk Store (they also have amazing ice cream). Anyway, this is my dad's latest kick. He swears by this yogurt and its a local farm that makes it here in PA.

Wednesday brought some intensity and my legs responded well. Not 100% yet, but they are coming back. My last target goals of the season are Green Mountain Stage Race and Univest, both in September. For now, we focus on this Saturday in Page Valley, WV. It's the site of this year's MABRA (Mid Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association) Road Race Championship. This means we are fighting again for another jersey. We need to defend our title from last year as teammate Kevin Gottlieb won it. The course is a challenging 74 mile race with a significant amount of climbing. Sunday we may jump in a crit just down the road from the road race. It'll be a great weekend as we plan on staying at teammate R's cabin in the Shenandoah Valley (picture above).

Off the bike, life continues to grow interesting. Not sure where things are all going, but my 1yr adventure is fast approaching its end. I've been in the process of doing some networking to start my search for a job of some sort. Looking at the cycling industry is my natural inclination. I've got a great deal of contacts in the industry that are all willing to help me break into the business portion of it. Companies like SRAM, Cannondale and Trek are of interest to me. Again, not sure where it will all go, but I can feel my focus slowly shifting. For now, I will continue to enjoy the ride it's been. I've got August and September to give it my all on the bike.

Late night and its time to relax. Bedtime will soon be calling. Results from this coming weekend to follow.

Live from Kansas City!!

2011-07-18T11:50:00.000-04:00

Sitting in a Starbucks enjoying a dark cup of coffee and feeling the effects of waking up at 2:45am yesterday. Feels good to relax although, we are gearing up for a 2hr ride in some serious heat. Heat index reads at about 110....awesome!!

Anyway, so I've been in Kansas City since last Tuesday night helping my friend Bill Marshall put on 1 of his 3 annual triathlons. I met Bill last year at Nature Valley Grand Prix as he was our acting director for the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro Ride. Bill's a great guy with loads of contacts in the cycling/triathlon industry. He is the National Sales/Marketing Manager for Challenge Tires (http://www.challengetech.it/home.php). The week consisted of early mornings, organizing all variables for the race, setting up/tearing down the venue and keeping things rolling as planned. It's been a lot of work, but it's fun to see things behind the scenes.... definitely puts another perspective on the race scene.

It's been a good break from racing my bike and experiencing the life of another city as I'm fairly certain I will be relocating this fall. Where???...the quick response would be Wisconsin, but I'm keeping my options open. Kansas City has a good vibe....reminds me a lot of Omaha, NE and has a strong Midwest feel to it. I also met a friend of Bill's, Adam Lang, who lives in Fort Collins, CO. Hearing him talk about his place sends my heart back to Vail....oh the glory days of living at the Vail Mountain Lodge and Spa!!!...hmmm...I could live there again too. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike today and tomorrow before I head back to Philly on Wednesday. From there, its back to racing this Saturday (road race) and Sunday (crit). I'll be back to Kansas City in August for 2 weeks to help with the next 2 events.

For now my coffee is gone and I'm out. Time to get on my bike and ride in the sauna.

A little packet pickup action from Midwest Mayhem.

Tour de Toona wrap up

2011-07-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

Toona ended up Sunday afternoon with a fun 30mile crit in downtown Altoona. It followed much of the prologue course, consisting of 6 turns and a s-shaped chicane. As with all crits, things started out fast for 10 hard laps, settled into a bit of a rhythm, than fired back up for the last 10 laps being fast and intense. As much as I don't necessarily love crits, I am starting to learn the hang of them. Stay super aggressive, survive through the initial carnage, settle into the pain, fight for some serious position coming into the last 5-10 laps, than sprint for your life to the line.

We wanted to protect our best GC rider, Jacob Tremblay and keep him 10th overall, but he had a rough day as he had a hard time moving up to the front. I ended up taking 11th place, just getting nipped at the line by Keck Baker of Harley. Little frustrating as the rider in front of me got gaped off a wheel with 1/2 a lap to go and I had to chase as hard as I could to get back on the Bissell train, leaving me with nothing left for the sprint. We did very well as a team. Jake T ended 11th GC and our team came in a respectable 7th Team GC (don't get me started as I think we would have placed higher on team GC if they wouldn't have messed the Saturday road race up) All and all, it was a great race.

Afterwards we headed back to the Bosak household to stuff our faces one more time with home cooking, say good bye to the family and all the animals, grab a shower and start the 4+hr drive back to Philly. Another big thank you to the Bosak family. They were awesome and truly made the race even that much more enjoyable. Host housing is always a gamble for both parties as you never know if the chemistry will work. The Bosak's were great. The many animals added to the environment. The openness and humor that Rob and Susan provided was perfect for our group. It's easy to get wrapped up in the race and forget about learning about the area, people and culture. Rob and Susan lightened the racing load and provided great entertainment for us. I think we provided an equal amount to them as well. They seem to have a great family dynamic going on as all 3 daughters keep close to their parents. I look forward to keeping in touch with "youns" (as Susan would say).

Fast forward a few hours down the road and Jake and I are growing tired and hungry on the long PA Turnpike. We decide to take a random exit and grab a burger and beer at the "Farmers Hope Inn Tavern". Honestly, the place appeared as it was about to fall down. The picture below doesn't do justice to what it really looks like. We ended up on their back porch sipping a beer, eating up, and listening to a random guy and gal entertain us with his guitar and her voice. He asks us what "youns" are all about and we quietly request he plays "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He gives us the "we can do that" call and soon Jake and I are lost in the moment listening to this great song. They played/sung it so well. Safe to say, HER voice sounded very similar to Lynyrd's. What connects this song to the whole Toona trip is the fact that we listened to that song on the drive out to Altoona and related it to cycling. It's so easy to get wrapped up in race results, performance and personal goals. The song has a funny way of reminding us to sit back, chill out and enjoy the ride of it all. Simple Man likes simple things...even if that means racing your bike. The guy at the Farmers Hope Inn likes playing his guitar. I like racing my bike. Keep it simple and enjoy what you do. The simple goodness (chickens, family, coffee, country fresh air) of the Bosak family seems to fit right along with this scheme. The trip was a full circle beginning and ending with Lynyrd Skynard's "Simple Man". Go figure, hey!!

Now I'm back in Skippack for the night and will be flying to Kansas City tomorrow afternoon for 8 days to help my buddy, Bill Marshall, put on 1 of his 3 triathlons to be held this Sunday. Should be a great little mental break from racing. I'm looking forward to riding and working with Bill. He's a bundle of knowledge in the cycling/triathlon industry as he is the National Sales Manager for Challenge tires.

The wonderful and random Farmers Hope Inn Tavern.

To bed I go. More TDF to watch tomorrow as well as a big travel day.

Toona Stage....Blue Knob part 2

2011-07-09T21:53:00.000-04:00

Oh what a day. Every now and then you have a frustrating day that is completely out of your hands. It's easy to get wrapped up and get mad at certain things, but after all, it could be a lot worse. Anyway, we just had a team dinner at Olive Garden with good company and great laughs. All is good!!

Today was tough. It was a 90 some mile road race that would go up the other side of Blue Knob. We were looking to keep our 2 top GC guys, Jacob Tremblay and Kevin Gottlieb up near the front and better yet...in the break. We were also looking to keep up with the Team GC as we were 5th going into the day. After a crazy fast start with several unpredictable turns and even more wrecks, a break was established....Kevin included. We were happy. As we neared the painful Blue Knob climb, we settled in for the pain. Jacob T inched away with a small lead group while Paul, Russ and I settled in with a chase group. We rode our race and made it up the 8k climb where we joined together with some other riders to begin the chase. We were 28 strong and would be considered the "field". We went screaming down the fast decent and began working well as a unit. We soon came up to a "T" and realized we had no support vehicles with us with no clue as to what direction we should be heading. Fast forward and before you knew it we were lost....no marshals to be found. We ended up finding Hwy 36N and headed back to Altoona for the start, cutting the course 12 miles shorter than it was intended to be. Safe to say that we were all very frustrated and after looking at the results they slotted us at being 49minutes behind the leaders for the finish. Not that it bothered me pertaining to my own GC standing, but as a whole it has destroyed our team GC hopes. A bit frustrated as I'm fairly certain we would have caught on to the leaders and put ourselves in a position to contest for the stage win. On top of that, it has moved our Team GC from 5th to 7th. On top of all of this, I've now heard that they messed up the women's Pro race as well. It's unfortunate because this is such a great race with some great roads to ride on. Unfortunately, they will need to do some reorganizing with the course markings and volunteers to marshal it. Ok....I'll stop with my rampage..... enough said.

On a brighter note. Jacob T took 16th today on the stage and has now moved into 10th on GC. With tomorrow being the last day as a crit, its more than likely that overall GC will stay the same. We will work to keep him safe tomorrow. On a personal note, I'm going for it tomorrow at the Crit. I've got some fuel to add to the fire now with today being a personal mishap. I rode the race exactly as I wanted. Not being a natural climber, I had to pace myself up Blue Knob and work to stick with the main chase group. I did just that, but than unfortunately our race day got cut short.

Tomorrow's a new day and Kenny is still here to hang out with me for the night. Tomorrow is the final day and we look to keep moving forward. After Toona, I take a break from racing and head to Kansas City to hang with a friend.

Toona Stage 2...Blue Knob part 1

2011-07-08T12:14:00.000-04:00

Happy to be sitting here on the couch, legs up, belly full of food and relaxing on this rest day. Rain is falling outside here in Hollidaysburg, PA. We continue to hang out at our wonderful host house. Kenny is boss! He roams around this house and chases the chickens to keep his seniority known. He's a funny dude. I think I now want a dachshund someday.

Anyway, yesterday was stage 2. It was a 73 mile road race with a solid 4+ mile mtn top finish. The race started off super hard, but soon settled a bit. Several attempts to create breaks and finally one snapped. Teammate Jake Tremblay was both strong and smart enough to get himself in the move. He and 5 others would stay away all day......until the final climb. The rest of the field settled in for the remaining portion of the race. Hot weather, followed by a dose of heavy rains moved in as we approached the final climb. Soon the field would blow up...climbers accelerating forward, non climbers settling in for a long hike upward. Long, drawn out climbs always give you a chance to settle in and allow the pain to move into your legs. They seem to last long enough to give you the opportunity to evaluate your efforts, stick with certain riders, push yourself beyond your normal means and push for the end. Bottom line....it hurts....a lot!!

Results: Jake Tremblay 12th on the day, Kevin Gottlieb 19th on the day, Jacob Mueller 29th, Paul Ward 42nd, Russ Brown 68th. Both Jake and Kevin are in the top 20 GC and our team is sitting 5th in the team GC. Overall, we are racing well and are looking to keep our 2 riders in the top 20 GC as well as chase the Team GC.

Saturday brings another hard road race. 93 miles with another trip up to Blue Knob, this one coming up the other direction. Today we rest with a recovery ride, trip to the coffee shop and chill time with the many Bosak animals.

King Kenny nuzzled in for the night.

Toona Stage 1... Prologue

2011-07-06T21:58:00.000-04:00

Sitting here and relaxing. Legs feel like oak trees. Amazing that I can be so tired after such a short 5-6minute effort. So we kicked off the Tour de Toona stage race today. It was a 3 mile prologue in downtown Altoona. The course itself was very technical as some riders chose to ride their time trial bikes, while other's kept it simple and rode road bikes. We had a split within our team. Kevin Gottlieb went with his TT bike and finished 20th, Jacob Tremblay (TT bike, 27th), myself ( road bike, 34th), Paul Ward (road bike, 46th), Russ Brown (TT bike, 59th). We all finished somewhere between 5 and 6 minutes. The part that sticks out the most is the shooting pain in my throat the second I finished the race. Burning lungs, heavy legs and some crazy knife like pain in my throat. Finding my teammates back at the car I soon realized they had similar feelings. Pain!!!! I was happy to return back to our happy host family with a warm welcome from no other than......Kenny! He's the man! Chicken, pasta, veggies, fruit and lemon cake would find their way to my hungry belly. Life is good!

Tomorrow brings a 73 mile road race. Distance isn't all too bad, rather it's the fact that it ends on the top of Blue Knob Ski Mountain. It's sure to cause a break and we are hoping to get our climbers... Russ and Kevin in them. The key to my survival tomorrow will be steady effort. I'm not a climber and have no means of staying with little guys constantly launching small attacks; rather I'm the slow steady train getting up the mountain. As long as I keep steady effort, I can hang with them. It's the punchy efforts that will take me out.

I'm off to bed for now. Going to hang with Kenny a bit, ice my back and off to dreamy land I go.

Altoona, PA

2011-07-05T23:27:00.000-04:00

So, I'm sitting here in Hollidaysburg, PA (6 miles from Altoona) and gearing up for Tour de Toona. I realize I haven't blogged in awhile and my sister called and yelled at me today about it. So, here goes with a very brief blog. We've had a good run of racing with Nationals and than the Coatesville Classic (teammate Blair took 1st place at the road race). Now we are at Tour de Toona in Altoona, PA. We have a great host house with the Bosak family. A plentiful dinner of burgers, veggies and fruit gave us a warm welcome. They have every kind of animal you can think of....dogs, cats, ducks, wild geese, chickens, rabbits, and birds. My favorite is Kenny (small dachshund). He seems to have his way around the house quite well and finds his means under every cover you can imagine. As I type this, he is nuzzled under my blanket sound asleep. This place is great and I'm looking forward to hanging out in their cabin like house.

Kenny....the king of the Bosak house!

Tomorrow is a 3 mile prologue. Thursday brings a hard road race. Friday is a rest day. Saturday is another road race and Sunday ends up with a crit in downtown Altoona. We've got a solid group of guys here including Russ Brown, Jake Tremblay, Kevin Gottlieb and guest rider Paul Ward. I'll post day by day as we go on.

Hello Georgia!

2011-06-25T18:46:00.000-04:00

Sitting in a hotel room, resting legs, A/C blasting and hanging with my teammates....life is good. Dinner is right around the corner, more chill time, than sleep. We are here in Augusta, GA participating in the Elite National Championship. Before I jump to Nats, I'll finish up with Tour of America's Dairyland.

Dairyland- Following Grafton on Saturday night, I went and did the Waukesha Crit Sunday night. Hot, humid weather met us as we started the 6:30pm race. My legs felt great and overall, I was much more relaxed by having Grafton under my belt. I rode aggressive and strong staying in the top 20 the entire race. With 3 to go, I was sitting 7th wheel and was happy with my position. Moving into the last turn, I got horded in the sprint and had a hard time finding a good line to shoot for.....19th place was the result. Again, happy with the way my body felt...a bit disappointed with my result. Big thank you to my loyal fans...mom, dad, Erin and a surprise appearance by long time friend Jeff Fritschler. A well deserved beer at some local pub followed the race.

A fast Waukesha Crit.

Monday brought the Greenbush Road Race. A nice break from the crit world, Greenbush is an 80 mile road race settled within the Kettle Moraine State Park. Attrition and humid weather would play a big role as lap by lap, fewer riders remained. Lots of early action, covering breaks and working to get in a break would ultimately keep me in the field as I missed the winning break. We rode the rest of the day and I ended up finishing 24th. Safe to say, overall I felt horrible during the entire race. Today was not my day. I found myself wanting to quit 30 miles into an 80 mile race....never a good sign. Sometimes you have to take little victories.... finishing today's race was my victory. Loyal fans; mom, dad, Erin, Sarah, Ella bean, baby Em's, Isaac and the Webb family. Thanks to you all.

Tuesday would bring a well deserved rest day for me. I took advantage of my time and spent the day with my dad. We made our way to his office and I spent the mid morning hours talking and catching up with my dad's colleagues....Wayne, Mark, Brian and more. Later afternoon would take us to a 'producer' (farmer) visit. Such a change of pace from my daily life and always a good breath of fresh air to hang with my dad.

Wednesday brought the Ripon Time Trial. 13.1 miles of painful fun. It was as windy as can be. La Crosse friend Brian Schaning and I rode to Ripon together, reminisced about old times and soon found ourselves fighting the wind, cursing under our breath and fighting for a top 15 finish. That we did!! I ended up taking 11th, while Brian came in a respectable 15th. Time Trials always hurt. They never feel good and while riding them, I never feel like I'm doing very well. Point be said, I was happy with 11th. While I would love to stick around for more Dairyland, I would soon be jumping on a plane and heading to Augusta for my first taste of Nationals.

Ummmm....the time trial hurt!

Off to Nationals and looking forward to meeting back up with my teammates. Team director Murray picked me up at the airport Thursday night and Friday morning we are gearing up for the crit to be held at 2:30pm. It was a 50mile, 4 corner beast in downtown Augusta. Temps soared into the mid 90's and humidity was......well brutal! It was hot. Nationals is the one race where everything is all about 1st place....nothing else. You are not competing for money; rather it's all about pride and a jersey. Because we lost our sprinter, Evan Fader to an earlier season crash, we played our realistic card and knew we didn't have a prayer of winning a field sprint, so we opted on trying to get away with 10 or less laps to go. We attacked and attacked and teammate Jake Tremblay got away with 2 other's midway through the race. He would hold that for several laps before being scooped up. Rick Norton was also working a break as well. Unsuccessful again, I would than launch with 1 other guy with 3 laps to go......nothing to lose and may as well go down swinging. Well, we got caught with 1/2 a lap to go. Saddened!?!?!...no. I was so proud of our team as we were loud and active. The results will come.

Today is Saturday and it's a rest day. Tomorrow brings a brutal 105mile road race. Hot temps and humidity will play a huge factor in this race. We predict the race will be blown apart. Tomorrow will be tough.....no doubt. Not going to be easy, but often times it presents a great opportunity to do well. I'll update soon after.

After the race tomorrow, it's back to PA. Been awhile and looking forward to seeing my friends. The summer continues to fly by and my yearning to get back to Wisconsin grows by the day.

Giro 'd Grafton

2011-06-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

Hello from Cheesetown! As I sit here typing this up, I'm looking at rain/thunderstorm activity going on here in Sheboygan, WI. Not sure what tonight's race will bring with this weather. Cross that bridge when we get there.

Last night, we were blessed with some great racing, weather and fun. I jumped in the Giro 'd Grafton as part of the Tour of America's Dairyland. This particular race had a solid 10k in cash winnings as it's part of the USA Crit series and brought out the major crit junkies! That being said, it was a fast race. 140+ men lined up for the start with about 95 of those able to finish. Several unsuccessful breaks here and there and finally the elastic broke as 7 guys got off the front....it would prove to be the winning break AND.....I wasn't in it. Congrats to my Aussie friend, Clay Murfet on taking 1st place. I ended up taking a quiet 37th place. A bit frustrating as my legs are feeling so good, but a good thing as Nationals next week in Augusta, GA is the focus. I rode aggressive and strong and that's all I can ask for. Most importantly, I had the best fan base in the world: my mom and dad, Isaac, Craig and Sarah, Ella bean, and E-Sut's. So fun to be racing in front of my family. Great pics below.

A great pre-race kiss from my lovely niece/Godchild Ella held by my mother!

Die hard fans: brother in law (Craig) and Ella Bean.

Little pre-race chatter with 1st place winner Clay Murfet.

Oh Wisco!!!!

2011-06-17T12:39:00.000-04:00

This is going to be a quick post, but I wanted to give a loud shout out to Wisconsin!!! I'm currently in St. Germain, WI enjoying a wonderful family vacation with the whole crew. Anyway, for any friends/family that are interested in seeing some great racing, I'll be at Saturday's (Grafton), Sunday's (Waukesha) and Monday's (Greenbush) races. Check out the Tour of America's Dairyland website for more details.

Sat- 90min Crit "Giro d' Grafton" start time- 6:30pm
Sun- 90min Crit "Carl Zach Cycling Classic" Waukesha start time 6:30pm
Mon- 80 mile Road Race "Greenbush Road Race" start time- 12:00pm

Give a call if you need more information.

http://www.tourofamericasdairyland.com/

More to come soon.

Mt Joy Road Race/PDMP

2011-06-05T17:53:00.000-04:00

Oh what a week! Today's Sunday and it feels nice to be off the bike relaxing and catching up on a few odds and ends. A quick recap of the week:

PDMP- (Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania) So as previously stated, my father was in Harrisburg Wed, Thurs and Friday of this past week. Together with his client, John Ruedinger and colleague Mark Ludke they flew in from WI to give a brief presentation on the Wisconsin dairy farm model. To put it lightly, I had no idea what to expect. Here I come to find out that the Pennsylvania farmers were fully dialed into this meeting as Wisconsin is a leading model for the progressive dairy farmer. These 3 gentlemen gave a great presentation followed by a 90 minute Q&A session. The PA folks took full advantage of the time and drilled them with as many questions as possible. I was very proud of them and took great pride in Wisconsin. While there is something simple about the farming lifestyle, it is very evident that things are shifting towards big business. We also had the opportunity to tour a few of the local PA farms in Lancaster County (What up Brubaker Farms!!) By the end of the visit, I was starting to pick up on the farmer lingo...(dry cows, methane digester, hay stubble, sand settling lanes and more). I think deep down inside...... I might be a farmer!!! On a side note, it was so great to see my dad. We had so much fun hanging with each other and I look forward to seeing him on our family vacation in a few weeks. Love you dad!!

Sorry for all the pictures, but I had a really good time with these guys! They are so passionate about the Dairy Industry.

That's my dad in his element.

The WI experts: (L-R Mark Ludke, John Ruedinger, Dave Mueller)

PDMP Spokesman Jacob Mueller

Well hello ladies. Brubaker cows!

Working scene in the Brubaker milking parlor.

The Brubaker's in Mt. Joy, PA [L-R Mike Brubaker (son), Jacob Mueller (PA transplant), Luke Brubaker (father), Tony Brubaker(son)]

Mt Joy Road Race- Last minute decision, but myself and a few teammates (Rick Norton, Blair Berbert and Russ Brown) decided to jump into the Mt Joy road race. This was a 57mile road race that consisted of 10 laps of a 5.7mile loop that contained rolling hills with 1 significant kicker. Our plan going in was to sit tight for the first half of the race and let attrition work on our behalf. We would than begin our arsenal of attacks and work to create a small or solo break. A few early unsuccessful moves and soon Blair and I found ourselves in what would be the winning move of 6 riders. The break occurred with 7 laps to go. For the most part, the group worked well together with the exception of 1 rider....won't name anyone specific. Fast forward to the last lap and the group was breaking apart. It came down to myself and 1 rider from a Somerville, NJ team. He edged me at the line by less than half a wheel and I had to settle for 2nd place. Blair and Rick would roll in for a respective 5th and 6th. We walked away with tired legs and a little extra cash in our pocket. A happy footlong sandbo from Subway awaited my arrival as we ended up doing a 90 minute team ride following the race.

This coming weekend, we have our hands full as we head to the Airforce Classic on Saturday and Sunday in DC before I head to Wisco for a much needed family vacation. I'll post more on that later this week.

Last but not least, here is a brief video from last weekend's Kelly Cup BikeJam. Some of it is the pro race and some is the master's race. Enjoy!
http://www.clarkvandergrift.com/blog/ Click on the top video to watch.

Bike Jam/Scooby/Memorial Day/Tom Shaw/110 degrees/Kings of Leon/Dad

2011-05-30T16:26:00.000-04:00

So let's start with what's fresh on my mind. It feels like it's 110 degrees outside right now. We are under a bit of hot/humid spell here in the Philly area at the moment. Looks like it will last a few days as well. Just when I get a bit crabby about humid weather, I think of the cold winter days and it puts a smile back on my face to be ripping my legs apart in the heat!

I had a hard training ride today that included some 15minute intervals and I couldn't but help think of a special role model to me. His name is Tom Shaw and although I've never met this man, I feel a connection to him that I can't really explain. In short, the Tom Shaw Memorial is an annual award given to a lucky high school senior at St. Mary's Springs Academy (SMSA-my high school alma mater) that demonstrates leadership in athletics, community service and academic excellence; all qualities of Tom. I was the lucky recipient to win the Tom Shaw Memorial in 1999 when I graduated from SMSA. Although I didn't know at the time, I can honestly say that it changed my life. As I moved into college and beyond, I took the initiative of learning as much as I could about Tom and his life. Conversing with his siblings, now deceased parents, and his former classmates, I soon felt like I had a pretty good idea of Tom and how he lived his short life (a young 24 years old when he died in a helicopter accident serving our country in Vietnam). Check out this memorial in Tom's name: http://www.virtualwall.org/ds/ShawTF01a.htm. I try to mimic his many great qualities such as: strong work ethic, tenacity, helping others, community involvement and his calming attitude with the many obstacles life presented. So back to my ride today, as I'm drooling on my handlebars trying to bang out these intervals, I thought of Tom and realized I am so lucky be able to train and race the way I do. It's a privilege that often gets overlooked. A big thank you to all our current, past and fallen soldiers for protecting our freedom.

So Saturday, our team raced BikeJam in Baltimore. We rode extremely aggressive; however did not come away with a victory. Safe to say , we are ready to break our little curse. We are putting the right pieces together, but not quite finishing the project. A number of early breaks were created, all of which would come back for the sprint. Unfortunately, a few late crashes would take down 2 of our strong potentials, Blair Berbert and Evan Fader. We walked away with 1 in the top 10, Jaime Kimberley. We've got our work cut out for us and we need to remember that we all know how to win. Personally, I rode very aggressive covering and creating moves. I found myself on the front with 4 laps to go and together with teammate Kevin Gottlieb we brought a break back. It was during this time that we lost Blair and Evan with 1 lap to go.....not good! I felt better than I've felt in over a year. I'm coming into form and looking forward to carrying that to Nationals in Augusta, GA in June. Post race found us out to eat working on burgers and fries. A big thanks to my teammate, Todd Hesel for putting me up this weekend. He is notorious for putting out a good breakfast with some wicked strong coffee.

There he is...the famous breakfast maker Todd Hesel!!

Post race burgers and beer- clockwise left to right- Todd, Nima, Holly, Diane, Nicki, Jacob, Rick, Blair.

Back in PA on Sunday and I worked my way into a great dinner of chicken, veggies and corn on the cob (so Wisconsin!!) at Stephan Kincaid's house. Stephan and Jill are the proud owners of 2 awesome dogs, Hunter and Scooby. I love hanging out with them and will have to post some pics at some point. Thanks again for the great food, conversation and company.

For some reason, I've been in a huge Kings of Leon kick lately and can't stop listening to this particular song (Cold Desert):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMfP4Ps_M8c Get after it and see if it sticks.

This week will be a quick one. My father is flying into Harrisburg, PA for work on Wednesday and I'm spending Weds, Thurs and Friday with him. He will be giving a presentation at a Dairy Expo and I'm sure you'll hear from me as we are touring a big farm in Lancaster County. Mooooooo!!!!!!! Looking forward to spending some time with him.

This coming weekend is wide open. No races scheduled, but I might seek out a few local venues to hit up and have fun with. We'll see. Get out and enjoy...Happy Memorial Day!!

Wilmington Grand Prix-Holler!!!

2011-05-26T20:38:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay, okay.... my sister has been all over my case about putting up a post about last weekend's Wilmington Grand Prix. I'm a busy guy. 9 solid hours of work this week at the YMCA doesn't allow me much time to get on the computer, right?!?! It's been a good week. Few hard days of training early on, than Thursday, Friday called for nice easy recovery ride. BikeJam this weekend in Baltimore followed by some solid teammate time which will more than likely include some dark beer of some sort!

So last weekend. Here we go. Wilmington, DE held its annual "Wilmington Grand Prix". Unlike previous years, this was a 3 day omnium stage race. Typically its just been the Saturday crit. Friday was a 5k TT, Saturday was the traditional 35mile criterium followed by a 113mile road race on Sunday. Our team vowed out of the short TT and showed up Saturday afternoon to some great sunny weather. A huge breath of fresh air considering it been flooding around here lately.

Crit-140 men took to the line including some top professional riders from United Healthcare, Jamis, and Bissell. This crit is notorious for being hard and often times you find yourself in a pain zone the first 10 laps. The course is an 8 corner crit with 1 particular turn that sends riders from a wide, somewhat downhill road through a sharp 90 degree turn onto a very narrow street. Lap after lap, I go through this turn and often times wonder how so many riders pack through it without going down. I guess it's the danger of crit racing, the sound and smell of brakes rubbing carbon, the feel of the push coming from the draft and the white knuckle intensity. The first 10 laps were brutal as always. It's a matter of hanging on, finding your zone and trusting that the pace will slow at some point. We had a few teammates pop out early on. Heavy legs, high heart rate, wrong position and you will find yourself in serious trouble. A number of us held on, fought through and were there at the end. I really believe that we are stronger than we think, but for some reason we have fear this year. Lack of confidence to take it to the end and do whatever you have to do to win. It'll come around again. We know how to win. Anyway, I ended up in the sprint finish and took 23rd. My glute/back are holding up well and I need to continue to put more and more racing in my legs.

Road Race- After some awesome sleep at the wonderful Double Tree in downtown Wilmington, we found ourself scarfing as much hotel food as we could in the early morning hours of Sunday. Our 113 mile race started at 8am (rather early for most pro races). Oatmeal, pancakes, fruit, OJ and coffee did the trick. As I was getting up to the start line, I realized this was the longest race I've ever done. I quickly ate an extra Powerbar just in case. Anyway, the course would take us out to Dover, DE and back to Wilmington. As long as it was, it was actually a pretty easy, uneventful race. It was pancake flat and after some early, unsuccessful attacks, things settled down as UHC (United Healthcare) got on the front. 3 riders had gotten away and opened up as much as 4mins on us. Again, UHC got on the front and slowly drug them back as we were coming into the last 10-15miles. The pace picked up and riders were starting to jockey for position. All over the road we go, hard to the right, than back to the left. I fought to stay up near the front as I wanted to get in the sprint. Low and behold, I finished 23rd again. Happy with the way my body felt, yet need to be finding my way to the top ten soon. Again, it's a confidence thing. Maybe another a demon, huh?

This weekend brings us BikeJam which is our host race. We are the main sponsor and it serves as a major fundraiser for the KBS/LSV club. It's held this Saturday in the Baltimore area. It's a crit that takes place in a park. I don't know how to explain it, but it's one of those races that people either love or they hate. You might be asking, "do you like it or hate it?" I'll save my comments for later! The road surface is pretty choppy with riders finding their way into gravel, dirt and grass each lap. Either we or our pro team MUST, MUST win this race. Sunday is still up in the air, but we might do a brutal team ride out of Baltimore in preparation for Nationals coming up in June. This usually calls for lots of coffee, food and pain.

Hot, humid weather has found its way back to the Philly area. The heart of the racing season is just around the corner. The Mueller family vacation is not too far off either. Awww, the cabins of northern Wisconsin. Nothing like it, A place to relax a bit.

That's it for now. Sorry I have no pics from Wilmington. I'll get something together for BikeJam.

Back on it.....almost!!

2011-05-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend brought some good things; it also brought room for improvement. Fact of the matter is that I was racing and that makes me happy. We raced down in Leonardtown, MD for the MABRA (Mid Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association) Crit Championship. As always, it would come down to Battley Harley Davidson and us. I was eagerly excited to see how my glute would hold up. The good.....it held up very well. Improvement... I don't have race legs yet, and that showed in the last lap. The plan was to save me for the last few laps and be the main lead out man for teammates Evan and Nema OR get in a late race break and attack the break with a few laps to go. 7 laps to go and I found myself with 2 non teammates off the front with a 10 second break. We worked together for the next 6 laps until I launched my solo attack with 1 to go. I created a bit of separation but unfortunately was caught by 1 of the 2 riders with half a lap to go. As I was geared up to launch the 2nd attack, the field caught on and I watched our sprinters get ready for the end. I jumped in to grab 9th place to get a little team money, and Nema took 2nd. The good is that we rode very well as a team. The bad is that a race like this....all we care about is 1st place and getting the jersey. We lost! I'm eager to get more racing in and come in to form for Nationals in late June.

MABRA Crit Championship...a good race, but we fell short!

I also received a recent phone from a friend in Kansas City who asked if I would like to ride as a composite rider for the Nature Valley Grand Prix (5 day stage race in Minnesota). I love that race; however its the week before Nationals in Augusta, GA. It's also the same time as our family trip to northern Wisconsin, which I sadly missed last year. Not sure it would be of my teams's best interest to burn myself out at NVGP and head to nationals tired. Some schedule decisions to be made soon.

This coming weekend brings the Wilmington Grand Prix. Saturday is a hard, fast crit in downtown Wilmington while Sunday is a 100+ mile road race. (http://www.wilmgrandprix.com/About.aspx), I'm excited to get some racing under my belt in hopes to be on form for nationals in late June.

For now its day to day with my glute and keeping it healthy. As long as it holds off, I will continue to race as much as I can.

Updates.....and some!

2011-05-12T10:11:00.000-04:00

Greetings....I know its been awhile since I've posted and we've got some things brewing up here. Lots to catch up on. First and foremost....

1. Vancouver/Erin Marathon- what an awesome city! That place has everything within a 10min drive. mtns, ocean, snow, city life, culture. It honestly feels like Madison, WI on steroids. It has that artsy feel to it. Oh wait, did I fail to mention it would probably be best to move there with a job!!! Yeah, it's super expensive, but definitely a fun place to visit.

Erin did awesome with her first marathon. Unlike me, she was super chill and relaxed in the days leading up to it. "Jacob, let's go walk here and grab a beer and pizza" say's Erin. Jacob thinks "Erin, you need to lay in bed, get your legs ready and eat pasta, oatmeal and banana's all day". As you can see, Erin has a much more relaxed mentality for pre-race activities.... a good thing and a much needed balance in Jacob's life!! Anyway, race day came along and Erin ran a 4hr40min marathon. She was hoping for 4hr30min, but she was super happy with her finish. I'm proud of her and being exposed to the whole running culture was quite different than cycling dorks like myself. Post race activities included beer, nachos, more beer, pizza and some solid people watching downtown. It was great! The following day, we rented a car and headed up famous Hwy 99 (Sea to Sky Hwy) to Whistler. It was a great day and great trip.

Erin getting her game face on for the race!

Yep, they have big trees there too!

2. Cycling/Jacob/Racing- it was great to have 4 days off the bike while in Vancouver; however it may have served a bad purpose for the old glute/back injury. I got back to Philly Tuesday night, got a good night sleep, and headed out to ride Wednesday in preparation for last Sunday's Jeff Cup race. Well....my glutie wasn't having it and sent some serious pain down that left leg again. Nightmares of last fall's injury jumped in my head. Long story short.... I had a pretty serious flair of that injury and had to miss Sunday's big Jeff Cup race. A race that suites my strengths. So not cool; however my teammate Rick Norton took 2nd place and we we're happy with that. For now, I'm working as hard as possible to get this flair up back in order to race for the MABRA (Mid Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association) state crit championship this Sunday. It's an important race as we need to defend our 1st place victory from last year...securing the jersey is very important (teammate Evan Fader won it last year). Did I mention, it was at this race last year that I had my initial glutie injury?!?!? Yep, I've got some demons to take care of at this race. It's been rather frustrating as I'm in good form right now and simply want to race....badly!!

3. Job related life: so my big professional career at the YMCA and Best Buy have taken a bit of a turn. Best Buy gave me an ultimatum and said I either need to work more hours (I was putting in a whole 5-10hr a week) or kindly turn in my Best Buy name tag and walk away. Sadly, I walked away. I'm only joking but not really. They did ask me to work more hours or not at all and with my schedule, I had to give it up. So, I'm still the employee of the month at the YMCA and continue to shine there!!! No bridges burned with Best Buy as they said I could come back anytime I want.

So long my little name tag!! Its been real!!

4. I need a serious haircut soon! This is getting ridiculous.

That's it for now. Focus is getting my injury taken care of in hopes to be back to racing soon.

What up Vancouver, B.C.!!

2011-04-30T20:49:00.000-04:00

So, I'm in Vancouver at the moment and gearing up for Erin's first marathon. Wait... did I say I'm gearing up? She is gearing up. I think I'm more jacked up than she is. We are enjoying Vancouver and I'll post up more details when I'm back in Philly. For now, here's some pictures to get things rolling. Good luck Erin. I know you are ready for this as you've been all over your training program this winter. #%&@ the demons!!

Rogers Arena. Home of the Canucks (crazy scene here right now with playoffs going on)

Erin Sutton rocking out the Saucony's. Big 1st marathon tomorrow for Esut!!!

Gotta love free coffee for the die hard fans.

Did I hear an ER in there?

2011-04-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

So it's been a few days since I wrote and looking back at my last post, I could sense some hope in my voice regarding my awesome digestive system. Well, well, well....if you take a peak at the picture below, you can see that things took a turn for the worse. Let's just say that Fri/Sat/Sun and Mon were long days......ok really long days!! While my puking went away Friday night, the big diarrhea sure didn't. As a matter of fact, it got bad enough that I was having some serious issues with dehydration. (Okay, maybe too much information, but who cares, we all get it at some point.) Sunday reached a new pinnacle, and I decided to head to the ER in the late night/early morning hours. Let me tell you... ER middle of the night= interesting scene. While there, an older woman came in with a broken hip as she fell out of bed. She was scared and confused as they brought her in...poor woman! Also, I heard the announcement come in for a 42yr old who OD'd on something. 5 minutes later, there she was strapped down to the ambulance gurney, head between hands and talking stupid. All the while, I'm quietly laying in my room, door open, and taking in the scene with 3L of saline solution dripping into my right arm. Dr. Hicks and nurse Kelly took care of me well and by 3:30am, I was back in Rudy driving home. All this takes place, every night, at a time that you and I are most often sleeping soundly.

Being sick over the weekend, I missed Sunday's Carl Dolan race in Columbia, MD. I'm happy to report that we won the race. Teammate Evan Fader won in his typical fashion, a sprint finish.  Big team victory as I know they had to work hard to bring back a number of breaks while Evan remained fresh and tucked away in the middle of the field.

Easter weekend brings nothing planned on our schedule. I may or may not seek out a local race to hit up.

Looking ahead, I am traveling to Vancouver, BC next week to watch Erin's first marathon. I'm looking forward to seeing her and visiting a new city.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions about the city.

For now, I'm going to continue enjoying eating breakfast...non white rice, non saltines, and non Gatorade.

Surrender

2011-04-16T12:36:00.000-04:00

Wow........I was sick!!! Yesterday I woke up to a serious desire to hug the cold, porcelain toilet. I ended up spending a good chunk of my day right there in the bathroom. In any event, today is Saturday and after several attempts, I think I finally got Gatorade and saltine's to stay in my system. Yesterday was simply a day of surrender. I had plans ranging from cleaning to riding, but your body can easily remind you at any time that you do nothing unless you're healthy. Point be said, don't take your health for granted. Yesterday was awesome!!!

The remedy!

Anyway, I am scheduled to race in Columbia, MD Sunday for the Carl Dolan Memorial (http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13080). It is a 2.1mile circuit race with a small kicker into the start/finish. Start time is scheduled for 3:15pm. I'm not sure yet if I will race as right now I am super weak. Today is all about getting as much food/liquid into my system as I can. We'll see how I feel later today and tomorrow morning.

Crazy Weekend/Rainy Tuesday

2011-04-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

Tuesday is here and that means its time to update the blog. As I type this, rain is falling in heavy amounts. I guess we'll be on the trainer later today. Maybe it'll clear up. Let's be positive.

This past Saturday and Sunday was a solid weekend of racing. All things considered, I was happy with it, although, I/we have a lot of room for improvement. I often times am rather hard on myself and yet I need to remember that this was my first bout of racing since last August when I was injured. My top end form is not quite there yet. It'll come.

Saturday 4/9- Fulton Road Race in Peach Bottom, PA. This was a 60 mile road race that ended up being an extremely competitive field. The Harley's showed up and that always means we are going to have our hands full. There was also a few random strong last minute entries including Stephan Kincaid and Clayton Barrows. Always got to give a loud shout out for Stephan!! Anyway, from the gun, there was an attack and soon we had 1 Harley and 1 Kelly (teammate Todd Hesel) up the road. Fast forward 15 miles and I attacked looking to create a little turmoil in the field and see if I could slowly bridge up to Todd. 1 Harley followed with me and soon we caught. Now, we have 2 Harley's and 2 Kelly's up the road. A few soft pedal strokes later and Clayton Barrows, another Harley and another Kelly (teammate Blair Berbert) bridged up. The break was established and everyone was happy with it. We would roll as a unit until the 45 mile mark when activity would begin. Unfortunately, things got ugly for us Kelly's as the 3 of us popped on a climb.....not good! Blair and I bridged back up, but spent a lot of precious energy to get back on. Less then 10 miles left and soon a Harley and Clayton were off the front. Blair and I chased with the other 2 Harleys on our wheel. Not a good ending for us as we ended up 5th, 6th, and 7th. Again, we were in the break where we wanted to be but now need to work on the finish. It'll come!

Sunday: Immediately following the Fulton race, Blair and I consolidated cars and headed north for the crazy Battenkill. Huge thanks to Greg Horrocks, his family, Pizza Jeff, and Erik Mitchell for the hotel room, feeds and support. We could not have done battenkill without you. Boo yah!!!

Only pic I have from the Battenkill... I know it's lame!!

The batttenkill race was held in the Cambridge, NY area. It is gorgeous up there. Blair and I drove up late Saturday night to race at 1:45pm Sunday. The field was stiff with competition and consisted of somewhere between 125-150 riders. Our plan was to sit quietly since we did not have a full team there and see if we could get in a late break. This 100 mile race was awesome. The dirt roads presented a new challenge that I've never raced against and keeping your composure is key. Screaming down gravel/dirt hills at 40mph will test your mind...good stuff. Anyway, Blair and I stayed in the top 20 for the majority of the race as attrition wore on. Coming into the last 5-10k was a nasty

dirt climb in which I slowly came off the field of 30 guys who were all chasing the lead 2 riders. They stayed away, the field came in a few minutes after, and I came in a minute later followed by 50 some riders that came in 15-30 minutes after us. The field was shredded as the climbs, dirt/gravel and distance took their toll. Definitely one of the top 10 hardest races I've ever done and again I was happy with my performance, although I need to keeping working on my top end as I'm not happy I came off with 5k to go. Immediately after the race, some cookies, chocolate milk and good chatter, Blair and I were on the road headed south for a long night in the car. Legs felt like oak trees, yet we were both smiling. Life is good!

This weekend brings more racing. Not exactly sure where, but I'll post soon.

Oatmeal Tuesday... oatmeal everyday!

2011-04-05T09:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday to all. I woke up to some warm rain in the area....clear skies are coming... I hope.

Lots to catch up on. It was a busy weekend, unfortunately....no racing! I'll start with that. A few of us were going to hit up a race in Morgantown, WV on Saturday; however cold rain, long drive (5hrs) and lack of it being a mandatory team race and you can guess....we bailed. Instead, I got in a solid training day with the Java Boy's in the Philly area. Good times. Sunday, I ended up meeting my teammate Blair Berbert in Greencastle, PA for a gut retching 80 mile ride. Oh and did I mention, it was 9,000 feet of climbing. Love training with Blair as we push each other. Best of luck to him as he prepares for Tour of the Gila in New Mexico to be held later this month.

Blair and I this weekend in Greencastle, PA... Really Blair, yellow bar tape!?!?!?

Non bike related: Last Friday, I made a move from my awesome Parc Bistro apartment to a great little 3 bdrm house, owned by my friend Jim Godshall. It was all about finances as I've loved every minute of living above the Parc Bistro. Bob Repash (GM) and the entire staff are awesome. Hands down... they serve the best food in Skippack. Stop by sometime and tell them Jacob sent you. I really didn't want to leave, but unfortunately, right now, it's all about saving money. I've moved into a little 3 bedroom ranch and my buddy Jim has been so accommodating to me. New place is always exciting. I'll throw some pictures up soon!

Race related: We have plans to attend the Fulton Road Race this Saturday (http://www.bikereg.com/events/Register.asp?EventID=13106) and use it as a training race. As with any race, we won't forget that it's a RACE.... we want to win it. The bigger event comes Sunday with Battenkill (http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/). As stated below, it's a big deal. Blair and I are headed up to see what kind of early season legs we really have. I'll post results afterwards.

For now, a ride is calling my name. I also need to call my friends and Best Buy and get some hours. Oatmeal is now gone and coffee is down to a drip.

I want to race!!!!

2011-03-30T18:01:00.000-04:00

So, I just got home from a quick recovery ride and safe to say, my legs are dead today. I guess you have those days. Probably something to do with the solid drives ride last night in Philly. Good stuff!

Anyway, our team schedule is starting to get a bit frustrating. After the cancellation of Jeff Cup last Sunday, we scrambled to find a race for this coming weekend and found the Salisbury Road Race in Gap, PA. A nice little local race in the lovely farmlands of Lancaster, PA. Well, just as I type this, I come to find out this race has been cancelled as well. Not sure why, but we now are looking at the Morgantown Road Race in Morgantown, WV to be our season opener. Looks to be a local race, but low and behold, we need to get some racing under our belt. Let's hope it really happens.

The real one I am now eyeing up is the Tour of the Battenkill (http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com) to be held on Sunday, April 10th. Although this is not a team race, my teammate Blair and I are headed to upstate NY to give it our all. Battenkill is a 1 day classic and known for its Belgium like racing feel-dirt climbs, rolling countryside and covered bridges. It's a 100 mile race and usually attrition is the main factor in winning. I'm looking forward to it. Prior to this, our team is planning on hitting up the Fulton Road Race in Peach Bottom, PA on Saturday, April 9th. Again this is a local race in the Lancaster Countryside that we expect to do quite well in. It's a 66 mile road race and we should be strong in numbers. I'll keep you posted on team results.

For now, let's hope for no more cancellations. Hot tea is calling and hopefully a chill night here in Skippack.

Sunday Fun Day

2011-03-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Since my last post, 3 major events took place. Here goes:

1. I turned 31 years old on Friday, 3/25!! I love my birthday and had a great day of breakfast with Erin, yoga class at 10:30am and a great massage at 1pm. What a great day!!
2. My first race of the season was cancelled do to heavy snow conditions in VA. While I was disappointed, I also know that the weather is out of my control. I will be ready for the race come May as its been rescheduled.
3. I ate an entire (little help from Erin) banana cream pie thanks to my friend Dina who so graciously made me the treat for my birthday. It was so good! Thanks Dina!!!

The new ride!!

2011-03-22T18:25:00.000-04:00

Thank you Trek-Fischer and Race Pace Bikes out of Baltimore for the sweet new ride. Today was my first day on it and it's great! I'm looking forward to riding it this year. Race day is just around the corner (Sunday) and the weather looks to be decent. This race is notorious for anything from beautiful sunshine to cold, blowing snow. We'll see what shows up on Sunday. Our team is ready to go and we are hungry for an early season win! My back/glute has been holding up well and I'm doing everything I can (yoga, pt, chiro, massage, stretching blah, blah, blah) to keep it healthy. Sunday will be a good test for it. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to Erin flying in tomorrow to hang with me until next Monday! Out for now....food is calling!!!!

The Background

2011-03-18T09:50:00.001-04:00

So I never thought I would start a blog; however I've had a number of people ask me to start one as I'm taking a year to give cycling 100% of my attention. So for anyone that may read my blog.... here goes and thank you.

Long story short.... I've had the thought of dropping my full time job for a few years now and giving cycling everything I have. I finally grew up the courage this past fall and did it. I have a great boss/manager Bob Eschenbach who has been a constant supporter of my cycling dreams. He gave me his good graces over the holiday season and soon there I was....unemployed!! It felt strange at first (many sleepless nights), but normalcy has set in and I've began to love this lifestyle.

In short, I picked up a part time job at both the YMCA and Best Buy to offset a few of my expenses. I've also made a number of simple changes in my life.....no blackberry, eat out less, and in general just being more mindful of my spending habits. It's been both challenging and rewarding in many ways.

Cycling... I still ride for KBS/LSV and we just finished up a 4 day team camp in VA near the Blue Ridge Mtns (Skyline Drive area). It was awesome to be with my teammates again. Focused is the word I would give to the group. Yes, we have our fun in the evenings, but overall, we are out to defend our 3 MABRA jerseys as well as make a strong appearance at nationals this year in Atlanta. Game on! Our first race of the season is Sun, 3/27 in VA. Jeff Cup is an 85 mile road race that usually offers some good pain. Weather and road conditions usually make it rather interesting.

Ok...I'm off to yoga... been hitting that 3x/week...big help for my back.

Here is a quick picture of our cabin from team camp in Washington, VA just outside the Shenandoah Valley. Big thanks to our teammate R who put us up in his cabin! Love this place!!!

Everything starts with a first step....

2011-03-08T10:54:00.001-05:00

Here we go. This is a test post, but its game on from here.