Uh-oh... snow?

It looks like nature is going to play a part in this weekend's NC Gran Prix of Cyclocross. The temps are plummeting and snow is swirling all around us. The 9:30 am start for the CX4 race is going to be in the downright welldigger's butt crack chilly vicinity. I'm sure the ground will be frozen solid. Last year this meant zero traction in crucial spots and more than a few warm-up lap crashes transpired. The master's race will neatly bookend the day with a 3:30 pm start. By that time the ground should be mushy to partly goopy. I'm not sure which condition will be best...

I'm going to be stepping up to the line with a new piece of equipment this weekend. Due to the big break between the CX4's and the master's, I will be using the ZIPP 303's with Tufo Flexus 32's that Jeff has been hogging thus far this season. These wheels will drop 2lbs. off of the total bike weight. I can't even fathom what that is going to feel like! Now I will really be on a no excuse bike.

There is a new forum up for cycling in NC. Check out and use bikingnc.com and try to make a statewide cycling community! I'm in the process of revamping this 'blog, so if you have any favorite bike sites you think I should put up permanent links to, send 'em my way.

Group trainer rides will start the week after Thanksgiving on Tuesday and Thursday night's at 7:00 pm. Let us know if you are interested by either emailing or calling the shop.

Lastly, I wanted to post a few pics from Pinehurst that Jenna sent me.



Post race recovery/Jeff's impromptu birthday party

The day after the day after

It's always the second day that gets you. You know, lift weights or run or do anything physical and the next day you feel okay. Maybe a little tired and sore, but decent given what you did. But then the second day hits and you wake up seriously tweaked. And seriously tweaked is the state I am in right now. I think my right leg is shorter than my left one due to an angry calf that has curled up into a tight little ball of pain. Or the right hip flexor that likes to let me know it's displeasure with sharp stabbing pains when I move just right. I am not the victor in this weekend's battle in the sands. I think I would rather crash on rocks than suffer through the sandpits again.

I'm going to try to get a massage before the races this weekend. If you are in need of some muscular work, make sure you give Brian Pleasants a try. He has partnered up with Shelli at The Perfect Fit and by all reports he is an excellent sports masseuse. His number is (704) 895-2360. A good massage can make a world of difference in your performance, so don't blow it off as a luxury!

Now is the time for another great performance enhancer: bike fitting. We have entered the slow time in the shop and have the luxury of being able to spend a good deal of time with you working out your fit issues or even just tuning up your position a bit. We also have some new products in the works that will further increase the amount of customization we can do in order to help you achieve maximum comfort and performance on the bike! Give us a call if you would like to set up an appointment.

This weekend is the double race smackdown known as the NC Gran Prix of Cyclocross. It is in Hendersonville at a new course from the past few years, Flat Rock Middle School. The course looks like a doozy with long straightaways punctuated with sharp, twisty, s-curves and hairpins. It looks to be a long course, too. See you there!

Greetings from the 1st ring of Hell

Sandhell. Pinehurt. Call it what you want, but today's race was no joke hard in a painful, energy sapping kind of way. The course was modified from that of the past few years and it was an improvement to what was already a stellar course. For the first time in the series, barriers proved to be a definite technical issue due to their placement at the beginning and end of a sloped u-turn. Numerous (really numerous) deep sand sections(several of which had to be run to maintain speed and position) and a torturously long, deep sand run up added more than enough spice to this bouillabaisse of pain. Our merry band had a decent day with Chris Behrman 2nd (CX4), Howard Hesterberg 3rd (55+), Jeff Welch 4th (35+), Bob Pugh 4th (45+), Jack Brown 13th (CX4 and an unknown placing in 35+) and me, somewhat ignominiously, 28th (CX4) and 27th (35+). Yep, I just can't get enough of that painful stuff, so I gotta go and do the double up racing back-to-back. My 7th, 8th and 9th trips up the sand run up were the very definition of pain. A lady was talking to me, telling me to "keep up the pace". I said, "Ma'm, this is the pace".

Thanks to everyone for cheering for us and thanks to my teammates for the post race libations! I'll post pics when they are emailed to me. Thanks, too, to Jenna for coming with us and helping out with all of our race needs and for also putting up with our numerous pee breaks on the drive down!

it's about bedtime

We're rolling out for Pinehurst and the Sandhell 'cross race tomorrow morning at about 4:30 am. There is no good way to get from here to the Sandhills region of NC. The most direct routes take you through so many small towns with traffic lights that it makes the circuitous interstate routes significantly speedier. So we leave at the butt crack of dawn, stop along the way at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then try to make it to the race with enough time to get a decent warm up and be able to scout the course before hurtling down it at mach 10.

Jeff won the master's race in Johnson City today. He's doing a back to back race set this weekend to prep for Hendersonville next weekend and the NC State championships/Boone races the weekend after Thanksgiving. Me, I'm just trying to suffer my way through with a healthy dose of smoke and mirrors in the hopes that one weekend will be MY weekend!

The last few Saturdays in the shop have been pretty slow. The whole downtown seems to be slow on the weekends. As Christmas season approaches, try to give your local merchants a shot at fulfilling your gift needs before you head to the mall or the big box stores. Remember that of the 7.5% sales tax that you pay on purchases, 2.5% goes to the county. By buying locally, you are adding money to the county coffers; money that is used for all sorts of public services. Support Locally Owned Businesses!

I'll give a full rundown of tomorrow's sandy funfest as soon as I recover enough to type!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I jumped on the 'cross bike and took off to work this morning. About 2 minutes in I realized it was cold. After about 5 minutes I realized it was pretty damn cold. My fingertips and toes got that burning, tingling sensation and my sinuses felt like I had just sucked up too much milkshake too quickly. Kind of off the bat in my commute I have a pretty decent hill that takes a good 10 minutes to climb. I stood up and pushed a big gear up it, trying to stoke the fire and get warm. It worked well enough to last the rest of the ride. When I walked into school, my students got all wide-eyed, so I must have looked a bit rough.

I have failed to mention it, but I have been riding a new 'cross bike since the Lenoir race. I built up one of the Argon 18 Arsenics that we got recently. It is an all carbon frameset and is the stiffest and smoothest riding 'cross frame I have ever been on. It has a massive bottom bracket area that keeps all of the pedal force going into the rear wheel. I was impressed on the 'cross course Sunday, but I got a different set of impressions when I outfitted it with road wheels and rode it to work this morning. It is a buttery smooth ride and the carbon frame attenuates the road vibration. Argon 18 seems to have done a good job at maximizing the potential of carbon.

With the onset of a windy cold climate, it is time to think about riding indoors. There has been some interest in trainer rides at the shop. I am thinking that we should start the week after Thanksgiving. How does Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8 pm sound to everyone? Give me some feedback so we can get it right!

For those of you looking to take some time off the bike, now is the perfect time to get an end of season overhaul! That way, when you take the bike out to ride again, everything will be smooth, perfect and brand spankin' new!

This weekend is the Southern Pines stop of the NC Cyclocross series. Affectionately known as "Sandhell", this course features the sandiest conditions to be found on any course in NC. Sand is one of those tricky, unpredictable surfaces to race on. Sometimes you cruise on the top of it, sometimes float through it, and other times you bog down and slip and slide through it in an unpredictable dance that can throw you down without hesitation. I have never done well at this course. I have gotten good starts and had moments that were encouraging, but it hasn't come to fruition. Perhaps this time will be different...

Big sigh

I don't seem to be recovering quickly from these weekend 'cross efforts. Mondays, I'm pretty wiped out. Tuesdays, I'm better, but still fatigued in a droopy kinda way. By Wednesday, I'm starting to feel a little more normal. I think what I really need is a good massage. My kinks have kinks in them.

I've gotten a few photos to post, but I need to wait until I have the faster computer to actually put them up.

Up next on the agenda is the Southern Pines race this weekend. It is a hellishly sandy course with a dastardly run up and some grassy power sections. I'm just glad I don't have school on Monday, afterwards!

My students are finishing up their Nascar presentations and it is pretty obvious how much work some of them put into them. Even my diehard Nascar fans have learned something about the sport. Next up, we learn about magnetism and electricity. Not sure how I'm going to tackle it, but I'm working on it.

Lastly, Deb Venti's write in campaign for Mayor of Lenoir came up just short as incumbent David Barlow edged her out 661 to 619. Maybe a full campaign is in order the next time around? I also got to talk to city councilman TJ Rohr who was doing the meet and greet at the downtown polling place. He said something to me about how he knew I wasn't going to vote for him as we disagree on the recycling issue. I was a little shocked by this, I mean true, I'm right and he's wrong about the need for municipal recycling (just joking, TJ!), but I respect the fact that he has a unique point of view and brings a different perspective from the norm to our local political scene. Also, he's a genuinely personable guy and in no way resembles a stuffed shirt. I told him that I appreciate viewpoints on the fringe, since that is where my own political views lie and even though our fringes are on the opposite sides of things, we can at least keep the middle honest!

Our town is at a serious crossroads in its infant rebirth. Our downtown revitalization effort has not just stagnated, but seems to be losing ground. There is a dearth of empty retail space for lease, with no apparent prospects for new business. Fewer people are coming to downtown Lenoir and the effect on business is chilling. The loss of Sledgehammer Charlie's shows how important a strong anchor is to fledgling businesses. That coupled with the advent of out-of-town landlords who swooped in and bought up retail space as an investment in Lenoir becoming the next "big thing" has led to some serious issues for anyone wanting to open a new business downtown. We must do something to encourage an environment that is conducive to small, locally owned businesses starting, growing and thriving in the downtown business district.

Lenoir 'Cross Race

I'm too tired to write much about today's phenomenal race here in Lenoir. Suffice it to say that much verbiage and as many pictures as I can round up will be posted here in the near future. A big, huge thank you to all of the volunteers who helped make this event possible. The past few days have been a whirlwind of last minute details and a huge amount of physical labor to put the race together and take it apart afterwards. Thanks to everyone who participated and spectated. We hope you had a great time!

spooky, spooky

A little bit of Halloween tonight. Not too many trick-or-treaters visited the casa this evening. Owen ventured forth, dressed as a skunk, in search of animal crackers. He pulled through like a trooper, especially given that he lasted 10 minutes in his costume last year. I went to school dressed as a rock star. The beard I've been growing was all in preparation for the trucker 'stache that served as the foundation of my costume. I also had a wig, but couldn't stand to wear it for too long. I don't see how people deal with hair; I think I prefer being bald...

Alright, cyclocross comes to Lenoir this Sunday at Zack's Fork soccer complex starting at 10am! Here is the homepage for the NC Cyclocross series where you can find the flyer for the race. Don't forget that you can register online!

I'm a little more interested in getting pumped up for the race than just reading the flyer over and over. I highly recommend checking out cyclofile.com a weekly cycling update that focuses on all the major domestic cyclocross races and has some well produced video clips to show the action! See you Sunday for the race! Last minute 'cross practice may be at 4:30 on Saturday, but since we will be setting up the course - I'm not sure...

wakey, wakey - wow I'm achey

Round 2 of the NC Cyclocross Series is in the books. Fall made an appearance for the stop in Salisbury and for the first time in a long time, there was a debate as to whether or not arm warmers should be worn during the race. The day started off with the short drive from Lenoir to Salisbury. I was accompanied by mi familia and everyone was ready to watch bikes and ring some cowbells!

The CX4 race got off to an interesting start and I wormed my way into the lead group from the gun, but didn't have the power to stick it through to that sweet relief point that occurs in a 'cross race. You know, when the drill-fest tones down to a manageable pain level. I rode like crap for two laps and then started feeling decent the last two laps, but it wasn't enough and I finished 20th.

A brief respite and it was back to the line for the Master's race. Now last week I just rode the master's race as extra training miles, but this week I wanted to make a hard effort and see how long I could stick. To aid this endeavor, I downed an Enervit Cheer Pack shortly before lining up. If you have never heard of this product, we affectionately call it the "crack pack" for the extreme rocket fuel nature of the day-glo green liquid inside. The cheer pack's effects last for about a half an hour; too bad the Master's race is 45 minutes. In short, I felt like a rock star for 3 and a half laps, but totally shut down the last two and a half. I could hear Scotty yelling at me, "I'm givin' 'er all she's got!" At least I actually raced for a while...

The weather has taken an excellent turn as we head towards the Lenoir 'Cross Race this weekend. Jeff is putting in overtime making sure that everything is as perfect as possible. The course has the flavor of the Winter Cup course, but there are a few surprises in store for everyone, too. I want to encourage all the spectating I can, so bring your cowbells and a drink to keep you warm!

Just a reminder that the "Carbon Fiber Love" sale is going on through the end of this week, so if you are interested in anything from carbon bikes to carbon bottle cages or anything in between, make sure you stop by and check it out!

Soggy and groggy

The new Luna Cycles' Cyclocross Pit Kit

I can't believe that it has been steadily raining for 3 days! I know this will barely put a dent in our drought situation, but it's much better than the weeks and weeks of dry, hot weather that have been the norm. The downside is that the cold and the wet have made me forgo my usual nighttime run. That's probable a good thing considering how sore and tired I am today.

As the time change is coming up and the weather seems to be making a permanent change towards Fall, I wanted to find out if there would be any interest in group trainer rides at the shop. If you would be interested, give us a call at the shop or drop me an email.

Tomorrow I am going to Charlotte with all of my students for a field trip to Hendrick Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing. We are working on a Nascar Physics unit and the trip should provide some pretty real world examples of how physics is used. The kids are pretty stoked and have been thanking me for the trip and we haven't even been yet! I'll post some pics soon.

Last, but not least, Deb Venti (owner of Venti's Casa and Chicks with Sticks) is running a write-in campaign for Mayor of Lenoir. She is running against the unopposed incumbent David Barlowe. If you are interested in an alternative, drop by her store and see what she has to say!

wetter and wetter

It is still raining! 3 days in a row of slow, steady, soaking rain. What more could you ask for? Conditions for Salisbury this weekend should be slick and slippery if the course has some of the same elements as last year. One thing is for sure on that front this year: the Maxxis Raze tires that I'm running this year will be a dramatic improvement over the Vittoria Evo Cross's I rode last year. The Vittoria's are a tire that we have affectionately dubbed the "slip and slides". Last year in Salisbury, I ate it pretty hard in a slick, muddy turn during my last warm up lap. Nothing like showing up to the line with your whole left side black with mud! I was the guy that nobody wanted to line up beside at the start and who would blame 'em?

I got absolutely drenched on my commute from school today. It's hard to complain about rain, but man, I got that cold, wet body thing that seems to contract your bladder and for like the last mile or so of my commute I had to pee like nobody's business! I ran into the house and tried my best to get out of wet clothes as quickly as possible without making a mess, all with the urging of an unhappy bladder. Such is the fate of the commuter...

We are in the process of building up the Argon 18 Krypton and the Arsenic 'cross bikes. They are, as Jeff put it, "Bad-mobiles". I can't wait to take them out for a test ride to get a feel for them. They have some unique design characteristics and we're eager to see how that translates into ride feel. Stay tuned for pics and reviews.

The Weather Channel

It has rained two whole days in a row! While that doesn't do jack for the drought situation we are experiencing, it is certainly a step in the right direction. The weather is weird though. I dragged myself out for a run this evening and it was kinda muggy and warm. It's weird to get the humidity sweats at night at the end of October, but that's exactly what happened. I ran in shorts and a t-shirt, too. I'm ready for Fall, but it looks like we might just bypass that and go straight to Winter.

Jeff is predicting that we may actually have to race in arm warmers this weekend. He has his own little weather report that he calls "The Real Deal". All I know is that he is pretty obsessive about watching weather radar on the internet and he likes to argue with the written forecasts that get posted on some weather sites. It reminds me of Golden back in her racing days when if the tv was on, it was on the weather channel. I mean hours and hours of the weather channel. I mean shoot yourself to end the misery kind of situation. There have always been certain aspects of science that have just never grabbed my attention. Weather, geology, botany have just never been my thing. Oh yeah, and Chemistry. I suck at Chemistry. Ironically, now I have to teach Chemistry. I don't think that that is entirely bad since I can empathize with the students and maybe help them through my own life experiences.

As you can probably tell by the rambling nature of this little entry, not much went on today. It didn't start off with much promise since I have managed to develop the very bad habit of turning off the alarm clock in my sleep. Yep, I have absolutely no recollection of doing it, but it was off and I was dead asleep. Nothing like starting your day off in a panicky scramble to set the tone...

There was, however, one huge bright spot:

From: Shelli Welch
To: Shawn Moore (and a whole bunch of other people)

Greetings Friends and Clients:

I am happy to announce that Brian Pleasants of Pleasant Results Bodywork will now be in residence at The Perfect Fit in Lenoir!

Brian graduated from the Edmund Morgan School of Massage Therapy in Cornelius, NC. http://www.edmundmorganschool.com/ and comes highly recommended by my friend and massage therapist, Scott Herman (former owner of Muscle Works in Hickory and now in private practice in Boone). The Edmund Morgan School is one of only a few massage therapy schools in the state that offers special certification in neuromuscular release massage. (Scott has taught classes there)

Brian is not only capable of performing neuromuscular/myofascial release massage therapy but is also trained in performing regular deep tissue, swedish and will also be offering hot stone therapy.

To start, Brian's hours will be as follows: Wednesdays 7:30 am - 2:30 pm and Fridays 7:30 am to 6 pm. Brian will be available as of Wednesday, November 7th. You can call to schedule an appointment with Brian at (704) 895-2360 or by email at bnginnc@bellsouth.net. If you have to leave a message because Brian is in session, he will respond to you before the end of the day. Hour massages rates for personal training clients will be $60 per hour. $65 for the general public. Rates for a half hour massage will be $35 for either party.

For those of you that are not familiar with where my personal training studio is located, we are in the Russell Banks State Farm Insurance building on Harper at 520 Harper Avenue, Suite B. If you are coming into town from the crossroads, we are located right past the Sonic (our building will be on your right), located in between the old East Harper School and the American Trade and Loan. Russell's office space is on the left side of the building, we are on the right. We have plenty of parking available.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 828-729-1233.
Regards,
Shelli Welch
The Perfect Fit

If you have never had a good sports massage, then you owe to yourself to try it. It is one of the most significant things that you can do to improve your athletic performance, to recover from hard training or racing, and to help prevent injury. It will be money well spent!

How 'bout just listing what isn't sore?

On the line at Meredith College

I fought to not drag around all day. After yesterday, I don't want to have to stand up and accelerate a bicycle for a while. Someone said that there were like 50 accelerations per lap. I have no idea, but it felt a little more like 500 or possibly 5000, but who was counting. The results got posted today and congratulations to Jeff for finishing 3rd in the 35+, Chris Behrman for 8th in the CX4, and Howard Hesterberg for 4th in the 55+ categories. I know that more of the team was there, but I'm not sure of how they finished since only numbers (no names) are listed for the larger categories. I finished 32nd out of 96 finishers in the CX 4 and then pulled out the big last place in the 35+ race!

In other 'cross news, Czech rider Zdenek Stybar pulled out the BIG win in the first world cup in Kalmthout, Belgium on Sunday. His analysis of the race was that he attacked at the beginning of lap 2 and rode as hard as he could without looking back. He went on to say that his watch alarm went off signaling that one half of the 1 hour race was over. He thought, "I don't know if I can last." I know exactly how he feels, only when I get scared about that last 30 minutes of the race I'm only about 30 seconds into it! Anyway, leave it to the belgians to be so sure of a Sven Nys win that they didn't even have the Czech national anthem to play for Stybar! Watch out for Stybar and Lars Boom to make life uncomfortable for Nys this year.

Big news at the shop: we just received our first inventory from Argon 18! Argon 18 is a French-Canadian company out of Montreal that has some great carbon bikes. We have a carbon-aluminum Triathlon/TT frameset called the Mercury, 2 of the all carbon cyclocross framesets called the Arsenic and the entry level carbon road frameset called the Krypton. Since we bought in at the end of the model year, we got some special deals on these framesets that we want to pass on so that we can get some of these bikes out there! Speaking of deals, we will be having a Carbon Fiber Love Sale this week. If it's carbon, it's on sale! We have bikes, Adidas carbon soled shoes, Ritchey forks and seatposts, Look Keo carbon pedals and a bunch of other carbon goodies on sale. Give us a call or email me if you want more info - or better yet, why not come by and check it out yourself?

The magic number

Jeff, Big E and I headed out for Meredith College this morning for the first 'cross race of the season. Jeff and I stopped at the Barrel for a little pre-race grubfest. I tucked in to a massive plate of sourdough french toast with blackberries, two eggs over easy and some turkey sausage. I washed it down with hot coffee which tasted like brown with a hint of burnt.

We got to Meredith College and did an initial survey of the course. You needed at least a graduate degree in trigonometry in order to fully grasp every twist an turn in the course. There were two extended switchback hookylau sections plus a decreasing radius spiral that somehow spit you out into another section of the course through some rent in the space-time continuum. There was a tiny bit of brick paved section that dumped you into a very deep, descending leaf-mulch mix that was akin to a sandpit only browner and with bigger chunks.

Now Big E swore up and down that he didn't think that many people would show up. I think he needs to start deciding how he wants his crow prepared because the CX4 class saw a record 106 starters. Let me spell that out for you: one hundred and six starters in a CX4 'cross race! I found myself about third row in the middle of the mass on the start line, conveniently located at the base of a 4 tiered, grass-covered hill. It certainly seemed in my appraisal that a good, if not great, start was going to be the only way to even dream of contending. The whistle blew and I proceeded to zig and zag, bob and weave and any other thing that I could think of to get to the outside and start shooting up the mass of riders. I fell into line somewhere in the teens as we headed for the first skill required twisty section. The sheer volume of riders was incomprehensible. We went up a climb, took a right hand turn, went down a 200 meter straightaway, u-turned, went down a companion 200 meter straightaway, took a left hand turn onto a section that ran in the opposite direction to and parallel the initial climb and THERE WERE STILL RIDERS RIDING IN A SINGLE FILE UP THE INITIAL STARTING CLIMB! I could not believe how far ahead I was from just being heads up about the start. The race is just a blur: people passed me, I passed people. It was the hardest 'cross course I have ever raced and the hardest I have raced in a very long time. I think I finished somewhere in the 20's, but I honestly have no clue.

After crossing the finish line and riding into the finish chute (to aid scoring), I felt the immense and pressing urge to throw up. A little rest, a little small talk with some teammates and I made my way towards Jeff who was lining up for the Master's race. Now earlier that morning, I had registered for not just the CX4, but also the 35+ race. One was at ten, the other at eleven; seemed like a good idea at the time. But at this point, it seemed like a stupid idea to race back-to-back on this brutal course. I was going to tell Jeff "good luck" and inform him that I would not be racing the Master's race, but somehow my calorie-deficient brain got into the group at the line and thought "screw it" and I decided to race anyway. I begged some water off some people on the sidelines and mentally prepared myself for 45 more minutes of pain. I admonished myself that if I started, I would finish. DFL maybe, but not DNF! Long story short, Jeff took 3rd in a smoking fast race and I pulled out the Lantern Rouge finish in limping, muscle aching style!

Congrats to all of the Sledgehammer Charlie's team: Jeff, Big E, Bob, Chris, Bobby, Howard and all the others that I met today, but was too brain dead to fully grasp their names. See you guys in Salisbury! I'll post results and pictures as they come in...

and so it begins

Dawn is creeping up on me this morning as I prepare to take off for Raleigh and NC Cyclocross race #1 at Meredith College. There is more than a bit of anticipation for this race among the Sledgehammer Charlie's team. 'Cross practice yesterday was a good way to make some efforts and clear out the legs in preparation for today.

Not many of us are making the trek from Lenoir, but we will be joined by teammates from Hickory, Charlotte and T-Vegas. It'll be good to see the whole crew again. Good luck to everybody and I'll post the low down soon.

going down

Our mechanics have a lifetime of experience!

The first 'cross race is in the books. Two top 5's for the Sledgehammer Charlie's team in the Master's race: Jeff took 2nd and the Preacher took 5th! Jack was giving it a serious amount of what-for, but multiple dropped chains took him out of the head of affairs. I opened up the season in the CX4's with a decent race, hovering in the top 15 until a serious moment of introspection brought on by a sudden drop to the ground coupled with a violent kneeing of the stem bolt. I gathered my thoughts for a few minutes, gamely managing not to throw up from the sharp pain in my knee. I got up and got back in it, but the damage was done: 24th place. Not bad, not great, but a definite improvement over the start to last season. This weekend marks the start of the NC Cyclocross series in Raleigh. See you on saturday for 'cross practice!

And with that subtle reminder to come ride Saturday afternoon, a little heads up that the Saturday morning ride is going to be starting at 9am due to the shift in morning temps toward the bluer end of the thermometer. But don't let the temps scare you off, now is the perfect time to ride. The weather is fantastic, the pace of the rides are conversational and relaxed! What more could you want? Don't let Bridge to Bridge define you as a cyclist! There is a whole wide world of cycling out there and some of the best riding in our area has just begun! There are people who pay big money to come ride the Blue Ridge this time of year, so don't squander it just because it's free! And if the weather or time isn't conducive for making the ride, be sure to pop your head into the shop to check out what's new and shoot the sh*t with us for a while!

The eve of pure, sweet hell

'Cross season officially gets underway here this Saturday. I haven't ever raced the Bristol course in the MSG Cross series, but it looks like fun from the aerial picture they have posted at their website. We raced in Johnson City last year and it proved to be a very cool atmosphere and a fun race course. I have no clue what kind of shape I'm in right now. Some days I feel good and strong, others I feel like I can't get out of my own way. We'll see... One thing is for sure: the weather is cooperating to make it feel like 'cross season!

Be sure to check out the flyer for the Lenoir 'Cross race to be held Nov. 4th. Check out the purse for the Pro race! Jeff is working his butt off to make this a race to remember! He is already topping himself from last year and he has some surprises in store for the winners of various classes; surprises in the truest Belgian 'cross racing tradition!

One thing I know for sure is that Owen is getting ready for the Lenoir night criterium next year:

The Cookie Monster

Much love and big ups to Charles Bennet for laying the smack down on the field at the Tour de Pumpkin, Saturday. With 60 km to go, Charles decided that the field wasn't working together well enough and so he accelerated on a long climb and soloed the last 60 km. He made the move and stuck it! F*ckin' spot on, Charles!

Un-fricking-believable

I can't believe that I actually have to respond to this. You may or may not be aware of a certain rumor being bandied about with regard to the Lenoir Cyclocross race on Nov. 4th. The rumor is that if you do not come to one of our Saturday 'cross practices, you won't be allowed to race on Nov. 4th. This is utterly and completely stupid, let alone being asinine and nonsensical. The reason offered for this supposed little "rule" is that so many people were injured during our winter cup race, that we, the organizers, felt compelled to check everyone off as being competent enough to race our course.

I-call-bullsh*t No. 1: there were not a lot of injuries at the Lenoir winter cup race. Besides the usual scrapes and bruises, there really wasn't anything in the way of injuries. If you are afraid of the odd slip-and-fall or shin banger from the barriers, don't race 'cross 'cause minor things like this can and do happen. But, any of the myriad of criteriums in NC is far more dangerous than any 'cross race.

I-call-Bullsh*t No. 2: since when do we, as grown-ass adults, not enter any cycling event (even cookie rides) without signing a waiver that says we accept responsibility for anything that could befall us during the event? Anytime you are upright on two wheels, you have some risk of injury. But what are you going to do, sue your driveway because it reached up and popped you on the noggin while you were showing off your no-handed riding ability? If so, you're an idiot. When have you ever heard of a cyclocross promoter requiring some sort of pre-race safety check-off? Never. We have 'cross practice every saturday to work on the skills required for 'cross, like dismounting and remounting at barrier sections. We are trying to build the sport of cyclocross in our area, not pretend to be the keepers of the holy grail.

If you have not heard this rumor, then disregard what I have said, but if you have, understand that it is a pure fabrication and is out of touch with reality. As we strive to build our cycling community, we have dealt with many idiotic rumors of similar ilk to this one. If you ever want the straight truth, just call us at the shop, we'll be more than happy to set things right for you.

And with that, why not join us for the first shake out race of the 'cross season at Johnson City, TN next saturday? They have great courses and a laid back atmosphere, perfect ingredients for starting the 'cross season. To all our Sledgehammer teammates to the south of us: give us a ring at the shop to coordinate this little jaunt and let's make a strong impression in TN this weekend!

The road to recovery

Lack of sleep and jet lag caught up with me and made for a slow and sleepy Monday. I definitely had that bleary-eyed, out-of-sorts, wake up call at 5:30 am. The shock of it all was almost more than I could bear, but I soldiered on.

I'm still processing all of the sights and sounds of Interbike. I saw a lot of really cool bikes, many bad-ass 'cross bikes (usually full carbon and tricked out with SRAM Red), interesting accessories and a whole host of lost souls pedaling some strange widget that is supposed to revolutionize cycling as we know it. One of my favorite bikes at the show was the commuter from Civia. They were very clean and modern bikes that harkened back to a certain mid-century European utilitarianism. There were several things that we got excited about with respect to the shop, but I must remain coy about these potential additions for now...

'Cross practice was definitely the last nail in the hurt locker for Jeff and me. By Sunday, I was dragging something fierce. To shake it all out, I went for a run this evening. It hurt like hell at first, but moved through tolerable to enjoyable in due time. I've been commuting on the 'cross bike to get used to it.

The turnout for 'cross practice saturday was the largest yet and I hope that it will continue to grow in our area. Golden brought Owen out to practice and he was able to work on the finer points of cowbell ringing. Look for the littlest 'cross fan at the NC Cross series this season! If you have never experienced the fun of 'cross, but want to, come to the 'cross practice this Saturday at the Zack's Fork Soccer complex at 4:30 pm. We provide the barriers and advice, you bring everything else! For those of you that have been procrastinating: 'cross season starts in 2 weeks! Yessiree bob, the MSGCross in Tennessee begins Oct. 13th in Bristol. This will be the perfect warm up to the NC Cyclocross Series that starts Oct. 21st in Raleigh, NC! Get ready to break out the Belgian Knee Warmers and race some 'cross!

Reaping the whirlwind

Daybreak at the Luxor
We are in the airport waiting for our airplane. Jeff and I both are worn out having only gotten a total of 8 hours of sleep since we left wednesday morning. We have seen so many bikes and so much clothing and accessories it would make your head spin...
US National Cyclocross Champion, Ryan Trebon, on his way to winning 'Cross Vegas
World Cyclocross Silver medalist, Jonathon Page at 'Cross Vegas
Flagstaff homeboy, Ben Proctor shows how spectating is done!

We hooked up with a lot of old friends, saw a bunch of famous racers, talked bidness and listened to an untold number of mind-numbing sales presentations. We've gotten excited about a few new things and have lots of things to discuss. We gambled, drank, watched bike races, hung out, caught up with old friends and have generally been going non-stop since we hit the ground. There are a lot more pictures to show you in the coming days. See you at 'cross practice tomorrow.

Vegas Adventure - the beginning

Mmmm, mmmm good...

We are sitting at the Charlotte airport waiting for our flight. We just consumed a Cinnabon and too much coffee. Not sure how the caffeine is going to work with sitting confined in an airplane for 4+ hours, but that's what alcohol is for...

Owie, owie, owie...

First 'cross practice was an eye-opening experience, as usual. It just hurts. Hurts in that deep soul searching kinda way. The kind of effort that gets that little voice going inside your head, telling you "the pain isn't worth it", or "you can't do it". And then you just go and ignore all sense and reason. The good thing is that you don't realize what you've done to yourself until after you stop and then all of the sore and aching parts of your body start checking in with the brain. Somehow, I bruised the thick pad of my right hand under the thumb. Not sure how that happened.

The new bike rides great, handles like a laser beam, and soaks up the bumps like a dream. I think it is going to be a great bike for the season.

All the usual suspects showed up: Jeff, Preacher Todd, McMenemy the Enemy (and Josh, his son), Eric, 'Cross Ron, Howard Hesterberg and Nicole. We did some barrier practice for a while. I was nervous and lousy at it and then went downhill from there. Guess that's why we're practicing... We ripped several laps on the Lenoir 'cross course at race pace. I was pretty sure I was gonna vomit, but that never became a reality.

Now Jeff and I are just good and primed for 'Cross Vegas on wednesday night. Interbike is going to be a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too. It's going to be great seeing Page and all the other pro men racing under the lights in the desert. I'm pretty sure that Jeff and I will visit the beer garden in the infield as well...

Brian is going to be solo at the shop Wed-Fri, so drop by and visit him if you get the chance. Repairs will be on a slower schedule until we return from the show, but then we'll be back up to speed. Bear with us this week as this trip to Interbike is a big part of us taking the success of Luna Cycles to the next level! And don't forget to come out to 'cross practice next Saturday at 4:30. Bring anything with two wheels and we'll show you how to have more fun than you can stand...

File under: Yeah, No Sh*t...

Genevieve Jeanson admitted to having used EPO during her career, today. This comes as a shocker to exactly no one who ever even read about her exploits on the bike. Genevieve was well known for her tried and true method of winning bike races: solo attack from the gun and let everyone else ride for 2nd place. In big stage races, when the Pro Women would start 15 to 20 minutes after the Cat. 3 men, Genevieve would catch, pass and drop the men's race that started 20 minutes ahead of her. That isn't talent, that dear friends is dope.

On other doping fronts: I don't know what to think about the Landis decision. I really thought the long delay boded well for him, but no, it just wasn't in the cards. Given the nature of the decision and the weirdness of the T/E ratio test is flawed, but then the follow tests aren't, just doesn't seem kosher. The system seems rigged...

Got the new 'cross bike built up. It is a Blue CXc with SRAM Rival components. Initial shakedown ride impression is that the bike is very nimble. Tomorrow's 'cross practice should provide much more of a ride impression. See you at the soccer field at 4:30! Don't forget the morning group ride at 8am, too!

And now to leave you with the ultimate in athletic psyche outs: The Maori Haka as performed by the New Zealand All Blacks National Rugby team.

Now, let's get down to business

Up and coming two-wheeled bad ass, Owen McCormack Moore

Bridge to bridge has come and gone. Congratulations to everyone who participated. Big shout out to the top hometown Homeboy, Jack Brown! He looked good from my vantage point towards the top of 181 and by good I mean not horribly bad. Let's face it, nobody looks spring daisy fresh on a long, steep climb going some ridiculous speed for any measurable length of time. I think next year will be time for me to participate in the B2B again.

Now that B2B is past, there are a few notable changes in the group ride schedule. The Tues./Thurs. night rides now meet at 5:30 due to the dwindling light conditions. And starting this Saturday, we will begin cyclocross practice at 4:30 at the Zack's Fork soccer complex. This will give you some preview of the Lenoir 'cross course that will be a part of the NC Cyclocross Fall Series on Nov. 4th!

Speaking of cyclocross, our new 'cross bikes are on the way. I'm going to stay mum on the particulars in an effort to build up the suspense in anticipation for a big reveal. To help wrap your head around the implications of the looming 'cross season, check out Chopper Reid's advice for life: (a word of caution if you are not fond of the f-bomb!)

Eve of the Bridge

We stuffed 900 rider packets this evening for the Bridge to Bridge particpants. Big thanks to Jenna, Tammy, Mark, Mark Hites, Charles, Different Charles, Jack Brown, Mikey MC and B-Rock for lending a big hand to get it done. Jeff has been in overdrive getting all the last minute details straight for this weekend. We now have Luna waterbottles and new Luna T-shirts in 3 different styles in stock. We are stocked up on every conceivable item that a would-be Bridge rider could possibly want and to top it all off, we're having a sale! All sunglasses, shoes, Mavic computers and Sugoi shorts and short-sleeve jerseys are on sale for 10% off! We also have 2007 road and mtn. bikes on sale! If you've been waiting to wheel and deal, now's your time!

We will be having a mellow spin ride Saturday morning at 8 am, leaving from the shop. Our hours will be extended this weekend in order to accomodate the Bridge to Bridge schedule. Saturday we will be open from 11 am to 7 pm and Sunday from 7 am to 9 am (B2B start time). I will be doing a feed towards the top of 181, so come see me if you want me to hand up bottles and/or food to you.

It has been a long week and the weekend will hopefully be a busy time. If you are coming in from out of town for B2B, be sure to stop by. We will be more than happy to give you the beta on the new course, make ride suggestions for any pre-ride spins you want to do and we can also offer local knowledge on dining options and that all important Sunday morning caffeine urge!

Don't forget that once Bridge is over, the riding season is still going on. We are fortunate to have a fairly mild winter here, so outdoor road riding is a year-round possibility. However, as the weather gets cooler and the days shorter, it comes time to explore other 2 wheeled pursuits like mtn. biking. For us at Luna, Fall means one all consuming two-wheeled passion: CYCLOCROSS! We will once again play host to a cyclocross race here in Lenoir, but this year we are now a part of the prestigious NC Cyclocross Series Fall Cup! Our race will be Sunday, November 4th. Saturday, Sept. 22nd, we will begin cyclocross practice at the Zack's Fork Soccer Complex every Saturday at 4:30. Bring any bike you want, a helmet and you'll be one step closer to running through barriers and doing two wheeled drift turns in the drops.

The worm is turning...

I have come down with whatever funk Owen brought home from daycare. I'm not sure if I'm going to still have a voice tomorrow, so teaching should be interesting. I'm going to limit my students to yes/no questions 'cause then I can just nod one way or the other. It'll be good for 'em...

It has been a while since I last blogged and many things have transpired that were worth mentioning, but the moment has passed. We can never capture the time that was lost, so we should get past it and move on.

The big thing to move on to is the greatest part of the cycling season: CYCLOCROSS SEASON! You can see who the real 'cross junkies are right now. They'll be the guys shuffling around the bike shop wanting to discuss the merits of various 'cross tubulars or feverishly asking when 'cross practice starts (4:30, the saturday after Bridge to Bridge, Zack's Fork Soccer Complex) or asking to see pictures of the new 'cross bikes from different manufacturers. Well, the first fix is almost here fellow 'crossers! There will be a season opening tune-up clinic/race in Salisbury on Sunday, September 30th. Details to follow soon. Jeff and I will get the true whistle whetting experience during Interbike in Las Vegas as the Cross Vegas UCI race will be held while we are there. 'Cross World's silver medalist, Jonathon Page, is a confirmed starter. It should prove to be a fun night of 'cross and beer gardening!

Hopefully some of you will be able to tear yourselves away from doing 181 climbing repeats this weekend long enough to make the saturday morning group ride at 8am. The group has thinned out substantially as Bridge to Bridge draws nigh, but hopefully things will be back to normal once it is over and done with...

Viral attack

I have on very sick and pitiful little baby. Owen has a severe sinus infection that blew up this weekend. It is really heartbreaking to see just how miserable he feels.

Time is in short supply for me right now, so not much posting here. I am happy to report that there was a HUGE turnout at the County Commissioner's meeting monday night. So much public outcry against the proposed Wilson Creek PUD seems to have definitely made the difference. We must remain vigilant so that our open spaces won't be cavalierly developed for such silly reasons as "someone is going to do it eventually". On another happy note, the Lenoir Convenience Center is open! Now get to recycling!

Mark it on your calendar!

Here is more of the story on the proposed development of Wilson Creek. The County Commissioners meeting is this Monday, August 27th at 6 pm. We need as much public opposition to this proposal as we can muster, so please, please, please come out and lend your voice to the cause!

In reading the News-Topic article, I especially like the developer's comment that Wislon Creek is going to get developed eventually. You know, we don't have to roll over and play dead for land developers. Development of wild and scenic areas is not inevitable. But just like any treasure, someone will surely steal it for themselves if you don't protect it!

Got a good soaking on my afternoon commute yesterday. I also managed to break a bolt that holds my panniers to my dropout. Fun times limping it to the shop, hoping that the friction of my fender being pushed against my tire by a pannier loaded with textbooks wouldn't cause the tube to explode going down the one sketchy descent. It broke up the routine of my twice daily rolling meditation.

I enjoy my solo morning commute the best. The air is cool and there is usually a slight mist close to the ground. Traffic is light and I am left to my thoughts. Maybe it is the fact that I am not fully awake when I leave, but the whole commute seems to take on a transcendental mood. I find myself to the point of disconnecting my thoughts from the rest of my body. I can feel myself pedaling from a distance as my mind seems to be more immediate. I kind of dig that feeling...

Immediate attention required!

Our fair county has decided to lift a one year moratorium on development in the Wilson Creek area in order to slip in a big land development deal. You can get the full story here. You can email members of the County Board of Commissioners here. Please voice your opinion to leave Wilson Creek undeveloped and stress the importance of outdoor areas for recreation. The future of Caldwell County lies in the outdoor recreation opportunities that are here and are just now beginning to be truly shared with people from outside of our region. We need to allow the developments that are already being built in the nearby Collettsville area to be completed (and their impact assessed) before irrevocably damaging the beautiful Wilson Creek Gorge area! This will be discussed in an upcoming board meeting. I will keep you updated in an effort to rally some vocal opposition to this proposal at the meeting!

Long time, no see

I finally have enough time to spout off some more drivel. Life has been hectic this past week and it doesn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon. Just in case you aren't in our area, it is unreasonably, unbearably, bewilderingly hot here right now. Add to that a hefty dose of no rain and you've got yourself a good old-fashioned drought. Commuting back and forth to school has become an exercise in asceticism. Each day, I arrive at the shop from school streaming sweat and red as a fire truck. I can't wait to be able to complain about how cold it is. The nice thing has been that mornings have been cool with a good layer of ground fog and some spectacular sunrises that tend toward the pink and turquoise.

Today was Owen's first day of daycare. He seemed to be pretty fine with the whole thing, but there was definitely stress on our part. I never realized all of the feelings and emotions that go along with parenthood. It is a really primal protectiveness that you feel for your child. It's nice being reminded of your animal nature.

I spent today tubing the New River with all of the students from our school. It was hot and slow. The water level was way down, so a lot of walking was involved. Not quite tiring, but not quite relaxing either.

Jeff and I have committed to going to Vegas for Interbike this year. It's been a while since I've gone, so I'm definitely excited about going. I'm really curious to experience Interbike from the perspective of a shop owner, instead of the employee's perspective. I'll try to give some sneak peek reports from the show while I'm there.

The weekend is nigh and I am truly ready for it. Hope to see you in the shop this weekend!

Pinch me

My new teaching position is better than I dared to imagine. I find myself, in the middle of teaching, having an out-of-body observation of our interaction and seeing that they are actually engaged in learning. It's really weird how these kids do all of the things that you wish for your students to do. You ask them to think about something and "POOF!", they actually think about it. It is a sight to behold...

I've been to busy to actually update this blog in a while. Seems a lot has been going on in the cycling world. I'm watchin', I just haven't been sayin' anything.

First off, Team Slipstream has secured the services of Magnus Backstedt and Julian Dean. I want to point out that my good friend Jason scooped everybody with that tidbit at his blog schnooked in der spurt. A chance encounter with Frankie Andreu at the Charlotte NRC critertium gave him a leg up on everybody.

Secondly, WADA vs. Alberto "the Kid" Contador, who's gonna win that? Contador and Bruyneel have scheduled a press conference (all statement, no questions). I think the pot is on simmer right now, but be looking for an increase in temperature in the near future.

Lastly, Kash Kasheykin (ASTANA) has turned up positive for homologous blood doping in an out of competition test. These guys aren't even racing and they're testing positive! I am beginning to feel beleaguered and bewildered about this whole mess. I know there are clean riders, but are the dopers really this stupid? Would you undergo a procedure that your team captain tested positive for less than 3 weeks ago? Have the UCI controls been so lax in the past that riders new the odds were in their favor if they gambled with doping? And while everyone gets bitter and pissy about doping in cycling, has anyone bothered to take note of Barry Bonds breaking the all-time homerun record with nothing more than a suspicion of steroid abuse? There are a lot of dirty houses out there, not just ours.

Our car got egged and keyed in front of our house last Friday night. I called the police to come and make a report. The officer asked me if I could think of anyone who might do such a thing. I informed him that both my wife and I were middle school teachers, so it could be any number of former students from the past 5 years. He asked if I could "narrow it down". I asked him if he could make a list of all of the people he had pissed off during his career as a plice officer. He said, "Yeah, I see your point." I'm not worried about who did it, it's just a car and it can be fixed.

Luna Cycles socks are in stock! $8.99 a pair, or 3 pairs for $24! Email me if you would like some, but can't make it in to the store. If you have been by lately, you've probably noticed some half finished remodeling of the back area of the shop. Soon, the mechanic's area will be pushed back to the back room in order to create more floor space and to accomodate our new bike fitting area. Come by and check it out as we start finishing it up this week!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am worn out. We've had 3 open house sessions at school in the past two days. I have given the same 5 minute talk a total of 12 times. I'm beat. In addition, my daily commute is now a 30 minute, one-way ride with a distinctly rolly texture to it. I'm riding my '70's era, dumpster rescued Raleigh Gran Prix which now sports flat bars, 7 spd Deore thumbshifters, and a Brooks B-17 saddle (not like we want anymore kids...). With the Jannd mtn. rack and panniers I think I'm pushing about 45 lbs back and forth to school. And the thought that keeps going through my mind: 'cross season is coming...

A new beginning

My summer is now officially over. Unlike the rest of my fellow Caldwell County educators, I start school tomorrow. This is no great sacrifice given the position and school that I will be teaching in. It is a little bit daunting to now have to face Sophomores in high school rather than the middle schoolers I am used to. This is a welcome change and a breath of fresh air. I will readily admit that I was beginning to get a bit toasty if not fully burned out.

Well, le Tour will not go away. Mayo has tested positive for EPO. Wow, dope your way to 16th place in the Tour why don'tcha? Idiot. And now the big implications about Contador and his Puerto links are picking up steam. If Prudhomme thought the Chicken shouldn't have started, what about "the kid" Contador?

To: Shawn
From: Eddie

Damn;
This Tour just will not die! Check this out, and now there seems to be even
more proof coming out to link Contador to Puerto. I still can't believe that
Valverde is still racing. I mean how hard is it to figure out a code name
like Valve?

I sure love to watch bicycle racing, but I just don't know what is real
anymore.

Take care and good luck with the job.

Yep, those good ol' cryptic code names. Jorg Jaksche copped to the fact that he was, indeed, "JJ". Good thing he admitted it, 'cause nobody could have figured that out. Now, who could possibly be tied to all those bright, ruby red bags of high test blood marked with the code name "AC"? You better believe that teams of cryptographers from Scotland Yard and the NSA are on the case...

Rejoice in the fact that Team Slipstream has signed David Millar, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie. They have also, rather coyly, announced that they have signed a former winner of Paris-Roubaix. Current favorites from our group ride discussions of who this signee might be are Maggie Backstedt and Stuey O'Grady. Whoever it is, these guys are serious about a wild card selection to the '09 Tour. Hell, with their testing protocols, they might be there next year...

finis

Cadel tried valiantly, but Contador felt the jersey slipping away and managed to keep a grasp on the hem. Levi rode with the vengeance of what could have been and layed down the 4th fastest TT in TdF history. How different would this podium look if Rasmussen had not been allowed to start and his vicious accelerations in the mountains had not made their withdrawals from the other riders energy stores. Leipheimer, the consummate nice guy, selflessly rode for young Contador and setting him up for the win. Evans looks to have regained the confidence and promise of his early career to ride with aplomb and tenacity. Contador, recently cleared of the Puerto implications, has managed a win of both the yellow and the white jerseys.

I will not be one of those hysterical and histrionic people who says they won't watch pro cycling anymore or that all riders are doping. This is the only sport I have loved and I have been in love since I was 14. This sport is changing and change can usually be painful and this change is no different. I believe that we are going to go back to a pro cycling like that that existed up until the very early 1980's. Lemond is often credited with a great influence on American cycling and on the use of technology and equipment in the European peloton, but he also did much to elevate rider salaries and usher in a more modern expectation of prize money. Prior to 1984, the winner of Paris-Roubaix received about $2000 for winning the greatest one-day bike race in the world.

The big money corporate sponsors are going to pull back their support for pro cycling. I think we will see the rise of trade teams once again, as the only ones with a vested interest in professional cycling are cycling related companies. As the money shrinks, the large team budgets will disappear and teams will have to run leaner staff numbers. I hope we don't reenter the days when domestiques were true to their title and were in charge of laundry and fixing meals and serving the needs of the team stars both on and off the bike. I remember watching Rabobank Directeur Sportif Theo de Rooj racing for the Panasonic team in the 1985 Paris-Roubaix. He had made the winning break early in the race, riding in horrendously muddy conditions on cobbles slickened to a glass-like polish. This was in the early days of cycling coverage in the states, and it was a taped and edited race that CBS showed with a dramatic narration/commentary by Phil Liggett. In the midst of de Rooj's break, CBS showed a human interest piece on him. It showed him waking up Panasonic team captain Eric Vanderaerden, making breakfast and washing team kits. The most striking thing was how the rider's had their names on their respective room doors. Vanderaerden's name was literally written on a large foil star, presumably to insure that he was treated with the proper deference. Theo crashed out while riding in a straight line on one of the many crowned cobble paths, thus ending his dream of winning the race. By the end, de Rooj's breakaway companions (the enigmatic Patric Versluys and the Daehnens brothers) were caught outside of Roubaix by Panasonic team star, Eric Vanderaerden. Reportedly, Vanderaerden caught the break and said, "I'm here boys, now what are you going to do?" Vanderaerden smoked the sprint and took the win from his domestique competition. de Rooj was interviewed in his team car. He was nearly unrecognizable with head to toe dried, caked on mud. He said, "You're out here riding like an animal." When told that his team captain had won, pain flickered across his demeanor at the thought of what could have been his. He then stammered, "I know I'll never... I know I'll never be the captain of... I know I'll never be the leader of a team." Let's hope that our new cycling era will be able to insure the dignity of every rider, at the very least.

Pro cycling will survive. We must also keep in mind that cycling is doing far more to combat doping than any other major professional sport. Every sport has its complimentary performance enhancement products, just take a look at the IOC's banned products list. I have to be honest and say that no matter what, I'll be right there glued to the monitor or the tv, soaking in the racing coverage.

le grande finale

I believe in Cadel. Cleared or not, Contador is hinky given the reports that there have been phone calls about his reports to Dr. Fuentes of Operacion Puerto fame. And what to say about Levi? I want to see an American do well, but Discovery is dirty somehow. There is something up with that program...I just don't know what it is. Oh well, tt showdown, should be a good one.

The sky is falling...

no more Chicken...

Damn

Disappointed and dejected.

28:50

I am a partisan no more. Hoping against hope for the rabbit to come out of the hat, I admit that I had unreasonable expectations to see Alexander Vinokourov rise like a phoenix from the ashes and seize this Tour de France as his by rights. After today's stage, Vino' has shown the limits of his superhumanity and has revealed that he is but a man. Now, I am free to watch this Tour without that aching glimmer of hope for a comeback like I had in 1988 when Greg Lemond lacked just a few seconds to take the maillot jaune going into the final stage time trial against Laurent Fignon. Now, I can just watch this fantastic Pyreneean showdown.

Today was amazing with riders attacking again and again, never gaining until they were able to break their competitors. I think that now you get a good idea of who the true contenders are: Rasmussen, Contador, Evans, Leipheimer and Kloden. With two mountain stages and a time trial left, a grand game of cat and mouse is solidly afoot. And now that there is (theoretically at least) no doping, the riders seem to suffer more and to recover slower, paying for their efforts with huge chunks of time in the subsequent days. This makes the fireworks today seem all the portentious for the efforts to come. This could swing favor to someone like Levi Leipheimer who, as Shelly put it, is a "steady Eddie", not capable of matching the accelerations of the pure climbers, but not losing huge chunks of time either. Both he, Evans and Kloden would have to be ranked as the best tt'ers in the bunch at the top and this could spell more swings of fortune for the top 5 come time trial time. At this point, it's a crapshoot.

"You tell'em I'm comin' and hell's comin' with me!" - Wyatt Earp, Tombstone

Tomorrow is looking to be the day that Astana sets the world on fire. After today's tt, the peloton has definitely been served notice of the hard times to come! Vino' uncorked a huge performance today and let it be known that he plans on attacking in the Pyrenees. And remember, this guy doesn't throw down an attack, get caught and then play shrinking violet with the lead group until someone else attacks. No no no, this guy attacks, get's caught and then attacks again. And again. And again. As Golden put it so well this evening, "that guy's not a shit talker, he's a shit doer". (Ah, just a glimpse at one of the many reasons why we're married)

I spent today tubing the New River with my new colleagues at the Early College High School. We had a sort of floating faculty meeting. It was great, much better than I had anticipated. Even though the water level was way down, we were able to float most of the time with only minimal amounts of pushing. I remembered the sunblock, so I am not currently looking like a lobster!

You'd better get up early and watch the stage tomorrow at 7:30 'cause you just don't know what is going to happen! I predict Astana will use the Vino'-Kloden one-two combo to maximum effectiveness in the next few days. I can't wait...

Now it's gettin' spooky...

OOOOOOOOOh, Vino's maaaaaaaaad. Was today a prelude for a wreaking of vengeance upon the peloton, Kazakh-style? When Astana went up to the front and drilled it in the crosswinds, they were throttling everybody for a good 20k at 29 mph. Think about their situation for a moment. Astana hasn't had to do any work to defend or chase anything for the past week. With Kloden riding well and a Vino' wild card to throw, they could potentially put the other contenders into a serious spot of bother.

Saturday's tt is the beginning of the weeding out process of the hopeful and the pretenders. I think after Saturday, you'll have no more than ten guys with any legitimate shot. The Chicken has got to have the tt of his life to stay in contention.

Then after Saturday, Sunday's Pyreneean jaunt will whittle down our little bunch of hopefuls to a solid group of 5 riders who can even dare discuss the maillot jaune with any confidence. The Pyrenees should prove to be epic.

Luna socks should arrive next week. I'll post some pics, so if you aren't local email me if you would like to purchase some. Waterbottles are in the works also.

We've started the expansion and remodel of the shop, so excuse the disarray when you stop in.

Don't forget the new Saturday ride time is 8am to beat the heat!

and now a few for the sprinters

Okay, time to look like a hyper astute sports know-it-all. My predictions for the next few stages are as follows: a few guys attack early and stay away for a long time, just when you think they could stay away the sprinter's teams make the "professional catch" and setup for the final 2 or 3 kilometers. Everybody goes really fast and then this one really fast guy crosses the line first. There. Now watch and see if I'm right.

The real days are Saturday's time trial. The Chicken better have his A game for that one 'cause it has some descending and we all know how well he has handled those types of tt situations in the past. Kloden could become a real giant killer on such a stage. And then on Sunday we hit the Pyrenees with a vengeance the likes of which haven't been seen since the K-T boundary event that wiped out the dinosaurs. (Sorry, trying to get back into teacher mode)

I hope that Linus Gerdemann has coughed up the 5 cents that Lucy charges for psychiatric counseling since he lost the white jersey to Contador. Oh yeah, and his T-Mobile teammate Sinkewicz managed to hit a spectator coming down the mountain after Sunday's finish which left him with injuries that forced him to withdraw from the tour and then just happened to test positive for testerone with a 25 to 1 t/e ratio. Remember that Landis' t/e was 11 to 1 at last year's tour, but Matthias Kessler came up positive earlier this season with a t/e ratio of 85 to 1. Due to this positive test German TV has ceased airing coverage of the Tour.

On the lighter side of the Tour, check out this article on the superfan phenomenon at the Tour:
William Fotheringham essay

For those of you without VS. network coverage who can't make it by the shop to watch each day's stage, check out the Euro play by play call by the boys at The Guardian by clicking on the Tour de France - Live! link.

Pardon the mess at the shop right now, we're doing some demo work and remodeling. We'll put the hammers down and hang out when you come in though!

In Vino' veritas

My hope against hope that Vino' was playing possum just a little bit was shown to be false. The man is human after all and I don't know if he can put in the herculean effort needed to put himself to rights in this year's tour. The one thing that is for sure is that he is going to have to be forcibly pried from the bike to give up. I don't so much think that it is pride or hubris, but determination to see the thing through that is keeping him going.

The good news for Astanais that Kloden seems to have had his tether cut and is free to make his own race now. He looked pretty comfortable today and could prove to be a threat in the Pyrenees. Cadel Evans came to the fore today and rode like a man who has confidence in himself. He actually went on the offensive, something I have never seen him do. Contador put in a spectacular attack with a huge, mind-boggling acceleration. All of that is well and good, but the bloom comes off the rose a bit when you can't make such an attack stick and even with the aid of Popo', they were unable to stay clear. Alejandro Valverde is losing massive street cred with the Luna tifosi. Is insistence on riding wheels and attacking out of the group at the end to pick up little time bonuses is the style of a man trying to recapture the halcyon moment when he was touted as the next "big thing". His feeble attacks today were quickly and succinctly nullified and he was left to go for the snatch and grab time bonus at the line.

Levi Leipheimer hopefully has a card to show in the Pyrenees because so far he is not riding like a man that has "it". Better make that a whole deck of cards...

Lastly, Linus Gerdemann better share his safety blanket with his teammates as the run of bad luck continues for his T-Mobile squad. Today, Marcus Burghardt nailed a yellow lab that had wandered onto the course. I got this email from Chris in Tally about it:

From: Chris in Tally
Re: The Yellow Lab incident

Yo. Click on the arrows and check out the Marcus Burghardt-Yellow Lab
collision. That's one solid effing dog.

link to Guardian Photos

There's still a lot of days left in this free for all!

I'm rested already, let's see some racin'

Sunday has just whet my appetite now. Come on, a rest day in the middle of the alps? Well, I know Vino' and Klodie needed it, so that's a bright spot in this dull shades of gray rest day.

Now tomorrow starts off in some serious no joke territory right from the gun. A note to the Chicken: now that you flew away on the first real mountain stage and then went and ran your mouth about wanting to win the tour, you're probably not gonna be given nearly as much freedom as you got on Sunday! Rasmussen needs to take some more serious time out of the other main contenders. Remember, there is still 100km of time trialing on tap in this race.

As for the in-betweens like Evans and Valverde, they need to show a willingness to go big in a do or die kind of style. The days of conservative racing to make the podium on a step below Lance are long gone my friends. I don't think someone is gonna have this tour by the scruff of the neck until the Pyrenees, at least. Remember that we will have the Tour on at the shop all day, so stop by and play hooky from life for a while.

Due to the incessant rise in temperature, the Saturday group ride will start at 8am instead of 9. Please help spread the word! Luna socks are on the way from DeFeet, we should see them in a week. Next up are waterbottles, new Luna t-shirt designs, and Luna jerseys and shorts (on the horizon, so to speak)!

Chapeau!

In a true edge-of-the-seat performance, today's stage was one of the most electrifying in years. Hats off to Christophe Moreau for showing more aggression and heart than any frenchman since Thomas Voeckler held the maillot jaune. You can definitely see who is a contender and who is a pretender at this point. Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde did not acquit themselves like men who think they can win the tour. Their insistence on merely following wheels and looking to others to do the dirty work does not bode well for them. A true contender has got to have the wherewithal to lay it out on the line and hammer a move home. By marking Moreau and working against each other in a potentially dangerous move, they showed a timidity that speaks volumes about their chances for the overall.

Hats off to Linus Gerdemann who rode with aplomb to lose the Maillot jaune by only 10 seconds or so to a positively unstoppable Michael Rasmussen. Linus must have cuddled his blanket last night because he truly rode beyond his years, especially given the soul crushing fall suffered by T-Mobile team leader Michael Rogers, who went from the virtual yellow to DNF in a blindingly quick flash.

Vino' lost time, but limited his losses and made it to the rest day. The bigger story was how Kloden worked so hard to keep Vino' in contention and even waited for him. Remember how much promise they showed together (along with Jan Ullrich) on T-Mobile? How could that team not utilize those 3 weapons against Armstrong? With three big guns like that, they should have blown Armstrong away...

Last but not least: Rasmussen has asserted himself as a danger man, but the big question is his time-trialing ability. Another big scary wild card is Alberto Contador. That guy was climbing like a scalded dog after his wheel change. Just remember the old adage: good days in the Alps mean bad days in the Pyrenees; bad days in the Alps mean good days in the Pyrenees. The one thing that is for sure now is that the shadowboxing is over. It's put up or shut up time.

Merde

Despite a plethora of frenchman in the big break of the day, there was no french win on Bastille Day. Le pou pou. However, Linus Gerdemann absolutely immolated himself to take the stage, the maillot jaune and the maillot blanc. It looked to me that he was in some sort of quasi-religious state of agony towards the end of his little solo jaunt. In all his effort it appeared that he forgot to drink any water and the salt goattee encircling his rictus-like smile could signal a brief reign in yellow for Linus. Hopefully he is sucking down the saline iv's this evening trying to reverse his dehydration.

Vino' finished in the bunch with all of the other main contenders. He managed to blow out of all of the stitches in his knees and elbow. He finished dripping blood from all of his wounds. My word of advice to Astana: superglue. Oh yeah, and duct tape. Glue him together, tape him up and send him out on his merry way.

Tomorrow's stage looks to be a real beeotch. Vino says he wants to limit his losses tomorrow and then recuperate during the rest day monday. We shall see...

You can follow the physiological live data of select riders mapped in real time on Google Maps at this site.

Last, check out this techno song about Tom Boonen (thanks for finding it Jeff!)


Tommeke, Tommeke, Tommeke, Tommeke, Tommeke, Tommeke!

Boris Karloff eat your heart out...

Looking like an overzealous actor at a casting call for "The Mummy Returns", Alexander Vinokourov toed the line and finished with the bunch today. I don't have high hopes for him starting tomorrow, but dammit, I want to see this guy recover and light up the tour. I've been accused of some BMC partisanship, but that is not the case. Vino' is the most exciting rider to contest the grand tours. I want to see him make good on all of the crazy, attacking, Kazakh promise that he has shown in year's past. I want him to exact retribution for his undeserved exclusion from last year's tour. I want to see a guy who doesn't follow conventional wisdom or tactics. I want to see a rider who serves up old school beat downs with the ferocity of Bernard Hinault. I want to see a rider who is willing to lay it all on the line in a gamble between heroism and foolhardiness. Vino' is the rider who can deliver this and it truly breaks my heart to see such a cruel blow dealt to the man.

Astana still have the Kloden card to play. His previously feared broken ass has turned out to be just a fractured ass. Hopefully, this will mean a speedy recovery and subsequent aggression.

Alright, so everybody and their brother jumped on the bandwagon for defending CSC. Boo hoo. Sure, Discovery (nee US Postal) did similar work in defense of Sir Armstrong's bid for the maillot jaune. Notably the infamous '99 Passage du Bois debacle that saw Armstrong put a huge time gap between himself and eventual 2nd place finisher Alex "I need a seeing eye domestique" Zulle. But let's put it in perspective: take away the huge time gap gained during the Passage du Bois pileup and Alex Zulle is the winner of the '99 TdF. Sure, rubbin' is racin', but don't you want to see a winner who earns it through legs and not through luck? I mean, who makes the better '06 TdF champion: Landis with the incredible audacity of the stage 17 solo attack or Oscar Pereiro who benefited from a bit of maillot jaune largesse?

Tomorrow will see the first true anger of this tour and maybe that will settle my unease...

"You wanted to call down the thunder?!!"

Cheap move, cheap move. For shame CSC! Vino' goes down hard and the boys in red and black go to the front and drill it in a show of unethical riding. The only problem is that now CSC has gone and pissed off the most volatile rider in the peloton. Oh, and who has his back? A whole team full of eastern bloc goombahs who are just as unpredictable as their leader.

Another victim on the day was Vino's Astana teammate, Andreas Kloden. Preliminary reports have Klodie suffering a broken coccyx aka the ass bone. This should provide no problems for Klodie. He's german; the culture that brought us nihilism, so riding in pain shouldn't be an issue for Klodie since life is pain.

Tomorrow we should see another no hoper break off frenchmen, a last few kilometers catch by the sprinter's teams and then some super crazy sprint. At least that's my prediction...

You're right, I'm wrong

The tour has begun and right off the bat, I'm 0 for 3 in the predictions dept. Dave Z did not take the yellow in the prologue. Oh, well. We'll have to wait until the very end to see the genius inherent in my other two predictions.

Well, the tour is on and you know what is going on as well as I do. The sprinters are ruling the long and boring days of the flat lands. The real players are just trying to keep it upright and avoid serious injury in the crazy crashes that seem to be inevitable at the beginning of the tour these days. As much as I hate to say it, Robbie McEwan's sprint in stage 1 was unbelievable. That guy seems to have an extra cylinder that all the other sprinters are lacking. The sheer ferocity of his dusting brought to mind the viciousness of Sean Kelly back in the day.

We took off yesterday and headed up to Damascus, VA to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail. It was Owen's longest ride at 12 miles long. The trail was a very nice rails-to-trails conversion and was populated by a very high number of obvious non-cyclists, riding unhelmeted and not a properly adjusted seat height to be found! We stayed the night in Abingdon, VA (Owen's first overnight). We slept with Owen between us in the hotel bed and made the startling discovery that he is a little unconscious tornado at night. The smallest member of our family took up an enormous amount of space in the bed and had a big negative impact on the restfulness of his parent's sleep! Today, we went for a hike at Grayson Highlands. We got to see about 20 of the wild ponies that populate the area.

It's good to be back to our nice, freshly painted house! Tomorrow, I start on all the other summer home improvement projects! Does it ever end?

let the silliness begin

The TdF starts Saturday and the idiocy and hijinks have begun in earnest. First off, Alessandro Petacchi is officially suspended from Milram due to his non-negative test results for salbutimol at the Giro. Scratch one sprinter from your TdF fantasy team.

Second up, the red-headed step child of the ProTour peloton, Unibet.com, have been denied a start at the Tour because they have not shown good results this year and do not have a high ranking in the team standings. Imagine how it feels to be the team owner who jumped through untold numbers of hoops, ponied up insane amounts of euros just to get a ProTour license and then your team isn't allowed to race over half of the ProTour events due to some obscure French law regarding advertising for gambling and lotteries (yet, somehow Lotto is okay). Then you are denied a spot at the most prestigious Grand Tour of the season, despite having changed your title sponsor to appease the law, and the reason given is lack of results as in a "you didn't race very well in all of those races we didn't let you race in" sort of thing. Further, no one seems particularly eager to take up your cause, either. Pissed wouldn't begin to describe how you'd feel. Oh, and by the way, Unibet are ranked 19th, just ahead of Milram (who are headed to the Tour) and just got second overall in the team competition at the Tour de Suisse.

I don't know if you have noticed that all of the Operacion Puerto coverage seems to always mention the "complex" system of codenames that was used to identify the rider's blood bags. Hmmmmm, let's see Jorg Jaksche's codename was "bella Jorg". Wow, the stunning decryption capabilities needed to crack that code are mind-boggling... Are you kidding me? 9 year-olds can come up with better codenames.

Well, the house painting has reached a point where the use of a ladder is no longer remotely safe and I have to go rent some scaffolding. Amazingly enough, the painting has gone far quicker than I imagined and the house looks sooooooo much better. I can't figure out why we waited this long to paint it.

Hope you had a good 4th. We had a little cookout with the folks. They bought a new grill and I think they are trying to use it as much as possible. We did benefit from their acquisition of a new refrigerator by getting their old refrigerator. Ours was in its death throes as it would wheeze its way through the night, occasionally peeing water into its little tray and freezing all of our lettuce out of spite. Here's to you dented up old refrigerator with no handles. Good riddance.

ketchup

It's been a few days since my last post. There has been a lot going on this past week and I have needed some down time in the evenings. Last night, however, was a different story. Last night was our buddy Jack "Mahogoff" Brown's bachelor party.

The day started innocently enough. The normal Saturday group ride saw 20 people show up. 4 of the riders had never been on the ride before. Have you ever noticed how when new people show up on a ride, you try to give them a heads up as to how things are going to go? Well, here I am telling them it's an out and back ride, it will start mellow and then pick up, but the route is easy, etc... Anyway, right before we take off, Chuck announces that this is Jack's last ride since he is getting married. Not last ride as a single man, but the dreaded LAST ride - ever. Now Jack is a calm and implacable guy, but the drillfest that ensued from the opening moments of the ride belied a touched nerve. As we shot down 90 at between 28 and 30 (so I heard, I don't ride with a computer for the very reason that I don't want a number to go with the pain), Michael (our first timer) rode up beside me no less than 4 times and asked, "Is it going to stay this fast?" Since I was having to put so much effort into breathing I wasn't able to articulate, "Dear god I hope not" and managed to say, "No". Sure enough it eased up a bit after Sand Mtn. We got to the end of Anthony's Creek and Chuck felt like thanking us for the pace of the ride; his first in a month. Now, I'll have to admit that I thought Chuck was taking his jersey off to cool down, but no, when you wear bib shorts the jersey has to come off before you can drop trou' and moon everyone. Someone remarked that they could see hemorrhoids, but Chuck assured him that those were his tonsils.

Fast forward past a busy day at the shop to the start of the aforementioned bachelor party at good ol' Sledgehammer Charlie's. Knowing that you are about to throw down with the owner of the restaurant gives one a certain amount of confidence that they won't get kicked out... As per the usual, we proceeded to order for Jack every strong and disgusting drink we could come up with. The restaurant staff got in on the act and started looking up bachelor party drinks on the internet. The rest of us maintained a strong and steady pace, setting tempo to Jack's breakaway. Needless to say, there are pictures and some video. Our bachelor took it all in good stride, wearing the numerous panties that he received in good humor and later donning the most alluring pair to be captured for all of posterity. I walked home, enjoying the light of a full moon and remembering the staggering intoxication of my own high altitude bachelor party...

It looks like there will be a break this week in the saga of thunderstorms we have been having. Hopefully, this will be my window of opportunity for house painting. Wish me luck...