north

canada is cool
I will check in later with some photos
Check out Monaviecannondale.com
later

weird

At Snowbird I went from leading comfortably for a few laps and not even hurting to crawling to the finish. Don't know what happened other than I felt sick, vomited, and could not go fast. Stomach was all balled up the rest of the day but after a 2 hr nap I felt a little better. Today I felt normal and was good on the bike.

middle age rules

Eva was disappointed that I was not having a birthday party today so she decided to take maters into her own hands and planned one herself. Because she did not have a big crowd assembled to sing happy birthday she decided to tape herself singing and then replay it later while she sings along so it seems like more people are singing, brilliant!

When I talked to Mitch on the phone today after he just missed winning the U-23 national championship in Mt Snow I was wishing I was there and ready to race one of my favorite courses. It wasn't until I got home from work and was able to see Eva's excitement in wishing me happy birthday that I was reminded why I didn't go.

Surely anyone that has watched the tour is not surprised by the latest doping bust. On stage 9 when watching Ricco stand up for minutes on end with a high cadence up 10% grades at the end of a 4 hr day sprinting away from the best I told Rosie that this guy is not natural and will eventually be busted!

I like riding my bike more than ever!

summer chill

Cannondale sales meeting in PC wrapped up last week with a fun dinner including a picture presentation of the BC stage race. The 09 line looks good and I may need to make some more room in the shop. Had dinner with Basso and his dress lives up to the euro hype, he even out does Linde!




A non racing weekend at the bear lake cabin with the girls included:
beach time


raspberry oreo shakes


and rallying the argo 6x6

this baby is amphibious!

bc aftermath

Back to the good life with the family. Not much time for details from the race as I am frantically trying to catch up on life at home. The yard is a jungle, got to play with the girls, build up a new bike, go to work, sleep and recover, clean up loads of junk, and plan my next adventure.

As always the racing is the easy part, it's getting life back in order upon return that is challenging.

I can't thank my family enough for all the support and sacrifices they make so I can pretend I am a pro bike racer. Could not do it without them!

Got this picture in my email after a rough day in the woods

I can't say I had my best race and actually don't remember one instance where I had "good" legs, not even on the first day. I am not sure why things did not come together like I had planned but they didn't and I am happy with how I dealt with it. Like I have said before your best races are not the ones that define you as an athlete, its the tough ones, the inner battles.

race details and stories to come......

waxed

Every pedal stroke hurt today and it was not the good going fast kind of hurt. Being sick for a 7 day stage race is no way to spend a vacation.

at least the trails are good!

trails

I am now sitting in a laundry in squamish, BC following stage 5. Sorry for the lack of updates but I have been busy. This race has been full of ups and downs which I can't even describe so I won't even try right now. I have been getting so good photos but no camera with me right now.

Anyway after our stage win on day 1 I came down with a cold (from Ohran) and some grumpy legs. We had some poor luck with a flat at the absolute worst time but were lucky to hold on to the jersey through day 2. Day 3 and 4 are a blur of suffering for me as I have been struggling with limited energy and sore legs. Today was by far the best course with nearly 4 hours of the best trail I have ridden in my life anywhere in the world. The last 30 min DH dropped close to 3000 ft on loamy goodness and I would bet the course crossed a couple hundred wood bridges and stunts.
The legs are still barking but I was able to pull it together a little better for 2nd on the stage behind the Kona boys. Sager tried to move a tree with his shoulder on the DH but as strong as he is riding a little handicap may actually help us.

2 more days of crazy vertical and trail then back to the girls, can't wait.