Two down in the South

Well I guess I gotta post sumpin bout first cuppla days of the speed week series. Tom Buzas was right bout the Athens crowd and the drinking but his warning bout possible beer bottles being thrown on the course did not happen thankfully. There was a massive crowd and many were consuming and getting their swerve on. Good time for all there cept a professor that day did kill his wife and two others earlier thus a manhunt was in progress just off the course. Not fun for them...serious stuff. Unlike racing which is fun n games right. So yeah ...stacked field and there was a stunt moto guy doing trix 4 the crowd so much delay with call ups n shennanigans. Nervous waiting. The race starts and two corners in a crash causes a chase which was a great beginning...the race seemed to stretch out to a vanishing point with it being dark and a 150 rider field. I moved up some and got passed some. The counter read 43 and starting to feel it. At around 35 I was thinking at least get to the 20s fore bagging it. I was caught behind a rider down and went into his rear wheel and tried to hop but only went over the bars ...so I got a scratch on the nose and restarted with like 15 others. Down into the 20 sumpin lap to go I was closing small gaps and they were serious efforts. The teens went by and I was just counting each lap as a victory and just telling myself to do one more...7 to go and I was last guy ..at round 4 to go I moved up a lil and rode Evan Faders wheel awhile cause he was not hopping out the saddle on the backside climb and his wheel was less stressfull to follow... 2 laps left and speed really pamped up and more gaps 2 close...bell lap and I hopped around some spent guys and realized a tiny gap had opened up and I was no longer in the field sprint but I finished 56th and I finished. Historic Roswell was fast and narrow but we had daylight and smaller crowd. The last stretch was out of the saddle out the corner every time and narrow backside was lot of bunching up. Perfect for teams to set up moves and block. The race went by faster though and I was able to ride big name wheels and stay closer t the action. The cramps came and went. I got to 5 laps left and movad up more. At what I thought was. 2 to go I was in perfect position and at the mistaken bell I shot by many and would have had a topt en in the field sprint. But after crossing the line I was astonished the race kept pedalling on...a guy beside me asked me wasn't that the last lap? I was shocked but realized some error was made as I was being passed on both sides...the real last lap on the backside was madness and much bumping and pushing...very nervewracking but out of the last corner and out the saddle. I tried to give it another push but it was weak and I landed 54th I believe...oh and yesterdays crash messed with frnt deraileur so it fell to small ring in middle of race causins some tension and words. I worked it out last night at the room in Beaufort and today is the race I look forward to the most down here cause this town is where I really started to train 4 racing and where I livad and went to college. Hello Beaufort . Alaskan crab legs last night and hopefully good race legs tonight !

broken bike

crash replacement cost 1900 $ not sure if that is a reduced price or just the same as to buy new with a nice name....lame deal and trek will never get my money again...bammas. I thought they would ask for 500 $ or sumpin reasonable. I like the Giant and it performed well today.
Columbia is always a great workout and nice and wide so it is a user friendly course. I got a forty $ dollar prime in the 35 plus and 8 th place which landed 25 $...the prime was at three to go and I kept going hoping to get a split going but to no avail. I was riding relentlessly in the 123 just to get my fitness up for the upcoming speed week series and to try to reel back the move up the road but blocking by dc velo and LSV proved to be too much ..oh and also Immediate mortgage. Harley was left out for the second day in a row...pretty unusual but the large majority is up at battenkill so thus an explanation for that. Hipp and Fuentes proved though that they do pretty well as the smaller contingent and Dave got fifth I believe in the 123 with much work put in and three up the road...no lame sprinter sitting in for them today. Josh had a great weekend with a fifth or fourth ? yesterday ( plus they won ) and a win today...and at their own race which is always nice. He spoiled the two LSV guys efforts to counter him and the stronger guy won.

Ready or Not ( photo #1 worried #2 resigned )

Well...so I have been remiss in my duty to put a post up ? This post is about the future and present. Presently I am still trying to get this new bike fit for me. The new bike has this ( Giant advanced TCR ) ...has this seatpost that has to be cut at your desired height. The hacksawing of the frame for me required about 15 or 16 measurements of the same distance ..( old seat height on Madonne ) compared to the new frame where the cut should be made..once the clamp is inserted into the cut seat mast it adds 1 and a half in. so this compounded my nervous measurements and multiple checks before I actually cut the damn thing. Old school and not wanting to screw up made for a very nervous build for me. Busy week it has been and really struggling with the juggling of bills, overdrafts, and job supervising and estimating..plus registering for events . Riding was not accomplished at all besides down the street and back up after the bike was assembled around ten pm.
Thus the post title....ready or not. Olly olly in come free. Is it too late to post a photo of the broken frame of three races back or four ? maybe.. but I still might get around to it...bad mojo dough. I am going down to Speed week in Ga. and S Carolina and N Carolina. I went to college In SC and my bro lives in NC so I will have a somewhat nearby base camp. Good to get away.. Syn fit crit today was sorta frustrating bc the race split in half and it was too many DC Velo guys up there and too many Richmond Pro. So none of them would work if a split went from the break on the pretense that they didnt have to. If left behind and chasing.. none of them would work to bridge on the pretense that they did not have to. The two Battley riders( Hipp and Fuentes ) were outnumbered but they played their cards well and maybe won the group sprint for third, but they could not contain the race like usual after multiple moves went and came back...some I was in and some I helped bridge. Maybe around ten laps left, J. Meidhoff went away and was never seen again..a few laps later a Richmond Pro went off solo also and was gone up the road...too much looking around and too much team tactics. Thats of course if neither of those teams were yours. But the group sprint was fast and there was Ken Young and Craig Dodson and Josh and Immediate had Githens and Pete Custer and the two harley sprinters and Van Dessel and kelly and and and ,...you get the picture. I got fourteenth..I got some bills paid..I got some work lined up..READY OR NOT...going down south..but there is Columbia menana..ciao. (Dog in shot was in Dupont circle.. guys name in photo is Spencer.)

OUT WITH THE OLD IN WITH THE NEW TWO

Fuck ...the time for me is never good to buy a new bike ...but now is the time. I could post a photo and maybe I will, but imagine a frame broken in half along the down tube and also another complete break just below the top tube down the head tube. The new one will be a Giant advanced sls or sumpin its cool...the bike.. and the price 4 me is sweet...much less than the crash replacement from trek....soo ...bout last weekends racing ? life is tough and so is racing thats why I do it..it keeps me reminded of the basics...stay upright...stay humble...and be nice and kick ass. I try, at least, to do all of the above. See you on the course of life ... :)