And the hits just keep coming: more updates from Justin in Belgium

Our friend Justin Lindine is still in Belgium as part of the Euro Cross Camp. Until I get around to setting up his own blog, we are copying a few of his emails over for all of you to see.


It was a nightmare stop and go roller coaster before we even got to the race. I couldn’t tell if the surges in traffic were making me more or less nauseous then the radio “Donna” mix of incredibly bad American pop with Belgian techno-esque noise. In either case those of us in the back seat were rapidly reaching terminal sick state accompanied by the desperate need to pee. Great.

Step one after arriving at the venue was to miss the access to our parking zone. Step two was to use the facilities between a team sprinter van and some nice Belgian persons shrubbery. Ahh… After that desperate evacuation of fluid and some much needed fresh air there was the question of this whole race thing we were supposed to be getting ready for. The weather was pretty atrocious…I mean, nice typical Belgian weather. In other words it was 2 degrees Celsius and raining. It doesn’t take a degree in soil science to guess that rain, plus bike racers plus a farmer’s field equals all sort of pasty, peanut-buttery mud. Sweet! Because really, my bike has not had enough beat into it over the last couple of days. Sigh.

Morale in Camp USA was not what you would call “high” upon arrival. There were shivering U23 riders milling around, waiting for their ride home. Unfortunately their race was still being called in the distance. Me and my two other “profs” (Troy and Brian) sat in the warming van after riding our one course recon lap pondering the deeper questions of motivation and purpose in addition to line choice, dismount or ride, and some just general complaining about how hard it was going to suck to slog through a tractor pull of mud for an hour. Our musings did nothing to change the weather or the course however, and soon it was time to ride the trainers and do something of a warm up.

The course at Loenhout is nothing if not a really good example of an inventive use of open featureless space. When I say that a lot of it is just a farm field, I’m not kidding. But through the magic of design and a lot of sponsorship dollars, out of this field rise multiple flyovers, and a pump-track like whoop section (if you think this sounds like fun, go to your local BMX track, put 20lbs of air in the tires of your cross bike and try it out: it’s terrifying at high speed, and I like pump tracks). Once again I was amazed at the crowds at these races. I mean, who wants to come out on a day like this: sane animals are hibernating or migrating right about now. But despite this there were thousands upon thousands of Belgians making their way into the rainy wetness of some random field to watch us accomplish what a tractor and a plow would in about half the time. As I made my way around the course trying not to look like a flailing idiot too much of the time, I rode through clouds of cigar and cigarette smoke so thick I could almost taste it. This is racing. This is awesome. I’m riding well. I’m being lapped by Sven Nys. Sigh.

It took forever to figure out how to get back to the car. I was cold, dejected and not wanting to stare into the faces of a public so excited by this sport. “How many fences are there in this place?” “Where the hell am I?” But in reality the people were polite and eventually, after me looking dazed and confused for long enough, gave me directions back to town and the parking lot. It’s amazing how you can ride so many laps around a labyrinthine course without having any understanding of where it actually goes. So now we were back in the van, piling wet muddy clothes into bags to deal with later. Another day in the books and still not much of a result to speak of. Troy managed a pretty solid result riding in with a group containing mountain biking icon Jose Hermidia for 30th. Not too shabby.

The rest of us, or at least myself, spent the van ride back thankfully a little less motion sick albeit a little more reflective. As I sit staring out the window at the Belgian countryside passing by I’m already thinking about the next race, and the bike maintenance I have to try and get done in the next couple of days, and what I’ve learned here that I can take with me into next season and beyond. It’s been a humbling day for a lot of us to be sure, but I know that at least for myself, I’m trying to soak in as much experience as the Belgian mud soaks in the rain….tomorrow is another day.

Update from Justin Lindine in Belgium

As some of you may remember, our friend Justin Lindine is in Belgium at the Euro Cross Camp. We will be putting up some of his updates until we get him set as a writer. Thank you for all of your support to help get him there!


Today was the first race day of the camp. It was a relatively small race in the town of Middelkerke which is on the northern coast of Belgium. From what I was told it is a race normally decided by strong coastal winds and sand. Today however was a little bit of a different story. It was very cold, as it has been for the past week or so here, and the snow that the area received was still in place on the course. By the time we raced it was a treacherous mix of snow and one "good" muddy line through it all. That being said the course could have been fun, with some wide open sections, a nasty run-up and some fast 180's, along with a good amount of spectators for a smaller race.

However, this is where my personal story goes awry. It was race day and my bikes still weren't here. To say I'm a little stressed out may be understatement. Fortunately, I was able to borrow the loaner bike that the camp has to race on. Unfortunately, the bike is a good four sizes too big, the rear shifter sort of sometimes works, and I had to use some borrowed pedals because as you might guess, they are in my bike case as well. Now, I don't like to make trivial excuses for bad rides, and a good rider can make a bad bike work. But, it definitely didn't add to a day where I might not have felt that good anyway. So as I sprinted off the start line with my sweet second row call up (right behind f'ing Sven Nys!) I struggled to make my shifter go through the gears, and sat more or less on the top tube (with the bars higher then my now slammed seat).

Long story short, it wasn't the best race I've ever had, and I wound up getting lapped which is not great. Hopefully it was at least worth the effort and a blowing out of the legs will do me good come the world cup in Zolder this weekend. Hopefully as well, my bikes will make it here tomorrow and I can get out a bit and check out the countryside. I'll keep you all posted....with what I am expecting to be improving news.

Justin Lindine

Nationals in Bend, OR by Roger

Nationals

Like I said I would write what happened in Bend on the way home, well I did, but never finished the story due to a red eye flight.
We got to Bend on Wednesday night and got settled at the La Quinta hotel, which was a very nice place to stay for a bike racer. Big rooms, tasty waffles for breakfast and a friendly maintenance guy who let as work on our bike in the “ boiler room”. The only problem was the 9-degree weather!
It was a long day and we need to eat, so Ralf and me took Matt Spinks advice to look for a restaurant call Pastini. It was very weird, a year ago we did the Nationals in Kansas City and we ate at a little fancy shopping center that looked identical to this one where Pastini was. The food was pretty good, so yes we ate there the next 3 nights; I guess that is pretty weird too according to Kyle, perfectly fine with me!
Kyle and Justin made it there that night as well after driving from RI with all the bikes. It sounded like they went thru hell getting there with a little pressure time wise, since we all were supposed to start riding the course on Thursday and Richard Sachs had his race on the first day. With the 3-hour time difference from home, now it was really late, but at the same time I did not want adjust to it either. My race is 9.30 am on Sat, so actually at 12.30 our time which would workout well since we are used to race at that time back home all the time.

Thursday morning, cold as hell! We get the bikes ready and head Wal-Mart to get some toe and hand warmers. Felt like we were going ice fishing or something, got a thermos and some socks as well! Then to the venue, it was squeezed into a small some sort of a warehouse parking lot. What else would you expect for the Nationals? The course is covered in ice and snow, super short and narrow and twisty with a million turns. It also has a set of stairs with 22 or 23 steps, very Euro! The hour that was available for pre-riding was like a balancing act, there was about 2000 people on it and only a few new how to ride on the snow ice, so we definitely got a good look at the course going 2 mph around it a few times. There were a million different races going on all day, every day, categories I never heard of. What is a B-race under 29 years?? Time goes quick we rode back to the hotel on roads covered with slush, sand and ice. Thursday and Friday was identical; wake up, waffles, Wal-Mart, ride the rush hour or gridlock on the course which they extended every day, clean the bikes, Pastini and then to bed @ 9.00 pm.

The real excitement on Friday was the 45-49 age group race with one of our clients, Ralf Warmuth starting on the front row with a good chance of finishing on the podium. Ralf has trained almost specifically for this event all year; he more or less put all the eggs in one basket to put his goals in perspective. Our good friend Jon Bold was in that race as well and between these two guys they probably made this race the most exciting to watch all weekend. Jon battled for the win after moving up from 45th spot at one point to the lead with James Coats. An epic battle all the way to the end, just like we race in New England every weekend and think that was to Jon’s advantage. JB wins and Ralf is in 3rd place one lap to go, gets stuck behind a lapped rider (that was supposed to get pulled???) and Noble slips by, a little bobble on the barriers and it costs Ralf his 3rd spot. 3rd or 4th is still a phenomenal performance by the German and I was really excited for both of them and a good start to the weekend. In addition to these guys an other East Coaster, Paul Curly had won the day before in he 55-59 category.

Race day; I felt good! We got to the course nice and early and I started to ride the course to test out some tires, did 4 laps on 4 different tires, file thread it is! The funny thing is that I had about 6 sets of different wheels with me, but Jon Bold offered me his Dugast file threads on a nice light Reynolds wheel, a very special tire, so that was no brainier at all. A very nice gesture from our new National Champion to offer that to a fears competitor all year, I would have done the same for that matter though.

Kevin Hines was up first (8.30 am start). Tillford was there, but did not line up, so I already new who was going to be the first FinKraft client to win the Nationals before the gun went off. Kevin races with me and Jon all year and I do not know any other 50 plus guys that are actually beating us occasionally, so as long as he stays up right and does not break anything on the ice he will have the stars and stripes at the end of the day. Kevin got a good start and just rode his own race and there was nobody even near him. He crashes a few times, but it did not matter this was probably the most dominant win all weekend. Great job, it has been such a pleasure to work with Kevin and Ralf and for them to have such good results is just outstanding.
Then it was my turn, I got a good warm up on the course testing out all those tires and then on the trainer while Kevin raced, so I was ready .It is great to get the first call up, but standing there for about 15-20 min waiting for the rest of the 190 guys to get lined up is not. It was not too cold so, not bad.

I manage to pull off the dream start ( hole shoot), I knew the start was critical and getting to the 180 turn would be important and then have less guys to deal with on the ice. The first lap went well, I think I was second up the stairs, but then for some reason I started to get passed on the really slick parts by a few guys, no attacks they just kind of rolled by. I had a small crash in the turn before the stairs, but nothing critical. Now am in like 10th spot and there are a group of slower riders in front of me, but not being able to pass at too many places my race was over, almost lost the fire to race and it felt like I was just riding around without really pushing myself. A very mediocre race for me, disappointing, but on the other hand this as one race out of 20 something cross races and a ton of road racing this year. I had a great season and not many disappointments at all which is unusual in bike racing. I went back to the hotel, took a shower and packed up, I was actually relieved it was over, I was tired and did not want think about a bicycle for a little while. Ralf and I went back to he venue and watched the U-23 race and then the 35-39 age group right after. Kyle and Justin had already pretty much packed up the bikes for the guys who were done racing and the million wheels we had, I have to say if it was not for Kyle and Justin, this trip would have been a lot more painful, thanks guys!
The drive back to Portland was interesting; a little snowstorm going over Mt Hood made the roads pretty traitorous. We made it and after returning the rental car, we were back at the airport. I change my flight to the red eye one , no breaks by the Continental people , they charge me a nice $ 150 and gave me some attitude to go with it. It was either that or stay another night in a hotel and pay for a baby sitter back home. Now we had some time to kill, so a couple of beers (Belgian) and a greasy burger were perfect after not eaten much all day. I think this might have been one of the best moments of the trip. Red eye flight back home, not much sleep, but glad to be back home!

A long story, I hope you are not bored to death reading it , the weather is crappy now , so there are nothing else to do anyway. Read blogs and watch YouTube , before you know it is back to racing !

Thanks

Roger

Summing it all up by Roger

I am on a plane to Portland, OR sitting next to the German. (Ralf) The bikes are in Wyoming by now if not even further by now. Hell of a trip for everybody with bad weather and lot of stuff to move across the country for a 45 min race. A normal beer dinking and cigarette smoking Joe would say this is insanity! I agree, what was even more insane was the New England Verge series consisting of 14 races all over the place.
I could have driven back and forth to Bend, OR three times with the amount of miles I racked up going to all those races chasing the over all series win.

I never even unpacked a lot of times; it was just wash what was covered with mud, clean the bikes and make a trip to the bike store and rebuild the headsets and bottom brackets. I did my best to keeping thing organized and still do my job coaching and riding with clients in addition to try to do some training and recovering myself.

The New England series or the “Masters World cup” like I call it. The competition makes this CX series the best in the country. Everybody has their ups and downs in a stretch of 14 races for sure and if you are not ON one weekend you better hope you finish in the top 10 and still get some points. The coverage on the various web sites all tells how it goes down each weekend , so you all know the stories by now. Some courses and weather conditions suit some riders better and from Sep to Dec Mother Nature will throw everything possible at you guaranteed. Every venue has double race weekends and that also affects the results sometimes, it is extremely hard to have 2 perfect races back to back. I think I was the only one who won both races one weekend (Vermont).

Well it went right down to the wire; I was leading by 10 points going into the last 2 races in Warwick, RI. I always feel like I am on the enemy’s territory in New England, even though we are all friends and I even coach a few guys there. I am the guy to beat, no matter if I am winning or just fighting for a placing. Well it is no different to me either, I am there to beat them any chance I get, it does not matter if it is on the road or in cross.
I drove up the night before with the trailer in tow, since everybody who were going to the Nationals were going to be at this race and Kyle was going to take of for Bend, OR right after the Sunday race.
We raced hard again, Jon Bold was in control and I was hanging on for dear life to preserve my lead. I was close on Sat 5 sec off the whole race, but I did not feel like the same guy I was in Vermont 3 months ago. Sunday was even worse, lower back tightens up 1 lap to go and then it was game over, oh well! I won 5 races and Jon won 6, that was all it took to loose the series by 10 points. It is really hard to get to the top, but once you get there it does not become any easier, that is when the struggle starts to stay there. The last 2-3 weeks was a tuff period of time trying to stay motivated, recover and do the right kind of training for the fitness to stay at least the same or keep rising to yet another level.
I was winning races in March and had super form all throughout the summer with some really hard road races at the Pro 1 2 level, so when I am not beating the master’s field in cross by a mile, something is going on ! Maybe tired????

Great season though, won a USGP race and 3 Mac races as well plus a lot of 2nd places (first looser) so no complaints. My wife has been super supportive, it is not easy with baby sitters and me being on the road every weekend. She works hard at her real job as a nurse and then works for FinKraft (as hard if not even harder) on her days off besides being a mom. To be a girlfriend or wife to a cyclist or any other elite athlete for that matter takes a lot. I grew up doing this stuff, but for some one to jump into a life like this with no racing life background it is probably the hardest thing to adapt for someone and really puts a relationship to the test. A topic I will write more about another time in the off-season, a very important part of racing that every single athlete experiences.

The bikes (Ridley) were fantastic and all the tires (Challenge and Dugast) and wheels (mostly Zipp and Mavic) never let me down either. The super flashy National Champ Kit by Verge stood out and drew a lot of attention for sure. All the other things that Mark @ Westwood Cycle supplied me with like gloves for example (a whole bag full) and the service and the 12 tires( did not roll one) Allan glued this fall for me is irreplaceable in racing at this level. Sports Balm, Uvex and Country Choice Organic products is what gave me that extra boost each week to do better and win. This is something we all should think about, if someone gives you something for free or even a discount on a product that helps you in any way doing what you love (racing). When the gun goes off, race a little extra hard and show that the support means a lot to you. This is sometimes the only way of giving back besides saying thank you!

The plane landed (finally), we are in Portland and it is 25 degrees! A 3 hour drive over Mt Hood and we should be in Bend, 14 hours later since leaving my house in NJ. I will write what happens in Bend (if anything) on the way back , I hope Kyle and Justin are getting close as well , we will need the bikes to race !

Thanks for reading,

Roger

Now they call you Prince Charming...

I cannot even imagine what the inside of my car must smell like to "outsiders". I have to be used to it by now.

First, to say that I am over-caffinated would be a slight to moderate understatement. So there is some gurgling there.

Then, all of the "elite" bikes were put away without being washed, so there is that 4 day old mud thing starting to build up.

I am pretty sure that Justin left some of his Grandmothers swiss cheese in the passenger door pocket back in Boise.

I am also pretty sure that Boldy did NOT wash his national championship winning skinsuit before he put it in his bag and then stacked that bag directly behind me in the back seat.

I cannot remember the last time I did laundry. Or even bothered to change clothes into clean laundry, for that matter. Hey, out of site, out of mind.

Last but not least, there is a teeny tiny bit of flop sweat left over from that fog thing in Utah.

So, for all of you, my faithful readers, scratch the computer screen and sniff. Yikes.

A few passing thoughts: Cleveland does not rock. Why do some trucks have fancy lights and others none at all? JB: thanks for the messages Champ.

Training tip: wash your kits in cold with a little oxy-clean.

Sorry, no pictures.

I never thought I would ever say that I am happy to be back in Iowa, but I am happy to be back in Iowa. Kinda.

So this morning started with me calling the Wyoming State Highway Patrol after the light trailer ban continued to be in effect on I-80. It went something like this:

"Good morning, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Lt Crespin speaking."
"Hi, is the ban still in effect for I-80 east?"
"What does the internet say?"
"Oh. Um, It's not that I don't think your state is nice, but I want to leave, how to do I that?"
"Have you tried the old route 30?"
"oh"

So, I went across to the coffee shop and asked the guy with the biggest hat about old route 30. They gave me directions. So, I started my simple 100 mile detour of Southeast Wyoming around Elk Mountain on a lovely single lane desert road. I got to see the town of Medicine Bow (elev. 7700, pop. 274) and the bustling Bosler (elev. 7640, pop 0). Yup, zero. A real life ghost town. Pretty cool. Soon, I made it to Laramie and back on the Interstate.

Then, my enemy appeared, and his name is Nebraska. Even with "severe clear" skies and dry roads, this state takes forever and is freaking cold. I mean, it took 8 hours it was 6 degrees in Omaha. What? How do you grow corn in 6 degrees? And those cows only have thin leather jackets, they must be freezing!

So, here I am Iowa, resting up for the big push home. Oh wait, did I tell you the best part of Iowa? Well let me tell you: its their 350 miles of grooved concrete highway. Except for the fact that the trailer is filed with extremely light carbon fiber bikes and wheels, so the trailer bounces up and down on every groove and rocks the Kyle-mobile more than a Friday night at the movies! ha!

Ok, that's it.

Remember, you race like you train.

Chasing windmills in my dreams...

"They put poets in prison?" " No." "Too bad." Alright, fair warning: this is going to be a long one. So get a drink and a snack. I'll wait...still waiting...ok?...time for me now?...Thanks.

The USAC Cyclocross National Championships are finally over. I will not lie to you, my faithful readers, it was chaos. A repeat thumbs up to Kevin and Ralf, great showing Finkrafters! Yesterday was the "elite" race. It was incredibly fast; those guys are on top of their game and it was very impressive. It was also cool to see the nice guys from New England bring it hard to Treefarm and Mr "Rude" JP. Nicely done gents.

Our own Justin Lindine is ranked 11th in the country, so he got a sweat call up spot. He handled the start well and was going strong. However, on the back side of the course, the sun had set behind the hills and some water froze on a short section of pavement. He, and most of the field (including then leader J-Pow) fell hard. Justin carved himself up and ripped his only long sleeve skinsuit. He was able to catch back on and moved up to 13th overall when he flatted just beyond the pit. Crap. By the time he ran all around the muddy course, the officials pulled him and all the other riders. A bit disappointing. Unfortunately, the nature of cyclocross is that sometimes it happens. We put him on a plane this morning in Boise, ID to go home early so he can heal and get ready for Belgium. We went to a meeting on Saturday evening and the schedule will be awesome. They even gave him cards to hand out to the fans at the races. So freakin' cool. He will write some blogs for us to tell about the adventures over there.

Ok, now I get to vent a little. This weekend's event was a joke. Normally when we go to bike races, the promoter is a club or a rider or a fan. However, when the USAC puts on their events, they use a large scale promoter who is there to make a profit. For all we know, when the guys that put on Natz finish, they have to prep for the Bon Jovi concert next. With fees at least at $70, we should have been able to count on course marshalls, pit passes, or at least the same course every day. Instead, it was chaos, and with fields over 190 riders; people were getting lapped and pulled within a two laps. Crazy.

Then there was the venue: a lovely mountain town, sure. But this town is 3 hours from the nearest airport and as far as I can tell, the course was held at a toxic waste dump.

Then, this other picture is a view from the spoils piles over towards the lovely mud slop called the service pits. It was disgusting. Then there is this picture a pile of garbage on the far side of the course. If you look carefully, you can see the course tape in the background. You don't see those pictures on the internet!!!

Ok, I feel better. Now, you ask: Kyle, from where are you typing this lovely note? Well, I am stranded in Rawlins, Wyoming. Yup, they have closed I-80 Eastbound due to high winds. Apparently my car and trailer (with 25 bicycles) will blow over. No snow, but wind. Ugh.

However, this part of the country is stunning. That's it for now. I am hoping that the wind will stop so I can get the heck out of here and back east. I don't like beards. If you have been to Oregon, you would understand.

Train hard, race harder.

Just around the Bend

Greetings from Bend, OR again! Today is Sunday and the last day of the Cyclocross National Championships. It has been a very interesting week.

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to Finkrafter Kevin Hines who won the masters 50+ race on Saturday morning. It was a great race! Kevin was second in line going into the first hairpin turn at the beginning of the race, passed the one person and never looked back. With cold and icy conditions, the course was treacherous but Kevin never faltered and beat the next placed rider by almost a minute. It was fantastic. He was supposed to have heavy competition from a famous ex world champion, but rumor around here was when that guy heard Kevin was a Finkrafter, he decided not to show up! Awesome. Good work to Kevin for a long season of racing and training. In fact, Coach Roger advised Kevin to race the "faster" 35+ Verge series all year, and that prep made him heads and shoulders above the rest. It was great to watch.

In the 45+ event, Finkrafter Ralf Warmuth was amazing in taking 4th place. He has been moving up every year and now to be on the podium was just great. Ralf rode a smart race, never panicing on the ice and moving up lap after lap. He was cautious and aggressive at the same time, and his hard work really paid off. Our friend Jon Bold won day in one of the best races I have ever seen. Remember, rubbin' is racin'!

Roger came to this venue after winning races since March and the defending champion. He absolutely railed the hole shot at about 30mph but had some issues and was not able to defend. The competition was incredible and the racing great.

Also, our friend Luke Keough took 3rd in the under 23 event. This is considered the future of bike racing, and so is Luke. He was beat by a guy on a Protour team, so it hardly seemed fair.

Well, today is the big show. The elite races for men and women. It should be awesome as this year has really been a slug fest out there, and the Northwest guys have been giving a lot of trash talk about us New Englanders and Northeast guys. Cant wait. Our own Justin Lindine has an 11th spot call up, so that should really help him. I hope everyone thinks good thoughts.

We head back East this afternoon so Justin can get on a plane to Belgium for the Superprestige and Zolder World Cup. Freaking awesome.

Ok, one last thing to mention. The hotel where we have been staying has been great. They have a fantastic waffle machine, the staff has been very friendly and the maintenance guy let us use their hose and indoor (warm) shop to work on the bikes and the maids don't freak when they see what Roger does to a hotel room.

Also, when I went to get batteries for my camera this morning (hence no pics of Kevin, sorry) the neat market next door has an amazing selection of snacks, porn, bongs, 40 oz beers, and thankfully, batteries. This has been an interesting trip to say the least.

More from the road this week! Stay on that training, this is the fitness time of year!

It's not heaven, it's Iowa!

I hate two things in the world. Actually four, but that is a subject for another blog. These two are easy: Pennsylvania and Nebraska. Let me tell you why:

I am driving across the country this week for the Cyclocross National Championships. With the Finkraft mini-trailer filled beyond reasonable capacity, me and one of our athletes left the final Verge race in Rhode Island on Sunday night headed for Bend, Oregon. After quick sprints through RI, CT, NY and NJ, the long haul through the Keystone State begins.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the importance the Eastern part played on our Independence. Lancaster with its roots in religious Freedom is great. The industry of the West is critical to the health of our nation. My Dad hunts in the Northern parts and things it is keen.

But when you are just trying to drive through the damn thing, Pennsylvania stinks. Seriously, it takes about 75 hours to get across and after whipping though all of those tiny states so quickly, the State is a huge buzz kill. I hate you Pennsylvania.

Next let’s vent a bit about Nebraska. Previous to this trip, I had no real opinion about the Cornhusker state. Then I drove through it on Tuesday. For those who watch the TV news, they had a little weather. A lot of weather. It snowed really hard and there was a constant North to South wind that tried to blow me, my bike racer laden car, and the Finkraft mini-trailer (mentioned above) all the way down to Texas. I have been to Texas, I did not want to go back.

So, Nebraska took a really long time too. Almost twice as long. Very disappointing. I now hate corn and if I ever see another advertisement for “beef, it’s what for dinner” again, I will puke.

Whew. I actually feel much better now. So tonight I will make it to Bend. Greeting me there will be the Finster, Ralf, Kevin, and several of our New England friends and fellow bike racers. Wish them all speed and skill. Luck is for those who didn’t train.

Did I mention how it was negative five degrees this morning in Wyoming? I will, don’t worry!