Everyday is a new one. I work with a man named Peter. He's a pleasure to work with, positive attitude, knows what he's talking about, and a mechanical Engineer since the 70's. I just found this out, he's only working here because he's going to his daughters college graduation in Europe, so is filling the time between jobs. Well, I'm aspiring to be in the same trade as him so I felt the time was oppurtune to probe his mind on that particular industry. Long story short he told me as a mechanical engineer it is tough. If you are working for Boeing and they don't get that Gov contract...kiss your job goodbye. He did however mention that his wife who is a civil engineer has held a steady job for years. Peter told me that the civil engineering world is where it's at. So I have been thinking of this all night. Civil engineering? What do you think?

The time has come

I have taken the advice of many, ignored the advice of many more. I have fought the battle against my own mind and succumbed to the will of one.

Yes, thats me, again wearing spandex, but now I have a sponser. A secondary one (to Dad), although i bought the kit at cost and only get a minor discount at Montrose Bike, it's a step towards the point of no return. There is no quitting at this point. I'm just now bridging into the greatest team America has ever seen. A team that is owned by an eccentric bilionaire. I was promised hot girls knocking at the door at 1-2 weeks just for wearing the kit. The team has their own Winnabeargo!

So back to the point...or lack of a point. I have enjoyed the races I have done, hated the suffering during the rides and my training before them. Yet, still after I recover I look forward to the next race, then get anxious knowing that each race will be pushing me to the maximum of my physical capabilty, a level of pain I have not yet felt. Is it my addictive personality that leads me to this pain? Is it me trying to prove that my physical talents didn't end in HS? Maybe I just want to be better than other people...or that I want to be able to tell people that I actually do something with my life, when asked what I do in my spare time I can say something more than the generic "well you know, hang out with friends and watch TV". I couldn't live with myself if that was the most interesting thing about me. Sadly, for many, especially a few girls I have dated recently, this is the most interesting thing.

I refuse to be mundane. I will avoid this by racing. So far it has worked, I have a date with a 6 foot tall blonde on Saturday night. I once told Rob that I didn't want to race because it would take all my time and I wanted to leave time for girls...he said I should because Iwould get more girls. I thought of the girls I've seen at races...and he would be right if I was a lesbian, but I'm not. However, girls do dig winners. Thats my motivation, the more I win, the more those tights become sexy.

Why?

I've done two stage races now, within those stage races I was in 2 road races. Basically I have limited experience racing.
But one thing I have noticed really bugs me. I have been watching all the pro races that have been aired on TV this year. When i see them I see guys who are RACING. There are attacks, breakaways, and suffering....FOR THE WHOLE RACE! But in my lil cat5 races, the consensus among the riders has seemed to be "take it easy guys, we have a long ways to go". Now c'mon, are we here to race or hold hands and sing songs? Today in my race I found myself out front with a bit of a gap after taking a pull on a moderate incline, hoping to pick the pace up. I guess to everyone else it was too much work that early into the race, although we had been going for 18 miles in only a 60 mile race. Well, I had two options. Let the lil effort I had put in go to waste and fall back in with the sissies behind me or to just keep on going with 35 miles of headwinds in front of me to tackle by my lonesome.
Pride took the best of me, especially because there already was a mutual agreement to STOP (if we were all together) at the feedzone to get water...not this time, I had no one to hand me bottles and was carrying four on me, everyone else could kiss my butt. Let them stop if they want, but I was out on the front, no wankering out in this race. So I made my break, basically sacrificing my chances to win the whole stage race which i could've done if I was conservative about it. Long story short I stuck the break for about 20 miles and got caught. I held on with the lead group over the major climb and to the sprint at the end taking 5th still, even after dropping my chain 3 times throughout the race.
Basically what I'm getting at is...where is the competitive spirit? Yeah, I didn't make it to the end on my lil solo break, but why weren't there any other riders willing to get their heart rates up before 1 km to go? Watching Paris Roubaix, the 3 breakaway riders knowing that it was coming down to just them, kept the pace high the whole time. The guys I have raced with slow down towards the end. WE WERE GOING 11MPH at one point on relativley flat ground in the last 5miles of the race! As i watch the Pro races, I'm envious. I want to race with people willing to take chances, to work hard the whole time. If I had just one person who decided to come with me, I know we would've held off the pack for the 35 miles, but they were all scared to give an effort till the last second. WHERE ARE YOUR BALLS PEOPLE?!?

New toys

Ok, a follow up.

Yes Kelsey, I got a new car, or a new old car. It's a 2003 Pontiac Vibe, same as a Toyota Matrix but usually goes for about 2 grand less and has a factory roof rack, a definite plus. I got the GT version so it has a six speed manual tranny (sorry Eric, but if you wanna drive it you better learn), Kelsey you can drive it...the seat even moves forward so you can reach the pedals! It has 180 hp opposed to the 150 in other models. All and all it suits me really well, the roof rack, the seats that fold down really well, the sunroof with plenty of headroom to spare, the "premium sound" (which is a lot better than the stereo in my truck!), Pirelli tires, FOG LIGHTS!, front sway bar, power everything which makes me feel all high class and alloy wheels (which I really don't like, a bit cheesy but it's cool).

On top of a new car, I really felt I needed another new toy...so I got a bike, surprise right? Well this particular bike cost me 50 bucks and I have to say it's the pride and joy of the fleet. I don't know what year it is, 70's I think. It's got semi horizontal dropouts so you know what that means! If you don't, which is most of you, it means the derailleurs are gone and its evolved into a single speed. I've worked on it a bit and it's almost finished. I'm using as many original parts as I can, frame, bars (classic style), brakes, crankset, levers, post, and saddle. But along with that I have to choose a gearing option that would be somewhat versatile. The crankset basically leaves me with a 53 or 39 tooth , I chose the 53, pretty high, but I threw a 20 tooth cog onto it to give me a chain length of 70, most road single speeds run about 67 so it's close enough. Anyways, the bike is going to Eric, I'm thinking about making it fixed but I'm unsure if he could/wants to ride with no freewheel. I might just do it anyways and then he'll be forced to learn how to ride one! Here it is. ( The wheels aren't the originals , if you couldn't tell. I'm just not down with 27 " wheels, what a pain in the butt they are)

It needs bar tape, I'm thinking yellow, maybe green, any suggestions? The only condition is that the color totally clashes with everything else on the bike (for Eric's sake)

A new ride

Thats right, I felt the vibe so I got one. More to come.

Triple Valley Stage Race

So, I did it.

Eric, your constant nagging paid off and you got me to race.

All and all it was good. Dissapointing the first stage, gratifying the second and a mix on the third. These feeling had nothing to do with results, but more so the way Cat 5's race. In retrospect, I would've planned my final move on the third stage better. Only 3 seconds out of third, I should've outsprinted the guy ahead of me at the line instead of throwing the hail mary 1km from the line. Then I could've got the time bonus to boost me into the top 3. Oh well, 4th in my first stage race is cool.


I feel motivated to train a bit harder, not longer but more intense. Taking fourth in the Time Trial was a great achievment. A measure of indivisual strength, nothing else. The 3 who beat me had TT bikes and all the aero stuff to go with. I had a 21 pound bike with clip on bars which I was riding basically for the first time. Looking at the pics, I wasn't really that aero, so I can be happy I powered through into fourth.


Anyways, I hopefully will be racing again this weekend...another Stage Race...I'm going to be so tired. It will suit me better though, some big climbs to really separate those pansies looking for the participation awards from those who actually want blood. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my truck hasn't passed away at the mechanics while I was in UT.


Here are some pics from the weekend. I'd like to thank my personal photographers, Kelsey, Eric, Ben, you guys are great!

Warming up before the first stage

Just before the TT finish line

Neutral rollout, stage 3, always got time to pose.

In the breakaway group, stage 3

After my hail mary, right before the line...at least one guy couldn't hang w/ the pace I set

Post race (I'm stepping, my leg isn't jacked up)

Finally Eric sprinting from the restroom before his race starts.

Another day

After a rough weekend, I'm feeling better. My truck was broken into, dash ripped off, stereo, cd's, Ben's glasses....all gone. All this right in front of the house, now when I'm outside and I hear a noise on the street I'm ready with my gat in hand to avenge these cowards who broke into my truck. Worst part was that in the stereo was an awesome CD a buddy gave me, ("Me Without You", check em out) Also, a pair of sunglasses Ben left last time he was here was stolen along with other things.
But as I said, things are better. I mean, stuff happens right? I'm sure I have quite a bit of Karma credit built up waiting to be cashed, and a lil bit was cashed in this weekend...but I somehow managed to build more up. But, like I've always believed, even the worst things that may happen in life, it's all good as long as you learn from it, and act upon what you've learned. So in a sense, I feel that the negative events from this weekend, are exactly what I needed. (Although, I wish they never happened)
Alright, to those wondering what the good is...I'll get to that. I got my tax returns yesterday. Apparently while in the military I was paying CA taxes, but was exempt because I was in TX and FL. So all that money came back on top of the federal return. I bought a bike immediatley with the money. I shouldn't have, but as soon as I get it, it will be posted for sale and I will be able to ride it until it gets bought. (I have to test the waters to see if I can profit from Pro Deals) Yesterday, I sold the truck shell that has been collecting cobwebs for years. It went to a guy and his girlfriend with dogs and they seemed totally stoked to get it for the price.
On top of all that riveting news, I got a good ride in today, making up for my lack of training over the weekend. Yasser and I rode from the Rose Bowl to Red Box. 19 miles of climbing, and 19 miles of descent. On the way up I decided to just stay on his wheel for the first 8 miles of real climbing. It was great, I never felt strained and was able to ramble to him for an hour as he suffered up the climb struggling to find the air to respond. On the leg from Clear Creek to red Box I left him behind doing some sprint training. I was amazed that I was able to hold a speed up the climb of about 20mph for 45 seconds at a time. I thought back of the first time I had ridden it, on old MTB bikes with Eric, his untuned bike slowing him down, making me feel stronger than I was on my brand new bike.
Anyways, the descent was a rush. Yasser used to be a very good sprinter so when the downhill hit, we were cranking in the big chainring swapping pulls, wheel to wheel, at 35-40 mph for the whole descent. Not a car passed us, it felt good. From Foothill to the freeway, Yasser showed me some sprinting techniques and we did some mock sprints through La Canada. Best part of the ride was, 2.5+ hrs from when we started and we were back at our cars....I just wanted to do it again, and I think I had the strength to.
Basically, from this ride, I've seen improvement. I've seen that as I apply myself to something, I will better myself. Ultimatley this isn't just about biking, but life in general. If you really want something, if you're serious about it and can work hard for it, you will be rewarded. I hope to apply this to other aspects of my life, knowing that improvement will come.
Nobodys perfect, but it's never too late to work towards it.

Another day

The time has come...or will soon

I cant believe I'm doing this. It's literally been years in the making, the constant persistance from my brother has finally worked I guess. I am going to race my bike this coming saturday and sunday. I chose this race for a couple reasons. (www.triplevalley.com) The first reason is that Eric is going to be racing in it too...at a different level of course, but we'll be doing the same race which helps me a lot. The second reason is it is a stage race, in it I will experience a road race, a time trial, and a criterium, all this in just one weekend. The way I figure it is that if road racing is something I might enjoy in the future, I will experience almost all its aspects at once. I may like it, I may hate it. Problem is, if by some act of God I actually win at least one part of it, I will be motivated to continue and win more. The next problem is that if I win nothing and get totally worked over, I will want to continue to redeem myself. Thanks a lot Eric, I've avoided this for so long and I feel the addiction already, I haven't even raced yet. To top it off I'm registered to do another stage race the following weekend, in Arizona. Kind of wierd that my first two races are out of state...I guess I'm justifying the spandex by using it as an escape from CA (which I do love). Anyways, I'm knee deep now, there's no turning back. I just hope that the power that Eric naturally has is somewhat in my DNA also. I've trained hard but I feel it's not nearly enough. Saying that, it ultimatley comes down to this. I never raced before because the prospect of failure. It's easy to ride my SS on El Prieto, to be called the second fastest rider there over a 25 year span, etc. but through these rides I'm not finding my true potential. I feel almost a fake when I pass absolutley everyone on the fireroad who started within 30 minutes of me. All I can think of is that Eric would put me to shame along with so many others who race. I can't ever take the compliments on how fast I am seriously because I know I'm not fast, at least not yet...it's all relative. These two race will be an awakening to me and thats exactly what I need. Hopefully my support crews in UT and AZ;) will be motivation enough for me to push myself to a limit I've never seen before...but we'll see what happens.
Another big fear is that through racing I will become that pretentious f*&$ working in a bike shop. I know I'm not that, but I hate those guys, I don't want to be that.