1st Loser

So after having spent 10 days in Hawaii and flying back yesterday I decided I would race the Tuesday night crit. in Golden. I thought it would be good to at least get in one really hard effort before this weekend of racing. It turns out my legs are still in okay shape after taking 2nd tonight. Launched my solo attack from over 500 meters out but just ran out of gas and was nipped at the line by Dan Schmatz. It was between us with 3rd place over 20 bike lengths away. Starting to believe I can pull off a pro 1/2 win this season. Keeping my fingers crossed and eating Wendys.
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WTF?

And people think it's a big problem here in the U.S.


He's kinda good.

Final Days in Paradise

Some gorgeous beach we spent the day snorkeling and relaxing.

Another gorgeous beach.

Makenna and I playing around after dinner.

Had to take a picture of this guy cleaning the pool with a really tall pole. Keep in mind the pool is only 4 ft. deep.

Makenna getting ready for dinner.

The Last Lecture

Just finished watching Randy Pausch's last lecture after just hearing about his recent passing and best selling book. My life is pretty good right now hanging with my niece in Hawaii eating way too much ice cream and just living life. If you haven't already watched his video you should. Just an amazing man with an extraordinary story.
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MaUI MoRniNGS

Love reading the Nikkei business newspaper along with my morning cup of joe.

Found an ad for EPO.

Nothing like getting some sun and listing to the WSJ podcast during breakfast.

I guess it's time to hit the beach AGAIN!

ItChing TO rAcE

It has been 8 days since my last race and 4 days since I've done any type of riding efforts and man I'm eager to get back to training hard. Just looking to close out the road season on a high note and given my last two high placings in the Pro 1/2 field I have the confidence in me. I might comeback from Hawaii with a couple more lbs. but they will be 'happy' lbs. which I believe makes you faster. I have 4 weeks of some tough racing and with lots of training, rest and luck just maybe I can pull off another 'W'. Then it's off to train for cyclocross which is another discipline of cycling I'm looking to improve on this year. For now I'll enjoy the rest of my time in Maui and I'll toss in a few hard workouts in the gym to keep the engine running. Vroom, vroom..!

Kuaui Makenna Video

So far...

So good. Kauai was beautiful and we managed to squeeze in a killer hike to a gorgeous beach along the North shore. Along with some beach time and pool time we ate lots of ice cream and lots of seafood. Not too shabby.

We flew into Maui this morning and stopped by Mama's Fish House for lunch which by the way was amazing. The food was delicious and the view was a spectacular beach-side table setting. A must if you visit Maui and no they didn't pay me. Staying the rest of our trip at The Ritz and they don't disappoint. I'll be sure to take full advantage of their private beach and bombtastic workout facility. Oh and continue to drink more beers and eat more seafood.

The best thing about this entire trip so far was that I woke up this morning to no alarm clock, no knowledge of the day's activities, no clue of the day of the week and a fresh cup of Kona coffee. Love it!
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Kauai Hike

Aloha from Kauai!

We are here!!

Some Kauai Lighthouse

The Faux Hawk! (A Michelle request)

Little Mac and I chillin'

Life is Good.

Making Progress

Last Sunday I raced the Longmont Criterium which also happened to be the designated state championship criterium and it went very well. I took an aggressive approach for the first 20 minutes getting in breaks and chasing breaks until I realized we raced 90 minutes and not the Cat. 3 60 minutes. I decided it was best to conserve energy since I felt comfortable moving up in the pack. With 5 laps to go I made the decision to move to the front of the pack and be aggressive again. With 2 laps to go I found myself in a 3 man break but we got caught with half a lap to go and another attack went which I was able to bridge but then couldn't hold the pace. I found myself back in the group coming out of the last turn in maybe 7th place. I had no sprint because my legs were done and ended up 15th out of 75+ guys. I know 15th isn't really that great but I think so because this is actually my first result as a Cat. 2 racer.

Tonight I took part in the CSP Criterium series held every Tuesday night in Golden. I ended up taking 3rd in this Pro 1/2/3 race with the help of my good buddy Ian MacGregor who races professionally for the Team Type 1. Ian guided me through the pack the last 5 laps and dropped me off on Colby Pearce's wheel, U.S. Olympian, because he was the guy to beat. Ian told me not to lose his wheel and I was able to match his attack yet I was too focused just on him that two guys got by us in the closing meters. This result has given me a huge confidence booster as I look forward to August. But before I get that far I'm really looking forward to some down time in Hawaii.

We have the pros...

and then we have me. I raced the Niwot Crit. yesterday and found myself at the start line with pro guys from BMC, Healthnet, Successful Living, Team Type 1 and Garmin-Chipotle. It was pretty cool to be in the mix with pro guys like Tom Danielson who could be racing the Tour de France. The race was super fast and technical causing most of the 90 man field to drop out of the race. A 10 man all 'pro' group was established with about 25 of us left chasing and that was it; everyone else ka-boom, gone, later, maybe another time. I'm still a bit tweaked about my crashes so when I thought I had a slow leak I stopped at the wheel pit but it turned out I didn't have a flat so I had to jump back in the race and chase. Trying to catch 24 guys chasing 10 pro guys is not going to happened. I raced as hard as I could before I got lapped by the lead group with 5 laps to go and although a little disappointed with my error in judgement it was a small victory to know I can hang with these guys. Not bad for a 9-5er and I'll be sure to go strong in August, fo' shizzle.

4th of July BBQ in Vail

Michael, Lacey and I met up with some friends to BBQ in Vail for the 4th. The mountain home was beautiful and we took turns jumping off a balcony into the indoor pool. Checkout the video of me! The next morning we headed over to Vail with a cup of joe and nice stroll through town.

Getting ready for the real deal in Hawaii!

If only they were open.

typical marriage pose

Vail Village

Which face scares you?



My mom would be proud.

Waiting for the fireworks, never happened.

some ping pang and pool action

Michael and I chilaxin

Coffee all done :(