pic blog from this weekend

My bike geared up for Seattle weather or just crappy Denver weather

Quinners


Goofball Makenna.

Nevermind all the toys in the basement lets play on the massage chair.

Riding with the famous and super fast Devin McCune. The Lance Armstrong of Denver.

Quinn & Lukie Boy

75 degrees, snow, sunny & warm, 30 degrees

Gotta love CO weather! The weather has been up and down the last week and I think that along with some long days on the bike as put me under the weather so to speak. Laying low for the next couple of days trying to kick this nagging cough, sore throat and sinus junk. Hopefully I'll be all better when it's time to throw down for the CO semi-classic Koppenberg race this weekend. Nothing like getting your body all healthy just in time to push it to the extreme for 90 minutes. That's bike racing for you.
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I kNOw HoW LanCe ArMsTrOng fEeLs...

broken collarbones are no fun! I crashed a few years back on the track and broke my collarbone. It sucked and it hurt. The road rash didn't help either. If there is one guy who is going to recover fast from a broken collarbone I would bet on Lance Armstrong. I'm pretty sure there is no shortage of medical docs waiting to get him back on the bike. Dr. Shank my brother-n-law who is an orthopedic surgeon just told me to buy a sling from Walgreens and I was good to go in 4 weeks. Lance will be fine. Just makes the Tour win that much of a sweeter story. I think.
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Between training and racing I managed to visit the little ones

And he's out...


Knee Highs...gotta have the knee highs in this fam

Smiley Quinn



I swear she's gonna be a model

Never mind the gigantic flat screen TV to the right. We busted out Makenna's own little DVD player to watch two movies.

SUmMeR CaMp

Perfect weekend for lots of training and a race. The weather couldn't be better for March. Training for a couple hours before and after todays race in South Denver with the boys from HART. Looking to get 6+ hours today and tomorrow. Sunday is going to be a long day meeting the team in Golden for an all out hammerfest up Lookout Mt. Before we move on to pre-riding next week's Koppenberg race. So lots to learn and discover this weekend. So it's perfect Neely coined it SUmMeR CaMp.

After a little recovery the cruiser shopping begins this weekend. I need to find something way more comfortable to 'cruise' to work other than my cross bike. I'm thinking mustache bars, big ass seat and balloon tires. Perfect for my 1.5 mile commute.

Thanks for reading. I'll be sure to check back in during camp!

-mARK
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Safer CO roads: Support Senate Bill 148

Lots of cars and lots of cyclists on Colorado roads these days. Lets make these roads safer for both cars and bikes by supporting Senate Bill 148

Check out the link below and find out how easy it is to make a difference

http://bicyclecolo.org/page.cfm?PageID=988

Thanks!

Back down from...

Cloud 9. Looking forward to some really hard training the next few weeks. The 'W' is a huge confidence booster and I'm only getting faster. It's a warning shot of what's to come. This season is no different than last season. Every race everything I got. Throw in my niece and nephews watching me race and I believe I have an unfair advantage. Game on! So with that said not much good racing until end of April. There is the semi CO classic Koppenberg race end of March. I'll throw down there but always a sketchy race with lots of crashes and shitty weather. Let's hope for dry conditions and 70 degrees.
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My wIn cApturEd On viDeO

I WON!

Those who know me well know this past week as been far from perfect preparation for racing bikes. Long work days, Arbys and Wendys, and happy hour Wednesday through Friday made up my week. All good for the soul. I'm just glad that racing mentality kicked in today. I was excited all morning. So with a little luck and aggressive tactics I came out on top today. This gets me closer to my goal of racing in Chicago come July in front of all of my family and especially my Lola. Not a bad way to start the season and I can only hope for more W's. Now I'm chillin with my niece Makenna in Breck watching Shrek and eating gluten cookies. Life is good, life is really good and man am I thankful.
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AnoTheR ONe iN thE BAG

Met up with some old teammates and hit the popular fast group ride in Boulder for a long day in the saddle. It was nice to be back up in Boulder and ride some old training roads up towards Ft. Collins. After the group ride came back into Boulder I headed back out to get more miles in my legs. It was tough towards the end with crazy gusty winds coming off the foothills. Ended the night with a little fire pit action and some good beers. Perfect recovery!

DU Crit: Lets hope the weather people are wrong AGAIN.

We need the moisture bad in Colorado but for a purely selfish reason I want it to be dry tomorrow. You see I'd like to race the DU crit. at City Park which is a race I won last year. It's a fun and very technical course but if you throw in rain or snow in the mix it becomes flat out dangerous. The moisture is suppose to arrive right around the time we start so it's a wait and see game. I guess I'll at least go ride a few hours in the morning just in case the weather turns bad in the afternoon.

100% Money Back Guarantee Sounds Good Right?

WRONG! So I'm at the Avs game last night and an advertisement for Lasik surgery offered a 100% money back guarantee. Maybe it's just me but doesn't that sound kind of messed up? I can hear it now, "Ummm...sorry we messed up and now you're blind but here's your money back.". I'm pretty sure if I ever decide to get Lasik surgery and that offer is made I won't be going there. Alls I'm sayin
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Melting Off

I've lost 7 lbs. in the last 3 weeks and now down to 169 lbs. Since my training has kicked into gear and I've got a handle on my diet the weight has melted off. I'm feeling pretty good and my body is responding well to the training workload so I'm excited to see what March brings. My goal is to drop another 10-12 lbs. by mid-April so plenty of work to do. I'm always feeling kind of hungry but I guess that's what you gotta do to lose the weight. The days of ice cream and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are gone for now.

Why not?

I've been doing a little bit of research and chatting with various friends about a gluten free diet and I'm going to transition to reducing my gluten intake drastically. I'm not going to commit to a totally 100% gluten free diet because I just don't think it's realistic for me but you never know. I'm Asian and I love rice! I know big surprise but I think this will help in the transition. It's going to take a lot of work but I think in the long run it will be a healthy modification to my diet. I'm also going to reduce the amount of red meat I consume and focus more on poultry, turkey and fish. This year I wanna go full throttle on the bike. I have no problem training hard but nutrition has always been my weakness. Come race days I expect a lot out of my body, so I guess I should have higher expectations about what goes in my body.
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My kind of simple life

flip-flops-check, board shorts-check, shades-check, LOTS of sunscreen-check, iPod-check, towel-check

First one is in the bag

It wasn't pretty but I'll take it. Last time I raced the oval crit was many years ago with the CU cycling team and not only did I DNF but I also broke my hand. So I had some unfinished business yesterday. My heart shot up to near max watching the cat. 3s finish were we saw half a dozen riders go down right in front of me. It's not a pretty sound to hear metal grinding against pavement. Our pro race was stacked by some big local powerhouses based in Ft. Collins so I knew it was going to be fast. And sure enough moments after the start the attacks came fast and furious. There was really only one point in the race I felt a bit in trouble and on the verge of getting dropped. We dropped many guys throughout the race although not surprising given how technical the race was and the pace for the first race of the season. My teammates who are fitter right now played a more active role in the race and I was content with just finishing and testing the legs at the end. With 5 laps to go I moved to the front with my teammates and unfortunately broke a spoke with one lap to go. I could not help my teammates contest the sprint and had to settle for just finishing. Perfectly fine with me because there are bigger fish to fry in a few months time. I'm stoked to work on my weaknesses and get fitter. No complaints from the 9-5er, life is good.
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