if you dont read all of it, at least watch the cartoon

Best cartoon ever. There are a few swear words... cartoons about bike racing are the best... Chodroff found it, not sure who made it.





So if you take a bunch of bike racers to an arcade and play air hockey it gets pretty competitive. 45 minutes of air hockey leaves a pretty fit dude more sore than riding for 8 hours.

I decided to forgo the USGP in New Jersey this year. Last year it was the first race I ever dropped out of because I was sucking so bad. I was kind of ashamed of myself. I had no desire to race 90 dudes and fight to not get lapped. Cycling purgatory: Race one of the biggest races in the country for 50th (based on my scientific "i beat him a few times... this is what he got" or race regionally and try to win.

Pittsburgh has been getting springlike weather for the past week. Friday I headed out to do a quick spin, get my heart rate up, then head home. The cool guys call these "openers"... Well like 3 hours later I was riding my bike still in Riverview Park. It was too nice to pass up. Riverview was perfect, the leaves covered the ground and made the whole park orange. So rad. Days like that are why I convince myself that it is ok not to have a coach. Anyway, halfway through the ride I kind of admitted to myself that the weekend would be a bust since I rode too long and didnt have food or water.

So we headed to some races in Ohio. Lake Effect on Saturday and OVCX on Sunday. Both days had pretty killer fields and both had good, fun, different styles of courses. I managed to win Saturday. I was stoked. Only my second or third or fourth win of the year (do you count the oval? the mohican where I got DQ'ed?...) I held a 10 - 15 second gap on Gerry, shawn and Ernie for like 45 minutes. It was super hard.

Sunday was a wide open fast course. It was so fast that the fastest dudes didnt win. After a few laps of racing, myself and Mitch had a small gap on some of fastest dudes in Ohio. Paul Martin and Matt Weeks, who literally rode away from me a few weeks earlier were giving a huge chase to catch us.

I got out sprinted in the end. I towed the dude around a good bit (I think.. it always seems that you do more work than the other guy)... I attacked him a good bit the last two laps. He couldnt pull through, said his legs were gone. But still had the jump to go with my attacks. I know it is just bike racing, but I tossed and turned a few times in bed last night thinking about how I should have attacked more. I was so afraid of being caught by Paul and Matt that I didnt put it ALL on the line. Nothing risked, nothing gained right?

Funny stories from the weekend:

Ohio is freaking lawless. There was a sign on the LIBRARY door in Kent that said had a gun with a line though it. It said something like "no guns allowed unless you have a permit to carry a gun"... Which in my mind is like a sign saying you cant do illegal things? Or maybe they had a problem with the black panthers rolling into town with guns?

Mayhew and I are standing in the pit after giving Eric a new wheel during his race. I point out a 2000 dollar wheelset with 250 dollars worth of tires glued to it. I was like "oh those are my pit wheels" (fyi both of my cross bikes would maybe cost 2500 new TOTAL) and we both laughed. Then some old dude rides into the pit all frantic.

Me: "dude grab your wheels, we can get your wheel off".

He rolled a tubular rear tire.
I undo his skewer and pull his cassette out of his derailleur. The rolled tire itself is being hooked on the brakes so it is stopping the wheel from falling out.

dude: "SHIFT IT DOWN TO GET THE WHEEL OUT... LET ME DO IT... RAARRRRRRRRR!!!!
mayhew tries to explain the situation to him. He wont listen. We walk away.

Guess who's freaking 2000 dollar wheels they were? Exactly. Brother could have had 3 bikes in the pit, or could have bought me lunch and I would have glued his tires on properly.



I have been listening to a lot of Cock Sparer after traveling with Eric and hearing it for the first time in a decade.

Things wrong with me listening to Cock Sparer:
Im not a Brittish nationalist.
I am not a Nationalist.
I am not working class.
I dont really even work.
I dont drink.
I dont like soccer.

Its catchy though!