My offseason technically started at the end of the Crossroads Cycling Classic (which I did really awful in and I don't wanna talk about it). I tried to stay in shape to race Carolina Cup and a speedway race in South Carolina, but that didn't happen and I didn't really care. I took about 6 weeks where I rode maybe 3 or 4 times a week with very little intensity. I got a cyclocross bike and raced in Hendersonville in September. I also did Hilly Hellacious the next day which was really hard and I got crazy sunburned.

Cross started on the 16th and Wakemed and I did pretty poorly. See suffering below.

Last weekend I raced in Southern Pines and won Juniors and did pretty bad in CX4. I won Juniors in Raleigh on Sunday and then just screwed around in CX4 and had fun. See proof of fun below.

This weekend is the Durham Bulls Century where I missed the "end" of the ride by 5 minutes last year. I'm skipping NCCX #3 on Sunday (cause it's in Boone and that's ridiculous), so my next race will be NCCX #4 in Salisbury, and then the next weekend I fly to Louisville for the USGP races there. That's awesome because it's a big race and I'm super terrible at cross which will undoubtedly be hilarious. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to get my bike there, but that's not super important...

I'm gonna end this there and force myself to write more in Louisville.

Here's a cool gallery of photos I took at the Wakemed season opener. I'm also gonna try to take pictures of the races in Louisville, so this can serve as my reminder.

Yesterday, I figured out that I could tweet while riding my bike. So this morning, I took a bunch of pictures with my real camera. I rode around with my cousins, and then rode with my friend Davis for a while. Now that the season's over, I think I'm gonna do a lot more easy rides like this.

^Their "pretend crash." ^Lucky shot of Brynn with no hands on the handlebars.

After returning from Europe, I upgraded to a Cat 4, and my first race was my team's road race. I had gained weight and lost form while on vacation, and I was dropped about halfway into the race. I wasn't happy, but I knew I had two weeks to train and get back in shape. 

I logged about 350 miles in 6 days, day 4 of which was a 4 hour mountain ride starting in Mt. Airy and doing a couple of the climbs from the Tour de Gaps. The block culminated with my team's second charity ride of the year, the Firecracker ride, on July 4. My form came back, my weight came down, and I felt good. 

It rained most of the week leading into the Piedmont Triad Omnium, and it rained the entire drive to the time trial. 

I won the juniors time trial by roughly 6 minutes. But the effort trashed my legs, and I didn't get home until late, and I didn't get enough sleep. 

The next day I raced the junior crit. There were only 3 15-17 juniors, so the race came down to just us 3 pretty quickly. I had raced with one of the riders before, and knew he wouldn't be looking to win, but just using the junior race as a warm up. The other rider seemed a little stronger, and I didn't know what to expect. 

I told the Clifbar rider I would lead out the $5 prime if he would lead out the final, which he agreed to. This was fine. The finish straight was headwind and slightly uphill to the line, but it was no problem. I rode a slightly higher tempo, and they sprinted, with the Clifbar rider taking the prime. But the other rider saw that I had been "dropped" after the sprint, and he just kept riding tempo. I was winded from leading out for half a lap, and of course, residually tired from the TT. The Clifbar rider saw what was happening and dropped back to drag me back into the race. I probably would've been done if he hadn't helped me out. 

So everything was back together, and we still had a few laps to go. We pretty much just rode easy, everyone taking turns. I tried to skip turns and take short turns as much as possible to conserve for the final, because I knew it probably wouldn't be a straightforward sprint. I've come to be pretty confident in my sprint; I know I have the power to accelerate and hold a high speed, the w/kg to do the uphill on this course, and the position to be quick even in the headwind finish. 

In the last lap, the Clifbar rider took over on the back side of the course. I tried to get 3rd wheel, but I decided taking 2nd was better than no draft. We took turn 3, no problems. I felt good. The other rider attacked between turns 3 and 4, and I had to jump into turn 4 hard. He gapped me with the acceleration and I was having trouble shutting it down. He had about 15 meters on me for about half of the finishing stretch, but in the last 300 meters I was up to speed and closing it down. I passed him with about 50 meters to go and was clear when we hit the line. 

On Sunday there was the road race. Again there were 3 riders in the 15-17 juniors, but about 10 or 12 riders in the whole field. There was a mile long neutral roll out, and then I took over. I ramped it up and immediately popped off half of the field. I knew my limits and watched my power, riding well under my threshold. The speed drop was noticeable when I came off the front. We rode at a high tempo for about 6 miles and then it was down to just me and one other rider. I told him we could just ride easy and let everyone come back, but as soon as 1 person was back he got antsy and started ramping it up. I made it clear that I wasn't willing to work much and I didn't take long pulls. 

With about 2 miles to go it was still just us 2. I stopped pulling through. He tried to get me off of his wheel, but I had a plan. I knew I could do 2 jumps. One about a mile from the finish at roughly 500 watts. This way, I could gauge his reaction while not going too deep, and I could recover for half a mile before I had to do anything. However, this would give him the better position. I decided it was worth it. 

I jumped with a mile to go. I immediately got a 10-15 meter gap. I sat up. I tried to get him to pull around, but as I guessed, he wouldn't. No problem. I rode recovery pace to the 1k to go sign and then dove across the road. I tried everything to get him off my wheel. No dice. No problem.

I started ramping it up a little. I was constantly watching for a move. I rode the right side of the road so that I could be sure he would go on my left. But he never jumped. So I jumped at 200 meters to go and gapped him again. But he closed it down to within half a bike length before the finish, but I still won. 

A very successful weekend, with 3 individual wins and the junior omnium overall win. 

I left straight from Lexington and drove to Hendersonville. I didn't train much in Hendersonville. I went mountain biking in Dupont State Forest which was pretty awesome, and I rode a new route near the house. The climb was pretty cool because the last 2 miles were on unmarked pavement with a combination of tight switchbacks and sweeping bends. The climb ended on top of Bearwallow Mountain in an exposed area surrounded by horse pastures. It was a really fun climb, but an incredible technical descent. 

The next weekend was the French Broad Omnium near Mars Hill. 

In the time trial I rode really well. I went out very far above what I believed I could sustain, but my legs and lungs were somehow able to keep up, and I shattered several of my power records. Unfortunately, I missed out on 3rd place by 4 seconds and got 4th. I made a few mistakes that cost me seconds, but I'm not too discouraged because the 3rd place rider had all of the nice TT gear that I don't have, and I know that if I was racing with that setup, I probably would have destroyed his time, even with my mistakes. My form was amazing for 2 weeks, and I managed to be at a really high point during French Broad, which I definitely needed. 

In the road race, we were climbing early on. French Broad is one of the hilliest races in the southeast, and the category races climb a large categorized climb at the end of their race. This juniors race was only 17 miles long, but it wasn't a cat 4-5 race like the Piedmont Omnium. 

There was a cat 2 in my race, and he rode tempo at the front for the first 3 or 4 miles, including the first climb. Then a couple of his teammates and some other riders helped a little. I didn't know the course at all, and I expected to be dropped, but I hung on. I was finally dropped after trying to bridge a gap to a rider I had talked to about working with to beat the cat 2. I was dropped behind the masters 60+ field we had started with, and behind the motorcycle and the car of one of the parents of the younger juniors. But I fought back. It took almost everything I had and (I believe) the field slowing up for me to get back to the group. 

I stayed in the group until the finish and, as I knew I could, I easily out sprinted everyone with 200m to go and took second place.

In the crit, there were more riders that weren't in the road race, several of which were cat 2's and 3's, so I didn't expect to win. With victories in the TT and RR, the cat 2 rider had the overall pretty much locked up, so I just needed to finish in front of the FACT rider who was only 4 points behind me in the omnium in order to preserve my second overall. I told the cat 2 and his DIY Music teammate, and they said they were trying to let one of their 10-12 riders get away so that he could win. But a cat 3 rider attacked and stayed away for several laps. DIY seemed content just letting him dangle, and the pace wasn't fast, so I was happy. After they brought him back, we went slow for about 2 laps, and then he attacked again, and I chased. I closed the gap, but realized that staying with this rider while we got a gap on the field would be too difficult so I dropped back. Fortunately the FACT rider behind me on GC was dropped, so I hung on for as long as I could before getting dropped. 

After that, it was a matter of riding tempo to stay ahead of the FACT rider who was several places back. I helped the DIY rider who was supposed to be set up for the win, but I was too tired to pull him back to his teammates. I ultimately got 7th, which is a little disappointing, but I held on to 2nd overall, and I'm happy with that. 

I have taken 3 days off after a little more training last week, but I'm going back to riding today/tomorrow (since it's technically Thursday as I'm writing this). Next up on the calendar is the Hanes Park Crit in Winston Salem, and then the Crossroads Cycling Classic next week. I'm really psyched for this. I'm hoping to get back to form, which I feel I didn't have at the end of training last week, and maybe do well in some races. After Crossroads, I'm not sure how racing will go. The plan is to race a speedway crit in SC and the Carolina Cup in Winston Salem. I also hope to race 'Cross this winter. We'll see. 

There's a photo from the N&O at the start of the 2011 Firecracker ride. 

After arriving on Wednesday in the village of Viscos (near Luz-Saint-Sauveur in the Pyrenees), we were able to get a late check out, so I opted not to ride the Luz Ardiden climb. Instead, I planned to wake up, eat breakfast when they started serving at 8, and then head out for the Tourmalet shortly thereafter. ^The view of Luz-Saint-Sauveur from near the hotel in Viscos.

^A waterfall on the road to Viscos.

This is not how it played out.

I woke up and got ready, all in the amount of time I planned. But at 8, when I headed in for breakfast, I couldn't find it. I later realized that there was another floor in the main building, and that breakfast was being served there. Oh well.

I descended the Cat 3 climb from the hotel and headed for the town of Luz-Saint-Sauveur. As I got to the outskirts of the town about 3 miles later, things started to tilt upwards.

The Col du Tourmalet is an "Hors Category," or "HC" climb. Being an HC climb, it's really, really hard. I climbed the west side, or the "easy" side, and it was still the single toughest day on the bike I have ever had. The climb is 18.6 km (11.5 mi) long at an average of 7.5% gradient. It climbs 1404 m (4606 ft) from the town of Luz-Saint-Sauveur to the top of the Tourmalet at 2115 m (6939 ft) and is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees. The ride from the hotel to the top of the mountain took me just over 2 hours.

The last kilometer wasn't as hard as it should have been. I guess it felt easier because I knew I would be standing on the top of one of the most famous climbs in cycling.

The views were incredible.

The final switchback. Looking from the switchback up towards the summit. There was thick fog for the entire climb. However, at this point I was in the clouds. Representing Capital Cycling Club in France.

After getting a coffee and driving most of the way up the Luz Ardiden climb (where Lance Armstrong famously crashed in 2003, but then came back to win the stage and eventually to win his 5th Tour de France). I was too tired to ride the climb, but I want to do a little bit of descending (I hadn't descended the Tourmalet because I was unaware that below the cloud line, there was no fog). There was thick fog on Luz Ardiden, and when we came across some sheep in the road, we decided to turn back, and I would descend from halfway up the climb.

After an exciting, fun, and technical descent, we headed back to the hotel. I showered, dressed and we headed for Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao was relatively uneventful for me.

The hotel room was pretty cool though.

Friday morning, we left for Villabuena de Alava in the Rioja wine country. I am still there now.

Once again,it's a very cool/modern hotel. See the pictures below.

I really like this hotel.

I plan to ride in the morning for an hour or two (I'm still a little tired from travel and riding the Tourmalet!) after breakfast, but who knows what I'll do.

Tomorrow we will head for Madrid in the early afternoon.

So, I haven't written in a while. Since I last wrote, I have been racing a lot. At first, I wasn't finishing races. But then I got a new bike.

A saying that's common with those who don't ride competitively is "it's not about the bike." Now, at the top level of the sport, where every pro gets a $8k-$10k bike, with whatever accessories they want, it isn't about the bike. But when it's a relatively flexy and heavy aluminum frame versus a much lighter, much stiffer carbon frame, it is about the bike.

I got on a team; Capital Cycling Club. At first, I had trouble finishing the club rides with the group. But I gradually improved. I can now hang in with the group, work some, eat and drink comfortably, and so on.

I have also been racing a lot. I don't really remember much that stands out. Boone-Roubaix was very difficult, and I figured out that I am not a full blown climber.

In the All That Jazz crit in Cheraw, SC, I did alright in the cat 5 race. I didn't warm up as much as I would have liked to, and I didn't make the winning selection that went right from the start. In the junior race, I tried to animate things some. I won a prime, but then got dropped on the next lap because there was a big surge. Fortunately, I time trialed my way back to the group and had probably 5 laps to recover. Going into turn 3 (it was a 4 corner crit) I attacked. I attacked from probably 6th or 7th wheel, so 3 riders from the group saw me go and were able to hitch a ride on my wheel. Turn 3 to turn 4 was the shortest section on the course, so I didn't have to push very hard. I got a little bit of a gap, but after seeing 3 riders on my wheel, I knew that there was no way I could hold it for the final 300 or 400 meters from the corner to the finish. As I came through turn 4, I swung a little too wide, and the rider directly behind me slipped past. I didn't have any gas left to get on the wheels behind me, but I did manage to hang on for 4th.

In the Berger Hardware Road Race, I felt good all day. Unfortunately, in the first downhill section, one of my teammates significantly upped the pace and I was shot to the back. I have junior gears, and I still haven't mastered descending in a group. I'm not sure how some of the juniors in the upper categories are able to hang on when the pace rises. So I sat in the back for the entire race. I tried for the entire last lap of the course to move up, but it was 3 wide across the road the entire race, and there was no where to go. I did manage to make up some spots and get 19th. (The same thing happened in the NC State Road Race Championships, except that I was active early, and I wasn't caught because of the downhills, I was caught because of inexperienced riders. I also got 19th there.)

At the NC State Crit Championships, I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I was active for the first 15 or 20 so minutes of the race. I covered breaks, upped the pace, and gauged the competition. I dropped back with about 10-15 minutes to go, and waited. With 3 laps to go, I started looking for holes. I had managed to move about 1/3 of the way up, but just before we went throught the finish for the bell lap, there was a crash, and I was almost full stopped. The next lap was an interval to maintain contact and try to make up positions. I had to start my sprint before the final corner, but I still got 13th. I'm unhappy with not being in a better position when the sprint started, but it's my fault for not positioning myself better.

I'm in Paris now.

I head to Luz-Saint-Sauveur tomorrow morning. It's a 10 hour drive, but I'm hoping to be there in time to ride Luz Ardiden in the evening. I am planning to then ride the Tourmalet on Thursday morning.

 

This year's Tour Down Under was not what I had hoped. Maybe it's because the only pro cycling I have ever paid attention to is the Tour de France. 

This was Lance Armstrong's "last race," but we all know how that turned out last time. Lance is a fantastic rider, and I have an incredible amount of respect for him, but his time in the professional peloton is up. 

I was hoping for some more excitement than what we received. I guess it's because this is still a pre-season race, but I was disappointed by the lack of big name sprinters in the front of the race. I was especially surprised by Cameron Meyer (I guess everyone was), and his ability to hold on to the race lead. Garmin-Cervelo is going to be an incredibly powerful team this year. I don't think they'll have any legitimate GC contenders in the Grand Tours (Ryder Hesjedal could prove me wrong), but they'll definitely be good to watch on the sprint stages. 

I'd really like to see Garmin-Cervelo do their lead out train as follows: leave the lead out to other teams and HTC up until 3 km to go, at which point Christian Vande Velde would take a pull at full gas for .5 km, then David Millar for .5 km, the David Zabriskie for .5, and finally Jack Bobridge for .5 km, bringing them to the flamme rouge. Keep in mind, the goal of these pulls is for them to be at 110%. Essentially, the Garmin lead out would be a well organized breakaway, trying to dislodge the trains of other teams. At 1k to go, Julian Dean would take over (still going full gas) for 300 meters, then Heinrich Haussler (who has ridden very well in Qatar this week) for 250 meters, then Thor Hushovd for 250, bringing them to about 200 meters to go. Tyler Farrar would then eat up the last 200 meters in a matter of seconds, where he would hopefully be well ahead of Cav. Hushovd, Farrar, and maybe Haussler could switch roles on a day to day basis (they could even switch within the last 5 km) based on how each of them feels. 

It's just an idea, but it could work if executed perfectly. It would require saving 8 of Garmin's 9 guys all day, and they would only be able to do it once. After they did it, the peloton would chase it down every time. If done correctly, a 3 km, full gas, last ditch effort breakaway could work. No one would know what was going on, and I'm sure they wouldn't be able to chase it down. 

Qatar has been interesting. It's been a little bit more of a show of big name, early season, power, but it's not what I'd like. I wish Cav was in better form. He looks kind of chubby to me, and he's having a lot of trouble staying on his bike. It seems like every time I see him he's on the ground. All he had to do was ride for 3 minutes, and he couldn't even stay in the saddle for that long. Disappointing. 

I'm excited to see how Haussler does in the classics. He's one of my favorite riders, and he deserves a win. Maybe if Cav's form doesn't improve, Haussler could win San Remo. He's said he wants to win Flanders, and maybe he will, he just needs his form to peak exactly at the right time. Easier said than done, though. 

Here's a picture of Cav after his TDU crash. Rough stuff. 

It rained for most of yesterday and, I would assume, most of last night. I don't get to ride during the week much due to homework, being tired, my very few extra-curriculars (what are the odds I'm going to college. I mean, really?), and lack of commitment. So, when I get to the weekend I breathe a big sigh of relief, and then proceed to flog myself for four to six hours in whatever God-awful conditions North Carolina might throw at me.

I've ridden in rain in 35 degrees, 15 mph hour wind, flurries of snow, 3 inches of snow. Pretty much you name it, and if it's on the list I just made, then I've done it. 

Today's ride was the first ride I've done in wet conditions where it wasn't totally frigid. It was maybe 40 degrees when I went out, and it worked its way up into the 50s eventually. (As I'm writing this it's still 50 outside, and I finished my ride about 3 hours ago)

I rode to Cycling Spoken Here to buy some pliers that they ended up having to order for me since they weren't in stock. I believe I've said it before, but the CSH guys are incredibly hospitable and I love that bike shop.

At that point, the roads were really wet and I didn't feel safe and my hands were freezing. But as usually happens with me, I made the snap decision to continue the ride. I was planning on cutting it a little short and doing maybe 30 miles with some hills, but that's not what I did. I rode on the first part of the Saturday group ride and headed over to The Wake Zone Espresso coffee shop. It's a pretty nice store. I had a cup of espresso and continued on my ride. 

I rode parts of rides that I've done a couple of times. I did a couple intervals on the Apex RR course, but I didn't ride down the course. That place is creepy. 

I almost bagged it and went home when I passed Regency, but I was feeling pretty good at that point. I had only eaten a banana and one gel at that point, and I was barely drinking anything, but I felt pretty good. I really do need to work on my nutrition. I'm guessing that'll change in the summer when I feel a little more comfortable. 

I rode over to Optimist Farm, which I'd really wanted to do for a few weeks. It's kind of hilly, and it's good for intervals (even though I didn't take advantage of that). Then I pretty much just rode home. I was thinking about going back out for some hill repeats for maybe 45 minutes or an hour, but I was just cold, wet, and tired. It was definitely a good day with a bunch of good training and some quality suffering. 

Tomorrow's the Sunday social ride, which I really enjoy. That's mostly due to the fact that I can ride circles around everyone in the group except the fast group, of course. It's really good mentally to go on that ride and then just be able to sit up and cruise every time we go up a hill. I haven't decided if I'm gonna go with the fast group. That might be suicide. Who knows. 

Here's today's photo: 

I really enjoy knowing that even in such a developed place, we still have farms very close to our suburbs. I just watched Food Inc. and I really enjoyed/was scared by it. It's an interesting world that we live in, and learning how it works is a really great opportunity for me. Thank you Raleigh Charter. 

Today was the first real day of training for me. It started with a race in Orange County which I wrote about last night. The Triangle Velo Winter Speedway Series. For me (Cat 5) it was a 40 minute race around a 600 meter track. There was actually a pretty good amount of wind (which I didn't really expect), and there were maybe 35 or 40 people in my race alone. The only issue with the race was that it was really fast. I wasn't prepared for the speed and I'm not in good enough shape to ride that fast.

I only made it through 20 minutes. 

I'm better at hills. There were 2 guys at the race who I have ridden with repeatedly on Saturday rides from CSH and they stayed in the group the whole time today. I got lapped maybe 4 times. On the Saturday rides, when we hit the first hill, they explode. They can't climb, and I can't go fast on the flats. I guess I'm just going to have to totally re-evaluate my plans for this season. I need to be more powerful just to stay with the group, but I think I can count on my low weight to give me an advantage in hillier races and races with climbs. 

After the race, I went home and then rode for another 1:30. It was really really nice today. The nicest it's been so far in 2011, and I took advantage of that. 

Here's a video of the finish of the Cat 4/5 race. I, unfortunately, am not in the video. 

My parents came to the race, and took some video and photos. My dad took some video which I cut together over a Childish Gambino track. 

Tomorrow is the start of my training before I start doing races that I want to be competitive in. Tomorrow is the first of 2 races in the Triangle Velo Winter Speedway Series at the Orange County Speedway. I'm not feeling stressed at all.

I'm a little nervous about the race, since it's on a track and the track, according to my memory, isn't in the greatest shape surface-wise. It'll definitely be fun, but the USAC website said that 40 people were in the race last year. Now, I'm not sure if that's between the two races or just one of them. My fear is that there are going to be 40 dudes on this track all fighting for position. I'm not trying to win this race, and I don't think I can. I simply don't have the power to out-sprint these guys (or at least, I don't think I do, and having the right mentality plays a big part in this).

I don't want to get stuck in a crash, which I think might be pretty likely since the track isn't in great condition. But you never know. Maybe the group will work together better and move more fluidly because it's the same movement over and over again for 40 minutes. 

No matter what happens, I'm excited. I'm going to test my warm up, take some pictures, and see how the race goes. If it goes well, I might go for a win next Saturday. Right now, I need to stay relaxed, fuel correctly, and maybe do some work on the front. 

My goals for tomorrow : 

1. Don't crash

2. Use this as training, but enjoy it. It's a cool experience to race on any kind of track. 

3. Make sure my warm up works. I'm going to use this for every crit all year. If it needs changing, what better time to tweak it than before I start my "real" season?

4. Take pictures! This is one of the most photo-friendly events of the year. Take advantage of that. 

5. Show my parents I'm serious about this. I want their money. I need to look like I'm doing well at this. 

That's enough list making. I could go on and on and on. I really enjoy lists. Reasons:

1. They're organized... haha. No. For real. I like lists. 

I'm going to get some sleep now. I realize no one reads these enough to actually click on a link I post, but I'm going to do so anyways. 

I really enjoy the show Community with Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Ken Jeong etc. 

Donald Glover raps under the name "Childish Gambino." I think he's really good. Here's my favorite of his songs, so far. Donald Glover's blog is really cool. Check it out. 

Goodnight. 

P.S. I played with the text formatting. I'm gonna do that from now on. 

I've ridden with them before, and it was tough then, but I hadn't ridden 50 miles the day before. Today, I was sore when we hit the hills right before the group splits, and I stupidly made the mistake of going with the fast group again. 

The first time, Art, the ride leader (who rides with the 18 mph-ers) said that the ride would be 20+. 20+ means like 21-23, right? Wrong. It means 25. The fast group has incredible technical skills and they're strong, light, and fast. They go fast on the flats, they go fast on the hills, and they know what they're doing. I'm hanging on for dear life, and they're talking and eating like it's no big deal. 

The ride also goes over some bumpier, sketchier roads, and it feels like I'm being dragged across a sheet of very rough sandpaper in bare feet. But bumpy, rough roads are a post for another day. 

I know whining about how fast they were going and how much today sucked is pointless. I rode my bike 38 miles, that's good because I gained muscle, and I got 38 new miles in my legs. I also figured out how to get back to the shop from Jordan Lake. Now I know how to ride to the longest flat road that I know. 

So, when we hit Farrington Rd, I died. I let myself drop off of the group just as we hit the lake, figuring I'd wait a little and hook up with the slower group. But they didn't come. I sat down, ate a banana, and took a picture. But they didn't come. I rode back up Farrington, but didn't see the group. So, I went back down to the lake, and the same way the group did. I knew how to get back to Jean's Berry Patch, but from there, I was slightly lost. I ended up being fine, but I was tired, hungry, and a little unhappy that I didn't get to ride back with a group. I was super bored for like 10 or 15 miles, and I didn't have my headphones. Oh well. 

I also tried Honey Stinger's strawberry flavored gel today. It's okay, but not my favorite. I'll probably eat one every now and then just for variety, though.

Also on the subject of food, my mom recently made a batch of Cyclingtipsblog.com's Cocaine Bars. They're delicious, and though I've yet to eat one while actually riding, they're super tasty and I assume they'll taste good while riding. 

Next weekend is my first race of the season. Hopefully my USAC license gets here before then. 

I've started a post about the TDU (congrats to Cameron Meyer), but I likely won't finish it until tomorrow night or Tuesday. 

^Photo from while I was sitting on the side of the road eating a banana. 

Now, off to dinner with some cousins.