Holy cats!! It's been nearly two years since the last post on here. A lot has happened since then. I'm now category 3 in each racing discipline for the Joe's Cycles/Cardinal Bicycle Co. squad. We've gained quite a few members since our first season, have had a handful of wins under our belt, and have seen some stellar riding all around. It will be a very exciting time this road season. I can hardly wait to start racing again !

Friday Night at Major Taylor Velodrome

storm a-brewin' !

gotta get that top up !


what a fun time ! it was hot and sunny for most of the day until a storm came out of nowhere and cut the race night short. still got a few snappy shots in before the unpleasant weather. more can be viewed on FLICKR

Heating up !!

Hillsboro-Roubaix is fast approaching, and it appears that - among the other race jitters - a side wager has been unleashed between rivaling Chicago teams Pegasus and Cuttin' Crew HERE
Cat 5's start at 10:50am Cat 4's start at 11:40am, giving me time to haul it, win it ( hopefully), and watch the insanity unfold. Go Andrew !!!!!!!!

Some new things

Seems I keep neglecting blog posting. I've been busy with training for the upcoming road and track season for the Joe's Cycles and Cardinal Bike Co. cycling team, which I am proud ( super proud !) to be apart of ! Thus far, I've logged 260 miles on the team bike ( since Friday, March 5th ) and have only good things to report. The bike handles great - it's fast, it's light, i fly up and down hills, control is smooth and feels super torqued when i sprint and lock in a fast pace, the steering is very responsive ( as many of the roads have been mangled by the winter months I've tested its handling quite extensively ). Joe really outdid himself with this design -- future iterations of the Envy will find difficulty topping the first.
Super excited about this season and for the team. Alan's first race went well ( he didn't crash and finished, gaining cat points ). My first race will actually be along side Alan ( I'm glad I'll have a teammate to tactic with ) at the Burnham Super Spring Criterium -- it will be a weekend of racing, as I race the SCW Autobahn Criterium the following day. Getting very excited to get the racing season underway and have been seeing my riding strengthen and improve over the past months. Looking forward to slipping into race mode in a week and a half !

Congrats !

To Aaron Dykstra in winning the Rookie of the Year Award at the 2010 NAHBS !!!! Seems like another swell time, too bad I missed it this year.

........BUT !

Next year's NAHBS is going to Austin, TX ! And I will be attending for sure !

HI-YOOOOO !!!

Way to go HOMETOWN !!! Louisville, KY is announced as the host of the 2013 world cyclocross championships as well as 2012 and 2013 masters cyclocross world championships !

SUCCESS !!

registered for my first two official races of the 2010 road season !
one is the burnham racing super spring criterium ( march 27th )
second is the hillsboro-roubaix ( april 10th ) -- this race filled up in a record 4 minutes !! luckily, i registered right at the opening time as this is a highly anticipated race.
i have been training for some time now and plan to make a good showing for the joe's cycles/cardinal bike co. team at these events. i will keep you posted !!!

A brief peek into spring this week ( weather wise )

Training, training, training ... and working. It will all pay off for the first race of the season !! It looks like at least three days this week will allow some road rides -- something to be thankful for, indeed ! I know it won't last long, so I'd better make the most of it. See you on the road !

saw this on TRACKO

I have been really lacking in the update department due to training and other busy-ness. But, there are a lot of things coming up that will keep me posting away !! More on those later. For now, enjoy the animated short ...

T K B for certain

happy holidays !

BIKE PORN --- if such a thing exists... this is it !

2010

NACCC's will be in Atlanta, GA !!! October 7 - 11th. This year I will be attending... no nasty injury the night before departure ( I will sequester myself 48 hours before leaving if need be ). Currently, a general info page is up HERE I will post more when i find out, so keep checking back !

Sean

By now many of you probably know that Sean Callahan passed away earlier this week. It is an upsetting time, and I would like to express the loss I feel -- you may contribute your feelings too if you wish. I first met Sean through my friends Kyle and Mike a few years ago at the 10th and Dunn house here in Bloomington. As I'm sure is the case with everyone else who knew Sean, the first thing I noticed was how kind he was. I have met few people in my life that are that nice to total strangers, and it was that kindness and outgoingness that impressed me most about him. I regret not keeping my friendship to Sean as close as i could have or should have when he left Bloomington to move to Chicago. Sean, I miss you and the sorrow I feel in your passing is more than what I can put into words.

BONUS !!!!

I never miss a chance to get a goofy picture of Shawn...dude just can't wear hats !

photos/results from wrap up of Le Tour de Franzia

After the sprint race, we had a mystery event -- Mountain Dew guzzle/trackstand competition !!! The object -- maintain a trackstand while gulping down a can of Mountain Dew... feet can't touch the ground till your Dew is DONE !!! Elgin won, and took home a snappy Tiger trophy for his efforts ! Good job, dood !!




Shawn taking a bite of glass to stay sharp !


Kevin got a cap and shirt from SURLY !! Lookin good !



Brian and Charlie staying warm with their SURLY hip flasks !


Jake got 3rd place overall time, getting some Cyclones and since he was already decked out in yellow...got the yellow cap from Panther by Hand !! :)


Shawn got 4th overall time, and got a pair of Pearl Izumi Cyclones and a Silca CO2 inflator

I clinched 1st overall time and 1st for climbing points !

Thank you to Seagull for the awesome custom bag, Outlier for being great and sending two of their waxed cotton caps, and Amy at Panther by Hand for making three custom winners caps !! And a special thanks to Jeanette Caproon for making the AWESOME patches for us !!!

last thing and then on we go

The final Tour stage is this Friday in Indy ! STAGE 5 is a sprint stage, and will determine the overall sprint points leader. Friday is also when prizes will be given out, so make sure you attend this race !!!!!!

In other news ...
I have already begun planning the SPRING TOUR !
It will be a two day tour covering roughly 100 miles. We will have a cookout during the race for spectators as well as group meals for the racers between events. There will also be a women's category for female competitors. It will be amazing ! So, mark your calendars ( the current dates are tentatively set for MAY 29th and 30th -- a Saturday and Sunday, respectively ). The dates are subject to change if a more convenient date for riders presents itself. The sponsor list is already looking good for this, so make sure to check back frequently for more information !

new things

I just rode around on my new PHIL WOOD bottom bracket installed by Rawny at Bikesmiths, and let me tell you -- the thing is a dreamboat !!! Phil makes some great products. I'm a happy camper for certain. Speaking of campers ... tomorrow is bike camp at Morgan Monroe. Some friends are packing up their packables/campables and setting out for a 14 mile bike ride to the campsite. It should be a pretty fun time.
Following the camp theme -- a week from today ( Friday the 13th) will be the final event for the Tour !!! It will be a match style sprint race in Indy ( like the opening event for the tour on sept 11th) and will determine the sprint winner of the Tour. The award ceremony will also take place after the sprint event as well as a mystery event with a couple mystery prizes ! So, make sure to come out to race and/or spectate and cheer your pals on ! Meet at Pan Am Plaza at 10PM to register ( 2 $ entry ). We will get the sprints started at 10:30PM

STAGE 4 results

STAGE 4
Jake - 15 minutes 58 seconds
Shawn - 15 minutes 59 seconds
Mark - 16 minutes 9 seconds
Charlie - 16 minutes 11 seconds
Richard - 16 minutes 21 seconds
Kevin - 18 minutes 30 seconds
Eric - 18 minutes 32 seconds

The course was 6 miles long, and (as you can see) everyone was riding pretty fast ! It had rained all day long, but stopped shortly before the race got underway. The rain and cold made it an interesting race though, and everyone said they had a great time! The first four to finish were granted a time bonus - first place received a 4 minute time subtraction, second place received 3 minutes, third received 2 minutes, fourth received 1 minute.

STAGE 4 was the final timed stage for the Tour, locking in the top four as follows :

OVERALL LEADERS

Richard - 1st - 3 hours 49 minutes 5 seconds
Mark - 2nd - 3 hours 54 minutes 37 seconds
Jake - 3rd - 4 hours 3 minutes 12 seconds
Shawn - 4th - 4 hours 5 minutes 5 seconds

Thank you to everyone for racing and to all that have supported BRA and the races we've put on in this Tour series !! The next stage ( STAGE 5) is a sprint race in Indianapolis on Friday, November 13th. The meet will be at Pan Am Plaza at 10 PM and we will get the sprints underway at 10:30 PM. There will be an awards ceremony afterward for the Tour leaders and also a mystery event with mystery prizes to be given out as a fun way to end the Tour ! An earlier post shows the sprints points breakdown for everyone, so make sure to check it out. We will see you the 13th !!!

Why I <3 my LBS ...

Bikesmiths is now stocking R.E.Load bags ! I saw their collection of goodies, which ranged from top tube pads, hip bags from Bea Lake, backpacks, and medium to large classic messenger bags.
Go by (buy) their shop today and get one before they're all gone ! I think they will consistently be going through stock on these bags since they are the ONLY local carrier !

Amendment to STAGE 4

Hello everyone. The meet time and place for STAGE 4 has changed.

Meet at midnight @ Pan Am Plaza for the race this Friday. I guess that technically makes this a Halloween race !

EXTRA FUN THINGS

Mark was blessing his saddle with magic dust and spells -- how he gets most of his riding power!


Thomas showing off his new boots with the fur --


Hannah disapproves ...

So does Shawn !