Bobby Seager

Nothing like Bob Seagar to keep you "rollin". Saturday I went 46 miles and I felt good. I went 15 miles to get to the start of the 2006 time trial of the Tour De Cali. This is the one that Floyd won. It is a 17.5 mile ride. It was a really nice ride. Wind was in my grill all the way until I made the final turn and it was 10 miles of movin..rollin. I got behind a tandom bike and we were really movin. He kept looking back at me and then he stopped and said they were turning around. I told him I thought I could just hang-out behind them for a few. HE said "no". Really weird. Maybe he thought I was checking out his wife's sandex. Far from it. If he was riding where I was....he would have known that was not the case.
Thanks Beecher for that quote. That really put things in perspective..."it's not about the bike". give me two wheels and a seat...I will be good!!

See you all in August...

Ice Cube!!!

It is finally cold here and we have ice cubes. After a few weeks of record heat, the weather is back to it's normal mid 70's here in No. Cal. It was intense this past week with no AC. I was sweating bullets. It made all of us very iritable and we wanted to rip each others lips off. But it has all passed. This weekend will be very nice. I plan a good ride tomorrow up Mt Hamilton and plan on starting whenever I wake up. The heat has not stopped me from riding and I have improved my 4.7 mile San felipe climb with the following splits:

Last Wednesday = 26:50
Monday = 25:30
Wed = 24:26....I was movin....breathing was good and it was not as hot. I was bouncing on my pedals.

In between I have been doing spin class with my girl. She has been doing good and is also getting better at it.

Unfortunatley there are no hills in the HHH. I hope all this hill training will make me stronger for the longer rides. I know my boys OB1 and Yoda will resort to EPO for their training methods since they don't drug screen for the HHH. I will keep it all natural. I went to the bike store the other day and purchased some new gloves and socks. Not big needle movers but you need to feel and look good I say. I am still tempted on buying a new bike. I need to get that taste out of my mouth. I think if I can get past the HHH with old faithful, I can last the year. I just need to keep riding after the race. Last year, I was done until the MS 150 came along and I did not prepare. That kicked my butt....and I was really done after that. I hope the Cali weather allows me to ride all year long. I plan to do some of the tour de Cali rides here in the next few weeks. I looked them up and I found the last time trial course is just down the road from my house. This is the course that Floyd tore up. I think I can beat his time...I just need one of those long funny looking helmets and some drogas. I am bitter about this Landis thing. I am not sure yet if he did it or not....but it does not look good. I hope he is cleared for the sake of the story. He inspired me on that stage 17. I felt like he on stage 16 when Beecher blew by me on "col de Hamilton". Now I feel like he did on stage 17.

One other note...I was riding back on San felipe road the other day and I noticed these papers stapled to the trees. They said that bikers were not welcomed since the locals are tired of calling the fire dept to scrape us off the road. They said we are the biggest hazard and that 10 bikers have died this year and 2 injured. Not sure if that is true or not...but kinda amusing. Riding around the corner I almost ate it as a car went wide. It felt like the twilight zone or something immediately after that incident...like I read my future. I roll on!!

Grizwald's in Europe

Well, I have been back for a week now from my Grizwald European vacation. I hit England, Ireland, Holland and Germany. All in, not too bad. Good food was a plenty. You can't beat brats, schnitzl, pommes and boxty's in Ireland. Traveling with my boss and peer was a treat as well. Business class on the long flights was not too shabby. British Airlines was clearly the better airline then Lufthansa. I could have sworn I herad "Big Pippin" as I laid out in my own little room on the 747"s.
I was not able to get to the tdf. It cost a ton of cha-ching and they only had 2nd class smoking sections available to France. You all know I don't roll like that. But I do roll beach cruiser style on the Main river. I took my OPA's bike out for a 25 mile spin. It was nice. It felt good to ride that 2 ton bike....then get on mine and feel like I was Floyd on stage 17. It was great to see Marina, Bernie and Oma. It has been too long since I have seen them and I hope this new job will continue to provide the opportunity in the future.
The flight back was ok. I just missed the kids and my girl. Now I knida wish I was back in Europe because it is HIIZZOTT here. My Mom is in town as well and I feel bad that she went from 115 degree heat to 105 degree heat....but with out AC> We are dying. Of-course the heat has not stopped me from riding. It has only trained me better for the ride in August. I have been on the bike more lately and I feel I am coming up to speed. I still have a way to go so I can get into HHH shape. I have been focused more on longer flats...however I am still in the hills. I am thinking of shaving my legs...but I don't know if I need that advantage on ironman and OB1. I beat guys last year on better gear and shaved legs. It depends on the mode. I'm not scared to show my feminine side. Are you? Ironman and ob1......it's go time. 4 weeks left until the ride. Who is going to put in the hours....or get on their bike when the other is not? Who is willing to keep it out of the grannie gears. Who will buy??

New Tires

Or make that...new Tire. I went to this new Trek store today to pick up some new 23's. I found some nice ones for 60 bones that I read about in a magazine. Champion 4000's. I also saw my next bike....a 5.2 Madonne. Wow...very nice!! I almost bought it with my pocket change...that's how I roll!! But I ended up with a couple of tubes, new tires and some purple lightning lube...a must for the HHH. When I got home I open the tires up and found out it was only one tire. 60 bones for one tire....that is not how I roll. It was too late to go all the way back...so I have a pimpin back tire now. Kinda like those old trans'ams with sweet wheels on the back and cheesy ones in the front......Like Randy Johnson's old mullet....business in the front...party in the rear. I went for a backwards San Felipe. It was nuts. The bike rode fast...almost too fast. that is a hill you can't go down....only up. I rode the breaks all the way down. I came back up the silver creek hill and I felt really good. If the HHH had hills, I would dominate. I guess I can dominate on the overpass...the biggest hill on the entire 100 miles. I can't wait. I too love to watch the scenery on the tour. I am even more pumped that I will be there this time next week. I will ride tommorrow some flats...possibly to Gilroy or Morgan hill. We have a pancake breakfast in the morning at the church...cuts right into my ride...The wifey will not let be go riding until I attend with her. She looks really good wearing the pants sometimes...

You know your getting strong when....

You know you are getting stronger when.......

- Beecher wakes you up
- Salty has heart
- The Tour starts...and your drug free
- Your staying out of the grannie with 2 miles left on Mt. Hamilton
- nobody passes you on Mt. Hamilton
- your passing people on Mt. Hamilton
- Fly's don't land on you
- You fly past the rest stops from your last ride
- you still have ice in your bottle on the top
- you can't wait to do it again...

These are just little victories....but I will take them after a week of training. This week I will go hard since I will be traveling the next week. I might even do Mt. Hamilton again on Tuesday. I am going to get to the bike store in a few to look at some new wheels. On the way down today my rear tire exploded. Scared the SHIZ out of me going 25 mph. I thought I was a gonner. Luckily I lived.
Anyway, Next Saturday I leave for Europe. I am doing a tour of the UK, Ireland and Germany. After the trip I am going to try and take a night train to Montelimar to catch stage 14 of the tour. I hope I can find a seat on the train. We will see. Just more mental juice for the HHH. It will also be good to see Oma and Family. It has been 7 years.