The day after

We stayed home and enjoyed Xmas this year. My coolest gift was from Shawn. He made a real painting on canvas at school and did a wonderful job. I am very proud of him, he is growing fast. Kellie got some pj's, clothes, and bed bath and beyond. Shawn got a skateboard park, clothes, hat, shoes, games and Santa brought him the biggest present . Two Guinea pigs that I have to say are pretty cute. Mother nature brought all of us 12 inches of snow at this point and it is still snowing. I will be on the trainer for a while. I'm so happy!!

Very Busy and cold

I was asked to be the Masters 35+ team captain for ABRC a month or so ago. There have been some big changes and I am now the 1,2,3, leader. I have also been involved with making the kit designs. I got my new road bike and it is bad. It is a 14.2 lbs Trek madone 6.9 ssl It has already snowed and today was a high of 18 degrees. Back on the trainers ....yeah.
Kellie is staying with riding and exercising and doing good. Shawn is ready for Christmas.
Dave called today and got his test results from the doctor and has found out why he has been feeling bad. It looks like a simple fix so hopefully he will be back to 100% soon. I hope I can step up my training enough to keep up with him........

Kellie is kicking butt

Kellie has been working out now for 2 months or so and been riding her MTB bike. I have been trying to ride with her for support and one day she looks at my bike and says that looks like it would be more comfortable. WELL that just opened up a whole can of worms. Do I get her a carbon bike, aluminum, carbon wheels? So I calm down and told her before we make a purchase I would feel better if she shows that she is serious. She has and then luck would have it a friend of mine had a new bad ass Bianchi his girlfriend never used and it fits Kellie. She tried it for a week, climbed a huge hill and did 2 15 mile rides in Charleston. That following Monday she bought it. I am really proud of her. She is riding it on the trainer and going to the gym and has lost 18 pounds so far. She has even talked about trying a cookie ride this spring. Shawn is doing great to , he has been right there with us the hole time putting in the mile.
We had a great Thanksgiving and are trying to get through Christmas. Winter training is the usual.....stupid cold. The road team is a mess and will hopefully be worked out in the next two weeks. Other than that all is well.....robert

Who would have thought

I just got the email today and have been upgraded to a cat 2. Here I am a 42 years old husband and father. I have grown up being the fat kid, wore out half my back bounced off stuff from Chicago to South Carolina and broke more bones and bikes that I can count. With all that behind me and a will that won't give up doing what I always dreamed of, I am succeeding. I can not thank enough my beautiful wife and wonderful son for their support. One of my best friends Dave Hall and his family. He has helped me in so many ways and coached me to win. The wonderful people at Cane Creek. If they had not given me the comp entry to the FBCC in 2004 I probably would still be doing cookie rides. All the sponsors and people I have met along the way.
My plan for 2011 is to go to Nationals in Bend Oregon but first and most important is I am dedicating myself to Dave to get points to be a cat 1 so he can go to Elite Nationals and win it !!!

How do you like me now?

I was going so hard I broke it off!! In October

That time of year

It is official I am racing for ABRC and have been asked to be the team captain. Dave is on board as well and we will be with Momentum racing in the dirt. The new bikes and clothes are ordered. I took my one week end of year break off and the cold weather is rolling in. It was 34 degrees this morning so I am waiting to go ride. Hurry up and wait for now.....robert

The season is over

Last weekend was the final races and went pretty good. I got 9th place both days. I put together my race results for the year and was suprised to see how well I did. I did a total of 47 races this year and placed top 10 in 27 of them. My mind has been made up and I will be riding for Asheville Bicyle Racing Club this year and have been asked to be the team captain for the masters team. I am honored to be picked since there are a lot of talented guys here. This week I will take off the bike and next week start my winter training. Yeah, trainers and cold weather.

Fall is coming

The season is winding down and my body is glad. Since my last post Shawn and I have had birthdays and Kellie has had hysterectomy surgery. She is doing well. I have continued to get some more top 10's and raced a cross race last Wed. on my mountain bike. That was the 4th (?) time I have ridden my MTB bike this year. I went for a fun interval work out and got it all while entertaining the crowd. Next weekend should be camping with Dave and the next racing in Simpsonville. That should do it for the year. I built up my new TT bike and have ridden it once so far. It rides as good as it looks. For now just figuring out how much camping we can do by the end of the year and preparing to start winter training. Kellie is starting to exercise and watch her diet which I am glad to see. She is doing it for herself and to prepare for the next Roller girl try outs. Shawn is back in scouts and keeping it real in the 5th grade. The cat has not moved..........

Nationals

I did everything right this time. I was on the front row with 74 guys. The race was on and the first attack went. I was bridging up and pulled off with 100 meters to go to fall back and jump the counter move. We came together and coming out of turn 4 two guys went down 3 wheels in front of me. As luck would have it they ended up right in front of me and I had to stop. When I came out of the pit it was single file and I fell in the middle. The rest of the race was 30-33 mph and single file. No matter how hard I tried I was done. I ended up 43rd. I am over being depressed and having fun riding my bike again. The season is still going and now I need to focus on moving up to the 2's. We did have a good time going to the Indianapolis speedway and underground caverns. Shawn I think swam a million miles in the hotel pool.

14 days to go till Nationals

I raced at the track Wed. and came around people in the sprint I would normally have trouble with and did it without any trouble. I also pulled back the biggest break of the night and shreaded the field.
Today I motor paced for an hour in 94 degree heat.
This will be the year for me. Now I rest and take it easy from here on. After nationals I am concentrating on getting enough points to get out of the 3's.

22 days to go

Since the last post I took 2 weeks easy. Between the training and heat I had to back off. Last weekend was an omnium in TN. I took 11th in the cat 3 RR which was a waist of 3 hours of my life. It is so different between Masters and the 3's. The sprint was a joke and I got trapped. The TT that afternoon was better since none of the idiots where around me and I got first. The crit Sunday in the masters 30-40+ was super fast and I ended up with a 5th overall and 1st in the 40+. The cat 3 race was easy and on the last lap I was in 4th going into turn 3 and three guys did a hail mary move on the inside so not wanting to go down I backed off and had to try to pull it back ending up with a 9th.
The week before at the track I ended up with a 2nd in the masters a 9th in the A's and a prime.
This weekend everybody is coming up for the FBCC and I am doing the crits Sunday and an easy ride with Dave Saturday. It will be good to ride with and see everybody.
As for the 22 days left.......That is when I go pick up my national jersey. My attitude is getting very cocky, I am motor pacing at 30-40 mph and I am 12 pounds lighter this year. It is my year to win!!!!!

HOT

Weekend before last between SC and TN I got 4 top 10s in a TT and crits. This past weekend was the NC ST crit champ. There were 4 teams with no less than 5 riders each, Sat. the course sucked, oh and it was over 100 degrees. I survived though and only broke one wheel. 12,14,17,and 21 is how I ended up. It was my 4th week on a training block so I was not at 100% and on Sunday's second race on the line the guy next to me said his computer said 108 degrees. I got in some of the breaks and pulled some back so I did not sit in. I was there for the heat and hard races. Shawn got to play in the pool at the motel and we made it back in time for the meet and greet with the Blue ridge roller girls. Kellie will be trying out for the team this Sunday. Gotta go to work...........Robert

I am still alive

Work has been busy, Kellie new job is going well and Shawn has finished his end of the testing and waiting to get out of school. The cat has not moved much and racing season is in full swing. I am riding stronger than ever this year and getting in the top 10 on a regular basis. Right now the clock is ticking down to nationals and I am focused on that. This weekend I skipped racing to back off a little and will be in Tn this coming weekend for an omnium and the NC crit championships the next. This picture was from Elberton Ga. where I got 3rd in the TT, 9th in the crit and 6th in the RR.

Greenville week 2

Sat. River falls in the masters we had 4 go up the road and all the teams sat on the front controlling it. I stayed with all the attacks and positioned myself to far back for the finish and ended up 21st.
Sun. Donaldson center 6 laps and on lap 1 a guy went up the road. Lap 3 the attacks started and I was with them all. We would get away and then everybody would play games and we would get caught. Lap 4-5 the big boys started and on the last attack I was trapped and thought it would come together but 3 got away. The last lap was fast and with half a lap to go 4 got of the front and where able to stay away. I got 2nd in the feild sprint only because I sat up and ended 10th overall. It looks like I am starting the season strong and with a new bike and attitude. I am going to win!!!!!!!!!!!

Survived the !st weekend

Went to Greenville spring series to see what kind of shape I am in. Sat. at Fork Shoals RR I went with two others on a break away. I dropped a chain and we got caught. I pulled back on and tried two more attacks. I was spent at the finish and came in behind the sprint. Sun. in the masters race at Donaldson I stayed with the group since there were several teams and all the big names. I stayed with all the attacks and with 2 k to go got gapped and pulled the group back up and as soon as I got back in the leaders they attacked again and I tried holding on but fell of the back of the leaders 700 meters to go and came in 21st. My results where not good but I felt good and strong so now I know were I am and after this snow melts I can get outside and step it up.

FLA

We went to the 12 hr of Santos in Ocala Florida this past weekend. I got some good riding in since it was 75 degrees. Friday rode the course and Sat. got 4.5 hrs on the road. Sun. 11 hrs in the van. Dave won and Joel got 5th in his first 12 hour race. This weekend Greenville and see what kind of shape I am in. For now get caught up on my sleep and training......

More Snow on the way

I actually got to ride outside 4 days last week but have set up the trainer permanently in the living room. Let see snow, single digit temps, rain from hell with flooding and now 6 to 12 inches of snow coming this weekend. I am going to loose my mind !!! On the bright side my new team bike is on order.
This weekend was suppose to be the pine wood derby, which has been postponed. We got the car done in time and looks good. Shawn wanted it red, white and blue this year. Like always it was a full family affair with only a little trouble with the paint. Hopefully Shawn will make it to the finals. For now we wait for the snow.....Robert

Seriously ?!

Since that nice snow I don't think it has gone above 32 degrees. We have been having wind chills below 0 and the cat will not go outside. I got the bright ass idea last week to go mountain biking. I am so stupid !!! I made it to 5 points in bent creek at dark and came down hillside. CAME DOWN on my ass draging my bike. There was 7 inches or more of ice up there. It was pretty and did not get hurt. I am on week 4 or 5 of being on the trainers and feel sorry for the family. Eveyone is good just cold and waiting for spring.
I have decided to ride for Lenovo this year with Nathan and Dave so I am excited about that. For now more of the trainers and the gym...........Robert