"We will never be here again."

A lot of people don't know who Svein Tuft is; and plenty more didn't know who he was until Worlds a short while ago.

Dude got 2nd in the Worlds TT behind one of the Bert Grabsch*. He also has a pretty sweet tattoo on his forearm which is oddly inspirational/haunting/whatever.

It says "We will never be here again." Not sure where he got it, but I like it.











*I hope and pray that they are both clean, for their sake, and for the sport.

One more thing...

I also fall asleep at bars. 

I am a D Bag.

Honestly, I should sign out of other people's computers.

Mountain biking, kids. It's magical.

So far, I've managed to bunny hop a foot-high curb without touching either wheel. Went straight up a 6 stair staircase. Crashed going up a slimy wooden ramp. Waded through a waist-deep flood surge with bike on shoulder. Plowed through a foot deep, 100yd long flooded section of the Prairie Path. Railed some singletrack in the rain, only to fall over when my old Speedplays wouldn't disengage.

Le Sigh...

This is the time of year when rumors fly about where everyone, from ProTour guys to the local Cat4/5 scene, is going to end up next year.

There was some speculation about what would happen with some local mid-level amateurs after a mass fallout with a person in a leadership position.

Carlos Sastre threw away his career by leaving CSC/Saxo Bank or whatever they are right now for presumably more money with the new Cervelo TestTeam.

A bunch of hot shot 3s (a very select few, like Tom Boba, deserve the attention) made a big ruckus about moving up to the 2s.

Two of the biggest and best domestic Pro teams, HealthNet and Toyota United, are disbanding after this season due to their sponsors pulling out.

A smaller pro team, paying a pair of super nice guys like Jonny Cantwell and Chad Hartley, is going back to elite amateur status, at least for next season.

So, after reading this, some people might begin wondering what has prompted this on my part. Am I moving to Oregon? Taking up mountain biking full time (T-6 days ETA for the new Paragon, ladies) and becoming an unkempt, dreadlocked hippy? Switching teams to exact some retribution for an unknown offense? Switching to duathlons?

The answer to all of these questions is no. ABD/GG is one of the best, if not THE best team in the Midwest. While I don't love the fact that the longest race I did this year was a pan flat, ~110km criterium, I readily acknowledge that this is just the sort of race that I need to be doing. Despite the fact that I envision myself as a "climber" (recent power tests aren't shabby after a two week easy period...wow) the crit-heavy schedule the team focuses on is exactly what I need in order to make myself a better bike racer. It forces me to improve my bike handling and on the fly analysis of what's going on in a bike race. The guys who race for ABD are also great; always helpful both on and off the bike. Always learning from them, which I think is essential for a developing racer.

In, let's say, the Tour de 'Toona Cat2 points race, the wheat separates from the chaff going up a 12 mile climb. At X.X w/kg, I simply float on by most people going uphill. That's not bragging; that's the truth. I'm not exactly putting up huge numbers here. While not the best thing to do, you can start at the tail end of the field on a climb like that and be at the front relatively quickly, simply by being faster than other people and picking your way through the soon-to-be corpses scattered across the road.

So, if Mr. Ebert will have me, I'm racing for ABD/GG again next year. The racing schedule probably won't be full of mountainous road races, but I'm fine with that. That's what vacations are for, kids.