CLOSE....BUT NO CIGAR

The last couple weeks have seen some good racing and my legs have been coming better and better. I survived at altitude and managed to score myself some reasonable results scoring a 5th and a 2nd. Both races, had i had a little luck i could have won....this is where the disappointment lays. Turning the tops 5's into wins is what will tell people i have arrived. Getting a top 5 result is hard, turning those top 5's into wins is a lot harder and that's what i need to start doing. I am no longer satisfied with being the best of the rest, I want to win....for my team and for myself. So its time for me to step up.....the next level is right there and I'm going to work very hard to get there over the next month.

The best thing that i have discovered over the last few weeks, is that in Jaques-Maynes i have found a new Menzies. Ben and i have worked really well together, from Georgia to Gila and then into Joe Martin. He is the real deal, strong as an ox and willing to sell out for his sprinters in the finish. Together we have planned many of our finishes down to an inch and pulled them off, close to centimeter perfect. He is a great leader to have on the team and i look forward to racing with him for the rest of the year.

Everyone in this team has stepped up this year. I am very impressed with the unit that we are racing with. Everyone has laid it down when necessary and as a team we are far superior to the same time last year. We are smarter, hungrier and all headed in the same direction. It is the type of racing that will see Priority Health on many podiums and hopefully maintain our status as the no. 3 team in the country, behind Health Net and Toyota.

So after some solid weeks of racing i now have a little down time. The whole team is on holiday for a couple of weeks, when we will start to rebuild for Philly week. For my down time, i have arrived in Philly with Kate, where we are shacked up with the Zwizanski's. It is a beautiful house, where i will be able to treat Kate to a far more special birthday then i was able to last year. Friday is Kate's birthday....make sure you send her your best wishes....she is officially mid 20's and i think that scares her a little (ha ha).

So for now i relax....look out for some small updates over the next couple of weeks....i think we will try and hit up New York because we are so close, and if that happens, you can expect some fancy pics.

Till then......bye

RIDING HIGH....AT ALTITUDE

All the team in the calm before the storm of the first stage....Tour De Georgia

So Georgia is over and for those cycling enthusiasts who read this, you will know how my team faired during the race. We held the mountain jersey for a day, made a couple of the big breaks and i finished off with a couple of good stages, 11th and 6th. The tour was pretty good personally, i started slow, but as i got the racing into my legs i became better and better. Although i missed the podium on the last 2 days, the most positive thing for me and the team is that i was in a position that i could have won. This was thanks to some hard work from my team mates over the last couple of days, who showed faith in me and i hope i can continue to repay them throughout the season.

My best day for the tour. For those of you who dont know what i look like....i made it easier.

After Georgia, we came back down to reality pretty quickly.....a 1600mile trek across the country in the van. We did it slowly and fortunately for me, Kate had arrived on the Sunday, to add some light to my otherwise boring and dull world.

We arrived in Silver City, New Mexico, which is based at 1930m. Altitude is something that i have struggled with since being a cyclist. Both times that i have been to race in Reno, which is lower than Silver City, the first few days have been spent in bed and feeling sick and tired. Im happy to say that this time....thanks to First Endurance Optygen.....i am all over it. Feeling as normal as i do at sea level and ready to race on Wednesday when the 5 day Tour of the Gila begins.

Kate with one of the many animals that keep our host house occupied

The views from out side....as Borat would say NIIIIICE!

The energy efficient house that we are staying in.....its a great place.

Another shot from inside the house....Jeff's guitar collection

The landscape out this way is amazing. It is desert, but from our house on top of a hill, we can see as far as our eyes will let us....on a good day all the way into Mexico. While a little isolated, its is a beautiful place and we are in a great house.

So now the countdown to my next race. There are a couple of stages that are suited for bunch sprints, then its a matter of what i can do on the climbing days to help some of the boys with good climbing legs. Ill be back in touch during or after we are done. Hopefully with news of a victory.....

Hope all is well with all my readers....all 2 or 3 of them.

Later

WHO ORDERED THE SNOW

So....it was quite a welcome that i received to my first race in the US season. After a 6 hour drive from Banner Elk to Richmond Virginia, we woke up on Sat morning to a fairly heavy snow storm, sub 0 degree temperatures and no promise of any improvement throughout the day.

After a 90 min delay to the start, waiting for the NBC helicopter, we finally got going.....i have to say that even when we got riding it didnt warm up at all. Finally after about an hour of racing the snow and rain disappeared and we were just left to ride in the freezing cold. But then....on cue, as we started into Richmond for the finishing circuits the snow came down again.

Much to everyones delight, Richmond itself was dry with blue skies...still 2 degrees, but dry. It was all irrelevant for me as i raced like a rookie....i spent most day down the back, didnt eat or drink barely anything and eventually with 4 circuits to go i popped. It was disappointing for me and the team, because i actually felt i had really good legs....much to my surprise. After some bad luck on the circuits with punctures we ended up with 3 of 7 crossing the line in the 3rd group on the road. Not great, but personally it was satisfying to feel my legs and fitness were where they needed to be and it was just my tactics and nutrition that needed addressing.


The team car on the morning of the race. keep in mind the snow was cleared off it about 30mins before this photo was taken.






This was before the race. You could be forgiven for thinking he was looking forward to racing...in actual fact he had never seen snow fall, so he was like a little kid again.





Ben O. Our mechanic tries to fight the cold anyway he can while training in Banner Elk.






Introduction to the new equipment. It is a sweet ride. SRAM group set is something new, but not hard to adapt to.




So now we are on the road to Georgia. 1 week out and im back in Banner Elk, were the snow has also come down over the weekend. Omer and i hit the road today....it was blue skies but a frosty 1 degree (or 34 for you yanks). There is no better feeling than having the motivation and being excited about racing again, that heading out in these freezing temps is not a problem. Georgia is coming and i am going to be as ready as i can be....im looking for big things and so are the team.

Away from the bike....my girlfriend is still a world champ and i still get chills when i think about it. I even dreamt last night that someone was bagging her out at a race and i beat them up...only thing was, it was a middle aged woman....but hey, im a protective kind of person, so dont bag out my baby girl.

Setting up my TT bike in the morning for Georgia, should be fun, so ill catch you all later. Hopefully after ive torn some Pro Tour legs off.