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