Saturday Party!!!

What's up ya'll?
Well Saturday is going to be kickin (that is my slang for the day). There will be a reception for Shannon to congratulate her on the two national titles she earned this past week in Park City. There will also be a grand opening celebration for MAD DUCK ADVENTURE SPORTS. I ask that you guys come out and support the shop, because they have gone out of their way to help and support the team in our traveling and racing for the 2005 season.

Matt

heatwave

Today on my ride towards the end I began to have a mental flash back Waynes World style (doo la loo, doo la loo, doo la loo etc.) about the cool weather in Utah. The reason why I was having this episode was because today I went for a 3 1/2 hour ride. For those who know me pretty well you know this is a shorter ride for myself so normally no problems. Well, being in Utah for about 3 weeks and acclimated to the cooler weather I had a little bit of a problem with the TEXAS HEAT. In the 3-1/2 hrs. I had to consume 7 bottles and a sprite just to attempt to keep up with my hydration needs. This was crazy.
Also on today's ride I came past a carwash/detail business where there was giant blowup rhino, with straps holding it down. Due to the strong winds, it seemed to be alive and trying to break free from the restraints (remember it was very hot when I was riding).
I am glad to be back. O yea, I forgot today was the first day I had a chance to ride because the airlines had lost my bike for about two days. Yea this was a real stresser ( maybe not even a word).

overview

Now I am back in Texas and the air feels like soup it is so thick! I want to Congratulate Shannon on some reallying good racing. I had a chance to drive the surburban throughout the road race course while the race was going on. Evertime she and the other girls would come past Shannon would be on the front pulling the other riders around. The finish was fun to watch when she made her final jump and Kim was not able to react. Putting Shannon across the line first.

Go check out the various pictures from the races on cyclingnews.com, www.actionpic9.com along with other various sights.

Matt

Elite National results

Well I had my two races yesterday and today. Yesterday was the time trial (35Km). I got there with plenty of time to get warmed up and this is exactly what I did. I was feeling pretty good rolling to the start get on the starting ramp and I a off. I get upto speed pretty quickly and try to settle in. For some reason I just could not find that rhythm I usually feel when doing a TT. But that is ok, I will just keep going and see what I can do on the way back from the turn around. At the beginning of the second half I am moving along at about 30mph and starting to feel better. He speed would vary for the rest of the ride but stayed at high as I could hold it. On the day I ended up 30th. I would have enjoyed a higher placing but it just was not meant to be.
Today was the road race (130miles). I woke up about 5am and got going on my morning routine. Which is eat and get dressed with a shower in there, before taking off for the race start. The warmup was minimal due to the length of the race. I do however ride around just encase someone gets the idea of taking of from the gun. Trust me guys do this sort of thing. Because I have tried it before. Ok back to the race. Everything stayed together except that a 14 man break got up the road and was eventually caught about 2 hours later. Early on I saw my chance to try and bridge the gap and tried but to no avail. I tried a move or two more and decided I was doing too much work and needed to just rest the legs a little bit but stay very attentive incase someone decided to try and make a move and I could follow the across. No this did not happen. After spending about 90 miles in the valley it was time to start heading back to town, which meant more climbing. Usually I am all for this because I can hang with these guys and still be able to fight it out closer to the line. In the beginning this was true over the first climb, but then on the second climb and final one before we hit town and do some smaller climbs. On this final bigger climb I looked to my right and I could see this very large monkey come running out of the bushed right toward our group. I thought to myself I hope he is not headed for me, because my legs still feel ok and he real hard stuff is almost over. Sure enough before we get most of the climb done he jumps on my back and will not let go. So I am officially off and trying to fight my way back. I finished the race and left everything I had on the road. This was not to most difficult course I have done this year but this was a pretty difficult race.
I might not have had my most stellar two days of racing but I can definitely say that I have learned a lot these past two days of racing. Both about myself and racing in and of itself.
I would like to thank everyone for there support. I just wish I had better results to share with you.

Matt

morning

Well we are about 4 days away from getting started. The weather has finally turned around for the past few days and is getting warmer. Not a whole lot has happened since my last update. I have been out to the TT course again to go over the course and figure out the gearing that I will be using the produce the fasted time I can. Yestarday Nate, Shannon and I took a ride around and through town. Stopping for a bite to eat on the way back. The eatery was kinda cool there where to big wall that were covered in old beer can from all over the world and going back many years. It more of and art piece than a collection of drink recepticles. I have to throw a bigger word or two in there just to keep mom proud.
I am now about to go out the door to meet Nate for a ride and maybe something will occur that will be entertaining and I can share you you guys.

Matt

quickset

I title today entry the way I did because on my way to meet up with Nate and Shannon for the ride. I am on the side walk just outside their door and on the phone. I look forward and see the ground looks a little wet but do not really have time to react and sure enough the wetness was because some workpeople had just laid some fresh concrete. well my wheel sinks about 4 inches. I hang up tell my coaches wife I have to go. roll into the grass and take my wheel off and proceed to wipe the concrete off as fast as I could. LUCKLY it all comes off and no one was the wise till now! Except for that rather large hole the siz of a bicycle tire in fresh contrete. I would have smoothed it back out but the only thing I could think of that would work is my arm and no that was not an option. Other than that my day was really good. I had a chance to ride the road course again. The climbing was much better today.

Day off

These past couple of days have been nice. I had a chance to ride out to the race course on saturday and just become more familiar with the first few larger hills before you end up in the valley. Everything is really pretty here. You have to remember that a Corpus Christi mountain is better known as a Sand Dune. The air is begining to get a little thicker for me. Today is a rest day for me so I think I will catch the bus into Park City and see the sights.

Interesting facts

Back during the Roman era, the Romans believed that hippopotamus sweated blood. The scientific world has disproved this theory. By showing that their sweet contains two separate pigments wich act as a type of sunscreen
I will be trying to put more facts up as the year goes on.

snow man

I forgot to mention i made a snowman and a snow angle today. My snowman fell off the porch.

Utah

Sorry for the gap in my updates, I have been away from a computer for a little while. I am now in Utah and it is snowing. Yes that is right, I am writting this during the second week of June!! Well I have been here for about 5 days or so. The riding has been pretty good. Wait! before I talk about that stuff. I should say why I am in Utah. Elite Road Nationals. Ok, now with the stories. I am in park city for the most part. Ok not exactly in, more on the outskirts ( 8miles away). On my rides I end up passing by the 2002 olympic park with the ski jump etc. The town is pretty cool. The climbing is pretty good also. Seeing as the house where I am staying currently is about 6500 - 6800 ft in elevation and that is at the base of a small mountain. Yestarday after spending two hours in the garage on the trainer finally all the snow melted off the roads and dried up. So I ventured out and up the mountain. This was pretty cool. On part of one of the climbs my front wheel kept trying to come off the ground and I was pushing my 39 x 27 pretty hard. In the process of getting up the hill there were alot of switch backs, my fovorate kind of climbing. Later today Nathan and Shannon will be arriving here. I am looking forward to more teammates around.

Until next time
Matt