In preparation for last season I changed up my training program and did a lot of weight lifting and intense intervals on the bike. I neglected to ride the long miles, however, and as the season got going I found I was always tired at the end of races. I was usually fatigued and unable to raise my game when it was time to go for it during the critical part of a race.

When I started training in October I knew I had to make some changes. I'm a big boy compared to most bikers. My legs are big and my upper body is big as well. There isn't a lot I can do about it, but there is one thing I knew I could stop doing. I could stop lifting weights. My problem with the weights is I like them. I like grunting and straining and cranking the iron. Last year I really overdid it and put on too much muscle. That coupled with my low mileage led to poor results. So this year I decided to go old school and just log the miles. I've logged nearly 6000 miles since October first and I feel quite different than I did at this time last year. I'm a little bit trimmer and the endurance is WAY up. I've put in many weeks excess of 25 hours. I haven't done a lot of specific interval training or sprint work, but I've done lots of climbing. I'm trying to arrange for my best fitness to come at the Tour de Georgia in mid April. Last year I got completely hammered in Georgia when the race hit the mountains. My goal is to finish that race. If I have the fitness to drag my carcass over those climbs then I figure I'll also be good enough to help my teammates who can climb for real. Of course I'll be looking for opportunities for myself along the way as well. There are opportunities for success in every road race if you are willing to stick your neck out there and go for it.

In fact, I kicked off the season with the Cherry Pie Road Race on Sunday. It went pretty well. I broke away with Derek Archibald at about the halfway point. Together we built a large lead over the field and had a little sprint at the end to see who would win. I came across the line first to start off the 2006 season with a win!

My next race will be a little time trial next week in Vancouver, WA called the Jack Frost Time Trial. My TT bike is in disarray, but I should be able to get it into working order after a couple hours in the garage. Then on March 3rd I fly to Georgia for training camp with my team. There I will receive all my near gear including my new bike. Training camp will be short and sweet. The team this year has nine riders, but only three of us from last year's squad are still here. On the 8th of March we fly to California for three weeks of racing. I'll send more updates once I get on the road.

But before I wrap up this extensively long blog I would be remiss if I didn't mention the contribution my beautiful girlfriend Marjorie has made to my preparations for the coming season. I moved in with her in September and due in no small part to her generosity I have been able to quit delivering pizza to focus solely on training (And on her too, of course). Her support and timely nagging have been instrumental in my accumulation of mileage. When this season turns out better than last year I will have her to thank for putting up with and supporting me and my itinerant schedule. Thank you for everything, Margie. I love you dearly.

Until next time . . . Cheers!

Last week I flew out to Georgia for our 'training camp'. That's what it was called, but we all knew going into it that training camp was going to be more like Meetings Camp. We had meetings with sponsors, got all our gear, performed photo shoots on and off the bike, went on short bike rides, and were generally busy every day. It was exactly what we were told to expect and it all went pretty well.

The new team looks great. It is a good group of guys that hopefully I won't be sick of hanging out with until late in the season. On the road I end up spending a lot of time with my teammates and it is a good start to the season if there aren't any high maintenance, immature, or generally annoying new guys to deal with. In other words they are all cool. Furthermore, I think they are a pretty talented bunch of riders so hopes are high for some good results this year.

On Wednesday we flew from Athens to Fresno, CA for the first weekend of racing on our three week trip through CA. The Central Valley Classic is the first event on the calendar for us. Today is the Time Trial which was supposed to be all uphill, but the weather isn't so great and it snowed up in the mountains overnight so the course has been changed to a pan-flat 16 mile course. We didn't bring any TT bikes or aero gear on this trip because we were planning on doing uphill TTs every week! So it is Mercks style for us. The race organizer has asked everyone, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, to ride the same bike setup they would have used for the uphill TT. I'm not so sure everyone is such a good sport, however. I'm sure some of the best guys are going to show up in their full aero setup. We only have a few clip-on bars for our road bikes. I'm not planning on bothering. I'm actually looking forward to getting a good training effort in. This weekend is an omnium anyway so if you are not in the top ten it doesn't matter how fast you go.

Legal Links

If you have been charged with an Oregon DUI or other Oregon criminal charge, I recommend you contact David Lesh through his web site. Mr. Lesh is an experienced Oregon lawyer.

Cycling Links

•I support the local bicycle team of www.prestovelo.com.
•I am a sponsor of the Therapeutic Associates Cycling Team, Bend, Oregon.
•I support Oregon Bicycle Racing Assocation (OBRA) www.obra.org.

Chiropractic Links

I highly reccomend Dr. Bassinger and Dr. May at Clearwater Chiropractic. Dr. Bassinger is a personal friend and an excellent doctor.

Note: Clearwater Chiropractic is located at the following web site address:
• http://www.meta-ehealth.com/site/office/index.jsp

Massage Therapy: I recommend Brent King LMT & LMP