kickoff!

I have been super busy for the last few weeks, moving to austin, finding work, getting lost, eating tacos, more tacos, and migas!

So far austin pretty much rules.  But due to poor packing on my part i have been stuck waiting for our moving truck, which arrives today, for my cycling season to get back on track.  However, our things arrive today, i will unpack helmets, kits, other bikes, and the madness will begin.  Cross race on tuesday and austin driveway criterium on thursday.  i feel fat and lazy, and can't wait for the motivational ass whipping i am surely in for.  bring it.

I also found out that the gracie jiu jitsu school is just around the corner from my house, so i plan to get to a class this week!

oh, and here is the truck full of my stuff, gotta run. 

big changes...

well i haven't updated in a long time.  partly because my last racing experience was a total bummer, and partly because i am in the midst of a very hectic time in my life.  i am moving to austin, texas on the first of september.  we will be road tripping and camping on the way there, and the logistics of moving everything half way across the country are pretty complicated.

still, abby and i are totally excited about the new things coming our way.  new house, living with friends, new school for abby and eventually for me too, outdoor living all year round, bike rides in jan, feb, and they even have cyclocross (of some kind).

leaving behind friends and family is hard, and i will visit as often as i can, especially if i find a good job, but i really believe its the right time in my life to take this kind of chance and try something new.  and the school abby has chosen seems perfect for her, so i am excited about her new challenges...

plus bike racing most of the year. camping in new places. running. swimming, meeting new people...all that!

the down side is that money is so tight i really had to put the breaks on the racing till i get to austin.  i will still have a few months of their weekly races to do, and then cross.  but my long term goals, really my two main athletic goals right now are to prepare for the Austin Marathon which is february 14th, and the 2010 tour of the gila in late may.  i raced gila a few years ago but altitude and mediocre fitness really beat me up, but the scenes and the courses are intense, i really want to take another stab at that race.  and i will only be a days drive away.

long term goals are good.  i have been running 3 times a week, and i am going to start getting back out on the bike this week.  i have been toying with the idea of doing the fall river race this weekend, but i kind of doubt i can make the time.  we will see.

i have been lucky to have a good sponsor while here in new england, actually all along.  i have raced for circle A cycles, providence velo, casters/majik coffee, nbx briefly (never did get one of those hot jerseys though) and finally millwork one.  each one of those teams brought me in contact with really cool and talented people, and i am thankful for that.

i am having a going away party on saturday the 22nd of august in east providence.  i will give you more details if you email.  please consider yourself invited.

Attleboro

after a brief hiatus from racing, due to a nasty cold followed by a very hectic week, i am back in action this weekend for the attleboro criterium.  i like this race course a bunch and have had some moderate success there over the years.  i almost always do the P123 race because it is fast and fun, but this year i am going to focus my efforts in the 30+ race and the cat 3 race.  hopefully i will have some teammates in those events, the weather is supposed to be nice!

it was a bummer to stay away from fitchburg again this year.  it was nice to see adam and ali in town, and i was really excited about gabe killing it, he just keeps getting faster.

off to walk the dog while the sun is shining.

don't mess with...rhode island?

While it is still not "official" it is looking like abigail and I will be moving to austin, texas in september.  i am really excited and a bit scared about this, scared only because i am a classic rhode islander who thinks kingston is very far away.  but its time to take the challenge and live in a new place, and austin is really awesome, sunny, hot, and bike friendly.

not to mention it has the most music venues per capita of any place on earth!

not bad. right.

their midweek races are run like weekend races with category's and prizes, and happen every week march until late october. 

rumor has it that they race cross down there too, but i am not at all convinced yet.

mostly the move is about abigail attending one of the best schools for acupuncture in the country which is called AOMA (academy of oriental medicine at austin).  she has applied and we should here about the decision soon, i think her chances are great, she rules.

i will establish residence, work, play, and maybe study at the university of texas when i can get the cheap resident prices.

to pull off this move i need to unload some belongings.

i am holding a booksale at 111 wood street, on the stoop, sunday morning July 5th starting at 9am.  I have tons of books.  fiction, philosophy, poetry (ick), literary journals, text books on anatomy, biology, how to run for public office (its a pamphlet i thought was funny coffee table material), photocopied chapters of edmund hussurl texts nobody should try to read, ever, classics of existentialism, postmodernism, and ismism. (that last one is fake)

really, lots of good books cheap, come get a deal!

also i will be selling my redline singlespeed mountain bike, i want to upgrade anyway, and how many bikes can i guy move with anyway...what do i look like, adam st. germain.

also, i will be selling my guitar amp (musicman 210 75 watt) and some cool effects pedals.

if any of this sounds good to you let me know.

ok so this is a lot of info for right now, but i am overwhelmed, lots to plan.

as for bike racing here in new england, money is suddenly a big deal, so fitchburg is out.

attleboro is in, masters race at new britain as well, and the rest is up in the air.

time to go make a booksale flyer.

Just back from Austin, where training criteriums make the local papers...

vermont marathon relay update

quick update (details later)

scotty 13.1 miles in 1:46.30

adam  13.1 miles in 1:42.3o

combined marathon time 3:29.04

44th place of 110 male relay teams

99th out of 622 overall relay teams

beers consumed in celebration: (data not available at this time)

p.s. more details later, this event was pretty amazing.

summer is here

boom. just like that is 88 degrees and so sun shiny in providence.  its really the best time of year in this town, the plants are all blooming, the farmers market is kicking into action, bike riding in just jersey and shorts, cool winds are blowing out around the reservoir.  

life is good.

work is busy.

risd had a money meltdown buy abby kept her job despite a brief scare.

and with the warm weather the road racing bug infected me.  i have been training hard for a few weeks and much to my surprise, i am pretty fast right now for a guy who didn't do any of the BS winter miles of misery. running, doing jiu-jitsu and mountain biking have really gotten my fitness to a pretty decent level.  now adding the right kind of bike training could get me to a good place for july and august racing.

two weeks ago i did my first road event of the year, ninigrit #3 in the king of the world in rhode island series.  it was pretty fast but not really windy, and i did nothing, i mean nothing at all in the race.  just cruised around making conversation with folks i haven't seen in a while.  it was pretty cool.  some people still can't corner a bicycle for shit, but hey, if racing bikes was easy to do they would call it football, right.  (come on, thats funny)

i made it out to wompatuk this week, man thats a pretty strange race, its basically in a swamp, with no hills, smooth turns, and one million bostonites, and they race much like they drive...willy nilly.

two guys on the same team attacked at the same time and hooked each other hard.  one got pretty jacked up and broke a collarbone, i hope he is ok, he looked rough.  that crash came at the half way mark, i got in my car and got out of that swamp promptly.  i won't be back to that event for while.

in other news, jiu-jitsu is pretty awesome, i go to class twice a week and we fight at the end of class in sessions that vary in length.  it is hard to explain but grappling at full speed is so intense it is like sprinting at full tilt for 3 to 5 minutes sustained.  and if you let up, you get choked or submitted by your opponent.  it is wild, and really beneficial to all around fitness.  if you can, you should try it, i mean that.

also, sunday, i run a half marathon again.  this time as a relay with adam "hiding out in vermont till we all forget how fast he is, only to return and make us all feel slow again" st. germain.  can't wait for the pain.

then off to austin texas, to chill hard, real hard.

then glorious return to criterium racing at a course i really like at walnut hill park, its called the nutmeg criterium.

see you out and about.

ps.  i need a hardtail XC mountain bike with gears, holla at me dog.