Close, but no cigar...

Again, and its probably not even worth mentioning anymore, but i must apologise for the laziness in getting another post done. We have been on the go with superweek, and then had a one day rest in Grand Rapids before hitting the road again. It was great to get some fast crit racing in over at Superweek in Milwaukee. I had been needing some fast race k's to help bring the form along, and it definitely gave me that. I got to do five races in seven days, so that was great for the legs, and the mind. I found that I am starting to go well, so i am hoping to find myself in the right spots at the Tour de Toona this week, and hopefully get a few good results.

Superweek this year had four NRC races, as opposed to the whole series being NRC in the past, so the four races on the National Calendar brought out all the big teams. I got second in the first one of them, which i probably could have won, but there was just a small problem - a dude faster than me! He passed me in the last twenty metres, so that pissed me off a bit, but at the same time i had to be happy, because i haven't been in the winning position for a while.

Unfortunately the picture isn't too sharp, and doesn't have me with my arms in the air, but hopefully i can get y'all a picture of that soon!

We got given beer on the podium, so carrying a slab while riding back to the car in the team kit looked very professional!

While in Milwaukee i stayed with the Schneider family, and they were great. Dave works at the Wheel and Sprocket bike shop, and is extremely knowledgeable on cycling. His daughter Sam also kicks arse, and is the national champion in cyclocross, mountain bike, BMX, track, and road, or something like that. She was racing in the womens race, and looks like she might win the overall there too. Dave is into the photography too, so i got some pretty cool photos from him.
This photo didn't come out so well on blogger, but it was actually pretty good - you have to see the shot i have on my computer though! It would also be good for Easton, because if you can see the wheels on my bike, the stickers on the front and back wheels are in the same spot, and same for the Toyota rider. Pretty useless info for y'all (do y'all like how i say "y'all"?) but it caught my eye anyway. Also, in this picture, you might not be able to see, but the jersey is fully unzipped. It was so unbearably hot at this race, so they allowed feeding for the riders, and i think i went through six bottles in the 100km, two hour race! When we first got to Milwaukee, we stayed for two nights at a temporary host house, and it was one of the bigger houses i have ever seen. Down in the basement, they had a basketball court, with three rings, and even had a batting tunnel! The picture above shows all of the framed sporting memorablia in the downstairs basement, well not all of it, maybe just 5% of it. At a guess, there was probably 120+ framed sporting things, ranging from the Babe Ruth transfer papers (signed) from the Red Sox to the Yankees, right through to Michael Jordan stuff. It was amazing, and i didn't even have time to get a good look at all of it.
The basketball court here was awesome, and i played for hours. I just couldn't stop sinking 3-pointers, so i had to keep playing! On the left you may be able to see the batting cage. Wicked! The machine was cool, and seeing as it was only 364 days till the next hockey season, it was time for some action! It has been about nine years since i have played baseball, and that was my last time in a batting tunnel (when my brother Michael played for the state team and i followed him to pracise one time). I was definitely out of form, and it was pretty scary when the young dude from the host house fired down a 110 mph fast ball out of the machine to me - i don't think i even got to see the ball!

So right now we have just arrived in Pennsylvania, the home state of Floyd Landis, for the Tour de Toona, which is pretty exciting, because we get to race a seven stage tour. Tour racing is my favourite thing, so i hope it goes well, and it is great to have the band back together - well nearly, just short of Brentmeister (Europe), and Eddy (who is making good recovery from his broken pelvis), but the vibe is good, and with a number of riders in good form, it is going to be a good, fun week.

I guess i have sort of run out of things to write about, although i am sure i will think of them when i post this blog, but for now that is all. I hope to make a few regular posts throughout the week, although they may be photo-less, but it might give you guys back in Oz a bit of an update before cyclingnews.com gets on it! If i do get a win this week, the post will be done that night for sure!

I hope everyone back in Oz is doing well. I hear it is a bit cold over there at the moment, so i hope you are all coping well. If there is anything i should have written about, then let me know.

Oh, two other things, Marty the Mouse had to be set back into the wild last week, so that was an emotional farewell, and also, the old boy, Billy, did a 100km training ride on the weekend! What an effort - I am very proud of him, and he did it solo too, so look out for him come 'around the bay in a day' because he will be the man to watch!

Happy birthday to my sister Lisa, who had her 18th on the weekend, and can now get drunk legally!

Laters dudes...

PS: In the Cedarburg criterium, i came fourth, but it should have been second. I had a nice clean run at the finish line, and was in pursuit of the eventual winner Karl Menzies, when a Toyota rider decided he would move from the centre line of the road all the way to the right hand gutter! I had to hit the brakes, and stop pedalling, or i would have hit the fence. I have no problem with anyone changing lines, but to go all the way to the fence to stop me passing him was a bit extreme, and dangerous. I protested, but apparently none of the four officials saw anything, so i had to sit there and listen to him talking about how well he sprinted while being interviewed up on the podium - what a dog! The only good thing from this is that i am starting to find my legs, and now have regained confidence in my sprinting ability, so i am excited about the upcoming races. I could go on for ages about this guy steering me at the barriers, but i think i will just have to get a win to make up for it! I knew i was going to think of something more to write, i better sign off now or i will be here all day coming up with more things...