News Flash - WWE Enmeshed In Huge Doping Scandal!!!

A shocking revelation indeed as the scourge of cycling creeps into professional wrestling.

OTF Big Time

I am going OTF from the gun sometime this weekend Win, lose or draw. The pain train is getting ready to leave the station.

One of my very favorites...

The epic tale of a boy and his bike.

Because I Could

Sittin' life out for a few days here in Brazil. I have been generating a lot of email lately and now you know why. We leave tomorrow for the promised land!

A Little Help Please

Okay readers, I have a slight dilemma and I would appreciate your input.

Next Monday is the Debaets-Devos criterium and they are making this one of the richest races of the season. Check it out.

Here's my dilemma...should I race the cat 3 and go for a high placing and maximum $$ or should I do the 1/2/3 to test myself against that field or do both races?

I have been planning on skipping the cat 3 and just give the 1/2/3 my all to see if an upgrade to cat 2 is a reasonable thought. But hey, I know this cat 3 field and I am confident in a top 10 finish somewhere and a share of $1250. Where I end up in the 1/2/3 is anyone's guess. James thinks I should do both but then I don't get an accurate measurement against the 1/2 field.

Let me know what you think.

Rockford Criterium Re-Cap

Another Grand Rapids race and another chance to tour the wonderful city of Grand Rapids Michigan! I have lived most of my life in this state and it hasn't been until the last couple of years that I have discovered this awesome town. If I were to leave this area for another in southern Michigan, there is little doubt I would head west and settle in one of these little suburban towns like Ada or Rockford. Look, they have four Christian radio stations on FM alone!! We have one in this area and they only play music half the time!

We drove out on Friday morning so we could tour the Ford Presidential Museum. If you have an opportunity, this is really a worthwhile trip to make. The price of admission is only $7 per and
you could spend days and days pouring over amazing displays. Things like Ford's handwritten notes taken when interviewing Marina Oswald for the Warren Commission. They really covered Watergate from A to Z also. Definitely two thumbs up from Mom and Dad at least.

We stayed at the Comfort Suites Comstock Park. The hotel was the closest name brand I could find to Rockford and it was very new. The only problem was that the floors were flimsy and people talking in the hallway sounded like they were in your room. Bottom line...no sleep for Mom and Dad. I think the kidlets did okay though.

A big plus for this hotel is the location. There is a minor league baseball park across the street and a putt-putt course with go-kart track. We did the putt-putt go-kart thing as I could get no traction for baseball with the family. I got my hat handed to me in putt-putt but dominated the go-kart track!! Our ten year-old, Abby, was able to drive her own kart and she was a riot! I thought she was trying to obstruct me but she was just weaving all over the track. It was absolutely hilarious. That's Abby driving the pop tart car in the pic on the right.

Next morning, we arrived at Rockford in a light drizzle. The things I had heard about this course made me very nervous especially now that the course was damp. We arrived as the cat 5's were racing. James and I went to register, (and BTW campers, registration is at the high school all the way at the other end of the course), and as we were waiting to cross the street at turn 1, there was a big crash. The lead rider was carrying a lot of speed and he lost it, fell on his side and slid into the curb. Several riders plowed into him and several others dumped their bikes before hitting the pile. Now I was really nervous.

James was up at 1045am right after the cat 4's. That race also had a crash as Eric Hinderager went over the handlebars when the rider in front of him hit the curb on the last turn coming into the finishing straight. DMO, I know you read this and that turn got more people this year. Eric was involved in a crash there and so was Rob Iser, (racing in 1/2 field), who overcooked the corner and hit the hay-bale that was guarding sign post. Rob told me that hay-bale wasn't there last year. Rob was okay and so was Eric. Eric finished the race but Rob elected to retire from his race.

AAVC looked very good in the 4's with Zach Maino riding very aggressively and Scott Gifford stalking the pack. A late season addition to the team, Chris Aten, rode very well helping support Zach and Scott's efforts. Eric was looking strong again only to be foiled by that mishap in the last turn before the finish. That's Eric in second place coming through turn one.

SLC's own Doug Gatto, (The Cat), stalked the field for a few laps before bagging it in favor of racing the masters 30+.

Zach made a monster move in the second to last lap flying off the front. He opened up a huge gap. It was a gamble but he felt he needed to fire off the last of his bullets to avoid fighting it out in the sprint. He didn't think he had a sprint left in his legs. I had my fingers crossed but he was back in the pack coming back by me on the last lap heading into the final turn. It was a gutsy move. Scott was in the field sprint got either fourth or fifth place. Eric was back in the pack somewhere but kudos to him for finishing. That crash would have sidelined most folks.

James did another stellar job riding beyond his age. He lined up with all the big dogs of the junior field and hung with them for a good portion of the race. Chris Brinkman, Dan Ritter, Tony W., Andrew Florian, etc.. He ended up getting dropped and riding solo for the last half of the race. Brent Brookwalter was doing the announcing and he praised James for his strong finish as he sprinted in on the finish. I was riding around the course watching the race and a lot of people were commenting on the young racer who was doing so well. They asked how old he was and were shocked that he is only 12.

The ladies 1/2/3 was up next and Julie Bellerose managed to put herself into the break with Mackenzie Woodring of Priority Health. As always, PH had several racers and Julie was by herself. I was getting ready for my race so I didn't see a whole lot of the action but Julie was in the sprint for the win but lost out to Mackenzie

I rode the course in between races and took the corners at speed to get a feel. For me, the toughest corner was turn 1 with that telephone pole and hay bale precariously close to the corner. The others were more notorious according to other riders but they didn't bother me as much. The first downhill turn has a little camber in road which bothered a lot of folks and the last turn has two cobble sections you have to cross at hi-speed.

I lined up for the cat 3 race with Steve Christy, Tony W., and Taylor Birmann. Taylor was coming off a sensational summer racing in Canada and training with the best in Colorado Springs.

Taylor wasn't sure if he was going to have legs or not but we still made plans to place him in the break that was surely going to get away. This course is fairly technical with a big hill that rises sharply in the last fifty meters or so. Riders are gassed when they get to the top and are ripe for attacks. We planned to insert Taylor in the right break at the right time. It was going to be my job to cover any early breaks that might look menacing. I really didn't think anything would stick early. This field will chase until the halfway point and at that point they seem content to let just about anyone off the front.

Taylor hosed down one early break and launched an attack of his own. Bart Carlson jumped after and Taylor looked at me as if to say, "Well?" so I hosed him down. My guess was Zach McBride was going to animate the action and he didn't disappoint. He got off the front and Bart Carlson followed. I jumped after them a little on the late side. I managed to get myself into "no-man's land" for what seemed like forever. I had several seconds on the field and could see the break up ahead. I knew I was burning matches at a prodigious rate out there all by myself. It was decision time. I had to go for it all and get the break or go back to the field for help. I put my head down and gave it my all. It was working. I was closing them down but I was running myself down also. I got to the top of the hill so winded it was incredible. After a few more minutes I started to fall back again. I was a little surprised the break didn't wait for me. I was gaining on them, they had to see that, and there was only two of them. Didn't they think they stood a better chance of staying away with three? After the race I was told that Zach was trying to shake off Bart. It wasn't like they were working all that well together. Bart has a wicked sprint but he is not an endurance kind of guy. (I worked with him in the break at Maillot Juane and he had to sit out a few rotations to stay with us. All the same, he ended up winning the sprint in the end of that one.) I think this contributed to their decision to not let me close the last 200 meters. Still, if I were them, I would have enlisted one more rider to ensure the break's survival.

So, I realized this wasn't going to work and I needed help. So, I went back to the field and tried to organize a chase. Some folks responded but just like Ada, I found myself gapping the field on my pulls. Frustrating. Peter Ehman was in the field; a rider I knew from previous races was a mature and super strong racer. After trying to put together a chase for some time, I pulled up alongside Peter and asked him if he would work with me. I told him I knew how strong he was and he said he wasn't "feeling it". Still, he responded and before I knew it the two of us were off the front in hot pursuit of the break.

It really didn't take long at all and we could see we were closing down the break. You can see from the pic at the left that we had gapped the field pretty significantly. Climbing that big hill I could see Peter and I had closed to within 200 meters and my friends at the top of the hill told me that the breakaway riders were fading fast. We continued to close but were running out of time. We were now into the last two laps. On the last lap one of the breakaway riders, Zach, dumped his bike on turn 1. This was really unfortunate for him because he really deserved to win this race. Peter and I rode by him hunting down Bart who was all by his lonesome and, presumably, suffering like a dog. Peter bested me on the top of the hill hand gapped me. It was every man for himself. Peter was clearly the better climber as I was clearly the better TT-ist. Now it was my chance to recover and hose him down before the line. I just missed and took third place. Bart held on for the win but it was pretty close considering the gap the break had established. That's Bart cruising in for the win with Peter and I charging. When Peter and I left the field, the break had almost 30 seconds.

Third place isn't a win and I once again missed the winning break but I was happy with with the way the race ended up. Peter and I raced and didn't sit in the field and wait for the field sprint for 3rd place.

My winnings. I won this prime and didn't even realize it! I never sprinted and no one was challenging me as I rode through the finish. I thought I heard my name associated with a prime and so I checked on it and sure enough I won this cool little inflater! Awesome!!


The 1/2 race was 80 minutes and it was fast, fast, fast. The Lime Line was out there absolutely putting a stranglehold on the race. The pro team was sending there guys up the road attacking non stop until the winning break got away with the Howard bro's winning it all. Pete Shilling took 8th in a hard fought battle and commented after that we would be "spitting lime juice" for the rest of the night. Rob Iser ended up in a hay bale, Joey was with the field up until the last lap when they dialed the pace up to "ludicrous speed" and popped him.

Vince Roberge looked very good on his first race back from Belgium racing for the Cycling Center. He got away with a PH rider in the last few minutes of the race and almost made it stick. Had he done that it would have been a top five finish but the field would have none of it and hauled them back.

All in all, I have to say that this is one of the best crits of the season. The atmosphere is great and I can't say enough about the course. Granted, I was concerned coming into it but that hill and those corners make it tactically interesting. My strength is attack, form a break and fight like heck to stay away. This course was tailored made for that kind of racer.

Rockford

In a few minutes, I'll load the entire family and head west for the Rockford crit. We plan on spending some time at the Ford library and maybe Meijer Gardens if the weather permits.

Speaking of weather, it looks like there might still be some rain tomorrow morning but it will be moving out as the day goes on. The surface forecast indicates a cold front is going to pass through early in the morning and after it is gone, high pressure will move in and improving conditions with it.

We look forward to seeing many of your there.

Last Crit Practice

That's a wrap folks. I will be missing next week's practice so last night was the finale for 2007. Man, where has the summer gone? It seems like we were just getting things rolling and now it's over. Wow. I only wish winter would slip by this fast!

With all the rain I had to ride the trainer Monday night. It wasn't too bad really. It brought back memories from last winter. Some good some not so good.

Crit practice was a lot of fun and a great workout as usual. I sat out one race with stomach cramps, (pizza for dinner). I also missed a ten lapper because I flatted after the sprint on the previous race.

Good news for those of us who like to read race blogs. Our friend Rob Pulcipher of Morgan & York/TWT has published his blog. Make sure you bookmark http://www.bikeblot.blogspot.com

Junior Training Ride At Kensington

James I reported for practice at Kensington this morning in bright sunshine and temps in the fifties. We were greeted by Coach Dave and Coach joe. James and I were the only riders to show so James had three coaches to himself! This was Dave's day to lead the ride so James was able to work closely with him for almost two hours. It was great! Dave is so knowledgeable and experienced.

Since we have some racing coming up with hills Dave decided to do some hill repeats which was perfect. We warmed up some then did at least an hour of repeats.

After, we said goodbye to Dave and Joe and we rode over to Island lakes to get a few more miles in. James rode on my wheel and we just toured the park together.

We dined on PBJ's during and after our ride. For a treat we stopped at the Custard Company in Brighton. It was fantastic! If you get the chance do it. It is in that shopping center near Costco.

So, What's Up With The Cat?
I checked out the Cat's blog tonight and boy is he getting testy. What gives Pothole? Apparently some folks have been giving him grief about the Cavalier. You know something like, "Hey Doug, how long are going to drive that thing? Geez, move along already. My grandfather had one of those," or words to that affect. (Yeah but I bet your grandfather didn't have a two door now did he?

As for me, I like the Cavalier. I'm so used to seeing it at races that its absence would suggest things may not be right with the world and everything as we know it is coming apart at the seams.

Here's another thing...why are people so concerned with Doug's ride? Now, I'll admit, I need more people to buy Ford products so I can have a job so I can buy stuff. But still, one has to respect another's choice in this area. Sure our friend might look better in a brand new car but that would be for us now wouldn't it? I mean if the boy has a Cavalier heart a Mustang GT just won't do now will it.

Maybe it is time for our esteemed friend to "pimp" his ride. What about something like this?


The only thing is what to do about the bike rack. That rear end thing might not go with the paint on this new Catmobile. Might have to consider one of those breakaway bikes.

Just visualize ole' Doug slowly pulling into the parking lot at the next race with his gojillion watt stereo blasting out hip hop tunes. Then he smoothly climbs out and gives us a brief pose before unloading his water bottles on the roof. Priceless.

More Hines Pics

Blog Fill

What do you write about when there's no racing going on? That's easy...training. What else is there that is local and bike related?

So, this morning I got up and dragged myself out on a 2.5 hour ride. I began at my house here in Saline, rode up Maple to AA Saline Rd. to whatever that road is called that runs behind Target and Outback restaurant to Scio Church to 7th to...yada, yada, yada Chelsea. It was a little humid but otherwise beautiful morning.

For all of you that train regularly on HRD, do you recognize this wonderful stretch of ashpalt?



Always a lot of fun to negotiate. I must have intimate knowledge of every pothole and asphalt
patch on this beautiful stretch of road.

Anyway, it was on to Zou Zou's for a b-room break and the price of using that nice restroom is a small coffee.
I can't resist this place. It's not that they have the world's greatest coffee because they don't. The coffee is brewed and left in these thermoses to keep warm which means the coffee is never piping hot. It is just okay. But the location and warmth is second to none. And I should mention, Paul's Reuben is killah'.

So, I re-mounted my blue steed with coffee in hand and rode the back streets over to Aberdeen Bike and Fitness.

James has an appointment scheduled for Monday that I needed to cancel so rode my bike right into the store, (the front doors were propped open), coffee in hand. I got some approving gestures as it seems this coffee/bike connection is universal. As I left, I heard one of the employees make some approving comment about the complete appropriateness of drinking coffee while riding.

(listening to this very strange and somewhat addictive song by Regina Specktor.)

After disposing of the cup, I motored down the chip and seal of old US12 to Jackson road and held a steady 25 mph with an awesome tail wind and this song blasting in my ears.



Made the right hander on to Parker Rd and then the left onto Scio Church dodged the gravel trains at Zeeb, continued to Wagner and made the right hander down the hill. Whew, I was flying downhill with a tailwind! Hang on! 35 mph steady. Along the way I saw some turkey vultures cruising around and I wondered where they nest and what that scene might look like. Then, looking to my right, I saw a barn with four or five of these huge birds roosting. I stopped when I saw one of them holding out its wings like it was just learning to fly I stopped figuring this might be a fledgling. I watched and noticed some of these were flying into the barn. Hmmmm. Nest inside the barn? I wonder.

Anyway, back on the bike to the intersection of Wagner and AA Saline Rd and I let a gravel train hop in front of me. I jumped into his draft as he went north of 40 mph somewhere. I jumped out of his draft when I hit some major rough pavement at 45 mph or so. Hang on again!!

On to Woodland, right turn into my sub and then into my neighbor's drive for some friendly chit chat before moving two doors down to my own home. All this by 1115 am. What a day. Now, shower, eat, pack and fly out to the west coast, check into a hotel, get dinner and sleep, get up early tomorrow and fly home. Pinch me someone.

Hines Pics