Dear Friend,

Summer may seem like a long way off, but I am already gearing up to ride the 2007 MS 150. A two day 150-mile bike tour held on June 2 & 3, 2007. I will be riding with more than 400 other dedicated cyclists in one of the most crucial fundraising events for the Kentucky-Southeast Indiana Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I am writing to ask for your support in my endeavor. I will be tackling the hills and curves of Kentucky’s bluegrass country, but people with MS tackle larger obstacles every day of their lives. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Diagnosis usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can be lifelong. I am riding in the Toyota MS 150 for those who are unable to ride a bike today or live daily with the possibility that the disease may rob them of their future mobility. What causes MS is a mystery, and the cure is unknown. This is why I ride.

There are approximately 4,000 people in Kentucky and Southern Indiana living with MS. I’m riding to make sure the Kentucky-Southeast Indiana Chapter can continue to offer more programs each year for people living with MS and their families. I’m riding to help fund research for the cause and cure for MS. I’m riding for those people with MS who can no longer walk. I’m riding because I care.

In doing this, I have joined up with a team called Team Dot Louisville. We are made of men and women of all ages, all riding for a singular cause. Specifically, we ride in honor of Dot Patterson. Dot is the wife of a close friend and former teammate. Like many with MS, Dot has good days and bad days. On her good days dot is able to walk and do everything you and I do. On her bad days, Dot can hardly get out of bed. I ride to try and find way to make sure Dot has more good days than bad.

Last year, Team Dot Louisville raised $70,736.26 to help fight this terrible disease. Our team goal for this year is $100,000!! Together, our chapter helped raise $351,280 last year and our goal for this year is $518,000. Last year I fell very short of my goal of $1000. Please help me reach my goal this year by sponsoring me in the 2007 MS 150 and help the National MS Society reach the ultimate goal of ending the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis. It’s easy and tax deductible. No amount is too small. You can learn more about MS and sponsor me online by going to my pledge page.

Thank you again for your help and support of my efforts in the 2007 MS 150. The fight against MS will continue until there is a cure, and I want to meet the challenge and make a difference.

Once again it's been too long since I posted. I'll use the holidays as an excuse this time. The last couple weeks have been interesting. Thursday two weeks ago, I tried to squat 415. I got two and could do no more. I had been fighting a cold for a couple days and attribute my failure to that. But I redeemed myself last Monday by putting up 6 reps of 415 lbs. My new goal is to hit 425 by the end of this week. I've had a week off from the gym so I think its a very attainable goal.

Last week was my first full week back riding after 3 weeks off. It was a nice little break, but I am ready to get back to riding. I'm not looking forward to the cold days ahead this week, but I'll get over it. I'm just a big weenie when it comes to cold. Its been really nice to not have to worry about a training schedule. Now that I have a coach, all I have to do is train and eat right.

Speaking of eating right, I've gained 15 friggin pounds since august. Damn. I kind of went nuts over Thanksgiving too. I just can't help myself when it comes to my girlfriends grandmas homemade apple pie. The stuff is like crack. Oh well. All the junk food in the house was eaten over the weekend and is out of the house. I still feel miserable today. Its amazing to me that when I eat like crap now, my body seems to reject it. There are some days I wish I could eat like I used to when I was 275. I guess its for the best. Now that I have thanksgiving out of the way, it's time to start eating clean again. Dieting is something I have down to a science so it won't be a problem.

On the geek front...HALF LIFE 2 IS AWESOME!!!!! Easily one of the best games I have ever played. I've kind of layed Oblivion down for the time being. I am just absolutely addicted to Half Life 2. If you've never played I highly suggest it. I have never liked first person shooters in the past, but this game has totally turned me on to the genre.

Until next time, keep the rubber side down

Well kiddies, its official. Yesterday at 5:30 pm, I squatted 6 reps of 410 lbs with a week still to go. I read recently on a website that an elite level sprinter should be able to squat 2.5-3 times their body weight. For me, thats 425 lbs. But I have two more gym sessions before a switch to an endurance lifting program, so I think I hit that by next Thursday. After that, its Thanksgiving week and I am taking a rest week before I start laying down my base for the following year.

Also, since all the papers are signed, I can finally say that Curtis Tolsen is my coach. Mr Tolsen is a 5 time National Masters Track champion and took third at the worlds this year. I have the utmost respect for him and am really looking forward to working with him. Curtis has been out of coaching for a while and finally decided to get back in it and I believe I am his first athlete. Plus, he's just an all around nice guy. I guess I had this preconceived notion that he would be a jerk because he has done so well. Quite the opposite actually. He's one of the nicest guys I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Yup, I've said it before and I'll say it again, next year is going to be a very interesting year...

Wow...So yeah, its been a while. Much has happened since my last post. I have been using trainingpeaks.com to try and self coach myself for the last 6 months with pretty decent success. Until Sunday. Sunday I was scheduled for 2.5 hours in zone 2/3. Shouldn't have been hard at all. Well it took every bit of energy I could muster just to get to low zone 2. I felt like God himself was pushing against me. I might as well have been trying to beat Lance up L'Alpe d'Huez. You get the idea, just a miserable ride. I was about ready to hang up my wheels and give up cycling altogether. See, up until that point, I had never experienced the true feeling of overreaching. Let me tell you, its morally degrading. It was that day I realized I needed a coach. Someone to tell me when one more interval is one too many. Someone I can go to when I have days like that so we can adjust my training accordingly. That and to take the burden of making a training schedule off my shoulders so I can concentrate on riding. So I came home and wrote the only person I would want to coach me. Someone who I aspire to be and is a role model to me. A local hero...at least in my eyes. He had been out of the coaching biz for some years and has been considering a comeback on a VERY grand scale. I can't give any details, but suffice to say, competitive cycling, in my eyes, is about to change for this city. All that aside, he said he would love to work with me. I like to think maybe he sees some gift for cycling in me. I don't know. But he pretty much told me to scrap everything I'm doing, and just relax for the next 3 weeks. Say it aint so!!! Become a couch potato for 3 weeks. Yep he says. Don't even ride unless you really want to. Alrighty then, sounds good to me.

So rather than waste my time just vegging out and getting fat, I decide for the next 3 weeks, I am going to concentrate on maxing out in the gym. Be all I can be. So my goal is to look like this guy by week 3:
Thats none other than Chris Hoy. The man is a mchine. I found out yesterday he can squat 405lbs. "What?" I said to myself. "No way...but I can squat 352." So you heard it here first ladies and gentleman. By week three, I will be squatting at least 405. I put up 367lbs today, so I think its a very attainable goal. Yup...Masters Track Nationals here I come.

Until next time, keep the rubber side down.

Weeks like last week make me want to hang up my bike forever. I was fried. Still am a little. It was the third week of a three week cycle and my body was hating me. But I know that's how I'm supposed to feel at the end of the third week. 16 hours of training in one week does alot to tear down the body. It still amazes me though that after this week, my body will repair itself and come back even stronger than ever. To some up last week in the gym, I put up 328 pounds 6 times. Well on my way to my goal of 400. Yesterday I put up 332. Its finally getting to the point where where I almost can't do 6 reps. Since its a rest week though, I won't be able to get in more than 337 by the end of the week.

I got my computer together last week and am still in the process of getting everything loaded. In one word...FAST. The computer performs far beyond my expectations. Oblivion runs beautifully even on the highest settings. Hopefully, with it being a rest week, I'll be able to get some serious game time in. I broke down and bought a new mouse over the weekend too. A logitech MX518. For anyone looking for a good gaming mouse, I highly suggest this one. Its got on the fly DPI adjustments and is very comfortable. Of course, comfort is purely subjective. Next on my list is a 22" Samsung widescreen monitor. I'm just waiting for one to go on sale somewhere. I think when Christmas rolls around, LCD prices are going to drop and will be a good time to buy.

I hit my goal for the gym last week. Actually, I did one better. Or should I say 5 better. My goal for last week was to leg press 304 pounds. I did that on Thursday. Then Saturday, I put up 309. My goal for this week is to hit 328. I don't think it will be a problem. Riding sucks right now. Its a welcome relief from gym work, but my legs just feel so dead. I know they'll come back, its just frustrating right now.
I'm feeling an immense amount of pressure to perform next year. Not from my new teammates mind you. They're all great. They seem to recognize something in me have yet to see. The pressure I'm feeling is put on by myself. I'll be starting out in Cat 3/4 races next year. Its both scary and exciting to me. Only time will tell how things turn out. Hopefully, being in Cat 3/4, I will get a chance to see and participate in some of the team tactics I see so much in the Cat 1/2/3's. Yup, I've said it before and I'll say it again, should be a very interesting year next year.

Now on the geek front. I ordered a new computer last week and it should be here today. Or at least the parts will be. I find it interesting and fun to build the computers myself. So here's the rundown of parts.

FOXCON C51XEM2AA- 8EKRS2H 590SLI motherboard
AMD|A64 X2 4200+ AM2 2x512K R processor
2 GIGABYTE 7600GT GV-NX76T256D-RH R video cards
2 gigabytes of RAM

This should be a smokin' computer. Enough for me to finally play Oblivion. For those that don't know, Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion is one of the most beautiful RPG games I have ever seen. There are some coming out, such as Crysis, that will even top this. But Oblivion was the reason for me getting a new computer.

Until next time, keep the rubber side down.

So apparently, the UCI is finally going to be getting rid of that ridiculous 15lb minimum bike weight rule next year. For those that don't know, the UCI some years ago, implemented a rule that states bike must weight at least 15lbs. They adopted the rule in an effort to even the field. So big teams with disposable income and resources couldn't develop some superlight machine to smoke everyone up the alps. Made sense at the time. But in a world where 13 and 14 pound bikes are commonplace, its a rule that is dated. Not like it makes much difference here in the US of A. The only time that rule is applied if its some qualifier for a UCI event. So I don't what the rule is going to be changed to. Probably something equally ridiculous, but change is good.

On the cycling front. I've had 2 days of 2 hour spins since Monday. Felt good since my legs were a little sore from the gym still. Its another day at the gym today and I'm shooting for leg pressing 290. We'll see how it goes.