Hoo-Ha'd, the Aftermath Edition

Still finishing up the decompression from this past weekend's spectacular racing at the Massanutten Hoo-Ha US Cup Triple Crown. All-in-all, it was a solid weekend, just squeaking in the top-10 in every race, and finishing 7th overall in the Pro Triple Crown weekend standings. Even got my pic posted on cyclingnews.com!

Straight outta cyclingnews y'all!

The course(s) was awesome, and played to my strengths, and allowed me to work on my weaknesses as well without hindering my results. What DID hinder my results was the heat and humidity, but everyone had to deal with that one.

Keeping watch on Double-A during the short-track.

One of the Giant 'Full-Timers' made the trip to Virginia, and Kelli won the short-track, cross-country, and the weekend overall. It was the first time meeting one of the Factory riders, and we were all psyched for the chance to race together.

Ahead of me, the car in it's typical mid-race-weekend state.........

....and to the right, Carolyn hanging on the sidewalk playing with her food.

Sorry for the lack of energy and emotion in this post, I've been focused on getting ready for my move to Baltimore and new job starting Monday. Gonna swing by the H2H race in Morristown, NJ this weekend to shake the rust off, see you there? OK, time to get back to it!

Hoo-HAHA!!!!

This is just the beginning........

Getting the gear together for a bike game excursion down south. It's Hoo-Ha time!!

After last year's crash in the opening miles of the race, I'll have to admit I'm gunning for a good result this year. No playin! But unlike last year, there's even more fun to be had with Super-D and Short-Track thrown in the mix on Saturday. I might even break out the full-face for giggles. Oh, and I have an iPod now for the drive, AND my CD player in the car magically started working again on Monday after over 2 years of bed-shitting. Seriously, 2 years. I gathered what's left of my CD collection and plan on getting my groove on while on my way to the race this weekend. Take THAT radio!

You get the idea......

Amidst the packing and bike prepping float memories of last weekend's C3=100 century ride at Curt's Cyclery in Nazareth, PA to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. It was a huge success with over 100 riders pedaling miles for a great cause. HUGE thanks to Curt's and my teammate Matt who put this on, and here's looking forward to next year!

The gathering of the masses at Curt's. GMA front and center!

Sexy bike, sweet shop!

In more boring news, it looks as though I'm on my way to Baltimore once again. I got myself a job, one that pays even! I'll be looking for places to live next week, and will be starting work on the 28th. Let me know if you know of a bike-friendly house with a room to rent, good times will ensue.

This guy's got the right idea! But he probably won't have a job for long.....

Cold, wet, and anxious

Wow, I actually look like a bike racer in this picture!

Wowee wow! After a slew of hot days on the bike, the last two were a little shock to the system, especially today. 4 hours of cool wet miles left me begging for a hot shower and a soft pillow. Starting to come back around now, while watching the Philly International Cycling Championship on TV.

While all those silly roadies were out doing laps around Philthadelphia, beating themselves to death up 'The Wall' and Lemon Hill, I was flogging myself down in Delaware at the Iron Hill Challenge. Not my favorite race, due to its lack of vertical and absence of technicality, but since I've been on good form and improving week-to-week, I was more motivated to toe the line than normal.

I'm pretty sure this is early in the race, as I don't look disheveled.......

As I alluded to at the start of this post, it had been rather warm until recently. Sunday's race day weather was no exception, and being in Delaware it added high humidity to the mix, creating a soupy feel to the atmosphere. I'm pretty darn sure everyone there felt like cold poop on a bent twig, myself included, and excitement at the race start was at a minimum. That is, until the race director told us during the instructions/announcements that the race would end early if there was lightning (there was the possibility of thunderstorms on the day). The collective field of Elite/Expert riders sent their prayers to the heavens for this to happen, but alas the weather held firm.

The beginning of the race was a blur, with lots of elbows and jockeying that made my mangina cramp and I ended up hitting the singletrack in the middle of the Elite/Open field of 30 riders. I sat in for a few as we bypassed the 'Mega Dip' and the normal mid-pack accordion affect did its job of annoying the bejeebus out of me. Once we hit the first real uphill, I saw my opportunity and took off in pursuit of the leaders, whom I unfortunately never caught. But I had a fun time trying, and ended up 4th on the day.

A rare look at my pain face. I try hard to hide it, but it was hard on Sunday!

Gonna go watch me some Flyers hockey action on the tube, hopefully the trails are dry enough tomorrow for some Belmont action.

Everything all at once

The rig. Git'r'dun!

Spent last week and the holiday weekend resting. Part of this resting consisted of hopping on the tractor for some planting at the farm. It's harder than you'd think to keep the tractor straight while going 2mph over deep, soft, soil.

Not my normal perfection, but a fine first-row of the day nonetheless.

Gettin psyched for some planting action.

Driving it!

Hit some big rides over the holiday weekend, which was nice. Gotta get them in now, as I'll almost inevitably be a working man again very soon. After the rides, I picked up Matt from the airport on Sunday on his return from Texas racing the Mellow Johnny's Classic. Read the report from the race HERE.

Matt, sad to have to come home from such Lance's ranch.

On the racing front, I'll be doing the MASS series race, Iron Hill, this coming weekend, followed by the Massannutten Hoo-Ha two weeks after. Really want to kill it at Massannutten, would be great to do well there!

So as I've mentioned, I've been living the vagabond lifestyle for quite a while now. Despite valiant efforts to obtain employment during that time, I had been coming up zeros until recently. This past week, balanced with my training, I've been in the car driving around to interviews for various companies. It's an odd thing, sitting in a room with a bunch of guys, playing the interview game. Considering the economy and the balance of power sitting keenly in the lap of the employer, the game has changed considerably from last time I played. Even odder is the frequency at which I'm landing interviews after getting nothing for so long. Hopefully I can keep my current offers at bay while I continue to interview. Gotta see everything all at once in order to make the right decision for myself. If all goes well I'll be garnishing an earned paycheck by month's end. Boo-ya.