CVC Stage 1

It was one of those early mornings when you wake up 30 minutes before the alarm is supposed to go off and you just toss and turn for 29 minutes and turn the alarm off so you don't have to hear the annoying buzzer.

The road race was out in the middle of nowhere but it was easy to find, you just had to get into the caravan of team cars/RVs/trailers.
I got there an hour before the start, just enought time to slowly get suited up and roll to sign in. It seems there are always these few guys who feel that they need to start warming up an hour before the start, is a four hour race not long enough?

The race went okay, I got in a lot of breaks that got off on the climbs, but they always got caught back on the insaine fast downhills. There was one inparticular that freaked us all out. At 60mph we hit a corner that no one was expecting and the entire feild went at what seemed like a 45degree angle to the road to make it, of course there were a few dumbasses who thought they should jam on their breaks, they didn't fair too well. I finished in the front/break/lead group but couldn't get the legs to do a sprint, whats new. But thats okay, since I have the same time as the 20 or so leaders, and the TT tomorrow, I should be able to stomp it tomorrow and try and get myself to the top spots.

After getting back and showering I decided to drive the 16.5mile TT course. On the way I saw this jacked-up dually with mud tires........really? Why?

Tomorrows course will be lined with orange trees, I guess when its all done I can poach some food.

Friday in Fresno

The flight here was tiring, really no possibility of sleep with the snoring fat people shoved in all around me. I got the rental, got lost trying to find the hotel, then found out the hotel office closed at 11 and it was now midnight. Come to find out Extended Stays don't really stay open 24hrs, so I had to call around and finally got some one to come and checked me in. Needless to say I passed out hard and woke up to a beautiful day.

Mi casa for the next few days.
After unpacking the bikes and running to the grocery store for food (Extended Stays also don't have breakfast, but do have kitchens in the rooms), I headed out to get the legs opened up some.

You know you're in a warmer/nicer climate when you find palm trees everywhere.

Now all I have to do is relax and wait for the morning and the RR.

The Airport

Well here I sit again, in DIA, with more time on my hands to kill than I know what to do with. It seems no matter how much later I wait to leave and head to the airport the quicker I get through check-in and security. Today I tried to make a later departure from the apt, but when I got here there was no one in line, I mean no one. I was in security not doing the usual hurry up and get dressed again and grab your stuff before you get run over by the next person coming through, but was taking my time. No rush, no one in front of me or behind me breathing down my neck. So, now I sit with another hour till I board, and I am bored.

Packing

Even with a double bike carrier fitting a TT bike and a Road bike in it is almost impossible. I feel sorry for the security screener at the airport tries to open this then has to try and zip it back up.
Off to Fresno........again.

No More........Please

Its getting hard to keep the fitness going between races when you keep coming home to this.

Merced Crit

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Snelling RR

No pics today, just a day of racing. The race was super fast. We averaged just under 28mph and finished the 90miles just over 3hrs. The wind played some factor creating a single file line of riders as far as you could see guttered on the edge of bumpy roads. I tried going with early moves, but when a pack moves that fast there is no staying away. I tried to conserve as much energy then to the end but wasn't abel to pull a good sprint out of my legs. I ended up 15th or so. I haven't seen official results yet but I bet out of the 120 riders we started with not many made it with the main group to the line.

Prep

Only in CA.

Today was a prep day for the race tomorrow. I drove up to Merced from Fresno and preroad the RR course in Snelling.

The course is in the scenic wine country of Cali, but that also mean a wide open course.

Not much else going on, probably going to hit the sac early tonight to try and catch up on sleep.

Fresno, CA

Sorry about the lack of updating. I've been running around crazy getting ready for this weekend. I catch a late flight tonight to Fresno then hit up the races on Sat/Sun in Snelling/Merced. If I've got access to the net I'll get info posted on how its going when I can.

Tour of Cali

Props go out to my former teammate from Einstein's Jason Donald, who know rides for Slipstream (formerly known at TIAA CREF). As 7th man out of the gates he broke the record for the Tour of Cali Prologue TT ( 4:50) and held the win all the way till the last man off the block, Levi (4:49).

A second place against the world champions, cheers to you my friend.

Back

I'm back in Colorado, back to the cold, back to the snow, and back to the trainer.

What Kind Of Room Service Is This

Well I know that I'm not going to order anything here.

Cali Day.......Whatever Day It Is

I am definitely cracked, long back to back days have finally gotten to me. Tomorrow is a recovery day, then its back to the grind for a few more days before heading back to CO. The trip is great training but its missing something.......oh yeah, CSC. What happened was a week ago when CSC showed up at the hotel, there just so happened to be another team staying here too, Discovery. So CSC got mad and let for a more northern CA training camp leaving me here saying, what about me. I guess nothing was guaranteed, I just missed out on trying to raise some eyebrows, for now.

Cali Day 2

Today was another day of up and over Figueroa Mtn. but this time paced with Carter. Once over the top I was sent on my way further down the road and Carter headed off leaving me to suffer on my own.
After a good solid day of training I decided to take in some of the local culture and wonder around the town. There was this street shut down for a farmers market, I got some dried fruit, so much better than the stuff in the store.

Tomorrow is another day up Figueroa but with some changes the last half of the ride, rain is in the forcast so the ride will be a little more challenging than normal.

Texas To Cali Day 1

The day started out way too early, and is still going strong. All I want to do is sleep, but here is the wrap up of the day.

I got to see home for a short while, a whole hour while I waited in DIA to catch a connecting flight from Austin to LAX. Atleast I got to wave in the general direction of Lex.
LA just seemed dirty even from a few thousand feet up.

Once on the ground and in the rental I saw the famous LA traffic jam.

I made it to Solvang later than what I wanted since Carter still had me scheduled for a four hour ride today. I still headed out on it.

The ride wasn't an easy "Welcome to CA" ride, it was more of a"Welcome to getting your a$$ in shape week". I climbed the famous Figeuroa Mtn. and it punches back hard with narrow alpine style roads.
It looks like it will be a great week of hard training and beautiful scenery, just like the one from my balconey at the hotel here in Solvang.

I headed to the grocery store this evening to get a few staples to hold me over, this wasn't what I was expecting to find, but I guess when you are in the middle of wine region, then even the small local grocer will have 5 rows of wine.

I wonder how much wine I can fit in the bike carrier?

Texas Day 9

Well today is my last day in A-town, tomorrow its off to CA.

Texas Day 8

First off the day started with an early TT. Up a hill, across the dam, through a park, back arcoss the damn. Not too bad but without my TT bike and TT equipment I had the short end coming up 10th but I could have had it with my stuff, but I rolled the road bike.

The damn, dam. I will be your dam tour guide, save your dam questions for the end of the dam tour......


The second half of this early morning was a crit on a 2.1mile rolling winding course. It was balls to the wall the entire time and I tried getting away with 2.5 to go with 3 guys. We laid down some rubber but in the end the pace of the pack was just too fast for any break to stick, so we got caught and in the last mile a huge crash too a bunch of guys out but I was able to avoid it and stay with the front group. The finish was 100m past a 90 degree corner and it was sketch hitting it. I just settled for the pack finish, its just and omnium so it really didn't matter.

Not to get mushy about the past again but I passed this area that my dad and I always fished around this time of year, memories.

Time for a little rest and super bowl watching.

Texas Day 7

I know I'm lame like Blake for not posting pics, but I was busy racing today.

The race was only 70miles but totally different terrain that what I am used to. Mostly flat, windy, and some power rollers, so not built for a guy like me. With about 15 to 20 to go, I powered off the front and pulled one other guy with me, we stomped a huge gap and stayed away until 10miles to go and it was over. The guy I was with wasn't very smooth when he pulled through making me jump more and not allowing me to rest and recover between pulls, which where three times as long as his to begin with. So at that point I just let him go and started my own pace, he didn't get far without me. However the down side was that the pack caught us and the race was over for me when it came to a sprint finish so I decided to live to tomorrow and let the sprinters push and fight for the line.

Tomorrow is a short TT and a crit. Not a great set up since there is only 50minutes between the TT and the crit, not much time to recover, but oh well what can you do about it. Time to get grub and try and get a good night sleep after my sleepless night last night.

Texas Day 6

I forgot to post this yesterday. Scott rode these power cranks during our ride. They are both independant of each other and only work when both are used in a perfect pedal stroke, I gave them a shot, all I can say is that its damn hard.

Today was an intensity day so I did repeats up the longest climb here out of the damn. Not to reminis too much but that dry river coming out of the damn used to be a lot higher and my dad and I would fish right here......ah the good ole days.

This afternoon has been a long one and I've gotta get up early in the morning to hit the race, so later.

Texas Day 5

Today wasn't much different from yesterday, cloudy, cold and wet. But I am here to train so no more backing out and riding the trainer. Scott Henery, the Texas version of Nick Martin, and I headed out for a three hour high tempo ride.
The road was vacant, they built this wide open new smooth road and haven't opened it yet so help ourselves to some carless riding.

This afternoon my parents came to A-town to visit a little while and I took full advantage of it. We hit up IKEA to grap some little stuff for my new place.

For those of you who haven't been in one, they are massive. I'll take one of those, no not down there, one of those on the top, wayyyyy up there.

After that we hit up some good grub here in Round Rock and we'll have some breakfast in the morning before I head out on the bike and they head back to Fredericksburg. It was good to see them, but now they have to come and see me in April to bring me all the stuff we got at IKEA.

Texas Day 4

What's up man! Ya know I'm cool like that.

Just hanging with my dawg.

Yesterday was a let down day. I got up suited up and got ready to walk out the door for my ride and I should have looked out the window before getting ready, cause it was raining outside. So I have to resort to my not so good friend, the trainer. Thats okay though cause I had other stuff that needed to get done, like turning down a team that wanted me to race for them. Let me just say it sucked, it would have been great but in the end it was that they wanted me to relocate to Mayland and that just isn't going to happen right now. Colorado is just a much better place for training and mentoring by Carter, so thanks but no thanks. I'm sure like everyone keeps telling me, that just means there is something esle bigger and better waiting.

Texas Day 3

Today was a rather long endurance day over 5hrs in the saddle of the steep rollers of Texas. Unfortunately when riding around Austin you can't help but have to ride out on the interstate that gets in your way of your ride.No ride is complete with out a ride across the famous 360 bridge.

Then of course at the end of a long ride it a stop in at the gym for a hour massage that has now made my legs feel tender to the touch. An up side to long days in the saddle is all the food you can eat, I have to thank Mike and Brenda for giving me free range in their kitchen.

Not a bad day all together today, especially since it was in the teen back in CO today, any day out of that is a good one.

Texas Day 2

I can only say that I am sorry. I forgot my camera on the ride today.

Just did a little climbing, like Jester (just a 20% grade), and then the rollers around Bee Caves. I promise I will remember it tomorrow.

For those who don't know what goes on when we aren't training or racing, it looks something like this.

Texas Day 1

Today was just one of those tiring days, but really didn't do much.

Woke up, caught a flight to TX, road the bike a few hours (might I mention on roads and countryside that doesn't have snow everywhere).

I figure since I can now get to ride outside I would sport the Free Sager bands and show my support.
Not much happened in the training aspect today except knocking the cobwebs off of my legs from sitting on a plane, the real training starts tomorrow.

Here It Goes

And so it begins..................off to A-town, TX


Sooooo much to come, stay tuned.

Norman

Yet again, for the fifth weekend in a row for those counting we got snow. It's putting my friend Norman in some tough times in finding food, but I put out some lettuce for him outside the office to help hold him over.

One of the nice things about the mornings after a snow storm is that the mountains stand out in a new beauty.
And for those still wondering who I am riding for this year, I still don't know. But there is still some good news, I've started my own business. Kendall Performance LLC for my future endeavors in the world of cycling.

Still Have To Love CO

Yesterday was one of those cross training days that I love, just because it gets me off the trainer indoors and outside no matter how cold it is.

Lex, Mavia, and I headed to Rocky Mountain National Park to do a little snowshoeing. It was actually rather warm (35 but that feels good compared to what it has been) and clear skies.

The snow was nice and deep. This sign would normally be about chest high, so stay on the snowshoes and out of the powder.

I would call RMNP the most beautiful park I've ever been too. Views in every direction and altitude to make you appreciate the mountains even more.

The hike we did was around 6 miles and ended at Glacier Lake right near the tree line set back in a rocky bowl. The lake was frozen solid and was the first time I've ever walked on a frozen body of water, a little nerving but no sweat.

Today its back to the grind of the trainer, I think mine is broken, does that get me out of riding it?

After my training trip to Texas (Jan28-Feb5) I will be taking off to Solvang, California (Feb 6-17) to do even more training with a special group, check back to see who.

Schedule

For the most part this is the list of what my next year of racing will look like:

Feb 3-4 Tour of New Braunfels
Feb 24-25 Snelling/Merced Races
Mar 9-12 Central Valley Classic
Mar 22-26 Redlands Classic
May 2-6 Tour of the Gila
May 11-13 Joe Martin Stage Race
May 17-20 Tri Peaks
May 29-Jun 3 Mt. Hood Classic
June 13-16 Tour de Nez
June 30 Sunshine Hill Climb
July 11-15 Cascade Classic
July 23-29 Tour of Toona

I find that I am definitly more of a stage racer, the more days the better.

WalMart Sells Anything

Damn, really? Even fat is expensive these days. $25 bucks for a bucket o'Lard. I bet there are a lot of fat Americans who can get rich off of this.

New Place

The last week has been pretty hectic but I am now at the new place and mostly have everything put away. Riding outside is still out of the question. The high yesterday was 3 degrees and at night the negatives have been coming out along with some snow.

Lexie's best friend from London is now back in the States and visiting for a week, so I've been demoted back to a batchelor while she is in town. Thats good though, it gives me some time to work on the bikes and get things ready for the season to start. The first race is peaking around the corner the first weekend in Feb. I'll be down inTX for the Tour of New Braunfels and getting a week of good weather training (atleast I hope). No pics for now, unless you just want to see more white ground everywhere as far as the eye can see, I know I don't.

Snowshoe

Its early afternoon and the snow is still coming down. I wasn't very smart in planning for being stuck indoors so I had to venture out to the grocery store.

Unlike the few others there I decided to snowshoe instead of risking it on the road.
It was pretty fun, I was supposed to do cross training today anyway so it worked out just right. It was exactly what I needed, I was starting to get a little stir crazy just sitting here at the old apt by myself. Hopefully it will stop today yet, I have to move on Sunday.

Woke Up to This

Someone make it stop!!!

Cross Ridin'

I decided today that since the snow isn't going to go anywhere for a long while that I would brave the cold and ride outside. I waited until this afternoon for the warmest possible moment in the day, and I got it at 1pm when it got to 34degrees.

There was no way to ride the road bike so I got the cross bike out. The bike path used to be here somewhere.
While up on a snow packed Poorman, I took a moment to show everyone how deep the snow is. And no this isn't a small frame cross bike, its actually an XL.

Taking a look down on the ride up Sunshine.

The rest of this week will be spent back on the trainer, but at least I got a glimpse of the outdoors to last me a little while. Come Sunday I will be moving to a new place. For those in TX I'll be doing some training in Austin the second half of January to remind me of what warm weather feels like.