My 2003 season effectively began at a Natural foods trade show in October of '02. I was wearing a Mapei cycling cap which was noticed by the owner of Rigoni USA, Claudio Mucci, as he sat in his booth. We started talking about racing and turns out he raced in Italy for 15 years. He was looking to support some riders so I joined the FiordiFrutta/Ridgefield bank team. A month later Cannondale went bankrupt and the wheelworks team got FiordiFrutta as their title sponsor but didn't want me as a rider. I stayed on the Ridgefield bank squad which essentially became the "B" team. At this point my friend Tim Unkert, who had been considering FiordiFrutta, decided to stay with the Capital Velo Club.

I began training on the 3rd week of November which was highlighted by a fun 3 hour ride with two friends from high school, Jen Miller and Brian Jones. But I was working a lot through December so I didn't get much time on the bike until January.

As you may remember it was very cold this winter and I suffered. Matt Svatek and I logged the base miles below 20 degrees. One time we were riding down a hill with our speed greatly reduced (~50%) by a headwind . Then a gust of wind slowed us to less than 10 mph and it cut through me like a knife as it was only 15 degrees out at the time. I had to stop to recover from it. Another day that we were riding Matt's left pedal body came off its axle. Then he made it worse by trying to sprint uphill on it. Fortunately we were only 10 miles from his house. All the cold miles got me quite sick by the end of the month. It took two weeks to get better. Next year I'm getting those rechargeable foot heaters that skiers use.

In mid February I began a structured training program similar to the one Tom Stevens uses. A week into the program my old Cannondale finally broke and left me scrambling for a winter training bike. The first one I borrowed was from Chris Li.

The first time I rode Chris' bike was when I tried to squeeze a ride in during my lunch break before the snowfall got too deep. A few minutes in some moron pulled out right in front of me and if I stopped I would have slid out in the snow and crashed. So I passed the car as it was now traveling in my direction at about 10mph. The driver yelled at me so I voiced my opinions over my shoulder to him on the matter. About a minute later I heard a sliding sound approaching me from the rear. I looked back and it was the guy who pulled out in front of me. He was attempting to pass me but his car was sliding down the road sideways, perpendicular to the road. I mustered up as much acceleration in the snow as I could and stayed ahead of the oncoming sideways car. Then I looked back and the car was facing in the wrong direction. Clearly he was vehicularly challenged, I passed him with two square inches of rubber on the road as an evasive maneuver but he couldn't pass me with four wheels.

During the winter I used my Serotta on days that the roads were dry which was rare. One afternoon I had stopped at an intersection and was hit by a turning car. My Serotta was wrecked and I had a badly bruised right knee. It was the drivers fault and Alex at the CycleLoft advised me on how to handle the insurance. The driver's insurance paid up within a month but it was going to be a longer wait to get back on my bike. My knee was good in only three days.

I ended up using Ed Kross' old school Cannondale as my winter bike. It just needed some parts swapped to make it fit. The Coors Light team Serotta that had been hanging in the attic of the CycleLoft became my temporary race bike. It was straight and just needed a big dent removed from the top tube. The frame fit properly with the help of a beautiful titanium layback seatpost made by boldprecision.com. I put all my good parts on the Coors Light machine and finished the assembly as I sat shotgun in Tim's car while traveling I 84 west to the Bethel race. I got out of the car feeling sea sick from looking backwards at the bike for so long but finished 4th that day. The next weekend I rode Wells ave and then it was off to California.

The flight to Sacramento took quite a while with two stops on the way. I sat next to a different person on each flight and every time it was someone who rode bikes. I landed quite tired but the Canadians who I met over the internet were there waiting for me at the baggage claim. I loaded my stuff into the (small) RV they had rented and we took off for Fairfield. It seemed like I never stopped traveling that day. We finally stopped in a trashy RV park close to downtown Fairfield.

The next day we registered for Solano and went for a ride in the valley. I was finally riding in warm weather! The two Canadians, Adrian "chipper" Elzinga (26) and Dylan Sebel (24), were mountain bikers turned roadies and had driven down from British Columbia. They knew some of the area from when they had raced Mountain bikes in Napa. Adrian was laid back while Dylan had more of an aggressive personality. Adrian seemed to keep Dylan in check so that the logistics ran smoothly. Dylan's dad ran a successful mill and was the sponsor of their team. Dylan certainly showed the talent to justify his dad's support.

I awoke for the first stage of Solano with a very bad backache. I was sleeping on the third bed which folded down from the kitchen table. Apparently I hadn't set it quite right. I suffered as we rode to the start. Seeing all the pro teams before the start as I hurt was not encouraging, especially with 92 miles of racing to do.

Fortunately once the race started my back pain became manageable. I went over the first KOM in the middle of the group and the pace didn't feel so bad. But on the descent the field split about 15 riders in front of me. A few guys made it across but I was not one of them. I was in the second pack as we approached the strongest winds I've ever rode in. Our group split into echelons and I'm sure that many guys were shelled. At one point I was completely redlined but hung on. The winds were so strong that guys got blown off the road. After about an hour of insanity things settled down as we rode into the hills.

Dylan made the lead pack while Adrian and I were in the second group which was smaller. There were guys behind that were not going to make the time cut while we cruised in about 17 minutes behind. The scenery was excellent as we rode steady to the finish. I felt okay by the last (4 mile) climb and finished ahead of most of my group.

After the stage a few of us had to wait quite a while for the shuttle bus back to the start. During that time I chatted with Mark McCormack and a few others. Trent Klasna tried to convince me that it was only an hour bike ride back and that I should ride it. The way he talked made me think he is kind of a wild man. It turned out to be an hour plus drive, even with the bus driver bombing down the narrow winding descent to Napa valley.

At the start of the next day's mass start hill climb I was not in the results. Apparently the officials missed a bunch of guys and we were all allowed to start. The race was very much like the "prologue" to the Green Mountain SR except that the final mile was supposed to be 22%. I only had a 39x25 and knew that a mile at such an incline would require a 39x32. To conserve all my strength I rode at the back across the flat and passed some riders as I rode a manageable tempo up the first 3 miles of the climb. The last mile was 15% tops, and resulted in 69th place and an easy effort for me. Don't believe the hype you read in Velonews about this hill.

Back at the trailer park tenants provided the entertainment. On guy kept telling us that "the niggers will steal your bikes" and his son had a tatoo that said "white pride". The three of us decided to try and keep to ourselves to avoid any confrontations. One guy lent us a clothesline while another kept parking loud cars in our empty car spot.

Stage 3 was a flat, 6 corner 90 minute crit and it was hard. I drifted to the back at the end and lost contact with 5 to go after avoiding a crash. I was pulled a lap later as the break was coming up from behind. It was a tough day.

Stage 4 was a technical circuit in a residential area. I struggled early on the climbs and found myself at the back. On the second of 13 laps there was a crash on a 6 foot wide road during a downhill section and I was delayed. I tried hard to catch back but I was tired. Eventually I got pulled and therefore DNFed the GC. I was disappointed but I did get some good training in.

The next day I came down with a cold so I was unable to go training that week with Adrian and Dylan. We spent the week in Napa Valley which isn't really that great. Fairfield had better roads and better weather. After a few days I was able to do a couple hard rides and explore some of the area. Adrian and Dylan managed to kill a lot of the extra time with video games while I was feeling so tired from my hectic winter that I just zoned out for hours. All the relaxation allowed me to recharge even though I was sick.

One night Dylan and I convinced Adrian that we should go to San Francisco. We loaded up the RV and hit the road. Adrian was the only one of us insured to drive the RV so he was doing all of it. It took a long time to find a place to park and once we did Dylan got a taxi for us to the closest techno club. It was $20 to get in and I decided it was too much as I was sick of listening to techno in the RV. Adrian and Dylan went in and I went for a walk. It was a couple miles back to the RV and about 11pm. The first couple blocks were not a good neighborhood and although I wasn't scared I held my pocketknife in case I needed it. About halfway back it got better and I stopped and ate at a diner. When I got back to the RV I went right to sleep.

A couple hours later Dylan banged on the door and I let them in. Apparently they had met a couple girls but it was so late they wanted to go back to the trailer park. We returned at 3 or 4 am.

They called the girls the next day (dumbasses) but didn't want to drive back to San Fran. Using me as an excuse they said that I didn't want to go (which was true). So the girls drove up to Napa and the four of them went out while I went to sleep. A few hours later I was kicked out of the RV so they could use it for socialization. I slept in their car for about an hour but became uncomfortable. But the funny thing was that I had really bad gas that night and stank up the car. At this point Dylan came out and said "Chipper is having sex right now but I think he's almost done so you can come back inside now". Then he said, "Dude, you stank up their car". So I went in, set up my bed, and went to sleep even though they weren't almost done.

I awoke the next morning (with enough sleep) to the RV rocking again. I got up and went to the bathrooms across the field. When I came back I stepped in the RV and said,"I am going to do some situps now so the RV may rock side to side. I don't want anyone to be disturbed". Everyone laughed.

We all went out to Denny's for breakfast and the guys were becoming annoyed at the girls, especially Dylan who didn't get very far during the night. They seemed to be attached to the guys already and I didn't find them so attractive.

From Denny's we went to Redwood City where I rode the circuit for the opening stage of Sea Otter. Dylan, and Adrian especially, were too tired. It was a great course assuming they clear the roads. From there we went to a campground south of Santa Cruz and stayed three nights. The area featured strawberry fields to ride through. We had to go back to Redwood city a couple times (registration and stage 1) and Adrian got skilled at tearing down the winding descents of route 17 with the RV. Thank God California has carpool lanes.

Registration for our team was a nightmare. A minimum of 5 riders was needed to get into Sea Otter. Adrian had found two other riders online, Kirk and Greg. Because it was a UCI race everyone needed an international licence. Dylan didn't laminate his and it went through the wash the day before, Greg left his in a motel in Santa Cruz, and Kirk didn't show up. That left us with 2 of 5 (Adrian and I). Within an hour Dylan managed to get an email from Canada's cycling federation confirming Greg and Dylan's status and they let us in.

The opening stage was ridden neutral after the women found it too dangerous. The race organizers had failed to clear the course and I even considered it dangerous to ride neutral. Gord Frasier led the protest and probably saved riders from serious injury. I felt like I still rode relatively hard because Steve Larson of Webcore led the climb each lap with a hard tempo. It was funny when he crashed himself out on the last descent (as we rode neutral).

The next day was a time trial stage and I went so slow. My heart rate didn't exceed 5 beats below threshold and my legs felt dead. Someone posted my picture on cyclingnews.com as I rode a horrible time finishing 10th from last. Fortunately they didn't enforce the 25% time cut which I missed thanks to a phenominal ride by Aussie Nathan O'Neil. That night there was a meeting to discuss the problems the race was having.

Adrian went in to represent the team, after all he was the "team manager". Meanwhile I hung out in the hotel a bit and went back to the RV. It has to be a lot easier staying in the fancy hotel with soungiers taking care of you than crammed in the RV doing all the cooking and washing. It's funny how much bigger the RV seemed now than when I was picked up at the airport. I was used to it.

Adrian came out and told us he had missed his drug test and was disqualified and had to deal with possible suspension for a "refusal". Of course the officials hadn't pulled him aside after his time trial like their supposed to, they just wrote his number behind a fence somewhere. The other bit of news was that tomorrow's stage was changed from a criterium in Santa Cruz to a circuit race on the Laguna Seca track.

I felt weak at the Circuit Race and pulled out after 3 laps. The next day I had lots of diarrhea (cha cha cha). Dylan finished the last stage which was a very hard 100 mile road race won by Matt DeCanio. I was disappointed I didn't get to do much of Sea Otter, especially the last day. That night I got dropped off at a motel in Sacramento.

I was so weak the next morning I could barely do anything. Fortunately I had a full day before getting on the plane. I struggled to wash my bike in the shower and pack it for the plane ride. It took me hours. Late in the afternoon I had enough strength to walk to the restaurant and eat. I gradually felt better as I flew home. I had only 29 cents in my pocket at the end of the trip which is cutting it close considering I don't have a credit card.

The first week back was a scheduled rest week and I began to feel stronger. My Serotta arrived at the CycleLoft and I brought it to HotTubes for paint. Frank McCormack did the job and I had my frame back two days later with a killer three color fade (yellow, orange, red) with a salsa stem painted to match. Unsure of my condition I sat in the Adelphia GP which felt like a slow race. Then I put my Serotta together the next day

The next week my HotTubes cross frame and fork was finished. It was a higher level of craftsmanship than I expected. Toby used Columbus Zona tubing which is the same alloy as the old EL. The fork crown, bottom bracket, and all dropouts are lugged while the rest of the frame is tigged. Although it's a cross frame I got bottle cage and fender braze-ons as this bike is more to replace the broken winter bike than to race. But unlike the old Cannondale I'll have to wash the salt off this one!

Over the weekend I got 11th at a rainy Palmer RR and pack finished Monson. At Monson a friend of mine missed the field limit and pinned on an extra number to sneak in. We decided to have my mom signal us if he lined up next to the guy with the same number and he did. Mom had to signal, he moved, and I thought it was funny. The day after Monson I flew with my dad to New Mexico for the tour of the Gila.

Silver City New Mexico is at 6000 feet and I could feel it. My breathing was heavier and heart rate was low for perceived effort. The first stage time trial had cross winds so bad I'm glad I didn't have aero wheels. Especially on the final 3 mile descent where I actually coasted a bit because my 53x11 was so spun out. I must have been doing 55mph as others reported 60mph using a 56x11.

The second stage was a 92 mile point to point road race with two small loops midway. The terrain was easy until the finishing climb and an early breakaway kept the tempo almost easy. As I approached the last feed I was on the wrong side of the road. My dad accurately tossed a bottle over the rider next to me and I caught it in my arm. A couple miles later I broke a spoke and had to get a wheel change just before a windy plateau. I rode tempo to the finish at 6800 feet and lost some time. My lungs hurt for about 20 minutes after the finish because of the thin air. Lots of guys were coughing and struggling to catch their breath before descending the climb. The scenery on the descent was no less than spectacular and I enjoyed the ride down.

Stage three was a bad one for me as I got dropped on the first KOM with 64 miles to go. It seemed like I didn't have any anaerobic capacity at altitude. It was a long fight to make the time cut and I got some assistance from other dropped riders, particularly Bryson Perry who dropped out at the last feed zone feeling ill. I rode in with Ian Stuart about 26 minutes behind. My whole body felt shot.

Stage four was a criterium in downtown Silver City. I felt just fine and sat in to save it for the last day. The wind gusts were so strong that we had to dodge a couple large boxes that blew out into the road. I flatted my front neutral support wheel midway and got a free lap. At the end a large break got away and I finished near the front of the bunch for 16th.

The final day's 103 mile profile was a killer with climbs of the following categories: 4,2,1,2,4. I struggled over the first climb but started feeling good as it had opened my legs. As we made a long 55mph descent I flatted my front wheel again and pulled over. Despite a quick wheel change when I looked up the field was gone as they were still doing 55. I rode as hard as I could to get within 300 meters of the group and blew up. I rode easy to the first feed and pulled out. I felt bad about not finishing, especially after all the help my dad gave me. At least I made the time cut on stage 3. I want to return to this race next year and ride the epic last stage.

I returned home to sea level and had a rest week planned. But I had missed the last day of Gila and felt strong my first day back so I did the Wednesday night NEBC time trial. I turned a 20:32 which was my best time and the second fastest on record, 21 seconds behind Mark McCormack's ride from last year. Altitude is cool; I want a tent now.

Sterling was tactically negative. I missed the move, got pissed off, attacked a bunch of times, pulled out with two laps to go, and rode home. The following day Bear Mtn. got canceled and fortunately I didn't go. 6 hours in the car for nothing would have really set me off! Instead I finished assembling the HotTubes cross bike and took it for a ride. Sweeeeeet.

I felt strong going into the Tour of Connecticut where I raced with the Essex County Velo composite team. The first stage was a two heat criterium on a flat ˝ mile course in downtown New Haven. I was drawn for the second heat which meant I was going to be racing in the dark. I hate racing in the dark, last time I crashed in the first corner of the first lap. It's strange because I consider my night vision good. The shadows from multiple street lights must give me trouble.

About 10 laps in there was a crash in our race 100 meters after the second turn and I managed to avoid it. Then a couple of laps later they had an ambulance parked on the course to pick up the rider. It remained there for the rest of the race with its headlights in our eyes; we had to funnel down for it every lap. With only a few laps to go it was completely dark and I couldn't even see two riders in front of me as we went past the ambulance. Of course we were still doing more than 30 mph. I managed to finish without a problem.

The second day's circuit race was a very hard course, kind of like BMC Arlington except harder turns and no flat recovery stretch. I warmed up with a couple ECV guys, Trent Klasna, and Chris Horner. I navigated as we previewed the course and Horner kept saying "no way". It was 4.1 mile technical loop on very bumpy roads that climbed and descended with only ˝ mile of flat. About a kilometer in there was a traffic jam and I was squeezed against the barriers and someone got their handlebar locked in my leg. Fortunately I was able to stay up by holding the barrier and not have to unclip. I stayed at the front as long as possible and was dropped from the lead group halfway through the 3rd of 15 laps. I found myself in a group that rode steady until the officials pulled us halfway. Chris Horner was solo and gaining from behind (dejavu again: BMC Arlington). I finished in 40th as many riders were dropped before us, even on the first lap. The time cut was not enforced.

Stage three was the big one. An early break of three escaped and Prime Alliance set tempo for race leader David Clinger. It was comfortable for those of us sitting in leaving the race quite uneventful during the first 60 miles. Once I started thinking it was too easy it got hard. I had to dig deep a few times to get over the climbs during the next 40 miles. At about mile 90 John Hamblen went by me and mumbled something. I figured it must be important so I moved up with him and got just enough position to get over the last hill. I lasted 3 of 12 circuits back in Danbury before I blew up spectacularly. Within the span of a minute my eyes went blurry like looking under water and I was pedaling squares. I rode easy tempo until I was pulled to get my official finish of 39th place. That gave me 35th on GC. Finally an official finish in an NRC race.

Two days later I traveled with my dad to Somerset PA for the National RR. I went for a short ride after we got there and somehow my front derailleur cage bent so that it hit the crankarm while in the big ring. Then it started raining hard and I got wet. While I tinkered with the derailleur in front of the hotel Tim Unkert drove up stealth behind me in his car and honked. I was startled and it was funny. Apparently he noticed me when he stopped at Subway (his favorite) across the parking lot.

The next day Tim and I previewed the course, a very hilly 28 mile loop. The organizers claimed 12,000 vertical in the 4 laps we would race. My legs were feeling good even after the tour of CT. But I lost some of that when I broke my seatpost binder bolt and rode 7 miles standing up before I realized I could just use my aheadset cap bolt. I was a dumbass in my frustration at the time. Of course the front derailleur went out of whack again and got me pissed off. Nobody stocks a 34.9 clamp size front derailleur except the CycleLoft, so tracking down a new one in PA was not an option.

When I showed up at registration there were 12 to 15 guys in line but they said it was a long wait. So I pulled up a chair and sure enough it took 4 officials a half hour to get to me. I finally got my packet and noticed there were 5 pins for two numbers. Their response was "Sorry, we were a little low on pins". Well it's only Elite Nationals and not USPRO I guess.

At the start of the race dad and I decided not to bend the front derailleur cage back in case it might snap off. I would just have to ease the shifts and back off the trim after engaging the big ring. It was 60 degrees and cloudy, good weather for me. The announcer said there were 175 riders in our field.

I started at the front so that the first fast descent would be more comfortable to ride. I was glad I did as they said we were hitting 68 mph there. At the bottom there was a 40 mph crash right in front of me. To avoid it I went left into the dirt, dodged a fire hydrant, went around a tree, and came back into the pack. Later in lap one I was sure to ride at the front during the fast twisting g-force turn section through the state forest. A fun smooth road but fast and narrow.

Lap two was uneventful until the very end where I was positioned poorly for the feed. Dad saw me and walked backwards quickly until he stepped on someone's foot and began to loose his balance. That's when he lobbed the bottle perfectly over 2 or 3 guys to my side of the road for an easy catch. The rider behind me was impressed.

Approaching the end of lap three I got dropped and thought my day was over but I kept fighting. I caught back on with a few other guys just before the descent which was just in time. I was reaching my limit 20 minutes later on a long steady 5 mile climb. The last mile of the climb I was redlined and to coax myself over the hill I told myself if I make it over with the group I've done good enough for the day. I just barley made it and by this point the lead group was reduced to 25 guys with 2 guys 1 or 2 minutes up the road. Unfortunately I kept the thought of doing good enough on the previous hill in my mind and when it got hard in the final five miles I drifted off the back. I finished in 20th. Only 54 riders finished the race.

The next morning dad dropped me off at the laundromat and headed home. There I managed to wash my sunglasses by mistake. I walked back to the motel and packed my stuff. Tim picked me up and we left Somerset county PA for Somerset county NJ. Too bad the races weren't in the same county, eh?

Along the way we encountered a traffic Jam on I-78 east. It was so bad they closed down the freeway. My Adam Sandler tapes kept us from going insane. At this point Tim was tired from driving so I took over and cruised the back roads to Somerville. It started raining steady which made Jersey driving worse. It took a while to find the motel and it had been a hellish day on the road. We were rewarded with a super hot hostess at the check in. Tim said I picked the right motel (hhhuh huh huh huh).

We took turns riding the trainer to loosen up the legs and while Tim took a shower I went and talked with the check in girl just to spite Tim. We actually got into conversation and she told me that she was off on Sunday but didn't make any obvious hints. When I told Tim about it he could tell I wasn't making it up and he was impressed. We went to sleep for the early start the next day.

My legs felt great as we rode to the start of the Somerset county RR the next morning and the weather was ideal for me again, 60 degrees and drizzle. Three miles into the race I bridged to an early break. My rear wheel was sliding around so I slowed down before a turn. I went slow into the turn but went down "like a sack of rocks" according to Bill Innis. I must have got some oil on my rear tire, it felt like I was riding on ice. I got road rash on my hip and elbow and had a sore wrist. The right ergolever body snapped leaving my bike unraceable so I rode back to the motel to clean up. And worst of all my new paint was scratched right across the tope tube. Dammit.

The post crash shower didn't feature many swears as the pain wasn't too bad. But as I got out I smacked my cut elbow on the shower wall leaving a big spot of blood. It dripped down the tiles and looked like one of those murder in the shower scenes on TV. That was cool.

I ate a bit and took a nap. Tim came back and said people thought I broke my arms because I was thrown down so hard. I was feeling out of whack, that's for sure. Certainly not in the mood to race and no confidence to talk to the hottie while covered in blood . Tim's dad convinced me over the phone to stay for the Tour of Somerville two days later. That resulted in a trip to the local bike shop where I got an exage brake lever and friction shift lever to make my bike operational.

I debated wether or not to race a criterium the next day after missing Somerset county. The rainy conditions combined with an overall beat up sensation caused me to choose no and I went for a wet training ride instead. The rest of the day we watched a Man Show marathon on Comedy Central. That's quality programming.

The weather was a bit better for the Tour of Somerville, the oldest bike race in the country. After Tim's half hour Mike Tyson imitation we lined up. The roads were 80% dry but I still felt uneasy from the crash. There were 40 laps so that's 160 corners to get through.

I felt lousy in the race and just concentrated on hanging on. I struggled with the friction shifting and opted to ride 130 rpms on some of the straights. By the last 20 minutes my neck was starting to hurt while my wrist felt bad the whole time. With one lap to go Billy Innis hit a hole and broke a spoke. His bottle fell out and swerved back and forth in front of me. My energy was running low so I didn't close the gap he left and rode easy for the last (1.25 mile) lap to finish. Apparently Tim lasted only eight laps and was hoping I'd drop out too so we could leave. If I knew he was ready to go I would have pulled out right away.

Two days after Somerville my body was extremely sore. The only hard ride I did that week was the Ashburnham GP. Our start was delayed after an ugly crash in the women's sprint finish summoned the ambulance. One woman went down and a second one hit her, went over the bars, and landed on her face and chest. It looked especially bad as she had her legs arced up in the air behind her leaving all her body weight on her face and chest as she slid down the road. Apparently she lost some teeth, as well as plenty of skin.

During the cleanup I realized I still had my frame pump so I went to store it in a friends car. Of course that's when the race started and I blasted out of the parking lot 200 meters behind. I had to floor it for a mile to close the gap because a certain someone (thank you Tim) decided to attack early and ramp the speed up to 35mph on the back stretch. I spent the next 40 minutes sucking wheel to recover. The crash I had witnessed took away my inspiration to participate in the bunch sprint.

The next week I went to the NEBC TT to try and better my fast time from last month. Less than ideal conditions, especially a nasty headwind on 225 east, resulted in a slow time. At least I got 21.5 minutes of hard tempo.

Then came the Auburn race weekend where I stay at the Olson's in Yarmouth. It is always great to stay with them. When I arrived I found Hope, their daughter, with the baby sitter. Hope looked so tall that I asked the baby sitter "Is she two already?" Nope, she's only 14 months. And 33.5 inches tall!

The road race is a tough choppy course and I felt some power in the legs early on. Tim was aggressive but just as he was being caught by the pack his own teammate rear ended him somehow causing his wheel to taco which sent him to the ground at 40mph. I went solo at the halfway point but it lasted only 20 minutes because wheelworks chased me down. My legs got tired so I sat up with about 7 miles left and rode in with Johs Husbey.

I rode from Yarmouth to the Great Falls crit to get some exrta miles, about 24 each way. Only problem was that I downed a half pound of bacon, 3 eggs, and hashbrowns with veggies for breakfast. I was so full that I couldn't drink water for the first hour of the ride. Then I just sat in for most of the race. On the way back to Yarmouth I did a 40 minute block of light tempo to finish myself off for the upcoming rest week. Seemed like I went training in Maine instead of racing. Quality miles though.

The last race of spring was the Housatonic Hills RR where I was feeling okay but missed the winning move which went after my breakaway got caught. I finished 18th after getting 2nd at this race last year. More quality training and some humid weather to get acclimated for summer.

The spring race schedule combined with some well placed structured workouts in June brought me to a peak for early summer. I knew I had form at the rainy Veryfine GP where I quickly bridged from the second group to the lead group on the climb of oak hill. I felt strong and fresh and got 3rd in our group's finish despite Skip Foley not holding his line in the sprint. Mark McCormack and Matt Svatek finished two minutes ahead. It was a good 5th place with minimal effort.

But like usual it was excessively hot for Fitchburg, conditions that make me struggle. Everyone has to ride in the same conditions but I have to say that my body is not water efficient. I rode a conservative TT in the heat and hoped for the best at the John Fitch circuit race. This race, in my opinion, is the most difficult race of the year. 25 times up the steep climb of pearl street combined with speeds that often exceed 40mph on the flat backstrech makes this stage a very tough day. Perhaps I think it's the toughest race because its always too hot for me there.

I seemed to go okay for an hour in the heat but the 98 degrees with the dewpoint in the 70's eventually wore me down. I got dropped by the pack with 5 miles to go after Chris Horner, Victor Rapinski, and Mike Sayers lapped us. I had goose bumps and chills and lost 6 minutes to the pack in those last 5 miles. Apparently my speech was a bit slurred after the race so I was probably starting heatstroke. I certainly felt bad and couldn't fall asleep until 4 am.

The weather was better for the Wachusett RR but I was still feeling bad. But not as bad as Henk Vogels was after he crashed headfirst into guardrail posts at more than 60mph at the end of lap one. When I saw him lying motionless on the pavement he looked dead. The race stopped until we got word that Henk was still alive and then continued. I dropped out after 70 miles as I didn't want to destroy myself to finish 100th on a day that I wanted to be top 20.

The days following Fitchburg I was ill off and on and quite weak. I passed the time by setting up the Coors Light Serotta (aka: silver bullet) with componentry of the correct vintage. A mix of record and chorus from the early 90's including delta calipers and 8 speed ergo levers was complemented by a turbo saddle, Salsa stem, Chris King headset, Time mag pedals, and Cinelli bars. My basement collection lacked only one part and Alex from the CycleLoft set me up again, this time with a campy braze on front derailleur. Even with the abused paint this bike is sharp.

After some easy riding, including trying my HotTubes machine off road with Jon McQuillian, I rode the Cox criterium in downtown Providence RI. I didn't feel like racing but I also didn't want to miss the downtown course. The turns kept me entertained over the windy 50 laps and I finished at the back.

That was followed by a string of Hillclimbs: George street, Wachusett, and Ascutney. My strength went from bad to okay during this time. I was 2nd at Ascutney with a slowish time after easing up in the last 10 minutes. It was the first race I ever did where helmets were optional.

The next day I departed for the Tour de 'Toona with a custom CAAD 7 sent to me by the folks (Chris and Curt) at Cannondale. They built it to the same specs as my Serotta so it fit just right and allowed for direct comparison. The ride on a CAAD7 is very good; not quite as stiff and smooth as a lugged steel Serotta but weighing a kilo less it is ideal for racing. And those oversize cranks are amazing! The stiffness and efficiency is noticeably greater than the Dura Ace on my Serotta. I can't imagine that any other lightweight frame could feel this solid. The only thing it lacks is a HotTubes paint job. Mine weighs only 16 pounds with a heavy seat.

On the way I picked up composite teammate Hugh Moran in Kutztown PA which is 10 miles west of Trexlertown. Apparently it's a popular place for cyclists to spend the summer and I knew half a dozen of the racers that Hugh said were living on the same block. When we loaded his stuff I realized that Hugh, although a vegetarian, had similar traveling habits as me; bring a lot of stuff (especially food and cooking equipment) so that you don't have to spend much. I would spend only $1 in Altoona this year which was to use the internet.

At race registration my name was not on the list even though our team manager Eric said (via email) that he registered me. For some reason they had printed our team's information on business size envelopes and my section was missing. I confirmed some of the half visible numbers on the edge of the envelope with my own information and they gave me a race number. No one else from our team had arrived yet so Hugh and I attended some of the race meeting. Close examination of the coarsely printed photograph on the cover of the race manual revealed me front and center, but it was even hard for me to tell that it was me.

From registration we went to find our host housing which was in Altoona, about a mile northwest of the criterium course. The area was kind of Ghetto but not in a bad way. We had what appeared to be poor directions but turned out to be as good as they could be in the maze of streets that is Altoona. Our hosts Robyn and Bill had a nice "extra" house that they bought for a tiny sum of money where they set us up for the week. It was a good place to stay.

After a short nap we went to the time trial and found two of our teammates, Ben and Roman, from Berkeley California. Ben's dad, Ron, had driven down from Canada to pick them up at the airport and support/feed our team. I was the first rider off at this years Tour de 'Toona and I rode the 3.5 mile time trial steady finishing exactly in the middle of the feild; 54th out of 107. Eric, the 5th rider and team manager, never showed up. Apparently he got sick.

Claudio Mucci (the FiordiFrutta guy) sent me some jerseys and shorts to supply the composite team. Discussion arose about the pronunciation of FiordiFrutta and we decided that it should be Bob Roll style: Fior-DAY-Frutta. And of course tour de 'toona was changed to tour DAY 'Toona for the week. Bob Roll, who raced for 7-11, is the hippest announcer in the history of sports broadcasting........in case you didn't already know that.

The following day was the 74 mile Johnstown stage which features a fast technical run in to the finish. Roman went solo on the first lap and picked up some sprint points. After he was caught Chris Hedges (Snow Valley) and a Webcore guy attacked. The pack went real slow which gave them a 5 minute gap. Eventually Navigators rode steady to protect Chris Baldwin's lead and Saturn turned up the pace into the finish cutting the lead to about 40 seconds. Hedges won the stage and got the points jersey.

That evening we set up lawn chairs on the porch and viewed the neighborhood. Children often came over to meet us. It was good to see kids playing outside instead of sitting in front of a computer. After a while a girl, maybe 20 years old, came over and offered Roman the baby she was carrying. We were stunned and Roman declined. There was activity up and down the street to entertain us while many cars opted to scrub up the steep road across from the house when the pavement was wet. It was like the Jerry Springer show live on the street.

Hugh and I met Neal Montgomery (the Coke guy) to get a ride to Johnstown for Wednesday's 93 mile point to point stage (back to Altoona). He also gave a couple of the woman's racers from California a ride too. About halfway one of them (college national Champion Katie ______) said "hey, aren't you the Tractorfest guy?" Apparently Robbie Dapice got her started in cycling. Hugh became curious about Tractorfest at this point.

Last year this stage was my worst day ever on a bike because of the heat. I knew the start could be tough so I warmed up well. It wasn't so hard for me this year as the weather was better. I rode over Blue Knob with the third group and maintained my 54th place on GC. A couple nasty hills had been removed from the final 20k. Nathan Oniel (Saturn) soloed to the win and the leader's jersey. Hugh and Ben finished 6th and 8th and moved way up the GC.

Thursday's choppy 60 mile race in Hollidaysburg started fast. A break went after about 10k and Saturn kept it in check. We went so fast at the end of the first lap I was amazed that the break stayed away. On the third (last) lap Hugh got caught in a crash in the feed zone and didn't get motorpaced back because Leiswin (7 up) wouldn't let him catch on to the car. He would loose 5 minutes and his 20th GC spot. Meanwhile we closed in on the break but not quite. With 250m to go there was another crash right in front of me. I went through but race leader Nathan Oneil was not so lucky. He fractured his top two vertebra which is usually a serious injury (paralysis). But he was (sort of) okay and the doctors screwed a support collar into the vertebra to traction his neck. He should be riding by the end of the year.

Back at host housing the woman who lived across the street came outside complaining that her children are a "bunch of whining nutballs" at which point a car pulled up and she exclaimed "thanks a lot for picking me up, jackass!" Apparently her ride was late. I tried not to laugh until she got into the car but I just burst and the others followed suit. While she was gone her (unsupervised) kids were leaning out a third story window. I figured if they fell I might be able to jump off my chair and get across the street in time to catch one.

Friday's 80 mile rolling stage is usually my favorite at Altoona but I felt quite tired at the start. Hugh went in the early break and the pace was manageable. Near the end of lap two Ben broke his rear derailleur cable and needed a bike change. Roman and I waited and brought him back to the pack. It wasn't too hard as the pack was slowing at the time. But on the last of the four laps we were moving fast. Hugh's gap was coming down steadily but they held on by less than a minute. He got 5th, tied for 4th in the sprint points, and moved us up to 8th on team GC.

I was motivated to hold our team GC on Saturdays 99 mile hilly road stage and get some prize money. The early start featured dense fog and a high pace. Fortunately nobody crashed. After the first points sprint a break got away and the pace settled down. The toughest climb of the day, and week, was the steep side of Blue Knob. Once again I went over the hill with Roman while Ben made it in the group ahead. But Hugh was tired from his time off the front the day before and was with Roman and I leaving our team GC in jeopardy.

Roman soon rolled ahead of the slowing and swelling group with a Webcore guy. When we reached the dirt road KOM 20 minutes later I followed a Suburban Home rider as he eased ahead. At the end of the twisting climb we were 100m in front of the group and I could see Roman in the distance. We bridged and eventually Calvin Allan (Broadmark) and some other rider did too making an efficient group of six. We rode a quick tempo to the finish but dropped to 11th on team GC, just out of the money. I moved up to 43rd.

That night, after the Jaffa Mosk rider's dinner, the pavement was wet so I decided to scrub the hill with the pickup. Hugh and Ron sat on the porch to watch. I proceeded to scrub the hill and returned to find the woman across the street all pissed off at me. All I could say before we started laughing was, "but everyone else does it." A minute later Roman and Ben returned and they said that they had just scrubbed the hill too (using Ron's car) but didn't notice that Ron was on the porch in dark. "That was you?" yelled Ron who was pissed because his car was barley holding together. Everyone laughed. Then Roman and I went and scrubbed the hill one final time with the pickup.

Sunday was the downtown criterium but it didn't count toward GC because all the big pros had to race the "post tour" NYC criterium. Of course Armstrong wasn't there making the reserved date pointless. Only 30 riders lined up for the 30 lap race and a few dropped out right away. I closed a gap to an early break that had none of us in it and Hugh made the next move. He stayed away to get 5th while Ben and Roman finished top 10. I pulled out with a few laps to go when the rain started. There was too much crashing and I didn't feel like driving home banged up.

Hugh and I returned to Kutztown that night and I finished the trip home the next day. My drive was highlighted by visit to Claudio's Rigoni USA headquarters in Connecticut where I picked up some FiordiFrutta and a few other goodies.

I took it easy the following week but felt tired as oppressive humidity returned. At least it wasn't too hot. My usually bomb proof back got sore and it was one of those energy sapping backaches that drains the legs. I went to the Concord crit with Nat Faulkner where I pack finished while Nat won. I followed that with my traditional drop out of the Bow RR routine. I only went because Nat went, he dropped out too. The terrain at Bow is ideal for me but I always do lousy there.

I rested it up again for another week but was still tired as the Mt Washington hill climb loomed in my immediate future. After picking up Jay Mueller at the "Chinatown bus stop" in Boston we jetted north through the traffic to the white mountains. We registered, checked in to an inn in Jackson, and went for a 1 hour ride to wake up the legs. That was followed by dinner where we met up with Matt O'Keefe.

I didn't get as much warm up as I hoped due to the excessive traffic jam created by race parking. But it didn't matter as I wasn't going to have a good day. I rode a couple beats below AT but was turning a 39x32 instead of my planned 39x28 which would put me under an hour. The 7.6 miles at 12% average grade kicked my ass once again. The winds grew strong and the fog became thick as the top got closer. The wind was a steady 30+ mph with gusts to 60 and only 10 to 15 feet of visibility. My deep carbon wheels were tricky to navigate through the wind and a few riders were blown off their bikes! At least it was warm at the top (50 F). I finished 12th in 1:05, one place behind Matt O'Keefe.

After recovering and changing in the summit lodge Jay and I walked to our ride parked about a half mile down the road. The gusts were so strong that my 16 pound Cannondale was being blown almost horizontal as I held the top tube. I had to wheel it down the road with two hands pushing down to traction the tires or I was going to loose my bike off the side of the mountain!

After a weekend off I went to Burlington VT with Tim for the Green Mountain stage race. We stayed with my friend Brian Jones who has a nice apartment just a couple blocks north of the downtown crit. Before we got there we had to do the mass start "prologue" in which I flatted on the flat section, lost the draft, and proceeded to ride easy to the finish. That night we stayed out late and then watched Beavis and Butthead videos until 2am. Optimal recovery.

With 4 hours of sleep we went to the 72 mile circuit race. Tim said not to tell his dad about the night before or mention the five beers he drank. Of course that's what I did when Tim was off signing in, how could I resist? I gradually revealed the list of things we did as Tim's dad's expression went from disappointed to pissed off. It was cool and I laughed. I sat in and managed to finish in the field despite feeling tired. Tim was dropped on the last lap.

We started the 2nd stage, the Mad River road race, with a good night's sleep. The race started fast and in no time we were at the bottom of the first major climb, Middlebury gap. I really didn't feel like going hard at the time and with no time cut I figured I should soak in the scenery on this picture perfect day. I shifted to my smallest gear and rode easy over the gap. On the other side I found Patrick Sullivan abandoning with a sore hamstring and stopped for a chat. After a few minutes along came Mike Jones (W. Virginia) and Ben Kubas (Hawley) who had the same idea as me.

I joined them and we enjoyed the Vermont beauty as we headed north along the course. At the top of Bristol notch Matt Morrell, Ben's teammate, was waiting for a wheel change. We waited a while but despite other fields passing through he didn't get a wheel. Then we rode a couple miles into Bristol to wait for him at a café. It was fun sitting outside watching the other races pass through town.

Eventually Matt caught up with a new wheel and the four of us cruised out of Bristol. After a few miles we came upon the "neutral feed zone" which was a couple 10 gallon jugs of water, some two liter cokes, and two cases of "Rockstar energy drink" sitting on the side of the road. We proceeded to do hand ups to other categories as they passed through. The energy drink looked just like a can of Guiness which caused some confused facial expressions from riders as we handed it to them. The cans were thin and if dropped before opening they would spray pretty good. Eventually an official scolded us for taking part in other races and we continued on after her car passed through as I yelled "its neutral, NEUTRAL!"

As we approached Appalachian gap, the final climb to the finish, there was some stuff on the side of the road with a sign that said "free" so I made a quick stop. With Mike riding the gap in the big ring (San Francisco GP preparation) I had to do something cool too. I snatched a waffle iron, balanced it on my handlebars, and started the climb. Mike and Ben rode ahead while Matt rode with me answering "it's a waffle iron" along the way. At the top I held the waffle iron over my head for the cheering crowd as I finished off the 14% grade.

The Burlington crit was the final stage. I felt strong, rode in the front, and even attacked. Some of the snap was missing from the riders but we were still holding a fast tempo (28mph average) on the bumpy technical course with a hill. As the finish of the race closed in I was thinking of top ten. But with only 7 laps to go in the 50 lap race I came around the first turn to find a pile up in front of me. I did a big fish tail in attempt to avoid it but came up short and went onto the pile. Someone under me yelled "get off, get off!" and I said, "Hang on, I'm trying". Then he yelled "My handlebars are jammed in my nuts!" And I said "cool". The free lap was over and so was my race.

Two days later I turned an unexpected PR of 20:25 at the NEBC Wednesday night time trial championships. I didn't have to slow for any traffic but that was offset by the less than ideal wind direction. My cadence was very high throughout the ride, probably ranging from 100-110 rpm. It was the fastest TT I have ever done at 28.6mph.

After that I rested up for the Josh Billings Runaground relay in the Berkshires. The event starts with a 27 mile 350 rider mass start bicycle race, followed by a 5 mile canoe race, and finishes with a tough 6 mile run. We were the defending champions but our runner was not in race shape. The guy who planned to run for us had injured himself with a weed wacker less than two weeks earlier. I was up against Sean Nealy, Nat Faulkner, Brett Williamson, and Makunda Feldman on the bike.

The traditional breakaway went on the first hill with those previously named plus one other rider. But then we got caught at mile 8 by a dozen riders and the pace dropped for a few minutes. Eventually Brett, Makunda, and another rider rolled ahead. I bridged with a fifth rider in tow and we got a sloppy paceline going. As we approached the end I was beginning to suffer but hung on. I slowed a bit too much at the hand off putting our canoe in the water a few seconds behind. Our team finished in 4th place.

My last race of the year was the 105 mile Univest GP (UCI 1.6) as a composite rider for the Chiropractic/Papa Wheelies team from New Hampshire. We car pooled to Pennsylvania together. The drive was highlighted by seeing a large tractor with a mowing attachment spin its wheels in mud in the median of I 684 and watching a Lemond Blender rider run across thick traffic to the median of I 287 to retrieve a wheel that fell off their roof rack.

This euro style race started in its usual nervous fashion. 170 guys going full tilt on technical roads through the countryside. My legs were sapped by mile 40 and I went out the back leaving Mike Barton to fend for himself. The heat and humidity were my only explanation for feeling so bad. I got the shortest route back to Souderton from a spectator and was assisted (pushed up some hills) by Connor Coffey of CCB. Mark and Zack from my composite team caught up and rode with us.

We watched Mike complete the 13 finishing circuits to get 36th place. He rode himself through all kinds of pain to get to the finish. A Webcore guy won while Kevin Brouchard-Hall was second and my winter training companion Matt Svatek got 3rd. On the way home I noticed the tractor abandoned in the mud on I 684. It was a clear sign that the racing season was over and tractorfest season was right around the corner.