See I was thin at one time

See I have been able to see my feet

Man is that really me, I look like I need a meal

Update=No Update

Well not much happening around here, had a blast at the night race last fri. and it was good to see such a good turn out. Will make the long trip to point next weekend for the Wors stuff and will end up coming right back the same night, I really don't see the need to spend the night as its just a wasted day for Sun. and as the wife is getting bigger everyday I really don't want to be gone over night.
Mommy is in her 27th week and it seems to be flying by, we just got our doctors visits moved from once every 4 weeks to every 2 weeks. That makes it sink in that its getting closer everyday.

Tomarrow is a day of sadness as Candy's Dad died Sunday and tomarrow is the wake, as a kid I lived half a block away from Candy and her family and remember small bits from the past and her Dad. It will be a sad day but to know he had a great life and has many people who knew him and loved him makes things easier for eveyone. Knowing Candy's family you can see all the love they have for him and I will know his memories will be carried on for ever.

See yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Randy

Its came and went like the wind

Number 12 is here and the summer went so fast, not a good season for me this year but I had a lot of fun and you just can't beat all the friendships you make thoughout the season.
Just read the Wors board and I guess the track is dry and fast, I guess I'll leave the XR's on for now and see how they run. I made up my mind last weekend I'll run the 18t as the trail got my legs last weekend with the 17t, I think it will be ok, better is the small back to back up hills like roots of all evil and more spin in the tight single in the pines.
I will try to get out of here around 12:00 or so but that's up to the wife, the kid has been really active as of late and she hasn't been feeling very will, not sick just tired so she going to stay home today but she will be there tomorrow.
Don't forget about the cookout after the race, all are welcome, the only rule is bring some type of food to pass.
See yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Randy

Cross practice

Had a good time, and only stacked it up once.It was cool.
Pat made some practice barriers and we all had a good time.
DON'T forget the ride this weekend at Evergreen Park ~ Sheboygan, WI
@ 2:00pm Saturday the 30th

www.cheqfattire.com

What a great weekend, started with the long drive, got to Bubba's around 5:45am with Mark and we ran over to pick up Rick and off we were, after the long ride we got to the resort and got set up in the house and it was awesome, right off the lake and it even had it's own lagoon. It was so great it had four bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, two kitchens and two living rooms. We had enough room for all 12 of us and still had a ton of space.

So we meet Greg and were off to meet Jay and the Hayes clan to do a little riding at Telemark. We get to the condo and were off, well kinda, it was a asskicker of a trail and my back was killing me so I was on and off the bike all day. Got done and we were off to dinner, we went to this corner bar and had dinner and had a great time hassling the bartender and goofing around.

Friday I got to sleep in a little, ate some good food and worked on the bikes for a little. A bunch of us thought it would be a good idea to go ride a short section of the course and then we had to hit a local bike shop to get Bubba a water bottle cage. When I rode the trail I had a hard time trying to figure out what gear to run, it was either the 17t or the18t, it was like I just couldn't make up my mind, after a lot of back and forth I went with the 18t and as I would find out I was glad I did.

Friday night we just sat around, had a great dinner made by Jim and Bubba and got all set up for the next morning, before the end of the night we loaded up all the bikes into Bubba's, Greg's and my car so we could get our bikes right up front at the start line and then it was off to bed to try to get a good night sleep.

Saturday it was up early to finish getting everything ready, we left around 8am to get up close to the starting line and we were glad we did as they changed some stuff and told us we had to be at our bikes by 9:20 and if we weren't they were going to pull our bikes out of the gates(ya right you could barely get in there). So we sat around for awhile and shot the shit and then it was time to go, by then the stomach was in knots and the cannon goes off and away we go.

A short burst of speed and it all came to a stop and then start again. We went down the road ,well should I say they went down the road, I felt like I was going backwards. At about a mile in some guy right in front of me blows a tire and the tube shot right out I thought it was all over but the guy saved it and rode it to the curb, another mile in and there was a huge crash, as we go by I see like 5 bikes in the rode and a girl down in the middle, come to find out Zeke
was in the middle off the thing and ended up breaking his arm all because (in he words) "who in the hell reaches for a bottle at 30 mph?". Off to rosies field and it was like people never rode a bike, at one point I was holding onto some other guys barend when he rides right into me in the middle of the field like I was never there. Though the field and into the rollers, up,down,up,down and up again.
As I'm climbing I look up and Mark is standing on the side of the trail I pull over and he says he got a flat so I stay with him till he was done, as we were ready to get back on Candy rides by and asked if we were ok , we say ya and were off again. Mark is pissed because we were so far back but I figured its a long race and we can pick off a lot of riders if we just keep riding at a good pace.
We get going and I can't believe how many people are out there, we pass Candy and ask how she's doing and were off, Mark led in the flats and I tried to pull up the hills, we were HAULIN and passing people left and right and feeling good.

We hit OO in 1:33 and keep cranking passing more people and trying to make up somemore time. Hit the flat road around mile 23 and into Martel's pothole, we get stopped and have to walk around the pothole cause someguy took a huge digger and had to be carted off on a back board, off we are again and to the fire road, time to refuel and spin out the legs. We run into Rick looking for Bubba, he thought he was behind him but we never saw him so Rick was off to try to catch him. Mark and I stay in sight of each other and most of the ride side buy side.

We hit the next water station and I had to refill and Mark was starting to get back cramps so we get what we need and Mark does some stretches and were off, some good fire roads and were still passing people and we are keeping some good speed. We got to "Fire Tower Hill " and I look up and think well this isn't that bad, well I didn't know there were three tiers, and I was off and walking. Mark started to pull away and I was trying to catch up, we got to the top and I see Mark, we grab some food and off we go.We ride together till around mile six when the ski trails start and Mark pulls away and I just can't push any harder on the hills so I let him go in hopes I can make up more time on the down hills.

Those last six miles are killers, it was like ride as hard as you can down the hill and then I would try to get up the next as far as I could, then get off and walk as fast to the next. I finally get to a huge down hill road and suck some guys wheel that was crankin it and just sit in, the legs still felt good but not great so I wanted to save a little for the end. I get to the last rest stop grab a banana and kept going I round the corner and some lady says 2 miles togo, I'm think, I'm going to do this, I can't believe I'm going to do this. The next corner some guy tells me there are only two big hills left, Thanks Buddy. I grunt the last two hills and I see 1/2 mile togo, time to use the last amount off gas I have. I see the finish gate and I give it my all, passing people and trying not to blow up in the last 1/4 mile and then I hear some guy announcing my name and where I'm from, that was so cool and then I was done. 3:54:44 I broke the four hour mark and that's what I was going for . I still can't believe I finished that race. See Yaa

Wednesday sting at the ridge

Shit,Shit,Shit those were the words that came out of my mouth as Coop and I were racing at the ridge,
so off the bike, kill the bee but the f'in stinger was still in my arm, so I pull out the stinger and away I go for about 2 miles. Up craters and the arm feels a little like pins and needles. By the time I hit the top the arm is total numb and starting to swell, So off the course I go and back to the van were the wife is sitting and the look on her face was like what the hell. I have her grab the first-aid kit and use some sting stuff and hit it with a cold pack, yank the wedding ring off as the hand is swelling and sit and try to calm down.
Now I have only been stung once before and never had act like this. The arm was still a little sore today but better. I swear what else could happen.
I am looking forward to the 40 next week as it will be my first one,I'm still trying to figure out what gear I will use but I guess I'll bring a few along with some different tires. Looks like we will be leaving early on Thursday morning to try to hit some of the local trails for some fun and then some rest on Friday before we race on Saturday. I hope I don't make a fool out of myself out there.
Well got to go and get some stuff done around here

Labor Day Ride

Yes we road today and at least our bikes didn't look like this when we were done.(But the face looks like some one I know "BUBBA" )
We started the day at the alpha trail, but as the rain kept coming down ,John and Lynn said lets just go to our house and grill out so off we are. By the time we got there the rain was light and we all jumped on the bikes to head to hoyt and the connector for a little ride.
We got about 3miles in and the rain started but it wasn't that bad, a little slick but ok. So we kicked it out to John and Lynn's and had a good cookout and some of Johns famous home brew.
Sat around and talked for awhile and then it was time to go home, Started to work on the fixie, think I am going to but flat bars on it for awhile and use it for running back and forth to the shop on the weekends. Well time to go to bed. Here are some other pictures from the ride today and a special one of Jay that I didn't even know I took till I looked at them.
SEE YAA ......................................

Feelin good

My back is feeling great and I have even got out on the bike yesterday and today. Yesterday just did a little ride to hoyt,two laps in hoyt and a spin back home. Back felt a little tight at first but felt a lot better by the end of the ride.
Today I hit the ridge, not to race but just to get a ride on a good course, rode rigid and the back felt good, didn't ride really hard but had a good climb up craters but the rhythm in the singletrack is a little off but getting better.
I'm hoping to ride atleast 5 days a week to get ready for the 40 and try to lose a little weight, well one can hope.
SEE YA....................................................

Ride time @the ridge

Ride: Crystal ridge, Mountain bikes
Date: Monday (Labor Day)
Time: 11:30am
A few fun laps of the hole loop w/ alpha
Meeting place: Alpha trail head (Golf coarse parking lot side)
Cookout after ride.
I am in hopes we can get a good turn out so tell all your friends
Randy

feel in a lot better and a new trike on the way

Well another stop at the back Doc today and I feel thing a lot better after a little electro-shock and then a little snap and pop, it seems like the disc went back into its space, now for the rest of things to get back in order. I will be off the bike for atleast two weeks, so it looks like a lot of core work and yoga.
Doc says yoga will do wonders on the back and help a lot with the core.
I forgot with all the stuff that has been going on to let everyone know the update with Erica, we had our big meeting with the doctor last week and everything is good, all tests came back normal,blood work just fine and Erica is in good health, so they said its time for the indepth ultrasound. We set up the time for last week tue and we were both full of nerves.
On our way to the doctors I look over at Erica and say "we can find out the sex if you want?" She looks over at me and says"YOU ASS I thought we were going to wait".
Well the long and short off it is all the scans look great and Erica was right on with her due date, Jan. 15, 2007. I am still in hopes for Dec. 31, 2006, well one can hope.
OK, OK .........................................................
And the baby is ..........................................
Its a girl, yes Randy is having, well really Erica but you know what I mean.
I am so amped for this, I really wanted a girl and I know its really real, Erica is also excited and we have started to do a little buying now that we know what it is and its cool to go out and look for girly stuff.
Well got to go and do some streches for the back and the goto bed
See Yaa........................................

The ups and slipped downs of the last weeks

Well last week started great and I couldn't wait till wed when we (John,Karrie and I ) headed to Waterloo for three days at TREK, Day one started with test rides at the factory with some cool new rides. We got to ride the new fisher HiFi, cool new bike, really light but not for me, it climbs very well and the rear of the bike feels great but in my mind the down fall is the front, it seem like the new G2 fit changed the head tube angle and to me it feels like it is now to far under the bike, when you stand up it feels like you are going to go over the bars.
We also rode the new Lemond carbon rode bike and I'm in love, it is very smooth and rides like a caddy.
Wed. night was our first chance to see all the new 2007 bikes and they all look sweet, a lot of new weights on bikes and a lot of new specs. from last year, even a few total new bikes.
Thur. was a easy day as I could not get a demo road bike to ride in the morning so I got to sleep in, after that it was shop stuff and looking at more bikes until thur. night. Karrie said we were going to watch kick ball and John was playing, it was cool. TREK rented a semi pro teams stadium for the night and it was a blast, all the food and drink you could handle and some really fun games. Johns team ended up winning the hole thing it was cool. During the game there was a lot of stuff going on also, streaking, a guy riding a bike in his underwear on the field, one team beat up the mascot and stole a beer keg and the best was Bobkey (Bob Roll) did the play by play.
Got out of there around 11pm and decided it was time to hit the bed but the others had something else in mind, so I get a phone call at 11:45 and the other end is saying "GET UP WERE GOING OUT" so up I got and more beer went down, finale got to bed at 1am.
Fri. 5am the phone rings and I pick it up, "Your wake up call" bang goes down the phone, shit I have to get up for the 6am ride, I can sleep for 10 more mins. ring,ring,ring the alarm is going off, shit I'm late, get the it on and out the door to run into John and away we went.
I get to the demo site and all the 54cm bikes are gone buy one, a pilot 5.2, shit a comfort bike but it was all they had so lets go. Well that was until I went to move the seat post and it had like a 60mm post in it, as this is happening the first group with John in it leaves and know I'm pissed.
They jump into the back of the truck and "Sweet" they pull out a 5.2 madone 10speed and start to change my pedals and the second group leaves. Well the third group will have to do and were off, 10 strong and in a good grove on the path until our guide hooked a crack in the rode and goes down like a sack. Well that just changed the whole pace of the ride but it was still fun.
Fri. afternoon we decide to hit the demos on the way home and get somemore rides in.
Got to ride the new supercal 29er and I love it, it feels like it just rolls though the single track and climbs great. We got back and Karrie and I had a little some thing to eat well John took out the supercal, I was waiting to ride the new "Ferrous"29er(steel ) and at the time it was out (they only had 4 as they were prototypes) so John got back, He said he really liked the 29er and I was off on the Ferrous, felt great on the rode but the new G2 got me again, it climbs like a goat but just feels weird when you stand, now it did have a 80mm stem and I use a 100mm so that could have something to do with it but all in all it felt pretty good and it can also be turned from a geared bike to a singlespeed in a snap.
So were getting ready to leave and who comes walking up, its Gary Fisher, now that was cool.
Time to go home and off we go, on the way home I say to Karrie "Its weird my back feels kind of tight". I figured it was just from riding and I left it like that.
Sat. night we head to Dawn's, Keiths co-workers house for a party and some fun, so on our way I tell Erica "I don't know what I did but my back is killin me" she says it was just from the riding and it will go away. So we have a great time at the party but we have to call it early because Erica has to be up at 4am for work, so we get home and off to bed we go, I'm in hopes a good night sleep will help the back.
4am Sunday morning and Erica is out the door and I roll back over for more sleep till I have to be up to work at the shop later. 8am and I get up to take the dog out, the back hurts but I feel like I can make it though the day, I let the dog out to do his thing and he comes right back in, I go to close the door and "O' SHIT, I hit the floor in the most pain I have ever been in. I can't move, it feels like hot needles in my spine, so there I lay not being able to move, 45min later I finale get the phone and call the wife to get home as soon as she can. She gets home and gets me back into bed and calls the shop to let them know I won't be in. I spend the hole day in bed hoping it will get better but no deal, I call in for work on Monday and get into the chiropractor to find out I slipped a disc and will be out of work for the rest of the week and riding is out for idlest two.
I don't know if any of you have ever slipped a disc but WOW it hurts like hell, so I went to see the doc again today, I didn't thing your back could make sounds like that, and I will also go tomorrow. The back feels better but still hurts, atleast I can now walk and I am told I should feel like new by sat. or sun, I can only hope.
See Yaa..................................................

No race day

Well it was kind of strange not racing today and not even being at the race but work called and I was on call all weekend, plus I really needed to get some stuff done around the house and spend some time with the wife.
We went for brunch at SAZS this morning (Thanks Tony and Ulla) and it was great, it was nice to spend time with Erica and the food was great. We also got a new fish tank on sat., a 40 gal tank, we had a 27 gal. so today I had to go back to the fish store today because the filter we got didn't work out of the box so I had to go exchange it.
I also got some stuff done I have been putting off , burned some cd's for the girls and finally got to my sisters to put up a light on the garage.
So I guess as bad as I felt not being at the race for the team I still got a lot done.
I also started to look at the calendar and figured I won't do another WORS race again till Rapids,
So I guess I got time.
Just read Pats blog and he posted the cross calendar so I guess I will also have to get the cross bike back together. I decided to make the redline into a singlespeed so I will stay with the one gear thing.

24-9 well at least 12 of it

Wow what a weekend, 24-9
is a real experience that everyone should go though. Went up on Friday around 2:00pm and
sat around till about 6:00pm when we went out for a pre-ride with the whole group.
Did about 1/3 of the first lap when big Mark hit the bars with his knee and was in a little pain but decided to keep going, went althea farther, took a quick pit stop with coop as the other kept going, as coop and I start riding though the rock garden we hear a loud thud, I say "Wow someone hit hard" just as we turn a corner to see Mark flat on his face and not moving. What a scary point till he got up, but he looked like he was in lala land so we stayed with him till he got back on his bike and got to a point he could ride back to camp.
Well That put Ricks team one man down till Tim Monty stepped up to ride for Mark witch made Dr. Dave very happy as he got an extra hour between laps.
Rob and Candy Had a good set of laps also, they were the only coed team in the duo group and ended up seventh , a huge high five to Candy who finished two of her many laps in under 3 hours.
The junior team did great with a first place and had a blast doing it,I wish I had all that energy that they do.
Our team John,Mike,Jim and I made one hell of a showing again this year, with those guys making laps in some great time, then it came to me and I took it into the shitter with a 1:27 lap, wrong gear and the legs felt like crap, so when I came back we all had a talk and decided on the next round I would sit it out till the last lap(the night lap). I felt pretty good with this as I do a lot of night riding in fall and feel good on the bike at night. So I set myself up, lights(bars and helmet), Ipod in one ear(to keep my pace) and I was off to the start gate, sat and waited for Mike and the nerves started to run. Mike comes in and I'm off, a little All American Rejects in the ear and I have a good pace going, first 5 miles and I'm riding well, playing cat and mouse with riders, I see a light in front of me and the cat is off to get its mouse. Time after time I kept this up and before I know it I'm at the half way point and some guy is yelling at me and giving me a bottle, its Jim running along side and telling me the team we trying to beat is trying to make up time and coming fast so I have to go.
I get back into the woods and I feel really comfortable and my pace seems to be getting faster rather then slower, before I know it I'm back at the rode crossing and Jim is yelling "Seven Minutes", "YOU NEED TO GO LIKE HELL !!!!!!!!" . Legs felt good so I push a little harder and start to catch more and more riders, come out of the woods to the rode and put the hammer down, four more riders down and I come to the first campers, try to get the time but could not hear what they said, out to the open area next to the start and two more riders down, into the last single track and just trying to go fast as I can and not crash, out of the woods to the last straight away and I get the time 10:01 and time to go like hell, didn't think the legs could go that fast, three more riders in the bag before the shoot and the rides over. A cold beer and I was riding a wave of the best feeling ever, Jim gives me my time and what a shock 1:22, 5 mins. faster then my last lap and it was at night, what a great feeling
At the end of it we moved from forth to third and got onto the podium and got to bring home some hardware.
Thanks to the guys for picking up the slack and letting me redeem myself on the last lap.
SEE YAAA

A hot day at the ridge

Wow what a race. I really have to say I thought it was going to be alot more hot then it was, don't get me wrong it was hot but I just thought it would be worse in the woods. So I had a ok race, felt alittle tired in the legs on the first lap so I just tryed to keep keep the pace up and keep passing as many riders as I could, had much better 2nd lap as the legs started to come around but it was alittle to late as you can see in the picture, Rob flated and still caught me going up the ski hill. Well I tried to make up for it in the sprint into the finish, I had Mark in my sights but never thought I could catch him so I let Rob take the pass, well that was the right thing to do, as he went around me I got on his wheel. He pulled me right to the top and before I knew it I was back on Mark's wheel . With a little talk from Rob I gave it all I had and not only got Mark but one other guy too. Thanks Rob.
The new bike ran great, the fork felt alot better then I thought it was going to, I really thought it was going to beat the hell out of me but even on the down hill it was ok. It really was alot better climbing without the bob of the shock, I still don't know if I will be able to use it for all the races but I'm going to give it a try.
See Yaa........................................

1. 

Two new baby's in the house

No its not what you think,its not twins. We went to the doctor on wed. And got to see the baby for the first time, it was something I will never forget. I still am felling like I'm on a cloud about this thing but seeing Smooly(the baby's nickname until its born) made every thing clear and right up front. That really made our day and week.
Then I got the call the Trek shipped my bike and it was at the shop, three days, talk about service I went to the shop and put it all together and it is sweet, as you can see its not purple but that's ok it looks really good in black. I'm still waiting for the new carbon stem and new carbon seat post that broke when the frame. I want to thank "The TOOL" for building me some "KILLER" new wheels and John and Karrie for helping get me a new frame so fast, also check out the new Xlite fork. As it sits right now it weights 23.6 lbs and that's with a alum. stem and post.
I also get to go to the ear doc. tomarrow(well today), the ear feels a lot better and the ringing is all but gone, the hearing is not any better but as long as the ringing gone I can deal with it.
well got to get some sleep.
SEE YAA

Monday, Monday, Monday

It was a ok day, had to be up at 4:30am to be to work at 5:30am in Racine, go all my work done by 8:15 but had to sit around for one of the managers to let us in a locked room, he was told we would be there by 7:00 and he didn't feel like coming in till 9:45, its days like this I'm glad I get payed by the hour.
Even know I only got to do one lap at the SS champ race but I could still feel it today, that was one hell of a hard race.
I am in huge hopes that Russell will be able to get my new rims to me before the race this weekend, he's building me some kickass Sun/Ringle 29"ers for the Rig, speaking of the Rig, looks like I will be racing on of the demo Rigs for crystal ridge, I was told from the shop that Fisher is reworking the frames because they break for the big guys and if I wait they will paint it for me, I really like the purple not the black. I think I'm also going to look at some new bars for the Rig, I really like the bars Travis Brown is running right now (see pic) but they are prototypes so I guess I'll keep looking.
Well got to go.
SEE YAA

ROCK, ROCK AND THEN CRACK

Well I have to say blue mounds has to be the hardest race I have ever done, when people said there were alot of rocks I never thought it would be like that. The race was a blast, well atleast for one lap, about 3/4 ofthe way though the first I went over a big rock and heard a "snap", did't think to much about till I stood up to climb and the was just creekin so I jumped of to look at the bike. Checked the top tube and the bottom tube where they meet at the head tube and no crack so I get back on and ride alittle more, creak,crack and snap and I jump off again, low and behold a crack at the top of the seat tube so my ride was over.
The rest of the guys did pretty good over all when almost half the feild droped from flats or injuries.
We stayed around to cheer on Candy,Rick and Todd Hill in the 6 and 12 hour, it was a good rest of the day and we all had a good time. Check out the pics

What will happen now?

By Phil Liggett
Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Francisco Mancebo, the three outstanding favorites to win the Tour de France when it gets underway in Strasbourg today, were sent home yesterday after their names were linked to a drugs syndicate in Spain.Guilty by implication rather than any solid proof, the three riders have all denied any association with the drugs bust five weeks ago which was known to Spanish police as Operacion Puerto. Their names appear on an official list sent to the Tour organizers late on Wednesday.Spanish police investigating doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who is accused of trafficking in all types of performance enhancing drugs including growth hormones and the blood booster EPO released the list which contained up to 58 names of riders who are accused of visiting his premises in Madrid.More names are expected to be announced before the race begins this afternoon after team managers have sifted through a 500 page court report that was sent to France by the Spanish judiciary.Tour de France organizers called a meeting yesterday morning with all 21 teams taking part and as a result earned a unanimous decision from the team managers that any name on the list would be withdrawn from the team without a replacement possible.T-Mobile immediately withdrew Ullrich, the winner of the race in 1997 and who finished three times second to American Lance Armstrong during his run of seven wins, and the Spaniard Oscar Sevilla who has always denied going to see Fuentes, yet has been photographed near his premises.Ullrich, 32 and the recent winner of the Tour of Switzerland, has continually denied being linked to Dr Fuente’s surgery and has offered his blood for a DNA test to prove that blood being held in Spain is not his. Even if events prove Ullrich’s innocence later this year, at his age his career is virtually over. Basso, the odds-on favourite to win the race after finishing second last year and only last month, being an emphatic winner of the Tour of Italy by the biggest margin for 42 years, was out training when his Danish CSC team agreed he would not be allowed to start either.His manager, Bjarne Riis said:” I know nothing about what has happened in Spain, but we have taken the decision to take Ivan out based on evidence we have. However, he is not necessarily guilty of anything at this stage.”Francisco Mancebo, who won the best Tour newcomer award in 2000 and has since finished fourth (last year) and sixth, was also withdrawn by his French AG2r team, leaving them with no likely winner of the race overall when it ends in Paris on July 23.It is thought that the list, which has taken more than five weeks to be released because of the complicated and coded many entries in Dr Fuentes books, include other sports’ stars. Those athletes involved are said to have used the names of their pet dogs to avoid being identified. American Tyler Hamilton, already serving a two-year suspension for blood doping, is also among those named.Christian Prudhomme, the deputy Tour director, said:” We will fight doping all the way. Cycling is a wonderful sport, but doping is our enemey.” Rather than being depressed at yet another drugs controversy yesterday, the Tour organizers are elated at the progress they feel has been made towards a cleaner sport.The Tour organizers were upset at losing their appeal to the Court of Arbitration to sport yesterday, allowing the Astana-Wurth team to ride. Known formerly as Liberty-Seguros, team manager Manolo Seiz is also accused of buying drugs from Fuentes. He has since distanced himself from the knew team although he owns more than half of the company that owns the team itself.Prudhomme continued: “This team is not welcome as there are names on the list although these riders are not here for the Tour de France. We would like this team, not to start.”Astana-Wurth’s star rider is Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov and he is determined to ride the race having finished third in 2003 and fifth last year. He has already claimed that he believes Manolo Saiz when he says he is not involved in the biggest sporting scandal ever to hit Spain.Originally 198 riders on 22 teams were entered for the 2300 miles race, but after Ignacio Labarto, the manager of the Communidad Valenciana team was also named as being under investigation, the Tour organizers immediately withdrew their invitation.Now, with as many as 22 riders thought to be linked with Dr Fuentes’ list, the prologue this afternoon may see only 170 riders take the start in the Place de Bordeaux.The opening seven kilometers time trial will be the hors d’oeuvre to the most open Tour for years in the absence of such star names and Americans, Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde along with Australian Cadel Evans will find their favourite tag now more than deserved.Britain’s David Millar, himself re-entering the sport today after serving a two-year suspension for using EPO in June 2003 when he won the World time trial title, could be the winner of this short time test.Millar said yesterday: “I’m a little bit apprehensive and I feel ashamed, but I lied and cheated and now I want everyone to know that I am riding this race clean.”

On the road to the firecracker

Yes its friday and we are in Eau Claire, it was a really nice ride and the weather up here is great, we figured it would be nice to go up a day early and take our time getting here. We made a few stops on the way and picked up some outfits for the little one to be and Erica and I both got new shoes from the nike outlet, 100.00 shoes for 29.00 , you can't beat it.
The drive up was fast, rollin at around 80 all the way, only saw two cops all the way up but I will bet there will be more tomorrow.
We broke down this race and are staying in a hotel, it is a big change, the van seemed to be empty without all the camping stuff, but the air and a nice bed makes up for it and the dog is in heaven.
I think I'll go to the race site a little later just to look around and see who's all there, I know I'll see Kenny and Shelly and the boys as we passed them on the freeway (twice) on the way up.
Well I'll post more tomorrow on how the trail is.
SEE YA.............................

WHAT?WHAT?WHAT?

Well I haven't been on the bike all week cause I'm f'in sick, not like sick sick but sick from these meds the doc has me on.
I went to the doc about a week ago because I have this buzzin in my head(this is not funny) and it won't go away. So he looks around and can't really find to much(what a shock) and sends me to a "ENT" doc who calls for a whole run of test.
So I go in last fri. and do all these test and find out I'm going deaf in my right ear(around 30 to 40%) and I have some sort of pressure pocket pushing on the ear and thats why I have this buzzing all the time. So mon. I had to start on the roids to see if they would help the pressure and stop the buzzing, the crap part about the drugs is they are making me sick to my stomach all the time and I have the worst heart burn(both are side effects).
I have like four more days of some heavy doses before I start to taper off and then it will be back to the doc for more tests. They seem to be helping, atleast with the buzzing, I can now sleep though the night but I still feel like shit all day, I ams in hopes to try to get some time on the bike this weekend and maybe feel alittle better.
SEE YAAA.................................................