Long Awaited Update

Its been a little bit of time since my last rambling. Why you ask? Well, life has been crazy busy. Something to the name of WORK. Not really into it but I got to make the mullah to keep the dream rolling. Quickly recap the past few weeks....

Raced two crits back-to-back in Winston-Salem, NC, my birthplace. Didn't have the greatest of legs. Got punched by a rider in my back. Words were transferred, I filed a complaint with the ref. Now I am writing a letter calling for this jag'off's suspension from USA Cycling. I will keep everyone posted.

Parent's party cooking went well. It was a bit stressful cooking for 75 people but we pulled it off. I think I created a menu of flavors that encompassed SE Asia and pushed people into new culinary nirvana. The most popular dish was my mango salsa which was really only suppose to be a "munch" item. It was incredibly simple in technique. I was hoping that I would get more praise for the green curry. But ohh well, one can't discount praise. I've created a nice little name for myself amongst my parent's friends for my cooking. Maybe it will lead to something out here in Boulder....

Ohh yeah, I've been working a lot which has lead to a steep decline in riding. Since Aug 7, I have ridden 6 days(riding to work is not counted). 3 of those days were racing. Pretty good result at the Boulder-Roubaix which was an epic mudfest thanks to the nice storms we had. Course is 8.?? mi long with 80% being on dirt. A real hard man's course, Belgie Style. Muy Bueno for Me. I had 2 teammates with me in the lead group after we had torn up the field after 6 laps to only 7 riders. So we were looking pretty good. One teammate crashed out and broke his steerer. One was up the road so that left me to just follow the wheels to the finish. In the last turn, I jumped to grab the first attack on the final 1.5k. Unfortunately, my 28mm tires got stuck in some sand/mud which quickly drowned my acceleration. The 4 riders were able to get a gap that I couldn't close so I had to settle for 7th. Would have liked to give it a go for a podium spot but sometimes, weird stuff happens. Next day, I raced the North Boulder Park crit. Legs were done but I managed to stay in the lead group. Very fast and technical course. Old roommates, Jen and Trent were there to cheer me on. Good to see them. Then it was back to work until this past thursday. Got in a nice 3.25hr ride out to Carter Lake. Got a wave? from the Liquigas rider(Boulder riders know who I am talking about). Rode 4.5 hrs in the mtns yesterday. Met up with Shawn and Karl for some cafe in Ned. Good to catch up. Today i opted out of the crit. Just feeling tired all week. Did 4.5 hrs on the mtn bike in Ned. Rode the West Magnolia trails then got lost, then found my way back home. Had a good time. Technical skills are improving but still lack some panache on the rocky stuff. Opted to lock out the rear suspension on the Titus Racer-X. Was able to climb and ride through the rocky stuff much better. Maybe i'd do better with a hardtail. But I digress.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks.

The aftermath of the Roubaix, sans downtube waterbottle cage which broke and I had to rip off mid-race.

Chow,
Mathieux

Fall Cycling Camp in Colorado

here's the details:


Train like a pro for a week in Boulder, CO.
Welcome to the 2008 Fall edition of the EK Endurance Coaching advanced cycling camp. During the 5 days of concentrated training in Boulder, CO you will ride some of the most classic rides in the US. See the most amazing vistas and get in some of the best, most effective training ever! This is a great opportunity for anyone training for late season races, like Silverman, IM AZ, IM Hawaii, late season RR like the Everest challenge stage race or to build base for cyclo cross. Or… lets face it, for those who just love to ride!!

Included in this camp:
1. Hotel accommodations, including breakfast and pool
2. Full Soigneurs support through out every ride. Food, drink, extra clothing, mechanical support.
3. Nightly analysis of your ride and training consultation by the coaches.
4. Massage (30’) every night by a pro team soigneurs, Jeff Cole.
5. Infinit Nutrition, (nutrition sponsor) free product and discounts for you after camp. 6. Free Schwag from our other sponsors.
7. Guest pro rider will join us for a day of training.
8. Boulder, CO. you ask for more than that!!

Dates and Itinerary
· September 7th to the 12th 2008
· Sunday, Sept 7th arrive at DIA airport.
· Mon. Sept. 8th. Morning briefing and breakfast. Ride 3 hr.
· Tue. Sept. 9th Mountain. ride 4+ hr.
· Wed. Sept. 10th Mountain ride 4+ hr.
· Thursday Sept. 11th Mountain ride 3-4 hr.
· Fri. camp debriefing, short ride, depart.

Fitness Level
You should be comfortable riding for 3 or more hours a day for several days in a row. Be an accomplished pack rider in all types of terrain. Know how to take care of your self on the bike in bad weather conditions, rain cold, heat. Be able to change a flat and do simple on the road repairs. Most importantly have a good sprit! While you need to be an advanced cyclist to participate in this camp you should be searching to get there. This is NOT a camp for the beginner or novice athlete.

Camp Cost
Flights not included.
We will be making 1 or 2 pick ups at Airport. There is also a shuttle for off time flights.
Deposit of $350 will hold your spot.
Contact Eric Kenny or Matthew Barrowclough to find out about discount for Boulder area athletes or athletes not needing housing.
$1100 (Register before 8/25/08)

Contact info: Eric or Matthew

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

The great words of a childhood television hero, Hannibal Smith of the A-Team. After so many close calls and second guesses, my work has ripened.

Today, I won! As soon as the gun went off, I knew the legs were a far cry from the pain they were yesterday. It was just one of those special leg days. Any gaps were closed quickly and I was just feeling good all around. Legs just seemed to spin fast and accelerate. With 7 laps to go, my teammate, Kenny, bridged up to another rider and ended up getting the prime. I moved into position to mark any moves. Riding in the front is always hard but it typically keeps you safe. With 6 to go, the rain has already started, so I moved to the top 2 knowing that rain slicked roads will be total chaos especially on all the white stripes. So on the 2nd turn, a nice lefty, I took a beautiful line and held the bike in check despite the rain. Unfortunately, the rider just in front of me took a not so good line, went down, and caused immediate disaster. I sensed the moment instantly and jumped hard and bridged up to Kenny and his breakaway partner. We worked briefly together but I was careful to size up the fitness of the other rider. Kenny fell back so it was just two. With 4 and half to go, I attacked my breakaway partner. I was continually sizing up his ability as were swapping pulls. I didn't feel confident in his ability to help deliver me to the finish with the peloton looming. It was textbook. He was finishing his pull and I jumped hard to the left and put the hammer down. Gap was opened immediately and I continued to lengthen it as the laps seemed to not go by fast enough. By this time, the rain was dumping and lightning and thunder were all around. Roads were super slick so I was being just cautious enough to keep my speed but not lay it down.

I guess I didn't believe in it fully until 1 lap to go. By this time, the field was 3/4 of a lap down and the chase was 10-15s back. So much was running through my head. I have been so close so many times and met some misfortune last summer but today it worked out. Shawn kept me believing in myself and today I paid her. As I crossed the line with arms waved, I have never felt so much joy in a bike race. The crowds were amazing and I got to hear my name on the loudspeaker as the encouraged my effort. With arms in the air, I crossed the line in ahead of any other rider. A great end to a great weekend.

Chow,
Matthew

An Unforgettable Year...

If you haven't been paying attention, today marks the one-year anniversary of getting hit by the truck while doing what I love, riding...I must admit that after the first 3 months, time has quickly gone by. But that is not to say that I don't wake up every morning and remember at some point during the day of what could have happened. I do my best to not think that way but to think more positively of what has happened. So much has changed in my life. People ask me about the accident and I always finish up by saying that it was probably one of the greatest moments in my life. You have to understand my point of view. So hear goes...

Before tragedy struck, I didn't realize how good I had it, how easy things were, or how great life can be. I became closer to my family, I stopped letting the small inconveniences of life get in the way, and I learned how to live. In my eyes, living is about never thinking what-if? Never looking back and seeing regret. Never losing sight of what is important. Importance? Well its definitely not fame or fortune. Its going after your dreams despite the challenges, despite the obstacles, despite the nay-sayers, and despite the threat of failure.

In the 4th day of my stay at Westchester Medical Center, I did my best hobbled-walk to the bathroom in the room. Those 10ft were the hardest steps I have ever taken. The strength it took for me to just pull my self up in the bed nearly took everything out of me. But with those steps, I knew that it was going to be alright. Those 10 steps gave me the confidence to know that no matter what life throws at you, human will can overcome.

This morning I lined up in fitting fashion for the Salida RR. Of the races I have done in CO, this is by far the most difficult. Complete attrition. The thoughts of where I was last year and my condition, it looked impossible of even trying to be a competitive athlete again, but human willpower and support from family and friends have made it possible. My legs were heavy. I knew it from the neutral roll out that it was going to be a day of suffering. On the first climb I hung as best i could but got dropped. I ended up catching back up for the second lap only to get dropped again. The rest of the race I was moving through different chase groups only to be eternally dropped on the last lap. For some reason, i couldn't keep any speed on the descents despite no braking. So the last lap was "matthew time." I had my own personal suffer gruppetto. I saw many bow out in the race early. This attitude sucks. You don't get better by abandoning unless you are injured. Cycling is incredibly hard and painful. In no other sport that I know is it more true of the person with the highest tolerance for pain come out ahead more often. For me, my end result was not something to write about, but when I get into that pain cave next race, next week, next month, or next year, I will have this experience to pull from. Becoming a great cyclist is more than just winning races or training with intervals. Its about training your mind and your body to push itself to limits that you didn't think existed. So next time, you see a cycling race, or read about a race, understand that great cyclists are born, they go through years of pain and discipline to get that rare chance to come across the line with arms in the air.

tomorrow is the criterium. It will be a nice cap off to the weekend. I've been getting some nice high altitude training in. As my hotel at Monarch Ski Mountain is at 9700' and the race is at 7500-8700'. Blood doping the natural way =) Tuesday I head back to the motherland of Tenn, so if I have any readers in TN be sure to get in touch.

I will leave you with this...Next time, you are annoyed by a traffic jam, or by a wait in line at a restaurant or a small squabble b/w friends/family, remember that is probably not worth the frustration. Life is hard enough =)

Ciao,
matthew

Vive Le Tour!

Tour is in full swing now. Its definitely proving to be quite an exciting battle with numerous lead changes and several favorites cracking on the Pyrenean cols. To celebrate le tour and do the typical french thing, I chose to go all french and had coffee and a sweet crepe for breakfast this morning while watching Le Grand Boucle. It was quite tasty and good consistency following my poor crepe effort last summer. I went with a banana-honey-peanut butter feeling. Had I had some Nutella, it would have been perfect.

Seeing the race on the tele and brings back many fond memories of my brief time in France last summer. Next year, I will be back =)

Its been wicked hot out here in Boulder. I'm on a break right now, prepping for the Salida Omnium on Jul 25-27. I'd like to put in a good result in the weekend's racing. My in-race confidence and bike handling are super high right now so hopefully the hard work and with a little luck something will come my way.

At the end of the month, I'm flying back to Tenn to visit family and cook for my mom's summer fiesta. It should be spectacular. So if you are in that area, be sure to get in touch. Going to do a little racing too in Winston-Salem, my birthplace.

Ciao,
Matthew

Dead Dog Recap

Well, I'm back from the land of cowboys and high plains. My trip up to Laramie didn't go as planned. Ended up having to work at the shop till 7:30. But the girl was super stoked when she got her bike basket installed. So I rolled out on Saturday morning at 0500. It wasn't too bad. Drive was easy and gave me time to download plenty of calories for the day's work ahead. This was probably one of the hardest road races I have done. It was go from the gun and the terrain made me cry like a little girl, not really but it was sickly hard.

Here is how it goes....Roll out at 8400 ft on some rollers with a slight descent(hardly noticeable) till you get to 7500' and the town of Centenniel. From there, it goes up fast and the race goes from alright to "ohh shit..just hold on...just hold on...lactic acid...why are my arms hurting, ohh yeah, thats lactic acid." Ended up falling off the pace of the lead group. But a few teammates bridged up to me and we formed a nice chase group with the lead group just a few minutes up the road. So after Centenniel its about 20mi till you reach the summit, which still fancied the WY snowpack. I guess when you are above treeline at 10800' snow sticks around. Well after a breaf descent it was pedal-on all the way to the bottom(7800'). Then we do a quick turnaround on the tarmac and head back up the hill we just came down. There was no "bomb this hill." Much to my chagrin, it was pedal-on the entire time. I was taking soming long pulls trying to help the teammates who were looking a little better. Blew myself up trying to bridge up to a chase group in an effort to set up my teammate. Unfortunately, he couldn't close it after 5-7mi and we caught him. After a brief respite, we got back to Centenniel and echeloned it out across the road. It was super fast but really cooked me. As we were rotating, I was expecting a teammate to roll through but looked back and he was 3 bike lengths back. I dropped back, yelled at him to grab my wheel then pulled him back into the mix. Good times. Ended up finishing 17th on the day and totally cooked. Treated myself to an ice bath. The coach has always suggested it, well I took it. Painful until you can't feel anything but it definitely helps with recovery.



Sunday was a 2'fer. Crit in the morning followed by a high-altitude time trial. I was beaming with confidence b/c I knew the course would suit me. A little bit of bad communicado b/w my leadout guy and me left me jumping on the sprint a little too soon. Settled for 9th. Good stuff learned and good sign of recovery. Next up after just about 2hrs was the 10mi tt at 8800'. Its supposedly the highest time trial in the US. Confidence was running high. I put in a lot of work this past few months on the time trial and felt I could put up a good result today. I went out flying and kept it going. 9th on the stage. Helped me move up 1 spot on GC and be the top finisher on my team. I knew as soon as I finished that I would have a good time. Still some stuff to work on but after a 4 day break, I'm happy with the form that came around during the race. Now the 2nd half of the season begins....

Adios,
Matthew

Heading North to the Land of Cowboys

Well, maybe not Cowboy land, but Wyoming does have a cowboy on their license tag and cowboys are the mascot for the Univ of WY.
My destination: Laramie
Purpose: to race in probably the hardest 2 day race I know of in the western US.
Race: Dead Dog Classic

RR on saturday is 138km. Its basically, go down from 8400 ft to 7500ft in 7mi, then go up to 10800 ft in the next 20mi. Descend 15mi. Repeat.

I went over 10000ft for the first time on my bike on Wed when I rode up CO-7 from Lyons to Peak-to-Peak then up to Brainard Lake which is just about 10400. I had some hypoxia and felt a little light-headed. I think it was more due to hydration than just altitude b/c I have never gotten altitude sickness. It was a hard day though.

Everyone else in my life is going well at the moment. I apologize for the lack of communicado. I will post a good race re-cap when I return. On a coolness factor, I got name stickers for my bikes. Yeah, you know the ones the pros have on their bikes. My says, "M.Barrowclough" It has an American Flag on it also to designate my nationality so when I rtn to foreign lands, they will know me =)

Ciao,
Matthew

Crawling into the Closet

Nothing like beats a hump day than climbing into the closet of pain. The closet of pain is the time trial race held here in cycling rich Boulder. I've been doing these for the past month now. Its a great mid week race effort and is super convenient, basically suit up at the crib and roll out to Lyons for the start. Today we had opposite conditions of last week: sun, clear skies, and insane winds. I rolled out of the house only to blow out my tubular 300m from the front door. I ran back to the house with the bike in tow, trying not to destroy my cleats. Threw on a training rear wheel and jetassoned off to the start. Now I was 10mi behind schedule. So I guess my tt effort would start a little sooner than planned. Coincidently, I had the same rushed effort last week. When i got to the starting tent, I was 30s off of my start time. Fortunately, the kind folks let me start 7min later. Plan was to drill it in the beginning, then settle into a nice comfortable spot of the pain closet. Do you see the juxtaposition in that statement? yeah, I'm trying to use some language tools I learned in college. Lame? Whateva...Whateva...

I managed a good effort, 20th overall, 26.56 over the 10mi course. A little slower than last week but its to be expected with the winds. Some loss due to non-aero wheel. Overall, I'm satisfied with my progression. The thing with time trialling is that it takes a lot of practice to understand your limits and when to push and when to hold a few cards in your hand. Its definitely helping make me a more rounded rider which is what I strive for.

On a food note, I made a sick salad tonight. It was a stir-fried tofu-pineapple spinach salad with a peanut sauce. It was pretty sick. Lacked some heat but I blame that on just forgetting to add some chilis to it. Next time. Super good though.

Watched the finale of TopChef tonight. Arguably one of the best programs on the tele these days. I think my spin on the spinach sald would have given them a run for their mullah. If you are going to be in the Johnson City, TN area on August 2, you must come to the Barrowclough House Party. I've been summoned back to the motherland to put on a display of culinary nirvana. Its the summer version of the much hyped about return of my culinary wizardry. Atleast this what my critics tell me.

Chow,
Roberto

Racing and Lactic Acid

Been racing a lot since I last wrote. The usual, crit on Tuesday night in Golden, time trial on Wed and stuff on the weekend. Last weekend was the Hugo RR, a rolling-windy death march and the Denver City Park Criterium. Roommate Kelly killed on the RR and won her category. I like to think I helped her with strategy by telling her to just ride off early on b/c she has some sick endurance-tempo engine. I on the other hand road stupidly, missed the first break, then got caught behind a crash. Had to unclip then the leaders drilled it. I finally caught some other riders and we led a nice chase but it was too little to take on the 15 riders thats were leading. I played director with my chase group and told everyone what to do. With 17mi to go, I just upped the tempo and rode away. Finished alright but disappointed. Crit was tough. Lots of crashes and geese in the roads. Head was still bothered from the Hugo showing.

During the tt on Wed it was a total downpour with lightning and thunder all around. I made it too my start time with 3minutes to spare. It was a stressful warmup but definitely the perfect one b/c the legs were good for the TT and I didn't have time to cool down in the downpour. When I finished rain picked up then it started dumping hail. Lesson: hail sucks and is painful. Despite being completely soaked, riding in the rain is kind of fun. I was drilling it all out and managed to only lose 12s from the previous week under ideal conditions. So it was a good tt for me.

Today was the Mike Horgan Hill Climb, another Front Range classic. The race is a 18mi race up to Nederland via Sugarloaf Rd and Peak-to-Peak Hwy. Features but not limited too: 3800ft of gain, 7mi of dirt road, and complete lactic burn. I was in the front group for the first 8mi but it completely blew me up. I don't remember blowing up so much. When it hit the dirt, I got some legs back and clawed my way back albeit taking some risks on the descents. It definitely goes down as one of the hardest efforts I have ever done. On the rtn trip downhill via Boulder Canyon Rd, I think I probably averaged the same power going up the hill on the 17mi rtn trip. I was in my 53x11 or 12 the entire time. The cat 2s I rolled down with were pushing it and I felt like pushing it too. Had a little scary moment with a nasty speed wobble and started drifting into traffic. The Zurich I'm riding gets nasty wobble. It really sucks b/c I love pushing it downhill. Not sure if I am putting too much weight on the front wheel or what. But its super scary when you are kicking 70k/h and the front wheel feels likes its going to break off from wobbling. The Wilier was a dream on the downhill.

When I was pinning my number on in the parking lot, I spotted Jennie Longo next to me. Longo is 51, and still kills it. Probably the best women's bike racer or bike racer in general of all time. Shawn and Karl have lots of funny storied about this woman. But she is still crazy fast. Only in Boulder do you get someone of such caliber doing a local hill climb race. Its just unbelievable here. Reminds me of the group ride I did in Westmeerbeek, BE. There were guys in the ride, had to be in their late 60s/early 70s. Probably rode Le Tour and all the other classics. I just remember riding double paceline with these guys and they are just killing it, at times stringing it out. Cycling is cool like that. You can be old but still kill it.

ciao,
Roberto

Camp Eden Training Center

Sunday I rolled up to Karl and Shawn's house at like 9100ft or so. Basically, just sickly high up. I've dubbed it the Camp Eden Training/Wind Tunnel Center. We had a nice dinner outside on their deck then got down to business of working on my tt position and road position. My hips were no able to clear on the tt frame which was causing some serious gluteus maximus pain and just ugly bouncing. We got it diealed in and brought my arms in a little closer thus decreasing my frontal exposure. Rode it yesterday and felt much better as well as you can feel on a tt bike. Power is good and I'm riding smooth with a nice flat back and super quiet upper body. My road position on the new bike is much better than the Wilier. I've been pretty happy with it. The longer top tube definitely makes a big difference for me. I really believe it takes some time to find what type of bike fits you and allows you to perform your best. All the hard work in the off season through core strengthening and just better riding skills has definitely paid off. Karl did a test by putting an empty cup on my back while I spun on the trainer. The cup stayed completely still.

Riding around this weekend, I saw a lot of riders out just b/c it was such a nice weekend. I see a lot of different riding styles and its quite easy to spot the undertrained or ill-fitted riders. Bouncing all around and lots of upper body movement is a killer to the ride b/c all of that wasted energy. Its definitely not easy, but some specific training can definitely benefit all riders.

Sunday, I did a race type effort, 3hrs of all out on my Lee Hill/Lefthand/Old Stage circuit. I don't remember the last time my legs felt so good. Perhaps its standing up on one's feet for two days straight after getting frozen 3 days prior on a ride. Needless to say, it was good. Needed another bottle, surprisingly, I emptied 2 bottles in 3 hours which is pretty good for me. The arrid, high altitude riding really sucks the fluids out of you. I might have to start packing a 3rd bottle. On my way up Left Hand, I rolled by Jonny Clarke and Ivan Stevic both of Toyota-United. They were just on a chill pace, after killing it the last few weeks in the NRC. I gave the pro hand nod when I went by. Stevic looked like he was suffering a little in the heat. Rode by some High Road rider, female, Ausie champ of sorts going by the arm band. Just another day of riding in Boulder.

Hopefully the form will stay through this weekend at Hugo. I've got good Ju-Ju going so I'm thinking big for the weekend.

Ciao,
Roberto

Just Go Higher

On Thursday, I decided to go for a 3-4hr tempo ride. Legs came around after a while but still little tight from the tt the night before. Goal was to head up CO-7 from Lyons to CO-72(Peak to Peak) then cruise to Ward then back down. Weather forecasts were thunderstorms throughout the day. Having been in the Bay Area for the last 3 years, its been awhile since I've experienced a good thunderstorm. Climb started off nice. Its basically a 16mi climb from about 5300 to 8300 ft. Nothing too steep but its very exposed as opposed to the Left Hand Canyon climb which is tucked away between the pines. After about 8mi, I could see the darkening of the clouds as if it was the day of reckoning. I pressed on. Soon I got a little bit of frozen precip on my jersey. It stopped, and I decided to pursue my effort b/c this is a training and I need to get stronger. Well, about 2mi from the summit, it starts coming down quicker...roads are wet, but I'm feeling good and wanting to clear the summit. I hit the summit and the shit hits the fan so to speak. At this point, its hailing and the roads are super wet. I begin my descent, not wanting to press the limiters today. Hail picks up, now its whiteout. Fortunately, my long sleeve jersey is keeping some body temperature in house. Still can't escape the artillery fire of mother nature. Thoughts running through head,

"wow, this was stupid...Suck it up matthew...the road is covered with ice...damn this hurts...suck it up...Hampsten did it in the Giro...a hot shower will be awesome...focus matthew...should I stop?...no place to stop...need to get lower...damn its really coming down now...ohh theres that woman I passed earlier...no time to stop and chat...how much further?....ahhh, dry roads...why can't I feel my hands and why are there red marks all over my body?...come on legs you have to work a little more...wow, i'm freakin hungry and cold..."


So I ended up making it back safe. Legs were just about useless after i hit the dry stuff in Lyons. Eventually made it home and the shower was good but the hail left a lasting impression on my baby soft skin.

Lessons learned: when its getting dicey as you go higher, ummm don't get higher b/c the mountains will punish you.

Ciao,
Roberto

Legs are Coming Around

One thing that I have noticed about the weeks after Gila, you have a much higher level of pain tolerance. As amatuers, you often read about the pros talking about riding into form and gaining form from racing. For riders looking do well in the Olympics, many are hoping for a ride in Le Tour, 20 days of leg breaking racing. I only got5 days of high caliber, altitude racing but is has definitely lead to some fitness growth. I didn't get to experience the full effect of the post race form b/c I was sick, but I'm definitely seeing the improvement made. Racing is picking up full steam here in CO. Every Tues night there is a 1/2/3 criterium and Wed evenings is a 10.6mi time trial. Its like back in Belgium where the summer months bring racing and recovery. I will still be training but will be spending less time but keeping intensity high in my effort to keep recovery high. Next weekend, May 31/June 1, I'm doing the Hugo RR and the City Park Criterium. It could be a 4 race week.

As far as the riding is going, CO couldn't be more spectacular.Its been quite warm here the last week, 70s-80s. I did a super nice mountain loop on Sunday following a tempo day on Saturday. I rode north to Lyons then went up 36 to Estes Park. From Estes, I took CO-7 to Allenspark, where I got a soda(ie the perfect on the bike drink). From Allenspark, i hit the Peak-to-Peak Hwy(CO-72) and rode to Nederland before dropping down Boulder Canyon to Boulder and back home. Lots of climbing, not any fast descents unfortunately b/c of the head/cross winds. I did get a nice tail wind as I was cruising next to Mt. Meeker(13,400ft) and Longs Peak(14k?) I was probably in the 8000 foot range. Its pretty sick going 60-65km/h in your top gear on the flats. I gave a few cars a run for their money.

All in all, 164km, 4200kjs, 5hr40min. not too bad for an "endurance" pace ride by myself in the rockies. I think my 164km ride back during Cranksgiving with much less altitude gain was Just under 5hr50min. still had a nice bit at the end so things are good. I followed it up yesterday with a 2hr recovery ride showing my roommate Kelly's friend some of the great riding in boulder. I think the altitude sucked him dry. Its definitely the equalizer out here. Which is why, in my opinion, the racing is so much harder out here as compared to other areas of the country.

On the employment side, I wasn't cutting it as a bicycle salesperson. so I got moved to the service area. Which was my entire goal in the beginning anyways. Now I get to work on bicycles and learn a trade. My rant about bicycle sales is that through my experience, there are some pretty bold statements made about certain bicycles. I think there is a perfect bike for everyone out there, and I'm not into pushing a bike onto someone only to have them garage the bike b/c they don't like it thus creating a waste of resources and an upset person. Also, while I'm on my soapbox, if you are going to sell something, you better "know" the product from use and form your own opinion not the opinion that bike or product makers tell you. They will always say their bikes are superior, to do anything less would be business suicide. Me on the other hand, I have no allegience, and I will gladly tell you when a certain bike sucks or if it rocks.

Ciao,
Roberto