Back in action

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July 11, 2008

Had the mid season break...and am thinking about having another one! I haven't been feeling too flash lately, but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes!

After Philly I had a bit of down time, hung out with friends, went out to dinner a lot, went surfing (didn't drown), played some golf (lost a lot of balls), and rode my bike a couple of hours a day (one hour, to the café).

I stepped back on the bike and have raced three times in the past week. I managed to win one and get two top tens, including 10th at Manhattan Beach GP. Jono had a good ride to place fourth at Manhattan Beach. That race is always fast and usually comes down to a bunch kick. It also involves a bit of luck, a little more than most races, as there is generally a good crash in the last corner.

With the U-turn corner being 200m or so from the finish line, it is obviously a decisive factor in the outcome of the race. And 100 riders know that where you are into the corner is generally where you will end up at the line. Due to this, everyone comes into the corner like Rossi v. Gibernau at the Spanish Moto GP. Unfortunately, the corner claimed Nic Sanderson from Jelly Belly and also Fred Rodriguez from Rock Racing, and I do mean "claimed", there was nothing dubious or untoward about the crash, no pushing or shoving it just happens. It's part of bike racing.

Now I am back into the swing of it, (thanks to Neil Shirley tearing me up whilst he is doing strength efforts!) and looking forward to heading up to BC Superweek in Vancouver. I have heard a lot of good things about the upcoming race week, so hopefully it all comes to fruition and it will be a great time and also I can get some good results.

I have been having a good solid year, quite consistent, usually getting some sort of result at most races, but nothing spectacular. Now is the time of year when you "need" results. The guys that have already won some early season races are looking to top off with a win or two to possibly move up the ranks, and those of us who have not won anything so far are looking for results, or to help our team-mates to gain results in order to keep a job. With a few teams re-shuffling here, stateside, and some stopping entirely, it is going to be tough once again. But really, it's always the same, it's a fairly dynamic sport in that regard, and you just have to be willing to accept it. So there will not be too much surfing or golfing until October.

Completely unrelated to cycling, there have been a few changes to California laws lately, the most prevalent was a new law introduced regarding the use of mobile (cell) phones whilst driving. Up until July 1, it was OK to drive whilst holding your phone to your ear, change lanes without indicating, flip off other drivers and scream at the kids. Now, fortunately, a new law has been implemented preventing talking on your phone except through a "hands free" device. So you can now use both hands to get your point across to kids, and other drivers. But wait, it gets better...there is no law against "texting" whilst driving. Hmmm...interesting!!!!!

The rest of my season looks pretty full with criteriums, so I'll be jumping in behind the motorbike and getting the legs going.

I'm going to go watch some TV, they are televising that bike race thingy that's happening in France.

Cody