Back from Vegas

So, I'm back from Vegas and I'm in one piece. It is a weird city and I had an interesting trip. Much, much more coming soon...

A Hamburger Ride and Nordic

I went for a ride yesterday with this guy Travis who is a senior at Champlain College. He was actually a pretty darn strong rider and he said he's never done any racing apart from some time trials. I was running late getting to the meeting place though and hadn't had any lunch. It is 2:40 at this point. I had just had a small bowl of cereal in the morning. About an hour into the ride I ask Travis if he wouldn't mind if we stop in Richmond and I get something quick to eat. I pulled up to where the Richmond Bakery used to be and its not there (it moved just down the road, which I didn't know). So, we goto the restaurant the next place over and I go inside and look at the menu. They have a bacon cheeseburger with sweat potato fries and I'm starving so I have to have it. Travis and I wait while its made and I wolf it down mach-10 once its ready. Point of all this is I'm pretty impressed on Travis' part that he was ok with all this. I mean we chit-chatted and stuff all the while, but it was a weird first ride with someone - I mean, who stops and gets a hamburger 1 hour into a 4 hour ride? It was good though. :-) The ride and the burger.

Starting to think about nordic skiing. Its 80 degrees out today though. I've got some new poles from Madshus on the way and a race suit. I've been wearing an old SMS suit my sister passed onto me. Thanks Liz! My girlfriend Helen and I went for a bike ride today together - we're going to shoot for doing the 50k this year at Lake Placid.

Oh, Sammy Sanchez is killing it in the Vuelta. I really like the way that guy rides a bike. Ever seen him go down a hill? Up a hill too of course!

A Nice Song

I'm sure you've heard this song and singer before, but I just heard it today for the first time. It reminds me of sitting on a beach in Thailand. Pretty relaxing stuff. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

On a bike note, Dan Cassidy's new TT bike looks pretty hot. I'll get a picture of it pronto. I saw it as he wheeled it up the street today in the bright Burlington sun.

Hill Repeats and a Turkey Bacon Sandwich

I road out to Bolton today to ride up and down the access road a couple times. I just had a 23 on in the back, as that's all I've had all year. It was a grind. 25 minutes for the first try, 23.5 for the second. After the second time up though I went over to the nordic/fitness center, where my sister Liz is now working. We hung out there for a few minutes and then went up to this nice sandwich shop right at the base lodge. I had a glorious Turkey Bacon sandwich - and got it toasted, on my sisters recommendation. The sandwich hit the spot and I rode hard all the way back to Burlington.

Here's a picture of Bolton and a picture of a Turkey Bacon sandwich (unfortunately not a picture of mine. Mine didn't have avocado in it. That would have been good.)

What's on my mind

I couldn't sleep much last night because I was thinking about this: http://finals.usacrits.com/ the whole night.

maybe I can do some of this while I'm there:

Its been a while...

First Posting

Hi Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. I've just created this and will start posting pictures and stories. Hopefully having a blog will do two things:
1. Keep my family, friends, and throngs of fans up to date on comings and goings.
2. Finally make me learn how to use my digital camera.

Cheers,
Jake