Yesterday, after a fairly succesful Nature Valley Grand Prix for the Bissell Pro Cycling team, I packed up my bags and headed to ”the northwoods” with my parents where I will be spending the upcoming week!  For normal drivers it is about a four hour drive north of Minneapolis to my parents house. However, with my dad at the helm it takes a solid ten since drives twelve mph!!! 

Anyway, it is always nice to be home…or as I now say my parents house.  Things don’t change much but there is something comforting about that…

 Here is mom who washed, folded, and mended my torn clothes just like she used to!

 Dad still loves to drive slow, read the paper, and mow the lawn!  Hope he likes the two doughnuts I bought him for fathers day?

 Older brother Shane who is fresh off his bike touring trip from Arizona to Wisconsin still loves to “organize” all of his belongings!

 And Wisconsinites definitely love the Packers!

On a side note…I know it has only been one day but I am missing my hotel roommate Scotty

 How could I not miss this?

later, g.

PS. Scotty hope you are not too mad but I had to post the picture

Ahhh…Nature Valley…my “hometown” race.  Even though I grew up about four hours northeast of the Twin Cities (where Nature Valley takes place) I began racing competitively in these parts.  It is always nice to be back especially when mom and dad bring boxes of baked goods with them!

Last night the Stage 1, downtown St. Paul, crit got off to a rocky start! The race was neutralized and then cancelled halfway through due to “wet roads!” Yep, that is correct “wet roads!”  I would like to add that the women who started before us raced and finished in the same conditions…what does that say about the men?

Yesterday was yesterday and it is time to get ready for today’s Cannon Falls Road Race…unless of course it rains!

later, g.

Here is a quick update to what has been going on since my last update…

After Joe Martin I got to spend a wonderful week at home where the weather has finally become pleasant and I was able to get some wicked sunburn on the rooftop deck.  It is easy to forget that the sun is a bit more intense at 5500 feet!

After some good riding and catching up with friends back home it was off to Michigan on Wednesday to pre-ride the Leelanau course for the race this coming Sunday.  However, that plan got derailed due to a pulled beef burrito from Whole Foods and a case of food poisoning!

All that I can say is that food poisoning and plane rides do not go well together!  I actually felt bad for the lady sitting next to me on the plane as I was unloading the contents of my guts into the little airplane puke bag!  The only redeeming factor was the the lady sitting next to me was extremely large.  Therefore,  I figured that for letting her use half of my seat along with her own she could at least deal with my unpleasantness!  In the end it was a great relationship built on compromise.

Thankfully, the food poisoning is a thing of the past and I am getting exciting to race on Sunday!  After that it is back to Boulder on Memorial day for another week before heading out east for “Philly Week” followed by “Nature Valley” and then “The Giro de Grafton.”

later, g.

Just got done with stage two of the Joe Martin stage race here in Arkansas and am waiting patiently for my massage at our Extended Stay Hotel! Today we rode pretty well…Scotty got in the break and Richie had a nice little dig at the end but we came up empty However, there are still two more stages and then I get to go home….yay!

Was hoping that for this years edition of Joe Martin I could get back to the form I had here in ‘05.  Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case soo far…maybe I need to “Nair” my chest like I did back then? However, the chemical burns which led to a bloody belly button and ooozing nipples were not that great! There are still two stages to go  though so there is time…

Some pictures from our hotel…

 Scotty Zwizellski…my roommate…for most of the year since we are pretty much on the same race schedule.  Good thing he is an okay guy except when he talks on the phone to his girlfriend…kinda grosses me out!

 The VIP room at the extended stay hotel occupied by Teddy King (Tour de Georgia KOM jersey holder) and Dick London (Tour de Georgia stage winner).  They were obviously appalled that a low life like me would interrupt their dinner for a photo…sorry guys!

 Kaycee our “team mom” massaging Joao…she must have a hard time finding him under all of that hair? Think he could actually use some of that Nair!  Kaycee rocks by the way…thanks for putting up with us!

Aside from that, today I got to see two massive turtles (one dead one alive), several dead armadillos, and a cyclist go off the road into a creek or as they say here in Arkansas crick! Plus, Two fellow racers in the race today told me they read my blog…which I thought was cool and nice talking to you guys! 

later, g.

While out riding yesterday Scotty and I came across across a place that would be suitable if we ever were to move to Alabama…

 …things have to be good here!

Woke up this morning only to find it raining here in Alabama which definitely put a damper on my pre-race hour spin.  Hopefully it clears up by this afternoon/evening for the race! 

Aside from that I am no longer a ”Guitar Hero” virigin after playing yesterday…

 Terry and Cindy Phillis rocking out to “Welcome to the Jungle.”

 Unfortunately I lost to Scotty…guess I had to let him win something after taking a few sprints from him on our ride earlier in the day!

later, g.