the gas game

a wee while ago i got picked up at the airport by mike northey who rides for the Landrover - Orbea team.


he was running late, which wasnt a huge surprise and pulled up in one of the team Landrovers and off we went.


what first came to my attention when i got in was that the fuel light was on, and the fuel mileage was showing 0 miles left.


after driving on a pretty big motorway in Portland, i asked mike if we should get any gas.


nope, he replied, all good.



he told me they liked playing the gas game, where you drive round for as long as you can dare on empty and try and get home, so the next person has to stop and fill it up.

mike then got us really lost, we must have done a good hour and a half on empty, finally pulled into the driveway with a huge grin on the face as he put the keys on the hook, leaving the landrover with basically vapour in the tank and a shit of a morning to whoever drove it the next day

glen coe crit

My last race of the american season '09 was the Glenn coe crit in Chicago, which went bloody well.
It wasnt the strongest field by any stretch of the imagination, but for us (me, hash and josh) it was a chance to come out of a crit and feel good about things, after having some bad luck in a few crits during the year everything finally came together and Josh took out the win with Hash 2nd, and me 7th. my legs had finally returned a little bit and I kept the field together as much as possible, while Josh went on prime control, and managed to snag 6 out of the possible 10 primes, which was awesome!
It thunderstormed just before the race which made the circuit slippery as, but we all stayed upright again which was another bonus, nothing like crashing then having to get on a long haul flight, its been done before and trust me, it sucks!!
so with bank accounts topped up we were getting ready to leave and drive back to our wicked hosts the Langhoffs in Milwaukee, who looked after us for a good fortnight, when a lady drove up next to our car.
"what are you guys up to now??"
us all looking at each other-"ah, not much just getting ready to head home"
"but you guys are filthy, how about some food?"
us all looking at each other again-"ummmm yeah, food sounds really good actually"
"ok heres my address"

so heading off into the unknown we pulled up at this random ladys house, met her husband and family, they procedeed to cook a magic feast of burgers and salad for us, showered, and had a couple of beers with them!
it was a perfect end to a perfect day out, instead of driving home all smelly and covered in grime, we left clean and with a great meal in the bellys(which was free!!!!) nothing better than that happening when you are travelling on the road for as long as we have been. Im just not sure if a random kind stranger at a bike race would invite you into their home in NZ, its one of the things that does make US racing different from anywhere else in the world and its very much appreciated!!!

Right now im just havin an easy day in Scotland, had a major last 3 days, 5 erg sessions and a crit packed in over fri/sat/sun have left me quite poked!!!!

Im off out for dinner with Big Red tonight for my birthday-indian, which will be a treat!!!! havnt had a good indian since i left nz, will be magic!

finally made it

after my bike turned up at 2am in the morning i got all packed the next dayand flew over to scotland to set up base for the manchester world cup, at the end of october, ill do a write up of the last few races we did and the random people we met when im over this jetlag (hopefully tomorrow)

NWA

NWA has lost my bike, after i paid them the 100 bucks to get it onboard, suck!!!!! kind of need it as i fly out to the UK tomorrow, sigh

the beer drinking wolf/dog

we went to a mates place the other night after one of the races for a quiet ale, and they had this dog there, which was going round and knocking over all the empty beer bottles and putting her paw on them to tip the last remaining beer out of them, i couldnt quite believe it, ive never seen a dog hunt beer out before, then the owner started feeding her beer out of her hand. very bizzare but a kick ass dog none the less!!!!

aurora

we went past Aurora, Illinois yesterday out training, home of the world famous Garth and Wayne from Waynes world

it was both excellent and amazing, Waynes World was my most favourite movie when i was growing up, along with Bill and Teds excellent adventures, before Keanu Reeves went all Matrix on it

and as Wayne would say

ZANG!!!!!!!!!!

new kick ass shoes

heres my new shoes from my kick ass sponsor BONT shoes, check them out

http://www.bont.com/cycling/

they are the most comfy and stiffest shoes i have ever got, sweet!!!!!!

tour of elk grove

the second stage of the tour of elk grove was a 160km road race, which was basically a 160km crit, there were over 260 turns in the race and far out it was epic, it was one of the hardest road races i have ever done, constantly on the brakes, accelerating, by the last couple of laps on was getting tired, then i got chopped into a curb with about 8km to go, and that was the last i saw of the front group!! my legs were bloody rubbish as it was, really really struggling to get the power down and was on struggle street for most of the day so was just nice to get to the finish for me really!
the last stage crit went well, josh made the first break, and hayden placed 15th in the final kick, my legs were still absolutely crap, and made it about a 3rd of the way through before the elastic snapped for me out of the hairpin and it was game over. back to the drawing board i think and a few easy days and hopefully these legs of mine will get back to doing what they are supposed to do!