Name Dropping

Watch your toes kids, there are some heavy hitters out here and it might hurt if their names land in the wrong place. The Front Range is home to quite a few pro athletes, especially cyclists. The olympic training center in Colorado Springs is a big contributor, but the weather, geography and lifestyles makes this area prime for cyclists. Living in Fort Collins keeps me just on the edge of all of this, but it is an edge that gets crossed every once in awhile.

Boulder, CO is probably the area of the highest concentration of big names. Quite a few pros have made Boulder their home and as a result the group rides start to look like an NRC race sometimes. I have yet to attend this ride, but I'm looking forward to it sometime soon. The common sighting of pro athletes makes for a couple of funny situations. For instance, recreational riders and racers are looked down on for wearing a jersey of their favorite teams. Having just gone to an NHL game, I see this as kinda ironic. It would seem that selling gear and creating awareness about these teams would be a good thing. Part of the silly duality of life I guess. I would guess that it is probably not the professional cyclists themselves who have the beef with the attire. Yet again a situation where the ones without a reason to care are the ones who do, and the ones who have a reason to, don't. Maybe we need to start putting names on the back of jerseys to help make sense of it all.

Lately I've seen this guy riding around in a Sierra Nevada/Kodak kit. Only, his helmet and bike match the color scheme. Come to find out it is this heavy hitting sprinter, Dan Schmatz, from Longmont. Apparently when this guy hits the gas he can fly. My friend Hugh said he was in a sprint with Dan once and when Dan punched it, Hugh found out he was pretty much already maxed out. Hugh is super strong, so this put things in perspective pretty quick. Elevate that situation exponentially and you would have me in a sprint with Hugh. Last weekend we saw Dan making his way through some of the local roads. Ft. Collins is 40+ miles north of Longmont. Do the math and you start to see what training for a pro is like. He was out solo, apparently training for the upcoming Tour of California. Word is that Dan is a really nice guy, check for some good results from him in the Tour of California against the Pro Tour boys. Check out his blog if'n you like.

Geri Mewett to '06 Commonwealth Games

Melbourne, Australia will host the 2006 Commonwealth Games March 15-26. A friend of mine from Knoxville will compete in these games as a cyclist. Geri Mewett is a native of Bermuda and will represent his home country, competing in the road race and maybe the time trial. Finding Geri's accomplishments takes a little digging. He is never one to blow his own horn, so I'm blowing it for him.

This will not be Geri's first visit to the games. Twice he competed as a swimmer and once already as a cyclist. Geri swam while attending the University of Tennessee and began cycling soon after, or maybe even during. His fitness translated quite well and soon he was working his way up the ranks in the cycling world. I am amazed by Geri's talent and in awe of his strength and ability on a bike. These abilities pale when compared to the fact that Geri is simply a genuine and friendly person. I am grateful for every chance that I have had to ride with him in the past, albeit a torture test just to stay on his wheel. I hope to get the chance to ride with him again in the future.

I also admire the way that cycling has worked out for him. There are many elite level races that he rides in for Bermuda. Many of these are in other small islands and countries. In 2005, Geri was able to grab the win in stage 3 of the Bermuda Grand Prix. The race was a testament to his strength and determination. His lead was less than a minute for something insane like 30 minutes of racing, holding off the chasing pack with one other guy all the way to the line.

I hope that I have gotten at least some of these details right and if I have not I apologize. Good luck in Melbourne, Geri.

I'm Back

Sorry for the long time between posts. I'm having a bit of trouble getting the screen on my laptop fixed.

Lots of interesting things keep popping up. On Tuesday 1/17 I went to the Pepsi Center in Denver to see the Colorado Avalanche take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in hockey. The game was very exciting. Toronto showed up ready to play and showed their strength by lighting up the scoreboard early in the first. This would have seemed to take the wind out of the sails for most teams. As soon as the Avs brought the score to 1-1, while the goal was still being announced over the PA, the Leafs scored again. Toronto was determined to shut 'em down and shut 'em down quick. And then there was the second period.

The Achilles heal for the Leafs proved to be penalty minutes. Milan Hedjuk scored twice inside of 34 seconds to bring the avs up 3-2. This momentum was all that Colorado needed to get the job done. This game continued a 7 game winning streak and put the Avs in the top spot of their division. Goal tending was great, and longtime rival, Ed Belfour was handed a loss and plenty of heckling from the crowd. David Aebescher has stepped into the goal nicely, but filling the pads of Patrick Roy is a bit hard to do.

I was impressed the whole night by the maturity and resolve of the Avalanche. This game comes on the heals of trading team leader, Peter Forsberg off to Pittsburgh. The Avs seemed unaffected by the lead changes and continued to play well throughout the game, although both showed some fatigue later in the third.

The Pepsi Center was a fun place to watch a game. I would have to say that Nashville proved to be a bit livelier and for me more enjoyable place to watch a game. There was a little bit of a complacent feel in Denver by comparison. Which is odd, seeing as how Denver has the consistently better team, although Nashville is has a much newer program. The predators do more to bring you into the game and really makes the crowd part of the action. All the same though, professional hockey is so much fun for me to watch. We had club level seats, the action was easy to watch as we were just off of center ice. Good times indeed, Go Avs!

Quick Update

Computer is in the shop being repaired, so no bloggy. Sorry guys, get a real update as soon as I can

New phone number, e-mail me if'n you want to have it.

Avalanche hockey tonight against Toronto, stay tuned for full update.

Happy New Year, Ya'll

Hey, I know, I know, long time since I posted anything. Just kind of fell out of the habit. So, what we need is a montage to get everyone back up to date. Even Rocky had a montage, so now I do too.

Christmas came and went, brought warm weather that stayed. Best training through the holidays ever.

Saw Broke Back Mountain, yes the gay cowboy movie. The shots of the mountains are beautiful, I wasn't too shocked by the gay aspect, take that away and I'm not sure the movie lives up to the hype. Enjoyable, but not great. It'll probably pick up an Oscar or two for leading the revolution that helps bring Hollywood out of the closet.

Went skiing for a day in Summit County, Keystone to be exact. Fresh snow was nice, it was a bit heavy and wet, but I'm not complaining. It is great to be so close that I can just hop in the car and run over to the resorts. It was very busy, it was new years eve after all. Driving 70 at night felt like running the gauntlet, I think I'll ride next time. The weather was a little warm, hence the wet snow, but there were some crazy weather systems in the area, check out the pics.
A view of Breckenridge across the valley!



Happy New Year! I was in bed by 10. I had an invite to a party and everything, just not into getting plastered and staying up late, so I skipped the celebrations all together. In fact, I missed most of the partying this year. This is the least amount that I have drank through a holiday season in probably 6-7 years. It has been so much more productive.

I'm 10 pounds lighter than last year, in better shape, and my racing season starts in about 5 weeks. I'm loving this winter. I feel great. I even caught a stomach virus right after new year and have bounced back from that pretty quick. I'm getting really excited about racing this year. We are headed to Phoenix for the Valley of the Sun stage race. Fun in the sun, Feb 17-19, can't wait.