I remember a time when 23 seemed like a long ways off. But it’s a reality today and I’m enjoying every minute of it. I couldn’t ask for anything more than what life brings me everyday. Being 23 is “cool” I guess you could say. Or is it “baller”?  Either way I’ve got a lot of family and friends that are 100% supportive of what I do and it all adds to the efforts I make. So thanks for making all of this possible, and for waiting a couple extra days for this update as it’s a bit overdue.

The 76 mile ride I did today was kind of brutal. It wouldn’t have been so bad but the headwind for the final 22 miles was like a 2×4 across the face. I was a bit cross-eyed when I pulled into the garage, but I’m feeling much better now after getting in some food.  I was out there for 4:15 and spent an hour doing Tempo pace. The problem wasn’t with the tempo, but those 22 miles I had to do after… These are the rides that will change the way I race.

This was the first ride on the Litespeed too.  I think I got the fit down to the millimeter because my legs couldn’t tell the difference from the cyclocross bike that I’ve been on all month.  I’ll have to let B Matter in on my fitting techniques… Yesterday my SRM Dura-Ace compatible powermeter showed up so I finally had the final piece for the new ride.  I must say that the bike rides as nice as it looks. Way faster than any other bike I’ve ever had and I think a large part of this is due to losing that portly powertap wheel. This thing accelerates like no tomorrow! I’ll have to post a picture or some specs so you can check it out. That will have to wait until tomorrow however, as I’m too tired to walk to the garage with the camera. Until then, Keep it Real,  -TJ

The boys over at SovaBros.blogspot.com ought to be envious of these bad boys. Chad was the local pioneer of the tall sock revolution, and now I’m all in. Smith is a new sponsor for 2006 and I must say that I’m very impressed not only with their level of support, but also with there new product that is all top-notch.

The snow camo Axis glasses somehow seem appropriate for a Wisconsin guy who’s escaping the wrath of winter by hiding in the desert. Zero nose slippage on these specs, a must for a good pair for of riding glasses.  This facial expression is about as serious as I get.

The recovery week is doing its trick and my legs are feeling 100% ready to get going. A couple days and I’ll be back at it with a full workload once again.  The late March and April schedule is filling in nicely with some road stage races in Southern California. I’ve even found one that includes an uphill time trial. Awesome! Essentially these will start just before the Sea Otter and get me through until the first NMBS race in Fontana. Now I just have to line up some housing… This could prove to be more difficult than the racing itself. Finding a place for 6-8 weeks could be a challenge, but it should work out somehow.

Three eBay auctions are ending today so I’ll be preparing a run to the Post Office soon. I’m also going to look into the bmx scene a bit more. Perhaps this would allow me to hone in some handling skills and make for a healthy distraction while I’m here in AZ. Keep it Real,  TJ

I’ve been keeping busy even though my 4+ hour rides have now been cut in half as I observe the rest week. It would be easy to forget about this and plow right on through, but I know that wouldn’t turn out so well. The legs are still feeling a little heavy from all the long rides, but I still have four days left for that to work itself out. It’s been super windy out lately, with wind speeds at 20-25 mph. This makes for some slow going!

Today I’ve dealt with eBay and got some important things out in the mail. I also made some custom shims so my road shoes work better with my Eggbeater Ti pedals.  Normally with the road cleat there is some lateral “slop” in the shoe/pedal interface. I solved this by cutting some plastic shims from the salsa container. They are shaped like a horseshoe so that they raise the pontoon part of the cleat without raising the cleat itself. Maybe you can visualize this as I’m not going to take a picture to post on here… The custom shims work perfectly and there is zero lateral movement now. RocknRoll.

Another thing that I’ve noticed the past two days is a slight chill. Yes the temps have been down to the upper 50′s this week, so perhaps I’ve been  a bit underdressed with the leg warmers, long sleeve and wind vest. Rather than thinking that I could be getting soft in such a nice climate I’ll go with the idea that my body fat % is dropping and that causes the winds to feel extra chilly. Either way, I wouldn’t mind the temps to get back up near 70 degrees.

There is yet another blog that has entered cyberspace. This one won’t be like all the others, since its John Beck’s. This Eau Claire homeboy is a total one-off, so you can expect to find some interesting updates here.  Really he’s a great friend and a good guy to ride and race with. Keep it real, -TJ

Lance Ad

That was me out there, busting it for six hours yesterday. I was too tired to post anything last night, rightfully so after another 110 miles. The legs have made a quick rebound however, thanks to another early night followed by a huge breakfast. I ought to be 100% for today’s long ride by noon or so. This will be the last 4+ hour long ride of my first training cycle. Next week I’ll let myself fully recover before beginning the next training block. All is going better than anticipated which is encouraging to see. It’s nice to actually train after just talking about it for so many years!

In other news I’m selling a bunch of stuff, garage sale style, on eBay. 1 penny, no reserve is how it’s done. Once I’ve got one or two things on there I always dig around to find more stuff to sell too. This slippery slope always helps keep the “old-stuff” cleared out. The money is always a help as well. Keep it real, -TJ

I would like to welcome you to the newest member of my immediate family. Big brown delivered my beautiful Litespeed Siena frameset today! The cat is now out of the bag as Litespeed has officially signed on board as my official bike supplier. I will be logging huge miles on this lightweight race rocket of a road bike. I will be tearing the dirt up on the Sewanee lightweight racer dualie. I can’t wait to see this mountain bike…

This delivery came this evening, after an already excellent day. Today was yet another endurance ride. I set out to ride 4+ hours. 4 was to be a minimum if I was dragging a bit, but the option of longer was there if the legs were going good. After four hours I was still going strong so I added another 45 minutes to the ride, still feeling pretty dang good. 85 miles on the day, but the legs don’t seem to mind. I must have some extra mitochondria growing…

Tomorrow I’ll be visiting the local shop to press in the headset cups and get the appropriate brake nuts for the frame and fork combo. A seatpost is the only component I’ll need to find to get this new rocket up and running. There will be some additional sponsor news to come in the next weeks so stay tuned. Enjoy the Ride, -TJ

The past couple of days have gone by very quickly. The big weekend storm never came and all that resulted was a lot of wind on Monday. Coming back north from Parker Dam I was going between 8 and 12 mph the entire 20 miles. After battling the wind I realize that I’m going to be about 15 minutes early to end the ride so I went down towards the lake so I could finish the fourth hour climbing back up to the house. As soon as I got to the bottom of the climb and turned onto the next road I ran over something that stuck onto my front tire. It wasn’t losing air, but I figured I better leave it in there and try to make it without another flat. Unfortunately the wood-colored object dislodged and I quickly had a front flat tire. Rather than stopping to fix it I simply rode it home up the climb. At least the roads are smooth and the climb helped keep the weight off of it…  Maybe I shouldn’t have been concerned with getting that last 15 minutes in. I’m not sure what the moral of that one is…

The funniest thing on the roads the past two days had to of been the lady driving her Saturn. I was on Lake Havasu Blvd, which parallels hwy 95 through town. She was approaching a red light but must not have noticed until about 50 yards in front of the intersection. She was probably doing the speed limit of 55 when she locked up the brakes. In a huge noise of squeal she came to a stop about 10 feet through the intersection. It was the coolest car skid I have ever seen or likely will ever see. Through her black cloud of burnt rubber and embarrassment she quickly put the car in reverse and backed up to her white line. I was stopped at my own red light, just parallel to her laughing the entire time. In hindsight, I was probably fortunate not to have this crazy on the road behind me!

I’m back out there tomorrow for another long one. Until then, -TJ

I ended up getting the ride in yesterday, making it 19 hours in five days. Pretty quality training and I’m pleased with how things are progressing. Having today off is nice and I’ve been watching some football and taking it easy.  One more week of these long endurance rides and I’ll have the first month of training in the books with a recovery week to enjoy.

With this much riding you really have a lot of time to sort things out.  It’s awesome that I’m able to be out there everyday, doing what I enjoy.  Some of my clearest thoughts come on the bike and it’s a good opportunity to keep a healthy perspective. Life can get quite complicated, but taking a step back from it all is always helpful. Being on the bike is how I’m able to “keep it realâ€?.

That’s enough philosophy for one update. Keep it real, -TJ

I got in a big ride today. It was 110 miles, longer than I’ve ever done before, but the lack of wind allowed for a nice average speed. I finished tired, but not bonked. I left the house with two big bottles of gatorade,a small bottle of water, and four large fig bars. I picked up another 64 ounces of gatorade, three granola bars, and a king sized snickers along the way too. I finished with empty pockets and bottles, so the extra fuel kept me going strong.

Tomorrow has a possiblity of a storm that will bring either high winds or rain in the afternoon. Depending how I feel in the morning tomorrow may be recovery or perhaps I’ll get out there for a four hour ride. If not tomorrow, it will come Sunday for sure. Its ten after nine and I’m going to bed. It’s been a hard day of work! -TJ

Well it’s been another couple good days on the bike. Yesterday I got in another 80 miles before today’s shorter recovery ride around the city.  The weather has been in the upper 60’s yet, something I’m really enjoying. If it weren’t for the nice weather you’d probably hear me complain about riding the same roads everyday, but I won’t start with that. The view is still nice anyways.  Tomorrow was a planned recovery day again, but I felt so good today that I might just move everything up a day and go long again. Might as well make the most of my time, and if I’m feeling good, go for it… Beside they are saying that some weather might come in over the weekend. There’s a chance of rain with lower temps here. The higher regions might even get some snow I’ve heard. Sounds like this would make for a good recovery day!

I’ve got a lot on my plate to sort out before the season comes around. Will I be in Colorado Springs? Will I be in Spooner? Or will I be all over the place? I’ve got some options, so it’s a good predicament I suppose. For now however, I will focus on the training and constructing a monster-sized foundation. Then I’ll be set for a great season, wherever I spend the majority of it.  I’ll have to take some pics soon to post with these updates. There are some cool views along the Colorado. You look east and you see desert sand dunes with burro x-ing caution signs. To your west you see blue/green waters with condos built up along the shore, complete with palm trees and jet boats. What amazing things result in the desert when the power of an amazing river is held captive with dams…

Have you heard of the English kid who came up with this, www.milliondollarhomepage.com. That kind of cash for something for making something so simple, wow.  Keep it Real,  -TJ