Selling last year's rig. Details.

Aid in the salvation of a washed-up domestic pro. Everyone on last year's squad, including me, really liked this bike. I'd keep it but need money. Some very good days were spent on this bike.

Since Christoph and I are getting older and more serious, it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce an entertaining blog. Also, since Christoph backed-off & I've been sickly and have sucked it pretty bad this year, blogging was particularly lame. Sorry. It was easy to write blogs for the first two years.

Anyway, I think we'll attempt to try and produce a closing string of worthwhile/entertaining and/or meaningful blogs. Then, we'll just let this little nook of nonsense drift off into the void of cyberspace.

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My halloween photo is now the 5th hit when you do a Google image search for 'floyd landis.' We all think it's pretty hilarious & great.

I am not racing Toona. Do I wish I was? Sure.

I took some time last week to relax, as suggested by many, and went to the beach for a bit in NJ. Beautiful. Since it's a bit of a reset, I am doing shorter rides and also hitting up the gym to pump legs. Exciting. Who wants to hear more? I don't. Blah blah blah.

Since ain't nuttin' exciting happening with bike racing right now, I am trying to make a list of blog topics to write about. Like: how to be cool in the pro-pel, or how to change a flat tire with one hand. If you, our loyal reader, want anything particular blogged about, just let us know, by all means. I recommend suggesting topics that are embarrassing or insulting. Cool.

Anyone want to buy my Colavita Felt from last year? 60cm? Very sexy.

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I stopped in at Blue Wheel on Monday to pick up tha P-Hen's b-day gift- a Thule roofrack adapter kit. While I was there, I learned that the Rog got 6th at the Master's Nat'l TT. Good on ya, Rog. Also while I was there, Spaisley told me that CBS news would be at the shop early Tues morning to do a LIVE piece about how local fans take to the Tour de France. Scott invited me to show up at 4:30am to get ready for a couple of live segments. I was happy to be invited. I was on the air before the coffee had really soaked in. If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can watch the interview. You need to click the title of the article to see video. (there's no plugin for Firefox)

The interviewer, Audrey Pernik, was a bit of a cycling fan herself. I told her about Happy Rickshaw, and she was interested in hopping on a rickshaw during Good Morning Charlottesville sometime this fall. Now that's cool. Rickshaws on TV. Cool.

But wait, there's more exiting news. Christoph sent me an email this morning instructing me to do a Google image search for "floyd landis." OK. Check out the third row result. It's Happy Halloween all over again.


Thank you everyone for kind comments re: going to grad school, and also supportive comments while I'm struggling to reverse my undeserved slide in fitness.

This particular comment was pretty great:
So this means you suck as a bike rider right? What is "Darden"? It's a Harvard "wannabe". And not a good one. Look at the rankings, "Mr. Pump Yourself Up".Get real.

Completely ignoring the acerbic nature of this loser's comment... I'd like to respond. I think that Darden and Harvard Business School are the only two MBA programs in the top-20 that solely use the Case Method for teaching. There are no lectures at Darden. Everyday, every student must prepare a case in each class for a classroom-led discussion. The professor cleverly orchestrates/steers the discussion, and you learn by being part of the exchange. This is pretty friggin' cool- mostly because I couldn't stay awake in any of my undergrad courses that were lectures. There was no way I was going to pay for an MBA and then sleep through it. Like Harvard, Darden publishes a ton of cases that many other highly-ranked business schools use as part of their curricula. So- check that out... I didn't only Pump Myself Up, I also pumped up Darden.

Pumped-up.

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I am super-dupe happy to announce that I'll be a student at the Darden Graduate School of Business this fall!


For the last two years, my hunger for mental stimulation and challenge has steadily grown. The word on the street is that Darden's MBA program is the hardest in the nation. It's an extremely good school, and I am itching to do the equivalent of a VO2 effort every time I walk into the classroom.

Happy Rickshaw (our little pedicab company) has continuously blown my mind with its challenge and unexpected complexity. In the process of researching, planning, and operating Happy Rickshaw, I have learned that there is a LOT LOT LOT to learn about business. Well, DUH. But, as I aspire to move onto business challenges greater than Happy Rickshaw, it is abundantly clear that an MBA is the best next step in my career.

As many have told me- I can't be a bike racer forever. Hell, I can't even seem to be a bike racer this year. My sucking this year has definitely had an impact on my decision to attend Darden this year rather than defer matriculation. I will not continue to fight nature, and will embrace the change of pace this fall. Who knows- maybe it will actually help my racing. There are plenty of guys & gals who are very successful in the pro ranks while attending school.

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Our Rite Aid squad kicked some arse at Fitchburg. Jake won the overall and Alejandro got 3rd. Mike took 2nd in the points competition. Hard work was done by all. Some contributed more than others... Also, local Albemarle slammer Ben King took the Junior overall. Also, my friend Eric Schildge won the cat 2 circuit race. Well played, gents.

Well heck, I didn't expect to have an outstanding Fitchburg, but I was surprised at how friggin dysfunctional my legs were. They were much deader than the kind of dead that you feel after 4 days of moving all your belongings to a new house. I was lapped TWICE in the circuit race, and was dropped the 2nd time up the hill in the road race. I expected to have difficulty off the front, but I figured I'd at least be able to sit in. Nope. I'm cooked.

In the RR, I went with a dangerous looking move on the run-up to the climb, but was getting dropped from it. So, I radioed "I can't stay with this move, guys!! woot-woot!" To this, DS Wirsing responded with something like "Quit talking in your radio and get up there and suffer." Good advice for those who need positive motivation... but fortunately I had plenty. Well, since I wasn't nearly out of breath, I responded "It's not my lungs, it's my legs-- they won't go!" I was dropped 90 seconds later from the peloton, and was out of the race. I've put too much training and effort into this season to be riding this poorly. I am disappointed and very unmotivated to ride now. At this point, my desire to 'pull the plug' is stronger than my desire to salvage what's left.

I then rode back to Fitchburg, packed my bags, and drove to Vermont to go to my sister's engagement party in Bennington. I played beer-pong with my mom, an met the new in-laws. On the way drive from Vermont, I got a speeding ticket. I wanted to get outta there.




I hope to find myself one of these queen-sized blowup rafts for fat people and plan to park myself in a sunny apartment complex pool and tan away the cycling lines. Cycling Gods please have mercy.

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