Darrel Parks' great CX photos

Pezcyclingnews photographer-extraordinaire Darrel Parks has some very nice photos of the Capitol Cup cyclocross race on Dec 6th... Check'em out.  Cold, mud and snow were the words of the day!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellparks/4180201758/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Snow sidetracks

So much for getting away to another country to get in loads of training miles.... hmmmm

After a rather longer period of inactivity than usual, I finally decided to get back on the bike and start training for the 2010 season. So on Monday I headed out for 3 hours up the mountains. Not exactly "easing" into it but I was keen, and also well aware that I don't have much longer to ride in these Appalachian mountains before heading home in early Jan. The ride up the first part of the mountain was good, however once I got near 1000m, I was surrounded by snow and even had to get off and walk across some very deep and big sections of ice. The descent back down the valley was rather cold. Needless to say I had the sniffles and sneezes a couple days later. But frankly none of that mattered... snow was on the horizon.

So, we've been stuck in the house for that last few days, with over 50cm of snow. It's been pretty cool (in all meanings of the word). Today we finally got out there and tried to get the car out of the snow. That took a few hours and felt like some serious cross-training. It was actually really good fun, and needless to say, after much shoveling and skidding with the car, the inevitable "play in the snow" ensued. Face plants, attempted slides down the hill on a trash bag... the slides didn't go too well, the snow was too deep and I ended up just getting stuck, totally covered with my face under the snow.

Fun, nothing like being a kid in the snow. And needless to say, the peacefulness is bliss out here in the hoods on Page Country!

15 hundreths of a second of fame on Pezcyclingnews

I made the pictures section of PEZ today. Thanks to Darrel Parks, Pez Photographer who was at Chip's Capitol Cross race and evidently sent a picture to PEZ of me in the lovely mismatched Castel' kit with PEz leg-warmers. I like this pic as it shows the essence of Cyclocross, running through the mud with a bike on your shoulder, and it also shows Lake Fairfax in the background and reminds me of the fun CX racing days of the late 1990s when I raced at the same venue... and of course the snow on the ground is truly epic. :-) Click the lick below to see the full-sized pic.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/cgi/gallerypicget.asp?pic=http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races10/cross10/cap-sim.jpg

Battenkill Part 2 out now and SnowCross!

Here's the latest and the greatest hot off the press from the guys at Pezcyclingnews.com. Part 2 of my Battenkill article is out now.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7777&status=True&catname=Latest

Oddly enough, this was published on Dec 6th, my Birthday. Even odder still, I did a cyclocross race on Dec 6th and wouldn't you know that Pez Photographer Darrel Parks was there to snap some shots of me riding around in the mud and snow. So it was a Pez Cyclingnews day all around!

The cross race was really good fun. Thick snow and the worst mud I have seen in a very VERY long time graced us with their presence. The race turned out to be really good fun, a fantastic course and a solid hour of pain I was very happy to give myself as a birthday present.

Looks out for an article on Pez about the Capitol Cross race in Reston, put on by my old buddy Chip Sovek and Potomac Velo Club, coming soon! (Once I write it anyway... and then get is to the editor... and they publish it; so don't hold your breath.)

When things go wrong

I’m very careful, I always pin my number on upside down if I get number 13, I always say cheers before I drink, I always touch-wood after I say something that might “jinks” me, I look out for black cats crossing the road ahead of me, and yet, for the last few days, everything has been going strangely “wrong”.

After a great Thanksgiving lunch at Greg’s, with lots of great turkey and other traditional foods, Gaga and I jumped in the car and headed back down to Luray. As we got to about 5k from the house, the car started smoking and suddenly lost all power. We pulled off the road and smoke got thicker. We quickly got all our stuff out of the car and stepped back waiting for it to burst into flames. It never did thank god, and luckily there was someone nearby who offered to give us a lift home. The next day, with some helpful advice from some friend I rode my bike down to the car and actually got it started. It looks like it has a broken hose and that is all. Though for the moment it’s leaking coolant and getting through fluids like an overweight New-Yorker in Central Africa with no AC.

As if that wasn’t enough.
Having filled the car with coolant we went to Walmart to get some essential foods yesterday evening. As we were making our way gingerly home, polluting the wide Virginia roads with leaking coolant, I suddenly see flashing blue lights in the mirror. I pull over to let the guy past, put he pulls in behind me. Fair enough. Some cop doing some sort of routine check. I show him my driver’s license, and tell him I’m from overseas, and also show him my old VA driver’s license. He chooses to take the VA one. Fine, then asks for the Registration. I ask him what that might look like, we finally fine it and he says my tags are expired. I figured the car was frankly too old to still have a price tag, so “tag” must mean something else. He goes back to his car, and leave Gaga and I talking calmly talking about some of the food we had just bought, while gently leaking coolant all over the road. He eventually comes back with a fine and court date and fine for me. Still rather unsure of what he was actually talking about, and still leaking coolant, we carried on on our merry way back to the house for beer and dinner.

These things come in 3s?
That’s all very well. The hose can be fixed as soon as the garages reopen after the weekend and fine can be “pre-paid” (whatever that means) and I’ll be back home in France before you can even say Luray Police Department, but superstition says these things come in 3s… So… what next? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the joys of international travel have in store for us next…

Battenkill Pro on Pez

Why what's this? Some idiot has written some load of gobbledygook and Pezcyclingnews.com has published it. :-)

Here's an article which came out today on the Battenkill pro race from April up in New York state which I did whist in the USA at the start of the season.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7699&status=True&catname=Latest

Part 2 should be out soon.

Urban Cross, USA CX race of fun

At some unearthly time in the morning, Gaelle, Chris Gould and myself piled into the car and left a very VERY misty Page country behind us as we headed to a rather misty Charlottesville for a cyclocross race called “Urban Cross”. It wasn’t actually “urban” but the park was in a town for once rather than out in the middle of nowhere as is often the case over here, so I guess that's why they called it "Urban Cross". We arrived early enough to watch Levi from the Warrenton Cycling Center do his first ever cross race, which was really cool, and I think he enjoyed it. Following Levi's race was Chris’ race. There are basically 2 ways of approaching cyclo-cross. 1) you can go all out and concentrate on the discipline, start some CX specific training in July and make CX the main aim of your year, or 2) you can take it all as a bit of fun, show up out of shape after your off season, have a blast and take it as a way of keeping active during the cold winter months. Chris and I are evidently in the latter of the 2 categories. Chris went out there, had some fun and had a pretty hard “workout” as he puts it, and that was his aim for the day. He did however find the course a little too technical for his liking...

The Course:
The organizers had actually made very good use of the space they had. Unlike last weeks "Taxidermy Cross", this course resembled more of a typical “cross” course. There were lots of corners on this “loop-di-loop” course, 3 to 4 run-ups/stairs and 1 set of barriers. The ground was sticky from the past 4 or so days of non-stop rain we’ve had, and the numerous off-camber sections and descents were treacherous to day the least. After Chris’ race we went to grab a little something to eat before my race at a more reasonable 2:30 in the afternoon. Whist scoffing a sandwitch I was watching the other category races on the day attack the course, and I can’t say I was overly looking forward to racing myself. The course looked really hard. I haven’t raced or even ridden off road for years and I don’t have the technical skills anymore for that kind of stuff. So with that in mind, as well as my month off the bike, I headed for the start line of the last race of the day, the Elite race, or A race or 1,2,3 race or whatever it is.

Turns out it was a lot of fun. After a while I kind of got into the course and had a blast. The run-ups really started to take it out of me after a while, but the constant corners and trying to get something of a “flow” on the course (and failing miserably may I add) was just really good fun. Once again I was reminded of why I wanted to do some CX racing in the US again. It really is just a lot more fun.

The whole day turned out to be a great day. The sun came out and it was actually warm for my race. I got to catch up with an old MTBing buddy from the good old days (8 or so years ago) who I hadn’t seen since I left the US back in the very early 2000s.

Mike Hosang did his race, then turned around and got on the mic for the first part of my race giving me a much appreciated “SHREWWWWS” as I past him at the end of my 1st or 2nd lap. Ahhh, the good old days. Thanks Mike, all those MTBing memories just came flooding back! The USA Cycling officials just seemed to get on with their job and weren’t “officious” as many of them seem to be for some reason. Maybe they too were feeding off the good vibes of the day’s event. Everyone out there seemed to be wearing big smiles and enjoying the day. A van was selling doughnuts and coffee all day, the sun was out, the racing was exciting, the course challenging… what more could you ask for from a cross race??? Well, except for maybe a few hundred Flems with stupid hats and bells lining the course… hmm, kind of like this guy?

The race itself saw Jared Nieters ride off to a more than commanding win over the rest of the field. Jared sadly did his “robot” once again as he crossed the line (even though I told him not to as I saw him on one of the switchbacks on the course), but aside from that minor marring of the race (sorry Jared) he was extremely impressive, and undisputably deserved to win! I rode around for a bit and finished in total anonymity as seems to be my place in cross at the moment with an 11th place on the day.

All in all, a TanFastic day.

Puzzlin' Cross Scenes

Some things I’ve seen at cross races. Some people… I don’t know.. sometimes you see stuff that just makes you frown and wonder…

Soooo… What’s with the socks? Are those compression socks… really? In a 30 or 40 min CX race? Hmmm…. I do like the look though. Gulp. Not that I can really talk with my ulgy miss-matched kit, but I don't really have a choice about that...
This is a cracker… looks like some kind of new integrated bib-seat. I like it! Might make getting on and off the bike a little hard though… so, I guess this chap just really wanted to spend the whole day in his cycling shorts… even when in normal clothes. Nice.

And then of course there’s this guy…. (Currently atop the gamjams.net website banner)

He has been popping up here and there at Cross races this year. Somebody once made a comment about him smiling.. or maybe it was about his lack of smile… well, I quite simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to post a photo of Greg in his get-up once again, just to give old Gregburt a hard time for the sake of giving him a hard time… if I keep this up he might not let me stay with him anymore and will kick me out of the house…. That’s ok, I’ll fill him with Espressos’

and bribe him with.. oh I don’t know, say THIS pic (again!) (from pezcyclingnews.com)

Sorry Greg… it’s stronger than me, I just can’t help being a jackass! And I am up at 3am for god knows what reason, I'll blame it on that!

Taxidermy Cross, Fetucini cross, Tacchino cross

A Sunday in November, and it’s actually fairly warm. In the 20s, sunny, blue skies, just a perfect day for Taxidermy cross, or was it Fettucini cross… no it was Taccini cross. The race was put on by a local, self named Italian-wanabee club called Squadra Coppi, but they are American, not Italian, hence the quasi Italian name to Sunday cool cross race. The drive up to the race had me driving on the beltway around Washington DC, it had been a few years since I’s driven on the Beltway, and it was actually quite exciting. The endless lanes of slow traffic and people hogging all lanes, was just like being in a movie. The true America, just like you see it on all those TV shows and movies about the FBI in DC.

The race course itself was a little flat. A raw power course, perfect for American crit riders. There was only 1 dismount which was a set of barriers, no run-up, and only one vague semblance of a hill which was easily rideable. Still the course was fun, the organizers had done the best with they could with the venue and there was quite a lot of twists and turns. For some reason, even on what could/should have been a dull venue, the course was once again good fun. The American’s just seem to be able to do really fun courses. There were some nice sections though the woods which reminded me of the good old MTBing days, when I had some of the best times of my life racing MTBs in the US.

The start was a little hectic with the guy in front of me struggling to get his foot in the pedal. I tried to pass him on the outside (the only place possible) and I think I scared the crap out of a photographer who ejected himself from the side of the course and threw himself into the grass. Sorry about that mate.

Frankly that was about the end of it. The start was just too fast for me, I can’t do fast starts and having been off the bike for a while the lack of fitness really showed. I ended up settling into place on the course, one guy passed me, I passed 3 or 4 later on in the race and that was about it. Joe Dombrowski won the race (as a Espoir rider!) commandingly. Levi from the Warrenton bike shop also came out to cheer me on. I think he got a bit bored after a couple laps of seeing me so far down the field.

Well, my cross season/plans are obviously out the window. The hope of carrying any end of season fitness from the road over to CX, though a good idea at the time, is clearly not working out. The fitness window has gone and I’m about as far from the sharp end of the race as is physically possible. I don’t think I have time to get any CX type fitness back before the end of the CX season over here, and although there are still a couple CX race in France in early 2010 when I get home, I don’t think it’s worth putting in the effort for just a couple races. So the plan for now is to simply keep getting my ass kicked and having fun in CX and start looking ahead onve again to the 2010 season.

I’m hoping the warm weather here will last as long as poss’. It’s was really nice out there on Sunday and this area is beautiful in the sunshine. And of course I hate the cold with a vengeance and can’t stand winter! Wednesday is Veteran’s day here in the US (well, c’est le 11 novembre en France aussi) and so we are running a ride out of Warrenton for some of the Whole Wheel Velo guys. So I’ll finally get to catch up with Scotty G once again. That should be a fun ride, be nice to see old friend and meet new people, (just so long as they ride steady and don’t attack each other all the time). Apart from that I’m also going Gaga hunting at the airport today, and have a morning “coffee ride” planned with Greg and Levi. Easy ride, followed by endless coffees…. Hmmmm, sounds a bit Australian, I love it!

Back2Ridin'

I’ve been getting back on the bike some. I’ve had a couple rides up the hill behind the house up to the top of the Appalchian mountains, with some stunning views and fantastically pleasant rides.

Over the past week I’ve had a bucket load of fun going back and forth between Warrenton and Luray riding in both areas and just slowly and pleasantly getting back into it!

So this past week, I've ridden with:

Levi in Warrenton,

Chris Gould up Skyline drive!
and John Parks in Luray...

Life is starting to take back some semblence of normality, ride, eat, sleep, drink coffee... And it isn't TOOOOO awefully cold here yet in the US of A.

Well, tomorrow is another cyclocross race, lets see if I can get past the first 100m this time. :-)

The wonders of travel

The wonders of travel, you get to see some pretty strange stuff. Half the time I don't actually have my camera with me, so a lot of the crazy stuff I see get forgotten, some of it in immortalized on my crappy phone camera however...

Well, at least this guy admits he's a redneck!

Love is a warm soft what?... Australia once again!

Get some nuts indeed!

Seen in Australia on Feb 14th. Enough said!

It really doesn't take much to amuse me!

Dim Sim?

A statement... an under-statement? Hmmm..... I could take this personally...

CX photos and some time back on the bike

I found a few photos from my cyclocross race the other day, which are pretty cool. Again, it was really great to get back out ther eon a CX bike and have some fun.

Apart form that I have actually slowly been getting back on the bike this week. With a little less caughing, I've started to feel better. I had a good time riding down the valley and up Rt211 (that's a road number) to Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive is a tourist road that follows the top of the Blue Ridge Mtn on the East coast of the US. Obviously seeing as in follows the top of the hills, it's something of a climb to get up there. Though these hills are not very high in altitude, that's actually not a bad thing for some winter SE rides. It shouldn't get TOO cold up there in winter, and the climb isn't real hard or long, which is perfect for not overdoing it in the off-season. I really enjoyed that ride (even though I felt pretty crappy by the time I got home), and there are some great views from up there.

Rt 211 is actually a 4 lane highway, so I had been a little worried about the traffic out there, but it was actually fine. With speed limits being so low here, even on a big road like that it never felt like you were really on a big road, and with that little extra space for hesitant US driver to pass, it was almost more enjoyable than riding on a small country road. Ironic.

Hopefully, I'll get out more and more and discover more of the local area. I can't wait!

DCCX 100 meter special

My second Sunday in the USA, my second CycloCross race! This was right in Washington DC, and although I’ve been sick, I once again had entered this event weeks ago, and wasn’t too keen on loosing that huge US entry fee, so I went to the race and figured I'd caugh around the course once more and have fun taking in the cool US CX scene.

It was a sunny yet chilly afternoon in DC, I was feeling a little better than I had done during the week, and I was looking forward to a nice day of fun.

The start line was amusing, as guys yelled and fussed and complained about where they were starting and about the officials calling them to the start (or not calling them to the start) when they thought they should be. I wondered if this was the world champs or something. The guy standing next to me, Ryan Dewalt (sp?), seemed as perplexed as I did about the fuss, he seemed to roll his eyes, not care where he was starting, and then of course went off to win the event with a commanding lead. I liked that!Just before the start, a USA cycling person complained about how I had put my number on. I had actually put it on all sideways like they do over here, so I was pretty happy I’d remembered to put it on that way, But she wasn't happy with it for some reason. I guess she mustn’t have been to too many races, so she had her little winge (though I'm still not really sure what about) and life went on. It was all a pretty moot point for me anyway. As the gun went off, I started slowly but was relatively well places in the 1^st half of the pack, and just as we went onto the first bit of grass, about 100meters after the start, my front tire went flat and that was the end of the day.

Ryan Dewalt and Warrenton kid Joe Dombrowski rode away from everyone. Ryan won, dare I say “easily” and Joe showed off some of his Belgian experience to win the Espoir race and finish 2^nd overall. Interestingly enough, Joe got zero recognition for winning the Espoir category, and as I understand it having spoken to Joe about it after the race, the US (or maybe it is just this general area) doesn’t recognize the Espoirs.

It was a good day out. Now I just hope I can get semi-healthy even if the idea of getting fit is pretty much out of the picture at this stage of the year, get out there and do a few more CX races, have fun and make the most of being able to do a few US CX races on fun and cool courses unlike the boring once back home in France.

USA Sick and Cross

I arrived here in the good old USofA, only to spend my first Sat in bed asleep for over 24 hours sick. Fever, tired, joint and muscle pain etc etc. On Sunday morning when I awoke I felt a tiny bit better. I had pre-entered a Cyclocross race down in Winchester, VA, as seeing as entry fees are so high over here, and seeing as I had paid for this one out of my own pocket, I was pretty keen not to throw that money down the drain. So I decided to at least go to the race and see how I felt once there before deciding whether or not I would actually take the start. Of course once there I did start. I planned to take it really easy, but once in the race, I ended up pushing much harder than I should have done. At the end of the day the race was really good fun. I enjoyed racing CX again, having not touched a CX bike for some 4 or 5 years, and having not ridden off road at all for maybe 3 or 4 years. The courses in the US are usually a lot more fun, and this was the case in Winchester at the “Apple Harvest Cross”. I ended-up doing ok and coming in 6^th place at the end of the day. In all fairness most of the better riders were up in New Jersey or somewhere for a UCI race I think, but still… it was good fun! After coughing my way around the CX course for an hour, I spend the rest of week trying to get my lungs back. Racing was actually not a good idea as I seem to have damaged my lungs somewhat.

And so it was another very uneventful week on the bike with another WHOPPING 40km week. I’ve done about 40k a week for the last month now due to sickness, and I’m really REALLY getting sick of it!

Fly away

Fantastic.  3am start tomorrow, USA here I come!

Phyco-Cross

I actually managed to pull off a 30 min ride today which I’m pretty happy with. 30 mins on the cyclocross bike on the trainer indoors. Not exactly great specific training but it’s better than lying in bed and throwing up all day.

But.. with my not racing tomorrow, that takes us right into winter. In an attempt to get myself motivated to race Cross again, I’ve come “aCross” a web-site with some cool cyclocross videos called crosstube.net. Lots of little cyclocross videos, mainly in Flamish which, with a minimum of linguistic skills you can usually figure out what they are saying.

One of the videos I like best is this little summary CX music video. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9WMOA7dbH0&feature=player_embedded#

Battling sickness

Not feeling 100%, but fully aware that I only a few days before leaving the country to get in one last loop of my favorite ride of all time, I headed out on Wednesday afternoon for a 4.5 hour 140k loop that takes you around the walled cities of the area and over into the Saint Antonin Valley. I wasn’t feeling really up to it, but it was a sort of pilgrimage. I love that loop, and it’s the ride I miss whenever I got away anywhere. Knowing I wouldn't get to ride it for at least 3 months. It had to be done. I felt heavy the whole time but enjoyed my ride and got home feeling pretty drained and satisfied.

Right after my ride I had a quick shower and went off to have a vaccination. Quarter of an hour after getting my vaccination I awoke on the floor, unaware of where I was and very confused. I had evidently passed out. I do hate needles but this was a bit odd. At 3am in the morning I awake suddenly to the room spinning around me. 1.5 hours of throwing up later, I fell back asleep. I spent the next day in bed, throwing up on and off and unable to eat of hold anything down. A visit to the Doc’s later in the day revealed no head trauma, but also didn’t give a clear answer.

Thankfully the day after I was able to hold down a little food, but the horrible spinning room was still there, followed by nausea.

There’s a chance I might have thrown out a vertebrae during my unconscious tumble, and so I have an osteopath appointment on Monday afternoon. Until then however I’m unable to ride, and still get a little dizzy when standing or moving. And with that I only have a couple days before getting on the plane to the US. So I’m really hoping I’m at least stable by Tuesday’s very early flight out of Toulouse. Oh well, we’ll see. Needless to say my race on Sunday is off. Though hopefully I’ll be at least able to take the start of the Winchester CycloCross race on the 18^th.

What a giggle it all is. But hey, at least I can watch Paris Tours on Sunday!!! Every cloud has an ever-so-slightly less gray lining.

The tough life!

Ahh yes…. Life is tough…

See the link below to see just how darn hard life can get sometimes. J

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7578&status=True&catname=Latest News

 

Contre la Montre; contre Performance

Well that was interesting. Time Trial today. Last one of the season. I was hoping for a top 4 as I’ve finishe3d top 4 in the past in this Championship… well ok, I was secretly hoping for a medal, but seeing as I’ve been sick for almost 2 weeks and I logged a whopping 91km last week… I knew it wasn’t gonna happen! However the interesting thing is the Heartrate to Power result. Whereas my threshold HR is 175, (sometimes 170 by this stage of the season) but average wattage should have been between 340-360W (knowing that I did 380 something recently for a similar time, so if all the preparation had gone properly, one could have expected a little higher than 340-360), however, from the moment I started warming up, my HR seemed disproportionately high compared to my power.

24km slightly windy of course hilly TT, with an average HR of 185!!!!!!!!!!!!!! L My max is 188 and threshold 175 normally, and today my HR got up to 196. So… What the hell? Throughout the whole TT I struggled to keep my power over a mere 300W. I never felt even in my effort. I did catch my 2 minute man by the half way point, so that was good, and it turns out I was actually 7^th, so not too bad at all considering. However my final numbers are absolutely all over the place. 185 average HR for a rather week 323W. What’s going on? I’m assuming it has something to do with my having been sick. Oh well, I have a Doc appointment Tuesday, so I’ll talk to him about it.

Well, that was actually a fun race. I enjoyed it. It didn’t feel good but was fun for some reason anyway. However these past few weeks have shown me that I am gonna SSSSUUUUUUUUCK at CX in a couple weeks. Oh well, it’s all just for a bit of fun and keep me motivated in the cold winter months anyway.

I also found out today, thanks to a very kind e-mail from Mr Hayes, that Pez has used a rather embarrassing photo of Greg Sonnenburg and myself as part of their clothing advertising…. Oh dear oh dear oh dear!!!

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7567&status=True&catname=Latest News

Hunting on the roads

I have a new pastime. It’s hunting season over here in France. And the other day while I was riding along past some flat and open fields, I saw 3 hunting dogs cross the road in front of me and head into a field. I couldn’t see the hunters anywhere. For some reason I find hunters amusing. The way they dress up in full camo, only to throw a fluorescent vest or hat on over the top just makes me giggle. Why dress up and play solider like a little boy when you are only going to throw on a fluorescent vest over the top afterwards. Just dress normally and get on with it! So as I rode past the dogs I decided to whistle at them. At first I merely got their attention and they all stopped and looked at me for a while. On my second whistle they seemed to look at each other and started to follow me. I led them out of the field and down the road a little. I find the idea quite appealing that I was leading the dogs away from the hunt, probably while 3 or 4 hunters were hiding in a bush in full army camo with big guns trying to kill one tiny little rabbit. So this has become my new thing… during hunting season I’ll whistle to the hunting dogs as I ride past and steer them off the kill. 1) I find it amusing, and 2) I think it makes things a little more fair! One dog against one rabbit is fairish, 1 hunter (even with a gun) against one rabbit is hmm.. fairish, but 4 dogs and 3 guys with guns against 1 little rabbit… time to man up chaps! It’s a bit too much like being in a solo break with 5km to go and having 5 full teams of 9 guys chasing you down. It’s just not fair… so by whistling to and distracting the dogs, I’m hoping the universe might repay me and somehow distract the 184 guys chasing me next time I’m in a solo move in a bike race…

"Yeah, good luck with that!" I hear you cry. :-)

It's no fun being the hunted!

But being the hunter is sometimes just too easy!