Kenny Tarmac

"Hey, Guy, I just landed! Yeah, IND to BDL!" Sorry if you don't get the reference. What I'm trying to say is that I've been on airplanes too much recently. Those things just fall out of the sky for no reason, ya know?

I've racel a lot lately and some have gone well and others haven't. I really raced poorly at the USGP in Louisville, then I went to New Jersey and raced a lot better, but still not great, and finally, I was in Northampton, MA last weekend and didn't really ride very well either. Kinda bummed about it, but I feel like I'm going the right direction since I shit my pants (not literally... ahem, collegiate nats RR 07) at the USGP. I was happy to get a "real" podium at Beacon Cross, but besides that, I feel like I've just been a bit off from where I need to be, should be and would like to be.

New Jersey was an experience all together. I flew with two bikes in two giant hard cases and took the train to John Minturn's place in Manayunk for the weekend. I aint from the city, so that was a bit of an experience, especially with the two giant boxes. John was an great host for the weekend and staying with him/ carpooling to the races saved me millions of dollars and actually probably made the rest of my cross season possible. Because I got dinged 350 big ones by the effing Delta bitches, I was looking for a way to avoid flying my bikes home and then right back to MA the next weekend. Adam Myerson and Lyne Lamoureux from Podium Insight each came through for me and each took a bike from New Jersey to races in Massachusetts. That potentially saved me 700 bones. So thankful that bike racing isn't like golf. Many less dousches. John Minturn even fedex'd the empty boxes home for me. Nice people are awesome. Not to mention all the nice people with the C3 team from Baltimore who were trying to help me out with my bikes situation too. Sorry to make this so sappy, but I've really just been amazed with all the great people going out of there way to make shit happen for me.

Northampton, MA was my next destination for Adam Myerson's Cycle-Smart International races. I got home from NJ on Monday night and was back at the airport again on Friday morning at 6 AM, a bit too short of a turn around for my liking, but then again, I'm going to race my bike, so I really have nothing to complain about.

Massachusetts was perfect. I don't know why I like that area so much, but I've been looking forward to going back since Fitchburg last season. I stayed with Steve Roszko, the owner/ founder of BikeReg.com. He lives right on a bike path that runs directly into the park where the CSI races were held. Rough set up, I know. Steve and his wife took care of all my meals and I had a nice bed to sleep in thanks to their 7 year old son, Oscar, lending his out to me. I was able to do the 10-15 minutes spin to and from the course every day and it couldn't have worked out any better. I almost forgot, I got off the plane and Steve was waiting by the curb with the BikeReg team car and my bike already picked up from Myerson, waiting for me in the back. Unbelievable. I felt like Burt Reynolds or somethin'.

I'm glad that I've refrained from giving you guys the boring details/ excuses about these recent races,I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. I've been thinking about how I just wanted to do a post about all the people who have been helping make this last block of travel and racing possible. Thanks to all of you who have been going out of your way to let me play the bike game this year. It's fun. I'm not really traveling to race this weekend, so I'm actually going to do some hard training and sleep in my own bed. I've gotta put some serious efforts in the bank during these next few weeks, because Nationals and the USGP finals are just around the corner.



Anyone around Bloomington want to motorpace me soon?

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I decided not to post any pictures with this entry, even though there are lots of good ones from Podium Insight, because I'm sick of seeing the stupid face I'm always making when I'm racing cross.

P.P.S Jonny Sundt is a nice dude. We've been talking a good bit at these races recently and he might be the nicest bike racer I know. I told him I used to hate him because he yelled at me. He didn't remeber, but didn't doubt it.