In Chicago, for good this time

It took an extra hour, but Erin and I got out of St. Louis. I had to reschedule my chiropractic appointment for later in the afternoon, but it gave us time to have lunch/breakfast with Ben. At Dr. Shawn's we found out that I have more of a rotation in my hips than a translation. The curves in my back and neck are good although I could use a little more curve near the top of the lumbar vertebrae. I think Erin and I are going to stay here (at my parents house) for a few days or at least until we're unpacked enough to start living in Wilmette.

Last Day

Erin and I spent the day doing chores. The last harrah so to speak. We've got plans to hang out with Ben later on.

Fifth Day of Racing

After a day of packing/cleaning, I decided to head over to Carondelet to do the Tuesday Night Crit. I don't know if I'll be back in St. Louis again this year for the crit. I'll miss it. I also set up an appointment for Thursday afternoon to see Dr. Shawn for chiropractic x-rays. As a consequence, Erin and I will spend another night in St. Louis. I'm exhausted.

Quad Cities Crit

Quad Cities was our best team race to date. John, Jamie, Derek, and Erik were near the front the entire race. Everyone followed important moves and worked well together. The team plan was to make sure that neither Brian Jensen or Adam Bergman got away. They made the decisive breaks everyday that weekend, and I figured that the same would be the case today. It was. Unfortunately we still missed the break. I was of no use because I wasn't close enough to the front when it went. Jamie, Erik, and I got to the front at the end to scrap together a 10th, 17th, and 26th. It was good to finally make some money! It was a long trip back to St. Louis, but Erin and I are back for the final time to close out the apartment.

Melon City

Today was the Melon City crit. CC was supposed to meet us two hours before the race so that we could take team pictures and talk race strategy. She was speeding on the way over and was stopped and ticketed so the pre-race schedule was tossed out. The six of us still met and talked race tactics. I don't particularly like this course, but I rode it better than I ever have. The team raced well together, and many lessons were learned. John and I finished 28th and 32nd respectively. We took team photos in Cobb Park after the race. It was quite a scene and took much longer than it should have. After post-race showers Jamie, John, Lindsay (John's girlfriend), Erik, Sean, Andy, Derek, Dr. Sean (team chiropractor), CC, Erin, and I went out for dinner at Salvatore's. We ordered four 20" pizzas. I can't believe we ate as much as we did. I credit Derek with the bulk of the eating.

The Snake in the Rain

I don't really like to ride or race in the rain, and I don't particularly like Snake Alley either. That made today suck. There was torrential rain all morning and into the afternoon. My parents and Erin arrived a couple hours before the race but were in poor spirits because of the weather. I traded my prize number 7 for Erik's 100. I figured that he wanted to race more than I did. Neither of us finished. I was dropped and pulled while he bailed in the last downhill right-turn corner and got scrapped up pretty badly. John was our only finisher in 34th (out of 36 finishers).

After the race my parents, Erin, and I drove to Muscatine. A couple years ago my parents found the Strawberry Farm B&B in Muscatine. They chose to stay there again and invite Erin and I to stay with them. It's much more comfortable than a shared Super 8 room. After I showered we went out to a steakhouse for dinner. Yum.

Burlington Road Race

Burlington RR was a bust. John got taken out in a crash coming into the feed zone. I got taken out in a crash coming into Mediapolis. Neither of us saw the front of the race again. We also didn't get any feeds at the feed zone due to miscommunication and disorganization...I digress. We had a couple in the top 25, but didn't crack the top 20. Given the circumstances it was good, but there's lots of room for improvement. We're staying at the same Super 8 that I stayed at last year and we went to the same Mexican restaurant that I went to last year where Steve got the 'big' mug of beer. Good times.

Homeless

We unpacked the UHaul into Mary's garage this morning and then returned the truck. I know there's so much to do before we even begin to feel settled but I'm thinking toward Quad Cities Weekend. Erin will meet me in Iowa, and we'll head back to St. Louis to finish cleaning the apartment and get the last of our stuff. It makes me feel homeless to have my belongings split between St. Louis, my parents house, Mary's garage, and my car. It's not like I haven't lived out of a duffel before, but I really don't have a home to go home to right now.

In Chicago

Yesterday didn't quite go as planned. It took all day to get the truck packed up and get out of St. Louis. Erin and I decided to have dinner (at Mi Ranchero again) before we left. We didn't arrive in Evanston till 2 in the morning. The UHaul that I got was a piece of work. I don't think it's going to last too many more miles. Even when I was driving on flat sections of the highway it would jump and pull. It also started to bug-out if I went over 70 mph.

After the moving Erin and I need to take today off. We're went out to breakfast with my mom and went past the house in Wilmette. We'll be able to move all our stuff into the garage tomorrow morning and return the truck that afternoon.

Last dinner at Mi Ranchero

Erin and I chose to have our last dinner in St. Louis at Mi Ranchero. We've been eating that a lot lately because it's close, easy, and inexpensive. They also have really good margarita specials. My favorite dish is Enchilada Rancheras. It's not too big and leaves plenty of room for chips and drink. After dinner Erin and I had to take all the furniture that we didn't sell and that we're not taking with us out to the trash. It was really sad because there's a lot of good stuff in the trash. Even if I sold it for cheap I could probably make $100. In any case, it's time to sleep because tomorrow's going to be a loooong day.

Pack, Pack, Pack

We reserved a 14' UHaul truck for tomorrow morning at 7am, so we have to be ready to go tonight. Much of the apartment is already in boxes, but there's a lot of furniture that still needs to go or get emptied. At this point it would really help to have some of the boxes out of here so that we can have more space to work. As Erin cleans out a cabinet, closet, or whole room she marks it with a post-it that says "Clean". It'll be nice when we have those post-its all over the house, but that feels kinda far off at this point. I still have my desk set up but took down the glass table this morning. I'm afraid that no one is going to buy any of it and it's all going to have to get tossed out. We don't have time or space in the Civics to take the furniture to Goodwill.

Missouri State Road Race Championship

I did not have the form or team support of last year. The race was mildly aggressive from the gun. The aggression was somewhat reserved, like people didn't want to waste too much energy before the first time up the big hill. A large group rolled off the front. After about twenty minutes. I suppose everyone was happy because they just sat up. Now I wasn't happy, but I figured that the race would reshuffle on the climb. WRONG!!! I didn't take into account that Brian Dziewa was in the break and wasn't going to wait for anyone. The break stayed away and we in the back fought for loser's placings. It was good workout and a learning experience for sure.

Big Shark ride and more packing

The title pretty much says it all. The ride was good. I met up with Justin and discussed tomorrow's MO State Road Race. I'm the defending champion, but I don't feel like I have the fitness to defend. I'd have to pull something tactically special to win tomorrow. I don't think all this packing I've been doing is going to help either. I just feel the need to get a chunk of the packing done because I'm not going to be any help to Erin tomorrow.

Toby's been having fun with the pack and the changing topography of the apartment. In this picture he's inside of a foam mattress pad.

Graduated!

Erin graduated today. I am so proud of her. That's all I can say. There was absolutely nothing spectacular about Tim Russert's speech, but we we're exactly expecting spectacular. Even though the speech's weren't great, they still gave you that "get out there and be somebody" feeling. After the ceremony we met up with Erin's family took pictures and proceeded to Ted Drewes. After the custard they had to head back to Oklahoma for Dan's (Erin's brother) high school graduation the next day.

Now that she's graduated we have to really start to pack up the apartment for the move to Chicago!

Evening before Graduation

Erin had her recognition ceremony today. She didn't subject me to attending, and I gladly obliged while offering to meet her outside afterward. That never panned out because there were so many people at the graduation.

Erin's parents, grandmother, aunt, and uncle arrived in St. Louis this evening for Erin's graduation dinner. It was good to see her parents and finally meet her aunt, uncle, and grandmother all of whom I've heard about but never met. We had dinner at Jimmy's On The Park. I've been there a couple of times before, but not in the past few years. Both the conversation and dinner were good. We've got to get to bed because of the early graduation ceremony tomorrow morning.

Beginning to Pack

While I do feel some need somewhere to ride my bike, I also feel the immediate need to begin packing the apartment for the move to Chicago. There's a lot to do just because we've been here for a year. Erin and I will also have to pack with the months ahead in mind. We won't be in a permanent apartment till the end of the summer.

Back on Power

I finally got my Power-Tap cpu and chest strap back. Time to generate some data.

Zoo With Erin

I went to the zoo with Erin today. It was nice to get out and do something with her before I drive down to Joe Martin tomorrow. We saw many things, the Asian Elephant to the right being one of the last. We first saw all manner of Gazelle and Gazelle-like animals, having skipped the reptiles and amphibians. We then saw river otters, ducks, and seals. On the way to the penguins, we saw the outdoor bird cage and the flamingos. The polar bear looked out of place in the 80° weather. Erin's taking me to Pei Wei tonight as a JM send off. I'm excited.

Back on track

I'm well...enough to start riding?. Coincidentally today was and still is scheduled as a day off the bike, so no ride either way. Joe is going to San Diego for a Red Hat Summit 2007, and Erin and I are taking care of Motorboat. MB and Toby get along great. From far away or when they're silhouetted it's difficult to tell them apart! Lots of cat play in the forecast.

above 50%

Today's the first day that I feel above 50%. I had planned to race this afternoon in Washington, MO, but Erin and I decided that the exertion could very easily jeopardize my Joe Martin participation. She went out for groceries, but told me I should stay behind to continue resting.

better, only a bit

Less fatigue today, which is an improvement. Still the same head congestion and body aches.

Laid out

I've slept most of the day, and the way I feel, I'll sleep for most of the rest of it. Ugh.

Fitness Testing: FAILED

Today was a relaxed but productive day. I met CC at the shop at 11 for testing. Body fat was good, weight was good, and then began the lactate test. I got into the 300 watt interval and began to make the tire slip on the Computrainer. The heat and wear on the tire basically made it fall apart. We had to stop the test cause it just wouldn't make sense to continue if the data was going to be skewed. The data we did get however, showed good numbers and promise.

After the test I got my bike fixed up: the Powertap wheel tire replaced, the spokes tightened, my other rear wheel re-dished and tightened, and a little chain retention thing, so I don't drop it into the frame. By the time I actually made it out of Turin it was late and I was starved and tired, so I had lunch skipped my afternoon workout.

Tueday Crit

Instead of staying in St. Louis for their Tuesday Night Crit, I started my drive to Chicago after my morning workout, stopping along the way for the South Chicago Wheelmen's Tuesday Night Crit. Their crit is run on a flat square course with plenty of wind. The format is a 15 lap event, 25 lap event (with intermediate sprint), and another 15 lap race. The winner of the night is determined by points. I won the first and second race while taking second in the intermediate sprint. A large group of non-contenders got away from the whistle, so we just rode tempo. It was nice to stretch my legs after the drive.

Up & Out

The plan decided late last night was to get up early to get out early to get to Chicago in time for their Tuesday Night Crit. Things are moving kinda slow, but I'll be in Chicago tonight and for the next couple nights.