As you all may know:

Yes, I had a falling out with the shop. Better yet, the shop had a falling out with me. After months of harassment and mistreatment from "higher authority figures", I decided that enough was enough; no need to be unhappy with the one thing I have a lifelong passion for-cycling. Nor will I allow for anyone to hold me back or bring me down. I worked there for a little over 3 years and I put my heart into that place because it was what I enjoyed doing and it sucks to be treated the way I was. And so...it's time to move on to better things-the next stepping stone. I didn't need the money; everyone knows I have a few mil stashed away for early retirement because of inheritance. I will not go into detail about the series of events that led up to this, but I still care about everyone on the AAB race team and i'm not ditching any of you; still my friends. It's just the fact that it will be morally impossible for me to wear a jersey with that name on it anymore. There is always a bad guy and a good guy, and i'm sure that all of you will be hearing stories or rumers that will depict me as being one of the two. Whichever you choose to perceive me as is up to you, but I could care less whether anyone thinks of me as being the good guy or the bad guy; however, a business does. To confirm current gossip, I am now racing for tripower.

A dream come true...

Remember those Sidi's that I cracked the sole on a while ago? Yeah, I finally got new shoes in from Sidi-that company is looking out for me! White Ergo 2's baby! I'm excited. Manimal-

power!

A tremendous weekend

This past weekend was a 2 series race-the Tour de Port and the Tour de Peake. Saturday was a beautiful day and the course was along the water in Portsmouth, which i felt like jumping into after the race. One road was torn up and had gravel all over...a lot of the roadies didn't like it(do some cyclocross or mountain biking!). I thought it was fun! I finished up with a 3rd place. Afterwards, a few of us went out to Fellini's in Norfolk-my first time! I had an amazing greek pizza and a snickers cheesecake after. Yes, that was my fuel for the next day of racing. That, and amazing belgium waffles for breakfast. The real fun started on sunday with the Tour de Peake. My mom was there! Jessica and her dad were there! What more could I want? It was a tough race because there was a break-a-way and only a handful of people would try to bring it back. The rest were blocking or just in it for the ride, but that's racing. Anyway...i'm not gonna take full credit, but the break-a-way was caught and I survived 2 crashes on the last lap and came in with 2nd place. Ha, a little interview with Joe and his camera across the finish line was fun, but getting the congratulations from my mom, Jess, and her dad was the most rewarding part of my weekend. Back to the question of "what more could I want?" Grilled out ribs as a celebration dinner! I was invited over to dinner at Jessica's house and my mom came with me. All in all, it was the best day of my summer or perhaps one of the best times i've had in a long time. If I had a choice, I'd choose that night to happen every night, over winning the Tour de France any day. It was that good.

A Package for Manimal?

A box? For me?

Hey, LOOK!

Could it be?

The Hotness!

The build-up

Finished product: Super dope bike! All I need now is a sticker that says "manimal" for the top tube and i'll be set!

Traveling Adventures

Tolls...throw the change in, gate opens, drive through. Not as easy as it sounds. Mike R. drives up to the toll, throws the change in and starts to drive forward. The gate isn't opening! Ok, lets reverse it and put another quarter in. We reverse, put the quarter in, and the gate opens. Finally, lets get goin. Foot on the gas...woah! We're going BACKWARDS! Ha, lets try this again. D=drive R=reverse. Put it in drive!

An enjoyable post-race snack of gummy bears reminded me of a good freind. Gummy bears-her favorite. I had to reinact a scene she once made of two gummy bears, but I dont think I used the same colors as she did. They didn't last long because I was hungry. Oh yeah, there was a race, kinda. It was really just a long sprint. Talk about a huge disappointment. I had more fun lounging in the passenger seat with my feat out the window, joking around with my friends, and eating gummy bears. Wow! After a little research, I got the colors right, but it seems that the tables have turned. oops.