Pictures from Doug

Exhausted

It has been too long of a streak of racing for me and I am now ready for a bit of time off the bike. My last break was at the beginning of June. Since then it has been the Alpenrose Heartbreaker, the Mississippi Crit, San Jose AVC, the Six Day, Zac’s Fast Twitch 4th of July race, Team Track Championships, Track State Championships, AVC, the FSA grand prix and finally the Vancouver Courthouse Crit. I am skipping the High Desert race, but will be back in two weeks for the Portland Twilight crit.
The FSA grand prix went okay, but not great. The endurance racing was not good; I only placed in the Madison with a decent 3rd place. The sprints and keirin were better, with a 6th and 5th place. The highlight of the weekend was the Vancouver Courthouse Crit. I was feeling totally exhausted going into it and the first 25 minutes were way too hard. But once my legs woke up, I started to feel better. The field all stayed together, which was good as I was not about to be going in any breaks. Seth lead the last four laps and I was right on him. After taking the first corner on the last lap, I could feel the field accelerating, so I just put down my head and buried it. I knew that I had to get to the third corner in first place in order to have any chance of winning the race. I dove into the corner with Evan Elkin hot on my wheel. In one of the five corners, I heard the nasty sound of carbon but I controlled the next five corners and came onto the last straight firing. Evan nearly came around me, but I held him off by about a half wheel.

I am not sure I could have asked for a better AVC for me. I was able to set a new track PR in the kilo, edge out Dean at the line to win the Keirin, only lose to Jame in the Scratch, race my butt off with Mark in the Madison to take second, and take home the omnium title for the weekend.

But I must say it is the people that make AVC great. I met some awesome people, including Travis, Cristin, Shelby, Benny, Rachel, Jame and Emile. I hung out with my team, who had a great showing at this not-so-local event. I spent some time with Kenny and Annette. I got to see some old friends from years past including Keyln, Matty, Mike, Gio, and Felix. I even had the pleasure of racing against old local rivals like Dean and Eugene. And of course I got to be there to support Andrea, who has been fighting injuries and setbacks for the last two years, but still managed to fight through and set PRs in the 500 and 200, finish in the money for the sprints and endure through both endurance races in the most stacked women’s field the AVC has ever seen.

Travels

An update from my brother:

Dear Friends and Family,

All people feel one way about roosters. They either love them or hate them. I think I'll choose to love them as I have no other choice at 5:30am. The monks have already made their daily rounds asking for food from those who value karma. This morning I woke up and walked out onto my bungalo's teak deck and was welcomed by a kitten and last nights empty beer bottle. My small town is bustling as people head to the market. The air is already filled with the smell of food in which I cannot determine the origin. I found as slice of heaven here in Sukhothai, Thailand.

I've been traveling for a bit now, and finally got myself out of Bangkok. Frank warned me about that city, but like most things, I had to experience it for myself. The huge city thrives on dicotomy. Beautiful and dirty. Fast paced TukTuks and meditating Buddhists. Acura SUVs and old women peddling their goods to market. I'll admit I was a bit scared at first. The signs were incomprehendable, the pace unstoppable, and the smells sometimes unbearable. I then looked at the smiling kids - they get it. SLOW DOWN AND LOOK AROUND.

The food here is amazing, although usually I don't know what I'm eating. I've finally got down the basics. 'Cawl' = rice, 'Moo' = pork. Then there is beef, chicken, and noodles. Eating is as adventurous as you want it to be. Many times I just look at what the person in front of me orders. If I'm adventurous, I order the same thing. I think yesterday I had pig skin in my soup. You win some and you loose some I guess. Last night was the best meal yet. I had pork skewers and rice wrapped in a lilly leaf, Iced tea with cocunut milk, and fresh pineapple and watermellon, all for 30 baht (less than a dollar).

The Thais are beautiful people and a smile can buy you a lot here. I've gotten better at bartering for goods, food, and rides (iv'e ridden in a taxi, a tuktuk, a moto, a sanguet, and in the back of a pickup truck). I'm gonna try to add an elephant into the mix too. Today I'm gonna relax and get a Thai massage, and play soccer with some of the school kids. Tommorrow I visit the ancient temples around here via bike.

I hope all is well back home. I think of you often (especially when I'm laying in bet after the rooster has woken me up). I head further North soon and farther from civilzation, so who knows when I'll be able to write again. I apologize for poor spelling, but the keyboard doesn't have any letters on them, plus I'm paying by the minute.

Be good, I love you all,
-Doug

Video-Blog

Today was good, but not great. I lost both the Gold medal sprint round and the Keirin to Stephen. He was just flying today. They were both close races, but I just could not come all the way around him in the end. Come out and watch the points races tomorrow if you can.

Not so hot

I haven’t been feeling too hot since the Six Day. I took some needed time off the bike the last two weeks. I did a bit or racing last weekend. Jacob came out and school us in a points race on Thursday. He was trying out his new track bike he won from the Fixed Gear Fever essay contest. It seems to work well enough for him. Friday we all had a great time at Zak’s benefit race. The Lovers took the top four spots in the Scratch Race, them Tony and I went on the show everyone how to do a Keirin, taking first and third. Saturday was Team Sprints and Team Pursuits. The Lovers team of T-Bear, Watts, and yours truly let Markwelder pull us around to victory in the team pursuit with a time of 5:05. Our team sprint did not go exactly as planned, but we still ended up third on the podium. Note: You should always practice a team sprint before trying to race one.
I spent most of the week up in Bellevue, WA for work. I did get to go ride out the Marymoor and do a little workout with the Seattle crew on Tuesday night. Then I rode on of the bike paths for a few hours on Wednesday evening, trying to keep the legs awake. This weekend is Track State Championships. Hopefully it will be a good warm up for AVC.
Jimmy has been busy photoblogging, and he has a cute dog.