The single biggest Scam ever perpetrated on the very gullible American People...

HERE

You just made many people rich while getting little to no benefit in health, a massive increase in energy use in transportation and extraction methods, and a catastrophic increase in garbage from those who don't recycle. Enjoy...

Unbeknownst to most of the racers in town, "The Stick" has dawned a most impressive pre-race ritual that has eluded the eye of the local race scene.

Before the Richmond Roller this past saturday, I was treated to the process in the corner of the parking lot. "The Stick" was buffing his white Turbo seat. Quite extraordinary. He was all smiles and it seemed like the moment was heavenly...

The Dakota crits started last nite. Was the normal hot and muggy atmpsohere. Great training and had a blast. 4th in the 35's. GP tore me up the last lap. Held together in the 123's for about a 12th place.

A couple mild days of spinning. J-Wood working on my mtn bike. Should be ready for Sunday in mankato. Square Lake on Saturday.

Headed down to the Richmond Roller with Kowaliw and Pramann on Saturday. A great race in a quiet part of Stearns Cty. Silver Cycling had 5 guys in the 35+. I had good feelings about my fitness and was in a good mood. Sprint Street had about 6 guys and with Mike Johnson in the mix, you know things could start off quickly. And they did. He soloed for about a lap before we reeled him back in.

I saw Borgenheimer take off on lap 3. I followed and so did Mike Johnson. We dangled out front for a half a lap before being caught. A good attempt at a break but not enough juice.

So the eventual break group of 8 had 2 Silver guys in it. I wasnt one of them. So me and Dave Herbert were in the second group just waiting for the finish. Each member of the second group had a teammate in the lead group so we were content on not chasing. We waited to the finish. I came up to Herbert and said "on the base of the hill, take a flyer and go for the finish, whoever follows you, I will follow them. It pretty much worked and I ended winning the group sprint for 9th. Thanks Dave!

Mark Kowaliw was 3rd, Jason 6th, I was 9th, Herbert was 14th. Pramann flatted(dnf)

Sunday I met The 12 Hour Champ at GP in St Paul for a group ride to Stillwater/Hudson/Afton. I never had been on a GP sunday ride before but we had about 20 people. I must have ended with about 85 with some sprints and hill climbs mixed in the day.

FEDERER...going for 6 in a row!!!

Up next: TUE CRIT. Birchwood RR on Sat. Mankato Mtn on Sunday...

...way to go to Sam Oftedahl(HWOOD) for winning the Dirt Spanker in Duluth on Sunday.

I am delighted to share with you some very exciting news about a giant victory for Sierra Club and the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

Just a week ago we saw the end to the Sierra Club’s three year long battle with the timber industry, preventing them - once and for all - from logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

The win came at the 11th hour, as the Sierra Club legal team prepared to appear in the Ninth Circuit court to argue the last case standing, a last-ditch appeal by the timber industry, regarding commercial logging in the Monument. But on the eve of the hearing, they abandoned and withdrew their appeal - putting the final nail in the coffin of this very drawn out case - and putting an end to the pillage of these iconic trees.

Sierra Club
85 Second Street, 2nd Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94105
membership.services@sierraclub.org
(415) 977-5653
http://www.sierraclub.org/

Its not about the lack of drilling. Congress, let me say it again. Its not about the lack of drilling. We drill more so than any other nation. What it is, is the kind of economy we had developed.  [ A car-centric, drive everywhere, shop on weekends, blase attitude where certain people will react when its too late, versus certain people who have trying to tell us that high prices are inevitable with this kind of open-ended society this country has erected. ]

Bush thinks Congress is standing in the way of lowering gas prices by blocking any attempt to drill.

 { vs. }

Its the auto/oil relationship that is standing in the way of lowering gas prices. We have had 'ample' time, sufficient technology and limitless brainpower to come up with a 'combustible engine' that gets 50 miles to the gallon and cuts emissions in half.

Honda just developed a ZERO emissions car. America is very behind in these areas because, due to unrelentless Capitalism, profits trump just about everything(especially the environment). So if your a Republican CEO from Exxon or Ford, you spend billions on lobbying efforts to block raising fuel efficiency.

The chickens have come home to roost. The high prices of gas are 100% the fault of internal capitalistic greed, not the lack of refineries or drilling. Keep Alaska Wild! Have you seen the slogan?

So when BUSH says we need to stop the import of oil from hostile parts of the world, well we get most of our oil from Canada and Mexico. Are those two countries considered hostile parts of the world...?? 

15th last night at the St. Fair Crit. Good workout. No Silver guys in the Break. A couple of fresh Silver faces showed up. Tainter, Tamminen and Hamlin.

Fridays NVGP crit in Mpls was a blast. I spectated and yelled things at racers as usual. Afterwards it brought me to Brits for a Blue Moon where I finally met Steve Tilford. Mulrooney also met Tilford for the first time, and they ended up dancing with each other later that night.

Saturday I raced the Mankota crit. It was a cat 2/3 race with mostly local teams with a few out of towners. 50 minutes of a mostly flat course. Not terribly exciting but until the last few laps with Pat and Ed tried a 3 lap break for a win. But we caught them in the final half lap and came down to a sprint finish. Pretty tight. Fun and I won $30 for 7th. Silver had 5 guys in the race.

Sunday was the slugfest in Stillwater. I just tried to hang on. I never do too well here but it is fun. I was 13th but should have finished lower since a few guys crashed and broke stuff that were ahead of me. The Pro race was incredible. They did 18 laps. We did 8. Great job to all the local riders.

{ hwood chasing Minier }

You will see me back on Javelin this week. State fair crit on Tue., and the Loon St RR on saturday. Rumor has it that Jonathon Page will be in town for the race.

-the Madness

The State Fair Crit Showdown Affair thing was a blast. This was the second of a 3 race series. The course was a little rough in a couple stretches. Silver had good numbers. I biked there and then biked with Snider on the way home for a bit.

Look for me at Mankato crit and Stillwater crit. Part of the NVGP amateur races.

Also, I should be on OHIO hill for the TT on Friday, yelling insane gibberish at racers...

-the Madness

I sort of took the weekend off. Wasn't terribly motivated to travel to a race. I did pre-register for the Afton race, but decided not to go. And now, adding to the whole mess, was that my mtn bike came crashing down from the ceiling hook last night. It snapped off my brake on my fork. So i probably need a new fork and front brake caliper. 

A few days ago, I was sidestepping through a bookstore and saw a magazine called Fast Company(article). It has a tremendous article on how China has been quietly establishing a massive infrastructure of people/communities and energy related forces to essentially "extract" as much natural resources as possible in the shortest amount of time.(timber, gold, cobalt, minerals, oil, etc....) The importance of this article was later reinforced on Lou Dobbs when I saw him mentions something on this as well.

I went to the 24/9 website to take a look at the entry fee of the 12 solo hour category. Its Aug 2nd. Same weekend as the Firehouse 50 road race, which is also super fun.

Federer was crushed by Nadal on sunday. I saw the whole thing. Kind of sad, but Nadal in king of clay.

I will be at the state fair crit on TUE.

I met up with the 'Twelve Hour Champ' for a ride out west on saturday. About 4 hours out to Maple Plain and back. Great time.

Sunday I met up with June(Superior Cycling) for a ride out to Wayzata. We also went to the Stone Arch Bridge in Mpls where June pointed to where she works. Right on the river.

Federer advanced to the 4th round. Looking solid. Nadal is still the favorite.

In track, the 100 meter mens record was broke with Usain Bolt from Jamaica blistering to a 9.72 time.

The swimsuit made by LZR Racer should not be let into the Olympics. Well, only if all of the swimmers can  have one. But that wont be the case. Swimming is one sport where what you wear can give the athlete an unfair advantage. This controversial swimsuit has been let into the 08 Olympics despite having 37 or so records being broke in the last year. Are you kidding me? Here is what the manufacturer claims the suit can do:

Also, the parapalegic runner (who was ruled by Court of Arbitration for Sport) to be allowed to run at the Olympics with carbon fiber legs, should NOT be allowed in the Olympics either.

STORY

I saw TIMMER on the Greenway riding his bike and holding some kind of coffee drink. He had a smile a mile wide.

-the Madness