Art O’Connor

The last 24 hours have been pretty awesome.  Last night I made my return to the weekly Word Cup (WWC).  These are really not my favorite races but they are a necessary evil and a a good way to get in some speed work.  On the ride out I was talking to Dr. ‘Cross (DRX).  He has been having some health problems that caused him to miss ‘cross season last year.  A total bummer for everyone, especially him.  Last years trip to Nationals was the first one in a long time for me with out the good Dr. and it was just not the same.  Anyway he was telling me that through all this he really realized how much racing meant to him.  I could not agree more.  It is so good to see him back on a bike and riding well.  He says he is not out of the woods yet but that did not stop him from doing the Clown Midget Smack Down (CMSD) at the Hell of the North on Saturday.  Always nice to start you’re come back with a win. Good to have you back man.

The race itself was pretty cool.  A strong south wind meant that it would break up pretty quick.  I almost made the winning break but just did not have enough top end to close the deal yet.  The group I was in chased for a few laps before getting caught by the field.  Once I was able to sit in for a full lap I felt great.  It takes me about 20-30 minutes in these to feel good.  That is fine with no wind but on a windy day the race is down the road by then.  Oh well I rode better then I though I would.  My average HR for 1:08 was 180 with a high of 197.

The other awesome thing is that after 6 months of negotiating we have finally secured a big contract for TBR.  This is huge for us.  Business has not been bad.  I have been busier than expected this winter with minimal travel, but we really needed to lock down a big customer.  Now we have, this contract makes us a national company overnight. So to all the pinhead managers at my old job who told me "Sales is not a good fit for you."  Eat shit and have fun workng for The Man. Oh wait that’s me now Ha Ha.  I will be in Vegas on the 18th for the first job for these guys and doing a lot of driving this summer.  The cool thing about the travel is that hopefully I will have the chance to check out the riding and racing scene in some other states.  One of this companies biggest offices is in Austin.  I have heard a lot of good things about Austin so I am looking forward to checking it out.

Ride Safe
(Read on …)

Hmm Hoste attacks and finds himself with a (slim) chance to win.  George follows wheels and "wins" the sprint for 3rd.  Figure it out man!  While I am bashing George, I was really excited to hear my team would be wearing Hincapie clothing this year.  My thinking was George is a big dumb dude, I am a big dumb dude so maybe I will finally have a long sleeve jersey that I don’t get that little frostbite/tanline in that 2 inch section between my glove and jersey.  Nope I still look like I shop at the Salvation Army.  Thanks George.

I added a new photo album with some concert pics.

Ride Safe.

(Read on …)

I woke up from a nice night of sleeping to a beautiful sunny day.  Whip up some eggs and I am out the door for 4 hours in the saddle.  Sundays are great days to ride in Zion, since most of the population is inside being told how to live their lives.  Me, I am at the Church of the Big Ring thanking the big guy for such an awesome day.  I think I saw everyone I know out riding today.  I saw some really good numbers on the Power Tap climbing Sun Crest today.  As long as I can stay healthy I should be able to pull something off at Bisbee or Gila.

April is really the best month for pro cycling.  Flanders, Roubaix, Leige, lets face it the Tour sucks.  The Classics are where the real hard men come to play.  Soon I will be surrounded by good friends, popping a cold one and watching Tour of Flanders.  In a few minutes I will be hearing Phil and Paul butchering names (Boon, bone say it with me guys.  See the difference?).  Flanders is where George starts to fine tune his choking for Roubaix.  I expect Boonen will be ripping guy’s legs off and stealing their girlfriends.  March Madness?  Are you kidding me?

Ride Safe
(Read on …)

That is how long my race lasted today.  Since I am still lacking
fitness I decided to ride to the race.  That meant that I would have no
spare wheels in the support car.  No worries, I run the heaviest most
bombproof  tire around (Armadillo’s) and i have never flatted on these
tires.  I arrived about 30 minutes before the start after taking the
long way to the race.  I registered, visited the porta john and went to
ride to the start.  I was in shock to find that my rear wheel was
flat.  I should have taken that as a sign.  A quick tube change and I
get to the start with a few minutes to spare.  The wind was out of the
south so we started in a crosswind and went immediately into a stiff
headwind so the pace was pretty tame and stayed that way untill the
first dirt section where we had a tailwind and ramped it up to a
comfortable 28-30mph.  About 300 meters form the end of the dirt I feel
my rear wheel going soft.  Crap.   I ride my rim back to the start to
fix my flat and head out for some much needed tempo work.  I rode for
another 2 hours.  Only an hour of it was in the rain, I sure am glad I
had my fender on.

I was supposed to be going to see 6 Feet Under tonight up in O-Town but
everyone has bailed on me.  No worries it looks like I will be going to
Vegas in June to see Slayer, Lamb of God, Mastodon, and Children of
Bodom so I will be getting a heaping helping of metal soon.  Besides I
am planning on 4 hours or so tomorrow so I should get some rest.
Ride Safe
(Read on …)