yesterday i was on a ride with steph thompson and we were checking out the fossils at the brickyards down by lillydale. the trail out of the brickyards is gravel, and on the trail i ended up getting a little stick stuck in my front wheel. it was kind of annoying because it was making a lot of noise, so i decided i needed to remove it - while riding. i was on my fixed gear commuter bike at the time. so i unclipped and began trying to kick out the stick with my right foot while peddling with my left. after a first failed attempt where i nearly got my foot caught in the spokes, i brillianty decided to give it another go. the second time i didn't actually try to remove the stick, instead i just threw my foot straight into the moving wheel, flipped over the bars, and broke a spoke.

If the mental image of me getting my right foot caught in the front wheel of my bike is not funny to you, imagine a retarded kid with a huge grin on his face throwing his leg into the front wheel of his moving bicycle and getting thrown from his bike. that was me yesterday. i am brilliant. and i may lose another toenail.

track racing this thursday night.

ok, we were planning on bringing home the national title, but it ended up slipping through our fingers. we finished 24th...

even though we pretty much got smoked, it was a really fun time. brain finished the crit on sunday taking 42nd. cook and i got dropped about mid-way through the race, and jameson broke the all-time record for earliest cramping in a race by getting a cramp twinge on his first peddle stroke. he was pretty toasted from the road race the day before, where he really gutted it out and ended up being our only finisher. kari and steph both finished in the field in the women's criterium. andy and i were probably the happiest because we realized we made it through the collegiate season without crashing at all. andy came close yesterday when he ran sideways into a haybale, but somehow he managed to stay upright.

so i've finally graduated too. that's pretty sweet. it only took me seven years. looking back, there were a bunch of things i really should have gotten around to doing, like applying for that astrophysics minor, which i had more than enough credits for. oops.

anyway, i think i'm going to have a little going away party after the track race this saturday night. it would be sweet to see everyone one more time before i leave in two weeks.

hey. day 2 of nats is done. today was a great day. things started out at 6:00 am goinmg to woman race. team members present - ed, brain, cornbread (andy cook), jameson, steph, kari, maria. we are currently in 18th place overall i think after the team time trial and road race. crit is tomorrow. we are planning on coming from behind to win it all tomorrow.

highlights
kari = 27th, steph = 35th
pushing two beds together to make one super bed
freaking the girls out with high speed stripping
jizz-bees
the brain
that crazy coach from penn state with the ridiculous questions
we beat KU (pronounced KOO) and Army in the TTT

lowlights
- i was 30 minutes away from brain and crew with the trailer keys when they arrived at the trailer preparing to unload bikes and warmup - needless to say they didn't get a warmup)
- i probably broke my pinky finger when a trainer closed on it (that is why my spelling is bad)
- brain broke a chain at the feed and dropped out 30 miles later
- 3 miles of gravel on course
- andy cook flatted twice and dropped out after about 70 miles
- brain smacked my balls real hard and my stomach hurt a long time
- finn from olaf crashed and has a partially collapsed lung and concussion
- brandon fm olaf had a super fast heartrate problem
- jake from olaf flatted twice
- somebody shaved in the shower and now the water pools up in the tub
- 18 cent razors are not worth the bleeding they cause

right now we are really hoping that mark smelser rides out to the start line tomorrow on his magna glacier point,which is equipped with a fire extinguisher that is filled with flour, and rigged to two exhaust ports connected to the seat stays to shoot out flour at high velocity and possibly to be lit on fire. it should be an amazing show. we are all crossing our fingers down here.

no thinks-hes-pro sightings yet either.

ed signing off.