He's back...
Grand Slam "season" is underway.

Roger beat Sam Querry, a very TALLLLLL American, in 3 sets. I wouldnt put my cash on his winning it all but for now lets just watch his magic.
PS: Yea there are some bike races i need to post on but this is a bit more interesting.

Summer means Cousins!
June 21st, family cousins will gather at 880.
Cant wait, the east coast descends on the north shore.
stay tuned!
No that lady with the arm - warmer on ( or is that a tatoo?) isnt related to me.
How happy are they?

Charity TT and more Arctic TNTT photos compliments of YndeCam
GET A SEASON PASS YNDEPASS...$17.99 and you get all the pics of yourself you can possibly ever want...
I got a new helmet and i got my hair cut. I think that made a big difference between Tuesday night and Sunday at the BlackDog Charity event.

Ok lets see if i can get names right on these neat gals.
Patty, Adele, Racheliraceforsynergy, Lauraiamfastkreuger, Megpinkcoolkitijustmovedhere, Amydontmakemeracetoomuchorigetcranky. amy, i agree 100%!

We had a good discussion of boca burgers that day. We love them but they arent a substitute for the real thing, a juicy grilled piece of TVP doesnt hit the spot the same way a steak does.
Note that I cant use Arctic for this post but we are still pretty covered up, arms and legs.
I seem to find these nice people at all the races. Today we got Dublin ( the dog ) and Julie's sister Heidi in the pic, as well! Charles went by me right at the turnaround. I was pleased since he was 60" behind me that it took him that long to catch me. I also learned watching his turn around. I have never really watched anyone turn around before, so when he actually took it pretty tight and slowed down more thani expected i realized i likely take those corners too hot and swing out more than I need to. Thanks Charles!

Arctic TNTT: Can you say "BRRR!!!" First light boys
Yum, free pizza.

TNTT
Ok i am a few days ( weeks ) late in getting these posted.
And my blog account isnt wanting to download pics, so i am starting with this and will work on getting the pics up asap.
Ihave only a few comments to make on the TNT and the Charity TT.
1st) It has to warm up. That is an order. I am sick of riding in baselayers and gloves. As much as i love the TNT course i had an asthma attack at the finish, partly bc i got upset ( that i was going about 12 mph) and bc of the dry air filled with pollen.
2nd) I miss my Sugoi clothing. I miss it alot. I do LOVE the VERVE kits. But i dont love the champion sysytems fit. Maybe it is just me, but there seems to be an excessive amount of material where i dont want it. And even if they run big i think going down a size wouldnt help either. The Sugoi bibs and the skinsuit, as $$ as they are, are worth it. You feel like a sausage all "cased" up and ready to ride fast. No hiding donuts in the sugoi kits. Gotta love em.

Synergy TT
Some random pics of...Charles and Julie...( sorry Cha, got you with your mouth full!)
Mr. Bernie has a Birthday...and yea i know Jimmer, it looks like a mudslide, but it tasted GREAT!
Oh yea, we rode our bikes in the sufferfest, too. I cant say it was fun, but i avoided the JohnDeere riding mower at the start, and was mighty tempted to hop into the wall of MS riders going into the wind on Manning. They were working hard as well..for a great cause.

Well, here is the birthday boy now! Thanks to Skinny Ski for the bike pics.
And after all that, smiles and no rain. Thanks Now, Ben, Ambrose, Sumo, Mike, Dino, Cubs ( who was likely at the shop) and the nice Synergy gal who alerted me that Ambrose wasin the van at the start "doing nothing," so he could get my rear derailleur back in sync. I owe you...
recovery fuel of...crazy people?

MORE MARTY...
thanks to Flander's Jack S for the pics.

To paraphrase the last lap...Wind...more wind....wind more wind. Hill. False flat...I had been working to get ahead a bit on the hills since they gals with me descend a bit faster than i do. About 4 miles out at the top of the hill on the last lap i turned to my teammates and said.." See you when you catch me." All the sudden i realize they arent catching me. Brilliant time to use some TT'ing and see where this ends up. Either I will get the field sprint or my teammates will have gassed out the other 2 forcing them to chase, and then one of them will get it. Perfect.
I got it, and Alix and Paula were right behind me. Nice impromptu break, that turned out well for the VERVE team. Kudos to all the gals i was with for making 3.5 laps of echelon and wind bearable.
Honey was there waiting for me cheering me on louder than anyone..thanks Honey, hearing you and seeing you ( ok well i dont think i saw anything but the white line and i may not have heard anything other than the referee shout "55!!" my number, but...) made that entire race worthwhile knowing i got to cool down with you and ride home in the nice warm car with you.
Of course we had to stop at the gas station and buy some jerky and some fake hot cocoa from a machine. I hope soon we will be drinking iced recovery drinks.

Verve goes to Marty, MN

I borrowed this pic from Skibby. Thanks Skibby, not sure how you could stand outside in a sleeveless T shirt but more power to you. More updates to come as i get more pics.
Verve did well. We held off a Birchwood, AUC duo and finished 4, 5, and 6 in the womens 123.
Sadly, Casey had a mechanical or she would have been in there with us. It was my longest RR ever and it was hard. amen.