Todd Wells

Again

This update is coming 2 u via the g1 phone so don't mind the spelling. I got my xtra passport pages this morning with out an appointment. Tokk a few hours and cost $60. Made it back 2 the airport and got a new ticket w/ the worst seat on the plane. At least I got a seat.
Rode the exercise bike at the hotel this morning, it even had an hd tv attached 2 it. The hotel spinkler system went off this morning and flooded the lobby. Last nite they were doing road construction outside my window until 3am, cldnt use my ear plugs though b/c I didn't want 2 miss my wake up call.
I'm suppose 2 get 2 Durban 2mrow @ 6pm or noon east coast time. Hopefully ill make it 2 the Dart's house just in time 2 go 2 bed.
I wonder how long u can wear compression socks 4 @ once.....

From Bad to Worse

I thought my luck yesterday was bad, and it was but today was even worse. It started out well enough this morning, Meg and I made it to LAX no problem. We had enough time to get some food and say our good byes before I boarded my flight for DC and then on to SA. The flight to DC was smooth, got upgraded, slept most of the way, got in early and headed for South African Airways. When I went to check on my seat is when the day took a turn for the worse. The gate agent told me I needed 2 completely empty visa pages in my passport. I had a few free blocks on the last 2 visa pages and the 2 additional pages in the back but the agent said I couldn't get on the plane. She said there was a passport agency office downtown where I could get extra pages put in the book but would have to try and fly tomorrow. 

She gave me the phone number and address of the office which is closed for the day but I can call the automated number and try to get an appointment for tomorrow. After sitting on hold for an hour the person told me there were no appointments tomorrow but they would send the agency my request and if there was an opening they would call me. They told me not to go down to the office as I wouldn't be seen with out an appointment. So I got a hotel near the agency, took a taxi the 30 miles to the hotel and scouted out the office this evening. They never called me so I don't have an appointment for tomorrow but I'm going to get there before they open and hope someone takes pity on me. I am rebooked on a flight for tomorrow should I be able to acquire the additional passport pages. They kept my checked bag so I sure hope I can make it happen tomorrow. Needless to say it's been another trying day. Things seem to happen in groups so I hope this bad luck turns for the better tomorrow. In the mean time, I got to eat at Chipolte again tonight so that's good. I'm staying less then a mile from Obama's new residence so I decided to walk down and check it out. 

The place next door isn't bad either. I think it's the Eisenhower Buidling

Here's another shot of the White House

It was a nice day in DC, sunny with temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s. It wasn't quite SoCal but it wasn't that bad either. It's going to be cold tomorrow morning at 7am when I head to the passport agency and I'm going to have to put on all the clothes I have with me. 

I wonder how things are going to turn out....

US Cup #1

I've been spending a lot of time on SteveTilford.com. Tilly can talk and his website in no different. 8 type written pages to describe 1 race, it's going to be great for when I'm hanging out bored in Europe. Meg had to remind me last night not to read too much so I'll have something for when I get there. 

Today was the first US Cup race ever, what an event. It was definitely much bigger then any of the previous years, great job Tedro. My race took a turn for the worse after the first 50 meters. I had a mechanic which saw me skate board kicking it to the tech zone and then I had some issues in there as well. By the time I got going the race was way up the road. There was quite a bit of single track on the course this year and a record 120 rider pro field which meant I had a lot of catching up to do. I lost 7 minutes on the first lap compared to my 2nd lap and only ended up finishing 5:35 down so I feel like I rode well even if it didn't translate into a good result. It was pretty much a solid training ride. I had hoped to have a great race for my Specialized debut but it wasn't to be. 

Rude had his best ever XC finishing 1 place behind me in 11th, out sprinting the Shultz man even after I caused Rude to get off and drop his chain on a steep tricky climb. 

Tomorrow I'm off to South Africa and should be arriving at the Dart's home some 20+ actual flying hours later. 

I wonder if I'm going to get a good seat tomorrow....

Back to Cali

It snowed this morning a little here and now it's freezing out. At least nothing stuck to the ground. I rode my new 450 a few days ago, it is awesome. Herting and I went riding in Aztec a few days ago and we rode the BBQ, it cooked me. The 125 isn't quite as plush as the 450. 

We now have unlimited hot water thanks to this sweet tankless water heater. 

Here is horrible picture I took the other day. You can kind of see Rude and Snoodle. It's right by the pump track up at the fort. Speaking of the pump track, it ripping right now. With this little bit of moisture we got it should be perfect. 

I have had a very productive couple of weeks at home and won't be back for quite a while. I wish it was warm here in Durango during the winter so I could stay home from December to March. It's nice to be home. When I come back from this trip we should have new wood floors thanks to James, my truck should be gone b/c some guy from Idaho is buying it next Sunday, the pile of branches in front of the house should be gone, the old carpet should be gone, the trails should be totally dry and the trees should have leaves on them. My frequent flyer account should be filling up again too. 

I wonder if our flights are going to be delayed tomorrow because of this snow storm in Denver.....

Road Racing

Logged in my first race of the 2009 season and the first one for Specialized. Meg and I met Rude down in Superior AZ on Friday for the Superior RR and crit. The crit was suppose to be today but they canceled it yesterday so we got home last night. 

The race was an out and back with a small climb on the way out and a big one on the way  back. Temps were in the low 80s and there was plenty of sunshine. The group was small and I managed to snag the KOM on the way out and we formed a 4 man break that lasted until just after the turn around in the town of Winkleman. Once we hit the big climb on the way back it blew apart again and we were a group of 3. At the 1 K to the top sign on the way back a Fly V rider, Jared attacked and I couldn't go with him. He hit the top with maybe 10 or 15 seconds on me and I had about the same on the 3rd place guy. We TTed it the 7 miles back to Superior and the gaps grew to 25-30 seconds by the end but the order didn't change. 

Downtown Superior

Superior is an old Copper mining town which is still active but a far cry from what it was in it's hay day. There is 1 hotel in town and 3 restaurants. There are only a few stores that are even open on Main St and it has the feel of a real old west town. It's a cool place. 

Winston was hanging out in the shade 

Rude delivered the new truck to me with out any problems. The thing is sweet, I think I can fit everything I own in it. Winston still doesn't like to sit in the front seat and now the back seat is so far away it's like he's not even there. I think the Tundra gets better gas mileage then my Tacoma since it has smaller tires and such a big engine it only runs a 2K rpms. Oh well, at least I have this new efficient hot water heater that saves a bunch of energy. 

Here's the truck

I wonder if I'm going to make it out to HBs today to ride dirt bikes......

Great Dayz

I have had some awesome days lately. The training has been going well and I'm slowly ramping up into race intensity. Everything is coming along great and I weighed in 1 lb lighter yesterday then my lightest weight from all of last year. I haven't been starving myself either, just doing some big rides here at altitude and eating plenty of chocolate. I am slowly becoming a coffee drinker too, it started last year with cappuccinos in Andorra. Now I like lattes and dirty chai teas, next thing you know I'll be drinking 2 day old Folgers like Timons. I've been eating plenty of RGP wraps, Zia burritos and more for breakfast and lunch. 

Another awesome thing happened the other day too, I launched my biggest moto jump ever over at HBs ranch. He has a super cross track set up and I did the smallest jump after he berated me for not being able to do it. Before I jumped it though he fixed my rear brake since it was full of air and I had nothing. Now I can go way faster since I can actually slow down. Anyway, I suck at riding motos so the jump I did was small but big for me, Yeehaw!!!!

The weather has been awesome also, temperatures are rising into the high 60s, low 70s and plenty of sun. The trails are drying out slowly but Snoodle and I rode Sailing Hawks, Star Wars, the Ridge, Wilk's trail and Stacy's the other day. Today I hit the lower portion of Havilind, it was sweet. 

It's like Moab with out driving 2:30 hrs. 

I've been getting some serious therapeutic treatment as well, SRA from Dr. Frank, I got a hair cut from Kim at Salon Blue Wave and a DEEP massage from William at Blue Wave too. That's a lot of self maintenance for one week.

Rude picked up the new truck tonight and we're meeting him in Superior tomorrow, it's suppose to 84 degrees there. I wish there was a race here in Durango so I didn't have to go anywhere but I don't think that's going to happen. 

Looks like Absalon got beat again at another Italian MTB race. The guy obviously doesn't care about those races and knows how to use them to prepare for his main objectives, I'm sure he'll be flying in SA. 

Here is a list of some errands I have done the past 2 days. 

3 hrs to partially fill out my 2nd quarter USADA where abouts forms

drop off clothes at good will

sell cross bike

receive wood flooring from freight shipping via Albuquerque

fedex information for new truck

send wire transfer for truck

price out new tank less hot water heater

make hotel reservation for Superior

mount up cleats on new shoes

get Powertap rebuilt

go to the grocery store 3 times

purchase mystery oil and oil counter tops

wash bikes twice

yell at Winston for eating Snoodles salmon

prepare to watch Obama on Leno

I wonder if it's going to snow again on Monday.....

The Van

So this is TT's new home

He's really bringing up the property value of the neighborhood with this beauty. It is a cool van and he is hoping it will be his home for the next few months. 

The Dart got 2nd in the South African U23 TT championships the other day. Sounds like it was 110 to 120 degrees. I think he might have won if he didn't ride with his helmet sticking straight up. 

 

Today was my rest day but I'm pretty pooped. First I cleaned the car for like 3 hours and then took pictures of it to put on cars.com. Check out that nice backdrop, that looks like a Toyota add. 

Winston and Meg went up to Vail to visit the family today. It seems like just the other day Winston was kicking it on the beach. 

After cleaning the truck, my neighbor Debrick and I cut down trees in the backyard for another 3 hours. What a pain, I done with tree removal for 09, maybe I'll take some more down in 10. I also managed to eat an entire plate of peanut butter chocolate brownies that Chris, Jen, Julia and Hanana brought over last night. I don't know how many calories they were but I bet it's a lot. 

Snoodle made it back from Fruita and said the trails were great. 

I wonder if I'll sell anything at MBS garage sale tomorrow......

Snow Squall

The Durango cyclists dodged a bullet today as the 80% chance of snow and rain didn't amount to anything. I did get caught in a small snow squall up Florida Rd for a few minutes today but other then that it was dry roads and not too much wind. I have moved on from the base phase of my training to the transition phase. During transition phase I train a bit harder but for less time. Today I finally put out some decent power for the first time since I got up here to altitude. 

One of my favorite climbs is the one just over the New Mexico border on the Ignacio loop road. I hadn't ridden it since September until today. I also rode the 3 dog loop which I haven't ridden in years. 

Pulled the trigger on a new Tundra truck today. Bought it down in Tucson for a big discount and Rude is going to pick it up for me and drive it to the road race in Superior. Now I'm selling my 2004 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 access cab so if anyone knows of someone looking for a truck like that please let me know. It has 53,000 miles, 5-spd, TRD SR5 package, Topper shell and hitch, sand color. 

Had dinner with Barthel and Melissa tonight at SteamWorks. We had to wait 40 minutes to get a seat. I don't know why that place is always so slammed but what ever they're doing it's working. 

TT is buying a van for $1500 and driving it to Mexico to live in for four months. I hope he does the trip because I'm sure he'll have some great stories. 

I haven't been taking any pictures lately because the gloves I've been wearing are too big to work with my camera. 

I'm hoping there is a good turn out for the group ride this weekend. I guess most of the college guys are out of town but I know there are a few people looking to do a hard ride. 

I wonder how much of this Trader Joe's chocolate bar I'm going to eat tonight.....

Cutt'n Trees

I'm back to trying to thin out the backyard. We have these weed trees in the back yard that have taken over in the past few years. Now they are giant and require so skill to cut down with out breaking windows, the house or any of our neighbor's houses. Snoodle helped me today and took down about five, we have about fifteen more to take down. I missed dirt biking today so I could cut down those stupid trees. One of our neighbors did give us some PBRs though so I got that going for me. 

The training has been going well this week. I've been doing 5 hours one day, 3 hours the next with some intensity. I'm looking forward to my first race next weekend in Superior, AZ on the road. 

If you're looking for another site to get your MTB and Cyclocross news check out Colt's CyclingDirt.com It's a cool site and I'm sure it will be full of great content in the future. 

So Meg and I were looking at Tundra trucks in Tucson and they were offering 9K off the sticker price for 08 models. We told the Durango Toyota dealership about it and said we would buy a truck from them if they would match that deal. The guy basically called Meg a liar and they haven't been helpful at all. The people have been rude to Meg on the phone and it has been a real hassle trying to deal with the so we're going to buy the truck in Tucson. I thought car dealerships were hurting right now? These people at New Country Toyota must be raking in the cash because they have given us our worst ever auto shopping experience.

Lost is a rerun this week so instead of watching that we're watching American Idol and Kanye West just performed. He might be a good rapper but any person on American Idol is a better signer then he is. At least he had a cool jean outfit. 

I wonder if it's going to snow tomorrow..... 

Home on the Range

This weather is killing me. Today I woke up to a light dusting of snow and arctic temperatures and wind. It wouldn't have been too bad if I wasn't doing a long ride. I sucked it up, put on a bunch of clothing and face mask and was out the door. 

Saw the O-dog today, he's doing well. Has a new 21 year old girlfriend, gotta like that. I took a few cross bikes and wheels down to MBS for the annual garage sale, I got a lot done today. I did miss my gym work out though so it wasn't a totally productive day. I also brought a Free Ride bike down to Pedal the Peaks. Cliff said the jumps at the dump are good right now, at leas the 6 pack. 

Meg and I have been looking at new trucks, Toyota Tundras. The Tacoma is doing well but we are looking for something a little bigger to drive to the races since we always seem to be traveling with people and the truck and car get a little tight. 

Looks like Absalon did his first race this weekend, he was 3rd but I'm sure he'll be flying when the WC comes around. Speaking of flying Fugalsang is in 19th place a Paris Nice. Fugalsang was U23 World Champ 2 years ago and rode for the Cannondale team for the past few years. He said he took a big pay cut to ride with Saxo Bank but I bet he'll be getting a raise pretty soon. 

All the guys that switched to the road from the MTB with the exception of Ryder and Martinez have killed it and those two guys still are good support riders for Pro Tour teams so that's not too shabby. Hopefully no more ex mountain bikers like Floyd or Rassmuesen will go positive. 

Planning on doing a ride with Tad tomorrow and maybe meeting up with HB to hit the dirt bike trails. 

Almost forgot, Willow got her website up and running, check it out at http://www.willowkoerber.com

I wonder when it's gonna get warm in D-town.....