Shouts and Secrets

Shouts to my homeys:
1. Doug-O has decided to make GrandStay his choice for all his bike racing needs. He will be wearing the Green and Orange on the road and CX (as usual) and now on the dirt as well. Even though anyone who knows me realizes that me and dirt just don't mix (dirt always wins, as evidenced by my Cheq crash and a broken rib), I have to say it was weird seeing Doug in red and white at Cheq. I almost didn't recognize him until he put the hammer down on the asphalt coming out of Haward (come to think of it, that was right before some guy went down in front of me--but that wasn't Doug's fault). I didn't so much recognize him as much as I recognized the usual searing pain in my legs whenever I race with him. DOC'S ADVICE: it's better to race with this guy than against him.
2. New cat 1s (fairly new, at least): Micah Moran, Matt Williams, Dan Casper (the friendly Ghost), BK "Big Kahuna" Koeneman, and (earlier this fall) Chia (Chachi) Kung. Chachi has relocated to Shanghi, China for the year, where he is already showing a clean pair of wheels to most of their racers (especially since it's so dang flat around there, eh sprinterboy?).
3. Casper the Ghost has locked up the CX 35+ CRY award in a runaway fashion. The Swanson brothers, Micah, Matt, and Charles Jacobs have all done the Green & Orange proud as well.

I'm currently getting killed with meetings and busy clinic and surgery schedules, so I'm getting basically no time on the bike or in the weight room. That will all change December 1 when my new training year officially starts. I don't think I'll do a 60K ride like Miguel Indurain always did on Dec 1, but I will start my program. I have seen some pretty good improvements the last two years: in 2005, my last with Loon State, I was a cat 4 mostly competing in Masters 4/5 events, and doing OK (I got 2nd overall in the tour of 10K in 2004). Since then, I've cat'd up to 3 in 2006 and to cat 2 this year after several good finishes, including 2nd overall in the St. Cloud Omnium for the Master 35+. I also finished 4th in the ROY standings in the same field. I was able to stay in the mix pretty well even when the 35+ers were mixed with the Pro 1,2s.

Anyway, I'm going to make a few secret modifications to the program I've done the past 2 years (I am a doctor, afterall), and see if I can come out of the chute next spring even stronger. The only glitch might be a welcome one: Beth and I are hoping to hear from the Chinese authorities as to when we will be adopting a little baby girl from China. If that happens I will definitely be interrupting my training for a while (yes, Fat Chad, I watched what happened to you). But even Painman has come back stronger than ever after a baby came into his life.

Speaking of meetings, I'm late for a board meeting, so I'll post this and fix it up later...

DOC'S ADVICE: Go Green and Orange!