Thanks KENDA!

Here's a sneak peak at Kenda Tire's latest add featuring the A&F cycling team. This will be in the next addition of Velo News, ROAD, Road Bike Action, and Bicycling. Pretty Sweet!! Thanks Kenda.... you guys rock!

Mid-Ohio Grand Prix

Today's race was on the world famous car race track Mid-Ohio. Super cool circuit that had 2 little rises in it and a bunch of cool twist and turns. It was made a bit harder with a pretty stiff wind in your face up both the hills and of course it was raining.. can't get away from this damn rain!
The 1st lap was pretty interesting as the race course looked like glass... I took it pretty easy through the 1st couple downhill turns to make sure I wasn't gonna fall on my face. After the 1st lap I had it dialed and the race was on. A&F was represented by myself, Tim Swain, Jimmy B and Jimmy Mac... The race started getting pretty aggressive and after following Paul Martin on an attack I went straight after him finding myself off with 1 other guy. Paul's teammate Jeff came across and we were 3. We worked well together and then another group came across a lap later that contained Jimmy Mac... We were 9 strong.. 2 A&F and 2 Roadhouse. This was the break as we seemed to work pretty well together and it was easier getting around the turns with less guys. I was feeling pretty decent.. nothing great but wasn't struggling. With 4 laps to go the attacks started and I was on pretty much everything.. The Roadhouse boys taking turns attacking us and the last time Paul went I had no answer. I tried to go over the top of the hill and out of the blue my hamstring just locked up.. like total lock.. like I can't pedal lock.... so not only did Paul ride away from me but 3 other guys did as well. After I got my cramp worked out I latched on with Jeff Braumberger from Roadhouse and we were not far behind with 2 laps to go.... I kept having to stop and get my cramp out and was pretty much slowing Jeff down but we still tried to get back but never did. In the end Jeff and I finished together and I was 6th. Jimmy Mac ended up 3rd. Pretty disappointing for me considering I was feeling pretty decent and was looking forward to a little head to head battle with Paul. Not sure where the cramp came from.. just out of the blue.. maybe too much morning coffee??...haha.. that's not possible. Oh well, back into next weekend....

Final Four!

Another victory for the Bucks advancing them to the final four... maybe a rematch in the championship game against Florida?? hmmmm payback would be nice... great weekend for basketball... not so great for racing.. stay tuned for my race update.. GO BUCKS!

Buckeyes do it again!

"Big O" about to swat the last second shot away.. march madness baby!!



What a game! was a late one as Tara (new super fan) and I stayed up until 1am to watch the game but it was well worth it. The Bucks erased a 20 point deficit to win a thriller in the end with "Big O" Greg Oden swatting Tennessee's last second shot into their cheerleaders as time expired.... One step closer.. GO BUCKS!

St. Patty's Day!

Start the day off with an Irish Car bomb



Buckeye shot to celebrate the Buckeyes advancing to the Sweet 16



The shirt explains it all...

St Patty's Day was an interesting one. This was the 1st time in about 10 years I was actually home for it. I had planned on racing but Friday got a call and was informed my racing license was invalid. Oops, thought it was good for a year, guess not.. anyway after a handful of phone calls and emails about it I was pretty much annoyed of the whole subject. Even saw an email that suggested I should be suspended for a month... Are you serious?? Needless to say I was not racing this weekend.. oh well, Irish Car Bombs it is. The day started off right with the Buckeyes winning in a thriller to advance to the Sweet 16. That kept the day rolling as the crew bounced around to see a few bands...The green beer flowed all day and we actually steered clear of any trouble.. amazing:-). Although I was pissed I wasn't racing.. I got to hang out with my friends, fam, and the love of my life Tara... even got to have a few drinks with my sis who hasn't drank in 9 months because she just gave birth to an adorable baby boy. So all in all it was a good weekend and I'm glad I got to hang out with everyone as the race season is set to pick up real soon and partying on the weekends will be to a minimum. Back to racing next weekend since I am actually "legal" now. Hope everyone is doing well. rock on, m@

Race Update

Been doing some early season racing in Ohio for the 1st time in a long time. My training has been pretty limited due to the weather here but I figured I would head out racing anyway.

My 1st race of the year was a bit of a crazy one. I decided to head out and race even though it was 30 degrees and snowing out. The race was only about 20 minutes away from my house so I figured what the hell. A flat 6 mile circuit, was still pretty tough with the 30 mph winds. I showed up about 20 minutes before race time (standard) fully loaded with about 4 cups of coffee in me... threw on all the clothing I owned and headed out to race. About 3 miles in Kirk Albers threw in a little attack and I countered and all the sudden was by myself. Scott Moro from Bikesource jumped across to me and we were 2. Another mile or so Kirk came back across and that was pretty much the race. The field kept us close for a lap but after that we rode away. With about 5km to go I started the attacking but just couldn't go hard enough to split the break. After a few tries I said oh well, I will just sprint this one out. The 3 of us slowed to about 5 mph for the last mile just kinda laughing at each other. Kirk opened the sprint up and I jumped around to take my 1st win of the season. GOOD START! 1 for 1.

This past weekends racing didn't go as hot for me as last weekend. Saturday was 3 laps of a 20 mile circuit that had 2 climbs a lap. 1 super steap 1km climb (Jack Run for those who know) and then another 1 mile climb up to the finish line... right up my alley.. throw in that is was 40 degrees and raining and that pretty much tops off the tri-fecta of things I hate the most... hills, cold, and rain. Wanna kick my dog while your here??? needless to say I gave it my all and stayed with the leaders until 1 lap to go when 3 guys got away. I tried attacking but never got anywhere and crawled my way to 7th place. I was completely wrecked after this 60 mile race...way to much climbing for me....
Sunday we traveled to Oxford where my teamate Ryan lives. A pretty stacked field with a strong Roadhouse team and Priority Health team there. We had 5 guys as well so it was a pretty aggressive race. I absolutely had no legs from the get go but tried to work my way into the race. In the end I read the break correct but my legs gave out on me and I couldn't get across. A&F had 2 guys in the break of 6 so we were good to go. The break stayed away with Ryan getting 4th and I limped in after bonking like crazy with 10 miles to go in 15th. We had to ride another 10 miles back to ryans and all I could think about was M&Ms. I truly have not bonked that bad in like 8 years...

Well a good weekend for the fitness I hope and I'll give it a go again next weekend. Hopefully the weather gets a bit nicer... till then... m@

A&F had a great weekend racing down south.. check out the update here

Welcome to my new Blog!

I have finally cracked down and gotten my own blog. People have been buggin me about doing one and I finally gave in. So here ya go, I will keep this up to date throughout the year on how my racing and training are going. And of course on all the fun I will be having with my new team Abercrombie & Fitch. We have a great team this year and if our team camp in Georgia a couple weeks ago was any indication on how the year is gonna go its gonna be a fun one:-) I have attached a few photos of the sleds we are riding this year. Total pimp bike.. by far the nicest bike I have ever ridden.. its super light and is the quickest bike I have owned.. looking forward to lighting up the streets with it. I will be posting some more pics from our team camp and please check out the teams sponsors links as well as my personal sponsor links.
Hope everyone is well...thats enough for today... Stay tuned for my 1st race update of the year... it was a fun one!