Teaser........

Cabin Retreat

Two weekends ago Mulv and I headed north of Bozeman to a forest service cabin in a canyon next to a creek. It was awesome. We made food, drank wine, read books and slept a lot. We were worn out from work and had to gather some energy. It was a great getaway and felt like we were on a major vacation despite being only and hour and a half from Bozeman.

We will be visiting several more times before the summer is out.

Bechtle Slade Cycling Team is kicking ass so far this year. We have placed 1st or 2nd in every race and last race we had 4 guys in the top ten, best of any team around!

It's the Final Countdown

Been awhile since I last checked in. I can hardly remember what the last few weeks have been like. I have started racing, visited Minnesota, been stressed at work, riden a lot of miles and connected with long lost friends. It has been stressful and also really fun.

Jenny and I are getting married two weeks from today and our days for the next two weeks are booked solid. The wedding is going to be a blast and everything is falling in to place nicely. Big thanks to our Parents who remain the calm in the storm and are solely responsible for making this happen. I love you all so much!!

Biking has been going as well as can be expected. Considering that my only speed work during the week has been at the races I think I am putting in some good efforts. Ryan continues to be the early season superman. Ryan has raced two out of three races and placed 1st and 2nd. I am a bit further back with 6th and 8th and an unkown placing in the TT. What I am happy to report is that I shaved 1.5 minutes off of my 20k TT. That is a huge step forward for me and my sustained power output.

Jenny and I have been hitting the roads quite a bit in our new team kits; getting in some good LSD training (Long, Slow Distance).

Our team was featured in the local rag this week and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback from our volunteer efforts in the community. Team Bechtle Slade is running the Tuesday night TT as well as the upcoming Kids Bike Rodeo. Big UPs to Paul for running the show.

Last weekend we were in St. Paul for the wedding of one of my best friends in college. It was a great time and a beautiful ceremony at the St. Paul Cathedral. He is making a heroic effort to be at my wedding in two weeks. He lives in London and came to St. Paul for his wedding. He is now honeymooning in Sardinia and will fly back to be in my wedding and then is flying right back to London to work on monday. Thanks Matt, means the world to me.

While I was home over the weekend Ben checked out a BMC Team Machine from QBP. Full Campy Chorus and Zipp 404s. I had a blast on the bike and I think that the new Strong will eventually be adorned with full Record and Zipps. The shifting with Campy is so perfect and it is instantly responsive; even under the full pressure of hammering up a steep hill. Speaking of the Strong it is currently residing Spectrum Powder Works waiting for its special bead blasted logos and flames.

Jenny and I are off to a forest service cabin that we rented about an hour from here. The website looks great and it's in a moss covered canyon with a trout stream. This should be a nice little get away before things really get crazy.

Until next time.............