a tale of two (2) totos

well the MAC season officially kicked off last weekend with the granouge and wissahickon races and a brief glimpse of what might come was had.
this is what i learned:
1) there are definitely 2 totos. saturday toto got an ass kickin' most would love to forget. i can't remember the last time i felt that horrible in a race, like nothing was going right and the body just wasn't there. i guess when you start at the back of a 90 rider field and mentally put yourself out of the game your SCREWED! however, sunday there was a totally different toto, one that started at the back AGAIN but this time had the shit together. i felt good, mentally and physically and managed to pick up 18th. granted, i felt like i was getting strong and with another lap maybe would have been top 15, but 18 was good... considering the 59th place finish from the day before.
2) 'cross racers/ races are where its at. i can honestly say that this has been the most fun i've had going away on weekends since my collegiate racing days. the events are so much more laid back and the cycling folk are some of the most intriguing people i've met.

i stayed down in wilmington with dan the man at his lovely townhouse/apartment. unfortuneately, i didn't take any pictures even though i wanted to. sometimes i'm just lazy. it was a nice place, i had an air mattress prep'd for me, towels, blankets,etc. i was lucky to have such a generous host. i spent saturday and sunday in the pits for kraus but cheered on the whole crew- ryan, dan, wes and obviously mr. kraus. again, wish i had pics here but was otherwise pre-occupied you know, starring at the extremely good looking girl that was supposed to be introduced to me but my unlucky self managed to avoid 2 weeks ago in gloucester. somethings apparently never change.

college... again?

was that college all over again? i'm not totally sure but it definitely seemed like it. well, today was my first ever seminar as a professional. the firm i work for felt it would be good for me to go and learn a whole bunch of crap that i would have learned in college had i gone to college for something other than i did. so i got a 5 hour lesson in biology today... sound bad? well not when your getting paid to sit there and do nothing, and how could i forget stuff my face as well. its taken some time but im seeing that there are some definite perks to being out in the real world. hopefully there will be many a day of no work and money going into my pocket in the not so distant future.

what has it come to?

what has society come to? why is it that we can't even enjoy our neighborhood dunkin' donuts without being harassed? so i stop to get a wonderful cup o' joe and what happens you ask? well some lady comes up to me and starts preaching about how tv and movies and video games are damaging kids, ruining the younger generations. "would you like to have a magazine that talks about entertainment and its affect on the younger generations?" hell no lady, i don't want that crap, i'd rather watch the fucking tv then read that crap. I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS!!! go pawn your crap off somewhere else and let me be.
but is it really that bad? has all this violence brought this upon the innocent like you and me? i'm proud to say i was brought up pretty damn good but there are a lot of parents out there that are half-assin' it and graciously pushing their kids toward a downward spiral.

a mass weekend...

well i had a vacation... finally. definitely WAY overdue but i finally had one. went up to gloucester for the first race weekend in the usgp of cross series and what a time it was. friday i was gonna head up, meet up with spanky and his buds, crash at some inn and race saturday morning, but how often do things work out the way they get planned. i ended up rotting in traffic at the toll plaza to get on the mass pike (approx 1hr lost), spank is rotting in the same traffic and an hour or so behind so he decides to get a place near boston so he isn't driving til 1am. i then find out our room is double booked and i have no place to stay. but 'crossers are cool, they treat you like family even if they don't know you. so spank's friends sneak me into the inn in the owner's private room and i get so well needed rest.

saturday comes and i suffer. i start damn near the back of field at the start, get caught in some pile-ups and end up having to fight to finish 65th. sucky. but things get good, real good, as i see the woman of my dreams. melodie. i won't say much but she is such a babe. i watch the mens race as treefarm won after sneaking away from tj. leech and kraus both had good rides and everyone is looking forward to sunday.

sunday morning greets us with some sun and the wonderful smell of the ocean at 8 in the morning. it was beautiful. sleep was much better as we actually had a room... that was warm and clean. again i suffer in the race, starting closer to the front, but still not getting a good start and having to work my way up to 48th. some more races come and go and i watch melodie, and then she's gone. my guess is she tanked it somewhere near the barriers as she was bandaged up when i saw her later on. what a babe. i watch leech and kraus again, losing my voice from all the screaming. dieter struggled and ended up not finishing and kraus was up near top 20. we packed up all our crap and got ready for the ride home. i bid farewell to gloucester and will be anticipating my return next year.