New Team for 2010!

I just confirmed with an elite team for the coming 2010 season!  Gonna be getting some new, free goodies and the chance to race some of the bigger races the country has to offer! I’ll tell more as the info becomes available to me….

Guess I should start training a little more.  Georgia will be a good launching pad for the beginning of the year training.  My first race really isn’t until April 10th and I’ll have one more 10-day training camp before then…so not really too worried.  

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Snow Storms….

On Thursday of this previous week we had a hell of a snow storm.  In one day we received 16 inches of snow and the state was brought to its knees in a State of Emergency.  Cars were not visible and you had find your car by memory.  I was actually stuck at Dallas‘ house all day and couldn’t get out until the city did a little snow removal (which took about 3 days to finally complete….and the roads are still shitty).  I stayed on campus for the day, hung out at Barriques and then having to end up working on State St.  The next day I went outside to find my car missing.  It was towed.  I called the service and they had moved it over one block, with a 110$ ticket attached to it.  Thanks City of Madison, I could have done that for free…oh and they have yet to actually plow my street over on the East Side 4 days later.  

The next day after the storm the temps decided to drop to about 2 degrees with a windchill of -20 at times.  Thank you Wisconsin…we had such a nice November you decided we needed a complete winter in only 2 days to make up for it.  I want out! 

However, now the temps have gone back up to the 30’s and its pleasant, except for the slush-filled roads.  It takes way too long to drive into work because of accidents and cars approaching speeds of 5 mph.  Dallas is going to help me build up B. Fosler’s extra MTB frame and I’m going to start commuting into work again.  My customers at the shop are going to think I’m crazy!  But it looks like so much fun to go ride in the stuff and it’s going to cut down my commute time, I won’t have to be stuck in a car AND I get some training in so I don’t have to ride the rollers for as long of a time.  

With all of this snow sitting on the ground, though, its got me in the mood to purchase some skate skis for this winter.  The rollers are just not motivating at the moment.  I ride for 30 minutes and I want to shoot myself in the face.  I took off a week for some recovery…did a couple little rides to keep the legs moving, but now that 1 week turned into 2 and its hard to ride at least 30 minutes.  So the MTB commute to work and the skate skis will get me outside, keep me in shape and keep me off those damn rollers.  

In 3 weeks I will be heading to Georgia with some peeps from the UW Cycling team.  There will be 2 groups of 8.  We’ll be staying in nice cabins with a hot tub.  Great riding for a week and don’t have to deal with the midwest winter.  It should get me good and motivated for the upcoming season.  

Then I’m coordinating the UW Cycling Spring Break for a 4th year…with this being my 6th year on the trip.  It will be a good run up to my first race of the season….Hillsboro-Roubaix.  

Dallas and I are deciding on what races we want to hit up this year.  And we are looking at some bigger ones.  Possibly Tour of the Gila, and some of the Twilight crits.  I’m waiting to hear word from the Elite team I applied for early this fall.  They are finalizing the budget and I should hear this week.  Dallas, Mike Anderson and I are also looking at the possibility of starting up our own team that gives back to the community.  If you’re a sponsor and want to help us out, please contact me.  And we’ll tell you more about the team and how you can help and how we’ll help you.

2010 should be different in many ways….

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Winter….

Its that time of year when I really have to start training more for next season.  Everyday, more and more, I feel the need to ride my bike more and more.  Its a nice feeling.  Yet I have a job and can’t ride as much as I would really like to.  Also the Wisconsin weather doesn’t let you ride outside.  Gotta stay inside and just ride the rollers.  So here’s the dilemma.  I can’t quite move anywhere warm yet.  Its cold outside/rainy/snowy (soon) and I want to ride my bike more.  Rollers/trainers get pretty boring after a certain amount of time.  Do I sit on my rollers for 4 hours at a time…or just say screw it, pack up and move someplace warm?  

I have improved my cycling ability this year and I didn’t really get to race, but I did ride my bike a lot.  I also treated every commute to work as an interval. A 20-40 minute interval. I’m happy at this point the numbers I’m putting out and how I’m feeling while putting those numbers out…and I still feel fresh.  I’m still letting my body do the talking for right now seeing that we are only getting into November (damn my birthday is in 2 weeks….).  However in November I’d like to up my training, be able to ride at least 3-5 hrs a day/6 days a week.  I’m still planning on going to Georgia in January.  I have my paid vacation put through and authorized.  Then with Spring Break in March and me coordinating it I’m really hoping to show my stuff/whatever I have this coming year.  

I’ll hear if I’m on an elite team in November as well.  I’m ready to go race some bigger races this coming year.  

I gotta start making some passive income so I don’t have to work and still make money on the side.  

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Wisconsin Climate….

….really sucks for cyclists.  Fall is officially here and is unseasonably cold.  It really hasn’t been that bad the last couple of days, however, the rain has made it suck.  Riding on wet roads is really not the most comfortable thing in this world…as many of you already know.  But at least its not snowing yet.  That’ll be coming soon enough  

I’ve started writing up a little training plan for myself for this “off-season”.  Sounds like I may be able to incorporate some Tucson riding into the schedule, (hopefully along with Georgia and NC) which would really get me in a happy mood.  I’ll be coordinating Spring Break for the UW Cycling team again this year.  Things will mostly be the same as the previous two years I coordinated, but this year I’m NOT getting horribly sick.  

I took last week off sort of…pretty much due to too much work, other errands and miscellaneous odd jobs. But it was a rest week well needed.  Its time for some more base/tempo.  I’ll have some fun with intervals soon enough…probably start those a little bit more in December.  But until I’m able to get some place warm I’ll be on the rollers (and hopefully a trainer soon once I purchase one).  

Ah yes and check this little dandy out Tour de Dane.  It would be awesome to have this right here in Dane county. A European style race.  It would bring a lot of money and riders to the area and would put us on the map.  But also put us cyclists on target for the angry drivers who do not like us using “their” roads.  Too bad we just can’t get along.  But do look into it…

Until then keep checking out my buddy’s review page about cycling related items.  He gets to review some pretty awesome things.  I wish I was so lucky….click HERE (Dallas’ blog)….

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Revival….

….Revival of my car, my powertap, my bike, and some motivation.  

I haven’t had my car since February.  The engine decided to die on me and I ended up pushing it up a little incline just to get it off the road and into a driveway.  Thank god I was in Stevens Point at the time and was able to get help from some family members.  So I’ve been getting around with my bike since then.  Lots of riding everywhere.  Which of course is good for many things.  But sometimes can suck when the weather turns.  It has a “new” engine…its a 1984 Ford….so its old but new.  New front axel, new alternator and had a couple other things done to it.  I haven’t driven it yet but I hear it drives great!  Its good to have (hopefully) reliable transportation again, especially with the Wisconsin winter coming soon enough.  

I also worked on my bike last night. The last few days of rain and having to ride through the crap really gummed up my bike.   I did a bit of overhaul to it and its working great again.  There was a little bit of a creak for the longest time…but now thats completely gone!  And while cleaning up the bike I decided I would see if the P-Tap was working at all.  In April I had it on the back of the car going to a race and a strong thunderstorm came through and completely flooded it.  When I got to the race it wasn’t working…I don’t think the 25-yard, 8-inch deep pit of water every lap of the circuit race helped alleviate the problem much. I had it dry out for some time afterwards.  I tried it again about a month after it happened and it still didn’t work.  Earlier this week I just took apart everything I could from it and had it sit all week.  When I tried it out yesterday….IT WORKED!  I thought I had a bunch of money gone down the drain and just left with a heavy wheel.  I rode it today and seems to be working great!  I’ll have something to go off of this winter now. 

And I have some new motivation these days.  Soon, I’ll have my new modeling portfolio being sent to 3000+ clients from all over the world.  With Kuala Lumpur already showing interest I hope for the best.  Also, I may have found an elite team for next year.  I got an email just a couple days ago and will be speaking with the team director further about my participation on the team.  Both these things are keeping me motivated to stay in shape for the winter months.  I’m hoping to lose a couple kilos by the end of this year.  Then I’ll be heading to Georgia for a week long training camp with Dallas for some nice long climbs.  When March comes it’ll be the UW Cycling Spring Break in NC.  I’ll definitely be heading on that as well.  That will make it my 6th year on that spring break trip.  By then I should hopefully be a little lighter and of course faster for the 2010 season.  Ah but if I didn’t have to live and train in Wisconsin.  The Farmers Almanac says its suppose to be a mild winter….and usually its right….

More to come soon….

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Time Off….

Ok so I’ve actually have had the internets for sometime now.  I just haven’t had the time to post anything.  We’ve been understaffed at work…again…and I’ve had to pull 55+ hr weeks.  I worked 25 straight days in a row and finally broke that with a day off yesterday…AND today!  To just be lazy and do whatever I want.  Damn that feels good.  

However I have been able to ride my bike still during much of this time.  I get about an hour and a half total time commute from home to work back to home.  So I get a little bit of extra training in.  Then at night I’ve been jumping on the rollers for about 2 hrs or so.  I’ve also been incorporating some gym work as well.  All I can say is I love weighted step ups.  They hurt like hell and tire you out pretty well…but work.  I, however, still have no team for next year.  I’ve put in my resume to a couple teams and I’m just waiting to hear some type of response.  Hopefully I can get something going for next year.  If not I’m still going to head to some bigger races next year.  

I’m also waiting on the modeling world.  However, I’ve gotten some good news back.  We did the photoshoot  about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  I got to see some of the raw footage and my agent has been working on editing the ones for my portfolio.  I’ve seen a couple and they are looking pretty good.  I guess he sent a couple pics to Kuala Lumpur and they asked when I was going to be there!  He is still going to push me for Japan though.  Which I’m fine with.  

I have an opportunity to move to Chicago as well if I want.  And have a business prospect.  I just have to figure somethings out.  Its on the table…I just have to move on it.  

Oh and if you want some expert opinion and insight on cycling, cycling parts, the whole cycling world my buddy Dallas has reinvented his blog.  Click here.  The link is also on the right under the other blogs section.

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

No internets….

Well I’ve been hidden for awhile due to having no internets in my new place yet.  Its not that bad…one extra bill that doesn’t need to be worrisome.  The new place is pretty good though.  A little far from things but not a horrible commute by any means.  Its about 15 min by bike to State St and 4o total minutes to Odana Steep.  So I get somewhat of a workout every day….if anything its an extra hour:20 every day of training.  But back to the house…good place.  Nice setup, bigger kitchen than our old place.  The only thing that sucks are the cats.  I’m getting along with them but still not a huge fan.  I’m just happy I’m not allergic to these cats.  Nick’s band plays/practices every Sunday and Monday afternoon/evening.  Never use to be a heavy metal fan, but they’re writing some pretty cool songs…just still can’t understand the lyrics  

I got a membership to the YMCA, which is about 1.5 miles away from our place so I just run over there.  Its that time of year for a transition so I’ve been starting to lift some, running and rowing.  Rowing is hard and awesomely fun!  Probably my new favorite workout.  I’ll probably row alot this winter to stay in good cardiovascular health for next racing season.  I haven’t been riding that much (except to work and general commuting) and I’m starting to miss it.  I’ll have to get back into it.  And this is the best time of year for riding in my opinion.  Nice, colorful scenery and long sleeves.  Don’t know…I just enjoy riding in long sleeve jerseys.  I’m also looking for a team next year.  A team that can give me some decent support and get me to a couple bigger races.  I’ll have to apply to some soon.

In other big news I have my photoshoot with Ledom the weekend of the 19th/20th this month!  I’ve been growing out my hair and it has gotten to a pretty good length.  This is also another reason why I’ve been working out a ton.  This is hopefully going to bring me to the big times.  So I shall be going down to Chicago next Friday afternoon to begin the weekend long process.  I will be getting a some nice skin care treatments, my hair will be straightened and I’ll be shopping for some nice fancy clothes with Mackett…..I have to give them back though .  I will also have some training and look though many many books and watch a ton of videos.  Then it will be an all day photoshoot with many different outfit changes.  The thing I like about this one….don’t have to pay a dime (except to get down to Chicago).  After this is all done.  Mackett will take the best pics, put them in my Ledom portfolio and then send them worldwide.  Hopefully something happens sooner than later and I may be finding myself in Italy or Japan later this year.  Not gonna lie, but that would rule! 

But always good to have a Plan B….if this all doesn’t really work out I plan on going back to school next fall.  I have two different options of what I would want to do.  But I have a little time to think about that.  

Thats life as of right now….

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

I need a new job….

I do….I’ve been dragged along for too long and then shot down.  I just keep getting into these situations.  I just want something new, something where upper management is respectful of their employees, their assets.  I don’t understand how you can treat your employees like crap…they are the ones who make your business run.  Without them you would have no business.  

I’m just not going anywhere…I want to get out of here…soon….

Ride time! And something to listen to….

My sickness of fatigue, weekness and not getting a good lung-full of air is gone and I’m feeling good on the bike again.  I wish I could just try train all the time….guess I should pay off my loans and credit card faster so I could just ride.  However….I need a new ipod.  Riding by yourself just listening to nature can only last so long during a ride.  I’m thinking about purchasing a refurbished ipod nano from the Apple website.  Only 99$….I think I could handle that.  I just need something while I ride.  And I’m motivated to ride again…which seems to always be up and down.  I’m still planning on heading to Downer’s Grove for the National Championships on the 15th and 16th.  Possibly Gateway Cup too after that.  

Then it looks like I have another photoshoot this week.  This time for Madison Magazine.  Its crazy how all that works…but its all networking.  I’m starting to get to know a lot of people in the fashion industry and thats how you get the gigs.  So I have a huge lull and then I get everything at once.  Photoshoot with Nikki IX Lives, photoshoot with an art director who has worked on such films as the Star Wars series, then a photoshoot for 414 Magazine out of Milwaukee…now I get a call about a photoshoot for Madison Magazine.  Awesome….now if I could only make it over to Japan soon.  

Oh and I have some auditions for some short films soon too! 

Ciao ciao….

Waitey

Craziness….

So things have been down, but they have been up as well.  I’m moving into a new place in about 2 weeks, I’ve had 3 photoshoots in the past week, worked a total of 115 hrs in a 2 week period, got sick and am back on the bike.  Its been kinda crazy.  

So my new place will be closer to East towne and pretty close to Monona.  It’ll be a longer commute into work, but it’ll be well worth it.  I’m moving in with one of my coworkers and his fiancee.  I don’t have to sign a lease nor give a security deposit AND rent is going to be low.  Its going to be a good fun time.  Nick plays drums for a new up and coming Heavy Metal Band and Aylana is a baker! I’ll learn how to play the drums, get to hang out with some fun musicians and eat some bakery! It’ll be good times….and nice to get off the campus for a little bit.  Closer to MATC…so maybe I can take some of those massage classes that I’ve wanted to  

At work 2 people were fired…I won’t go into why, but it caused hell on my work schedule having to pick up many double shifts.  I worked 55 hrs the first week and then 60 the next.  Not much time for sleep when you are opening one store and then going to close the next and doing it all over the next day.  Nice paychecks don’t get me wrong, but that is a lot of time serving coffee to customers.  I also put in a proposal for a new position for me and a pay raise…so hopefully they go with that seeing that its all pretty much what I’m doing now except for higher pay.  

So during this time I wasn’t able to ride my bike (except to work and back).  Got pretty pissy about that because I was in pretty good form before I had to work so much.  Right after all that work was over I got sick and couldn’t bike still.  But now I’m back on the bike and ready to go…just have to gain some form again.  I want to do Downers Grove.

As for the photoshoots, one was a steampunk gunfight with my buddy Nikki IX lives.  We wore masks, had homemade wooden guns and were fighting over a girl.  It was a little out of my usual higher fashion element, but fun.  The second one I went up to Devils Lake and did some hiking shots up the mountain there.  Lots of hiking with the photographers heavy backpack.  It was fun and very tiring…and I can finally say I went hiking at Devils Lake.  The 3rd photoshoot will be published in 414 Magazine out of Milwaukee.  I’m not going to say much about this shoot until it is released in the mag, but I can say it wasn’t what we expected.  We were told it was a “lavish” party shoot showing off denim.  We were presented with an edgy, sexy, naughty, and a little dirty at times, “party”.  There were 4 guys and 8 girls.  We were partnered up and all started on the couch.  We had to interact closely with our partners.  My next spot…in the shower with the girl….then a 2nd girl.  I’m just going to leave it at that….

Oh and later that night I found out that I’m a little famous…well if you can really say that, but I guess my picture is being used for a clothing line called Ranghart.  I’m in a look book, on a rolling digital display, and plastered on the wall in the Ranghart gallery in NYC!!!  Just found that out today…except now I believe I should be getting some royalties for that.  So I’m definitely going to look into that.  But still pretty damn cool! 

I’ll put pictures up when I know I can. 

Ok bike ride….

Ciao ciao….

Waitey