So, it is over. Mostly over at least. I may race a local event in the next few days and Vegas still may happen but essentially, my career is over. Tour of Missouri was a very good, but painful ending to the long run. My last day at Missouri was the best day of my life next to the birth of my son and my wedding day. It is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. A day filled with a lot of raw, exposed emotion and spent with good, long time friends and teammates. It was more than fitting that Big Dave Towle essentially narrated the whole thing. I mean that guy pretty much gives me play by play in my dreams. It was also pretty nice to have my wife around for the last few days of the race to share in the memories and experience.

There were a few key teammates missing from the day, but they made their presence felt in their own ways that really touched my heart. The after party was awesome and I got to say some good by’s to guys I pretty much grew up with, and the guys on BMC had a very nice and fitting Italian dinner waiting for me at restaurant owned by a friend of Dan Schmatz.

I was truly honored to go up on the final podium at Missouri to say a very emotional good by to a lot of friends and fans, but I was so caught up in things there were a few things I could not get out.  So I thought I would add those thoughts here. First, I want to thank all the cycling fans out there for their thank you’s to me and for supporting cycling, which at times, is a hard sport to support. I hesitate to compare myself with the great Lou Gehrig, but I truly was the luckiest guy in the world last Sunday. I really felt that way and that feeling will stay with me the rest of my life. Cycling is a small community and I really felt the love. I wanted to thank Medalist Sports for putting on their cycling events and allowing me to be part of and compete in those great events. And then there is Towle….what can I say…an awesome individual and friend. My career would not have been the same without him or Gord who was there, too.

As I watch my son, I can only hold my breath that he may be able to follow his dad into cycling. I just hope he can race better than I did and be a star not a blue collar, lunch pail rider. As for the guys I raced with and against over the years, let me say this: without everyone of those guys I would not be the man I am today. Whether I got along with guy x or not, at the end of the day, they made me a better bike racer and more importantly a better man. And then there are my BMC teammates. I can only say thanks to a great group of guys who made my last two years the best of my career. I really fell for those guys and how hard they worked every single day. I am going to really miss them and being a part of what they have.  And Gavin Chilcott could not have been a better manager for me. He challenged me to take myself to another level, and I felt like I had to comply. I also need to mention Charley Livermore who helped recruit me for BMC and gave me a sense of home. And finally, the wizard of a director John Lelangue. Man, what a fantastic director who was always so supportive even in the hardest races.

There are also a lot of sponsors out there who really took care of me over the years. There are way to many to mention, but they know who they are and from the bottom of my heart I say thanks. I would not have the life I have without them.  And a really special thanks to the saint that is Andy Rhis and my coach Todd Herriott of Herriott Sports Performance.

So it is time for me to go. Another year or two would not make my career any better, and so many things are pointing to me going out on top. I have a great team and I had a pretty good season. For those who mentioned coming back someday I can only hope I remember that last day in St. Louis and not want to disrespect that day by reaching for a lost cause. I know there will be a day that I try and convince myself and anyone who will listen that coming back is a good idea, and I just want to think back to Sunday and how great the send off was. I won’t return to the pro ranks I am pretty sure of that.  I leave cycling to those with young legs and boundless energy.  Frankly, I just can’t keep up anymore.

I am not sure where I will go from here. I am currently looking for a job, but I am sure something will work itself out. So if your company is hiring let me know.

Ok, that is it. I may or may not do another blog entry; only time will tell. Thanks for the memories.

Havoc (retired)

This post brought to you by the guy who won the Mega Millions lottery, the guy who chips it in from 30 feet from the bunker to win the green jacket, the guy who crushes the 480 foot upper deck bomb in the bottom of the 9th at 3-2 to clinch the walk-off series win and the guy who hears his kid tell him he loves him for the first time….this weeks post brought to you by….ME.

So it is a Monday on a Tuesday, and here I am at my favorite Peet’s doing a blog update. It was a big weekend this week with the USPro road Championships taking place in Greenville, SC. Tyler Hamilton road away with the honors while America’s Team blew it. Our main man Louder had a great ride in an impossible situation to rock up for 5th and Brent and Garcia were the next guys back for us. Overall, BMC had a great day with everyone chipping in for a good days work. As for me, I had the best legs I have ever had in Greenville which is a course I am not super pumped on. Jackson and I covered about a million attacks on the opening circuits with Jackson eventually making one of his stick with Garcia in tow.  You could not have written a better start for BMC. Unfortunately for me, Louder flatted at the exact bottom of the Paris Mountain climb so with a quick rear wheel change and push from me, he was off and chasing.  As for me, I got to start the climb about a minuet down. Not the way I wanted to start, so I got to ride 100% full gas to try and get back. It has been a long time since I have blown by guys on a climb but I pulled one out of my butt while burning a whole lota matches. I made it. Deep in the recesses of my mind I knew that I had to use that effort on the last climb of the day not the first so I knew my fate was sealed.   Unless the group went easy the last time up Paris Mountain I would not be wearing Stars and Stripes come day’s end. But, I knew Louder or Brent or Tony could, so I did what I could for them the rest of the day. In the end….we had a good day.

So for personal reasons, I flew out of SFO this week, which meant there was a small chance I could get back to Cali in time to race the Giro de SF on Monday afternoon. It is the traditional close of the Norcal racing season and a really tough crit. So with all my flights arriving on time, I grabbed the car and headed for Levi’s Plaza. My plan was just to hang in and maybe sprint, and generally  take it easy, and of course, I did none of that. I ended up spending most of the race off the front going through several groups of guys. In the end, Wholberg slipped away with Andy J-M and I blew sky high.  I spent the next 11 laps trying to hold on for 3rd and ended up getting caught with 1 lap to go. Man the wheels just came off!!   I guess 6 hours on a plane are not the best prep for racing. It was fun though and I did not regret going.

One crazy thing I saw  during the women’s race was this guy in a Cal Berkley jersey riding his bike down a crowded sidewalk with his cell phone glued to his ear. This guy did not miss a beat and rode right into the middle of the women’s field as they went around the corner. I guess they need to extend the hands free cell phone law to bikes the way this guy was rolling. Idiot!

So, this is it.  Tour of Missouri, which starts next Monday, is my last big race.  The end has finally come.  Now I may rock up for a few local races and there are plans for some cross, but Missouri is the last really big race I will do as a pro.  At this point, I am just trying to keep it together and I am practicing my armadillo avoidance techniques.

I would like to extend a special congrats to Danny Pate who once again rode to a podium at championships.  He is a good rider and his record proves it.

Havoc

Today’s post is sponsored by our Berkley buddy and his sweet cell phone/riding technique.  Man, that was the sweetest move I have ever seen and one way to get chicks…I guess.