ok.. nows lets talk about how poorly designed the building is...

there arent any bathrooms on the infield...

the tunnel goes out of the track to an access road and not to the parking lot...

the seats are uncomfortable and you cant lean back in them...

there isnt an easy way to get from the stands to the infield without crossing the track...

there are no showers or locker rooms...

the place is depressing and there isnt any ambiance...

i would rather race at t-town or encino anyday... or some nice place that is good to be at.. with some grass or something.. or some palm trees... and natural light...

yeah sure.. its a great track.. but the building that tehy put it in is retarded...

ok.. lets talk about how depressing track nats are...

there arent any spectators.. there were less than a hundred people last night... i hope that there are more people to watch the mens sprint tonight... there are a lot of good sprinters and it should be competitive...

after the points race i was looking aroung going "shit.. and then you are the national champion?"... there was nobody in the place!...

i remember in t town that the place had thousands of people out...

and even in texas there were more spectators...

what can you do?

So i went with a 53-15... It was ok... And i went through to the final tonight...

Treo 650...

Wreck

On the way to nats...

ok..

so i went to the track this morning and i was WAY too early and then i left to go get lunch and a coffee... and i came back and got on the track and did the scratch heats and i didnt even make it to the finals... it was pretty funny... i didnt care to tell you the truth because thats just one less thing to do later in the day.. so i drove home to the desert...

i had andy stone from shimano tech support put on a 51x14 so i can actually go fast and we will give it another go tomorrow...

i feel really good and the heats were silly easy but i just couldnt ride fast because i was really under geared... that track is really fast and i cant go with a 49x14 like i had on there before...

its typical that guys will ride 94 and 96 in a scratch race... for those of you who kow what that means...

pushbikes.ca this is going to very cool when she actually puts stuff on it.. i really like the format...

my favorite color is the red...

so its pretty much official that i am moving to winston salem... i found a house and everything... i am staying up waiting for an e mail from a loan broker with the numbers on a few different scenarios...

financing is a trip...

you can pretty much get any crazy loan you want... it all depends on the amount of risk that you are willing to take...

Nats

start tomorrow.. i missed registration today because i was running around all day trying to take care of loose ends that i have to do and then it started raining like crazy and there was bad flash floods everywhere and it was just stupid to drive in the road when its more like a river just so you can go to reg at a race...

so i will have to get my packet tomorrow morning and leave really early.. like 5 or something...

Patetroleum

this is no joke... next in the lineup is Saunders Soap... i am imagining a bald head icon like a brown mr clean or something like that...

One of the most dissapointing nights that i have ever had... Had good legs and crashed with one to go in the biggest crit in the world... My guys didnt get in the money... We came out here and made nothing at all...

Regroup mentally... I took a hit on this one...

Track nats start wednesday and i hope i can win something there... Would most like to win the madison with bahati...

Treo 650...

last advice from a reader... then i am done...

All these guys writing you about keeping their women and having time for cycling. It's all about keeping your wife or girlfriend involved. At least that's what I figured out with my wife. When I go for a long training ride I always ask my wife if I can call her if I flat, I take her to the bike store with me a lot of times. Tell her how stoked I am about whatever ride or race is coming up, ask her to be there. Also, I ride with my wife at least once a week, and it kills me because she rides a cruiser and on the city paths. But it's worth it. I think that's the key -- she sees cycling as something she's involved with me and not something she's in competition with. The proof dude? She bought me a DA group for my ride this summer for a birthday present and we're broke (especially now). But I always talked about it and she sees cycling as one of our connections. She definitely isn't one of those needy wife types either.

Hi Erik,

I have a question for you that probly applies to most competitive
cyclists. im sure this is something you've had to deal with before. How
do i get the girls i date to understand that i have to act the way i do
(the cockyness, the shaved legs, the vanity.....). many women that are
unfamiliar with the sport arent aware that we're all total badasses and
just assume that we're self-centered dicks. what do i do?

also, what do you do about the occasional girl that doesnt understand that
shaved legs are hot?

thanks

Myt Response:

dont be a self-centered dick... problem solved...

other things you can do are...

1) dont date girls you know you wont like because they are "hot"

2) dont let a girl give you a hard time and dont stand for any emasculative (is that a word) behavior

3) dont invest any time in a relationship with a girl who obviously doesnt get the whole bike thing and isnt open to it.. she NEVER will get it or be open to it...

4) you should move to france where chicks love cocky dick bike racers... but you cant suck.. so think about it before you go all that far just to get laid...

dear erik

Is it a good idea to bring your girl to races even
though she doesn't help with support,takes up a spot
in the car/van, and forces you to ask host housing if
it's ok if she stays (though you never ran it past
your teammates)?
oh...and you love her SO much!!

My Response:

leave you lady at home where she belongs (oh!)... if you bring her you need to sack up and take responsibility to provide her with a nice place to stay and good food... not on an air mattress crashed out with your buddies... shit.. a guy should just take care of his lady and that is that... if you are talking about a wife, then thats different.. if you want to bring your wife along on a trip and crash her out in a host house then she should divorce you because you are LAME!!!...

HEY

I'm going to Vegas with my girlfriend in two weeks to visit her family. I'm thinking about asking her to marry me when we are there and then going to the Elvis Wedding Chapel. Should I ask her BEFORE we go or wait until we get there?

My Response:

thats bold man... if you care at all to ask anyone for sure ask her parents... to go spontaneous like that sounds like a lot of fun to me...

Hi Erik!...

Is it appropriate to take a girl who likes you to a strip club on the 2nd date? Our 1st date was at a wedding, so this would be a substantial step down the ladder, but I’d like your input, soon, since I’m supposed to take her there tonight.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

My Response:

ok.. so you already did whatever you did...

it depends on what you are going for... long term partners dont like strip clubs in general... so that means this girl wouldnt be considered as a long term partner if you get my meaning...

i like to keep my strippers and my girlfreind separate... but maybe your girl is special though and you can have the best of both worlds...

Dear Erik,

how do I get the wife to understand my desire to ride and give me the time to
train enough to at least be competitive? She doesn't seem to understand my
attachment to my bike.

My Response:

ooh... yeah... see... there is nothing you can do about that... i am lucky in that i met my babe when i was in full swing with the biking thing and i think she accepts that i am not me without cycling.. and she understands that it will be my own decision to stop and it will have to be taken on my own terms... in other words- she cant do anything about it and i will stop when i am good and ready...

i am sure that your wife sees cycling as a theif that steals your time away from the family... nothing you can do will change that... i am sure also that she resents a bit the fact that you are not willing to give up a part of your selfish single man's life... they always want you to give up all the single guy stuff you used to...and if you came to cycling after your marriage thats even worse because you are picking up NEW SINGLE GUY HABITS!!!...

dom perras said to me that stopping cycling will be the greatest heartbreak of your life, no matter what the terms... so you will either have to live with the friction or decide which heartbreak is worse.. losing your wife, or a part of yourself...

thats what it comes to in the end... you will most likely have to quit cycling to stay married... or at least you will have to sacrifice what little happiness you could have had as a competitive cyclist... and settle for never ever improving...

would she be happy with a compromise?... does she wanna do stuff like walk around aimlessly all day and look at crap or drive to some far place thats exactly like where you live and do the same stuff that you do where you just drove from?... maybe you could do some of that stupid crap... i dont know... but that even makes it so you will have to sacrifice training time... and thats not the direction you want to go in...

i bet though that you could be fit if you used the time you have better... you are screwed... you cant change your wife or make her see anything new about cycling.. so its better to try to work at the real problem from another angle- try to get fit with the time you have rather than to allow your wife to give you more time...

please e mail me your quesions on romance and courtship and i will answer them for you... E-MAIL

ok...

this is the most fun i have had in a while... i talked to hamblen's polish neihbors...we drank beer in hamblen's front yard leaning on his truck.. and then we watched fight club... and then we raced cruisers around the block twice.. and a deer ran out in front of me and i almost hit it during the race... and then we looked at his AC in the basement because it was really leaky...

so when i move here i think i am going to have a lot of fun everyday like this... and i met some other bike racers that i didnt know before...

moment of silence please for the scotts who were defeated by the english