Rubbing Elbows

WARNING: This is not a riding story...rather it is a story about riders. Those who be, and those who wannabe.

This weekend I drove down to the Front Range to hang with my friend Matt, take in a ride, and be a lookie loo at the Garmin Slipstream kick-off party in Boulder.

We weren't sure what to expect from the party, but we were pleasantly surprised. Over 800 fans like us and VIP's gathered at the Boulder Theater for an hour and a half cycling kick-off party. This must be what midnight madness is like at the beginning of the college basketball season.....alright it was Boulder, so all of that with a pretentious uppity feel to it!

We got the last two seats in the balcony (thanks Matt) and settled in for some video presentations and speeches from the Mayor of Boulder, CEO's of primary sponsor companies, and a representative of the Children's Hospital. I give the team big props for donating all proceeds to the Hospital.

My goal for the evening was to capture a picture of team manager Jonathan Vaughters in his trademark turtleneck for my wife....he wasn't wearing one that evening, but I got this one for you sweetie....

After all of the presentations, JV introduced the team and had them come on stage for brief bios and a short audience Q&A. It was impressive to see the whole team on stage. It was also fun to listen to the trash talking and the promises of performance, we'll see.

After the show appeared to be breaking up, I made a break for it. I dragged Matt with me and made a bee line for the VIP area. On the way we ran into time trailing stud David Millar....

David has won three stages of the Tour and is the only Brit to have worn all three Jerseys at the Tour.

This only further fueled my desire to crack the secret VIP zone. We tried and were denied, but waited patiently. I saw another opportunity and we made a run for it. This is what waited on the other side!

Drew with Magnus Backstedt 2004 Paris Roubaix champion

With Mike Friedman, multiple time and discipline national champion on the track.

With Bradley Wiggins four time Olympic Gold medalist, multiple time world track champion, and flamboyant Brit about town!

David Towle the "Voice of American Racing" was the emcee

Slipstream Director Sportif Jonathan Vaughters (sans turtleneck)

Drew with 2008 Tour de France 4th place, Christian Vandevelde

I was really glad that we got down into the "pits." The guys were all really nice and I hope that they do great this coming season....I could add to the list of TDF champions who I've been photographed with....

Matt and I cruised back home and hit the bars in Fort Collins to tell all of the ladies about our evening. Actually we had some wings, fries, and PBR's and went back home to bed.

Part two of the weekend called for an early rise to hit about 30 miles of single track the next day. More to come.

The Journey....

I set out this summer to accomplish A goal. While I didn't achieve my goal, I learned a lot, especially about setting goals.

My goal this summer was to ride the Leadville 100 bike race in under 9 hours. You know...big buckle, elite level time, hot chicks on both arms, etc.

Along the way I met tons of new friends, networked into the "on-line" cycling scene, and got into as good of shape as I've been in a decade. I still have many blogs to write about my experiences this year....running into cool folks on the Leadville course while pre-riding which turned into lifelong friendships, doing rides which have been on my life checklist forever (Leadville, Triple Bypass, etc.), and revisiting a great race from my past and sharing it with others (Moab).

I'll try to get caught up as we head into the winter. I think what got me thinking about all of this was the arrival of a new jersey in the mail today. I've been lurking about on many web blogs this summer...the enjoyment of this voyeristic pursuit is what inspired me to get this one going again. Its really interesting to read about others adventures and be reminded about the community that we belong to as cyclists.

The jersey is sweet...even my wife likes it. Its from Rick in Utah. 29 and single...my wife pointed out to me tonight that I'm not single and I had to bring her up to speed...so to speak! I found Rick's blog through Fatty's and even though I've never met any of these folks, I know that we'll get along when we finally get a chance to ride. You can check his blog out at... http://www.ride29er.blogspot.com/. I've also been to the Twin6 Website to order some Fatty arm warmers to help out Elden and his situation. It'll be my Utah tribute attire for my 1x rides.

If you aren't familiar with Elden's situation, I won't try and explain, get over to his blog to catch up. Seems like a great guy and there is no doubt that his mission is just. Check his story out at http://www.fatcyclist.com/.

Anyway, lots of fun events this summer, and posts to describe on the way....for now, I'm savoring the abstract of the journey.