Athens

So yea our team pretty much kicked ass.............in the morning races we put Chris in the winning move, and I got into a chase group......So everyone quilified for the nighttime race. After the pro race in the monring I decided to jump in juniors and help my teammates out.......I was pretty much wasted from the pro race but I did what I could.
So I got to the hotel and ressted up for the big show.....no not the one Bahatti from Rock Racing won, but the ameture one, which is still one of the hardest crits in the southeast......well the race got underway and we were covering all the moves, finaly Nick Housley got away with Eric Murphy.....we did a hell of a job covering moves in the field and disrupting the chase, In the end Nick got 2nd and the rest of us cruised in with the field......Great ride by Nick to put out team on the podium in one of the hardest crits in the southeast,
Next up Anniston and Roswell,
ill keep it posted,

aj

Crit Season!!!

So its here.......got Athens this weekend......expect Team Hincapie Barkley to drop a bomb of whoop ass this weekend!!!!! I think we can def get a W this weekend, i feel decent so i'm hoping i'll pull something off. But anyways ima be busy here soon......here is a list of my upcoming races,
Athens
Anniston
Roswell
Joe Martin Stage Race

Ill keep it posted
aj

So here I am.............

Up here at my bro's college. Which is Sewannee...........riding up here couldn't be much better,,,,,,,,,,,climbs everywhere and no traffic....I love it. The food is killer as well..........Im training hard getting ready for the upcoming races, which are mostly crits, but thats cool I'm good at those anyways.
Thats all the good I knnow for now,

aj

Chatt GA Cup

We started the weekend with a 5.5 mile tt Sat. morning. The conditions where great. I didn't feel great, but I rode a decent time, and got 21st. Our team road great with Chris Biutler getting 4th, and Nick Housley getting 7th. Going into the crit we weren't trying to do anything special, just mark moves, stay safe, and finish in the p-ack, it sounds like a reasonable goal, but this turned out to be a very hard feat to accomplsih. I felt great, but luck wasn't on my side. I got a flat, and got back in easily. With around 8 las to go I tried to position myself for the sprint finsih, again I had bad luck and just as I got into the top 10 my chain jumped and caused me to hit the curb breaking my dereailer. So I went to the pit, and the mechanic told me my bike was totaled but I jumped in anyways and road the last three laps stuck in my biggest gear and finsihed in the pack............Sundays 90 mile road race was one of the hardest I have done. Team Toshiba road tempo the whole race, keeping it together. On the last lap everyone was attcking and into the headwind section we were touching speeds of 40 mph!!! Many guys were dropped in thios section. We hit the climb already tired, and the pack killed it up the wall......the pack was split into many groups, our man Chris made it over in the winning break, Steve Carpenter killed hinself to put our 2nd highest placed rider, Nick, into the second group on the road. I was in the third group and we ended up catching the 2nd group- making it a select group of 25ish.... I just finished in the pack with Nick. Chris finished in the leading group.......Our team did and outstanding job, getting 2 men in the top 10. The annoucer kept saying this was the best field GA cup has ever seen. Six differant NRC teams were there, so I'm really proud to be apart of what our team did this weekend,

aj

Wow!

I stole this quote from my teammate Dave Hutton's blog......

"I look up to Levi, but I don't have cycling idols," he said. "It's great to be racing with such good riders, but my idols are just normal people."
--Martin Erlandsson--

This is a great bit of words,,,,,,and i really relate to it and take it to heart.

aj

Gainsville

So this was the 1st stage race of the year for me, and the 1st tt. I awoke sat. morning to rain, which lasted all day......That was cool with me i kinda like the shit weather.......but anyways, the tt went better then expected for me. I was the 1st rider off, so that sucked, but I ended up riding decent enough to finish 13th in a stacked pro field......even better was my teammate Chris Butler who finished 3rd behind John Murphy and Frank Traviaso. Nick also rode strong finishing 7th......Then the road race came an hour after the tt which was almost as crappy as the weather. Anyways it was hard for around the first 65 miles with no big moves getting away. By the last lap the field was down to around 30 riders and I made the selection and was feeling decent. Thats when the winning move got away and we didnt manage to stick a rider in it. With around 6 miles to go I flatted and since a break was up the road the wheel truck was with it....so i sat on the road in the rain until a nice soul picked my pissed off self and drove me back.......So going into the last day Chris was 4th 16 seconds outta 3rd....so we were trying to get him in a move, but the crit was probably the hardest i have done this year so we couldn't get him in one.....I tried to get in position for the sprint, but with 3 to go just as I was planning on intruding the Toshiba leadout train, big John Murphy Lunched a attack that keep the speed above 35mph the last 3 laps....I ended up getting 13th..........overall it was a good showing for the team.....hopefully we will get em in chatt town.

aj

First stage race of the year.........

is coming up this weekend.........Also it will be my first tt so we'll see how it goes......The Hincapie Barkley is bringing a strong team to Gainsville so watch out....hopefully we will get a good result......training is good......i got a small issue going on with my knee but hopefully i will get over that fast. I'll update after the race,

aj