Back home, back up front

Back home from college, Paul Ward schooled the pro 1-2 peleton in the 100-mile Tour de Moore road race in NC. The Fayetteville Observer reports that Paul and Rosebrock (Manulife Financial) rode away from the prestigious Hincapie Team during the last 20 miles, and then Paul edged out Rosebrock on the line by quarter wheel. Read the article.

Paul rides for Nature's Path Pro cycling team. He started as a junior on the local Conte's team, moved up in the categories while racing for local team Atlantic Velo, and raced on Team Snow Valley's elite squad for two years. This is Paul's first season as a category 1.

(Photo by David Smith, Fayetteville Observer, 4/30/06)


Read more about Paul.

If you have a Virginian Pilot password, read even more about Paul.

(photo source: teamnaturespath.com)

Times

Julie (left) and John (right) ran in the 110th Boston Marathon last week. What an experience that must have been, from the qualifying to the finish. They both finished several minutes slower than their best marathon times, so I promised Julie a poem:

So there they are pictured with John's cyclist (who is he anyway) and me (Julie's cyclist) on the relay teams at VA Duathlon earlier this month. Both these Running Etc teams won the men and women's relays, and what a great competition. John's team edged out 2nd place by 3 tenths of a second and Julie's team won by a mere 32 seconds. In both cases, their run times were key to the win since John's cyclist and I were both beat by 2nd place teams' cyclists. Julie's first leg 5k was a PR 20:41 for her.

1:27:32.30 Running Etc. 1:27:32.60 Running Frogs (Men's Relay)

1:37:59.85 Running Etc. 1:38:31.95 Two L’Fers (Women's Relay) Full Relay results

More publicity rides

Now ain't that the truth.
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Kevin is front left center at CCC last weekend. >>>>>





(from "It's a day at the races" by Nicole Morgan. Photo by Gary C. Knapp, Virginian Pilot, 4/10/06)


What do you say to an Olympian?
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If Michellie Jones was willing to ride in the rain among unfamiliar wheels, I could not miss the opportunity to attempt conversation. I went blank as I rode along side her, so I found a variant of weather small talk: "So, what type of weather do you compete best in?" thinking that she would start trash talking humidity or sub-freezing temps. Michellie said, "I like it all, I do well in anything." She sure told me. Certainly her resume would agree, I thought.

"Wow, great, so where is your next triathlon?" I asked, hoping to talk about the weather in whatever location that would be. "San Diego in May," she said. Weather in San Diego--hmm, obviously this conversation was finished.

I am grateful that Charles, David and Julie hosted Michellie. What a great ride.

(photo by Bill Tiernan, Virginian Pilot, 4/16/06)

Road Tripping

Top Left: No one on a bicycle who reaches this sign ever forgets this sign. (Wintergreen-Montebello-return loop)

Top Right: Low traffic, high UV. (Skyline Drive)

Bottom Left: Some things are better done up close. (Harrisonburg, VA)

Bottom Right: What on Earth? (Skyline Drive)

Banner Background

The race banner is finally back on display on Waterside Drive in Norfolk, VA. It has been impossible to reserve space on this catwalk over the past few years. Pro photographer Jonathan Devich designed and made the banner while he was still an amateur photographer here in town. The first version had a Ford logo, this one has our title sponsor Conte's logo.

This 30'x 8' dinosaur has been rolled up and taking up all the space in my spare room floor for the past 5 years. The vinyl-on-vinyl design is an antiquity in the banner world. They lasar on logos and lettering these days, and when revisions are made, they just lasar over the old text or logos. This one requires peel-cut-paste method.

The racer image on the banner is that of Fast Freddie Rodriguez, 3- time USPRO road race champion. There he is on the left where (I think) he is winning the 2001 USPRO race in Philly. On the right, the image on our banner is from a photo taken during Freddie's 2000 win at the Philly race. He also won in 2004.

(Photo source: fredrodriguez.com)