It has come to my attention that there is an on going discussion on Velonews.com about the recent decision to ban TT bikes at the Nature Valley Gran Prix next month. Click here to check it out.

My poor time trialing in 2008 was used as a reason that TT bikes shouldn’t be allowed. I missed the time cut by a few seconds. (I had/have never missed a time cut in my life in any other race, TT or road.)

I missed the time cut because I miscalculated how fast I had to ride to stay in the race. I didn’t have a TT bike (or wanted one) and it was obvious, that I wasn’t going to finish good in the time trial, so why ride hard. I had no idea that someone would average nearly 30 mph in those windy conditions with a 1 km headwind climb to the finish. It was my mistake.

From my perspective, I’m not going with the rational that it is a PRO level event and that if one is entered in this event, then they should be prepared to compete on a PRO level no matter what the cost.

Nature Valley is a great race. It is on the NRC calender. But, the NRC is a 2nd tier series now. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s true. USAC have created this PRO Tour series that is the premier series in the country. Look at the number of teams that race in Nature Valley, Joe Martin or any other NRC race that has the full 8 rider team full. Usually less than half of the teams in the race field a full team. And sometimes much less than that. It is not on the UCI calender. It is just a big regional/national event.

That aside, I totally support this new rule. I’m not going with the level the playing field rational. I’m going with it is stupid to make everyone bring 2 bikes to a race when one of the bikes is going to be used for less than 13 minutes. I stayed with a couple women two years ago that both flew with TT bikes to the race. $175 each way. That is $350 extra. Multiply that by the 100+ riders that fly to the event and you get to a pretty stupid number. It is the same reason that in Qatar at the start of the PRO season, riders have to do the TTT on their road bikes. The upside doesn’t justify the expense.

Dave LaPorte, race director of Nature Valley, is a great guy. And a smart guy. The sport needs more people like him involved. He doesn’t come from a cycling background. He is all about what makes the race better. For the sponsors, for the riders, and for the spectators. He listens to what people have to say and takes input seriously. He understands the importance of regional teams to the sport. And he and the race go out of their way to accommodate them. Enough said.

I say, let’s have a maximum of 6 riders on a team at any NRC race. Or any race that isn’t on the PRO Tour calender. This isn’t the Tour de France or Giro. It is weekend stage racing. At Joe Martin the past 5 years, every race has been a field sprint. That is 2 hard road races and 1 hard criterium times 5 years. That is 15 field sprints. The winner of the race is the winner of a 2 mile uphill time trial. Is that what our sport has come down to? 6 riders would have a much harder time controlling a field than 8. And it would make bike racing more interesting, once again.

One of the last times I rode a TT bike was for the Levi's Team. I really look comfortable, huh? I can count on both hands how many times I've ridden them in my life.

It is super hard to ride easy in Kansas. Anytime of the year. Spring and fall are windy. Summer is hot. And winters now are winters of old. Snow seems to be the norm nowadays. So far, the last 3 days I’ve been back have been typical spring conditions. Very pleasant temperatures, but super windy. Yesterday, on the Wednesday ride, we had a pretty okay turnout. Something around 15 of us at the start. But, the wind was howling from the South at 25+mph. I feel an obligation to try to keep everyone in the fold. Which isn’t an easy thing to do when it’s that windy. And there is a complete difference in abilities here. Nearly everyone races some, but there is a wide gap in fitness. We’re lucky to have pretty empty roads. We ended up doing most of the ride with a side wind. Center line to gutter. Or gutter to center line. It worked out pretty well. I think nearly 10 of us made it to the “final sprint”. We had a little over 40 miles and the average speed was 21.5mph. I was kind of surprised that that average speed was that fast. I knew the ride seemed kind of hard, but with the wind, it should of been much slower. Guess everyone is going pretty good. This early move to daylight savings time really works wonders for full time, employed riders.

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt that I went to a physical therapy place here in Topeka to get my shoulder fixed. They sponsor a local cycling club. They told me it was going to cost $800 to join and then it was going to be $129 month dues. I thought, “Man, that seems expensive, but maybe it will be worth it to get better.” So, I paid at the desk and when I started looking around, all the riders that are sponsored by the place were there. They were getting facials, manicures, pedicures and all sorts of other stuff. They had cotton between their toes. There wasn’t any physical therapy going on. I had just joined a spa, I guess. I don’t usually remember dreams that vividly. Hopefully there isn’t much to interpret here. Think it is relevant?

This morning's weather. It only gets windier later on in the day.

Photo Trudi sent from Europe of a vending machine that sells different size tubes.

I had to ride across this metal bridge crossing the Mississippi in Davenport in the rain. I wasn't comfortable. But, I do love the construction.

Ad from the paper today. Can you believe the soda companies are putting ads in the paper bragging about how few calories children are consuming of their products?

Permanent spare wheel cards. A stolen idea. Plastic reenforced with duct tape.

The best travelling companion you could ask for. He can sleep in any postion.