Follow Bryan’s new blog posts at Bryan’s Bike Tour 2010

The course was the Rt. 29, 10 mile rolling Frenchtown route. It is pretty smooth and makes for tough competition.

I made some good friends, who continued to work there over the years. Miraculously, they were able to withstand the lousy schedule and kept on going. My friend Matty Zolghadar, was the chief operator there. While his actual title may have been “transporter,” he was nothing short of the CEO. In fact, I’m very comfortable saying that if it wasn’t for him, the company would have probably never made it to be so large.

Well, a few months ago, Matty had enough. He started his own exotic car club, which is run out of Lodi, NJ. I proudly present, the Signature Car Collection. You can expect 1st class service here and some incredible cars.

Give him a call and say that you read this here.
Signature Car Collection
877.511.1876

Training in the Valley of Fire

On February 20th, my teammates and I headed out to Las Vegas for a training camp, which was hosted by Peter Cummings of Plan2Peak. We spent 8 days training in the valleys and mountains of Nevada. Some of the parks we visited were Death Valley, Valley of Fire & Lake Mead. Between 350-400 miles were covered during the week.

It was an incredible time with good friends.

Vegas Training Camp Photos

Follow the link below to watch the slideshow.

Yours truly, Matt & Mike

On Saturday night, the Krause’s did it again. Big hair, slap bracelets, pop rocks and classic 80′s music filled the bar. The venue squeezed in nearly 150 people, all decked out in their favorite 80′s attire.

And yes, that’s a $15 leisure suit I’m wearing, straight from The Salvation Army.

All of the pictures are located in the links below.

Nick David’s selection
Jess Krause’s complete

Fast forward to today, and Bryan is crossing the country on a bicycle. About 6 days ago, Bryan traveled south to Florida, where he would meet up with a few strangers who shared the same dream. Bryan is now on day 4 of his epic journey across the southern USA.

Here’s an excerpt from his blog:

A few years later I got a motorcycle, and after a full summer of riding all over, I get hit by a car on my way to work. I broke my femur and had a rod placed in it, along with a broken jaw. After missing a semester of school and finally healin up, just about the only form of exercise I could do without pain was riding a bike. So I picked up a mt. bike and started riding again. Alot. Then I got a road bike, and rode that alot.

Then last summer I had the great idea of riding my bike down to Long Beach Island to spend the week with family. I bought a set of panniers and a rack, threw em on my mt. bike, and I rode. And rode. And rode. I probably should have spent some more time planning out my route, but nevertheless, I made it down. About 10 hours later. And 103 miles. And countless stops to look at google maps on my phone to try and get an idea of where the heck I was.

Crossing the county has always been a dream of mine. Bryan is living his dream and documenting it along the way. You can follow his ride by reading his website. Good luck Bryan!

Bryan Carbone’s Journey

Yes, I ate all 30 tacos and yes, I felt horrible afterward.

A few weeks ago, my 2005 Chrysler 300C decided to stop running. After being looked at by the Chrysler, I was told that the motor was blown and it would cost roughly $8,000 to fix. Chrysler did not give solid answers, which left me feeling uneasy. So, I paid Chrysler $113 for them to lie to me and had the car flat-bedded, which cost another $150, to a different shop.

After having the car dropped off, my mother was kind enough to lend me her car. Of course, my bad luck wouldn’t end with the Chrysler. The loaned car would have a flat tire the following morning, which would cost me another $160 + parking fees for Hoboken.

My car has been going through diagnostic tests for the last 2 weeks and they’ve finally come up with a solid answer, well, kind of.

They believe that new solenoids and lifters are the issue and will be replaced this week. The bad news is that it’s going to run between $2500-$3000 to completely fix. The good news, is that if it works, then it’s fixed. If it doesn’t work, I will only be charged for the parts at cost, which runs roughly $350.

So, I’m sitting here with my fingers crossed and praying that the car is fixable. If not, I’m out a car and grand total of $850-ish.

Here’s to a great start.

When I first hit the racing scene last spring, I was amazed by how seriously people took the sport of cycling. I sprinted myself to a 4th place result at my first race and nearly threw up after the finish line. There was a little bit of talent mixed with luck in that first result, but getting to 1st place is a different story. The truth is, if you want to win, you must train.

While racing takes place during the months of April to October, the real work takes place from December to April. Hours of indoor training sessions after work, mixed with frigid cold weekend mornings is how I now spend the winter. The best motivational tools I’ve used to far is, music, youtube cycling videos, Xbox, and live video training with teammates. Of course, there’s always the winter lager beer as a reward.

Winter mornings are cold. How the cold effects you is purely up to your genetic makeup. Some people have warm feet and hands, while others, like me, deal with freezing toes. I wear layers upon layers of clothing. When it’s 20 or below, I start with 2 pairs of wool socks, followed by full leg fleece bibs. Then it’s 2 base layers for the upper body, a cycling jersey and a jacket. For the head, it’s a balaclava, then fleece lines hat. Winter gloves are necessary too. I always leave with a pair of hand & toe warmers, just in case!

So, to answer the original question; I rode and have been riding. It was roughly 18 degrees (before windchill) and sunny. The year prior, I spent most of my time in the gym lifting weights and gaining weight. This season, I will be focusing on dropping weight and building strength for the 2010 racing season.

Between now and April 10th, which is the Tour of the Battenkill, I have tons of work and a training camp in Vegas to attend.

Happy New Year and see you out on the road.