While in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area for the Nature Valley Grand Prix, we stopped in at Majors Sports Bar for a bit of dinner one night. There were 6 of us from the team and we were looking for some good feed. Upon glancing over the menu, someone’s eye was caught by…

The Colossal Burger.

It said it was an absolute beast of a hamburger and if you’re able to eat it all in one sitting…

Well, they’ll give you a free t-shirt.

After a few minutes of rallying the troops, we were all decided on ordering the Colossal Burger and further exploring it’s myth and legend. When the waitress came back around we asked if the t-shirt was cool?

She said “yes”. She also said most people can’t finish it and don’t get the t-shirt. I don’t think she quite knew what crowd she was talking to…

We then asked if the shirt came in smalls and mediums?

She said “no”. Only larges and x-large…

As if the smaller man is uncapable of consuming mass quantities of food… No respect.

Next up, we asked if it came with fries?

She said “no”, it was big enough and no fries were included.

So we asked if we ate it all, could we get some fries to go with it?

She said “yes”, and that she’d even pay for it.

Foolish girl, she didn’t even see what was coming… completely hustled.

So we went for it. 6 Colossal Burgers… She was blown away and wasn’t sure if they’d ever served 6 of them, let alone on one order. A short while later, the burgers showed up and a short while after that…… they were all gone.

The lore and mystic of Majors famed Colossal Burger didn’t even stand a chance to the typical hungers of 6 cyclists after a race…

We gladly accepeted our fries… doned our t-shirts… and proudly walked out of there, heads high.

The next night, our team director Jesse and some of the staff stopped by Majors for a bit of dinner and told the waitress that a few guys from the team had come in and ate a few Colossal Burgers. She said that she knew that and had seen the order back in the kitchen and was completely blown away by it. Apparently, as of the next evening, the entire restaurant was still talking about the 6 guys who walked in, polished off 6 Colossal Burgers, and walked out asking where they could find some good dessert.

Until next time.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Well folks I’m back in the Valley of the Sun after a quick week in Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix… affectionately dubbed the Nature Valley Crash Fest for the first few days…

Anytime you have a bunch that’s 50% professionals and the other half cat. 1’s or 1/2’s, and you line them up at a race that has grown to become a regional or local legend type of race… well, you’re going to have crashes. Allow me to explain this… every amateur wants to be at the front because it’s their big race, in their backyard, with their family watching… Totally understandable. Now due to this, every professional wants to try and stay infront of them… combine all that with a road race that split ASAP in 2006 due to bad crosswinds. Are you still with me? For the final dash of spice, add the Colombian National Team and the wild riding style of guys like Steve Tilford and finally… put all this in a mixing bowl and stir it around and you get a race where nobody is going to calm down and chill out until there’s a sweet crash… or two… or three.

Case in point… the massive pile up at the beggining of stage two. Somebody fell, and everyone else just pilled into him. All this on a wide open, flat road, at maybe 20-25mph…

For the record: Anytime you have a crash that happens at 20-25mph… on a flat road… in dry conditions… and it results in a 30 to 40 man pile-up… well, quite a few riders weren’t paying attention.

Write that down.

I managed to stop my bike, only to get plowed into by a few guys behind me. I’ve got the tire mark on the back of my thigh as a souvenir. In that crash, we had 5 guys on the team go down and lost 4 to 5 Cane Creek wheels out of it.

It took Jeff Hopkins and I forever to get our bikes straightened out and back on the road. It was only a short 2 hour race, and I spent nearly half of it glued to the cars bumper pacing back on. It was funny, but as we tried to get back into the bunch, it looked like a motorpace session out there as we caught, passed, and saw numerous other riders in the same postion. Fun times…

As a whole, it was a great race that is promoted remarkably well. All aspects of the race are covered and covered to a high level. I’ll have to say that the last stage, the Stillwater Criterium, is probably the toughest crit course I’ve ever done. The start line is at the bottom of this tough steep climb and the top is the finish line. Jeez… a bastard of a course. On the start line, you’re standing there staring up this steep road thinking about the slam fest that’s only minutes away. Good times.

Well, I think that’s all for now. I’m home for a few weeks before being shipped back out to Canada for a few races in Vancouver. While home I’m going to wrap up the last bits of this realtors license I’ve been pursuing. All the classes are done and the tests passed. This evening I have a mandatory 6 hour contract class scheduled. After that, all that stands in my way is paper work and applications. Neither of those scare me too much so hopefully, by the end of the week, I’ll be a fully licensed and active realtor. I’ll keep you folks posted on that.

By the way, I’ve posted a new update from Janet. Just click on “Thoughts From Janet” on the homepage to get caught up.

Take care people.

PS… Tune in to BicycleRadio tonight. Live at 7pm to 8pm PST.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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A few days ago, I was sent this picture of myself sitting in the team’s tent after Philly.

I figured I would pass it on to you guys and show you some crazy head and facial shit I’m getting into. I’ve started with my forehead and the top of my head and I plan to keep working down from there…

A few styles I’m looking to work off of:

We’ll see… I think it will turn out pretty awesome once I incorporate some flames, a few skulls, and maybe a half naked lady or two. I’ll keep you posted.

Bye.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Last night I made my first appearance as a guest host on BicycleRadio.com and their “Escape the Peloton” Tuesday night show.

I won’t lie, I was pretty damn impressed. Suzanne and I made the trip down there and I got to say, those guys have it pretty dialed in. Tons of equipment, that by my radio equipement ignorant standards, looked pretty sweet. All packed into a nice little studio. Pretty good setup over there.

Anyways, American cycling legend/hardass John Howard was on the show via a phone call interview. For those that don’t know, John is the cycling absolute speed record holder… with get this.. drum roll please………………..

152.2 miles per hour

on a bicycle.

Crazy…

He was telling some crazy stories about the “old days” with no sponsors, tough times… 3 Olympic Games, … no pay, talking about racing for toasters and how things have changed. I almost stepped up to the mike and softly muttered out…

“John, if I may, I must object with you……(insert a pause to see if he was going to reach through the phone line and strangle me for interupting him)…but, I would estimate my pay to be that of maybe 4 or 5 toasters. I mean, nicer quality one’s, like they have a seperate slot that’s a bit bigger for like bagels and stuff, but none the less still a toaster capable of browning a piece of whole wheat bread”.

Just for the record… Any man crazy enough to go 152.2 mph on a bicycle is capable of reaching through the phone to strangle a young man such as myself.

All in all, John was a neat guy with some good old stories. Download it all here.

By the way… John is also the American Canoe Association 24-hour Record Holder…

with, once again, get this…

104.6 miles.

Jeez…

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Hey folks,

After a 5 hour airport delay, for about every excuse in the book, and a heap of flying time, I made it back to Phoenix pretty late last night. Delta Airlines and the Atlanta Airport are now dead to me… I have nothing more to say about that.

I might post a bit about Philly later this week. We’ll see… It was the fastest average speed the race has ever had, but it still played out fairly weird. ie large bunch kick at the finish.

Anyways, tonight I’ll be a special guest host on Bicycle Radio. Click here to check out their site. They have a pretty neat gig going over there. Tonight, John Howard and Erin Mirabella will be interviewed on the show. It’s kicks off at 7:00pm AZ time.

So, if you want to call in and chat up a storm, dial 1-877-202-0509.

Take care.

Austin

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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Alright folks, here we go…

First off, my appologies.

Second off, the Jittery Joe’s cycling team documentary that was scheduled to be aired this Sunday afternoon has been postponed.

Jeez… I know. It was something about “technical issues”. As of now, it is scheduled to air sometime in July during the Tour de France.

That’s all.

Have a good one.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
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