JABRADLEY

vimeovideo

2010-01-21T10:36:00.001-06:00

Riding from Brad Jackson on Vimeo.

Vidz

2009-11-09T20:45:00.001-06:00

Ride from Brad Jackson on Vimeo.

The Tank from Brad Jackson on Vimeo.

Union Hill Climb from Brad Jackson on Vimeo.

2009-08-23T18:46:00.003-05:00

Me and the Tank Mertz had a great day of riding 4 hours and over 80 miles.

We made it to the Mansfield Ava exit and went back. The shoulder of the highway is pretty cool you can see where the horse and buggys roll. On the way back it gets a little bumpy and a little silent. There is no talking allowed when suffering only suffering allowed creeper style.

Looked for some free Sport Beans or a pair of bibs to match my Jelly Belly jersey all we could find was this team car so I thought it would be a good picture op to show some of my bicep next to it........oh yeah.......get ya some

2009-08-09T20:32:00.001-05:00

Not the best place to change a tire.

2009-08-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

RIP Mr. Penn

2009-07-22T16:12:00.004-05:00

I went with my dad today to one of his friends funerals that I had met a few times. He and my dad had alot in common they both liked to drink and cuss and shoot guns. They also graduated from Glendale together and both served in the Vietnam war. Mike was an airborne Ranger really the man was a war hero if you must. Pulled from his obituary "He served with the US Army as an Airborne Ranger from 1966 to 1969. He served in Vietnam from 1968-1969 and was awarded a Bronze Star with V for Valor, three Purple Hearts, two Army Commendation Medals with V for Valor, numerous Air Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device, the Vietnam Service Medal, plus earning the Combat Infantry Badge and Parachute Badge." I know he is in a better place now I still get astonished by all that he did for our country.
Semper Fidelis as My father would say.

Arkansas

2009-07-18T21:51:00.003-05:00

One of the hardest rides I have ever done. 6 climbs 66 miles over 8,000ft. Highway 7 climb has never been so hard

NO wednesday night Haterade if anyone was planning on coming doing the regwednesday nighter

2009-06-30T21:17:00.001-05:00

Wednesday Night ride

2009-06-27T19:18:00.002-05:00

Meeting at Hopedale Baptist at NN and J highway in Ozark 6:00pm wednesday nights. There are gravel sections on this route about 2 miles or so.

Brads Wednesday Night Haterade
Find more Bike Rides in Ozark, Missouri

2009-05-26T09:36:00.007-05:00

Christy received her masters from MO state, we had a long day and a party for her.

My cousin Ashlynn

This is my buddy Cashman

Cash and his mom. This is Cash's mean face.

Then after the long day we came home to our carpet ripped up. Thanks Belle

Bedroom Before

During

After

Living room with a view of the culprit.

Almost done.

Complete

One of the last rides I did. I haven't ridden in almost 11 days. I felt really good this day from my house I did the dogwood loop and then out to the barn swings and back home. I stopped for water once. I just wasn't getting tired. Now I'm out of shape and slow.

Do you know the way to cloudland?

2009-05-07T17:35:00.000-05:00

Tour de Hills

2009-04-26T15:37:00.006-05:00

So me and Joey went down to Arkansas to race the Tour de Hills otherwise known as the Jasper disaster. I decided to race the 3/4 which I probably shouldn't have done but I'm in no shape to be racing anyways so I thought it might be fun to race with Joey. Climbers paradise......I think everyone in our category was a pretty good climber. I got dropped on the pruit climb first of the day but worked back up to the main field until Mt.Sherman I was able to hang about a third of the way up, and from then on I rode alone. On the descent into Ponca three cars were in front of me so all I could mustar up was 20 miles per hour when I should have been doing at least 30. I then came around this corner just thinking about the next climb out of Ponca and who do I see, my buddy Mike Mertz with his camera out ready to take a snapshot and Melz Melody had her head sticking out the window.

Belly Eat Jelly

2009-04-23T18:11:00.006-05:00

Mommy and daddy took me to Busiek today theriver crossings were high so dad had to hold onto my leash tight so I didn't get washed away.

It looks like I'm swimming but my legs are just short:)

I wish my boyfriend Billy was with me mmm mmm mmm.

I think I might take a nap.

School Sucks

2009-04-22T14:50:00.002-05:00

So I'm sitting in class right now suppose to be working on my final for Perl scripting languages and all I can think about is how bad this sucks. Good day

2009-04-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

Hogeye

2009-03-16T22:13:00.004-05:00

Twas another year at Hell's Kitchen. I will most likely do this race every year as it was the first race I had ever done. This was the first year I had to do two laps. I will make this a short report as it wasn't very exciting. I started at the start line the group was big, and it was a little chilly. I was kinda nervous this was the biggest field I had ever ridden in 60 plus riders. I think everyone had a new specialized tarmac pro or sworks model which makes me want something other than a specialized I mean are they really special? The race director does his thing pretty funny actually. Neutral roll out to the first turn then it was race on. First ten minutes half the field was gone. First climb all together. Hells kitchen broke things up pretty good. I was chasing a group of three in front of me. Some dude from Mercy pulls up and we started working together. Catch the group ride hard for half a lap 3 of us worked together. Make a sharp left turn before the .5mile climb a corner Marshall said the main field was 53 seconds ahead we can see them. I pull real hard. We all pull for 30 seconds the field wasn't moving that fast. Catch the field relieved the .5 mile climb starts get dropped get to the top make a hard effort get back on the main field. Still a big group left tried hard to get near the front couldn't. Hells Kitchen started got dropped ended up with the same guys from the earlier chase feed zone hill my legs cramped up had to let the other three go. I rode fairley slow with 2 miles to go I could see a rider behind me I though he wouldn't catch up get to the finishing straight and he is sprinting to try and pass me so I pedaled a little harder and crossed the line before him. I probably wouldn't have sprinted it out with him. I had lots of fun I always seem to be working with people from previous races and they are really nice guys. Competition brings out the worst in people. I have always had positive results from this race it seems that most of the racers that attend are really nice people. My wife and our friend Amango were on the climb this is the second time up. Wait for it, Wait for it, Wait for it, keep waiting, tik tok tik tok tik tok. Hey there he is hes going up that there big hill on his skinny tired bicycle with them there shaved legs and tighty tights on are theses guys the gays I don't know sure do act like it.

Belles Day o Fun

2009-03-08T19:24:00.006-05:00

On our way to meet the Greyhounds. Hey I'm a hound too:)

This is something I have never seen before. What is it? Its a pond. Should I?

MMMMM this feels good really stinky and muddy.

Im all in not as much as my boy toy Billy though he was layin down in it.

Melody and me are becoming better friends she has lots of the pink stuff that I like.

Daddy was tired after all the fun so I decided I would take a nap with him just to keep him warm though.

I like to lay on my dads head although I dont think he likes it but he doesn't say anything because I am spoiled Arrf.

2009-03-05T19:23:00.000-06:00

Is this real Life?

2009-02-18T19:21:00.008-06:00

So the climb me and Mike did was crazy insane. However i did not conquer that beast. I ended up stopping 10 meters from the top so you know what that means, next time I'm doing it again. I have accepted the fact that school is really tearing me a new one and it might take me another semester to graduate than I thought. Though for some reason I don't really care. It seems as though coping with my depression/anxiety it makes it very hard to work during stressful periods. Some people may think depression and anxiety are not real illnesses (Tom Cruise). Before I was medicated I didn't leave my house for three months. I would cry without reason to cry, and my head would spin I would get light headed to the point I had to grab my head and lay down and pray to God that I wasn't dying. Everyday I googled my symptoms and they all pointed to one thing BRAIN CANCER. This would freak me out even more I wasn't just mentally sick I was physically sick. I had fevers and I would get sick to my stomach. I have always been frightened that I had cancer because it runs in my family so much. My Grandma had breast cancer went into remission a month later she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She started off living by herself but as her disease progressed she moved in with me and my parents. After a month or so I couldn't take watching my Grandma suffer so I moved out. A couple of months later I was getting ready to head down to my parents for a birthday party or something and my sister in law called and told me that my Grandma had passed away. During this my cousin that was just 26 years old was going through chemo treatments and was wearing a ball cap with a fake pony tail in it as she wore it to my Grandmas funeral. My cousin had gone into remission as well and then was diagnosed with brain cancer the following month or so. She past away about six months later. My uncle who was a smoker for 52 years had finally quit he said he didn't want to be that guy with the oxygen tank. About two years after he quit he was diagnosed with lung cancer and the cancer tore apart his body and he was gone within three months of being diagnosed. My uncle was a Marine for twelve years and he was very proud to be. I was lucky enough to have my friend Dino a Marine there at my uncles funeral standing perfectly still shooting his M-16 on command. I guess I just don't want to live my life in a cube right now while I'm young. I have always loved to be outside and now that I have found cycling the greatest sport in the world it really makes me want to be around it nonstop. Life is too short to be cubed. My Grandma lived a good life, my Uncle too, and even my cousin through her short life she accomplished a lot.

I JUST WANT MORE DAYS LIKE THESE

2009-02-03T18:19:00.004-06:00

What motivates me to be a good cyclist? There are many times I ask my self that question in a given day. Maybe I do it to be fit maybe I do it as a release from all the pressures of daily life, or is it cause I want to do good in races? Get up at 5:00am run on the treadmill for 10 minutes not even a mile complete. Stick with it 5:00am everyday listening to the same songs on the iPod starring at the same wall. Get up at 5:00am try not to think about smoking while running listening to the same songs looking at the same wall. Get up at 5:00am I can run a mile in 10 minutes what keeps me motivated, who helps me, who keeps me going? Get up at 5:00am I'm getting stronger I'm learning to suffer telling my body not to stop when it screams to do so. Get up at 5:00 am weigh myself before I run I weigh 170 now not 215. Where did all that go? Did it melt away from my muscle? I'm proud of myself I thank God for being able to be so much more fit and getting into shape. Get up at 5:00am run 3miles in 23 minutes did I just really do that. Go to the bike shop buy a mountain bike ride the mountain bike for a month. Its hard only five miles to begin with. I'm riding on the road all the time I need a road bike. Go to the bike shop put a road bike on layaway. Wow these things are expensive. Purchase the cheapest one for 700 dollars. Close on our house go and pay off road bike. Road cycling in my regular shorts and tennis shoes. Felt like the coolest bike I had ever rode in my life. There's something about this I can't explain it the sound of the tires on the road, the wind, the trees, the cars coming to close, and the simplicity of it. Go to the bike shop look at pedals. They make pedals that your shoes clip into? Weird how long has that been around? Go to MCsports buy my first pair of tights. Find out that they make shorts for cycling with a pad built into them. Go on my first group ride with Roger, Scott, Peter, Norton, Joey, and Jason. Its 32 degrees Im wearing short finger gloves. Joey offers me some of his I decline as my hands don't get to cold. First hill get dropped as I will find out thats what to call it when you are not as fast as others. Split from the group get lost add some miles onto my ride. Find my way back see Jason and Scott they help me along the rest of the way. Do more group rides get dropped more. Do more group rides get dropped more. Do more group rides get dropped more. Do more group rides get dropped more. Do you think you will shave your legs for the race season? Shave your legs isn't that kinda gay? What will your first race be? Race do I want to race what the hell I will give it a try. Sign up for Hells Kitchen as my first road race. You signed up for Hells Kitchen as your first race? Have fun on that climb. Okay what am I doing. Line up at the start line nerves you got I don't. Five minutes in I get dropped. I continue to ride with other riders at my fitness level. Get to the climb Trek 1000 triple thank God I have it. Thirty by twenty-six all the way up. People falling over next to me stopping pushing their bikes I was close finally made it. Finished my first race I love this. Do a most of the race season wearing boxer briefs under my shorts. Oh your supposed to go commando whoops. What are bibs? Those things are funny looking. Get some bibs. Get a new bike again on layaway this time a specialized tarmac expert. Holy crap 1700 dollars I could buy a car for that. Go make the last payment on my bike with a zero percent credit card. Do more races. Ride with people on different teams during the races encouraging them as they would sometimes do for me. Why do I need this it costs a lot of money. Do I really want to race this year. Is there more politics in cycling than......Politics? Do people see this sport the same way as me? Do we not all share the same love for the sport? Who is faster than who? Who has this gear? Who rides that bike? What bike do you have? Picture Eddy Merckx on his bike stringing out the peloton in the Hell of the North. Who helped me get into this sport and why? I have the answer now. IT'S GOD. He made me love this sport for some reason and want to do good things with it. Without all the politics and he said she said. I know I want to accomplish things on and off the bike to help other people. What does this mean being a missionary going on mission trips. Working in my backyard helping people with what life throws at them. Organizing rides for good causes. I don't know what it is but somehow I know God will let me know soon. I'm not your typical Christian I do things that other Christians would look down upon but I am forgiven of my sins. That's why he died on the cross for me and you. What does this all mean? I don't know. When will it start I don't know I just know it will soon.

Have you ever written your thoughts? I mean your real thoughts. Just what you are thinking at the moment in time. I just did and the best thing is I don't have to proof read. HAHAHAHAHAHA

10 TIHLFM

2009-01-20T22:11:00.003-06:00

1. Ride tempo in the off season.
2. Ride the terrain.
3. Use perpetuem as a paste and not a drink.
4. It's not peanut butter jelly time before a ride.
5. Never use room temperature day old perpetuem paste.
6. Never feed your dog grapes.
7. Being aero is the new skinny.
8. Always mix your whey recovery drink right before you ingest.
9. Don't forget to take your medicine during an EPIC ride.
10. Saving your carbon tubular or clincher wheels for special occasions is soooo 2007(SpinMO)

2009-01-01T11:43:00.004-06:00

Day two of acnoping.

First climb out of Jasper 3.5 miles.

The crown jewel that Mertz had drivn down in the 90's. From the bottom to the top just a tad over 5 miles long the first part was a little lumpy. The last mile or so was straight up. It was all I could do to keep cranking away. We agreed that we may not ever do that climb again because it just was not fun.

After that climb we did the one from Jasper to Ponca I felt good at the beginning and then about a mile in was done.

All in all it was a good couple of days the first day we did the Kingston climb, then another one south from there, and then the climb going out of Ponca twice.

ACNOPINGATMOING

2008-12-23T21:56:00.009-06:00

Memberin though I wasn't there.....motivationmo

Shedding some extra weightmo

Its better to try and lose than to have never triedmo MOTOVATIONMO

Where do you want to eat after this? Hmmmm Mexican sounds goodmo.

Corner Master FlexMO follow mertzmo and you will diemo

Speedplays really do have more clearencemo from the groundmo

MOTIVATIONMO. TO BE A GOOD GUY ON AND OFF THE BIKEMO. MY MOTIVATIONMO

FTP_FINALS_MISC

2008-12-11T18:15:00.009-06:00

So after using the powermeter for a week or so I am realizing how great of a training tool it is going to be. I am still trying to find my FTP last night I went a little too hard early on and ended up blowing up, and tonight I was able to ride outside and found it difficult at best to keep my power the same going downhill. Other than that I love it looking at the graphs on the computer is amazing its worth every penny. Now if I could only get stronger to use it to its full potential. Finals are next week I have 2 on Monday and one on Tuesday they are going to suck big donkey balls. Needless to say this weekend will be spent studying and eating crappy food. The OCC jerseys are final designed and ready to be put in production once we get our order in. We will have a few new members this year that should really help the team out. As always our good sponsors help us out a ton extra thanks to A&B for all they do for us. Sometimes I feel like I work there Im in there so much. Belle is doing good she still a spoiled little puppy who loves attention. Hopefully next year racing will be fun I really don't care how well I do I just enjoy the thrill of racing even if I get dropped early on you can always push your body to do things you never thought you would be able to do. Oh I almost forgot I have been feeling like I have Tourettes syndrome lately maybe its just school and stuff but S***,F***,D*** I really feel it.

This is my cousin Ashlyn over Thanksgiving

Fight for it!!!!!!!

My sister in law Sarah and cuz J dog.

Spoiled Rotten.

Complete

I made the leap. OMG what have I done

2008-12-01T19:14:00.001-06:00

Title:

2008-11-14T19:56:00.005-06:00

This whole getting dark at 5 is ruining me not that there is much to be ruined but after a couple weeks of this crap I can't find the time to ride between school and work. Tuesday and Thursday I will be lucky to get in an hour and a half and the weekends no telling. Work is good though I work with a few really nice people and the actual work part of it I enjoy. School on the other hand is driving me nuts I have had so many papers to do and so many group projects I have just had enough. I also talked to one of my professors about taking his class (scripting) without one of the prerequisites for it(Math) and he said I could do them at the same time. Needless to say I hate math and am no good at it. I really wanted to devote summer school to that class and history. But as it looks I will be taking two networking classes one math class and a history class next semester. That's going to suck. Oh well life goes on. Just wish I had more time to ride but I guess getting an education is a little more important.

Here is my 350 dollar wheelset. Thanks Joey I really appreciate it.

Belle is doing good after a little scare she gave me and Christy. I came home between class and work on Wednesday and she had some how opened the door to the bathrrom cabinet and ate my mach 3 razor blade refills the actual razor blades. I took her to the er vet and they said she should be alright freaked us out though.

EOTP

2008-10-27T18:31:00.009-05:00

Halloween Party Saturday.
Me and Christy

Man that kinda creeps me out even though I know it's me.

Belle Bill and Tonka at Jason Field of dreams

Belles gotta boyfriend

Couple of Bitches

Good pic of Bill and Belle

Good Day-Sad Feelings

2008-10-13T16:45:00.006-05:00

Today I was informed that I have the job at OTC in the Networking hardware department. My wife is very happy that I have a job. The hours are good only 17 a week. Monday and Wednesday I will work from 12:30-5:00 and Friday from 8:00-5:00. So I should still have plenty of time to train, except some of it will be on the trainer arrrrggghhh. Picked up Belle after she got fixed and I feel so bad for her she has thrown up twice and just feels like crap. I found myself thinking I get to see her when I got back from my ride this morning then realized that she was a the vet it all just makes me sad.
Me and Belle Earlier this week

She does this without being asked to do it.

Get out of my house daddy your too big.

The Russians found this snake on the road in front of the house. They wanted to kill it. I'm so scared of snakes normally I would have let them but I decided to take it into the field behind the house. They thought it was a copperhead, but it turned out to be a king snake and they eat copperheads. Go king snakes eat some copperheads.

Belle Post surgery.

acnoping

2008-10-08T21:00:00.005-05:00

ping 127.0.0.1(enter) try it in command line interface. Or ipconfig /release(enter) ipconfig /renew(enter)

Belle got into some dirt today. She has been digging all around our porch.

Working on tricks with Belle.

acnopinginarkansasop

oki doki

2008-09-26T14:23:00.000-05:00

Gotta say I was a shihomo according to Skip but I do love me some campy 11

A.C.N.O.P

2008-09-22T17:17:00.007-05:00

Okay I just sat down to study for my cabling class. I put Belle outside on her leash and out of the blue there were four little kids back there playing with her. I don't mind this at all because they play with her and she likes it as well. But the kids have no respect for my yard or the well being of my dog. One kid was pulling on her towards him by the long cord that is connected to a stake in the ground. He only did it for a second though. Then he was trying to pull the stake out of the ground he would never be able to but still it shows that they don't respect me, so I opened the door and told him not to do it anymore. He said "okay." Then they took a seat on my back porch and started yelling "come here boy, come here boy." First of all Belle is a bitch second of all I was trying to do homework. So I again opened the door and asked them to quiet down. "Oh I'm sorry we'll be quiet." I make it half way back to the couch and the yelling resumes. I open the door and say what did I just say. "Oh were sorry we forgot." I sit down on the couch and then they knock on the back door. So I say okay kids I'm taking Belle inside. "No we will be quiet." I said sorry you had your chance. I guess what I'm trying to say here is. I NEED A FENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was a good day though lots of fun in Arkansas. Except for Shiloh hill, it was hateful.

Nope not MO but Nail Arkansas I think.

Club Anonymous

AHHH. No more one inch piece of steerer tube. I should be able to fly up those climbs now.

Need new wheels. But would like a fence more.

Art Walk

2008-09-19T22:11:00.004-05:00

This is me and my brother plying our first friday art walk. We started at six and had about ten people come in maybe. The first friday of next month we will start at 8pm when it starts booming. Anyone is welcome to come to The Percussion Shop for free tunes that is all.

This is not free though.

The inventor/player(Charlie Hunter) of the guitar I play.

What riding with Mertz might be like soon.

2008-09-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

Meep-----Meep----Moop-----Moop
Robotica

JIMJOMHOOEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-13T17:01:00.002-05:00

Stage 6 - September 13: Hermann - St. Charles, 96 miles
Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Columbia
2 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Toyota United
3 Brad Huff (USA) Jelly Belly

EZIRP EHT NO EYE

2008-09-11T19:03:00.008-05:00

Lots of stuff going on lately. TOM TT and stage 2 was awesome especially the ride to Branson was extra sweet. Other things going on behind on school work, behind on getting new job, stressed about the club, and the dog is like having a baby. Since we got her I haven't slept past 6am, which isn't bad because I usually get up around that time during the week anyway. But the weekends I used to sleep until 7 or 8, though I wouldn't change it for the world she is a great dog me and Christy are very attached. Cycling is fun.
Belle thinks I'm crazy.

Lots of wheels.

Nice belt cheese.

Jorge

Something you don't see everyday. Dave Z

Gotta love the Cuban Missile. photo mmphotography.geeb

Arkansas is so close.....yet so far away.

2008-09-07T21:50:00.010-05:00

Me, Adam, and Mertz headed down to Jasper yesterday. To say the least I was impressed. The hills were insane, the one with the switchbacks was the best yet the worst. It seemed like I couldn't go over 5-6 MPH but I was having fun taking in the views. Adam had a rear derailleur problem that sucked up a bit of time. I felt like total crap for most of the ride, just couldn't get my legs to function. They told me the end of the route was lumpy but the climbs were bigger than any of the biggest climbs around here. The last thing we did was go downhill for 3 1/2 miles it was the most wicked thing I have ever done.

Just leaving the park

Right before the biggest climb of the day.

Maybe Mertz should be a photographer.

One of the many switchbacks.

Thats it Brad take the inside of the turn where it's the most steep.

Top of the big Mountain.

Problems

Wow. Where are we?

Depression Hurts:(

2008-09-03T18:36:00.004-05:00

As of late I have been feeling more depressed than usual. I don't know if it is school, work, or what I hate about cycling. I love riding my bike, I also enjoy going on group rides and learning things from other people, be it if they are more knowledgeable or less knowledgeable about it, not one person can know everything about cycling. I have met some really nice people since I started cycling, and have become healthier. But I have also met some not so nice people in cycling, maybe they make fun of people because their kit doesn't match or maybe they actually try to harm someone on the road intentionally. All these thoughts probably are stemming from a message board I was at but I have been feeling this way for a while. Cycling is so important to me, but my family, school, and work trump it by a longshot. I don't understand what the mumbo jumbo is about. Is it because it's an expensive sport, and people think I have this bike and that kind of taint cream. I honestly have a hard time affording to fund this hobby. Yes I do have a nice bike, yes I might get some wheels but from what I started out on everyone deserves an upgrade now and then. The only thing I keep picturing in my head is Iban Mayo in I think it was the 2003 tour when he was bonking and a rider on a different squad gave him a helping hand on a climb. To me that is what cycling is about. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!!!!!! RANT OVER

100 miles of glory, and some other stuff

2008-08-31T19:37:00.010-05:00

Today me and Mertz showed up to the Sunday ride and I really wanted to do 100miles. So once I told Mertz, he configured a route in his head in about 2 minutes maybe less, and off we went. We went many places today down the steepest gravel roads that shook your body into submission, (I was gripping the handlebars so tight it made my arms hurt) up the steepest climbs that made the legs cry for help, rollers, flats, and great views. I felt good until a big climb on Chadwick road ,and then just blew apart. So we stopped at Kays in Chadwick and I purchased a ham sandwich and shoved it down my throat as fast as possible, at this point I think we were about 60miles in and had no intention on going thru with the century. So we headed back out about ten minutes in I was feeling better I thought I would give it a go. So we ended up going thru Sparta to get more miles in. We made it to the barn swings with 18 more miles to go. So we pushed on made a left toward Highlandville then headed down old 60 HWY. WE made our way to Riverdale I think that was the name of the place I had never seen he cool waterfall. As we started climbing out of there my leg started to cramp up Mertz told me to take on some food, so I ate a few clif blocks and started to feel better again. The end of the ride was climbariffic it was all I could do to get my pedals to turn over going up the last hill on F HWY. Of course the end of the ride we had to go up Riverside it tore me up, but I survived and am very proud of this accomplishment. The feeling was better than any race I have ever done. I couldn't have done it without Mertz though he really helped me out and kept me motivated to keep going. So to him I say THANK YOU! I never though I would be able to ride my bike 100 miles I'm so grateful for the fitness I have to be able to do such things. Just wish we had a camera today, breathtaking views made me proud to live in the Ozarks.

The results

Like my new handlebars more and more everyday.

The aftermath

Friday night at Cartoons was Christy's going away party for work. She starts her new job on Tuesday. I'm so very proud of her.

Not a big fan of PDA. Actually I don't mind it I was just doing this pose for the camera:)

School again UUUGGGHHH

2008-08-24T22:31:00.004-05:00

So school started on Thursday, and it's lookin a bit overwhelming for me as of now. My math class is freaking me out the most. I just need to concentrate on finishing school and not worry so much about racing and training. Although I will probably still ride almost everyday I'm just going to have to change my training around a bit. The racing schedule isn't what I had hoped for this year. I guess thats just the way things go though. Speaking of cycling my wife Christy reads my blog, and I would like to quote her on a few words. "Brad if I get this job I will buy you a set of wheels for your bike." She never thought she would get the job, but guess what she did, and I want my wheels. So feel free to comment on here sweetheart. Anyways here are some pictures of our ever growing puppy Belle.

Belle sending me off for the first day if school

2008-08-15T09:06:00.004-05:00

Last nights ride was full of attacks. Every time I would get comfortable sombody would pick up the pace. I got dropped on 186 into Rogersville. On the way back I rode off the front a little bit only to be caught, well I knew I would get caught I just wanted to put a little effort in. After crossing 125 Dave was on the front going up the rollers so I decided to hammer it up the last one only to blow up at the top. Stayed at the front until the false flat then Cale came whizzing by and I hesitated and fell off the back a little. Every time I would start to close in on them they would speed up I just could never get up there. Coming up to old 65 Skip pulled in front of me and started pulling I could barely hold his wheel I was so tired. It still amazing how fast some of these guys are, it seems like yesterday a fast ride for me was a 10mph average speed. Last nights ride was 21.3mph average.

Wicked crispy chicken

2008-08-07T21:25:00.003-05:00

The Thursday night ride was pretty awesome fun. The weather was great, nice and cool. The usual suspects were there except Pat, I heard his mom is sick so my prayers are with their family. I had a good time, my legs were feeling good and I actually ended up riding a little more afterwords. On another note I have some video of the QCC it's not the best footage but it's footage none the less. I have a friend in town that is getting ready to move to New York for grad school. She was telling me about this drink called Zico Water has anybody ever used this before? I think I might give it a try, I hear it works real well.

Thats the heat son!

2008-07-31T20:35:00.011-05:00

The Thursday night ride was pretty good. I got dropped on my way out, then on the way back I tried to break away from everyone. I looked back and saw Mertz chasing me down, so I tried to go a little harder my legs were feeling pretty good. I looked back again and Dave was chasing now, so I again tried to add a little rocket sauce to my engine. They ended up catching me shortly after that. But I was able to hang on with them and take a few turns pulling. I wish I could ride like that every time. I'm starting to feel more efficient in my pedal strokes, if I get to tired I forget about it and my pedal stroke becomes craptastic. So after I turned off to head back home I realized that Christy was gone and I didn't have a key to get in the house. So I started to head to her parents were she was via the greenway trails. I ended up seeing Pat, Doug, Stokes, Dave, and Nick stopped on the side of the road. Someone had threw a soda can at Nick and they were waiting to see if the car would come back. So I road with them up towards Home Depot, and then turned off to head to my inlaws. Some people just don't respect cyclists, but they probably envy us more than anything deep down. Because we can wear spandex and ride far and fast.

Queen City Twilight Crit. This was a great race.

Belle was a big hit at the race.

She was starting to get tired though.

The aftermath.

Belle is doing good still working on potty training, and crate training. She really hates the crate though. She also hates walking on a leash I have to basically drag her across the ground. Oh well shes only 7 1/2 weeks old.

Get out my life Summer School!!!!!!

2008-07-24T22:37:00.002-05:00

So today was my last day of summer school. I got an A in public speaking, and the grade in my math class is pending. I had to get a 42% on the final today to pass with a 70%. I won't know until the final grades are posted Monday. Went for the Thursday night ride, this was my first ride since Sunday. I got dropped on my way out. On the way back Mertz pulled me for a little while, however I did take one pull, and then dropped him after crossing 125. He just couldn't handle the power that my chicken legs are producing. Then I got caught, and then I got dropped. Next I latched on to the second group and stayed with them for a while then went home. I'm looking forward to the Crits this weekend they should be fun I hope there is a good turn out. I don't think I'm fit to race but that doesn't stop it from being fun. I have family coming out to watch saturday so hopefully I wont get lapped like my last crit.

Meet Belle

2008-07-19T20:08:00.010-05:00

This is Belle 6 weeks old. She was free from a family in Bruner they had eight of them. Their basset hound got out and well you know the rest. They think it was a lab that did the dirty, so I guess she is a basset/lab mix. She cuddles up to you real nice although she had 2 brothers earlier today so she is very sad and pretty much has been sleeping all day. I hope we can make a good home for her and she likes it here. She really hasn't even walked around much. I picked her up put her down in front of her food and water bowl, and she ate a little bit which is good. She also got a bath and seemed to like it, well she didn't hate it. Hopefully she will come around soon.

The neighborhood kids came out to see her this is Peter.

This is Nadia they are teaching me how to speak Russian.

Dog days of summer

2008-07-17T15:42:00.007-05:00

I have been wanting a dog for quite sometime. It's just that me and Christy feel we wouldn't have enough time for one. We don't have a fence so that could be a problem, I would have to train the dog to stay in the yard. Although with my last dog Beulah the boxer I trained myself quite well while still living with my parents. Is it really that expensive to have a dog? I have come across one at the humane society that is already housebroken and only 6 months old. They call him Dakota I was thinking more along the lines of Rupert though.

Info on him.
Dakota is a 6 month old Boxer/Lab mix. He is up to date on shots, has been dewormed, and will be neutered at the time of adoption. He is very sweet and lovable. He is housebroken and does wonderful with children. He loves squeaky toys and riding in the car. If you are interested in Dakota, please contact the Humane Society and have hisID # ready. The adoption fee is $50.

ID #:A04858220

You can tell he has some Boxer in him from those legs and feet

Life as of Now

2008-07-12T19:59:00.008-05:00

The summer semester is almost to and end. The last speech I gave in public speaking was a commemorative speech and I chose Paris Roubaix as my topic. I practiced it at least 50 times as we needed to be at 4min give or take 10 seconds. I was the first to go in class just the way I like it. My speech ended up being 3min and 28sec. Although I think I still did good so we will see. Got a C on my last math test I'm really starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to make it through this class with a chapter test and a final to go. Public speaking has been good for me I feel more comfortable now speaking in front of large groups. ON the family forefront I was in Arkansas last weekend did some riding that I thought was going to feature some pretty descent climbs but nope pretty much flat. I did get to see my wife's family though all the cousins were so very cute, and everyone there is so nice especially Uncle Fred and Aunt Charlotte. On cycling news I did the Tuesday night ride got dropped like a little biatch oh well still a fun ride to do. I went with Curtis today we rode around Rogersville and Ozark for a couple of hours came back to my house and Christy had pasta made for us, so we ate and finished watching stage whatever it was of the tour. I got some new cycling shoes that are causing me pain still getting used to them, and trying to get the cleats aligned just right. My old shoes were black, and all they had was white so I went with those. They are growing on me now and I also noticed that nobody in the Tour rides with black shoes they are mostly white. So that's whats been going on with me counting down the days till school is out 4 weeks off then another semester begins with twice the workload, I hope this pays off end the end.
Pictures From Arkansas
Lily, Kaylee, Hannah

Uncle Fred and his Dad

Hannah, Harmony, Kaylee, Tyler, Lily, Hailey

Sweet Maci, being shy

Maci's big sister Kassidy (definitely not as shy)

Riding In Arkansas

Curtis Attacking me today

Saturday's Geebzilla Ride Arkansas!!!!!

2008-07-04T10:24:00.003-05:00

This one is in Arkansas up Mt. Nebo, Red Hill, and Blackjack Mtn. I'm going to Mt. Vernon for our cousins wedding reception close to a 4 hour drive. I haven't been in a little while and never even thought about looking at a map for some good riding possibilities. These climbs will be the longest I have ever done I'm looking forward to it. I will also have a full support vehicle compliments of my wife, she doesn't want me getting lost and I don't either. Got up this morning to go on the July 4Th ride and it started to rain about 8:00am I had already had breakfast so I watched the weather a little longer and it didn't look like it was going to let up so I went back to bed. Though the sun kept waking me up so I probably should have gone.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Mount-Vernon-Bike-Ride

Mount Vernon Bike Ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Cycling God's are looking down on me.

2008-06-29T14:00:00.003-05:00

I had been looking forward to this Sundays ride for a few days. The weather was perfect and a big group showed up. About 20min. in I had to take a piss so bad that I had to just stop and do it. I told everyone that I would catch up as we were following the QC century route. I started to descend down Sunshine and could see the group. I swear it looked like they turned at Turners, so that's the way I went and when I got to the short climbs I knew I had gone the wrong way. So I had to hammer it up the climbs and circle back around I could finally see the group and caught up pretty quick. Then right as I'm about to sit in and recover BOOM goes the dynamite I hit a rock almost lost it then my front tire starting hissing. I had a pinch flat. So Mertz came back and was helping me change the tube out, then I look at my back tire and notice it was flat too. That's when I wanted to throw my bike over the fence. So I told Mertz and Skip to just go ahead it would have taken way to long to get a tube from someone else and change both out. Good guys though I could tell they didn't want to leave me but there was nothing to be done except call the wife to pick me up. So I called the wife and while I was waiting I thought I would just go ahead and repair the front tire. So I start shooting the C02 in there and it's not holding pressure turns put the tube I had in my saddle bag had a hole in it as well. The wife picked me up and then dropped me off at Hickory to get my car. I got home put on my extra wheels and headed out. I actually had a pretty good ride did close to 3 hours and around 55 miles. I starting to think I put to much pressure into my tires. I usually run 120psi on Michelin's. I don't know anything less feels like there is not enough in there.

gEEBzilla RIDe is a No Go just in case anyone was going to come. Weather looks nasty

2008-06-27T21:44:00.001-05:00

JaBralt's Sat.Morning geebzilla ride

2008-06-26T22:05:00.006-05:00

More ride info.

Let me know if anyone is interested in doing this ride on saturday mornings. Meeting time will be at 8:00am at HopeDale Baptist church in Ozark at the corner of Highway NN and J.

Bralt's Saturday Morning fun ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Get out my Blog

2008-06-17T21:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight I went on the Tuesday night ride. I missed the first right turn, for some odd reason nobody said anything about turning right. When we got to the small climbs by Turners station everybody took off. I caught back up to the lead group a little after the climbs only to get shelled off the back again. I could see them for the longest time but just couldn't catch them. So I finally I grouped back up with the remnants of the lead group, Doug, Marc, Skip, and Jason. We all rode for a little down 186 I took a few hard pulls on that stretch, then turned off onto the side road and headed for the house. The last 2 days I have rode pretty hard yesterday I did 20.6 MPH average speed for an hour. However I'm feeling a lot better since my blood donation. I also haven't drink a soda, well caffeine since my last post. School Sucksssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!

No more soda

2008-06-13T10:18:00.006-05:00

So I have been drinking soda a lot more than usual. After quitting for about 7 months or so, I got back on the soda train. I had 2 very bad anxiety attacks while driving to work today. I think the soda has increased my anxiety a lot. So no more soda for me. Water, juice, and smoothies. I hate this disease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This might help

Note to self

2008-06-11T21:26:00.002-05:00

Do not donate blood on Tuesday, and then try the Wednesday night hammer fest.

Too Much stuff

2008-05-29T14:04:00.004-05:00

I recently decided to start playing the drums. I have played guitar and bass since I was 13. So about 13 years. Since my brother bought the Percussion Shop I felt like I should know how to play drums. So I bought a new set today. Tack it onto all the other activities I do. I signed up to take lessons with Dennis one of the teachers at the shop, the same teacher my brother had for 9 or 10 years. So we will see how it goes.

For Mertz

2008-05-21T18:41:00.003-05:00

Could this be the new Porsche 928?

Im a CAT4 now. But my body is sore all over.

2008-05-20T08:04:00.002-05:00

Funny Video

Finally Happened (Hellbender Report)

2008-05-18T19:05:00.002-05:00

So the day started off good. My legs were feeling good and I got a good warm up in before we sat at the line for 30min waiting to start. There was 50+ riders in the cat5 field so it would make for a good race. When the whistle blew I was on the front for the nuetral and pulled with another guy for the first mile or so. I thought I'm not going to have anything left so I dropped back into the middle of the field. It was the most nerve racking peloton I have ever been in granted this is my 11th race. I mean everytime we would slow there was almost a crash, and people were yelling slowing every 30 seconds. Going downhill sucked bad because people were slamming on their brakes and not leaving enough room. At mile 10 of the race all I wanted to do was get to the front and either try attacking or pull the whole damn peloton just so I wouldn't have to be stuck in there with all those people. There was about 20 or so riders left in the group and I could not get to the front for the life of me (yellow line). So finally on a flater section it started to string out a bit and I was able to get up to about the first ten. As I really wanted to be up there because the big climb was coming up anyway. So we started the fast downhill before the start of the climb. I was leaving quite a bit of room between me and the riders in front. As we aproached the bottom of the hill 40+MPH 2 riders went down in front of me I slammed my brakes on, and thought about bunny hopping them. But then I realized that If I didn't clear them I could hurt them and me pretty bad. So I pretty much just plowed into them did a flip over the handlebars hit the right side of my head pretty good and laid on the ground wondering if I had broke anything. The lady in the wheeltruck got out and told me to stop moving, and another rider that wrecked asked me if I was okay. I tore my helmet off let out some groans and started to get up. I was pretty shook up had some scrapes on my knees and tweaked my wrist a little bit. They asked me if I thought anything was broken and I said no. One of the other riders said he was going to continue. I glad he said that cause I had pretty much thrown in the towel by then. So I said I'm going to finish too. I got on my bike started the climb noticed that my front wheel was wobbling and my rear derailer was bent. So I wasn't able to use all My gears. I actually did pretty good up the climb. By this time I had lost about 5-7 minutes on the main field. So I just though well I'm already in pain I may as well just ride as hard as I can to the finish line. I ended up catching a group of 2 and sprinted by them I didn't want to pull them and I didn't want to set on their wheels. I was holding about 21-23MPH avg the rest of the course by myself I felt good. Anways thats about all for the race I hate riding in CAT5 fields. I did drop my bike off at A&B for Charles to look over tommorow. We also though it would be a good idea to go to urgent care just to make sure I didn't have a concussion, the doctor said I was good and told me I was going to be sore for the next couple of days, then I got a tetnis shot because I hadn't had one in about 11 years so I figured what the hell. I am happy that I finished the race. But it's got me thinking is racing really worth the medical, gear, and buttloads of other crap you have to buy. I mean I love cycling because, well, because I love to ride my bike plain and simple. Getting hurt or hurting other people just to get a jersey or a few bucks isn't worth it. I know you can get hurt just as serisly just on a group ride or by yourself, and I know accidents do happen. But some people will do whatever it takes to try in win with no regard for other peoples saftey. The fellow who caused the wreck kept apoligizing to me and I told him not to worry about it that accidents happen. Im glad they were both okay though. But on the climb one of the guys blew a tire half way up so he pretty much blew a fuse after that. I think I may have even placed better this year than last, we will see.

Finals are Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-15T17:22:00.002-05:00

2 weeks off and then summer school. Math and public speaking on the calender for summer. Me and Christy sold our books back today and got 292 dollars. Then we bought our three books combined for summer classes, and walked out with 62 dollars. Man books are expensive, and that was the price for used ones. Whos going to the State Champs RR?

Personal Victory!

2008-05-09T16:48:00.002-05:00

After a while when I got into road cycling I incorporated a 25 mile loop starting from my house. The first time I did it it took me about 1:45-1:50 min almost 2 hours. Today I rode that course in 1:10 and some change. It's basically County Line road east make a left to 186. Then take 186 to old 65 make a left back onto County line road. Then about 1-2 miles past NN I cut through a neighborhood and head toward the house. The best thing about this ride is I finally reached my goal of a Avg speed over 20MPH solo 20.5MPH was the end result. The wind out of the west wasn't helping me. I know it's not a big deal for most cyclists, but to me this was very big personal achievement.

Sorry for the quality.

Powemeters?

2008-05-07T18:28:00.000-05:00

SRM Training System - Amateur Road from $ 2,295.00

Print product data sheet
Shipping time: 1 Week

SRM Training System - Amateur Road
The Amateur Road PowerMeter (2 strain gauges) has an accuracy of ±5%.
Includes:
SRM PowerMeter
SRM PowerControl
Cranks
Chainrings
Sensor cable
Handlebar clip
Software
Manual
Multi-charger (works with both 110V and 220V)
USB download cable
Shimano crank is Octalink and the Campy is square tapered.

1. Chainring: 53 (Standard)
2. Chainring: 39 (Standard)
Crank length: 172.5 mm (Standard) 165 mm 167.5 mm 170 mm 175 mm 177.5 mm 180 mm 182.5 mm
Crank type: Shimano Octalink Campagnolo SRM adjustable in length + $ 465.00
Handlebarclip: 26.0 mm (standard) 31.8 mm (oversize) 31.8 mm (Aluminum os narrow)
PowerControl color: red black blue grey yellow white
Powermeter Decal: yellow-blue yellow-red red-blue magenta-black yellow-black red-black white-blue white-green white-black
Sensorcable: Front Speed Rear Speed
Sensorcable Type: BB mounted (default) Normal

Get off my LAND

2008-05-05T20:49:00.008-05:00

The last two days have been filled with good riding. I went to Branson yesterday for a total of 62 miles. It was my first time riding on the shoulder of the highway. I was a bit nervous at first, but the shoulder was pretty much clean of debris and traffic wasn't that bad. I enjoyed the first climb I got to the most. It stayed the same gradient pretty much the whole way up so I was able to keep a good pace and sustain it the whole climb. The rest of the climbs however ripped my legs apart. Today I rode a little over 2hours I think it was about 40 miles just trying to go easy. I have been finding I want to stay on the bike longer, but that takes time I was lucky to get a couple of longer rides in. Finals are next week so that should bring me back to feeling like crap on the bike again. Oh well I do it cause I like it so that's all that matters.

Your number one

Refueling. I started using the sport beans a while ago mainly to support the local pro Brad Huff and his team. Turns out these things are like little beans of energy they seem to work well for me. Except I didn't take enough with me today.

Got rid of the blazer for this very economic Honda Civic. Its a 5 speed woohoo I love driving a standard. Christy is still learning, she is doing really well though.

Interior. A little blurry sorry. The speedometer is pretty cool this thing is like driving a spaceship.

Good to see.

2008-04-27T21:20:00.003-05:00

I was looking through some pics and came accross these. I'm happy to see that Brad is recovering well. Good job Brad your always in my prayers.

Hate

2008-04-20T16:34:00.007-05:00

So I got sick Friday night. Thought about not going to the race at all. I just couldn't bring myself to letting the registration fees and bed and breakfast cost go to waste. I thought maybe I would feel better for the RR. Turns out I felt worse and decided about 9:00 I would not be racing. At least I got to use my reg fees for the TT and bed and breakfast. And to top it all off I got pulled over for the first time ever on our way down there. I have gone 10 years without a getting pulled over. I was doing 66 in a 55 the police officer gave me a warning, Roger thinks Christy is the only reason I didn't get a ticket, and I think he is right. This is the first race I have not completed, and it really gives me mental kick to the junk. I hate quitting.

Feeling Like crap.

Feeling sorry for me.

Feeling cold.

5 miles out

5 miles in. I rode 27:09 and finished in 15th place.

2008-04-19T08:02:00.001-05:00

Gas to go to Hermann-$100.00 or more
Race fees- $50.00
Bed and Breakfast- $68.00
Getting a sore throat before a 2 day race- free

Off to Hermann I go

Private dancer not so Private anymore

2008-04-16T13:57:00.003-05:00

My friend Lindsay works at 96.5 and decided to tell people about this on the radio and post it on their website. Help me become a youtube sensation

http://www.power965.com/DJs/LINDSAYBLAKE/tabid/2830/Default.aspx

Cobra Kai Cycling Team

2008-04-10T10:52:00.006-05:00

I need 10 people that want Cobra Kai Jerseys and Bib shorts. The jerseys are 45.00 and the bibs are 60.00. You know you want to be part of Cobra Kai. It would be fun to show up at a race in this team kit. No team leaders, or presidents, or any political garbage. Just cycling fun. Kiss my ASS

Our Theme Song

Front

Back

2008-04-08T15:42:00.002-05:00

I know it doesn't really mean anything. But I thought I would copy and paste it while I was still numero uno.

Road Mens Cat 5 Road Race Rankings in Missouri

Rank Points Name License Hometown
1 2325 Brad Jackson 257421 Ozark, MO
2 2348 Chris Greer 263332 Kansas City, MO
3 2383 John Schraft 257713 Springfield, MO
4 2400 Chris Hudson 264887 Kansas City, MO
5 2404 Mark Ewers 258521 Wildwood, MO
6 2409 Michael Boles 259521 Independence, MO
7 2410 Matt Turner 248307 O Fallon, MO
8 2418 Rodney Rubi 183730 Ellington, MO
9 2423 Gordon Glaus 258354 Cape Girardeau, MO
10 2430 Dean Meyer 233420 Creve Coeur, MO
11 2432 Greg Chapman 240361 Lees Summit, MO
12 2435 Stephen Lloyd 252346 Maryland Heights, MO
13 2448 Tony Mayfield 274654 Kansas City, MO
14 2450 Richard Hine 234961 St. Louis, MO
15 2452 Kyle Cress 255040 St. Louis, MO
16 2455 James Erlacker 211106 Cape Girardeau, MO
17 2459 Mark Shipley 269284 Joplin, MO
18 2462 Bert Kembitzky 247489 Wildwood, MO
19 2470 Benjamin Kettler 258575 Rolla, MO
20 2478 Ted Smith 217945 Kansas City, MO
21 2480 Patrick Koetting 258351 Cape Girardeau, MO
22 2485 Zachary Zupan 274545 Kansas City, MO
23 2487 Curtis Collins 273909 Brookline Station, MO
24 2496 Robert Swift 263088 Raytown, MO

Another year at the Dogwood RR

2008-04-07T18:18:00.002-05:00

The first climb on 125 into Garrison ripped my legs apart. A group of about 20 or more took off. I ended up in a group of about 15 riders. Me and one other rider were trying to get the group to do 30 sec pulls. But every time I would pull of the front the person behind me would shake their head. So me and about two other guys pulled that whole group almost until Oldfield. We could see the main pack ahead of us they looked to be unorganized and slowing down. If we had the group working together we could have caught them. So me and August and another guy broke away from the pack and as we headed into Oldfield we caught Greg Espenkotter. He worked with us for a while and ended up falling off the back. As we approached Union Hill the other guy that was with me and August started to accelerate and we stayed on his wheel. Until August cramped up and fell off the back. I stayed with the guy all the way up Union Hill. When we reached the top he asked me were the feed zone was I told him it was about a mile ahead. His girlfriend handed him a bottle and she took my empty bottle so I wouldn't have to keep one in my jersey pocket. We both seemed to be taking equal turns up front but on the short climbs he would accelerate. He could have dropped me but I think he was looking for a ride into the wind. As we approached Goodhope out of nowhere Greg Espenkotter showed up and started layin it down on the flats. My legs were burning so bad and my lower back hurt. When we turned onto 76 I wanted to kill myself. I stayed with them for another 3-4 miles or so and ended up falling off. I just couldn't go anymore. I looked behind me didn't see anyone and figured I would just try to hold a steady pace to the finish line. However I still had Elk hill to climb and the last few rollers. When I approached Elk hill I could see someone behind me so I was like shit I'm not going to let this guy catch me. So started to go as hard as I could. My thighs started cramping on Elk hill I looked back and he was at the base of the climb. I thought to myself I hope he's worse at climbing than me. Then on the descents I was hammering it as hard as I could cause I knew the worst was over. I looked back and could no longer see him so I knew I was good. So I passed the finish line I have no idea how I placed. I started riding down 125 to cool down and the next guy to come thru was Jim Jones a masters rider for OCC I said "was that you behind me?" He said "yeah I was trying to catch you but your just to fast." I wish I would have known cause I wouldn't have rode so hard the last few miles. Greg and the other guy finished a couple minutes ahead of me. As I was coming back to the school from cooling down the other guy brought me my water bottle. He told me I did way to much work at the beginning. I said oh well someone has to be up front. It was very nice of his girlfriend to get my bottle for me and of him to bring it back to me. He actually said to her at the feed zone to take this guys bottle. So I threw it and she caught it with one hand. Cycling still seems to be a gentleman's sport, most of the time anyways. So my back was killing me all day after the race and a little sore today. But I could not resist riding so I did 2hrs and my back did not hurt at all. I actually felt stronger than yesterday. Shit I have to do Biology homework. Thanks to everyone that came out to race, the volunteers, and also little six pound eight ounce baby Jesus.

Craptastic

2008-04-05T16:36:00.005-05:00

I went for about an hour ride today. Then I started to work on my bike. You know clean the chain, lube it up, and change the tires to prepare for Dogwood. I was replacing the back tire and the wheel fell over on the ground and a spoke came out. So I had to take it up to A&B and drop it off. Pat called me and said he had good news and bad news. The bad news was I think the hub was cracked or something anyway it would have to be replaced by the warranty. But the good news they let me use a loaner Mavic sl that's a little lighter than what I have now. Pat said I could use until my new wheel came in. So I should be able to fly up the hills tomorrow or not. I keep playing over and over in my head what I'm going to do in the race. I need to just chill out and have fun. I mean it's not like I'm getting paid to race. Everyone wants to do good though. Last year my goal was to finish the Dogwood and I didn't do to bad 35th place. So I guess I have come a long way for smoking a pack a day for 10 years. I have quit smoking for about 2 years now and started to exercise right after I quit. I started running on a treadmill for 30 min I could run a mile in about 13 min. Then I started cycling while I continued to run I could ride for about 5 miles and feel like I was going to die. I lost about 45 pounds now I can ride my bike for miles, and the slowest I can run a mile is 10 minutes. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm just happy to be able to do something as epic as ride the Dogwood course.

today

2008-03-29T17:35:00.001-05:00

Christy followed me in the car. It was cold and rainy

union hill

downhill T Hwy

Day late and A dollar short

2008-03-28T20:58:00.003-05:00

Went rinding with Joey yesterday, the weather was perfect except for the wind. Wednesday I was cleaning the garage and my shoulder popped out of place. I was on the garage floor for 20 minutes before I could get the strength to stand up. I was calling my wife's name it seemed like I was yelling but she said she could not hear me. So I got inside went to the bedroom and leaned over the bed and popped it back in. This was the worst it has ever felt I think it may have been pinching nerves and giving me random jolts of pain in my muscle plus the usual bones rubbing against each other. It was my fault though I have not been doing my physical therapy exercises so that's what I get.

Video of me and Joey yesterday. Passing the bus driver that tried to run me off the road in Rogersville about 8 months ago. We got in about 2.5 hours

Vacation Days

2008-03-25T22:06:00.002-05:00

Today me and the wife went riding fr about an hour. I'm still trying to figure out if I'M going to do the NWA road race. The weather doesn't look very promising but I have never raced in the rain so that might be fun.

Here's a video of me climbing the Pet Hollow Road. Listen for the gunshot at 51 seconds.

The battle of Alpe De Ozark.

Some Pics

2008-03-24T10:17:00.005-05:00

Since I can't find any pics of Hell's Kitchen I will just post the ones my wife took from the car. I wish I could find some of the climb.

Spring Break!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-20T19:54:00.004-05:00

Today is the start of my spring break. We are planning on going to Kansas City for a couple of days for Christy's birthday. I rode for about 1 1/2 hours today and for some reason I didn't get out of the big chain ring at all except at stop signs. Maybe it was because when I read Steve Tilford's blog he said the first 2 1/2 times he climbed Hell's Kitchen he was in his big ring. Thats pretty amazing. My dad was playing tennis at Terry Steins house in Ozark, a long time friend of our family. So I stopped by there and watched them play for a few minutes.

The old man serving. He's 60 wears a knee brace on both knees and hydrates with Miller Lite. But man is he ever the tennis player. I have never even come close to beating him. This was from his first match of the day. Then at 5 he had a match at Gillenwaters.

Video From Shelvin Rock Road gravel section.

Hells Kitchen report

2008-03-16T16:41:00.002-05:00

So today was my first race of the season. Me and Christy got up a 5:15 and left the house at 6:00, made it to Hogeye in about 2.5 hours. I saw Joey, Jason Ward, Roger, Curt, and Curtis a junior that rides for OCC. I was talking to Jason and he told me that he would be riding in my group because he had to buy a one day license and you can only buy a one day for CAT5. He said he would help me out as much as he could. I have a hard enough time staying on that guys wheel in training rides. The first climb was easy peasy, and I was feeling good. I was able to stay on Jason's wheel most of the race. We then got to the Hell's Kitchen climb a guy past me on the right so I started to hammer it up the easy part. Then I got to the steep part and was struggling a little bit. When I reached the top there was a guy alone and a group of three in front of me. I caught the guy that was alone and tried to work with him to catch the three ahead of us, but he wasn't havin it. So I decided to try and TT up to the group. I was doing 33mph on a flat to try and catch them. I eventually caught up to them with a mile to go. You could tell they were a bit pissed to see me. They were running a paceline when I got on one of their wheels I said "on your left" to the guy on my right, and I could feel the hatred in the air. Then I ended up right next to the guy in the front of the paceline right before the finish. I felt I had enough speed to start sprinting a little further out than I would normally go. So I went, and one of them latched onto my wheel and the other two were trying very hard. The guy on the right was able to beat me but the other two were not. I think I did the right thing because if I had waited any longer I think all of them may have beat me. I think I finished between 12th and 20th. I hate not knowing. Congratulations to Jason Ward on his second place finish. Curt also finished first in the masters. Way to go Curt, and Jason!

Sucks

2008-03-10T10:49:00.001-05:00

Chute Paris Nice 2008 FARRAR Tyler
Uploaded by Maxio

Two for Thursday

2008-03-05T18:59:00.004-06:00

I have 2 tests tommorow. I also have 2 tests on Monday. I also have a online test that needs to be taken by Saturday. I also have to watch Paris Nice on Sunday yeah. I also have a 5 page research paper that has to be turned in to turnitin.com by Friday at 11:59pm. Turnitin.com checks the paper for authenticity it doesnt really prove anything. I also have Hell's Kitchen is bitchin road race coming up. Am I excited? Yes though I dont know about my fitness it's diet time. As long as I have fun thats what its all about right? I feel bad for the 1,2,3's they have to do that climb three times, poor bastardo's. Got in a 2 hour ride today and saw this.

Check out MY Blob!

2008-03-02T20:52:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was very tiring on my body. I went and did the dogwood ride with Joey, Ken, and Mark Turner. It was my first time meeting Mark he's a good guy and a hell of a rider. I think I got dropped on almost every climb. Oh well pain is only temporary. It took me about three hours to fully recover and start feeling normal again. On my way home I saw Mr. Mertz and another cyclist riding east on county line road looked like they were really tring to put the hurt on a stragler. Maybe it was interval time? Today me and the wife went for a ride did 10 miles about 9mph average speed. She did a good job considering the wind and the 40 pound mountain bike she rides.

Heres a commercial I made for Specialized. Maybe they will air it and give me a free TT bike and new road bike.

I won a pair of these last night at A&B' party. I really don't have any use for them if anyone wants them there yours. They blink, stay solid, and batteries are included. Should have given them to someone last night. Just didn't think about it I was excited to actually win something.

Wheres My Medal?

2008-02-22T10:17:00.001-06:00

Noticed this on the rankings for MO. Dude I'm number 2. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Road Mens Cat 5 Road Race Rankings in Missouri

Rank Points Name License Hometown
1 2150 John Schraft 257713 Springfield, MO
2 2282 Brad Jackson 257421 Ozark, MO
3 2300 Rodney Rubi 183730 Ellington, MO
4 2376 Chris Hershey 246148 Kansas City, MO
5 2404 Mark Ewers 258521 Wildwood, MO
6 2410 Matt Turner 248307 O Fallon, MO
7 2425 DONALD HINKEBEIN 258516 Jackson, MO
8 2430 James Erlacker 211106 Cape Girardeau, MO
8 2430 Dean Meyer 233420 Creve Coeur, MO
10 2435 Stephen Lloyd 252346 Maryland Heights, MO
11 2450 Richard Hine 234961 St. Louis, MO
12 2452 Kyle Cress 255040 St. Louis, MO
13 2470 Benjamin Kettler 258575 Rolla, MO
14 2472 Bert Kembitzky 247489 Wildwood, MO
15 2475 Gordon Glaus 258354 Cape Girardeau, MO
16 2480 Patrick Koetting 258351 Cape Girardeau, MO

You want a piece of my jungle style?

2008-02-21T18:55:00.005-06:00

So just been schooling it up a notch and riding as much as possible. Got a DVR and some digital channels including VS network so I have been enjoying being able to watch the Tour of California. I failed my first test in my routing class and have done pretty bad on 2 quizzes. I need to get my stuff together and get my head in the game. That being said this weekend will be the start of 2 research papers one of the rough drafts is due by Feb. 29 so I need to whip something together for that pretty fast. If anyone has any information on Virtual Private Networks it would be much appreciated. I went riding yesterday it was cold and windy but I could not resist the sunshine though it got cloudy about 30 min in.

This was from my Tuesday ride. Climbing these hills while holding the camera with one hand, and one hand on the bars is difficult. It's not just because I can't climb. I'm not the best climber but I have come along way from the 1 pack of smokes a day for 10 years, to the cyclist that doesn't get dropped as much as he used to. Excuse the quality I was getting tired.

A video I took a while ago had a nice tailwind going. Im addicted to taking videos for some reason.

Who's ready for the Wednesday night ride? I can't wait.

What is the deal with icestorms?

2008-02-15T20:50:00.002-06:00

Went for a ride on the 60 degree day after the icestorm. There was still a little slush on the roads and a lot of water, but I had to get out and enjoy it. Cleaning the bike afterwards wasn't fun

This was the view out my back window. My parents were without power for 3 days they finally got it back on today.

JimJomHooey.

2008-02-10T21:14:00.000-06:00

Today was very eventful. Me and the wife attended church this morning. The 9:30 service instead of the 11:00 we were running late and I said, "maybe were not cut out for this early morning service". Mainly because we are never late anywhere I guess we are just going to get used to it. Then at 1:00 I went to jam with my brother at the percussion shop. He plays drums and I play a hybrid guitar with 3 bass strings and 5 guitar strings.
I actually have not played in quite some time so I was pretty rusty. Then I came home and studied and then studied some more and then rode my trainer and studied. Did I mention I hate to study.

Yesterday's Dogwood ride with Roger and Scott. We had to stop here because Scott had a puncture in his rear tire. Yet he still beat me up Union Hill.

Tests Tests 123

2008-02-07T21:15:00.000-06:00

I had a test today in my Cisco routing class. It beat me up I can't get a grasp on this subnetting different networks stuff. I hear that it just takes a lot of practice. I probably wont be doing as many races this year as I would like to because of school, gas prices, lodging and everything else that costs money to attend. I have been training a bit on the trainer(hate it slowy going crazy am I crazy going slowly). Are rollers more fun? I would imagine so.Im hoping to do the Dogwood Saturday or a group ride of some sort. It seems that the races in Springfield are going to be very cool. Im looking forward to the Queen City Twilight Crit and the one at the woodhurst office complex. It should be a fun weekend of racing. The only thing I wonder about the twilight crit is the amount of homeless people on commercial street. I grew up going there to work with my dad all the time so Im used to it. I just hope they don't bug the racers to much but hey they might enjoy watching and we can have a bunch of drunk homeless people cheering us on.

What a Day

2008-02-02T23:08:00.000-06:00

Me, Roger, Ken, Scott, and Greg met up at the Oldfield post office to do the Dogwood loop at 10:00 this morning. The weather was way better than expected, and I may have had too many layers on. By the end of 125 back to Oldfield my thigh muscles were locking up and could not get out of the saddle anymore.

Then this afternoon I went to my sister's 27th birthday party. It was good times she got lot's of presents and seemed to have fun. The cake was an blizzard ice cream cake from dairy queen it was very tasty. Here's a video of me playing with my cousin.

Rip it Up Dude

2008-01-27T21:31:00.000-06:00

Of course I went riding today the weather was awesome. Took a sample video. Still trying to get the hang of taking a video while riding it's a lot harder than it sounds especially if your going up hill or downhill. Did some intervals 3x 5min. The just rode a for a while total time was about an hour and a half.

This road is just east of my house don't know what it's called if anyone knows they get a prize.

This was from yesterdays ride did 2 hours got a bloody nose, then got a turkey sandwich from Turners station. The lady at Turners station was very nice and offered to make me a compression pack for my nose. I did not except but it was a very nice thing to do. The sandwich was so good mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Salt Ride

2008-01-23T17:38:00.000-06:00

The sun was out, and the temp about 40 so I decided to go for a ride. After changing my bikes position seat height, cleats, and saddle I think Im starting to get rid of this knee pain. On the ride today it did not bother me one time. But I will still keep icing it and streching really well. School is stressing me out I don't feel like I'm in school mode, cant study, or concentrate on one certain thing feel like I have to much to do. I hope I didn't go wrong by taking 5 classes. All of my teachers are really cool though thats a plus from last semester. It seems like the Dogwood race is really coming along with Bud Hogan, and Greg Espenkotter's additional sponsor the pay out should be good. I wonder if the High Hills Drifter is drifting on the High Hills. Defensor Fortis.

Jackson St. Hill Climb in Ozark. I have been trying to figure out what that annoying noise is when I take a movie. I think I might have a finger on the microphone or something.

School Daze

2008-01-14T20:17:00.000-06:00

Had my first class today. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system. It's weird that a lot of big companies use Windows Server 2003 for their networks, but guess who doesn't.....MICROSOFT. Yeah I think they use Linux. So I guess from the looks of my first class so far I have 2 research papers and 2 presentations. I hate presentations don't they know I suffer from dibilitating anxiety. So I guess for the next 16 weeks I will be in front of these a lot.

Good Ole Day

2008-01-12T18:57:00.000-06:00

Went for a ride today with Mertz and Jason Ward. We made it to Fair Grove, and Fruitland as well. Nice to check out some new scenary. We also saw some of the damage caused by the tornado in Strafford had me thinking how lucky I was to still have my home. I ended up doing about 4 1/2 hours and 74 miles. My knee pain was acting up the last hour. It's driving me nuts.

Took a picture of the picture taker and Jason.

We also stopped at a Revolutionary War Cemetary to pay our respects. It was pretty cool.

Saddle Thoughts

2008-01-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

Was wondering a comfortable saddle anyone could recommend. I have a specialized toupe right now and it does have a cut out. But my nether regions went numb on last saturdays ride. Me and the wife plan on having a child in a few years so I need my bits and pieces to work properly. But if not we are going to adopt a chinese baby actually we might do that anyway.

A River Runs Through It

2008-01-08T17:57:00.000-06:00

During last nights storms this was the drainage ditch behind our house. It only took about 20 minutes to get this high.

Training Days

2008-01-07T21:07:00.000-06:00

The wife captured me on the trainer tonight. That red shirt is so sexy if I don't say so myself.

Zouch!

2008-01-05T17:01:00.000-06:00

Today I decided to go ride with Norton, Siffereman, and a junior on our team Curtis. We met up at Ewing park never been there before so I thought it would be a nice change of scenary. That Curtis kid at only 15 years old was one tough mother trucker. I mean that kid can ride, you can tell he has a lot of natural ability. We ended up doing about 60 miles I think 30 of it directly into the wind on our way back, and going a lot harder than I was expecting. My average heart rate was 164bpm and my max was 193bpm(New Max HR). Anyways it was a good time and I was glad to meet one of the juinor members of our team. Although I think my depression/anxiety is getting worse. I have an appointment with the physcotherapist on tuesday so I may need to adjust my meds. The medications have done a good job for about a year I hear that sometimes you need to change them though cause they dont take effect like they used to. I just hope the side effects are not as bad as when I first started Zoloft night sweats, crazy dreams, tingling head, and also sexual side effects I wont get into those to much but it sucks. I just wish I didnt have to take these crap bag medications but without them I would be a freakin hermit. Good day ole chaps.

Memories

2008-01-02T10:54:00.000-06:00

I used to watch this movie when I was a kid before I really knew what cycling was all about. Ciao Bella

Anotha!

Domeano's & McDonauld's (Italian accent)

2008-01-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would post an article I found about Doxycycline.

This medication may rarely cause a severe intestinal condition (pseudomembranous colitis) due to resistant bacteria. This condition may occur weeks after treatment has stopped. Do not use anti-diarrhea products or narcotic pain medications if you have the following symptoms because these products may make them worse. Tell your doctor immediately if you develop: persistent diarrhea, abdominal or stomach pain/cramping, blood/mucus in your stool.

I'm falling apart

2007-12-31T20:16:00.000-06:00

So I headed out today to go for a ride. I was planning on riding to A&B to get some lube and other stuff. So I make a right on CC from waterford and get hit by gail force winds. Then my right knee started hurting to the point where I couldn't shake it off, and ended up aborting the mission. Overuse do I need a break? It has been bothering me on the last few rides nothing unbearable though, until today. I did lower my handlebars 1cm and raise my saddle 1cm about a week ago so I went ahead and changed it back to the old position. At least I gotta good ride in yesterday with Mertz. Hell of a guy, wish there were more cyclists/people like Mertz. Here is a pic from yesterday me givin some sheep the stink eye. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I've lost the Christmas spirit.

2007-12-27T15:57:00.001-06:00

So I went to the Martin Center to day for an x-ray of my colon. As I did research the procedure (barium enima) online I found that they basically shove a tube into the rectum and disperse barium fluid and then blow up a ballon so the barium stays in, so they can take pictures. So I get there and they had me drink the barium so I asked the nurse if they were going to be putting this liquid anywhere else and she said no. I was releived and assumed that they must just do the same test a different way. Turns out they were taking pictures of my upper gi tract instead of my lower which I had scheduled for Monday. Wouldn't be such a big deal except for yesterday I had to do a bowel cleansing which all I could eat was chicken broth, flavored jello(no red), soda(which gave me most of my calories), and black coffee. It was horrible I think I had about 300 to 400 calories all day yesterday, also going to the restroom every five minutes. So basically I did all that for no reason and probably have to do it again Sunday, unless they found out whats causing my stomach problems from the procedure today. Which my doctors office has but wont give to me cause he is out of town till the 2nd and if I wait to do the barium enima after Monday I will have to pay my insurance deductable. I wish my pain would just freakin go away looking forward to riding again. Sorry for bitchin just fed up. Good Day

Surfing Find

2007-12-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

Im sure some of you have seen this before. I found it so crazy that I just had to post it.

Trek to Astana

2007-12-13T08:06:00.000-06:00

Is that SRAM red group on a TREK?

Finals are Over

2007-12-12T11:14:00.000-06:00

I finished my last final today. My grades are Networking B, Computer Hardware B, English 101 A, and Math NP(Not Passed I'm horrible at math). Im happy with my grades especially for not being in school for about 7 years. Going to Arkansas this Saturday to visit my wifes family as long as I'm feeling better it's a 3 1/2 hour drive, so I don want to feel sick while I'm there. One month off of school looking forward to it

Two Ralphs One Trainer.

2007-11-30T16:41:00.000-06:00

I puked twice yesterday morning. Then I rode my trainer yesterday evening. I saw Joey on the Veterans Cemetary hill climb today and he showed me how real bike riders go up hill. I haven't puked in about 8 years the last time I puked I was drunk on beer and wine while I was with my furture wife. Isn't it beer before liquor never been sicker. Liquor before beer your in the clear. Woops. Glad I don't drink anymore.