Mark Your Calendars!!! Inaugural "LaTour de LaTonka"

Get ready boys!!! The first-ever intra-squad competitive race is coming your way!

WHERE: Start/Finish Lake Latonka, Mercer County (my place).

WHAT: A handi-capped, intra-squad 2-team battle of current and former Ag3r/Fox Mellow/Velo riders and invited guests of the Ag3r/Butler Health System Cycling Team. This will be a competition. Imagine a 21-stage race packed into one day! There will be sprint stages, climbing stages, rest stages, and of course, ITTs and TTTs. While there will be individual placings/awards, the emphasis will be on team vs. team competition. Tactics will matter! A full race program will be forthcoming so that all participants can study each stage and prepare accordingly.

WHEN: Sunday, August 16, 7:00 a.m. If all goes well I anticipate that we'll be back by noon.

WHO: You you freakin' slacker!!!

WHY: Been a while since we all got together. Actually, with this crew, I don't think we've ever all been together. Plus it makes me feel like I'm still involved in cycling.

OTHER: For this day and this day only, I will be functioning as Directeur Sportif. I hold sole discretion of team placement & match-ups (which will be announced just prior to the event), stage routes, and any rules I make up along the way. If I am at all fit by then, I will participate as a rider as well. If this happens, I hope to draw Tic out to be the Race Director/Support Vehicle Driver/Keeper of Stats/Radio Man/Phil Ligget/Paul Sherwin/(and most importantly) Bobke all rolled into one (no wait - I get to be Bobke!).

MORE: We will end the race with lots of beverages and food, and of course an awards ceremony. Please plan on being there!!!

Smilin' Like a Butcher's Dog

The long grind is over...in one of the best comebacks ever seen in professional sports, the Pens went from being out of the playoffs in 10th place in mid-February, to hoisting the Cup after 4 grueling rounds of playoffs. To me the most impressive aspect of the whole deal was how each and every member of that team contributed. The marquis players lived up to their reps and anchored this thing, but the "role" players clinched it. Even if you're a fair weather hockey fan, I hoped you jumped on the bandwagon, because we witnessed what in my mind is one of the most historic chapters and moments in Pittsburgh sports history.

You can have your Steelers - I'll take the Pens.

The Opposite of Poser

A big shout out to Abbey Rogers...graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and gymnast extraordinaire.

She comes from good stock.

I know not of which you speak...

"Some of the people from Indiana know of a rider who's sweat can eat through steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber over a winter's training sessions."



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