Since my last blog a fair bit of recovery and a lot of big hours have happened for me - oh, and a twilight crit, and wow it really was a twilight crit...

So since nature valley I've really taken a little time for my body to recover from the first half of the year, but I just got back to work with 3 weeks of really solid training and, by some weird way, I've really enjoyed spending a lot of time alone on my bike.

Some days it's a little weird having to talk to yourself for 7hrs, but I must have a lot to say cause I never really get bored.  After the solid block of training I took it easy for a couple days and was ready to make my trip across to Boise, Idaho for the first race of my second half of the 2011 season.  It was Twilight crit time...

The 85 laps started in the dusk and it wasn't a bad race because the laps were super fast and there were no crazy corners.  This meant one thing though, it was going to be crazy for sure when the sun went down.

It seems the shadows play with guy's minds and unfortunately some of them get too excited and try to hug each other going through the corners.  That was when the carnage started.  Unlucky for me, I got caught up in about a 10 rider pile up with around 8 laps to go - two guys tangled up right next to me going through a corner, and so be it with good old "Murphy", I was right next to them and was taken out.

It's never fun crashing but I got away from it with out any broken bones, instead I had a swollen hip and a fair bit of skin missing on my back.  After I crashed I kind of never got back into to the race after destroying my bike with only a few laps left...that problem got at me the most because it took out a lead out guy from the team, which meant Team BISSELL had to do with out me.  The guys went well in the finish despite another crash taking three more of the team out with one lap to go.  So I probably would have gotten caught in that crash if it wasn't for my meeting with the tar...

All that meant there was no sleeping on the right hand side for a couple days - sticking to the sheets is NEVER fun.  Anyway, I can't complain about it too much since it could of been a lot worse.  After watching the first week of the Tour de France I really did come off unscratched.  You've got to feel sorry for the guys that went down.  A lot of effort goes into getting selected for a Tour that big and it's a big hit when you get taken out from crashes, so life could always be worse.

The team is really looking good for Tour of Cascades and we're off to Bend this week and will be there for eight days...it's one of my favorite races on the American calendar....

That's all from me for now...

Cheers,
Jay