"Dude you need to stop talking during races"

Stage 7 - Short. 135 km. Windy, big rollers. Made the breakaway. Finally. Hamilton, Landis, Milne, Carlsen, perfect group. Flatted. No team car in sight. Another day on the bike.

Back in the peloton. Dude gets all up in my space. I've got nowhere to go. Give him a love tap back to his place. We lock bars. Down we go.

Stage 6 - Cobbles. Real. Big. Cobbles. Front derailleur gets all jittery on me. Then it decides to just fall off. Nothing like chasing back to the peloton at 60 kph motorpacing over Paris-Roubaix style cobbles and Belize style speed bumps. Could never forget that one if I tried!

Bridging up to the break. Stetina joins the bridge. Good move. Motoring now. Shift. Chain wraps around my crank. Twice. Back to the peloton. Give the front derailleur some "precise adjustments" courtsey of my foot. Back to good....

Bad luck hits all at once!

One day left in downtown Mexico City - and finally back to civilization. And by that I mean Starbucks.

You can thank Travis Brandt for that one.

-b-

Mexican endeavours

So far in La Vuelta Mexico....

Pulled over by one traffic cop. Axel played it cool and got off with a warning. Act like you don't speak Spanish.

Hotels = amazing. 5 stars. Crazy views. Lovin' it.

200+ km stages. Never trust the race bible, the race is whatever the race director decides on the day to race.

Crazy crowds. Signing body parts and clothing daily at the starts and finish venues.

Crazy strong Mexican racers. Not many pro teams in Mexico, but a helluva lot of strong riders.

Crazy cobbles and speed bumps. Sketchy gets a new meaning down here.

Crazy saddle sores. You just don't wanna know.

Can't believe it's only stage 4...hump day tomorrow, only 4 more to go.

Adios,

-b-

Can't fight the feeling

Racing is in the air finally...you can smell it, taste it, feel it in every part of your body. Anxiety. Excitement. Nerves. It all comes together at the start of the race season. But somehow we always get over it and down to business.

Stage one of Vuelta Mexico today was 100 km of circuits through downtown Oaxaca, 12 laps of 8 km. One nice climb each lap and some nasty ass cobbles and dips made the race harder than I expected, not helped by my stale legs from the lack of riding the past couple of days. You see, AeroMexico airlines neglected to get my bike to me before 9AM the day of the race...we start at 10AM. Needless to say, it was a bit close but at least I was on my own bike and not the neutral.

Lance was in the follow car today with Axel...I guess they got a lot of excitement in the first couple laps of the circuit with Reohei and Julian both crashing, followed by some flat tires courtsey of Phinney and Reohei. The bumps dips were fun enough on a bike, I can't imagine how much air the caravan car got chasing back to the peloton!

Anyway the clmbs were not too bad but I was having one of those days, so I sag climbed each lap and cruised in about 15 seconds down on the main peloton after 100km of racing. Ready to fight another day, looking forward to some of the longer stages--oh yes, such as tomorrow's 205 km stage in the mountains. Hello altitude.

-b-

Oaxaca, Mexico

Enjoying the views from the top of the Hotel Victoria in Oaxaca right now, wishing we had more time to vacation here in Mexico instead of begin eight days of racing tomorrow! The racing would probably be easier if any of the team had our bikes and luggage yet--after 15 hours of travel yesterday we arrived in Oaxaca sans any luggage. So at least now I have an excuse to sit up here on the hotel balcony, enjoy the view, and not think about bike racing for a while.

Viva Mexico-

-b-

Viva Mexico!

Off to the Vuelta Mexico - Telmex this week for eight stages of bike racing goodness and Mexican food consumption. Could not ask for a more perfect race at this time of year, between the great weather, high altitude, and long stages. Should be a great race to test the legs and start the season off right. Starting in Oxaca and ending up in Mexico City on March 8th.

Follow the race on cyclingnews.

Plus I can brush up on my extremely rusty Spanish skills.

Hasta luego,

-b-

Santa Rosa camp recap

We're finally finishing up the second Trek-LiveSTRONG team camp here in Santa Rosa, California after a solid 8 days of training, sponsor meetings, massage, and of course eating. The staples of any cyclist's diet should include plenty of rice, fish, pasta, and oatmeal - and I've no doubt consumed my share of the works this week.

On top of all the experiences this week, the one most prominent in my mind is Axel Merckx's guidance on a daily basis. The guy is a class act in every way, and I'm honored and proud to work for him. Axel keeps us U23 guns in line every day with a mix of good natured Belgian humor, friendship, and laying the verbal smack down on us when need be. Luckily that hasn't been often!

Second on my list of cool experiences was the riding company. Between Levi, Lance, Contador, Bart, the Saris guys, SRAM, Beaker Concepts, and the rest of the Astana team we have been in the best of company all week long. Lance laying down the law the first day got the hard efforts out of all our systems, and really prepared us to work hard "in our zones" the rest of the week long.

Of course I can't forget to mention our title sponsor Trek in all this buisness - they really stepped up to the next level and made this camp phenominal for us. I just packed my bags of gear - almost half of what we get for the year - and I'm astounded. The kits are top notch, the bikes are better than ever, and our staff is dedicated to our success.

Back in Tucson tomorrow, recovering and training until next weekend's Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix. Looking forward to the next challenge,

-b-

Riding with the boss

First the meet and greet.
Then putting the hammer down on Spring Mountain Road.

1) Lance is fast. Very fast.
2) Levi is going to win Tour of California.
3) I'm the geek on the team - It's only taken 1 week of training for the team to figure that out.

We rode Kings Ridge today northwest of Santa Rosa. Probably the most amazing ride I have ever done on a road bike. Legs are tired today after hammering with Lance yesterday and 6 hours today. But still lovin' every minute of it.

-b-

Sunny side up

Of all the things in Tucson I like the most....

...home would have to be the most spectacular.




Really. I do like Wisconsin. But Arizona is quite nice at this time of year too.

Off to Santa Rosa to get the final touches on our training before racing starts up at the Vuelta a Mexico in a few weeks. Hopefully Astana doesn't rip our legs off too much; it's becoming difficult to reattach those legs after each hard training ride--especially with Jon Chodroff, Cam Evans, Kirk Carlson, and Curtis Gunn lighting it up on the Shootout each weekend.

Tuna and brown rice....mmmmm....lunchtime.

-b-

Teammates winning more world cups

Damn son!

One of our new teammates, Jesse Sergent, won the individual pursuit with a time of 4:17 in Beijing yesterday...the second fastest time ever on that track I believe. Congrats -- can't wait to meet him in Santa Rosa at our next team camp in 10 days.

Team looks to be shaping up good! This afternoon I have a final fit appointment with Bill Peterson at Foot Fitness to get my new orthodics and Bontrager RXL shoes. Exciting stuff.

Oh yeah, school started this week...I guess I have lots of stuff to do now. No slacking, eh?

-b-

This guy is a genius

If you have any bike fitting issues that you just cannot seem to solve....this is the guy to go to. Bill Peterson, a podiatrist that runs the Foot Fitness store in Tucson here, is an absolute fitting genius. In 5 minutes of looking at my feet he described to me all the issues I've had with my bike fit the past several years. And 1 hour later, I was pedaling more symmetrically and smoothly on the bike than I've ever been before - even without the custom orthodics he's making for me this week. It turns out I was pretty messed up on the bike, but now, I look like a bike racer. And feel like one too.

Seriously, give this guy a call and set up an appointment if you are in town. It is well worth your time and effort.

His website is www.wedofeet.com

Austin - are you sure this is Texas?

Sitting at the origional whole foods market in Austin right now...what a cool town! Not what I expected at all. We are staying at a hotel downtown right next to Mellow Johnny's bike shop. Trek and Livestrong have come out in full force to support us - and the effort shows. Camp so far is top notch from the Trek bikes, to the vo2 max test I have to nail down in an hour here. Let's pray dinner doesn't come up, or the 30 hours of riding in my legs the past 8 days.

Off to the show,

B

Taking a trip

Always on the move here lately...tomorrow I fly from Tucson to Austin, Texas for the first team camp of the 2009 season. After logging some solid miles on the trusty old Slingshot cross bike, it's time to retire the beast and move on.

How shall I retire the bike? All ideas are acceptable. Keep in mind the steed has only one chainring, cantilever brakes, and one pink chain ring bolt.

Back from camp next Tuesday looking a little less ghetto than the days before-

Ryan

And I'm Out

Working hard, riding the trainer, hitting the skis a bit when the weather agrees (read: does not snow too much) the past two weeks. Enjoyed Christmas with the family another year and we are thankful for it.

Tonight involves packing up everything I own and making the grand old trip down to Tucson with fellow Green Bay native Cole House. Straight through to Tucson, AZ is about 29 hours....how fast can we make it?

Oh yeah, the Ipod Touch.....great invention. I will be blogging and enjoying life that much more now.


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Acceptance

Sunny:

-9°F

Feels Like:

-25°F

It has taken 21 years for me to accept it--Wisconsin is too cold for me.

I gotta get out of here soon.

The rollers, the weight room, the 15 minute preparation time to survive 15 minutes of walking outdoors to class:

I've had enough.

December 28th it's time to get away.

To the desert of Tucson I will go.

Ride with ryan baumann

http://www.ridewithryanbaumann.blogspot.com/

Still the best site ever. Waiting for an update these past two years...

Perspective

After all the shenanigans this off season, the dust has settled and all the team rosters from the USA have been announced. Now considering the state of the economy and all that jazz, I consider myself and friends to be extremely lucky--this is a terrible year for a lot of bike racers.

Trek Livestrong has a solid U23 roster for next year including lots of track champions and olympic medalists. Guy East won a U23 6-Day race just last month, we all know Taylor Phinney went to Bejing for the individual pursuit, and the two Kiwis were part of the bronze medal team pursit squad at Bejing. The final roster:

Trek LIVESTRONG U23 Team (D.S. Axel Merckx)

Ryan Baumann (USA)
Sam Bewley (USA)
Benjamin Bradshaw (USA)
Cody Campbell (CAN)
Guy East (USA)
Ben King (USA)
Ryohei Komori (JPN)
Taylor Kuphaldt (USA)
Taylor Phinney (USA)
Bjorn Selander (USA)
Jesse Sargent (NZL)

The first team camp is on January 8th in Austin, Texas at the "Mellow Johnny's" bike shop. The team will meet for the first time, break the ice, get some gear, do some rides, and prepare for the season.

In the menatime I try to ignore my excitement and focus on real life...riding the rollers and knocking off finals one by one. Real life is absurdly boring.

Also check out the Two John's Podcast. Good times to be had there each week--and great entertainment for the soon-to-occur road trip to Tucson, Arizona at the end of the month.

Missingsaddle bound

The new site will be up shortly...I'll post a link as soon as it is ready!

Cyclocross

Two Photos thanks to djonnymac, top two thank to Peloton-Pix.com

It's easy to explain why I am not good at cyclocross: One reason being my not-so-brief visit to that freezing pool of river water next to me in the above photos. Another probably involves a 42-25 granny gear on a hilly course with poor fitness. Also I have no cross style, grey socks notwithstanding.

Ignoring the wet, cold, intense pain of cyclocross, it doesn't seem half bad!

From hot to cold

Hello all, it's been a great past 10 days! The road racing scene has pretty much wrapped up world wide, and now all eyes are on the cyclocross'ers like Jamie Driscoll, Bjorn Selander, and the Keough brothers Luke and Nick who have been tearing it up at home and abroad.

Thank you one and all who: looked at / considered buying / did not buy / shunned / wanted to buy, but found a great excuse not to buy my ebay items last week. The procedes have gone to my bank account and will help pay for tuition next semester....yes that means Spring 2009! Racing my be full time next season, but that doesn't mean I've given up finishing my degree. 1 and 1/2 semesters left to go.

My experience of the past week: buying jeans and visiting the mall. Yes I know some of you out there do this like it's your day job (Cole and Greg), but buying a pair of jeans for the first time in 4 years was more difficult than you can possibly imagine. But considering that I'm about to graduate from college and I'm still wearing clothes from Junior year of High School, I considered it time for a change. You know, spice it up a little bit.

$110 and two pair of jeans later I'm done buying jeans for another 4 years--a great success!

Well it's off for some more cold rides, and screwey school work like the rest of modern 20-something society.

-b-

Ebay

Check out all my ebay listings please! Honestly this is all the money I have to keep on living until next year, so please buy!

Reynolds DV46T wheelset

Easton EC90 Attack TT Aerobar

Shimano Dura Ace 7800 crank and BB

Jamis Xenith SL Fork

Nike Swift Skin Suit

Lazer Chrono 3 Time Trial Helmet