Here He Comes, Here Come Speed "RAYCER"

This post has been long overdue and now it is time to finally celebrate the birth of my first child.

Raycer Paxton Metz is a miracle in mine and my wifes lives. He was born at 8 lbs 4 oz on September 19th @3:23 pm. He was born with a full head of hair and makes a lot of different looks...Ferrari, Le Tigre, Blue Steel and Magnum as seen below...

Look at all this awesome hair...Rockin out already...

Pretty Legit Huh...So since the conclusion of this pregnancy i have actually been able to ride and train a little bit more.That doesnt make sense i know. Since my road season was a bust i have decided to take a chance at Cyclocross or Cx Racing. I seem to have stumbled into the sport by piecing together a bunch of equipment from my garage and my road bike...Its a bit of a frankenbike...I just competed in my second race yestereday. The first race i did was a 30 min SSCX(Single Speed) Race in DeKalb which ended very abruptly after my chain tensioner failed and i ended up eating shit on the only pavement section on the race.Just my luck. Yesterday was a bit better which was stop #3 in the ChiCrossCup in Chicagos Southside at Dan Ryan Woods. This was my first hour long cx race in several years and i was pretty underwhelmed by my performance or lack there of. My little pet theory is that since i had practically no road season and almost 0 race miles the condition of my legs and lungs are wayyyyyyyyyy behind those of my fellow cx mates in my race. I am really going to focus and dedicate the rest of 2011 to cx and start fresh on the road in '12. I know that i probably have a snowballs chance in hell of cracking the top 10 of a cx race this year but im going to try as hard as possible. Next year after what will hopefully be a long and hard road season im going to really try my hand at cx again. So please stay tuned for what i initially promised...Race Reports....Thanks for stopping by...

Kind of like the entrance to the Bat Cave

The Things Nobody Likes to Discuss

On Monday during the 3rd stage of the Giro d'Italia there was an accident involving a 26 year old pro cyclist named Wouter Weylandt. From what I have read the reports say that on a descent of a climb he turned around to guage the distance to the riders behind him and an unfortunate turn of events occurred which finally led to his death. This is a very rare occurence in professional cycling but less rare in bicycle racing altogether. When a death related to bike racing occurs it isn't very likely the riders fault. Most stories i have heard are related to drivers hitting riders or going onto a course or road in which they were not permitted to be on. The problem is that it is not 100% preventable though. Accidents do happen and people (riders & non-riders alike) make mistakes. I read an column this morning after going out to take a dog that i care for on a walk. It was written by Jonathan Vaughters retelling an event in which a rider under his care was struck by a vehicle during a time trial in the Tour de Georgia years ago. The rider beforehand was a young, spunky, self confident cyclist ready to take on the world, fearing no man in his way. After the accident in the hospital after he regained consciousness for a short time he scribbled on some paper with his bloody finger to Jonathan "When can I ride again?". In that crash he was struck by a car that had went on course just after his police escort had passed and didnt care to look if anything was coming after that. On that day he punctured both lungs and fractured over a dozen bones.

Jonathan wrote in his story that "Seeing someone so hurt isn’t something pro cyclists like. They have to pretend that risk doesn’t exist. Being reminded of it only deflates their sense of invincibility. And without being invincible, in your mind, you will never succeed in professional cycling." As a competitive cyclist we dont like to hear about crashes or injuries and least of all the death of a fellow rider. At the end of the day no matter how much we want to win the race and sacrifice our bodies to accomplish victory when we cross the finish line we are all friends. I would even go as far to say we are like family. It is a condition that I feel that is lacking in most professional arenas.

After telling my wife about this she replied with "And you still want our kids to race bikes?" Without a second to think I immediately replied "Of course I do, Its still way safer than high school football." To which she came back with "People don't die in football." I dont have the statistics to back up my argument that cycling is safer than football, I know it to be true though. I have seen a number of stories about kids recieving numerous injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives such and blown out knees and shoulders leading all the way up to paralyzation and death. Im not going to argue. Im going to go ride my bike and enjoy every second of it knowing that im lucky to be here today and getting to do what i love. Rest In Peace Wouter Weylandt 1984-2011.