yo Curtis, that your ride? yall be bad, ooh ooh!

no, it's Tom's. . and yes, i think my shirt's tucked in my u wear.

Get better TZ!

last year, Zirbel, taking it upon himself to get his team some results while other dudes stayed at home, asked me if i wanted to travel together to the Cascade Classic, 5 day stage race in Bend OR. upon arriving to his apartment (the day after he returned home from Iowa, where he was the honorary home town hero flown back to race some rolling road race around some gigantic lake, having to do TV, radio interviews . .they might have even had a parade for the guy, i dont know) ... but, upon arriving to his apartment, and after torrential rains in CO, i came to realize that superman Tom was once again over extended, trying to do super human things like, race in CO, then quick race in Iowa, then quick come home and quick drive to Oregon with Scott, and even so maintain kicking all the asses around him despite monolithic training and race days in his legs, i.e. no rest aside from the moments he's passed out on the floor or cramped up in a plane or car seat. Most likely, all that too accounted for the fact that the bashed-up trunk (or boot) of his Toyota Tercel (that we were planning to drive to OR because i doubted T could fit in my VW rabbit truck) had 12 inches of rusty, beer like standing water in it. Fix a flats were floating around, recyclables that had accumulated over time, and the car jack resting on the trunk floor like a sunken treasure [note attached photo] . .. tom, after getting done telling me that his girl friend's cat had peed all over his race/riding/team clothes, asked if i happened to have drill in the back of my truck. A drill? i replied .. yah, i need to drill out the floor of my trunk. if we drive to OR with all that water, it'll kill our gas mileage, he said. .. good point, i replied. . that night i think we stayed in some hotel some where in eastern Oregon, both a couple bounds lighter from the driving with the windows up, baking in the beer car, again, so as to maintain better gas mileage.

Stage 1: Tom and i made the second group (that 's the positive way of saying we missed the front group) when the race moved across a wide open windy section heading back to Bend for the final climb, where upon i attacked on the wheel of Glen Chadwick from the Nav's (that's the positive way of saying Glen attacked and i was trying to hold on for dear life) and got a gap on Tom. only to be passed mid way up the short, steep climb, but, sensing that it might be my only chance to beat the Legend, i pinned it to the line getting a gap on the the dude to which the judges gave me now credit, giving us each the same time (i had AT LEAST a second on the guy)

Stage 2: mountain top finish. .. Tom and i made the front group. there was like dozen of us. i attacked with about 3k to go, and got reeled back, just my little amateur statement to the pros that their pace wasn't high enough; then with about a kilometer to go Tom attacked, kind of got out of site around a few corners, and you just could tell it was the winning move, which it was (i'd like to say that i set up tom's winning move, but that's not true) . .i think i finished 11th out of the 12 of us. .

Stage 3: mountain top finish at a ski resort. Tom and I finished together again, a few watts from making the front group. . or most likely, bad positioning going into the climb. .

Stage 4: due to the fact our GC positions were neck and neck, Tom went after me in the time trial. . and good thing the started him a minute instead of 30" behind me, otherwise he'd of passed me.

Stage 5: i made the break away group, sealed the deal on the KOM jersey, picked up 3rd on the stage, moved into the top 10 GC, and Tom won the field sprint taking 5th on the stage. . putting both of us top 10 amidst the so-pros . ..

by far were the happiest most smug dudes driving away from that race, as others got a massage and caught their plane ride back home . .Tom and i smashed two bikes in the back of the Tercel and hit the highway. . .getting pulled over somewhere in idaho: the cop walks up to car, before saying anything else .. you guys road cyclists? as he stares at Zirbels quads almost sticking out the window. . . Tom replies, Yes, as he reaches in the glove box, pulls out a Tom Zirbrel Pro Cyclist card with an action photo, autographs it, hands it to the cap as he says, why yes we are!