JUSTIN GABRIEL!!!

Dear Friends,

Late last night I heard that one of my best friends, Justin Gabriel, is in the hospital. He is in critical condition in the ICU and at the moment is unresponsive. He is a strong guy who's been running for a long time, so he's healthy and I'm sure he's bound for a comeback.

Your prayers and any positive thoughts or messages would be wonderful!!

You can keep up to date at this website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/justingabriel

Justin was the one that recruited me to Adams State, and he was my first college roommate. He was always a great friend and teammate. Though some thought of him as a rebel, he did best what most of us are still trying to figure out how to do...enjoy life.

He was also the man that got me on my feet here in Austin, and has been there for me countless amount times to just chill and hang out.

Justin Gabriel is one of my hero's...a great athlete, a good friend, a poet, a party guy, and a man who is not afraid to be himself.

Come ride with me, Justin :)

Done and done!

Ok...here's how things went down.

Thursday night I raced the Driveway crits here in Austin. The first race was the 3/4 race that was 40 min. long. Early on there was a break of about 5 riders. We let them go thinking we would eventually reel them back in. Well, 10 min. went by and they weren't getting any closer and no one seemed to want to work to bring them back. I decided that I was going to bridge, but I didn't want anyone coming w/ me, so I waited for someone to take a really hard pull, sat about 3rd wheel until they got tired, then went...hard! I was off the front alone and the break was coming to me in a hurry. Within' 2 laps I bridged and we still had a good amount of time on the pelaton. Then I started motivating the group telling them about our gap and that we could make it.

The group worked together in fantastic unison. I pulled hard on my pulls and tried to make sure that we stayed away, and that the group's legs were getting heavy. Then with a lap and a half to go, I went hard and got a good gap. I crossed the lap to go sign, taking a prime, and then just held on for dear life. One guy tried to catch me coming off a lead out from a teammate, but I was gone. I took the win with enough time to sit up and celebrate a little bit.

Then in the 4/5 race, I did NO jumps or breaks until the last 100m, where I ended up finishing 2nd in the mass sprint. Nothing great or awful about that race, but it was a nice way to start things off to the racing mania that was going to be the next few days.

Ok...I'll have to post about Friday a little later. I apologize for the delay and I swear I'm not doing it to raise suspense...no really.

hasta

-Yorek

Day 1 of 5 starts tonight!

Alright! These are the weekends that I live for!!!!

I will be competing 7 times over the next 5 days, and at least once every day.

The racing festivities will begin tonight, Thursday, with the Kenny Hill Autowerks Crit races where I will race the 3/4 crit and the 4/5 crit back to back. (That's bike racing for those who don't know)

Friday evening will consist of two legs at the Zilker Relays consisting of 2.5 miles each leg. I will be running a 4 leg relay w/ Scott Kimbell of Adams State (who will do the other 2 legs) vs. the UTexas alumni team of Darren Brown, Kyle Miller, Erik Stanley, and Joe Thorne (all of whom are DI track all-americans).

Saturday will be a cycling road race of 38 miles w/ the Velossimo Racing Team. This one will be fun b/c I'm going to try and lead another teammate to victory...something I don't usually do ;)

Sunday will be yet another crit race w/ the Velossimo Team. This one I will be going for the win.

And finally....the most difficult of the 7 races, the Austin Triathlon on Monday, Labor Day, September 7th. I will be racing the likes of James Cotter (defending champ), Paul Terranova (Kona Age-group #1, soon anyway), David Kahn (USAT Amateur athlete of the year for 2008, now a pro) and Mr. Andrew Yoder (fastest cyclist in triathlon....period, and 4th at the NYC tri).

Good times...good times.

Wish me luck and I will keep all 3 of you, haha, up to date!

Hasta,

-Yorek