You might be asking yourself right now "why is it that this post is at like 2:30am? shouldnt jim be sleeping?"  and my answer is "i would be, if my left side had skin on it."

First, lets talk about shorewood.  Awesome event.  Tons of people showed up to cheer me on and remind me that i need to have some fun.  Although i wouldnt call the strech between turn 1 and 2 "fun" in any reguard of the word, but the other 3/4ths of the course deemed a good time for all.  i raced well, my support was overwhelming, and i finished with my hands off the handlebars.... not because i had won, more because i had gotten rocked.  after 61 miles of racing and essentially sitting in the pack minding my own buisness (and that buisness of the guy in front of me, which immediatly pretains to me) i made one of those split second decisions that the race hinges on during the last lap.  I was holding good position about 15 back since 6 laps to go and it looked good for another top 20 or better, so when i saw the guy attacking up the left i jumped on it and tried to take it the remaining mile on my own.... this was looking great until after the last turn when the entire pack came by me, including some dude in a wheelchair screaming "eat more banannas, then you wont die so quickly" which, judging by his age, may have been some very sound advice.  So i finished way back but it didnt matter to the people that came to see me as they made me feel great and we went to pattys for a beer and chex mix.

Next up; ripon.  Heres an idea!!! These guys are fast right? well lets make a course that is .62 miles long so they have to do an even 100 laps, and lets put a hill on 2 sides of it making it 200 hills they have to climb, then lets jackhammer all the corners to challenge their turning/drifting abilities, and then with 15 laps to go, lets have it rain.  BRILLIANT! THEY WILL NEVER FINISH!  After pretty much giving it everything i had just to stay with the pack for the first 40 laps i finally began to settle in and find some kind of rhythm, which went something like this "climb, decend into corner, dont pedal at all down the backside, attempt not to die, climb steeper hill, descend into corner, dont die again, try not to let them gap you across the finish line, turn, climb again" and it was good.  3 guys were up the road and with about 20 to go i saw the 3 time junior world champion go and gain a fast gap, i attacked as hard as i could down that backstrech i wasnt supposed to pedal on, and 3 seconds later my bike was nowhere to be found and i was trying to stop myself with my forearm, hip, and leg using only the pavement and curb, and then the grass. casey snuck a watterbottle on my bike and the pack laughed at me as they didnt crash in the corner like an idiot and i took a free lap looking just the way i like to look; bloody.  Getting back in normally makes the pain go away but not this time, 5 laps later it started raining and i started wanting to go get my ice skates.... get it? because it was so slippery it was like ice.... zing.  I hung on to my life around every corner and everyone showed maturity in not killing themselves, i think everyone in the race fell at least once, and some people fell multiple times just to make up for the guys who didnt fall at all.  I finished 13th and i was pumped.  I then paid a visit to the safety van.

Hammerfest 3 took place in waukeshaw. they shot the gun, and we stayed single file for about 100% of the time.  a break of 13 rolled off the front without me in it.  I dont really even care as i was still sucking wind from bridging a huge gap kindly left in the field for me by the guys ahead of me. i appreciated that.  it seemed that if you wernt ratteling through a corner you were in a full sprint only to hammer the breaks into the next corner or feel what its like to have your front tire slide a little because you are going to fast.  That was insanity.  I might jsut be tired, but i think that its a sign of how hard the last two races were when i tell you that 24 people made it to the finish line in the main pack yesterday and about 35 made it to the line today.  I actually set up for the sprint today like a real bike racer.  I knew that if i started sprinting from the second last corner i would be able to cut the inside track on the final turn at full speed and then sprint for the line, and i really did well taking about 6th in the field sprint.  it was the first time i actually saw daylight in the sprint and passed people in the process.  i think cavendish has inspired me to learn to sprint, because thats one of the most amazing things i have ever seen.  That guy can fly.

i hope you all enjoy the pictures casey took and subsequently sent to the entire team of me at the safety van after ripon.  I tell you what man, get in your car, go 35, take off all your clothes, and jump out.  do it into a turn so the curb tries to kill you.  then try to convince your mom that she shouldnt worry about you.

thanks for supporting me so far, we are more than half way done!!!! i cant believe it. this has been an unbelievable experiance and probabyl my biggest challenge ever.

jim "blood looks better when its not outside your body" stemper