The couple I’m staying with is truly First Class. Jim and Barbara Young have been around the cycling community for years. While cycling isn’t Mrs. Young’s passion, her husband Jim bleeds blue and white for his team of Penn State.

Jim Young is “Collegiate Racing”. He started it all folks, as well as being the Penn State Cycling coach for many years, and I pray for years to come. You can google his name, and you may find some interesting material on this gentleman, but one can never know his passion for the sport unless you actually look into his eyes and see the shine.

For the 2nd time this year I actually cried. It takes a real man to be able to admit that he can be emotional at times. For 12 years Jim has had symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and only recently had he felt free from those symptoms, only to be thrown back in again amongst the tides of life when the implanted “pacemaker” controlling electrical impulses to the base of his brain either malfuctioned or hadn’t been quite adjusted to his body/medications yet. I cried when I was alone in my room. It was an overwhelming cry because I’ve been in a similar situation with a lot of unknowns as to which way the tide will take you.

Either way, it was really hard for him to tell me how for the first time in 12 years, the cloud had been lifted from him, and he felt FREE! Only to be taken back by severe cramping, uncontrollable muscle spasms, and pain. Such a fighter, with such a heart he drove himself to Somerville, NJ from his home in Easton to watch the Tour of Somerville. He knew that once the race started he had to start walking back to his car less than 3 blocks away. By the time the race had finished he was 1 block from the car.

This is “Heart” my dear friends and readers. We all have desires, needs, passions  and more, but to continue the road ahead no matter what is thrown in your path is true HEART!  Here is a damn good example. He is a Hero. Jim Young is a true Hero.

He doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him and has a slight distaste for anyone who feels the need to help him. I can’t blame him. He has the same mindset as the athlete he once was and the Fighter he still is.

Here in Easton, watching over his home, his Dog, their Cat, is feeling of peace and a strong desire to stay the course.

Thank you Mr. Young for being who you are both inside and out.

Love,

Mike

It’s 7:00 AM here in Easton, PA.

I was awakened at 5 AM by the Cat crying out, which sounds more like a moaning cat getting a bath. If you’ve never heard this, you must try giving a cat a bath. It’s not a MEOW, is more like NOOEOW! Anyways, after Iggy starts Nooeowing in my ear, I get up.

The Dog, Jack, named after Jackson Pollock, had to be caged in the middle of the night for eating my mix of pitstaccios, goji berries, and other fruits/nutts also was crying to be let out. I was going to let him spend the night on the couch until I head him tearing through the bag of stuff.

So, here I am typing away, having taken the dog for a 2 mile walk where he may have learned that he ate a bad mix during the night.

Brew in hand, which I must say is quite tasty and never have I drank an entire carafe before until this morning. The owner of this household purchases green beans from Sweet Maria’s and then roasts and grinds them himself.

I’m here in Eastern PA staying with Jim and Barbara Young, attempting to prepare for the upcoming Olympic trials on the track as well as Philly Week. The track is going to be quite the headache, due to all of the road miles I have accrued in the past few months since worlds. I shall make an effort though to get over to the velodrome and pedal circles. Philly Week is my favorite race week of the year. It’s normally warm, sunny, and fun racing. It’s been really nice being home and racing some of the “local” races even though I’ve felt horrible, but it’s better to feel that way now than next week.

More to come…

 You can’t fire me over this. You know it takes balls  to do this.

Have you experienced a massage?

Have you ever experienced a massage after a few a days of racing?

I’m not saying I have a problem, as I’ve never popped a tent while on the table, but I’ve heard that it happens. I got into an deep conversation pertaining to this very subject with one of our attractive female soigneurs. She insisted that I tell her the secret of Anti-Tent-Making.

Here is what you do:

1.) Don’t go there! An idle mind is a dangerous mind, and on average a “mans” mind will think of something sexual at least once a day, if not more, and you certainly don’t want this to be the time. I know I know, it’s really hard to do when you don’t see any woman all day, surrounded by other guys, and you have an attractive (at least on Slipstream) soigneur. I can think of other teams that would be just as bad if not worse.

A. HealthNet
B. T-Mobile/Highroad
C. Jelly Belly
D. FD Jeux
E. CSC

2.) Busy yourself. Your cell phone and email your mother. A good book perhaps, or the race bible and learn the technical crap on the course for tomorrow.

3.) If you’re close and on the edge, and you have a “half mast”, but not at full sail there is the old, “whoops gotta rearrange, it’s pinching funny” saying and technique. You wait till they look one way, and then quickly do a swipe pushing more towel in and around the stunted totem pole.

4.) Obviously, if you make it the full time while on your back, you’ll be safe on your stomach as you just do the tuck up to belly button.

I haven’t tested these methods for my own self use, but if I had to this is what I would’ve done.

“Wouldn’t it be great if woman weren’t weirded out by our boners, one day that’s the world I’ll live in.” Thank you and well put from the movie SuperBad.

Is it possible!

I think I live with this guy!

“Lumberg did her!”
“Well at least I didn’t FU%$ Lumberg”

Sorry Will

Think about this, Chuck Norris Could have given Birth to Huff!

Brad Huff doesn’t throw up. Brad Huff Throws Down.

Damn, I need better pics.

Send pics of Chuck Huff or Brad Norris to ME!

Today, May 8th 2008 marks exactly 1 year since I started racing again after just coming off of a blood thinner, Coumadin (essentially the rat poison known as Warfarin) that I needed to help dissolve blood clots in my right lung.

Long story short, the clots were present on account of me being genetically prone to getting them (Factor V Leiden), a surgery on my saddle area to remove a wretched saddle sore, and a long journey just after the surgery from Colorado Springs to Pittsburgh.

The crazy thing is, Coumadin affects the vitamin K cycle in the liver and last year before this very race (4 Jours de Dunkerque) I had to eat loads of spinich and leafy green vegetables that contain vitamin K to offset the Coumadin in my system.

It’s been a long year haha, with many ups and downs. Various lung pains from built scar tissue in the early stages of racing, eventually fading away to a few minor results here and there last season, and growing into this year with races such as Het Volk, Kurne, Milan, De Panne, Flanders, Roubaix and back again to Dunkerque.

It’s ironic, but last year, May 8th was a rainy hell hole of a day. I crashed going into 1 km to go while in 10th position. Prentice Stephen told me, “Friedman, just 4 days ago you probably would have died from that crash”.

It’s a beautiful day here this May 8th. A tad windy, but not a cloud in the sky.

There is no Fate, but what we make.

No more riding with the Flag.

I took a sabatical people. No, I wasn’t pregnant, like this guy. I just didn’t have the internet, and by the time i’d get back from training, all I ever wanted to do was eat, and chill, rather than going down to the team office or cafe to internet it up. I must say, it was rather nice not knowing what was happening in the world for a few days.

I’ll be brief, as I need to hop in the shower, and get kitted up for the 2nd stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque. Many of you probably aren’t aware, but this race, and May 8th marks the 1 year anniversary since I was able to resume racing after my ordeal with a Pulmonary Embolism and blood clots. So, tomorrow, be cheery, and thank God.

1st stage was a bit of an eye opener again back into racing. It was full bunter from the beginning with crosswinds, single file echelons, and a bit of cobbles. I hosed up the sprint though. It was a perfect sprint for me, but with about 6 km to go I stuffed it up and had to slam the estrogen brakes losing any position I maintained. LAME. I have 5 stages left, and I’ve made a promised to the directors that I will bring something fruitful out of this.

Spent the past three weeks in Girona directly after Roubaix. I was quite cracked after the race to be honest, so took some time to get back to “base”. On all cylinders now, I think, and am ready for the fight today. I was in Girona for most of the time as the sole Slipstream rider all by my lonesome self haha. The weather and the rides made up for it though. I haven’t seen rain in over 3 weeks!

Crap, gotta run.

Quickly what kind of post would this be if I didn’t include some whacky photo/s of me doing something totally AWESOME!

That’s right Huff, you can’t even keep up!