3 days till we head south!

Well, it's only three short days till we start the journey to the south. And that means only 4 days till race day... Whew!

Anyway, just a few updates right now:

1. The crew is going to be a bit smaller than expected. Heather is going to stay home to take care of our dogs to save the money and stress of boarding them. Which leaves Geno and Mick with a lot more responsibility, but I have faith in my crew!
2. The rental crew van is finalized. We will be cruising around (mostly under 20mph) in a snazzy Town and Country mini-van from Avis! Ooooo, Stow and Go seating :-)
3. I went out shopping for last-minute supplies... and let me tell you, it feels weird to check-out at Jewel with Handi-wipes, Preparation-H, Band-Aids, Nu-Skin, and Red Bull!

Anyway, stay-tuned for the real updates in just a few days!

~Andy

And I'll leave you all with a poem about riding...

The Other Guy - by Andy Sweet


I spot another lone biker on the road behind me,
He’s seems to be gaining, but no worry.
Slowly, slowly he creeps up to me.
Young kid, never seen him before.

No words spoken,
My mind instantly assessing.
Noting cheap component groups and discount riding gear,
Calculating weights, and critiquing his position.

Ha, this guys in for a hurtin’,
Confident in my 5k steed and swollen legs.
Our cranks turn in quiet unison,
The tires whirr on the rough Illinois pavement.

Numbers churn through my head,
Watts, cadence, drag, speed, heart rate.
He seems happy and careless,
Content and smiling.

His wheel pulls ahead,
This kid’s gonna half-wheel me.
I’m good at that game,
So, I up the ante a watt or two.

Time to wipe that smile away,
I dial in to my lactate threshold.
I know this pace well,
The friendly, familiar pain sets in.

I hear a down shift,
There’s that bloody wheel again.
He’s drinking from his water bottle,
And I swear, he’s listening to the birds and looking at the trees.

I swig from my custom blended nutrition drink mix,
Time to end this charade.
Strategically prepping my attack,
Five, four, three, two…

He’s out of his saddle,
This kid’s good.
BOOM, my legs react instinctively,
I jump to a full sprint.

We both see the railroad tracks ahead,
The perfect finish line.
200 meters,
100 meters.

I can’t drop him,
It’s gonna be close.
75 meters,
50 meters.

There’s that pesky black spot,
Brain’s running low on O2.
Legs about to give out,
But I see the pain in his eyes, too.

We rocket over the tracks,
Neck and neck.
Not even a camera could rule this one,
That kid must have the heart of a bull.

We stop,
Both gasping for breath.
I impulsively check my computer,
He smiles and picks up some trash from the road…

As he rides away, I feel a change,
Recalling that love for the ride and that passion for life.

Wait a second, I recognize that old Cannondale,
I remember that smile.

The day I started a blog

It's a dark, cold, and ugly night... the perfect evening for a young, innocent man like myself to turn to the dark side. And start a blog!!!!

I swore against them, but I promise to use the power of my blog for good... not evil.

Ok, so if you're still reading, here's the real reason behind creating this blog: My journey to the Heart of the South! And I don't mean a family vacation to Alabama... I'm going to race!

Check it out: www.heartofthesouth500.com

I have spent a lot of time training for this race, and a lot of people have supported me (and are still supporting me) in my journey! So, the race is now less than two weeks away, and I've decided that a blog page is the perfect way to keep those of you interested in my race up-to-date.

So, I'll update over the next two weeks with my final prep, the trip down south in the crew vehicle with my crew (Phil 'Geno' Warlow, Mike 'Mick' Hannah, and my lovely wife Heather...'Heather' Sweet :-), and of course most importantly... my hometown crew member Meredith will be updating the blog page for me during the race (via phone calls and pics from the crew), so that all of you back home can track my progress!

Anyway, first day with a blog and I'm already blathering on... I see this going downhill from here :-P