Throw Back

Thought I would do a post of some older images. We've been apart of the cycling scene for over a decade. Started racing mountain bikes and BMX when I was 9. In 04 my parents gave me the graduation gift of a lifetime - a trip to France to watch Lance Armstrong attempt a record breaking 6th victory in the Tour. As we all know, he succeeded then went on to win one more. He came out of retirement this year to race the Tour again, and although he didn't win, 3rd place for a guy that's almost 40 years old whose been retired for 3 years isn't half bad. So thought it would only be appropriate to do a post dedicated to him.

I loved this bike. It was a Giant TCR carbon and by the time I was done with it, it weighed in at 14 lbs. race ready. Wish I still had it.

Back in the day, USPS was one hell of a team.

This was the year they did the individual time trial up Alpe D' Huez. We got there after they had started, so we had to go around the back side. I was a good climber in my day, and this mountain was like nothing I'd ever gone up before. You truly appreciate how talented these riders are after you ride the same terrain they do.

On the last time trial, me and my friend were able to hop a fence and get into the 'restricted area.' Aka you need some type of press pass. Here we could see all the team cars loading up gear as well as the riders warming up. Lance didn't warm up outside, but Jan Ulrich was there. Although he left the sport in disgrace, I've always admired this guy. I mean anyone who drops X and wraps his Porsche around a light pole, and can still be one of the best cyclists in the world gets respect in my book. Despite the fact he later got busted for performance enhancing drugs.

I followed the Tour for a week and never really got any good photos of Lance. From camera batteries dying at the worst time to under estimating their speed, I finally got some good shots during the last time trial. I've been a Lance fan from the beginning, and I really think he never doped during his Tour wins. From being a triathlon champion at 17, to World Champion at 21, to 3rd in the Tour at damn near 40, Lance is arguably the best athlete ever.
-J

Madison's New Paint Job

Thanks to the avid commitment from my friends and supporters, every day I floss to my classes I get some nice scenery. Here's some shots, enjoy.

Beijing China - The Other Side of the World

I was in Beijing from July 1st - July 15th visiting my older brother James, who has been living there for the past year. This place is unimaginable, after 17 hours of travel time from Minneapolis you are truly in a different universe. The traffic is absolutely chaos, the food was surprisingly horrible (at least the kabobs on the street), and the poverty was incredibly eye opening. We didn't get a chance to visit the Great Wall, although we did spend a few days visiting The Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, the Summer Palace, and the Olympic Water Cube and Bird's Nest. After grabbing a Dwight Howard jersey and some basketball shoes for $20, we hit the courts to flaunt our massive 6 foot stature (comparably speaking), only to play on the one court with a 6' 9'' guy from South Carolina. A few highlights of the trip...we got ourselves in a fight, which was partly due to an overindulgence of liquor and barking at people. We bought all 9 years of Seinfeld and the unreleased Season 3 of Dexter for a combined $30. We met Jim, webdesigner for Karmaloop, at a beer pong tournament and ended up kicking it with him and his roommate one night. I know a fight and buying Seinfeld seems like a weak top two stories, but my friends...some things that happen in China just need to stay. in. China. I'll let the pictures do the speaking, although I will say that unfortunately we failed to bring out the $500 Canon 20D at night...

The alley leading to my brother's apartment, as you can tell this country is not short from having extreme poverty.

The brother James standing next to our electric scooter trying to look cool...one thing I learned whilst on this trip is that it is impossible to look cool on an electric scooter. Especially two tall people riding together on a little scooter, hey it's China right?

Mutton seemed like the best option when I was looking at a menu with fish heads.

Yeah...that's about right.

Little guy's never seen something so crazy.

My intentions were to do a pose showing off my awesome Simpsons tee...then James informed me I may have done an offensive pose.

Crazy girl...

The ugly mugs of the two founders of Check Your Six, me (Matt) and James (Tyrone) (Obie Trice) (Slippery Pete).

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

Good old Mao.

Looking more like an American worker.

This was the shoe repairer who lived in the alley leading into James' apartment. He lived in a space similar to a small American bathroom, it was big enough for him to fit a small cot, a cabinet, and a small floor space for cooking meals. Be thankful for everything you have. Seriously. It could be worse.

He is actually on the Chinese Olympic Team, just kidding...maybe...

Again, be thankful for what you have...it is this guy's job to sit on the street and sell those little scrolls.

Corn flakes anyone?