Hello,

Not only is this guy a STUD, he happens to be a great individual and, I am sure all of his students feel, a wonderful teacher!!! He was only 20 seconds off Lance's record this year, so maybe this will be enough to get Lance back to the line to proect his turf.

Congrats Jim and any chance I could get that race belt back.

Brian

Yeah, but was he wearing purple shorts? ;-)

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"your horse is too high" - tigerchik

Just a couple of years ago, 2002 I think, Jim was racing Sport NORBA MTB locally, he moved to expert, then went over to tri's. I saw him at the SD Intl Tri, would have hoped to contest his bike split, but I got caught behind too many AG'rs to keep my avg speed up.

He is fast.

Hey guys, thanks....

Brian - No way you're getting that race belt back! When you see the pics and video, (pedalmasher.com was following me on the bike with a helmet camera), you'll see I'm wearing the belt! That belt is undefeated...Mission Bay win, XTERRA World Amateur win, and now Dirty Du.

Unfortunately Lance and the Discovery Team called the race director, Jon Hill, the night before the event and told him they decided the team would do a 4-5 hour road ride instead of the event. I was of course disappointed, but I knew Lance's record was still there for the taking. The course had seen a lot of rain, and the water crossings and mud gave me some serious chain-suck during the second half the bike. I was still able to hold off NORBA Pro Matt Gordon for awhile, and took the lead again before the mile on the 2nd run. I was looking at the clock the whole way, knowing that Lance's record was within reach. I now have to settle for owning the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in the race's history. Oh well...It was a stellar field again, and I feel extremely blessed to win again. I would really encourage people to get to Austin and do this race. The course is AMAZINGLY challenging and fun.

The fun continued after the race...Michael Lovato's bachelor party weekend! What a night!

We'll see what happens next...2004 has been an incredible year for me, and this was a blast.

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Jim Vance
http://TodaysPlan.com.au (Disclosure: I am contracted with Today's Plan)
http://www.CoachVance.com/
Twitter @jimvance

Only Pooks can get away with being Male and wearing purple shorts....

Want to see some more of Mr. Pooks in Purple...

Yo Jim. Congratulations. We checked the results yesterday after the Chargers Game.

Great Year and can't wait for '05.

Mike

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TheBikeRacer.com