Owen and His Summer Adventures

I'll admit, it's been awhile since my last blog post. The racing season is over and it seems like things haven't slowed up at all. Missoula, MT is where I'm living right now but that will all change in about a week. First I go to Cali for a short surf session with Evan then it's to Tucson, AZ to get ready for the upcoming Cycling House season. It's going to be a busy fall/winter for us.

I feel like I should fill everyone in on what I've been up to, other then coffee. I'll take all you folks on a brief (photo enhanced) tour of my summer so far.

First I went for a high speed bicycle ride.

Then I moved back to MT for the summer and saw the family again. I currently live with my brother. He's the big harry guy in the middle of this picture.


I tried to learn how to ride a skateboard. As you can see, I obviously crashed shortly after this picture was taken.

I Finally met up with Evan in California to work on new ideas for 53x11 Coffee and catch some surf. I probably crashed shortly after this picture was taken too. Evan is good.

I made a quick trip to Las Vegas to play the Top Gun machine inside Treasure Island. I lost. Just so you know, the Top Gun game will only let you fly with Ice Man, Goose and the girl. Maverick was nowhere to be seen.

Later on in the summer I was the best man in some guys wedding. The food was pretty good. This is me on the left complimenting a dude on his choice of clothing...he said the same thing to me.

At the wedding I tried to dance with girls but I think I tried too hard...

I started a Missoula league 53x11 Coffee Kickball team. I don't want to brag or anything but we are undefeated. (I'm 4th from the left)

I lost an arm wrestling match to my next door neighbor. I think we can all see why.


My most recent adventure was purchasing this sweet 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan. This will be the new 53x11 Coffee van and it will also be used to transport people at The Cycling House. I'm not a huge fan of driving cars but with all of the traveling that lay ahead it's a necessity. Nobody thought it was possible to make a minivan look cool. I showed them.

These were a few highlights from my summer. Evan and I are having more fun then ever working on our 53x11 Coffee company. We currently have our sights set on Interbike in Las Vegas which is at the end of the month. We'll let you know how it goes.

Until next time, Owen

Exchanging Lifestlyes

I know its been a longtime since I last posted, but I'm back, at least in a limited capacity. My racing season has wound-down and as it has my lifestyle has changed. I moved to Durango in mid-April and since the move I haven't spent more then two weekends in a row in town. Well, this weekend marks the third weekend in a row in D-town.

The bike has seen a lot of miles since the last time I posted. I spent a couple of weeks on the East Coast in the mud and the roots and then finished the mountain bike race season in Aspen, CO. Now I've left the nomadic lifestyle of bike racing and settled into the fall routine of a non-cyclocross racer, i.e. long, fun mtb rides, work, and nights on the town.

Sam, on the other hand, has been hard at it. Mid-season he came down with a sickness and has spent the rest of the season regaining his form. He is flying now, and just in time. This morning he boarded a plane for Fort Williams, Scotland and the Mountain Bike World Championships. It's his last shot as a U-23 rider. If he rides like he was in Aspen and can avoid crashes and mechanicals he has a shot at seeing the podium. After Scotland it onto Slovenia for the World Cup Finals. Then, maybe he'll get a break.

I know this is a lame post. I've violated both of my only rules for blog writing (1. Keep it short and sweet, 2. Let the pictures tell the story). I'll try to be motivated to bring a camera and be a bit better about writing posts (and they will be better then this one).

SLO CRIT

Last weekend was the SLO crit, which was actually quite fast. 53x11Coffee was there in full force. We were up about 4:45 am and set up serving coffee by 5:15am. The volunteers we loving us. We served coffee, sold t-shirts and cycling clothing. We even got to see some racing

The 53x11 Coffee roadside/ trail clean up crew is coming along. We've been working on this for awhile. It's finally going to happen. We are sending out emails next week to everyone we know about this. Here's what it's all about. We are looking to get team, clubs, invididuals together to start roadside/trail clean up projects in the areas they ride. We will provide the coffee! You'll also get some good exposure and recongnition on our site under the clean up crew section. How often are you on a ride and look over to see a bunch of trash that some redneck threw out his or her car window. I've seen it one to many times. So a couple years ago I started going out on my own and picking up the roadside trash. You should have seen the looks people gave when driving by. Most thought I was doing community service or some sort. I felt pretty good about my efforts. So gather friends , family, teammates, and hit the roads or trails we all share and ride upon. Email me evan@53x11coffee.com If you have a group gathering for a clean up effort, I'll send the coffee.

A win for Team 53x11 Coffee

Hats off to Team Member Darren Boulware with his two wins this past weekend. He is now the Alabama state road race champ and the state crit champ. Way to go Darren.

The Nature Valley Grand prix

I think the tongue really helps. There may be scientific research out there somewhere. All I know, is when you're doing a TT effort without any aero equip, you have to try everything.

RAAM , TEAM 60 AND GOING HARD

Team 60 and going hard breaks the 1995 record and the rest is history. 53x11Coffee proudly supported the team in their Race across America. Here's alittle recap on the event and some links to find out more. Good Job Guys!

Hi Evan,

We really want to thank you and Owen for 53 x 11 Coffee's support of our
RAAM team. Thanks to you, all of us including our hard working support crew
were well caffeinated and alert in spite of the sleep deprivation inherent
in RAAM. We really appreciate the generous allotment of coffee as well as
the coffee mugs.

Team Sixty Going Hard had a good race at RAAM and I hope you were able to
follow us on the RAAM website http://raceacrossamerica.org/
We did break our age group record that was set in 1995. Another team also
broke the record by more that us so they are the current record holders.
Breaking the record that was set in 1995 was our main focus and in that we
were successful.

Summaries of our performance as well as pictures are being posted on our
team website http://www.teamsixtygoinghard.com/ Under general news on the
left side column, there is an excellent recap written by one of our support
crew (Kathy).

I am recovering well and trying to get back to a "normal life" of work and
training. QuadZilla and Furnace Creek 508 are my next two ultra events this
summer. Because of our successful completion of RAAM, we are qualified for
the next three years to do RAAM as solo riders. I plan on a solo RAAM in
2009.

Thanks again for your excellent support!

Paul