Offical Cycling Logo from Beijing

This is a great shot from Jay Levy at the 2008 Soto Memorial race in Nashville, TN.   I hope that I can do the same thing in CHINA and pull off the WIN.    I attacked with one lap to go in this race, going for the WIN.   I stayed away until 800 meters to the finish, I was happy to watch the "fastest finisher" in birmingham win the race....congrats to Jim Brock (he is the 8th guy in line)

"If you attack you might lose; if you don't attack you will lose"

Last week I had a good week of training.   Coach Jim is starting to really work me over with long time trial intervals.    The time trial at the games is my chance for a medal, so Jim and I are focusing on the "Race of Truth:!    I had two hard interval days last week.   When I say hard, it means that it takes all my energy just to get through the prescribed workouts.   Sometimes I cannot even finish the workout without physically/mentally cracking.    I was able to get through both of my interval sessions last week with good power and happy thoughts!  

Over the weekend I put in some solid hours on the bike.   Sometimes you have to spend time by yourself on the open road.   I rode 4hrs Saturday, 4hrs Sunday, and 4hrs Monday all by myself!   That's 12 hours with just me and the heat!  O'da heat, yesterday towards the end of my ride I felt like my insides were cooking.  I drank 10x20oz bottles of water and I still had periods when I stopped sweating----that is not good.   I didn't want to look at my SRM for the temp, but I had to, it read...................112 degrees!

until then, Ron

p.s.  I just got in my shipment of socks from Swiftwick.............Do you have a pair of the best socks on the planet yet?  www.swiftwick.com

Great article on my sock sponsor "Swiftwick"

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/08/smallbusiness/tour_de_france_publicity.fsb/index.htm

Go to

www.swiftwick.com and get your pair today!!

Got to love doing intervals!  I do a lot of my interval workout indoors.   I do this because it is hard to find a road that does not have any interruptions for the 15-30 minute efforts.   Riding on the rollers indoors allows you concentrate on your effort and focus on good steady POWER.   Today was fun,  I did my intervals while watching the tour de france, stage 4 TT.  

It is now crunch time for the games!   61 days until I win a gold medal!   What a day that is going to be.   In order for that to happen a lot of things have to come into place.   I have to get some more fitness, focus on my diet, reduce some life stress, and most importantly enjoy the journey!   

I made a big push last week with Southwire.   I had a great week in terms of sales and customer relationships.   My Southwire customers always ask how training is going and they always let me know that I have their support.   Southwire Company and all its 5000 employees will also be supporting my efforts.   I got a call from the president of my division and he wanted to to lend his support on behalf of Southwire!   I very blessed to be working for such a great company!   Maybe I can sell some wire while I am in China.

Brooke is finally done with her residency program!   This is a great milestone... Dr. Brooke Williams is now offically unemployed, at least until September.   After cheering me on in China, she will start work at the "Pediatric Clinic" located in Auburn, AL. 

Brooke's got a blog of her own lately... check it out!

http://brookeandron.blogspot.com/

Click on this link for the results with the percentages.   The percentages are how we measure each rider across different disability classes.   The lower the percentage the better!   As you can see from the results there where a lot of riders under 100%.   If only the US team had more slots available.   It is sad we are leaving some very strong riders at home.   That said I am very honored to be named to the team and I will do my absolute best to represent my county and fellow elite team members!    I am very excited about all the new names on the starting list and I hope that each athlete returns in coming years.   If we had all these athletes a few years ago, we would not be worried about not having enough slots for our team!  

http://www.rmomnium.com/images/rmo_paralympic08.pdf

It is official!   I made the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Cycling Team!   I also picked up a  National Title along the way.   More to come..........

Click on the link!

http://paralympics.usoc.org/news/article/2016

Thanks to everyone for your positive energy, thoughts, and prayers!   They really paid off............I had the ride of my life yesterday.  Ron

Check out this good article from the Athens Newspaper

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/042608/news_2008042600359.shtml

My weekend in Athens did not go a planned.   My legs have not recovered from the 35+ hrs I did at training camp in Chula Vista.   I raced in the 35+ and the PRO 123, unfortunatley I did not make the cut to go to the Finals race.   I have made the Finals race for the past seven years, so not qualifying was a huge blow to my ego!   I hope that my "go sticks" will come around!   On a positive note, I did enjoy watching all of the racing and spending some quality time with Brooke in the great town of ATHENS, GA!

Today is a rest day at camp.  That means that we only ride 2 hrs easy and get a message!  The fast for days have been tuff.  We have done 4 days of interval work.   The intervals were as follows

• 10 mile time trial 
• 6x6 mins uphill TT effort
• 3x12 mins TT efforts
• 28x30 seconds on  30 seconds off

So you can see why I am very happy for a rest day.    My fitness is coming around very good.   I have been producing good power numbers and my "go sticks" are hauling the mail.    The weather out here has been abnormally hot!  It was 90+  the last two days.   

I had a great ride today, but my competitors rode a little better?   I am happy with my 4th in the world!  I am also happy with my fitness at this time in the game.   I am closer to my competitors than I have very been in the past.   The work on the time trial bike is paying off!  The BLUE was rolling today!   I was 10 sec out of 3rd and 30 Seconds from 1st??    I think that I have a great chance in the road race.

Until then, Ron

 The time trial is tomorrow!   Finally the road events are here.   The weather has been not so good.  It has been overcast and raining every day.   The sun is suppose to come out tomorrow. 

I rode the TT course 3 times today for training.   It is a challeging course with 2 decent hills/climbs, some faux flats, and some technical windy downhill sections.    The course can be divided up into sections, therefore I am able to focus on each section and that helps me go fast.   My goal is to take a spot on the podium in the TT!!   I think that my riding style is good for this course.    I will have some good competition from my rivals the cezch, spainard, and romanian.

I did go shopping today at the mall.   Bought some good bottles of bordeaux wine and some smart france clothes.    Brooke and her mother have arrived in italy and they are having a blast.    Last night the spent the night on the island of capri---I think they are looking for some of those pants?

Until Then, Ron

Today I confirmed that I am horrible at the "Kilo".   The "kilo" is just 4 laps of the track as fast as you can go.   It is a pure sprinters event, and I am apparently no sprinter.   The best time of the day came from Jody from England with a 1:08!   My time was 1:18?   Ten seconds in 4 laps is a huge ass kicking.  Jiri the cezk champion was 2nd with a 1:11.   The time of Jody is confirmation that in order to continue to compete at the top level riders are going to have to <span class="062175415-21082007">specialize!    Gone are the days of riding every event and having a chance to medal!  

<span class="062175415-21082007"> <span class="062175415-21082007">It is funny how the mind works.    I have been training a lot this year and it seems that I have already beaten myself and I have not even riden my best events. My mind starts wondering have i training enough, have I raced enough, I am too fat, I need to be a full time bike racer.   I guess I am just upset on how I did in the kilo today.   I am not sure what I excepted, I have not prepared from the track and especially the damn Kilo!   

<span class="062175415-21082007"> I look at my competition and it seems like they are ten feet tall and bullet proof!  Most of my competitors are full time athletes with funding from their governments.   <span class="062175415-21082007">The united states is the only country that does not fund its athletes both olympic and paralympic.   The united states funding comes from corporate sponsorships like the Hartford, Home Depot and Coke.  

<span class="062175415-21082007"><span class="062175415-21082007">Ok, I feel better now................Ron

I am happy to be the 5th best rider in the world for the 4km Pursuit!     I rode my best time in the pursuit by 5 seconds.    I just missed the finals by 3 seconds?   As many of you know the track has not been my focus this year, so riding a PR in the event  lets me know that my fitness is good.  On a positive note, I was also a lot closer to the top 4 riders from a time stand point.   The track here in Bord-X is a world famous track, it is one of the fastest tracks in the world.   So it was a pleasure to get to ride the track and get my PR.   The coach were also very pleased with my performance.    It was a lot of fun for me today, I was very relaxed and I enjoyed racing my bike, which is exactly what this sport is about.

Tomorrow since I am not racing I will go to the road course and get dialed in on the time trial course.   I can only think that all the time I have spent on my TT bike this year will play off.   The TT course is located right in the middle of wine country.   I think that we ride around some of the Leafeet (sp?) vineyards.   I can't wait until I can sample some of the famous france wines!!    

Today we rode the road and time trial course.   The course are a bit hilly?  I think that is going to be good for me!   The courses are around a lot of vinyards and the roads are very narrow and windy.   We will be doing several loops of the course, so it will be a lot of climbing.    Check out the gallery for some photos

I have seen all my big competitors and as always they are all very fit and ready for competition.    My competition is getting a lot more professional.   Many of the guys are real professional cyclist.   They ride for trade teams and they are funded by thier country's governments.    I would not trade my situation to be a professional cyclist, but you have to wonder how much better or worse your fitness level would be if all you had to worry about was cycling.

Tomorrow I will be racing the 4km pursuit.  Many of you know that I retired from the track last year.   Coach Craig wants me to race the pursuit because we do not have anyone racing the race due to some injuries.   I wish that I more prepared for the track, but  it is bike racing and anything is possible.

I just finished a nap and massage, now its time to go to the track for our afternoon training session.   I miss being a home and I hope that everyone is well.

Until Then, Ron

click on this link for photos...

http://www.ronswilliams.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=gallery&file=index