Hey dudes,

We are currently in the middle, or start, of Philly Week, the biggest races for the year, i guess some would say. Philly race itself used to be the US National road race, but that has changed. It still is the biggest race for the year though.

Last week we were in Arlington, Virginia, which is right next to Washington DC, so i got to check out some cool sites while out training. It would have been cool to see these last year, but we weren’t in town long enough to see them. It was a great experience though, as the monuments in DC are pretty spectacular, on the world scale of man-made monuments, and they are just fascinating to see first hand.

The Washington Monument is HUGE! I cant say much more than that! It can be seen from miles away, and when you get up close, it is just unbelievable!

This war memorial is just new, so i am told, and it is in between the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. It is pretty cool how all of these monuments line up with each other, with nothing in between. The war memorial is pretty cool too, with fountains pumping water in the air, and even a mention of Australia in there somewhere!

The Lincoln Memorial is pretty massive too, and is at the end of this huge fish pond. Well, it may not be a fish pond, but it is really, really long! I guess it is most famous for its place in Forrest Gump, where Jenny runs into it from the side and meets Forrest. Well, up on the right a bit further is where she did it! This was the main monument i wanted to see, after seeing it in the movie. I had seen glimpses of the others when driving by in the past, but the big pond was the one that interested me most - and also, it cant really be seen when driving past!

The Jefferson Memorial is supposedly the least recognised of these monument, which i was told by a few locals. I found this weird as i thought it was the most impressive. It was HUGE, just like all the others, but it just looked like a much more impressive building too. This picture is actually from the back of it, but it shows the Washington Monument in the background, just to show how it towers over everything!

This horse statue was out the front of the White House, which i forgot to put up a picture of. The reason i took this photo though, is because i can include a fact: this guy on the horse died in battle. If there is a statue with a horse up on its hind legs, with a rider on it, it means the rider died at battle. Write that down.

Here is another interesting building i came across on my way to the monuments. There were heaps of great buildings everywhere, with some amazing architecture, but this one stood out to me because it is the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Carnegie is the suburb i have lived my whole life back in Australia! I know that isn’t interesting for anyone other than me, but i reckon some people back in Oz might think its funny, even the the Carnegie cycling club members!

Well, as far as racing goes, we have struggled a bit, until Willo came through with a very strong 6th place in Lancaster yesterday. The crits have been hard and fast, and another Carnegie cycling club member seems to be dominating! Coming up we have Reading, then Philly, so that will be exciting.

I will endeavour to put out another post later in the week. I have been internet-less the last few days, but i know i will have net this week, so i should be able to get another post out.

Hope all is well back in Oz - I am pretty sure it is, because the mighty Dees finally got a win on board, and are now on track to win the premiership! You may notice i haven’t mentioned them once this season, as they haven’t won yet. I think it is a good sign, so maybe Jittery Joe’s can follow suit!

Stay cool dudes… Laters