Kimmage

his interview and book...

read a couple chapters last night in the book, I had no clue to his level of success in the amateur ranks, or of his father's or brother's. Skinny white dude warned that it wasn't easy to read, or that the writing wasn't that good, but I have to say i don't have a problem with it any more. At least after the voice in my head started pronouncing and speaking with Irish inflections. Once I did that the phrasing makes perfect sense. The interview is really pretty fantastic. One of the best cycling topical ones I've read outside the ones Christine Vardaros has had published in CX Mag.

Just reading this interview now and it is far more strongly worded than the Velocity one and it has me back to feeling the original feelings I've had for lance before I got soft after his come back. He's racing now and I've found I'm not following the road scene any more than I did when he was gone. if anything else I'm hoping he tanks it pretty solidly in his return. I'm routing against him now. And well I guess that still packs the stands. Sort of like the DE Jr fans who go to races just to boo Jeff Gordon. Now that those two are on the same team (separate garages so they really are still acting like different teams, Gordon and Jimmie Johnson share the same space - basically it sounds like a different program than the one Jr is in over there at Hendrick) I've kind of softened on that Gordon kid for some reason, maybe it is just not watching it much anymore. Who knows. But back when Jrs Daddy was running, that's the hate and venom level i'm sort of watching LA race with. Or not watching. His stupid FSR energy drink adds can go to hell btw. I want him to crash into the wall in turn 4, not crash dead but just crash out of the race. I would love to see LA start the tour and not be able to finish, or at least not be able to crack the top 20. To pull words from Paul, you can now make a donkey a racehorse, but certainly LA isn't a donkey to begin with. And not since Riis has a Donkey stood on the final place in Paris. But man there are some close ones.

I guess I just kind of wax and wane about the sport, the doping. Knowing that it isn't clean, still isn't probably won't be for a while. Someone mentioned the legal heart medication that sprinters take just before the finish. Totally legal but it leaves them with a telltale chalky ring around their lips, dead give away that they used it. Just insane.

i did the east side hill circuit this morning, we started down at Wickenden and went up every side street from there until Star, then headed down Olney and up Doyle in the Big Ring. Instead of self pacing I was trying to ride with a 150 pound kid (maybe he's 160 pounds - either way 50-60 pounds difference in weight is significant). These hills hurt. My lungs were turning inside out at the top of South court as we approached Prospect. And again on Jenkes. I was recovering easily, but it was brutal. Tough. Insane in a way. But it felt good. I was able to turn off a bit, smooth out the big ball in my head so nothing would get knocked around, so I wasn't thinking about anything other than going up, wasn't focused on the suffering. Just at my limit. It was pretty cool. We couldn't make it to the street there at the top of Bowen because they had the drains all dug up and the path was closed with a ladder, orange barrel and some guy standing there looking at us funny as we tried to keep from falling back down the hill. Is any of this riding i'm doing hard core focused? not really, I'm doing what I can when the opportunity presents itself with one fundamental, not doing it while fatigued or over stressed. It seems to be working. Probably will have to take a breather this weekend. Go see a Chef do a 2 hour demonstration in the morning about "The New paradigm in healthy eating: Focus will be on Small Plates, High flavor without the extra Fat, Lower use of Salt with higher concentration on the use of spices, Recipes will be distributed and tasting will be provided." It sounds not too different than how I cook but then again, new perspectives are always good, as are affirmations that you've indeed done something right through your own path of self discovery. It should be fun. Battenkill is coming up, i heard about the Met-Life recon ride. The new direction sounds wicked sketchy. Many more spots of concern than the previous years. Sounds like some major technical stuff. But if past performance is any indicator of future returns, I'll be alone or in a small group and it won't matter how sketchy the turns are. Which is a way of telling my self stop worrying about it, needless anxiety about it. There - much better. Gonna be fun. No to decide trivial stuff like where am I going to stash a third waterbottle, pocket? Frame? i can actually fit a full size bottle above my rear brake on the seat stays, quick little toe strap or velcro and as long as I don't pull a solobreak (not that i'd ever be in as close of contention as he consistently is) and get dropped fiddling with it i should be okay (practice-practice-practice). Yeah. Time to obsess about it I guess. At least I'm not worrying about gearing this year or any equipment issues.

Ooh. The air handler turned off. Silence. Nice. Time to eat food.

This blog caught my eye the other day and for the moment is good reading: http://pedalingzen.blogspot.com/. Certainly better than reading about what race Lance will do next and what bike he'll ride it on and all that.

I suppose I should eat real quick here before the lunch hour runs out on me and I


well I guess I started eating before I hit publish.

oops

ciao and heddwch
G