IT IS HERE- YES

Issue #12.

Solid. Someone's name is on the cover, first he joins forces with the only registration company with a server farm powerful enough to deal with the Cyclocross Race before the Race, and now he's on the cover (okay just his name is) of THE best MAGAZINE. Yes. It is the best, but only by a muddy dismount filled lap to Gastronomica. (Yes Cyclocross Magazine just put Gastronomica one lap down, that said the course is so tough that only the two of them finished the race.)

Seriously - if you race cyclocross, you need to subscribe to the print magazine. This issue is brilliant. I'm sure there's something other than Viner's ad with the CX bike and road pedals and road gearing amiss in there but on my cursory glance, nothing stands out (okay the photohackchop of the mouse in Resultsboy's interview could be better). Some of the photos are AMAZING.

Huge props to Andrew and the crew. Really impressive to see how far it has come in 12 issues.

I can't wait to chew (that's what mice do, right?) through it.

Oh and their latest "hiring" in the web front gets all the cred' in the word because she drove up from NJ to help Jerome Townsend, Rusty and myself set up one of the craziest (and most awesome) things of the year. I'm getting all warm and fuzzy thinking about that race. F'n Nuts. Esp, f'n nuts that DONNIE f'n rode up IN THE SNOW AND SLEET from PVD to race!

Oh and the headwind was good (both ways) today/tonight, as was moving the saddle forward (and then back down to 1004 mm). They say subtle changes in frame geometry make all the difference in how the bike responds. I believe it now. Dare I say I kind of do really like the way it rides? Who knew that chopping 2-3mm off the bottom of the steer tube could solve my big complaints about the bike? (Okay, besides Zanc).

Headwind awesomeness

Comment from the shop

"Yesterday you were taking a hacksaw to a bare frame and today you rode it in..."

Yup. The ancient Real(tm) bottom bracket that i used because it had a totally adjustable chainline and worked with the 180 Suntour XC Pro cranks seized in the frame (technically the splines to remove it broke off). Hacksawed it out. Took 2-3mm off the bottom of the head tube, faced and chased the bottom bracket and it was ready for parts.

stripped the Giant down, dug out the brakes that were on the Croll last (black shimano Low profile LX circa 1994).

And built it right back up. Chain is a bit toasted but rather than use a shimano pin to re-install it i grabbed the 9sp SRAM quick link that saved my bacon that one NBX in maybe '06 - thanks to Corner's Mark G). Used the old Ultegra instead of the D/A rear der off the Giant. and for the first time ever the Croll has STI. WOO. no bar ends on it!

the build went pretty well.

The ride in yesterday actually even better. That bit of head tube removal seems to have it driving differently. When I had it built I asked them to make the head tube 10mm taller but make it 10mm above the headtube. They cut it 10mm longer but biased it, so it always rode kind of funny and slow. It isn't wicked twitchy but it doesn't seem to be as terrible as I remember it. I'll have to bounce back between that and another bike just to see if it is just the pride in getting it put together or a real improvement.

It is smoother. It is flexy as hell but it definitely conveys the buttery ride of steel. Lots of chain rub on the front der under load even with a 46 ring but hey, it ain't so bad.

Bad side is the wheel that I tied and soldered the spokes after putting the new CXP22 on there, well the brake wear indicator track is pretty much gone, as in that rim is going to go soon.

The bars felt a bit stretched but I also am slowly recalling that I never had the saddle all the way back, might have to move that forward and see if it fixes the reach issue. One bolt quill stems are a pain to deal with, and it really is pretty close.

Just wish I'd had them put fender eyelets on the bike or something. There isn't a hole drilled in the seatstay brace, and no chainstay brace or fork crown hole either, I suppose a set of Speedez Hybrid might be in order. Will have to do the double ziptie on the bottom of the rear, the front might not fit through the fork, but it can be trimmed...

maybe it is better to have a broken frame stripped down and hanging than a rideable one. Although until saturday the Croll was not due to that busted and stuck Shell (hacksaw in two places and some hammering - should have done three cuts instead of two, would have meant less pounding).

beat around commuter bike is ready to go... for a total cost of... nothing, yet, fenders and brake pads may make cost a few $, rim's going to take a couple too, but hey... it is all good.

heddwch
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This is why I don't have a powermeter

yes this is the one up above there today

Busted stuff

car, the metallic clacking noise was a seized AC compressor. Need to replace that, but at least the noise and problem are diagnosed and the solution is in process.

Getting the old one off will be more of a challenge than I might like, but it won't be as bad as pulling the transmission.

the Giant TCX has been creaking a bit more than usual.

stopped at the shop while running errands yesterday and took a look at where ErikV and other's have cracked their frames, AFTER i checked the pedal, crank arms and BB (and chainring bolts).

Oh hey.

This doesn't look so good:


Time to recom the croll. and figure out how to get the full coverage fenders on there even it if takes zip ties and duct tape.

There was a point yesterday before I determined the course of action for the Passat when it all bugged me quite a bit. The unknown doesn't sit well with me for some reason. Gotta have a plan.

As far as bike racing, the plan right now is no plan. I'd given some thought to attempting Purgatory again. But accurate and cutting commentary about me and road races has me acknowledging the fact that I don't even have close to the training I need to be competitive. Hell I show up to the easiest crit after a week of no sleep and get dropped. Even if I slept 48 hrs before Purgatory I'd get dropped. But then Matt's house cheering section wouldn't have a hard time picking me out.

Bike Racing? What's that.

In itself, the lack of potential and reasonably races to attempt in the near future is actually somewhat depressing.

Oh well.

There's more to bikes than racing and the Fall will be here soon enough.

heddwch
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i've been saying it for years

The LA camp has never addressed any issue directly. Always the "I've never tested positive." double negative never saying explicitly "I never used PEDs." I think there was one rare moment when LA slipped and nearly said that but then had a quick mental panic look that lasted a ms before he realized he was about to perjure himself and quickly emphasized he's the most tested and blahblahblah.

“It’s really a sign of weakness,” Manderson said. “Frankly, anger is not an effective strategy, but it has been their primary tactic for years: Attack the messenger and avoid dealing with the real issues at hand. Sooner or later they will have to actually deal with the facts instead of just trying to spin them.”

I have to agree with Manderson's evaluation.

LA's group has never offered facts, other than "I've been tested 500 times." And such. Nice strong number eh? Exactly 500 times? Or are you just pulling that number out of your PR ass because you don't know. Or have you become so unable to distinguish the testing the WADA/USADA/UCI administered and the ones you do constantly to make sure you'll pass those?

It is a good few moments for the skeptics. The doubters. We get to watch all the "naive bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine" turn into sad doe eyed cry babies that their hero wasn't winning on bread and water and gods genetic gifts alone.

Going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Landis is looking more and more like Mrs O'Leary's cow (even though the cow was only implicated in myth and legend).

Haven't laughed this hard in a long time

After the Deluge

The ride home started off having to cross 20cm deep fast moving water flowing down the gutter of Hope street. My feet got soaked with that one. Followed by 3 miles of absolutely some of the heaviest rain I've ridden through. Saving grace was that it was only about 65 so I was just one thin layer of lycra soaking up water (and my backpack).

But it stopped and started clearing and then I had to stop and dig out the camera and grabbed this.


Oh and it seems while I was at a school arts night (choral concert and middle/high school art show) twitter exploded and pooped out another doping allegation. Does it seem to anyone else that Lance's lawyer's excuses are getting more insane and ridiculous each time someone else comes out to say they saw him dope?

Goes back to Jerry's child argument (hopefully results boy is happy with me hyper-linking for a change), Lance's camp is starting to really act more and more like the kid G-ride described.

Boom.

Lets see where this goes. What bothers me is that Horner's going to get screwed by this. Timing sucks. I want to believe he is one of those few dudes who has raw talent to get where he is. If Tilford stands by him, that's good enough for me, for now. Besides, he races CX, or has, and always seems to be on the outside looking in, until now. Maybe now he's a leader because he's just as strong as he always has been and everyone else is mostly off the juice. The ToC timing hasn't been good for me to catch much of the racing live. Giro's been interrupted but that's not maybe a bad thing, although it is a pretty amazing race to watch. One of the best. I didn't think I could get excited about a race with Contadork but you know what? It is a pretty cool race. Hell it is Italy. What's not to love, esp with reliable live video with Sean Kelly and Harmon talking, the two best English language cycling commentators. P joked that Sean Kelly is the only one who has answered every question of a radio interview by nodding.

Okay.

I think the fire that Landis started is spreading...

and todays rains are not going to put it out...

heddwch
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Bike To Work Day Tomorrow

A gaggle of fredly commuters will be heading north on the East Bay Bike path bound for the Providence BTW Day festivities. Planning to raid the coffee and bagels when we get there. Departing from:

View Larger MapAt 7:15 am.

Meet up there or catch us along the way.

Great video:

Human-Powered Health from solve on Vimeo.

skillsets

"It sucks to buy something you can build."

It sucks to pay for food you can make better.

or (since taking things and spinning them in a positive way is better)

It is rewarding to fix something yourself instead of paying someone else.

It is rewarding to make dinner that uses better ingredients and has better flavor than you can get at a restaurant.

It is satisfying to self reliant and skilled.

I'm sure it would be more than satisfying to ride around in this car:

YS from OliandJoe on Vimeo.

New Marvin Z article.

"Toolbox: Living With the Risk of Crashing"

a really good article.

bias and bs

7th grade, we were taught to investigate bias.

it made a huge impression on me.

always figure out the bias the author has, esp when it comes to news and reporting, before deciding how relevant it is.

bias is the bullshit that George is talking about. investigate the bullshit/bias and things start to make sense.

if you push the kids to question bias/bullshit, you're fine if the adults in the house aren't making shit up just because. Questioning of the authority is the only way you figure out if the policy is sound or just fucking bullshit.

thankfully

there are a few good folks out there still bothering to write a race report or a ride report or just plain flat out write.

Twitter is one thing, and fortunately the number of "totally bitching ride" are out numbered by the creative and witty 140 character bits. And most of them actually also write something, on occasion. Okay some rarely. Some never.

Point being it is that FB thing. It sucks to hear about stuff. Good for conversation and getting your momma digs in with parke and how much of a dude cali MJ doesn't act like. But not for telling a good story.

I'm happy that guys like ryan and colin and zen and a few others are still writing. Sometimes rarely, but then it is a refreshing change. I'm not going to bother linking because i like to have the two monitors so i don't have to jump from tab to tab, window to window is more my style, and i'm not working on half a window to writing this now.

Tooth fairy duty tonight. The youngest lost a tooth today at school and somewhere between showing her mother and getting in the car the tooth was lost, as in really lost, not just fallen out, collected by the school nurse and put into a plastic tooth box (yes she has a big(ish) molar shaped plastic container - it's about a cm or two). Which it was. But then subsequently lost in the excitement of getting it out and then putting it back away.

So, she wrote a note and said it was lost at school. No big deal. She's been asleep for a long time (I wish I could say the same thing for myself). Older sister however had some practicing to do for tomorrow and some printing of a report and hair to put up and all sorts of stuff and didn't go to bed till much later and now if the tooth fairy is going to come at all, well I dare not lay down. Really very real possibility that this will push me over the edge and join the rest of the sicky mc-sickenstiens, but I hope not. Maybe I should go chew on a few cloves of garlic before going to bed to ward off any bacteria or virus that might decide to take advantage of my sleep deprived depressed immune system. But then again they are probably well entrenched by now, just waiting for the defenses to weaken just enough.

It is a constant battle to stay healthy. A battle I've been doing pretty okay at.

I keep coming back to a comment someone said after the race "it felt really easy, pretty slow race." This person did make the lead group, but I never saw them put their nose in the wind more than once or twice and that wasn't ever to do much more than jump to a wheel. Yeah, that's smart racing, if you can take advantage of it at the finish. I'm trying to tell myself that I am happier with having blown my guts all over the course on the first half of the race animating or chasing or driving or launching than I would have been just sitting in. Hell I know i could have survived till the end no question had I not wasted watts. But they weren't wasted. And some how I have to get over the negativity of being an idiot. I am my own biggest critic. I am harder on my self for my mistakes than anyone else and I take them far more personally than I really should. I raced as part of a team and am more pissed that I wasn't around to help Paul block or to launch him for a bunch sprint or to help Curtis at the end. Oh well. Dat's racing I guess.

It is what it is. Not much racing (that seems to fit with the schedule and be somewhat close) in the next couple months... hate to leave the spring season (if you can call three races at Ninigret a season) with such a sour note, but I have to tell myself, there are more important things than racing a bike and what I was doing that drain the batteries was/is pretty important for what is really important.

It is what it is.

be good

heddwch
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no legs

I couldn't quite tell this morning until I was about 1/2 way there that it wasn't going to be pretty. And at that point, hey bike racing, no point turning back.

I've been tired. It has been a long many weeks since the last race down there and I haven't had more than one day not working in the last two or three weeks, maybe four. Burning the candle at both ends isn't the best way to lead into a race. The legs felt good this week, and really they felt good on the trainer warming up. It was the batteries that were over cycled and not fully charged.

The mysterious GeWilli plan was to go hard from the whistle and string it out for a few laps. I lost count, but I went around up front for a lot of them. There was a 1/2 way prime and with two team mates upfront heading to the line to take the bell for the prime I took the lead and kept the pace. I had recovered a bit in the back but I figured I would be fine.

And I probably would have. Except I was an inattentive idiot.

So I drive the pack around from the front stretch, around the long back stretch into the wind and then around the last two stretches before the final turn and I get there and swing off and Savage takes over, Singmaster was on his wheel and when he didn't jump I knew the counter attack was coming. We hadn't really planned it out but I knew #1 Singmaster was going for the prime or #2 he was going to attack after the prime.

#2 it was.

I should have pulled off the front before getting totally gassed, but I didn't. I shouldn't have allowed the field to come by before jumping in, but I did. Singmaster got in a group with 4 or 5 others, and the pack was strung out. I was sitting tail gunning with the misplaced confidence from the previous races that I could easily come around anyone and close any gap that opened. Except I came around Savage only to find a gap to someone else, who eventually let another gap open and that was all she wrote for me. I dug down and pulled the strung out chasing pack to w/in close striking distance but they weren't slowing down and I had nothing left.

And so it went. I wasn't going to pull off and drop out. So I just rode around. And around. Steady hard tempo but not fast enough to limit my losses. Eventually the pack let another gaggle of guys off the front and a 10 man "break" formed. In essence the field split in half and I had a team mate in both halves.

On the plus side the sun came out before our race and it was dry. It started absolutely DUMPING buckets when I was about 2 paces from the car getting ready to leave. So I jumped in, fired it up and headed north, through the monsoon.

I was the last person placed... 21st maybe? 27 starters. I took a picture of the results but I'm not checking it.

Time to make some pizza tonight. Planning some deep dish style for a change. We'll see how this turns out. I was going to maybe work till 5pm today after racing but booked out of there at 3. Dead batteries.

Gonna see about trying to recharge them, and make a point to come up with a different, smarter, plan if I realize there aren't enough amp/hr to power this big guy through a whole race like I raced the first half.

It was fun, but I am somewhat grumpy at myself for being an idiot and allowing myself to get gapped off. I just needed one more lap of a draft to recover I'm wagering. But I have to take some consolation that my big effort sprung the break and made the race more exciting.

Oh well.

There will be another race.

Pretty funny that we've got a week of forecast rain/showers/crappy weather during bike to work week with BTW day falling on Friday here in PVD. We'll see if we get the typical pouring rain or the atypical sun.

be good, i'm going to go make some pizza

heddwch,
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WAAAAAAATTTTTSSSSSSS

No, no powertap, just more broken spokes.

good thing about breaking spokes on the commuter wheels riding on the Giant TCX is there's enough tire clearance to ride home with a wheel going an inch or two laterally.

No no hands riding though. shimmy shimmy shake. Happened accelerating with the cars from a red light

*snap*

"that was a weird noise"

*look down*

"i don't think the wheel is supposed to be moving THAT much"

I made it from Angel to Wickenden before the spoke decided it had had enough of sitting inside the nipple and wanted out.

In the process gave me a nice little cut starting from the base of my knee warmer. Wasn't bad enough to notice until i got home.

Goes along with the old rule of thumb, that once you start breaking spokes on a wheel, the rest of them will follow. Funny thing is most of these spokes have broken at the hub, not the rim. This one popped off in the nipple.

Might have to take it in and play with it at the shop. I think the rim is toast, just a matter if it is worth rebuilding or just make due being down a wheel.

Today was a mellow wicked easy ride in. The sun made everything look warm and summer like but it was still a cool spring like 45°F out there. Not much wind. Not compared to the last two days with the NE blowing. Which has been a solid headwind on the way in but seemed to have shifted ever just enough to the east to be just an annoying crosswind on the way home. either way i've been managing to keep the tempo very high to and from other than the first ride on Monday and this morning.

Yesterday was going to be an easy ride but of course there was a fluorescent yellow rabbit to catch and with the headwind I gave myself until the hill going up to the parkway to make the catch. And I did. Shut it down and let Mike catch up after blowing past as I held the interval until the base of the hill. Then had a nice mellow ride the rest of the way in.

The legs have actually felt pretty good despite everything. Tuesday night's lack of sleep is lingering. But manageable. Energy levels are pretty good today. Will work a whole day tomorrow and then hit the race early on Sunday. Really hoping to be there for a few of our Cat 5 guys that are racing. I just wish I was smart enough WHILE racing to take my own advice off the bike.

Standard GeWilli plan for Sunday. Paul can guess, shawn could probably figure it out w/o much thought. Hoping though to make a change though in the middle. Maybe. Depends on team mates situation and the weather/wind. Right now it is looking like it won't be too windy and maybe a 40% chance of rain, but that's a couple days out still, things can change, and it always seems to be windier than forecast at Ninigret Park.

We'll see how the legs are, hopefully they will have lap cards this time. Not a huge pre-reg field, but then I'm not there on the list, the race predictor would slot me in at 12th, right in front of Savage,

Providence Velo Club will be debuting the new jerseys, can't wait for that. Not a huge visual departure, not exactly as they were planned to look (fade didn't fade as much) but they are nice.

Oh and Super Commuter. I have to do a thank you post and elaborate a bit but I am pretty honored that Planet Bike picked me to be their Spring SuperCommuter. I probably could have picked a different picture but I liked the snow and locals know that location.

Be safe out there.

heddwch
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3200 ; Perpetuum Mobile

I've been listening to this song on loop for the last good handful of minutes, while I'm eating lunch...

and reflecting

today in the giro Robabank rider Tom Jette Slagter (Ned) went down very hard and the reaction from the soigneurs and immediate attendants were frantic and intense. Harmon freaked out, I freaked out. Everyone freaked.

And maybe for good reason he had a cut on his head that was bleeding quite a bit. Head wounds are messy. Even if they are superficial. He was not able to continue and RAI was reporting an ambulance was being called to pick him up. They left him on the ground in the road for quite a long time.

All this hasn't added to the mental replay in my mind of the CSI CX crash I had in 2009. Replay, replay... it has been not quite an impassive review but a tangible reminder of what could have happened... not so much the what ifs but wow was I lucky. But not in a jubilant way, still very much subdued by the impact it had on someone else, and everyone around us there, at that moment.

It keeps playing back.

Yesterday was an awesome day though. Tickets to see Alvin Ailey on tour here we purchased as a christmas present for my oldest but we only had two of them, and somehow I managed to win two more so we could all go. We started off with a rare treat, dinner at Red Stripe and the we headed off to the show.

Wow.

That is all I can say. Wow. That was an unbelievable display of artistry, emotion, power and human spirit.

Inspirational.

It was late when we finally made our way home, but I managed to link up with an online broadcast of the Red Wings game 6 vs the Sharks. The Wings were up. It was the middle of the 3rd period, I had to watch.

And the dominated. And won. Game seven coming up.

And then I couldn't sleep. At all.

or that's what it seemed like.

head spinning constructing sentences for my artist's statement, revisiting the CSI CX crash, the dance, DRW, bike racing, commuting, around and around.

Every ride but Monday morning this week has been full gas. 100% intensity.

Focused.

On what? I don't know for certain. I certainly am not taking for granted any time i have on the bike. Time to do things a bit differently. I'm going to go for a post lunch spin, change shoes and helmet, that's it.

Me and the bike.

and the wind.

heddwch
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People with better words

Four Good Reads on today's tragedy.
#1: http://bicycling.com/blogs/thisjustin/2011/05/09/giro-ditalia-stage-3-tragedy/?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Blog-_-GiroSnobWW

#2: http://johanbruyneel.com/blog/wouter_weylandt.html

#3: http://neilbrowne.com/2011/05/wouter-weylandt-loss-of-a-champion/

#4: http://euphoriabeforetotalimplosion.blogspot.com/2011/05/annual-crash-post.html

Okay - that 4th is a stretch on better words but he gets it. I don't think i need to remind anyone of NoHo 2009. When I saw the images on the live Eurosport feed this morning, I heard as clear as then, the utterance of a bystander "I think he's dead." Wouter's crash was far more traumatic than mine, after the point at which he was actually not dead, up until that point, those few minutes laying there on the concrete pad in the finish chute... was what I know everyone was feeling today. Please don't be dead, please be okay.

Ultimately all of our crossed fingers and toes couldn't help.

But in reality RMM is correct:

A few years ago, someone told me that if you become scared of crashing, your racing career is essentially over. Fear and respect are two different things. Having a healthy level of respect and consideration for the wellbeing of your fellow racers does not diminish your own courage.

You can't let the fear take over. Everything in life is full of risk. 40,000 people die a year in the USA in car accidents INSIDE OF A CAR! Risk is in everything. Minimize it to the extent you can, and never let the fear take over.

Someone I know posted this "RIP...Wouter Weylandt....risk vs reward...I will never ride the same again" on facebook. At first I took that to mean he was giving in to the fear, maybe I give him the benefit of the doubt and think that we can enjoy every last second that we are given and allowed to be set free on two wheels.

There is something magical about cycling, that can't be denied. It is a joy, a gift to partake.

I enjoyed my ride home tonight. It was supposed to be a low intensity ride. No effort, walking the bike. But I was late. I had 26 minutes to get home and I hadn't changed yet. 2 minutes later I was out the door. 21 minutes later I was home. My lungs were on fire when I got home from the lack of cool down. legs were fine. Heart still broken from this morning a bit.

Cyclists are a social group, seven degrees of separation? Never that much. Two, maybe three for most of us. Twitter trend #3 all morning was the name of our lost friend.

Someone much more eloquent than myself has written about why the loss of a cyclist strikes each of us so deeply, more so than when we hear of the constant ever present deaths from MVAs. underneath the technology it is still a human powered device, we are united by our passion more tightly than most any other group.

I'm going to leave it with a link to Tilford's blog post and a quote of it:

Sad day for the Sport
May 9th, 2011 · No Comments

Today was not a good day for the sport of cycling, as Woulter Weylandt was fatally injured in a crash today at the Giro d’Italia. It doesn’t happen very often, but it is a dangerous sport and deaths do occur. I’m surprised that more riders aren’t killed in racing accidents. I really am. But, luckily for us all, our bodies are very resilient and can take unbelievable amounts of trauma sometimes. It is always sad when such a young guy dies tragically, but if he is anything like most of the guys I know, he might not of wanted it to happen any other way. Dying doing something you love isn’t the worst way for it to happen, if that is any consolation. - Steve Tilford

If anything let this renew your passion for this magnificent sport. Be good, be strong, we are not immortal... but Wouter Weylandts now is. None of us will ever forget his name.
He has been granted status people will toil their lives for and fail to achieve.

I still remember the 1995 tour...

heddwch
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PS
I want to add two articles by Bonnie Ford to the list. When it comes to explaining it to the "rest" of the world about the going down hill part and the incident she does a fabulous job:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?columnist=ford_bonnie_d&id=6515689

and here http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=6513826

Wouter...

Scheldeprijs Schoten - Wouter Weylandt, originally uploaded by KarolusLinus.

Thank you for capturing what I'm going to imagine as the spirit of Wouter.

Scheldeprijs Schoten - Wouter Weylandt

Rest in Peace Wouter

It is a sad day for cycling. The Giro is arguably the most beautiful of all the grand tours, made so by the terrain, the narrow winding roads and the grit and passion that the Italians race it with.

Today the beauty had a dark shadow cast over it. Wouter Weylandt died on the road today. I was in the middle of organizing a [digital] stack of final projects to grade when they mentioned the crash and I was unlucky enough to catch the first glimpse of the fallen rider. RAI producers cut almost immediately away, but not before the magnitude of the crash was absorbed by myself and David Harmon and Sean Kelly, and I'm sure everyone else watching it. A few minutes later the white shirted individual doing chest compressions as glimpsed through the trees was not an encouraging follow up sign.

I first saw the words tweeted by tim johnson and then panic'd as I couldn't find confirmation for a minute or two. Then, and since, as my friends find out grief and condolences, thoughts and prayers, have been flowing and flooding the communication networks.

My cup of coffee has gone cold. I'm no longer hungry.

Happy Mother's Day

To you and your mother's out there, for without mothers there would be no grumpy old bastards bitching about being fat and slow on the bike.

Been light on the content. Burning the wick at both ends feels good, esp when I climb into bed, but doesn't leave a whole lot of time for reflection.

Maybe not the worst thing.

Three days off the bike officially make for a rest week. Planning on taking Monday as a super easy day on the bike then ramping up for the Mystic Velo Crit on Sunday. I think the timing is going to work out that I'll only manage one race in the morning, which is fine.

The car has officially passed inspection. Direct fit Mufflers are awesome, new calipers also work. Finding out that the old muffler was not only rusty but plugged up was a good thing. I think the pressure code and limp mode issues have finally been solved. Get some rear shocks on there and boom it's pimp styling (except for the rust and the rattling AC compressor clutch). But I did see a car with way way worse rear damping than mine. An 850 wagon. Looked sharp except the back end kept bouncing and bouncing and bouncing over even the smallest bumps. I'd get a bit of oscillation following over the same bump but just one or two cycles, not the dozens they were getting. I found it pretty funny.

It is a gorgeous day out there here in southern new england. Blue blue skies, the japanese maple in the front 'yard' has nearly fully leafed out providing a deep red contrast against the bright blue sky and the green of the maples by the bike path. Just sitting here with the dog, curled up next to me on the couch. One big old lap dog. A dog that decided that 5:15 was an appropriate time to wake me up. Damn early sun. She even went outside after 10pm so no reason to get up that early, other than she woke up and decided that I should get up and let her outside.

can there be enough coffee to get through the day/week? maybe but one way or another coffee has helped me hit "race" weight, now to find more than one race a month... to see if it makes a difference.

heddwch
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Ever Powerful and right now, timely words:

‎"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. I
n fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.

Something to think about as you carry your life forward.

as always
heddwch (the welsh word for peace)
g

a story teller

i'll not pretend to know the names of Mike Neel (I got chills reading that bit) or Jock Boyer, I wish I did know them, but they are from a time before I followed and was a fan of bike racing. Certainly I should know their names.

i will though, thank Alexi for writing about them.

oh and this is a good read too.

Pinky and the Brain

again

what are we going to do for bike month?

the same thing we do EVERY month...

oof

goodness gracious i am pooped

pulled through the ringer

pretty much a good thing

definitely the adaptation phase of things now

at least the Yehuda Moon is syndicated here now so new content will be here daily w/o effort on my part.

maybe soon i'll have an opening to announce, maybe an opening night reception to invite everyone to. right now it seems a bit early/presumptive to talk about it but it will happen, hopefully w/in a week or two.

Definitely diggin the shop, great bit of satisfaction cranking through a defined list, brain is liking it. Picture factory is settling down after the craziest spring of the past 5 years or so. Summer plans for the girls, time off all that have almost completely fallen in place.

Life goes on, and moves quickly...

Proud of my wife's 1/2 marathon race today. Sub 10 min pacing, nearly even splits from start to finish on the hillier version of the COX course so far. The even splits and the fact that she was tired but fine at the end (visibly, at least compared to everyone else) was pretty cool. And that performance coming off working all day friday and then standing on her feet volunteering at the girls school till 10:30, and running around with dance soccer and more dance on Saturday. not ideal race prep at all. yet still? pretty impressive. hell I'm impressed.

i've gotta take a look at the planning timing leading up to the next ninigret race and see maybe if i can come up with a way to structure the commutes in a productive manner. that's about all the saddle time i'm seeing lately. But, honestly, for a 60 min race? it is plenty.

heddwch
G