I'm cold... my jeans are soaked... my shirt has barely dried off and the coffee ain't doing JACK to warm me up... and i'm hungry...
I'm a whiny sumbitch this morning eh?
Fortunately or unfortunately the "demo" was cancelled. The sexy sales lady and the tough sales guy (why do they need a pair? is she not smart enough alone?) couldn't get their little microscope in the building cause of the rain. Seems the cart has an exposed special transformer that goes boom if wet... and the had it in a mini-van and can't get it in the loading dock cause the dock is 4' up (duh its a LOADING DOCK). We don't have an alternate location so sitting outside in the rain, AFTER getting lost, AFTER not calling to tell me they were running late/lost until 9:10 (demo was supposed to start at 9) they asked to reschedule...
Okay - sure - no problem, i'm happy to have yall try it again...
If ya trying to sell something #1, wouldn't ya show up like BEFORE you set the time for the demo? The flyer announced the demo would start at 9am... if it was me i'd have the system fired up tested and ready to go by 8:45 at the latest...
Oh well... i'm still cold, hungry, and tired...
and i thought i had two peices of left over pizza to add to the meatballs my oldest made last night... nope, just one... and nope, no more...
YEah the oldest made meatballs. She wanted meatball subs "like school" so we stocked up on stuff to make em... (translation = went to Wholefoods)...
1 pound ground dark turkey (#1 cause i wanted to try it, #2 it was a dollar less a pound than the ground beef)
0.64 pounds of sweet italian pork sausage
added two eggs, 3/4 cup Progresso bread crumbs, chopped onions, garlic, oregano, basil (both dried), ~1 teaspoon of Whatsthisheresauce,
mix well... fry in extra virgin olive oil...
place in whole wheat split top New England 'hot dog' (lobster roll) bun and cover with sauce:
Sauce,
clarify 1/4 of a vidalia onion in a good amount of Extra virgin olive oil, once the onions are soft and translucent (low heat clarification), crank up the heat and put a good amount of Balsamic vinegar, reduce that down almost completely, add a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes with Basil, put in the garlic, one small bay leaf, some dried oregano, add some dried basil, a few dashes of the W sauce, some sea salt, one finely grated medium sized zucchini, a trace of cinnamon. Kept on low heat while cooking the meatballs...
Damn if it wasn't super tasty...
And the meatballs were very very well shaped... little nuggest of yumminess...
--
Round Chainrings addressed again by Cyclingnews...
Seems like a reasonable article... although... i still gotta say... WTF... maybe for a bike i with a single up front... but..... i dunno gimme round... i never noticed much difference with the two different types of biopace i tried and then moved back to round... "tried" as they were on the first two mt bikes i owned... An '88 Raleigh Chill, the laid back geometry fad with a short top tube and forged upright stem (in a 22"), and the '89 Chill, with the more agressive very LONG top tube with the nearly flat 130mm welded cromo stem with the integrated roller for the front brake. Stiff and heavy... Anyway... biopace IMNSHO was stupid, non-round chainrings ARE stupid. UNLESS you are some sub 50 rpm knee busting lazy type cyclist...
i'm still bugged/bummed that i can't check in on newenglandcross.com... no ping so maybe the box is hosed...
why the hell am i using hosed so much lately? Dunno
--
Bruce was bitching to the email about the lack of brownies on the BLVD ride... maybe cause most of em are like - either taking a break from this place or off for the summer? Or not... maybe they are just tired of the grumpy old farts, or they've bolted for the P-Velo TT on tuesdays? I'd like to head up to the Tuc for a tuesday night circut or two, just to say i've done it this summer... next week ain't gonna work cause my sis is in town and i might be able to squeeze in the BLVD or the TT but not much beyond that...
--listening to the Essential Mix, Paul van Dyk is a damn freaking inspired genius DJ--
can ya tell? The demo being cancelled opened up a rather large block o time...
maybe i'll head down to the bookstore and see if i can spend some money, they are having an inventory sale... who knows what i might not be able to pass up... besides - i need more calories... no time to get any food in my own belly this morning... and no i think i'll spare the full complete details other than i'm STILL wet
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
News FLASH
Its RAINING...
and um... i'm soaked...
I suppose i could be a bit more saturated if i took a shower... BUT i barely...
1/2 here i thought "I should have put a dry set of clothes in the bag..."
DOH
at least i put a dry pair of socks in...
Dropped L off at Daycare... she was dry...
Me...
Soaking freaking wet... Oh and that Entrant jacket from Sugoi? Its HOSED... as in turn on the faucet and let the water pour through... time to suck it and buy some decent rain gear...
cause if i'm gonna be as pig headed and stupid about my 'principles' i might as well be dry...
(post from last night to come up - its better than the previous late night ramble... at least longer at any rate)...
Coffee... papertowel drying and then a hot sales gal shows up to demo a scope we won't buy...
-Soaking Dog GDub
PS _ and who the hell swallowed megA's website? its gone...
and thanks for the content this morning - the one morning i'm hosed with work, there's new content... gonna have ta remember to ask ol' SB what 'puter he's using... that and send old man b-day wishes... that racing age means my daughter knows how old i am (34) not me (i think i'm 35)
and um... i'm soaked...
I suppose i could be a bit more saturated if i took a shower... BUT i barely...
1/2 here i thought "I should have put a dry set of clothes in the bag..."
DOH
at least i put a dry pair of socks in...
Dropped L off at Daycare... she was dry...
Me...
Soaking freaking wet... Oh and that Entrant jacket from Sugoi? Its HOSED... as in turn on the faucet and let the water pour through... time to suck it and buy some decent rain gear...
cause if i'm gonna be as pig headed and stupid about my 'principles' i might as well be dry...
(post from last night to come up - its better than the previous late night ramble... at least longer at any rate)...
Coffee... papertowel drying and then a hot sales gal shows up to demo a scope we won't buy...
-Soaking Dog GDub
PS _ and who the hell swallowed megA's website? its gone...
and thanks for the content this morning - the one morning i'm hosed with work, there's new content... gonna have ta remember to ask ol' SB what 'puter he's using... that and send old man b-day wishes... that racing age means my daughter knows how old i am (34) not me (i think i'm 35)
Tuesday Night
So I’m pissed… there was an absolutely AWESOME joke… that I cannot remember… it was on tv, last comic standing…
Sure sue me… I turned the TV on. Watched a comedy show… I like that show… and Damn straight that guy with palsy seriously was the absolutely hysterical.
I’d go online to see if I can find the memory prompt. But I can’t. In some ways its very very strange to be using a computer that isn’t connected to millions of servers and untold masses of information.
Oh and there aint jack shit on tv right… Maybe there’s hope that I can fall asleep… course this whole single dad thing is a change. Not that it’s a real stretch, its just different. For a week, or two it’d be one thing… but for a couple days its just loopy… we’re having fun, tonight was definitely better in most regards than last night. The littlest still wandered around saying “ma ma, ma ma.” She’s gotta be confused. But we’re eating well, not watching any TV (okay so last comic standing was on as they were headed to bed).
Honestly (switching gears) the corners freak me out… Crit talking here… dirt? No worries… cross? No worries… asphalt? Concrete? Scares the shit out of me. I figure if I say it, maybe I’ll get over it. Maybe I have to race a season or two to get over it. Bigger beef, why the hell are all the cool road races in the spring? The racing calendar seems void of all but crits this summer? WTF is up with that shit? Maybe for the better – Road races are for the soft… real cyclists race crits and kick butt… wait… seems Europe keeps a nice balance of road and other races… nah – they aren’t real men… it’s the lazy convenient sack of crap American culture that makes crits just easy, a fall back. But then I’d be busting on the wrong crowd. I know, there are plenty of people doing and lovin crits… plenty of good reasons to hold them instead of long road races… and yeah they are better for spectators… And yeah seein as that BOB Haverhill thing is the week before the first cross race up in Auburn maybe I should consider it. Down side… where the hell is Auburn? Is it even rational to think I can get up there for a race? Rational to even think I’ll have the legs to race? Well I guess the only way to find out is to try… ninigret is prolly the closest and word is that it’s a wide open non-technical circuit… maybe not a bad place to get the feet wet…
I didn’t realize that megA had the ‘voyeur’ comment… I’m pretty sure that comment I made a bit ago was spontaneously generated in my piddlin cranium… but ya never know…
I’m pissed that the damn hockey is on cable not network… freaking what the hell… WHY not? Not that it matters, I guess… Detroit’s not it in… hell they ain’t even in the B-Ball finals, like they should be… how the hell do ya drop the games to the Heat but then soundly kick their ass? I don’t get it… coaching? I dunno –
I dunno much lately… thanks for bearing witness to my insanity, and my introspection…
I’m back. Why? Cause the streets are CLEAN!!! The Sumbitch street sweeper just rolled through the neighborhood, and when ya are on a corner house… that’s a damn lotta passes… but – it means – LESS SAND. Something to celebrate… and since the showers usually wake me up instead of relax me, I’m awake. So why take a shower at night? Guess. Cause with just me there ain’t no way I can do it if they are awake… and yeah there’s a chance I can get up and get clean before they wake up but its too damn close proximity and timing to wake the littlest up… so, the street sweeper promted me to get my ass back on the laptop in the dark… lit by the keyboard.
I’d lament the quietness of the lonefrontranger, or many of the other web logs that I like to devour in the morning over a cup of coffee… I’d like to laugh at Big Jonny…. That sumbitch had a kid and well whadda ya know, the posts are shorter, less frequent and somewhat less… less Drunk Cyclist… and maybe, just maybe that’s a good thing.
Although I’ll sing praises for the gold can… ya know the champagne of beers, Miller High Life… smooth, clean, like drinkin lemonade, a cold crisp beverage distinctly beer flavored but without the nasty toxins many beers seem to be chock full of…. And by toxins I mean the shit that makes me feel yucky in the morning… this stuff… hell I feel no real different than after a good long AFD stretch… although… the legs… they know… and they will kick me in the ass tomorrow….
I still can’t remember the damn joke… I just remember that it was damn poignant… I love MS Word… thank you for spell check Bill… if for nothing else… this autocorrect freaking kicks ass…. I should use it all the freaking time… I should but the feeling is different, the linking is different, but often the words are not. Right now I;m typing completely blind… and only one typo – hell bill didn’t even need to fix that shit…
NOW that’s it… I hope…
Sure sue me… I turned the TV on. Watched a comedy show… I like that show… and Damn straight that guy with palsy seriously was the absolutely hysterical.
I’d go online to see if I can find the memory prompt. But I can’t. In some ways its very very strange to be using a computer that isn’t connected to millions of servers and untold masses of information.
Oh and there aint jack shit on tv right… Maybe there’s hope that I can fall asleep… course this whole single dad thing is a change. Not that it’s a real stretch, its just different. For a week, or two it’d be one thing… but for a couple days its just loopy… we’re having fun, tonight was definitely better in most regards than last night. The littlest still wandered around saying “ma ma, ma ma.” She’s gotta be confused. But we’re eating well, not watching any TV (okay so last comic standing was on as they were headed to bed).
Honestly (switching gears) the corners freak me out… Crit talking here… dirt? No worries… cross? No worries… asphalt? Concrete? Scares the shit out of me. I figure if I say it, maybe I’ll get over it. Maybe I have to race a season or two to get over it. Bigger beef, why the hell are all the cool road races in the spring? The racing calendar seems void of all but crits this summer? WTF is up with that shit? Maybe for the better – Road races are for the soft… real cyclists race crits and kick butt… wait… seems Europe keeps a nice balance of road and other races… nah – they aren’t real men… it’s the lazy convenient sack of crap American culture that makes crits just easy, a fall back. But then I’d be busting on the wrong crowd. I know, there are plenty of people doing and lovin crits… plenty of good reasons to hold them instead of long road races… and yeah they are better for spectators… And yeah seein as that BOB Haverhill thing is the week before the first cross race up in Auburn maybe I should consider it. Down side… where the hell is Auburn? Is it even rational to think I can get up there for a race? Rational to even think I’ll have the legs to race? Well I guess the only way to find out is to try… ninigret is prolly the closest and word is that it’s a wide open non-technical circuit… maybe not a bad place to get the feet wet…
I didn’t realize that megA had the ‘voyeur’ comment… I’m pretty sure that comment I made a bit ago was spontaneously generated in my piddlin cranium… but ya never know…
I’m pissed that the damn hockey is on cable not network… freaking what the hell… WHY not? Not that it matters, I guess… Detroit’s not it in… hell they ain’t even in the B-Ball finals, like they should be… how the hell do ya drop the games to the Heat but then soundly kick their ass? I don’t get it… coaching? I dunno –
I dunno much lately… thanks for bearing witness to my insanity, and my introspection…
I’m back. Why? Cause the streets are CLEAN!!! The Sumbitch street sweeper just rolled through the neighborhood, and when ya are on a corner house… that’s a damn lotta passes… but – it means – LESS SAND. Something to celebrate… and since the showers usually wake me up instead of relax me, I’m awake. So why take a shower at night? Guess. Cause with just me there ain’t no way I can do it if they are awake… and yeah there’s a chance I can get up and get clean before they wake up but its too damn close proximity and timing to wake the littlest up… so, the street sweeper promted me to get my ass back on the laptop in the dark… lit by the keyboard.
I’d lament the quietness of the lonefrontranger, or many of the other web logs that I like to devour in the morning over a cup of coffee… I’d like to laugh at Big Jonny…. That sumbitch had a kid and well whadda ya know, the posts are shorter, less frequent and somewhat less… less Drunk Cyclist… and maybe, just maybe that’s a good thing.
Although I’ll sing praises for the gold can… ya know the champagne of beers, Miller High Life… smooth, clean, like drinkin lemonade, a cold crisp beverage distinctly beer flavored but without the nasty toxins many beers seem to be chock full of…. And by toxins I mean the shit that makes me feel yucky in the morning… this stuff… hell I feel no real different than after a good long AFD stretch… although… the legs… they know… and they will kick me in the ass tomorrow….
I still can’t remember the damn joke… I just remember that it was damn poignant… I love MS Word… thank you for spell check Bill… if for nothing else… this autocorrect freaking kicks ass…. I should use it all the freaking time… I should but the feeling is different, the linking is different, but often the words are not. Right now I;m typing completely blind… and only one typo – hell bill didn’t even need to fix that shit…
NOW that’s it… I hope…
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
left over from yesterday
In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.
- George Orwell
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is.
- Chuck Reid
and one of these days i'll get the word right..
Pleonasm not neoplasm...
I know what i mean and often that's enough...
One thing, megA's recent post about riding being the fuel for writing... that's bang on...
I'll admit it...
and i'll also honestly and openly admit i miss riding my Mt Bikes... sure they may be high tech for 1998 and its 2006, but... they still are MY mt bikes and they still work well... modern improvements ain't got nuttin on it...
Sure they rock some sweet old school lowered bar riding position, sporting gripshift and 2x9... or 2x8 dunno really... i think 2x8 (who the hell needs that freakin sensible granny gear anyway)... that's what 180 cranks are for...
one of these days... its just that the whole load up the bike on the car, drive to the trail... ride the trail, drive back... sucks valuable riding time... and since the mantra: RIDE THE DAMN BIKE runs counter to spending and hour or more in the car to ride the bike, its better to just get on the roadie and ride that time instead of car... i think...
oh the cadence thing... lots of good suggestions, some not so good ones... over at PEZ... Cadence Good points about the fixie pushing the leg back up...
and i know... it'll be better to spin up the hill at 90 rpm with the trailer than grind it at 60 or so... methinks i should breakdown and get some freaking cadence thingy for at least the commuter....
but crap like this - such blatant marketing BS bugs me... there is a disclosure statement - and some 'objective' stuff...
but... why not just drink a big old glass of milk spiked with some sugar...
better yet... or should we say for the espresso lovers:
Get a Grande Latte, put 4 or 5 sugars in it... caffine, protien, sugars, all perfect for recovery...
Damn strong evidence for ending a ride at a Coffee shop... No?
- George Orwell
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is.
- Chuck Reid
and one of these days i'll get the word right..
Pleonasm not neoplasm...
I know what i mean and often that's enough...
One thing, megA's recent post about riding being the fuel for writing... that's bang on...
I think part of the reason I’m so bummed about the weather is that riding in the woods is a great way for me to brainstorm. The flow of the trails, the body english, the focus, it just frees me, and I can think and write in my head as I rock the trails, you know? I know you know, even though you won’t admit it.
I'll admit it...
and i'll also honestly and openly admit i miss riding my Mt Bikes... sure they may be high tech for 1998 and its 2006, but... they still are MY mt bikes and they still work well... modern improvements ain't got nuttin on it...
Sure they rock some sweet old school lowered bar riding position, sporting gripshift and 2x9... or 2x8 dunno really... i think 2x8 (who the hell needs that freakin sensible granny gear anyway)... that's what 180 cranks are for...
one of these days... its just that the whole load up the bike on the car, drive to the trail... ride the trail, drive back... sucks valuable riding time... and since the mantra: RIDE THE DAMN BIKE runs counter to spending and hour or more in the car to ride the bike, its better to just get on the roadie and ride that time instead of car... i think...
oh the cadence thing... lots of good suggestions, some not so good ones... over at PEZ... Cadence Good points about the fixie pushing the leg back up...
and i know... it'll be better to spin up the hill at 90 rpm with the trailer than grind it at 60 or so... methinks i should breakdown and get some freaking cadence thingy for at least the commuter....
but crap like this - such blatant marketing BS bugs me... there is a disclosure statement - and some 'objective' stuff...
but... why not just drink a big old glass of milk spiked with some sugar...
better yet... or should we say for the espresso lovers:
Get a Grande Latte, put 4 or 5 sugars in it... caffine, protien, sugars, all perfect for recovery...
Damn strong evidence for ending a ride at a Coffee shop... No?
well... I survived
I tried writing a bit last night but i was knockered, and uninspired...
Cruising through the Open tabs and nadda lot there...
maybe its the time of year...
lemme see what i wrote last night:
Well, its about right...
catching a few of the freshly posted vids of the CSI CX Elite woman's race little one minute snippets but it's inspirational... i think... watching a bunch of woman that can prolly kick my ass from here to there without blinking (on the bike that is)...
it also really drives home the fact that i'm very pleased with my body:bike size ratio... but... i still am not geeked about shouldering the skinny steel tube on my skinny exposed bone shoulder i have... okay its not exposed... but feels like that, on the otherhand, the arm wrapped under the top tube and grabbing the bar is not terribly uncomfortable for run-ups and what not...
The TT looks like it might be wet, coupled with a Team meeting the same evening, maybe i'll just do the team meeting - which would suck, cause well... i ain't got a baby sitter for tonight, and i ain't gonna be able to make the TT... fuzuckinhell...
Oh and got this email regarind my desire for a 28c road tire (cause of my flat and the fact it's totally hosed):
yeah... well... i'm a big tall heavy slow sack of shit... i need the ballons on the rims... besides... they are round, round like tubulars...
awe nevermind... Maybe after a few more coffees....
peace,
G
Cruising through the Open tabs and nadda lot there...
maybe its the time of year...
lemme see what i wrote last night:
So I’m sitting here wishing I had a backlit keyboard… but no… its black… can’t see shit.
So I’m typing blind… at least I’ve sort of figured out how to use this thing.
An interesting evening (yes, its still Monday – despite when ya see this posted). Survival, we made it, no trips to the hospital. Girls fed (the easy part), played at the park… it all worked I think…
I realized I kinda went off – 2k words while eating lunch. Not sure if I said a whole lot…. I think it’s the absolute perfect post to prove my Neoplasm. Assuming I am getting the word right. Spelling that is.
I thought I might have more to say, but I’m fresh outa words… dunno what to say…
So maybe I just leave it at this … not much…
Oh
Bike fit… when I said saddle too high, too low a bit… I meant a lot… if its dramatic enough to visually tell… its huge…
The real power difference is NOT detectable at least outwardly at first glance on the bike…
Well, its about right...
catching a few of the freshly posted vids of the CSI CX Elite woman's race little one minute snippets but it's inspirational... i think... watching a bunch of woman that can prolly kick my ass from here to there without blinking (on the bike that is)...
it also really drives home the fact that i'm very pleased with my body:bike size ratio... but... i still am not geeked about shouldering the skinny steel tube on my skinny exposed bone shoulder i have... okay its not exposed... but feels like that, on the otherhand, the arm wrapped under the top tube and grabbing the bar is not terribly uncomfortable for run-ups and what not...
The TT looks like it might be wet, coupled with a Team meeting the same evening, maybe i'll just do the team meeting - which would suck, cause well... i ain't got a baby sitter for tonight, and i ain't gonna be able to make the TT... fuzuckinhell...
Oh and got this email regarind my desire for a 28c road tire (cause of my flat and the fact it's totally hosed):
28's geez i ride some 27's for cyclocross.
yeah... well... i'm a big tall heavy slow sack of shit... i need the ballons on the rims... besides... they are round, round like tubulars...
awe nevermind... Maybe after a few more coffees....
peace,
G
Monday, June 05, 2006
"Never Went To Church"
Yeah - the streets...
the opening lines are serious kick ass
"Two great European narcotics,
Alcohol and Christianity,
I know which one I prefer"
I know which one i prefer...
but i also know neither of them are going to help get closer to that 'genetic' potential...
Which brings me back to a very specific and almost more important aspect of cycling and maximizing your potential.
BIKE FIT
its sick, sad, twisted to see people sloggin away on ill fitting bikes or with sub-optimal fit. Saddles too low, too high, weird contorted back angles...
Why is it so hard to get a bike to fit? Why? because its almost impossible to fit a 'novice' to the most efficient position. They haven't developed a sense of what is best yet. Down side is they make habits that can be bad. Muscle memory tendencies that are counter productive or power robbing.
I've got a few friends who've been rather particular about it. One nailed it from the start and has been extremely effective at making it work. One who has taken literally 10 years to get to a position of power. And man oh man is he strong now...
One of the suprising, but shouldn't be, things was his bike fit (we'll call him Tom) was stagnant for a long time. He was changing saddles, stems, seatposts, shoes, all the contact points trying to get comfortable. He also was someone who could and did just buy stuff and try it out. But never got anywhere. He had great spin, his physical stuff is rather remarkable... but never every any power.
He bought a custom seven, they have a rather complicated custom bike form. Lots of measurements, lots of questions. The bike came back and the measurements came back, with specific saddle height and all. He's never been faster. And gets better and better. Then the last bit - shoes. Angles and all that - the last contact patch...
now... based on everything, he's topped 50 and is one of the fastest on the club rides in Michigan... I attribute most of it to the time invested on the bike, but i cannot deny that he's gotten faster because his position has improved so dramatically.
I feel good about my position, i've bounced around with saddle heights, fore-aft positions and generally feel pretty good about it all. Its been remarked that my position looks good. And like when i was rowing, i strive for form. Get the form down right, use the proper muscles, then make them work with more power/strength.
If the bike don't fit right it don't matter what genetic potential ya got. Ya never gonna realize it - no matter HOW much hard work you through at it.
And no, no a Fit kit or a 'fit system' in a bike shop can't always get you set up right. Ya need a very detailed analysis, like the one Seven does. And like many other custom builders use. But just cause a builder is a 'custom' doesn't mean the bike will be built well, or built to the size you think... Bringing to mind SB's comments about C-Dale. And the two 58s that didn't measure up in any dimension. I hear about 'custom' frame builders without a Frame table! WTF? How do you build/weld a bike without a frame alignment table? The answer doesn't make me feel any better about it: Its welded in the frame jig so its already aligned... Um... lets see... we'll heat the hell out of the metal and let it cool and expect it not to change. RIGHT.
KL and i should definitely have our own frame shop. Tall and Small cycles... or what was it called? Anyway, Focus on building quality frames, and let some other schmo paint them. Paint is excessive, and only the Klein's seem to have a worthy paint. On the other side, does it need to be pretty? Nah just fast. Down side, i'm sold on this aluminum crap. And the problem with making aluminum right is tube shape, wall thickness and being able to vary the tubes ala gradient tubing that Gary Klein made up.
Here... as much as i think Wiki is stupid... its got the best back up for my man Gary:
Gary Klein (Inventor) can be considered the innovator of the oversized tube aluminum bicycle, which is now a feature of the cycling market. He first developed the concept in 1973 as part of the Independent Activities Period aluminum bicycle project at MIT, where he was an engineering student and bicycle racer, then took the concept commercial after graduation.
One of the old catalogs talked about Gary racing in Boston and breaking frames. He's big, 6'3" or 4, and big, not like twiggy me. And the whole Aerospace Engineer stuff at MIT was somewhat helpful.
Ya wonder why GK has a billion patents? Cause he really was/is an innovator in aluminum stuff.
Integrated headset? Gary's been doing it lightyears longer than anyone. Back then ya know what they said? It is stupid, no flexibility. Look at the market now? Its worse than it was then. Besides, i've seen 20+ year old klein bearings working no problem. Kinda funny. When you use good stuff off the bat, that it lasts.
Now put your panties back on - or unbunch em at least. I don't sell em. I don't have any stock in em. They don't make Cross bikes, they've gone and done stupid stuff like replace kick ass killer aluminum stays with STUPID heavier, less ride-able carbon, and well the brand has been polluted from the analytical brilliant mind that gary envisioned. Sure he still has some directional control with the product. And yeah he had that one toxic cleanup issue.
Take a look at the time line. What's interesting there in 1989?
A woman's specific design. HOLY CRAP? Back then? Yeah... him and what? Terry? The only thing missing in his stable of firsts is a Cross bike.
Anyway...
I didn't start off to go off on Klein. But I find many east coasters not quite as educated about Klein bikes. They seem to (regionally acceptably i guess) biased towards C-dales. And there is some curious connection, C-dale was making trailers and clothing and crap. Then decided to make a touring bike... in '83... Those were heavy, unrefined, and scary compared to modern Alu bikes... and back then, they weren't really that much lighter... They played catchup with klein, as the two oversize aluminum frame makers cutting ground. Then the big boys jumped in...
Raleigh with the 'Technium' (i thought they were cool till i realized a 30 pound rigid aluminum cro-mo bike was about 7 pounds overweight - but it still is indestructible - hanging in the barn), Specialized with their M2 stuff. Giant with the toothpaste welded Taiwan stuff...
I'm a techy dweebish bike geek. The little stuff. Cool. And as with biology, i'm fascinated by the transitions, the evolution and the interrelatedness of everything.
Sure i'm biased. Everyone is. And on one hand i will agree - a well fitting bike is a well fitting bike and doesn't really impact how fast someone is unless it breaks.
Man i haven't even made it to the list!
The elevator. I waited 15 minutes to go down one flight with the trailer. Freaking PISSED ME OFF... gd... i'm okay now...
The ride... Well there was going to be a ride off at the Bike Shop at 9:30... i stuck around till 9:35-9:40... no one showed... and i had a great ride by myself.
On those drizzlin days the one bad thing about a group is the spray from the wheels infront. No wheels, just solo. My Belgian tan was 100% me. And it was fantastic. A gorgeous black line above the sock.
Wound up only about 44 miles, but i stretched it out to 44 miles or so, and using the RI bike map hit every damn hill i could manage. And it was fantastic. The bike was great. I don't think the grades were much more than 8-10% at max, and a few of them were longish... here's the loop i did... gmap r=219819. Its only a partial loop.... I went up and around on Lime Rock and Ridge road to get there.
Oh and i got a nice flat right about post 5 on there. Nice arrowhead of glass, pointing out #1 that i have no more 48mm valved tubes, #2 i need new 28c rubber... it's less than 1 mm at the middle of the tread... not good. And #3, i'm sold on the Stans no flat stuff, and i haven't even tried it yet. Kinda funny. In michigan i went 5-6 years maybe more without getting a flat. I'm here and have blown through a half dozen tubes already.
My average speed sucked... but i kept stopping to look at the map, took one leak, and was riding the hills... and not burning the descents... something about the roads being wet, it being dark, not wanting to blast around at 35-40 too much not knowing what is at the bottom stuff... Its a good loop, not many cars... the blackstone river bike path let me see the flooded damns and lots of water and gave me a chance to get comfortable in the aero position with the spinach bars.
And all except the flat, and my crappy gloves blowing a hole in the palm somehow (i dunno, i started the ride and the left one was intact - somewhere along the way the palm gave way) it was great. Raining, but not cold enough to need more than arm+knee warmers and a wind vest.
And Geert might like to hear - i even hosed the damn bike off when i got back. YEAH?! image that shit? I figured it was wet already, might as well put it away clean and wet rather than wet and dirty... although who doesn't like it wet and dirty? (sounds like a certain principle got an eyefull of wet and dirty). And for the guy who suggested i put more in my waterbottles than just water... i broke down and bought some Gatorade powder... took two 24 oz bottles of slightly strong G-ade for a change... maybe it helped... i think it did... the 3 hours, even though some of it was rather mellow and just sight-seeing miles, the extra energy made a difference...
And today begins the whole single working parent few days... Which was something i was thinking about. There will always be someone out there who won't understand, and in the same hand someone who'll wonder why you are complaining. And that goes for everything. For every guy who goes out and rides a 45 mile ride, some people will say 'hey, i've never done more than a flight of stairs' and others who'll say 'that's it? i rode a double century this weekend.'
the only measure is my own... its my life, i have my baggage, mental and physical to carry through. I'm not in a position to just ride on my schedule. I have to juggle lots, but it feels worthwhile. Will i mean i'm slow as hell? Maybe. Will it make me enjoy it all any less? Feck no... Maybe the opposite?
Whymiwriting that? I dunno - cause its rattlin around in my head and i wanna come back and read it sometime down the road. So that i understand the perspective i have now...
Oh and i wonder, i've go these feeling i've lost control of myself. In someway its that the entries flow more freely now, less deliberate. I don't know if its a good thing or not. Feel free to let me know... or not...
I'd better get this off the desk... loads of interruptions... hopefully its not that much more disjointed/disorganized than normal... although all those handwritten love letters from High school and college i'd writen to former and (almost) GFs weren't a whole lot less scattered... maybe its why the lecturers i've enjoyed the most are tangent filled... gimme three or four stimulus feeds and i'll be satisfied...
oh and Haverhill... i can assume its the BOB crit at the indus park? In september? Me... a Crit? shame - well maybe i can be shamed enough to show up... maybe...
the opening lines are serious kick ass
"Two great European narcotics,
Alcohol and Christianity,
I know which one I prefer"
I know which one i prefer...
but i also know neither of them are going to help get closer to that 'genetic' potential...
Which brings me back to a very specific and almost more important aspect of cycling and maximizing your potential.
BIKE FIT
its sick, sad, twisted to see people sloggin away on ill fitting bikes or with sub-optimal fit. Saddles too low, too high, weird contorted back angles...
Why is it so hard to get a bike to fit? Why? because its almost impossible to fit a 'novice' to the most efficient position. They haven't developed a sense of what is best yet. Down side is they make habits that can be bad. Muscle memory tendencies that are counter productive or power robbing.
I've got a few friends who've been rather particular about it. One nailed it from the start and has been extremely effective at making it work. One who has taken literally 10 years to get to a position of power. And man oh man is he strong now...
One of the suprising, but shouldn't be, things was his bike fit (we'll call him Tom) was stagnant for a long time. He was changing saddles, stems, seatposts, shoes, all the contact points trying to get comfortable. He also was someone who could and did just buy stuff and try it out. But never got anywhere. He had great spin, his physical stuff is rather remarkable... but never every any power.
He bought a custom seven, they have a rather complicated custom bike form. Lots of measurements, lots of questions. The bike came back and the measurements came back, with specific saddle height and all. He's never been faster. And gets better and better. Then the last bit - shoes. Angles and all that - the last contact patch...
now... based on everything, he's topped 50 and is one of the fastest on the club rides in Michigan... I attribute most of it to the time invested on the bike, but i cannot deny that he's gotten faster because his position has improved so dramatically.
I feel good about my position, i've bounced around with saddle heights, fore-aft positions and generally feel pretty good about it all. Its been remarked that my position looks good. And like when i was rowing, i strive for form. Get the form down right, use the proper muscles, then make them work with more power/strength.
If the bike don't fit right it don't matter what genetic potential ya got. Ya never gonna realize it - no matter HOW much hard work you through at it.
And no, no a Fit kit or a 'fit system' in a bike shop can't always get you set up right. Ya need a very detailed analysis, like the one Seven does. And like many other custom builders use. But just cause a builder is a 'custom' doesn't mean the bike will be built well, or built to the size you think... Bringing to mind SB's comments about C-Dale. And the two 58s that didn't measure up in any dimension. I hear about 'custom' frame builders without a Frame table! WTF? How do you build/weld a bike without a frame alignment table? The answer doesn't make me feel any better about it: Its welded in the frame jig so its already aligned... Um... lets see... we'll heat the hell out of the metal and let it cool and expect it not to change. RIGHT.
KL and i should definitely have our own frame shop. Tall and Small cycles... or what was it called? Anyway, Focus on building quality frames, and let some other schmo paint them. Paint is excessive, and only the Klein's seem to have a worthy paint. On the other side, does it need to be pretty? Nah just fast. Down side, i'm sold on this aluminum crap. And the problem with making aluminum right is tube shape, wall thickness and being able to vary the tubes ala gradient tubing that Gary Klein made up.
Here... as much as i think Wiki is stupid... its got the best back up for my man Gary:
Gary Klein (Inventor) can be considered the innovator of the oversized tube aluminum bicycle, which is now a feature of the cycling market. He first developed the concept in 1973 as part of the Independent Activities Period aluminum bicycle project at MIT, where he was an engineering student and bicycle racer, then took the concept commercial after graduation.
One of the old catalogs talked about Gary racing in Boston and breaking frames. He's big, 6'3" or 4, and big, not like twiggy me. And the whole Aerospace Engineer stuff at MIT was somewhat helpful.
Ya wonder why GK has a billion patents? Cause he really was/is an innovator in aluminum stuff.
Integrated headset? Gary's been doing it lightyears longer than anyone. Back then ya know what they said? It is stupid, no flexibility. Look at the market now? Its worse than it was then. Besides, i've seen 20+ year old klein bearings working no problem. Kinda funny. When you use good stuff off the bat, that it lasts.
Now put your panties back on - or unbunch em at least. I don't sell em. I don't have any stock in em. They don't make Cross bikes, they've gone and done stupid stuff like replace kick ass killer aluminum stays with STUPID heavier, less ride-able carbon, and well the brand has been polluted from the analytical brilliant mind that gary envisioned. Sure he still has some directional control with the product. And yeah he had that one toxic cleanup issue.
Take a look at the time line. What's interesting there in 1989?
A woman's specific design. HOLY CRAP? Back then? Yeah... him and what? Terry? The only thing missing in his stable of firsts is a Cross bike.
Anyway...
I didn't start off to go off on Klein. But I find many east coasters not quite as educated about Klein bikes. They seem to (regionally acceptably i guess) biased towards C-dales. And there is some curious connection, C-dale was making trailers and clothing and crap. Then decided to make a touring bike... in '83... Those were heavy, unrefined, and scary compared to modern Alu bikes... and back then, they weren't really that much lighter... They played catchup with klein, as the two oversize aluminum frame makers cutting ground. Then the big boys jumped in...
Raleigh with the 'Technium' (i thought they were cool till i realized a 30 pound rigid aluminum cro-mo bike was about 7 pounds overweight - but it still is indestructible - hanging in the barn), Specialized with their M2 stuff. Giant with the toothpaste welded Taiwan stuff...
I'm a techy dweebish bike geek. The little stuff. Cool. And as with biology, i'm fascinated by the transitions, the evolution and the interrelatedness of everything.
Sure i'm biased. Everyone is. And on one hand i will agree - a well fitting bike is a well fitting bike and doesn't really impact how fast someone is unless it breaks.
Man i haven't even made it to the list!
The elevator. I waited 15 minutes to go down one flight with the trailer. Freaking PISSED ME OFF... gd... i'm okay now...
The ride... Well there was going to be a ride off at the Bike Shop at 9:30... i stuck around till 9:35-9:40... no one showed... and i had a great ride by myself.
On those drizzlin days the one bad thing about a group is the spray from the wheels infront. No wheels, just solo. My Belgian tan was 100% me. And it was fantastic. A gorgeous black line above the sock.
Wound up only about 44 miles, but i stretched it out to 44 miles or so, and using the RI bike map hit every damn hill i could manage. And it was fantastic. The bike was great. I don't think the grades were much more than 8-10% at max, and a few of them were longish... here's the loop i did... gmap r=219819. Its only a partial loop.... I went up and around on Lime Rock and Ridge road to get there.
Oh and i got a nice flat right about post 5 on there. Nice arrowhead of glass, pointing out #1 that i have no more 48mm valved tubes, #2 i need new 28c rubber... it's less than 1 mm at the middle of the tread... not good. And #3, i'm sold on the Stans no flat stuff, and i haven't even tried it yet. Kinda funny. In michigan i went 5-6 years maybe more without getting a flat. I'm here and have blown through a half dozen tubes already.
My average speed sucked... but i kept stopping to look at the map, took one leak, and was riding the hills... and not burning the descents... something about the roads being wet, it being dark, not wanting to blast around at 35-40 too much not knowing what is at the bottom stuff... Its a good loop, not many cars... the blackstone river bike path let me see the flooded damns and lots of water and gave me a chance to get comfortable in the aero position with the spinach bars.
And all except the flat, and my crappy gloves blowing a hole in the palm somehow (i dunno, i started the ride and the left one was intact - somewhere along the way the palm gave way) it was great. Raining, but not cold enough to need more than arm+knee warmers and a wind vest.
And Geert might like to hear - i even hosed the damn bike off when i got back. YEAH?! image that shit? I figured it was wet already, might as well put it away clean and wet rather than wet and dirty... although who doesn't like it wet and dirty? (sounds like a certain principle got an eyefull of wet and dirty). And for the guy who suggested i put more in my waterbottles than just water... i broke down and bought some Gatorade powder... took two 24 oz bottles of slightly strong G-ade for a change... maybe it helped... i think it did... the 3 hours, even though some of it was rather mellow and just sight-seeing miles, the extra energy made a difference...
And today begins the whole single working parent few days... Which was something i was thinking about. There will always be someone out there who won't understand, and in the same hand someone who'll wonder why you are complaining. And that goes for everything. For every guy who goes out and rides a 45 mile ride, some people will say 'hey, i've never done more than a flight of stairs' and others who'll say 'that's it? i rode a double century this weekend.'
the only measure is my own... its my life, i have my baggage, mental and physical to carry through. I'm not in a position to just ride on my schedule. I have to juggle lots, but it feels worthwhile. Will i mean i'm slow as hell? Maybe. Will it make me enjoy it all any less? Feck no... Maybe the opposite?
Whymiwriting that? I dunno - cause its rattlin around in my head and i wanna come back and read it sometime down the road. So that i understand the perspective i have now...
Oh and i wonder, i've go these feeling i've lost control of myself. In someway its that the entries flow more freely now, less deliberate. I don't know if its a good thing or not. Feel free to let me know... or not...
I'd better get this off the desk... loads of interruptions... hopefully its not that much more disjointed/disorganized than normal... although all those handwritten love letters from High school and college i'd writen to former and (almost) GFs weren't a whole lot less scattered... maybe its why the lecturers i've enjoyed the most are tangent filled... gimme three or four stimulus feeds and i'll be satisfied...
oh and Haverhill... i can assume its the BOB crit at the indus park? In september? Me... a Crit? shame - well maybe i can be shamed enough to show up... maybe...
Crazy Mondays
#1 Elevator
#2 Ride
#3 looking forward to the next few days
#4 ...add what ever else i remember
#5 work
#6 thank megA for stoppin by
#7 ?
so... i'll start on those some time at some point (leave it to Fraz to get me smiling after a feakstorm started or worked up by #1)....
Monday's Fraz is great, cause i get to read Sat, Sun and Mon all in a row... each one is funny...
#2 Ride
#3 looking forward to the next few days
#4 ...add what ever else i remember
#5 work
#6 thank megA for stoppin by
#7 ?
so... i'll start on those some time at some point (leave it to Fraz to get me smiling after a feakstorm started or worked up by #1)....
Monday's Fraz is great, cause i get to read Sat, Sun and Mon all in a row... each one is funny...
Friday, June 02, 2006
Upside Down
(hah - SB's not the only one who can use a song title for a thread title... even though, yeah, i said i wouldn't do that...)
but in honor of him draggin his knuckles across the keyboard just to prove me wrong (about no new posts)... i've titled this from the lead in track on the Curious George soundtrack...
its freaking HOT... the ride down to grab that Fecked up digi-box warmed me up just a touch too much... now i can't quite freaking cool down... AC? bah... why? Humidity control in the office? Bah the building is under construction, why'd we wanna do that...
oh and i've gotta take exception with Dave's quote from that book:
no way! - ya Can overcome lazy habits- you can realize the full genetic potential through hard work
but ya ain't NEVER gonna EVER erase 'genetic' limitations.... not without resorting to drugs (EPO, HGH, Roids.... ).
And that's pretty much the crux to the rampant use of performance enhancing methods in sports... these drugs blur that genetic barrier that sets people like Eddy M, and co. apart from the competition.
I've seen a handful of super super SUPER dedicated cyclists, with more drive, harder work than you can imagine, every sacrifice made to get faster. And they never amount to much. Always they think there's some magic training regieme, some magic potion (that is legal) but they don't ever quite make it... because once they have fully realized their potential, thats it.
the good news for sucky folks like me and dave (if he is to be believed) is that realizing the full genetic potential is one hell of a lot of work and only a few people make it to that level...
Heck i'd wager even with Nega-Coach's help over the last 10 years that poster boy on the web page there... some dude named Eric i think ;-) ... that boy still ain't at his genetic potential... but you can say he looks one hell of a lot shaper in that blue and yellow kit moving over the barrier than falling on his face!
/rant off on pseudo science and salespitchy 'trainers'
but in honor of him draggin his knuckles across the keyboard just to prove me wrong (about no new posts)... i've titled this from the lead in track on the Curious George soundtrack...
its freaking HOT... the ride down to grab that Fecked up digi-box warmed me up just a touch too much... now i can't quite freaking cool down... AC? bah... why? Humidity control in the office? Bah the building is under construction, why'd we wanna do that...
oh and i've gotta take exception with Dave's quote from that book:
"Hard work has a magical way of erasing any so-called genetic limitations."BUUUUHLSHEET...
no way! - ya Can overcome lazy habits- you can realize the full genetic potential through hard work
but ya ain't NEVER gonna EVER erase 'genetic' limitations.... not without resorting to drugs (EPO, HGH, Roids.... ).
And that's pretty much the crux to the rampant use of performance enhancing methods in sports... these drugs blur that genetic barrier that sets people like Eddy M, and co. apart from the competition.
I've seen a handful of super super SUPER dedicated cyclists, with more drive, harder work than you can imagine, every sacrifice made to get faster. And they never amount to much. Always they think there's some magic training regieme, some magic potion (that is legal) but they don't ever quite make it... because once they have fully realized their potential, thats it.
the good news for sucky folks like me and dave (if he is to be believed) is that realizing the full genetic potential is one hell of a lot of work and only a few people make it to that level...
Heck i'd wager even with Nega-Coach's help over the last 10 years that poster boy on the web page there... some dude named Eric i think ;-) ... that boy still ain't at his genetic potential... but you can say he looks one hell of a lot shaper in that blue and yellow kit moving over the barrier than falling on his face!
/rant off on pseudo science and salespitchy 'trainers'
The STREETS
I was gonna add a comment to megAdeau about the this Street's interview in the live lounge....
but... well - she's annymously posting stuff... sort of... anyway - feel free to point here to this link - as a Streets fan its a 'must listen'
BBC Radio1 Live Lounge with The Streets
-- Campy...
lemme say i'm skeptical... i don't like that Mirage crank...
and Mt bike shifters for Chorus ooh i mean flatbar... crazy how much i'm outa the cutting edge new parts scene...
but... well - she's annymously posting stuff... sort of... anyway - feel free to point here to this link - as a Streets fan its a 'must listen'
BBC Radio1 Live Lounge with The Streets
-- Campy...
lemme say i'm skeptical... i don't like that Mirage crank...
and Mt bike shifters for Chorus ooh i mean flatbar... crazy how much i'm outa the cutting edge new parts scene...
well - mark one more week off
its friday... its well i dunno i'm feeling rather weighted down...
and i get a call confirming something... my wife is headed off on Monday for work... guess what that means?
I get to be a single parent until Thursday probably... And it looks to be raining this weekend so probably no BTH/BW ride on saturday. Sunday... who knows... And yeah, i know, i've only got two kids, how hard can it be... well... 17 almost 18 months is a really *fun* age... big enough and strong enough to climb up on anything, smart enough to move stuff around to climb on to get anything... more or less not an age that ya can manage easily, but her older sister should be of some help i hope... i hope... I don't mean to bitch but lately i've felt like most of the weight has been born on my shoulders for doing the routine stuff... And i blame the TV... outside of dinner i sat down for 15 minutes last night... maybe 20... and when it comes down to it, next week probably won't really be any different. I had an idea when i went to take the morning sit down, i need a 'rent-a-wife' for the first part of the week so i can get a warm up TT in on Tuesday, and so i can keep my sanity the rest of the time... i dunno, in some ways i'm looking forward to it. I can have the radio on without it getting turned off in favor of the boob-toob, now if there were actually boobs on it that'd make me feel differently...
Thursday next week is the first TT for Bikeworks... it'll be interesting... But the BLVD ride was good for tryin out the Spinach bars... my aero position with them really couldn't be improved with real fancy bars... and its MUCH easier/relaxing to ride like that than without them... Here's to hoping the course roads are smooth, cause, well it lacks the big puck pads of the cliponstuff... this is all assuming i can get there
i gotta think maybe KL's inspiration has gone poof ;-) ... i won't pick on SB cause he's been writing boat loads of good stuff lately.... not that KL's sudden burst of 4 entries wasn't great... but when Giulia makes a comment that "kerry has one of the best blogs out there, so detailed." well ya know... those are tough standards to live up to...
I'm feeling the need to hit the Hills up nort on sunday if the weather clears... dunno ifn i'll be able to round up anyone down here to ride up with and find some of those nuggets when i did the ride with chris bart and that tulip head grad student... part of the whole road bike thing is not driving anywhere for a ride... driving to a race? no problem... to a ride just seems wrong... principles ya know...
anyway... maybe i'll stumble across some more inspiration, but then it might be good if i don't cause i won't be exposing immature seedling ideas like i have lately (speciation and that stuff)...
Oh and this whole looking for houses crap is i think overshadowing me... how do i manage to carry these burdens? I think i think about them all too much... maybe...
time for a nap, or more coffee... i'd love the first, but gonna have to settle for the second...
and remember 3 is the magic number:
The 3 R's Lyrics
Three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
Because two times three is six
And three times six is eighteen
And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R
We've got three R's we're going to talk about today
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
If you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle,
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Because three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
3, 3, 3
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and
3, it's a magic number
and i get a call confirming something... my wife is headed off on Monday for work... guess what that means?
I get to be a single parent until Thursday probably... And it looks to be raining this weekend so probably no BTH/BW ride on saturday. Sunday... who knows... And yeah, i know, i've only got two kids, how hard can it be... well... 17 almost 18 months is a really *fun* age... big enough and strong enough to climb up on anything, smart enough to move stuff around to climb on to get anything... more or less not an age that ya can manage easily, but her older sister should be of some help i hope... i hope... I don't mean to bitch but lately i've felt like most of the weight has been born on my shoulders for doing the routine stuff... And i blame the TV... outside of dinner i sat down for 15 minutes last night... maybe 20... and when it comes down to it, next week probably won't really be any different. I had an idea when i went to take the morning sit down, i need a 'rent-a-wife' for the first part of the week so i can get a warm up TT in on Tuesday, and so i can keep my sanity the rest of the time... i dunno, in some ways i'm looking forward to it. I can have the radio on without it getting turned off in favor of the boob-toob, now if there were actually boobs on it that'd make me feel differently...
Thursday next week is the first TT for Bikeworks... it'll be interesting... But the BLVD ride was good for tryin out the Spinach bars... my aero position with them really couldn't be improved with real fancy bars... and its MUCH easier/relaxing to ride like that than without them... Here's to hoping the course roads are smooth, cause, well it lacks the big puck pads of the cliponstuff... this is all assuming i can get there
i gotta think maybe KL's inspiration has gone poof ;-) ... i won't pick on SB cause he's been writing boat loads of good stuff lately.... not that KL's sudden burst of 4 entries wasn't great... but when Giulia makes a comment that "kerry has one of the best blogs out there, so detailed." well ya know... those are tough standards to live up to...
I'm feeling the need to hit the Hills up nort on sunday if the weather clears... dunno ifn i'll be able to round up anyone down here to ride up with and find some of those nuggets when i did the ride with chris bart and that tulip head grad student... part of the whole road bike thing is not driving anywhere for a ride... driving to a race? no problem... to a ride just seems wrong... principles ya know...
anyway... maybe i'll stumble across some more inspiration, but then it might be good if i don't cause i won't be exposing immature seedling ideas like i have lately (speciation and that stuff)...
Oh and this whole looking for houses crap is i think overshadowing me... how do i manage to carry these burdens? I think i think about them all too much... maybe...
time for a nap, or more coffee... i'd love the first, but gonna have to settle for the second...
and remember 3 is the magic number:
The 3 R's Lyrics
Three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
Because two times three is six
And three times six is eighteen
And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R
We've got three R's we're going to talk about today
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
If you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle,
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Because three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
3, 3, 3
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and
3, it's a magic number
Thursday, June 01, 2006
i've found my defining word
pleonasm: the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea.
Its crackin me up... duh - that's me, when i get rambling... that scientific overdrive where i switch to clear, objective, concise writing seems to be rather absent in web log mode...
Nascar, one more comment about it, a very good friend of mine in CT is working with a few modified teams (nascar), one of these days i may go watch his car... we'll see. That and i don't care who you are - i'd wager even the diminutive KL would get a rush sitting in the middle of 175,000 people as 43 cup cars come through for the green flag or a re-start. I've been to MIS and holycrap is it hard to describe... its pretty cool... but then, yeah... its just cars, and i will admit this being on the bike thing has chilled any desire for watching the races anymore, coupled with NOT being in Michigan. That state just does weird things to you... Heck, i was starting to find seattle inhospitable, not in terms of the people, but for me personally, i didn't feel like it was the right fit anymore... maybe next time i'm there it'll feel different.
Coaching... I'm very glad to get SB's summary of Nega-Coach's position. I guess if i was confused i should succumb to the marketing and send in the check and sign up as a client... but i'm not... I know i suck. I know why i suck. I know what i need to do to not suck. I know that what ever i do will not be enough to not suck. I know that even being a suck fest rider that i will still have fun in cross this season, even if i do suck. Is that sucky enough of a position? I'm too cerebral to be coached, but then maybe not... maybe that's enough reason to get one. That and if i spend money and get a plan maybe i'll get a bit more parol or priority in the weekly planner (not that we have a planner).
How was that at pleonasm?
(check Frazz out today... LMFAO)
Coffee... Aint THAT the truth? Well at least outside of Rhode Island. 'Round here there seems to be some given that people put so much damn milk and sugar in there that it ceases to be coffee.... Take the car... Take VW's absolutely STUPID cupholder placement. its an elegant design, and fits perfectlyl within the space... (i'm talking the MkIV/A4/99.5-05? Golf/Jetta) BUT how many dashes have i seen ruined cause people drink something other than black coffee in the cups that inhabit that location? Countless. Spill some black coffee (if you have black interior) and hey - cool - let it dry and the radio sitting below works fine. Dump some sugar laden soda/pop, ice tea, RI style coffee, juice (basically the frazz cartoon comment list) and something's gonna go T.U. (tits up for the jargon impaired).
I wanted to run an idea through my fingers that popped into my head on the way home lastnight and has fortunately kept poppin in. Sort on the lines of sailorboy's "blogger" press protection question. it started off as "do people who read other people's blogs have voyeuristic personalities?" then well, if the 'readers' are voyeurs, then the writers/bloggers must be exhibitionists. More than not a "duh" statement. But its out there out of my brain, so i can free up space to ... DAMN gotta make coffee... gotta head out for a meeting in a second... damn...
I got an extra blvd lap in lastnight after picking up the youngest. Felt reasonably good damn hot... made a concious effort to stay in the 50x23 all the way in today... felt good... Oh and last night headed to get the trailer before going to daycare, i noticed an increase in power duration and output... it felt good, and normally where i'd tap out power/legs wise i was feeling good enough to power through it all... nice change. Kinda thinking that if i can just increase the mileage a touch, get the TT rides in more regularly i should be closer to Cross.
That and isn't Cross more TT than road race? It has always been in my experience, sure there are a few opportunities for drafting but for the most part its a hard core all out suckfest. Hopefully in shitty weather... Cause this heat we've got now, i don't like... Although granted, being this skinny assed tall freak with a crazy high surface/mass ratio, the heat is reasonably tolerable... assuming i can stay hydrated.
Oh hey - looky here folks - another reason to NOT park at work:
Why? Damn near every university i have 'worked' at you have to PAY to park there. WTF is up with that?
Sure i guess there are many places that you have to pay to park where you work, ie the city. But then, ya know... there are some damn fine alternatives. Take that $357 over a couple years, plunk it into a bike and gear and well... that's some sweet ass commuter.
Now i know, the majority play street parking roulette... but that's flat out insane... why drive and then spend 10-15 minutes looking for parking, then walk 5-15 minutes to work? I DON'T get it.
*shrug*
RIDE YOUR DAMN BIKE...
Heck i'd rather ride in the winter and the rain than the nice summer days... its eaiser, cooler... and you can always put another layer on... riding to work nekkid in the heat of the sumer is silly... for that matter dropping your daughter off at Daycare in lycra is also silly... those girls that work there might never let me leave... that or might never let me drop her off again... oh well...
peace out - G
Its crackin me up... duh - that's me, when i get rambling... that scientific overdrive where i switch to clear, objective, concise writing seems to be rather absent in web log mode...
Nascar, one more comment about it, a very good friend of mine in CT is working with a few modified teams (nascar), one of these days i may go watch his car... we'll see. That and i don't care who you are - i'd wager even the diminutive KL would get a rush sitting in the middle of 175,000 people as 43 cup cars come through for the green flag or a re-start. I've been to MIS and holycrap is it hard to describe... its pretty cool... but then, yeah... its just cars, and i will admit this being on the bike thing has chilled any desire for watching the races anymore, coupled with NOT being in Michigan. That state just does weird things to you... Heck, i was starting to find seattle inhospitable, not in terms of the people, but for me personally, i didn't feel like it was the right fit anymore... maybe next time i'm there it'll feel different.
Coaching... I'm very glad to get SB's summary of Nega-Coach's position. I guess if i was confused i should succumb to the marketing and send in the check and sign up as a client... but i'm not... I know i suck. I know why i suck. I know what i need to do to not suck. I know that what ever i do will not be enough to not suck. I know that even being a suck fest rider that i will still have fun in cross this season, even if i do suck. Is that sucky enough of a position? I'm too cerebral to be coached, but then maybe not... maybe that's enough reason to get one. That and if i spend money and get a plan maybe i'll get a bit more parol or priority in the weekly planner (not that we have a planner).
How was that at pleonasm?
(check Frazz out today... LMFAO)
Coffee... Aint THAT the truth? Well at least outside of Rhode Island. 'Round here there seems to be some given that people put so much damn milk and sugar in there that it ceases to be coffee.... Take the car... Take VW's absolutely STUPID cupholder placement. its an elegant design, and fits perfectlyl within the space... (i'm talking the MkIV/A4/99.5-05? Golf/Jetta) BUT how many dashes have i seen ruined cause people drink something other than black coffee in the cups that inhabit that location? Countless. Spill some black coffee (if you have black interior) and hey - cool - let it dry and the radio sitting below works fine. Dump some sugar laden soda/pop, ice tea, RI style coffee, juice (basically the frazz cartoon comment list) and something's gonna go T.U. (tits up for the jargon impaired).
I wanted to run an idea through my fingers that popped into my head on the way home lastnight and has fortunately kept poppin in. Sort on the lines of sailorboy's "blogger" press protection question. it started off as "do people who read other people's blogs have voyeuristic personalities?" then well, if the 'readers' are voyeurs, then the writers/bloggers must be exhibitionists. More than not a "duh" statement. But its out there out of my brain, so i can free up space to ... DAMN gotta make coffee... gotta head out for a meeting in a second... damn...
I got an extra blvd lap in lastnight after picking up the youngest. Felt reasonably good damn hot... made a concious effort to stay in the 50x23 all the way in today... felt good... Oh and last night headed to get the trailer before going to daycare, i noticed an increase in power duration and output... it felt good, and normally where i'd tap out power/legs wise i was feeling good enough to power through it all... nice change. Kinda thinking that if i can just increase the mileage a touch, get the TT rides in more regularly i should be closer to Cross.
That and isn't Cross more TT than road race? It has always been in my experience, sure there are a few opportunities for drafting but for the most part its a hard core all out suckfest. Hopefully in shitty weather... Cause this heat we've got now, i don't like... Although granted, being this skinny assed tall freak with a crazy high surface/mass ratio, the heat is reasonably tolerable... assuming i can stay hydrated.
Oh hey - looky here folks - another reason to NOT park at work:
Dear Parking Patron,How about that... $357/year.... to park at the place you WORK?
Effective July 1, 2006, the parking fee for fiscal year 2007 will be 357.00.
Why? Damn near every university i have 'worked' at you have to PAY to park there. WTF is up with that?
Sure i guess there are many places that you have to pay to park where you work, ie the city. But then, ya know... there are some damn fine alternatives. Take that $357 over a couple years, plunk it into a bike and gear and well... that's some sweet ass commuter.
Now i know, the majority play street parking roulette... but that's flat out insane... why drive and then spend 10-15 minutes looking for parking, then walk 5-15 minutes to work? I DON'T get it.
*shrug*
RIDE YOUR DAMN BIKE...
Heck i'd rather ride in the winter and the rain than the nice summer days... its eaiser, cooler... and you can always put another layer on... riding to work nekkid in the heat of the sumer is silly... for that matter dropping your daughter off at Daycare in lycra is also silly... those girls that work there might never let me leave... that or might never let me drop her off again... oh well...
peace out - G
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
coach's coach?
So my favorite fluff reading ... seems to suggest that a Coach should have a Coach.
i should go off on how it parallels music, hell any learned activity... (there is always someone with a different knowledge set that you can learn from - in every discipline)
It begs the question... Who coaches Nega-Coach? And the horrid thought being, what if Nega-coach DOESN'T have a coach... is he still a good coach?
(just messin - everyone needs a good stick in the ribs... as long as its not a stick in the spokes)
I'm off to do the pick up rounds... fortunately no more updates today!
G
i should go off on how it parallels music, hell any learned activity... (there is always someone with a different knowledge set that you can learn from - in every discipline)
It begs the question... Who coaches Nega-Coach? And the horrid thought being, what if Nega-coach DOESN'T have a coach... is he still a good coach?
(just messin - everyone needs a good stick in the ribs... as long as its not a stick in the spokes)
I'm off to do the pick up rounds... fortunately no more updates today!
G
its fixed...
ahhhh....
there's an upside and downside to trouble-shooting to the point of success...
its exhausting...
that and the temp went up 10 degrees and the sun got brighter between riding down and riding back...
swung through the Hub... said hey - they were reeling(sic) in the aftermath of a bit of a crazy rush... and that shop can take about 5 or 6 customers at a time and feel crowded - and with only three staff- which isn't bad, but the shop area is more or less the sales floor and there's a ton of old furniture (zoo side of things) and space? doesn't exist... after complementing them on the new web page i booked it... thirsty and hot... i'm now back at the BMC (I'm glad ya figured all that out now Suds... -see the Gmail chat notifier was confusing him)... downing water... and generally catching up. A sweet new book showed up. Confocal Microscopy for Biologists. Written by Alan Hibbs. Its a bit long for a general use text but i'm hoping its all its cracked up to be once i crack open the spine...
That and i wonder... my grand mother taught me *the* way to break in new books. Is that still required? You know. Put it on the spine... fold the covers down... then slowly fold equal sides down until you reach the middle...
anyway - at first cursory glance its not terribly different than his Course book, but hopefully he dumped much of the archaic Bio-Rad data.
oh and since i'm just remembering and i'll forget, someone on the ride was talking about Bruce's little story about some dutch guy going into a bike shop... and anyway - Bruce... if ya got a link to it- i'd love to read it... sounds like it'd be good alternated with this microscopy book.
Oh and what the heck.... SB has BEEN to a NASCAR race? OMG NFW... my mini-confession, i like it, to a degree. I hate most of the drivers... and as typical like Dale E Jr... liked his dad... and love to hate that putz Gordon... (jeff that is).... but the only cash i've spent was on a #18 Interstate Battery hat... My dad's a redskins fan and i've been one too - well a Joe Gibbs fan... when he left for Nascar, i naturally kept a keen eye on his team... that and i dunno Bobby L is cool... its the mechanic in me mostly... the competition that hinges on a properly built/tuned machine... The TT last week was a reminder... the guys setting 16 minute times had bikes that didn't shift quite right, didn't sound quite right... but that aside their engine was good...
my engine sucks right now... but at least the bike is moderatly functional... that Union somthing i linked was suggesting that commuting miles are junk... super... i've got just junk miles in the legs... oh well - but in his POV defense... his ride IS flat... and those would be junk miles... maybe...
that and if il brucey starts posting more in his web log thingy i'll have to add yet another to the open all....
well...
yall stay cool...
i'm burnt out like a match!
G
there's an upside and downside to trouble-shooting to the point of success...
its exhausting...
that and the temp went up 10 degrees and the sun got brighter between riding down and riding back...
swung through the Hub... said hey - they were reeling(sic) in the aftermath of a bit of a crazy rush... and that shop can take about 5 or 6 customers at a time and feel crowded - and with only three staff- which isn't bad, but the shop area is more or less the sales floor and there's a ton of old furniture (zoo side of things) and space? doesn't exist... after complementing them on the new web page i booked it... thirsty and hot... i'm now back at the BMC (I'm glad ya figured all that out now Suds... -see the Gmail chat notifier was confusing him)... downing water... and generally catching up. A sweet new book showed up. Confocal Microscopy for Biologists. Written by Alan Hibbs. Its a bit long for a general use text but i'm hoping its all its cracked up to be once i crack open the spine...
That and i wonder... my grand mother taught me *the* way to break in new books. Is that still required? You know. Put it on the spine... fold the covers down... then slowly fold equal sides down until you reach the middle...
anyway - at first cursory glance its not terribly different than his Course book, but hopefully he dumped much of the archaic Bio-Rad data.
oh and since i'm just remembering and i'll forget, someone on the ride was talking about Bruce's little story about some dutch guy going into a bike shop... and anyway - Bruce... if ya got a link to it- i'd love to read it... sounds like it'd be good alternated with this microscopy book.
Oh and what the heck.... SB has BEEN to a NASCAR race? OMG NFW... my mini-confession, i like it, to a degree. I hate most of the drivers... and as typical like Dale E Jr... liked his dad... and love to hate that putz Gordon... (jeff that is).... but the only cash i've spent was on a #18 Interstate Battery hat... My dad's a redskins fan and i've been one too - well a Joe Gibbs fan... when he left for Nascar, i naturally kept a keen eye on his team... that and i dunno Bobby L is cool... its the mechanic in me mostly... the competition that hinges on a properly built/tuned machine... The TT last week was a reminder... the guys setting 16 minute times had bikes that didn't shift quite right, didn't sound quite right... but that aside their engine was good...
my engine sucks right now... but at least the bike is moderatly functional... that Union somthing i linked was suggesting that commuting miles are junk... super... i've got just junk miles in the legs... oh well - but in his POV defense... his ride IS flat... and those would be junk miles... maybe...
that and if il brucey starts posting more in his web log thingy i'll have to add yet another to the open all....
well...
yall stay cool...
i'm burnt out like a match!
G
gonna be a day to rival the zilla
well - waiting for a delievery i start readin the article over at NG about the Gore Film...
speciation is ecosystem related... and just cause something is the way it is now doesn't mean it will be that way... forcing stasis is bad.
Remember:
There is no such thing as environment /ecosystem health. it is what it is. extinction being good or bad is a judgement call... in that the ecosystem will eventually fill the void to restore a balance... sure sure sure there are exceptions, there always are. However with ecosystem, that, is one case exceptions do not exist. Sure a toxic waste dump may be 'unhealthy' for us or other animal/plant species... but who's to say that a bacteria won't thrive, or other organisms can't survive just fine there?
sorry - its just something that bugs me... conservation biology... an interesting field... one where you are pitted against the earth itself and evolution... that or you just study the end product or middle product...
Like nearly all trends... there are backlashes, hiccups and changes... which may or may not be in our 'advantage' in clinging to this environment we 'think' is *normal*
(makin it short - unlike ol' sailor boy and his diatribe against home birth evangelists lately)
speciation is ecosystem related... and just cause something is the way it is now doesn't mean it will be that way... forcing stasis is bad.
Remember:
There is no such thing as environment /ecosystem health. it is what it is. extinction being good or bad is a judgement call... in that the ecosystem will eventually fill the void to restore a balance... sure sure sure there are exceptions, there always are. However with ecosystem, that, is one case exceptions do not exist. Sure a toxic waste dump may be 'unhealthy' for us or other animal/plant species... but who's to say that a bacteria won't thrive, or other organisms can't survive just fine there?
sorry - its just something that bugs me... conservation biology... an interesting field... one where you are pitted against the earth itself and evolution... that or you just study the end product or middle product...
Like nearly all trends... there are backlashes, hiccups and changes... which may or may not be in our 'advantage' in clinging to this environment we 'think' is *normal*
(makin it short - unlike ol' sailor boy and his diatribe against home birth evangelists lately)
that didn't take long
I'm back... mostly for #1 tab (KL) and almost last (MB). Ms. Twain Canadian... not to mention that, um, Country is rather popular in canada. On the funny, positive side... when the big fat guy from michigan who makes movies did that F 911 thing... well the COUNTRY stations were all lit up talking about how powerful the movie was, how good it was... this was a COUNTRY station... hell i thought it was NPR from the commentary. If ya know USA country stations you'll get the oddity of the phenom...
Now meg's comment about the PI stuff... Great article and not suprising. CO2 levels tend to increase respiration rates in plants assuming there is adequate water and sunlight. The did address the partial issue of PI taking over, although i'd say it will still need to compete with other vines and plants. The higher CO2 levels make sense with the increase toxicity, probably because, like most plant/natural systems, it is designed to be imperfect, and no, i'm not going to bore anyone or myself or more dangerously get my facts wrong about why system imperfection/inefficiency is a good thing in the natural systems.
BUT combine that Snow debris article with the PI one and hey... lets plant PI or other woody vines over the dust fields to keep the snow from melting! just a thought...
Oh and Damn freaking straight. The Streets freaking KICK ASS... And have for a couple years now... a big props to BBC radio 1 for air time... back in the day... they still rock.. nice read there a the Racing Union... damn have to add yet another to the list...
anyway - today i get to do the run home, grab the trailer... head to daycare... hoping she makes it to the end of the day... debating maybe picking her up a bit early if i can get out of here in time... maybe get some heavy laps in to build a bit on last night.
The cops sitting there at the base of the BLVD were a riot... every lap almost they had two more cars pulled over... and when they wrapped up they rode up along side and chatted up a couple of the cuties on the ride... i believe i heard "Do you guys want an escort next week?" i chuckled... that'd be killer... a nice Police escort... they have some major traffic issues on that road... mostly speed... its posted 25 but rarely do folks go much slower than 35 - often people are blasting along at 45... and the bikes just mess is all up... its great...
okay - till i find something else i just can't keep quiet about...
peace out..
Now meg's comment about the PI stuff... Great article and not suprising. CO2 levels tend to increase respiration rates in plants assuming there is adequate water and sunlight. The did address the partial issue of PI taking over, although i'd say it will still need to compete with other vines and plants. The higher CO2 levels make sense with the increase toxicity, probably because, like most plant/natural systems, it is designed to be imperfect, and no, i'm not going to bore anyone or myself or more dangerously get my facts wrong about why system imperfection/inefficiency is a good thing in the natural systems.
BUT combine that Snow debris article with the PI one and hey... lets plant PI or other woody vines over the dust fields to keep the snow from melting! just a thought...
Oh and Damn freaking straight. The Streets freaking KICK ASS... And have for a couple years now... a big props to BBC radio 1 for air time... back in the day... they still rock.. nice read there a the Racing Union... damn have to add yet another to the list...
anyway - today i get to do the run home, grab the trailer... head to daycare... hoping she makes it to the end of the day... debating maybe picking her up a bit early if i can get out of here in time... maybe get some heavy laps in to build a bit on last night.
The cops sitting there at the base of the BLVD were a riot... every lap almost they had two more cars pulled over... and when they wrapped up they rode up along side and chatted up a couple of the cuties on the ride... i believe i heard "Do you guys want an escort next week?" i chuckled... that'd be killer... a nice Police escort... they have some major traffic issues on that road... mostly speed... its posted 25 but rarely do folks go much slower than 35 - often people are blasting along at 45... and the bikes just mess is all up... its great...
okay - till i find something else i just can't keep quiet about...
peace out..
freaking pouring
Inside the office. Fingers crossed the color laser survives... kinda messed up the whole start of the day.
car is happily hangin out with the autoshop... i hope... its really rather minor, but we'll see what they say.
Got in a decent 1:40 on the bike lastnight, i had a constant urge to get some intervals in, but i felt that the best thing would be just keep it steady state. Probably a good thing... Saw Kipp B, still all bandaged up from the crash a month ago... who'd a thought a crash in a 30+ masters field full of mostly 1s and 2s (according to kipp)... i dunna remember which race... but well... He's finally back on the bike... and that's a good thing.
Sittin here waiting for a next day package so i can head down with it (its only 11 pounds) to the other facility and try and solve the issue with that damn system... hopin they get the ice jam in the air-handler fixed... i thought it was feeling a bit warm in there... its a freaking mess.
last night was insane... flat out-insane... not even worth going over... it was fine leading up to and after the ride... but i guess i pulled off a lap too soon, cause when i got home the girls were walking the BLVD... here i thought i should head home cause it was late... and it didn't get any better after that... the littlest has lost most of the cute little budda belly, but then that's why they have em... she'll bulk back up in a few days i'm guessin... hopin she can kick this bug she's got to make it all easier for everyone...
I'm tired... flat out cooked... coffee isn't even doing it yet... I've yet to open tabs if that give you an indication of the level of crazyness... not to mention i started this thing when? and its now much later... barely can get a thought down without interuption. Although, that's a good thing right?
coffee time...
car is happily hangin out with the autoshop... i hope... its really rather minor, but we'll see what they say.
Got in a decent 1:40 on the bike lastnight, i had a constant urge to get some intervals in, but i felt that the best thing would be just keep it steady state. Probably a good thing... Saw Kipp B, still all bandaged up from the crash a month ago... who'd a thought a crash in a 30+ masters field full of mostly 1s and 2s (according to kipp)... i dunna remember which race... but well... He's finally back on the bike... and that's a good thing.
Sittin here waiting for a next day package so i can head down with it (its only 11 pounds) to the other facility and try and solve the issue with that damn system... hopin they get the ice jam in the air-handler fixed... i thought it was feeling a bit warm in there... its a freaking mess.
last night was insane... flat out-insane... not even worth going over... it was fine leading up to and after the ride... but i guess i pulled off a lap too soon, cause when i got home the girls were walking the BLVD... here i thought i should head home cause it was late... and it didn't get any better after that... the littlest has lost most of the cute little budda belly, but then that's why they have em... she'll bulk back up in a few days i'm guessin... hopin she can kick this bug she's got to make it all easier for everyone...
I'm tired... flat out cooked... coffee isn't even doing it yet... I've yet to open tabs if that give you an indication of the level of crazyness... not to mention i started this thing when? and its now much later... barely can get a thought down without interuption. Although, that's a good thing right?
coffee time...
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
schoof
nah its not a word - but i'm FRIED... talk about a day... here's to hoping i can make it to the BLVD without melting...
first its home to hitch the trailer up... then back over the spine of the hill to day care - back over the spine to home, change, wait around for backup/relief to arrive... then fingers crossed head out for a much needed spin... No way in hell can i subject these powerless bags of flesh (legs) to a TT tonight... no way... sure, its 82 degrees out... little to no wind... conditions should be perfect for setting a new PR... conditions all except for the engine... the Italian tune up coming back up College was a nice help and not a bad measure, but being on the phone for three solid hours doesn't seem to help the hydration much... and yeah... i'm bringing bottles on the ride this time... as in plural... downside... i STUPIDLY put the spinaci's on yesterday thinking i'd do the TT (the whole weekend i was hoping the rain and foul weather potentially forcasted for today wouldn't materialize)... weather's perfect, 'aero bars' are installed... but... well ya know the rest of the story...
old slow guy with kids = slow ass mo-fo...
at least my daughter and I had a nice talk about going all over new england watching me race (or try to)... see seemed reasonably excited even... so i've got that jem tucked in my pocket as motivation... which makes not getting out hurt that much more...
car's gettin dropped off tomorrow... and... i got a call... a reprieve... sortof... it also takes the thunder out of my beefing about the weather... and the back and forth to daycare thing... more leisurely attempt at the BLVD gang meet up...
They've started drilling again (for those vicariously waiting for the construction report). Still plastic over the windows so i can't see outside... hopefully that'll all end soon...
ride safe
g
first its home to hitch the trailer up... then back over the spine of the hill to day care - back over the spine to home, change, wait around for backup/relief to arrive... then fingers crossed head out for a much needed spin... No way in hell can i subject these powerless bags of flesh (legs) to a TT tonight... no way... sure, its 82 degrees out... little to no wind... conditions should be perfect for setting a new PR... conditions all except for the engine... the Italian tune up coming back up College was a nice help and not a bad measure, but being on the phone for three solid hours doesn't seem to help the hydration much... and yeah... i'm bringing bottles on the ride this time... as in plural... downside... i STUPIDLY put the spinaci's on yesterday thinking i'd do the TT (the whole weekend i was hoping the rain and foul weather potentially forcasted for today wouldn't materialize)... weather's perfect, 'aero bars' are installed... but... well ya know the rest of the story...
old slow guy with kids = slow ass mo-fo...
at least my daughter and I had a nice talk about going all over new england watching me race (or try to)... see seemed reasonably excited even... so i've got that jem tucked in my pocket as motivation... which makes not getting out hurt that much more...
car's gettin dropped off tomorrow... and... i got a call... a reprieve... sortof... it also takes the thunder out of my beefing about the weather... and the back and forth to daycare thing... more leisurely attempt at the BLVD gang meet up...
They've started drilling again (for those vicariously waiting for the construction report). Still plastic over the windows so i can't see outside... hopefully that'll all end soon...
ride safe
g
talk about a jinx....
hopefully I can get that long ride inFuzuck, how about that... i say that and what happens? NO FREAKING RIDE...
part of it was my own damn fault... other parts, out of my control.
#1 problem. The B-Day party was NOT on Saturday like we had thought. So instead of hitting the 9am BBW/BTH ride, i posted, i read, i got the girls ready. Then we loaded the car up and headed out to drop off the two oldest (wife and daughter) the littlest was asleep in the car and we head over to the house my bro is working on... get a call "party's tomorrow" DOH! Swing by my bro's work site, chat for a second, head out through the back country to the farm for a minute or two. And of course the day is not shot but close to it. So we get back home eventually, and i decide finally that i need to get the back bumper off the car and see what's hiding under the plastic... leads to
#2 FUZUCK! Well i eventually get it off (actually not a big deal - 20 minutes or less and the bumper cover is off). And what do i see? The passenger side impact absorber is collapsed, the rear bumper/beam is twisted and jammed into the body, there's some sheet metal damage to just below the hatch... i've essentially lost all impact resistance on the passenger side rear. And i'm just completely enraged all over again at that woman who ran into us... Well on the good side the insurance places are saying no more than a week turn around likely. And that's good. I think. At least i'm not depending on the second car to get around. Down side, the list of stuff i've been putting off fixin is getting a bit longer. There's a vibration in the right front brake rotor (warped) from a sticking caliper that's not going away (duh). So i need new rotors, pads (why re-use the cheapest part of the deal, pads) and i need to rebuild the calipers. Sucky, but simple and do able in an afternoon. The clunk is still there, i'm back to thinking its the lower pendulum mount even though when i had it off it felt fine... the thunking sound is definately seeming to eminate behind the pedal 'box' where the mount hooks in the frame. I may have the wheel bearing i replaced a year or two ago going bad, so i need to check the play in that, or it could just be the brakes making the odd noise. The upper strut bearings have pooped again. The driver's side parking brake cable is locking up (i replaced the pass side a long time ago) and usually requires that to release the brake i kneel down by the rear wheel and reach back up and fiddle the lever, fine for me, not what my wife probably wants to be doing in her work clothes. This car stuff is fun isn't it. Also the rear hatch lid mechanism is sticking, totally un-related to the impact, but... i gotta get that apart and fixed. All just fun fun stuff. Not to mention i need to get the front bits all fixed up too from that impact. So by the end of the day saturday i was too pooped/bummed to get out, not to mention my wife headed out for a run. If i got the amount of specific duration she did it'd be great. On the other hand i get close to it by riding to work... so i should be content and happy.
Okay Sunday Fuzuck was not good, sort of. Same thing, i was actually wiped out and managed to sleep in a touch in the am... sleep was more important at that time than getting out for a ride. Because at that point i thought - there's always monday. DOH, Birthday party ensued, took sleeping baby out to the farm (damn nice and cool out there), she didn't sleep long, we played for 1.5 hours went back, collected the others, went to the BBQ afterparty thing, played there for a while, ate food (only one Ipswitch IPA - after food) until the older daughter got a massive splinter in her foot from the wood deck and was a screaming fit (almost 6 year old + tired + pain = not good). instead of heading right to the farm for sunday supper... its back to the city - play doctor/nurse, clean out the foot... re-load... and then have dinner. Simple no?
Well it was... until sunday... wait - no, i mean monday. Beach. Its decided that we head to a beach on Long Island Sound. Horseneck. Okay. Well... we went.. the youngest was a bit tired, lethargic and hot. DOH fever. But if she's gonna be sleeping in our arms anyway, lets do it at the beach. Sooo we're there. and playing for a couple hours... and zap it suddenly gets about 10 degrees cooler, slightly overcast... and this massive expanse of humanity behind us (we staked out a bit right on the edge of the 'dirty' sand (high water mark) to build castles and play) starts the exodus... course, we didn't bring lunch, were starting to get hungry. All this and i've had two donuts from Butlers all day. And the parking lot (which was nearly at capacity when we arrived) is trying to empty all at once. Its worse than a game, cause the cars are full of sweaty, sandy, sunburnt, Massholes and Rhode Islanders... and if ya hadn't noticed... the second year in a row its confirmed... people don't know how to drive around here. That sucked... Only took 45 miuntes to get out of the lot. So we get back, and the girls grab some McDs... i balk and refuse... and as such - energy levels stink, and me no feel the energy to go out and ride in the 85 degree weather in the city... Total suckfest. not to mention little one was not feeling great... she's at daycare and should be fine, no worries... but still... the potential for the weekend and the riding was great... and it was just that... potential... as such i may just bag the TT and do the BLVD ride... no point going out on an almost empty tank... might as well just cruise...
So the update is long in coming today... sorry. but i got curious, and checked... i'm a skinny mo-fo, but after a number tossed out by mr solobreak, and me being a guy... i had to measure up... no i'm not talking about draining without taking bibs off... but i've had no issues with the PI and they are cut higher than the Verge :-P i'm talkin quads... 24 inches... And people call me freakin skinny... i guess if you stretch it all out... yeah... that or take two inches off my bones and i'd look like abdujaparov... (damn i love how i can spell Dj's last name right but screw up stuff like dummest or other simple words). I should be bigger... and maybe i'll get a touch bigger... i know i'm not using them (quads) as efficiently as i should... but I am glad i got the XL bibs... but the verge large jersey is the freaking funkiest fitting garb i've tried on...
Now if the insurance gal would just call back and give me the go-ahead i might get started towards making the car "safe" to replace the volvo gasser as the daily driver... Right now the Golf has about B70 in the tank... and man is it smooth, quiet, nearly smoke free... mmm bio kicks ass...
not nearly as much as a biodiesel powered hybrid would... but i think i need to keep dreaming...
Oh and some old economist guy said something that i liked... about the trend and china... in that they'll hit a bump in the road soon and well won't dominate the world... Kinda like Japan from the 80s... hell we all thought we'd be speaking japanese by now at the rate they were sucking down america...
Oh and one more thing... shuffling the cars (Golf was blocking the volvo... ) i caught the tail end of a kick ass peice of reporting on NPR... it was the snow and airborne dust bit... almost enough to get me to get it into my head somehow in the morning... now where to fit it, between waking up at 5:30-5:45 and getting to work at 8-8:30... hmmmm
peace out... congrats on those who competed... shame on the couchbufoons like me... that and i missed (for the first time ever) the Michigan TDI Memorial day GTG... :( so sad... my car coulda used the attention of a MI gtg...
time for lunch (after some laser trouble shooting)
Saturday, May 27, 2006
There were some publishing issues with Blogger at the end of the day. And no bootleg network to pirate a signal off of. So I guess there is no sucking free bandwidth from the living room this morning.
Before I forget, there was this movie on TV lastnight, Mona Lisa Smiles… I dunno, but the stereo typing and the ‘defined’ place for a woman just gets me pissed off. I can understand it in a historical piece, but when I run across it in real live I’m flabbergasted. Often its “What? Your wife doesn’t have dinner ready for you when you get home?” That was the big one when I was the only one working. Even still now, it’s a challenging stereotype. Its like ‘men’ think it is impossible to cook, that or its just beneath them? I dunno, I just don’t get it. I don’t want to go over it all again, but I think maybe there’s some destiny that I have girls. I just hope I can help them be what ever they want to be.
Going through the memos in the phone – most of them are all short hand notes to include here… strange to go back through, but the emotion difference between when I wrote them and now reading them back after I’ve purged from here is dramatic. When I read them as I got ready to write here the catalytic affect was strong, now its less of an issue. Very thearaputic.
Although I will say the running form (the first memo) conundrum still exists. There are the shufflers, the people who lead with their feet and drag the body behind… then there are those who never bend their knees… or the one guy with the flailing arm… But I don’t get those who choose to run on the concrete/asphalt instead of the unpaved path. I guess they like the extra shock. Maybe they are too scared to run on something that isn’t smooth and hard. Although the roads around here are anything but smooth.
I wonder how the Montreal race is going. Assuming it has started. That’s a damn hilly city. But one hell of a cool town. (oooooh there’s the unsecured network open now) And it looks like the (blogger) publisher actually came through for me… coooooool
Well I’m done for this morning, hopefully I can get that long ride in… at anyrate…
ciao
Before I forget, there was this movie on TV lastnight, Mona Lisa Smiles… I dunno, but the stereo typing and the ‘defined’ place for a woman just gets me pissed off. I can understand it in a historical piece, but when I run across it in real live I’m flabbergasted. Often its “What? Your wife doesn’t have dinner ready for you when you get home?” That was the big one when I was the only one working. Even still now, it’s a challenging stereotype. Its like ‘men’ think it is impossible to cook, that or its just beneath them? I dunno, I just don’t get it. I don’t want to go over it all again, but I think maybe there’s some destiny that I have girls. I just hope I can help them be what ever they want to be.
Going through the memos in the phone – most of them are all short hand notes to include here… strange to go back through, but the emotion difference between when I wrote them and now reading them back after I’ve purged from here is dramatic. When I read them as I got ready to write here the catalytic affect was strong, now its less of an issue. Very thearaputic.
Although I will say the running form (the first memo) conundrum still exists. There are the shufflers, the people who lead with their feet and drag the body behind… then there are those who never bend their knees… or the one guy with the flailing arm… But I don’t get those who choose to run on the concrete/asphalt instead of the unpaved path. I guess they like the extra shock. Maybe they are too scared to run on something that isn’t smooth and hard. Although the roads around here are anything but smooth.
I wonder how the Montreal race is going. Assuming it has started. That’s a damn hilly city. But one hell of a cool town. (oooooh there’s the unsecured network open now) And it looks like the (blogger) publisher actually came through for me… coooooool
Well I’m done for this morning, hopefully I can get that long ride in… at anyrate…
ciao
Friday, May 26, 2006
keepin up with the joneses
yeah... i wonder if i'm getting too many updates up or not, but it is a VERY laid back week this week... students seem to be in short supply, and those that are around are not the kind who need help...
anyway - i feel some what placated that gwadzilly double or tripples my entry numbers... heck even SB came out of hiding and got an entry up... i should applogize or explain - i'm not trying to one up ya about the swimming... i just suck at it too and avoid it at all costs... i like bein on the water - in a boat what not... just not swimming... unless its to get to a rock out in the sun in a nice quiet lake in Maine in the heat of the summer... and i'm not alone...
A freaky link popped up... and in light of the fact that my car has been violated both in front and back by drivers since getting out here... its rather not suprising to read this from CNN:
dumb_driver_states
I can't get the idea of Chocolate milk outa my head... as a recovery drink. Its no secret, part of my Quality Dairy or Scott Stop (michigan) was getting Choc Milk, donuts or little debbies... its a strange miracle/testament to my metabolism that i only topped out at 235 pounds... and not something like 280 like i should have eating that junk... but chocolate milk... there's good stuff and not so good stuff. I'm itch'n to try the stuff in the returnable glass bottle at the Tiffany of grocery stores (wholefoods)... looks like it would taste good...
It is one area i need to focus on if i am to take this training bit more seriously - the carb/calorie intake post effort. E.Marro is right... i do need to go back to putting something more than water in my bottles... not sure if chocolate milk is the best, however... one chocolate milk, on water... might not be so bad... esp since baby cows live on milk... and cows have lots of muscles...
So i had grabbed some lunch at Antonios on Thayer street.... pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen... and started scribbling (writing):
Okay - that folded scrap of paper is headed to the recycle bin - at least it was a re-used bit of scrap...
it is a curious phenomenon how crazy kept poppin up in my head writing that. And from the looks of it re-reading it back i KNOW there were 10x more bits i wanted to add... the punk chicks walking back and forth, that and the caste system is alive and well, at least on Thayer street. The haves and the have not as much are glaringly obvious... Time to que up Working Man on the iTunes... the live recording from All the World's a Stage album... I meant to bring my nearly complete collection of Mighty Mighty Bostones in and get em ripped onto the computer... Among the shops upstairs from the bike shop in lansing was Flat Black and Circular, a used music store... it was NOT a good place with cash in pocket... and over the years is a big reason i have nearly every album from certain bands (Pouges, MMB, Black 47...) up until say 1999. Unfortunately the Pogues won't be makin any more it looks like, and to think i had the opportunity to get to one of their last concerts in the US, in boston no less... but i passed... how STUPID?????
We'll see if i manage a post in the next few days... doubtful, but ya never know... be safe where ever your travels take ya this weekend...
peace
G
anyway - i feel some what placated that gwadzilly double or tripples my entry numbers... heck even SB came out of hiding and got an entry up... i should applogize or explain - i'm not trying to one up ya about the swimming... i just suck at it too and avoid it at all costs... i like bein on the water - in a boat what not... just not swimming... unless its to get to a rock out in the sun in a nice quiet lake in Maine in the heat of the summer... and i'm not alone...
A freaky link popped up... and in light of the fact that my car has been violated both in front and back by drivers since getting out here... its rather not suprising to read this from CNN:
dumb_driver_states
I can't get the idea of Chocolate milk outa my head... as a recovery drink. Its no secret, part of my Quality Dairy or Scott Stop (michigan) was getting Choc Milk, donuts or little debbies... its a strange miracle/testament to my metabolism that i only topped out at 235 pounds... and not something like 280 like i should have eating that junk... but chocolate milk... there's good stuff and not so good stuff. I'm itch'n to try the stuff in the returnable glass bottle at the Tiffany of grocery stores (wholefoods)... looks like it would taste good...
It is one area i need to focus on if i am to take this training bit more seriously - the carb/calorie intake post effort. E.Marro is right... i do need to go back to putting something more than water in my bottles... not sure if chocolate milk is the best, however... one chocolate milk, on water... might not be so bad... esp since baby cows live on milk... and cows have lots of muscles...
So i had grabbed some lunch at Antonios on Thayer street.... pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen... and started scribbling (writing):
Thayer Street
My little bro is right, Antonios is the best for people watching. So i sit here making unintelligable scribbles on a peice of paper, stuffing slices in my face watching the crziness cruise past. Some dude with a 'quickpad' on the right - very curious why the hell would anyone purposefully drive down Thayer? I can't understand, sure drop/off pick/up. The craziness low # of ipods is intersting, not many more than those on phones and that's not that many today, but the flat out hotties is crazy. lots of parents here for graduation and what. so many unfit though. flabby saggy frumpy suprisingly almost no fake boobs - the preppy boys are the funniest. Enduring the ridicule of movie makers. The number of stripped polo shirts and quaffed hair and looks of utter distain on their face (two lines of undeciferable scribble). Only in an ivy campus will that strange breed survive - and that ain't a good thing... or is it
Okay - that folded scrap of paper is headed to the recycle bin - at least it was a re-used bit of scrap...
it is a curious phenomenon how crazy kept poppin up in my head writing that. And from the looks of it re-reading it back i KNOW there were 10x more bits i wanted to add... the punk chicks walking back and forth, that and the caste system is alive and well, at least on Thayer street. The haves and the have not as much are glaringly obvious... Time to que up Working Man on the iTunes... the live recording from All the World's a Stage album... I meant to bring my nearly complete collection of Mighty Mighty Bostones in and get em ripped onto the computer... Among the shops upstairs from the bike shop in lansing was Flat Black and Circular, a used music store... it was NOT a good place with cash in pocket... and over the years is a big reason i have nearly every album from certain bands (Pouges, MMB, Black 47...) up until say 1999. Unfortunately the Pogues won't be makin any more it looks like, and to think i had the opportunity to get to one of their last concerts in the US, in boston no less... but i passed... how STUPID?????
We'll see if i manage a post in the next few days... doubtful, but ya never know... be safe where ever your travels take ya this weekend...
peace
G
LMFAO - idiot edited this afternoon-
Oh i'm dying with laughter and shame...
KL called me out... and heck i haven't even read em yet! Kerry's opens first in the 'open in tabs' maybe cause i think its the first bookmarked one in the set... the other few i'd read longer (DC for example, were added later, post, "open in tabs").
That and i mean to share my own freaky psyco-episode (clairvoyant is too hard to spell)... ya know that list i was talking about... that WBRU was playing... i had randomly turned the radio on to it the night before... paying no attention to the time... other than it was me and the oldest while the rest of the fam were out running the BLVD... Last night i was thinking: "Crap i probably missed it." Turned on the radio anyway... listened through the commercials and well whadda ya know... THE LIST... and i caught the last 5 songs... spooky? or not?
And man i hope someone has a camera to capture what KL will look like with bottles stuffed everywhere... Its one thing to see those guys in the tour with 10 waterbottles in their jersey... but they've got a small edge on size... hmm.. road trip to Montreal? maybe next year...
(damn i've got that kerry blue screen to my white screen optical burn in my retinas again) but don't you dare change... the pain is refreshing... just kidding it ain't painful...
Oh - how retarded/frustrating is it to walkin into a shop... see a sweet tall ass bike (one i could ride) and then find out its some Cat 5 racing for a team, and he got the bike from the team for free... full DuraAce carbon/al frame... WTF? I mean, its wicked cool when someone like KL gets a full ride equipment wise... she's done the time... or SB, or Geo... folks who've ridden and won and competed with the best... but a cat 5? with a free ride? i dunno... maybe he's a Norba pro or something... that's more likely... i guess he rides a 29er - so now i've just talked myself out of being an idiot... now i feel like an idiot. That and now as i'm scrolling through the rest of the daily reading... I believe sailorboy deleted one of my comments... how damn rude... just cause he's arguing with some holy rollin homebirth hippies and has an image to keep... shoot... it was a good comment too... if he was gonna delete it i woulda saved a copy...
anyway - fortuantely few of the open in tabs had new writing... KL, 32sixteen, gwadzilla, CTodd, Fraz, and DC... fortunately in that i don't have time to read everything if everything's new... and i have to say the ones i really enjoy reading are new... and i can read em down at the other place - if i can make it there... Give CTodd's MP3 a listen... LMFAO
Ah i'm in a brighter mood already...
Thank you...
time to become the road warrior! (have i mentioned Mad Max is my idol)
Okay - i just got an hour reprieve... and this has been bugging me for a LONG time... well since i first saw it... and yeah, i know, there is a hard core set of riders who do NOT ever wear helments... a couple of the Caster's boys showed up at the TT sans helment... i mean... cool... but no helment? Maybe i'm old... but even when i wasn't (last year) i still was all helment, always have been... its like a seatbelt... the arguments against are like trying to argue smoking 3 packs a day won't adversely affect your health... I can't argue against their premise and drive but that t-shirt just rubs me wrong...
Just doesn't make sense... and is frustrating... sort of like those T-shirts for girls that got all the anti-press recently...
and don't forget: Doper's Suck... still...
Oh and joel (gwadzilla) needs to start hyperlinkin his damn images... i clicked on cycling cog image and get a bigger version of the image... instead of the link to it... I ain't a damn good programmer, but... its the little details... (as in my Laek house image) ...and those guys are freaking FLYING downhill right now...
EDIT: see comment but i'm a freaking retard... i thought i had linked back to LAEK HOUSE not the image hosted by LAEK HOUSE... thanks for the HU gwadzilla! (but ya still gotta be more of the first than the second - and yeah these are both google hosted now...)
I got in a bit of a dissagreement about the awarding of belgian points... my contention is that you cannot/ever get them for riding in Italy. Even looking at Andy's example from his Giro Win... Partly because in my book you can't get belgian points from a race that you are paid to race. sure as an amateur, showing up say for Sterling and gettin hypo, that's some point qual. But the Giro? No freaking way.
First, italy is too damn beautiful to garner any points anytime of the year.
Second... i dunno - part of the other explain...
Ya get belgian points for starting a ride when its cold and rainy, not for getting caught out in the rain. Ya get points when few others head out on the road... Dry and cold? Nah - no points. Dry is dry and you can always layer to stay warm... cold and wet? that's different...
Cyclocross belgian points? No way. You get negative points for every race done in beautiful dry weather... so many points that it takes race after race in shitty cold weather to recover from one. The only good thing is that only the organizers get negative points. Not the riders... unless the riders dont' show for the crappy weather races.
Too many rules? Yeah, well, i live by definitions, or defining that which hasn't been. But with that same token, they ain't really 'rules' they can be changed, broken, abandoned... with justification... part of that scientist thing that sailorboy has been blathering about lately...
okay - ooh one of the lampre boys got a flat... just as the hill goes up... sucks to be him... oooh another one... (mechanical)... DOH... oh my favorite part... mechanic leaning out the car window doing a brake adjustment on the bike as the car rolls through the caravan... They are back doing it again... Nice Skoda Wagon. (now its his radio they are working on).
Well... yall have fun... Its a good day... i think... better than yesterday... these Mazda commercials are funny... two guys riding flat bar road bikes chatting about a car... damn freaking cool...
KL called me out... and heck i haven't even read em yet! Kerry's opens first in the 'open in tabs' maybe cause i think its the first bookmarked one in the set... the other few i'd read longer (DC for example, were added later, post, "open in tabs").
That and i mean to share my own freaky psyco-episode (clairvoyant is too hard to spell)... ya know that list i was talking about... that WBRU was playing... i had randomly turned the radio on to it the night before... paying no attention to the time... other than it was me and the oldest while the rest of the fam were out running the BLVD... Last night i was thinking: "Crap i probably missed it." Turned on the radio anyway... listened through the commercials and well whadda ya know... THE LIST... and i caught the last 5 songs... spooky? or not?
And man i hope someone has a camera to capture what KL will look like with bottles stuffed everywhere... Its one thing to see those guys in the tour with 10 waterbottles in their jersey... but they've got a small edge on size... hmm.. road trip to Montreal? maybe next year...
(damn i've got that kerry blue screen to my white screen optical burn in my retinas again) but don't you dare change... the pain is refreshing... just kidding it ain't painful...
Oh - how retarded/frustrating is it to walkin into a shop... see a sweet tall ass bike (one i could ride) and then find out its some Cat 5 racing for a team, and he got the bike from the team for free... full DuraAce carbon/al frame... WTF? I mean, its wicked cool when someone like KL gets a full ride equipment wise... she's done the time... or SB, or Geo... folks who've ridden and won and competed with the best... but a cat 5? with a free ride? i dunno... maybe he's a Norba pro or something... that's more likely... i guess he rides a 29er - so now i've just talked myself out of being an idiot... now i feel like an idiot. That and now as i'm scrolling through the rest of the daily reading... I believe sailorboy deleted one of my comments... how damn rude... just cause he's arguing with some holy rollin homebirth hippies and has an image to keep... shoot... it was a good comment too... if he was gonna delete it i woulda saved a copy...
anyway - fortuantely few of the open in tabs had new writing... KL, 32sixteen, gwadzilla, CTodd, Fraz, and DC... fortunately in that i don't have time to read everything if everything's new... and i have to say the ones i really enjoy reading are new... and i can read em down at the other place - if i can make it there... Give CTodd's MP3 a listen... LMFAO
Ah i'm in a brighter mood already...
Thank you...
time to become the road warrior! (have i mentioned Mad Max is my idol)
Okay - i just got an hour reprieve... and this has been bugging me for a LONG time... well since i first saw it... and yeah, i know, there is a hard core set of riders who do NOT ever wear helments... a couple of the Caster's boys showed up at the TT sans helment... i mean... cool... but no helment? Maybe i'm old... but even when i wasn't (last year) i still was all helment, always have been... its like a seatbelt... the arguments against are like trying to argue smoking 3 packs a day won't adversely affect your health... I can't argue against their premise and drive but that t-shirt just rubs me wrong...Just doesn't make sense... and is frustrating... sort of like those T-shirts for girls that got all the anti-press recently...
and don't forget: Doper's Suck... still...
Oh and joel (gwadzilla) needs to start hyperlinkin his damn images... i clicked on cycling cog image and get a bigger version of the image... instead of the link to it... I ain't a damn good programmer, but... its the little details... (as in my Laek house image) ...and those guys are freaking FLYING downhill right now...
EDIT: see comment but i'm a freaking retard... i thought i had linked back to LAEK HOUSE not the image hosted by LAEK HOUSE... thanks for the HU gwadzilla! (but ya still gotta be more of the first than the second - and yeah these are both google hosted now...)
I got in a bit of a dissagreement about the awarding of belgian points... my contention is that you cannot/ever get them for riding in Italy. Even looking at Andy's example from his Giro Win... Partly because in my book you can't get belgian points from a race that you are paid to race. sure as an amateur, showing up say for Sterling and gettin hypo, that's some point qual. But the Giro? No freaking way.
First, italy is too damn beautiful to garner any points anytime of the year.
Second... i dunno - part of the other explain...
Ya get belgian points for starting a ride when its cold and rainy, not for getting caught out in the rain. Ya get points when few others head out on the road... Dry and cold? Nah - no points. Dry is dry and you can always layer to stay warm... cold and wet? that's different...
Cyclocross belgian points? No way. You get negative points for every race done in beautiful dry weather... so many points that it takes race after race in shitty cold weather to recover from one. The only good thing is that only the organizers get negative points. Not the riders... unless the riders dont' show for the crappy weather races.
Too many rules? Yeah, well, i live by definitions, or defining that which hasn't been. But with that same token, they ain't really 'rules' they can be changed, broken, abandoned... with justification... part of that scientist thing that sailorboy has been blathering about lately...
okay - ooh one of the lampre boys got a flat... just as the hill goes up... sucks to be him... oooh another one... (mechanical)... DOH... oh my favorite part... mechanic leaning out the car window doing a brake adjustment on the bike as the car rolls through the caravan... They are back doing it again... Nice Skoda Wagon. (now its his radio they are working on).
Well... yall have fun... Its a good day... i think... better than yesterday... these Mazda commercials are funny... two guys riding flat bar road bikes chatting about a car... damn freaking cool...
so far not so good
I carried the blahs over to this morning on the bike... Last night was an example of a night when i'd have cruised through 3-4 beers while my wife was out running the BLVD with the jogger... the energy boost, and caloric satisfaction were key crutches to the afterwork exhaustion... instead i had a big bowl (4+ servings) of grapenuts with some rasins and that helped a bit but only a bit... still was tired. That and its Fucking HOT in here today... well over 75 degrees in the office... closer to 78-80... great for the fish (the zebrafish)... not for me... But even with 1/2 bottle of wine sitting there with the vacuum seal i managed to get through an AFD. Now why's that a big deal? Well... its a big deal in that its a definate marked change... don't get me wrong, i ain't gone soft or totally dry... but, even this recent shift, two beers have the same affect as 6 now... its saves a fair bit of cash too... sort of... although prefab breakfast cereals ain't exactly the best calorie value for the dollar.... I guess i just kinda needed a 'role' model, in a way... that and a goal, peer pressure and the like... I knew it would be better for my girls if i wasn't consuming as much, a better role model, hoping that the oldest will forget the quantity of consumption. Just wanted to get serious and thank two people... two cyclists i haven't actually met in person but feel somewhat connected to from this whole web logging spill your soul to yourself and hope no-one reads it. I'm not sure how to explain why its the way it is, or how the level of connectedness developed or what not... hell its strange... like talking to bruce at the Bike to work day and realizing: doh what else can i say, esp since the guy's been reading this blabber... Its sort of the dichotomy of me. I'll talk and talk and talk and talk, sometimes. And others, feel fine not saying anything. I'm figuring if i make this paragraph super long with not hard returns people might skip over it and miss that other dichotomy in my personality. One my wife alludes to as being rather attractive, usually only after being around guys who are *way* too soft and nice. You know the womanish guys who have kids, who are always nice and calm, quiet, and really i guess soft. No man card in their wallet. No edge, no passion... its amazing that they have kids sometimes... This is again kinda me thinking, should i really be putting this down? laying it all out, baring my guts for anyone who happens to click past? Even after all i've mentioned about it, time and time again, yeah... like me in person, watch out, i may tell the same story again and again... just tell me to my face, yeah G ya told us before... I am feeling better. Hopefully the jaunt down to the other facility will enliven me... wake me up a touch... get me off to a rarin start. to the middle afternoon. with hopes that it doesn't rain...
I think i finally have my race blade re-shaped to work, after it was demolished by the stick in the spokes... Suprisingly the spokes are fine... can't find any evidence in the spokes of damage... just the crazy looking front fender... the one i actually needed... well hopefully it works... i've got the "rain" gear in the bag incase it dumps while i'm down at the other place... may just have to swing through The Hub and bug em again.
The necyclocross list has started to wonder about the Liberty title sponsorship for the cross race... and right now i realized, maybe well L.Seguros is a road cycling sponsor in Spain... what the hell does that specific sponsor ship have to do with cyclocross? *shrug* i hope they don't reconsider...
I think i finally have my race blade re-shaped to work, after it was demolished by the stick in the spokes... Suprisingly the spokes are fine... can't find any evidence in the spokes of damage... just the crazy looking front fender... the one i actually needed... well hopefully it works... i've got the "rain" gear in the bag incase it dumps while i'm down at the other place... may just have to swing through The Hub and bug em again.
The necyclocross list has started to wonder about the Liberty title sponsorship for the cross race... and right now i realized, maybe well L.Seguros is a road cycling sponsor in Spain... what the hell does that specific sponsor ship have to do with cyclocross? *shrug* i hope they don't reconsider...
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Random notes from a ho hum day
I was gonna put this in tomorrow's stuff - but ah'feckitall... here it is... today has really been blahblahblahblah - little to no motivation... suckin it... just one of those days
anyway... this is what percolated through my seive-like melon today
Chocolate Milk as a recovery drink? SWEET
Dirt Rag... instant news
off the dirt rag:
Best Beers? Worst Beers? (i think i found it at Big Jonny's)
beer = easy to give up or just have one
wine... not as easy - how can ya have a big heaping bowl of pomodoro based sauce and not add some nice red wine in it and in your belly...
Speaking of Red sauce... my secret and the girls are diggin it - is to put some cinnamon in with the basil, bay leaf, oregano and other secret flavor enhancers... (shhh don't tell anyone)
That Street Smarts is avail as a PDF...
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/docs/pamanual.pdf
a whole bunch of PA legal blah blah blah pre-amble but, there manual is there...
Hockey...
Stupid OLN... no - i am not dissing them for their cycling(lack) coverage... its that they have all the good games... or i should say they have ALL the games... if the stanley cup only goes 4 games the general 'public' (hockey fans without cable/satTV) won't get to see the games... and that SUCKs.....but then the question begs to be asked: WHO CARES? Well i sort of do. but on the other hand i don't. I see the TV media as a big frat boy circle jerk... as the inexperienced ones blow and bow out the circle gets smaller and smaller... to the point where its just one massive media mogul wacking off and everyone watching... no variety, no choice... just what ever that one wacko has... Yeah its a crude metaphor, but not inapropriate to parallel the Television media with a circle jerk... It almost seems that the top rated shows are being coordinated so everyone can watch the best shows and not miss anything. Like the networks are all in cahoots (frat boy circle jerk)... I really do hate the TV... i'll watch... but... i tell ya, it feels like i'm pissing time down the sink when i'm sitting there...
anyway... this is what percolated through my seive-like melon today
Chocolate Milk as a recovery drink? SWEET
Dirt Rag... instant news
off the dirt rag:
President of Fuji Bikes Races Car and Train to WorkHow can you argue against those stats... so he got wet... the exercise over the train is key... and 12 minutes faster than a car? Say it aint so joe!
By: Ryan LaBar
As you may know this week is "Bike-to-Work Week" and Friday is "Bike-to-Work Day". So you may be wondering what the time difference between biking, driving or taking the train would be?
On Monday the president of Fuji Bicycles, Patrick Cunnane, "raced" a car and a train to work for Philadelphia's Bike to Work Challenge, which is organized by the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition. Dressed in a tie, a collared shirt, and khakis (plus a safety yellow vest), he raced from the corner of 15th Street and JFK Blvd. to the corner of 46th Street and Chestnut during rush hour. Cunnane won the Challenge, edging out the train by two and a half minutes and the car by over twelve. The only thing he didn't beat to work was the weather, which ended up catching him at the finish in the form of rain.
Best Beers? Worst Beers? (i think i found it at Big Jonny's)
beer = easy to give up or just have one
wine... not as easy - how can ya have a big heaping bowl of pomodoro based sauce and not add some nice red wine in it and in your belly...
Speaking of Red sauce... my secret and the girls are diggin it - is to put some cinnamon in with the basil, bay leaf, oregano and other secret flavor enhancers... (shhh don't tell anyone)
That Street Smarts is avail as a PDF...
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped
a whole bunch of PA legal blah blah blah pre-amble but, there manual is there...
Hockey...
Stupid OLN... no - i am not dissing them for their cycling(lack) coverage... its that they have all the good games... or i should say they have ALL the games... if the stanley cup only goes 4 games the general 'public' (hockey fans without cable/satTV) won't get to see the games... and that SUCKs.....but then the question begs to be asked: WHO CARES? Well i sort of do. but on the other hand i don't. I see the TV media as a big frat boy circle jerk... as the inexperienced ones blow and bow out the circle gets smaller and smaller... to the point where its just one massive media mogul wacking off and everyone watching... no variety, no choice... just what ever that one wacko has... Yeah its a crude metaphor, but not inapropriate to parallel the Television media with a circle jerk... It almost seems that the top rated shows are being coordinated so everyone can watch the best shows and not miss anything. Like the networks are all in cahoots (frat boy circle jerk)... I really do hate the TV... i'll watch... but... i tell ya, it feels like i'm pissing time down the sink when i'm sitting there...
This is EVERYTHING that is wrong with climbing Everest now
Everest pioneer blasts climbers who left dying man
Totally freaking wrong...
If you are a group of climbers heading down... splitting the resources between the climbing group to keep someone alive? Makes sense...
That and climbing up? Hmm lets climb this rock that we paid $50,000 or more to attempt and ignore that guy who's dying...
Completely fucked up...
Here's another beef...
I just listened to the Cannondale story from the Missing Saddle Audio Blog...
I wonder, Could Chris Zimmerman (i assume who was doing the 'interview') stick his tounge further up the ass of cannondale? I mean brand preference is one thing, but that just struck me as freaking wrong... The bike's great, don't take my dissin as against C-Dales... i've owned em, sold em, wrenched them... might even race em one day. But that audio report, major techincal issues aside got me all outa shape. Not to mention, maybe he can work on some skills fortaping recording audio... like using a microphone foam windscreen... Sure it was probably a spur of the moment recording at a race (it sounds like) but still... sheesh.
I'm on the fence about bitching directly - i think i'll let my beef simmer here for a day before heading over there with a the flame thrower and my nomex suit...
Totally freaking wrong...
If you are a group of climbers heading down... splitting the resources between the climbing group to keep someone alive? Makes sense...
That and climbing up? Hmm lets climb this rock that we paid $50,000 or more to attempt and ignore that guy who's dying...
Completely fucked up...
Here's another beef...
I just listened to the Cannondale story from the Missing Saddle Audio Blog...
I wonder, Could Chris Zimmerman (i assume who was doing the 'interview') stick his tounge further up the ass of cannondale? I mean brand preference is one thing, but that just struck me as freaking wrong... The bike's great, don't take my dissin as against C-Dales... i've owned em, sold em, wrenched them... might even race em one day. But that audio report, major techincal issues aside got me all outa shape. Not to mention, maybe he can work on some skills for
I'm on the fence about bitching directly - i think i'll let my beef simmer here for a day before heading over there with a the flame thrower and my nomex suit...
may 25... may 25... nope doesn't ring a bell
Not much to say today... but the email through the NECyclocross list popped a rider i'd known sort of about but not one specific endearing factor... The dude's as tall as i am and he's freaking world class....
not that i'm world class... but he's freaking tall... like me... and his name is Petr Dlask...
That and they actually have a production Empella that would fit me... AND they are on sale at Cyclocross world... but they are outa stock in the freak sizes (smallest and tallest).
On the other side there's a chance to get a pro/bro deal with C-dale for a cross frame/bike. I may think long and hard about that. on the other side, i do have a cross bike and need to actually race to justify even thinkin about a second bike... much less a lighter faster better bike...
Heck i'm gonna be a Phred out there running clinchers instead of Tubulars... freaking crazy. Maybe i can get some fancy wheels down the road. And to think i had a gorgeous set of MACH2CD2 tubulars built up with a Mavic front hub and an Ultegra rear hub that i sold cause i didn't feel like riding bubulars on the road! STUPID ME... DOH. But that was a while ago... and those are old, heavy, (But strong) rims... i can prolly do a bit better down the road... maybe next year... The only downside to the C-dale is that the biggest is a 60, but it has a 60 top tube... the Empella is a 63 (59c-c) with a 61 top tube... much more to my liking, much closer to the klein.... But HOLY crap... the C-dale in the 60 is reporting an 87cm standover... and the Empella is claming only an 84.... crazy! that's a fair bit different... prolly BB height... which is crazy? Why do i need a wicked high BB in a Cross bike? Crit bike i can understand, cross bike? Ya gonna get off for the barriers and well i dunno i suppose pedlin through corners isn't a bad thing but its about the speed you are carrying in... often its more important/faster to focus on the proper line and traction than to worry about pedaling...
Breaking NEWS... on the Damn but not unexpected:
Crap that sucks for those guys... unless the whole Team's Juiced... then they get what they deserve... Cheating Suns of Bitches....
Oh i tried a touch of wasabi in the coffee... but not enough... i chickened out and wanted to beable to drink it... so tomorrow i'll try it with a bit more powder. The stuff i've got uses Spirulina and Tumeric for coloring intead of FDC Blue and Yellow... nice...
WBRU has a crazy flashbacking nostalgic thing... they are counting down the top 20 songs from 1991... last night it was 10-6... i could sing along (not well) will every single song... Damn those years were good... damn good tunage. If i do say so myself... even had to call Sailorboy to say HEY MAN i was so caught up in those years...
Okay, now i'm TOTALLY freaked out. AFTER i started talking about music and 1991... i did the open tabs thing, added a comment to Sailorboy's web log, and read KL's latest TWO entries (must be a record or something, two entries in ONE day?) (okay - going from her white text on blue to this black text on white, my eyes are freaking out)... i'm freaked...
I can one up her on the internet thing, only cause my whirlwind college days happened before she got there.... my college was the first or second installtion in the country of AT&T's "network of the future" specifically, every room, dorm, class, EVERYTHING was connected with a state of the art Fiber optic network. And it freaking was sweet. Anyway...
no need to play one up with her... that's a bit too macho for me to be doing and why? cause there's ALWAYS someone out there who was doing more than you (me)... Like my friend Kevin, he taught himself Assembly langauge in highschool, after mastering all the other programming codes... BTW... he works for Microsoft now, suprised? I'm not.
Ya see that list of songs KL posted about her freshman year... those were my gradschool, bikeshop slumming songs... all still damn fine songs... just a different phase...
I guess, the fact that KL put up two entries sort of makes up for SB's lack of one today... maybe he's still too tired after the 'tuc....
Give this Gal's web log a read... she's cute as hell, writes 100x better than i do, and well she has pretty pictures of Colorado to look at.
Well everyone, yall have a good day... I may just have to burn my Liberty Seguros Hats that i got from the Cross Nats... but on the other hand... maybe i keep those cheap sunsobitch hats for keeping my head clean when crawling under the car...
Gonna end with this - came through the email... i think i've delt with that issue and feel fine about dealing with it (being a biologist makes it much easier)
but it made me laugh...
not that i'm world class... but he's freaking tall... like me... and his name is Petr Dlask...
That and they actually have a production Empella that would fit me... AND they are on sale at Cyclocross world... but they are outa stock in the freak sizes (smallest and tallest).
On the other side there's a chance to get a pro/bro deal with C-dale for a cross frame/bike. I may think long and hard about that. on the other side, i do have a cross bike and need to actually race to justify even thinkin about a second bike... much less a lighter faster better bike...
Heck i'm gonna be a Phred out there running clinchers instead of Tubulars... freaking crazy. Maybe i can get some fancy wheels down the road. And to think i had a gorgeous set of MACH2CD2 tubulars built up with a Mavic front hub and an Ultegra rear hub that i sold cause i didn't feel like riding bubulars on the road! STUPID ME... DOH. But that was a while ago... and those are old, heavy, (But strong) rims... i can prolly do a bit better down the road... maybe next year... The only downside to the C-dale is that the biggest is a 60, but it has a 60 top tube... the Empella is a 63 (59c-c) with a 61 top tube... much more to my liking, much closer to the klein.... But HOLY crap... the C-dale in the 60 is reporting an 87cm standover... and the Empella is claming only an 84.... crazy! that's a fair bit different... prolly BB height... which is crazy? Why do i need a wicked high BB in a Cross bike? Crit bike i can understand, cross bike? Ya gonna get off for the barriers and well i dunno i suppose pedlin through corners isn't a bad thing but its about the speed you are carrying in... often its more important/faster to focus on the proper line and traction than to worry about pedaling...
Breaking NEWS... on the Damn but not unexpected:
Liberty Seguros terminate contract
By Anthony Tan in Gemona Del Friuli, Italy
In the wake of Manolo Saiz's recent detention for his alleged involvement in a blood doping program along with four other people, Spanish news agency EFE has just released a newsflash, announcing primary sponsor Liberty Seguros have chosen to cancel their cycling sponsorship from the Liberty Seguros-Würth team, effective immediately. The team's press officer, Jacinto Vidarte, has confirmed the annoucement with Cyclingnews.
No doubt, a clause exists in Liberty Seguros' contract with Active Bay SL, the team's holding company, enabling the former to annul their sponsorship contract if a widespread doping situation arises. How this will affect the six riders currently racing the Giro d'Italia or the future of the team is not yet known.
Crap that sucks for those guys... unless the whole Team's Juiced... then they get what they deserve... Cheating Suns of Bitches....
Oh i tried a touch of wasabi in the coffee... but not enough... i chickened out and wanted to beable to drink it... so tomorrow i'll try it with a bit more powder. The stuff i've got uses Spirulina and Tumeric for coloring intead of FDC Blue and Yellow... nice...
WBRU has a crazy flashbacking nostalgic thing... they are counting down the top 20 songs from 1991... last night it was 10-6... i could sing along (not well) will every single song... Damn those years were good... damn good tunage. If i do say so myself... even had to call Sailorboy to say HEY MAN i was so caught up in those years...
Week of May 22ndThat's the list... a DAMN fine list if i do say so myself.
Top 20 Songs of 1991
1. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. REM – Losing My Religion
3. Violent Femmes – American Music
4. Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush
5. Divinyls – I Touch Myself
6. Throwing Muses – Not Too Soon
7. Chris Isaak – Wicked Game
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away
9. Jesus Jones – Right Here Right Now
10. U2 – Mysterious Ways
11. EMF – Unbelievable
12. They Eat Their Own – Like a Drug
13. Big Audio Dynamite II – The Globe
14. Seal – Crazy
15. U2 – The Fly
16. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
17. Squeeze – Satisfied
18. Voice of the Beehive – Monsters and Angels
19. REM – Shiny Happy People
20. Kirsty MacColl – Walking Down Madison
Okay, now i'm TOTALLY freaked out. AFTER i started talking about music and 1991... i did the open tabs thing, added a comment to Sailorboy's web log, and read KL's latest TWO entries (must be a record or something, two entries in ONE day?) (okay - going from her white text on blue to this black text on white, my eyes are freaking out)... i'm freaked...
I can one up her on the internet thing, only cause my whirlwind college days happened before she got there.... my college was the first or second installtion in the country of AT&T's "network of the future" specifically, every room, dorm, class, EVERYTHING was connected with a state of the art Fiber optic network. And it freaking was sweet. Anyway...
no need to play one up with her... that's a bit too macho for me to be doing and why? cause there's ALWAYS someone out there who was doing more than you (me)... Like my friend Kevin, he taught himself Assembly langauge in highschool, after mastering all the other programming codes... BTW... he works for Microsoft now, suprised? I'm not.
Ya see that list of songs KL posted about her freshman year... those were my gradschool, bikeshop slumming songs... all still damn fine songs... just a different phase...
I guess, the fact that KL put up two entries sort of makes up for SB's lack of one today... maybe he's still too tired after the 'tuc....
Give this Gal's web log a read... she's cute as hell, writes 100x better than i do, and well she has pretty pictures of Colorado to look at.
Well everyone, yall have a good day... I may just have to burn my Liberty Seguros Hats that i got from the Cross Nats... but on the other hand... maybe i keep those cheap sunsobitch hats for keeping my head clean when crawling under the car...
Gonna end with this - came through the email... i think i've delt with that issue and feel fine about dealing with it (being a biologist makes it much easier)
but it made me laugh...
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
P Velo Time Trial...
Okay - this is an edit... getting to FRAZ today... oh so making me bust a gut laughin "beans aren't fruit" "beans, beans, the charmed legume; eat a bunch and clear the room..."
now.... back to the original entry...
Not quite the same as hittin the 'Tuc... but... i sort of suprised myself.
My computer thing said it was roughly a 6.6 mile circuit. gmap gave me this...
.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=198977
and the profile looks about right, although the rise at the end seemed to hurt one hell of a lot more than the first one... Maybe 'cause the first was with the wind and the last was near the end and into the wind. The wind was howling, a decent 15-20 mph (at least thats what AccuWeather was reporting).
At the start brendan said, "a good time will be 3 or 4 minutes at the first turn, 3 miuntes is about a 16 minute pace, 4 minutes will get you 18. and the last turn, if you hit that at 12 you're doing great"
So i was starting 1 minute after Chuck (i think) on a Trek OCLV time trial machine with a rear disk and a tri-spoke front, and a fancy aero helment... and one minute behind me was a Tri-guy (dunna remember his name) from the P-Velo tri team, on a Q-Roo TT setup... I'm thinking, this is gonna suck... not really having expectations, but i'm sort of running first the course through my head - we did a warmup lap fortunately and its pretty straight forward course wise and then i start thinkin about what SB was saying on the 17th... effort in the hills, recover a touch on the down hill... with my HR pegged most of the time and the lactic acid building up i was focusing on breathing in the downhill... slowing the cadence down to get the HR down a bit but keeping the power in the pedals and staying in a tuck. Mind ya, i had no aero bars.... no aero helment, no shoe covers, big fuzzy legs and that crappy old helment. I wore the crappy old helment because it was the only thing i normally wear... and well, i didn't want to go out in completely different kit... as it was, i was on the Klein (ridden once for 12 miles as mentioned a while ago), wearing my SIDI (not that it is a big change but lately with all the time in the answer flats it was different), dropped the full fingered motocross gloves infavor of some real 'bike' gloves, popped on the P-velo bibs and jersey, so rather than pull out the fancy helment i stuck with my battered commuter super-moto Giro... The spinaci's may come out next time... the bumps on the last bit are too much to just rest my for-arms on the flats...
The bike felt great... the legs felt okay and i managed a 18:07 with a nice pedal bobble at the start... stupid shoes... and slightly different pedals... grrr - i think the fastest i noticed was around 16:14... I'm pretty happy with it, i think that works out to a 35kph or 22mph average, no where near the wampatuk speeds, but for me, not bad... considering the 16 minute guys only had 2 mph over the course on me... 2 seems some what attainable with a touch of training i think... maybe... i could probably pull a portion of it back with bars.... and another portion back with a better attack of the course... a bit more effort right at the front end maybe...
At anyrate - I hope to improve, or at least just keep doing it.
It was a positive thing (the TT) to dispell the depressing thought about houses and what we could comfortably afford relative to what we'd have to spend to get into an area we want... Ah well, many folks are saying give the market a couple months... it'll be much better then... i hope so... on the flip side... the place we have now really isn't terrible... its pretty damn nice... even if it is small, and alot of our stuff is out in an open barn...
I'm not gonna do the 'grit tonight, but maybe one of these Wed. This competition thing, even if its psuedo with an almost unoffical club TT where the results are posted in the shop.... is good, and can only make me faster come Cross time.... I can't freaking wait...
Coffee time...
Oh that reminded me... one of my sips of the French Press brew of French roast (8 cup pot, 6 tablespoons of coarse grinds) tasted of a distinct essensce of wasabi... that complex overtone kinda thing... make me think red pepper flakes are good in the coffee (just don't do what i did and put a heaping teaspoon in an 8 cup FP), maybe a dash or two of wasabi powder (the kind without the dye or the artificial flavor) might be just as good... look for the adventure report sometime soon...
oh and its GiroTIME ... fingers crossed that the feed is good
now.... back to the original entry...
Not quite the same as hittin the 'Tuc... but... i sort of suprised myself.
My computer thing said it was roughly a 6.6 mile circuit. gmap gave me this...
.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=198977
and the profile looks about right, although the rise at the end seemed to hurt one hell of a lot more than the first one... Maybe 'cause the first was with the wind and the last was near the end and into the wind. The wind was howling, a decent 15-20 mph (at least thats what AccuWeather was reporting).
At the start brendan said, "a good time will be 3 or 4 minutes at the first turn, 3 miuntes is about a 16 minute pace, 4 minutes will get you 18. and the last turn, if you hit that at 12 you're doing great"
So i was starting 1 minute after Chuck (i think) on a Trek OCLV time trial machine with a rear disk and a tri-spoke front, and a fancy aero helment... and one minute behind me was a Tri-guy (dunna remember his name) from the P-Velo tri team, on a Q-Roo TT setup... I'm thinking, this is gonna suck... not really having expectations, but i'm sort of running first the course through my head - we did a warmup lap fortunately and its pretty straight forward course wise and then i start thinkin about what SB was saying on the 17th... effort in the hills, recover a touch on the down hill... with my HR pegged most of the time and the lactic acid building up i was focusing on breathing in the downhill... slowing the cadence down to get the HR down a bit but keeping the power in the pedals and staying in a tuck. Mind ya, i had no aero bars.... no aero helment, no shoe covers, big fuzzy legs and that crappy old helment. I wore the crappy old helment because it was the only thing i normally wear... and well, i didn't want to go out in completely different kit... as it was, i was on the Klein (ridden once for 12 miles as mentioned a while ago), wearing my SIDI (not that it is a big change but lately with all the time in the answer flats it was different), dropped the full fingered motocross gloves infavor of some real 'bike' gloves, popped on the P-velo bibs and jersey, so rather than pull out the fancy helment i stuck with my battered commuter super-moto Giro... The spinaci's may come out next time... the bumps on the last bit are too much to just rest my for-arms on the flats...
The bike felt great... the legs felt okay and i managed a 18:07 with a nice pedal bobble at the start... stupid shoes... and slightly different pedals... grrr - i think the fastest i noticed was around 16:14... I'm pretty happy with it, i think that works out to a 35kph or 22mph average, no where near the wampatuk speeds, but for me, not bad... considering the 16 minute guys only had 2 mph over the course on me... 2 seems some what attainable with a touch of training i think... maybe... i could probably pull a portion of it back with bars.... and another portion back with a better attack of the course... a bit more effort right at the front end maybe...
At anyrate - I hope to improve, or at least just keep doing it.
It was a positive thing (the TT) to dispell the depressing thought about houses and what we could comfortably afford relative to what we'd have to spend to get into an area we want... Ah well, many folks are saying give the market a couple months... it'll be much better then... i hope so... on the flip side... the place we have now really isn't terrible... its pretty damn nice... even if it is small, and alot of our stuff is out in an open barn...
I'm not gonna do the 'grit tonight, but maybe one of these Wed. This competition thing, even if its psuedo with an almost unoffical club TT where the results are posted in the shop.... is good, and can only make me faster come Cross time.... I can't freaking wait...
Coffee time...
Oh that reminded me... one of my sips of the French Press brew of French roast (8 cup pot, 6 tablespoons of coarse grinds) tasted of a distinct essensce of wasabi... that complex overtone kinda thing... make me think red pepper flakes are good in the coffee (just don't do what i did and put a heaping teaspoon in an 8 cup FP), maybe a dash or two of wasabi powder (the kind without the dye or the artificial flavor) might be just as good... look for the adventure report sometime soon...
oh and its GiroTIME ... fingers crossed that the feed is good
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Bicycling Street Smarts
Here's the link. As a friend who has just bought a bike and is planning on commuting to work at least a few days a week bitched "What? no PDF?"
Ah heck we can't have everything. Its a great read. Even for those funny folk on MVI (like sailorboy and Suds... if you thought I wrote alot - don't click there talk about verbal spewage, although his 'spewage' is very well thought out and constructed and all that - but he's a lawyer, who was almost a doctor, who was almost a psyc, who worked a Pfizer for a while so I kinda expect it).
Man - i get dizzy and glassy eyed trying to read that narrow column and all those words (I key-d I Key-d - triumph dog reference)...
also its kinda funny watchin the world implode as a connection across two friends is made... G asked me "who's that solobreak guy, I bet i've raced with him before." well damn sure as hell enough they have... and what was unleased was I turned into a transporter between the two - how freaking cool... and yeah that Tuc... gonna have to go get me some of that... We'll see... we'll see maybe we can even get the G out on the course this summer... if he makes it east from sunny Cali
well there - i just went babbled a bit more than i wanted to...
Ah heck we can't have everything. Its a great read. Even for those funny folk on MVI (like sailorboy and Suds... if you thought I wrote alot - don't click there talk about verbal spewage, although his 'spewage' is very well thought out and constructed and all that - but he's a lawyer, who was almost a doctor, who was almost a psyc, who worked a Pfizer for a while so I kinda expect it).
Man - i get dizzy and glassy eyed trying to read that narrow column and all those words (I key-d I Key-d - triumph dog reference)...
also its kinda funny watchin the world implode as a connection across two friends is made... G asked me "who's that solobreak guy, I bet i've raced with him before." well damn sure as hell enough they have... and what was unleased was I turned into a transporter between the two - how freaking cool... and yeah that Tuc... gonna have to go get me some of that... We'll see... we'll see maybe we can even get the G out on the course this summer... if he makes it east from sunny Cali
well there - i just went babbled a bit more than i wanted to...
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