Fine reading (elsewhere- certainly not here)

First off the Vid that Greg posted that he got from Molly about Flanders.

Non-slip green bike lanes. Very cool. Now THAT would be something worth looking at to help make the BLVD lanes more effective and I think safer. Heck any bike lane in the greater USofA. Although what is the environmental cost of dumping that much paint on the roadways?

Maynard has a handful of some of his best essays posed/reprinted on his blog. In fact. If you haven't been reading over there lately (thanks for the link Bruce) and you ride, go read. Read it.

You ride anyway. Yes. I ride anyway. This morning's wind was one of the "I rode anyway" days. Go read the rest of the stuff posted over there.

K-Man's Review of Cornering in the Cat 6 corner ain't bad.
Gotta love this line - although there are so many good ones there:

• Always leave room for the rider on your inside to navigate the corner because, if you don’t and they crash, they will carry outside into you and you will both crash. It is a pretty good rule. Don’t forget it.

there's other good stuff around like Michele making me homesick nostalgic.

go find some

i hate scheduled power outages - never fails that one or two systems get hosed in some way. grumble

heddwch
G

Oh and I forgot till just now:
Check CTodd for some new postcards. The wind he is talking about there in Haarlem: think Michigan...

I remember

Caught a bit of Andy Rooney talking about the death of two of his friends. One being Bill Buckley. His comment about never ever being on the same side of an issue with Bill got me thinking about how differently my Grandfather's generation did things.

When my Grandfather retired finally and moved out of LA for good, back to where he grew up (in the summers) in Camden, Maine he would meet with a group of similarly aged friends he had over time become very close with. Maybe some he had served with in World War 2, some he knew from Sailing, H. Scheel was among the group for example. But aside from Scheel's name I didn't know who the others were. Just that it was a group of men who grew up in the depression, lived through the wars and made something of their life.

My grandfather was as articulate as Buckley and an incredibly successful businessman. And just as conservative. But most of these men he met with and called his friends were as liberal as they come here in New England. As Blue as he was Red. Yet, somehow. Like Andy Rooney and Bill Buckley they were friends. And they talked at length in person about these issues amongst each other.

There was something between these gentlemen that seems to have vanished lately. Now you dare not get in a discussion with someone else about a sensitive subject out of fear of turning them away or never seeing them again. Do you dare discuss abortion? Or religion? Or similar veins of controversy? What if you are on opposite sides of the issue?

It struck me that, their generation had one thing above all others: Respect. They first and fore most respected each other. And within that range differences abounded and were tolerated.

Just something that hit me as an awareness. I often think about my grandfather, often it is more along the lines of not so much positive like the time the squirrels were harassing my grandmother's garden. He bought the most expensive pellet rifle in town. And he took me and my cousin down by the water to sight it in. Neither of them could hit the paper plate target. Finally my cousin nailed an edge. I gave it a try and was grouping them dead center with ever shot. This is a single shot lever pumped type pellet rifle. Shoot, break, load, close, shoot, repeat. So we went back up the field towards the garden looking for squirrels. My cousin and I are roughly the same age. We get up there, the squirrels are tearing around. My grandfather hands the gun to my cousin who manages to miss even the tree they were climbing on. But he did scare em away. It has always bothered me that I wasn't given the shot first. But writing this makes me wonder if my grandfather did that deliberately. It certainly would be a positive way to turn the situation. Did he not want me to kill the squirrels that day? Was that the whole point? Some times I think it was because I was carrying the gun wrong at one point. Yes, it was unloaded but I had the barrel not quite pointed down to the ground enough, and that got a reaction and a scolding.

I will never know what he thought or why he did the things he did that left such a huge impression on me.

But the loss of the influence of his generation seems to already be eroding our culture.

Heddwch
G

Brutal

Head wind. Man, not to mention wicked freaking cold. No I wasn't cold but when I took my glove off to snap off this and a few other shots my fingers were pretty darn numb when I got the glove back on.


This is about as close to midwest wind as you get when it is out of the NNW here. While this stretch is only a mile or so of hard core unblocked/mediated wind imagine that sort of wind (like it is coming across the water at the causeway) for 20+ miles. That's what riding in the Mid-West can be like. flat flat roads, and endless fields with few trees or big buildings to slow it down, sure there are a few fence rows here and there but they are not doing much to mute the power of the wind for you.

This morning is was NNW and strong. Saturday afternoon is was just about as strong but NNE. I still managed to get a decent 4 hours in on the bike. Met up with the Rhode Island Smack Down ride crew. It was a thin crew. The morning rain and snow must have scared a few people off. But save for a few puddles the roads were pretty dry. We (me and team-mate and climber type Brent) wound up hitting a few decent hills. The first one that cut our teeth and got the HR up was River Road coming off Valley. Not really much of a hill but it got us both breathing hard. Next up was the mellow Woodward, the one ya often hit if you leave from the Branch/146 area to start a ride. It was the first 'hill' on the Team Gumbie/NBW ride last summer. We then wound up riding around Lincoln Park and we cut over to the Blackstone bike path. And ticked away the length of it into that nice headwind. Side by side. Church of the Big Ring style. Heading up Mansville sucked. I managed to hold a pretty steady pace but it wasn't as fast as Brent's pace. That was demoralizing. West Wrentham, now that's my kinda hill. Motor city. I lead up and just kept the power up seated style and gapped brent before we hit tower hill road turn off. I was hurting so bad but it felt good to just beable to hold it to the top. Then it pitched down. Down down down. YES. Big fat ass me likes going down hill. Stupidly I usually attack on down hills in group rides. Punishment I guess. Sure it is dumb to do in a race but well you've just blown your wad going up hill, lets add some pain on the down. So I dropped it into the 12 and got a gap on Brent and took off. Heading down by the right hand turn at the stop light I looked back and uh oh. What happened. Who would have thought you can drop someone with a 50x11 using a 40x12. Don't let ANYONE tell you "you can't spin 180mm cranks" HA. (allow me one big of smugness) I CAN! I think he was just soft pedaling though. But we were going pretty darn quick (I was keeping pace with the cars going down the hill). So we tooled around, past the base of Diamond Hill and turned and went up Tower Hill Road. It is alot like Fire Road (iirc) back in the college days. Except narrower. Up and up, rolling, not steady. Brent dusted me pretty good. After the hill then the downhill and the tempo along the flat section i was pretty well gassed. Maybe it was the fact that i had the fenders with the duckbill tail on the back, or me just being hard ass moron, but I was up front most of the day. And man, i love it up there. Gimme some wind. Some incline. Lemme motor along. And thinking back I don't know if I ever noticed his sustained eighth note on the seat tube. It was a brilliant ride. No metrics. I have no idea how long I rode for. When I left the house at 12:15 i had no idea it would be 4:20 when I got back.

Made a very simple pasta after watching the last few laps of the Nationwide before the rain ended it. Medium shells tossed with bacon garlic black pepper and pecorino romano cheese. All fresh. The bacon, nice natural hippie stuff. REAL bacon. In fact It is impossible to get real bacon any more. Or at least finding bacon that isn't loaded with saltwater and/or nitrites and nitrates and HFCS is a challenge itself. And then thinking about that. I had to hit the regular supermarket. Needed an item that wasn't at the market (lasagna noodles - no i didn't feel like making my own). And so I looked over at the "butter" case. 8 feet long, 4 shelves and a big bottom one. Who knows how many different SKUs were in there. I sort of wanted to count. But I didn't. No organic butter in there. And the regular butter, land-o-lakes, shaws brand, cabot brand and even that fancy Kates stuff from VT, every single one of the unsalted butters have "natural flavor" added. Serious. The butter doesn't taste like butter enough so they have to add butter flavor? What the Fahk! Maybe if the cows actually ate grass instead of corn and soybeans the damn milk would make a butter that tastes like butter. Insane. Really really insane. How many products in that case? Every one technically a spreadable butter like substance. All but about 6-8 products had little or not actual butter in them. The rest pure imitation processed make you die sooner than later crap. Flat out unbelievable. Really flabbergasting. Then couple the whole new wave of TV adds talking about "managing your type 2 diabetes with drugs from this company or help from this pharmacy" um. HELLO. ANYONE HOME. Type 2 is generally and if not in all cases, most of them completely curable. Um. It is a disease that we have a cure for. Holy crap. no way. a cure? Oh, it requires eating differently, getting enough sleep, AND exercising? Forget that. Pfizer help me please because I'd rather dump drugs in my system with god knows what side effects than actually do something as difficult as stop eating my precious margarine and special K.

I was reminded of the reason Tofu is generally the only source of soy protein (outside of eating Edamame - but then those are green and unprocessed and small part of an occasional meal - and only when they are in season) in Japan and such. Well it is pre-digested. Think of it like Milk to Yogurt. Soy to Tofu. Milk = bad. Yogurt = good. Soy = bad. Tofu = good. Damn. Nice and clean. Still don't need much tofu though. Don't need much protein at all. Protein sucks calicum out of your bones. Yogurt and Tofu's proteins are pre-digested by the bacteria that make them. Meaning way easier to break down, less acidification = more absorbable nutrients. Ah what the hell.

I think I had another rant or two stored up. But maybe I'll just leave it out there. Kinda like Tony Jr did to Dale Jr. That woulda been sweet if he'd gone in for new tires. Definitely would have had a shot at the win if he had. Ya gotta love watching the racing at Bristol.

Different topic yet again... (referencing the whole beer thread on the NECX list from post Nats).

CCC has left a new comment on your post "Heaven simply heaven":

Sorry to dig up the dead, but I just finished off a 6'er of the Black Butte Porter here in Seattle and yes, it is just as good as the "$20/bottle trappist stuff." Good call.

The folks at Deschutes Brewery know how to brew a kick ass beer. Rather than raise a glass of fake Irish stout (okay the G stuff ain't fake but it ain't as good here as there - ain't the same), raise a glass of Black Butte Porter here on St Pats day.

But keeping with my deep celtic roots (pronounces Keltic not seltic ya bunch of dimwits) I'm just gonna say...

Heddwch
G

First Daylight, Now...

Flowers?

Gotta be spring right around the corner, no?



Didn't realize it was outa focus till just now... doh. If the tree rats haven't eaten them already I'll try and get another shot.

Maybe the season will suddenly Spring into Focus!

Heddwch
G

making your own 'sports drink'

Hilarity.

And that Test vid - the UK one. Well everyone's seen it by now so i can say this:
i saw the "bear" but that was a crappy ass moonwalk and a crappy ass costume... oh and i got the answer right too... i couldn't have told you it was a bear or that it was moon walking but i noticed the extra person walking through the group passing back and forth. When they asked about the bear for a minute i was like 'wtf' thinking it would have been small or a real bear or something like that. Flawed. Good but flawed. Makes the point, I guess.

Steve brought up a good point about the 'make your own' fluid replacement beverage. It is a pain. Well here's the deal. Grab a container with a good lid (yogurt ones work, glass jars or what not). If you have access to a gram scale, great. And honestly, is there a bike geek out there without one? And honestly - it is best to cook with weight measurements, they are far more accurate and representative of the ingredient elements than a volume measuring device.

Pretty easy to work backwards and make up and mix some pre-mix. So that your "real" drink stuff is easy (fights the lazy side). Yes, it is more or less not possible to do the flavoring in the powder. But, then, do you need flavor? Gatorade says you do, because it stimulates the metabolic desire to drink. That said, ya don't need the drink to tell you to drink. Do you?

Okay - So get your container. and work up from say Gatorade:
#1 8oz serving of liquid has a "scoop" that has:
0.110 grams of sodium
0.040 grams of potassium
14 grams of sugar

Sodium is a 1:1 ratio with Chlorine in Sea Salt (roughly - or should we say close enough for this application). So doing a bit of calculations (man i'm rusty but iirc Sodium has an atomic weight of 22.99 and chlorine is 35.45 - okay i looked it up - periodic table here on my desk). In this case we don't need to convert to mols because we have the gram equivalent of one and we just need to solve for how many grams of chlorine and add those two together to get how many grams of Sea Salt we need to get a 0.110 g of Sodium that is found in gatorade. Right?

Lets call it 0.170 grams. So.

For the salt we need 0.280 grams per 8 oz (240 ml) serving.

How many servings do you want to make up?
10? well Lets translate to bike water bottles. Assuming a 24oz bottle. That is 3 servings.

So. To make up enough for say 10 bottles we just multiple the base formula 30 times.

But. First. Mass (fancy more accurate term for weigh) out one serving and devise a scoop. maybe you need to mass out 2 servings or even better 3. Does one table spoon equal 1 serving? That makes it easy. But that's where the problem solving happens. And the good thing is? Do it once. All done. (FWIW 1 tsp of turbinado sugar is about 4 grams)

Now you know how big of a scoop one serving of the mix makes. Now. Make a big batch up.

30*0.28 grams = 8.4 grams (you'll find the bigger the quantity to mass out the more precise you get. it is hard to get 0.28 grams. very easy to get 8.4 and at 8.4 +/- 0.1 or 0.2 grams isn't going to screw up the formula very much).

Okay then the sugar:
30*14 grams = 420 grams (huh huh - four twenty).

So what about the potassium?
Well. Turbinado does have about 1/3 of the molasses left in it. Dark brown sugar might be better to use but the crystal nature of the Turbinado makes it more suitable for this application. So that bit of molassees left in there will give you traces (traces meaning probably 100% of those elements will be absorbed instead of a % of a supplement in mineral form - ala gatorade) of good stuff like calcium, iron, and potassium.

Sea Salt has traces of lots of good minerals as well.

Sweet sugar/salt water. Can ya tolerate it? maybe. maybe you want to squeeze a lemon wedge or two in each waterbottle to help it go down. Heck, lots of people like the unflavored/plain gels. Maybe you want to put a drop or two of some natural vanilla extract (don't use the corn syrup based stuff - yuck). Or a splash of juice.

Or maybe it is just too much trouble. You don't have time to take care of your body now with all that data analysis your coach is having you do with the powertap files. Here's the deal. Figure out how to justify taking the TIME to prepare your body (engine). You should really spend more time preparing it than analyzing it post exertion. Seriously. Look at the Race cars for example. If a team took care of the motors like most "serious" cyclists hooked up to all types of measuring devices take care of their own bodies, well there would be lots and lots and lots of DNFs from blown motors. Dat the flat out truth.

Take care of what God gave ya there. That sleeve of yours. We ain't in Richard Morgan's Kovacs books. You can't just get a new sleeve. Ya gotta make the one ya got work.

Heddwch
G

got thinking

about gatorade - and the lack of fake stuff free alternative powder, that isn't over priced to cover the processing cost at low demand levels (compared to gatorade).

Gatorade is basically pretty simple (powder that is) in terms of ingredients. So I got to thinking. How would I make one that would replace the sugars and salts needed. (caution - the lead into the gatorade talks about power and watts and powertap stuff...)

What do you need:
Sucrose
Salt

Ideally you should be getting enough potassium via food sources that you can get away with just replacing the sodium chloride that you sweat - and seeing as calcium is just as important for muscle contraction and all that (as K) sticking a bit of calcium ascorbate will balance it all out.

So.

Sucrose
Salt
Calcium Ascorbate powder

Add some fresh lemon and lime juice and boom.

A brilliant cheap drink.

Use some sea salt, and an organic fine crystal turbinado sugar and you get all the kick ass important micronutrients (from the sea salt and the stuff that is left in the sugar) and the benefit of juice from fresh fruit as a flavor agent.

Sugar, salt = cheap. You can purchase enough calcium ascorbate powder to last a couple seasons of just drink use for $20 or so maybe a little more. The Lemons, Limes (low sugar high flavor fruits) would certainly be the big cost. But even then. How many would you need?

And like the home made stock - yes - it is more work. But the return is exponentially higher than the input work.

It is good stuff.

(but then i can't see the lazy folks making it up - i'll refrain from lumping any group in that - obviously there is a market for products with little or no solid studies showing their benefit - accelerade for example {yes i know - they have studies - but all funded by the Labs that make the stuff - those studies don't count - EVER} anyway there is truth to the truism "any drink is better than no drink" or "the best drink is the one you use" something is better than nothing, but, is it really?)

Oh and just to dispell the purity of consumption myth. I did eat pizza for lunch and I had a couple small cups of Coke. Yeah. Preservatives (pepperoni) and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Ah well, once in a while, it ain't gonna kill me. Certainly not compared to the average population.

But then that brings up the whole conflict with eating out (the Sysco truck pulling out just down the road in front of me got me thinking along those lines). Food service stuff is bought in bulk. Big cans. Of medium quantity. High end restaurants really aren't all that different. Maybe in the combinations or the quality of the key ingredients (meat, fish) but the filler stuff isn't always at the same level. Middle level establishments still get a big portion of stuff from bulk not great suppliers. Not to mention the amount of waste and what not. And yes. I speaking from a diversity of background and personal experience with the matter. Like riding in the cold, I have a pretty solid framework on which my thoughts are grounded. Sometimes I obscure it with a big of fog but the foundation is there and is generally pretty damn solid. And. yes. There are always exceptions. My rule for riding in the cold. You need base your clothing choices on being able to stand outside, on the most exposed stretch of your ride, long enough to change a flat tire. That and a 90kg person holds more heat than a 60kg person (given equal or similar BMI). Just flat out mass. I got mass. So anyway. Never take anyone's advice without feeling comfortable following it with what you know. If it is unknown - look into it - see if others are saying the same thing. Few ideas are original. Hell this Pollan guy seems to have tapped into my brain regarding what to eat! Hey, at least he saves me from writing a book no one would read.

Heddwch
G

Were they ever really gone

Some times it takes doing something to know if it is right or not. Even when one can probably deduce the outcome mentally. Compelling reasons were sparse but effective.

That said. I was going to talk about how to make a killer soup out of the chicken broth... but, well, It'll wait.

I was thinking tho, on the ride in, about actions that stick with you. And how they make up your personality. Do you vividly recall every mistake and the emotional flood you went through? Do the opportunities you missed, that you didn't see until far too late come back to haunt you? Or are you driven by the good things in life? Do you work towards the positive fighting in that direction but are weighed down with the baggage of growing up as the sharp tempered easily provoked awkward self conscious skinny kid?

A bit introspective I guess this morning.

Pretty mellow, tired, what not. Surprised it is thursday. Certainly feels like it I guess. And yet, one more week gone almost. One week closer to Battenkill and Burlingame.

I did think about goals last night. And in a very positive re-affirming way. When I really just thought about it all, (goals on the bike) I'm pretty happy with the way things are going. No I'm not getting the ft+10% intervals in on a regular basis, hell at all. But, I am riding most everyday, I am focused on going hard, medium and easy. Balancing the riding so I'm not all one speed. I am more often than not leaping on the bike cross style still with perfect form. And that's a wonderful feeling. I'm still unclipping at stop lights so I can practice my Cross starts.

Cyclocross still dominates my focus. There is no way I can compete on the road against guys riding bikes 5-7 pounds lighter than mine, with aero wheels and 10 speeds and all that technology. Guy weighting at least 10-20kilos lighter than me. I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible to overcome all those obstacles. many people find mental fuel in riding crappy equipment. Every person they beat who has a bike worth 4x more than theirs is fire enough to train their ass off. To suffer just that much longer in the break. Then it gets to a point where that isn't fun anymore. Cyclocross is different. Mtn and Road are pretty similar, driven by what is new. Yes there are always exceptions. Always someone bucking the trend in equipment, riding something old, but that's really an exception. Being the exception your whole life is a challenge. Esp when even after over three and a half decades ya still haven't figured it out yet.

eat well, eat smart, eat real food

heddwch
g

What to stock in your kitchen

So i've had this whole paycheck in store flyer kicking around for a while. The clif-notes version is that in the pages are pretty much all the elements needed to make great FOOD.

I endeavored to add some of my own comments - or at the least - document it as solidly informative, albeit gilding the lily for some one like me. But then positive affirmations are always a good thing. When a big name panel supports what you've been doing all along, the validation is usually a good thing.

So i head over to the website that the WFM runs. Ooooh snazzy. Search. Hmmm, I don't see the title of the brochure there: "The Complete Healthy Kitchen."

But I see 'healthy pantry.pdf' further more it is a 'UK' thing?

No big deal. But. it's 99% the same as this printed one. But the names are changed. And the big names like Jody Adams, Mary Nearn, Michel Nischan, Nora Pouillon and Marion Nestle, are missing.

Okay. Maybe The real version of this is out there. It says: "Reprinted by permission from Body + Soul" lets see.

Sure'nuff we can find the identical WFM brochure I have here on Martha's Body + Soul section here: "The Complete Healthy Kitchen."

That is the verbatim version of the fancy recycled soy ink card stock printed 8.5x11" 8 page wonder hand out.

Now the info is the same. What do I care? I shouldn't. But I'm an observer at heart and inconsistencies stick out.

couple passages to compare:

ARTICHOKES
Once prized as an aphrodisiac, artichokes now have
a healthy reputation — they promote the flow of bile
to the liver, which helps break down rich, fatty foods.
“Eat them fresh during the spring,” says Carole, “or
add canned or frozen artichoke hearts to pasta.”

Artichokes Once prized as an aphrodisiac, artichokes now have a healthful reputation; they promote the flow of bile to the liver, which helps break down rich, fatty foods. Eat them fresh during the spring, says Adams, or add canned or frozen artichoke hearts to pasta.

Hmmm. That looks oddly familiar. Any mention of a name in the Body + Soul article is either removed or replaces with 'Carole' and i just find that rather curious.

That said the information is sound. It isn't wrong. But here is a different example:

Carole opts
for organic olive oil because she thinks it possess a
superior taste

Pouillon opts for organic olive oils, because she thinks they possess a superior taste. "Anything that detracts from the natural way of growing takes away from flavor," she says.

Another Hmmm.

There are big enough problems out there with people not getting what they need - getting sick because of it - without stealing credit, eh?

Granted the whole "lower in fat" bit does bother me. Still. A lot. Eat well. Do enough 'work' (energy production) to balance your caloric intake. If you like to eat a lot of food? Well work it off.

Calorically speaking aside. Looking at this (the Body+soul should be first reference ATMO) there is a ton of good stuff in there. And yall should have at least a good handful of them on hand.

No matter if you can take the cold, not everyone can. Doesn't make then less of a person, no matter what names people call them even in jest. Not everyone can eat well all the time. Thats the facts.

I think that the Pollan book is well worth buying and reading. And for the really intense, the references it provides provide some solid research and follow up materials.

'Made the simplest of sauces last night for some pasta. Vegan even:
Extra virgin olive oil - enough to cover the bottom of the pan - 1/4 cup maybe)
1/2 of a sweet onion finely chopped - softened till just before browning at low-med heat
1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar into the hot oil - increase heat till most of the water/vinegar has reduced
add in this order mixing completely as you go
1 28 oz can of Crushed tomatoes with basil (organic if possible)
1/4 cup red wine
3-4 cloves of garlic pressed
1 tablespoon of dried basil
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

barely simmer for 15 minutes at least... 60 is better (barely simmer means no bubbling but still on the burner with heat).

Cook pasta, drain and then put pasta in sauce pan, toss. Serve with hot pepper flakes and (if desired) 1/2 pecorino romano (sheep) and 1/2 parm reggi (cow) cheese shredded on top.

A bit of salad or hot salad to go with it and you are all set.

Dressing?
Simple:
Balsamic Vinegar/fresh squeezed orange juice
add dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, dried basil
mix completely
then
add extra virgin olive oil until you get about 3:2 oil to other stuff. Shake and shake. If you get enough mustard in there it will prevent the oil from separating. Make a whole screw top jar full, keep in fridge indefinitely (yeah right - this is good stuff).

Food.

It is where it is at.

Heddwch
G

Boston

Spent a bit of time up in Boston - Syndey street to be specific - yesterday.

Lots of bikes. Motorcyclist Cop writing a cyclist a ticket in the AM. Lots of bikes. Lots of runners.

The ubiquitousness of the iPod was overwhelming.

Everyone walking down the street seemed to have white cords emanating from their ears.

Somewhat odd juxtaposition in that the "thanks for coming" 'gift' were $10 gift cards to iTunes.

I'm listening to Shannon Saunders right now, thanks to that card.

It is good. Good stuff.

If you are wondering, yes I've hidden the comments. Drop me an email if you want to say something. gewilli at (of course seeing as this is blogger based Google stuff) gmail. And if you can't tell what is sarcasm and what isn't, well, 99% of the time it probably is, even if it doesn't seem to be. I might put em back on - we'll see.

Track 3 is really probably my favorite. Killer fiddlin.

Marvin's got a new article up at PEZ. Worth a read.

When ya done with that - ya can check out some killer photos.

heddwch
g

The sins

Not to be a mirror for The Church of the Big ring.

But. Well I find it to be pretty solid stuff.

Do you need to go to confessional?

Lust: The newest carbon widget will not make you faster. Knowing the weight in grams of every component at Competitive Cyclist does not make you informed, it makes you the Rainman. You don’t want end up like this man.

Gluttony: A sin of excess. Do you sit at the front the entire group ride in the hope of impressing your fellow riders with you mastery of The Big Ring? Share the gospel. Save the 2hrs at LT for your solo worship. Let other experience the divine suffering of the lead position.

Greed: As applied to TCoTBR is the the acquisition of excess gear. Do you really need the Power-Tap and the SRM?

Sloth: Don’t sit on the break. If you don’t pull through don’t sprint, ever!

Wrath: On the bike all manner of verbal assault is fine. Leave it on the bike. When you cross the finish line all is forgotten. If challenged turn the other cheek. The enlightenment of The Big Ring shall be yours.

Envy: The Big Ring is a cruel master. Even Eddy “lost” more than he won. The Big Ring does not care about the results sheet. The Big Ring is about giving your all in every situation and being true to yourself. When you win be grateful, when you don’t be happy for the winner.

Pride: It is ok to sit up. Don’t get stuck in “no mans land”, if you can’t get up to the break go back to the pack. You are not doing yourself or your team any favors cooking your legs for nothing.

Best line today

"___ has the patience of a rock!"

Love that line.

It was raining riding in. Brilliant stuff. I gotta say, it is a deterent when contemplating a junk mile ride with others at times but. I really do like riding in the rain. Someone dismissed the few layers of cloths I wear justifying the insanity by suggesting that a ride somewhat less than an hour doesn't need 4 thermal layers of crap, implying that some how there is a difference riding for 45 minutes or 4.5 hours. To me? no difference. The difference for me seems to be about 15 minutes. 15 minutes, yah, ya can get away underdressed. 45-60? Nope. Anyway. People are just too damn soft. Both the pudgy-ness and the cold tolerance. Aclimation is the key. Get that dermal metabolism cranked up. Get the internal metabolism cranked up. (FYI - that's a mix of sarcasm folks - just feel like i need that disclaimer)

Realized last night that Pollan is not talking about me. I had to work hard to even come up with a food that I eat on a somewhat regular basis that includes Soybean oil or corn products. Yes. Wheat? Yeah, I make waffles or pancakes in the morning - usually a blend of whole wheat and white flours (King Arther Brand of course), or pasta. And the whole low fat thing. I hear people suggesting it. Makes no sense. Never did but now that Pollan has put together the scientific research for me (in his book) damn now it is worse than watching some ____ clean a chain with water based degreaser/soap.

Ah well.

Riding in the Rain is fun.
heddwch
G

White Noise...

I just realized as I was humming a line from The Paperboys Jesse James (on the Tenure album) that I haven't listen to a bar of music all day. The white noise down here in the dungeon they keep me in is pretty loud.

So I cranked it up, damn fine percussion and bass playing, and just perfect fiddle highlights. Went to check on the name of the gal playing the fiddle on the Molinos and Tenure and stuff... so before I cast judgement on the new gal playing the fiddle (and appearantly singing too I went to listen to the music video. I dunno. The new fiddle ain't as killer as the old one. I guess some stuff has to change. Shannon Saunders just damn knew how to play. Still does I should say.

Hmm. Gotta get a hold of her CDs. Good damn stuff. Get a hold of some of her tunes over at MySpace. (yeah - second time this calendar year i've been to myspace... I'm slipping).

H.Crap this is some find fiddle playing (the songs on myspace). Nice. Maybe I need to take the fiddle out for a while one of these days. I'll never be as good as Shannon or my little sister, but damn i do like playing that violin of mine.

Okay - time for some sort of a ride home.

Heddwch
-G

Yes. The beard really does work.

My wife asked the other day, does all that hair on your face really keep it warm?

YES.

Who needs some silly smelly balaclava when ya got beard potential. Sure, granted most women can't grow such copious thick facial hair, and that's probably a good thing. Riding in this morning - stiff stiff breeze blowing unfettered across the water from the west - gusting at times so that I was riding tilted into the wind (draggin the trailer) - anyway, riding in this morning 22°F or so, wind chill down in the low teens. Just that Ibex Beanie under the giro - damn that thing has lots of vents - and perfect. Toes? Cool, but not cold. These DeFeet Blaze socks totally rock. Booties? PFAH. Yeah right.

Also, not once crossing the debris field did i reach down and brush the back tire. My sheldon nuts are here and the rear is installed!!!! With a nice kingsbridge tire saver mounted just so it is barely grazing the top of the tire. If i want to annoy the crap out of people i'm riding with i can just bend the tabs down a bit and the sumbitch howls like crazy.

Days like today it is nice just to spin. Pedal my ass off. Stay'n warm. Nothing crazy - probably only in the low 90s most of the way in, a few jaunts up to the 120s for the hell of it, and some low slow grinds up the hills draggin the trailer.

Days like today the passenger is super warm. Bundled up but at this age, with the fierce metabolism fueled by never sleeping under covers, all it takes is a couple waterbottles (black vanderkitten ones are the preferred model this year) full of hot tap water and she's rosy toasty when we get to our destination.

I am constantly thankful that so much of the commute is on the bike path. Riding home it was silent. Not a peep from anything. No car noise. And for a long time we didn't hear any flights coming in and out of TFGreen. The longshoremen must have gone home for the weekend. It was wonderful. Just coasting along with the rolling sound of the tires. No wind. Silence. The stark contrast is the sound riding along the parkway. Car after car, roaring by. Having the bulk of the commute on a path is a blessing. Sure we picked our house with that in mind. But it was there, giving us the opportunity to pick it. The dropped shells will always be a problem this time of year, and once we get that first 70°F day the path will be swarming with iPod wearing runners, roller bladers, walkers, strollers and pathletes. All out enjoying the outdoors while tuning out the sounds of everyone else with their music devices. Then the path becomes somewhat less enjoyable as an isolationist retreat. But it still is wonderful even with the crowds. Now it is the same handful of regulars. Mostly older folks who are out walking. The same old guys, the same women. All with a single intent but a remarkably peaceful look on their face. Something about the ritual of walking along the water in the morning does the same for them as it does for me. It grounds your day. Makes the bickering about moronic training toys seem pretty silly. But then it makes the debate about food, sustainability and energy even more powerful. A razor of the arguments. Culling the retarded ones and sharpening the ones that really matter.

I've started part 2 in Pollan's new book. Pretty solidly remarkable stuff. But just affirmations of what I've been saying for years. Eat good food. Eat food. I loved the word association difference between France and the USA regarding Chocolate Cake. The overwhelming word USA chose to link to Chocolate Cake was guilt. The French? "CELEBRATION"! You tell me which is healthier?

The whole fat issue. 66% of the brain is fat. There are as many neurons along the digestive track as there are in the spinal column. And yes. Like the brain, these neurons are sheathed in lipid (fat). Bodies need fat. From the dawn of these low fat fahkups I've thought them strange, wrong. Silly. But it was a feeling. Intuition. Whatever. People have gone through eliminating things one by one. The Fats are bad. Then the carbs are bad. People still get sick. Still suffer heart disease and cancer. Maybe it is the protien. Or the quantity of protien. But MP points out what we know. Food and Human needs are far far too complex just to reduce it down to one element.

But that said. Reducing your food down to simple elements is good. Reduce the food to the basics. The unprocessed elements. Combine them yourself. People load up still on fiber and antioxidants. I find it hysterical and sad. There is more fiber in real food than a human needs. And Pollan points out, how do we know antioxidants removed from the foods they are found in are even effective? It isn't really a tree hugging frame of view. But in some ways the hippies are right, organic, whole grains, simple food that tastes amazing. Enter in all the Local 121 type establishments. There is a market for good local basic food.

But then lets look at waste. I got thinking about waste yesterday as I was making some chickenstock. Ya know, why buy some oversalted crappy flavor canned or cartoned stock when you can take the chicken carcass (which many just throw away) chop one or two carrots (the ugly ones even) a bit of an onion and whatever else you have rolling around. Fill up with some water. Slowly simmer. Skim the fat off the top (home rendered chicken fat - if ya eating natural chicken that's some good flavor down the road to use - skim, filter and freeze) and reduce. And boom. Ya got some amazing chicken stock. From stuff that wasn't going to be used.

It is about not making waste. Buying toothpaste. I was confronted by the Crest Pro-Health display. The 6oz tubes were on sale at the bullseye this weekend. Cheaper by the volume than the 7.8oz tubes. And then they had the travel size for free with the 6oz tube. So, I bought the 6oz one (actually bought 2). But I thought for a moment about the packaging. Wondering if the more expensive larger container might actually have a cheaper footprint in the big picture. Sure I can recycle the boxes. But it made me think. And at the Market on sunday I stood infront of the chicken stock (Better than bullion bulk base) and it hit me. Reading the ingredients:Organic chicken meat and natural juices, salt, organic cane sugar, organic maltodextrin, natural flavor, organic dried onion, organic potato starch, organic dried garlic, organic turmeric, spice extractives. Why can't I just make my own? Salt and Sugar are just flavor enhancers making up for a lack in other areas, no? I didn't buy any. Heck the non-organic chicken stock uses corn syrup instead of sugar. I hate that stuff.

Natural stuff. Simple ingredients. Good for you is important. Good to eat is just as important. Combine the two and you have some serious good stuff.

Don't settle for that crap around the corner for lunch. Make some extra food at dinner, bring it for lunch. Save some cash, eat better, feel better, move on to less important issues after ya tackle the big ones.

Heddwch
G

last ride of the year for me...

before the time change...

the thought of losing an hour this weekend is not making me feel any better...

but, the fact is, somehow, i've made it nearly the whole month without needing to charge the headlight (yeah - even odds i'm going to be riding home by the light of a frog light)...

the battery powered LED Christmass lights are just about dead. Both in battery life and actually the wiring is breaking. Not the most durable of things... there are a few LED bits still glowing, enough of them. But, it would see, the extra hour will be rather nice for the way home... Might mean this the last sunset to watch on the way home...

It seems odd that it is already march, heck a week into march even. Where has the winter gone?

heddwch
g

no more words

bandwidth beware

hard to beat the original tho...

gatorade pow(d)er... and subsequent musings

I mean really? That stuff is the bomb. All that gel gu stuff says "consume water with it" um... if I'm gonna suck down 80-100 calories of flavors sugar in a syrup form, that says "drink water" with it... why not just put those 80-100 calories in the damn water and just drink it?

Then you won't have egotistical jackasses riding for the Bicycling Magazine Team tossing empty gel packets on people's lawns (Palmer specifically - he did it 2x - because I guess after reaching back to get the gu out of your jersey pocket and then consume it ya just don't have the energy to put it BACK IN YOUR DAMN POCKET). That just screams EGOTISTICAL ATHOL. Sure that dude probably can kick my ass on the bike, that doesn't give him the right to make promoters job's tougher.

So yeah - at one point I was all over the Gu phase. When the stuff came out - i was sucking it down left and right. And i was riding with plain water.

Last year I went back to the gu's for a while. Tried a bunch of different ones. Mostly found the plain flavors w/o caffine and more sodium to be best. But even then. No real benefit over drinking a couple cups of coffee pre-ride and then drinking slightly strong gatorade. That bottled stuff is all high fructose corn syrup. The powder is simply sugars. And HFCS is not terribly good for anyone. It really should have a label "Imitation Sugar" but that's a story/rant when switching back to the Defense of Food book.

DC's headline this morning caught my eye:
" Don’t get Hammered by Hammer Nutrition "
I have one of the orange gel packs laying around. I can't stand the orange flavor (yes I tried it). The problem is with their pills. That goes back to eating and supplementation. There is no way to not get all you need from just eating.

Gatorade is nice - it is a good way to fuel the muscles - but it isn't a meal replacement. And honestly you could probably argue that carrying a bit of real food around with you in a pocket and some water in the bottles would be enough.

But here again.

Hydration, fueling, rest. Those three factors focused on in the race AND TRAINING will return far more benefits than using some toy to track your progress and report to a coach. If you are not well rested how can you effectively push and stress your muscles and make them stronger to make you faster? How can you do it if you spend all day dehydrated and hungry? The muscles won't be able to repair and recover from the stresses of cycling if you don't take care of yourself all the time.

Sure it is difficult. It is difficult to eat food that is real food, not over-processed food-like substances. But it isn't impossible.

Are you going to just eat a pop-tart or are you going to make a bowl of oatmeal, stick some fruit and yogurt on there? Both are similar in caloric content. Sure, one takes about 2 minutes to make, the other about 30 seconds. One takes a minute to eat and you can eat it while riding, the other, well ya need a bowl usually. So maybe you sit down for a second. Is your life really so complex and scheduled that you can't spare a few extra minutes to eat right?

Why are you rushed in the morning? Did you stay up too late? Why? Watching TV? Wow, that's a good excuse. You stayed up late because there's a show on TV you want to watch, but you are too tired to wake up with enough time to eat a breakfast of real food?

With very few assumptions, and just the tiniest bit of observation riding around a neighborhood at night, the TV is probably the biggest problem in the USA. Turn the damn thing off. Stop getting cable/dish/whatever. Motivation. If a toy can get someone to train better, maybe breaking a TV will work even better. "But then my kids can't zone out and watch movies." And that's a bad thing, how?

A basic tenet of scientific observation is that the phenomenon that is being observed is not affected or in any way changed by either the process of observation or the observer. In many cases, however, the reverse is not true. Often, when studying natural phenomena, the observer is profoundly affected. Whether gazing into a night sky to watch meteor showers occurring light years away, or sitting in the garden to detect the lemony scent an evening primrose releases at the moment its petals unfurl in the twilight, we humans have a propensity to be deeply moved by witnessing such seemingly magical events in nature – sometimes to the extent it changes the course of our lives.

Lets take that quote a different direction today. (I dug it out of this entry).
It makes me wonder if a coached athlete should actually never see the display on their powermeter. ever. Do the workout as prescribed. Email data. If it truely is for the benefit of the coach, then it has little measure for the athlete. No? Nah probably too radical of an idea. Some of the most effective 'users' of the power meters (meaning cyclists who use them) ride more often with the power numbers taped over so they can't see what the read out is.

I guess, well, there are so many aspects that influence the ability to make power, measuring it with absolute precision (down to at least 1-2%) seems pretty illogical. If being just tired, slightly dehydrated or hungry will reduce your power by 20-50% how can your device keep track of that and provide relative information? Sure the HRM aspect of it helps in some cases (showing decreased HR with fatigue or dehydration) but most power folks dismiss the whole HR side as a fallible metric compared to watts.

When it takes a whole day to write an entry. What does that say. Reading back through, I am kinda suprised that it links together despite a billion interruptions. Seems to flow.

One thing I did start to do was look back at when I really was riding more (based on the entries here) prep'n for Battenkill. It was pretty well into March, after an attack of the flu and a facility move when I finally got some serious miles in. Crazy. Things haven't changed much. Still missing the extra miles. BUT. But this year I am NOT riding myself into the ground every day on the commute. Going hard on most of the days, easy on a few of them and not riding once a week (during the week). Seems to be making a difference. I've still arrived at Friday a bit tired. But hey - who isn't.

Truths. We know what they are. Often we know what is best. But occasionally we slip. Occasionally we sacrifice the truth in favor of something else. So ya watch a show or two on TV. So what. So ya catch the nightly news. So ya watch a game or a race on TV now and then. So you eat a bit of food with some fake stuff in it. Few people are perfect. But. Acknowledging the bar of perfection and reaching for it most of the time will make a big difference. Ignoring it, deliberately being ignorant about what is right, about what CAN make a difference, that is where the gross errors start to build up. Work towards a positive end. Recognize that little things do add up. There isn't a quick fix. Everything takes work. And really, you know? Work isn't that bad. Put a little effort into your life. It will pay dividends.

Heddwch
G

7 pounds?

Man. Frames my size weight 7 pounds. Whole Bike? Carbon fiber chain ring? Gotta wonder what the qualification is behind the "1000km/week" (on rollers? motorpacing on a flat track?)

Check out K-Man's how to climb entry - some good stuff buried in there.

Some killer quotes in an article I came across in print form from something I picked up around town.

The purpose of college isn’t to program students with accepted doctrines, turning them into clones of their teachers and parents, but to provoke them to think for themselves.

I was gonna put a few more in here. But it is best to read it all in context. Well written. Lots of big words used correctly and not ostentatiously (holy crap i think i spelled that right the first time).

Reading is fun. Reading something that challenges your point of view is good too.

DK brings up some damn good stuff. Not that you have to agree with it or what not. Just a good read.

Thinking about Reading. The Defense of Food passage i read last night was talking about vitamins and briefly how "nutrients" and "vitamins" came to be. One anectode that came to mind was Christine V's story about being a guest speaker at a Vegan Athlete kind of conference. Someone asked what supplements the athletes were taking. One by one each of the other athletes went through this big list of pills and supplements and CV said essentially "none" or more or less close to it. Supporting the notion that if you eat a good balance of food you are getting what you need.

It drives home the point that Micheal's book really isn't anything ground breaking. Isn't new or radical. And maybe that's why it is so compelling and draws such an audience.

Are people realizing that food is important? As Food? As more than food? Are people realizing that this human body of ours is pretty freaking adaptable? The notion of helicopter parents comes to mind right now. Do we need to survey, measure, weight, portion out ever last tiny bit of food we consume? Tracking nutrients and levels with every meal? And no. Don't worry - not taking that in a powermeter direction. Not right now at least.

It has cooled off a bit. Almost feels cold after the last few days. Sure it is still a balmy 44°F right now. But the cloud cover and stiff wind (16 mph steady out of the south) makes it feel closer to 34°F.

Still. Better than 20°F. No rain means less clean up. All good.

Soon it is time to ride!
heddwch
G

All othe bike lubes are crap

Except that stuff.

Ah heck that ain't true. But if you are using a wet lube. Don't waste ya cash.

Chain lube though brings up something rather interesting.

For eons - decades at least. I've been vehemently opposed to cleaning the chain with a water based degreaser for routine "cleaning."

Why? Why? so simple it is outrageous that people insist on continuing to 'clean' the chain with simple green or some watery orange surfactant. It doesn't clean. It removed the lubricant base and pushes surfactant molecules into the wear surfaces. see the problem is water and stuff bind to metal really well. Unless you are baking your chain afterwards or soaking it in something like WD-40 ya ain't no way no how gonna get all the degreaser off the chain. No way. No How. Bad for chain. Good if you own bike shop and make a few bucks on chains that wear out sooner than later. Good if you are selling the product that has to be over used when applying after degreasing.

Here's my problem with communicating my conundrum with this: I can visualize the whole process. The binding of the water and degreaser to the chain. The displacement of the wonderful slippery goodness of lubricant with the dirt that really is only on the outside of the chain...

It is why I really really like the Slick Willy Dry lube. It gets applied much the same way that you would use Voldoil EVerLube. You never "clean" the chain. You just start with a new chain and go from there. Lenny Zinn's ProLink Gold application recommendation is the same. Start with a new sticky chain. Over apply your lube of choice on a regular basis let it sit (for the dry stuff) for 10 minutes or a day, and then wipe the excess off with the dirt. Clean the der pullies and cassette and chain ring on a somewhat regular basis and you are all set.

That T-9 Stuff from boesheild is too much in the middle. The build up is rather extreme and it is sticky and gunks up the pullies and the cassette more than the Slick Willy stuff or a lightly applied wet lube.

So we've got three 6'6"+ dudes telling you how to care for your chain. All in the same manner. Zinn's method is linked above. ErikV's is over here. And well. Don't have to go far to find mine.

Apply lube. over apply. Wait. Wipe. Repeat as needed. And honestly these last few applications using the PB Blaster penetrant stuff I'm liking it. It smells funny. Always a good sign. That Campy Lube smells funny too and it is good stuff. I LOVE the catch phrase in that intro Flash Bit. "Don't bust your knuckles. BUST YOUR NUTS!" It doesn't leave too thick of a film of oil. And it keeps the darn chain quiet, even after a handful of wet rainy rides.

Go back a ways. Remember those first chain cleaning devices? The selling point for Park's (IIRC) silicone based cleaner was that the solvent was a lubricant and a cleaner unlike degreasers alone. Made sense then. Makes sense now.

When I see someone loading up a chain cleaner with simple green or something like that my spine crawls and i want to begin to get evangelical on them. But. I've given up when it comes to some people. Obviously I haven't given up on everyone.

But. Hey.

Don't use a degreaser on your chain? M'Kay? Just like you don't point the power washer 1 cm away from the bearing races. Don't dump the degreaser on the chain. Common sense. Component longevity. Sure spray the crap out of the frame with the simple green. Clean the dirt off those places with it. Just not the chain.

Clean is good. Well lubed is better.

I mean everyone knows how much better things are well lubed! Right?

Now go get your mineral spirits and Mobil 1, and remember: It is called EVerLube.

Heddwch
G

Sheldon Brown

Was he being Clairvoyant or just really damn smart?

You be the judge in November.

In case you miss the reference:

February 3, 2008

Super Tuesday Nears...
I've finally made up my mind, I'll be voting for Obama in the primary on Tuesday. When you live in Massachusetts, the primary is the only presidential vote that matters--if a Democrat can't carry Massachusetts in the final, there's no hope!

I'm still a big fan of Clinton, and would still be on the fence, except that my daughter is very strongly for Obama and has been working for him, which is enough to tip the balance for me.

Actually, my ideal scenario would be a Clinton/Obama ticket, with Obama running in 2016 as VP. However, it's very unclear that such a ticket is possible, so Obama/whoever is my next choice.

posted here:
http://sheldonbrown.org/journal/journal-0801.html

his last published entry into his journal.

The pendulum swings back

and a groan is heard through out the land...

GeWilli feels validation when other like minded but more literate comrades coin phrases that support emotional utterances that sound like mad monkey farts flying from g's fingers.

Like Strangelife. (thumbs up - 98% good number)

And just now BSNYC.

Yeah. That guy.

Training With Power

In case you didn’t know, training with power is all the rage. In fact, Joe Friel likens getting a power meter to a person with weak eyesight donning his first pair of glasses. Of course, the reality is that riding with a power meter is more like having sex with an electrocardiogram, in that it takes the fun out of the whole enterprise and buffets you with data you don’t really need. Physical sensation will guide you through your ride the same way it guides you through sex, and if you can’t do either without electronics it’s possible you have a problem that technology by itself may be insufficient to address.

Amen Brother. Amen.

When does cross season start?
heddwch
G

from *THE* Church - finally

10 Commandments
Written on March 4, 2008. Written by The Rev.

1. You will pull through, or do not sprint
2. You shall not take The Big Ring in vain
3. Remember ‘cross season, keep it holy
4. Thou shall wear no underwear nor knee socks
5. Honor Merckx and Kelly
6. Thou will not dope
7. Thou shall not attack the feed zone
8. Thou will not half wheel
9. Thou shall let no gap open
10. Thou shall not covet they neighbors bike

unplugged

the realization of how worked up i am getting about the bike lane issue locally and the perception that riding in a bike lane in a city without them is safer than just being on the road...

and the fact that i keep going back to the training/powertap issue needlessly...

and other stuff...

I'm just feeling unplugged.

snuff.

lights out.

Not so much getting worked up about it but the realization that I really might have been just as emotionally worked up as Il B at the meeting. Took JM to point that out when i stopped into his shop on the way back up.

I tell ya - putting your bike on the roof of a car in the driving rain and wind, and then having to ride it in street clothes. Well that's a damn good way to get a wet ass. Esp when you have a nice perforated leather cover on an old school San Marco Concor. So i stood up. All the way.

Then, well had to hit the remote facility. Stood up all the way - into the wind - 40x13. Hell i stayed in the 40x13 up and down the hills (hard to shift when you can't sit down and use down tube levers) even into the wind. All the way back. Stood up. Damn, lemme tell ya - without being used to it, riding for 2-4 miles at a time without sitting down ain't all that easy. And to think there was a guy in Michigan who had prostate surgery and instead of not riding he just road a season without a saddle or seatpost. And he was doing centuries. That's toughness.

unplugged...

unplug

wishing I had as good luck winning those silly (rigged) raffles for cool ass bikes like IFs and Ridleys and what not (even if they don't fit me) as I've had lately winning iPods. Even my wife is making those remarks.

*sigh*

Oh, BTW - the chicken recipe works just as well at 475 vs 500. tried it last night. less smoke.

There are grammatical errors even in his silence.
- Stanislaw J. Lec

yeah.

I think in bad grammar too.

Heddwch
g

coaches and powertaps

*groan*

Yeah I know.

Don't worry. They have a place both of them. They are important. I asked myself at one point last night "where would sports be without coaches"

And then I started wondering two lines of thought:
Team sports. You need someone in charge
Individual sports. You need experience you won't have till you are past your physical peak.

Both call for coaches.

I wondered though. In 10 years will J. Friel be saying "ya know, now that I've been doing this data thing for so long, It really was best before we even had a HRM." Will he?

I see this whole broad coaching plan "train like this, do this, don't do that" and advice in general to be much like the damn how to eat. Don't eat this. Don't eat that. Butter is bad. Eat this synthetic chemical product that only looks like butter and acts like butter. (20 years later) No wait, that product will kill you, better to eat butter.

Fortunately or not I don't have time to expound on this. Probably a good thing to leave it as a seed of an idea the nugget of coal to fuel a train of thought... best not to shovel the whole coal car into the furnace at once.

heddwch
g

hOLY cRAP

(yes caps like that deliberate)

Check it OUT

US Open comes to PROVIDENCE? NO F'N WAY!

Brilliant.

and very interesting:

"The race's name has been changed from the U.S. Open Cycling Championships to the U.S. Open of Cycling. It will include a men's and women's professional race and timed amateur charity rides on the same course."

Still a bunch of ego's with wiener's as one called them who has been involved on the Pro Level for a long time.

But should be pretty damn cool.

Can't Deny it. Little Rhody is a damn fine state for cycling.

Heddwch
G

This would have been much better

For 1500:

Enjoy. From the company that validated why us mechanics always picked powdered donuts (and along that same lines why bike shop employees in East Lansing michigan would look at their hands when asked White or Rye for their Rodeo burger at the Peanut Barrel before exclaiming 'RYE')

I present brilliant marketing.

1500

damn hell of a lot of words... no, that isn't 1500 words... another mark... posts

But, staying true to my purpose, I am not going to change the main intent of the brain dump beyond this little - damn that's a lotta words.

So what prompted me this instant?
BKW! Padraig's prose about a product has me just about sold on it. Wait. That's embrocation. GeWilli is mr. anti-embrocation. Well, let me tell ya. I am. But the copy in that entry has me itching to run down to the Hub to check and see if they have any or can get me some. Why? Not sure. I like the barrier of the stuff I've been putting on when I put it on. It doesn't have anything other than lanolin. And yes. If you try and wash it off before it is absorbed by your dead skin cell layer, it is a bitch to get off. But a drive home post race and ya can wash pretty easily. Gotta say though. This RECORD Pregara Forte stuff. Sounds pretty enticing.

Okay - then there's the CONTEST. Maybe this luck I'm having winning iPods will rub off with videos. Yes, in addition to the cool tiny light and svelt 4gig iPod Nano (with the cool little color screen and everything) I seem to have added a black 80gig classic. Damn that is a lot of data, and one heavy ass chunk of hardware (compared to the nano).

So get your cross racing fingers over to Henry's place, enter the contest and order a few DVDs to tied ya over till Cross camps open up.

Another thing i noticed. Since someone's all worked up about specificity and purpose. A nice little interview with a few climbing dudes is up at PEZ.
So here's the summary - go read the whole article for the details (if you want)

Rubber on the Road
Let’s summarize some key points:

• You are what you train for. Burke making the statement “you are what you train for” is very important.
• Different kinds of climbs.
• Power to Weight.
• Climbing Cadence.
• Tempo.

A good read. Nothing ground breaking. Must train body to adapt to higher cadence. Wait. Where have we heard that before? Hmmmm. Sounds familiar.

Yeah but my training reccomendations of Ride, Not Too Much, Mostly Hard. Is too esoteric and vauge. I guess it is good that people can find a coach to tell em what to do. Maybe they need a coach to tell em how to have fun, how to cook, how to live, how do stuff. Roadies are so funny sometimes. (where's my little stick poking ani-gif - paging OoVoO)

alright rain. AWESOME! YES. Shorts and shortsleeves on the way in! RAIN ON THE WAY HOME.

It just doesn't get a whole lot better than this in the spring!

Heddwch
G

Cross Posting

The rule I guess.

The Navy Guy (Ted) That I suffered with around Bob Beal's road race in '06 had a long history with the New England scene. One story was about P***** and how the lube stuff started. I sort of always had a hunch about what the stuff was (motor oil) and confirmed or not, it seems highly likely that the first years (when they made money to start growing the biz) amounted to buying 55 gallon drums of Mobil 1 motor oil in two viscosities, the thicker for MT and the thinner for Road and adding a coloring agent to make it look proprietary then dispensing it into those little distinctive bottles.

Wrench Force's Castrol product, esp the wet lube, didn't seem much different. Heck I used 90W gear oil to repack Ultergra and D/A six speed SIS freewheels. Yes. I was one who repacked em. Pain in the ass. But that gear lube was way cheaper and slightly thicker than the green Phil Wood.

So ErikV disclosed his secret lube. I'm here just about ready to mix up my own batch. EV's talking about calling his EVerLube... I'm thinking "Flying Rat Lube" or psycho lube, nope that name is taken. Flying Rat Lube it is.

Money making here ya go. Here's how it works. You send either ErikV or me Cash if you make your own. We'll skip the whole P**** marketing thing. You make it yourself and just send the profit you would have spend buying 4oz for $10 to either of us. Here. Better yet. $5 each. His idea. I'm marketing implementation guy.

J/K What we are gonna do is have G-Ride design and build a nice auto-mix and fill machine. Then sell it for $10 a bottle. Flying Rat Lube will be on every chain at CX Nats in 2 years (even if we have to stealth ninja spray it on chains at the start line).

Damn power keeps going on and off here today. Someone caused the main 15k feed to the buildings to pop. Telling people 'sorry' can't use the stuff is getting old.

Gotta find something as funny as the tool list from yesterday.

Oh - on that disney thing (meaning me not liking them). Lets take the Rat who can cook movie. We picked up one of the story books. And we all went to see a sneak peak of the film a while back. Good stuff. Scary as shit when the old lady's shooting the shotgun and putting the gas mask on with the poison. What do they do in the book? She chases them with a damn umbrella and toilet plunger.

What's wrong Disney? The gun too violent an image to put in a book? THEN WHY PUT IT IN THE MOVIE??? Damn hypocrites. THen how about the dining down there now. $20 a person for a buffet? Yeah. That's not a money maker. Lets stop doing sit down menu stuff that costs $10/meal for some mass produced food-like-substances and charge ya double that for an array of mass produced food-like-substances.

No. I wasn't there. I just get to hear about it. $20 a person? For that? Ya know what I can cook for $20 a person? Unbelievable stuff. Yeah, it is a place of wonder and goodness. Yes the girls have good memories and all that. I'm a bitter cheap ass bastard. Chip off the old block at times.

A small seepage of why that mouse company really just grinds my gears.

I probably piss fewer people off by saying the power tap is a stupid piece of crap doing to the sport what food science and the FDA has done for "food" than bad mouthing the park in the big wasteland of O florida.

sigh
heddwch
g

CONI -be damned

Yeah. That's right. 50 degrees and I said SHORTS AND SHORT SLEEVES! And it was wonderful. Blissfully pleasant. Heck even a couple times I wish I hadn't put the sleeveless baselayer on under the VERGE team kit I was so warm.

Heard a bit of gossip from Ask the Doc this morning on the ride in (stopped to chat). Always good to hear what she has to say. Damn smart woman that Doc. Nothing earth shattering. Just good stuff.

Struck me as odd, 'round here people don't ask who you are voting for (it is polling day - i'm voting tonight - and don't ask I ain't telling), they ask "Obama or Clinton?" No room for McCain. It is either one or the other. Kinda funny. Still after a handful of years a very refreshing change. Not so much that I'm solidly one party or another, but in that some places for the past 15 years the democrats act like underground resistance members. Waiting for secret codes or phrases before opening up and pouring out their political passion. So worked up and afraid of the rebublican vindictive Rush types out there who are willing to crucify publicly or privately anyone with a view deviant from the "neo-con" handbook. That bugged me more than the damn handbook.

There was a big meeting in the town here about bike lanes. Lots of "Lets be like Portland - bike lanes make me feel safe and I know that more people will use them because they feel safer in a bike lane." Other comments were mostly "i want a bike lane because it will slow traffic down in front of my house."

I'm not going into the full details of the meeting. Saving that for another time and another place. But it was kinda cool to feel that note taking skill flush itself out, I got a ton of pages of stuff to sift through. Lots of repetition but some good nuggets and quotes.

So Leaving the meeting, brain absolutely fired up, talk some politics with my mother on the phone heading home. Wound up. Figured, well maybe I'll finish the last few kilos of Krabbe's book. And that feeling of awe crap, I remember the end. I hate that ending. I am reading it and in my head shouting "STAY ON LUBUSQUE'S WHEEL DUMBASS, STAY ON HIS WHEEL!" NOOOOOOOOOOOO don't attack NOW!!!! Awe crap.

And the nagging sprinting expert "You sprinted like a JACKASS"

tough book. Sorry to spoil an ending, but I hope by now I can safely assume that everyone's read that book 3-4 times already.

So. That book over. Brain even more riled up. Pick up Pollan's new book, remark that this might be the most recent book I've purchased, recent meaning I dunno how many new releases I've personally bought, damn i'm a cheap bastard.

Of course reading the intro was like adding coal to the fire. Damn well written, good use of polysyllabic words (unlike Hillary's rally speech in Ohio I heard on the way to the meeting - honestly it seems like she's courting George dubya Bush's electorate with that kinda talk). And it makes sense. So that fueled more.

Politics, Cycling advocacy, food, eating, training, round and round and round and round and round and round and talk about restless night. No to little sleep all night. Brain too fired up.

At about midnight I thought "I just need to yank out the laptop and start writing."

But that never helps. Just gets me more wound up.

To make it worse (i am just now remember this) I read one of Maynard's essays about going to Italy and riding around there. What it is like. Reminds me of providence. So it was all in all sickly cerebral. Heck I even go to thinking, I wonder what my brain looks like on an MRI right now. Gotta be lit up like a Christmas tree...

I think too damn much

heddwch
g

You might find this funny

if you have ever done your own work on stuff or used any of the tools mentioned
(I pretty much fell out of my chair laughing when i got to the air compressor)
(my sides STILL hurt from reading it a few minutes ago)

Tools and Their Proper Use


DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat
metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and
flings your soda pop across the room, splattering it against that
freshly-stained heirloom piece you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and
hard-earned guitar calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you
to say, "Yeou sheeeet...."

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their
holes until you die of old age.

SKIL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of
blood-blisters. The most often tool used by all women.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more
dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt
heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer
intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction
of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside
the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and
motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16"
socket you've been searching for the last 45 minutes.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground
after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle
firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG YELLOW PINE 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward
off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters and wire wheel wires.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool, ten times harder than any known
drill bit, that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any
possible future use.

RADIAL ARM SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most
shops to scare neophytes into choosing another line of work.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of
everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that
inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end
opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a
drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin,"
which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside,
its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same
rate that 105mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few
hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name
is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids
and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on
your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out
Phillips screw heads. Women excel at using this tool.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to
convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning
power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that
travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty
bolts which were last over tightened 30 years ago by someone at Ford,
and instantly rounds off their heads. Also used to quickly snap off lug
nuts.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or
bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is
used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts
adjacent to the object we are trying to hit. Women primarily use it to
make gaping holes in walls when hanging pictures.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of
cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well
on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles,
collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.
Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

DAMMMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage
while yelling "DAMMMMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most
often, the next tool that you will need!

on first read I guess I was laughing so hard from the Trouble Light that I missed everything from there to Air compressor...

drop light.... 'cause damn sure when you go to re-adjust it so you can see what the fahk you need to work on - you drop it and the bulb breaks...

Oh man...

priceless...

Dope - Food

Dope. I was reading through BKW this morning over coffee and the name Paul Kimmage didn't instantly pop into my head. It should have. I wrote enough referencing his stuff in the past.

Oh - side note. The URL for BKW changed. Seems Radio Freddy got 'PRO' enough to get his own domain. V'Cool. The link on the left has been updated. I haven't updated all the recent additions to the GeWilli open all taps list of links. That's a pain in the ass. Even with auto scripting and sorting and all that. Too many damn links. Pays to read fast. Pays what? I dunno.

Okay back to the review of the book. Um. Train - left - station. I forget what I had intended to write. Big surprise there. Anyway. Go read. As always one of the best stops for your cycling reading (BKW that is).

Food. Lunch time. Made an inroad into the 'Mostly Plants' eating that the Popular Pollan Prescribes last night. Soup. Not quite the same. And if i took out the teaspoon of Thai Fish Sauce, it would have been.

So strap on the apron and get ready to cook with GeWilli. Hmm - when will GeWilli debut the first cooking vlog? Hmm. THAT is an idea.

So fire up you 8-12qt heavy stock pot.

Dump a bunch of olive oil in there - Should cover the bottom a couple millimeters deep. (extra virgin of course)

Chop 1/2 a sweet onion - add to oil and bring to high saute, then reduce heat so the onions sweat and release their moisture.

Clean one Leek (cut in 1/2 lengthwise and then in sections and float in water, I use a salad spinner) move them and separate them by hand to get all the stuff out of there. Don't ask my why the organic farmer's can't clean the produce as well as the chemical farmers do. Is it a mark of a hippie farmer or something to offer celery and lettuce coated with grit and grime? Rhetorical musings while prepping soup.

Chop 3-4 ribs of celery (remember celery is one of the top 10 foods to eat organically). Put into onions and bring heat up a touch (soften and mellow the sharp taste of the celery.

Once Celery has softened, stick the leeks in (roughly chop them).

Peel and chop 4-5 carrots into disks.

Peel and chop 4 small sweet potatoes

Peel and chop 2 parsnips

Peel, Clean and Chop 1 acorn squash, How?
-first cut in 1/2
-scoop seeds and guts out
with heavy sharp knife (same one you've been using - a big santoku works well)
-cut at the depression of the ridges around the halves.
-should have now a handful of 'wedges' of acorn squash
-peel with veggie peeler
-chop

There. Now that the squash is chopped put the carrots in with the leeks. Bring the heat up. Add 2 tablespoons of shoyu sauce (and a splash of Fish Sauce).

After a few minutes add the Parsnips.
And then a few more minutes add the Sweet potatoes.

Rinse 1/2-1 cup of red lentils.

Add Squash and cover for a few minutes.

Add red lentils and then add water (4 or so quarts - didn't measure, not sure, I judge it based on pot size - best to add enough to easily stirr but not so much that it is watery - you can always add more water once the lentils are cooked).

Cover pot and bring slowly to a simmer.

Clean and chop one or two big leaves of Swiss Chard. (finely chop the stems as well).

Once it has reached a simmer, turn heat down and add Chard, ~1 teaspoon of ground coriander and about the same of dried basil - maybe more - then add about 3-4 tablespoons of sesame oil (the dark flavorful stuff). Stir and let finish cooking (when lentils are soft).

When Lentils are finished cooking, grab your stick blender and purree the whole pot. It takes a minute or two. Don't over heat the stick, but don't leave chunks. Part of the magic of this soup is the combination of flavors. Texture is important (it also means the people eating it won't pick out the stuff they don't like).

Once it is smooth and consistent. Thinly slice a good amount of ginger root and put it in there. You could put the ginger in, but that stuff doesn't blend terribly easily and the chunks of fresh ginger are an eye opener for an unsuspecting eater.

Let it continue to simmer very lightly while you make some cous-cous to go with it. You could serve with rice or leave plain. We like it with the little bitty pasta stuff.
Side note on cous cous - get it bulk from The Market at Cutler Mills or other place with some bulk stuff. Whole wheat or regular no matter - boil water - add cous cous turn off heat and cover.
To make 1.5 cups of dried cous cous start with 2 cups of water. After the C-C has been sitting in the water for 3-4 minutes - stirr, then let sit a bit longer.

It might be on the dry side but it will easily soak up more liquid in the bowl. I prefer to put the C-C in the bottom of the bowl before ladling the soup on top.

Serve with hot sauce. Lots of it. Or Hot pepper flakes. Or not.
Other things to serve it with:
Hard Italian cheese, thin flat ribbons made from the block with a veggie peeler are best
Yogurt (plain of course)
Bread
Fresh chopped flat leaf parsley or even cilantro

Or just enjoy it plain. If the soup is too thick after blending add water and then blend again (to ensure the emulsion/suspension is set up well).

The soup freezes very well so don't worry about extra on hand. Just freeze what you won't eat for lunch/dinner over the next couple days.

Food. Real food. Good for you.

Oh and 'someone' doubted that a 4 pound bird can feed a family of 4. Well, when the meat isn't the main focus of the meal, it works great. Meat should be just as much if not more of a side dish than the rest of the meal. Heck many can and do argue that meat is a needless part of the table at meal time.

Don't be a Dope - Eat good, real, food (not too much and mostly plants).
(there i tied in the title)

heddwch
g

The return of....

My very own superhero...

(that's not a current strip - just was digging through files and found that - hell i've even posted it here before)

Ride, Not Too Much, Mostly Hard

There ya go. That's the new training mantra. Toss out the new fancy crap. The coaching plans. The zones. All that bull.

Ride, Not Too Much, Mostly Hard.

That's what it takes.

You don't need x number of house at y% LT.


Ride. You know. The bike. The thing that is fun to ride.

Not Too Much. As in don't pig out on the buffet. Don't do back to back to back centuries when training for a 45-60 minute crit or cross race. Don't ride 7 days a week and expect to get faster.

Mostly Hard. If you ride hard most of the time, well you'll get faster. If you are pushing yourself on the bike, and making sure not to do it too much, it works. No real need to know what zone, where relative to LT. Those things can change. What doesn't change is that you have a terminal speed. If you ride Mostly hard, that terminal speed will slowly increase. Not all hard obviously. You need to warm up, cool down, have a mellow ride now and then.

This stuck in my head this morning. Was talking about the Pollan books with my Mother this weekend. One of my aunts was ALL about the Omnivore book of his. Saying it was the best thing written and on and on. At some point after talking I wondered, does my aunt still follow the "guidelines" as rigorously as she did when reading the book? I wonder. So yes.

Eat, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.

Makes wicked damn a lot of sense.

Ride, Not Too Much, Mostly Hard.

Similar logic and a very compelling argument.

Esp if you are not inclinded to be a slave to technology, spending countless hours downloading data, analyzing it, discussing it with someone, planning how hard to ride for the next month. All that time that you could be spending reading, learning (diversifying your mind on topics you aren't well versed in), writing, loving, being a good citizen of the planet. Hell it is bad enough everyone plunks themselves down in front of the TV every night.

Ride. Not Too Much. Mostly Hard.

Heddwch,
G

Don't Forget!

Burlingame MT TT registration opened last night. 100 rider limit. Pay up, join up and LET'S GET IT ON.

YEAH.

Make it a Rhode Island weekend by catching Magical Strings Live in Concert at the Coffee Depot in Warren RI on the 5th! It just happens to be down the street from the Market at Cutler Mills.

I guess there was a bike race yesterday. That Omloop thing. KarolusLinus got a few shots. But my favorite is the Meersman one. That hair he has is dreamy. Just can't decide if it is a nightmare or just a bad dream. Cool to see the big guy Thor doing well. Heck the oooo esss ay placed a rider in 12th?

It ain't cross but, it's close enough (vicinity wise) to count for something. Something way more than a spring break race for the Euros out at the Epo-Tour.

Mt Biking... then... soon Battenkill. I suppose I should start riding a bit to get ready for getting my ass kicked. Eh?

Heddwch
G