So calling it a miracle food automatically dooms it to have someone find some reason why we all should stop eating them or something. Oh well. F'it, they taste good, and have a bunch of crap in them that make em better for you than regular potatoes. Although I'm still skeptical. But hey, they taste good.
So. This summer I learned something. People cook them in microwaves. Wash it then put it in there for like 10-20 minutes on high depending on how many you have. Cool right?
I was perusing Nancy's Food blog and found this recipe. Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie. Sounds good. Nice potato, gravy, beef, corn, peas... wait... this doesn't just sub potato for sweet potato... nah it adds chicken. Worm wrangler's stories of poultry factory (I now recall the discussions about the factory/plants at CMU) has me always leery of chicken and you're way better off using grass fed ground beef instead of chicken (pretty close to the same price), but be that as it may, I'm not talking about that. It is about the sweet potato, and something I don't get.
That whole microwaving thing.
Seriously. Why? Doesn't make sense. Why not?
You're going to peel them anyway (usually). And peeling takes a second. Put a pot of water on with a steamer basket (most people who eat well should have at least one steamer basket in the inventory), peel the potatoes. Rinse them off. Cut them into 1/2 inch slabs (that's it, no need to quarter or what not).
Oh and cutting potatoes and root veggies: PUT YOUR SANTOKU KNIFE AWAY!!! This is a job for your chef's knife. Seriously. Not your awesome Chinese cleaver either. You have more than one knife for a reason, right? If you just have one, go get a cheap chef's knife for this purpose. Doesn't have to be all that special or sharp, just needs to be strong and shaped like a wedge (like a chef knife is supposed to be).
Using the chef's knife takes less effort and going back and forth between you'll be surprised... worth getting something else dirty, even if you are like me and have to wash what ever you get dirty.
So once you've cut these sweet potatoes into slabs, pop em in the almost boiling pot with the steamer basket, put the lid on and in 10-15 minutes check em. Should be done. With the lid drain the water, then pull the steamer basket out, and mash the potatoes right in that pot.
SIMPLE.
Faster than the microwave. Possibly less energy use too. Some people would argue that steaming doesn't kill the life forces in the food either, if that's a concern. Nice and even cooking if you cut them all the same thickness. Mashing them is easier too.
If it takes more than 3 minutes to cook in the nuker i generally go conventional. I just don't like cooking in it. making a bowl of oatmeal at a time is easier in it, no worrying about burning the milk on the stove top, warming up leftover food is great in there. But primary cooking? Not so much.
Oh and no training yesterday. Picked up the girls early and I was tired, instead of doing some threshold intervals on the trainer in the back yard... I took a nap. And instead of waking up at 5:15 to get the Z5 1 min set in, I kept sleeping. Tired. Not racing this weekend. Resting up seems more important (maybe I am starting to learn something after all). A certain coach said just soak up info, it'll be as effective as paying for a plan... I tend to agree with him. And next year? Next year it'll be a whole sale GeWilli program from rest to intervals... make it nice and complicated - new emphasis on recovering, and racing early. I hope maybe that with Alan's help and others we can push the New England cross scene into January so September can go back to being pre-season. Esp as the summer seems to linger much longer, seriously we shouldn't be racing in 65°F weather this time of year? Should we? It might get cold soon enough, i'll bite my tongue and see what happens. Sleep seems to be trumping hard training and last year I hit this week so wasted and worn out that I spent the weekend sick in bed. Trying to avoid that this year.
heddwch
G
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
want to make
Grilled Pizza... ala [Ted] King.
Yeah did ya get that? ala king? like as in chicken ala king? My mother made that occasionally when I was little, i think it was chicken in sauce served on toast, i remember liking it.
Anyway. So want to make that. BBQ and everything yeah.
I don't have any pizza screens though (not good) and that's what I though when I saw his butterfly. Well really I thought about ErikV's use of pizza screens. Thinking that's what ya need for a grill.
Of course last night on ATC (season 10 Salmon—Indoors and Out) they talked about grill pans (not sure if it is in that link or not). The winner was the Webber one: here.
They had very poor reviews of the one that Nancy used for the BOLD grilled veggies. They said it steamed the veggies more than it grilled them, and the smallest veggies still managed to slide through the holes.
So yeah i totally want one of those webber pro grill grate, along with a handful of nice stainless pizza screens.
Oh and I'd have to make the BBQ sauce from scratch - can't handle buying the other stuff... esp with liquid smoke in the pantry.
Yeah did ya get that? ala king? like as in chicken ala king? My mother made that occasionally when I was little, i think it was chicken in sauce served on toast, i remember liking it.
Anyway. So want to make that. BBQ and everything yeah.
I don't have any pizza screens though (not good) and that's what I though when I saw his butterfly. Well really I thought about ErikV's use of pizza screens. Thinking that's what ya need for a grill.
Of course last night on ATC (season 10 Salmon—Indoors and Out) they talked about grill pans (not sure if it is in that link or not). The winner was the Webber one: here.
They had very poor reviews of the one that Nancy used for the BOLD grilled veggies. They said it steamed the veggies more than it grilled them, and the smallest veggies still managed to slide through the holes.
So yeah i totally want one of those webber pro grill grate, along with a handful of nice stainless pizza screens.
Oh and I'd have to make the BBQ sauce from scratch - can't handle buying the other stuff... esp with liquid smoke in the pantry.
PBR - the roots behind the discovery... and other stories
Read this article first - (or not) then come back
So yeah well I've got this little brother of mine.
back say many moons ago, he was freshly freed of college plan for music a year or two in and he started being a bike messenger.
Back then messengers actually used geared bike, usually road bikes and sometime they'd just use the bike they would race on the weekends. Some Seattle messengers used mt bikes with Specialized Fat boys and fenders and bar ends for warding off the occasional door.
No one used a track bike for messengering. But my brother and another guy he worked with got tired of wearing out chains and cogs and went got track bikes. My bro described it more like a Zen state of riding, very different and it gave a new challenge, made it interesting. But IIRC he went back to gears because he started working doing long distance bike deliveries. 30-40-50 mile trips for a delivery, to the outlying Seattle areas. That never made sense to me but hey - if you can keep a couple messengers fed there's got to be some money there.
But this isn't about my little bro (who ain't so little, and is just a couple years younger than I am - no so young either) and his bikes.
No, not the bikes but I have to set the scene. Hell he had perfect white guy dreadlocks in High School (shaved his head clean in the bathroom 5 minutes before graduation - much to the horror of all the girls and my mother).
So where did these messengers hang out? The found the oddest, deadest, lowest traffic bars in the city to hang out. They became regulars. These old bars weren't selling much of the trendy new Micro-brew the rest of the city watering holes were switching over to. No, these places hearkened back to the real roots of that city. The Blue Collar workers from the shipyards or Boeing or the docks/longshoreman. It really was a big blue collar area, that's why you'll still find some of the most hard core rednecks in Western Washington - honest hard core dichotomy now. Back when these bars were popular the white collar paper pushers worked in the Smith tower or one of the smaller office buildings. Yeah Smith Tower used to be offices. I'm talking before 1975, hell 20 years before that too. Doesn't seem that long ago to me but then, well... probably not to man of you, my friends reading this. Okay if Hoppy garden has gotten this far 1975 is like prehistoric times for him.
So those workers would all have their local place. They'd stop on the way home every day to check in with their friends. They'd have a couple beers, a couple shots maybe and head home to their arm chair, watch some news and eat the dinner their wives made for them. These bars survived on routine and tradition. Pabst was one of the few surviving beers from that era still in these bars when my brother started messengering.
PBR also happened to be THE cheapest beer. Dollar drafts, Fifty Cent Drafts, you could get loaded on a bike messenger income. You could also drink a ton of it and not really feel too bad the next day. And it was cheap. And Iconic. These guys felt pride in drinking something with those roots.
Then it became popular with people trying to work into that messenger culture, but it really stayed low key until the birth of the hipster years after my brother moved on from delivering stuff on two wheels. Damn hipsters saw the messengers as easy prey and swept in and took their traditions.
Sometime in the blurry transition between real bike messengers and ironic hipsters pretending the folks at Pabst changed it all up:
Or you can head over and read Walker's original piece from 2003.
And i should add - it is a DAMN good read. Sitting here a few years later, the story of Narragansett beer isn't much different, another Virtual Brewery, with a local marketing campaign not dissimilar from the one Pabst started back in the early 2000s.
And I'll be honest. a Gansett tall boy is one of my go to options for one reason, it is cheap, and not offensive. I can appreciate a damn fine beer, but sometimes, you just want something cold and bubbly to drink that isn't a soda or fizzy water.
So I probably could have said - just read that first link and this other one and say my bro was in on the local indie music scene and was a bike messenger in the 90s and was instrumental in giving PBR it's first bump. But now? He won't touch the stuff.
He left PBR pretty soon after leaving the messenger scene, likely because he saw it becoming trendy and he wanted to blaze his own path. That punk ass kid brother of mine certainly has. And to make it worse? He's really one of the only fat vegans I know. He became a vegan back in 1991, again, waaaaaaay before it was popular, or easy to do.
I'm sure everyone knows someone like my brother who lead a trend and then jumped, he is still a vegan, vegan house, vegan kids, vegan wife... and still doing just what he wants, his way, and I admire that in my little brother, even if he is responsible for the whole hipster infatuation with PBR.
heddwch
G
So yeah well I've got this little brother of mine.
back say many moons ago, he was freshly freed of college plan for music a year or two in and he started being a bike messenger.
Back then messengers actually used geared bike, usually road bikes and sometime they'd just use the bike they would race on the weekends. Some Seattle messengers used mt bikes with Specialized Fat boys and fenders and bar ends for warding off the occasional door.
No one used a track bike for messengering. But my brother and another guy he worked with got tired of wearing out chains and cogs and went got track bikes. My bro described it more like a Zen state of riding, very different and it gave a new challenge, made it interesting. But IIRC he went back to gears because he started working doing long distance bike deliveries. 30-40-50 mile trips for a delivery, to the outlying Seattle areas. That never made sense to me but hey - if you can keep a couple messengers fed there's got to be some money there.
But this isn't about my little bro (who ain't so little, and is just a couple years younger than I am - no so young either) and his bikes.
No, not the bikes but I have to set the scene. Hell he had perfect white guy dreadlocks in High School (shaved his head clean in the bathroom 5 minutes before graduation - much to the horror of all the girls and my mother).
So where did these messengers hang out? The found the oddest, deadest, lowest traffic bars in the city to hang out. They became regulars. These old bars weren't selling much of the trendy new Micro-brew the rest of the city watering holes were switching over to. No, these places hearkened back to the real roots of that city. The Blue Collar workers from the shipyards or Boeing or the docks/longshoreman. It really was a big blue collar area, that's why you'll still find some of the most hard core rednecks in Western Washington - honest hard core dichotomy now. Back when these bars were popular the white collar paper pushers worked in the Smith tower or one of the smaller office buildings. Yeah Smith Tower used to be offices. I'm talking before 1975, hell 20 years before that too. Doesn't seem that long ago to me but then, well... probably not to man of you, my friends reading this. Okay if Hoppy garden has gotten this far 1975 is like prehistoric times for him.
So those workers would all have their local place. They'd stop on the way home every day to check in with their friends. They'd have a couple beers, a couple shots maybe and head home to their arm chair, watch some news and eat the dinner their wives made for them. These bars survived on routine and tradition. Pabst was one of the few surviving beers from that era still in these bars when my brother started messengering.
PBR also happened to be THE cheapest beer. Dollar drafts, Fifty Cent Drafts, you could get loaded on a bike messenger income. You could also drink a ton of it and not really feel too bad the next day. And it was cheap. And Iconic. These guys felt pride in drinking something with those roots.
Then it became popular with people trying to work into that messenger culture, but it really stayed low key until the birth of the hipster years after my brother moved on from delivering stuff on two wheels. Damn hipsters saw the messengers as easy prey and swept in and took their traditions.
Sometime in the blurry transition between real bike messengers and ironic hipsters pretending the folks at Pabst changed it all up:
Pivoting off the unlikely discovery that PBR had a following among bike messengers and indie rockers, the beer’s brand managers opted for an approach that eschewed television ads and big-ticket sponsorships in favor of potlucks and art shows.So yeah, maybe you can blame the birth of the hipster on their favorite and identifying beer on the corporation in charge of the label.
Or you can head over and read Walker's original piece from 2003.
And i should add - it is a DAMN good read. Sitting here a few years later, the story of Narragansett beer isn't much different, another Virtual Brewery, with a local marketing campaign not dissimilar from the one Pabst started back in the early 2000s.
And I'll be honest. a Gansett tall boy is one of my go to options for one reason, it is cheap, and not offensive. I can appreciate a damn fine beer, but sometimes, you just want something cold and bubbly to drink that isn't a soda or fizzy water.
So I probably could have said - just read that first link and this other one and say my bro was in on the local indie music scene and was a bike messenger in the 90s and was instrumental in giving PBR it's first bump. But now? He won't touch the stuff.
He left PBR pretty soon after leaving the messenger scene, likely because he saw it becoming trendy and he wanted to blaze his own path. That punk ass kid brother of mine certainly has. And to make it worse? He's really one of the only fat vegans I know. He became a vegan back in 1991, again, waaaaaaay before it was popular, or easy to do.
I'm sure everyone knows someone like my brother who lead a trend and then jumped, he is still a vegan, vegan house, vegan kids, vegan wife... and still doing just what he wants, his way, and I admire that in my little brother, even if he is responsible for the whole hipster infatuation with PBR.
heddwch
G
POTM
So yeah a theme here. Good or bad - F'it.
I caught Mark's tweet about his web log post.
Solid man. I've been saying for a while, esp here in New England, the top 10 people in any given Cat 4 field, road or cross, SHOULD be AUTOMATICALLY and FORCIBLY upgraded to cat 3 with more than 2 or 3 top 15 placings esp with the size of the fields we have.
But that's my opinion. They should probably push the front of the Cat 3 field up as well.
And then later he mentioned his upgrade request was denied.
Bigger issue - seriously, a set of wheels for winning a cat 4 race series? Nice and all but in 1997 or '98 when i discovered the sport I just got a plaque with my name on it as series winner. 2nd place got jack... i also got a "hey, welcome to the B race." The fields in Michigan were wicked small compared to the 100-200 rider fields you can see at either ends of the country but there was a concerted effort to get faster and when you did you moved up. End of story.
CAT UP or STAY HOME.
My road team mate is (in my mind) guilty of staying a cat 4 way too long. he is "justifying" making the front end of the race faster than it should be with teh complaint that he doesn't want to race later in the day. Oh boo hoo. You've done your time, move on and cat up Man. CAT UP (road and cross).
Maybe Crossresults should put a list together of these Cat 4 sandbaggers and send it to the USAC official in charge of upgrading. Would make it better/easier for the beginners. Not maybe so much for me because those old Cat 4 35+ guys are probably a lot faster than me right now. Would give me more people to chase but stick me further back. Not sure that's a good thing for me.
Oh well. Great post by Mark, I probably ruined the taste of it with my expounding on it but hey - this is my web log, want to read something good? go somewhere else, I'd say Solo's page but he's down to one post every couple weeks, not much new content over there (okay just checked, still me leading him in PVD).
heddwch
G
I caught Mark's tweet about his web log post.
Solid man. I've been saying for a while, esp here in New England, the top 10 people in any given Cat 4 field, road or cross, SHOULD be AUTOMATICALLY and FORCIBLY upgraded to cat 3 with more than 2 or 3 top 15 placings esp with the size of the fields we have.
But that's my opinion. They should probably push the front of the Cat 3 field up as well.
And then later he mentioned his upgrade request was denied.
Bigger issue - seriously, a set of wheels for winning a cat 4 race series? Nice and all but in 1997 or '98 when i discovered the sport I just got a plaque with my name on it as series winner. 2nd place got jack... i also got a "hey, welcome to the B race." The fields in Michigan were wicked small compared to the 100-200 rider fields you can see at either ends of the country but there was a concerted effort to get faster and when you did you moved up. End of story.
CAT UP or STAY HOME.
My road team mate is (in my mind) guilty of staying a cat 4 way too long. he is "justifying" making the front end of the race faster than it should be with teh complaint that he doesn't want to race later in the day. Oh boo hoo. You've done your time, move on and cat up Man. CAT UP (road and cross).
Maybe Crossresults should put a list together of these Cat 4 sandbaggers and send it to the USAC official in charge of upgrading. Would make it better/easier for the beginners. Not maybe so much for me because those old Cat 4 35+ guys are probably a lot faster than me right now. Would give me more people to chase but stick me further back. Not sure that's a good thing for me.
Oh well. Great post by Mark, I probably ruined the taste of it with my expounding on it but hey - this is my web log, want to read something good? go somewhere else, I'd say Solo's page but he's down to one post every couple weeks, not much new content over there (okay just checked, still me leading him in PVD).
heddwch
G
QOTM
You want to hold your hoods in your hands like a pair of baseball bats you plan to smash the course with, not places to gently rest your hands while you think about how good you look in your Rapha kit.
From Mr Blackwell. That and Myles must have been listening to the IM chat I had with G-ride a couple days ago/last week when he called me Grumble Wookie, and then it spiraled down to where his annoying critical nature makes his character C3PO, and Curtis B's flair for style and attracting chicks makes him a shoe in for Han Solo. Eventually someone had to be Yoda. Who better. Myerspace. Mr. Yoda. Speaks mostly in 140 character phrases. Perfect for the Yoda, Twitter is.
Props Mr Blackwell, nailed it with that analysis. That and, sorry Cathy and the rest of the NEBC female crew, I'm with him on the knee high socks. Solobreak can get away with his pipi longstockings socks because he doesn't wear them at every race and he's been pulling em up to his balls for probably 20+ years now, or at least as long as he's been doing cross from the sounds of it. And he's old enough that he doesn't have to pull them up as high as before, Thank GOD for the support of lycra!
The tallest socks that should be worn in cross would be these You can order them from the web page there or find Gary David (or any of us Cyclocross racing grassroots team members) at a race and save yourself the shipping, bring a 410 for one or $20 for two pair. Pro-tip. Get one a slightly larger size (they are wicked thin) you can stick a pair of your woolies under the socks and look cool even when it is cold out. Because, You HAVE to have a big red and white CX on the socks. It isn't ironic, it is cool.
Monday, October 18, 2010
MRC Cyclocrossracing.com Spectacular
Man that was an awesome race. Hard, but flowing. I could break it down into sections knowing I needed to keep on the gas - in the red - to a point where there was a mini recovery. Or just link em together.
Wow that course was awesome. Except for some kid who normally races the B race aging up and deciding that holding a line wasn't much fun and felt obligated to push me into the tape and wrap a stake into my crank and tape around both sides of the bike.
Flyover was totally cool, I probably paused way too long at the top some of the time but no worries on it even being so tall, and slightly afraid of heights.
I linked the whole race together. Raced hard the whole time, not fast, no not by any means. But Moose Milliman was there and he might have hated it but man it was racing. And fun. The family came up and ROB BAUER set up a killer kids course, that slayed me. Totally slayed me. More on that later.
This morning I noticed Chip Baker making a comment over at Facebook on one of Matt Kraus's notes.
With all the old dipshits who read this I'm surprised they couldn't lay it out as clearly or as simply as Kraus did. Shit I needed to read that before Gloucester or Providence. And yeah I'm probably pushing the envelope with the over training (not just last week and those 10 hill sprints - but I actually felt pretty decently recovered then - my recovery has been good, I just suck).
But damn if Matt didn't lay it out in a way that made it click. Milliman was talking about it too, coming on into form for his A race, Putney.
Suddenly it makes sense why I start to come into form and why I've always seemed to have my best races at Plymouth South (mid Nov).
Oh well, taking this coming weekend off but it sounds like John has a killer race set up in Maine. One of these years I'll make it up there... one of them...
heddwch
G
(proper race report may or may not be coming, along with photos)
Wow that course was awesome. Except for some kid who normally races the B race aging up and deciding that holding a line wasn't much fun and felt obligated to push me into the tape and wrap a stake into my crank and tape around both sides of the bike.
Flyover was totally cool, I probably paused way too long at the top some of the time but no worries on it even being so tall, and slightly afraid of heights.
I linked the whole race together. Raced hard the whole time, not fast, no not by any means. But Moose Milliman was there and he might have hated it but man it was racing. And fun. The family came up and ROB BAUER set up a killer kids course, that slayed me. Totally slayed me. More on that later.
This morning I noticed Chip Baker making a comment over at Facebook on one of Matt Kraus's notes.
With all the old dipshits who read this I'm surprised they couldn't lay it out as clearly or as simply as Kraus did. Shit I needed to read that before Gloucester or Providence. And yeah I'm probably pushing the envelope with the over training (not just last week and those 10 hill sprints - but I actually felt pretty decently recovered then - my recovery has been good, I just suck).
But damn if Matt didn't lay it out in a way that made it click. Milliman was talking about it too, coming on into form for his A race, Putney.
Suddenly it makes sense why I start to come into form and why I've always seemed to have my best races at Plymouth South (mid Nov).
Oh well, taking this coming weekend off but it sounds like John has a killer race set up in Maine. One of these years I'll make it up there... one of them...
heddwch
G
(proper race report may or may not be coming, along with photos)
Saturday, October 16, 2010
3,001
Post number. Day-um.
That's really not that many i guess, right?
Let me lay down on the couch for a second. Today I came to terms with the fact that this season is not one of my better ones. I can't expect to improve every year without having a flat or bad year. Maybe I've hit a plateau. Maybe the end of the year last year is as fast as I'll be. If so? Great. I can be happy with that. I'm not genetically gifted in the way of cycling legs and lungs. I learned that a long time ago. But I love this cyclocross crap.
Coming to terms with it after today's race was pretty big. I can just head out and race. Expectations are out the window. I've successfully kicked the whole crossresults points ranking out of my head. WHO CARES what that number is. It is what it is, and yes, that number is f'n accurate so everyone should use it, and I'm happy starting in the back. No worries. It is where I belong this year.
I feel about 100 pounds lighter right now. There's still that albatross of the wedding cake fly reel hanging over my head. If you actually got this far and are reading it and know someone who is a crazy salmon fly fisherman, tell them you know someone who is trying to sell a Gar Wood Fin Nor #3 wedding cake Fly Reel, original series. I'll make em a great deal. Seriously. You all sit there and read this crap, no adds, see if someone you know wants to buy it. Get the damn albatross off of my neck. Yall have my email (check the profile - it isn't hard to find).
One other thing I've realized: I've been going non-stop since coming back from Nags Head this summer. July to now. No downtime. Maybe there was something but looking back? I dunno, I keep going from big thing to big thing to craziness to more and more and more. No wonder. Seriously no wonder. Nice to finally have that realization. So much stress about the rusty trusty race wagon, presentations, new bike, season expectations...
Where's the reset button. Season begins at Canton now.
Whole new slate.
I love this CX stuff, but man did i get hung up on how well i was doing, or not doing. Screw all that. I might be seeing more of Jonny Bold this season, but you know what? He's not that bad of a guy, I don't mind the opportunity to say hey.
coach or no, this season starts now, i don't even think Kurt Perham could whip my ass into form at this point, so lets let it ride and just enjoy the shit out of this stuff. Because man, it IS fun.
heddwch
G
That's really not that many i guess, right?
Let me lay down on the couch for a second. Today I came to terms with the fact that this season is not one of my better ones. I can't expect to improve every year without having a flat or bad year. Maybe I've hit a plateau. Maybe the end of the year last year is as fast as I'll be. If so? Great. I can be happy with that. I'm not genetically gifted in the way of cycling legs and lungs. I learned that a long time ago. But I love this cyclocross crap.
Coming to terms with it after today's race was pretty big. I can just head out and race. Expectations are out the window. I've successfully kicked the whole crossresults points ranking out of my head. WHO CARES what that number is. It is what it is, and yes, that number is f'n accurate so everyone should use it, and I'm happy starting in the back. No worries. It is where I belong this year.
I feel about 100 pounds lighter right now. There's still that albatross of the wedding cake fly reel hanging over my head. If you actually got this far and are reading it and know someone who is a crazy salmon fly fisherman, tell them you know someone who is trying to sell a Gar Wood Fin Nor #3 wedding cake Fly Reel, original series. I'll make em a great deal. Seriously. You all sit there and read this crap, no adds, see if someone you know wants to buy it. Get the damn albatross off of my neck. Yall have my email (check the profile - it isn't hard to find).
One other thing I've realized: I've been going non-stop since coming back from Nags Head this summer. July to now. No downtime. Maybe there was something but looking back? I dunno, I keep going from big thing to big thing to craziness to more and more and more. No wonder. Seriously no wonder. Nice to finally have that realization. So much stress about the rusty trusty race wagon, presentations, new bike, season expectations...
Where's the reset button. Season begins at Canton now.
Whole new slate.
I love this CX stuff, but man did i get hung up on how well i was doing, or not doing. Screw all that. I might be seeing more of Jonny Bold this season, but you know what? He's not that bad of a guy, I don't mind the opportunity to say hey.
coach or no, this season starts now, i don't even think Kurt Perham could whip my ass into form at this point, so lets let it ride and just enjoy the shit out of this stuff. Because man, it IS fun.
heddwch
G
TCC Mansfield Hollow Cyclocross Race
Wow that was hard. Ron managed to create an even more challenging course. I guess it wasn't hard enough before so he added some extra barriers, three total, classic two sand pits were there, if you could ride it great but the penalty for f'n it up was severe so most people in all the races opted to dismount going into it and just running it. You could hit it with speed so you could dismount and just haul ass through the sand. The double up was getting looser and looser through out the race but still rideable if you didn't screw up.
Kyle Wolf was sitting in the pits as an official offering some heckling "You gotta pedal to go fast" or something like that.
I got there with some time to pre-ride before the 11pm race started, figured on pre-riding then and getting one more lap between the 11 and 12 race, then sit on the trainer until my 1pm race. Yeah I did the 2,3,4 race, the B race. 13 guys took the line for the 35+ 2,3,4 race, and with only 7 pre-registered Whitey and I both had the same though "lets race with people" good move? Yeah I think so.
I'm always shocked when I race in other fields just how slow the starts are. That and I had a nice front row start. On the inside.
Relaxed and easily we started. heading down to a 180. I'm feeling good, sitting in about 5th or 8th, somewhere like that. Until my inside line stuffs me into a BIG F'N STAKE. Nice 2x2 stakes Ron. Can't blow through them. And while I untangled myself 20-30 guys streamed past. AWESOME. Okay, recover, move it.
So I moved it. Got back in the train behind the Master Antagonist Steven H and we hit the 180 up the off camber street side sort of thing. Burke gave me the 411 and I dismounted BEFORE the 180 and passed about 15 guys running the section. But then I managed to screw up and killed my momentum on the straight section and half of them went by. Steven said "See Ya Geoff" as I was coming up to speed. I hung out about 2 riders back from him for a while. We hit the Log jump (moved up the hill from the past) and Ron had stuck another barrier on the other side of it (barrier number 1). Then around the off camber, through some turns that the kids around me kept overcooking and screwing up, then a new approach to the first sand section, dismount, run it, and a different transition between the two sand sections and then the second one. I ran em both per the 411 from Burke the first lap. Most of the guys were too.
So then we hit that and then the wide open WINDY (gusts were over 40mph) section before the double up section where Hoppygardener screwed up and dismounted mid up, I was prepared and had dismounted at the bottom and gave him a friendly bump as I ran past and jumped on. Loop around a big tree past the pits, hit another set of barriers (#2 and 4th dismount if you could hit the double up section clean). The approach to the woods was harder and I just couldn't seem to dial that bermed woods section in at all. Out of the woods and instead of turning left we turned right and went around the base of the High Tension tower and back to the 3rd barrier in their traditional spot before hitting the start line and then around to the finish.
I was having fun.
Hoppygarden was well behind me, so was Zanc, GLOWA was back there too and Nate. I was feeling good, racing well. It was f'n brutal though and with 2 or 3 or between the two Zanc dissapeared, HoppyGarden came through me and i fell apart and hemmoraged minutes. Zanc was working his way up and I was keeping hoppygarden in sight and was prepared for a good run to the finish. And i did my normal wheels falling off dropping about 2-3 minutes in one lap. Oh it was awful. If i can figure out how to keep the brain in race mode for the whole god damn race maybe I'd get some results.
Uri was coming and well, he was all that was back there at the bell and I pedaled hard enough to finish in front of him. But a good 7 minutes or so back from the ultimate sandbagger Graham Garber. He was almost a minute faster than 2nd place. Come on man, I know you like winning and all but you're a solid A race kind of person, esp at non-UCI events. Totally gets the Sandbagger of the year award IMHO. But that's okay, he's still a 2 (for some reason).
I was way way down, but I had fun. every time i started to get all cranky I thought of the next fun section and got refocused and smiled and had fun. It was tough.
I crashed HARD into the bushes at one point. That probably contributed to the mental crack more than anything. I had a great race going with the dreadlock guy, I'd drop him in a couple sections he'd work his way back up and we repeated that. Then i ate shit in the second sand section when I thought maybe i'd ride most of it like I had in the past years, my dismount was ill timed as my front wheel decided to wash out mid-dismount and I fell onto some pretty pointy bits of the shrub. I had leaves stuffed up under my skinsuit legs. I thought I'd ripped the shorts open or was bleeding, but not, just felt like it. Totally shook me off my game and dreadlock guy got around me and I couldn't shut the pain out to make enough power to stay with him.
It was a shitshow on my part. But you know what? I don't care. I'm having an absolutely horrible year fitness wise for some reason but it is still fun when I let me self enjoy it. Just have to figure out how to keep engaged in the race the whole time.
Maine weekend is going to be good for me. In that I'm not making the trip up there. Maybe I'll work on getting a nice long ride in and maybe try this sleep thing I hear about. Some people say sleeping is good.
Oh and the pancake thing? They were wicked good but not maybe the best prep, I was hungry and ate a handful of peanut butter and jelly between pancake with about 2 hrs to go before the race because I was wicked famished and well... i started burping peanut butter. Could be the 2 hour thing but sticking with the egg sandwich seems to be better at keeping me from feeling hungry through the race, although maybe next time I'll try something different.
That and I managed to smash the top of my right foot on something, probably during the crash, it hurts like a MoFo. Ouch.
heddwch
G
Kyle Wolf was sitting in the pits as an official offering some heckling "You gotta pedal to go fast" or something like that.
I got there with some time to pre-ride before the 11pm race started, figured on pre-riding then and getting one more lap between the 11 and 12 race, then sit on the trainer until my 1pm race. Yeah I did the 2,3,4 race, the B race. 13 guys took the line for the 35+ 2,3,4 race, and with only 7 pre-registered Whitey and I both had the same though "lets race with people" good move? Yeah I think so.
I'm always shocked when I race in other fields just how slow the starts are. That and I had a nice front row start. On the inside.
Relaxed and easily we started. heading down to a 180. I'm feeling good, sitting in about 5th or 8th, somewhere like that. Until my inside line stuffs me into a BIG F'N STAKE. Nice 2x2 stakes Ron. Can't blow through them. And while I untangled myself 20-30 guys streamed past. AWESOME. Okay, recover, move it.
So I moved it. Got back in the train behind the Master Antagonist Steven H and we hit the 180 up the off camber street side sort of thing. Burke gave me the 411 and I dismounted BEFORE the 180 and passed about 15 guys running the section. But then I managed to screw up and killed my momentum on the straight section and half of them went by. Steven said "See Ya Geoff" as I was coming up to speed. I hung out about 2 riders back from him for a while. We hit the Log jump (moved up the hill from the past) and Ron had stuck another barrier on the other side of it (barrier number 1). Then around the off camber, through some turns that the kids around me kept overcooking and screwing up, then a new approach to the first sand section, dismount, run it, and a different transition between the two sand sections and then the second one. I ran em both per the 411 from Burke the first lap. Most of the guys were too.
So then we hit that and then the wide open WINDY (gusts were over 40mph) section before the double up section where Hoppygardener screwed up and dismounted mid up, I was prepared and had dismounted at the bottom and gave him a friendly bump as I ran past and jumped on. Loop around a big tree past the pits, hit another set of barriers (#2 and 4th dismount if you could hit the double up section clean). The approach to the woods was harder and I just couldn't seem to dial that bermed woods section in at all. Out of the woods and instead of turning left we turned right and went around the base of the High Tension tower and back to the 3rd barrier in their traditional spot before hitting the start line and then around to the finish.
I was having fun.
Hoppygarden was well behind me, so was Zanc, GLOWA was back there too and Nate. I was feeling good, racing well. It was f'n brutal though and with 2 or 3 or between the two Zanc dissapeared, HoppyGarden came through me and i fell apart and hemmoraged minutes. Zanc was working his way up and I was keeping hoppygarden in sight and was prepared for a good run to the finish. And i did my normal wheels falling off dropping about 2-3 minutes in one lap. Oh it was awful. If i can figure out how to keep the brain in race mode for the whole god damn race maybe I'd get some results.
Uri was coming and well, he was all that was back there at the bell and I pedaled hard enough to finish in front of him. But a good 7 minutes or so back from the ultimate sandbagger Graham Garber. He was almost a minute faster than 2nd place. Come on man, I know you like winning and all but you're a solid A race kind of person, esp at non-UCI events. Totally gets the Sandbagger of the year award IMHO. But that's okay, he's still a 2 (for some reason).
I was way way down, but I had fun. every time i started to get all cranky I thought of the next fun section and got refocused and smiled and had fun. It was tough.
I crashed HARD into the bushes at one point. That probably contributed to the mental crack more than anything. I had a great race going with the dreadlock guy, I'd drop him in a couple sections he'd work his way back up and we repeated that. Then i ate shit in the second sand section when I thought maybe i'd ride most of it like I had in the past years, my dismount was ill timed as my front wheel decided to wash out mid-dismount and I fell onto some pretty pointy bits of the shrub. I had leaves stuffed up under my skinsuit legs. I thought I'd ripped the shorts open or was bleeding, but not, just felt like it. Totally shook me off my game and dreadlock guy got around me and I couldn't shut the pain out to make enough power to stay with him.
It was a shitshow on my part. But you know what? I don't care. I'm having an absolutely horrible year fitness wise for some reason but it is still fun when I let me self enjoy it. Just have to figure out how to keep engaged in the race the whole time.
Maine weekend is going to be good for me. In that I'm not making the trip up there. Maybe I'll work on getting a nice long ride in and maybe try this sleep thing I hear about. Some people say sleeping is good.
Oh and the pancake thing? They were wicked good but not maybe the best prep, I was hungry and ate a handful of peanut butter and jelly between pancake with about 2 hrs to go before the race because I was wicked famished and well... i started burping peanut butter. Could be the 2 hour thing but sticking with the egg sandwich seems to be better at keeping me from feeling hungry through the race, although maybe next time I'll try something different.
That and I managed to smash the top of my right foot on something, probably during the crash, it hurts like a MoFo. Ouch.
heddwch
G
It is a Pancake Morning
probably put a fire in the wood stove morning too but i have just a few small logs of oak to go in there, not much in the way of fuel.
It is cool in the house but I kind of like it, and that means I'm finally starting to lose the heat adaptation, bring on the elevated dermal respiration rates! F'Yeah.
The dog let me sleep in sort of. She wanted to eat first at 5:30, and then 6am, and both times she settled down when I told her to lay down and let me sleep some more. But by 6:10 she was body slamming the bed and wacking it with her tail, shaking her ears and starting to make some quiet vocal noises. Seriously. Come on, I'm not racing till 1pm, don't have to leave till 9 or so and you're waking me up now?
We've got a big sleep over tonight, and the later race means I can get a nice big breakfast made for everyone. Pancakes have been requested. I'm looking forward to a big stack of them. Honestly, I'm getting a bit tired of the breakfast sandwich pre-race meal. We'll see what a big stack of pancakes does for me, and if I want a big stack I'm going to have to double the recipe to have any with the 5 other hungry mouths to feed. And everyone has a nice busy day today, soccer, modern dance, so the extra calories will be burned off in no time. These kids of mine seem to have a metabolism like I do, good stuff.
So I tagged this with food because it is time to rehash the pancake/waffle recipe. It is NOT acceptable to use a mix, even one as awesome as Bob's Red Mill. (okay fine looking at that makes me think twice - that sounds pretty good, not the point though). So lets argue not that the product isn't amazing, but say you're trying to stretch a buck until you win the next race or want to make sure you have entry fee to race so you can watch your friends take home all the prize money. $15/7 pounds. Not a bad price really. But, organic whole wheat flour will run you between $3 and $5/5 pound bag, and then, well Rumford baking powder isn't all that pricey, organic cane sugar is about a buck and a quarter a pound, everyone has salt laying around. And buttermilk is great but when you only use it for pancakes the powder options is good but I've got a better substitute for that (50/50 milk and yogurt).
Yeah it is all pre-mixed and what not but you've still gotta do the whole eggs and milk/water and butter/oil.
So it isn't really saving you much time.
So Pancakes (I'd better write faster or i will run out of time to make them - no worries everyone is still asleep - even the silly old dog):
Single batch, actually this batter works great for waffles too for you crazy hupcake/belgian wanna be types. Pancakes are just a tad easier to make.
2 or 3 eggs depending on size (jumbo or medium)
1 cup Milk
1 cup Yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt
Beat the eggs till just blended, add the rest of that stuff and blend together. Dissolving the sugar and the salt in the liquid makes sense to me so that's why i do it this way.
Next on top of the liquid I pile up:
1 cup of all purpose Whole Wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose White flour (makes the pancakes just a touch lighter)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder (aluminum free stuff)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon-tablespoon of cinnamon
Putting the small dry ingredients on top of the dry stuff and then mixing it all in works really well for me. You could alternatively put the dry stuff in a different bowl, mix them and then dump into the wet stuff - or put the wet stuff on top of the dry. I like only having one bowl to wash and since I do the cooking AND the dishes it is something i think about.
Okay. Mix just until barely integrated. The less mixing the better the pancakes.
Now you should have the skillet warming up.
In that skillet put 4 tablespoons of butter to melt. Once the butter is just melted pour it all into the batter and fold it in gently. I prefer to use butter instead of oil because it gives a much better mouth feel and texture to the pancakes than oil. That and Olive oil doesn't taste right in these pancakes and you don't want to cook with vegetable/sunflower oils at all (high omega 6 levels). Grapeseed oil might actually work, light in flavor and a decent balance of fatty acids I think.
Okay.
There ya go.
At this point you can add some frozen blueberries, or chocolate chips before cooking.
One nice variation is to substitute 1/2 of the milk with apple cider and add extra cinnamon and then grate an apple into the pancake batter (nice big slot grater). Those are damn good.
Today will be probably a variety batch, some chocolate chips and some blueberries and some plain. To make that work I'll just add the berries or chips after putting the pancake batter in the pan. I hear a few little monsters moving around and talking, best get the show on the road. I'll probably be increasing the recipe by 50% or so, maybe doubling it today, okay I'm going to double it.
Oh and always the ingredients should be organic, and local if possible - it does make a huge difference for the planet, your food, and your health. Yeah yeah go ahead and argue that it doesn't if it makes you sleep better at night, you'd still be wrong. *game,set,match*
heddwch
G
It is cool in the house but I kind of like it, and that means I'm finally starting to lose the heat adaptation, bring on the elevated dermal respiration rates! F'Yeah.
The dog let me sleep in sort of. She wanted to eat first at 5:30, and then 6am, and both times she settled down when I told her to lay down and let me sleep some more. But by 6:10 she was body slamming the bed and wacking it with her tail, shaking her ears and starting to make some quiet vocal noises. Seriously. Come on, I'm not racing till 1pm, don't have to leave till 9 or so and you're waking me up now?
We've got a big sleep over tonight, and the later race means I can get a nice big breakfast made for everyone. Pancakes have been requested. I'm looking forward to a big stack of them. Honestly, I'm getting a bit tired of the breakfast sandwich pre-race meal. We'll see what a big stack of pancakes does for me, and if I want a big stack I'm going to have to double the recipe to have any with the 5 other hungry mouths to feed. And everyone has a nice busy day today, soccer, modern dance, so the extra calories will be burned off in no time. These kids of mine seem to have a metabolism like I do, good stuff.
So I tagged this with food because it is time to rehash the pancake/waffle recipe. It is NOT acceptable to use a mix, even one as awesome as Bob's Red Mill. (okay fine looking at that makes me think twice - that sounds pretty good, not the point though). So lets argue not that the product isn't amazing, but say you're trying to stretch a buck until you win the next race or want to make sure you have entry fee to race so you can watch your friends take home all the prize money. $15/7 pounds. Not a bad price really. But, organic whole wheat flour will run you between $3 and $5/5 pound bag, and then, well Rumford baking powder isn't all that pricey, organic cane sugar is about a buck and a quarter a pound, everyone has salt laying around. And buttermilk is great but when you only use it for pancakes the powder options is good but I've got a better substitute for that (50/50 milk and yogurt).
Yeah it is all pre-mixed and what not but you've still gotta do the whole eggs and milk/water and butter/oil.
So it isn't really saving you much time.
So Pancakes (I'd better write faster or i will run out of time to make them - no worries everyone is still asleep - even the silly old dog):
Single batch, actually this batter works great for waffles too for you crazy hupcake/belgian wanna be types. Pancakes are just a tad easier to make.
2 or 3 eggs depending on size (jumbo or medium)
1 cup Milk
1 cup Yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt
Beat the eggs till just blended, add the rest of that stuff and blend together. Dissolving the sugar and the salt in the liquid makes sense to me so that's why i do it this way.
Next on top of the liquid I pile up:
1 cup of all purpose Whole Wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose White flour (makes the pancakes just a touch lighter)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder (aluminum free stuff)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon-tablespoon of cinnamon
Putting the small dry ingredients on top of the dry stuff and then mixing it all in works really well for me. You could alternatively put the dry stuff in a different bowl, mix them and then dump into the wet stuff - or put the wet stuff on top of the dry. I like only having one bowl to wash and since I do the cooking AND the dishes it is something i think about.
Okay. Mix just until barely integrated. The less mixing the better the pancakes.
Now you should have the skillet warming up.
In that skillet put 4 tablespoons of butter to melt. Once the butter is just melted pour it all into the batter and fold it in gently. I prefer to use butter instead of oil because it gives a much better mouth feel and texture to the pancakes than oil. That and Olive oil doesn't taste right in these pancakes and you don't want to cook with vegetable/sunflower oils at all (high omega 6 levels). Grapeseed oil might actually work, light in flavor and a decent balance of fatty acids I think.
Okay.
There ya go.
At this point you can add some frozen blueberries, or chocolate chips before cooking.
One nice variation is to substitute 1/2 of the milk with apple cider and add extra cinnamon and then grate an apple into the pancake batter (nice big slot grater). Those are damn good.
Today will be probably a variety batch, some chocolate chips and some blueberries and some plain. To make that work I'll just add the berries or chips after putting the pancake batter in the pan. I hear a few little monsters moving around and talking, best get the show on the road. I'll probably be increasing the recipe by 50% or so, maybe doubling it today, okay I'm going to double it.
Oh and always the ingredients should be organic, and local if possible - it does make a huge difference for the planet, your food, and your health. Yeah yeah go ahead and argue that it doesn't if it makes you sleep better at night, you'd still be wrong. *game,set,match*
heddwch
G
Friday, October 15, 2010
Sugar, Garlic, Ginger: A Cold Remedy You Shouldn't Like - Tejal Rao - Food - The Atlantic
Sugar, Garlic, Ginger: A Cold Remedy You Shouldn't Like - Tejal Rao - Food - The Atlantic
Totally agree with it. Honestly I think the big active ingredient is the garlic. You can get around drinking it by cutting a clove into quarters the long way (making pill shaped torpedos) and swallowing them whole. Put them skin side down on your tongue, not cut side or you'll not be happy. And the raw bit is important, which may mean this gal's tea probably doesn't benefit from the garlic added and you're just left with the stinky sulfur compounds and not the kick ass, ass kicking allicin. But hey maybe it still works, what do I know, i'm just a bike racer.
Totally agree with it. Honestly I think the big active ingredient is the garlic. You can get around drinking it by cutting a clove into quarters the long way (making pill shaped torpedos) and swallowing them whole. Put them skin side down on your tongue, not cut side or you'll not be happy. And the raw bit is important, which may mean this gal's tea probably doesn't benefit from the garlic added and you're just left with the stinky sulfur compounds and not the kick ass, ass kicking allicin. But hey maybe it still works, what do I know, i'm just a bike racer.
NYTimes and Wholewheat pasta
Oh yeah. Can't agree with the article more. Esp the quote from Marion Nestle:
No they don't. And protein plus pasta really only has an extra gram or two of protein over the non-enhanced variety (check out the label) worth diluting the pasta? No. (Link credit goes to my wife - i don't read the NYTimes enough to catch all the good stuff like that.)
Right now I'm loving the Wholefoods 365 organic whole wheat pasta. I actually really do like the taste, it is nutty, not quite as sweet as the malty goodness of grapenuts but still tasty.
I used linguine with the sauce last night and complex flavors all worked like a symphony or a DJ AM mix.
Simple. Solobreak pulled out the rule from someone about not buying food with more than 4 or 5 ingredients or better yet buy food w/o a nutrition label. Michael Polan uses the 5 ingredient limit as one of his "Rules" in this book. But I heard it from that crotchety old bastard Solo before Polan published his book.
“I object to people adding stuff to food to make it seem healthy,” she said. “Pea powder and flaxseeds don’t belong in pasta.”
No they don't. And protein plus pasta really only has an extra gram or two of protein over the non-enhanced variety (check out the label) worth diluting the pasta? No. (Link credit goes to my wife - i don't read the NYTimes enough to catch all the good stuff like that.)
Right now I'm loving the Wholefoods 365 organic whole wheat pasta. I actually really do like the taste, it is nutty, not quite as sweet as the malty goodness of grapenuts but still tasty.
I used linguine with the sauce last night and complex flavors all worked like a symphony or a DJ AM mix.
Simple. Solobreak pulled out the rule from someone about not buying food with more than 4 or 5 ingredients or better yet buy food w/o a nutrition label. Michael Polan uses the 5 ingredient limit as one of his "Rules" in this book. But I heard it from that crotchety old bastard Solo before Polan published his book.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Diversions
that make you really think.
Citizen Architect made me do that tonight. Wow. What a show.
For some reason I linked Samuel Mockbee with Sheldon Brown a few moments after watching that film and absorbing it.
Both of these men stricken down in their prime by a disease, robbed of their full gift to the human race, but having given enough to gain immortality in their own right and circle.
What bike mechanic doesn't know the name Sheldon Brown. If you wrench and don't? Shame on you. Saint Sheldon Brown as anointed by The Church of The Big Ring. I get goosebumps reading that post. I get goosebumps way too much but that's a different matter all together.
Anyway, growing up I had this desire to be an Architect for a while, before I discovered what Naval Architecture was and before I headed off to do a 3/2 program at a liberal arts college but wound up leaving with honors and distinction in botany - crazy kid, yeah.
Two books stood out, one by Stanley Tigerman, and another was a how to build your own house. The latter I memorized practically. Parts that sunk in still to this day are the year round survey. Figure out what the land does before trying to impose your will. Learn where the vista is, where the vernal springs are, where does the sun rise and fall through out the year.
Stuff like that. Things I imagine maybe Mockbee would have taught.
I'm god damn good at what I do, there's no question, but occasionally I capture a glimpse through an outstanding film like "Citizen Architect" and wonder what if...
What if...
I still have plans for my dream house. And I can still visualize them. The one change I would have to make is to kill the garage full of cars and create a kick ass bike shop in there instead. The cars can stay outside.
People say things happen for a reason, I don't buy it. Things just happen, you figure out as you go, there is no rhyme or reason, it just is, move on, make do and keep going minding your mounting responsibilities as you go.
Mockbee started the rural studio just before I graduated from college, and i doubt even if I had managed to swing a degree change or had gone to a different school that i would have wound up there or something like it. But man, that Eisenman dude is a giant douche (at least as protrayed in the film) - wow.
Sleep is beaconing me. No more time to reflect on what ifs and what might have beens, time to focus on the here and now, the present and make the most for the future on the path unfurling in front of me.
heddwch
G
Citizen Architect made me do that tonight. Wow. What a show.
For some reason I linked Samuel Mockbee with Sheldon Brown a few moments after watching that film and absorbing it.
Both of these men stricken down in their prime by a disease, robbed of their full gift to the human race, but having given enough to gain immortality in their own right and circle.
What bike mechanic doesn't know the name Sheldon Brown. If you wrench and don't? Shame on you. Saint Sheldon Brown as anointed by The Church of The Big Ring. I get goosebumps reading that post. I get goosebumps way too much but that's a different matter all together.
Anyway, growing up I had this desire to be an Architect for a while, before I discovered what Naval Architecture was and before I headed off to do a 3/2 program at a liberal arts college but wound up leaving with honors and distinction in botany - crazy kid, yeah.
Two books stood out, one by Stanley Tigerman, and another was a how to build your own house. The latter I memorized practically. Parts that sunk in still to this day are the year round survey. Figure out what the land does before trying to impose your will. Learn where the vista is, where the vernal springs are, where does the sun rise and fall through out the year.
Stuff like that. Things I imagine maybe Mockbee would have taught.
I'm god damn good at what I do, there's no question, but occasionally I capture a glimpse through an outstanding film like "Citizen Architect" and wonder what if...
What if...
I still have plans for my dream house. And I can still visualize them. The one change I would have to make is to kill the garage full of cars and create a kick ass bike shop in there instead. The cars can stay outside.
People say things happen for a reason, I don't buy it. Things just happen, you figure out as you go, there is no rhyme or reason, it just is, move on, make do and keep going minding your mounting responsibilities as you go.
Mockbee started the rural studio just before I graduated from college, and i doubt even if I had managed to swing a degree change or had gone to a different school that i would have wound up there or something like it. But man, that Eisenman dude is a giant douche (at least as protrayed in the film) - wow.
Sleep is beaconing me. No more time to reflect on what ifs and what might have beens, time to focus on the here and now, the present and make the most for the future on the path unfurling in front of me.
heddwch
G
Roasted Red Pepper, Cauliflower, Alfredo Sauce pasta (with green peas)
I gotta work on the titles. Jimmy E, it is your damn fault I'm trying to get this down.
(damn i just negotiated myself a few more minutes on this thing hope it is enough)
So.
Dinner was a basic old school traditional Alfredo Sauce. But with some additions and expansions.
Before making the sauce it was time to roast some cauliflower. Chop it up, mix it with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and pop it in a convection oven at 450 degrees until is it nice and dark and brown.
Oh and while that's in there toss in a red pepper or two. Gotta make sure you get that pepper nice and toasted (good amount of black eh?).
So yeah. Get that done.
When it is finished (30 min or so) turn off the oven and get to work on the pasta.
You could start the water and make it all simultaneously.
Okay I'm watching Citizen Architect and that new york dude Peter Eisenman sounds like a giant douche and jackass. But then like he says w/o him you wouldn't know where the spectrum ended. It ends with him. Good thing
Okay - so timing on cooking it all is up to you. Realistically if you are prepared it could take you maybe 45 min total with some time chilling having a beverage during a few spots.
Back to the food.
1 cup heavy cream (organic of course)
get it in a pan and warmed up
2 cloves of garlic (pressed into the cream)
let it meld - add the chopped up red pepper (oh yeah - this is why you want to do the roasting first - you need the pepper flavor to infuse into the cream).
Once the cream starts to bubble add 1 stick of butter. Yes. A whole god damn stick of butter. You're a damn bike racer get over it - you'll burn up the fat no problem, if not, don't worry - organic butter doesn't make you fat. And yeah, you've ootta use unsalted organic butter that doesn't have butter flavor added to the butter.
Once the butter is melted in and integrated pull out the red peppers and add 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (i used a Reggianito), maybe 1.5 cups.
Add a touch of milk if is too thick. Don't let the heat get too high or it will all separate and get grainy *yuck*
So. I use that organic whole wheat pasta from Whole Foods ($1.29/pound), once it is cooked add the pasta directly to the sauce, add the red peppers back in, and a good amount of frozen organic peas.
To serve add the tossed pasta to a bowl, spoon a mound of the roasted cauliflower (they tastes like french fries if you did it right) on top, grate some more fresh cheese on there add some pepper (and salt to taste) and in my case a good sprinkling of extra hot cayenne pepper.
Oh wow it is good. Don't eat too much. It is a dinner meal. It is about the flavors, the super savory pepper and cauliflower, the sweetness of the green peas balanced with the heat of the pepper and smooth depth of the cheese and cream.
Eat up.
cooking is good, but use good ingredients or you might as well start with sawdust or crude oil.
heddwch
G
(damn i just negotiated myself a few more minutes on this thing hope it is enough)
So.
Dinner was a basic old school traditional Alfredo Sauce. But with some additions and expansions.
Before making the sauce it was time to roast some cauliflower. Chop it up, mix it with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and pop it in a convection oven at 450 degrees until is it nice and dark and brown.
Oh and while that's in there toss in a red pepper or two. Gotta make sure you get that pepper nice and toasted (good amount of black eh?).
So yeah. Get that done.
When it is finished (30 min or so) turn off the oven and get to work on the pasta.
You could start the water and make it all simultaneously.
Okay I'm watching Citizen Architect and that new york dude Peter Eisenman sounds like a giant douche and jackass. But then like he says w/o him you wouldn't know where the spectrum ended. It ends with him. Good thing
Okay - so timing on cooking it all is up to you. Realistically if you are prepared it could take you maybe 45 min total with some time chilling having a beverage during a few spots.
Back to the food.
1 cup heavy cream (organic of course)
get it in a pan and warmed up
2 cloves of garlic (pressed into the cream)
let it meld - add the chopped up red pepper (oh yeah - this is why you want to do the roasting first - you need the pepper flavor to infuse into the cream).
Once the cream starts to bubble add 1 stick of butter. Yes. A whole god damn stick of butter. You're a damn bike racer get over it - you'll burn up the fat no problem, if not, don't worry - organic butter doesn't make you fat. And yeah, you've ootta use unsalted organic butter that doesn't have butter flavor added to the butter.
Once the butter is melted in and integrated pull out the red peppers and add 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (i used a Reggianito), maybe 1.5 cups.
Add a touch of milk if is too thick. Don't let the heat get too high or it will all separate and get grainy *yuck*
So. I use that organic whole wheat pasta from Whole Foods ($1.29/pound), once it is cooked add the pasta directly to the sauce, add the red peppers back in, and a good amount of frozen organic peas.
To serve add the tossed pasta to a bowl, spoon a mound of the roasted cauliflower (they tastes like french fries if you did it right) on top, grate some more fresh cheese on there add some pepper (and salt to taste) and in my case a good sprinkling of extra hot cayenne pepper.
Oh wow it is good. Don't eat too much. It is a dinner meal. It is about the flavors, the super savory pepper and cauliflower, the sweetness of the green peas balanced with the heat of the pepper and smooth depth of the cheese and cream.
Eat up.
cooking is good, but use good ingredients or you might as well start with sawdust or crude oil.
heddwch
G
Marathon Legs
I have them.
Well that's what Turdowski called them. My hill intervals hurt, but walking has been weird esp going down stairs. I can bound up them no problem, I can get pretty much full power to the pedals on the bike doing intervals (well my feeble power anyway), but walking down stairs? STILL HURTS.
Thought about it a bit but Turdowski sort of confirmed what I was thinking, the part of the hill climbing interval that hurt the next was the running down. I guess running down a 12-16% grade 10-11 times in a row sort of works a few muscle groups I've yet to use.
At least I didn't feel any slower going up on my mandatory dismount and stair run on the way into work. Pretty odd. Oh well.
10x100 for the ride home.
And this week, with the added training, I'm WICKED HUNGRY... A L L T H E T I M E ...damn metabolism. I suppose as long as I'm always hungry (even getting a good balanced b-fast and normal-for-me size lunch) that might mean i'll be able to shed a pound or two a week maybe, even half a pound down a week would be huge as the season progresses. With the one assumption, keeping power and energy levels during the race up.
Alright - time for the ride home:
Thanks for the tune-age for the ride home Chandler
here is one more - i love this track!
Oh it was an intersting ride in. 1m max efforts (5 of em) but before that it was a crazy sprint fest trying to catch a woman's puppy who was f'n FAST on the bike path. I chased him up to riverside before he dashed through the trees to a house and into the neighborhood. Spent a good 5 minutes tracking him down before he bolted for the woods. The woman had picked up help from a few others so I headed off to work. I hope she found the puppy, man tring to catch a 20 pound speedy puppy on a bike is harder than it would seem.
heddwch
G
Well that's what Turdowski called them. My hill intervals hurt, but walking has been weird esp going down stairs. I can bound up them no problem, I can get pretty much full power to the pedals on the bike doing intervals (well my feeble power anyway), but walking down stairs? STILL HURTS.
Thought about it a bit but Turdowski sort of confirmed what I was thinking, the part of the hill climbing interval that hurt the next was the running down. I guess running down a 12-16% grade 10-11 times in a row sort of works a few muscle groups I've yet to use.
At least I didn't feel any slower going up on my mandatory dismount and stair run on the way into work. Pretty odd. Oh well.
10x100 for the ride home.
And this week, with the added training, I'm WICKED HUNGRY... A L L T H E T I M E ...damn metabolism. I suppose as long as I'm always hungry (even getting a good balanced b-fast and normal-for-me size lunch) that might mean i'll be able to shed a pound or two a week maybe, even half a pound down a week would be huge as the season progresses. With the one assumption, keeping power and energy levels during the race up.
Alright - time for the ride home:
Thanks for the tune-age for the ride home Chandler
here is one more - i love this track!
Oh it was an intersting ride in. 1m max efforts (5 of em) but before that it was a crazy sprint fest trying to catch a woman's puppy who was f'n FAST on the bike path. I chased him up to riverside before he dashed through the trees to a house and into the neighborhood. Spent a good 5 minutes tracking him down before he bolted for the woods. The woman had picked up help from a few others so I headed off to work. I hope she found the puppy, man tring to catch a 20 pound speedy puppy on a bike is harder than it would seem.
heddwch
G
80% rule
as commented on by a pair of the hardcore backbones of NECX.
Check it out.
Right on JD. Thanks for EVERYTHING man!
Check it out.
Right on JD. Thanks for EVERYTHING man!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
two options
I'm either finally doing the work or I just overdid it. Sticking with the positive side I'm going with the former.
yesterday the plan was for some hill running intervals, 10 min warm up followed by 10 repeats. Timing with the car (before the starter) everything was going to work out so I would get here and do the run on the East Side Hill repeat course. Or at least pick one of them. So I picked one.
South Court.
I didn't pick the easier section above that from Congdon st to Prospect on Meeting, no I did the Benefit to Congdon section. I think it is the last three sections on Brent's map here. Oh and Brent, don't use JPGs try PNG files for stuff like that - the aliasing isn't nearly as bad. It starts at 15.8% then drops down to 12.7% finishing off at about 6.1%.
It is hard. 10 of those? Ah hell why not. And of course I lost count somewhere between #3 and #5, So I erred on being on #4 and then did 7 more just in case. I probably should have picked #5 and only have done 5 more, but I didn't. Yeah I should really figure out how to count. But the planning worked out, the final one was to failure. I literally couldn't take another step at the top. And I still had to get up that last stretch of Meeting street, stopping your intervals in the middle of the hill when you need to get to the top is kind of stupid. And honestly I had planned on running that whole last section until I got to Congdon.
I walked up the hill around for about 10-15 minutes cooling down before cleaning up and getting to work.
I'm wrecked today. And that's a good feeling. A POSITIVE feeling.
One that is helping fuel the desire to get better. I know I will never ever see the front end of the category I'm racing in, and getting lapped by Kevin Hines (talent at a level found in one in eight million people) isn't such a terrible thing.
Myerson's points are well taken, a couple days later, wow I can't wait to get back in there. Finding the right line. Getting the start nailed. Being in control of the things that I can control, doing the little stuff, having fun and letting the results sort themselves out as they will. That's the focus. And honestly that's what drives me.
I know there's little chance of me getting fast enough to do much more than hopefully have a race like this one. That's all. And part of me really needs to ignore my places behind jerry or PBJ. 71% of the time he's finished in front of me. Last year at the end of the season the margin narrowed and then I had three in a row, but I found form and he was burning out. gotta focus more on the Williams/Lehman battle. That and the new kid on the block Josh Gunn.
I'm grateful for friends who send me private emails of encouragement with suggestions, "90% of this game is 50% mental." And yeah don't we know it.
Mentally I had a tough second day. But I can't let one bad race define a season. it is a season after all. Hell i can't let a tough month of racing do that either. Success is being there. Starting, AND finishing. Competing and working on this game. It is just a game. But more than that, it provides a focus for me and a challenge. It doesn't come easy for me.
Enough focusing on it. Coach's plan that he pulled from somewhere has "1 hr skills" for tonight. Um. Yeah. Skills? Not my weak point. Sure I can always improve my cornering but look, I need to focus on the speed and fitness side. So I'm going to ignore that and walk the bike home... keep the joints moving and allow active recovery to take place to prepare for tomorrow and then the weekend.
Oh and The Six P's. Love them.
And I definitely gotta "Deal With It" better.
I can't help but wonder if 20 years ago Chip Baker and my brother were at the same race... in the same race maybe...
oh if you haven't been keeping up with Steve Tilford... go give his latest on Thor a read.
heddwch
G
yesterday the plan was for some hill running intervals, 10 min warm up followed by 10 repeats. Timing with the car (before the starter) everything was going to work out so I would get here and do the run on the East Side Hill repeat course. Or at least pick one of them. So I picked one.
South Court.
I didn't pick the easier section above that from Congdon st to Prospect on Meeting, no I did the Benefit to Congdon section. I think it is the last three sections on Brent's map here. Oh and Brent, don't use JPGs try PNG files for stuff like that - the aliasing isn't nearly as bad. It starts at 15.8% then drops down to 12.7% finishing off at about 6.1%.
It is hard. 10 of those? Ah hell why not. And of course I lost count somewhere between #3 and #5, So I erred on being on #4 and then did 7 more just in case. I probably should have picked #5 and only have done 5 more, but I didn't. Yeah I should really figure out how to count. But the planning worked out, the final one was to failure. I literally couldn't take another step at the top. And I still had to get up that last stretch of Meeting street, stopping your intervals in the middle of the hill when you need to get to the top is kind of stupid. And honestly I had planned on running that whole last section until I got to Congdon.
I walked up the hill around for about 10-15 minutes cooling down before cleaning up and getting to work.
I'm wrecked today. And that's a good feeling. A POSITIVE feeling.
One that is helping fuel the desire to get better. I know I will never ever see the front end of the category I'm racing in, and getting lapped by Kevin Hines (talent at a level found in one in eight million people) isn't such a terrible thing.
Myerson's points are well taken, a couple days later, wow I can't wait to get back in there. Finding the right line. Getting the start nailed. Being in control of the things that I can control, doing the little stuff, having fun and letting the results sort themselves out as they will. That's the focus. And honestly that's what drives me.
I know there's little chance of me getting fast enough to do much more than hopefully have a race like this one. That's all. And part of me really needs to ignore my places behind jerry or PBJ. 71% of the time he's finished in front of me. Last year at the end of the season the margin narrowed and then I had three in a row, but I found form and he was burning out. gotta focus more on the Williams/Lehman battle. That and the new kid on the block Josh Gunn.
I'm grateful for friends who send me private emails of encouragement with suggestions, "90% of this game is 50% mental." And yeah don't we know it.
Mentally I had a tough second day. But I can't let one bad race define a season. it is a season after all. Hell i can't let a tough month of racing do that either. Success is being there. Starting, AND finishing. Competing and working on this game. It is just a game. But more than that, it provides a focus for me and a challenge. It doesn't come easy for me.
Enough focusing on it. Coach's plan that he pulled from somewhere has "1 hr skills" for tonight. Um. Yeah. Skills? Not my weak point. Sure I can always improve my cornering but look, I need to focus on the speed and fitness side. So I'm going to ignore that and walk the bike home... keep the joints moving and allow active recovery to take place to prepare for tomorrow and then the weekend.
Oh and The Six P's. Love them.
And I definitely gotta "Deal With It" better.
I can't help but wonder if 20 years ago Chip Baker and my brother were at the same race... in the same race maybe...
oh if you haven't been keeping up with Steve Tilford... go give his latest on Thor a read.
heddwch
G
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thanks SOUPS
Oh and who'm I kidding, figure it out? Me? (end of last post - if you are reading it chronologically).... If I figure it out and some how get fast and competitive and stuff, what the hell will I write about?
Struggles in the back, no podiums to show for it so i write about my horrible bike racing, racing to stay on the lead lap now and not always succeeding. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to find some higher measure of success, and it drives me. I crave it. But what can I do but keep working towards it, and I will. Damn it. Even if they manage to turn the East Coast Scene into a Hipster Tractor pull, because that really wouldn't be so bad. Who cares who is showing up to the races as long as they are coming and having fun watching "us" hit ourselves in the head with a hammer. And yeah. Those corners are pretty damn fun when you finally dial them in.
Struggles in the back, no podiums to show for it so i write about my horrible bike racing, racing to stay on the lead lap now and not always succeeding. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to find some higher measure of success, and it drives me. I crave it. But what can I do but keep working towards it, and I will. Damn it. Even if they manage to turn the East Coast Scene into a Hipster Tractor pull, because that really wouldn't be so bad. Who cares who is showing up to the races as long as they are coming and having fun watching "us" hit ourselves in the head with a hammer. And yeah. Those corners are pretty damn fun when you finally dial them in.
Hipster Tractor Pulls
What a divinely inspired phrase to use describing the Cyclocross scene in Portland, OR. Seriously - cracks me up now again thinking about it.
Myerson has gotten way too much patting on the back for that short bit of prose but it's pretty solid, and not that far wrong.
Take my race on Sunday as an example. It didn't go so well. First lap i didn't get off to a great start, thought I did but in my pre-riding I jumped on the course as it went by the startline headed to the triple bypass of spectator crossing death and I completely blanked on checking the start. never really assuming it was going to be changed but not giving it a thought (worse). Not till the start did I realize woops I'm way f'n out of position here - but I managed to slither and slink up a bit but mostly I still came through there pretty close to last. Up and down and around, running. Someone broke the stake on the double off camber 180 and I just stepped over the fencing (invoking the Paul Curly rule: "if it isn't taped it is only a suggestion"). But it was tight through the middle of the triple, then the whole run in into the barriers. I wasn't last but I was doing a damn good job getting there.
Barriers were okay - managed to survive and get around. Until we dropped into the bowl for the first time. Tall Embro guy who I crashed in front of at Gloucester on day two stalled and kind of dove across my line forcing me into the roots and ultimately I didn't have enough momentum/power/skill to recover and was able to reach out and with three finger tips grab the tree bark with enough force that I didn't slide backwards all the way down the hill. A bit later my fingers were burning so much I had to look at them, I thought there was a chance that I had ripped the skin off and they were bleeding (they were numb - couldn't feel a thing from the treebark). But I recovered and managed to get back on the end of the conga line. Yeah. Me. Lantern Rouge. Not even one lap in. Oh so not a good spot to be.
We headed around to the triple for the third pass, down in front of Timmie's van and up the dirt. EVERYONE was riding it. And riding it clean. No issues. It was easy. Everyone EXCEPT THE GUY IN FRONT OF ME. Seriously. I was riding up on his wheel, maybe too fast but I was holding momentum and traction and he started to bail, and I was set up to slide around to his left, leaving a couple feet to spare. Well. He stopped. And put a foot down, except it wasn't just down, it was out to the left and in my line, no room to avoid it and I had to stop and put a foot down, awkwardly. And then he took off.
And then I was riding alone. Saw Buck walking off the course, a couple guys with flats came back through me and then there was CTodd.
That jackass was up by the start finish. But before I realized who was yelling at me at the S/F line I noticed that there were 4 to go. FOUR? MORE? Shit I thought the laps were longer and man - didn't expect 7 laps.
That sucked some anger out, not that my legs were doing anything. To make it all worse Steve Lehman was never behind me all race. He's always behind me and just works his way through me or up to me. Sunday? I dunno what he did, maybe he warmed up or something but he was gone, up there with G-ride and GCD. Of Course Kyle Wolf working as an official didn't help. Kyle and I were in the pits for JONNY BOLD's win and while Roger Asphlom struggled in the ice. Last year Kyle seemed to figure out the cross thing, but he said he'd rather hang out at a cross race and get paid than to pay money to see how much he sucked, he said he knew how much he sucked and didn't need a reminder.
So Ctodd, sitting up there with 3 to go shouted "YOU AREN'T DFL AND YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET LAPPED" and you know what? That fired me up. Not enough to catch anyone (I was so alone at that point) but I dug deep and sucked every last watt out of my poorly trained legs because damn it that would be awesome.
Saddly, I came back around for the next lap and there is a 1 to go sign... shit i'm going to get lapped... and CTodd stands up and covers up the 1 to go and tells me I have 2 to go. Huh, that only means one thing, Leaders are coming through soon.
How soon? Time to untune out Richard and Company on the PA system. On a race like Saturday I don't hear the announcers at all, even going by the speakers, the sound doesn't register, sometimes I need to work on tuning other stuff out while racing. I come through the section off the grass and hear that Mark M is headed past the big Oak. "I wonder if that is the tree over by Kinnen (sp?) at the start, if it is I will be seeing him sooner than later." Uh oh. It is. "ONE TO GO FOR MARK ONE TO GO."
shit.
so I ride, one eye looking over my shoulder. I make it around through the up and down and then through the middle of the triple bypass before he's on me and he goes flying through. I did learn a new line through the post pit corner left hander with the roots where solobreak and g-ride decided to cuddle. And then i had to wait. And pedal really hard. And wait. And keep pedaling before the next gang came through. That was the long haired vandessel rider with Kevin glued on his wheel 18 second of spacing later. Then came Kevin, he caught me going through the pits maybe on the other side from where Mark got me, I got right the hell out of the way for all those guys and even shouted some encouragement.
I knew it was one of my worst days on a bike in a race in a while. Right from the start it was a doomed race. But I worked and wrung every last bit out of me. I didn't give up. I didn't stop hitting myself in the head with the hammer until I crossed the finish line. And it took a long time of being a mopey pissed jackass before I could even act somewhat normally or talk to anyone.
Right away I fired my coach, I was left wondering wtf to do. How to make it work. How could I salvage the whole rest of the season.
But then you know, I knew going into the weekend that I rarely have one good race let alone two after a rest week. Last year I either delayed the rest to the week after PVD or that's how I planned it anyway either way there was no way I could have carried a full program last week (which isn't much but it is more than doing nothing).
So really, with all the distractions, the rest week, the decent day on Saturday, totally didn't sleep well at all Saturday night... considering I finished with out crashing or breaking any equipment, I was able to drive myself home w/o stopping at the hospital on the way home or being picked up from the hospital, it really was okay.
that and the only time I get to cheer for Jonny Bold is when he's lapping me, well I guess that's okay too... once or twice... no more than that though.
Tubular tires were delivered yesterday, got them stretching, going to get them glued up. Kind of odd how when they showed up all the pre-season planning was over. Was that what was killing the mojo? All the bits in line? Now to try and sell that pesky fishing reel, and the wicked cool salmon flies and what ever else I can turn into cash instead of just a box full of cool old junk doing me not much good.
Oh and while G-ride might be a little old Justy, I'm a big old high torque diesel motor in desperate need of new nozzles and a turbo upgrade, maybe a chip tuning. But I think the chip tuning is more in line of how my wife described it (scoop the brains out, throw it on the ground, stomp on it and put it back in), or as Solobreak and others say "Stop thinking so much."
Team Mate and all around awesome guy Mark SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUPS Suprenant sent me a few shots, and I might get around to posting them... maybe...
I did manage, despite the Solenoid on the starter hanging up and getting jammed in the start the motor position but don't extend the bendix and keep buzzing away and changing the whole dynamics, to get a workout in. Coach is giving me the same shit from last year, only a month or two earlier. I think he thinks that hitting Phase 5 in November will be better than hitting it in December. And well, I need to not over think it and just do what he says. Okay so he's not really a coach as much as a trainer. I have Nega-Coach for that, telling me all sorts of things, not nearly enough of which I remember when I need to.
Oh well - one of these days I'll figure it out...
Myerson has gotten way too much patting on the back for that short bit of prose but it's pretty solid, and not that far wrong.
Take my race on Sunday as an example. It didn't go so well. First lap i didn't get off to a great start, thought I did but in my pre-riding I jumped on the course as it went by the startline headed to the triple bypass of spectator crossing death and I completely blanked on checking the start. never really assuming it was going to be changed but not giving it a thought (worse). Not till the start did I realize woops I'm way f'n out of position here - but I managed to slither and slink up a bit but mostly I still came through there pretty close to last. Up and down and around, running. Someone broke the stake on the double off camber 180 and I just stepped over the fencing (invoking the Paul Curly rule: "if it isn't taped it is only a suggestion"). But it was tight through the middle of the triple, then the whole run in into the barriers. I wasn't last but I was doing a damn good job getting there.
Barriers were okay - managed to survive and get around. Until we dropped into the bowl for the first time. Tall Embro guy who I crashed in front of at Gloucester on day two stalled and kind of dove across my line forcing me into the roots and ultimately I didn't have enough momentum/power/skill to recover and was able to reach out and with three finger tips grab the tree bark with enough force that I didn't slide backwards all the way down the hill. A bit later my fingers were burning so much I had to look at them, I thought there was a chance that I had ripped the skin off and they were bleeding (they were numb - couldn't feel a thing from the treebark). But I recovered and managed to get back on the end of the conga line. Yeah. Me. Lantern Rouge. Not even one lap in. Oh so not a good spot to be.
We headed around to the triple for the third pass, down in front of Timmie's van and up the dirt. EVERYONE was riding it. And riding it clean. No issues. It was easy. Everyone EXCEPT THE GUY IN FRONT OF ME. Seriously. I was riding up on his wheel, maybe too fast but I was holding momentum and traction and he started to bail, and I was set up to slide around to his left, leaving a couple feet to spare. Well. He stopped. And put a foot down, except it wasn't just down, it was out to the left and in my line, no room to avoid it and I had to stop and put a foot down, awkwardly. And then he took off.
And then I was riding alone. Saw Buck walking off the course, a couple guys with flats came back through me and then there was CTodd.
That jackass was up by the start finish. But before I realized who was yelling at me at the S/F line I noticed that there were 4 to go. FOUR? MORE? Shit I thought the laps were longer and man - didn't expect 7 laps.
That sucked some anger out, not that my legs were doing anything. To make it all worse Steve Lehman was never behind me all race. He's always behind me and just works his way through me or up to me. Sunday? I dunno what he did, maybe he warmed up or something but he was gone, up there with G-ride and GCD. Of Course Kyle Wolf working as an official didn't help. Kyle and I were in the pits for JONNY BOLD's win and while Roger Asphlom struggled in the ice. Last year Kyle seemed to figure out the cross thing, but he said he'd rather hang out at a cross race and get paid than to pay money to see how much he sucked, he said he knew how much he sucked and didn't need a reminder.
So Ctodd, sitting up there with 3 to go shouted "YOU AREN'T DFL AND YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET LAPPED" and you know what? That fired me up. Not enough to catch anyone (I was so alone at that point) but I dug deep and sucked every last watt out of my poorly trained legs because damn it that would be awesome.
Saddly, I came back around for the next lap and there is a 1 to go sign... shit i'm going to get lapped... and CTodd stands up and covers up the 1 to go and tells me I have 2 to go. Huh, that only means one thing, Leaders are coming through soon.
How soon? Time to untune out Richard and Company on the PA system. On a race like Saturday I don't hear the announcers at all, even going by the speakers, the sound doesn't register, sometimes I need to work on tuning other stuff out while racing. I come through the section off the grass and hear that Mark M is headed past the big Oak. "I wonder if that is the tree over by Kinnen (sp?) at the start, if it is I will be seeing him sooner than later." Uh oh. It is. "ONE TO GO FOR MARK ONE TO GO."
shit.
so I ride, one eye looking over my shoulder. I make it around through the up and down and then through the middle of the triple bypass before he's on me and he goes flying through. I did learn a new line through the post pit corner left hander with the roots where solobreak and g-ride decided to cuddle. And then i had to wait. And pedal really hard. And wait. And keep pedaling before the next gang came through. That was the long haired vandessel rider with Kevin glued on his wheel 18 second of spacing later. Then came Kevin, he caught me going through the pits maybe on the other side from where Mark got me, I got right the hell out of the way for all those guys and even shouted some encouragement.
I knew it was one of my worst days on a bike in a race in a while. Right from the start it was a doomed race. But I worked and wrung every last bit out of me. I didn't give up. I didn't stop hitting myself in the head with the hammer until I crossed the finish line. And it took a long time of being a mopey pissed jackass before I could even act somewhat normally or talk to anyone.
Right away I fired my coach, I was left wondering wtf to do. How to make it work. How could I salvage the whole rest of the season.
But then you know, I knew going into the weekend that I rarely have one good race let alone two after a rest week. Last year I either delayed the rest to the week after PVD or that's how I planned it anyway either way there was no way I could have carried a full program last week (which isn't much but it is more than doing nothing).
So really, with all the distractions, the rest week, the decent day on Saturday, totally didn't sleep well at all Saturday night... considering I finished with out crashing or breaking any equipment, I was able to drive myself home w/o stopping at the hospital on the way home or being picked up from the hospital, it really was okay.
that and the only time I get to cheer for Jonny Bold is when he's lapping me, well I guess that's okay too... once or twice... no more than that though.
Tubular tires were delivered yesterday, got them stretching, going to get them glued up. Kind of odd how when they showed up all the pre-season planning was over. Was that what was killing the mojo? All the bits in line? Now to try and sell that pesky fishing reel, and the wicked cool salmon flies and what ever else I can turn into cash instead of just a box full of cool old junk doing me not much good.
Oh and while G-ride might be a little old Justy, I'm a big old high torque diesel motor in desperate need of new nozzles and a turbo upgrade, maybe a chip tuning. But I think the chip tuning is more in line of how my wife described it (scoop the brains out, throw it on the ground, stomp on it and put it back in), or as Solobreak and others say "Stop thinking so much."
Team Mate and all around awesome guy Mark SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUPS Suprenant sent me a few shots, and I might get around to posting them... maybe...
I did manage, despite the Solenoid on the starter hanging up and getting jammed in the start the motor position but don't extend the bendix and keep buzzing away and changing the whole dynamics, to get a workout in. Coach is giving me the same shit from last year, only a month or two earlier. I think he thinks that hitting Phase 5 in November will be better than hitting it in December. And well, I need to not over think it and just do what he says. Okay so he's not really a coach as much as a trainer. I have Nega-Coach for that, telling me all sorts of things, not nearly enough of which I remember when I need to.
Oh well - one of these days I'll figure it out...
Monday, October 11, 2010
Providence Cyclocross Festival - day 1
Day 1. Local race. Me getting up early, doing my pre-race thing. Get up, check the twitter feed, email, have a cup of green tea, feed the dog.
Made breakfast that was a whole wheat english muffin, one medium fried egg, some cheese, 50 grams of pork breakfast sausage (precooked weight low fat sausage), radish tops, turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, and a trace of salt.
I made two of them. One went in the fridge for Sunday so I could eat and make a quick getaway (i held the radish tops out of that one, and just put them in before eating).
Got the waterbottles mixed, used the last of the OSJL special Power Bar drink mix (might have to go back to Trial #whatever)... sorted out the shit to bring.
Loaded the tent in the car, the bikes, the wheels, the trainer, and headed out only a few minutes after I planned to. Swung through one of the best coffee shops in the city (Coffee Exchange on wickenden). It is also a quick on and off 195, on my way to almost every race (and the races it isn't on the way to i can go to Coffee Depot in Warren). I usually grab their French Roast coffee. Fill up my travel mug with nice black coffee and head out. I really like their coffee. Good stuff.
Got there, backed down as close as I could to the Pits from the back side to unload. Hauled the tent, the bikes, the cooler, the bag all over to our spot. Turned out to be next to JLS. I got there before the first race started. And was able to watch Nathan T kill it and finish in 3rd in the cat 4 race riding a single speed on a decidedly gear friendly course.
Pre-race was pretty focused, Solobreak was in the race for some reason. Murat was there too, along with Jerry of course. Coach Kurt and the rest of the new england badasses were lined up along with a good half dozen or more people non of us have seen racing this season. I warmed up listening to J-Pow's recommended DJ Scene. Although checking it now he's pimping DJ AM. Hmm. Maybe I have to be more on top of it. Switch it up, DJ Scene got me through G-ster and it worked for day one, but his pod-casts are pretty similar so far. Gotta keep up with that J-Pow kid.
Got a decent warm up in. Hit the course for one lap. Friday I had stopped by and ridden the sections. They weren't linked up yet but, I got a good feel for it and the lines. I felt I had the course pretty well dialed in. And while being only slightly technical we got on and off the bike 4 times per lap. I do actually love that day 1 course. Nice blend of technical stuff and power and on and off. The more dismounts per lap the better. With all the curbs, and everyone flatting I elected to run a bit more pressure in the Racing Ralph Clinchers. I even went as high as 55 on the Giant in the pit. I think I was at 45 f and 48 r. Oh and clearly I'm not skinny or scrappy enough yet. Going to not eat for a week and just train. Maybe I can not be a clydesdale for a change, it is that or boost the power levels enough to compensate.
The tent and that scene was great. Hanging with team mates and having a rallying point for folks to come in and out, check out Burke's power assist bike, it was good but not too distracting. Walked over to the holeshot cafe and bought some more coffee, not bad but not Coffee Exchange good.
Well time to line up on the grid. Got a 4th row start right behind a guy in a white skinsuit and right next to G-ride. Were given the 80% speech, and were sent off. Solobreak was somewhere and Murat was up a row, Lehman was behind me too.
Well White skinsuit guy basically doesn't move, or really just moved so slowly I couldn't go anywhere, G-ride got boxed in pretty good too by the sudden appearance of some orange fencing. But we hit that grass, I nailed it clean and flew into the first hairpin, Around the outside, setting me up for an inside line going to the off camber grass.
Except my front wheel dropped off the inside line into a rut and I had to dab to stay upright. But still wasn't so bad. Decent start. Hit the corners pretty hard, felt good. I felt pretty confident on all the corners. The higher speed barrier approach was awesome. And while there were a few people bogging on the post barrier woops it wasn't so bad. Motored up the climb, settled a bit going into the right hander off the pavement before the concrete stairs, hit my preferred line there. And attacked the pavement. Just attacked it. Didn't get my line around the trees with all the damn traffic, but it wasn't terminal, no one fell off in front of me or stopped in a bad place (like day 2). I wasn't last. Drilled it, flew up the stairs (as fast as I can fly - which isn't). And then worked through the next section around the pits and out to the end turn around, to the up and down didn't bother trying to ride, dismounted early and went. Got around to the pavement and jumped on a wheel as I went around a dieing Murat. I was actually chasing wheels the whole time, riding, not alone.
It was a freaking BLAST. Myette came through though and that wasn't so good. Unhinged me a bit, G-ride and Solo popped on his week and then I rode past them while they were laying on the ground in a tight embrace. And that actually fired me up a bit. The lap before I was yelling (not at him in particular- but about Solo) "YOU ARE NOT IN MY HEAD" and if that didn't work and just make him another racer I wanted to beat... it was great. Soon after that he called G-ride a Subaru Justy and I just about died laughing, as G-ride really was barely powering up the hill before the pavement transition to the concrete stairs. Things were going well. Lehman was no where to be found (yet), I hadn't even felt like i was fading. It was awesome. Maybe you can have a good race after a rest week.
Eventually after their crash I was left alone. I guess I don't ride quite as well when I'm not pushed sometimes, I can ride way faster than I often do mid-race, but I did have one and a half slow laps giving G-ride a chance to power up to me. When he got there though I was go time. And I tried to hang with his wheel, and on Joe's garage wheel. Just barely hanging and they gapped me (i forget where really). But then I noticed Lehman coming up. We were coming in for 1 to go, no leader in sight anywhere, i'd forgotten about 80% rule and still thought we should be fine. And rather than blow myself trying to hold a gap on Steven I eased off a touch until he was on my wheel coming up after the run up.
In my mind I was preparing for an EPIC (yeah i'm using that word) battle royal with my Nemesis and friend Lehman. I felt actually recovered and ready to go destroy that last lap and have a kick ass sprint for 50th place or whatever it was going to be. Coming into the bell lap, no leader in sight and the official jumps out in front of us and says "YOU ARE DONE"
"OFF THE COURSE"
what?
Huh?
sure enough Kim's bike shop guy goes through on the heels of Chabot and the Joes Garage guy and then not 10 seconds later, hell maybe only 5 we get shuffled off the course.
I'm not going to go on a rant here about the 80% rule. They pulled us and I've said my peace with that official and will leave it like that. I was having, not a great race, but it was fun and was so looking forward to that final lap. Lehman has basically had my number all season. Well, of course who doesn't get listed? Lehman. None of the pulled riders were on the prelim results but were all assured that we'd be placed. We weren't lapped though. Not even close. We had time to sit there and argue and complain and bitch as other riders were yanked and finally minutes later, Kevin Hines comes flying through.
It wasn't my best race, but it was fun, it ended on a sour note that had me pretty pissed for a while, but I got over it. Yelled at other racers, generally had a great day. Dragged G-ride back to this place and made everyone some chicken lo mein that got devoured. Easily fell asleep early, only to wake up at 1 then 2 and then for good at 5:30.
Day 1 was in the books. Day 2 was next. In years past I would typically have a better day on Sunday. There are one or two exceptions but not like G-ster and PVD. Could be quite a few reasons, first of which is I'm probably not as rested/recovered as I could be going into the weekend. I'm also probably still out of shape/needing work. But it is odd, usually day 2 is better, or at least consistent. I guess waking up at 5:30 today with the dog probably isn't helping, maybe I'll take a nap.
At least I'm wicked sore today, I felt like I've been through a physical ringer this weekend. I'll try and get out for a nice mellow ride to blow this kack out of the legs. And maybe I'll get a chance to write up Day 2. Although that was a horrible race, nearly a damn copy of G-ster day two but without the flat tire, and instead of one wreck in the first lap it was two near wrecks.
heddwch
G
Made breakfast that was a whole wheat english muffin, one medium fried egg, some cheese, 50 grams of pork breakfast sausage (precooked weight low fat sausage), radish tops, turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, and a trace of salt.
I made two of them. One went in the fridge for Sunday so I could eat and make a quick getaway (i held the radish tops out of that one, and just put them in before eating).
Got the waterbottles mixed, used the last of the OSJL special Power Bar drink mix (might have to go back to Trial #whatever)... sorted out the shit to bring.
Loaded the tent in the car, the bikes, the wheels, the trainer, and headed out only a few minutes after I planned to. Swung through one of the best coffee shops in the city (Coffee Exchange on wickenden). It is also a quick on and off 195, on my way to almost every race (and the races it isn't on the way to i can go to Coffee Depot in Warren). I usually grab their French Roast coffee. Fill up my travel mug with nice black coffee and head out. I really like their coffee. Good stuff.
Got there, backed down as close as I could to the Pits from the back side to unload. Hauled the tent, the bikes, the cooler, the bag all over to our spot. Turned out to be next to JLS. I got there before the first race started. And was able to watch Nathan T kill it and finish in 3rd in the cat 4 race riding a single speed on a decidedly gear friendly course.
Pre-race was pretty focused, Solobreak was in the race for some reason. Murat was there too, along with Jerry of course. Coach Kurt and the rest of the new england badasses were lined up along with a good half dozen or more people non of us have seen racing this season. I warmed up listening to J-Pow's recommended DJ Scene. Although checking it now he's pimping DJ AM. Hmm. Maybe I have to be more on top of it. Switch it up, DJ Scene got me through G-ster and it worked for day one, but his pod-casts are pretty similar so far. Gotta keep up with that J-Pow kid.
Got a decent warm up in. Hit the course for one lap. Friday I had stopped by and ridden the sections. They weren't linked up yet but, I got a good feel for it and the lines. I felt I had the course pretty well dialed in. And while being only slightly technical we got on and off the bike 4 times per lap. I do actually love that day 1 course. Nice blend of technical stuff and power and on and off. The more dismounts per lap the better. With all the curbs, and everyone flatting I elected to run a bit more pressure in the Racing Ralph Clinchers. I even went as high as 55 on the Giant in the pit. I think I was at 45 f and 48 r. Oh and clearly I'm not skinny or scrappy enough yet. Going to not eat for a week and just train. Maybe I can not be a clydesdale for a change, it is that or boost the power levels enough to compensate.
The tent and that scene was great. Hanging with team mates and having a rallying point for folks to come in and out, check out Burke's power assist bike, it was good but not too distracting. Walked over to the holeshot cafe and bought some more coffee, not bad but not Coffee Exchange good.
Well time to line up on the grid. Got a 4th row start right behind a guy in a white skinsuit and right next to G-ride. Were given the 80% speech, and were sent off. Solobreak was somewhere and Murat was up a row, Lehman was behind me too.
Well White skinsuit guy basically doesn't move, or really just moved so slowly I couldn't go anywhere, G-ride got boxed in pretty good too by the sudden appearance of some orange fencing. But we hit that grass, I nailed it clean and flew into the first hairpin, Around the outside, setting me up for an inside line going to the off camber grass.
Except my front wheel dropped off the inside line into a rut and I had to dab to stay upright. But still wasn't so bad. Decent start. Hit the corners pretty hard, felt good. I felt pretty confident on all the corners. The higher speed barrier approach was awesome. And while there were a few people bogging on the post barrier woops it wasn't so bad. Motored up the climb, settled a bit going into the right hander off the pavement before the concrete stairs, hit my preferred line there. And attacked the pavement. Just attacked it. Didn't get my line around the trees with all the damn traffic, but it wasn't terminal, no one fell off in front of me or stopped in a bad place (like day 2). I wasn't last. Drilled it, flew up the stairs (as fast as I can fly - which isn't). And then worked through the next section around the pits and out to the end turn around, to the up and down didn't bother trying to ride, dismounted early and went. Got around to the pavement and jumped on a wheel as I went around a dieing Murat. I was actually chasing wheels the whole time, riding, not alone.
It was a freaking BLAST. Myette came through though and that wasn't so good. Unhinged me a bit, G-ride and Solo popped on his week and then I rode past them while they were laying on the ground in a tight embrace. And that actually fired me up a bit. The lap before I was yelling (not at him in particular- but about Solo) "YOU ARE NOT IN MY HEAD" and if that didn't work and just make him another racer I wanted to beat... it was great. Soon after that he called G-ride a Subaru Justy and I just about died laughing, as G-ride really was barely powering up the hill before the pavement transition to the concrete stairs. Things were going well. Lehman was no where to be found (yet), I hadn't even felt like i was fading. It was awesome. Maybe you can have a good race after a rest week.
Eventually after their crash I was left alone. I guess I don't ride quite as well when I'm not pushed sometimes, I can ride way faster than I often do mid-race, but I did have one and a half slow laps giving G-ride a chance to power up to me. When he got there though I was go time. And I tried to hang with his wheel, and on Joe's garage wheel. Just barely hanging and they gapped me (i forget where really). But then I noticed Lehman coming up. We were coming in for 1 to go, no leader in sight anywhere, i'd forgotten about 80% rule and still thought we should be fine. And rather than blow myself trying to hold a gap on Steven I eased off a touch until he was on my wheel coming up after the run up.
In my mind I was preparing for an EPIC (yeah i'm using that word) battle royal with my Nemesis and friend Lehman. I felt actually recovered and ready to go destroy that last lap and have a kick ass sprint for 50th place or whatever it was going to be. Coming into the bell lap, no leader in sight and the official jumps out in front of us and says "YOU ARE DONE"
"OFF THE COURSE"
what?
Huh?
sure enough Kim's bike shop guy goes through on the heels of Chabot and the Joes Garage guy and then not 10 seconds later, hell maybe only 5 we get shuffled off the course.
I'm not going to go on a rant here about the 80% rule. They pulled us and I've said my peace with that official and will leave it like that. I was having, not a great race, but it was fun and was so looking forward to that final lap. Lehman has basically had my number all season. Well, of course who doesn't get listed? Lehman. None of the pulled riders were on the prelim results but were all assured that we'd be placed. We weren't lapped though. Not even close. We had time to sit there and argue and complain and bitch as other riders were yanked and finally minutes later, Kevin Hines comes flying through.
It wasn't my best race, but it was fun, it ended on a sour note that had me pretty pissed for a while, but I got over it. Yelled at other racers, generally had a great day. Dragged G-ride back to this place and made everyone some chicken lo mein that got devoured. Easily fell asleep early, only to wake up at 1 then 2 and then for good at 5:30.
Day 1 was in the books. Day 2 was next. In years past I would typically have a better day on Sunday. There are one or two exceptions but not like G-ster and PVD. Could be quite a few reasons, first of which is I'm probably not as rested/recovered as I could be going into the weekend. I'm also probably still out of shape/needing work. But it is odd, usually day 2 is better, or at least consistent. I guess waking up at 5:30 today with the dog probably isn't helping, maybe I'll take a nap.
At least I'm wicked sore today, I felt like I've been through a physical ringer this weekend. I'll try and get out for a nice mellow ride to blow this kack out of the legs. And maybe I'll get a chance to write up Day 2. Although that was a horrible race, nearly a damn copy of G-ster day two but without the flat tire, and instead of one wreck in the first lap it was two near wrecks.
heddwch
G
Sunday, October 10, 2010
So...
i WILL write these races up, why? because the races were awesome. Day one i didn't suck so much. Day two I felt like I sucked.
But before I forget, my wife said (in response to my grumpy bad race day) (and I'm going to quote)
"we need to scoop your brain out, throw it on the ground, stomp on it, and put it back in..."
makes sense
but I'm thinking of firing my coach (again). Although maybe I'll wait to see what he has lined up for this week.
The Lo Mein I made last night was tasty but maybe not fast making...
the race was awesome. The scene was awesome. The venue was awesome. All the folks that came out thought it was pretty damn awesome.
If you didn't come down you really missed out.
Missed out on me not being fast, but hey, I've never been good after a rest week. So getting one good feeling day out of the weekend is a success (I still want to fire my coach if I can find a better replacement).
But before I forget, my wife said (in response to my grumpy bad race day) (and I'm going to quote)
"we need to scoop your brain out, throw it on the ground, stomp on it, and put it back in..."
makes sense
but I'm thinking of firing my coach (again). Although maybe I'll wait to see what he has lined up for this week.
The Lo Mein I made last night was tasty but maybe not fast making...
the race was awesome. The scene was awesome. The venue was awesome. All the folks that came out thought it was pretty damn awesome.
If you didn't come down you really missed out.
Missed out on me not being fast, but hey, I've never been good after a rest week. So getting one good feeling day out of the weekend is a success (I still want to fire my coach if I can find a better replacement).
Friday, October 08, 2010
Providence!
Yeah - Providence CX weekend baby!
gonna try and not let stuff happening around this weekend distract from the whole point, racing and trying to go fast.
I've been working on the Buckley theory of "you're gonna blow up anyway, might as well get as much of a cushion as possible." I've also been working hard not to think about Solobreak up and deciding to cat down and race with me. But then the rational goes: He's been racing a lot and for a long time, he's like won a race this year and shit. We've been in two races together in the last 12 months. First one he jumped into our race after the other race and had a legit excuse to finish behind me, and the second one, well I don't remember why he was behind me other than despite me crashing a lot and riding really stupid he still didn't finish in front.
Two doesn't not make good statistics. That and he's faster than me. But way older (not that that matters, Kevin and Jonny are fucking ancient, and kick everyone's ass).
Yeah. He's gotten in my head. But I'm surprised that I've actually been able to ignore him a bit. Although he may have a verge point from VT (I can't remember and don't care to check).
Today's plan was to get done with work at 1:30 and head down to see if they could use an extra set of hands setting up the course. But the factory had other plans for me. And yeah, so I never made it out. Heading to the airport to pick up Michigan Tommy D this afternoon. I'd leave now but have to wait on one more item (that just requires me to sit here and wait for a few more minutes, so I'll write). We'll see if I have time to swing past the park. Pre-ride was hopefully in the cards. Right now, looking less and less likely. Oh well. I'll have time tomorrow. Sounds like all of the NECX list is going to be pre-riding when they aren't supposed to be. I might as well just jump in with the Cat 4 35+ field and try it out at speed. Maybe I'll put on the old Refunds Now kit and see if they'll notice the lack of a number. (kidding).
The rest week has been good, it seems. Still not fully recovered but hopefully after a few Vitamin Bs tonight and some Coffee in the AM i'll be good to go tomorrow. Still gotta repair the damage from Gloucester day 2 on the bike.
there's time tonight maybe...
or tomorrow
maybe
see yall there
heddwch
G
gonna try and not let stuff happening around this weekend distract from the whole point, racing and trying to go fast.
I've been working on the Buckley theory of "you're gonna blow up anyway, might as well get as much of a cushion as possible." I've also been working hard not to think about Solobreak up and deciding to cat down and race with me. But then the rational goes: He's been racing a lot and for a long time, he's like won a race this year and shit. We've been in two races together in the last 12 months. First one he jumped into our race after the other race and had a legit excuse to finish behind me, and the second one, well I don't remember why he was behind me other than despite me crashing a lot and riding really stupid he still didn't finish in front.
Two doesn't not make good statistics. That and he's faster than me. But way older (not that that matters, Kevin and Jonny are fucking ancient, and kick everyone's ass).
Yeah. He's gotten in my head. But I'm surprised that I've actually been able to ignore him a bit. Although he may have a verge point from VT (I can't remember and don't care to check).
Today's plan was to get done with work at 1:30 and head down to see if they could use an extra set of hands setting up the course. But the factory had other plans for me. And yeah, so I never made it out. Heading to the airport to pick up Michigan Tommy D this afternoon. I'd leave now but have to wait on one more item (that just requires me to sit here and wait for a few more minutes, so I'll write). We'll see if I have time to swing past the park. Pre-ride was hopefully in the cards. Right now, looking less and less likely. Oh well. I'll have time tomorrow. Sounds like all of the NECX list is going to be pre-riding when they aren't supposed to be. I might as well just jump in with the Cat 4 35+ field and try it out at speed. Maybe I'll put on the old Refunds Now kit and see if they'll notice the lack of a number. (kidding).
The rest week has been good, it seems. Still not fully recovered but hopefully after a few Vitamin Bs tonight and some Coffee in the AM i'll be good to go tomorrow. Still gotta repair the damage from Gloucester day 2 on the bike.
there's time tonight maybe...
or tomorrow
maybe
see yall there
heddwch
G
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
John Wooden on true success | Video on TED.com
John Wooden on true success | Video on TED.com
most awesome
i need to listen to that a few more times, maybe it will help...
most awesome
i need to listen to that a few more times, maybe it will help...
Bursting bubbles?
Bacon and Roundup? Bursting together? Oh and lets add the new BPA fears.
One has been building for a long time, another a slow steady increase.
The Atlantic Food put a nice little synopsis together with a few cool external links about the Bacon bubble. Check out the link to the woman skating on a skillet with bacon strapped to her feet.
So The Atlantic links to the bacon article in the Wall Street Journal. Many of you better connected than I will have already read it.
2nd and 3rd paragraph:
Bacon is good. Tastes good. Good on basically anything. But that doesn't mean it should be used in everything. My take is you treat like a treat. Don't cook it very often, save it for a special occasion so it remains special.
The other bubble (we won't talk about Cyclocross's bubble - maybe - night weasels is the first indicator that the CX scene has jumped the shark and is headed down the tubes, that or i'm just bitter about not being able to go) is the Monsanto one. The big evil empire. Is it shrinking? Has Food Inc and the rest of the truth in "journalism" hitting home and causing problems? Or is it really like some people have been saying all along. Chemical farming is not sustainable and is NOT the solution to global food shortages (feels odd saying that in a country full of the fattest people on the planet - no excess of calories here /sarcasm).
Wait. Yields are going down? you can't just plant a GMO corn, spray it with a couple hundred thousand tons of crude oil derived fertilizers and herbicide/pesticides and have an amazing yield? Say it isn't so! GASP, what will the farmers plant now?
Bittman pointed the article out yesterday, along with a really gross picture (don't EVER eat a processed chicken thing again - *gag*)
Now setting that chicken paste aside, lets look a bit at the Monsanto problem. What happened? Is it a good thing for non-GMO crops? Is it a good thing for those working to reduce the dependence on oil for farming and increasing the sustainability? Nope.
All that has happened is Pioneer is taking up the slack. They Call it Pioneer more than the company that Pioneer brand really is: Dupont. Oh hey. Look at that. Dupont isn't really all that much better (if at all) than Monsanto. Two big chemical giants making food. Or should we say engineering crops/seeds for farmers to take the risk on growing.
They have all the profits, and none of the risks associated with growing it, kind of convenient and a damn awesome business model, no?
Unit Cost. Americans are dead set and ultra programmed to purchase based on unit costs (i'm so conditioned that it mentally hurts when I go with the higher unit cost items). Unit cost drives the market.
it is cheaper to spray crude oil derived chemicals on the growing crops than natural/organic options...
it is cheaper to line your cans, make your plastic, with BPA than without it...
Thanks chemical companies. Where would we be without you? (probably not the health problem ridden overweight country we are now).
Like Mark Twain's famous saying:
heddwch
G
One has been building for a long time, another a slow steady increase.
The Atlantic Food put a nice little synopsis together with a few cool external links about the Bacon bubble. Check out the link to the woman skating on a skillet with bacon strapped to her feet.
So The Atlantic links to the bacon article in the Wall Street Journal. Many of you better connected than I will have already read it.
2nd and 3rd paragraph:
Chef John Currence, owner of four restaurants in Oxford, Miss., adores bacon and proudly wears a pig tattoo on his arm. But even he says that the bacon craze has gone a bit far. Strike that: The man recently received a gift of bacon-flavored lip balm. It's gone way too far.Like Cupcakes are Cyclocross. Gone too far...
"It's like cussing," Mr. Currence says of today's over-use of bacon in restaurants. "It's easy, it's effective, it always gets a cocked eyebrow, but it just doesn't belong in church." Bacon is a staple of the Southern cuisine he specializes in, but it shouldn't become a crutch—it's facile and everything ends up tasting the same, Mr. Currence says. Lately, he has begun experimenting with less-obvious flavor boosters, including an intense mango vinegar he drizzles on seared scallops. Searching for flavors that "punch you in the mouth," he adds Indian spices to roasted carrot and red pepper sauces.
Bacon is good. Tastes good. Good on basically anything. But that doesn't mean it should be used in everything. My take is you treat like a treat. Don't cook it very often, save it for a special occasion so it remains special.
The other bubble (we won't talk about Cyclocross's bubble - maybe - night weasels is the first indicator that the CX scene has jumped the shark and is headed down the tubes, that or i'm just bitter about not being able to go) is the Monsanto one. The big evil empire. Is it shrinking? Has Food Inc and the rest of the truth in "journalism" hitting home and causing problems? Or is it really like some people have been saying all along. Chemical farming is not sustainable and is NOT the solution to global food shortages (feels odd saying that in a country full of the fattest people on the planet - no excess of calories here /sarcasm).
Wait. Yields are going down? you can't just plant a GMO corn, spray it with a couple hundred thousand tons of crude oil derived fertilizers and herbicide/pesticides and have an amazing yield? Say it isn't so! GASP, what will the farmers plant now?
Bittman pointed the article out yesterday, along with a really gross picture (don't EVER eat a processed chicken thing again - *gag*)
Now setting that chicken paste aside, lets look a bit at the Monsanto problem. What happened? Is it a good thing for non-GMO crops? Is it a good thing for those working to reduce the dependence on oil for farming and increasing the sustainability? Nope.
All that has happened is Pioneer is taking up the slack. They Call it Pioneer more than the company that Pioneer brand really is: Dupont. Oh hey. Look at that. Dupont isn't really all that much better (if at all) than Monsanto. Two big chemical giants making food. Or should we say engineering crops/seeds for farmers to take the risk on growing.
They have all the profits, and none of the risks associated with growing it, kind of convenient and a damn awesome business model, no?
Go back to that BPA article I linked up top:
BPA is bad? No way. But really, how do we know what has BPA in it? buying stuff that is labeled BPA-free is a solution but there really isn't much that is BPA-free. Some canned good companies are going BPA-free, okay, so far only one. BUY EDEN FOODS (and support their effort to keep us healthy). okay so I didn't mean to get into a product endorsement. When Wholefoods goes the way of BPA-free cans then I'll be a lot happier. The Ball Corporation has been doing it for a while (making those cans) why hasn't anyone else jumped in on it?But vom Saal advocates the same precautionary principle that NYU nutritionist Marion Nestle supported last month on the Atlantic Food Channel. "If you set the bar at proof of harm to humans," vom Saal says, "you have failed to protect the public health."
Unit Cost. Americans are dead set and ultra programmed to purchase based on unit costs (i'm so conditioned that it mentally hurts when I go with the higher unit cost items). Unit cost drives the market.
it is cheaper to spray crude oil derived chemicals on the growing crops than natural/organic options...
it is cheaper to line your cans, make your plastic, with BPA than without it...
Thanks chemical companies. Where would we be without you? (probably not the health problem ridden overweight country we are now).
Like Mark Twain's famous saying:
"It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it."Maybe Thoreau's quote is better for this line of pondering:
Every man is the builder of a temple called his body.How strong do you want that temple? Do you want it to last? Any decent builder knows that good construction and maintenance are still not going to keep a structure made with poor materials standing for so long. A more dire problem is that people are building their children's temple with poor materials and hindering the natural construction by allowing too many of these disruptive chemicals into their systems. Our bodies are resiliant. But they can only do so much. Sure greg lemond could eat at McDonalds every day and still win the tour, but look at him now, how is his temple holding up? Maybe it is better than some but it is what it could be? Maybe that's another poor example on my part. Oh well. I'm tired, need some sleep. despite and overwhelming desire to drive up to Night Weasels, I know it would just wreck me and that's not what I need now.
heddwch
G
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
New Stuff
As much as I hate to admit it, CCR may be on to something. Personally, with my upbringing it is going to be CX-mas.
I haven't been appreciating the new shit as much as I should have. Maybe that last smidge of a lap on the Giant helped. But also there's that period of time when you aren't sure (maybe) if newer was a good idea. Is it really better? Or is it just different.
This weekend we got the new team kits. Photos abound and I'm too tired to dig them up and the only self portrait i took after the race with the new facial hair makes me look like i have a giant double chin (I don't unless I look down into a camera).
I don't like new stuff. Maybe some of you, my friends, have noticed that over time. It is/can be a problem. Often though the new stuff winds up being pretty good despite my initial over-reaction. The kits, well I just had no idea what to expect (you can never tell from the art mock up what it will really look like on you), the kits are pretty damn nice. I like them. Yes, racing in them two days and seeing all the shots in FB and other places, well ya know, they are wicked cool. Also I've been wearing them for a couple days now. Have to break the new stuff in. There's a list of things with the Hincapie clothing that isn't anywhere near as nice as the Vermarc or Verge stuff, but hey, it still works.
Wicked cool details on the Long Sleeve really make it awesome. Like the reflective stripe on the sleeves. Nice touch. Long sleeve is generally going to be worn training and if you train/ride outside for cross, there is a damn good chance it will be dark at some point, and cold. Another nice feature is the gripper sticky strip around the lower hem. Nice touch.
The colors are unique. The yellow reminds me of lemon gelato... subtle yet strong and all good. The pin striping is sort of a bit hipster but it has a nice artistic flair and is super subtle.
So yeah. Having the new kits have helped sort of kick off the season maybe in the way Bedford did and not the way VT and G-ster have.
Sure, I'm a guy and it is all about pictures. Words are good as long as they are descriptive. And it wasn't just the pictures of the kit. It was pictures of the bike.
I look at them and think "Damn that bike DOES look good." It does. At least I like it. I'm getting that 'holy shit that's MY bike?' feeling. Finally. It is exciting. I'm over just how much the frame cost (the parts not so much but i've got a theory on why my luck seems to have drastically switched or spread to G-ride).
Riding it these last two days - out of competition has been pretty informative in a way. That quick jump on the Giant and almost eating shit three times because I was used to how quickly the Blue stopped and how much grip were in the tires and how well it turned sort of sealed the deal. Riding these last two days to work on the new bike have made it seem real. Yes I do mean to mostly commute on the Giant, but wow, can I say just how sweet this thing handles? No effort to move it around, it stays well centered under me, very controllable even when flicking around all the massive debris littering the paths and roads on the commute.
I was going wicked easy yesterday and this morning, but on the way home running a bit late I hit it hard and the bike really responded. That front der still isn't tweaked just right, it is being a pain in the ass. But it is close and it isn't adversely affecting anything and I've got lots of other shit to worry about.
But the new team, and the new bike, these are all sinking in, and it is a good thing.
The rest week has also been important. I've slowly been upping the green tea intake, esp with the last few weeks of waking up before 5:30 to get in an extra work out on top of the commuting, couple that with late nights and stress, and this weekend and all the emotional stuff, wow, I'm run down to rock bottom. I needed to start the season well rested, not at wits end. I needed the whole candle intact to have a good start, but no, I managed to burn it all out before gloucester.
Night Weasels is tomorrow. That Cat 3 race sure looks like fun. But it is a school night and well over an hour away (w/o rush hour traffic to factor in) and as much as I would love to be there, it just won't be happening. Providence? Yeah that's happening. Going to be a biblical (epic has been retired) blogger face off in the 35+ race. CCR, G-ride, Solobreak, Murat, Bold... who else, I'd put Myette in there but he almost updates less frequently than mr advertisement murat. Well Bold obviously wins but the rest of us middling pack-fodder will be locked to the death on the course this weekend. Okay Myette should beat the rest of the bozos pretty handily too. It is going to be fun. Wet for a day or so more but then, boom yeah, sun will come out and it might be almost like G-ster, just slightly damp. Nah, it will likely be worse - that soil has a lot more organic matter in it (and broken glass). Either way it will be fun. I'm trying to keep Thursday clear to offer a hand in setting it all up but work's kinda of doing a great job of putting me in a scheduling conundrum.
So, maybe a couple more decent nights sleep, no waking up for 5:30 am workouts should make a difference... hopefully. Local race without much travel also should help this weekend.
we'll see, maybe things have turned around...
heddwch
G
I haven't been appreciating the new shit as much as I should have. Maybe that last smidge of a lap on the Giant helped. But also there's that period of time when you aren't sure (maybe) if newer was a good idea. Is it really better? Or is it just different.
This weekend we got the new team kits. Photos abound and I'm too tired to dig them up and the only self portrait i took after the race with the new facial hair makes me look like i have a giant double chin (I don't unless I look down into a camera).
I don't like new stuff. Maybe some of you, my friends, have noticed that over time. It is/can be a problem. Often though the new stuff winds up being pretty good despite my initial over-reaction. The kits, well I just had no idea what to expect (you can never tell from the art mock up what it will really look like on you), the kits are pretty damn nice. I like them. Yes, racing in them two days and seeing all the shots in FB and other places, well ya know, they are wicked cool. Also I've been wearing them for a couple days now. Have to break the new stuff in. There's a list of things with the Hincapie clothing that isn't anywhere near as nice as the Vermarc or Verge stuff, but hey, it still works.
Wicked cool details on the Long Sleeve really make it awesome. Like the reflective stripe on the sleeves. Nice touch. Long sleeve is generally going to be worn training and if you train/ride outside for cross, there is a damn good chance it will be dark at some point, and cold. Another nice feature is the gripper sticky strip around the lower hem. Nice touch.
The colors are unique. The yellow reminds me of lemon gelato... subtle yet strong and all good. The pin striping is sort of a bit hipster but it has a nice artistic flair and is super subtle.
So yeah. Having the new kits have helped sort of kick off the season maybe in the way Bedford did and not the way VT and G-ster have.
Sure, I'm a guy and it is all about pictures. Words are good as long as they are descriptive. And it wasn't just the pictures of the kit. It was pictures of the bike.
I look at them and think "Damn that bike DOES look good." It does. At least I like it. I'm getting that 'holy shit that's MY bike?' feeling. Finally. It is exciting. I'm over just how much the frame cost (the parts not so much but i've got a theory on why my luck seems to have drastically switched or spread to G-ride).
Riding it these last two days - out of competition has been pretty informative in a way. That quick jump on the Giant and almost eating shit three times because I was used to how quickly the Blue stopped and how much grip were in the tires and how well it turned sort of sealed the deal. Riding these last two days to work on the new bike have made it seem real. Yes I do mean to mostly commute on the Giant, but wow, can I say just how sweet this thing handles? No effort to move it around, it stays well centered under me, very controllable even when flicking around all the massive debris littering the paths and roads on the commute.
I was going wicked easy yesterday and this morning, but on the way home running a bit late I hit it hard and the bike really responded. That front der still isn't tweaked just right, it is being a pain in the ass. But it is close and it isn't adversely affecting anything and I've got lots of other shit to worry about.
But the new team, and the new bike, these are all sinking in, and it is a good thing.
The rest week has also been important. I've slowly been upping the green tea intake, esp with the last few weeks of waking up before 5:30 to get in an extra work out on top of the commuting, couple that with late nights and stress, and this weekend and all the emotional stuff, wow, I'm run down to rock bottom. I needed to start the season well rested, not at wits end. I needed the whole candle intact to have a good start, but no, I managed to burn it all out before gloucester.
Night Weasels is tomorrow. That Cat 3 race sure looks like fun. But it is a school night and well over an hour away (w/o rush hour traffic to factor in) and as much as I would love to be there, it just won't be happening. Providence? Yeah that's happening. Going to be a biblical (epic has been retired) blogger face off in the 35+ race. CCR, G-ride, Solobreak, Murat, Bold... who else, I'd put Myette in there but he almost updates less frequently than mr advertisement murat. Well Bold obviously wins but the rest of us middling pack-fodder will be locked to the death on the course this weekend. Okay Myette should beat the rest of the bozos pretty handily too. It is going to be fun. Wet for a day or so more but then, boom yeah, sun will come out and it might be almost like G-ster, just slightly damp. Nah, it will likely be worse - that soil has a lot more organic matter in it (and broken glass). Either way it will be fun. I'm trying to keep Thursday clear to offer a hand in setting it all up but work's kinda of doing a great job of putting me in a scheduling conundrum.
So, maybe a couple more decent nights sleep, no waking up for 5:30 am workouts should make a difference... hopefully. Local race without much travel also should help this weekend.
we'll see, maybe things have turned around...
heddwch
G
Monday, October 04, 2010
Flat
More ways than one.
I'd love to shake off the sunday race as bad luck. It happens. But the string is so long I'm just wondering what's next.
First lap crash followed by a flat tire riding around with the Moose, and then me running the whole zig zag section before the sand and the pits. Could have been a longer run I suppose. But it was long enough that I thought about stepping over the tape and walking back to the car. No DNF, no DNF, can't DNF. Get to the pit and get the Giant and finish. By the time I got the bike swap the Leaders were not far behind me. I pulled over way out of the way to let em through and rolled in second from DFL. 1st rider a lap down. But I finished.
I suppose that's enough of an accomplishment. 72 starters and only 63 finishers. I was luckier (maybe) than 9 other folks who didn't cross the line for some reason or another. Although I look at the Crossresults page today and it seems to have added a few more people in front of me.
Oh well. Have to move on. What else am I going to do? Pack it in?
I'd write up a real race report but that isn't really happening right now. What's there to say? I started in the back row, or close to it both days. Day one was a cluster f'k at the start. Day two was typical G-ster and it was still a mess, no where to go, boxed right in at the back. I just didn't have the kill everyone attitude needed to go nuts. Bedford was a great race. Everything else has been horrible results wise. All the fun is still there but it is being overshadowed. I thought it had turned around. Sunday was going to be awesome. And it wasn't going so badly until I crashed. And then I flatted. On the plus side I wasn't going to get lapped and I think if we used the 80% rule I was right on the edge. Not a great place to be but, indexing it with last year I'm "faster." By differential between winner's time and my time. But the rest of the field has gotten even tighter, if that is possible.
So I need to focus on the fact that yes, I AM faster than i was last year. No I didn't race all summer and that's hurting me now. But hopefully I can concentrate this week on the rest. I think I need a down week. I'm so freaking tired after this weekend. It took a ton out of me.
The memorial service, the drive, the races... not much in the tank. Okay there's nothing in the tank. But the car worked great. No problems. Up and back with the bikes on the roof... Bike worked except for the flat tire. I only got lapped with a very late race mechanical, and I finished.
Now to move on to the rest of the week and get ready for the big local race this weekend.
I'd love to shake off the sunday race as bad luck. It happens. But the string is so long I'm just wondering what's next.
First lap crash followed by a flat tire riding around with the Moose, and then me running the whole zig zag section before the sand and the pits. Could have been a longer run I suppose. But it was long enough that I thought about stepping over the tape and walking back to the car. No DNF, no DNF, can't DNF. Get to the pit and get the Giant and finish. By the time I got the bike swap the Leaders were not far behind me. I pulled over way out of the way to let em through and rolled in second from DFL. 1st rider a lap down. But I finished.
I suppose that's enough of an accomplishment. 72 starters and only 63 finishers. I was luckier (maybe) than 9 other folks who didn't cross the line for some reason or another. Although I look at the Crossresults page today and it seems to have added a few more people in front of me.
Oh well. Have to move on. What else am I going to do? Pack it in?
I'd write up a real race report but that isn't really happening right now. What's there to say? I started in the back row, or close to it both days. Day one was a cluster f'k at the start. Day two was typical G-ster and it was still a mess, no where to go, boxed right in at the back. I just didn't have the kill everyone attitude needed to go nuts. Bedford was a great race. Everything else has been horrible results wise. All the fun is still there but it is being overshadowed. I thought it had turned around. Sunday was going to be awesome. And it wasn't going so badly until I crashed. And then I flatted. On the plus side I wasn't going to get lapped and I think if we used the 80% rule I was right on the edge. Not a great place to be but, indexing it with last year I'm "faster." By differential between winner's time and my time. But the rest of the field has gotten even tighter, if that is possible.
So I need to focus on the fact that yes, I AM faster than i was last year. No I didn't race all summer and that's hurting me now. But hopefully I can concentrate this week on the rest. I think I need a down week. I'm so freaking tired after this weekend. It took a ton out of me.
The memorial service, the drive, the races... not much in the tank. Okay there's nothing in the tank. But the car worked great. No problems. Up and back with the bikes on the roof... Bike worked except for the flat tire. I only got lapped with a very late race mechanical, and I finished.
Now to move on to the rest of the week and get ready for the big local race this weekend.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Oops
So that SRAM S900 flex i mentioned? Well turns out that 10mm allen bolt had started loosening up. Must have during the race, I guess maybe i didn't get it all the way to 45nm or something. On the way home the chain ring "flex" was getting worse, and worse.
WTF. So I wiggled my foot and the whole arm moved.
Oops.
Soft pedaled (with a tail wind and a light drizzle) all the way home. It didn't fall off and doesn't look out of shape at all. Cranked that sumbitch down TIGHT, TYYYYYYEEET. F'yeah. Got two sets of knobbies set up. Decommed the discwheel and put that into main duty service. I really hope it is dry and clean enough to run the Racing Ralphs. If it is sloppy I mounted up the most unstoppable mud tires ever (yeah even better than your precious Rhinos). Sure they are clinchers and, yeah sure I have to run em at 50psi or so but. Yeah they'll rock if it is sloppy. But. Man do I hope it isn't.
Giant is ready to go.
Blue is ready to go.
If it stops raining I'll un/load the car right after getting a haircut. There are 24 gallons of B100 sitting in the car now and the full tank. 40 cents cheaper per gallon than the crude oil based stuff. Couldn't pass that up.
Felt good to do a bit of zen bike maintenance after eating a bowl of the leftover curry.
Gloucester, can't wait. Oh and fresh off the twitter feed: Drainage is very good at the park so it will be nothing like last year's mudbath. Maybe a little greasy on corners for early races.
G
WTF. So I wiggled my foot and the whole arm moved.
Oops.
Soft pedaled (with a tail wind and a light drizzle) all the way home. It didn't fall off and doesn't look out of shape at all. Cranked that sumbitch down TIGHT, TYYYYYYEEET. F'yeah. Got two sets of knobbies set up. Decommed the discwheel and put that into main duty service. I really hope it is dry and clean enough to run the Racing Ralphs. If it is sloppy I mounted up the most unstoppable mud tires ever (yeah even better than your precious Rhinos). Sure they are clinchers and, yeah sure I have to run em at 50psi or so but. Yeah they'll rock if it is sloppy. But. Man do I hope it isn't.
Giant is ready to go.
Blue is ready to go.
If it stops raining I'll un/load the car right after getting a haircut. There are 24 gallons of B100 sitting in the car now and the full tank. 40 cents cheaper per gallon than the crude oil based stuff. Couldn't pass that up.
Felt good to do a bit of zen bike maintenance after eating a bowl of the leftover curry.
Gloucester, can't wait. Oh and fresh off the twitter feed: Drainage is very good at the park so it will be nothing like last year's mudbath. Maybe a little greasy on corners for early races.
G
Oh Man
I've heard of the legend of 2005 at Gloucester.
But had not really seen much video from it, and when I did the course and location didn't mean that much to me.
Now after racing there, maybe more than any other venue in New England (have to check crossresults.com), watching Ryan Kelly slip and fall in the snow, wow. Damn that looked like fun.
That's cross racing, sorry Justin and Jack, but dust bowl racing just flat out sucks. Pray for some rain next year maybe. Or better yet a cold front with snow in September (it could happen, I mean, it is about as likely as me getting fast on the bike but hey, it COULD happen).
There was a nice tail wind on the way in today. And I saddled up the Blue Norcross EX, put the S-Works Cross Baldys on there and headed in.
The bike is different than the Klein. Front end is way stiffer. But the seat tube must be identical because I don't have to change the angle on the saddle moving the post between bikes. And honestly I don't notice the difference in the crank length. But i think the S900s are a bit more flexible than maybe I'd like. The two piece spider maybe isn't ideal, but hey, it works. And the bike is pretty solid and damn nice to ride.
On a more serious note, Ezra's latest post is a mixed bag. He's home but faced with a tough road ahead. Damn disease is closing in all around. Friends and Family fighting and many losing the battle. I hope Ezra doesn't lose the battle. He reminds me quite a bit of Mark Nicholson, I hope he can do what Mark wasn't able to do, beat cancer.
We miss you Mark. And... Bill and... Greg and... Christie and... and...
Too many.
Way too many.
Okay - can't leave it at that.
Richard may be down under announcing but he's also posting to his web log again.
So much for the rain that was supposed to be here by 10am. Like someone has put a bit old bowl covering Gloucester, Boston and Providence. Rain's just running in a line just to the west. We'll see if it ever actually gets to Gloucester or here.
Downside of how slow it is moving is that there's no way the front will move through in time for the ride home. Means no bitching tailwind home. Oh well. Call it openers riding into 50+ mph gusts and probably rain. At least maybe it'll wash the dust from SuckerBrook off. (no i have NOT cleaned the bike yet).
heddwch
G
But had not really seen much video from it, and when I did the course and location didn't mean that much to me.
Now after racing there, maybe more than any other venue in New England (have to check crossresults.com), watching Ryan Kelly slip and fall in the snow, wow. Damn that looked like fun.
That's cross racing, sorry Justin and Jack, but dust bowl racing just flat out sucks. Pray for some rain next year maybe. Or better yet a cold front with snow in September (it could happen, I mean, it is about as likely as me getting fast on the bike but hey, it COULD happen).
There was a nice tail wind on the way in today. And I saddled up the Blue Norcross EX, put the S-Works Cross Baldys on there and headed in.
The bike is different than the Klein. Front end is way stiffer. But the seat tube must be identical because I don't have to change the angle on the saddle moving the post between bikes. And honestly I don't notice the difference in the crank length. But i think the S900s are a bit more flexible than maybe I'd like. The two piece spider maybe isn't ideal, but hey, it works. And the bike is pretty solid and damn nice to ride.
On a more serious note, Ezra's latest post is a mixed bag. He's home but faced with a tough road ahead. Damn disease is closing in all around. Friends and Family fighting and many losing the battle. I hope Ezra doesn't lose the battle. He reminds me quite a bit of Mark Nicholson, I hope he can do what Mark wasn't able to do, beat cancer.
We miss you Mark. And... Bill and... Greg and... Christie and... and...
Too many.
Way too many.
Okay - can't leave it at that.
Richard may be down under announcing but he's also posting to his web log again.
So much for the rain that was supposed to be here by 10am. Like someone has put a bit old bowl covering Gloucester, Boston and Providence. Rain's just running in a line just to the west. We'll see if it ever actually gets to Gloucester or here.
Downside of how slow it is moving is that there's no way the front will move through in time for the ride home. Means no bitching tailwind home. Oh well. Call it openers riding into 50+ mph gusts and probably rain. At least maybe it'll wash the dust from SuckerBrook off. (no i have NOT cleaned the bike yet).
heddwch
G
BACON
Okay - sorry but this looks just WAY too awesome.
OM NOM NOM NOM
Bacon,
Hamburger
Hot Dog
Cheese
I'd better see one of these at Gloucester in Luxury Tent Row tomorrow or Sunday (preferably Sunday).
Thanks to Tilford for posting the shot that got me googling BACON TURTLE! And for posting the Pezzo pictures. Mmmm.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Curry for dinner
Yellow curry or what ever it is called, not green curry and def not the red curry with coconut milk.
Plain old turmeric colored curry.
Totally awesome. And despite some protestation and denial I think I'm going to start with one tag: Food.
A concession I will make because someone asked. Why not.
So
I've had it in my mind to make some red lentils and something for a while. I didn't feel like making burritos tonight. Sure they are awesome and so good, but since the clouds in my head rolled back and the mental baggage fell off somewhere along the way, and just like G-Ride had planned the hangers for the Blue were waiting for me.
Food. Right.
So yeah it isn't vegan or vegetarian and hell since I'm using COW it really isn't indian. But I didn't have any ground lamb or turkey, so I used some ground beef.
Beef. Brown in pan...
Add one chopped onion...
then some curry powder, extra turmeric, fresh grated ginger, and cardamom and let it get nice and odorous.
Meanwhile cook 1 cup of lentils in 2.5 cups of water (or use stock if you have some laying around).
And 1 cup of rice in water with some turmeric and oil to another pot on the stove.
So while rice and lentils are cooking, add some carrots to the ground beef, once they are softened add a bunch of diced sweet potato to the beef.
Then add the lentils and water and salt (if your curry powder doesn't have any in it) to the beef and sweet potato mixture.
So, cook until the potatoes are soft, adding water or stock to keep at the right consistency (stew like).
10 minutes before serving, add a bunch of frozen peas.
To serve put some of the rice in a bowl, add the beef/lentil/sweet potato curry and then a spoonful of yogurt on top (and a bit of Shirachi if you want some more heat than the ginger).
Eat and enjoy. Tasty.
(Oh and the bike is now back together - put the SWorks Baldys for the ride to work tomorrow- gotta sort it out make sure no more bugs are left in it)
(oh and chain looks good but rear der was tweaked... quick twist and it is back and working well)
(oh and what the fuck - a 105 front der is riveted on, can't change it w/o breaking the chain? F'n retarded shimano)
Plain old turmeric colored curry.
Totally awesome. And despite some protestation and denial I think I'm going to start with one tag: Food.
A concession I will make because someone asked. Why not.
So
I've had it in my mind to make some red lentils and something for a while. I didn't feel like making burritos tonight. Sure they are awesome and so good, but since the clouds in my head rolled back and the mental baggage fell off somewhere along the way, and just like G-Ride had planned the hangers for the Blue were waiting for me.
Food. Right.
So yeah it isn't vegan or vegetarian and hell since I'm using COW it really isn't indian. But I didn't have any ground lamb or turkey, so I used some ground beef.
Beef. Brown in pan...
Add one chopped onion...
then some curry powder, extra turmeric, fresh grated ginger, and cardamom and let it get nice and odorous.
Meanwhile cook 1 cup of lentils in 2.5 cups of water (or use stock if you have some laying around).
And 1 cup of rice in water with some turmeric and oil to another pot on the stove.
So while rice and lentils are cooking, add some carrots to the ground beef, once they are softened add a bunch of diced sweet potato to the beef.
Then add the lentils and water and salt (if your curry powder doesn't have any in it) to the beef and sweet potato mixture.
So, cook until the potatoes are soft, adding water or stock to keep at the right consistency (stew like).
10 minutes before serving, add a bunch of frozen peas.
To serve put some of the rice in a bowl, add the beef/lentil/sweet potato curry and then a spoonful of yogurt on top (and a bit of Shirachi if you want some more heat than the ginger).
Eat and enjoy. Tasty.
(Oh and the bike is now back together - put the SWorks Baldys for the ride to work tomorrow- gotta sort it out make sure no more bugs are left in it)
(oh and chain looks good but rear der was tweaked... quick twist and it is back and working well)
(oh and what the fuck - a 105 front der is riveted on, can't change it w/o breaking the chain? F'n retarded shimano)
Jure Robic, RIP
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/sports/cycling/30robic.html
Sad news to hear that he died. That NY Times article from years ago was amazing. This is a brief re-cap of that with some updated information and details on how he died.
Tough luck. Rest in Peace Jure
Sad news to hear that he died. That NY Times article from years ago was amazing. This is a brief re-cap of that with some updated information and details on how he died.
Tough luck. Rest in Peace Jure
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