Postmortem...

First by the numbers.

My numbers first, old fashioned stuff:
(not counting the ride from Scott K's house to the Tavern)
63.78 miles
5:05:18 ride time
Avg HR 134
Max 175 (climbing whatever that tower hill was called with Eli at the top)
Avg Speed 12.53 mph
Max 32.31 mph
Barometric measurement of climbing 3424'

James uploaded some data to the strava page. That's the route we took. I don't have a strava account so I don't know what other details are there when you log in.

Food: Coffee, and a bowl of granola w/a banana and some milk and yogurt for breakfast.
Another cup of coffee at Scott's house
Large coffee from the bakery across the street from the Tavern
Vegan Woopie Pie at Ride Studio Cafe, THANKS WILCOX, that was good.
One Hammer Espresso flavor gel shot some time later
Filled up my one empty bottle of water at the Brugers there in Wellesley (the other bottle was still 1/2 full of water).
One more Hammer espresso gel on one of the aquaduct sections.

That was it.

Sunburn hands, legs and face are actually not too burnt, good move not cutting the long hair yet, kept the neck covered.

We rode together as a team. I wish there were enough cue sheets to give to everyone, but it worked. We got around well enough, sort of. To be honest I wasn't expecting to be in the saddle for 5+ hours. Certainly not to be out there that long. And in the back of my mind things were putting a damper on the day, thinking I should have pulled the plug to stay home with the family...

The car got me there no problem, and back. The bike was great. The Zipp 101s worked flawlessly. Even when I ran over Tom. The Racing Ralphs were fine. super smooth on the pavement and plenty of grip every where else. Running them at 60 psi probably helped prevent flats.

I thought maybe the railroad bridge we'd have to cross would have had something cool like a river under it, but nope. Just train tracks.

Riding bare handed maybe wasn't the best idea, but no blisters, just sun burnt lobsters that I'm looking at right now.

It was awesome seeing so many faces and recognizing just about every single person there, even if I didn't know their name there were maybe only a couple faces I couldn't say I had seen before. It would have been nice to hang out at the Tavern afterwards and try my luck at any raffling going on. This was a full day event and I really only had half of a day to play with.

Seeing over $200,000 worth of bikes stacked up outside the tavern when we finally rolled in was pretty cool. Driving away from Scott's house nearly exactly 8 hours after we left his house on the bikes to head to the Tavern was not quite what I had planned. But it is what it is. I should have expected and planned as much or pulled the plug before heading up on Sunday.

It gave me a huge appreciation for the roads we have for cycling down here in RI. I feel pretty fortunate. I can head in so many directions and then be basically out in the country w/o city insanity w/in at most 20 minutes of riding.

I'm glad I had the chance to ride it, it was worth it, but honestly, and partly my fault, I was left short of the expectations that my friends had built this thing up to be. And because I don't usually mince words, I'm not going to, I've had more fun getting dropped at the ToB than getting lost on the Rv2.0.

Next year? We'll cross that bridge when we get there. When I checked the ToB results and noticed the 40+ cat I realized, damn I could have been racing with that group this year! Of course I probably still would have ridden with my team mates in their Cat 4 group and finished where I would normally (OTB) and really it is too much $ for a race i've done enough times in the past.

The ride in [to work] this morning was fine. Contact points are all fine. Legs were surprisingly good. Even took kindly to a few efforts. Back is fine, Knees? also good. Neck? good too. Brain? Mentally I'm pretty fried. It took a lot out of me. I'm not quite luggage today, but I'm fortunate that the schedule for today is light, and the people using the scopes are as well (issues this morning to resolve). I know the DOMS probably won't hit hard until tomorrow, but we'll see. I slept very well last night. But then after two nights of poor sleep and 5+ hours of pedaling, i suppose that is to be expected. I still woke up before the alarm.

And shit my hands are red (I didn't think about sunscreen or bug spray until we were standing around in the sun before the start stripping layers off).

oh well

One more remark. Cruising through Wellesley... we turned left on to Benvienue(sp) and flashback to 2010 and parking 3 times in that lot there on the corner for memorial services at the Friends Meeting across the street. Scott's commenting about the name of the tunnel we rode through in Cutler (Suicide Tunnel) certainly didn't help push the loss from last year out of the brain.

oh and we spend a good bit of time riding around with the Pedal Power gang. DP's streamers were first class. I want a pair. We were sitting behind them after the covered bridge and so I sat up and put the camera in my left hand to take a shot. One hand was still on the bars but up in the middle by the stem, when, before I could snap the shutter, James washed out and crashed. Scott might have been in front or just enough behind to ride around, he didn't go down. But Tom was just infront of me and he ran into the back of James and then I plowed right into the back of Tom. no brakes, no chance to slow down. It knocked the wheel loose in the drop out but those 101s ran straight. Couldn't say the same for Tom's rear wheel. But since he was riding a single speed 29er with disc brakes, it didn't matter so much. He used my spoke wrench to tweak it slightly back into shape while James was changing his second flat tire of the day (he pinched the rear getting to the Tavern and the front on the aquaduct).



Maybe the song sort of crystalized it all but I would be hard pressed to say I have met people as awesome or amazing as the NECX crew. Wilcox and Rosenthal stand out big time. These guys are awesome. And really is there a cooler more awesome pair of people than Mat and Meaux? The rest of the whole gang = awesomeness. The positives of the ride were huge. It was great. Just seeing these people, seeing Mike Z, Myette, Ctodd, even grumpy Chabot. That was awesome. Gotta focus on the positive, and the positives were there. it was cool. the team shot at the top of Prospect Hill is awesome and will be what i remember.

I actually felt like i was picking pretty good lines through the single tracky stuff, granted it is all pretty tame, esp if you're on a big tired 29er but hey, i didn't exactly suck THAT much in it and I felt good about the lines I was taking.

And I still had lots of go juice riding back to get the car. Even eating as little as I did. Body has to be doing something right. But then an avg hr of only 135 isn't exactly race pace.

Sitting here, forcing myself to focus on the positives, really leads me to one conclusion, maybe next time i need to just volunteer to run a check point or something to help out instead of trying to 'compete.'

Hey would you look at that - just by writing and thinking about it, PMA prevails with a hard core win.

Just got to ask:
What would dave wilcox do or matt roy or or or or

Thanks to Scott and the rest of the crew who put the Ronde V2.0 together.

I'll get the photos I took up at some point soon... hopefully

heddwch
G

Ronde excitement

Cant wait for sunday. well i can, sort of wish it was a different day, so much going on. it is what it is and it will be great. looking forward to seeing who ever happens to show up there for it.

Today was spent a bit differently. Needed a break from the picture factory, so I tried standing on a concrete floor for 7.5 hours. Was kind of fun. We'll see if it winds up feeding any new material to write about.

Some jackass quipped that I race like a Cat 5. Maybe I do. I certainly don't race enough to get any better on the road at least. CX i guess I'm hopeless. If I still suck this much after this many years of that many races, well, maybe i should hang it up and offer professional pit mechanic services as a way to stay involved in the sport, or maybe not bother with that either.

CX is a long way off at this point, too many other things to tackle and make it through before it is time to think about what the fall will bring.

One thing at a time.

So anyway I'm just not feeling crazy inspired to write lately. Those moments here and there that I used to find just haven't been there. And if they have, yeah, just nothing positive to say that i want to share.

be good out there. remember that even the small stuff matters.

Like racing, someone was interviewed (I don't remember who now) saying winning was 50% physical conditioning, the rest? 1% here 1% there it is all the little things that add up, life is the same. The little things do add up. Pay attention to them.

heddwch
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It was windy

and f'n cold this morning:

windy cold morning from gewilli on Vimeo.

Because I Am a Cyclist

Because I Am a Cyclist
pretty much...

entertaining read, although i'm sure a few critical friends will find issues with it and say they couldn't get past a certain point...

Video Lunch hour

One fast truck

only a pamphlet

(language warning btw)

sounds good to me

..through the hierarchy..

Last night, couldn't sleep, I was wired from the week, the day and so I turned to Tim Krabbé's book. I started reading it a couple nights ago and have made it only part way through.

Each time I read it, something different sticks out. Maybe they are the same things, but they seem new, and seeming new is enough for me.

Last night I hit a passage that resonated a bit more than in the past:

...I worked my way up in those races through the hierarchy of being dropped, of sticking with the bunch, or taking part in a break, taking part in the break, of placing, of winning.

It caused me to stop and ponder a bit.

I would like to say it was what kept me up last night, but it wasn't. Brain just wouldn't settle down. Heck I couldn't even count for 60 seconds w/o the brain wandering off to think about something else. Sometimes when I'm trying to settle down I'll watch the clock, wait for the readout on the clock to tick over a new minute and then count pulses. Last night I counted three times, first time something happened around 30 and changed lanes in the brain and oops what number was I on? The next minute I made it to 40. When I'm most relaxed I never make it to 40. Not last night. Finally wound up hitting 56. FIFTY SIX! That isn't a resting, nor a restful heart rate. No wonder my brain was firing like an out of control pressure washer nozzle.

Anyway. Back to the passage. I made it to Kilometer 69 before closing the book, but this morning I kept coming back to that passage. Maybe it didn't mean much to me because until last year I was still well entrenched in the getting dropped hierarchy of road racing. Hell if I hit a road race I probably am still there.

Today I had fun.

The short of it was that after a short handful of laps we angled into the wind there and I was on the left and held my speed and the pack seemed to hit their brakes. Big guys = winning into a headwind. And well, I just held my speed, didn't slow and looked down going into the second to last turn expecting to see a shadow on my wheel but nope. Hmmm.

I made the turn and looked back, wtf? Ah god damnit. I didn't want to be off the front. Fuck. Well I have a tail wind lets just roll it out hit the final turn clean and sit up a bit. I figured on the pack rolling back on the front stretch.

But as I'm getting to the finish line, the pack is still pretty well bunched and some wise guy up there in the white officials house rings the prime bell. SERIOUSLY?

Shit. Well I have a gap, I guess it is time to see if I can hold it for a lap.

From my POV looking back the field got a bit skinnier when they heard the bell, but maybe they were "letting me go."

Either way by the time I hit that second to last turn after the headwind there was a distinct chase group and the rest of the field was strung out.

I don't know how close it was, not very from what it seemed in terms of being threatened to take the prime, but I won the first prime, promptly sat the fuck up and motored around in the sprinter's bus for a lap or two, or three. I don't remember. Except that maybe i went forward a bit too soon.

And Uri saw me and made a remark "there you are" and promptly launched. Paul S went and I said, awe fuck it lets go. My legs weren't there to do any extra work so I sat up and let the two of them ride away.

Team mate and friend up the road, lets see how big I can get. And thus the fun began. It was effortless and thoughtless moving through the field today. Sure it was small, and none of us were all that fast, but I didn't have to think about it. I was never in trouble. I certainly hit the limit a few times but managed to recover just fine.

In short, i had fun. I worked my ass off, and while I think I'm figuring it out a bit, I'm also probably in a bit better shape than maybe past years.

I rolled in at the tail of the pack I think I had some leg left but somehow thought that most of the money was up the road and just rolled in at a somewhat conversational pace (still in the group) with Chris C from Bikeworks. Didn't sprint, didn't try to... just rolled in with enough speed to stay in contact.

I almost wish I'd been able to stick around for the 35+ race but I had stuff to get to and bailed 2 laps into the 1/2/3 race.

I like that course. It's just fun racing. Congrats to Uri and Curtis, and awesome racing with everyone else.

Hopefully the stars will align and I'll be able to hit it again on the 17th.

Now, lets see if I can find some sleep.

heddwch
G

Annoying

that's how i view all these fake stories. some elicit a vague smile, most just annoyance.

maybe i'm just grumpy

Maybe the slow 40 minute ride into the 20 mph headwind and drizzling rain this morning has added a bit of a damper on everything.

sucking down coffee isn't helping

surfing pandora stations looking for inspiration - chugging through the task list and spending way too much time introspecting

Saint Sheldon Day

Happy Saint Sheldon Brown day. Are you going to be like JLS and eat a pound of Product W to make sure you're wicked fast for the race tomorrow? Going with some Superleggero bearings for Battenkill? Nanodrive? Or like superfreak Person the Carrababy so he can get back on the bike again.

Will those who are carrying on the ShelBroCo legacy come up with anything good this year? We will see.

I can tell you this, Saint Sheldon is loving the snow on his day!

yikes

I used two totally different LOTR references in one day, in two posts, w/o realizing it till i hit publish.

weird

oh and we've got about an inch of snow and it is sticking to the road now

#winning

i should re-name...

... the Klein road bike to shadowfax

#nerd #thanksderek #LOTR

shit - i'm using hash tags in the web log now... the lines are blurring

This just made my day a whole lot better

Watching the 35+ race that is.

What would we do w/o the magic of HenryJ?

rolling into the weekend

Here we are, thursday, getting ready for one more Nor'Easter here in New England.

Fortunately being down here in the southern bit of the region we might get spared a good bit the nastiness. Still looks to be wet for the commute home and tomorrow. BUT that all seems like it might move off in time for Chris Hinds. But man does NOAA have it listed as being a bit gusty. Stead winds from the west gusting up towards 30. The West? Basically a cross wind for the long sections and a tail wind heading into the last turn. Well we'll see what happens with that. Should make it fun for the Curley's and their normal rear wheel choice. How cool would it be if the next updated satellite shot google uses for the maps view was taken during a race down there.

Anyway. Total medium ride in today, and while I started recording stuff in that spreadsheet RTK shared earlier this year, well that lasted all of a day and a half and boom, I forgot to reset the data logger and I didn't have time to manually input the numbers. Screw it. Going back to just riding. Sort of. I kind of like the HR data, but I'm trying not to fall into the old keep track and obsess about the numbers. But I will say it has really helped me push harder and has kept me going easier than I otherwise would have. Both probably good things.

I would say I doubt it will do any good but that's negative and I'm trying to focus on less negative self talking. A challenge. For me. Mostly because I know I suck when measuring up to certain people. I would like to say I have both the speed and the base to do well, I think I do, but who knows. Honestly I'll be riding along, HR chilling in zone 1 and I'll think about racing, or think about a race I've done (road/crits) and my HR will jump 20 beats or more instantly. Speed and pacing remaining the same. There have been a few columns addressing something similar about the mental side of racing. staying even in the race, not letting anxiety or excitability drain resources mid-race, but then tapping into them when you need to (make a break, cover a break, go for a win)... I have a plan for this race, and the long shot peak assumed unobtainable goal is, of course, to win. Second level is somehow help a team mate (or secret ally) win/do well, third is just to have a good race and have fun. Yeah, I know. It is just a silly crit at a boring course. that said I kind of like that course. It is still fun to me. Granted I haven't been racing on it for years and year and years like many of the dudes my age have.

Things are getting suddenly very crazy all at once. These few races (saturday, 10th and the 17th) and another addition to the insanity that hopefully will make a difference. I'll be cryptic and make a secret note to myself that the weight is pretty heavy and constantly there. Sort of like the fog from having worn The Ring. That blackness is constantly there and every once in a while reaches out and reminds me. Hard to deal with an no easy way out. I kind of hope maybe to look back some day and read this and say, "I'm glad things have changed and it was worth it all."

Wed I woke up and distinctly had a "groundhog day" moment. Same pattern, i did the same thing and unusually it felt very repetitive to the point where I did question which day it was and if i was dreaming or something.

This week I switched back over to the Klein. Bottom bracket started making noise last night again, but it isn't skipping and the drive train feels so much smoother than the 10sp stuff. It is weird - even on the Giant with the wicked worn (1 season of CX and a year of commuting) drive train feels smoother than a season of racing on the Blue's drive train. Maybe it is because the 10sp stuff is 105 not 1998 Dura Ace 9sp. But the chains and cassette on the Giant and the Klein aren't D/A. They are just Ultegra.

Smack down ride will likely start on the 12th of April. And if you're in the PVD area there is a regular BLVD ride again, leaves from Caster's on 4th at 6:15pm on Monday nights.

I think my coffee:food balance is off today, far to skewed to the first. Esp since it is only mid-afternoon and I'm ready for a second lunch. (Yes i started the post eating lunch and am just getting back to it).

Did I write this? No probably not, it is far to lucid. I kind of wish I had, because it sort of fits.

i'm going to stop writing - it isn't helping right now, focused on the wrong stuff...

heddwch,
G

COOL AS F'N HELL

http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/extra/wedstrijden/110325_opvallend_360

360° view of the race. You choose the view!

very cooooooool

TOOOOOOOOzDay

Not sure i can explain it but this Deltron 3030 station is just setting the mood. There's a metric ton of good stuff under that genera.

Riding's been good. The commute that is. Only problem is, the harder I go the less time I have on the bike. Sort of frustrating a bit. Esp that I'm a bit too something to take the long way or modify the route. Part of the problem is that the alternatives kind of suck and are not just a bit longer, a good bit longer. And time is limited.

Managed to have a lower key day today, very nice. Still damn full, although it has been full of the good stuff, solving problems. Providing answers, tapping into knowledge.

Tapping into the two months of backed up stuff is satisfying. Lots of good stuff to read out there today.

Good to see SLAMTHATSTEM picked up on Dave's griping about bikes. So true.

Dropped handlebars on a road bike should never be higher than the saddle, unless the rider is either homeless or handicapped in some way. I would rather see this bike set up as a hybrid with flat handlebars than looking like this.

SERIOUSLY. Come on people, it is a road bike. If you need the bars that high, well are you really going to use the drops? Really? Dave goes into it pretty well. Respect.

I alluded to some behavior of a few people on a group ride a bit ago IIRC. And yeah some old grumpy fat dude already linked to it but, on the chance that some of you didn't see his link read this shit. Okay? I sent off an email to a group (or two) after reading it:

Please. Please read this.
Take it in, internalize it.
http://www.mudandcowbells.com/blog/2011/3/8/what-have-we-become.html
Dissipate the emotion. When someone honks, wave. If they drove close by, report them, don't chase them down. Unless you're just chasing them down to take a photo of the car and the license plate. There's a heaping ton of good advice in that article by greg there. Read it. Really. Seriously. Read it. Re-Read it.
I see solid instances on nearly every larger group ride that cause driver's great frustration. Sure there are times when driver's get pissed when you (as a cyclist) are doing everything right. Let it go. That person is having a bad day. Move on.
BUT
don't be a dick and make it worse. Sure you may be entitled to do something but that doesn't mean you should. Ride diplomatically. Ride smart.
You're never going to win a race if you're stupid (unless you're on drugs like Ricco: http://stevetilford.com/?p=10863). Practice being smart on the bike.
We will win. Eventually. But like getting fast in cycling, it takes time, and effort, and lots of patience. Drivers will come around.
-G

(yes I do often let my emotions boil up but, I've been consciously working hard at it and slowly i'm getting a handle on that Hulk that is lurking inside.)

Good Stuff that makes sense. (a rarity for the ProJo?)

WISDOM: The Below Linked from here - quote from here

The great American writer, thinker and farmer Wendell Berry recently said, “You can’t be a critic by simply being a griper . . . One has also to . . . search out the examples of good work.”

Search out the good examples. Find the positive. I apply that lesson at home quite a bit. esp when it comes to dinner. "I'm making _______." is sometimes followed by "I don't WANT ______ for dinner." They are getting to know my next response now quite well, "If you don't want that you have to make a suggestion, and 'I don't know' is unacceptable." It stimulates a dialog usually and we wind up compromising at times, and other times every just has to eat what is made or not eat. At least I usually save making food that doesn't taste good, experiments and what not for when I'm cooking for myself.

Classic peace-making, acknowledge the conflict and the issue, and work to find an amenable solution for all. Plenty of give and take and sometimes people aren't always going to be as happy as possible but things work out and you learn to work towards a positive direction for the [group] as a whole. That is at least how the thinking goes. But too much giving winds up with a very bitter person/group/party/whatever and that upsets the whole apple cart.

SOY SAUCE - mine us up there but it sells for 2.99 at the WF and i usually have a stack of 55c off coupons and boom that makes it CHEAP. And good. I like it. I like the flavor and the depth and all that. ESP on rice. A touch of olive oil and some rice with that and it is candy. Make you fat like candy too. But good to replace carbs post ride if you need to ride again the next day.

As usually really I have nothing to say. nothing meaninful or worth wasting time reading. Such is life.

I am secretly looking forward to Ninigret on saturday. Cold, Wet, Windy. Sounds fun to me. Sure it is probably one of the most boring courses out there, but then it is also one of the few races I make it to. There's a bit of a conflict so I will likely only race the category. until the St P's 5k running race I was pretty cool and happy chilling in the lowly cat that I'm in now. the until is because I ran into one of the Phenix brothers who said they both upgraded CX and Road to 3s for 2011. DAMNIT. I like racing with those two big dudes. Shit. Now all I want to do is upgrade for some dumb reason. Dumb reason because I don't race enough road/crit to really develop the experience I need. Doesn't help that Fred called me a sand-bagger for being a stinking 4 after a Sat afternoon ride. Well, last year's goals were to figure out how to finish in a group in a crit. I managed to do that. Still got blown way the fuck off the back in the couple road races I did but whatever that is different, sort of. Maybe. These next three weekends basically are the extent of the thinking I have about "racing" Chris Hinds, Ronde Rosey, Newhouse... what else? Who knows. With potential winds I'll probably leave the 66mm deep wheels at home on saturday, besides people say carbon rims suck in the wet, not that you need brakes at that course. Ah I'll play it by ear. I should probably pre-reg too. Yeah i know. more nothingness. no paragraph breaks either.

At least the forecast has changed from high twenties on saturday morning to low-mid thirties.

Oh and check out Thom's work. Shit's good. And it looks like Michigan.

heddwch
G

BOONEN

Fabian and Tommeke

Great weekend racing wow.

And watching all those bare knees in the GW make me itch for some racing.

Looks like Boonen was cranking a monster gear 55x11 maybe?

Who's going

that isn't already registered?

Damn you ThomP

For making me actually take a look at the Barry-Roubaix's web page. I'd sort of heard of it but not paid any attention to it. Heck Scofield might have mentioned something at some point but not till last night did I take a look.

And right about now would be a great time to stick a handful of vacation days in and take a solo road trip back to Michigan. Hit the race. Maybe gather the remaining TDIClub crew from "back in the day" and have a little GTG after the race at Marty's Pole Barn/Shop.

Now yeah it is just kind of another Battenkill type race, and probably just as over hyped. But it's got a different feel. That and I'll wait to hear what Jeff says about the race when he finishes. I should probably make a rule to boycot any race that has the word roubaix in the title, that is unless the race actually starts or ends or go through a town/city named Roubaix.

Just thinking. I know. Dangerous. It happens when people are late for their appointments they make with me.

heddwch
g

Long day

realized why i was so slow from 6pm until 7pm... i'd been working more or less since 8am. sure i took a break to race to the school and gather 4 girls, get them some snacks, changed, homework done and then off to ballet... but that's not exactly sitting on your ass, very much akin to working.

Then home and make dinner.

Here it is only about 30 min ago did I actually slow down much more than for a few minutes.

And not once have I ridden my bike since Sunday morning. And that ride wass woefully short. Oh well.

My itch to ride has been scratched by the fact that I have the images printed for my show. With luck things might come together soon. Man I hope so. It would be awesome.

Just tired. Worn down. Tired like I am ready for a second pot of coffee at 3pm. Tired wondering if they make a 20 cup machine to replace the 10 cupper i've got in the office.

Thinking that with everything that has to happen tomorrow I should really be asleep right now. Need to D/L the brain. Empty the contents.

And obviously, really not much in there, sur-prize sur-prize sur-prize.

All that said i survived the week but, if i was thinking, I would have blocked 90 minutes in the middle of the day for a ride at least three days this week. When i was scheduling two weeks ago this was just this week, not anything different than any other week. Oops. I mean it was this week then I just didn't make the connection when i filled it with trainings and what not every day.

I'll get on the bike. I do miss them. I never did have time to get the trainer cobbled together so I could ride inside. Oh well. Not that I would have had the time or energy to either get up at 4:30am or pedal meaningfully after 10pm... But despite what it sounds like, I am not complaining. It is all good and I'm accepting it. just a detached reflection and remarking of the current situation.

Rest weeks are good right? now I can go into next week as a ramp up high intensity into the 2nd, then load be fully loaded with enough base for the 10th, and wind up into the 17th. Maybe. Shit. I should get the Klein back in order. It was working when I hung it up, the drive train will be fine for a few races, right? Sure. Racing on known worn chains has never backfired on me before (#sarcasm btw).

heddwch
G

Plans to write?

went out the window today...

test print looked good though. Thinks are moving forward. Might even have a date set by next week.

Still no bike riding. Kind of getting crazy a bit. But surviving, some how.

Left you with some reading last night, the forced split personality said she sounds sour... maybe, but it seems pretty much on the mark and very entertaining.

There are 9 tabs open with articles in various states of reading progress, i'd add some clever (or not so clever because I suck at putting words together like most of you asswipes who read this shit and have your own fucking web log) commentary but i'm fucking fucked with fucking time right. so instead of trying to read them now, i'm going to do this. mostly because cyclosecondbase (woah - that might be too clever for me)has videos that are choppy and shitty. Could be all the tweet/FB linkage he's getting from TJ and TK.

here's the list lets see if i cut it down:
http://civileats.com/2011/03/23/lights-camera-cover-up/
http://rorymasini.blogspot.com/
http://cyclowhat.com/post/4030253951/tim-johnsons-ride-on-washington-day-two
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-bicycle-letter-20110322,0,3386068.story?page=1
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/March-2011/Why-Do-Drivers-Hate-Cyclists/
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-do-drivers-hate-cyclists.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter (yeah that's the same link twice essentially but i have to give credit to joel for popping that up on the radar, and besides you should be reading Joel's stuff anyway)
http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.com/blog/2011/3/23/cyclists-misbehaving.html
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/22/chrome-11-beta/
http://kineticloop.org/science_behind_optimal_bikefitting.html

I'd go through and clean up the links but fuck it. Not feeling like it today.

this music (thanks to resultsboy's twitterfeed) http://hypem.com/#!/search/daft%20punk/1/ has been working for me today, only had to skip a handful of songs, granted i've only listened to maybe 20 minutes while sucking down some corned beef, cabbage and potatoes - including about 100 black peppercorns. Them shits spicy. And I eat habanero peppers (chopped up in my food, not whole - i just want heat, not pain).

Piperine is a bit different beast than capsicum.

Anyway.

yeah so that's what i've got right now.

is it nap time?

She's BAAAAACK

Home run too.

That flow chart is F'n brilliant.

Seriously brilliant.

I will admit to finding some use in actually using the HRM feedback to either keep my commutes down in the recovery zones (harder than it would seem) and to say way up in the stratosphere with the HRM (as hard as it would seem). Effective? Probably not, because how do you judge efficacy? Results.

There's a WDW thing, an annual social media conference down there. People compete to go and the package is pretty sweet. If you like that sort of place. Would be perfect for Closethedoor... the reigning king of twitter and lover of everything WDW.


Anyway, She's back and loaded with what hopefully is 5 months worth of kick ass posts. Maybe many of the other formerly good and entertaining blogs will revive.

Yeah i post about my rides, but hey, at least no power numbers and seriously, when you have/get no respect - there's nothing to lose! HAH.

Mysterious Clicking

One thing about commuting by bike, I KNOW where every sound comes from and can easily diagnose the mystery ones while riding or shortly after arriving at the destination (or stopping along the way).

With the car, and esp the old rusty trusty race wagon. Mysterious sounds can be annoying to down right panic attack causing.

Yes. I'm working on the antithesis of the perfect week. First one in years maybe. But at least I'm driving the biofuel sipping wagon. Each day is only a fraction of a gallon consumed verse a gallon or three for the people mover.

So anyway. There's this mysterious clicking. At first, mostly do to the frequency of shifting I thought it might be the clutch relay or switch. Nope. Hmm, rear window defogger? Turned that off, nope. Not cold enough to be cycling the glow plugs. Turned off the hvac fan. Still there.

Hmm. Turn signal? Nope, i could hear it over that relay clicking. WTF. How have I not noticed that before.

I ran through a few more diagnostic things on the way in, then parked with it running and stuck my head in the foot well and listened for the click. Yup relay panel. Now to figure out which one. After a few cycles of listening for the click I finally had my finger on the corner of four of them and felt the relay. Then, of course, it was the 4th relay before I felt it.

Okay, now, WTF does relay 72 control?

I thought about just googling first, then I tried to find it in the electronic Bentley. But good lord is this the most poorly organized hardest to find PDF manual out there. No offense to those who might have worked on it, it just looks like scans of the paper manual. The paper one is fine if you can just flip through the pages but PDFs ain't the same. I struck out with the CD and then popped over to google: "relay 72 passat TDI 1996" boom, there it was: rear windshield wiper relay.

Well, then it hit me. Just for the hell of it i pushed the wiper stalk back this morning. I know the rear motor doesn't work for some reason, but I felt like trying since I couldn't see out the back with the condensate on the glasss (the rear defogger worked to clear it).

And I never clicked it again to turn it off.

Brilliant.

Oh well. Now I know what relay 72 controls. And no, high beams still don't work. The slight twist probably pushed the wiring clip out the back of the fuse panel (with my luck) that or there is something else wrong.

I wanted to contribute the clicking to the fact that i was under 200 pounds this morning (198.8) w/o taking a poop (I was going to use a more euphemistic way to say take a shit but there really isn't a better word than Poop), but couldn't come up with a creative way to work it in that was plausible at all.

Time for more coffee.

Heddwch
G

The List

So there are a few things percolating. At least on the words into electrons and then luminescent display of some kind or other. Riding home with the new (normal) spring/summer traffic issues on the bike path had me thinking about putting the basic unwritten rules down into words. First would be if you aren't prepared to stop at a road crossing you should be prepared to be hauled off to the hospital, and no, even though you think you might you don't have the right of way and the only thing worse than being dead right is being dead wrong and that's what you'd be if you get run over by a truck thinking you had right of way as you are flying along doing your interval on the bike path.

Stuff like that. How to deal with kids on a bike, strollers, dogs on or off leash, riding with other people.

Probably won't get written, but that's negative talk (yeah cynically view would call it realistic, but that ain't a way to be a winner).

Shoot, what else was on the list. Oh. Right. Duh.

Time maybe to start putting food thoughts and nutrition guidelines that I think make the most sense. How to eat as an athlete. I've managed to figure out what works and doesn't work somewhat the hard way with experimentation. You are faster in a high intensity activity if you eat a bunch of complex carbs (aka oatmeal with milk, yogurt and fruit) 3 hours before the event than if you eat a breakfast wrap of eggs, bacon cheese and spinach. At least that seems to be true given everything equal and for someone my size. Higher energy levels as well.

Fueling for longer rides? Eat and drink before going out, get to know how long it takes before you bonk but if you're planning to be burning fat (lower intensity) you need to keep a steady stream of carbs coming in (simple is fine) or you'll shut down the fat machine and bonk. You can generally get away with missing one meal on a long ride if you're properly fueling before, but two meals is pushing it, and asking for trouble.

That and the post ride fueling is going to depend on a few things. Are you riding again w/in 24-36 hours? If so eating post big ride is important. If not you can just drink some plain water, have a light snack and then eat normally later on. Sure you'll be hungry but unless you're Coach KurtP with a body fat in the 3-5% range, the glycogen stores will be replenished with normal food consumption in a day or so. Assuming you're not basing your diet on some cavemen who never expected to live past 30-40 years of age.

Organic? No question. Dirty dozen esp. Don't eat out. Even many of the fanciest restaurants don't use good stuff. Eat as seasonally as possible and use lots of spices.

I rant and rail about it all the time but I'm kind of sort of actually feeling like maybe I should sort out the jumble in my head.

First up though I'm going to finally get the project moving. Managed to get to the printer's and hopefully will be picking up the test print and then either going for all of them or tweaking a few levels then printing up dozen. When that happens I should be close to saying "make some plans to see a cool show."

Here's the test print/teaser:
final print size should be about 24x33...

we'll see

Oh.

It is snowing right now and almost 40 degrees cooler than Friday.

heddwch
G

Strawberries...

That first batch that shows up at the grocery store, the first organic USA grown strawberries are intensely awesome.

WF had them on sale this weekend $2.99/pound. I bought two pounds. I used about 1.5 cups of them to make some strawberry ice cream. The recipe said "the ice cream may barely be a shade of pink, you can add red food coloring to make it look correct." HAH. That mo fo batch of ice cream was PERFECTLY strawberry pink when it went in the mix. REAL STRAWBERRIES! F'YEAH. Hell real food.

These are the perfect example of the difference between big conventional ag and big organic ag. Now extrapolate the differences between the white flavorless pulpy strawberries and these seasonal organic red juicy rubies of fruit to any other crop.

Point gets made pretty easily.

The ice cream is pretty f'n intensely awesome. Going to have to pick up some more cream tomorrow and make a few more quarts of this stuff.

I've been going to ice cream a bit more, dropping the alcohol out has freed up some caloric overhead, and that nice organic sweet creamy goodness has hit the spot lately.

On the stove right now is a bit of corned beef (WF in house stuff) with potatoes, carrots, cabbage and onions. The CB has been slowly simmering since 1. Just about fork tender. The veggies went in 20 min ago. Should be looking at a bit steaming plate of a wonderfully indulgent meal soon. Haven't been hitting the regular potatoes at all much, sticking with the sweet variety when adding something as a side to dinner. The girls love the mix of Garnet and Hannah yams mashed up with some butter, cinnamon and olive oil. Honestly, I love it too.

Had a great ride this morning. Funny when a 48.5 mile ride feels short. At least after the last two and only other two group rides of the year. Only managed to hit 46.5 turning the 46x12 today. Pretty disappointed. But I'll take it I guess. Avg HR for the ride was 20 beats lower than last week, and being almost 30 miles shorter, it was a much easier ride. Very social and fun. A good group of 6 team mates (we hit Tower Hill). I wasn't spun out though at 46.5 (cadence just under 150) so i'll take that as a positive. But still thinking it is better race with the big boy gearing when it comes time to the Chris Hinds and Rick Newhouse races.

I keep forgetting to call Murat to wish him a Happy Birthday, i would take a break but when you have a window to get on a computer w/o interruption, well I tend to take it. I've got to get back to cooking and loading the dishwasher and cleaning up all the prep. So Murat, HAPPY F'n BIRTHDAY (old man).

Getting ready for a whole week of solodadness. Starting tomorrow. Not sure if I'll get any commuting in. Might try and sneak something in during the day if the weather is good, a quick jaunt up to Tower Hill maybe, or a fast loop out doing the short Tim Horton's Ride.

I am getting excited about the RdR. Can't wait.

Time to get back to cooking and associated chores.

heddwch
G

Grousing in weblogs

So we've got MKR that I mentioned already today... and even better Tilford's observations. And yeah, taking a drink up in the draft is f'n daft. Unless you're riding alone that is. But then you're alone and it doesn't f'n matter. The 4 man double paceline/echelon, that's a good one too!

right on!

SHORTS

Yeah - shorts today. It was nice.

so it was barely 50 degrees. who cars. no gloves, shorts? Brilliant. I was only out there for 27 minutes. not that long. and i had planned to go nice and low on the HR today, but decided to f'that when the legs felt pretty damn good. Hmm, two days off the bike? Not so bad.

This rest thing might work.

Tried getting the fuses to make solid contact. a slight twist (didn't break em) didn't work, bit of copper tape on there... didn't work either. Hell i probably pushed the contacts right out the back of the fuse box. And of course there isn't any good documentation on removing the fuse panel, oh well, probably straight forward. As long as I disconnect the battery first I should be okay. But working under the steering wheel in the driver's footwell sort of sucks for someone my freakish ogre size. But, it's gotta get done. That or I try and get it inspected and do it if they flag it and don't pass me.

So, no High beams but it's running okay. I think the idler tensioner is making a bit of a squeaky racket. But hey it's not brand new anymore.

Find anything wrong with this?

“Three of the biggest threats to our country are obesity, climate change, and shrinking energy supplies,’’ said Johnson. “Bikes are part of the solution to all three of those problems.’’

Yeah me neither.

The ROW was an amazing event. If Tim does that ride next year I can see his "escort" growing substantially.

So there were a few incidents on the ride on Saturday. Mostly involved as I described in the comment section over at MKR's weblog, riding two abreast when conditions were not exactly well suited for it, not to mention the complete disregard for traffic laws that were inconvenient (red lights, stop signs, right of way, yeilds). List Jail. Love that phrase.

It got me thinking to how long I've been riding on the road, in groups. And it goes back to middle school and a week long cycle touring camping trip, before that the cycling was just riding around on quiet roads. And then in high school a bit and finally actually leading training rides on the roads in Southeastern CT in college. So, sporadically but regularly doing this shit for what, twenty five years. Now I'm not fast, nor have i won anything much more than a clydesdale race and a beginner's cyclocross category series. BUT I've ridden alot, helped people learn how to ride on the roads and get comfortable in traffic situations. Not to mention all the commuting I've done in Seattle, Maine, Michigan and RI.

One thing I feel fortunate about is being able to send an email to the team email and knowing that I would be happy to have who every shows up on the ride. Even the new guys. It is a nice feeling. Now if the ride hits another local list or two, well all bets are off as far as who shows up.

Okay - hitting the post insanity lull lack of motivation. Only problem is there's still a bit of a backlog... oof.

Oh well. Anyone want to ride out of PVD on sunday?
G

This was the end

Of a pretty damn good streak. Today marks the first day of 2011 when I've driven to work and have to play 10am parking roulette.

Not so bad.

I had hopes and designs on pushing a bit longer but the weather conspired against me in that getting the girls on bikes in the rain today to get to school would have been kind of tough. Maybe this summer it is something we can work on getting ready (aka all weather commuters for them too, fenders and the works). Just one more thing to spend time and money on. Put it on the list.

There are only a few days when it works though with all the activity schedules. But one day is better than no days. Any day out of the car is a good one. That said, getting in a bit earlier than normally when I have to drive and with one of the big prep schools near the image factory here on spring break, the traffic is pretty mellow.

The time change hit me pretty hard, I'd repeat the back and forth between Chandler and myself about it from yesterday but somethings are best left in the past.

I did get out for a big ride on Saturday. Big as in 4hr and 50min. Used the Blue and tried out the Zipp 101s. And honestly? I'm impressed but very skeptical. The hub is not stiff enough, in my opinion, to deal with the stresses of a radial laced drive side. Now, if any of you who might read this know anyone at Zipp who can explain to me why radial drive side lacing is a good thing and is not going to result in an exploded wheel, please lemme know. They are fast, they are stable and they were pretty cool. BUT. They are wicked stiff (compared to the 3x wheels i took off, even the tied and soldered one), how ever it is sort of the antithesis of desired stiffness. Vertically stiff but they feel spongy when accelerating. Now some people can counter that the twisting is just storing energy, but that's energy i'd rather store in the tire casing or transmit directly when I apply it.

The extra width is nice. I put the durano plus tires on there and they seemed pretty decent, air volume was okay, but 40mm valve stems won't cut it. Need 60mm. And 60mm valves won't cut it on the Reynolds (need 80mm).

Now I've built plenty of wheels (back to spoke lacing), and I know a few of my friends that might be reading this have as well, and radial drive side is essentially absolutely verboden (yes that's dutch, germans spell it verboten). The only exception I've ever run across is when you have an extremely stiff hub (generally requires a large diameter hub body, not flange - the part between the flanges). And the logic is usually to allow for more deraileur clearance or to move the flange out a mm or two to help balance the wheel dish.

The Zipp doesn't have a terribly wide hub body, nor can I see how it would really benefit (with current drop out spacing) with the dish difference.

The Reynolds does a cross pattern on the drive side and radial on the non-drive fwiw. My old favorite wheel build using the Sun rims Eric gave me when he worked there for a while, that's held up great and sprints beautifully (2.0 pulling spokes in 3 cross on the drive side, ritchey 1.8/1.5 static spokes and wheelsmith oval laced radially on the non-drive).

The rims are awesome and honestly it has me thinking that maybe buying a nice 24h DA hub and rebuilding it is in order. That said, I'm more curious to see if I can break them with normal riding. Although i'd rather not find out they are at the limit in a race (like I did at the one race I had a chance to win before I broke a rear spoke).

Not glowing review of them. But I've never really been one to blow smoke up people's ass about something. Hell I'm wicked stoked to have them, and they are fast. I was rolling right past not-skinny on the downhills without any extra effort and we're pretty close to the same weight (he might be heavier). The 46x12 gearing was enough to keep up with the non-compact gearing crowd in that loop but, it was close and a couple times coming in at 30-32 mph tagged on to the back of the group when I found myself trying to shift to a smaller cog. Max speed was only 40 on the ride but that's mostly because for all but one exception i was not attacking or setting pace or doing anything other than riding defensively. I did get dropped on the hill after the damn but managed to bridge up to Brent and Dean and we brought the fit fast climbers back in sight before the stop and left turn. legs were actually not terrible. esp considering I brought one bottle (in the jersey - still can't bear to put a cage on the blue) full of water and a couple gels. I only drank about 3/4 of the bottle in the 70 miles before getting back to the city and two gels (spaced out perfectly). The two bars in the pockets stayed as unused reserves. I did pound the fluids before leaving and it was cool enough that we weren't sweating too much. And we didn't pussy foot around. avg hr for the first 70 miles was 142 (max is 180).

I wound up with 79.28 miles and 4hrs 50 min on the bike. And felt pretty good. Two sandwiches and a shower later and I was fine. No DOMS either. Maybe I didn't push hard enough (college hill was really painful at the end of the ride - so i don't think that was it), or maybe the 9.28 mile ride from the coffee shop home riding into the wind at a mellow pace was enough to flush the crap out and the food I popped in fueled the recovery. I dunno, but man.

It was AWESOME.

So fun. Having Murat pull the surprise of showing up and the group of 15 or so at the start was very cool.

Not sure when I'll get to repeat that but I'm really looking forward to the Ronde.

Today's car adventures were a result of my wife heading to KY on an visit to her dying grandmother. She was released from the hospital and is pretty close to the end and she wanted to head out there and see her before she moves on. So I get a few days with my girls, just me and them. And can I just say this: as they get older, it gets more fun. They can help and do stuff and we function pretty damn well as a unit. We will get a whole week together soon (wife's headed to a conference), and while it means more days of hoppin' in the car and playing the shuffle and then ballet taxi service, maybe we can find a break in the weather and ride in together.

But anyway - enough rambling about me. Go watch some people way cooler than the camera man and laugh at his awesome planning.

Oh and I really hope I remember to get the car to inspection before the end of the month and really hope it passes. Gotta get the L and R high beam fuses to stay in place for the inspection (they don't work so good right now - kind of wiggly).

SHIT has GOT to get DONE today.

Coffee recharge time and then gonna f'n get some awesome stuff done. Or the not awesome stuff to be honest. All the stuff that's been building up for 6 weeks.

heddwch
G

I choose ROCK!

it is like...

a one man improve show with defined goals of trying to get your audience to learn something and you have to make sure they understand and get what you're doing.

it takes a good bit of energy, and yes it is like being on stage.

often the audience is seeing the show for the first time. Sometimes they've had some experience, sometimes the audience is far more adept at grasping the show than others.

No matter what you lay everything on the line, reading the audience, the faces for clues of comprehension/boredom/confusion/enthusiasm and modifying tweaking the delivery or the information based on the common goal of getting them the skills and tools to run the half million dollar bit of equipment w/o messing it up or affecting the 200 potential users (usually we only have about 30-50 different ones per week) access to the potential data.

it is fun, at times. rewarding at others. but draining. It is something I can throw everything behind and get results.

The show is dynamic, each new session either reinforces a method or a way of explaining something, or develops a new way, a better way, or a different way that this particular audience can grasp that i can stick into the show notes. But there are no notes.

I have about 15-20 different shows that have to be ready to go at any one time. There's little time to study and rehearse. In fact there are no rehearsals. There is not curtain. Green room time consists of distracting my brain with things like this between shows. Trying to hit reset so the next presentation is as fresh as the first one. Today, well today I didn't really realize what I had scheduled for myself until I got started with the final one. I had a few minutes to watch the Detroit films, but the last words went down as a comment as the next show was starting. A few minutes for lunch and now, finally, sitting back down. Looking at a list of emails asking to schedule appearances. But of course we have to juggle them all between the audience, the performance hall and my calendars. not really a big deal, or challenging. But it is pretty close to 8 weeks into this. It feels unsustainable at this point. I know it is, and just need to adapt to the new normal maybe. I take comfort in knowing I haven't resorted to short cuts or abbreviated shows, there are distractions like on Tuesday when the desktop acted up (w/no reason) leaving me unable to get to the database or files I needed.

It is fortunate that I can talk, and talk, and talk, and talk. Recalling and keeping all the different systems straight is also wicked easy. transitioning from one to the other. mentally going from driving a tractor trailer to a 911 to a 7series to a F350 with a dualy trailer to a fiesta back to a semi truck. that keeps it fresh but there's the occasional mis-shift, forgetting to double clutch or trying to double clutch an automatic. Stalling out the gasser after driving a high torque diesel. Minor embarrassments.

No wonder I'm longing so much for a break. A palate cleanser. Something. It is okay, I can actually sit back and say, "I'm good at this, people do notice and it doesn't go w/o tangible rewards." Just sometimes i want to sit back and watch the clocks just tick away. See all the work I've put into it pay back. Watch the movements move flawlessly due in most part to my skills that I've worked hard to master, worked hard to perfect. So the skill is in talking non-stop, reading the audience and putting on a show that keeps these clocks moving...

Maybe this moment can best be described as sitting back and hearing the clocks tick, nothing is needing any adjustment, no winding or tweaking. I can sit and get lost in the sounds and let my mind wander a bit. Let my mind prepare for the next round. Even if that round is hopping on the bike, heading home and turning into the personal chef for the household.

I think I've been listening to the new Pandora station I've created too much.

And my vague allusion regarding rolling the boulder in the last post even confused my wife... this is the abstract black box of words... they just come out, i don't have to worry about reading the feedback after each sentence and crafting the next one after the first one based on the audience. I take the shackles off and am curious to where the words take me. Let the brain free. Sometimes it isn't pretty. Sometimes it is flat out ridiculous or absolutely confusing, rarely something worthwhile comes out. But it is refreshing a bit, energizing, like a nice hot cup of coffee in a cafe after riding 4+ hours outside in the cold. Suddenly you feel like you could do another 4+ hours. At least until you get back on the bike to ride home, and realize, yeah, I need to put my legs up and rest, no way can I just repeat what I just did w/o some recovery and food.

I should stop adding metaphor upon metaphor esp since they probably don't make a fucking lick of sense...

heddwch
G

oh and i did very nearly make it through yesterday w/o searching for or finding and posting something about those beloved Paczki. Our friend Solobreak was kind enough to email me this link yesterday. Good thing that place is so far away from here... Also got word from my friend in Mt P that the bakery we'd always head over to and eat a ton of them from went out of business two weeks ago. The weekly staff meeting would head over there, we'd get donuts and a cup of coffee and talk for a bit, it closed. Very sad, no FedEx box from the Morningstar Bakery for me. Should have done that last year when I had a chance even though i didn't think of that as a possibility until a bit too late or didn't remember that I HAD thought of that as a possibility the years before... anyway. Mushy brain is taking over. Coherence level is getting worse and worse, as is my finger typing errors.... click click BOOM

"Pretty F'n Great!"

I found an extra few minutes here, finished a pot of coffee and watched those.

I think it would be awesome to get one of those large spaces and put a big F'n velodrome inside...

We've all seen the dutch photog's images. And honestly when I see them there is a mix of sadness, but there's also a stronger feeling of potential. Look at that space, look at all that space.

Creative juices are flowing here too. I will be making a cool announcement about something I've been moving towards for years. It will be a small step but should be a big one. I just need a couple extra hours to push the boulder up to the next step and hopefully get it to the top and maybe it will gather some momentum and gently roll down the other side, pulling me along. it is something that's missing a bit maybe right now.

That said I so want to get out for a long ride. take a mental health day and just ride. Ride the stresses of the pressures away...

Think unbridled thoughts.

Stop and take photos.

Wrestle with one of the many demons in my head.

The zipp 101s are here. Along with a pair of their fancy tires. might have to put the durano pluses on them and just ride and ride...

Gotta Find the time

To read this 7 part interview.

Not only was Jens born is arguably the best year ever (just as LegoLord or Closethedoor or or or or oh me) But damn he's still at it kicking ass and taking names, he puts Chuck Norris to shame.

Loved the quote about his attack on Day one:

Roaring away from the group Voigt had his chain in the big ring, a 56 w/ a rear cassette of 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 11. - Versus

Of course I had to hear it from another source other than Vs. That and I missed the attack but was able to watch the last 30km live on that day. IMPRESSIVE.

#noexcuse

Free Coaching Advice?

It is out there like this for example:

Adam Myerson
Dear New England: You will have a much stronger season if you only train in March and wait until April to start racing. N/C for that tip.

Adam Myerson
Use that weekend time to sleep a little and do big training days, rather then spend it in the car all day for an hour long training race.

Adam Myerson
The big rides you can finally do in March will build base you can take into April, May, and June. Hours in the car? Not so much.

And I had to chime in with this:

GeWilli
@AdamMyerson For those racing CX in the fall would it be even more important to delay racing?

And got this as a follow up:

Adam Myerson
.@Ge_Willi Absolutely even more important. 3 months of prep instead of 2 will pay off all summer long.

I haven't even looked at anything in March. Looking maybe at Chris Hinds as the first event but like last year who knows how long I can find the time to grab a race here or there. Lots depends on what happens I guess.

Hooked up with some metrics for the commute today. It is pretty nice riding in with a strong tailwind. I forget how quiet it can be with a tailwind. HR was sort of high this morning with my first rabbit to catch, but the way home I managed a wicked mellow zone 1 w/o going too slow. And no studs? WOW how quiet.

Is it windy?

Yup.

Way colder than this morning too!

At least it is mostly a tail wind!

Welcome to your new Country

The United States of Monsanto and McDonalds

Maybe the pendulum will swing back... but politics right now certainly aren't going to make it easy.

took them off

Good idea? We'll find out. Hoping I don't need them any more. The studs that is.

And with the hose finally uncovered by the pack ice I got the Blue washed finally.

Nice ride yesterday, no ride today.

Working on dinner, BBQ chicken (breasts cooked/braised in some homemade sauce) served with some baked beans, rice (long grain organic) and finishing it up with a beet and carrot salad. Tossed three peeled raw beets through the grater on the food processor, followed them up with 4 carrots. Tossed with a dressing made with some seasoned (organic) rice vinegar, touch of dijon, olive oil, sesame oil, shoyu sauce.

And the rain held off all day, bright sunlight most of it too.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

GORGEOUS

Dreamy Puh-orn (bike puh-orn).

That's pretty sick, esp those welds. Wow.

SICK DAY

And yes, to be honest I really need it as much as my youngest who was up all night throwing up. It is going to wreak havoc with next week but hey, it is what it is.

Tired though, really wiped out. But managing somehow to fight back the cold that has been haunting me this week, and hopefully keeping that virus that is nagging the littlest from working on me.

Sitting here though between washing laundry, dishes, slowly adding fluids to the little one and cuddling I've managed to find a handful of stuff to read. Maybe I'll even actually get it read today.

Made a nice batch of soup. We had another bought of loosing fluids from the stomach just a bit ago, so not out of the woods yet.

But the soup? Started with some Kombu (well technically not *Kombu* but some fancy kelp) stock and then popped some tofu, ginger, garlic, carrots and soy sauce in there and then after that all simmered for a good long time served it with a splash of sesame oil and cayenne pepper on top. Oh right - the miso. Used some Brown Rice miso just before serving (can't let that stuff get too hot for too long).

Start with this from NECN this morning:


Huckabee is a nut job on Sarah Palin's level.

SOUP. Mmmm. Soup. (More Soup)

This is what it is like with the busses here in PVD.

Mmmmm FAT. The Mindless food book I've been reading has a good bit on Low-Fat and other "labeling" ie people given granola some labeled low fat some not, ate less of the granola not labeled low-fat even though it was the same granola. The whole book is filled with stuff like that.

Some crazy guy makes some sense about something offensive. Good stuff, esp the palate cleansing link.

Then of course you've got to be reading Tilford, right?

Science and Religion anyone? Or really just what sounds like a damn interesting book. Of course the snippets sound good, but that Soul Craft book had promise but worked really only as a long Atlantic article, not as a book (boring).


go with that for a bit...

Of course you can hit Jon Stewart for back up current commentary.

Oh and you have to watch this too...

Now that we're done with all that horse shit. And I'm in an AWESOME mood not. (okay i'm in a great mood but slightly depressed about the whole situation and what's happening... Carlin - then Steward one amazing combo).

Here - back to cycling and what not - aka Tim Johnson and crew's ride to DC, via the WSJ.

Ooooh

Nice timing, my lower GI seems to be suggesting I might have been exposed to the adeno, noro, rota, sapo, astrovirus at some point in the last 16+ hours. Wicked sweet. Maybe it is just all that Miso percolating. Hmmm. That doesn't make the soup sound good does it? No not really. It wasn't the soup, btw.

what a mess this blog is - it's okay. Little one is sleeping on the couch with the dog, dog's sleeping too but her hind quarters are a pillow (it really is very cute, they're both sound asleep in the late afternoon sun streaming in from the window).

As Graffin sort of says, I've long since given up on what this "should be" and let it be "what it is"

I "should" push towards 100% food or something, or cut back to race reports or training or who knows what. But I don't. It is what it is. And that's enough.

heddwch
G

Quote of the...?

"An hour spent on the bike is an hour spent in perfect balance."
-Guess Who



I guess I'm old and young at the same time, in that I never new cycling without her (outside screwing around on my bikes I had as a kid - aka once i started paying attention to the mt bike magazines and what not - yeah I had a Mt Bike long before I ever got a fancy racing bike, i did have a univega, and terrorized PG county on a Puch before my first mt bike).

I find it odd that "judi" over there found a new hero. Sort of seems infathomable that any competitive women in cycling wouldn't have know about Jacquie. Really. Is it possible that people don't?

not dead yet

fighting off a bug (mostly successfully) and just worn down...

plenty of good content out there - go find it...

http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy

that's a good link and a good read.

mostly i'm not posting so i don't drag politics in here, that whole WI thing has me kind of pissed...

A public union employee, a tea party activist, and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it.

The CEO takes 11 cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, ‘Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie.'

Add to the fact that the folks who make money from high TV/Radio revenues railing against unions are members of a union themselves.

*shrug*

Gadhafi bombing his own country, US Military bus gets shot up today, Gas prices are hitting all time highs and normally I'd be all smug about it but the minivan don't get such good fuel economy and that's somewhat not so cool. the rusty trusty race wagon, or the "junk car" as my wife calls it, has a full tank of fuel, has driven 250 miles and the needle is still pegged at a full tank. Granted that's 250 miles since the middle of January, no, not much. Don't bother looking at the rest of CNN.com, wicked depressing.

I'm probably only writing now because I'm in a post lunch haze and delaying putting the final touches on a lecture I've been working on this morning for class this afternoon.

so yeah - politics is awesome right now- world news is awesome - i made it through the month of feb w/o a vacation day or a sick day, not even a holiday day or snow day and when i get to the end of those months and look back and realize why i'm so fried... Chris Hinds and Rick Newhouse are on BikeReg now. That's a good thing right? At least thinking about racing them puts some positive vibes in my brain. Then of course there's the Rhonde Rosey coming up too.

Just about ready to take the studs off the bike too. Not quite. But the tailwind this morning made them not such a bad handicap.

Wow

all

over

the

fucking

place

today

ugh

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Check that out as a palate cleanser. I watched it and was constantly raising my head so I could see further down the road in front. The UCI was asking him about the clothing because of what he was wearing.

Food Coma's taking over big time. That or it is because I drank the last of the smaller pot of coffee I made this morning at 11am.

One for GCD

John, a high level corporate executive, had just been offered a big promotion. The only downside was that he had to accept a transfer from California to Detroit. He has never been to Detroit, and was very concerned about the move. He decided to visit the Motor City, and check out the place for himself. On the flight out, he began talking to Carl, who was seated next to him on the plane, and had lived in Detroit for many years.

John: Man, I heard Detroit is a rough place. The murder capital of the world. My wife is really worried. I hope I can find a safe place to live. My kids are in good schools in California, are they going to be safe in Detroit? All I hear about is violence, and gangs, and drugs.

Carl: Oh, don't worry. I've lived in Detroit my whole life. My parents grew up in Detroit. It really not a bad place. All that bad reputation is really a lot of overblown media hype. The people in Detroit are great. Once you get oriented, you'll be fine.

John: That's great to hear. I've been really worried. So, you've lived in Detroit all your life, what do you do for a living?

Carl: I'm a tail gunner on a beer truck.

Better

Climbed into bed at 9pm last night. My dog wandered upstairs at 9:30 wondering what the f'was going on. In bed already? She plopped down on the carpet for a few minutes then decided her couch was much more comfortable and headed down to check the kitchen one more time and then sleep some too.

I don't think I really fell asleep much before 10pm but it felt good and by 5:30am my body was letting me know that sleep wasn't going to happen any longer. I tried to push it but there are times when you just give in and get up. That and I'm sure the dog was ready to go outside (she was).

The rest did some good. I still rode in basically as slowly as I could. so slow in fact that my toes were cold by the time I got in. Even wearing the fancy winter boots. I guess pedaling hard into 30 mph headwinds at 17 degrees keeps your feet warmer than riding like a wuss at 23 with calm winds. The rest of me was fine but man it took me almost 50 minutes and I was on the bike path. Yes. 3rd consecutive trip to/from the city via the bike path. It is nice. Really amazing how beautiful the ride is through there. All the waterfowl and what not.

The time playing road warrior drives home just how lucky I am to have such an amazing commute (when it is passable). There are still some good stretches of ice, but I've taken my bad judgement, turned it into experience and then now have some good judgement to follow as far as the ice and I've been pretty solid since.

There's some great reading out there. Even inspirational stuff. Fast dudes who can write (not fat dudes, they are kinda lazy about it lately). Tilford's bit about Alexi and Raul and the two Velonews articles he links in there (you might have to go to the source to get the Alexi one - Steve's link didn't work for me).

And well you've got JONNY BOLD's dissertation. Maybe you can find something to object to and debate against in there, I certainly can't. That is right up there with grumpy dipshit's dopers and kids post.

Okay - there - i've called g-ride a grumpy dipshit and solobreak fat, mission accomplished for the day.

Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to make for dinner tonight...

G

Hit the wall

hard core

Today, whammo!

Problem was I hit it sometime between my morning session and teaching class. Tough to get through it, but the tank was just completely on empty. My work brain feels like John Isner looked in that tennis match. Not the marathon one. The following match. I'm mid-tournament (semester) and feel like I just used everything, but still 3-4 weeks more of this intensity. Tomorrow is going to hurt, hopefully I can get fall asleep early enough to work in some brain recovery rest.

It did help that I was finally able to ride in on the bike path. AND ride home.

Pretty awesome actually. So beautiful. So peaceful. Still plenty of ice but hopefully these next two days will work some magic on the remaining sections.

Came home, cranked out some food, ate... now, feet up, chillin listening to the radio.

FOOOOOOOOOD

So...

bachelor padding it this week...

making food every night is tough, last night i survived on left-overs (chili) and salad. I made enough salad to go with the fish soup for lunch and as a first course tonight. The fish in the soup at lunch today was not good. I mean it wasn't bad but it was all mealy and pretty texturally unappealing. Good think I don't give a crap. It was pretty good for lunch yesterday not as good as fresh out of the pot.

But hey. What can you expect for some sustainably farmed Tilapia (or so some major food retail lead me to believe). Still good.

Anyway. Salad was a good way to start.

And while the above freezing part of the food preservation box was devoid of most protein I went into the sub-freezing part and found some old chicken. Hmmm

Chopping time:

onion (1/2 of a sweet one)
2 serrano peppers
2 stalks of celery
4 smallish carrots
2 mini heads of broccoli
6 cloves of garlic
2 jewel yams
8 brussels sprouts

oven at 350 convection

in big pyrex pan (I started with the small one but with the onions and the carrots I went for the bigger one) went some bacon fat (rendered from some Trader Joe's or 365 cancer salt free bacon) and olive oil.

Carrots and serrano were sliced, yams were quartered length-wise then sliced, garlic sliced thinly, brussels sprouts were halved...

tossed all that shit into the pan after I had melted the bacon fat (i keep that shit in the freezer) in the pan.

Added some soy sauce (need some glutamate) and dried thyme (i don't have any fresh stuff). Popped it in there for 30 minutes - tossing and mixing every 10.

I'm doing this all while I'm wondering why I don't have the cojones to go to the Flogging Molly show at Lupo's tonight in PVD alone.

Anyway. So protein right? So i had pulled out some chicken that needed to be cooked and some Maine shrimp. Based on the veggie side of things and the oven I put the shrimp in the non-freezing part of the box and went with the chicken. Once thawed (while the other crap was cooking in the convection oven) I added some soy sauce (can you even have enough glutamate?) ginger powder and dried Thyme leaves.

After about 30-40 min in the oven i popped the chicken on top.

and am currently waiting... i set the timer for 15 min and it just went off. Time to check.

Going to publish THEN come back and report on progress (just for you RSS jackoffs)

Mmmmmm

so good

added some extra hot cayenne pepper powder on top and wow - holy smokes this is good.

Enough for lunch tomorrow too.

Good stuff.

Okay.
Food - finish eating and then sleep... if the dogs allow me to...

fortunately no peeing all over the place today.

Who's coming over for dinner this weekend. I'm cooking and it will be good.

Heddwch
G

pulled the plug on Monday night

I got home last night (rode the bike home) to find the extra dog wasn't prepared for the whole day (aka dog pee all over the kitchen tiles), and by the time i got it cleaned up and looked at the clock, realized I was hungry and tired and my face still hurt, there was no way I was getting the trainer wheel on the bike and it and me loaded into the car to drive in for the trainer session at Caster's PVD.

Okay that sentence is a little long. Meh. So what.

After the hours on the bike on Sunday and no need to pile on the intensity after spending 90 min on the bike already on Monday (with the commute) pulling the plug was the right thing to do. When I called Freddy to let him know I wasn't going to make it Hans was there and had Freddy ask what size skirt I wore, "One size bigger than Hans'" was my reply.

This morning i got an auto email saying Marvin Z had a new article over at PEZ: "How much is too much?" Well i haven't quite read it yet, but there are just times when you know it is the right thing to pull the plug.

This cold is getting annoying. Heck this morning I thought it was the 28th. But no it is only the 22nd. Damn.

Okay so I just interrupted this post by 2 hours. Awesome.

So on the way in since I was thinking it was the 28th, it meant that I only got 1/2 of a commute and not even a full half, in all of Feb. oops. one more week.

Maybe it will thaw/rain enough by Friday that I can ride home on the bike path again.

The road isn't so bad though.

anyway - gotta eat - fooooooood

from the linked article:

Remember Mark Twain’s wise words: “How do you acquire good judgment? Experience. How do you acquire experience? Bad judgment.”

in light of yesterday's face-plant... so true

Ice=0 GeWilli=30+

BUT

snow on top of ice today? Well that got me pretty damn good.

After friday's adventure ride on the path home I figured on trying it again today. The slush that was hard to ride should have frozen solid and the studs should grip like they have been. No big deal right?

oh. yeah we have just under an inch of snow on top of that.

no big deal...

except it seems that the magic amount of snow it takes to prevent the studs from doing their job is that amount.

not even 50 yards onto the path...

I'm riding thinking things are going okay. I can change direction pretty well, I'm avoiding the ruts from friday... and then

FACE PLANT.

That's the two words that went through my brain before

CRUNCH

when i made a hole in the snow and ice on the side of the path with my face.
dozens of little bloody puncture marks on my nose. My chin has a good cm size bloody patch, one under my right eye below the glasses... lip wasn't broken just squished and feeling funny.

Top of my left knee took a hit and then now that I got to work my right shoulder, the muscle in back seems to be strained and sore.

The ride in the slush on the road the rest of the way sort of sucked. Esp when the water started seeping down the sock into the boot.

ice? fine. Snow on ice? not so much.

Long ride

It was chad's idea a while back to ride together before his travel began. And today was an open day. The first full day of me chillin at the pad with the dog for a bit. Yeah just me.

Cooking what ever I want. Inventing stuff (like tonight) aka recipes.

It is getting somewhat to the point where I've hit that confidence level in my cooking that is pretty neat. Pair up some ingredients, and make it work. Playing off simple standards but making them my way.

I was down right famished after the ride. It was a coffee fueled 3.5 hour ride time ride. 3/4 of a bottle of water was consumed my me over the whole ride. But then it was pretty god damn cold, and I hydrated pretty well through the night and before I left at 8:19am. Didn't get home until 1:42pm.

We spend about 30 minutes at Seven Stars Bakery firs waiting for folks to show and then waiting for the sun to work some magic.

The reports of the temperature ranged from 15-20 degrees F and the wind was a steady 20 mph gusting to 30 at the start of the ride. And we were riding right into the teeth of the wind.

So, we waited a bit. Caught up and then rolled out.

This would be the first test of the LG 0 Ergo Grips. And I'll say this, my feet were cool at times but not once from the time I left the house until I got back were my feet ever cold. Not once. And i was just wearing the boots and a pair of swiftwick wool compression socks I had gotten for Christmas (on my feet that is).

Oh and a Balaclava makes your winter kit sort of like a Stillsuit for heat. My hands were pretty much sweating the whole time and my core was right toasty. On many of the hills and esp Tower Hill Road I had to unzip the jacket to keep from over heating a bit.

It was cold though. Chad and Brent killed me and burke and hans on the hills, but it felt good. Legs were surprisingly good considering they were under a ton of bundles, and that i was riding on coffee and not other fuels (fueled until we started climbing SalesHill/Iron something at 146 - the light at Anchor Subaru). Started feeling the reserves get low. At some point we waited for Burke and I busted out a Cocoa Mole Larabar.

The ride was great. It was dry, only a few patches of ice. But that ride home after Chad and I stopped back into Seven Stars to have a bit of a pastry and yet another coffee (for me) was actually pretty tough. The legs were dead and the wind had swung around from being a dead on my nose headwind when I rode in at 8:30ish to blowing in my ear hole the whole damn way home.

Dog is sleeping and I'm not far off.

Time to sign off, clean up a few things and sleep...

yes

i had some more ice cream tonight... it is pretty damn yummy stuff.

heddwch
g

oh and dinner was one that i wanted to just keep eating:
pulling from a status update somewhere else:

Dinner tonight:
felt like soup so I made a whitefish, cavolo nero, cannellini beans, hannah yam, mirepoix, crimini mushrooms. Touch of rosemary and thyme and some red pepper for heat.
Serving it with some ciabatta bread.

I nailed it, if I do say so myself. The fish might be slightly overcooked when I re-heat it for lunch but, ya know? It was perfect tonight and that's what counts (I think). Not too brothy, pretty hearty and yummy.

I won't bore anyone here with how to make it... it was just a soup.

Getting ready for a ride

this is worse than the first CX Race of the season. Nothing's ready to go, commute? fine but i've been on the damn studs and I can't run those. No. We're headed to Tower Hill, probably a couple others (Brent's coming) and since everyone knows how much those things weigh, and even being as big as I am that's significant, and I need every advantage I can dig out of the pile of old shit in the bike room. On go the durano plus tires.

Of course the wheel i was going to put them on is pretty beat up (the tied and soldered spoked wheel). True as can be but it seems the spoke tension is a bit slack AND kind of shocking, or not, the braking surface is nearly to the bottom of the lawyer groove. I'm going to have a Ryan Kelly type blow out if I don't pay attention to this damn thing.

But it will work for now.

I've had some bearing issues on the BB30 lately, clicking and clunking. So I did a quick swap of the bearing that seemed to be crunchy. Either the new bearing or the disassembly and reassembly will hopefully keep it quiet on the ride. If not? That's two variables eliminated.

No, I'm not riding on the Reynolds. I'm not ready to stick the valve extenders on my tubes. Although until I wrote that I was thinking I don't have tubes... (need 80mm valves for these things) but of course I think I still have a pair of extenders.

Hmm. Still not going to use them.

And of course the slight off road and mudding I did yesterday on the way home to avoid the worst of the ice and snow on the bike path (yeah I was able to ride the bike path home last night - all but a short section along the Vet Parkway). Oh and someone chipped all the ice off the bridge. I just about ran over Mark J yesterday morning when he wiped out on the crown (ice was pretty sketchy) and he is on those Nokian studs.

Nearly back to the old commute dealing with the fucking sea gulls and their shells instead of the grumpy motorists.

SO.

bike, needed cleaning - windex and paper towels will have to work. Hose is still hiding from me...

Okay - status? Tires mounted, rear wheel sort of true. Bike somewhat clean. Saddle bag w/tube and pump found. Computer? Lets see what I can make work. Hell might as well gather some sort of metric. Why the hell not.

An hour twenty later I'm done. I think, ready to ride. Now lets check this weather forecast.

Well at least it will be sunny and we will be riding into the wind to start the ride... might as well get some sleep.

Or have some ice cream. Hmm.

Tough choice.

heddwch
G

The Race

I was putting something in the garbage or the recycling bag on the backside of the fridge and I noticed a small bit of a list that caught my eye.

This list is hidden behind a stack of recipes that I have tried, annotated and generally collected there on the side there facing the stove, and is one I haven't really used for a few years.

It is a Race list.

Looking at it the second header, "For Race" followed by the first item "Team Jersey (and clean one for..." suddenly made me realize that I actually miss the race. Miss the routine of getting things together, the purposefulness of the race bag. Cyclocross has a whole extra set of stuff and honestly the stripped down beauty of a crit race kit is immensely appealing right now.

And obviously this feeling was strong enough to get me to sit down and write it down.

I haven't really thought about it, or even realized I missed it for a while. I've been riding. Commuting every day so far. Only getting a ride to work once, and then of course the sick (daughter's appointments) and snow days might not have seen me on a bike, but every day I've been at work, save one, this year 2011, has been via my legs. The ice has been horrible on the Washington bridge.

Yes, it is getting worse. Last night's ride home even the studs were kind of sketchy (no they aren't wearing down), the ice is just turning into a crowned, bumpy, but progressively more polished and flatter surface. Which really isn't good. When the only texture is a slope perpendicular to the vector you are trying to achieve it is tough. That said I probably would be okay with 35psi instead of 60 psi in the tires. i might go and let a few pounds out before attempting to cross the bridge this morning.

At least the wind is calm, even if the temp dropped a degree from 16 to 15 F since I woke up. I'm dubious of the forecast warm up to 41.

I am going to try my new shoes today. I hope I got the cleats right on these 0 Ergo Grip LG shoes. I'm glad I got the 48s (i usually wear 47s in sidi and specialized) because they seem to fit about like the 47s do but there is a touch of to wiggle room. Today will be a good test of them if I can ever stop writing. I'll make another cup of coffee. That will get me off my ass. And yes. Coffee. My dear old friend is back. I have however traded the coffee for the beer. Except on maybe a rare social occasion I've cut the ETOH consumption to zero. And honestly it is working pretty well. Not so much for weight loss, mostly budget shrinking and health reasons...

I guess maybe seeing the Reynolds Strike wheels on the Klein hanging in the bike room is stirring that race bug, either way, it is a damn gorgeous looking bike set up like that. Sadly they don't seem to make a carbon compounded V-Brake pad. I might just have to race the Klein, or stick the 720s on the Blue (they stop well enough I think).

Heddwch
G

Happy Valentines Day

http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2011-02-14

Hmm