ouch

that hurt tonight.

weather conditions were pretty favorable.

TT is 8 miles. First couple hundred yards are slightly up hill before the road tips down gently until the Chartley store, then there's some flat, and a couple very slight rollers before turning on to Reynolds which it slightly up hill and a chip and seal road.

IIRC when I hit my fastest ever time on there (25.4mph avg) my avg speed hitting the right turn on Reynolds was close to 28mph or so. There's a lot of loss in that last little stretch, hills and bad roads and just being cooked from over doing it early.

Today I paced it out, not too hard and I knew I wasn't going to match my best but I didn't want to leave anything out there.

I hit the turn with a 24.9 mph avg. Way slow. But then I was on the Blue, bars still way up in CX racing position, 46x11, durano plus tires. The Zipp 101s were the only concession to speed. But then they were also what were on the bike. And with the Shimano 105 10sp stuff with the shift housing under the tape there wasn't anything to hold on to in invisible aero bar mode.

I thought I'd saved a little something, planning on hitting reynolds hard and not losing too much time, but boom, it is like turning a corner and suddenly riding in a sand pit.

"WHERE IS MY SPEED?" Fuck it hurt.

I dug and pedaled.

Brier started 2 min behind me on his Cervelo with the Zipp 909 front and the disc wheel in the back, LG fancy aero helmet and skinsuit. And he's going pretty good lately. He caught me with less than a mile to go. Carbon disc rumbling past.

Leaving it all out there I wound up with an okay time for a cannibal run at 20:24. Good for a 'reported' average of 23.8 mph. I was 5th IIRC (Brier was 1st), two cannibal riders in front of me, Kirk S and Paul S (no relation). Paul killed it, but then he's also racing and racing pretty well. Kirk's been riding the Tuesday night smack down and training too. Me? Yeah, I haven't been training. At all. Not really much since before Mystic Velo.

I was slow, no question. But it hurt. A lot. In a good way. I suffered. And can't wait until i get back. Oddly debating heading early next time (if I can) and doing a "warm up" full gas interval/TT before the real one just to put two 20 min efforts back to back in the same training block. Why? Mostly because I hear it is supposed to make you better. I also know it really really really hurts to try and do two. And suffering is good. Assuming you rest enough to allow that shit to work.

It is a good TT, you should try and make it out if you are in the area.

time for bed

heddwch
G

TIME TRIAL

tonight.

Bikeworks time Trial Series
When
Thu, June 16, 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Where
Rehoboth Mass
Description
Bikeworks Time Trial Series
6.00 entree fee
Flat to rolling hills
8 Miles

Where exactly?

Here.

If you are driving, park over at the Chartley Store (Fairview Ave and Tremont st) mid-way down the course and ride to the start or park at/near the finishline in the dirt lot at the corner of Tremont and Anawan St.

It is a good course. Deceptive at the start and you'll get burned after you turn onto Reynolds if you go to hard. Essentially rolling down hill to Reynolds (with a rise or two) then a slight incline on chip and seal with a couple hills and rollers that loop you back over onto Anawan/118 for the finish. Save something for Reynolds.

it is pretty easy to hold a high 20s mph average going into Reynolds only to see your avg drop to mid or low 20s by the finish. Bold probably averages 35 by the turn onto Reynolds fwiw.

20 min times are good, sub 18 are pretty solid and 15s are inhuman.

No time to put the P-mount together in TT mode so I'm riding the short cranked plastic bike cannibal style. Focusing on the effort and intensity not on results, because it is well documented and Solobreak keeps reminding me: I just flat out suck because I'm slow and don't suffer enough or race enough or train enough or ride the bike well enough to expect to beat anyone.

so

new positive shit = fuck the results, who cares. Time to just pedal hard and have fun.

See you out there (or not)

heddwch
G

needed a laugh

Hey Parents

A bed time story just for you:

hmmm

maybe my crappy climbing has nothing to do with the fact that i don't train and everything to do with the fact i'm on cranks waaaaaay to short proportionally for my leg length?

Put G-ride on some 150s and see how well he can make it up his driveway.

From my own decades of experience and testing with different crank lengths, if you venture a lot shorter with the crank than 21-22 percent of your (measured) inseam length, you won’t climb as fast.

it is like he wants all us tall folks to buy his product... is he making one with a BB30 spindle yet?

No but he does have something rather cool.

One thing in the article I don't buy:

Tall sprinters cannot get a high enough gear to work with a long crank, as 80kph on a 53 X 11 gear is 135RPM, a cadence that is unrealistic when the crank circle gets much bigger than 180mm in radius

I can pretty easily hit 150rpm and push over it with 180mm cranks.

I still would like to find a BB30 180mm crank... why the heck doesn't SRAM make one at least in the Red. Oh well. Pretty clear that equipment isn't my limiter.

How slow can you go?

Challenge this morning.

How slow? I Made the inaugural ride in with the HRM to signify the start of time to get serious again an easy one. Okay so this wasn't the inaugural ride in, well it was with the croll.

HR was at 65 walking the bike out to the road along the side of the house, and leaving with a bit of a time cushion it was a goal to see how low of a HR i could average. What's the point? I don't know, mostly some crazy notion of avoiding the middle zones. Full gas either in a sustained effort or short bursts or as chill as I can go.

As chill as I could go, including the two short pitches wound up being an avg hr of 76 with a max at 103. Only took 45 min to get in.

No smack down for me tonight. Going to build a few bikes and then head home and make a 17 year anniversary dinner.

TT starts thursday... lets see if i can make it out there...

every once in a while...

You come across something new. Brian Chapman featured in ESPN. Sure just a web feature, but still that's pretty cool.

no parallel

but it does tend to offer doubt to those who say you must race your way into shape.

"what you talking about?"

Doucheblog's thing here

Tilford mentioned something along those lines before, a while ago, haven't found his post yet. Maybe implying that the only reason to take a big block of time off before a bit race is to enhance your training in a situation where you're less likely to be tested every day.

It is curious to see the pros take a month off then come kill it in the tour. Sure, they are pros they know how to train hard enough. But what about those who claim you can't train hard enough to simulate racing?

Conflicting information, enough to make even the experts look questionable. Such is life with most everything.

Oh hey look. It is raining.

Yes. I know the difference between some over thinking master and a pro is a huge heap of talent.

just a quiet morning contemplation, while oddly everyone else sleeps late. Must be the eating dinner late or something. Seems i'm the only person here not getting much sleep. Even the dog has gone back to sleep after waking me up very emphatically to feed her.

Birds singing out side the open windows, rain falling on the leaves and street, cup of coffee, my own odd meaningless pondering...

heddwch
G

Birthday Dinner for my oldest

This is what she wanted, and wow it was good. Timing was perfect on everything, almost like I know what the hell I'm doing in a kitchen. HAH. It was really actually pretty amazing if I do say so myself. And very very special. It takes quite a bit to get me to swallow the price tag on those loin chops, but they are really quite the treat and were cooked absolutely perfectly, so tender, so flavorful, so good.

Here it is (text copied from the FB note)

Lamb Chops, Beet Salad with Cous Cous and corn, Potato Salad and grilled Red peppers.
Here is the break down:
Lamb:
Lamb is an American Loin Chop marinated pre-grilling in a Rosemary pesto.
in the pesto:
Garlic (lots)
Fresh Rosemary
Parsley
Coarse Sea Salt
Dried Thyme (didn't have any fresh)
Olive Oil
(first 5 were pulsed to a fine consistency in a food processor - then oil drizzled until I hit the desired consistency)

I covered both sides of the loin chop with the pesto and let it rest at Room Temp for 20 min while I made everything else.
Then they went on the grill, 4 min on one side (lid off - very hot fire), 6 min on second side, rested covered with foil for another 2-3 min and then served.

Beet Salad:
Started with our new favorite salad we created:
2 raw peeled beets
4-6 med size peeled carrots
1/2 of a med vidalia onion
all that gets grated in a food processor, you don't want to handle beets more than you need to. Trick to peeling them is to do it under cold water. No staining.

Then I picked up two ears of the first crop of florida corn and put the cob (husk removed) directly on the grill. Got it nice and carmelized and cooked.
Took the kernels off and added them to the mix.
Dressed it with Balsalmic Vinegar, Shoyu soy sauce, 1 tsp of the pesto I just made, olive oil, lots of fresh black pepper, dried dill. Mixed that up and let it sit until the cous-cous was finished.

I cooked two cups of dried cous-cous in two cups of lightly salted water, added about 2/3 of that to the beet salad about 10 min before serving/plating.

Potato Salad:
3 pounds of yukon gold potatoes cut into 1cm cubes, boiled till tender. Drained and cooled with cold tap water.
4-6 ribs of diced celery
2 large scallions
1/3 of a bunch of curley leaf parsely (more texture than flat leaf and holds up better to potatos) finely chopped.

Mixed that all up with a dressing of:
Dijon Mustard
Balsalmic Vinegar
Orange Juice
Colman's Mustard Powder
Olive Oil

Tossed well to coat and then added some paprika, black pepper and some salt (to taste).

Peppers:
red bell peppers seeded, halved, grilled/blackened then roughly chopped and served hot.

The potato salad was cold, beet salad not cold about room temp, peppers warm and lamb hot.

Big Week

Double 'graduations', in-laws in town, dance school performances this weekend, rehearsals all week, huge storm, a ride w/o a back pack, a birthday...

The graduation thing I understand but only sort of, in a way I feel it diminished the real ones HS and College. Should be only two, amiright? Sort of like if cross was year round it wouldn't be as special or cool and rather than coming together intensely for three short months people would cherry pick the season like they do on the road and then events would disappear (like on the road). Yes, stretching the analogy. Oh well. Stretching is what Stretch does best. amiright?

Okay. Gotta stop with that.

That said recognition for their achievement, as incremental as it might be, is still valid and good. I'd prefer we call it something other than graduation though.

Oddly in a great mood today. Maybe it isn't so odd. I've been mentally in a better state than I have in a while. Could be the coffee. Or the artwork. I put a piece in the staff development day and with zero promotion or lobbying for votes I wound up being recognized (voted into 5th place). One of these days the twelve prints will be on display in the gallery, and when they do I will let everyone know so they can come down and check it out.

Sarcasm is good? YES! I'm a winner! Wait.

There was a good bit of manorexic weinermeasuring this morning on twitter. Entertaining at least. When you read every book you can get your hands on from age 5 until 20 hard core outside school work, and then add being a good student to the mix and then pile 20 years of reading everything on the internet, you make an expert on experts and everything. Mostly. No, not really. That's more sarcasm. Maybe.

I have been cogitating way too much about how to approach CX season this year. Unknowns are really out of control at this point, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm in a serious quandary about how to approach the training. Esp since the reality is I will not be able to race my way into shape in July and August. Will have to be the hard way.

To add running or not? Not is an intriguing option this year. It makes sense on a whole self bit, bone density, core stability (esp lower back) but it does take potential time away from cycling specific stuff. But if you look at what Katie Compton's coach has her do there is running involved (thank you for that article in Issue #11 of Cyclocross Magazine), and then you have Jeremy Powers mentioning in his interview in Issue #12 of Cyclocross Magazine that he runs 30 min twice a week all year. I'm leaning towards if I do any running it will be along the lines of the 30-30-30s that KfnC does (or did).

Another part of me is just inclined to say fuck it, go into the season how ever I make it, set the bar really low and just have fun and if I find some fitness by November so be it... But that isn't like me so much.

The Thursday night time trial starts on the 16th. Would be nice to try and make that. Not sure how in the cards that is. Would be a good thing to do though.

I am cautiously optimistic that I can figure it out. I certainly have been given enough good advice from people who are way faster (or just way older) about what to do, probably should sit down and shake the brain a bit and see if I can pull some sense out of the information. The UCI overlord who isn't the most popular person in New England's book probably isn't where i'll go to this year. I will likely pull some elements out of that, but also stick a bit more with tweaking the commutes, maybe adding in a loop on the BLVD or something else. That is when I'm not driving curtis's tandem again with a kid on the back this summer. But really as big of an issue as it may seem, it isn't something I'm worried about or thinking too much about right now.

Put together a quick amazing dinner last night. My oldest REALLY liked it. She had a small serving even though she'd already had dinner, and went back for more because it was so good. It was good. It means a lot to me that my kids like good food. And yes, I just qualified the food I make as good food. Truth.

there was something else rattling around that i wanted to get out of this head - but it hasn't shaken loose yet... maybe later.

heddwch
G

Woa

Mosher is writing now?

What's next, Kevin Hines will start a blog? solobreak will come out of retirement? Chabot will get as fast as he would like to be?

insanity!

Thanks for the heads up Master Baiter

- i had a great post, a story line even, crafted in my head ready to get down on the ones and zeros, then the power went out and we all just shrugged and headed to bed.

Saw my first lightning bugs of the season on the ride home last night. Last night was also the first time on the bike w/o a backpack since the Mystic Velo crit. Seriously. It was nice, except it felt like I was riding in a hail storm. So many bugs. And big ones too. had to ride the last 1/2 with my mouth closed and my head tilted forward to keep em out of my nose.

Some other stuff was rattling around, thoughts about how our nose evolved and why we have a nose like we do (think infants). But I'll leave it at that. Oh and those indestructible stylus tough 6000s ain't so tough after all. Esp when the strap fails in a gym while it is on in movie recording mode. Dead camera. Oh well. Such is life.

Interesting video

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

Intersections are definitely the most dangerous for everyone. A bit of defensive riding in the middle of one and your head on a swivel and you're generally going to make it through. And reduction in your senses can cause a problem...

From last week to this week

what a change. or maybe it was two weeks ago. I don't remember. They are all running into eachother right now. One into the next.

Cool cold and misty in the morning and overcast during the day? Sounds good to me. The outside thermometer here at the house is a degree shy of 90F.

TRANSITION please.

Or is that too much to ask. Maybe too much.

Today was the 5th grade graduation. Hard to believe that we headed back to New England 6 years ago. Six years seems like such a short time, but at the same time a very long time.

We took them into school and then parked it in the auditorium and got some prime seats. And I had a chance to read the JPow interview in Issue #12 of Cyclocross Magazine in one sitting.

Wow. Josh, killer job! J-POW certainly cemented his place as the #1 Cyclocross personality.

I read most of the interviews with the Natz winners too, the move to Jan Natz question was interesting and you don't have to be Resultsboy or ExcelDork to see the trend. Pick up the magazine and check for yourself.

Okay - off to the orthodontist! Yeah! (there i made sure to include some sarcasm today).

heddwch
G

morning snap shot

a quick snap shot for this morning.

No racing, not much in the way of riding this weekend. I did manage to dig out and get the Trail-a-Bike together and the little one and I headed into the city. That was pretty awesome.

weeks end

come on - hurry up and be over. lets move on to the weekend...

inches...

IT IS HERE- YES

Issue #12.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Headwind awesomeness

Comment from the shop

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

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

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

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

the build went pretty well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

heddwch
G

This is why I don't have a powermeter

yes this is the one up above there today

Busted stuff

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

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

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

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

Oh hey.

This doesn't look so good:


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

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

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

Bike Racing? What's that.

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

Oh well.

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

heddwch
G

i've been saying it for years

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

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

I have to agree with Manderson's evaluation.

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

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

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

Haven't laughed this hard in a long time

After the Deluge

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

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


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

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

Boom.

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

Okay.

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

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

heddwch
G

Bike To Work Day Tomorrow

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

View Larger MapAt 7:15 am.

Meet up there or catch us along the way.

Great video:

Human-Powered Health from solve on Vimeo.

skillsets

"It sucks to buy something you can build."

It sucks to pay for food you can make better.

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

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

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

It is satisfying to self reliant and skilled.

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

YS from OliandJoe on Vimeo.

New Marvin Z article.

"Toolbox: Living With the Risk of Crashing"

a really good article.

bias and bs

7th grade, we were taught to investigate bias.

it made a huge impression on me.

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

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

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

thankfully

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is what it is.

be good

heddwch
G

no legs

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

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

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

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

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

#2 it was.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh well.

There will be another race.

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

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

heddwch,
G

WAAAAAAATTTTTSSSSSSS

No, no powertap, just more broken spokes.

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

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

*snap*

"that was a weird noise"

*look down*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be safe out there.

heddwch
G

3200 ; Perpetuum Mobile

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

and reflecting

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

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

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

It keeps playing back.

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

Wow.

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

Inspirational.

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

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

And then I couldn't sleep. At all.

or that's what it seemed like.

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

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

Focused.

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

Me and the bike.

and the wind.

heddwch
G

People with better words

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

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

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

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

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

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

But in reality RMM is correct:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I still remember the 1995 tour...

heddwch
G

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

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

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

Wouter...

Scheldeprijs Schoten - Wouter Weylandt, originally uploaded by KarolusLinus.

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

Scheldeprijs Schoten - Wouter Weylandt

Rest in Peace Wouter

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

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

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

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

Happy Mother's Day

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

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

Maybe not the worst thing.

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

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

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

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

heddwch
G

Ever Powerful and right now, timely words:

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

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

Something to think about as you carry your life forward.

as always
heddwch (the welsh word for peace)
g

a story teller

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

i will though, thank Alexi for writing about them.

oh and this is a good read too.

Pinky and the Brain

again

what are we going to do for bike month?

the same thing we do EVERY month...

oof

goodness gracious i am pooped

pulled through the ringer

pretty much a good thing

definitely the adaptation phase of things now

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

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

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

Life goes on, and moves quickly...

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

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

heddwch
G

Rusty brake

So the first bit of getting the car set to pass is finished. It took me longer to get the license plate bulb covers off than it did to change the caliper and bracket and bleed it and hook it all up.

It was a scary minute or so as I was pulling a solid vacuum on the caliper bleed valve and nothing was happening. Why? Well what if the caliper was dead because the brake line was gone or had closed itself off up stream? A bit of panic and then a small drop of fluid. PHEW.

Pulled a good bit of fluid out for measure, topped off the reservoir and buttoned it back up. and it works (again). Might take a bit to polish off the rust on the rotor, but hey, it will get there. And replacing the rear rotors on this thing involves wheel bearings and shit, somewhat of a major pain in the ass apparently, not as bad as the rear suspension I hear.

And in case you didn't know, always replace bulbs in pairs. If one is about to go the other is soon to follow. Easier that way. And very true in the front and rear headlamps and brake lamps that I did on here, and pretty much every other car.

Got the oil changed in the fancy new car too. The change oil indicator is pretty cool, not mileage based. It actually uses a duty cycle algorithm, but because I've been running synthetic and I doubt there is a way to have it re-factor it in, it has gone for a bit w/the indicator reminding us to change the oil. Don't worry, I have yet to pay more than $30 for an oil change on this car, oil and filter combined (and yes it takes 5 quarts). I just wish a gallon of fuel didn't cost the same as a quart of synthetic oil.

Time to make up a big batch of oatmeal pancakes and hop in the purring rattle trap (the AC compressor is making a HORRIBLE racket, almost tempting to drive with the AC turned on to make it quiet). But I haven't figured out what to do, if anything, to quiet it down. Half tempted to spray it full of white lithium grease to see if that helps.

Gonna head up and see what kind of task list I can burn through today. Still have to buy a muffler and bolt that on. But I think I've got a line on one that's under $100 that I can do myself.

The picture of the brake caliper piston is pretty funny. I don't think there are supposed to be spider nests inside the boot.

heddwch
G

Dave's got another good one

A bit of a rhyme about not being a JERK on the bike.

It is good.

Don’t be a jerk
While riding to work
You know it’s not right
To go through a red light
But you think it’s OK
If you act that way

And when you blow a stop
Even though there’s no cop
You give us all a bad name
And we all get the blame
It’s bad for our cause
If you break the laws

All cyclists look bad
And that makes me mad
‘Cos it rubs off on me
I wish you could see
When you buzz someone walking
Even though they are talking

Not paying attention
But perhaps I should mention
On the sidewalk you see
Where you shouldn’t be
You buzz little old ladies
And mothers with babies

Scaring the crap
And not only that
You go the wrong way
Like you do each day
And at one intersection
Looking opposite direction

A car driver waits
And maybe it’s fate
Just as you pass
He steps on the gas
The outcome not good
As you bounce off the hood

You land in the street
And you lay at the feet
Of the little old ladies
And mothers with babies
The ones that you scared
‘Cos you didn’t care

You lay there all broken
And no words are spoken
You can see in their eyes
That they sympathize
They know that you hurt
Even though you’re a jerk

I got me thinking...

Not sure where or when but at some point I realized I had gotten into a negative cycle of thought/self evaluation.

Other stuff hasn't been helping, but it was something in Josh's latest column that got me to do a quick hockey stop. Actually it was that plus getting home late, working on making some Tikka Masala for K (she's been asking me to make it forEVER) and I was getting snappy with the youngest. Mental hold on happened. PAUSE. Asked her nicely to give Daddy some space and let me focus on cooking, find something to do. She went away, came back and gave me a big hug and then disappeared again (i found her plunked watching videos on PBSkids a bit later).

And I started thinking a bit - not really, I was focused on cooking but it seemed to make sense to say that last night writing this.

I'd just smoked some Flandian dude who didn't know he was in a race, but I smoked him on the bike path into the wind on my falling apart filthy Giant with bald (got my second flat this morning from a literally 1cm piece of bottle glass (from the neck based on the curve radius - lots of indicators on the outside that I had ridden it a good handful of revolutions before the glass worked into the tube) heavy ass tires and janky fenders with a flopping backpack (much lighter load than riding with CD tuesday am).

The wind sucked but I had to get home. Had the last class for the semester and it went great. Really actually something to be pretty f'n proud of. But it was a focus on getting home so I could get dinner finished at a reasonable hour, so I was redlining it on the bike.

After passing the Flandiran kit wearing guy on a TT bike with his iPod and waterbottle dingleberry cage into the wind and getting 500 meters down the path before realizing I was unintentionally too deep in the red but, I thought I should attempt to hold it there so I don't look like too much of a prick and fade enough for him to catch (not that it would have been a bad thing) I just pegged it and held it And ya know what? It stuck. By the time I hit the Squantum club things started to click a bit (I think I also dropped the effort to 90% or so). Through the fog things seemed sort of okay. After a bit I saw Tony. He had stopped to take a call (hard to talk on the phone riding into that wind), and I had just shut the engine room down to let the turbos cool down before parking it to stand on my feet to make some dinner. So we chatted about races coming up.

My concession that I'd just been thinking about Mystic Velo and not much beyond that. He suggested New Britan, but then I think there's a conflict and it is wicked far away (for an off season crit)... and then attleboro (i've never raced that one - spectated a few times but never managed to race for some reason or other)... I had mentioned some measure of desire to try Witches Cup this summer. Not close but maybe I can sort the family summer camp schedule enough to make it happen and see some of Salem before the race or something like that. Long ways away, time and distance i suppose.

I'm watching some Bruins hockey right now.

Or i should say I was. BROOONS just scored. OT over. game 7, OT, wow that's some hockey. No chance on that shot. Thank you internet for making cable pointless. Cable TV that is - i suppose cable is providing me internet right now.

One thing I that hit me tonight is that I rarely think of myself as good enough, never satisfied, confident until I have to put it to the test. I know i can cook circles around most but then confronted/challenged doubts block any confidence and realizing that it isn't just hindering my strengths. Or something.

Getting too introspective. But I'm trying to deal with myself on the couch... trying to take the shackles off this OMP that some kid keeps throwing out there. OMP. Have I found it? Found it by adding more work to the schedule? Relighting a long dormant part of the brain that craves task lists that don't involve teaching highly technical stuff to grad students and post docs?

Focus. I've got to focus.

But focus on the correct stuff. (I've lately been consciously NOT using 'right' when 'correct' is more appropriate).

The positive, what I do have control over. Increase productivity and work on things I can direct an outcome. Commutes no longer are just slogging back and forth. Nope. Even not getting the HRM switched back over to the Giant I know when I'm riding hard and when I'm not. And focusing on a good balance seems to be paying off.

I can make this work. Maybe I won't be any faster in the fall, maybe I will. Maybe everyone else will have figured this much out too and we'll all get closer to the talented end of the field. And maybe I won't give as much of a shit when I do start the season sucking wind at the back, because I will have figured out how to make myself realize that it is just a fucking bike race and while fun and a great way to measure up, it is not the only measure of success. It is a huge aspect (cx) to me, and the identity that i've carved out. Losing it would be a huge blow, but not like losing other stuff.

Right now I'm debating leaving hitting save and proofing this tomorrow, or publishing and reading tomorrow and then pulling if I don't like it.

I think I'm going to save and play that game.

one last comment, it sucks feeling trapped and unable to do absolutely everything for the most important people in your life... working, to change that... in more ways than one

AM post re-read/edit comments
That last paragraph might be a bit too cryptic for all but a few, but that's enough.

This is okay I think, to leave as it is and publish.

Drinking coffee on the couch watching the rain out the window, catching up on twitter this morning I was so not motivated to do much of a ride in. At some point the idiot who's trying to train me a bit (yeah, myself) decided that today was going to be a hard day. No fucking taking it easy on the path on the way in. The rain meant it would likely be more deserted than normal.

Sadly even with the shitty weather (by other people's standards) the COX marathon is this weekend and people are out running the route, or parts of it, or more specifically there are a lot more serious runners on the bike path this week. So it wasn't terribly deserted, but the extra traffic was made up of runners wearing idiot devices.

After finally getting out the door, surprisingly it had stopped raining. And I started the ride by down shifting to lowest gear and spinning supah easy up for 500k or so, then just slowly added gear inches until there were no more to add, and then drilled it till i was seeing double, then settling down (in the same gear) until I could see straight and then repeat. And I will silently admit, I put some tunes in one ear. Yes. I. did. And. It was AWESOME.

So awesome in fact and my legs were feeling so awesome with the overcast skies, low 60°F temps, crazy cross wind, that I really actually didn't want to stop pushing until I couldn't turn the pedals anymore.

But I was running later than planned and had to ignore the not so quiet voice suggesting that we take this feeling over to the Boulevard and crank some more intervals out while we were feeling like this.

Mood this morning after that? And still right now? FUCKING AWESOME.

Yes. Good day. So far. And strangely enough, if you focus on the positive shit going on, life is a lot easier. Now.

Lets see if I can pare this list down to size!

One more bit before I hit publish. That D2R2 thing that sounds wicked awesome? Yeah CD was talking about it, JLS just signed up for the 180 and I've been wanting to do it for a year or three now. In CD's words 'well worth the hall pass.' And that's saying a lot. I just, literally JUST took a look at the date. August 27th. I'll be in Seattle that weekend. Just for the weekend, for a family wedding. So D2R2 is off my calendar. Wow there are already 225 people signed up for the 180k version.

Nuts

going to publish...

heddwch
g

Chills

My hairs are still on end after reading Alexi's blog today.

You can keep the honors, they were empty then and they are totally desolate now. I am not out there to beat you, or anyone else. I am out there because I once loved to do this, and I find I still do.

This is someone who really gets it.

SO many aspects of his suffering I'll never understand, or hopefully never understand. But I will also never understand what it is like to be king on the bike like he was once, I'll never know what it is like to work at racing bikes like a pro, like it is your day job. At once I maybe would dream about it. Honestly? I did dream about being a pro-mechanic. I may have been wiser as a youth than a grown up. I knew then that I was a passable cyclist, that I enjoyed the f'out of it, but I was never really that fast. I'm faster now than ever and I'm just a passable cat 4 roadie with dreams of maybe hitting the 3s some day. CX racing is different, but it is road season and I don't really ride Mt bikes out here much at all, I tried to, but it wasn't fun. Why waste precious saddle time trying to make something fun that just isn't? (silly tangents)

Alexi's words are powerful, well crafted and timely. And a source for more introspection.

fug it

i ain't writing NUTTIN today...

why?

because I just read this.

And honestly can't freaking read this screen (i have a white background with black letters and old eyes and transitioning from Mike's Back Bay blog entry to this is very challenging).

I think i got the words in the right order. I don't see any red squiggles under the words. Good sign.

managed to get some extra time in this morning. hooked up with Chad on his commute from out by the cape to mystic ct and gave him fighter escort through PVD. Although less fighter and more C-141. And long range me sort of managed to figure he had the leaving town part covered once we got to the Cranston path... oops. We went way the fuck off course (aka were supposed to head west on 12 to scituate ave) and I turned around at East. Oops. Sorry Chad. But hey we got from Seekonk HS to the bike path pretty damn smooth with a good non-sketchy gatorade acquisition store in the process.

And I had a nice tempo ride, that said I probably should have had more than a bit of coffee before riding that long. Oh well. It was good.

Here's the final analysis - (fresh off the email wires):

I didn't realize we
were on the path for as long as we were. I found some stretches of
sweet dirt roads to connect me back to the route. I also found a few
stretches of bombed out hairy dirt roads, but all's well. Eight bonus
miles.

So that's 118 miles, 6hr 35m ride time. The hills in CT were not
insubstantial. There was a headwind. Not the easiest way to get from
A to B, but I picked good roads for the most part and hardly saw any
cars the whole ride. Pretty awesome.

Now we'll see if I have the energy to do the return trip...I'm pretty
cracked right now. Shower, food...must be nap time. No,
wait...meeting time.

Lucky f'n bastard! Good luck with the cracked part though... oof, meetings are hard enough pop nearly 120 miles in there and I'd need some toothpick scaffolds for the eyelids!

Nearly as good as CD's ride: Beastie Boys new album (free online - to listen to).

Heddwch
G

file under wtf

Oh hey what's this - old post... this little "espresso" trick is a big black mark on his already shaky (and worn out shtick) platform of finding new shit to be creative with the camera about.



Yo, alton... how ya making that steamed milk then? Most milk steaming devices seem to be attached to an espresso maker. I'm sure they make a milk steamer that's not part of a coffee maker thing... but then why bother? Sure that'll foam hot or cold milk and you can just nuke the milk. But really. What's the point? I was thinking he would actually do the whole frothing trick with the french press.

Yall try that? Pop some milk in your coffee in a larger french press (take the grounds out first) then rapidly move the plunger screen through there (shake weight style). Oh hey. Look. FOAM.

THAT is a TRICK.

HE'S JUST MAKING FUCKING COFFEE.

speaking of coffee... i should make some here at work.

Coffee = secret to OMP

Raw Lightscapes from Enrique Pacheco on Vimeo.

IT IS EARTHDAY

Hey what are you going to do for earth day?

"Same think i do EVERY day..."

Snapped a bunch of shots on the way in today. A couple just for Zencycle. Hoping to have time to dump em up.

NARF

alexi

you should be reading his blog everyday, or at least checking in on it every day.

Like today. He's got a handful of assholes (imho) who comment but also there is a familiar name commenting and offering support.

Numbers today

46
12
18
25


forty size and twelve. The gear I stuck it in once I got to Riverside Square after a high cadence high intensity warm up to that point.

eighteen. The recorded sustained [head] wind speed on the commute.

twenty five. The recorded wind gust speed.

Different than the way home when I was turning the 46x12 at max for ~15 seconds then coasting for 15, this morning with the headwind it was stand up and power through and then hold the speed until the cadence dropped and then stood back up and brought the cadence up. A good mile section with the wind demanded that i stand up. I'd sit down and reflexively shift. Then catch myself and then drop it back in the twelve and stand up again. A nice puke-tastic ride to work.

I don't have the hrm hooked up on this bike but it probably wasn't the fastest but it hurt good. Not steady state but not like last night.

I know, i know who cares. Wait, I CARE.

Weight has been stable below 200 pounds for the first time in ages. No longer a clydesdale. Thank you to both coffee for helping to crank the fat metabolism through the roof and as an appetite suppressor, and the lack of any beer besides the odd one or two that get handed to me once a month or so as it seems to have happened.

Oh and it was a barelegged ride this morning. Rubbed down with the GeWilli blend of organic oils (equal parts Avocado, Sunflower, and Olive - okay the olive isn't organic but it is EV) and headed out with shorts (longsleeve jersey and gloves). But hey it was sunny and 54 when I left and I knew I was going to ride hard. It worked.

that's all i got... oh and damn that myerspace dude for bringing up the 15s things yesterday that got me thinking about something other than steadystate as hard as I could ride hard commute days. After a dozen i was ready to puke, but then somehow I made it past that point and just shredded my legs and it felt awesome. This morning was more of a steady grind, more like a rolling hill that never ends trying to climb in a 42x25.

heddwch
g

Intense

most people have already seen this...

if not...

you should spend the three minutes or so watching it

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

maybe after La Fleche Wallonne finishes

Deep and strong

Alexi Grewal.

This guy is amazing. His blog is insane and really intense at times. He had some jackasses being dipshits commenting for a while, but results aside, I'm so glad he's racing/riding again. it will take him a couple years to get some racing legs back, and sure, he's old enough to be called old.

But his story is pretty captivating and he writes well.

The "in a haunting lilt" among other entries really show how deep his emotional life has furrowed.

Tilford is another one of those rare gems of writing riders with experience to spare.

Recovery?

So the biggest thing i've been doing with this heart rate device has involved recovery. Keeping the heart rate below 100 or 105 on the way to work. It is actually pretty hard to do. I'll usually focus on getting these super easy rides/days after getting in as hard of a ride to and from as possible or after a race. More or less avoiding any medium rides... Stephen has found a reasonable study looking at recovery. I'm actually not really surprised by his findings.

That said, jumping from a race, into a car just to get out and stand on concrete for 5 hours probably isn't the best way to recover.

Oh well... Like with the food, the only reason to recover quickly is if you need to perform at your best as soon as possible.

There is absolutely (i believe) no reason to pack the recovery drink and foods in post peak activity if you aren't looking to repeat it right away. Racing on Sunday but not until the following week? Why bother packing on the extra food/calories. Don't starve yourself but no need to treat every hard training ride or every race like the saturday of a Verge weekend.

Same with recovery too... these studies focus on improving performance quickly. If you tried to study activity and intensity and recovery methods with compression, cold, active, you pick the recovery matrix and look at peak output with a week between, how different will they be? Problem is, if there is an improvement between times, can that be attributed to recovery or just adaptation to stress irrespective of recovery.

The human system is too complex to have any good and clear answers. But this study that Stephen talks about seems to actually help at least point cyclists into a decent direction as far as recovery info goes. And really, is it anything new? No, not really.

Enjoy the riding, even the wicked slow steerage way, walking the bike speeds.

heddwch
G

now for a really good read

Something I *DIDN'T* write:(tyler wern's journal for april/may 2011)

Almost gave me goosebumps. (Okay it gave me goosebumps).

Sunday in Hell

The movie. If you're crafty you can find it online now. In its entirety (youtube). I watched it over the last 4 days, never quite having the time to sit down and see the whole thing in one stretch.

And wouldn't you know it, just before the credits are rolling my 10 year old daughter (almost 11) walks by and asks what I'm watching and then wonders aloud "why are you watching a bunch of men taking a shower."

I was pretty much stumped. I had no answer but to say, this is how the film makers wanted to end the movie, watching these men wash the dirt of the Paris-Roubaix off all together.

This Sunday I headed back down to Ninigret for the Rick Newhouse race. Last year it was a good race. Gary and Scott got off in a break, Gary's team mate did a nice job disrupting the chase despite Marro's efforts. But the field was skimpy and tame compared to who lined up this year in the 3/4 race. It wasn't stacked like the p123 race, but it had more of the feel of a 35+ than a 4 race. And even considering the wind, it was not so slow.

I'd wanted to race the Strikes at least once, I've got a potential trade in the mix to swap them for a pair of DV46CX tubulars. And well, most smart people were racing box section wheels. It was f'n windy. It was not possible to race using my invisible aero bars, that would have been an instant recipe for hitting the cheese grater.

They felt fast into the wind, and I could feel a bit of a tug forward when i was on a broad reach.

The race was fun, really fun. I didn't race to win so much as I raced to race. It felt great to never be in difficulty but to be working my ass off. Never dug a hole that I couldn't climb out of. I went to the front for the first few laps or just the first lap, maybe it was two i dunno, but i wanted to feel the wind at speed with the wheels. And honestly it felt good to be hanging out up front and looking back and seeing a string of riders following.

I slid back a bit and chilled at the other end of the pack, then moved up, and back and around... more often than not I found myself in the wind after turn 4 (the sort of turn after the wheel pit on the back side) and it was pretty easy just holding pace... Hell with a handful to go and Brier up the road trying to do something I found myself slipping off the front of a lazy pack. And rather than just totally drill it to see if I could bridge I just rolled around solo. Like an idiot. WTF was I thinking? I have no idea. I should have buried it and pegged the needle to bridge up, but I just kind of rode around at 90% with the pack 1/2 a straight behind me. People kept dissapearing from the group. First it was a handful who got gapped off, then ones and twos. A gap would open and then when they hit the full force of the headwind they'd be done. It felt pretty cool that I was never in a position that I wasn't able to close a gap (from the back to the bunch) that opened. Closing the gap to the break away riders was a different story.

I had enough gas at the end to stay with the sprinting pack but again didn't race as smart maybe as I should. And this is going to sound like, i dunno an excuse for a poor finish, but it was totally a mistake on my part make no bones about it. After my little escapade I re-integrated into the pack and thought I heard Paul call out 3 to go. So I slid up into the front (top 3-8 somewhere) of the pack and then when we came around for what I thought should have been the bell lap, there was no bell, hmmm maybe I counted wrong or something but I was set up perfectly a lap too early and then my brain said WTF and oops, I had drifted back a bit enough and there was a good deal of pack confusing already and I just chalked it up to being an idiot and not paying more attention to the laps. sure it would have helped if there had been lap cards but there weren't and I'm not blaming anyone but myself.

That all said, I don't really care that I got 23/28 finishers... there was no daylight from the 24th place wheel up to the 7th place wheel, and we had a lot of starters (someone said 40-50 which seems right based on the numbers 141 to duane's 191 would give us 50 +/- a handful and that's still a solid number who didn't finish).

Donnie raced his heart out, preserving the breakaway's advantage but sacrificing his chances in the sprint by towing everyone into the wind. Bill Yarbroudy's repeated attempts to bridge the gap were rewarded finally by making it stick but coming up a bit short. And 5th and 6th just managed to hang on. Brier was up there solo in 7th but was swarmed before/at the last turn and didn't/couldn't hang on for a pack finish.

Oh and about Donnie. Donnie F'N Green rode a flat tire for 4 miles at Battenkill (flatted at the bottom of meetinghouse road) and still finished 2nd. He had to flag down someone to borrow a wheel. Took him 4 miles of riding a flat before he could get help. The wheels he had dutifully put in the wheel car were sitting behind the field way back somewhere.

This kid is (as we all know since he holds a UCI CX license) wicked strong. And to get 3rd in your very first crit? and that crit being a 3/4 with guys like Bill with thousands of races under their belt is pretty damn impressive. Impressive enough to get the middle name reserved for the likes of JONNY F'N BOLD and KATIE F'N COMPTON!

I didn't win a prime, I didn't place in the money, but I finished and had a fucking blast racing, boosted my confidence too. My HR numbers were a bit higher than the last race, avg'd 169 if you give a shit about that. Maxed out in the race at 175 (probably an accurate max at this point). For chris hinds my avg was only 162, and i worked a lot harder during that lap to stay away from the field to win the prime than I did in any one lap in this last race (not that means anything in regards to those numbers).

When's the next one? [Rhetorical, i can look at bikereg and actually know the date] I really wish I'd been able to stick around and race the 35+ race. I had to make due with alternatively cheering "FOLEY" and "FATASS" as he appeared to dangle at the back of the 45+ race for a few laps before leaving in the rusty trusty race wagon and heading up to build some hybrids and scott road bikes.

Yesterday was my sunday. Staying home with the girls on their first day of spring break. Today is it all microscopes! That and working on writing an artist statement... time to play with words, and finish eating lunch.

Heddwch

read it... m'kay?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html

Through the 1960s Yudkin did a series of experiments feeding sugar and starch to rodents, chickens, rabbits, pigs and college students. He found that the sugar invariably raised blood levels of triglycerides (a technical term for fat), which was then, as now, considered a risk factor for heart disease. Sugar also raised insulin levels in Yudkin’s experiments, which linked sugar directly to type 2 diabetes. Few in the medical community took Yudkin’s ideas seriously, largely because he was also arguing that dietary fat and saturated fat were harmless. This set Yudkin’s sugar hypothesis directly against the growing acceptance of the idea, prominent to this day, that dietary fat was the cause of heart disease, a notion championed by the University of Minnesota nutritionist Ancel Keys.

then again - too much fat might be bad - not bad enough to avoid as much as sugar though IMHO

At the time, many of the key observations cited to argue that dietary fat caused heart disease actually support the sugar theory as well. During the Korean War, pathologists doing autopsies on American soldiers killed in battle noticed that many had significant plaques in their arteries, even those who were still teenagers, while the Koreans killed in battle did not. The atherosclerotic plaques in the Americans were attributed to the fact that they ate high-fat diets and the Koreans ate low-fat. But the Americans were also eating high-sugar diets, while the Koreans, like the Japanese, were not.

Put Taubes NY Times piece back to back with DeLaMonte's evidence and documentation and you have some solidly powerful reading that should scare the shit out of any reasonably educated individual.

just read those two articles...

and don't dismiss them...

oh and agave is all fructose and thus - really fucking bad, sorry Gwen, you're the most awesome celebrity I can think of but please rethink your love affair with agave!