I'm famous

All thanks to freaking Coach Curly.

I can see solobreak spitting his coffee all over the computer when he sees the banner.

At least CC pulled a decent image out of the flickr bin...

If it stopped at the banner it'd still be funny but man it don't.

I've made my first cover of a magazine!

Too bad he uses JPG and the shitty aliasing that goes along with it... sticking with the png, bmp or other format without fucked up compression issues would make the cover super slick... but that's okay... "dick pound stole my camera and now i can't blog - Ctodd" LMFAO

And for the record - i ain't offering tips... just critique... :D Ebert couldn't make a movie but people listen to his reviews...

Gonna have to put that seattlite coffee freak wannabecoach curly in the link bar on the left one of these days... gotta update that soon...

Trying new routes to work now.

They are closing the Washington bridge bike path... that narrow one i've taken a few shots of...

plus side it actually will make my commute a bit shorter, give me one extra hard core short fucking hill and slightly less traffic and only one stop light (turn right at it anyway). All in all probably a damn good thing.

So why haven't i been using it before? The bridge crossing sucks. But... oh actually on the way home i can drop down to the river and have an extra long grade up (maybe 1-2 minutes of "climibing") yeah - oh so amazingly hilly.

Yeah RI is flat. It ain't NH. "shrug"
Whatcha gonna do about it?

Ride the watts... goal for everyday (except easy ones) get at least two - or three 300+ "intervals" crank it over at 3.5 w/kg for as long as i can hold it... Need to be able to put the sustained power down and keep it there.

Seems i can ride at 250-260 indefinitely.. but that ain't gonna do me shit more than burn calories and dangle off the back... the thought process sort of goes along the lines of if i'm comfortable holding 3.5 w/kg instead of 3 w/kg it should raise my base power level and give me more overhead when it comes time to racing... If i start working on the 3.5 level now by cross season it might be looking good for me legs and me power... (being optimistic)...

This reminds me of someone:


Oh did i mention it was raining on the way in? Got wet. But... it is cool... Just something about riding in the rain. Alone is good, in a pack it kind takes the magic away (unless you are off the front)...

Maybe that's my conditioning of my youth spent growing up in South Kitsap County... Rain is cool... drizzle, fog, overcast... i like it...

oh well...

Hey at least CTodd is back in the saddle... anyone else notice his general appearance is much less polished than before?

137 days... till cross season
G

New Zine

The "I love riding in the city" is like a who's who in the bloggy blog world of 'net commuting/urban cycling... Gwadzilla, Big Jonny, Kent in Seattle... the list is pretty expansive and pretty familiar surprisingly...

Definitely the right direction in bike related publications.

take a few minutes and read through - or buy a print version and a few stickers to go with...

about that Gear comment...

JUST KIDDING!

Not once did i need more than the 53x12, not once was i spun out in that gear...

Honestly? (ya know i don't know what prompted me to say that - maybe subconsciously i'm trying to get a rise out of the solo or to stir the pot a bit - i dunno)

Gearing is pretty damn freaking good...

I'm kidding about putting the 55/42 back on the bike...

I had NO problem staying with the field on the down hills... had to use the brakes in general behind the pack...

And yes... the results are in. It is official. I'm slow and i suck. But... I'm learning, (while being slow) and i think i'm improving (i hope). I've got better ideas of my weaknesses (the whole heaping pile of them) and hopefully some goals to over come some of them.

I've yet to be racing a full year yet from taking 7 or so years off of doing anything seriously competitive. Heck i'm not even 2 years into riding regularly again. I can't expect miracles. I ain't uber gifted like yogurt boy. The last time i rode regularly (most every day) was the summer of 1999...

So...

I'm trying to pay my dues on the bike. Trying to figure out what works for me, with my schedule and with my goals. It is a long process. I don't know if i will respond better to the 40/20s or the 3x10 type intervals. I've got lots of foundation left to build.

I'll see if i can put together more of a "in race" report to 'splain my 78th place...

I wasn't DFL (damn close tho) I didn't DNF nor did I DNS. I set a positive example for the girls (finish what you start) (my girls, my daughters). They got to see daddy suffering. And i learned alot. Can't ask for much more. One of these days i won't crack. One of these days.

138 days till cross season starts
-g

palmer as positives

hydration pre/during/post race was excellent
fueling pre/during/immediately post race was also excellent (dinner was delayed a bit and i think i felt a bit of the energy level dip cause of it)
Sunscreen applied (no burnt gewilli this time)
clothing - perfect! shortsleeve jersey and shorts... cold at the start but w/in minutes i was perfect temp...
30mph downhill into a headwind with only two on your wheel is not that bad
finished the race
rode freaking hard as i could for the whole time, even after i got popped on the rise after the finish

I need to increase my LT power level a bit... sitting way too low for my 30 minute times - i need to bring it up from 3 w/kg some how... just an extra 1/2 w/kg might make the difference... Although, the muscles stopped firing up that last hill - couldn't find the power to accelerate with the group up the little rise...

And unless the race has grades like BKR i need to put the 55/42 back on the bike... 53x12 is not enough gear for the speeds of that damn field...
Check out the data from our field posted by the Horst-Benidorm guys...

+3742 feet climbing and a 25.3 mph avg speed... (for the group not me)

Negatives?

Well we'll see how negative we can get when the results come out...

139 days till cross season starts
G

maybe he should have thought first

before using drugs... oh, sorry, right... he is just "accused" of using performance enhancing substances.

And yeah... synthetic testosterone ain't performance enhancing - during a race, but during training when they were drawing the blood for the transfusion the night before the start of "THE STAGE" well... He obviously ain't paying his doctors as much as Lance was...

(great T V B dude'll be all over that negative shit (or not)

thanks big jonny for the link and the chance to be a cynical freaking ass...

litter

okay - so not a new topic...

but...

yesterday a guy (rides for a big magazine sponsor) sucked down a gel pack and flung it into the woods as we are cruising through one of the sections... right in front of me...

he had reached in the back pocket to extract the gel... but... somehow felt that ripping the tag off with his teeth, spitting that out on the ground and then sucking the gel down and flinging that into the woods was acceptable...

yeah, who'm'I to tell these guys what to do - last thing i wanted was to yell at him there and bring attention to my draft sucking self in a negative way... but it pissed me off. My wrappers AND tags are still in my jersey, with my number pinned on still crumpled in the race bag...

If ya gonna pitch the shit pitch it by the parked racer's cars...

not in the woods/lawn/somewhere where it won't get cleaned up...

seems pretty freaking irresponsible to me...

Well loading up the car there were three used gel packs on the road w/in reach of my car... I picked em up and packed em out.

Come on bike racers... Don't freaking pitch your shit in other people's back yards!!!

/rant off

broken bolts

had another bolt fail on the trailer this morning, on the bike path... the whole trailer shifted suddenly and the "parking" brake thingy was rubbing on the wheel... i look back and notice the lower bolt hanging 1/2 way out. shit... i was able to make a repair. We'll see. it worked getting the rest of the way here. Should make it home okay i think. But. It is going to be a pain. It isn't just a broken bolt but a bit more than that. The aluminum frame has been eaten a bit by the threads on the crappy steel bolt (lowest grade, cheap ass trailer makers - hell can't ya use a decent grade bolt for this shit?). Second bolt i've lost.

on the bright side? It didn't rain. I didn't crash yesterday. I was able to have a few words with Yogurt boy Cronoman and Solobreak. KL seemed a bit pre-occupied (she's like a pro and stuff), Rebbecca W was all smiles when i waved.

Timmieeeeee said something that i'm taking to be one of those double meaning phrases. "Just sit in, you'll be fine." Means: You are Fucked, no chance in hell do you have of finishing with the group.

that's it for now... gotta see about making this trailer last at least two more years...

G

Good Luck Bike Racers

Good luck to those hittin Sturbridge and Palmer this weekend and what ever races may be out there...

I think a solution to my flaky HR on the 'tap is in the works. Once the stuff is settled i'll be filling in the details.

Looks like we've got a Wheel sponsor for the team... Reynolds! Which reminds me of a thought this morning... being sponsored by Ridley and stuff (Reynolds) is cool. But it really isn't "sponsorship" in a way i can benefit. Why? Well, the sponsorship means they just aren't making full margin... it is a discount below "cost" for the most part, but that 'cost' still amounts to a pile of hard earned cash.

It isn't "hey here is a frame, go race on it" or wheels or components or what not... I'm not griping, just sort of coldly standing on the sidelines making observations to myself in general.

Our gang seems to be doing well in numbers. And i probably will be trying to make more of an effort to race in the catagory that has more teammates to help or take advantage of help, how ever it works out, and it was those lines of thinking that made me think: how cool would it be if we were all on Ridleys, instead of a Ridley, C-dale, Van Dessel, Fuji, Specialized... you get the idea, no?

I know. I haven't put in anywhere near the time racing and what not to deserve any free shit. Don't get me wrong. Don't think i'm complaining... just making observations and all that stuff...

If ya looking for something entertaining to read... greg moody has a bit over at velosnooze.com... Yeah... i peek at their web page but generally only read a few things, the Rants, and the tech stuff... and now I keep an eye out for Moody's writing.

I just noticed... damn wings stunk it up... are they dead like the rest of Motor City?

next couple games will tell i guess...

That and Fastboy built up another cool ass looking bike for his GF who's having shoulder surgery and still needs to get around one handed. how freaking cool is dat!

Still waiting on the debut/release of his fenders. (to see a bunch click here)

Anyway, despite a handful of users trained and overall productive day it still feels rather like it has dragged on... and on... and on...



well till next time - race hard, race well, pain is the only way to get there, embrace the pain... if it don't hurt ya ain't going hard enough...

Next week is May... Unbelievable...

peace, respect, and smile,
G

PS Stop into the Market and buy stuff...

Rest Day

That or a freaking thunder and lightning downpour. No choice really. I could say it was to get some rest in the legs leading up to Palmer. Or to conserve energy for chasing both girls around all day tomorrow while my wife gives a lecture on Menus at the Museum. But, it comes down to the same thing. Solo trailer, two girls. That and even with a double i think the oldest wouldn't fit! and the Double wouldn't fit easily through the door! At anyrate, i have a first rate artist occupying the shared office they call my office (two desks, maybe specifically for this purpose). Now if i can get her to answer the phone and emails it'd be perfect! J/K... she needs a few more years of playing on the microscopes before she can start providing email and phone support for our users...

Speaking of the mother of my girls, i must give her credit for finding that historic photo from Cali. And for noticing that "other" people think my writing ain't all that clear. Providing me with the very important self-affirmation that: "I ain't writing this stuff for anyone but me."
"WHAT?" Damn straight. It is a blog folks. Dats what they are.

Oh it seems my ForcastFox is telling me that there is a severe weather alert... Flood watch! Crazy! Thunderstorms and Rain in an over developed heavily paved part of the country results in Flooding? NFW!!!

Thanks to the BI-costals for pimping the link to Olberman. Reading the transcript is like hearing his voice. You see. The power of words, the written word, is well why it is good to proof-read all your shit out loud. If it sounds clearly read out loud. Then by doG, it is probably written pretty well.

For some lucas electric wired brain like mine, it means i really actually should have a correctable teleprompter running in my head 30 seconds before i open my mouth, read the line, no fix it, edit it, then say it so it means what i intend. Somethings roll off easy. Somethings not so much. Small talk? Chit chat? Not so much. Facts, technical stuff, that sort of thing? easy. It is like a sprinkler turns on in my head sometimes and the circuits ain't doing what they do when dry... and i ain't got much control over that stuff.

Sort of why email/writing has been something i gravitate too. Vs Phone. I can call my bro and talk about random shit but i can't call more distant relatives or not super close friends cause i just don't know what to say sometimes... Strange eh?

There. I'm fulfilling the "introspection" part of the section there for this week.

"GeWilli, GET OFF THE FREAKING COUCH."

okay...

Weather for sunday's race... ya know? It ain't looking that bad. Lots of rain to wash the roads clean (or fill em with sand, hoping for the former).

Shifting gears yet again.

Hawthorne Valley School Newsletter is out. Those of you in education, or with kids, or generally looking to add to the vat of random knowledge floating in your brain, or looking for something to do other than watch the TV... give it a read.

Speaking of TV. I do watch some and lately the one commercial that turns me into a steaming kettle mad is the caravan one with the DVD player, they have it in a cafeteria, school bus and i dunno what else. Basically the set up is a room/area full of rowdy screaming violent, loud, kids, and someone flips the DVD screen down and the kids suddenly become comatose little zombies staring at the screen...

Cuts to two parents blissfully happy in the front seat of their minivan with the two kids in the back seat zoned out to the flip down DVD mounted to the top of the minivan...

Yeah, cause you know, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO ENGAGE YOUR KIDS!!! They are annoying, always asking questions, it is too much work to talk to them, to let them think, to answer their questions, to develop their brains so they can ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING IN LIFE. There are millions of kids that can't get in a car without the DVD being turned on for them... they can't go to school, go shopping with a parent, go ANYWHERE without watching their "show" or what ever else they freaking watch in the car. It is SICK. SICK SICK SICK SICK.

The antithesis to a DVD-car riding kid is are (in general, because there are always exceptions, ALWAYS) the Hawthorne Valley type kids.

There is hope. There are places where kids develop. No my kids don't attend. But, i do feel good about where they are. Anyway. Give that newsletter I linked a read.

Go ahead and call the DVD loving freak parents BAD parents. If everyone accepts it the borg will eventually assimilate everyone and we are ALL screwed. Someone's gotta tell people they are doing it wrong.

Don't sit silently while the world crumbles around you. Be a voice for peace, be a voice for common sense.

Maybe i just need to get a really strong soap box and go outside on the green and bring a list of stuff to shout about... Might make more of a difference (and confirm to even more total strangers that i'm definitely wired all lucas like)...

how many days till cross season starts?
respect, peace and smile,
G

Day Is Draggin

It is that slow week or two, as the semester is ending... everyone's experiements are rushing to get done and no one is really needing training or much help... fortunately the scopes are working...

but...

it is draggin on...

energy levels are low - feeling a bit depleted... Soooo

Lucky me... i've got a tub of Kozy Shack in the fridge! And i'm going to eat the whole damn thing right now. Maybe i'll have enough energy to match a 2 year old tonight!

Check out this image:

artist unknown
Garden City Wheelmen vs. Sanson Wheelmen of Stockton, 1919
1997-208-443
link here (scroll to bottom of page)

Bike racing back when riding bikes was Cooooool... When roads were being built for BIKES not effin cars... Okay so my dates might be off a touch or two...

And it might just be PR week here folks:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sally Turner
Telephone: (401) 289-0478
Cell: (401) 252-1383
Email: sally_turner@yahoo.com

PROVIDENCE GEARING UP FOR ANNUAL BIKE TO WORK DAY

April 27, 2007 – Across the United States cities are
gearing up for the 51st Annual National Bike to Work
Day. The City of Providence will be hosting its own
press conference and festivities for its Annual Bike
to Work Day event on Friday, May 18, 2007. Taking
place at Biltmore Park, bicyclists will convene at the
park at 7:00am for refreshments, information about
bicycling safety, upcoming plans for bike routes, and
resources available for bicycle commuters. Local,
state and community leaders will join Providence Mayor
David Cicilline for an 8:00am press conference.

“In addition to the benefits an individual enjoys as a
bike commuter, there are broader societal benefits
that include a reduction in pollution and less traffic
congestion,” says Dan Baudouin, Director of The
Providence Foundation. The U.S. Bureau of
Transportation Statistics cites that the average cost
to own and operate a car (as of 2001) is $7,533.00 per
15,000 miles. This statistic does not take into
account today’s ever increasing fuel costs. To help
promote and support bicycle commuting in Providence,
The Providence Foundation and the Rhode Island
Department of Transportation have invested in the
installation of over 100 bicycle hitches throughout
downtown Providence including locations at the Amtrak
Station, Bank of America Skating Center and Exchange
Terrace.

The goal of Bike to Work Day is to help reduce traffic
congestion, reduce the demand for parking, reduce air
pollution and make Providence a better place to live
and work. The event is funded by the Rhode Island
Department of Transportation through a grant from the
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program of the
federal Department of Transportation. Administrative
and organizational support is provided by the
Providence Foundation.

For more information on Providence’s Bike to Work Day
and for information on the Rhode Island Department of
Transportation’s Bike RI program visit
www.bikedowntown.org and www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri/

Here's to hoping it ain't raining and cold like it was last year!

Mmmm that whole tub of Kozy Shack was wicked tasty, all natural ingredients, and a mere 740 calories. that might get me home... maybe...

That and can you believe... April is almost freaking OVER?! Ya know what that means? One month closer to CROSS season! WHOO

Respect! Smile... and pass on some love,
G

an email day

ya know one of those days that starts off with one reply and another and then more come in as ya send the others out and keyboard time is occupied.

Not a bad thing.

And JB... in case you missed the question in the comment... Which JB are you... I'm not the only one wondering.

Stopped into the Market lastnight. We needed milk, coffee (organic Bold Boy Blend BTW), and a few other things. They got the Shift in! (See they are true to their word, you ask for it and it shows up).

Downside... it was lots of Punch and Berry... not a bottle of StrawBan... I told Jen and Marsh "Don't bother getting the other two flavors... just get StrawBan" Damn it all well... they got all BUT StrawBan... that is unless they didn't has shelf space or they didn't stock it cause they are still understaffed and their arms are tired from loading the shelves this week... or something... will have to check again.

Yall should come down to the Grand Opening on Saturday... i'm racin (gonna try to anyway) on sunday, so me and the little ones are headed to hang out post Ballet and all that.

Nice thing is - the market is 4 miles from the house by bike path and only 5 miles via car... Not as close as the 1/3 mile to the Shaws but... well... when Quality, Local and all that matter... 4 miles is a very small penalty to pay...

(shifting gears - saying it deliberately so that Solobreak's head doesn't spin off with the sudden change in topic - mostly because i don't have a good transitional sentence and i'm NOT going to go through and copy edit for format/content to make it flow)

Riding in... why would someone target a Stage race as a goal for the whole year? Who wins the big pro stage races. Does the World Champ TT dude win then? Does the worlds best climbers win them? Does the world's best sprinter win the overall?

Nope. The dude who is not the best in anything but passable in everything. Sort of like those Tri folks. They get trounced in road races, they get clobbered in real runs, and seem to get clobbered surrounded by swimmers. Yes... its a triathlon and yes you have to be ABLE to do all three, and they are different. But I've heard it before mediocre in all three makes a winner. Is that why mediocre folks target Stage Races as major goals? Cause unlike a one day race where it is all or nothing, you have a chance of beating some people some of the time?

Lance? Well he was winning stuff before the tour wins... And yeah - ya there are ALWAYS exceptions. I ain't talking about the exceptions... i talkin about the norm...

Anyway - Lots of good stuff out there today. Solo's eggin us(me) on to join him at the Tuck. And ya know... one of these days i'm gonna do it. Yes, i've committed. Just not sure when. And yes... i probably should be committed (j/k). Coach Curly talks about the BG and 1st and 520 and all that shit and i know EXACTLY what the fuck he's talking about. Kinda cool. I miss the old stomping grounds. Ran into someone yesterday asking about my bike saying he went to school an hour south of where they were made (he thought GK was building the shit in Everett... LOL - he went to U Dub... explains alot i think). I got a chance to revisit the summers working at Pine street pro shop... and when my folks were here i was reminded that pretty much every penny i earned all summer went to pay as big of a part of my tuition bill as it could... Work was work, work for the education...

Speaking of new content... Nasty crawled out from the sheets of his harem to grace the internet world with a post!

BJM gave us a nice link to gluing a bubular...

Even Hernando is poking at TVB.

I'm reluctant to give that proselytizing blog press, much less a link. Its sort of like the "if you say something bad about floyd TVB will flood you with massive spam sounding comments with links back to itself"
Kinda exactly the way creationists think. Ya know the world is only 10,000 years old. Why? Well because it says so in this book. Really? Where? Well not directly but if you look at all these "stories" and pretent they are literal and true (and you use only the "official" translation/interpretation* then yes, it says in this book. Can you show us supporting evidence? Why of course! If you make this assumption (carbon dating is wrong, some french lab is faking shit over and over) then of course our position holds water.

It is all about the assumptions and all that shit. Make too many assumptions and ya just look like a fucking retard (to everyone but yourself). Snow Boy kinda talks about it too today.

Floyd man, i wanna believe you. But i don't. Tyler? Basso? Lance? Jan? Oh ya know i should really leave it to those with the literary gift and stick to blabbing about the bike path and agonizing about stupid chain-ring or cassette selection... but well... maybe i should just do that...

(solo's gonna be all "I told you so")
That 12-27? It is cool. Having the option to spin up hill at 95 rpm is cool. I might stick the 42 back on but i'm not missing the closer spacing the 12-25 gave me.

As he's correctly stated in the past (arguing with a pig headed GeWilli) you don't have to use it...

Anyway. In case anyone was wondering. I got slightly rained on heading home. One stretch of downpour and a wee bit of drizzle. But, lemme tell you this. Shorts and short sleeves even with baselayer (sleveless) is too effin cold for 50 degrees and rain with heavy cloud cover, wind and no sun.

I hope the taller mo fo works his stuff out and can represent for the outliers on the bell curve at Sturbridge.

To finish it all up with something out of no where, there is a Woot Off today.

how many days till cross season starts? (hint 143)
respect and peace
G

Not looking good

I guess it serves me right for neglecting to put the rear fender on the bike this morning....

Q(s)oD

There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
- James Thurber


A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.
- Robert Heinlein

Shamelessly stolen from O'Grady... but so worth the read...

By Patrick O'Grady
ogrady at maddogmedia dot com

0 4 | 2 4 | 2 0 0 7

What's up, Doc?

Here we go again. Exogenous testosterone found in Floyd Landis's Tour samples. Ivan Basso suspended in doping inquiry. What are we doing here, recycling 2006? Like it wasn't bad enough the first time around?

Here in Bibleburg we're recycling winter. It's snowing sideways, to no particular effect, though I guess the higher elevations are seeing something a lot like blizzard conditions. But that's Colorado for you. Yesterday I felt distinctly overdressed, wearing a long-sleeved jersey and leg warmers for a 90-minute ride; today I put on a hooded Gore-Tex jacket to fetch the paper.

This has been one of those "fine soft days" that led my ancestors to invent whisky during a lull in clan warfare. Temps in the low 30s; rain, sleet and snow driven by the dire sort of wind one associates with a White House talking point or a mass fart at a feedlot; and grayer than Darth Cheney's complexion when he's between hourly feedings of fresh human blood.

Speaking of which, despite a serious kink in one of his Freon tubes, the Dark Lord himself tottered out of his freezer to call Harry Reid a pussy for listening to the electorate instead of the voices in his head, then scuttled, hissing, under a large rock on the Capitol lawn.

Over at the White House, meanwhile, Gen. George Armstrong Bush is continuing to use Alberto Gonzales as a human flak jacket for himself and Turd Blossom, in no small measure because that's all he's good for. In fact, when this numbnuts is standing next to him, grinning like a jackass eating yellowjackets, ol' Georgie looks about half-bright by comparison.

Late update: Bill Moyers is back with a new edition of his PBS journal entitled, "Buying the War." Scope it out Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. For more, see the BMJ blog.

Awesome...

Starting the day with a mad dash to the meeting point and then heading out for a mellow ride including a few hills is just awesome...

I got coffee brewing and catching up on scheduling, stuffing my face with granola bars bread and the remainder of the gatorade... The weather is gorgeous, not having a big mane of hair billowing in the breeze and having cleaned the whiskers off the side of my face it just felt funny for a while... then i forgot about it.

Small turnout for the ride. I guess when i say Wed AM Hills 8am... that is enough to dissuade everyone from joining. That or no one else, of the flexible work folks, was able to make it. But the Italian IBC Crit Superstar Giulia did show up. We did the old river to mansville to west wrentham around and back up tower hill and return ride. not too long. I got just over 2.5 hours on the bike including my 30 minute mad dash (with trailer - empty) up to the hill for the meeting. Opened it up heading down W.Wrentham back down towards 122... looked down and saw 4 digits on the p'tap and decided to see how long i could keep 4 digits up there... then my neck started cramping and when i eased off i realized i had managed to scoot right through the pain wall and go deeper in that cave than i thought i could... pretty cool... but then even now, my neck is still sore from that cramp... Oh well...

That and i'm very proud of my little bro! Dude's taking on a big risk, but the market is very cool and was doing well when they were forced to close so i have high hopes and faith that it will work. Also knowing my little bro, he is wicked shrewed. Like i say, I got three little bro's and they all are smarter than me. So, it can be pretty certain that it was a good investment. Tom Bates is no push over businessman either.

So... next time you are headed down the bike path, needing some lunch, stop by. Maybe you want to ride down from Providence to Colt State Park... Stop at the market, grab a sandwich/salad/Shift or something and make a picnic of it. That or just make the market a stop. They've got tables inside, and out. Pick something up from the hot or cold case in the deli and relax in downtown warren...

Okay - i'll stop writing off the cuff add copy for the Store. And no pictures today - camera is at home. Maybe tomorrow.

But before i forget. Riding with Giulia and talking about her race and talking about how Rebbecca CRUSHED the field at Turtle Pond (and seeing KL running around), i realized something. Tagging on to the other post about reading race reports and all that.

I'm a fan of the local racer. The racers i want to do well are the ones i know. The ones i've met. The bike racers that i can yell their name out and cheer if i'm there. Or scan the results and see their name. I want to follow the season of my friends that are racing far more than i want to follow the season of a bunch of pro's in big races. Sure. If i know a few big pro's on a friend level, yeah their races become interesting as does reading about races they were in.

Anyway... yall take care, eat well... smile and be a seed for peace!

how many days till cross season starts?
G

Breaking NEWS...

Market at Cutler Mills re-opens in Warren

WARREN - For over two months it was closed, but the Market at Cutler Mills has re-opened with new products and new owners. Jen Kravitz, information and marketing coordinator, said the decision to open was made by a few residents who just didn't want to see the Market die. ‹ Full Story ›

no comparison (post is specifically for the two metal heads: Cronoman and Solobreak)

1970.... 2005

something has definitely changed in those 35 years... and i don't think it is for the better....

no more...

long blowing locks of hair flowing from under the helmet...

my hats now stand a chance of fitting my head...

i've lost more weight than i gained switching waterbottle cages...

definitely more aero...

No photos here...

Tomorrow? yeah... tomorrow... 'cause you know... how ya leave the chair ain't how it is gonna look after a shower...

And man, i'm glad to be able to use less than 8 oz of shampoo in the morning...

Next stop O'Gradyesque...

Not going to get to Marro's level... 'cause you gotta be a Marine to pull off the clean shaven head look... that and i don't wanna constantly wear something under my helmet once it gets sunny and all that...

And...
If you happen to be in or around Warren, RI....
The Market at Cutler Mills has finally Re-Opened.

The focus even more than before is on local. Locally owned, locally sourced to the greatest extend possible. If you want them to carry something, stop in and ask.

A small blurb/PR can be found here.

The deli counter is fantastic, if you've never had real grass fed beef (and you aren't a vegan) try it. This stuff makes the big Texas based natural foods giant's beef taste funky (and we all know their stuff is better than the next place down the food chain)...

They have a nice full line of StonyField products. The store buyer has assured me that the full line of Shift is on order and should be in stock soon.

They carry Coffee Depot beans (fair trade and organic AND locally roasted) and a few very amazing selections from area Bakeries.

Its a few hundred yards down Child street off the bike path (get off the Path by Dells and keep heading in that direction and it'll be up on the right).

Support Local and buy Local.
respect
G

thank you

a public thank you for the well written race reports...

now that is out of the way...

a subject i've been trying to ignore but after just clicking on Cyclingnews and seeing the "breaking news link" for the second day... WTF...

Floyd sounds like he's cooked. Sure the results were LEAKED yet again, but ya know if there is synthetic crap in there well... that just ain't fucking good is it...

And Basso? Suspended by Disco? Go Figure. Here's the thing. They KNEW he was tainted goods. They PROCLAIMED that he was a clean rider and that they would never sign anyone that they doubted... WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY SUSPENDING HIM? I guess they don't believe his innocence anymore? "What I think" is right. The classics kick ass - doped to the gills you can still get stuck behind a train, crash, flat, break a steer tube on your fork and it don't matter.

Basso always seemed a bit slimy to me. I wouldn't have signed him if i was running Disco. But it is a good thing i am not, i'd prolly have a hard time believing Lance is 100% clean. All those tales of phantom motorcycle riders with coolers full of blood driving from stage to stage ensuring Lance has a good supply of fresh RBCs... I mean not lance. Sorry, he never used the stuff. Wait. Legally, publically, the only lines he has ever uttered were:
"I am the most tested cyclist in the world and i have never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs."

Duh. Never TESTED positive. He has never said (I could have missed it tho) "I have never USED performance enhancing drugs" nor has he said "I have never USED the practice of blood doping."

Maybe it is just his genetics. His oversized heart lungs and VO2Max. The fact that he is a massive mesomorph rigidly trimmed down to an ectomorph frame (solo - Doug the climber ain't the only meso who can climb) should also be thrown in there.

Did Disco/Basso do the right thing in pulling out of the Fleche and L-B-L? Does it matter?

For one thing it strengthens my position/feeling that the real stories in cycling belong to the Solobreaks and the like. Color commentary from What I thinks and CTodds... Toss in a few Megs Murats and Peanuts and ya got yourself a bike racing smorgasborg(sic) of reading to satisfy any seeking of cycling related literature.

To switch gears - GeWilli is proud to announce he will attempt to meet the standards set out by the afore and oft mentioned Solobreak with regards to the bike racer haircut... Before and after pictures? maybe... FatMarc has done that already, and well i unintentionally usurped his closing tag of "respect" i may intentionally pull a haircut parallel posting after lunch... or before lunch...

respect
G

what a difference a bike makes

setting record low commute times... and lowish kJ (makes sense) all cause of a bike...

pretty amazing...

went back through - yup fastest average for that particular commute (recorded)...

that or i'm just slowly going from slow ass to not so slow ass... maybe i'll graduate to just being an ass soon... maybe next year...

peace...

g