It ain't a stream! Today, IT IS A FREAKING RIVER!

Random thoughts to start:

Intervals: 5 1 min with 5 min recovery... actually kinda did 6 but the first one the power was too high and i exploded after about 20 seconds... actually felt good. Ran into one of the local Crit specialists from the Woman's Barbershop quartet team on my warm up loop... rode a lap of the BLVD and chatted up at hope for a second and i rode off to start. Saw a couple Lotto kitted guys w/o helmets start their riding around the BLVD, and then didn't see them till i was 1/2 through the final cool down lap. Chatted with them for a lap or so, one of them is just back from 2 years in Iraq, the other one? No Speaka Da English. Great day to be out. Watched a fleet of jogger stroller mom's do a workout, run a little to funny arm jumpy things while the kids stared at them, they ran a little further did different things and repeat... meanwhile. Me and the trailer, doing intervals.

In my worthless opinion some of Shell Silverstien's best work was only published in Playboy

As soon as he finished his military term in 1955, Silverstein returned to Chicago and took a job with Playboy as a cartoonist, where he was able to publish several collections of his comical drawings. In 1956, Hugh Hefner, Playboy's founder and editor, featured Silverstein's cartoons, stories, and poems in editions of Playboy. And of course, Silverstein showed his satirical sense of humor in each piece that he wrote.

And who can forget this Immortal song sung by Johnny Cash? A Boy Named Sue written of course by Shell. I'd love to get my hands on this CD.

Okay enough about Shell...

NEXT:
Fresh Rant at VNews! His two biggest fans gotta be me and Big Jonny. Or are there others out there too who revere the humor and what not of the guy who made Frank and Mark cartoon aliens as a result of their complete domination of the cross scene in the USA?

Choco Milk (post interval reco) - 4 cups of Choco milk post ride, get that insulin spike from the cow juice protein and the sugar from the stuff that makes is sweet. Mmmm REFUEL THAT GLYCOGEN!

Oh and it was/is a freakin gorgeous morning. Days like today. Just make ya wanna keep riding until it is time to pick the little one up from day care. Hmmm did i just come up with a new training regime? One day a month get in a 8-9 hour ride? Maybe i should ride up to have lunch in Woods Hole or Mystic. Or just pack the lunch in the trailer and have a couple picnics along the way...

shifting gears yet again:
Queen Elizabeth said, "I wonder whether I should start this toast by saying, 'When I was here in 1776.' "

I'm gonna say it - that Bush dude occupying the white house (with about as much success and popularity as the troops he has occupying Iraq) is a total phuc'n ID 10 T

Um yeah "when you were here in 17 i mean 1976 for our bicentennial..." or how ever he flubbed it... that was "funny" NO... well yes... but not in the hah we are laughing at your joke... in the we are laughing at you! Monkey face!

What a Farce. What a farce. And to think he's dumb enough to choke on a pretzel. I mean hello... what part of eating 101 did you forget? Take a bite, chew, swallow.
Of course in polite company or if you are at the mess hall at West Point or Annapolis (cause you know the sissy fly boys in Colorado Springs ain't this regimented) you have a hard and fast rule. Never EVER put more food than you can chew and swallow in 5 chews in case an officer asks you a question. Works for dinner parties too. Take small bites. Eat fast if you need to but never have enough food in your mouth to create an awkward silence while someone is waiting for you to respond. Think about it like eating waiting for a phone call. Never have more food in your mouth than you can chew and safely swallow before the phone rings 3-4 times.

(boy it is random day here at the picture factory, already a couple meetings a few tours and a big long training session coming up soon to give).

last night heading home i had some fun with two things:
first:
-headwind, ~15-20mph freaking bang on perfect headwind (me dragging parachute which is even more parachute-ish when the windscreen is up, windscreen down and it's nice and aero)

second:
-old guy in a Mapei jersey passes at the base of the start of the bike path while i'm re-loading the snack container...

So whadda i do? I decide that despite the headwind i'm gonna try and catch this guy. Yeah so he's not terribly fat, on a nice bike, prolly rides a bit... i shouldn't be able to catch him. BUT it is a wicked headwind, i have a chance. I get on the path and am at the base of the hill and he's a little less than 1/2 way up. And i'm gaining, and gaining. He must have looked back when i wasn't watching him cause when i check the spacing he'd opened it up a bit. Maybe seeing some guy towing a trailer gaining on you going up hill is motivation enough to push it.

So he crests the hill and musta gassed it coming down around the parking lot. Me? NFW. I ain't cruising through with a trailer past the place were people just randomly walk on to the trail. Through that zone he's gained lots of spacing. But *grunt* i'm gonna reel him in. And i do... he's coming back slowly...

Of course then there is the little downhill onto the exposed section by the bay. Sumbitch musta wound it up. Me? too many close calls and i ain't gonna scream down hill towing a trailer not knowing what inattentive iPod (fucking borg death devices) wearing fool is in my path. He gains a hell uva alot distance wise... but i'm chewing up ground going into the exposed headwind, he's definately short on power cause he is really slowing down in the windy spots. But, then it is slightly sheltered and he's normalizing the distance.

Slowly i drag him back... 8 minutes and i'm within 50 yards or so, muscles screaming... 8 minutes with HR pegged at 171 it isn't rising above that no matter how hard my legs are working and then he catches some slow guy who sits right on his wheel. Sumbitch is out for a testosterone ride cause he digs for another gear approaching riverside and the street crossings. And those two take off. No luck getting them to slow/stop for traffic at the light. They blow through the red and motor away down hill towards Barrington. Damn.

But there is a rider, stopped looking at the rear wheel. Gets back on turns around. I spy flat tire. I also spy no pump, and a look of dispair. GeWilli and the buggy do a u-turn. Change flat. Person had an extra tube, but didn't think it was the right size (it was). Flat was caused by hitting the hard sharp granite curb. Snake bite.

Quick tube change and we're off in opposite directions. My HR has recovered and i deliberately just soft pedal home. The 8 minutes had an average wattage around 3.7w/kg no Mahk the Shahk, prolly not close to Cronoman yet hell i could only hope to have the w/kg that the amazing and talented miss litka has... but for some mid 30s dad... with training schizophrenia it ain't bad after a day's at the picture factory.

That Training schizophrenia (thank you FireFox 2.0 for you spell checker making me look like i can spell big words), i used it when chatting with the afore mentioned barber shop quartet kit wearing gal to describe my training.

And as i rode away heading to the start of the intervals i sort of realized. I had great discipline. Got consistent work in leading up to battenkill. Sure, i could have/should have done more but i was consistent with the hill work and the hard ride for weeks running. Then the wheels fell off the cart and i got distracted. That or i was recovering and didn't pick back up well enough. I have an idea what i need to do. And sometimes i do it. These 5 1s were hard. But when they are over, they are over and i know they will be doing me some good. If i can get out and get a ride in sitting at 75% of my max HR the whole time for a few hours that'll be a huge help as well. I know what i need to do. I just need to do it and find something that works consistently that i can stick with. So when next year rolls around i'll be able to be much more focused and productive (maybe even finish a race with the 35+ field even).

Okay - the stream river of consciousness for today has hit the dam of Lunch. Food, fuel and recovery. Time to eat some pizza left over that i made last night. Suds, if ya made it this far, we've found THE best pizza dough from the bakery here. Makes an AMAZING pizza... and some great nitrite/bad stuff free pepperoni too! Issa GOOD stuff, esp with that Top Secret Sauce recipe that only you've had the privilege to learn!

Peace, Respect, Smile at Folks, and be happy: there are 130 days until cross season starts!
G

The attention span of a flea

The mass public has been accused of having the attention span of a flea and the instant gratification needs of an infant. One only needs to scan through the pages of any lifestyle magazine to see the wide range of products promising instant weight loss or instant fitness, most without the need to do more than popping a pill or a six-minute exercise program.

Yes... Dr Cheung has done it yet again. great article, well written and humorous. Yes we all know KL don't need this kinda re-enforcement. But many might learn even a grain of rice of info from reading this little article at PEZ.

Once again another good article. Short, well written, glancing overview but as the goal at the beginning, well done (I think).

Mmmmm Carbs GOOOD...

It might be a bonk special ride home today :( the 1/2 pound of fig newtons is down to 4, no 3 (will be gone in before publishing) and dat is the last of the reserve stockpile of food in the office... not good...

eating can be such a pain... bonk is bad... i don't like bonking, and it looks like i'll have at least a 15mph headwind all the way home, and with the trailer, bonking into that just freaking ain't a whole lotta fun.

peace,
G

For Our Favorite Little Hard Working Teacher

As it turns out, this did not actually happen according to Snopes. But there is something to it in that the frustrated teachers apparently wanted to use it... good stuff, this.

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/palisades.asp
-----------------------------------------

This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School (California) staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine. This is the actual answering machine message for the school.

This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children's absences and missing homework.

The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children's failing grades changed to passing grades - even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough schoolwork to pass their classes.

The outgoing message:

"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all the options before making a selection:

* To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1

* To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2

* To complain about what we do - Press 3

* To swear at staff members - Press 4

* To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you - Press 5

* If you want us to raise you r child - Press 6

* If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone -Press 7

* To request another teacher, for the third time this year -Press 8

* To complain about bus transportation - Press 9

* To complain about school lunches - Press 0

* If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!

* If you want this in Spanish, you must be in the wrong country.

Okay, what happened to GeWilli

Who hijacked his shit?

I dunno... if you find the sucked posting random shit lemme know.

Well that HR thing. It was supposed to be programmed correctly. Well it didn't work on the ride home and wouldn't you know? I left the sumbitch new instruction sheet on the desk (at work).

So i get to work... mess with the stuff - go through the learning process and Hmm, already code in there for the strap. 23388, okay that ain't working, lets learn. Different freaking number and now i got HR data!

woooot

Saris? you might use some sketchy oem parts on these old PT and PT Pro hubs (and if i wasn't just making it work i could easily go buy a D/A freehub body and cone set) but ya support your stuff better than i could ever expect. Hats off and props. Solobreak might be some old cranky phuc'r but we all know he's just doing that for show, he's like that old dog who barks at people and scares only the ones who don't know he ain't got no teeth left.

Lost the data from yesterday morning matching settings and all, ride home was pretty good. Average torque was significantly up. Good sign. Legs felt pretty damn good as well.

heading in this am was chatting with my bro, he was lamenting the profit lost on the job he's doing cause of needing to replace a burnt out grout mixing drill, and so it was mellow warming up kinda ride then... then Peter (founding member of PVC way back in the day) came tooling up on his Steelman. And of course i had to notch it up, and up, and up, and up... felt good, legs responded much better, power numbers seemed to be up, although he wasn't breaking much sweat we weren't exactly lolly gaggin...

The valley underpass was closed again so at least for today i was able to pop over the damn bridge. Soon? I gotta be creative if they close it.

I've got a little mental debate raging in my head about this weekend... Most folks say Sterling is a great course, a great race and one not to miss... It also falls on a Saturday morning after a long week that has started off with a few not so restful nights. And if i get some intervals tomorrow and a longer ride in on Thursday... well... i dunno, right now my body is responding pretty well to two days off the bike... maybe i should keep the $30 odd in my pocket and use it for a few 'Tuck nights in the future... It is mother's day weekend afterall...

anyway,
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
- Bertrand Russell

peace
G

Shark meet Octopus

Octopus eat Shark...

Yes, the Red Wings left a definitive mark on the sharks last night. How do i know? I read about it. Fantastic. Time to meet the Disney Ducks... Have the wings shed the curse of the early round falter? Have they finally remembered how to play post season hockey that had me drinking 1/2 a handle of tequila on an empty stomach and then being still cognisent to realize i needed to get some water in me so i don't get too plastered... and then when the thought of trying to drink the sulfury tap water made me queasy (the bottled water was long gone by this point in the night) between taking shots toasting the Olympia driver (like a Zamboni but better - and generally found around the Joe or Munn Ice arenas)... I opened the fridge and the only drinkable fluid in there was a gallon of gatorade... well? Gatorade is a thirst quencher, right?

Well dumbass... it also opened the flood gates. All that pure tequila was sitting in my stomach, happy as can be, not doing any real harm, slowly getting into the system, keeping me mightily buzzed... but you see, the gatorade (lemon lime btw) dumped it into the blood stream all at once (or so it seemed). And those around the Euchre table that i was drinking with all remarked that within about 30 seconds of finishing the glass of gatorade i turned the same shade as the gatorade... out the door i went... puking my guts out for the better part of a few hours... sleeping outside in the cold damp grass... generally making a giant fool out of my younger self.

That's the nice thing about being old. Stuff like that is in the past. And i can say, i've learned from that lesson!

If you are going to drink shots of tequila and you finish toasting all the players, the coaches, the linesmen and the head ref, and you get to the driver of the olympia? Don't drink gatorade.

Say it like it is Big Jonny

The shot that was heard around the world: Ivan Basso admits involvement in Operación Puerto.

Word. It went boom. More at velonews.com (FIX).

Ivan, I gotta say, good on ya. I'm glad you finally came out with the goods. Come clean. Be a man. Admit what you did. You're lawyer, Massimo Martelli, is full of shit. But that's what lawyers do, right? That's what you're paying him for, to lie, right?

Today Martelli said of his client Basso: "He wasn't feeling good and he wasn't calm, and he wanted to lift a weight off his conscience..."
Source: cyclingnews.com

And just four days ago he said, "Ivan Basso is calm, serene.."
Source: cyclingnews.com

Yo, Martelli, pick one already. He's either calm or he's not. Fuck. You're killing me.

You hear me, Tyler? Holla. Why you still frontin'? You're dirty as John Holmes's penis. And everyone knows it but you.

and then give us a link to organic Tequila? FREAKING SWEET

1 reason...

why the 35+ field is one of the fastest racing 'round here:

It is official...

> RIDOT News Release
> 5/7/2007
> Contact: Frances Segerson 401-222-1362 Ext. 4012 PR Number: 46-07
>
> I-195 EB Washington Bridge walkway to close for construction The
> continuing construction of I-195 on the Washington Bridge will bring a
> temporary end to the use of an old Washington Bridge walkway for both
> bicyclists and pedestrians. RIDOT had originally expected to close the
> walkway in July 2006, and postponed it by erecting protective
> screening between the bike path and the construction area.
>
> The walkway will now close on Monday, May 21 and will remain closed
> for at least 17 months, possibly longer. Recreational bike riders are
> being encouraged to start their East Bay Bike Path rides at one of the
> many parking areas in East Providence which are noted on RIDOT's
> BikeRI web site at www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri. Cycling commuters
> heading to Providence should consider using the Henderson Bridge, or
> crossing with their bikes on RIPTA buses (www.ripta.com) which pass
> over the Washington Bridge, bus routes such as Route 32 West
> Barrington, Route 33 Riverside, Route 34 East Providence, and Route 60
> Providence / Newport. Bike racks are available on all RIPTA buses.
>
> Closure of the walkway will allow for reconstruction of a section the
> Exit 4 ramp which passes over Valley Street in East Providence.
> Construction is expected to be complete in October 2008. This project
> may be followed immediately by construction of a new Washington Bridge
> Linear Park. The park will feature an 11-foot wide bike path and a
> separate seven-foot wide walking path. A wide area in the center of
> the park will offer benches, decorative lighting and plantings that
> will give riders and walkers a space to pause and admire the view.
>
> The $15 million Linear Park project will preserve a segment of the old
> Washington Bridge by reusing its historic southern façade. An
> interactive presentation with multiple views of the new bike path
> bridge can be found on RIDOT's web site at
> www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri/WashingtonBridge.


Yeah i can cross the bridge on a RIPTA bus with the trailer! NOT...

*shurg* minor inconvenience i suppose compared to the hurdles many face commuting to work by bike.

A good first step

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/may07/may07news3

Thanks for the Heads Up Il Brucie!

I am posting to comment that we can hope Basso will take the road of David Millar, and admit, take his lumps, and come back clean.

It could be the greatest training gimmick out there.

Greg Lemond got shot and came back to win the tour...
Lance had nut cancer and came back and won a few tours...
Could Basso be next on the come back scene?
Is gewilli gonna figure out how to get stronger between the ears and stop being a big freaking wuss and not get dropped from the pro-speed 35+ Master's field?

'Cause ya know - gewilli took time off, he drove 150 miles a day (diesel and biodiesel powered vehicle mind you) for 6 years... put on 35-40 pounds of pure fat (lost in the process prolly 10-15 pounds of leg meat)...

can his come back to a better level actually happen?

as the ever smiling, cheerful Giulia remarked "You are focusing on cross anyway right?"

Right... i forgot - i suck less at cross than i do at most other forms of racing so... let's focus on the wicked positive side that i have 132 days left to get stronger, faster, fitter and smarter on the bike!

Basso will have roughly 2 years to figure out how to make a wicked cool come back (if he ain't too old by then)... assuming he don't get a life ban...

peace
G

One Morning In May....

Birds Singing on the Bike Path from gewilli

Alright!!!

Tuppence, patiently, cautiously trustingly invested
In the, to be specific,
In the Dawes, Tomes
Mousely, Grubbs
Fidelity Fiduciary Bank!

E-freaking-NOUGH already...

Tuppence, patiently, cautiously trustingly invested
In the, to be specific,
In the Dawes, Tomes
Mousely, Grubbs
Fidelity Fiduciary Bank!

That... boys and girls and bike racers... THAT is what was in my freaking head the last part of the ride in...

Man... and finding the lyrics (can't be mis-quoting Mary Poppins now can we) it's replaying mightly all over again!!!

--

Took a bit of time to get out this morning - and so it set a precedent, and Foley's words were ringing in my head

I should have stopped and taken a photo for the blog, ala Gewilli, but I was a dumbass and instead kept going because I was too lazy to dig the camera out of the messenger bag, and because even though I was riding at a snail's pace, I am too tied to the "training" mentality to ever stop on a ride unless it is absolutely necessary.

Why? because Hell i'm always the one not willing to stop. It has to be something killer amazing to get me to stop. For Example. If i had stopped on the way back and fort back in Michigan i'd have had some AMAZING shots... but nope... i kept driving...

I'd kill to get one of those wicked thin little Olympus Digi Cams that are waterproof and fit easily in and out of a jersey pocket (even with the messenger bag on).

But this morning. I stopped. Too freaking gorgeous. Even shot some nice 30 fps video (which i realized i'm limited to 20 seconds on this camera - read/write/compression speed i think - anyway... i'll put one of them up here later (and maybe i'll try my vimeo page as compression instead of Youtube seeing how well YouTube preserved the video in my first g_odcast...

It was just amazing out there. and there were 1 million things popping in my head. like a freaking VH1 pop-up video except without the sound effects...

I'll burry it here so no one reads it - too early to tell but i think my whole hypothesis about over-gearing increasing torque is FOS (full of shit for those who don't know what FOS means). BUT like a good little scientist, i will collect data and normalize it over a week or two using the same stretch as a benchmark to see if the avg and max torque numbers are higher with the P-mount or not.

Other things? Coffee - was thinking i made it through yesterday with just one pot of French Pressed Stuff (Tanzanian Peaberry, NOT over roasted like the freakish Corporation's version of said bean - by that thinly veiled reference i mean Star*bucks). Yeah it wasn't organic, but it was Fair Trade and ya know... ya gotta switch up the beans now and again and to be able to buy a Fair Trade Tanzanian Peaberry roast for $9.99/#... how can ya pass THAT up?

So thinking about that i thought, well maybe i'll go the whole day without extra coffee, but then yesterday's was spread out much later than the rushed consumption of the morning's pot of coffee... and I thought, hell i'll just make 1/2 a pot. I don't NEED to always make a whole 10 cup pot and drink it all. Then i thought well putting 1.5 scoops of coffee in... why not just put two and make the full pot. That'll cut down on the total caffeine intake and at the same time keep the fluids up! i got some wicked circular reasoning going on in this head lemme TELL YOU!!!

Oh and freaking EVERYONE has new content up. Everyone except the queen bee of the new england blog scene. Yes i'm refering to none other than the Pro, the Small, the uber wicked freaking damn smart: KL!

I've seen it a few times, but finally remembering to make mention of it (because everytime i see it, it embodies the best part of being selfless. The first one Kicked ASS. The more recent one. There are a few on YouTube but hit the commercial source for the real one. And the most recent.

It is the last one there under TV that is hitting the air now. I gotta say. If people would all start doing those sorts of things it'd be freaking amazing. Really really amazing.

It is too bad that Liberty Mutual is out of the bike biz. But maybe they are doing more good focusing resources on that line of commercials than sponsoring a bunch of doped up cyclists racing around in Europe.

Other topics: I just wonder (not that i have seen any cycling on TV other than what generous friends have shared with me on DVD) why the LIVE day of pre-race coverage for the Kentucky Derby is longer than a whole week of the tour de france coverage combined??? Or why the pre-race coverage for a NASCAR race is longer than the coverage of a Spring Classic like Paris Roubaix?

And when (or why can't i find any) did they stop making yogurt with apple on the bottom? That was always my favorite growing up. And i've looked and haven't seen it anywhere listed on the flavors???

HUGE props to SARIS. HUGE. As Much as Solobreak Phuc'n rips the sh!t out of that company and all that. They came through. My HR has been toast for a few weeks now, and well yes, i tried new batteries in the HU, new batteries in the strap... all dat... riding with the strap 2" from the HU... (or CPU as they call it)... Well this morning the lovely mail gal dropped off an ecolite Kraft bubble pack. Inside, a brand new 2.4 chest strap and coded CPU to go with. Amazing.

These guys freaking ROCK. So i'm back in the heart rate biz i think (once i get the new CPU all programmed and stuff). Wicked exciting!!!

Oh and no. No racing for GeWilli this weekend. GeWilli had a great family day on Saturday. And Sunday was working. Got two of the $20 racor bike hoists hung in the "bike room" and the rest of it cleaned out. Got my wife's Zurich put back together, it is sporting some wicked effective 8sp 600 STI goodness. Pretty damn old skool but lemme tell ya - that shit works. Put in a few hooks in the ceiling to get the tires and wheels off the floor. Hell it is starting to look like a right bike shop in there! Still one bike in the barn in a box (the pristine gorgeous amazing Santa Cruz built Bontrager Race).

Here's a quick crappy shot of the bike room.

So on top of that i played electrician... for a couple reasons, #1 so we can get a CFL on the front porch (as the head of the house feels strongly about leaving a porchlight on) and #2 to get more light in the bike room. You see there was a nice outdoor lamp there in the bike room. I've hit my head on it a dozen times or so (it sticks out into the stairs) and it doesn't cast much light in the room (shape of the lamp puts more light down than out). So... Switch. Brilliant. Two 60 watt lamps lighting up the whole room (now can do work at night without using a flashlight to find stuff). Cleaned the Gutters. Re-attached one of the floods on the side of the house (need some of those Flood type CFLs for out there). Weeded the front bed and cleaned the dead stuff. Lemme tell you, i think i've pulled a thousand or two Maple Seedlings. For the time being i've left the Japanese maple seedlings with the aim/goal of transplanting them as gifts. The Genetic stock of these two trees we've got are kick ass. Some mighty beautiful specimens.

Anyway...

Here's a little clip, we'll see how it turns out... only about 20 seconds or so... fingers crossed that Vimeo has better encoding than screwytube...





Scaups and Brants from gewilli

I think i'll put another one up and link it later...

I'll maybe get another one up and send the rest of the footage off to CTodd for his cutting room floor...

The end of the semester is always a nice peaceful time around here too...
Ahh but soon the summer rush of insanity will start... the summer internships/fellowships/researchers will be banging down the doors here at the Picture Factory... and the mellow pace of this morning will be sent flying into the circular file.

Respect, Peace, Smile, do a good dead...
132 days till cross season starts (just to keep Gwadzilla chucklin)
GeWilli

PS

Tuppence, patiently, cautiously trustingly invested
In the, to be specific,
In the Dawes, Tomes
Mousely, Grubbs
Fidelity Fiduciary Bank!

Vimeo Kicks ASS

Gw-od_Cast from gewilli

vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUy9xxQA2U

i ain't embedding that sh!t in here...

b4 anyone else jumps on me

I do understand the difference between torque and power...

I do understand that power is ultimately how you go forward...

Equal power can be achieved with cadences from 40-120 with the variable of force (pedal pressure) and cadence (speed, or frequency of applied force ie RPM)...

Having looked at the data from the Palmer race my force #s were pretty low. Cadence was high, but i got into trouble/hit my limits at force... well and power... But i've got this feeling that, yes, intervals hills and the rest will make a HUGE difference, so will increasing the force component i can deliver... It is actually pretty hard to generate force at 100+ rpm at least for some stupid long legs like mine... hell the neurons prolly take that long to get the signal across these sticks i'm using to ride/walk with... Anyway...

Maybe someday it will make sense to actually get a real coach to tell me what to do and prolly cause i would have to pay money for said service maybe i'd actually follow said advice... till then... i gotta just "ride the damn bike" but also remember not to forget the rest days...

g

bike handling (road specific)

Does STI lower handling skills?

Since switching over to the P-mount i'm back to 1986 with downtube shifters. They ain't bad. sure you can't flick with your fingers but! you gotta be more aware of you handling skills and all that...

is that why grabbing a bottle for some kids is such a hair raising experience for those behind them?

you shift far more than ya drink from the bottle generally

Anyway - just one of the random thoughts floating through my head this morning.

I had planned to head through the new way but they closed the underpass and i was forced back on the old way...

And... the bigger gear range means more force... so, me thinking time to go back to working on Torque more than power now... the diesel motor's getting rusty maybe? That and i was thinking highest torque is always on hills... so why not artificially stick with the 50 tooth instead of always hanging in a 38 or 39 tooth ring and boost the values that way? At least for a little while, build that side of the equation back up... jump back to the cross bike (as commuter) to amp the spin occasionally... Just thoughts... Legs are pretty sore. Big force combined with really no day off since the big race (monday was an easy ride in but still not a rest day)... Looking forward to not getting on the bike this weekend (well my legs are, i might still get out with the girls - we'll see).

That and pulling away from day care on the bike thinking "Most people drop their kids off in an SUV at day care... I'm dropping them off in a bike trailer..."

respect
G

Oh and i'm gonna link dump piggy back on Big Jonny about Grewal and Coors, Tea and doping in the '80s.... good read!

rhetorical wondering...

So reading this book about the Gloucester (MA) Schooners... There was a line that has stuck in my head and floated incessantly in-and-out of my introspective noggin...

It went along the lines of suggesting that the days of the sailing fisherman might return...

So... I keep returning to the thought "damn that'd be potentially a great move now!"

Not so much in returning to the old wooden schooner with crews that double or triple current fishing boat numbers... but with modern sailing craft.

Applying technology there really isn't any difference from a skipper's point of view between a diesel powered boat and a wind powered system. All the controls can be handled from one location.

As fuel costs increase, catch limits decrease, seasons are shortened... Going to a more efficient mode of transport could be huge. Yes the vessels themselves would require a significantly higher cash outlay. But operating costs should be offset if they are built with longevity in mind.

Talk about environmental niche! Think about the marketing free-for all the wholepaycheck corporation could have with fish caught with sail power.

They were netting/trawling towards the end of the "sail" age with sail powered boats. Why not again?

Yes, not being able to fish in the dead calm could be problematic. But it is rare that there is no wind in most major fishing grounds, and a very small displacement (bio)diesel powered engine could move a vessel designed for sailing at nearly the same speeds as a big fat bathtub that is a current fishing vessel.

Automated rigging, computerized naval architecture, weather and fish tracking systems all should be able to make fishing from sail power a viable marketing venture.

Would current fisherman embrace the idea? Would the risk associated with sail power be small enough to offset the rising cost of fuel?

How elegant would Gloucester and the rest of the New England fisheries become if they used sail power instead of diesel power as a primary fuel source?

Certainly the volume of fuel reduction would offset a few wind generators floating out off the coast of Mass/RI?

I have a hard time finding anything more elegant or efficient than gliding along in a sailboat. Even a slight breeze. just enough to fill a sail, is magical and pretty amazing.

By nature sailboats (vs modern diesel fishing boats) are more stable and more seaworthy. Certainly it could/should save a few lives a year. Smaller catches depending on the winds would in theory help the fish population recover. It certainly would be a boost to the shipyards around the heart of fishing regions.

Yes, it is a romantic idea. A far fetched one. But. As a fuel crisis looms (so say many smart people) doesn't this concept bear fleshing out? Yes, the capital outlay would be enormous. And fiscal inertia could be enough to keep the idea locked in the brains of idealist dreamers and lovers of alternative transportation solutions.

It can't be a unique idea, can it? I did a quick google search... came up with a couple interesting hits...

one about the use of modern kites for use in propulsion of supertankers
and
one about the still extensive use of windpowered fishing vessels in Asia

And a whole mess of how offshore wind generators could screw up the fishing grounds...

Maybe we can get Bill Gates to outfit and fund a modern trial fleet of wind powered fishing vessels in the Pac NW and in New England as test markets... or someone else with unfathomably deep pockets (elegant eh? fathom? deep pockets? sail powered... never mind)...

Some day this planet may actually look like Kevin Costner's Waterworld... maybe switching to sail power in fishing vessels won't do anything to change it... maybe it would be just enough...

The generation of Yogurt Boy's, MIF's, Murat's, Curly's and GeWilli's offspring will be dealing with that reality far more directly than those of us "running" things now.

But we can do something. Anything and everything makes a difference. Too bad so many are not willing to make a small sacrifice now... Somewhat depressing that people are so hung up on themselves and lose sight of the plight or get overwhelmed by the minute scale their contribution would make and thus don't make it.

Every time you make a choice for the positive it has a cascade effect. It really isn't as isolated as some would believe.

Find the good, do right, be a positive force for change around you... be the one among millions to set an example... someone is watching... someone will notice...

in a greatly humbled state,
G

i've been out so long...

i didn't know that SRAM bought RockShox...

"shaking head"

damn...

Thursday.... ah thursday

First in breaking news: Coach Curly has escalated the North West vs North East conflict with his latest salvo. And well... it made me laugh.

In the deliberate retribution return fire department i'll offer an observation...

Starbucks is to good coffee like McDonalds is to good food.

Ya go to McDs because you know EXACTLY what ya are gonna get...
Ya go to Starbucks for the saaaaame reason...

Ya want some good coffee? Head to your local roaster. The ones who roast each batch carefully by hand every day...

Afterall... we are only gonna survive if we go local :D

(was that below the belt?)
maybe...

it is all in good fun...

I'll have to see about borrowing a bike when i'm in Seattle to go ride with this Curly fella...

ANYWAY...

Turn the page...

Why doesn't GeWilli have his own vlog to post? Well rather than spend the night generating pop up middle fingers to the beat of some muzac and shuffle it off to YouTube...

GeWilli got dirty. Resurrected the 21 year old bike that was re-painted in the back of Elliot Bay Bicycles many odd years ago. Many might remember the broken spoke saga of CX nats. The Rolf Vector pro front spoke popped coming out of the U-turn after the long pavement section over by the boat house... it also tweaked the bars... GeWilli was fortunate for the kindness of friends and had an extra bar laying around but the only stem close enough to work was on the afore-mentioned 21 year old paramount SL/SP lovingly silver brazed in Waterford Wisconsin using those subtle but distinctive lugs... (ishiwata?)...

So anyway (sorry did a bit of wandering around the google searching looking to see if i could definitively rattle my brain to correctly id the lugs on this beauty...

Anyway, of course the stem isn't a double clamp, hell it's a mt stem, not even designed to go on a road bar. But it is steel. And 25.8... Cross bike in bidnez... P-mount? Outa bidnez. Till last night. The $5 used bin stem was a perfect match for the i'll functioning and wrong sized clamp stem originally on the cross bike. Bar retape and tape... bingo. Perfect. Cross bike geometry now is nearly identical to the Q-pro. Nice! (about time). And the P-mount is back and running and ran in today.

Yes, the 50x25 is back in action. Okay that is only the low gear.... the 8 speed P-mount is kicking it knee busting style. With trailer that 50x25 is fun on the rises... But, it feels good. nice to have the alternatives back in session...

And so far so good the Sefas Seca i paid cash for seems to be decent. Although no way to tell on the first ride with a trailer. Cadence dropped a touch but speed increased... No little ring to bail into may mean cadence discipline = higher wattage output and fewer 'medium' days. Good? I dunno. I hope so.

I sort of entertained snaggin some video and shooting it over to the vid master CTodd but i didn't.

The only video editing software i ever got comfortable playing with was After Effect... (hey whadda ya know, another big Corporation from Seattle - wow)... i got pretty decent at it - but then... well... it has been a while and i ain't sitting here with much of any vid editing... and yeah... i'm making excuses... but the sequence to follow the PTap hub and 3 sets of freehubs exploded on the table ain't ready yet.

I did actually plan on shooting some commuting footage. The weather is freaking gorgeous and it would have been nice to get some of the new bike. But i caught up with a once or twice a week in the summer commuter in the dept so we rode and chatted a bit... Bike path is nice for that. I relish running into unencumbered with trailer riders because it has a way of forcing my speed up a couple extra MPH. And its a chance to interact with another human who is doing the right thing.

On to Food:

Alfredo Sauce... it is funny to read through "quick" meal recipes that call for store bought/canned/bottled alfredo sauce.

it is perhaps the EASIEST of all sauces to create. And when tossed with some baby bellas sauteed in EVOO, peas and some red pepper flakes it is a right tastey pile of caloric goodness.

Ingredient list:
Pasta should go in at some point during the process so it is ready to incorporate when the sauce is finished
1 cup heavy cream (warm in big sauce pan, large enough to hold 1 pound of pasta)
Press one large clove of garlic into cream
1 stick of butter (once cream is warm, melt butter while stirring constantly over med-low heat until incorporated)
Freshly grade some Parmesan, and Romano cheeses. The better quality the better the sauce will taste. Generally i use about 2 cups of cheese (graded... i'll get a gram amount next time).

Slowly incorporate the cheese with the cream, add more once the first bit has melted and is smooth. If the heat is too high the mix will separate, too low and the cheese won't melt.

Once smooth (oh and use a wooden spoon it just works better)... dump your freshly cooked hot drained pasta into the sauce and mixed until well coated. I usually turn the heat off at this point, slightly cooler temps allow the sauce to stick to the pasta a bit better.

Noodle selection (brand) is important. Barila or De Cecce are the only two (with a few Asian exceptions) brands i use. They have very accurate cooking times on the box and have great Teeth and really hold up well.

Again, like Kozy Shack. This is a dish aimed at folks with major caloric needs (me), it tastes good, is made with organic, wholesome ingredients. nothing artificial. no preservatives... all good...

Eat well, Smile, be an agent for peace, and respect in the broadest sense!
G

Gwadzilla

sits at the right hand of Big Jonny when it comes do being the source for good links!

http://www.delocator.net/



Starbucks Manager gets relocated for arriving late to manager's meeting on bicycle... Bike Portland

seeing as it is bike to work month...

Well i'm off to ride my bike home...

Respect, peace and smile at strangers - it could be the positive spark that makes someone's day...

G

Lunch...

Peanut Sauce Noodles... as the meal is called at casa GeWilli...

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (big enough for sauce + pound of pasta)
finely chopped onion (1/4 of a small sweet onion)
3-4 cloves of pressed garlic
crunchy peanut butter
shoyu sauce
fish sauce
rice wine vinegar
dark sesame oil
extra virgin olive oil
fresh cilantro
ground coriander
tiny dash of cumin (ground)
bit of dried basil
hot sauce
fresh finely diced ginger root
dash or two of curry powder
warm to hot water to bring up to consistency...

cook pasta, drain and put directly into the sauce... toss and eat...

Serve with grated carrots, stir-fried tofu or chicken as options...

not really Thai, not really indian, sort of a globally confused but wicked tasty peanut noodle dish...

So, finally got the last piece of the puzzle to recover from the bar/stem issued from CX nats. The Hub has a nice bin of used stems. Found a perfect match to the original one off the croll... now i can go back to options that all fit...

Picked up a tire to replace the blown sidewall conti... a serfas seca, with that flat protection system thing in it. Gonna give that a try. I like the Vida's so much but the Vida's don't fit in the P-mount, and i'd rather wear out a $20 tire than a $45 tire in the rear (conti 4 season)...

Hoping to offer as positive review of the Seca as i can for the Vida...

leave ya with this:


1 less car is good...

r u doing ur part?

commute by bike

it is not just for the kids who were picked on in school like Coach Chef Curly anymore...

respect!
g

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of
boiling water down your throat and presto, the blockage will be almost
instantly removed.

2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting
someone else to hold them while you chop away.

3. You can avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat
just by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for
a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use
an egg timer.

5. A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from
rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. Then you
will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will
forget all about the toothache.

8. Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really
are:

In life, you only need two tools - WD-40 and Duct Tape.
If it doesn't move but should, use the WD-40.
If it should not move and does, use the duct tape.

9. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

10. Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.

Thought for the Day:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES..... THEY ARE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING
... BUT THEY STILL BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN A
FLIGHT OF STAIRS.