USAC has moved CX Nats to January (no more school/family holiday concert conflicts YAH).
BUT
they picked
MADISON WISCONSIN?
You kidding me?
Okay sure, it a winter sport, and this will force promoters to keep everyone racing until then (at least I hope so) and move the sport back to the winter roots.
But.
Um.
MADISON.
not that there is anything wrong with that place. good Big Ten town, it is a wanna be Ann Arbor of Wisconsin, super hippie and crunchy and bike friendly. Super. But... Sure, Myerson pointed out that it can't be worse than worlds in the Czech Republic, but come on. The average HIGH temp there is 27°F in January, the average Low is a nice warm 5°F.
Meaning you have no worries about mud in a normal year. Now if it is a colder than average year, I'm not sure you're going to have enough warm up tents for everyone unless you run the whole race in a f'n Pole Barn. But then it is the mid-west, you can probably find a pole barn big enough to put the whole race inside.
It'll be great, sure, only a little more than an hours drive from Milwaukee's airport, or more than 2 hours from Chicago (closer than Bend to Portland).
Just kind of wish maybe a better package was submitted by someone in the MAC... Or dare I wish, New England?
Don't get me wrong, I love racing in the cold, but I've commuted in January in Michigan (warmer in michigan than Wisconsin more or less by default) and there were days when the windchill was less than -40°F. Okay there was maybe only 4 days like that in the 6 years I was commuting every day. Air temp was pretty deep in the negatives. Sure there were years when it was 45 all January and the campus was all in shorts.
Can't be worse than Poprad, or can it.
It'll be cool one way or the other, I guess more shocked than anything else. Seems odd.
Oh well, it will be what it will be. And like G-ride I just sort of assumed that it would be in Loovull, seeing as worlds will be there. Gee we wouldn't want to give our Domestic racers any more of an advantage on the Worlds course, no, certainly we wouldn't want to help them at all.
*shrug*
time to head to CantonSuperSpeedway tomorrow. oops, i think i forgot to pre-reg. Damn, gonna do day of reg.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
apples and jobs
american's don't want to work? or don't want to work for that little $, esp since they'd have to actually work hard and be physical and all that.
not your typical american right now...
Tomato growers have pushed to raise prices, and well, you know - higher prices aren't that bad, too bad you've got idiots thinking they can have an out of season apple with a clean conscious. Buy local (regional, then national, then stop).
And work. Sure, picking your brains out and only making $120 a day can be a ton of work. You can't stay up all night watching TV and then expect to go get coffee three or four times in the day to stay functional.
I've tried writing this a couple times, each time I stay slightly more positive. But somehow dip towards slander and ridicule. Best stop here.
not your typical american right now...
Tomato growers have pushed to raise prices, and well, you know - higher prices aren't that bad, too bad you've got idiots thinking they can have an out of season apple with a clean conscious. Buy local (regional, then national, then stop).
And work. Sure, picking your brains out and only making $120 a day can be a ton of work. You can't stay up all night watching TV and then expect to go get coffee three or four times in the day to stay functional.
I've tried writing this a couple times, each time I stay slightly more positive. But somehow dip towards slander and ridicule. Best stop here.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Roast Chicken with veggies
So tonight, total experiment. Not one recipe cracked, not one reference consulted.
Going on some $1.99/# naturally raised chicken breasts (with bone and skin on) as my key focal point it became a personal challenge to make something tasty.
The first plan was to use a sauce like i did for the fish last night (oh wow was that good, if i get around to it i'll try and bang that recipe out on the keyboard).
But the girls vetoed it, they don't want the same sauce two nights in a row even if it is chicken vs fish.
So, time to brainstorm.
Here is how I made it:
Oven bake with convection 375 degrees
Once it hit 350 I put a pyrex lasagna/enchilada pan in there.
Chopped up one small red onion (first in 1/2 then in wedges)
Chopped up one medium regular onion the same way
When those were chopped I added 3-4 tablespoons of bacon fat and two tablespoons of butter (yeah that's a good amount of fat but wait - it really isn't that much) to the hot pan and then the onions.
In the next few minutes or until the next thing went in I would open and stir it.
While those were going I chopped about 2-3 cups of peeled carrots (into circles).
Then three good size sweet potatoes (okay one white sweet potato and two garnet yams) got peeled and chopped into 1-2cm chunks.
Brussels Sprouts were cleaned and halved.
Broccoli was treed.
Eggplant was cut up slightly bigger than the Potatoes.
And finally two apples were chopped into slightly larger than the potato sized cubish chunks.
So once the onions started to get some color in went the carrots and an appropriate amount of salt.
When the carrots started to soften, in went the Brussels Sprouts and the sweet potatoes and the apples.
While those were getting nice and warm I took the 4 breasts (two chicken's worth), rinsed them off and dried them well.
The pan with the stuff in it got taken out of the oven, and I added some dried thyme and rubbed sage, pepper and a tiny bit more salt. Mixed it all up and then set the 4 chicken pieces across the top (with a bit of the sage and thyme on the skin).
I added about 1/2-1 cup of apple cider and put it back in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.
with 10 to go on the clock I pulled them out, took some of the juice in the pan and basted the breasts (and checked the internal temp - only 135-140 at that point).
Back in they went.
So the Broccoli and the Eggplant got tossed with some salt, pepper and olive oil and put in a separate glass pan in the oven when the timer beeped the first time. I punched in another 10 minutes on the clock and let it all get flavorful.
The odor coming from the oven was heavenly by that point. Oh so good.
After that timer beep I mixed the broccoli stuff around a bit, basted the chicken one more time and mixed the veggies around (to get some even carmelization on them).
Another 5 minutes and the biggest chicken was just under 165. DONE.
Out of the oven, and plated up.
The chicken was unbelievable juicy and tender. Really really amazing texture and flavor.
Oh and I put a dried bay leaf under each breast as I put them in the pan.
Served the chicken with a good spoonful of the juices in the pan and a pile of the veggies.
So
good
pretty easy too, not a huge ton of prep work, and wicked satisfying.
Not much left over though... okay there isn't much chicken left over, and it looks like have some veggies for lunch tomorrow with a few grams of protein (and some wicked tasty fat, not much, like i said this made quite a bit, spread it out and the caloric load isn't so much per serving).
And yes I mention the price of the chicken to demonstrate that I'm still strongly swayed by the price per pound on some items. But this (I believe) is what they call a loss leader, normally these are in the $4-5/pound range... and they tasted REALLY good. The girls went back for seconds (so did I).
No grains, no processed anything, and i now have a few more bones to add to the collection in the freezer to make my next big batch of chicken stock. All the veggies for that matter were local too (farmer's market sourced).
I'd write up the fish recipe but that'll have to wait.
heddwch
G
Going on some $1.99/# naturally raised chicken breasts (with bone and skin on) as my key focal point it became a personal challenge to make something tasty.
The first plan was to use a sauce like i did for the fish last night (oh wow was that good, if i get around to it i'll try and bang that recipe out on the keyboard).
But the girls vetoed it, they don't want the same sauce two nights in a row even if it is chicken vs fish.
So, time to brainstorm.
Here is how I made it:
Oven bake with convection 375 degrees
Once it hit 350 I put a pyrex lasagna/enchilada pan in there.
Chopped up one small red onion (first in 1/2 then in wedges)
Chopped up one medium regular onion the same way
When those were chopped I added 3-4 tablespoons of bacon fat and two tablespoons of butter (yeah that's a good amount of fat but wait - it really isn't that much) to the hot pan and then the onions.
In the next few minutes or until the next thing went in I would open and stir it.
While those were going I chopped about 2-3 cups of peeled carrots (into circles).
Then three good size sweet potatoes (okay one white sweet potato and two garnet yams) got peeled and chopped into 1-2cm chunks.
Brussels Sprouts were cleaned and halved.
Broccoli was treed.
Eggplant was cut up slightly bigger than the Potatoes.
And finally two apples were chopped into slightly larger than the potato sized cubish chunks.
So once the onions started to get some color in went the carrots and an appropriate amount of salt.
When the carrots started to soften, in went the Brussels Sprouts and the sweet potatoes and the apples.
While those were getting nice and warm I took the 4 breasts (two chicken's worth), rinsed them off and dried them well.
The pan with the stuff in it got taken out of the oven, and I added some dried thyme and rubbed sage, pepper and a tiny bit more salt. Mixed it all up and then set the 4 chicken pieces across the top (with a bit of the sage and thyme on the skin).
I added about 1/2-1 cup of apple cider and put it back in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.
with 10 to go on the clock I pulled them out, took some of the juice in the pan and basted the breasts (and checked the internal temp - only 135-140 at that point).
Back in they went.
So the Broccoli and the Eggplant got tossed with some salt, pepper and olive oil and put in a separate glass pan in the oven when the timer beeped the first time. I punched in another 10 minutes on the clock and let it all get flavorful.
The odor coming from the oven was heavenly by that point. Oh so good.
After that timer beep I mixed the broccoli stuff around a bit, basted the chicken one more time and mixed the veggies around (to get some even carmelization on them).
Another 5 minutes and the biggest chicken was just under 165. DONE.
Out of the oven, and plated up.
The chicken was unbelievable juicy and tender. Really really amazing texture and flavor.
Oh and I put a dried bay leaf under each breast as I put them in the pan.
Served the chicken with a good spoonful of the juices in the pan and a pile of the veggies.
So
good
pretty easy too, not a huge ton of prep work, and wicked satisfying.
Not much left over though... okay there isn't much chicken left over, and it looks like have some veggies for lunch tomorrow with a few grams of protein (and some wicked tasty fat, not much, like i said this made quite a bit, spread it out and the caloric load isn't so much per serving).
And yes I mention the price of the chicken to demonstrate that I'm still strongly swayed by the price per pound on some items. But this (I believe) is what they call a loss leader, normally these are in the $4-5/pound range... and they tasted REALLY good. The girls went back for seconds (so did I).
No grains, no processed anything, and i now have a few more bones to add to the collection in the freezer to make my next big batch of chicken stock. All the veggies for that matter were local too (farmer's market sourced).
I'd write up the fish recipe but that'll have to wait.
heddwch
G
F'n COOL
Chris Moose Milliman...
Jaw dropping shots.
I just hope he hasn't been motorpacing lately, oh, wait. If he's doing it maybe I should to... anyone in PVD wanna be my pacer over a long lunch hour?
Jaw dropping shots.
I just hope he hasn't been motorpacing lately, oh, wait. If he's doing it maybe I should to... anyone in PVD wanna be my pacer over a long lunch hour?
good shit out there
stuff I can't touch right now, maybe on some of my more lucid and creative days i can be a flickering candle to their 1000watt spotlight, but hey, I'm not the best at much, certainly not cycling or writing. But I am me.
Interview with BillS
It took a lot for me to read past the first question's answer. Seriously. Then I read the second one and the whole bit about his daughter and the points, and i kept going.
Well honestly I'm only about 1/2 way through. It is long and I have only a minute or two here and there to read it. And this has been sitting here for a while between reading it fielding and making calls and emails. Good to be busy, yeah?
The PEZ interview with Steve Tilford is another must read.
His blog post "Got there...." made me think about my Dad and his biannual commute to Colorado. I sent the link to my dad after reading it and got this response:
But on the bright side it will cool right the fuck down for Canton. Might actually be able to wear the team skinsuit w/o overheating or unzipping it to my hairy belly-button mid-race.
Tagging this with food for one link. Corn Syrup Actually Isn't tthe Same as Table Sugar. No shit. One thing that is disturbing is the actual % of Fructose being higher than reported. Close to 65% in Coke, Pepsi, Sprite? GATORADE at 60%? Yikes. Maybe yall can remember some of the sugar uptake stuff I've posted in the past, sucrose works almost the best because glucose and fructose have two completely separate uptake pathways, and to get the most out of a drink DURING exercise or a replacement post exercise you want equal parts of the two. More of one just creates a traffic jam, sort of like express vs local and you're all smug getting onto the Express lanes only to come to a complete stop while the local keeps moving. Best design should be equal parts. If you are the old school cytomax they say add lactate too.
Oh and I still don't get the Honeycrisp fad. Sure they might be great and all but I just hit the last wed farmer's market of the season here a block or two away and picked up some Fuji's. Damn do I love those, texture and flavor is just right and these are slightly on the tart side which is a triple plus.
Here. Check this out:
Now go back and watch it again, in full screen, ignore the words and watch for the smoke trail in the top right corner at the start of the clip... Thanks for the HU Resultsboy
heddwch
G
Interview with BillS
It took a lot for me to read past the first question's answer. Seriously. Then I read the second one and the whole bit about his daughter and the points, and i kept going.
Well honestly I'm only about 1/2 way through. It is long and I have only a minute or two here and there to read it. And this has been sitting here for a while between reading it fielding and making calls and emails. Good to be busy, yeah?
The PEZ interview with Steve Tilford is another must read.
His blog post "Got there...." made me think about my Dad and his biannual commute to Colorado. I sent the link to my dad after reading it and got this response:
"He’s got it right. I avoid Limon and drop south to the springs. "That and a comment about how ugly the weather is (down there MD) for late Oct. Can't agree more. 70°F and spitting rain with chance of some heavy stuff. This is shit weather for October.
But on the bright side it will cool right the fuck down for Canton. Might actually be able to wear the team skinsuit w/o overheating or unzipping it to my hairy belly-button mid-race.
Tagging this with food for one link. Corn Syrup Actually Isn't tthe Same as Table Sugar. No shit. One thing that is disturbing is the actual % of Fructose being higher than reported. Close to 65% in Coke, Pepsi, Sprite? GATORADE at 60%? Yikes. Maybe yall can remember some of the sugar uptake stuff I've posted in the past, sucrose works almost the best because glucose and fructose have two completely separate uptake pathways, and to get the most out of a drink DURING exercise or a replacement post exercise you want equal parts of the two. More of one just creates a traffic jam, sort of like express vs local and you're all smug getting onto the Express lanes only to come to a complete stop while the local keeps moving. Best design should be equal parts. If you are the old school cytomax they say add lactate too.
Oh and I still don't get the Honeycrisp fad. Sure they might be great and all but I just hit the last wed farmer's market of the season here a block or two away and picked up some Fuji's. Damn do I love those, texture and flavor is just right and these are slightly on the tart side which is a triple plus.
Here. Check this out:
Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo from Jeb Corliss on Vimeo.
Now go back and watch it again, in full screen, ignore the words and watch for the smoke trail in the top right corner at the start of the clip... Thanks for the HU Resultsboy
heddwch
G
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Time for the Nationals Debate
Should I stay or should I go?
Actually think my mind might be made up, but in case someone's not paying attention SWA just dropped their fares, $120 each way. So fly out of Manch or PVD into PDX and save a mint on airfare vs flying into Redmond/Bend. Right now you can get there for $280 with taxes, add the $50 each way for the bike box and you still have enough cash to rent a minivan and drive to bend... Hell the drive from PDX to Bend is shorter than Grumpy's drive to a regular cross race.
It is tempting, but this year is maybe time to chill, let the season finish out how ever it does, no pressure, maybe do Ice Weasels or something. We'll see.
With the schedule it sounds like I could do the B race, the Singlespeed race, and the 40-44 race, and the clydesdale race if they have that again. Add all the Time Trials in there and wow you've got one solid week of racing. But. It is a looooooong way to go. We'll see what happens. At least there isn't a penalty for registering late (well there are a couple monetary ones) and hell you can even wait till you get there to register.
The Team does have a super slick killer pad to stay at this year, a mile from the venue, if that far.
Oh and hey - check this out... Solidly - why a 2/3 race anyway? Doesn't anyone pay attention to Verge? seriously. Someone's gotta fix that. So maybe you'd only have 120 racers lined up. And an 8-9 min lap isn't really short.
And commuting to work in shorts and shorts sleeves? Doing hill repeats on foot in nearly 70°F weather this morning? WTF? Is it really that warm now?
Crazy...
Actually think my mind might be made up, but in case someone's not paying attention SWA just dropped their fares, $120 each way. So fly out of Manch or PVD into PDX and save a mint on airfare vs flying into Redmond/Bend. Right now you can get there for $280 with taxes, add the $50 each way for the bike box and you still have enough cash to rent a minivan and drive to bend... Hell the drive from PDX to Bend is shorter than Grumpy's drive to a regular cross race.
It is tempting, but this year is maybe time to chill, let the season finish out how ever it does, no pressure, maybe do Ice Weasels or something. We'll see.
With the schedule it sounds like I could do the B race, the Singlespeed race, and the 40-44 race, and the clydesdale race if they have that again. Add all the Time Trials in there and wow you've got one solid week of racing. But. It is a looooooong way to go. We'll see what happens. At least there isn't a penalty for registering late (well there are a couple monetary ones) and hell you can even wait till you get there to register.
The Team does have a super slick killer pad to stay at this year, a mile from the venue, if that far.
Oh and hey - check this out... Solidly - why a 2/3 race anyway? Doesn't anyone pay attention to Verge? seriously. Someone's gotta fix that. So maybe you'd only have 120 racers lined up. And an 8-9 min lap isn't really short.
And commuting to work in shorts and shorts sleeves? Doing hill repeats on foot in nearly 70°F weather this morning? WTF? Is it really that warm now?
Crazy...
Monday, October 25, 2010
The WEEKEND
no - i didn't race, no CX race reports.
i did ride on sunday, and saturday even (just 50 min on the BLVD doing intervals)...
more on that maybe later, maybe...
oh and as I've been saying for YEARS now, freaking YEARS, it seems a study now is suggesting that Sodium doesn't affect hypertension? being fat does. well hello news flash! But they still kind of say "we" are eating too much salt in the diet. I agree. Cut out any sodium containing product OTHER than sodium chloride and boom, problem solved.
It ain't the salt on the french fries that are killing you, it is the potato and the not-real fat that's doing it's job!
Nice...
i did ride on sunday, and saturday even (just 50 min on the BLVD doing intervals)...
more on that maybe later, maybe...
oh and as I've been saying for YEARS now, freaking YEARS, it seems a study now is suggesting that Sodium doesn't affect hypertension? being fat does. well hello news flash! But they still kind of say "we" are eating too much salt in the diet. I agree. Cut out any sodium containing product OTHER than sodium chloride and boom, problem solved.
It ain't the salt on the french fries that are killing you, it is the potato and the not-real fat that's doing it's job!
Nice...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Sunset Downeast, Detroit and going local
Sunset magazine in the New York Times. Among the magazines delivered to my mother's parents house were two that I can, without question identify and remember. There were mountains of others but Sunset and Downeast were what I remember. Maybe because for some time the mail lady stuffed them in our mailbox on the dead end street growing up.
So I read that NY Times article, and was transported immediately back to California. All the good parts about it. Both my mother and father grew up in that state, my dad's mom still lives in the bay area on one of the few pieces of bedrock in the region.
Hell with the disappearance of Gourmet maybe Sunset would be a good replacement. And yes, the first really cool morning I'm thinking about warm and sunny California...
It is hard to explain that sort of feeling, maybe it is something that happens when you start your 4th decades on this planet... The Downeast reference, yeah growing up looking through those pages set me dreaming, owning my own Hinckley and an Island with a lighthouse in Penobscot bay... Yeah, my career goals didn't track well with my youthful dreaming, I suppose I should have gone into professional gambling right out of college instead of being a microscope jockey. Things would have been different, maybe I'd be sailing every weekend instead of trying to race a bicycle.
Too late to turn back time, no Ctrl-Alt-Delete in life.
LINK 2
Bittman tweeted this article this monring. (yeah twitter's good for getting targeted info - one day i'll get a hand held computer that has a phone on it and carry those updates with me, maybe, I do kind of like having a phone that is only a phone).
He also tweeted about the CDC prediction that at the current race 1 in 3 people will have type 2 diabetes by 2050. I think that is like the report from a cycling advocacy group in 2000 saying all the petroleum resources would run out by 2010. People are still using Gasoline as fast as they can buy it.
Type 2 is pretty scary, in that it is totally and completely preventable, treatable and curable. Yes. THERE IS A CURE! (eat well, exercise and get to a healthy weight). AMAZING - someone should go on the morning news programs and say something like that. I know i know people struggle with weight. But they struggle with cooking, with finding time to exercise, with with with with... and then they all stay up late watching TV/movies on demand and have to rush around.
Sorry, got some editorializing in there. Wow. Me? Editorialize? NO F'n way.
Oh about that Walmart/big ag article I started Link 2 with. Crazy. I laugh at the corn growers attempted add campaign "sweet surprise" because, yes I joined the public mocking of them. And I think there is enough web/marketing/media savy in their opponents toolbox that big ag is going to have trouble, even with 30 million in (m)ad money. Hell take that 30 mil and stick it into improving the public school food system so our kids aren't so fat and it isn't an issue for those who feel drawn to serve this country to join the service. Different issue I know.
But really can you separate the Type 2 problem and Monsanto/BigAg? More calories for less money? Wait, don't we have a problem with too many calories?
Link 3(ish)
So I've pulled in references from my bipolar upbringing (PacNW vs Downeast) - and here's an article from Detroit. Not nearly as compelling as the first link or as important as the group of links between...
but I spent enough time in the troubled state of Michigan that part of me will always relate to that state.
Link 4 or so
The going Local part of the title. Comes from here but does tie in to the walmart article.
It isn't so much about going local as thinking about it, but it is a fun article about the push towards more self sustainability. Sadly for those residents of Providence, chickens are NOT allowed, it doesn't say anything about my town though, lets see if i can keep my kids from finding out.
See, I knew the food label was going to be a problem. I had resisted for a while, now that I've flipped the switch, I keep pushing towards it, i need to beat myself up on the bike, debating bringing the trainer with me to the city when I have to take my oldest to dance and doing intervals in the parking lot with the iPod instead of looping on the BLVD with the cars and no tunes.
heddwch
G
So I read that NY Times article, and was transported immediately back to California. All the good parts about it. Both my mother and father grew up in that state, my dad's mom still lives in the bay area on one of the few pieces of bedrock in the region.
Hell with the disappearance of Gourmet maybe Sunset would be a good replacement. And yes, the first really cool morning I'm thinking about warm and sunny California...
It is hard to explain that sort of feeling, maybe it is something that happens when you start your 4th decades on this planet... The Downeast reference, yeah growing up looking through those pages set me dreaming, owning my own Hinckley and an Island with a lighthouse in Penobscot bay... Yeah, my career goals didn't track well with my youthful dreaming, I suppose I should have gone into professional gambling right out of college instead of being a microscope jockey. Things would have been different, maybe I'd be sailing every weekend instead of trying to race a bicycle.
Too late to turn back time, no Ctrl-Alt-Delete in life.
LINK 2
Bittman tweeted this article this monring. (yeah twitter's good for getting targeted info - one day i'll get a hand held computer that has a phone on it and carry those updates with me, maybe, I do kind of like having a phone that is only a phone).
He also tweeted about the CDC prediction that at the current race 1 in 3 people will have type 2 diabetes by 2050. I think that is like the report from a cycling advocacy group in 2000 saying all the petroleum resources would run out by 2010. People are still using Gasoline as fast as they can buy it.
Type 2 is pretty scary, in that it is totally and completely preventable, treatable and curable. Yes. THERE IS A CURE! (eat well, exercise and get to a healthy weight). AMAZING - someone should go on the morning news programs and say something like that. I know i know people struggle with weight. But they struggle with cooking, with finding time to exercise, with with with with... and then they all stay up late watching TV/movies on demand and have to rush around.
Sorry, got some editorializing in there. Wow. Me? Editorialize? NO F'n way.
Oh about that Walmart/big ag article I started Link 2 with. Crazy. I laugh at the corn growers attempted add campaign "sweet surprise" because, yes I joined the public mocking of them. And I think there is enough web/marketing/media savy in their opponents toolbox that big ag is going to have trouble, even with 30 million in (m)ad money. Hell take that 30 mil and stick it into improving the public school food system so our kids aren't so fat and it isn't an issue for those who feel drawn to serve this country to join the service. Different issue I know.
But really can you separate the Type 2 problem and Monsanto/BigAg? More calories for less money? Wait, don't we have a problem with too many calories?
Link 3(ish)
So I've pulled in references from my bipolar upbringing (PacNW vs Downeast) - and here's an article from Detroit. Not nearly as compelling as the first link or as important as the group of links between...
but I spent enough time in the troubled state of Michigan that part of me will always relate to that state.
Link 4 or so
The going Local part of the title. Comes from here but does tie in to the walmart article.
It isn't so much about going local as thinking about it, but it is a fun article about the push towards more self sustainability. Sadly for those residents of Providence, chickens are NOT allowed, it doesn't say anything about my town though, lets see if i can keep my kids from finding out.
See, I knew the food label was going to be a problem. I had resisted for a while, now that I've flipped the switch, I keep pushing towards it, i need to beat myself up on the bike, debating bringing the trainer with me to the city when I have to take my oldest to dance and doing intervals in the parking lot with the iPod instead of looping on the BLVD with the cars and no tunes.
heddwch
G
Friday, October 22, 2010
friday link round up
Cycling:
http://www.bigringriding.com/, not a huge archive but after RyanTKelly tweeted the link the server kept crashing as all 17 of his followers proceeded to browse the whole site this morning. (check his latest web log entry - more fodder to fire at the upgrade afraid).
Be Bad, Ride better?
#1 - got it, no problem there, will remember to vocalize it next time
#2 - no problem, I can stretch the shower bit, a little, or actually probably a lot farther than I'm comfortable with.
#3 - that extra 7.2 minutes might be the difference i need - PASS ME A BEER!
#4 - how about a whole bottle of the stuff?
#5 - oh yeah THREE IN A ROW, BRILLIANT!!!!
#6 - already doing that and my blood numbers are better than most healthy 20 year old kids.
#7 - this i could certainly do more of, the sleeping thing...
#8 - if you say so
#9 - bring it on
#10 - oh now this might get me in trouble but, hey, those look like good number boosts...
Enough about that... Food links
Perils of Cheap Seafood (please don't buy farmed salmon - it tastes like cardboard and probably isn't much better for you and right now it really fucks with the ecosystem).
People with kids take notice - and if you don't have em and know someone who does - bug em.
oh and
FUCKING FRENCH FRIES ARE NOT A FUCKING VEGGIE FOR FUCKS SAKE PEOPLE!
They are pasta, white rice, except worse, loaded with fat and bitching amounts of sodium. Good if you just did 4 hours of riding in the middle of the summer, not so good if you're a fat ass sitting on the couch watching TV for hours a day.
Not a very good chance you'll get listeria and die from buying your veggies at the farmers's market... but at the store that buys the cheapest price point veggie? watch the heck out.
So after that wonderful bit of people dieing because of tainted veggies, how about this SHOCKING news:
Food inspection is often Flawed? NO SHIT!!!???
yeah
i had a cup of coffee today, can you tell?
heddwch
G
http://www.bigringriding.com/, not a huge archive but after RyanTKelly tweeted the link the server kept crashing as all 17 of his followers proceeded to browse the whole site this morning. (check his latest web log entry - more fodder to fire at the upgrade afraid).
Be Bad, Ride better?
#1 - got it, no problem there, will remember to vocalize it next time
#2 - no problem, I can stretch the shower bit, a little, or actually probably a lot farther than I'm comfortable with.
#3 - that extra 7.2 minutes might be the difference i need - PASS ME A BEER!
#4 - how about a whole bottle of the stuff?
#5 - oh yeah THREE IN A ROW, BRILLIANT!!!!
#6 - already doing that and my blood numbers are better than most healthy 20 year old kids.
#7 - this i could certainly do more of, the sleeping thing...
#8 - if you say so
#9 - bring it on
#10 - oh now this might get me in trouble but, hey, those look like good number boosts...
Enough about that... Food links
Perils of Cheap Seafood (please don't buy farmed salmon - it tastes like cardboard and probably isn't much better for you and right now it really fucks with the ecosystem).
People with kids take notice - and if you don't have em and know someone who does - bug em.
oh and
FUCKING FRENCH FRIES ARE NOT A FUCKING VEGGIE FOR FUCKS SAKE PEOPLE!
They are pasta, white rice, except worse, loaded with fat and bitching amounts of sodium. Good if you just did 4 hours of riding in the middle of the summer, not so good if you're a fat ass sitting on the couch watching TV for hours a day.
Not a very good chance you'll get listeria and die from buying your veggies at the farmers's market... but at the store that buys the cheapest price point veggie? watch the heck out.
So after that wonderful bit of people dieing because of tainted veggies, how about this SHOCKING news:
Food inspection is often Flawed? NO SHIT!!!???
yeah
i had a cup of coffee today, can you tell?
heddwch
G
weekend starts here
well tomorrow morning likely it will start here:
for me while everyone else will be starting their morning something like this
rest
at least as far as the cycling legs go... not exactly as planned but that's life, resting up, recharging the batteries, not the worst thing in the world. I'll get some intensity in tomorrow, and a long ride in on Sunday and be back at it ready to go next week leading up to Canton.
That and i've got a serious beef with the mail system for never getting me issue #10 of Cyclocross Magazine. Seriously. I finally sent them an email asking if/when the next issue should arrive and well... um, it has been out for a while now I guess. No wonder I was baffled when FatMarc mentioned the whole Mayhew article. Damn it IS a good one.
Best issue yet? I think so. I love me the mental stuff, Marvin Z's columns in Pez, hell IIRC maybe even Myerson has an article about the mental side of stuff over on his cycle-smart page. Well let me say it differently, I really appreciate reading about it because that is almost a bigger issue for me than speed. I've got leg speed in there somewhere... I know I can go fast, but mr. overthinker here usually finds a way for the brain to screw it up. Time to dig out my stack of print outs and start reading it all over again.
After I re-read the articles in there. Heck that Jake Wells article is awesome.
All this stuff - from the Kraus bit, to J-Pow and now Jake Wells, stuff is sinking in and making sense. Lights are turning on.
One thought I had at some point was I should really write down the plan for next year NOW before I forget all these nuggets of wisdom and beat myself up the first month next year. Making sure to add in variables if i'm too cooked to train effectively. I'm tempted to try and make one of my old HR monitors work if only to get a morning resting Heart Rate to track.
Who knows that's a long way off - i'll get CRS and start all over the same (man I hope not).
Time off the bike hasn't been bad. nice bit of recharge. I should really sniff some glue before Canton though. Would be nice to roll around there with less than 45-50psi in the tires.
heddwch
G
That and i've got a serious beef with the mail system for never getting me issue #10 of Cyclocross Magazine. Seriously. I finally sent them an email asking if/when the next issue should arrive and well... um, it has been out for a while now I guess. No wonder I was baffled when FatMarc mentioned the whole Mayhew article. Damn it IS a good one.
Best issue yet? I think so. I love me the mental stuff, Marvin Z's columns in Pez, hell IIRC maybe even Myerson has an article about the mental side of stuff over on his cycle-smart page. Well let me say it differently, I really appreciate reading about it because that is almost a bigger issue for me than speed. I've got leg speed in there somewhere... I know I can go fast, but mr. overthinker here usually finds a way for the brain to screw it up. Time to dig out my stack of print outs and start reading it all over again.
After I re-read the articles in there. Heck that Jake Wells article is awesome.
All this stuff - from the Kraus bit, to J-Pow and now Jake Wells, stuff is sinking in and making sense. Lights are turning on.
One thought I had at some point was I should really write down the plan for next year NOW before I forget all these nuggets of wisdom and beat myself up the first month next year. Making sure to add in variables if i'm too cooked to train effectively. I'm tempted to try and make one of my old HR monitors work if only to get a morning resting Heart Rate to track.
Who knows that's a long way off - i'll get CRS and start all over the same (man I hope not).
Time off the bike hasn't been bad. nice bit of recharge. I should really sniff some glue before Canton though. Would be nice to roll around there with less than 45-50psi in the tires.
heddwch
G
Thursday, October 21, 2010
This is PRO
Such and overused phrase, calling something 'Pro' but hell it works.
Note he says WHEN possible, AND rested. need the combination of both.
Pretty straight ahead common sense thing. But I'll be the first to admit that last month I was doing the workout because it was what i had planned for that day, not how i felt. I'd probably have had better results if I'd slept in and done nothing for a couple of those weeks.
Tuesday morning I actually did feel rested and I had the opportunity. Yesterday, not so much. Today? Even less. Climbing into bed and then falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow is probably a good indication that I'm not well rested at the moment. A great time NOT to drive to maine (no matter how much I'd love to race that verge stop) and race a double. If you aren't going up and want to do a long 3-4 hour ride early Sunday morning at a mellow (for me and a few teammates) ride out of the providence area drop me an email ... gewilli at gmail...
heddwch
G
I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to get in some decent training when it’s possible and I feel rested.(check the vid @ about 8:49 for a cameo by former weblogger CCC).
Note he says WHEN possible, AND rested. need the combination of both.
Pretty straight ahead common sense thing. But I'll be the first to admit that last month I was doing the workout because it was what i had planned for that day, not how i felt. I'd probably have had better results if I'd slept in and done nothing for a couple of those weeks.
Tuesday morning I actually did feel rested and I had the opportunity. Yesterday, not so much. Today? Even less. Climbing into bed and then falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow is probably a good indication that I'm not well rested at the moment. A great time NOT to drive to maine (no matter how much I'd love to race that verge stop) and race a double. If you aren't going up and want to do a long 3-4 hour ride early Sunday morning at a mellow (for me and a few teammates) ride out of the providence area drop me an email ... gewilli at gmail...
heddwch
G
The Sweet Potato, miracle food
So calling it a miracle food automatically dooms it to have someone find some reason why we all should stop eating them or something. Oh well. F'it, they taste good, and have a bunch of crap in them that make em better for you than regular potatoes. Although I'm still skeptical. But hey, they taste good.
So. This summer I learned something. People cook them in microwaves. Wash it then put it in there for like 10-20 minutes on high depending on how many you have. Cool right?
I was perusing Nancy's Food blog and found this recipe. Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie. Sounds good. Nice potato, gravy, beef, corn, peas... wait... this doesn't just sub potato for sweet potato... nah it adds chicken. Worm wrangler's stories of poultry factory (I now recall the discussions about the factory/plants at CMU) has me always leery of chicken and you're way better off using grass fed ground beef instead of chicken (pretty close to the same price), but be that as it may, I'm not talking about that. It is about the sweet potato, and something I don't get.
That whole microwaving thing.
Seriously. Why? Doesn't make sense. Why not?
You're going to peel them anyway (usually). And peeling takes a second. Put a pot of water on with a steamer basket (most people who eat well should have at least one steamer basket in the inventory), peel the potatoes. Rinse them off. Cut them into 1/2 inch slabs (that's it, no need to quarter or what not).
Oh and cutting potatoes and root veggies: PUT YOUR SANTOKU KNIFE AWAY!!! This is a job for your chef's knife. Seriously. Not your awesome Chinese cleaver either. You have more than one knife for a reason, right? If you just have one, go get a cheap chef's knife for this purpose. Doesn't have to be all that special or sharp, just needs to be strong and shaped like a wedge (like a chef knife is supposed to be).
Using the chef's knife takes less effort and going back and forth between you'll be surprised... worth getting something else dirty, even if you are like me and have to wash what ever you get dirty.
So once you've cut these sweet potatoes into slabs, pop em in the almost boiling pot with the steamer basket, put the lid on and in 10-15 minutes check em. Should be done. With the lid drain the water, then pull the steamer basket out, and mash the potatoes right in that pot.
SIMPLE.
Faster than the microwave. Possibly less energy use too. Some people would argue that steaming doesn't kill the life forces in the food either, if that's a concern. Nice and even cooking if you cut them all the same thickness. Mashing them is easier too.
If it takes more than 3 minutes to cook in the nuker i generally go conventional. I just don't like cooking in it. making a bowl of oatmeal at a time is easier in it, no worrying about burning the milk on the stove top, warming up leftover food is great in there. But primary cooking? Not so much.
Oh and no training yesterday. Picked up the girls early and I was tired, instead of doing some threshold intervals on the trainer in the back yard... I took a nap. And instead of waking up at 5:15 to get the Z5 1 min set in, I kept sleeping. Tired. Not racing this weekend. Resting up seems more important (maybe I am starting to learn something after all). A certain coach said just soak up info, it'll be as effective as paying for a plan... I tend to agree with him. And next year? Next year it'll be a whole sale GeWilli program from rest to intervals... make it nice and complicated - new emphasis on recovering, and racing early. I hope maybe that with Alan's help and others we can push the New England cross scene into January so September can go back to being pre-season. Esp as the summer seems to linger much longer, seriously we shouldn't be racing in 65°F weather this time of year? Should we? It might get cold soon enough, i'll bite my tongue and see what happens. Sleep seems to be trumping hard training and last year I hit this week so wasted and worn out that I spent the weekend sick in bed. Trying to avoid that this year.
heddwch
G
So. This summer I learned something. People cook them in microwaves. Wash it then put it in there for like 10-20 minutes on high depending on how many you have. Cool right?
I was perusing Nancy's Food blog and found this recipe. Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie. Sounds good. Nice potato, gravy, beef, corn, peas... wait... this doesn't just sub potato for sweet potato... nah it adds chicken. Worm wrangler's stories of poultry factory (I now recall the discussions about the factory/plants at CMU) has me always leery of chicken and you're way better off using grass fed ground beef instead of chicken (pretty close to the same price), but be that as it may, I'm not talking about that. It is about the sweet potato, and something I don't get.
That whole microwaving thing.
Seriously. Why? Doesn't make sense. Why not?
You're going to peel them anyway (usually). And peeling takes a second. Put a pot of water on with a steamer basket (most people who eat well should have at least one steamer basket in the inventory), peel the potatoes. Rinse them off. Cut them into 1/2 inch slabs (that's it, no need to quarter or what not).
Oh and cutting potatoes and root veggies: PUT YOUR SANTOKU KNIFE AWAY!!! This is a job for your chef's knife. Seriously. Not your awesome Chinese cleaver either. You have more than one knife for a reason, right? If you just have one, go get a cheap chef's knife for this purpose. Doesn't have to be all that special or sharp, just needs to be strong and shaped like a wedge (like a chef knife is supposed to be).
Using the chef's knife takes less effort and going back and forth between you'll be surprised... worth getting something else dirty, even if you are like me and have to wash what ever you get dirty.
So once you've cut these sweet potatoes into slabs, pop em in the almost boiling pot with the steamer basket, put the lid on and in 10-15 minutes check em. Should be done. With the lid drain the water, then pull the steamer basket out, and mash the potatoes right in that pot.
SIMPLE.
Faster than the microwave. Possibly less energy use too. Some people would argue that steaming doesn't kill the life forces in the food either, if that's a concern. Nice and even cooking if you cut them all the same thickness. Mashing them is easier too.
If it takes more than 3 minutes to cook in the nuker i generally go conventional. I just don't like cooking in it. making a bowl of oatmeal at a time is easier in it, no worrying about burning the milk on the stove top, warming up leftover food is great in there. But primary cooking? Not so much.
Oh and no training yesterday. Picked up the girls early and I was tired, instead of doing some threshold intervals on the trainer in the back yard... I took a nap. And instead of waking up at 5:15 to get the Z5 1 min set in, I kept sleeping. Tired. Not racing this weekend. Resting up seems more important (maybe I am starting to learn something after all). A certain coach said just soak up info, it'll be as effective as paying for a plan... I tend to agree with him. And next year? Next year it'll be a whole sale GeWilli program from rest to intervals... make it nice and complicated - new emphasis on recovering, and racing early. I hope maybe that with Alan's help and others we can push the New England cross scene into January so September can go back to being pre-season. Esp as the summer seems to linger much longer, seriously we shouldn't be racing in 65°F weather this time of year? Should we? It might get cold soon enough, i'll bite my tongue and see what happens. Sleep seems to be trumping hard training and last year I hit this week so wasted and worn out that I spent the weekend sick in bed. Trying to avoid that this year.
heddwch
G
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
want to make
Grilled Pizza... ala [Ted] King.
Yeah did ya get that? ala king? like as in chicken ala king? My mother made that occasionally when I was little, i think it was chicken in sauce served on toast, i remember liking it.
Anyway. So want to make that. BBQ and everything yeah.
I don't have any pizza screens though (not good) and that's what I though when I saw his butterfly. Well really I thought about ErikV's use of pizza screens. Thinking that's what ya need for a grill.
Of course last night on ATC (season 10 Salmon—Indoors and Out) they talked about grill pans (not sure if it is in that link or not). The winner was the Webber one: here.
They had very poor reviews of the one that Nancy used for the BOLD grilled veggies. They said it steamed the veggies more than it grilled them, and the smallest veggies still managed to slide through the holes.
So yeah i totally want one of those webber pro grill grate, along with a handful of nice stainless pizza screens.
Oh and I'd have to make the BBQ sauce from scratch - can't handle buying the other stuff... esp with liquid smoke in the pantry.
Yeah did ya get that? ala king? like as in chicken ala king? My mother made that occasionally when I was little, i think it was chicken in sauce served on toast, i remember liking it.
Anyway. So want to make that. BBQ and everything yeah.
I don't have any pizza screens though (not good) and that's what I though when I saw his butterfly. Well really I thought about ErikV's use of pizza screens. Thinking that's what ya need for a grill.
Of course last night on ATC (season 10 Salmon—Indoors and Out) they talked about grill pans (not sure if it is in that link or not). The winner was the Webber one: here.
They had very poor reviews of the one that Nancy used for the BOLD grilled veggies. They said it steamed the veggies more than it grilled them, and the smallest veggies still managed to slide through the holes.
So yeah i totally want one of those webber pro grill grate, along with a handful of nice stainless pizza screens.
Oh and I'd have to make the BBQ sauce from scratch - can't handle buying the other stuff... esp with liquid smoke in the pantry.
PBR - the roots behind the discovery... and other stories
Read this article first - (or not) then come back
So yeah well I've got this little brother of mine.
back say many moons ago, he was freshly freed of college plan for music a year or two in and he started being a bike messenger.
Back then messengers actually used geared bike, usually road bikes and sometime they'd just use the bike they would race on the weekends. Some Seattle messengers used mt bikes with Specialized Fat boys and fenders and bar ends for warding off the occasional door.
No one used a track bike for messengering. But my brother and another guy he worked with got tired of wearing out chains and cogs and went got track bikes. My bro described it more like a Zen state of riding, very different and it gave a new challenge, made it interesting. But IIRC he went back to gears because he started working doing long distance bike deliveries. 30-40-50 mile trips for a delivery, to the outlying Seattle areas. That never made sense to me but hey - if you can keep a couple messengers fed there's got to be some money there.
But this isn't about my little bro (who ain't so little, and is just a couple years younger than I am - no so young either) and his bikes.
No, not the bikes but I have to set the scene. Hell he had perfect white guy dreadlocks in High School (shaved his head clean in the bathroom 5 minutes before graduation - much to the horror of all the girls and my mother).
So where did these messengers hang out? The found the oddest, deadest, lowest traffic bars in the city to hang out. They became regulars. These old bars weren't selling much of the trendy new Micro-brew the rest of the city watering holes were switching over to. No, these places hearkened back to the real roots of that city. The Blue Collar workers from the shipyards or Boeing or the docks/longshoreman. It really was a big blue collar area, that's why you'll still find some of the most hard core rednecks in Western Washington - honest hard core dichotomy now. Back when these bars were popular the white collar paper pushers worked in the Smith tower or one of the smaller office buildings. Yeah Smith Tower used to be offices. I'm talking before 1975, hell 20 years before that too. Doesn't seem that long ago to me but then, well... probably not to man of you, my friends reading this. Okay if Hoppy garden has gotten this far 1975 is like prehistoric times for him.
So those workers would all have their local place. They'd stop on the way home every day to check in with their friends. They'd have a couple beers, a couple shots maybe and head home to their arm chair, watch some news and eat the dinner their wives made for them. These bars survived on routine and tradition. Pabst was one of the few surviving beers from that era still in these bars when my brother started messengering.
PBR also happened to be THE cheapest beer. Dollar drafts, Fifty Cent Drafts, you could get loaded on a bike messenger income. You could also drink a ton of it and not really feel too bad the next day. And it was cheap. And Iconic. These guys felt pride in drinking something with those roots.
Then it became popular with people trying to work into that messenger culture, but it really stayed low key until the birth of the hipster years after my brother moved on from delivering stuff on two wheels. Damn hipsters saw the messengers as easy prey and swept in and took their traditions.
Sometime in the blurry transition between real bike messengers and ironic hipsters pretending the folks at Pabst changed it all up:
Or you can head over and read Walker's original piece from 2003.
And i should add - it is a DAMN good read. Sitting here a few years later, the story of Narragansett beer isn't much different, another Virtual Brewery, with a local marketing campaign not dissimilar from the one Pabst started back in the early 2000s.
And I'll be honest. a Gansett tall boy is one of my go to options for one reason, it is cheap, and not offensive. I can appreciate a damn fine beer, but sometimes, you just want something cold and bubbly to drink that isn't a soda or fizzy water.
So I probably could have said - just read that first link and this other one and say my bro was in on the local indie music scene and was a bike messenger in the 90s and was instrumental in giving PBR it's first bump. But now? He won't touch the stuff.
He left PBR pretty soon after leaving the messenger scene, likely because he saw it becoming trendy and he wanted to blaze his own path. That punk ass kid brother of mine certainly has. And to make it worse? He's really one of the only fat vegans I know. He became a vegan back in 1991, again, waaaaaaay before it was popular, or easy to do.
I'm sure everyone knows someone like my brother who lead a trend and then jumped, he is still a vegan, vegan house, vegan kids, vegan wife... and still doing just what he wants, his way, and I admire that in my little brother, even if he is responsible for the whole hipster infatuation with PBR.
heddwch
G
So yeah well I've got this little brother of mine.
back say many moons ago, he was freshly freed of college plan for music a year or two in and he started being a bike messenger.
Back then messengers actually used geared bike, usually road bikes and sometime they'd just use the bike they would race on the weekends. Some Seattle messengers used mt bikes with Specialized Fat boys and fenders and bar ends for warding off the occasional door.
No one used a track bike for messengering. But my brother and another guy he worked with got tired of wearing out chains and cogs and went got track bikes. My bro described it more like a Zen state of riding, very different and it gave a new challenge, made it interesting. But IIRC he went back to gears because he started working doing long distance bike deliveries. 30-40-50 mile trips for a delivery, to the outlying Seattle areas. That never made sense to me but hey - if you can keep a couple messengers fed there's got to be some money there.
But this isn't about my little bro (who ain't so little, and is just a couple years younger than I am - no so young either) and his bikes.
No, not the bikes but I have to set the scene. Hell he had perfect white guy dreadlocks in High School (shaved his head clean in the bathroom 5 minutes before graduation - much to the horror of all the girls and my mother).
So where did these messengers hang out? The found the oddest, deadest, lowest traffic bars in the city to hang out. They became regulars. These old bars weren't selling much of the trendy new Micro-brew the rest of the city watering holes were switching over to. No, these places hearkened back to the real roots of that city. The Blue Collar workers from the shipyards or Boeing or the docks/longshoreman. It really was a big blue collar area, that's why you'll still find some of the most hard core rednecks in Western Washington - honest hard core dichotomy now. Back when these bars were popular the white collar paper pushers worked in the Smith tower or one of the smaller office buildings. Yeah Smith Tower used to be offices. I'm talking before 1975, hell 20 years before that too. Doesn't seem that long ago to me but then, well... probably not to man of you, my friends reading this. Okay if Hoppy garden has gotten this far 1975 is like prehistoric times for him.
So those workers would all have their local place. They'd stop on the way home every day to check in with their friends. They'd have a couple beers, a couple shots maybe and head home to their arm chair, watch some news and eat the dinner their wives made for them. These bars survived on routine and tradition. Pabst was one of the few surviving beers from that era still in these bars when my brother started messengering.
PBR also happened to be THE cheapest beer. Dollar drafts, Fifty Cent Drafts, you could get loaded on a bike messenger income. You could also drink a ton of it and not really feel too bad the next day. And it was cheap. And Iconic. These guys felt pride in drinking something with those roots.
Then it became popular with people trying to work into that messenger culture, but it really stayed low key until the birth of the hipster years after my brother moved on from delivering stuff on two wheels. Damn hipsters saw the messengers as easy prey and swept in and took their traditions.
Sometime in the blurry transition between real bike messengers and ironic hipsters pretending the folks at Pabst changed it all up:
Pivoting off the unlikely discovery that PBR had a following among bike messengers and indie rockers, the beer’s brand managers opted for an approach that eschewed television ads and big-ticket sponsorships in favor of potlucks and art shows.So yeah, maybe you can blame the birth of the hipster on their favorite and identifying beer on the corporation in charge of the label.
Or you can head over and read Walker's original piece from 2003.
And i should add - it is a DAMN good read. Sitting here a few years later, the story of Narragansett beer isn't much different, another Virtual Brewery, with a local marketing campaign not dissimilar from the one Pabst started back in the early 2000s.
And I'll be honest. a Gansett tall boy is one of my go to options for one reason, it is cheap, and not offensive. I can appreciate a damn fine beer, but sometimes, you just want something cold and bubbly to drink that isn't a soda or fizzy water.
So I probably could have said - just read that first link and this other one and say my bro was in on the local indie music scene and was a bike messenger in the 90s and was instrumental in giving PBR it's first bump. But now? He won't touch the stuff.
He left PBR pretty soon after leaving the messenger scene, likely because he saw it becoming trendy and he wanted to blaze his own path. That punk ass kid brother of mine certainly has. And to make it worse? He's really one of the only fat vegans I know. He became a vegan back in 1991, again, waaaaaaay before it was popular, or easy to do.
I'm sure everyone knows someone like my brother who lead a trend and then jumped, he is still a vegan, vegan house, vegan kids, vegan wife... and still doing just what he wants, his way, and I admire that in my little brother, even if he is responsible for the whole hipster infatuation with PBR.
heddwch
G
POTM
So yeah a theme here. Good or bad - F'it.
I caught Mark's tweet about his web log post.
Solid man. I've been saying for a while, esp here in New England, the top 10 people in any given Cat 4 field, road or cross, SHOULD be AUTOMATICALLY and FORCIBLY upgraded to cat 3 with more than 2 or 3 top 15 placings esp with the size of the fields we have.
But that's my opinion. They should probably push the front of the Cat 3 field up as well.
And then later he mentioned his upgrade request was denied.
Bigger issue - seriously, a set of wheels for winning a cat 4 race series? Nice and all but in 1997 or '98 when i discovered the sport I just got a plaque with my name on it as series winner. 2nd place got jack... i also got a "hey, welcome to the B race." The fields in Michigan were wicked small compared to the 100-200 rider fields you can see at either ends of the country but there was a concerted effort to get faster and when you did you moved up. End of story.
CAT UP or STAY HOME.
My road team mate is (in my mind) guilty of staying a cat 4 way too long. he is "justifying" making the front end of the race faster than it should be with teh complaint that he doesn't want to race later in the day. Oh boo hoo. You've done your time, move on and cat up Man. CAT UP (road and cross).
Maybe Crossresults should put a list together of these Cat 4 sandbaggers and send it to the USAC official in charge of upgrading. Would make it better/easier for the beginners. Not maybe so much for me because those old Cat 4 35+ guys are probably a lot faster than me right now. Would give me more people to chase but stick me further back. Not sure that's a good thing for me.
Oh well. Great post by Mark, I probably ruined the taste of it with my expounding on it but hey - this is my web log, want to read something good? go somewhere else, I'd say Solo's page but he's down to one post every couple weeks, not much new content over there (okay just checked, still me leading him in PVD).
heddwch
G
I caught Mark's tweet about his web log post.
Solid man. I've been saying for a while, esp here in New England, the top 10 people in any given Cat 4 field, road or cross, SHOULD be AUTOMATICALLY and FORCIBLY upgraded to cat 3 with more than 2 or 3 top 15 placings esp with the size of the fields we have.
But that's my opinion. They should probably push the front of the Cat 3 field up as well.
And then later he mentioned his upgrade request was denied.
Bigger issue - seriously, a set of wheels for winning a cat 4 race series? Nice and all but in 1997 or '98 when i discovered the sport I just got a plaque with my name on it as series winner. 2nd place got jack... i also got a "hey, welcome to the B race." The fields in Michigan were wicked small compared to the 100-200 rider fields you can see at either ends of the country but there was a concerted effort to get faster and when you did you moved up. End of story.
CAT UP or STAY HOME.
My road team mate is (in my mind) guilty of staying a cat 4 way too long. he is "justifying" making the front end of the race faster than it should be with teh complaint that he doesn't want to race later in the day. Oh boo hoo. You've done your time, move on and cat up Man. CAT UP (road and cross).
Maybe Crossresults should put a list together of these Cat 4 sandbaggers and send it to the USAC official in charge of upgrading. Would make it better/easier for the beginners. Not maybe so much for me because those old Cat 4 35+ guys are probably a lot faster than me right now. Would give me more people to chase but stick me further back. Not sure that's a good thing for me.
Oh well. Great post by Mark, I probably ruined the taste of it with my expounding on it but hey - this is my web log, want to read something good? go somewhere else, I'd say Solo's page but he's down to one post every couple weeks, not much new content over there (okay just checked, still me leading him in PVD).
heddwch
G
QOTM
You want to hold your hoods in your hands like a pair of baseball bats you plan to smash the course with, not places to gently rest your hands while you think about how good you look in your Rapha kit.
From Mr Blackwell. That and Myles must have been listening to the IM chat I had with G-ride a couple days ago/last week when he called me Grumble Wookie, and then it spiraled down to where his annoying critical nature makes his character C3PO, and Curtis B's flair for style and attracting chicks makes him a shoe in for Han Solo. Eventually someone had to be Yoda. Who better. Myerspace. Mr. Yoda. Speaks mostly in 140 character phrases. Perfect for the Yoda, Twitter is.
Props Mr Blackwell, nailed it with that analysis. That and, sorry Cathy and the rest of the NEBC female crew, I'm with him on the knee high socks. Solobreak can get away with his pipi longstockings socks because he doesn't wear them at every race and he's been pulling em up to his balls for probably 20+ years now, or at least as long as he's been doing cross from the sounds of it. And he's old enough that he doesn't have to pull them up as high as before, Thank GOD for the support of lycra!
The tallest socks that should be worn in cross would be these You can order them from the web page there or find Gary David (or any of us Cyclocross racing grassroots team members) at a race and save yourself the shipping, bring a 410 for one or $20 for two pair. Pro-tip. Get one a slightly larger size (they are wicked thin) you can stick a pair of your woolies under the socks and look cool even when it is cold out. Because, You HAVE to have a big red and white CX on the socks. It isn't ironic, it is cool.
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