So - lousy production but - Hey - it is a step up from previous GeWilli one take wonders. Kinda stretching on the content tho...

ah well what the hell...

Check Out JP's concentration...

Can't wait for the big reveal tonight at Midnight!

(or is it midnight Belgie Time that it can be revealed meaning um... what time here in the states?)

Look at the angle on those bars. They are set super pro - not all fake pro and silly pointed retarded-like to the rear hub. Ya gonna have drops - heck might as well set the bars so you could use em if ya want to.

This Interview.

But it was conveniently cold enough for me to park the bike today and do the double kid drop off. Temps reporting around 9-16°F around here. Better than the -10°F they were showing for way up in the boondocks of VT.

Much needed rest day. I've sort of been calling this week my weight lifting phase in my head. Well that's what I tell myself everytime I'm cranking at low cadences with very high loads heading up hills with the loaded trailer. Or if the trailer is unloaded up a hill I'll be sure to be in the 18 in the back at least. Been thinking about that for a couple weeks now. And the extra rest days have seem to be paying off more than the work.

Last night I did something unusual outside of cross season. My legs were feeling pretty sore, residual from the work load of the week. So I grabbed my Badger Balm Sore Muscle rub after doing a solid session with the stick, and worked that stuff in for a while. It had me thinking about a few things. First, with the stick. That sumbitch is like a epilator. Yes. I haven't shaved since Natz Schmatz Redo. It is scary. And it freaking HURTS when those plastic rollers pinch together and rip out hairs. The other thought was regarding care of legs and what not. I know many folks who do the whole massage kinda thing (self or pro) year round. This past cross season I mostly did it as pre-race prep the night before and then post race. And post running. Never really much during training. So. This thinking had me saying, ya know, it is probably a good idea to do this stuff on a regular basis. If I I don't have sore legs by bedtime (on non-easy ride days) then I probably am not riding hard enough. And then the thing is - the only way to get a light load or not ride hard enough is to ride without the trailer. Esp as the little one isn't so little any more. The Battenkill hills are what I visualize anytime I'm cranking up a hill lately. And I also realized going into last year, I didn't spend nearly enough time working on out of the saddle climbing time. I was spending most of the time (last year) looking at the effing power numbers spinning up hills in the little ring. And when it came time to climb with the pack, I needed equal ability to sit and spin AND stand and crank. My stand and crank muscles weren't ready for that load... And so when it came to spinning down the back side - the spinning muscles were burned up. Lose lose situation. Grinding shouldn't be over looked in the training regieme it seems, just as spinning alone shouldn't. It is about balance. Being comfortable at 120 rpms for an hour or two is just as helpful as being able to muscle out a hill for 20 minutes standing at 60-75 rpm...

Time to muscle through some D now that coffee time is over. And again. It is a bad sign when I start eating my lunch before 10am.

Heddwch
G

Monique, over at velonews, has put up another eat right 'article' and yes I know. It isn't targeted at me. It's targeted at those with KFC and Ding Dong Ho Ho fetishes. Those who feel incomplete without a bit of processed white flower and high fructose corn syrup.

But even then. I read the first bit about sat fat and man I know plenty of people who went on a very successful diet where they ate not one gram of saturated fats or cholesterol with the sole intent and purpose to get the cholesterol number down.

What happened. Bueler? Bueler? Their cholesterol numbers skyrocketed. What? WHY? They didn't eat any but their numbers got worse? WTF?

Well. Ya see. We are just walking chunks of meat. Turns out, we MAKE it in our body. When we don't eat any the body can over produce it. It is possible that the dramatic switch from cholesterol to non at an older age may have triggered it. I guess it goes to say - moderation.

Oh and Omega-3 is pretty pointless to try and target if you are getting it from sources with high amounts of Omega-6. Someone with my background than me pointed that out- look it up.

I'm just ranting to quiet the demons in my own head.

Anyway - i mentioned other stuff.

Must watch: (code didn't work)
Thanks suds for posting it

I just stole his source code since I seem to be too retarded to find the originating link and do it the right way. Hope it works. If not just go to his blog and watch it.

And last bit. One of the Powertapheads mentioned efficiency at low pedal cadences and stuff. No names, no need to remember who and all that. Did yall read Josh's Top TT tips? "36 Ways to A Faster TT"

Good stuff there. Esp if ya gonna be hitting a local club TT.

I know this bit stuck in Solobreak's craw. Figured I'd beat him to the punch since he's too focused on A, B, C and D lately.

29) Optimum cadence for a time trial is generally 90 to 105, but you must practice this. Leg speed is the key to cycling and it is easy to train. If you can pedal smoothly at 120 rpm in training, you will be extremely efficient at 105 rpm in the race. To train this, do one interval a week building from 10 minutes to an hour with very little resistance at 115 to 130 rpm.

Did everyone see that?
Leg speed is the key to cycling and it is easy to train.

Hmmm. Leg speed is the key to cycling. Hmmm.

But my HR goes up. Sure it does. But lets use another example. Say a cyclist goes for a run for the first time in over 6 months. Heck drop it to a reasonable bit of time. What does their HR do? Then say this cyclist runs every other day for a couple weeks. Is the HR the same as it was the first time? Assuming distance and speed are similar the HR goes down.

Now for those 'tapheads and number crunchers - sure you are just as efficient at low cadences and can produce the same amount of watts as those struggling with a high HR in training with a high cadence. What happens come race day? Hmmm.

This is nothing new to anyone I suppose. But it seems people are far too content to be a 75-85 rpm pathlete in Road races and Crits. "I need a 56 tooth chainring or I will get dropped in a sprint." Anyone paying attention last year to some kid named Gavin's results will see how retarded that notion is. Here's a kid with Junior gear restrictions kicking the asses of "big gear" jocks.

I'm not saying that you need to leave the church of the big ring. But to maximize your leg speed USING THE BIG RING WHEN IT COUNTS - you need to learn how to pedal fast for a long time.

But remember I ain't know jack about training. Lots of good ideas. I read too much, probably read enough to actually know what I'm talking about in a theoretical sense, just lacking the empirical side. Or maybe not. Maybe I know what works by the fact I know what doesn't work. I know I'm not getting fast by not training. I do know i get slower when I don't take a rest day during the week. It seems 5 days in a row of pulling a loaded trailer for just under two hours a day is enough work to just make me tired all the time. Taking at least one day off seems to give the muscles time to recover and rebuilt. Kinda funny. I know if you want to win in a sprint you have to train for a sprint but you also have to train so you can be there in the end for the sprint. How? I dunno. I'm just having too much damn fun riding my bike. If I get faster along the way then, well that's cool.

Heddwch
G

PS - remember I'm not a coach/doctor/nutritionist/whatever and as much as I seem to play online - bottom line: I am not one. I am just me. And you can be assured I'll change my mind about something or everything at some point.

The guy might be a darn good pitcher. But he seems to be piling up solid evidence that he's not very smart. He'd better hope that old pile of needles ain't got any DNA of his on them.

"Daddy The Top Came Off"

Damn that's a fine film.

EAST BOUND AND DOWN - loaded up and Trucking...

Dman I ain't afraid to say... I really do like that movie.

That Allied Van Lines move... Damn I love that!

Gotta watch Part 1 and part 2

Thanks ErikV

For around here at least. Temp range from 18-20°F. And, predictably I was over heating. Toes cool. Face cool. But not cold. No fancy balaclava. No fancy vent taped up old helmet. Just that Ibex wool beanie under my Giro Pneumo. Wicked stiff head/cross wind as well. Esp coming across that shell strewn section I posted yesterday. Wind just blasting across the bay. It was just me and an unloaded trailer on the way in. Little one hitched a ride in the car. A couple times I actually felt alone on the path. Just knowing someone is with ya back there is enough to provide a bit of companionship. With the construction and the bridge detours and the free bus pass here at work, many cyclists have taken to hopping on the big public transport option. The trailer just doesn't fit so well on those racks on the busses, not to mention go anywhere (easily without a handful of transfers) near where we need to get to for the drop off. Anyway

Bike bits fell apart last night. For a while my rear tire has had an odd hop in it. I sort of chalked it up to the 28c tire with a 28-35c tube sitting inside a filleted tube. Till last night. The whump whump whump I felt heading down a hill at 25+ mph suddenly became a whump-thwack whump-thwack whump-thwack. Uh Oh.

Look down. Shoot - the tire is bulging and uh oh - tube is sticking out rubbing the chain stay every rev. A quick tweak of the QR (thanks horizontal drop outs) and it isn't rubbing. Quick drop in PSI and it isn't sticking out as far. And then, oh, right that's not the actual tube. It's the liner. Actual tube and I probably would have had a blow out. I make it home. Bouncing along with about 40 psi in the rear (yes, dragging trailer, crunching mussel and clam shells) wasn't terribly confident inspiring. But. Not changing a flat in the dwindling light of day is a good thing.

Home. get some dinner made and eaten. Head out to the bike room. Pop bike in repair stand. Remove rear wheel. Hmm. Tire = toast. $15 tire (or was it $20 I dunno). Looking back at the records - ie this web log thing - I realize that this bit of rubber was put on as far back as: Wednesday, May 02, 2007. Damn that's some decent numbers. Sure probably only three to four thousand miles on it. The center tread is down to about a millimeter, loads of cuts and what not. Probably got my money's worth. But, I didn't have a new one to slap on there. Team order for Schwable tires hasn't gone in yet. What to put on. Old checked side wall 23c Conti Grand Prix (old school - ala 1997ish)? Hmmm. Not ready to bust out the 4 season 28s for commuting duty yet. Well. Hey here's a foldable nice light road tire. A Grand Sport IIRC, Conti. Ah but only a 20c? What the hell. Why not. The rubber is as hard as a rock. Narrow is good for snow and ice, probably dodge more shells with less contact. Might as well use up what I have before buying more. I've ridden skinnier tires in the day (well 18 front 20 back was how I rode in College). So, it is settled. Oh. But need new brake pads. Oh look. I still have (in a bag) the ScottMatt pads that were on the bike when I bought it in 1991 (and took off cause I thought they looked cheap). Well. Riding in I can tell you. They work just fine. Look pretty funny bolted to Dura-Ace brakes. They are pads you would expect to see on a set of dia-comp centerpulls off a 1982 univega or something. Good thing I've grown up and can take a hit on the image meter. And honestly, I found my self wondering: WWSD. What Would Sheldon Do. Or at least, what would I imagine Sheldon to do? Buy something new or use what is on hand to make due? Maybe I'm channeling some other bike guru - focusing on the Reduce Reuse Recycle side of things. I'm thinking of re-using the Seca tread as a mr-tuffy type device. Thinking about it, doesn't mean I will. But I probably will cut out the wire bead and find an appropriate spot for it. Maybe as a liner for one of the bigger commuter tires that go on the cross bike... Hmmm. So many variables.

And in case you have missed it:

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. March 2,
at the First Unitarian Society in Newton, at 1326
Washington St. (across the street from Harris Cyclery)
West Newton.

For those pedaling to the memorial service, there will
be a designated bicycle parking area. A police detail
will be on hand, but please bring your lock.

Sheldon’s family has requested that memorial donations
be made to the causes and groups that he loved best -
Cycling Advocacy/Education and Community Theatre.

As his influence was world wide, please consider any
of the following:

MassBike
171 Milk Street
Suite 33
Boston. MA 02109
617-542-6755
http://www.massbike.org

Revels, Inc.
80 Mt. Auburn Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-972-8300
Revels Inc.

Or consider a gift in Sheldon’s name to your local
cycling advocacy or community theatre organization.

There ya go.

Yogurt Boy has been writing a Tome lately on his travels. Well worth a read.

I could use one heck of a lot more B. And arguably probably some C. And D has kept this sitting here being slowly added to while sipping coffee or whatever happens to find me not responding to email/phone help.

heddwch
G

Cooking up a chicken. Yeah.

Week night following a bike commute no less. (we don't exactly eat dinner at 5pm at our place).

Last night. It was a nice Bell and Evans bird, picked up at the market ($2/pound - if they aren't in the meat case, ask, they usually have a bunch of birds in the walk in). It was a smallish 4 pounder.

So took it out, washed it, dried it. Turned the oven on to 500°F (using the convection option I got on it). Made a bit of teriyaki(sp?) with some shoyu, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Warmed it up to dissolve the sugar. Stuffed the bird with 1 lemon cut up into small wedges, one lobe of ginger sliced into disks, and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs. And slowly drizzled the skin with the soy sauce mix. Popped it in a pan. Breast side up for 15 minutes. Flipped it over, stuffed a remote read thermometer in the coldest/thickest part of the breast and popped it in the hot oven, dropping the temp down to 350. Yeah. Cook the damn thing breast side down. Seriously. And holy CRAP talk about amazing flavor. Smelled amazing cooking it. I made up some short grain brown rice, and sauted some carrots and brilliant meal. Oh so yummy. The carrots are a solid favorite with the girls. I first almost carmelize some onions in a bit of olive oil, then plunk in the chopped carrots, add a splash of sesame oil, some dried thyme (crushed in the palm of my hand) and a bit of Shoyu sauce. Cook till soft. Use organic carrots of course. I still peel them before chopping. And. You'll never be able to eat carrots cooked any other way (well cooked alone - not counting including them in a Mirepoix or stews.

It really didn't take long for the chicken to come to temperature. And the girls devoured it. I'm not a big chicken fan but for not much more than $10 feeding a family of four and having enough left overs to feed some cyclist at lunch? That's a good value. Oh and I do NOT truss the damn bird. No need. And yes cooking it breast side down is critical for a succulent juice breast that makes your mouth water (there - that's probably about as much talking about putting breasts in my mouth as I can without getting in trouble)

I love real food. There is some great satisfaction in cooking and eating the best mother nature provides.

Life's too short to eat crappy food.
heddwch
G

Here are a few snap shots from the way home and one of the Brants this morning. Damn those birds are cool!





There were 17 Brants all told in the group I saw this morning. These were headed off one way (while I was trying to capture them on the CCD) and the others scooted off in the opposite direction.

This last shot. You can get a good idea of the mine field I ride through every day.


Heddwch
G

Yes, very happy to hope it rains. Wash away the snow on the path. Rain, I'll take you rain. Easy to dress for. Sure you get wet but water is water. Ya dry off, eventually.

It beats the struggle through the snowy ice remnants on the path. I suppose I would feel differently if the path was plowed as well as the roads. Or plowed at all.

I look at the line, the difference between the green and white on the radar and am happy to be solidly in the green. Sure 42°F and rain is going to feel far colder than 22° F and snow, but... Rain doesn't build up on my commute route.

I like the rain.

Riding in it, I really enjoy. There is something extra I find to power myself with when precipitation is falling wet and steady on a ride. Sure, I will often be put off by rain before starting a ride. I never mind if I starts raining after I'm already on the bike. Nor do I might getting caught at work when it is raining. Getting home is getting home. On the bike or not.

I fear though that there won't be enough rain and it won't be quite warm enough to remove all the crunchy solid footstep created ice from the few stretches of bike path left covered as of this morning. The hope is there that it is clear. But I'm doubtful. Goes along with the pessimistic outlook. You are either constantly being proven right or pleasantly suprised.

That and this week I have taken to stuffing the big over size, slow, over weight Oly D-460z digi cam. Ya know a nice y2k model. It might be heavy, it might be slow, it might only have 1.3 megapixels. But it still works, who needs to be spreading images over the net bigger than that anyway? Sort of like the "it ain't broke, don't replace it" line of thought. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Reducing the waist line while being hungry is good... But me, right now, I don't have much waist to reduce... and I'm HUNGRY. grrrr NEED FOOD... and on that note... food... be good... ride safe...

heddwch
g

calls em sissy levers! (2|25|08 entry).

CTodd has a nice interview with Christine Vardaros up right now. Go give it a watch.

Yogurt Boy is rolling around Euro-Land like a pig in slop and writing about it.

Litka decided to add some diversity to the local with some videos.

Murat's decided that he's solved his knee issue.

You can buy genuine crappy cowbells for about a dollar at iParty Stores (online seems to be about double or more the price in store). By a couple dozen in a team color, slap some stickers on it - sell em for $5-10 or give em away or both.

The ride in was pretty solid. Just a shade less Ice and snow than yesterday, but it was definitely more ice and bumpier. But Staying seated I was pretty much able to power through it. Loads of woah - i'm riding on sheer ice draggin a trailer. Power power smooooooooth.

Got me thinking yesterday riding through the stuff. Truly the best way to approach hitting ice and what not is to pretend you are on a fixed gear and just never stop pedaling and KEEP the power output ABSOLUTELY smooth. If ya got a powertap that means pedal using the hub sensing cadence and watching the cadence go from 60 to 141 to 80 to 60 to 141 all the time keeping the same pedal speed. Ya see when the hub can't sense your retarded monkey power pedaling I has no freaking clue what your cadence is. Pretty funny, I think. And yes, I spent many hours on the bike duplicating, testing and determining what the hell was happening. An example would be pedal smooth until the cadence starts going all berserk, then without changing gear or speed pedal lumpy squares - boom cadence settles down perfectly - smooth it out - berserk - lumpy - stable. Annoying as all fahking get out. Anyway. That's how ya have to ride through ice. Light in the bars, weight on the rear, smooth and flowing. Very zen like. A challenge, esp with slick 28c tires at 95 psi dragging an 80-90 pound trailer.

Got some images from yesterday morning and last night. Will post em up soon.

Also. Yesterday and then today, I saw the first Brants. Six of them. Unmistakable. Very cool to see our visitors from the Arctic. They are beautiful Birds.

This time of year there are more different species of Birds along the bike path than any other time of year. Mostly ducks and waterfowl of various types. And then of course the damn carpet bombing flying sea rats. I will say though. When they start chattering, it softens me right up. Something about the sound of seagulls chattering that brings me home to a happy place. But, these gulls here on the Bay are super quiet compared to the ones out around Puget Sound. At least that's how I am remembering it right now.

I sat down to read the intro of Maynard's Half-wheel book. I'd forgotten his stint with Winning magazine. I'd forgotten that I subscribed to Winning very soon after they started publishing it and that it was probably there that I'd first read Maynard's writing.

And in retrospect Mike F's writing wasn't a whole heck of a lot different. And then I got more introspective and realized, these cycling writers, those who fictionalize in a way and capture the emotion and spirit of riding are my heros more than the guys who race the bikes. Maynard, O'Grady, Ferrentino, Krabbé and really the compellingly written web logs that abound. These web logs embody the spirit that the trio get paid to write (draw) about. They might be unpolished (or bright and shiny) but they tell a story. Reading about a race can be compelling. But not from a reporters point of view trying to cover everything. Reading about a race written by a competitor, now that's compelling.

And in the words of Krabbé:

Losing the final sprint had been a bitter disappointment, but now that was a blessing - success, especially your own, is not a good subject; failure is.

Reading, writers, books. I am a sucker for a good book. Well written. Maybe not the best crafted book. But often I do find books I just can't get through. Ones that even with a subject matter that draws me in, I just can't finish. I usually have 3-4 books in process at a time. The most compelling ones I tend to try to devour first. Then I just randomly try and sort through the rest. And without fail typically I can pick right up, recalling instantly my place in the book as if I had just put it down.

Might explain the jumping around. Like for some reason why I want to remember to talk about my socks. My wife picked up some size XL smart wool cycling socks from the REI closeout sale. $4 IIRC. On the package it talks about all temperature comfort. Well. They aren't bad at 28°F but they aren't exactly warm. Not like the Blaze. But they are about 1/8th as thick as the Blaze socks. It got me thinking riding in that most cyclists would say temps below 60°F are cold to ride in. Requiring extra layers, booties and what not. I'm probably one of the few just putting a thin pair of socks in my Sidis and nothing else.

I got some images to put up I guess. Oh and the novelty of bouncing over the icy snow had worn off for my passenger this morning. She's a darn good sport. Good Karma ride, two pedestrians made approving verbal utterings as I rode by, and a car paused and waited for me without need or yield. Good stuff.

Work that Karma.

heddwch
g

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.
- Elbert Hubbard

Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic.
- Dan Rather

This I clicked on from Maynard's web log (thanks for the link bruce).

Powerful. Took a minute after it was over to really sink in. The boat pointed towards shore, on the bottom of what use to be the water... The love a daughter has for her father can be an amazing bond.

Sigh - the emotions of life. Dads out there - ya know what I'm talking about.

Heddwch
G

Can't they plow the damn path when it snows. It is super crunch and pretty challenging in a few sections. So much so that I was forced to run with the trailer and the bike about 3200 feet (yall do your own conversions - that is how Google maps lists the distance right now). Good thing I had MT shoes with toe spikes. Man, talk about good cross core work out. Running with your bike attached to a loaded trailer.

We pulled off the path at a side street and the little one said "No More Ice?" Fortunately she thought it was pretty cool to crunch through the ice crusted snow. But promptly fell asleep as soon as the ride smoothed out.

New Bars on the P-mount, thanks to a generous friend and a nice sit down in person meeting over coffee at the Market in Warren with Solobreak. Thanks MAN. It also proved that you get two or more people who've been riding, racing and wrenching on bikes for 20+ years each and ya never run out of things to talk about cycling wise. Anyway, got the Syncros stem back on there. And holy crap does my fork have a ton of flex in it. Before, the bar and stem flexed just about as much. But now, bar and stem transmit more force into the fork blades than before. Might be time for a new fork. These aluminum ones (Forks) don't exactly last forever. The Pmount is back to looking 'right' mmm and that black syncros goodness... ahh wicked light.

The room was a huge success. Looks great and the girls are very happy with it.

I wonder what's going on around the word of blog...
hmmm

Till next time
Heddwch
G

Painting baseboard trim kills.

Took me till the very final bit of trim to figure out how to paint the Behr crap with a brush. But by then where I started was ready for a second coat and I rocked that shit.

Behr paint effing BLOWS. Fine for painting with a roller. But the shit is HORRIBLE to paint with a brush. From what I hear the bomb for trim is Benjamin Moore in semi-gloss or gloss.... Did I say it already? Behr sucks.

It is done. Kinda got into the zen of it (painting). Ran out of pod casts mid-day friday. I ended up listening to a late 80s release of Black 47. HOLY SHIT is that depressing. Painting did something. It forced me to really actually listen to the lyrics of some of the stuff. The celtic pod cast i was listening to before Black 47 was also pretty depressing and lemme tell you there is a crop of Amurican "Irish" bands that do a seriously shitty ass job at 'faking' accents.

The slight eff ups on the paint were painfully obvious with the room empty. But with just a few bits of stuff in there and the floor cleared, it is hardly noticeable. A bit of left over to touch up if needed. But lots of time to think.

Managed to read a couple more kms of Krabbe... but usually i just climbed in bed and passed out from exhaustion. In a way I am glad the roads were so crappy, there was no temptation to get out for the Rhode Island Smack Down ride (10am Saturday DePasquale Square). Between shoveling, painting, running up and down the stairs, moving stuff I'm feeling pretty hosed. But considering I'm old and don't do this stuff for a living - I feel positive. I can't kneel, much less touch my knees. But that's okay. I survived and it does look pretty freaking awesome. They will be surprised when they come back.

Oh and I read a few more essays from maynard. I gotta say - they should be REQUIRED reading for cyclists. Loads of common sense kinda stuff, well written.

Now I'm ready for vacation.

Heddwch
G

Torn - wanting to stay to hear this lecture in the area tonight:
Writer Michael Pollan will discuss his new best seller, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, in a Feb. 21, 2008, lecture at 6 p.m.

AAAAAAAHHHHHH nuts.

But family is first. Girls room has to be finished. And Sleep will do more good than the lecture (i can always buy the book).

Topping the New York Times Bestseller List for hardcover non-fiction, In Defense of Food explores the modern food landscape and its effect on consumer health. Pollan said Americans are increasingly consuming “edible food-like substances” – energy bars, chicken nuggets, drinkable yogurt in portable tubes – that are products not of nature, but the food industry. Pollan argues that in a rush to improve health, Americans have focused too heavily on nutrition, adding vitamins, whole grains, fatty acids and other “healthful” ingredients to food. But after a generation of “nutritionism,” Pollan notes that Americans aren’t any healthier.

Anyone who even slightly tacitly has read anything I've said about food must grasp the conflict. But, then, do I really need to go hear a version of what I've been saying all along?

I just hope the people who go, actually benefit and learn. It sounds like they are expecting such a huge crowd that the lecture will be simulcast from a second hall once the first one fills up. Crazy.

Ah well. I'm just heading home to paint. Plug myself into the iPod for a couple hours. Eat what ever I have left over (I think I still have one serving of linguini with linguica sausage cream sauce) and paint some more.

I really actually hate painting. Hate it with a passion. Not sure why. I like painting on canvas and stuff but painting a room is like a coloring book - completely void of all imagination and creativity. All that is left to master are the details. The mind numbing painfully obvious details. I ain't bad at it after all these years, I just don't like it. Oh well. Even not liking it, the room won't paint itself and I really don't like the color that it is and neither do the girls, and the ceiling looks freaking awesome all clean and painted - can't wait for the rest of it. I guess there is some suspense and curiosity to see if the color I picked actually looks like I think it will/hope.

I've got a few photos - at the end of the project I might put them together.

Time to ride home and hope that the wind hasn't changed direction or died down since I came in!

heddwch
G

I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book.
Groucho Marx

I'm not quite to Marx's level. But without fail. If the damn thing is on and it is something I don't want to watch - I get way more work done.

Really damn good thing that there are only a handful of channels coming in over the rabbit ears - and half of them are fuzzy. 'cause with cable or dish or fiber stuff, man i would have a hard time resisting the brain numbing content being blindly hurled through the media... Deadliest Catch Marathon? Oh yeah. Me likey (no idea if they had a marathon of the show or not - or if the show is still on the air - but just using it as an example from my fat slothen days living in michigan commuting by car)

Car + TV (in excess) = fat stupid people

(I am sitting drinking coffee because I have realized - all this painting and caulking and cutting and carrying and ya know - work plus the running and the added intensity I've been getting in on the bike plus the being hungry a lot and eating two meals a day -very large ones and a few snacks mixed in - i'm kinda sore - sitting feels good - I think carrying a gallon of paint around the room for a couple hours in one hand and reaching up and painting with a brush over my head for the other - kinda has a few things in my back saying "YOU ARE AN IDIOT" - but I don't care. I'm on a mission to get this room finished!!!!!)

heddwch
g

Yes - check Gwadzilla's post here - I think they are really really stupid if you are going to be outside exercising (running or cycling).

But. Painting? Man Let me tell you. Flipping brilliant. I suppose just turning on the radio would work too. But. Most of them suck around here, there isn't one up in the room where I was painting today. And a Tiesto 2 hour mix makes the time fly by!

Brilliant stuff. For painting. And the silly white ear buds are great. They match the paint splatter from the ceiling color!

G

#1 the riding flat out sucks around Orlando from what I've heard.
#2 scheduled days from breakfast to bed for a whole week just kinda rubs me wrong
#3 I need a vacation
#4 Team meeting at Casters that shouldn't be missed
and really the only one that matters...
#5 Remodeling the girls room

I'm pooped. We got the trim work finished yesterday. I swung through Lowes at 9:15 last night (between glimpses of the lunar eclipse - how cool was that), grabbed the marshmellow fluff like spackle, the Alex the wood filler and the waterbased urethane headed home and started caulking and spackling like a mad man. Wrapping up after about 2.5 hours.

Started reading The Rider before falling asleep and woke up, made a triple shot of espresso and did one last bit of caulking. Taped the plastic cloth over the whole damn floor, did a final dust/brush of the paint surfaces. And broke out the brush to coat the exposed wood and paneling with some nice 1.2.3 primer sealer stuff. Washed the brushes. Then busted out the really dirty and covered in paint orange suit and started rolling the ceiling. Honestly I don't think they could have put more texture in it. Ceiling is completely finished now! Yipee. It is drying. And my lungs are getting a break from the ammonia-like fumes from the Behr Ceiling paint. I almost drove in here for a meeting but, decided, I needed to get on that bike and get some air through the lungs to blast out this paint. That and parking is a bigger pain in the ass than, well, me this time of day. So I'm eating lunch (that pasta with the mushrooms and and zucchini from earlier in the week) waiting for coffee to finish brewing, and waiting for the meeting (oh and typing this of course). MULTI-TASK MAN. MTM. That's me.

When I went down to the bookshelves last night looking for Tim's book I found a couple other books that are good "worthy reads" for cyclists. Okay one of the ones I found is pretty lame and not that great but has some good stories. The other is a master piece.

Does the name Maynard Hershon ring a bell? The new kids around might have missed his legacy in VeloNews. That back page belonged to Maynard for most of the 80s and 90s. He probably was the reason the back page existed in its form. I flipped open the book and read one of the short stories. It was great.

Sure it is dated. It is old. But man I tell ya. Put this thin little book right next to Tim Krabbe's The Rider on the cyclist's must read list. Or the cyclists who read. Or the cyclists who aren't too busy playing with their power tap files in excel or cycling peaks or emailing them to their coach or... well you get the idea. You got time to read, grab yourself a copy and read it.

The title story is a true MUST read for any roadie, or any cyclist who rides on a bike path or road with other people, from Pathlete to Gumbie to Fred to Tri (wait - not triathletes what are they gonna get out of it?)

Man - i'm pooped. I'll say this though. It is damn nice being six and a half feet tall when ya gotta paint the edge around a ceiling.

Feeling pressure to get it done. I can't do the polyU on the threshold chunk of maple until i get the drop cloths up. Can't pull them up till I get everything painted. Girls get home Saturday. PolyU says to let dry for 24 hours or 72 for heavy traffic... Well... it'll be what it will be.

Food is just making me want to take a nap. Zzzzzz

heddwch
g

one of these days... maybe...

learn what? dunno...

All that's left to do is caulk spackle a few holes and paint paint paint...

Gotta be dry for Saturday... got some work to do

Food. Yes food. It was good that I had as much stock piled as I did. Haven't needed to cook yesterday or today. Lots of work, sanding, cutting, caulking, sanding, washing but even in the old funny paint and pre-primed trim look it is worlds different. Already looking at it gives a great sense of accomplishment and reward for getting the job done, and yes, everyone is having a blast down there. Probably for the best that super grouch g is not there with them... probably for the best.

Even without having run for about a month the legs really aren't feeling too bad today. And the comment about grinding vs spinning - while grinding sure can be way easier/seem more efficient at times it isn't faster and it is way harder to change speeds/jump/sprint when ya are bogged down in the gears.

So yeah. I'll try to stick with food. But ya know. Food is only part of the equation, as little as i know about promoting and the history of divisions and classes and problems and solutions and categories and training and base and power and speed and winning - well... it is part of a journey, I can't just ignore it. But i can, I guess, try and keep it a lower profile part of my documentation of what ever.

So - here's this. I've always had an itch to do a documentary kind of film, I've flushed out ideas before, but never really had the equipment to make it work, or the time. But, when my cousin went up for an Oscar, and now I just found out a good friend from College is up for one (both documentaries - both probably the best film in the bunch that will be torpedoed by politics and not get the statue), it fires up that urge again.

But food, films and flimsy ponitifcating on training aside. I NEED COFFEE. I got my fingers cross that the meeting tonight at the shop will reveal some old stock and a 26.4 bar so i can use an old stem on the p'mount so i can match the position on the bike closer to the Q-Pro. Fallin asleep last night I had a major urge to clean up my Tool chest/pile of bike shit in the bike room. It is sort of mostly a disarrayed pile of tools, cloths, used bar tape, and parts (cranks and chain rings and all sorts of stuff), mostly so that if I do get a chance to work on the bikes, it won't take me 45 minutes of digging to find either the right tool or the part I know I have.

Maybe i'll just dig out Krabbe's The Rider book. I read through Marvin's latest last night to try and settle my head after working... But betweeen BKW and now Hoyer's mentioning of it, I should make good on my statement that it is a book to be read at least once a year, preferably this time of year.

Go read your copy...
heddwch
G

That it takes running to get me to crank the HR way up. Too much cycling base? Running has helped with pedaling circles, keeping my back from being tweaked. Oh Obama looks to just have won WI - that's cool. He's running adds around here about 10-1 to Clinton's. So I got thinking riding home and running about cadence.

And that powertap. It was great at reporting cadence at low high torque cadences, and it was good if i pedaled super lumpy at high cadences. As soon as I started pedaling super smooth the damn thing would jump all over the place. Nothing like the trailer to make pedaling smoothly mandatory. I always had thought leading up to it that I had decent form. But nope. But then it is all relative. Smoothness, spin. Always room for improvement. Always. The more efficient you pedal the more work ya gotta do to work it. I ain't a coach - a physiologist - or doc, but it seems that the running does a heck of a lot to tune a part of the engine that cycling doesn't hit as hard, esp with a solid foundation/base.

Just random musings... Freaking windy - we ran down to the point - walked around on the sand for a bit - ran into the wind. Watched a bit of the sunset. it was very cool...

heddwch
g

Wait... I'm not sure I care but, wow.

Shimano picks up Pearl? What kind of clothes are the campy only ShimaNO gumbies gonna wear now? Wait - they probably wear Assos exclusively. Never mind.

Mergers and acquisitions.

Speaking of which, our little team down here has just signed another masters racer for CX season. So next year there'll be some extra Refunds NOW (the biggest and fastest allowed) riders at the start. 3 of em in the 35+ division and one in the 45+.

Not to early to say "I should have brought lunch with me today." Guess it is time to go home and cut up some baseboard and prep for paint after eating lunch and making more coffee.

Food. Must... eat... food... Okay well i did just eat at least 3 servings of that cake I made from Fatty's recipe yesterday. 'Cept all that sugar on top of the coffee is just making me jittery. Time for a fast twitch ride - cadence baby here we come...

heddwch
g

PS - yes i edited it

so actually while writing those recipes last night i had the TV on...

watching Family guy's Road to Rupert episode. Funny show. Funnier for those who live in Rhode Island/SE Mass I think, but still well written and all that.

a corny old joke made me just burst out loud laughing scaring the crap out of the dog - it was the tag end of this 'scene'

Brian Griffin: Look, Stewie, don't you think at some point you're gonna have to let Rupert go? I mean, you are getting a little old to have a teddy bear.
Stewie Griffin: Brian, I'm one!
Brian Griffin: Still?
Stewie Griffin: What?
Brian Griffin: Look, I'm not going to Colorado. I'm turning around and going home.
Stewie Griffin: Fine, then, I'll go by myself. See you from the back of my milk carton. Want that on your conscience, Brian? Try explaining this to Lois. You'll wind up in a Dumpster with a bunch of slow, unadoptable greyhounds.
Brian Griffin: Don't joke about that! That's like the Holocaust to us!
Stewie Griffin: Yeah, well, when greyhounds start running The New York Times and the World Bank, I'll be more inclined to believe you. [he sticks out his thumb] Now are you coming or not?
Brian Griffin [sighs]: Fine. [he sticks out his thumb, then he starts singing] Take to the highway, won't you lend me your name...
Stewie Griffin: Who sings that song?
Brian Griffin: James Taylor.
Stewie Griffin: Yeah, let's keep it that way.

(quote snipped from wikiquote)

yeah, let's keep it that way...

Got some serious cadence intervals in on the way home last night. Came in to read that the Turk is getting the beat down from his coach and nega-coach from being a pathlete gear grinder on his long rides this weekend. And his knee hurts. Go figure. Spinning. Anyone can grind. It takes alot of work to pedal fast. Back in the day, ya know old school, pre-power meter, pre-HRM, the sprinters trained by riding around in the little ring. Not that it was always effective but, if you can go fast spinning a 39 or 42, just imagine the benefits in the big ring. Maybe they should put Junior gear restrictions on EVERYONE. If not all the time maybe Junior Gear restrictions on races up until August. After August 1st you can use the big gears. Spinning hurts. It is hard. It takes a lot of work. But, I seems to be, to be well worth the work. Assuming you get enough recovery (like this morning's ride in - nice and mellow - looking at the scenery with only a few intensity bits thrown in to get me over the hills).

But it has been well documented that I ain't the one to give advice about Training. But I can speculate, no?

Got thinking again last night. Cooking it around a corner, my reaction is to ALWAYS stop pedaling and get that inside pedal unweighted and if not at the top of the stroke at least on the back half of it. Conditioned response. High bottom bracket ain't gonna change that. I've clipped too many damn pedals and find i can carry plenty of speed into a corner and can start pedaling soon enough that pedaling through the corner isn't needed (for me)... Sure if someone brakes early (stupid) and then pedals through the corner I might have to work harder than if I lead through and didn't brake, leaned it way over and burst out of the corner. But then that comes down to positioning.

Someone was talking about cross and positioning. Maybe it was on the Rhode Island Smack Down (RISD) ride a week ago, or maybe it was before that and it framed a discussion on the ride. Take the lead on the corners. Don't let someone else dictate the pace. Sitting in on a corner is not so smart.

Ah we got a long way to go before cyclocross season is upon us again. A Loooooong way to go. But not long enough. Rachel's comments in the velonews should be read by the promoters, and organizers. Do we want USA competitors to have a chance at Worlds? Or do we want to continue sending racers who are burned out and tired by the time worlds rolls around? Moving Nats to Jan should help. But starting Cross in August does NOT help. But what do I know, we can just leave it with the words of 'The Rev' Time will tell (yeah well he used em in response to Ball being good or bad, Judas or Moses - time will tell) but I think it applies well to the current flux in the domestic cyclocross scheduling.

heddwch
G

Not feeling much like writing at the moment- but here's a bit of food talk

Recipes…

So the menu for Saturday night.

A roastish beef burgundy stew.
½ bottle of wine
3 tablespoon cranberry sauce (home made of course)
3 strips of bacon
1 ½ pound top sirloin (natural creekstone beef cut in 4-6cm chunks)
1-2 pounds new potatoes (quartered)
1 pound carrots (peeled and chunked)
½ large sweet onion
½ pound fresh pearl onions peeled
2 Portobello mushrooms (chopped about 2cm in size)
4 oz White mushrooms halved.
Flat Leaf parsley
1-2 dozen stems of fresh thyme
1 large Jalapeno pepper halved
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour

Okay – I think that is the complete list of ingredients. I think.

To start – reduce the bottle of wine in a non-reactive (stainless steel) pan. Just before being reduced by half add the cranberry sauce.

While that is reducing chop the bacon and cook it in a dutch oven (or large heavy pot with lid). Once crispy remove the bacon and leave the fat in the pan, turn it up until it starts to smoke. Then add a few pieces of the sirloin at a time to the smoking oil and brown (creating a nice fond on the bottom of the pan). When all the beef is well browned on the outside, (don’t cook just sear) remove it and set aside in a bowl. Add the chopped onions to the hot fat in the pan and reduce the heat until well clarified (stirring all the while). Once the onions are clear, turn the heat up and then add just enough wine to lift the fond off the bottom of the pan (classic cooking method – this stuff has all the flavor, you need hot water based liquid to easily lift it).

Tie the parsley and thyme into a bouquet garnis. Add everything into the pot. Mix well.

Put a bit of aluminum foil under the lit and depress it in the middle so any water would drip back into the middle of the pot. Put the heavy lid on over the foil on the pot and place in the oven. Turn the oven on at 250 degrees F. Set the time for 45 minutes. At that point remove the pot from the oven, remove the lid and gently mix, replace the lid, return to the oven and turn the heat up to 350 and after 30 minutes mix it one more time, and then cook again for another 30 minutes.

With about 5 minutes to go in the final 30 minutes melt the butter and add the flour to create a Roux.

Pull the pot out, add the Roux, mix well (should thicken quite visibly quickly) Turn oven off, and replace the lid and return the pot to the oven for about 15 minutes before serving.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, coarse ground black pepper and salt, to tastes.

Makes a fair bit of food.


There ya go – That was Saturday night’s meal. And a few Lunches.

Sunday, well I needed to eat something different for dinner. I wanted pasta. Craved some pasta..

Simple, but stayed with the bacon to start with (3 strips).

Added 1 pound of ground beef.
Browned it.

Added a ¼ of chopped sweet onion and clarified a bit

Turn the heat up and add a few tablespoons of balsalmic vinegar and reduce

Add 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
Press a few cloves of garlic into the sauce
Add some dried oregano, basil and thyme
Add some chopped Portabella and white mushrooms
Quarter chop up a zucchini and add it
Add 2 cups of wine
Some sea salt and pepper to taste
Add some crushed red pepper
And some chopped flat leaf parsley

Simmer

Then mix in about a pound of pasta in the sauce and serve with a bit of freshly grated parm or romano.

Some one emails me and says "you should rant about blahblahblabhalbh..."

And some times I take the bait and go off on it.

And some times it just sparks my own damn rant. Somewhat fizzling along until I strike the key word/picture that triggers it.

Astana just triggered it. Actually BKW did. I've been ignoring everything out there about this road silliness. Sometimes reading the latest Ball Saga. I've seen this and that - the re-opening of OP. And the latest of 'who the fahk cares' the let levi race petition. Sure that guy's nice enough. But look. HE signed on with Astana. All those boys who inked a deal with the knew the kettle of scorpions and eels that the team was carrying around as baggage.

Sort of free speech-ish. You are free to ride with who ever you want. You just can't be assured a spot on the Tour.

Heck - go back a few years and there is usually a squad or two that should have been invited to the TdF that wasn't. It isn't anything new going on.

That said - it is freaking balmy out there - hot almost. Nearly 60 degrees! Crazy. Sure is nice to get some high cadence high load intervals in with a tail wind. Kinda like motor pacing. Not that i'm doing anything specific. Just felt like getting a nice mellow warm up in and blasting the cob webs out. I'll say this one good thing about a power meter. I did use it long enough to really reinforce the awareness of holding a steady state load. Too bad it don't go squat for going fast in a cross race. But it was cool, holding the interval, feeling the slight build up of lactic acid to a noticable level just under the LT effort numbers, feeling the HR steadily increasing and increasing, legs spinning the 40x13 madly... arms in TT mode, fore arms resting on either side of the stem, just floating there - all my forward weight going into the pedals, arms nearly unweighted... just powering and spinning along with the tail wind, going fast enough to create my own head wind, wondering if I indeed had a tailwind.

Riding without any electronic feed back is liberating. No Speed readout. No Cadence. No HR. No Power. Nothing. No clock. Just me and my bike. Listening to my legs for how hard and fast to go. Paying attention to the key indicators.

Really quite cool.

So I know I was going to share some of GeWilli's Top Secret Dinner recipes soon, but, well I found a recipe earlier today and while at home taking the measurments and consulting with the contractor who is advising the slight changes to the room (well before he showed up with my niece) I made up a quick cake from Fatty (as everyone seems to call him).

Best Cake in the World? No where anywhere CLOSE to that apple spice cake I made. This once certainly is easy, simple and all that to make. It is sweet enough. But. It just is missing something.

I had printed it out and took it home and walking into the house I just had a craving for cake. And I had everything on hand. Well not the chocolate Chips but i chopped up some Milk Chocolate bars we had (Hershey).

At anyrate - I now have something else to eat up along with the left over chocolate chip cookies from V-day to have for desert.

Gotta get some kJ created so I can keep eating! I like eating.

Food is good.

Good food is better.

Being hungry makes eating that much better. I guess it is like training. You'll never be good if you don't suffer. And Maybe ya won't look good without a bit of suffering tossed in there too. A weak analogy but. I started off with a pretty weak rant. Figured I'd end with something to match.

Heddwch
G

Now I guess we all have to be nice to VeloNews.

But that said - here's to hoping our local man Steve can do a Kick ASS job.

(Yes the CX sticker will be on the car the next time our paths cross Steve!)

meh... TOC? Are they actually racing out there?

I'm far more excited and depressed about the final weekend of cross.

Cross - Sluitingsprijs Oostmalle, (GvA #8), Bel (C1)
February 17: Full results & report
Cross - Superprestige #7, Bel (C1)
February 16: Full report & brief results

Prince Albert seems to just be freaking ON FIRE. Man he's been putting on a clinic lately.

Our favorite American Living in Belgium (Christine) showed up and represented with a 14th only a couple minutes off the winner (Mmmmm Daphny).

Those of you who read Rachel's interview on Velonews might have picked up something very cool. She has fun racing. Seems she has fun training. Just really loves the bike. THAT is very cool.

Ya know, after two days of demo, I look down at my arms and hands and say - these don't feel like mine. I feel like I can rip down some more wall, yank some more 2x3 studs out. Haul more stuff around. Damn sissy cyclist arms. A true cyclist physique makes ya look pretty freaking frail from the waist up. Even Crossers. The difference between a tour dude and a cyclocross racer might be just a bit more lower back/waist tone in the CX racer from the running and carrying of the bike... But then, it still comes down to being fast and all ya need are the legs and good power to weight. Power to weight. Last week I mistakenly hopped on the scale at an odd time of the day and found myself to be over the Clydesdale line. Well. I checked again at the end of the week after spending the first part of the week sick (sun-wed) and the second part (thr-fri) on the bike and, well damn, i'm 10 pounds lighter. Craaaaazy. Checked a couple times this weekend, still under the 195 mark. Hmmm. There's hope that my legs can haul my fat ass up the hills at Battenkill yet.

Or not. I was reading the 'Dirty Dozen' article in Urban Velo #5 last week. That sounds like way too much fun. Watched the Video of the Rhonde de Portland or what ever that was. Very cool. Might need to organize a branch from the Rhode Island Smack Down ride to include a race up each hill here in Providence starting at College and working north until heck maybe Cedar. Need to find an organizer to score the first person to the top and then someone to say go at the bottom... But i don't think we'd get the hundreds of people (probably a good thing) that the other two rides get so the 'winner' (first to the top the most) could be scored by mutual agreement.

Hmm - couple that with a team mattes 80 mile ride that hits every hill in the GPA (greater providence area) and That is some fun "training."

Cooked a big batch of some tasty saucy pasta goodness last night. Watched the Red Wings suck and Dale Jr not quite get to the front when it counted. But hey my Stock Car Challenge team did pretty darn well I scored in the 99.76903%. I'll say this, it was a very exciting race, towards the end. Kinda boring for a while - but it held my attention with that #88 always near the front. If you care who wins, ya can watch/follow anything. TOC? Um. Sorry but I kinda don't really care who wins and even with Ball's antics I just don't feel like seeing who's doing what.

Ah well. Got the tough choice of either making yet another creative masterwork or eating what i've made already. Maybe both. Hmmm. I really kinda want to make a linquica sauce (cream based I think) over pasta. Maybe I should save that for another night.

I'm going to see if i can get these recipes up for the past two masterworks, in between finishing the room and painting. and maybe riding the bike...

Heddwch
G

Gorgeous day outside and I'm inside. At work even.

Project is on hold for a second till the Tool Truck can swing by the house tomorrow. Knocked most of the dirty work out. A few stringers and 2x3s to pull out, some rock to knife and trim. But searching the house for one of my 3-4 utility knifes has proved completely futile. Ya'd think i might have been able to find one of them. noooooooo. I found the pack of new blades, sure, that was easy. Knife? Nope. I guess I can take some comfort in the fact that if i can't find it then neither can my girls.

Home Depot is next, picking up paint today, and a new utility knife.

Made a big batch of some stewish sort of roast last night. sort of combined a French-style pot roast and stew. Minus gelatine + roux. Very tasty. After two big bowls last night there's a nice almost 2 quarts to get me through a few days this week.

It is going to be about using the veggies that I got at the market yesterday with what I have in the house. No more food purchasing till next week's run to the market (we'll see how that goes). It is a creative challenge. Spending the hour in prep for the dinner and the occasional checking/stirring/tasting/smelling over the next couple hours was a welcome distraction from an empty house. Ya see. These girls of mine escaped to the land of evil marketing imagination killing life sucking moron making corporate buy more useless shit made in China called dis knee wurld. No way in hell am i going there. They've got every hour scheduled from today till they leave planned out. Not just my girls (all three - wife included there) but my wife's who family and her sister and kids and stuff. One of these days I'll let into dis knee place with all the vitrol I have bottled up about it. Sure, pretty much everyone I know with kids has wasted a couple grand going down to that place. Sure the kids had fun... blah blah blah but I've got some solid reasons (I believe) why it is not on my most favorite lists.

Taking some of the packing blankets out of the bike room to start the project i had to move the Croll. And I looked outside. Gorgeous day. What am I doing working inside. Why? Because I can't put it off. I should take advantage of today, go out to Otis or something epic. But I need to get the room finished, painted and back in order before they all get back. Priorities. Training conflicts with life. Life takes precedent.

Took a bit of indulgence last night and watched (for the first time) Miracle on Ice, that movie about THE hockey game. It was on TV. I watched it. Very very very cool. And during the lead in. I couldn't help but feel, the problems we have now, aren't anywhere near as bad as they were in the 70s. As bad off as our country seems to be, things really are not that bad.

Obama's "washington is broken, elect me to fix it" really does bother me. What is broken about it? Is it not the most representative of democracies in the world? Even if it is a republic with the whole electoral college and delegate system to pick the president. The Prez ain't got all the power. They've got a ton of it.

The more I look at the political stuff the less I like the trio vying to be the perceived most powerful person in the world. Could we take the fiscal conservatism of the old dude and the anti-war side of the young dude with the face of the woman? I can't argue against a comment that I heard from a female politician that went along the lines of arguing how important it would be for the girls and young women in this country of ours to have a female President without regard to their beliefs and policies. Just the measureable impact it would have on the girls here, SHOWING them that they can do anything, that would be powerful. Sadly there are people who don't want that to happen. Men and women who go to great lengths to keep that glass ceiling in place, working hard to make it glass that no woman can break through. We are seemingly to a point where Race matters less than Gender in a time where either shouldn't make a difference. I would have hoped our society might have reached a point by now where the best person for the job is selected, period.

Well. That big race starts some point today. The Red Wings are playing on TV too, maybe I'll just put my feet up and relax with my dog and waste the afternoon away and surf between spectacles, all the while thinking about Cyclocross.

Seriously. Grabbed a bite of lunch, turned on the TV and found nothing but infomercials. That CHiPs dude selling swamp land on two channels, some suits selling government gold and some "sports" people selling motorcycles, ATVs in between MotorX racing. All those 'niche' sports are infomercials when it comes down to it. And until a big PR machine picks up cycling in the US and makes it like those shows it can't make it. No way. And even then. American's don't want to watch stuff where then can see the physique. Pads, protective gear, all seem to be required unless you are a 7' freak or wear clothes dressier than I wear to work to 'play' (golf for example).

So, for now. Till later...

heddwch
g

Italian Ivan Basso, the sole cyclist to have been sanctioned in the initial stages of the Operación Puerto blood-doping affair, said the inquiry had left him "shattered."

Awe you poor bastard.

Maybe... just MAYBE

YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU TURNED INTO A CHEATING SACK OF DONKEY POOP!

You listening Tyler and Felching Floyd?

Reap what you sow... (yeah i'll get it for being mean to yogurt boy for a while... no one is immue - except well... we'll skip it some people certainly still think their poop smells like roses)

Yeah I paid a bunch of cash to that doctor and he stored my blood, but ya know i just 'couldn't' put it back in... no that would be cheating...

um...

yeah - here - walk into a bank, with a big mask on carrying a shotgun and shot "THIS IS A ROBBERY" then take the mask off, and say: "No, i don't think i am gonna take any money."
retard

Lee posted this set of jokes and today - for some reason - they are making my die with laughter...

Irishmen


Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest, and drops dead at the table. Showing respect for their fallen brother, the other five continue playing standing up.

Michael O'Conner looks around and asks, "Well, me boys, someone got's to tell Paddy's wife. Who will it be?" They draw straws. Paul Gallagher picks the short one. They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don't make a bad situation any worse.

"Discreet??? I'm the most discreet Irishmen you'll ever meet. Discretion is me middle name. Leave it to me."

Gallagher goes over to Murphy's house and knocks on the door. Mrs. Murphy answers, and asks what he wants. Gallagher declares, "Your husband just lost $500, and is afraid to come home."

"Tell him to drop dead!", says Murphy's wife.

"I'll go tell him." says Gallagher.
***********************************************************


Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train. His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut, and bruised, and he's walking with a limp.

"What happened to you?" asks Sean, the bartender.

"Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight," says Paddy.

"That little O'Conner," says Sean, "He couldn't do that to you, he must have had something in his hand."

"That he did," says Paddy, "a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin' he gave me with it."

"Well," says Sean, "you should have defended yourself. Didn't you have something in your hand?"

That I did," said Paddy, "Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was; but useless in a fight."
************************************************************

An Irishman who had a little too much to drink is driving home from the city one night and, of course, his car is weaving violently all over the road.
A cop pulls him over. "So," says the cop to the driver, "where have ya been?"
"Why, I've been to the pub of course," slurs the drunk.
"Well," says the cop, "it looks like you've had quite a few to drink this evening."
"I did all right," the drunk says with a smile.
"Did you know," says the cop, standing straight, and folding his arms across his chest, "that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?"
"Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "for a minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf."
**********************************************************


Brenda O'Malley is home making dinner, as usual, when Tim Finnegan arrives at her door.
"Brenda, may I come in?" he asks. "I've somethin' to tell ya".
"Of course you can come in, you're always welcome, Tim. But where's my husband?"
"That's what I'm here to be telling ya, Brenda. There was an accident down at the Guinness brewery"
"Oh, God no!" cries Brenda. "Please don't tell me."
"I must, Brenda. Your husband Shamus is dead and gone. I'm sorry.
Finally, she looked up at Tim. "How did it happen, Tim?"
"It was terrible, Brenda. He fell into a vat of Guinness Stout, and drowned."
"Oh my dear Jesus! But you must tell me true, Tim, did he at least go quickly?"
"Well, Brenda, no. In fact, he got out three times to pee."
**************************************************************


Mary Clancy goes up to Father O'Grady after his Sunday morning service, and she's in tears.
He says, "So what's bothering you, Mary my dear?"
She says, "Oh, Father, I've got terrible news. My husband passed away last night."
The priest says, "Oh, Mary, that's terrible. Tell me, Mary, did he have any last requests?"
She says, "That he did, Father."
The priest says, "What did he ask, Mary?"
" She says, "He said, 'Please Mary, put down that damn gun...' "
**************************************************************


AND THE BEST FOR LAST



A drunk staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional booth, sits down, but says nothing.
The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention, but the drunk continues to sit there.
Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall.
The drunk mumbles, "Ain't no use knockin, there's no paper on this side either."

Finally. A good article in Velonews: Rachel's Return. You can't help but say "cool" when Rachel's mother is emailing my mother about Rachel's race.

Go give it a read. Then you can go watch the women's race if you haven't already.

The most poignant part of the article is this:

“I had been dirt-bagging it for so long, and part of me felt like if I’m going to be living like this I might as well just have fun and not stress about results,” Lloyd said. “I felt like if I was meant to be a bike racer, I should have been getting paid. I mean, most people don’t spend 10 years working a job where they don’t get paid.”

How often is that echoed. Pro Women travel around just as much or more than the men, yet i would be suprised if a local cat 2-3 man can make more $$ in prize money pimping crits all summer.

I applaud the work and effort Myles is putting into the sport on that front. I wish other New England Promoters would take his lead. Take all the cash out of the Masters races. None of them 'need' the cash, sure it is nice getting a $50 blank check of some cash. But is that going to make a difference in a Master racer's season? Not that $50 would be a big drop in a PRO woman's pocketbook, but it certainly would make more of an impact on a female pro cyclists than some master racer who has bought all his own gear and can afford to drop a few hundred on a new set of dugasts at will.

Now speaking of fixing things that are broken.

OBRA seems (to me) to have one upped USAC on the category side of things. Personally I think it makes WAY more sense.

Check it out at K-man's page.

So there. something different than yogurt wars for a change
Heddwch
G

Apologize for the underhanded and biting attacks on a genuinely excellent product and a company that is going above and beyond the call of duty in the name of global preservation and human health. I get a bit out of hand at times (all the time maybe). Just ask my wife if it has been something that is repeatable over the last 17 years. Getting older does a few things, it helps to balance the youthful passion and blind energy with patience, but it also hones the edge that cuts and amasses more facts that can be used to help drive the blade home. When that edge is unsheathed things can happen. For me fortunately my temper most usually comes out in words. Some with similar temperament are not so fortunate and this emotion is released physically. I should wear a caution sigh - do not provoke - but that would be a big red light flashing for folks who want to push my button. Lately I seem to be on a negative swerve. I can't really point to why. Things are generally great right now. Busy, fun, ya know: just flat out good. Stonyfield Farms makes some of the best cultured product in the world. The smoothies are amazing. I would far prefer a SF Smoothie, Shift or regular over an 'energy' bar on a ride. If they didn't cost a bunch of cash I would consume them on a daily basis. But when it comes to plain yogurt. Things change sometimes. If Hawthorne Valley stuff is available, I will buy that over anything else. I will buy it the day it is set to go out of code even. Why? Taste. I like the taste. Consistency. And because of where it comes from, where it is made and what it supports. No they don't have global initiatives like Stonyfield. But they work very hard to be as self sufficient as they can. My brother remembers distinctly the pride the farm took in being nearly 100% self sufficient, relying only on diesel fuel and a very small supplement of grain to run the whole farm and the dairy. When Hawthorne Valley Yogurt is not available I usually always grab some Stonyfield Farms. But with a preference for Whole Milk. If there is organic whole milk but no SF WM, I will generally by the WM vs the FF or LF SF product. That's just the way it is. I push Stonyfield Milk when ever i can. It is a great company.

But just because someone is the biggest and most diverse and most available, doesn't make it the best. Why buy a bike from a smaller brand? Sure TREK might be an amazing company, giving back to the community, making a good share of bikes in the USA (i dunno if that is true anymore or not), it doesn't mean you shouldn't ride a bike that might fit you or your needs better.

And all this talk about cultured breast milk from a bovine has really gotta turn a few vegan tummies. That or make their head spin.

So easily and quickly I can snap, jumping in, reacting to w/o thought. Often left wondering why. That same passion that drives me in a positive direction also has a backlash component in the wrong direction. Sadly my observations and thirst for facts and knowledge result in easily calling up items like poisoned darts, launching them on autopilot, zing - hair trigger. Pointed bits and I always seem to prick my finger on the poison tip as it flows, wounding myself in the process. The slow acting poison always starts to work well after the dart has hit home on the hapless target. I've worked at times to reign it in. It is a constant battle. Even for some old fart like me. But this is my burden to bear. The load gets lighter as I go and fortunately over my life I have made some good friends who've generally become immune, or just good at dodging and deflecting.

Back in 10th grade something the worst teacher I ever had has stuck with me. But I can never remember the exact words, but it was a pointed remark about criticism being something lowly and cheap or easy. And it sticks because, I wonder why it flows so easily for me. Why is my first instinct always to tell someone what they are doing wrong? My intentions are to help them do it right. Honestly. It is given to help. Like the cheaper by the dozen book. The father is always working on inventing time saving methods, helping others with his goal of having more time himself, and the cycle never actually turns around to benefit him. I want people to know that there is a better way to do something than how they are doing it. But people don't always like to be told what they are doing is wrong and things go downhill quickly.

Now to end this epic bit of introspection into the deep inner workings of... um, me. I want to quote something else that has struck a cord with me from the very first moment I heard it.

The words maybe are most effective if you can read with Peter O'Toole's voice:

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so...

Without effort I can critique a work of art, a musical track, an essay, a photograph, and sadly a person with great veracity and little effort. And so when something defies critique, much like Anton Ego's meal at Gusteau's, I am really overwhelmed and the emotions are strong and joyful.

Another powerful line:

Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

That whole film for me is made when Peter O'Toole reads the passage. To end (for real) Here is the whole passage (as pulled from here).

" In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

Heddwch
G

That and Proud Father Day.

My Daughter came home with this yesterday.

What the digital representation doesn't convey is the fact that it is a multi-layer constructed piece. The hair, the face, the eyes, the lips, all different cut out layers of paper. Oil pastels and colored paper would be the description in a gallery. In some ways the image is slightly a caricature. But to me the simplification runs along the lines more of Picasso than a kid. No lines are out of place. Each one is deliberate and critical to the impression presented. I think it is very cool.

Being a proud Daddy is reason enough today to share.

So anyway - Happy Valentines day.

Heddwch
G

I had a rolling bit of commentary from the ride in this morning into the steady headwind. Thinking about the Road Commission meeting yesterday about the disruption of the last bridge usable by cyclists between east providence and providence. Thinking about looking up to see if there were other bridges than the I-5 between Vancouver and Portland. I don't remember if 205 has bike access. Somehow I don't think so. But I got imaging this isn't much different than if they closed I-5 (to bikes) and anyone wanting to go between the cities would have to ride way the hell out of the way.

Not conducive for decreasing vehicle traffic and getting people to realize the benefits of alternative modes of transportation. Sure they could do the whole bike on bus rack deal. But what if you have a trailer? How does that work??? Bike on front, trailer on bus via wheelchair access? I suppose that might work. Hmmm.

Anyway. Someone defiled the name of the Hawthorne Valley Farm. I can't sit idly by and fire cheap shots back via the comments. No. This is more important than that.

Bolocks to you for thinking HV is 'hand' made; small batch.

Is that said out of jealousy or offense or ignorance? Or a bit of all three. And since people never really take the literal meaning of words I'm not suggesting this person is ignorant. Far from it. But everyone, with out exception, is ignorant about something.

So, Ya see. While I haven't been in the giant factory there in New Hampster that churns out more organic yogurt than most it would seem. A formerly small company with great ideals that let their recent expansion and capital growth get fueled by some giant French MegaCorporation certainly knows every last little place that is making yogurt in the country. Esp those Organic Yogurt brands they compete against.

This big corporate yogurt giant (talking the NH branch including the SF and BC brands) does make a fantastic product. Great and consistent stuff. No question there. But. Ya see. There is a small Association that includes a Biodynamic Farm, a Nursery through grade 12 Waldorf School, and a market.

They have a full dairy on site. I could go on and on. But first I will offer up a quote from their Dairy web page:

Hawthorne Valley Farm was one of the first dairies in the United States to be certified as organic. The products we make from our biodynamic cows’ milk can be enjoyed with the assurance that our cows are grass–fed on our pastures throughout the spring, summer, and fall. In late fall and winter, they are fed our biodynamic hay and baleage from our fields; limited amounts of certified-organic grain are fed to our dairy cows for the purpose of helping them maintain condition. They are given no hormones or antibiotics and are tended with gentle, caring hands.

* Demeter-certified biodynamic dairy processing plant
* products include farmstead yogurt, quark, and cheeses
* raw milk available at the Farm Store
* products available at the Farm Store, Green Markets (Union Square and Inwood, NYC), and through our CSA; yogurt and quark distributed east of the Mississippi River to natural foods and grocery stores
* cheese is sometimes sold through mail order (call for availability)

Hmm. Either this CXRacer guy is being a dink, or he's just mis-informed, or HVF is not so truthful.

Okay. Add this to the equations. One of my little brothers lived and worked there for 6 years. He actually worked in the dairy, putting the yogurt into boxes for transport.

So why is this yogurt special? Unlike the Nancy's stuff out west where they put powdered milk into milk to make a thick yogurt (damn stuff is REALLY thick), or worse than using powdered milk as a "thickening agent" (in my opinion) Pectin.

Here, again. Let me pull a bit from their descriptions of the Yogurt:

* Old European–style
* made with live cultures
* no thickeners or emulsifiers added

I've heard someone talk about the european Yogurt market driven first by taste, then by "organic." American consumers don't really care what the yogurt tastes like. How many actually consume large quantities of PLAIN yogurt? Or how many use plain yogurt to mix with their granola/muesli in the morning? Or use it as a topper to dishes? Go stand infront of the dairy case some time.

Think of it this way. It would be like switching the quantities of flavored milk with plain milk in the store (make all plain flavored and flavored plain in stock quantities).

Fact of the matter is, Hawthorne Valley Yogurt just flat out tastes great. Doesn't have any thickeners. Sure the cream rises to the top. That's what happens when you take warm freshly pasteurized organic whole milk and mix it with living cultures. You get some amazing magic.

I may not have ever been inside a yogurt factory. But I ain't no city boy. I've been around my share of farms. Hell being around an Ag school has some knowledge boosting advantages in this department. Growing up walking down to the end of the dead end road, then through the forest, out into a friends pasture and coming back home with a big wide mouth glass gallon of raw milk probably isn't something most folks have done. Maybe that single example doesn't shed light on everything. That and yogurt is just a simple microbiology project. Anyone who has done a few years of sterile cell culture work, or spent time trying to keep cell lines alive or clean probably could make yogurt. It ain't very complicated. It ain't all that special. But why, oh why, do people insist on it being thickened or solidified? Wait. They don't want it natural and lumpy. yeah. gotta be smooth, homoginized, processed and clean.

Great Grumbling Fuzzle sticks. Real food is pretty amazing. People should try it more often. That said, another key benefit is the microwave and dishwasher safe quart containers the yogurt is sold in from HVF. I don't take lunch to work any other way!!!

So. Excuse me while I have just one more nice chocolate chip cookie that i brought to work in a HVF yogurt container that my wife made last night with my cup of Coffee Depot Tanzanian peaberry that i brewed here in my office.

Coffee and cookies.

Heddwch
G

That whole bike lust is somewhat cyclical. I know. There is some logic to just getting it. More logic in asking "will i really use it more" will it better than the one I have? Can't really use it more. That'd be pretty darn close to impossible. Does my current ride detract at all from my riding? Can't say that it does. So it is just dreaming for dreaming sake. But the long I dream. The more I learn. Dreaming for me is about education in a way. Taking my past experiences and asking myself again, against the new, older (by days hours or years) me, what would I pick now. It changes.

Last year this time we were getting ready for a big storm that turned the path into sheer ice.

And last year I collected a special image of a heart to share as a valentines with everyone:


In pretty much all ways jotting stuff down here is a way of chornologically remembering what happened when for me. Time and dates and names don't stick in my head the same way images, feelings, and faces do. For instance I couldn't have told you that the sheet of Ice on the bike path was around the 14th of Feb last year. I knew it was last winter. But when? No idea. Does it matter? Maybe not. But maybe it will down the road. So while I might seem like I am talking to someone else. I really am still honestly talking to myself.

Life offers up challenges. We are tested, mentally and physically. Sometimes it is self restraint causing anguish, sometimes it is outside. The process of overcoming each obstacle or dealing with the without, I believe, makes us stronger each time. These sorts of lessons are impressed upon parents repeatedly. Hold your ground at times or be walked over all the time. It isn't easy holding your ground, but knowing the rewards are down the road, make the challenge worth meeting.

alright - dats about it...

heddwch
G

The key to getting faster as you get older is to not be very fast when you're young. -DF

That certainly brightens my day right up!

Slushy wet cold snow.

Well that's how it looked and sounded from the car.

Scary. I could get soft and used to this. Dropping both girls off, driving in. Moving the car. Gotta bust out of the routine sometime. Flu bug seems to be just about gone. Energy levels are returning. But, not quite completely 100% yet. If I ever hit 100%.

The whole deranged ravings about new bikes and all. Just that. Momentary lapse in sanity. It is really really cool to hear about friends getting new bikes. Perfect bikes made by good people behinds brands like Zank, ANT, Circle-A and on and on. No animosity or debilitating jealousy. Just being honest that someday I would like that to be me. And I have faith that some day, some day, before I get as old as solobreak, I will be pimpin some sweet new machine. For now. Honestly. I am very happy with the bikes I have. They serve me very very well.

So falling back on food. I made a nice little side dish for dinner. Very simple. Swiss chard. Chopped up (stems chopped thin, ala celery). Started with a big pan (with lid). Reduced about 1/4 cup of basalmic vinegar and 1 tblsp of organic Shoyu sauce until they were thick. Cranked the heat up, dropped the chard in. Tossed and mixed for a minute or so. Turned the heat off. Put lid on. And served. Extremely complex and very tasty and very simple.

Time to have a nice waffle with my coffee. Made some fancy waffles this morning. Buttermilk AND Yogurt. Nothing extra-healthy other than all natural ingredients. Simple white flour (no whole wheat), a bit of sugar to sweeten it. They turned out quite well. So. If you excuse me I'm going to have a bit of coffee and a waffle, while I day dream about cyclocross.

Heddwch
G