Saw this over at Obra land...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
drunken master
and the theme song from the movie with clips video
well when The Pietasters Drunken Master song came on this morning I wondered if they had a music vid to go with... but then all I found was clips from THE best jackie chan film. I've seen it a few times and man - it is just one of those you can watch over and over again. And the song, ya know well, I just dig it. at one point in my youth i listened to every bit of blues and reggae I could get my hands on... mostly blues but toss in a Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha Chas and some Bunny Wailer and the other stuff played on the college stations and the blues hour on the rock station and i've got this deep resonance with the blues and reggae beat. Maybe that's why I dig rock bands with horn sections. Yeah while all the other edgy kids were listening to punk-hardcore stuff, or the top 40 new wave stuff - i was digging the blues. Couple that with being a violin playing tall pasty pale freak with pectus excavatum and no wonder my confidence is so fragile or non-existent. Sokay - i got out of HS with a great education and a solid foundation to deal with college and i did eventually make it to the adult side of things not in the worst shape. I can deal with the baggage a bit. Funny, all tipped off by some 2002 release from a ska reggae band on Pandora, but bolstered by my reading a bit from a google search this week: "It's a problem that affects a child's health, energy and confidence." Reading that I am thankful that it didn't affect my health or energy (I can't help but note that my lung capacity would be a bit larger without it), but holy shit, having it said like that. Yeah. It really affected my confidence. Only recently have I come to terms with it. 35+ years to not erase the damage, but to just accept it and not be worried about it. Years of torture and finger pointing and staring at pools in the summer. it wasn't just that i was so skinny that I sunk in the pool that i didn't like swimming.
Got a bit deep and too personal there. But it was bound to come out. maybe i should go shadow some dude trying to do a "workout" on the bike path in his aero bars on a hot afternoon with tons of people on the path to build my confidence level. Yeah. That's the ticket.
Drunken Master...
Dont be a bull in a china shopheddwch
Pick up my foot and then the next one drop
Drunken style is his martial arts
You cant push him around like some old hand cart
I sleep on nails and we eat broken glass
I am no fool, I keep my mind intact
Stumble down the street people passin' remarks
Cause when me walk, me walk and me talk
I am a drunken master
G
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
yeah another
saw it somewhere else kind of day...
Terracycle. Very cool, sure it is old news but I had a second because of some messed up samples to catch up and seeing the thing over at BikeRumor was pretty cool. Clif, nice job.
I got a great response from Clif about the lack of bulk packaging. And hey I'd completely forgotten about the Big Shot. But it never sold well and I guess they canned it. Will they come out with a bulk package or at least a 3-5oz size Gel Flask volume sort of deal? I personally hope so, but then I guess the biggest problem is getting people to use it.
All about marketing. And proving that there is a performance benefit to using a flask. No trying to open a gel, litter leash or not. No trying to suck down as much of the pack as you can, no worrying about where to put it or where the bits you didn't get out will go if you put it back. grab flask out of pocket, suck down what you can swallow at once, stuff it back in. Waterbottle like motions. More efficient. And that generally means better fueling and better fueling means better performance.
No?
At least Cross simplifies it. Races are too short and too intense to require or demand feeding during. Can't wait. Can't wait for cross. Till then I've gotta get me a flask or two.
heddwch
G
PS Happy Birthday to one of the Too Tall Cross freak out in Oregon!
Terracycle. Very cool, sure it is old news but I had a second because of some messed up samples to catch up and seeing the thing over at BikeRumor was pretty cool. Clif, nice job.
I got a great response from Clif about the lack of bulk packaging. And hey I'd completely forgotten about the Big Shot. But it never sold well and I guess they canned it. Will they come out with a bulk package or at least a 3-5oz size Gel Flask volume sort of deal? I personally hope so, but then I guess the biggest problem is getting people to use it.
All about marketing. And proving that there is a performance benefit to using a flask. No trying to open a gel, litter leash or not. No trying to suck down as much of the pack as you can, no worrying about where to put it or where the bits you didn't get out will go if you put it back. grab flask out of pocket, suck down what you can swallow at once, stuff it back in. Waterbottle like motions. More efficient. And that generally means better fueling and better fueling means better performance.
No?
At least Cross simplifies it. Races are too short and too intense to require or demand feeding during. Can't wait. Can't wait for cross. Till then I've gotta get me a flask or two.
heddwch
G
PS Happy Birthday to one of the Too Tall Cross freak out in Oregon!
Save the earth?
One jet at a time.
Freaking cool.
saw it over at ecogeek, tracked back to treehugger... pretty cool stuff.
Freaking cool.
saw it over at ecogeek, tracked back to treehugger... pretty cool stuff.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
cross starts when?
i'm ready -
for the fall to come...
and for the barriers to break out...
cyclocross
cyclocross is wicked cool
when will it start again
for the fall to come...
and for the barriers to break out...
cyclocross
cyclocross is wicked cool
when will it start again
silly pathletes
one thing bugs me more than anything, a guy blasting past on the bike path without even an acknowledgment. no "hey" "hello" "on your left" nothing. And when it is a guy riding a Cervelo Tri bike with two bottles hanging off his ass and we've got a 20+mph headwind, well I'm not gonna let him ride away. No drop bars and he's weaving all over the road with every gust and his wheels aren't any deeper than a set of Zip 202s or something not so deep dish.
Could I let him go? No. Of course not. Chilling 20' behind the whole time. He keeps checking back. I hang in there. He picks up the pace. Drops into his tri bars (pretty high up even) and picks up the pace even more. I'm constantly debating do I go around him and hammer all the way home? I'm not working hard. But do I go by like he did? No. Play the game. Just tweaked him by sitting on his wheel.
It got me home sooner than later... i dunno what it is that gets me out of shape when I get passed by someone without even a word. Maynard's Off the Back in Velonews about social riding is really it. no?
I mean racing is racing, but chilling on the bike path - no matter how fast ya going is a social scene. Even if it is a "hey" as you zoom by.
Ah well. what to do. Kinda funny, this guy was taking crazy risks as the path crossed streets and was out of the saddle with some strong accelerations, with a couple glances back... I dunno, if you wanted to just do your thing, maybe next time say hey or something as you pass. This is a social world.
We are social creatures. Earth Day is about really being socially responsible, but also being social, because we can't do it alone. Can we.
being alone doesn't get us anywhere but deeper into our cave. Even a small token of reaching out makes a different. Not that this guy's outreach would have been made a huge different, but it is a symptom of the car culture. The isolation that people are accustom to being in a steel box alone.
Ah well. I could have reached out, but I've done that before. I was feeling more like just playing with reactions....
and boy oh boy is it nice having the wind blowing off the water - so nice and cool...
heddwch
G
Could I let him go? No. Of course not. Chilling 20' behind the whole time. He keeps checking back. I hang in there. He picks up the pace. Drops into his tri bars (pretty high up even) and picks up the pace even more. I'm constantly debating do I go around him and hammer all the way home? I'm not working hard. But do I go by like he did? No. Play the game. Just tweaked him by sitting on his wheel.
It got me home sooner than later... i dunno what it is that gets me out of shape when I get passed by someone without even a word. Maynard's Off the Back in Velonews about social riding is really it. no?
I mean racing is racing, but chilling on the bike path - no matter how fast ya going is a social scene. Even if it is a "hey" as you zoom by.
Ah well. what to do. Kinda funny, this guy was taking crazy risks as the path crossed streets and was out of the saddle with some strong accelerations, with a couple glances back... I dunno, if you wanted to just do your thing, maybe next time say hey or something as you pass. This is a social world.
We are social creatures. Earth Day is about really being socially responsible, but also being social, because we can't do it alone. Can we.
being alone doesn't get us anywhere but deeper into our cave. Even a small token of reaching out makes a different. Not that this guy's outreach would have been made a huge different, but it is a symptom of the car culture. The isolation that people are accustom to being in a steel box alone.
Ah well. I could have reached out, but I've done that before. I was feeling more like just playing with reactions....
and boy oh boy is it nice having the wind blowing off the water - so nice and cool...
heddwch
G
out of alignment for too long
yeah... subtle change...
but it only too a few people bugging me over the course of what - two months to get it tweaked... just in time maybe to work on a new image for the header...
but it only too a few people bugging me over the course of what - two months to get it tweaked... just in time maybe to work on a new image for the header...
feels like summer
riding in with the minimum clothing and not feeling an ounce of chill, even broke a sweat... crazy... gonna be a scorcher today...
raced the girls home from up on Hope street... they didn't catch me until i was climbing up to the parking lot at the start of the bike path... even with me pausing to answer a phone call and chatting with my brother for 30 seconds or so.
And then it was pretty insane on the path but I ran into someone from the factory riding home and knowing that trying to get home as fast as possible on such a nice day with a crowded bike path would be not so good idea - i chilled and chatted the rest of the way home, and still only managed to arrive 7 minutes after them, or so I was told. No victory for the bike but hey, considering I shut the race down half way there, it was a nice affirmation that riding in to work really isn't that much slower than driving. Not having to try and park or move the car and walk from blocks away certainly seals the deal that commuting by bike makes every day earth day. Not that driving in a car fueled by locally collected recycled and converted oil is environmentally bad. Nothing wrong with ~40 mpg city driving burning a recycled renewable* carbon neutral resource though.
* renewable in that new crops will be planted to make more veggie oil and they will take all the carbon released from the biod and make more oil.
Quabbin RR actually sounded like a great course and a cool race, even if it was blistering hot. Why does road racing sound so appealing right now? My bike is ancient, at least 5 pounds heavier than most all the other rigs in races, and 9 speed means no neutral help... Ah well. The trade-offs are worth it.
heddwch
G
raced the girls home from up on Hope street... they didn't catch me until i was climbing up to the parking lot at the start of the bike path... even with me pausing to answer a phone call and chatting with my brother for 30 seconds or so.
And then it was pretty insane on the path but I ran into someone from the factory riding home and knowing that trying to get home as fast as possible on such a nice day with a crowded bike path would be not so good idea - i chilled and chatted the rest of the way home, and still only managed to arrive 7 minutes after them, or so I was told. No victory for the bike but hey, considering I shut the race down half way there, it was a nice affirmation that riding in to work really isn't that much slower than driving. Not having to try and park or move the car and walk from blocks away certainly seals the deal that commuting by bike makes every day earth day. Not that driving in a car fueled by locally collected recycled and converted oil is environmentally bad. Nothing wrong with ~40 mpg city driving burning a recycled renewable* carbon neutral resource though.
* renewable in that new crops will be planted to make more veggie oil and they will take all the carbon released from the biod and make more oil.
Quabbin RR actually sounded like a great course and a cool race, even if it was blistering hot. Why does road racing sound so appealing right now? My bike is ancient, at least 5 pounds heavier than most all the other rigs in races, and 9 speed means no neutral help... Ah well. The trade-offs are worth it.
heddwch
G
Monday, April 27, 2009
Red Sauce
So around here we (meaning I) make a bit of pasta, but this is a once a week or once every couple weeks - I could eat it every night but those clients of mine generally like other stuff more. Tonight was a bit of a departure in that I conceded to the desires and made a 30 second classic alfredo sauce for some. Actually one of the clients most prefers an equal part Alfredo to Red Sauce. Alfredo is dead simple. Heavy cream, butter, garlic, Parmesan cheese, added in that order. Cream in pan, get hot, start melting butter in it stirring constantly, add crushed garlic, then grated cheese, take off heat once incorporated, add pasta to the pan and mix until coated and serve.
But this was really a response to a friend who I'll call Mr 44 North huckleberry vodka.
Ingredients:
1-1 ½ pound meat – ground beef, ground pork, sweet Italian sausage or all of the above
Extra virgin Olive Oil
½ sweet onion finely diced
3-6 cloves garlic
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Fennel seeds (crushed before putting it in)
Salt
Ground pepper
Red wine
What else?
Oh balsamic vinegar
So how does it all go together?
Lets add the potential variations:
Fresh fennel bulb
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Red (yellow, green) pepper
Carrots
Celery
To make it vegan skip the meat and just start with the olive oil and onions… but this is a meat sauce – although really not much different than vegan style in flavor, esp if you use mushrooms in the vegan sauce.
So of course ya need the water starting to boil, best to get it hot and then re-fire the burner if it boils before the sauce is ready. Don’t rush the sauce. The longer you take to make it and the more time at each step the better…
Get the pot hot – stick the meat in get it good and browned. Once most of the moisture has left add the onions and some olive oil, sweat them down a bit, then once the onions have softened and the water has left toss in a bit of balsamic vinegar… the pan should be hot enough that the vinegar immediately starts evaporating (should be loud).
Then once the steam subsides add the dried herbs, basil is the biggest, a touch of oregano, maybe some thyme, rosemary if you like (I only occasionally add it) and some fennel seed. With the fennel grind it up before putting it in, either chop it, mortar and pestle, or by hand. Let the dried herbs bloom in the oil… (turn the heat down a bit – don’t want to burn em).
Add the can of crushed tomatoes.
Use the juicy tomatoes to lift the glaze ? off the bottom. Scrap it clean.
Add the garlic – use a press, or chop super fine.
Add some wine (to taste)
Some salt… not to much unless you use salt free tomatoes…
Let it simmer very low heat for a while. If it is too thick add a bit of pasta water (after the pasta has been cooking for 4-5 minutes.
That’s the basics.
If you want some variability…
Fennel bulb gets chopped up and added with the onions
Red (color) peppers get finely diced and de-skinned if you want (take skin off before dicing) and added after the balsamic vinegar.
Mushrooms get added mid way through the meat – or at the latest with the mushrooms.
Zucchini is added either as a fine grated mix or sliced and quartered not long before serving.
Carrots and Celery can be used to make a mir poi (spelling) with the onions either with the onions or for a vegan mix to add color and flavor. Carrots are usually best pureed celery should be about the same size as the onions.
Variations are always possible. There isn’t really a bad way to make the sauce. Just don’t start with a jar of sugary sauce. If you don’t do the wine add a touch of sugar, it will help balance the flavor. Chinese or Japanese cooking rice wine can work just don’t add any extra salt. Red wines are best but white can give a more delicate flavor. The alcohol really does enhance the flavor compounds in the tomatoes; ask alton brown or any other food scientist.
Well that’s about it. I think. Serve with a bit of fresh grated parm cheese (never pre-grated sawdust). I like to add a bit of crushed red peppers when serving.
But this was really a response to a friend who I'll call Mr 44 North huckleberry vodka.
Ingredients:
1-1 ½ pound meat – ground beef, ground pork, sweet Italian sausage or all of the above
Extra virgin Olive Oil
½ sweet onion finely diced
3-6 cloves garlic
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Fennel seeds (crushed before putting it in)
Salt
Ground pepper
Red wine
What else?
Oh balsamic vinegar
So how does it all go together?
Lets add the potential variations:
Fresh fennel bulb
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Red (yellow, green) pepper
Carrots
Celery
To make it vegan skip the meat and just start with the olive oil and onions… but this is a meat sauce – although really not much different than vegan style in flavor, esp if you use mushrooms in the vegan sauce.
So of course ya need the water starting to boil, best to get it hot and then re-fire the burner if it boils before the sauce is ready. Don’t rush the sauce. The longer you take to make it and the more time at each step the better…
Get the pot hot – stick the meat in get it good and browned. Once most of the moisture has left add the onions and some olive oil, sweat them down a bit, then once the onions have softened and the water has left toss in a bit of balsamic vinegar… the pan should be hot enough that the vinegar immediately starts evaporating (should be loud).
Then once the steam subsides add the dried herbs, basil is the biggest, a touch of oregano, maybe some thyme, rosemary if you like (I only occasionally add it) and some fennel seed. With the fennel grind it up before putting it in, either chop it, mortar and pestle, or by hand. Let the dried herbs bloom in the oil… (turn the heat down a bit – don’t want to burn em).
Add the can of crushed tomatoes.
Use the juicy tomatoes to lift the glaze ? off the bottom. Scrap it clean.
Add the garlic – use a press, or chop super fine.
Add some wine (to taste)
Some salt… not to much unless you use salt free tomatoes…
Let it simmer very low heat for a while. If it is too thick add a bit of pasta water (after the pasta has been cooking for 4-5 minutes.
That’s the basics.
If you want some variability…
Fennel bulb gets chopped up and added with the onions
Red (color) peppers get finely diced and de-skinned if you want (take skin off before dicing) and added after the balsamic vinegar.
Mushrooms get added mid way through the meat – or at the latest with the mushrooms.
Zucchini is added either as a fine grated mix or sliced and quartered not long before serving.
Carrots and Celery can be used to make a mir poi (spelling) with the onions either with the onions or for a vegan mix to add color and flavor. Carrots are usually best pureed celery should be about the same size as the onions.
Variations are always possible. There isn’t really a bad way to make the sauce. Just don’t start with a jar of sugary sauce. If you don’t do the wine add a touch of sugar, it will help balance the flavor. Chinese or Japanese cooking rice wine can work just don’t add any extra salt. Red wines are best but white can give a more delicate flavor. The alcohol really does enhance the flavor compounds in the tomatoes; ask alton brown or any other food scientist.
Well that’s about it. I think. Serve with a bit of fresh grated parm cheese (never pre-grated sawdust). I like to add a bit of crushed red peppers when serving.
back and bike
funny thing, after getting home my back is feeling great. A ride in, a ride down to the remote factory with one good solid hill in between and the ride home, my back is all in balance again.
odd.
like somehow if i don't ride I fall apart.
which I knew, but well, now, it seems there is even more correlation.
if i had gotten on the bike after waking up with a tweaked back who knows I might have never spent the weekend almost immobilized.
and it was a big zoo on the path - but not so bad... nice stiff headwind.
gotta write up a few recipes... probably get them up here for the heck of it...
odd.
like somehow if i don't ride I fall apart.
which I knew, but well, now, it seems there is even more correlation.
if i had gotten on the bike after waking up with a tweaked back who knows I might have never spent the weekend almost immobilized.
and it was a big zoo on the path - but not so bad... nice stiff headwind.
gotta write up a few recipes... probably get them up here for the heck of it...
it has to get back to normal soon, right?
Just flipping crazy at the factory. The extra day off last week was nice, but I managed to wake up Friday morning with a bit of a stiff back. Proceeded to spend 3 hours up and down the ladder repairing a bit of the eaves on the house. Cutting old stuff out, measuring and fitting new stock. Priming, caulking, sealing. Getting sun burnt. Up on the second floor on a ladder there isn't much room to be keeping work load balanced, so that didn't help the back. Then well, it was a calm afternoon. Figured it was as good a time as any to take the girls out in the canoe. Now a nice small portaging one would have been perfect. But we've got a 20 year old (roughly) Old Town Tripper. A big sumbitch. Heavy, no yoke. But hey what does a dad do for his daughters? Well GeWilli finds he can carry the canoe portage style if the his oldest holds the stern off the ground. We made it over to the bike path like that before I had to put it down. Man that was tough. Anyway we stopped, took a break and I awkwardly got it back up on my shoulders and we made it over to the grass and dragged it the rest of the way to the water. Not really the best idea. But we had fun out there, it was low tide and we could see the bottom all the way around our cove. Headed back and it was a struggle to get the damn thing back to the house. But I got a set of wheels for it off a busted toy wagon from the farm. Next trip will be much easier.
And my back is still tweaked a bit. Felt better once I got on the bike this morning. But Saturday was tough. Picking rocks out of the field at the farm in the morning actually hurt at first but the bending over and all that actually seemed to balance it out. I'd chalk this up to being old but i'm thinking I just slept on it funny and then proceeded to mess it up.
A well. about time to head to the remote factory for some more training...
heddwch
G
And my back is still tweaked a bit. Felt better once I got on the bike this morning. But Saturday was tough. Picking rocks out of the field at the farm in the morning actually hurt at first but the bending over and all that actually seemed to balance it out. I'd chalk this up to being old but i'm thinking I just slept on it funny and then proceeded to mess it up.
A well. about time to head to the remote factory for some more training...
heddwch
G
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chinese Iron Wok
I'm pretty particular about food.
I don't like eating out because usually I can make what ever i'd order better at home and the attraction of paying someone to use lower quality ingredients just isn't there, or paying way too much for quality ingredients... going out I have a desire to go somewhere that I can't duplicate.
Chinese food, traditional stuff, I cannot make at home. I don't have a massive wok burner.
Most stuff is pretty similar. The Chinese Food Truck is his "college food" outlet. But even that food is unique. You can tell it is different. The Szechuan Beef, or Double Cook Pork, are uniquely flavored. So it isn't hot off the wok, but you can tell there is something good going on.
The owner of the truck is involved with the Eating Chinese. I didn't make it out to go shopping last weekend, something about a big bike race, and a crazy week had everyone pretty drained and well. We haven't eaten out together for a while and well, this seemed like the right night to go.
Holy SH!T. Amazing. The Hot and Sour soup was good, perfectly spicy, just right. And the House special Pork? Heaven. Seriously Heavenly food. Such depth to the flavor, not just spicy but complex and subtle at the same time. The sweet and sour chicken was pretty americanized, but the chicken and batter was fluffy, airy, crunchy, and delicate. The Shrimp Lo Mein was the best I've ever had. Never have I had lo mein like this. Not some oily pile of noodles. The shrimp weren't even rubbery, they were tender, perfectly cooked. My oldest is a huge fan of shrimp lo mein, so we've had a pretty good sampling. No chinese i've eaten compares to this stuff. We had a 4th dish, and just grazed on it, but the flavors of it, a House Special Vegetarian Chicken, were amazing. The sauce was spicy but the depth. Oh man.
It doesn't get any better than that.
I'm kicking myself for not getting in there before tonight. But for certain we will be back.
-G
I don't like eating out because usually I can make what ever i'd order better at home and the attraction of paying someone to use lower quality ingredients just isn't there, or paying way too much for quality ingredients... going out I have a desire to go somewhere that I can't duplicate.
Chinese food, traditional stuff, I cannot make at home. I don't have a massive wok burner.
Most stuff is pretty similar. The Chinese Food Truck is his "college food" outlet. But even that food is unique. You can tell it is different. The Szechuan Beef, or Double Cook Pork, are uniquely flavored. So it isn't hot off the wok, but you can tell there is something good going on.
The owner of the truck is involved with the Eating Chinese. I didn't make it out to go shopping last weekend, something about a big bike race, and a crazy week had everyone pretty drained and well. We haven't eaten out together for a while and well, this seemed like the right night to go.
Holy SH!T. Amazing. The Hot and Sour soup was good, perfectly spicy, just right. And the House special Pork? Heaven. Seriously Heavenly food. Such depth to the flavor, not just spicy but complex and subtle at the same time. The sweet and sour chicken was pretty americanized, but the chicken and batter was fluffy, airy, crunchy, and delicate. The Shrimp Lo Mein was the best I've ever had. Never have I had lo mein like this. Not some oily pile of noodles. The shrimp weren't even rubbery, they were tender, perfectly cooked. My oldest is a huge fan of shrimp lo mein, so we've had a pretty good sampling. No chinese i've eaten compares to this stuff. We had a 4th dish, and just grazed on it, but the flavors of it, a House Special Vegetarian Chicken, were amazing. The sauce was spicy but the depth. Oh man.
It doesn't get any better than that.
I'm kicking myself for not getting in there before tonight. But for certain we will be back.
-G
it is happening
Bye Bye Henderson (bridge)
Hello Washington (bridge)
I think I'm gonna cry
They were paving the EP side of the Pedestrian/Bike route across the Washington Bridge this morning. Soon I will be able to cut my car interactions down by 50% or more and my commute by a mile or two.
Can't wait.
Hello Washington (bridge)
I think I'm gonna cry
They were paving the EP side of the Pedestrian/Bike route across the Washington Bridge this morning. Soon I will be able to cut my car interactions down by 50% or more and my commute by a mile or two.
Can't wait.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
brief window
to get home without the rain pouring down on me...
I think i'm going to take advantage of it...
Earth day... can't believe I managed to not realize that today was earth day until mid-day or so...
guess i'll do my part and ride my bike home...
No way...
For real? It does? No way.
Fructose has a different pathway than Glucose. And wow. It has a different impact on the test subjects? Well hey, it is cool and all but all that important? No, not really...
for the science nerdsd:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385
Clif Bar Hypocrisy?
How can the "greenest" of the sports "nutrition" companies NOT offer bulk energy gel products? Hammer does it and their stuff is fine but not organic and corn based. Who wants potentially GMO derived Maltodextrin?
You could argue that the large size bottle has more plastic by mass. But that plastic is in an easily recyclable form, not to mention re-useable first and foremost, and that plastic bottle doesn't wind up littering the side of race courses across the country. Runners, Tri-Geeks, Road races, Mt Bikers, you name the endurance race event and you'll be most certain to find it littered with empty gel packs.
It isn't any different than someone pitching their McDonalds wrapper out the window of the car. Seriously. Do the cyclists pitch their empty Clif Bar wrappers out the window in the car when they are driving to the race?
Why is it tolerated on the bike?
The fewer gels that are sold the fewer wrapper we'll have to deal with on the side of the road.
Clif Bar. I'm dissapointed. But not surprised. Bottom line is bottom line. You guys are like all the other "green" companies. Selling based on a marketing niche.
Hammer really seems to be the big bulk retailer. GU sells a flask but not bulk. Why not? GU also isn't all organic and about saving the earth. The Clif team drove around in a clapped out ancient school bus burning biodiesel and veggie oil when they could. Talk about commitment. How about bulk packaging?
I wonder if the Pedros boys are taking the right step and running at least a 20% bio blend in their Race Wagon... I hope so. Candy Man and Super Tan Freak (CCC) have certainly run across enough of my biodiesel ramblings to be aware of it.
Packaging. That's the nation's nightmare. Over packaging. No we can't be trusted to determine a serving size without it being all hermetically sealed and divided up for us. Good Lord, don't let us buy a big bulk bag of chips and put them into re-usable snack container for our kids to take to school. No we need quarter ounce bags of them pre-sealed and with the advertising marketing brandished all over it so the other kids can see what it is they are eating.
Come on Clif. Get us a bulk package. Come out with the best flask design yet.
Show us that you really do walk the walk. Anyone who might actually read this and who might actually care about this, please take a minute to head to Clif Bar and join me in pushing to end the Gel Pack Litter on the race courses.
Clif Bar Contact Page
Thanks and Heddwch
G
You could argue that the large size bottle has more plastic by mass. But that plastic is in an easily recyclable form, not to mention re-useable first and foremost, and that plastic bottle doesn't wind up littering the side of race courses across the country. Runners, Tri-Geeks, Road races, Mt Bikers, you name the endurance race event and you'll be most certain to find it littered with empty gel packs.
It isn't any different than someone pitching their McDonalds wrapper out the window of the car. Seriously. Do the cyclists pitch their empty Clif Bar wrappers out the window in the car when they are driving to the race?
Why is it tolerated on the bike?
The fewer gels that are sold the fewer wrapper we'll have to deal with on the side of the road.
Clif Bar. I'm dissapointed. But not surprised. Bottom line is bottom line. You guys are like all the other "green" companies. Selling based on a marketing niche.
Hammer really seems to be the big bulk retailer. GU sells a flask but not bulk. Why not? GU also isn't all organic and about saving the earth. The Clif team drove around in a clapped out ancient school bus burning biodiesel and veggie oil when they could. Talk about commitment. How about bulk packaging?
I wonder if the Pedros boys are taking the right step and running at least a 20% bio blend in their Race Wagon... I hope so. Candy Man and Super Tan Freak (CCC) have certainly run across enough of my biodiesel ramblings to be aware of it.
Packaging. That's the nation's nightmare. Over packaging. No we can't be trusted to determine a serving size without it being all hermetically sealed and divided up for us. Good Lord, don't let us buy a big bulk bag of chips and put them into re-usable snack container for our kids to take to school. No we need quarter ounce bags of them pre-sealed and with the advertising marketing brandished all over it so the other kids can see what it is they are eating.
Come on Clif. Get us a bulk package. Come out with the best flask design yet.
Show us that you really do walk the walk. Anyone who might actually read this and who might actually care about this, please take a minute to head to Clif Bar and join me in pushing to end the Gel Pack Litter on the race courses.
Clif Bar Contact Page
Thanks and Heddwch
G
It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'
- Sam Levenson
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
- Sam Levenson
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
What a difference a ride makes
Riding home, mist, bare, clean shaven legs, no gloves, arm warmers. What a great ride home. Beat the rain once more. Just a bare misty fog on the way home. An empty bike path. As soon as I got on the bike and started heading home i felt awesome.
Being on the bike just makes it all better.
Now we're having a late dinner, made pizza from scratch, no pasta tonight, the clients at this restaurant decided. And as soon as they did - their personal chef went into action.
Now we're waiting for the oven to hit the magic 500 number with the convection fan going... once it dings... the chef heads back to work to create a trio of pizzas, a sausage, a ham, and probably one of both.
There's the ding.
time to leave
heddwch
G
Being on the bike just makes it all better.
Now we're having a late dinner, made pizza from scratch, no pasta tonight, the clients at this restaurant decided. And as soon as they did - their personal chef went into action.
Now we're waiting for the oven to hit the magic 500 number with the convection fan going... once it dings... the chef heads back to work to create a trio of pizzas, a sausage, a ham, and probably one of both.
There's the ding.
time to leave
heddwch
G
Blaggards singing Drunken Sailor
"Shave his balls with a rusty razor"
got my attention just now. The original lyrics are shave his belly... balls sounds so much more appropriate for the song, and sailors in general.
The rain stopped for me on the way in. Was thinking of trying to get to Quabbin to see if i can build on last weekend, but planning and pre-existing schedules are making it pretty solidly impossible. I don't think it is possible to do that race and be back in PVD by 1:30pm. Ah well.
Dieter pulled the results off Bike Reg. Seems like maybe he could have saved himself a whole mountain of crap if he'd just proof-read them before posting. Ah well. Seems like he's doing as much as can be done to make it right. Can't find fault in that.
Can we be hopeful? Or will this go the way the US Open race has the last two years, or the world cup races or... or... Sounds like it has the traction it needs. Would be nice to get G-ster out of the way and then do this, and maybe hit Jamestown on the 12th although rumor that MRC may be hitting the 12th would be better than a silly road race ;) Sorry for being skeptical of any "big race" that plans to come to PVD, but man we've been so gypped these last few years that, when I can register for the race I'll believe it is happening.
Now it is just time to head home and hope i can beat the thunderstorm. What to make for dinner... last night it was a killer chicken teriyaki sort of thing, soooo good. My off the cuff Teriyaki sauce actually is identical to how the recipe looks, now that i'm checking into it. Seriously pretty funny - nailing it at once. Mirin, sugar, and soy sauce. I did more of a pan/stir fry than broil or grill with the chicken. But before cooking the chicken I sweated and clarified some onions in the oil (a mix of olive, sunflower and dark sesame) and then tossed some whole sugar snap peas in there for about 60 seconds. Pulled those out - did the chicken in a couple batches. Reduced the sauce a bit and added some cornstarch to thicken it up (and a touch of a few secret spices) boom. amazing flavor and combo. The chicken was tender and juicy and the peas were warm and crunch and infused the whole dish with their amazing flavor, all over some organic white basmati rice. The night before was a killer mexican burrito/soft taco night. Rice, beans and a little ground beef, with fresh guac. I've been out of ench sauce and ground chili powder for a while. But somehow I made it work, and work really well. It was a solidly fresh and delicious soft taco night.
So who knows what's for dinner tonight. We'll have to see, maybe i'll convince everyone that it is time for some good old fashioned Italian Pomodoro Sauce drenched pasta. What ever it is going to be, i'll be making it, as happens nearly every night.
heddwch
G
got my attention just now. The original lyrics are shave his belly... balls sounds so much more appropriate for the song, and sailors in general.
The rain stopped for me on the way in. Was thinking of trying to get to Quabbin to see if i can build on last weekend, but planning and pre-existing schedules are making it pretty solidly impossible. I don't think it is possible to do that race and be back in PVD by 1:30pm. Ah well.
Dieter pulled the results off Bike Reg. Seems like maybe he could have saved himself a whole mountain of crap if he'd just proof-read them before posting. Ah well. Seems like he's doing as much as can be done to make it right. Can't find fault in that.
Can we be hopeful? Or will this go the way the US Open race has the last two years, or the world cup races or... or... Sounds like it has the traction it needs. Would be nice to get G-ster out of the way and then do this, and maybe hit Jamestown on the 12th although rumor that MRC may be hitting the 12th would be better than a silly road race ;) Sorry for being skeptical of any "big race" that plans to come to PVD, but man we've been so gypped these last few years that, when I can register for the race I'll believe it is happening.
Now it is just time to head home and hope i can beat the thunderstorm. What to make for dinner... last night it was a killer chicken teriyaki sort of thing, soooo good. My off the cuff Teriyaki sauce actually is identical to how the recipe looks, now that i'm checking into it. Seriously pretty funny - nailing it at once. Mirin, sugar, and soy sauce. I did more of a pan/stir fry than broil or grill with the chicken. But before cooking the chicken I sweated and clarified some onions in the oil (a mix of olive, sunflower and dark sesame) and then tossed some whole sugar snap peas in there for about 60 seconds. Pulled those out - did the chicken in a couple batches. Reduced the sauce a bit and added some cornstarch to thicken it up (and a touch of a few secret spices) boom. amazing flavor and combo. The chicken was tender and juicy and the peas were warm and crunch and infused the whole dish with their amazing flavor, all over some organic white basmati rice. The night before was a killer mexican burrito/soft taco night. Rice, beans and a little ground beef, with fresh guac. I've been out of ench sauce and ground chili powder for a while. But somehow I made it work, and work really well. It was a solidly fresh and delicious soft taco night.
So who knows what's for dinner tonight. We'll have to see, maybe i'll convince everyone that it is time for some good old fashioned Italian Pomodoro Sauce drenched pasta. What ever it is going to be, i'll be making it, as happens nearly every night.
heddwch
G
Monday, April 20, 2009
Epic Fail
Talk about screwed up results cat 4 black isn't even close to being right.
hanrahan (37th in that field) is a Cat 3, and I think I might have noticed a millwork 1 guy in our pack. But then maybe not. I'm guessing he is supposed to be 1427? maybe?
I know for certain rider 417 was on the side of the road on Becker fixing a flat when I passed him and he never caught back up to me. We talked for a bit at the start and then over the first couple miles. And not one of the six of my team mates in the Cat 4 black field are listed. I was the last of the team to cross the line at about 3:57pm. Everyone else finished in front of me. One of our guys finished just after the main group of Cat 4 black. Not one of the 6 guys on our team is listed as finishing the Cat 4 black field.
I was 486. It has 1486 and 486 as the same guy Trent sullivan. He didn't race in both races. Same thing with Jeff Ferraro. He is listed as Cat 4 and 30+. He couldn't have done both either. Messed up stuff.
Not that my placing matters to me. I finished, and I finished at 3:57pm after starting at 12:30. How does that compare to the rest of the team? I have no clue. They probably have my number right. 65th sounds about right where I was. Way at the back. Stupid section between Ferguson and the second Feedzone.
we'll see if this ever gets sorted out.
G
PS... timing chips sound like really good ideas for this race...
PPS... I still (despite the middle bit of hell) really enjoyed the "race" and the course. Do it again? Yeah, sure as hell. Esp with the current course.
hanrahan (37th in that field) is a Cat 3, and I think I might have noticed a millwork 1 guy in our pack. But then maybe not. I'm guessing he is supposed to be 1427? maybe?
I know for certain rider 417 was on the side of the road on Becker fixing a flat when I passed him and he never caught back up to me. We talked for a bit at the start and then over the first couple miles. And not one of the six of my team mates in the Cat 4 black field are listed. I was the last of the team to cross the line at about 3:57pm. Everyone else finished in front of me. One of our guys finished just after the main group of Cat 4 black. Not one of the 6 guys on our team is listed as finishing the Cat 4 black field.
I was 486. It has 1486 and 486 as the same guy Trent sullivan. He didn't race in both races. Same thing with Jeff Ferraro. He is listed as Cat 4 and 30+. He couldn't have done both either. Messed up stuff.
Not that my placing matters to me. I finished, and I finished at 3:57pm after starting at 12:30. How does that compare to the rest of the team? I have no clue. They probably have my number right. 65th sounds about right where I was. Way at the back. Stupid section between Ferguson and the second Feedzone.
we'll see if this ever gets sorted out.
G
PS... timing chips sound like really good ideas for this race...
PPS... I still (despite the middle bit of hell) really enjoyed the "race" and the course. Do it again? Yeah, sure as hell. Esp with the current course.
I'll say it again
although I'll let Burt Friggin' Hoovis say it for me.
Still busts me up watching two people deliberately THROW gel packets on the dirt sections. Not like a casual oops i dropped it, flat out fahking THOWING the thing on the ground.
What, like the little bit of sticky crap you didn't suck out of there will get your precious jersey dirty? What the dirty road water spray of yours that is all over my jersey is fine, but putting a package that weighs less than a gram in your pocket where it came from is too much work? or what?
oh and #3 (in burt's post above), when it is a little windy but mostly a headwind and you're going up hill. WHO THE FAHK CARES WHICH SIDE YOU PULL OFF ON... just rotate the fahk through. That or stop being a wheel sucking dick back and set the example.
Ah why get all worked up about it. I was fine until that instance touched off the anger again.
Got a great compliment from a team-mate in our race. At the start he just latched on my wheel and sat there all the way until after the part of that first climb that I thought was over but wasn't. He said it was a perfect wheel to follow. Well, heck I'm glad i was able to pace him and keep him completely out of the wind and safe for the first 12 miles or how ever long that was. Just wish I'd been there to help out longer. Next year. Next year.
Heddwch
G
5. There's a right place to put a spent power gel wrapper. Its in your pocket. People who think that paying an event entry fee somehow gives them the right to litter their shit all over the roads are being shitheads, plain and simple. What's even worse is when you're out somewhere in the middle of some idyllic woodland setting on your mountain bike, and there's a fucking power bar wrapper on the ground. WTF...? Guess some guys' mommas never taught them shit...
Still busts me up watching two people deliberately THROW gel packets on the dirt sections. Not like a casual oops i dropped it, flat out fahking THOWING the thing on the ground.
What, like the little bit of sticky crap you didn't suck out of there will get your precious jersey dirty? What the dirty road water spray of yours that is all over my jersey is fine, but putting a package that weighs less than a gram in your pocket where it came from is too much work? or what?
oh and #3 (in burt's post above), when it is a little windy but mostly a headwind and you're going up hill. WHO THE FAHK CARES WHICH SIDE YOU PULL OFF ON... just rotate the fahk through. That or stop being a wheel sucking dick back and set the example.
Ah why get all worked up about it. I was fine until that instance touched off the anger again.
Got a great compliment from a team-mate in our race. At the start he just latched on my wheel and sat there all the way until after the part of that first climb that I thought was over but wasn't. He said it was a perfect wheel to follow. Well, heck I'm glad i was able to pace him and keep him completely out of the wind and safe for the first 12 miles or how ever long that was. Just wish I'd been there to help out longer. Next year. Next year.
Heddwch
G
Legend Bicycles Open House, May 8th
Hi Legend Friends - You are invited to an open house at the new Legend
Bicycle (www.legendbicycle.com) Friday May 8th 6-8pm. We will be
celebrating the arrival of the nice weather (finally) and promoting our
new Providence Cycling Map from Lay o'the Land Publishing. Please come by
to see the new look and say hello. We hope to see you then.
For more on the maps, keep reading:
Are you feeling lost in a world of economic downturns and upwardly mobile
pirates? Do you wish you could drive less and ride more? Do you wish
there was a place you could go to learn to get to the places you go?
Legend Bicycle – Fox Point’s neighborhood bike shop - is pleased to
introduce the first edition of the Lay o’ the Land - A Wayfinding Guide
for Cyclists and Urban Explorers. This cycling map of Greater Providence
highlights useful cycling roads within the Interstate 295 corridor based
on over twenty years of urban cycling by its creator Jack Madden.
Providence is a great city for the transportation cyclist given its
density, comfortable climate, and interesting cultural and natural
history. One barrier to making bicycling an accessible transportation
option to many, however, is an overly automobile-centric orientation to
the urban environment. On a typical road map, the highway is front and
center. Lay o’the Land highlights “useful cycling roads” while the
highways are shown as just another landmark like the rivers and coastline
found here at the head of Narragansett Bay. Other highlights include bike
paths, bike lanes, bike shops, parks, schools and public libraries.
Maps are $5 or come included with every purchase of new bikes from Fuji,
SE, and Surly bicycles. 10% of the sale of the maps will go to Providence
Bicycle Coalition (www.bikeprovidence.org) - sponsor of the annual Bike to
Work Day Friday May 15, 2009.
Use Lay o’the Land to chart a course to your everyday destinations.
Whether you’re a native cyclist simply trying to find a better route from
home to work, or a vacationer visiting Providence for the first time, Lay
o’the Land can help orient you to the street level with suggestions for
which roads can get you where you need to go. Come to Legend Bicycle
today and get the Lay o’the Land!
Thanks for listening,
Jack
Legend Bicycle
181 Brook St.
Providence, RI 02909
www.legendbicycle.com
Nice Cool Foggy Morning
It was a nice ride in. Not so foggy that you got soaked, but just enough for everything to look good. The TCX feels just slightly odd and a whole lot closer to the ground than the Q-Pro. And I noticed that my left lever on this bike is lower than the right one... damn I wonder how long that has been messed up. Legs felt not so bad on the way in. What do they say? There is no substitute for racing? Pretty much true. Although I should be very happy with what happened, i'm more angry for not doing more to get ready for the race, angry in that i'm not pissed at myself but more fired up to get it right. And at least only in the middle section of the race there after joe bean hill was i not wanting to do the race again. By the time I'd hit the dirt I was loving it. Last year I was pissed about the race the whole second half of it. Mostly the section after meetinghouse road.
Well there is always next year. Maybe Deiter can add the Bogtown Road loop in, have us all go straight through Salem and left over that dirt section to break up the long paved stretch. That would be awesome.
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Time to move on though, yeah? Or maybe just linger long enough on it to see if anyone finished behind me.
Heddwch
G
Well there is always next year. Maybe Deiter can add the Bogtown Road loop in, have us all go straight through Salem and left over that dirt section to break up the long paved stretch. That would be awesome.
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Time to move on though, yeah? Or maybe just linger long enough on it to see if anyone finished behind me.
Heddwch
G
Sunday, April 19, 2009
day after thoughts
Now reflecting on it, I really wish I'd hit a bunch of road races before Battenkill. Sounds pretty much of a no brainer. Only Nascar starts the season with the biggest race of the year and that's a bit different. The shock to the system wasn't the opener it was what happened after that first climb and what really actually happened, not a single second to rest. On the rivet (the slow one) the whole time. The rotating pace line was great but it hurt, alot. And now the words of some guy we parked next to are working through my head, "you need to do like six more of these". It makes sense. He's right. And it has been bugging me all day. I was completely cooked yesterday. Spent, muscles cramping not from lack of something, but just from being empty. 100k. But today, just barely a touch of latent soreness. I'm ready to go again. The drive is less of, a hell this is fun, like cyclocross, than, i KNOW i can do better, i know my potential is higher than the results show. I wonder if i should think about Sterling now.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Toss Up
Toss up.
That’s the title I had in my head at one point, but hell if I remember what it meant or where I was going with it.
Battenkill. Tour of. 2009 edition. In 3,000 words or less (less, but not by much) and one photo.
Loved the course. Or well, lets say this – it was a great improvement even if my “performance” was somewhat not that different than past editions. I could make it up any hill, no problem. I just couldn’t go up fast enough. And spent a good deal of time from the mid point of Joe Bean hill on alone.
High point of embarrassment: Exit17 shouting as the cat 2 field roared by… GEEEEEEEEEEWILLLLEEEEEEEEEEE
Yeah, now pretend that someone saying that is passing you up hill going 2x faster than you. I got passed by both the Cat 2 and Pro/1 fields. And yeah, the Pro/1 field started 10 minutes before we did. They went a bit farther than I did. But they didn’t catch me for a while. I think I’d cleared Becker before most of them came by. Or at least the fast guys.
What I know of this coming week is, there won’t be time for a well digested couple days post race edition. So I’d better grab a few seconds, have a tall boy and spill it.
Where to start? Well I’m not sure if the 2006 Do the Tour Podcast work out from Chris and Bob for stage 15 was a good thing to do on the trainer the day before, but I did it. Realized late on Saturday that I needed to make dinner and wash the kit. Had a couple beers and then a glass of wine. And eventually fell asleep as soon as I pulled the covers up. Lights out. Until 5:15.
Got a bit tied up and arrived at Skinny’s place a couple minutes after 6am, and he hands me the keys to the Man Van and I drive. My back was wrecked when I got there. It was sort of wrecked the night before, I noticed before sleeping soundly. Made good enough time that at 9:20 or so we decided to see if we could drive the Stage Road climb. With skinny and his little GPS we proceeded to get a bit lost, drove way way west, turned around, and I got to play WRC driver on the dirt roads in the Mazda MPV with 4 bikes on the roof. Plenty of 4 wheel sliding, it was a blast. Almost as much fun as racing down all the dirt roads later… We found it, got to town, parked and headed to registration. Saw the Pedros Posse, I wonder how many hours Cort spends in the tanning booth.
We wound up parking next to the chocolate brown dick tracy car driven by Solobreak and an oddly empty Soups truck across the way. Photos were taken of me eating some pasta and solo getting his shit together. It was a pretty relaxed pre-race. Ace and Gary showed up in Ace’s tweaked and tuned WRX hatchback, it was blue like their uniforms. And well pretty soon the whole Refunds Now BKR team was assembled and eventually we headed to the start. The last wave. A bunch of Cat 4s and the Pro/1 field mingling., quite the odd juxtaposition.
We get a few short announcements and roll off. Typical Cat 4 stuff “slowing” “turning” “YELLOW LINE” “Left turn” rinse wash repeat. I kept out of the wind most of the time but in the front 20-30. I never really looked back but a couple guys started drilling it out of the gun and it stretched to 2-3 wide for a while. Then a turn through the bridge and we start rolling up hill.
“Bottle” as one gets ejected and rolls through the field. It was a guy two people up from me, or at least that’s where it seemed to come from. Bummer for him, hopefully he had a feed. But it was cool. Arm warmers base layer and wool sock. And forecast to rain a bit.
I lost contact with the lead group after the false summit there on the first hill, but dug down and just tacked on over the top, but not quite far enough up as a gap had opened a bit and I was 10 seconds off the lead as they took the hard left towards the base of Juniper Swamp. Cranked up, 42x27, clicking for a lower gear but hey – I was going up faster than most around me, but probably using up way too many resources, and I wasn’t catching the main pack. I could see them there just ahead as I started up, and that was encouraging but by the time I finally crested they were gone. Fuck.
Chase time. Head down barreled down. Eventually worked into a group of a few others a PVC guy was most notable. And the five of us cranked a bitter fast paceline up 64. Picked up Brentani- I mean Gary –and we started cranking along. The road up to the top of 64 was easy (relative). And we bombed down the other side and started cranking the pace line, sort of. It was hap-hazard, but the pace was high. And we saw the main pack up ahead once after leaving Salem. But the pack seemed intent on drilling it to the base of Joe Bean.
Unfortunately I was getting cooked from the paceline efforts, and that actually sucked a lot. I was getting hot and gapped. The irregular pulls and all that were not fun but I knew I needed to be there. And ½ up Joe Bean I was still with this group. And then I couldn’t turn the low gear over fast enough to keep the pace of the slowest guys in our group. Gary just danced away from us – Baby Hill Junkie is he. I hit the top of Joe Bean to rain sprinkles. Zip up jersey, pull up arm warmers, and head down.
Drilling it doesn’t do me any good because there was another big guy in that group, and he was drilling it from the looks of it. And All I could do was hold them steady down Feguson. Once we hit the main road it was Boom boom lights out. My legs and feet actually started to get cold. And there was nothing I could do to will on enough speed to catch that group, and there was no one visible behind me. So I trudged on and eventually ran into a big guy from a 900 # field and we sort of traded pulls and then got a 20 meter gap between us and rode through to Greenwich until a coupld cat 4 black (my field) came by us pretty quick, a pair of team mates, and I jumped on and 900 group guy jumped on and then one of these two fast guys from the same team that came through us dropped all of us and then his team-mate surged and I couldn’t but 900# guy did and I was alone. Rolling through Greenwich. Alone.
Feed Zone came up eventually and I drained the last of the waterbottle with the leakiest top and crappiest worn out bottle part and tossed it in a pile of discarded bottles. One and three quarters of the fluid (trial #4) gone. A couple gels gone too. And yeah – flagrantly people would suck a bit of gel down and wing it to the road. Oh that pissed me off. Fucking assholes. But I tried to check the anger and ignore them and focus on my own “race”
Just after the feedzone a cop car came roaring past, then two or three guys followed by the Cat 2 car and then a guy on a moto rides up and lets me know there is a big pack heading my way… Sure-nuff. Que “geeeeeewilleeeeeeeee”. Thanks Ryan.
And then they turned right up little rise and accelerated off, and Mark the neutral support guy we all know from Cross came roaring past with his dog poking his nose out the front passenger window.
And I was alone again. But I caught up with the 900# guy and rode along. The Pro/1 field rode through me too. Or at least maybe the first group – if there was another group. I think I saw Timmie J among them. But it was after the Cat 2 guys rolled through that I actually started to feel better. My legs started responding and I was having fun. A wicked shit load of it. The dirt down hills I repassed a pair of guys from my field who had ridden through 900# guy and me and another 900# guy on the pavement. They were actually riding their brakes down the dirt hill. I was pedaling. I didn’t see them again. Flying down. At the tree there were two guys standing there and I got distracted (I looked at them instead of my line) and I went wide, right into the wicked soft stuff at speed but managed to hold it together and didn’t go over the edge or really slow down much. Meeting house was actually kind of fun. Sort of. But not really. A pair of team mates – a couple big guys rode up to me and just past me at Meeting house and then I caught back up and realize they were in my field and we sort of rode together until one pull dropped one of them before the sharp left turn before stage road, but I sucked down a gel and had a drink. I tried to eat a clif block but couldn’t chew it very easily. I was getting a bit of a twinge in my legs, pre-cramp feelings, on the rollers leading up to the climb just after the covered bridge. And the three of us hit the climb. And I just had to keep a rhythm with that stupid retarded big 42x27 gear (intent people – don’t let me be that stupid if I actually decide to race this again – or well at least remind me that it isn’t enough to be able to climb 25% grades with it – you actually have to be able to go fast). The mantra for the hills in the second half was the Jamaican Bobsled team movie one “Feel the Rhythm… “ And it worked. I climbed pretty well over that. Picked up one guy, and was on the verge of cramping badly, but I didn’t stop and kept pedaling and rode through it. Finally getting over the top and onto the pavement.
Lots of guys in that last stretch on the side of the road with flats. Loads of flats everywhere. Way more than I remember seeing in previous years. And yeah – some where in the purgatory – the stretch of road I have come to hate – the one between Greenwich and the bottom of Ferguson – I really really really didn’t ever want to do this race again. And my back was killing me. But, as soon as I was back on the dirt – my back pain was completely gone. Like a switch was turned. Dirt. Heck at some point I was so delusional that I thought it would be a good idea to go hit ninigret on wed nights once a month or so.
No mechanicals, no flats, perfect fluid, just enough fuel. Good sleep. Things were better this time. I was stronger but still not good enough. It was a long suffer fest. By the time I got to the top of Joe Bean hill I was drained… Tank empty and demoralized. Sucky.
But man that last section was fun. Balls out, full speed ahead down the dirt. It was fun.
Finally got to the top of stage road and then the down hill run started. Not quite full gas, but I was flying. How fast? I dunno. Absolutely NO metrics. No idea how fast I was going, how far I had been, or any of that. All I knew was I rolled out of Cambridge at 12:30 and got back in at 3:57. Sucky mcsuckleton strikes again. But there were a few guys breathing down my neck and I held them off. Turns out they were from my field and that extra effort kept me a few places higher on the results sheet. One of the guys was a 64 year old with a great attitude – he asked how it went and my reply was different than his. He was really happy to finish “most guys my age are sick, sitting on a couch, getting fat and generally miserable and unhealthy, just being able to do the race was a victory for me.” Killer attitude. He’s right. What the hell do I have to be despondent about with how my race went. I did all I could. I dug way way way deeper into myself than I’ve ever done on this race. I still got dropped but I suffered through and found some more somewhere and finished strong.
And I finished.
Darcy, the most awesome, noticed me dragging my ass across the line and turned to shout “WILLIE GE” with her trademark laugh. Part of me wanted to socialize but by the time I got back to the car everyone was packed up, waiting for me and one of the guys in the Man van had to get back for his GF’s birthday. So after a nice decompression chat with Solo as I was changing we jumped in the car and headed home. I arrived just about 8pm.
A long day. But what a day. Epic, yeah. Weather couldn’t have been better suited for me. Cool, wet, a bit of wind. And dirt. Man o man was that last section of the race AWESOME. Thanks for the course change Dieter, that made the race.
I came in the last of the Refunds Team, but hey. It was a great day, No? Topped it off by getting some Andy Cap Hot Fries for a quick sodium slam, and a six pack of High Life tall boys for $3.49 that I’m about ready to slam, each and every one of them. Nah, just kidding, I’m going to have one, maybe two at the most, then get cleaned up and tuck the girls in and fall asleep hopefully to be able to sleep past 5:30 am for the first time in a couple weeks.
So there ya go, is that a couple hours for you Rich?
I might remember details that I’ve forgotten, but hey. It is pretty well covered. And that’s pretty much my race. I can climb, but I can’t climb fast enough. Maybe if I drop 10 pounds from my body and 5 pounds from my bike I’d be able to hang better. One is easy the other is expensive, and I’ve got a cyclocross war wagon to get fixed ($ + time) before fall. But maybe I should see how much Ithaca, MI race guy wants to sell that Orange XL Giant TCX for, if he hasn’t sold it already.
Links? In this one? Maybe I’ll do a run down later – over lunch on Monday maybe.
Right now the shower is calling me and my legs feel ripped apart… and that is a good thing.
Heddwch
G
Where's the photo?
Well while i'm waiting for it to download I happened to check solo's blog and what do I see? The photo. But I don't want to pimp his bandwidth by posting it up here so i'm being patient.
Photo credit - Mark 'Soups' Suprenant.
Post scoring edit - the 900# guy was a cat 4 white rider... and yeah - they don't have any of our team listed.
That’s the title I had in my head at one point, but hell if I remember what it meant or where I was going with it.
Battenkill. Tour of. 2009 edition. In 3,000 words or less (less, but not by much) and one photo.
Loved the course. Or well, lets say this – it was a great improvement even if my “performance” was somewhat not that different than past editions. I could make it up any hill, no problem. I just couldn’t go up fast enough. And spent a good deal of time from the mid point of Joe Bean hill on alone.
High point of embarrassment: Exit17 shouting as the cat 2 field roared by… GEEEEEEEEEEWILLLLEEEEEEEEEEE
Yeah, now pretend that someone saying that is passing you up hill going 2x faster than you. I got passed by both the Cat 2 and Pro/1 fields. And yeah, the Pro/1 field started 10 minutes before we did. They went a bit farther than I did. But they didn’t catch me for a while. I think I’d cleared Becker before most of them came by. Or at least the fast guys.
What I know of this coming week is, there won’t be time for a well digested couple days post race edition. So I’d better grab a few seconds, have a tall boy and spill it.
Where to start? Well I’m not sure if the 2006 Do the Tour Podcast work out from Chris and Bob for stage 15 was a good thing to do on the trainer the day before, but I did it. Realized late on Saturday that I needed to make dinner and wash the kit. Had a couple beers and then a glass of wine. And eventually fell asleep as soon as I pulled the covers up. Lights out. Until 5:15.
Got a bit tied up and arrived at Skinny’s place a couple minutes after 6am, and he hands me the keys to the Man Van and I drive. My back was wrecked when I got there. It was sort of wrecked the night before, I noticed before sleeping soundly. Made good enough time that at 9:20 or so we decided to see if we could drive the Stage Road climb. With skinny and his little GPS we proceeded to get a bit lost, drove way way west, turned around, and I got to play WRC driver on the dirt roads in the Mazda MPV with 4 bikes on the roof. Plenty of 4 wheel sliding, it was a blast. Almost as much fun as racing down all the dirt roads later… We found it, got to town, parked and headed to registration. Saw the Pedros Posse, I wonder how many hours Cort spends in the tanning booth.
We wound up parking next to the chocolate brown dick tracy car driven by Solobreak and an oddly empty Soups truck across the way. Photos were taken of me eating some pasta and solo getting his shit together. It was a pretty relaxed pre-race. Ace and Gary showed up in Ace’s tweaked and tuned WRX hatchback, it was blue like their uniforms. And well pretty soon the whole Refunds Now BKR team was assembled and eventually we headed to the start. The last wave. A bunch of Cat 4s and the Pro/1 field mingling., quite the odd juxtaposition.
We get a few short announcements and roll off. Typical Cat 4 stuff “slowing” “turning” “YELLOW LINE” “Left turn” rinse wash repeat. I kept out of the wind most of the time but in the front 20-30. I never really looked back but a couple guys started drilling it out of the gun and it stretched to 2-3 wide for a while. Then a turn through the bridge and we start rolling up hill.
“Bottle” as one gets ejected and rolls through the field. It was a guy two people up from me, or at least that’s where it seemed to come from. Bummer for him, hopefully he had a feed. But it was cool. Arm warmers base layer and wool sock. And forecast to rain a bit.
I lost contact with the lead group after the false summit there on the first hill, but dug down and just tacked on over the top, but not quite far enough up as a gap had opened a bit and I was 10 seconds off the lead as they took the hard left towards the base of Juniper Swamp. Cranked up, 42x27, clicking for a lower gear but hey – I was going up faster than most around me, but probably using up way too many resources, and I wasn’t catching the main pack. I could see them there just ahead as I started up, and that was encouraging but by the time I finally crested they were gone. Fuck.
Chase time. Head down barreled down. Eventually worked into a group of a few others a PVC guy was most notable. And the five of us cranked a bitter fast paceline up 64. Picked up Brentani- I mean Gary –and we started cranking along. The road up to the top of 64 was easy (relative). And we bombed down the other side and started cranking the pace line, sort of. It was hap-hazard, but the pace was high. And we saw the main pack up ahead once after leaving Salem. But the pack seemed intent on drilling it to the base of Joe Bean.
Unfortunately I was getting cooked from the paceline efforts, and that actually sucked a lot. I was getting hot and gapped. The irregular pulls and all that were not fun but I knew I needed to be there. And ½ up Joe Bean I was still with this group. And then I couldn’t turn the low gear over fast enough to keep the pace of the slowest guys in our group. Gary just danced away from us – Baby Hill Junkie is he. I hit the top of Joe Bean to rain sprinkles. Zip up jersey, pull up arm warmers, and head down.
Drilling it doesn’t do me any good because there was another big guy in that group, and he was drilling it from the looks of it. And All I could do was hold them steady down Feguson. Once we hit the main road it was Boom boom lights out. My legs and feet actually started to get cold. And there was nothing I could do to will on enough speed to catch that group, and there was no one visible behind me. So I trudged on and eventually ran into a big guy from a 900 # field and we sort of traded pulls and then got a 20 meter gap between us and rode through to Greenwich until a coupld cat 4 black (my field) came by us pretty quick, a pair of team mates, and I jumped on and 900 group guy jumped on and then one of these two fast guys from the same team that came through us dropped all of us and then his team-mate surged and I couldn’t but 900# guy did and I was alone. Rolling through Greenwich. Alone.
Feed Zone came up eventually and I drained the last of the waterbottle with the leakiest top and crappiest worn out bottle part and tossed it in a pile of discarded bottles. One and three quarters of the fluid (trial #4) gone. A couple gels gone too. And yeah – flagrantly people would suck a bit of gel down and wing it to the road. Oh that pissed me off. Fucking assholes. But I tried to check the anger and ignore them and focus on my own “race”
Just after the feedzone a cop car came roaring past, then two or three guys followed by the Cat 2 car and then a guy on a moto rides up and lets me know there is a big pack heading my way… Sure-nuff. Que “geeeeeewilleeeeeeeee”. Thanks Ryan.
And then they turned right up little rise and accelerated off, and Mark the neutral support guy we all know from Cross came roaring past with his dog poking his nose out the front passenger window.
And I was alone again. But I caught up with the 900# guy and rode along. The Pro/1 field rode through me too. Or at least maybe the first group – if there was another group. I think I saw Timmie J among them. But it was after the Cat 2 guys rolled through that I actually started to feel better. My legs started responding and I was having fun. A wicked shit load of it. The dirt down hills I repassed a pair of guys from my field who had ridden through 900# guy and me and another 900# guy on the pavement. They were actually riding their brakes down the dirt hill. I was pedaling. I didn’t see them again. Flying down. At the tree there were two guys standing there and I got distracted (I looked at them instead of my line) and I went wide, right into the wicked soft stuff at speed but managed to hold it together and didn’t go over the edge or really slow down much. Meeting house was actually kind of fun. Sort of. But not really. A pair of team mates – a couple big guys rode up to me and just past me at Meeting house and then I caught back up and realize they were in my field and we sort of rode together until one pull dropped one of them before the sharp left turn before stage road, but I sucked down a gel and had a drink. I tried to eat a clif block but couldn’t chew it very easily. I was getting a bit of a twinge in my legs, pre-cramp feelings, on the rollers leading up to the climb just after the covered bridge. And the three of us hit the climb. And I just had to keep a rhythm with that stupid retarded big 42x27 gear (intent people – don’t let me be that stupid if I actually decide to race this again – or well at least remind me that it isn’t enough to be able to climb 25% grades with it – you actually have to be able to go fast). The mantra for the hills in the second half was the Jamaican Bobsled team movie one “Feel the Rhythm… “ And it worked. I climbed pretty well over that. Picked up one guy, and was on the verge of cramping badly, but I didn’t stop and kept pedaling and rode through it. Finally getting over the top and onto the pavement.
Lots of guys in that last stretch on the side of the road with flats. Loads of flats everywhere. Way more than I remember seeing in previous years. And yeah – some where in the purgatory – the stretch of road I have come to hate – the one between Greenwich and the bottom of Ferguson – I really really really didn’t ever want to do this race again. And my back was killing me. But, as soon as I was back on the dirt – my back pain was completely gone. Like a switch was turned. Dirt. Heck at some point I was so delusional that I thought it would be a good idea to go hit ninigret on wed nights once a month or so.
No mechanicals, no flats, perfect fluid, just enough fuel. Good sleep. Things were better this time. I was stronger but still not good enough. It was a long suffer fest. By the time I got to the top of Joe Bean hill I was drained… Tank empty and demoralized. Sucky.
But man that last section was fun. Balls out, full speed ahead down the dirt. It was fun.
Finally got to the top of stage road and then the down hill run started. Not quite full gas, but I was flying. How fast? I dunno. Absolutely NO metrics. No idea how fast I was going, how far I had been, or any of that. All I knew was I rolled out of Cambridge at 12:30 and got back in at 3:57. Sucky mcsuckleton strikes again. But there were a few guys breathing down my neck and I held them off. Turns out they were from my field and that extra effort kept me a few places higher on the results sheet. One of the guys was a 64 year old with a great attitude – he asked how it went and my reply was different than his. He was really happy to finish “most guys my age are sick, sitting on a couch, getting fat and generally miserable and unhealthy, just being able to do the race was a victory for me.” Killer attitude. He’s right. What the hell do I have to be despondent about with how my race went. I did all I could. I dug way way way deeper into myself than I’ve ever done on this race. I still got dropped but I suffered through and found some more somewhere and finished strong.
And I finished.
Darcy, the most awesome, noticed me dragging my ass across the line and turned to shout “WILLIE GE” with her trademark laugh. Part of me wanted to socialize but by the time I got back to the car everyone was packed up, waiting for me and one of the guys in the Man van had to get back for his GF’s birthday. So after a nice decompression chat with Solo as I was changing we jumped in the car and headed home. I arrived just about 8pm.
A long day. But what a day. Epic, yeah. Weather couldn’t have been better suited for me. Cool, wet, a bit of wind. And dirt. Man o man was that last section of the race AWESOME. Thanks for the course change Dieter, that made the race.
I came in the last of the Refunds Team, but hey. It was a great day, No? Topped it off by getting some Andy Cap Hot Fries for a quick sodium slam, and a six pack of High Life tall boys for $3.49 that I’m about ready to slam, each and every one of them. Nah, just kidding, I’m going to have one, maybe two at the most, then get cleaned up and tuck the girls in and fall asleep hopefully to be able to sleep past 5:30 am for the first time in a couple weeks.
So there ya go, is that a couple hours for you Rich?
I might remember details that I’ve forgotten, but hey. It is pretty well covered. And that’s pretty much my race. I can climb, but I can’t climb fast enough. Maybe if I drop 10 pounds from my body and 5 pounds from my bike I’d be able to hang better. One is easy the other is expensive, and I’ve got a cyclocross war wagon to get fixed ($ + time) before fall. But maybe I should see how much Ithaca, MI race guy wants to sell that Orange XL Giant TCX for, if he hasn’t sold it already.
Links? In this one? Maybe I’ll do a run down later – over lunch on Monday maybe.
Right now the shower is calling me and my legs feel ripped apart… and that is a good thing.
Heddwch
G
Where's the photo?
Well while i'm waiting for it to download I happened to check solo's blog and what do I see? The photo. But I don't want to pimp his bandwidth by posting it up here so i'm being patient.
Photo credit - Mark 'Soups' Suprenant.Post scoring edit - the 900# guy was a cat 4 white rider... and yeah - they don't have any of our team listed.
Friday, April 17, 2009
T minus 28 hours
till the big road race. which really, afterall, is just a road race. a really freaking cool one, but when it comes down to it, it is a hard (is there ever an easy one?) long race over some amazing roads and a couple hills.
My parents are here visiting - doing a concert at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn Mass tonight, and then playing in Sutton Mass on Sunday IIRC, springfield MA on monday... the stuff is probably on their web page, magicalstrings.com. With them here the planned workout didn't get done - i went for a walk and talked and cooked and all that with them instead. Worth it, yes. No question.
Made a couple of killer meals the last two nights. Probably the best peanut sauce I've ever made and then a crazy good version of the easy chicken tikka masala from the ATC folks, except i used turkey instead of chicken and rather than purchase a garam masala spice mix i mixed up my own. tweaking it a bit from last time. Loads of fresh ginger in both meals. Lots of rice. Super amazing balance of flavors. And the turkey was sooo tender and juicy.
The girls woke up late but laughing with my folks right now. Just before the second one came downstairs i had to do a quick starling nest intervention. Seems the PO of the house did some blowing in of the insulation and well one of the shingles flipped down leaving a perfect starling size hole in the side of the house. My folks hear the birds chattering about and then what sounded like a squirrel inside the house. I went out to find a starling squeezing out of the hole in the side of the house and one of the shingles flipped down. Ah damnit. Couple raps on the wall to make sure it was empty and a quick flip up of the offending shingle and a extra finishing nail to tack it into place. No more flipping damn starlings. Sorry birds, not inside my house.
Tomorrow will be come and gone before too long... in the mean time it looks good to get on the bike if only on the trainer for an opener a bit.
time to see about making some breakfast goodness. bacon and omelets? sausage and scrambled eggs? waffles and bacon? just waffles? (we had kick ass pancakes yesterday) or some combo or all of the above... well it isn't going to happen with me sitting here.
heddwch
G
My parents are here visiting - doing a concert at the Peace Abbey in Sherborn Mass tonight, and then playing in Sutton Mass on Sunday IIRC, springfield MA on monday... the stuff is probably on their web page, magicalstrings.com. With them here the planned workout didn't get done - i went for a walk and talked and cooked and all that with them instead. Worth it, yes. No question.
Made a couple of killer meals the last two nights. Probably the best peanut sauce I've ever made and then a crazy good version of the easy chicken tikka masala from the ATC folks, except i used turkey instead of chicken and rather than purchase a garam masala spice mix i mixed up my own. tweaking it a bit from last time. Loads of fresh ginger in both meals. Lots of rice. Super amazing balance of flavors. And the turkey was sooo tender and juicy.
The girls woke up late but laughing with my folks right now. Just before the second one came downstairs i had to do a quick starling nest intervention. Seems the PO of the house did some blowing in of the insulation and well one of the shingles flipped down leaving a perfect starling size hole in the side of the house. My folks hear the birds chattering about and then what sounded like a squirrel inside the house. I went out to find a starling squeezing out of the hole in the side of the house and one of the shingles flipped down. Ah damnit. Couple raps on the wall to make sure it was empty and a quick flip up of the offending shingle and a extra finishing nail to tack it into place. No more flipping damn starlings. Sorry birds, not inside my house.
Tomorrow will be come and gone before too long... in the mean time it looks good to get on the bike if only on the trainer for an opener a bit.
time to see about making some breakfast goodness. bacon and omelets? sausage and scrambled eggs? waffles and bacon? just waffles? (we had kick ass pancakes yesterday) or some combo or all of the above... well it isn't going to happen with me sitting here.
heddwch
G
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
30 seconds
That's about what I have at the moment. and not really even that.
i'm stealing a few seconds because I took 10 minutes to scarf down a quart of tightly packed super tasty pasta (Fennel bulbs are just awesomeness) and i'm wanting more to take a nap than to ride down to the remote factory and run a picture machine for someone for three hours.
maybe I can sleep in tomorrow - but me and the dog have been up pretty regularly even through the weekend at 5:30-6am, not really early for some but insane for others.
Realizing that the race guide projects the Cat4 Black race to finish at 3:21pm has me thinking, damn... that is late, all the other years I think we've started pretty early. First time i did it, the race was actually cold at the start. Noon thirty start means racing under the peak sun and wind and heat of the day. In a lot of ways it is nice not having to deliberate about gear, tires, cassettes... run what I got will have to be good enough. I just hope i can turn these lead legs back around, they aren't liking the running around stress of the last couple days. Oh well.
Time to fly down the hill
heddwch
G
i'm stealing a few seconds because I took 10 minutes to scarf down a quart of tightly packed super tasty pasta (Fennel bulbs are just awesomeness) and i'm wanting more to take a nap than to ride down to the remote factory and run a picture machine for someone for three hours.
maybe I can sleep in tomorrow - but me and the dog have been up pretty regularly even through the weekend at 5:30-6am, not really early for some but insane for others.
Realizing that the race guide projects the Cat4 Black race to finish at 3:21pm has me thinking, damn... that is late, all the other years I think we've started pretty early. First time i did it, the race was actually cold at the start. Noon thirty start means racing under the peak sun and wind and heat of the day. In a lot of ways it is nice not having to deliberate about gear, tires, cassettes... run what I got will have to be good enough. I just hope i can turn these lead legs back around, they aren't liking the running around stress of the last couple days. Oh well.
Time to fly down the hill
heddwch
G
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
So somehow I managed to turn the day around. From a day gone all pear shaped currently it is looking better. A couple glasses of wine seem to take the edge off, that with a great meeting with team-mates and all is good now it seems.
Until it starts up tomorrow.
But hopefully it won't be any worse than today.
My whole battenkill plan has been tossed out the window with the developments and the inability to hit he planned rides so far this week. I'm hoping that maybe the trainer will work on Thursday and Friday to get me ready for Saturday. But, hey, it will be fun. I think there is some advantage to not being in the same field as A-Bomb (-sorry for the original unintended mangling of Roger's nickname- as solobreak is so fond of calling him), that and I do feel much stronger than in years past.
But the weather is looking like a repeat of last year - not geeked about that, but I think I'll be okay this year. We'll see.
Running my old stand by tires Conti 4 seasons in some size appropriate for my size...
(28s - yeah as big as some cyclocross tires). They've served me well at the last two editions of the battenkill race I've done.
Focusing on the race is a good positive mental exercise. It helps to ignore the problems that have turned pear shaped this week.
Now i gotta channel some big Boom Boom Boonen. And sure - i could be all sympathetic to Curious George Hincapie, but ya know? Geo's stories of him as a junior and me being more of a Frankie Andreu fan than a Hincapie fan just can't make the difference. George is washed up and should stick to modeling his overpriced designer jeans.
What a day - how many more till battenkill and the reset button????
heddwch
G
Until it starts up tomorrow.
But hopefully it won't be any worse than today.
My whole battenkill plan has been tossed out the window with the developments and the inability to hit he planned rides so far this week. I'm hoping that maybe the trainer will work on Thursday and Friday to get me ready for Saturday. But, hey, it will be fun. I think there is some advantage to not being in the same field as A-Bomb (-sorry for the original unintended mangling of Roger's nickname- as solobreak is so fond of calling him), that and I do feel much stronger than in years past.
But the weather is looking like a repeat of last year - not geeked about that, but I think I'll be okay this year. We'll see.
Running my old stand by tires Conti 4 seasons in some size appropriate for my size...
(28s - yeah as big as some cyclocross tires). They've served me well at the last two editions of the battenkill race I've done.
Focusing on the race is a good positive mental exercise. It helps to ignore the problems that have turned pear shaped this week.
Now i gotta channel some big Boom Boom Boonen. And sure - i could be all sympathetic to Curious George Hincapie, but ya know? Geo's stories of him as a junior and me being more of a Frankie Andreu fan than a Hincapie fan just can't make the difference. George is washed up and should stick to modeling his overpriced designer jeans.
What a day - how many more till battenkill and the reset button????
heddwch
G
colby? really?
Holy crap is all i gotta say. Knowing a few people there brings it closer to home. I'd suggest reading the article before watching the Video. It sets it up a bit better.
letters from grandma
well that's what Results Boy calls them... but damn these made me chuckle just now as i'm eating lunch only 3 hours later than I did yesterday... so much for getting out for the afternoon ride on the calendar...
DIFFERENT WAYS OF LOOKING AT THINGS
(or the uncertainty of the English language)
Two guys were discussing popular family trends on sex, marriage, and values.
Stu said, 'I didn't sleep with my wife before we got married, Did you?
'Leroy replied, 'I'm not sure, what was her maiden name?'
--------------------------------
A little boy went up to his father and asked: 'Dad, where did my intelligence come from?'
The father replied. 'Well son, you must have got it from your mother, 'cause I still have mine.'
-----------------------------------
'Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,' the divorce Court Judge said, 'And I've decided to give your wife $775 a week,'
'That's very fair, your honor,' the husband said. 'And every now and then I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.'
--------------------------------
A doctor examining a woman who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took the husband aside, and said, 'I don't like the looks of your wife at all.'
'Me neither doc,' said the husband. 'But she's a great cook and really good with the kids'.
-------------------------------------
An old man goes to the Wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he has been living with for the last 40 years.
The Wizard says, 'Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you'.
The old man says without hesitation, 'I now pronounce you man and wife.'
-------------------------------------
Two Reasons Why It's So Hard To Solve A Redneck Murder.
1. The DNA all matches.
2. There are no dental records.
-----------------------------------
A blonde calls Delta Airlines and asks, 'Can you tell me how long it'll take to fly from San Francisco to New York City ?'
The agent replies, 'Just a minute..'
'Thank you,' the blonde says, and hangs up.
-----------------------------------
Two Mexican detectives were investigating the murder of Juan Gonzalez.
'How was he killed?' asked one detective.
'With a golf gun,' the other detective replied. 'A golf gun?!
What is a golf gun?' 'I don't know. But it sure made a hole in Juan.'
----------------------------------
Moe: 'My wife got me to believe in religion.'
Joe: 'Really?'
Moe: 'Yeah. Until I married her I didn't believe in hell.'
----------------------------------------------------------
A man is recovering from surgery when the Surgical Nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling.
'I'm O. K. but I didn't like the four-letter-word the doctor used in surgery,' he answered.
'What did he say,' asked the nurse.
'OOPS'
------------------------------------------------------------
While shopping for vacation clothes, my husband and I passed a display of bathing suits. It had been at least ten years and twenty pounds since I had even considered buying a bathing suit, so I sought my husband's advice.
'What do you think?' I asked. 'Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one?'
'Better get a bikini,' he replied. 'You'd never get it all in one.'
He's still in intensive care.
some may have noticed
there was a post put up, then a comment, then I commented and it all went away and it has been bugging me ever since...
not that i deleted it - nah - no problems with that. But the incorrect use of a label applied to me. I'd love to go through it all and i have in my head many times since. But it isn't something i'm ready to put up here. And of all the weeks to be overloaded with work and commitments, just sort of kinda tossed me down a hole a bit.
there ya go a bit of self absorption today or introspection... more frustration than anything else...
ah well - nothing to do about it i suppose, shake it off - focus on bigger things and move on...
heddwch
G
not that i deleted it - nah - no problems with that. But the incorrect use of a label applied to me. I'd love to go through it all and i have in my head many times since. But it isn't something i'm ready to put up here. And of all the weeks to be overloaded with work and commitments, just sort of kinda tossed me down a hole a bit.
there ya go a bit of self absorption today or introspection... more frustration than anything else...
ah well - nothing to do about it i suppose, shake it off - focus on bigger things and move on...
heddwch
G
Monday, April 13, 2009
i could ride his bike
I want this one he is running a long enough stem that i think i'd be fine with the 595 top tube. Can't believe he's an inch or two shorter than me and a wopping 30 pounds lighter. Damn. I'm fat.
I thought I'd try and tweak the fat burning engine up after yesterday's monster feast. I pigged out. Ate lots and lots. But really only had one massive meal, so I guess total for the day wasn't so bad. No riding for a few days and so this morning like i did on Friday, i went slow. into a damn headwind. Weather folks were saying the windchill was down in the low 20s. Yeah, wonderful. It was a bit cold and i'm glad I grabbed the jacket just as I was going out the door. Only my exposed shins were cold on the way in. But, the ginger and lemon tea isn't quenching my hunger, and I've already started in on lunch. Boonen 80kg? damn. Tall skinny mofo! Nice freaking bike. The Roubaix that I tried out at the Team Shop was wicked tall. Felt like i was riding an old school hybrid. Maybe i'll just have to go with a Tarmac... ah who am I kidding. There's no way i'm getting a new bike for a looooong time. At least I'm happy with the one i'm on now.
The pre-ride report I put the most faith in is up. And Sector 5 and 6 are confirming my suspicions/fears. But Thursday's ride hit some stuff that sounded about the same and we hit it at speed - lots of two wheel powersliding in sand and rocks and I felt comfortable. But then, as always, being comfortable with 20 feet between you and the next guy is very different than 2-20 inches.
Time to finish fixing things - Already started and forgot about this. I'll just post and come back to it if I have time at lunch.
heddwch
G
finishing looking at Boom Boom Boonen's bike gallery from Bikeradar, dude's got a 140mm stem! Right on. That's EXACTLY what I'd need with a 59.5 top tube. DAMN. I'm drooling even more. Oh and that is without a doubt the Roubaix tape. A season with it on the cross bike and I know that stuff. Damn good tape. Tornado Tom sure ripped it up on Sunday.
I thought I'd try and tweak the fat burning engine up after yesterday's monster feast. I pigged out. Ate lots and lots. But really only had one massive meal, so I guess total for the day wasn't so bad. No riding for a few days and so this morning like i did on Friday, i went slow. into a damn headwind. Weather folks were saying the windchill was down in the low 20s. Yeah, wonderful. It was a bit cold and i'm glad I grabbed the jacket just as I was going out the door. Only my exposed shins were cold on the way in. But, the ginger and lemon tea isn't quenching my hunger, and I've already started in on lunch. Boonen 80kg? damn. Tall skinny mofo! Nice freaking bike. The Roubaix that I tried out at the Team Shop was wicked tall. Felt like i was riding an old school hybrid. Maybe i'll just have to go with a Tarmac... ah who am I kidding. There's no way i'm getting a new bike for a looooong time. At least I'm happy with the one i'm on now.
The pre-ride report I put the most faith in is up. And Sector 5 and 6 are confirming my suspicions/fears. But Thursday's ride hit some stuff that sounded about the same and we hit it at speed - lots of two wheel powersliding in sand and rocks and I felt comfortable. But then, as always, being comfortable with 20 feet between you and the next guy is very different than 2-20 inches.
Time to finish fixing things - Already started and forgot about this. I'll just post and come back to it if I have time at lunch.
heddwch
G
finishing looking at Boom Boom Boonen's bike gallery from Bikeradar, dude's got a 140mm stem! Right on. That's EXACTLY what I'd need with a 59.5 top tube. DAMN. I'm drooling even more. Oh and that is without a doubt the Roubaix tape. A season with it on the cross bike and I know that stuff. Damn good tape. Tornado Tom sure ripped it up on Sunday.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
No more Moon?
Bummer. Big time.
What else to say. Yehuda will be missed.
I tried watching the live feed that these guys have up but this connection just gives me 3 seconds of video, some french chatter and then a frozen frame for a bit. Oh well.
Might have to make due with Chuckles the LUG over at velonews at lest until it is time to leave and start the "holiday" celebration.
What else to say. Yehuda will be missed.
I tried watching the live feed that these guys have up but this connection just gives me 3 seconds of video, some french chatter and then a frozen frame for a bit. Oh well.
Might have to make due with Chuckles the LUG over at velonews at lest until it is time to leave and start the "holiday" celebration.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
No riding today
I needed a day off the bike and as cold and drizzly as it was today- well it seemed to be just right. Got some church work in, as my bro calls it, working for nothing. It was pretty cool. Helped hang a few sheets of rock on the ceiling, mostly acted as cleanup crew with the broom and dust pan.
Lucy and I headed to the farm after that and hung out. She was rather perturbed at having to stay outside the whole time. She's a bit softy. Much prefers some cushion to sit on. But hey it was a great time hanging with my nieces(sp?) and my bro. Driving home from the farm an absolute killer mix was coming through my new favorite radio station, WRUI 90.3. Of course watching a bit of August Rush or what ever the movie's name is didn't help the musical pattern of thoughts flowing through my head. The idea that music has always drawn me but I've never actually felt quite able ever to express everything I wanted to through it. I have moments in my memory where I have gotten close as a solo/featured violin in a piece here or there but nothing quite the way music speaks to many around me.
So here is sit as the effects of a few beers early in the day wane away... pondering deep thoughts about which I have no way to really explore. Honestly I've always envied DJs. The supreme mixers of trance and the other varieties of "electronic" music that i seem to be drawn to. It is like the DJ is a conductor and a composer, do their audiences really get the the connection and creativity that these guys have with the music? Sure, how hard is it to put a beat sample together and lay a few melodic tracks over it. But the way the best do it. Man oh Man. it is good. WRUI had a great set going in the car. Would have stayed in the car listening until it was over if the dog wasn't hungry and wanting to hit the back yard for a little relief.
It has been a long time since I've written in such an introspective state of mind and I'm not really finding the words that I want to use. The ideas I want to try and get out aren't flowing like normal.
I wanted to turn the radio back on but oddly enough there isn't a radio up here, and I don't feel like turning on the whole house system, even though I'm the only one here (well Lucy's fast asleep on the couch - worn out from an afternoon at the farm). And of course I'm getting an error syncing to their live stream. Damn. Back to Pandora for a little while i guess. I need to get the dj Chelsea mix CDs into the iPod.
Would be nice if I could get the damn life stream to load. Why isn't it working? Man I must be an idiot. Although maybe it is the gods saying go to sleep you idiot - get your rest, there isn't going to be any rest from Monday until after the 18th. Get it while you can. So rather than ramble on and risk saying something that would be good reading but not so good for ME to read later...
I'm gonna try and get some sleep.
heddwch
G
Lucy and I headed to the farm after that and hung out. She was rather perturbed at having to stay outside the whole time. She's a bit softy. Much prefers some cushion to sit on. But hey it was a great time hanging with my nieces(sp?) and my bro. Driving home from the farm an absolute killer mix was coming through my new favorite radio station, WRUI 90.3. Of course watching a bit of August Rush or what ever the movie's name is didn't help the musical pattern of thoughts flowing through my head. The idea that music has always drawn me but I've never actually felt quite able ever to express everything I wanted to through it. I have moments in my memory where I have gotten close as a solo/featured violin in a piece here or there but nothing quite the way music speaks to many around me.
So here is sit as the effects of a few beers early in the day wane away... pondering deep thoughts about which I have no way to really explore. Honestly I've always envied DJs. The supreme mixers of trance and the other varieties of "electronic" music that i seem to be drawn to. It is like the DJ is a conductor and a composer, do their audiences really get the the connection and creativity that these guys have with the music? Sure, how hard is it to put a beat sample together and lay a few melodic tracks over it. But the way the best do it. Man oh Man. it is good. WRUI had a great set going in the car. Would have stayed in the car listening until it was over if the dog wasn't hungry and wanting to hit the back yard for a little relief.
It has been a long time since I've written in such an introspective state of mind and I'm not really finding the words that I want to use. The ideas I want to try and get out aren't flowing like normal.
I wanted to turn the radio back on but oddly enough there isn't a radio up here, and I don't feel like turning on the whole house system, even though I'm the only one here (well Lucy's fast asleep on the couch - worn out from an afternoon at the farm). And of course I'm getting an error syncing to their live stream. Damn. Back to Pandora for a little while i guess. I need to get the dj Chelsea mix CDs into the iPod.
Would be nice if I could get the damn life stream to load. Why isn't it working? Man I must be an idiot. Although maybe it is the gods saying go to sleep you idiot - get your rest, there isn't going to be any rest from Monday until after the 18th. Get it while you can. So rather than ramble on and risk saying something that would be good reading but not so good for ME to read later...
I'm gonna try and get some sleep.
heddwch
G
did ya hear
this one?
How many flies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two, But i'll be damned if i know how you are going to get them in there.
How many flies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two, But i'll be damned if i know how you are going to get them in there.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Douche of the Month Award goes to
Zack C.
Even if it is satire - it sucks as that. Pretty inflamatory to write in a place like Sate where he effectively bolsters the "yeah get bikes off the road" crowd, of which there are way more than in most places.
Ah well. At least I guess he started a "dialog" if you can call an out poring of protest from the cycling community far and wide.
Damn it - just realized BSNYC has it up... ah well...
Even if it is satire - it sucks as that. Pretty inflamatory to write in a place like Sate where he effectively bolsters the "yeah get bikes off the road" crowd, of which there are way more than in most places.
Ah well. At least I guess he started a "dialog" if you can call an out poring of protest from the cycling community far and wide.
Damn it - just realized BSNYC has it up... ah well...
Easter Joke
okay - so it is more of a religious kinda joke... made me laugh, even though I've seen it before
SIPPING VODKA
A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak.
After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done.
The monsignor replied, "When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get
nervous, I take a sip."
So next Sunday he took the monsignor's advice.
At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink.
He proceeded to talk up a storm.
Upon his return to his office after the mass, he found the following note on the door:
1) Sip the vodka, don't gulp.
2) There are 10 commandments, not 12.
3) There are 12 disciples, not 10.
4) Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.
5) Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.
6) We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J.C.
7) The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as Daddy, Junior and the spook..
8) David slew Goliath; he did not kick the shit out of him.
9) When David was hit by a rock and was knocked off his donkey, don't say he was stoned off his ass.
10) We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T."
11) When Jesus broke the bread at the last supper he said, "Take this and eat it for it is my body." He did not say "Eat me".
12) The Virgin Mary is not called " Mary with the Cherry".
13) The recommended grace before a meal is not: Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for the grub, Yeah God.
14) Next Sunday there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter's not a peter pulling contest at St. Taffy's.
tired
While everyone else in NE seems to have the day off, I've got to be here for a 10am training session. Whooo hooo. Yay. 'Sokay, I can probably get out of here after it is over - maybe by 1pm if it doesn't go too long.
I rode in about as slowly as I could today. Breathing through the nose zone 1-2. It is a gorgeous morning out there. Still and quiet and nice. Got caught by two of the three marks on valley on the way in and upped the tempo to hang with the more racer one of them, (the other mark hung on to our wheel very well). Took a bit of a slight increase in effort up over Angel and the legs responded actually feeling pretty damn good.
Just really tired right now. Somewhat fitful night sleep, not bad, but could have been better.
I rode in about as slowly as I could today. Breathing through the nose zone 1-2. It is a gorgeous morning out there. Still and quiet and nice. Got caught by two of the three marks on valley on the way in and upped the tempo to hang with the more racer one of them, (the other mark hung on to our wheel very well). Took a bit of a slight increase in effort up over Angel and the legs responded actually feeling pretty damn good.
Just really tired right now. Somewhat fitful night sleep, not bad, but could have been better.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
10 days
officially - holy crap - ten days
sure - i'm dwelling a bit on this ONE race
setting myself up for a bit ol' let down when it is over
nothing else lined up race wise until September and cross
that training ain't gonna get started for a couple months
would love to race every weekend for a while but that isn't going to happen
10 days means weather.com has a forecast for Race day. 59°F and Sunny.
fifty nine and sunny - just like today... three bottles hopefully enough
thinking seriously about doing the yogurt drink mix instead of bars for the race
using SF farms smoothie containers filled with HVF 'gurt, sugar, jam, milk
as many or more calories than a damn bar with a good balance of fat protien and sugar
just way fucking hell easier to eat than a clif bar when you are on the rivet
unscrew - swallow stow and ya off - pitch at feed zone drop zone done
it is quiet around here - i'm headed home for a Golden Monkey
not sure what to have for dinner - rice or pasta, hmmm...
maybe a udon noodle soup with some tofu and veggies
no idea where i was going when i started this mess of a post
what plan i had vanished when AD showed up to recount his Skyline Drive trip
out a here
heddwch
G
sure - i'm dwelling a bit on this ONE race
setting myself up for a bit ol' let down when it is over
nothing else lined up race wise until September and cross
that training ain't gonna get started for a couple months
would love to race every weekend for a while but that isn't going to happen
10 days means weather.com has a forecast for Race day. 59°F and Sunny.
fifty nine and sunny - just like today... three bottles hopefully enough
thinking seriously about doing the yogurt drink mix instead of bars for the race
using SF farms smoothie containers filled with HVF 'gurt, sugar, jam, milk
as many or more calories than a damn bar with a good balance of fat protien and sugar
just way fucking hell easier to eat than a clif bar when you are on the rivet
unscrew - swallow stow and ya off - pitch at feed zone drop zone done
it is quiet around here - i'm headed home for a Golden Monkey
not sure what to have for dinner - rice or pasta, hmmm...
maybe a udon noodle soup with some tofu and veggies
no idea where i was going when i started this mess of a post
what plan i had vanished when AD showed up to recount his Skyline Drive trip
out a here
heddwch
G
left my birks at home- damn - gonna be clomping around the rest of the day in my cycling shoes... GREAT
had an amazing ride - balls to the wall most of the time - hard core fun ride. What a blast. One nice thing about riding with fellow 200# riders is there's that matched power/weight. Greve was totally kicking my ass on a few of the sections but I managed to hang on well enough for the most part and was able to dig into the red on the down hills to catch them most of the time. Maybe there is something to be said for 'catching them on the downhill' either way it was a nice test of the legs. 75 miles. 4.5 hours. Two flats. Both Mark. And once again - it came down to me and my tubes. He used his only one on the first flat (dirt road section), then went to Casey's tube for the second one only to find that his tube had a hole in it (probably from being unprotected in the saddle bag for too long). Then he pulled out his patch kit and i just knew the glue would be dry. Yup it was. Pull out Casey's unused patch kit of dubious age, broke the seal on the tube of glue to find it completely dry. Then resort to my 700x35 short valve tube for his mid valve needing 23s. between my extension and the tube we got him back up and running again. It was hot (relative 60°F) windy and very sunny. And there wasn't a flat section of road (except going over the dam). Three bottles of Trial #4, two awful vanilla clif shots, two clif bars (blueberry and then a peanut butter crunch) and a pair of sore legs. One of these days I'll learn though. I'll stop going on puke fest rides with extra wide 28c treaded 540gram wire bead tires with 20ml of Doc Blue in them. Why stop? Well it is hard enough for a guy my size to keep up with the skinny fuckers on 180 gram 23c tires. Oh well, it build character or something.
Time to eat a bit of rice and beans with a nice fresh spicy Serrano pepper chopped up in it.
heddwch
G
had an amazing ride - balls to the wall most of the time - hard core fun ride. What a blast. One nice thing about riding with fellow 200# riders is there's that matched power/weight. Greve was totally kicking my ass on a few of the sections but I managed to hang on well enough for the most part and was able to dig into the red on the down hills to catch them most of the time. Maybe there is something to be said for 'catching them on the downhill' either way it was a nice test of the legs. 75 miles. 4.5 hours. Two flats. Both Mark. And once again - it came down to me and my tubes. He used his only one on the first flat (dirt road section), then went to Casey's tube for the second one only to find that his tube had a hole in it (probably from being unprotected in the saddle bag for too long). Then he pulled out his patch kit and i just knew the glue would be dry. Yup it was. Pull out Casey's unused patch kit of dubious age, broke the seal on the tube of glue to find it completely dry. Then resort to my 700x35 short valve tube for his mid valve needing 23s. between my extension and the tube we got him back up and running again. It was hot (relative 60°F) windy and very sunny. And there wasn't a flat section of road (except going over the dam). Three bottles of Trial #4, two awful vanilla clif shots, two clif bars (blueberry and then a peanut butter crunch) and a pair of sore legs. One of these days I'll learn though. I'll stop going on puke fest rides with extra wide 28c treaded 540gram wire bead tires with 20ml of Doc Blue in them. Why stop? Well it is hard enough for a guy my size to keep up with the skinny fuckers on 180 gram 23c tires. Oh well, it build character or something.
Time to eat a bit of rice and beans with a nice fresh spicy Serrano pepper chopped up in it.
heddwch
G
gonna go play
this morning. With every other minute of next week planned pretty much and this weekend leaving not a whole heck of a lot of long options - well, time to cash in some accruing vacation hours and get some mid-day air.
I got thinking on the way in about the feedzones. Mostly because I'm packing for what is advertised as a 75 mile ride. Longer than the TotB. Three big bottles of Trial #4 a couple bars and the worst tasting gel/shot things in the world (Clif Vanilla). That should be plenty of calories. The problem is, this isn't a race, and caloric consumption in a race is often higher. The other bigger problem with a race like this and the timing. All the long training rides generally have been or are being done at much cooler temps. So some of us show up fully capable and acclimated to riding 70-80 miles with three bottles of fluid in temps below 50°F but when the mercury cranks above 60 and it is sunny and windy, those three bottles and the body adaptaion aren't often enough. Hence the feed zone thoughts. But the fluid to body mass ratio is different from person to person. Me being among the tallest freaks in NE have quite the different fueling needs compared to some 110 pound twiggy freak like Skinny White Dude (okay so he's 135 or so, not 110). Pre-hydration and fueling can only last so long if the weather gets cranking hot (meaning if it gets above 60°F)!
Time to make like the trees right now...
ciao and heddwch
G
I got thinking on the way in about the feedzones. Mostly because I'm packing for what is advertised as a 75 mile ride. Longer than the TotB. Three big bottles of Trial #4 a couple bars and the worst tasting gel/shot things in the world (Clif Vanilla). That should be plenty of calories. The problem is, this isn't a race, and caloric consumption in a race is often higher. The other bigger problem with a race like this and the timing. All the long training rides generally have been or are being done at much cooler temps. So some of us show up fully capable and acclimated to riding 70-80 miles with three bottles of fluid in temps below 50°F but when the mercury cranks above 60 and it is sunny and windy, those three bottles and the body adaptaion aren't often enough. Hence the feed zone thoughts. But the fluid to body mass ratio is different from person to person. Me being among the tallest freaks in NE have quite the different fueling needs compared to some 110 pound twiggy freak like Skinny White Dude (okay so he's 135 or so, not 110). Pre-hydration and fueling can only last so long if the weather gets cranking hot (meaning if it gets above 60°F)!
Time to make like the trees right now...
ciao and heddwch
G
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Liquid Gold
Had a moment waiting up on hope this evening, so I wandered into Swan liquors and found a 6 pack that has been on my radar for a while.
Golden Monkey. Just cracking into one now. So good. A nice bottle conditions Belgian style ale brewed on this side of the pond. They add a touch of eastern spice and it is just so tasty.
That is all. Beer. Mmm.
It gets the GeWilli stamp of approval.
--
Oh yeah - i think i may have to acknowledge who ever it was that said "heater core" 'cause either the sunroof is leaking and soaking the carpet or the coolant is filling up the floor wells in the car. I'm thinking probably it is coolant. Need to investigate a bit more. On the plus side it is much easier to get at the core in a VW than a Volvo.
Golden Monkey. Just cracking into one now. So good. A nice bottle conditions Belgian style ale brewed on this side of the pond. They add a touch of eastern spice and it is just so tasty.
That is all. Beer. Mmm.
It gets the GeWilli stamp of approval.
--
Oh yeah - i think i may have to acknowledge who ever it was that said "heater core" 'cause either the sunroof is leaking and soaking the carpet or the coolant is filling up the floor wells in the car. I'm thinking probably it is coolant. Need to investigate a bit more. On the plus side it is much easier to get at the core in a VW than a Volvo.
Will these be seen in Cross soon?
I like the looks of that chain guard. Makes sense, esp with not being able to bolt a 3rd eye to the frames...link
tip of the day
don't dice up two Serrano peppers to have with lunch in the morning and then absent mindedyl rub your eyes... or stick your finger or thumb in your mouth... man those things are loaded with capsicum. At least the sting went away in my eye w/in a minute or so... lunch is gonna be good - or at least spicy! YES.
worth the temporary pain.
now i'm sad.
i grabbed 1/2 a loaf of french bread that came from the bread lab yesterday on my way out the door, and now it is gone.
that stuff is sooooo good. I wish now I'd just stuffed the whole loaf in my bag. Perfect crunch in the crust, super smooth and delicious on the inside. Not these soggy crappy french baguettes that one runs across in bakeries and supermarkets in the states. These are as good as the real deal from france. All I needed was a plate full of jamon and some nice cheese and I would be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable meal. Stick a bottle of wine with it and ah - perfect picnic for one.
And the closer we get to Battenkill the worse and worse the forecast is getting. First there was rain most of the week leading up, now, they are projecting it to be clear and sunny all week with average temps. Meaning around 60 for a high! Great. That's not going to be any fun. Where is the 40 degrees and rain? Where is the mud to pack up in all those SRAM Red cassettes? That's why I like racing Cross. No need to load up with sun screen!
Now it would be nice if stuff would get quiet enough that I can do some editing while following the Gent-Wevelgem race.
heddwch
G
worth the temporary pain.
now i'm sad.
i grabbed 1/2 a loaf of french bread that came from the bread lab yesterday on my way out the door, and now it is gone.
that stuff is sooooo good. I wish now I'd just stuffed the whole loaf in my bag. Perfect crunch in the crust, super smooth and delicious on the inside. Not these soggy crappy french baguettes that one runs across in bakeries and supermarkets in the states. These are as good as the real deal from france. All I needed was a plate full of jamon and some nice cheese and I would be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable meal. Stick a bottle of wine with it and ah - perfect picnic for one.
And the closer we get to Battenkill the worse and worse the forecast is getting. First there was rain most of the week leading up, now, they are projecting it to be clear and sunny all week with average temps. Meaning around 60 for a high! Great. That's not going to be any fun. Where is the 40 degrees and rain? Where is the mud to pack up in all those SRAM Red cassettes? That's why I like racing Cross. No need to load up with sun screen!
Now it would be nice if stuff would get quiet enough that I can do some editing while following the Gent-Wevelgem race.
heddwch
G
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
soreness is finally here
One of the things I’ve been trying to do lately is listen to my legs. Push until they feel like it is time to rest, and rest until they feel great again.
Simple sort of. You set plans in motion, and then scrap them because the legs ain’t feeling it. I’d gotten some solid advice to lay off a bit more than I had planned this week and build more into next week. And well what the hell – my legs decided to agree today.
After driving in then taking the littlest to the dentist I was left with the option to head home (closer) and ride in or worry about moving the car, getting a ticket, driving around block after block looking for a place to park. I picked heading home. Got on the bike and with a time crunch pegged it on the way in. It actually felt really good. But after getting to work and dealing with breaking microscopes and trouble shooting and scheduling nightmares my legs were feeling slow. Heading home, yeah. There it is. Sort of turned off a bit. Took a hopefully newly alternative way home. Jumped a wall under a ramp, then squeezed between a bridge end and a chainlink fence. It sure cut a ton of time off and was a delightful ride home. But the legs were suggesting that I’d better not put a huge effort in.
My original plan was to hit some intensity today AND tomorrow, sort of a repeat of last week. But the dental trip cut this morning’s work out, and my legs right now are going to nix tomorrows. I’ll still ride in but I’m going to go about as slow as I can. Mellow and chill. Still planning a long ride on Thursday, good idea or not will all be sorted out on the 18th.
Oh and Victory Storm King Imperial Stout is flipping AWESOME… it is nice when one 12 oz beer satisfies like that – it isn’t a Black Butte Porter, but it is damn good, and didn't have to be flown/shipped across the ocean or across the country...
heddwch
G
Simple sort of. You set plans in motion, and then scrap them because the legs ain’t feeling it. I’d gotten some solid advice to lay off a bit more than I had planned this week and build more into next week. And well what the hell – my legs decided to agree today.
After driving in then taking the littlest to the dentist I was left with the option to head home (closer) and ride in or worry about moving the car, getting a ticket, driving around block after block looking for a place to park. I picked heading home. Got on the bike and with a time crunch pegged it on the way in. It actually felt really good. But after getting to work and dealing with breaking microscopes and trouble shooting and scheduling nightmares my legs were feeling slow. Heading home, yeah. There it is. Sort of turned off a bit. Took a hopefully newly alternative way home. Jumped a wall under a ramp, then squeezed between a bridge end and a chainlink fence. It sure cut a ton of time off and was a delightful ride home. But the legs were suggesting that I’d better not put a huge effort in.
My original plan was to hit some intensity today AND tomorrow, sort of a repeat of last week. But the dental trip cut this morning’s work out, and my legs right now are going to nix tomorrows. I’ll still ride in but I’m going to go about as slow as I can. Mellow and chill. Still planning a long ride on Thursday, good idea or not will all be sorted out on the 18th.
Oh and Victory Storm King Imperial Stout is flipping AWESOME… it is nice when one 12 oz beer satisfies like that – it isn’t a Black Butte Porter, but it is damn good, and didn't have to be flown/shipped across the ocean or across the country...
heddwch
G
What a ride home
Seriously one of the best and most fun rides home of the year. Bitching headwind, just biting hard into my face. And I managed to hit the hardest bit of rain. It tapered and almost stopped by the time I got home.
Just a massive rush of awesomeness. Powering through, got the clothing perfect, brim on the cycling cap under the helmet kept the rain off my face perfectly. Dumping buckets but man it was pure amazingness. Got a solid solid zone 4 effort for the 15 minutes or so from under the Henderson to the Dairy Bee.
Two good reads for Battenkill. One (thanks MB) and Two (thanks CB).
I got a serious case of monster goose bumps reading that first one. Holy F*ck this is going to be EPIC. Yes I fahking used the word EPIC. This edition, as they all are, will most definitely be fitting of that word. Can't wait. Actually I've never had problems with Juniper swamp, it was (in the past two editions) the one before it that popped me from the main group. Juniper wasn't so bad. County Rte 64 with the mile + climb with 12%+ grade has caused me more trouble in the past than Juniper. Why? I don't know... okay i do know. First year I was better because I metered my energy over County Rte 64, but the descent with the left hander onto the dirt kind had me riding timid, second year knowing I got popped there I tried to stick with everyone and got tossed out with the dishwater. Meter the effort. But there were lots of reasons for getting popped both times. The second read (yeah i wrote the first stuff before the over use comment of epic, i know i know - way overused), pretty good.
Feed zone is pretty critical in this race. Honestly. It takes a huge amount of energy out of you to do it. And to be in contention you need to either load up like a pack horse and feed the flames like a pro or be real pro and get a feed bag and bottles at every feed zone.
I'm so looking forward to this race. Sounds like Ferguson won't be as bad as last year. But man - The new route just clicked regarding the Juniper Swamp/64 section. Oh shit that's going to hurt a lot. That first feed zone hits you early. I'll be surprised if anyone has had much of a chance to eat or drink before then. This is going to be fun. I wonder what the long range forecast is, hmm they just show showers on Wed and Thursday... but the temp is higher than I would like. But hey it is still a long way out.
And the Spartan's played like rookies in the first half - too bad. I fell asleep with my youngest before the half was over, hoping maybe that they'd be able to pull the miracle off. But no, they couldn't. Oh well still pretty damn fine job of getting that far. No shame in 2nd place - well shameful how they played in the opening of the game but hey, at least they made it to that game.
Heddwch
G
Just a massive rush of awesomeness. Powering through, got the clothing perfect, brim on the cycling cap under the helmet kept the rain off my face perfectly. Dumping buckets but man it was pure amazingness. Got a solid solid zone 4 effort for the 15 minutes or so from under the Henderson to the Dairy Bee.
Two good reads for Battenkill. One (thanks MB) and Two (thanks CB).
I got a serious case of monster goose bumps reading that first one. Holy F*ck this is going to be EPIC. Yes I fahking used the word EPIC. This edition, as they all are, will most definitely be fitting of that word. Can't wait. Actually I've never had problems with Juniper swamp, it was (in the past two editions) the one before it that popped me from the main group. Juniper wasn't so bad. County Rte 64 with the mile + climb with 12%+ grade has caused me more trouble in the past than Juniper. Why? I don't know... okay i do know. First year I was better because I metered my energy over County Rte 64, but the descent with the left hander onto the dirt kind had me riding timid, second year knowing I got popped there I tried to stick with everyone and got tossed out with the dishwater. Meter the effort. But there were lots of reasons for getting popped both times. The second read (yeah i wrote the first stuff before the over use comment of epic, i know i know - way overused), pretty good.
Feed zone is pretty critical in this race. Honestly. It takes a huge amount of energy out of you to do it. And to be in contention you need to either load up like a pack horse and feed the flames like a pro or be real pro and get a feed bag and bottles at every feed zone.
I'm so looking forward to this race. Sounds like Ferguson won't be as bad as last year. But man - The new route just clicked regarding the Juniper Swamp/64 section. Oh shit that's going to hurt a lot. That first feed zone hits you early. I'll be surprised if anyone has had much of a chance to eat or drink before then. This is going to be fun. I wonder what the long range forecast is, hmm they just show showers on Wed and Thursday... but the temp is higher than I would like. But hey it is still a long way out.
And the Spartan's played like rookies in the first half - too bad. I fell asleep with my youngest before the half was over, hoping maybe that they'd be able to pull the miracle off. But no, they couldn't. Oh well still pretty damn fine job of getting that far. No shame in 2nd place - well shameful how they played in the opening of the game but hey, at least they made it to that game.
Heddwch
G
Monday, April 06, 2009
Finally remembered
to renew my USAC license... kinda been meaning to do it for a while... but well not till I was driving down to KoB did I remember, hmm I'd better get it done - might be pushing it to get the license before Battenkill.
---
Hand made bikes?
Nice interview with local legend Ted Wojcik at Bike Rumor dot com.
And to juxapose that... you've got something that just has me changing the name in my head from Supermotard to Superretard. A track bike with 26x2.5" slicks? WTF?
Oh and Praise to Gary Klein and his foreshadowing (hell his whole line of bikes pre-trek wouldn't look out of place now, except the mantra) - it is nice to ride a '96 bike that can accept 2.35 and slightly bigger knobbies that is still reasonably light.
---
Going to be a wicked FUN ride home tonight!
---
Hand made bikes?
Nice interview with local legend Ted Wojcik at Bike Rumor dot com.
And to juxapose that... you've got something that just has me changing the name in my head from Supermotard to Superretard. A track bike with 26x2.5" slicks? WTF?
Oh and Praise to Gary Klein and his foreshadowing (hell his whole line of bikes pre-trek wouldn't look out of place now, except the mantra) - it is nice to ride a '96 bike that can accept 2.35 and slightly bigger knobbies that is still reasonably light.
---
Going to be a wicked FUN ride home tonight!
1400 feet
Mostly in hill repeats this morning. PILE IT ON, yeah. Piling it on lately. Got a 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 4-2, 4-2, 4-2, interval session in on Saturday on the trainer while the youngest watched Tinker Bell before her Ballet class. Then got the race in on sunday, followed it up with this morning's 10 repeats up the squantum club access road. halfway up the road is a parking lot for the Hospital staff (a psyc kind, not ER kind), well cars were streaming down, and the shuttle bus was making as many trips as I was, as frequently as I was and of the 20 or so cars I saw come down and park during my repeats, two TWO people made the walk up the hill. Everyone else hopped in the shuttle for the 45 second ride up the hill.
Unbelievable. I did a nice alternating big ring little ring up this short climb 10 times - finished off sprinting the last two in the big ring. Started to feel a touch of fatigue with the last one. Bag on and all that gave a bit of extra nuisance mid climb and added to my overall Mass, but hey - mid commute I'm not ditching my stuff. Besides it helps add to a bit of leg stress, no?
The 4-4 stuff was supposed to be 4 as hard as could be sustained and then 4 recovery, but after the first one i got 1/2 through the recovery track or less and skipped to the next song and got into the intensity because my HR was already 'recovered.'
The race did take a bit out of me, it was good to be that deep in the red for 35 minutes.
I wish the weather was going to be better, but none the less I've managed to put a kink in a longer ride in the AM plan for tomorrow, should still be able to eek out a few repeats on some longer and steeper hills than Squantum though. No hillside/pukeside repeats tho. Heck maybe I just have to do trainer stuff and get some 20-40s in - will have to dig through the iPod to see if I still have that crappy mp3 I hatcheted together a while back. I'm sort of surprising myself lately. I'm finding far more reserves and tolerance for the intensity than in the past. Good sign? I hope so. Gotta be positive.
the weight isn't coming down but hopefully this strength work will make up for being Clydesdale weight - at least make up a little for it.
heddwch
G
Unbelievable. I did a nice alternating big ring little ring up this short climb 10 times - finished off sprinting the last two in the big ring. Started to feel a touch of fatigue with the last one. Bag on and all that gave a bit of extra nuisance mid climb and added to my overall Mass, but hey - mid commute I'm not ditching my stuff. Besides it helps add to a bit of leg stress, no?
The 4-4 stuff was supposed to be 4 as hard as could be sustained and then 4 recovery, but after the first one i got 1/2 through the recovery track or less and skipped to the next song and got into the intensity because my HR was already 'recovered.'
The race did take a bit out of me, it was good to be that deep in the red for 35 minutes.
I wish the weather was going to be better, but none the less I've managed to put a kink in a longer ride in the AM plan for tomorrow, should still be able to eek out a few repeats on some longer and steeper hills than Squantum though. No hillside/pukeside repeats tho. Heck maybe I just have to do trainer stuff and get some 20-40s in - will have to dig through the iPod to see if I still have that crappy mp3 I hatcheted together a while back. I'm sort of surprising myself lately. I'm finding far more reserves and tolerance for the intensity than in the past. Good sign? I hope so. Gotta be positive.
the weight isn't coming down but hopefully this strength work will make up for being Clydesdale weight - at least make up a little for it.
heddwch
G
Line Blind
The short story of the weekend is that I raced Line Blind at KoB. Couldn't pick the right light so save my life. so I just rolled and flowed and stopped and ran and tried my damn best. Time wasn't much different from last year I think. 35:57 IIRC. Slow but not the slowest. The tires worked out great. The bike was nothing to complain about although it was basically like riding with an almost rigid fork (travel in 1998 was still nothing compared to XC forks today), but it was a much better ride than the bucking bronco Mantra. I was Sucky McSuckelton on ever one of the technical sections. But I turned myself inside out on the wide open stuff. Flip flopped from last year a bit. For the same result. Now if I just has the skills that Thom P has in his pinky finger i'd have done a bit better.
It was fun. Good to see so many friends there. Our team had a good showing (5 guys) And even got the overall in Sport and the 3rd place in the older Sport cat.
And I confirmed that not riding in the woods for 6 months and then trying to race in them, just isn't a great idea.
heddwch
G
It was fun. Good to see so many friends there. Our team had a good showing (5 guys) And even got the overall in Sport and the 3rd place in the older Sport cat.
And I confirmed that not riding in the woods for 6 months and then trying to race in them, just isn't a great idea.
heddwch
G
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Wow... what a game
Couldn't watch much of it but man alive they pulled it off.
On the banks of the Red Cedar,
There's a school that's known to all;
Its specialty is winning,
And those Spartans play good ball;
Spartan teams are never beaten,
All through the game they'll fight;
Fight for the only colors:
Green and White.
Go right through for MSU,
Watch the points keep growing,
Spartan teams are bound to win,
They're fighting with a vim!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
See their team is weakening,
We're going to win this game,
Fight! Fight! Rah! Team, Fight!
Victory for MSU!
On the banks of the Red Cedar,
There's a school that's known to all;
Its specialty is winning,
And those Spartans play good ball;
Spartan teams are never beaten,
All through the game they'll fight;
Fight for the only colors:
Green and White.
Go right through for MSU,
Watch the points keep growing,
Spartan teams are bound to win,
They're fighting with a vim!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
See their team is weakening,
We're going to win this game,
Fight! Fight! Rah! Team, Fight!
Victory for MSU!
Friday, April 03, 2009
dumping buckets
I’m sitting here in the dining room, (a shed addition to the side of out cape cod style house) listening to the rain pummel the ceiling. Drinking a beer. A ‘gansett tall boy to be specific. No Duvel for this cheap ass bastard. I’m not wasting my cash on some high falooting beer unless it is something like the Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. Now that stuff is a REAL beer. I’m drinking in honor of CTodd, can’t be at the Indy to buy him a beer so I just have to drink one in absentia.
The rain sounds awesome on this roof. Got the girls home just in time for the rain to really start in earnest. We actually had a bit of fun, taking the corners at mach 5, hard to tell if the back end kicked out but they girls thought that was a boat load of fun, begging me to go around the block one more time like that (yes I was certain that there were no other cars and the road was clear of people and obstacles), two monkeys swinging from the oh shit grips in the back seat of the wagon. Pretty funny.
We had a bunch of thunder roll through a bit ago as well. Haven’t seen/heard that in a while. Summer must be on its way. This is a solid drenching. And I’m thinking I should really take the Death Grips off and put something a bit more mud friendly on the adroit for Sunday, but heck, why bother. Not like it will make a difference, Brendan’s gonna school me silly just based on the technical sections alone.
I might have to dig out the trailer tomorrow if I’m going to try and get some riding in. Maybe a loaded trailer (55 pounds + snacks and water?) repeats up the squantum road would be good to do. 15-20% with 42x27 hauling a trailer sound good?
Good luck to the CTodd embarking on his big Spanish adventure and all that. Here’s another beer in your honor!
Heddwch
G
The rain sounds awesome on this roof. Got the girls home just in time for the rain to really start in earnest. We actually had a bit of fun, taking the corners at mach 5, hard to tell if the back end kicked out but they girls thought that was a boat load of fun, begging me to go around the block one more time like that (yes I was certain that there were no other cars and the road was clear of people and obstacles), two monkeys swinging from the oh shit grips in the back seat of the wagon. Pretty funny.
We had a bunch of thunder roll through a bit ago as well. Haven’t seen/heard that in a while. Summer must be on its way. This is a solid drenching. And I’m thinking I should really take the Death Grips off and put something a bit more mud friendly on the adroit for Sunday, but heck, why bother. Not like it will make a difference, Brendan’s gonna school me silly just based on the technical sections alone.
I might have to dig out the trailer tomorrow if I’m going to try and get some riding in. Maybe a loaded trailer (55 pounds + snacks and water?) repeats up the squantum road would be good to do. 15-20% with 42x27 hauling a trailer sound good?
Good luck to the CTodd embarking on his big Spanish adventure and all that. Here’s another beer in your honor!
Heddwch
G
random friday sh!t
electric cars - vs hydrogen/fuel cells
Lately all the buzz is electric. No talk about hydrogen and fuel cells. A few years ago all the talk was how we needed to go in the direction of hydrogen, and maybe fuel cells. The big 3 had lots of cash dumping into developing it. Oil companies thought it was great because it relied more on a traditional refueling station (hydrogen specifically). You go electric and oil and gas get shut out. Any fool can open a garage with plugs and outlets. Power companies win. And frankly electric seems to be catching on. People talk about the torque.
But then WTF - you want to talk about torque - drive a freaking Diesel. Diesel hybrids would make loads of sense but no, we gotta stick with crappy gas ones. But when you consider most all cars do short runs with the occasional long trip an electric is a way to go. Maybe stick a small displacement 3 cylinder diesel generator in the car for long drive battery charging. Then boom you have clean and distance. Small diesel generators are nice - they can burn very clean, even made to be quiet and while you probably can't make enough juice to accelerate you could probably feed the demands of steady state driving and trickle charge at the same time and then park it overnight where ever and come back to a nice full charge.
I dunno what got me thinking about it. But something did. Maybe people are still thinking the pipe dream of hydrogen and fuel cells are our future, but all along I've been one to say no- they don't make as much sense to me as an all out electric option.
pizza crust
Now pizza crust. It has been a couple weeks since I've made pizza. A while back i switched from using yeast in the packets to buying it in the jar (same stuff just one w/ way less packaging and better $/units). Last night I realized I've been doubling the recipe w/o doubling the yeast. Yeah, I dunno how i missed that critical transition bit. Always wondering why the dough wasn't rising as much anymore, why the second rise wasn't happening or why the dough was heavier than normal. Well there ya go. When I added the proper amount of yeast, well instant change. Really actually pretty amazing how much of a difference it makes. No I guess not shocking but the difference is night and day. The pizza still wasn't bad with less yeast, but it was much easier to work with and bit lighter than as of late last night. So good in fact that i ate half my lunch already. DOH.
misty rain
love it... like today... warmest morning almost of 2009. Nearly 50 degrees. And I drove in. Got on the bike a bit yesterday - going to have to figure something out tonight although as it will just be me and my kids tonight, I'm thinking I'll just have to have a rest day. not a bad idea going into the KoB i suppose. Get some solid work in tomorrow and hit the trails and the rocks Sunday morning. Hopefully the email gets here before I leave saying what my start time will be. if not I'll just go and be surprised at registration on Sunday. oh hey - it showed up. But sadly my 9am appointment has NOT shown up. WTF. When you make an appointment, freaking try and keep it, or at least give the courtesy of saying you'll be late. Well it is at least a quiet moment of waiting to get all this non-sense out of my head.
Crack-and-fail will no longer be a US made frame. Wow. There goes a popular rational for buying a cannonwhale.
the last bit of craptasticness floating around in my head that i need to exorcise, and really sometimes I see them as evil bits to get out of my brain before they infect me and exclude other thoughts... the last bit is about that specificity stuff. The one thing i wanted to add was I was thinking and couldn't come up with something to do on the bike that wasn't that much fun. The one thing that hit me was riding mt bikes in rock gardens. Dunno why but I kinda go all blah when stuff gets all technical and not really ridable on the Mt bike. Road bike? sprints? fun, hills? fun, even trainer intervals with the iPod are actually fun. Doesn't mean i always overcome the lazy gene or put my "training needs" first. Sometimes I give up my time for my family far easier than i should if i want to finish somewhere other than off the back in ever race i enter. As sucky as I am I still have fun racing and without the races i'd have little motivation to try and improve. baby steps i tell myself. build a little year by year... even if i'm not getting any faster, I'm still having fun and staying healthy, and that's a good thing.
I'm going to go move the car so I don't get a ticket.
heddwch
G
Lately all the buzz is electric. No talk about hydrogen and fuel cells. A few years ago all the talk was how we needed to go in the direction of hydrogen, and maybe fuel cells. The big 3 had lots of cash dumping into developing it. Oil companies thought it was great because it relied more on a traditional refueling station (hydrogen specifically). You go electric and oil and gas get shut out. Any fool can open a garage with plugs and outlets. Power companies win. And frankly electric seems to be catching on. People talk about the torque.
But then WTF - you want to talk about torque - drive a freaking Diesel. Diesel hybrids would make loads of sense but no, we gotta stick with crappy gas ones. But when you consider most all cars do short runs with the occasional long trip an electric is a way to go. Maybe stick a small displacement 3 cylinder diesel generator in the car for long drive battery charging. Then boom you have clean and distance. Small diesel generators are nice - they can burn very clean, even made to be quiet and while you probably can't make enough juice to accelerate you could probably feed the demands of steady state driving and trickle charge at the same time and then park it overnight where ever and come back to a nice full charge.
I dunno what got me thinking about it. But something did. Maybe people are still thinking the pipe dream of hydrogen and fuel cells are our future, but all along I've been one to say no- they don't make as much sense to me as an all out electric option.
pizza crust
Now pizza crust. It has been a couple weeks since I've made pizza. A while back i switched from using yeast in the packets to buying it in the jar (same stuff just one w/ way less packaging and better $/units). Last night I realized I've been doubling the recipe w/o doubling the yeast. Yeah, I dunno how i missed that critical transition bit. Always wondering why the dough wasn't rising as much anymore, why the second rise wasn't happening or why the dough was heavier than normal. Well there ya go. When I added the proper amount of yeast, well instant change. Really actually pretty amazing how much of a difference it makes. No I guess not shocking but the difference is night and day. The pizza still wasn't bad with less yeast, but it was much easier to work with and bit lighter than as of late last night. So good in fact that i ate half my lunch already. DOH.
misty rain
love it... like today... warmest morning almost of 2009. Nearly 50 degrees. And I drove in. Got on the bike a bit yesterday - going to have to figure something out tonight although as it will just be me and my kids tonight, I'm thinking I'll just have to have a rest day. not a bad idea going into the KoB i suppose. Get some solid work in tomorrow and hit the trails and the rocks Sunday morning. Hopefully the email gets here before I leave saying what my start time will be. if not I'll just go and be surprised at registration on Sunday. oh hey - it showed up. But sadly my 9am appointment has NOT shown up. WTF. When you make an appointment, freaking try and keep it, or at least give the courtesy of saying you'll be late. Well it is at least a quiet moment of waiting to get all this non-sense out of my head.
Crack-and-fail will no longer be a US made frame. Wow. There goes a popular rational for buying a cannonwhale.
the last bit of craptasticness floating around in my head that i need to exorcise, and really sometimes I see them as evil bits to get out of my brain before they infect me and exclude other thoughts... the last bit is about that specificity stuff. The one thing i wanted to add was I was thinking and couldn't come up with something to do on the bike that wasn't that much fun. The one thing that hit me was riding mt bikes in rock gardens. Dunno why but I kinda go all blah when stuff gets all technical and not really ridable on the Mt bike. Road bike? sprints? fun, hills? fun, even trainer intervals with the iPod are actually fun. Doesn't mean i always overcome the lazy gene or put my "training needs" first. Sometimes I give up my time for my family far easier than i should if i want to finish somewhere other than off the back in ever race i enter. As sucky as I am I still have fun racing and without the races i'd have little motivation to try and improve. baby steps i tell myself. build a little year by year... even if i'm not getting any faster, I'm still having fun and staying healthy, and that's a good thing.
I'm going to go move the car so I don't get a ticket.
heddwch
G
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