A waste of a beautiful day

I'll keep this short...
State RR...
Felt really good...rode near front easily, even on the 'climbs'. In @ 20th when the group yelled aand split on a 60+ kph descent. I saw the paint on the road, but hit the GIANT FUCKING HOLE anyway. Thankfully, I didn't have the same experience as the guys in the 50+ masters field. They hit the hole and half the field crashed, sending about 10 guys to the ER with injuries. I kept it upright and thought everything was okay until we got to the 1k sign. I stood to climb and wondered why the front of the bike felt so soft. Nothing broken, other than my spirit...just a pinch flat. No wheels in the truck, so my day was done. $30 for 12.5 miles. My C/B ratio was for shit!
1/2 of the team kicked ass and took names. Bond defended as State RR champ. JayC was 2nd in his race. BGK and RW both finished very well in the 40+ as well. The rest of us, well...let sleeping dogs lie. On another note, our favorite Scot, Tom C. got pipped at the line to finish 2nd in the 50+. Good show mate!
Came home, packed for the beach, and went to Doog"s for dude's night dinner and some Pineapple Express. That's a funny movie!
Time to get going to the beach for vacay with the family. Same shit, different location!

I think so...

Just did a 90 minute spin with Doog...felt okay...I guess I'm a ready as I'm gonna get for the State RR. We did stop by the Old Columbia Speedway though...it's well on it's way to a proper restoration. The track itself is in horrible dis-repair, but the grounds are looking good. Can't wait until it's open and operating again.

I was going to post a mini-rant about the furor that is surrounding the death of Ted Kennedy, but my boy Hoovis beat me to it. I couldn't have said it better myself...

And I know there's a lot of vitriol towards Lance, but really, STFU! So what if he got some help to up the pace in the beginning of Leadville? The other top contenders got to use the same help. So what if he used sponsor clout to get some of his homies into the race? People are bitching that they missed out on the lottery and are aiming their collective spew at Lance. Do the math here people! Who is going to bring more $ and exposure to Leadville, and endurance mountain bike racing in general...Lance, or some weekend warrior from Flagstaff? Did the guy who missed the lottery have a chance of clicking off a top 10, or even breaking 10 hours?
Face it people, he still won the Leadville 100 by 30 minutes!!! He rode away from Wiens @ the 35 mile point and SOLOED for 65 miles!!!! I don't care who you are, nor what you think. That is fucking BIG RING, period!!


Time to sit around and rest until Saturday...

TNCWC

The group was smaller last night, but it didn't stop the race from being fun and action-packed. RW took off on lap two and was brought back a couple of short laps later. Break went and came back, but the break that stuck was a kind of odd one. It was brought back on a few separate occasions, only to re-form with new blood each time. No, it wasn't a new break, or a counter move, but the same break with a couple of guys getting in and a couple getting out every time.

(Relative) fitness is a funny thing. I felt pretty crappy all day and my legs were crampy when I left the house. Once rolling, I neither felt bad, nor great all night, yet I had little trouble chasing gaps, taking pulls and generally riding hard. I guess last week was actually good for me.
Anyway, I made the mistake of telling Meat to go with a little move right at the start/finish at the bell lap. It was waaay too early to start a proper leadout for Coco. In turn three, the Harrell's guys came blowing by and I saw that Coco was 5th wheel. Once their line went by, I jumped on the back and watched the sprint unfold. Dr. LP started it EARLY and the rest of the bunch queued up. @ 150, the group fanned out, pushing Coco into the gutter. No matter, he still took it out with relative ease.
PV put 5 in the top ten, including yours truly, who sat up @ 200 to go and still rolled across no-handed for 10th. Well, 9th if you take into consideration the fact that Freight Train missed the first 15 minutes!
Don't know why, but the 55 minutes seemed to go by quickly last night and it seemed fun, even though I didn't feel great and and a little unmotivated at this point.

3 days until vacation...

Oh Good God...

A bad penny always turns up...

Jesus...if I was Horner, I'd purposely ride off the side of the mountain and re-injure myself to keep from having to ride with that douchebag! I wonder if the new Astana kits will have Vinokourov's picture on them.

What Astana will be riding next year? Safe to say it likely won't be Trek products! I'm no Trek fan, but even THEY deserve better than likes of Vino!

And we're done...

5 rides/4 days...6 rides for the week.
Doog and I met for a little trip through the woods yesterday. The trail isn't in altogether bad shape. A bit viney and overgrown in places, but not horrible. There are a few trees down that need to be introduced to the old Poulan...though they did make nice barriers to practice dismount/remount on the cross bike. I had to make a few stops to adjust a complaining rear derailleur, remove a large stick and to put my back wheel back into the bike. Yep, the QR got knocked open at some point and the rear wheel parted company with the dropouts. Let's just say, when this happens, the stop isn't a gradual one. I got out of my pedals, but barely!
We went out around Weston Lake, up Old Leesburg and back into the trail.
2.5 hours on the cross bike made me realize that staying on the road bike all summer makes you soft. My knees hurt, my hands hurt and my back is very upset with me!
This morning, we rolled out into Lexington County for a little tempo work to end my block. The ride out was less than enjoyable. Once we got to Gaston, things started to get better. Doog starting pulling hard, forcing me to work to stay on his wheel. I started to open up aand by the time we got onto Hwy6 for the run back into town, I felt pretty good. I guess sometimes you just have to suffer and push through bad patches...
Another 2.5 hours on the bike...I'm done...tomorrow is an off day!
Next week---TNCWC...a couple of spins...State RR and then Edisto for vacation....this time next week I'll be sitting on the beach!

Double Day

Did the old double day yesterday...
Left the house @ 9 for a spin and felt terrible. Bad stomach, bad legs, bad lungs...you get the idea. The first 30 minutes was the very definition of suck. Something funny happened on the way home though. I had a tailwind the entire way and could just turn my legs over, get my HR up and give some effort. I did 3 5minute efforts and each one got progressively easier and seemed to push out the bad stuff. Going up Gervais wasn't so bad...going through USC campus didn't suck either. It made me feel old though. While I look at the young chippies walking around in their shorts and sundresses and think, "DAMN!", they look at me and think, "look at the creepy old dude on the bike!". The idea that I'm actually old enough to have children that age is one I really don't want to think about for long!
Anyway, I lazed about (read: did housework) for the afternoon, took a catnap when the MTs went down for theirs and generally did as little as possible.
I had to rush to make it to the group ride @ 6. The pace was quicker than usual on the way out and stayed pretty steady for the entire ride. The group worked pretty well together until the normal folks did their normal bullshit. Funny that they want to go hard when the rest of the group is just rolling through, but when the hammer meets the anvil, they tend not to be around...
After Airbase, we (the 4 PV) just rolled in.
I ended up with 110km and 3:30 on the bike.
This morning, I awoke to a crunchy back and some STIFF legs. I got on the bike and rode for exactly 55 minutes, never in anything bigger than the 39/15. Most of the stiffness is gone, but I will visit my friend the foam roller tonight!
3 hours tomorrow and 3 hours on Sunday...

Busy days

Monday was nutty...contactors, errands, general BS that takes all day...
Tuesday morning...same deal. Contractors, furniture breakdown and moving to make room for the new furniture...creating a grouchy back and some tired legs!
Then the TNCWC...
There was actually a decent turnout last night, yet it didn't seem that motivation levels were high for anyone. The race ebbed and flowed until a break of 3 got away. The chase would start, then stop, then start, then stop. All the while, the break was riding a steady pace and staying out by a full straight. The was enough horsepower to chase it down, but no one really wanted to do the work, I know I had zero interest in doing a whole lot of work. Oh, and one of the juniors needs to really work on some handling skills. He nearly took Meat out in turn two and about 10 minutes later, he missed turn four completely and nailed his brakes in the middle of the bunch.
Derek ended up taking the sprint from Jamie and Gordon. Ladd won the field sprint for 4th. Kenny, you really don't need a 54 chainring...or an 11!
Tomorrow is a double day, rain or shine. Then a spin on Friday morning. A shorter ride Saturday (likely in the rain) and then ride Sunday...nice little 5 ride/4 day stack.

yes and no

Doog and I met Saturday morning @ 7:30 to ride three hours. His mom is in town, so he needed to get back early. It was cool with me. I hate to get up that early to ride, but I like being home @ 10:30 with 3 hours and 50+ miles.
We rode relatively easy until we got onto Airbase. We were both feeling a bit flat, but did a nice, even, hard-ish tempo for the entire length. It felt pretty good and sort of opened my legs.
I got home @ the aforementioned time, cleaned up, and immediately started hanging cabinets in my kitchen. Got them all hung and now have very little use of my right hand and wrist. I really need to invest in a hammer drill! No leverage and 75 year old rough hewn oak studs make driving screws really fun!
I woke up this morning, got dressed to ride, spun through Shandon on my way to the Fort and just turned around. I felt fine, but my hand is jacked and I had zero motivation to ride. My ride partner had his phone on ignore...
When I got home, #1 son said he wanted an 'adventure', so we packed up Moby and headed to The Swamp. It's kind of nice to have a lightly visited National Park 20 minutes from the house. We, and I mean WE, walked the elevated boardwalk trail. The whole trail is nearly three miles through an old-growth floodplain swamp. Both of the MTs walked the whole way. That's a long way for short legs!!! #2 passsed out in the truck on the way home.

Specialized Toupe Ti 143 review...
It's not for me. Read all of the marketing drivel you like. It will either fit your body, or it won't.
I rode it for 160km+. It was fine when my hands were on the tops or the hoods, but in the drops and hammering, it just was not comfortable. There's very little padding in the nose and the nose is very short. I could feel my perineal nerve getting crushed with every pedal stroke when I was riding tempo in the drops. This is the second Specialized saddle I've tried over the years and neither have worked for me.
It's also very low profile. I was forced to put an 8mm spacer in my seatmast/cap to get my saddle height where it needed to be. The good? It's really light! 191 grams on the scale. If you are looking for a weight-weenie saddle and don't mind having your junk crushed, it may be the right one for you!

Trying a Fizik Arione next and then maybe an Antares...

Oh, and get well to TVH. He ran over (literally) a chihuahua on Saturday and went down hard. He's a little bunged up, but nothing on his person is broken. His Colnago didn't get off so lucky. Levers, hoods, saddle...all farked. He also smashed his helmet.
As for the dog, well, it got run over flush by TVH AND Dr. Jones. They said it ran off, presumably to expire quietly under the house.
See you guys @ the TNCWC.

2X

Yesterday, the plan was to go out and spin for an hour on the road. I dropped the MTs at school and as soon as I pulled into the driveway, the rain started to fall.
The cross rig needed a shake down ride, so I pulled it out and rolled into the rain. It wasn't bad. The bike worked fine with it's new parts and the rain actually felt pretty good. I can tell you that Ultegra SL cranks are waaay stiffer than FSA SL-K carbon ones and the new Look Quartz pedals are very nice...stomp and go.
Anyway, I did the HoP(tm) loop down around the river. The rain felt good, my lungs were working properly and the legs felt like they were attached, so once I got to River Drive, I rode hard. I ended up riding @ 92-95% for 20 minutes...in the driving rain...and it felt good.
The rain picked up on the spin through campus and the 'hood. As soon as I got home and leaned the bike against the stairs, lightning hit...CLOSE! And of course, as it always goes in my life, the rain stopped about an hour later.

The group met at 6, as usual, and went off through the Fort. Well, they did, I turned and headed home.
The Specialized Toupe saddle that I'm borrowing from Shrews is waaaaay lower profile than the Flite I took off. I measured seat height and it looked the same...well, it wasn't. I felt like I was sitting in a hole, so I blew home. I can't just raise the post on the Ridley as it don't have one...
I ran to the ManHole(tm), grabbed 5mm, 8mm, and 10mm spacers. I threw in the 5mm and took off, riding the loop backwards to meet the group. The 5mm wasn't enough, so I stopped, again, took it out and dropped in the 8mm...perfect. The rest of my wrong-way chase was a 45 minute effort at 90%+. I met the group just after the 4-way stop, turned and chased onto the back. I rolled in with the group and, even with my detour, ended with almost 70km and 2 hours on the bike.
I ended with just shy of 100km for the day and 3 hours of ride time. I feel like things are coming back around after being sick.
Doog and I are meeting @ 7:30 in the morning for 2.5 to 3 hours, including some tempo. All are welcome...

I'll give a more in depth review of both the Toupe saddle and the Quartz pedals in the near future.

A plug

If any of you fine folks who frequent my little pill party are in SE Pennsylvania, and need a good rub, hit up my friend Beth.
She specializes in Swedish, Deep Tissue and Sports massage. She's a CMT and a certified personal trainer. Beth knows her shit! She's also very cool and full of personality. No sense getting rubbed down by someone who can't carry on a conversation...

Check her site:
http://www.getzmassagetherapy.com/

I've also added site over in LINKAGE.

Thanks!

M

Stupid Wdenesday

(Yeah, I know I spelled it wrong...)

So I've come to the conclusion that Glenn Beck of CNN is batshit, around the bend, head injury crazy. He actually said that every piece of legislation that Obama is trying to push through Congress is tantamount to REPARATIONS! Really? Did you come up with this on your own Glenn, or did you get a letter from the Klan and figure that they had it right? Seriously, he's said it more than once...Google it...
I don't agree with much of what Mr. Obama says, and to be perfectly honest, I think ALL politicians are full of shit, regardless of party affiliation, but saying that the President is trying to back door reparations is just plain idiotic! What's next, universal healthcare including 40 acres and a mule?
Next, a thread on RBR is full of FAIL! It's a thread about cleaning white handlebar tape. Morons on there are talking about cleaning tape with Simple Green, dish soap, Gojo hand cleaner and myriad other things. All just terrible, inane ideas. Clean your bars with a chemical based compound...go ahead. Now, go ride in the rain. Need to wipe your face? Go for it! Feel that burning in your eyes, nose and mouth? THAT'S THE FUCKING CHEMICALS!!!!
If you want to always have clean tape, maybe white isn't the best choice for you. They make gray, off white, every color in the rainbow and the ever popular BLACK!
Yeah, I rock white tape and don't mind when it's dirty. It shows me that I've had my fat ass on the bike. When it gets too dirty for me to look at anymore, I re-wrap the bars with clean, crisp white tape. It's a re-birth of sorts. Something fresh and new to drive me to the bike.

Think with your heads people...

And lastly, file this under "answer to questions not asked"...
You all probably know that I'm no fan of Trek bicycles, but this is just really, really dumb...
Carbon, single speed, belt drive...
http://twitpic.com/dlvlv
Maybe I'm getting old and slowly becoming a luddite, but I just don't understand this...
I guess it's something for the Fixie Douchebag w/a Trust fund set. I'm willing to bet there will be at least one of these in town sooner than later.

Checking in...

Well, I got up @ 0515 Saturday morning and should have just gone back to bed. I felt iffy on the VERY early ride to Charlotte to race, but figured I could gut it out for 45 minutes.
Bad Omen #1: Setting up the bike on the trainer to warm-up and my 14 year old trainer broke. POS!! :) The handle that tightens the clamps on the skewer spun freely and wouldn't secure the rear wheel. Considering I bought the thing in 1995, I should have expected a failure at some point. At least it didn't fail while I was in the middle of warming up. Falling off the trainer is right up there with kicking yourself in the nuts.
Bad Omen #2: Forgot my chamois butter...team shorts w/no chamois butter is baaaad.
As I've chronicled in previous posts, the buckle on my right shoe has slowly been dying, thanks to my crash back in April. Well, the little plastic/aluminum bastard gave up on me during the race. I stood to come out of the last corner and my foot nearly exited my shoe. Two times in two races! I felt fine and planned on staying in, provided the SRAM Neutral Support guy had some duct tape. He did not...! How the F does a guy with a dozen full bikes and sets of Zipps NOT have duct tape. For safety's sake, I opted to drop out and drive my happy ass back to Cola.
Buckles and straps are in transit from Diadora as we speak.
Timberlake had the best finish of the day with a 20th. The rest of the team...well...I don't think any of them really want to discuss it!
Sunday, Doog and I met with the plan to do 3 hours somewhere slightly North of easy. Neither of us felt as that plan was ambitious, so we did 2:15. I did feel better the longer we stayed out though. I felt a little bad though, after I led the boy down a dirt road that had been newly converted to gravel and he flatted.

This morning, Doog and I met for a nice 2+ hour jaunt through the flats. The plan was to beat the heat, and we did, barely! It was 87 when got home...at 1115!!! I'll pass on racing the crit in swampy heat. It's just the thing that makes me feel like shit the next day. Off the bike tomorrow, but a double day on Thursday.

Peace out...

We'll see...

Went out Thursday with the group...probably should have turned off, but made the turn down to Elon with the bunch. The plan was to go out and do some openers and then go home. Well, I did some openers in the form of smashing the big ring all the way down to Elon. I went up the climb easy, thinking that the group would soft pedal, as usual, after going over the top. No such luck.
It was a nice chase all the way down to Bunky's. The ride got really fast on the run to Airbase, so I sat up. No sense in deadening my legs further considering my suspect level of fitness right now. I watched the bunch roll off into the distance and sat my pace @ 32-35kmh and just pedaled my big ass back to the house. I ended with one hour hard and one hour moderate, which was a little too much considering I'm racing in the morning. My legs were a bit stiff this morning. Gonna go visit the foam roller in a few minutes.

Wake up call comes at 0530 (not a typo) and then plan is to roll out the Battle Wagon(tm) @ 0630. Since my passengers bailed on me, I'm flying solo to Charlotte. I want to get there early enough to actually get a proper warmup this time. Every race this year, but one, I've done without warming up before. Some people can do it, but I'm 39 and have more slow-twitch fibers than fast at this point. The big diesel needs to get warmed up.

The course is short and technical, which I like. Whether it likes me is TBD...
Like I said...We'll see...

OR

TNCWC

Is it hot enough for you? Yes, actually, thank you! There's nothing quite like lazing about in a 75 degree house all day, only to get dressed to go out and race in 95 degree heat. The body (mine at least) does not like this violent change in temperature and effort. I think I need to go outside during the day and get my blood moving.
Anyway, the race went off as usual, and as has been the M.O. for the past few months, the turnout was pretty low. I couldn't really tell if it was fast, slow, or somewhere in between, as I've been sick and off the bike. It felt fast to me, but I still have goo in my chest, so breathing was fun, fun, fun. The legs were good, but the lungs were suspect.
The race itself stayed together for the most part. Attacks never got anywhere and the race ended in a bunch (what was left of it) sprint. Coco took it pretty easily for yet another PV win.

8 days off the bike and a sinus infection have definitely affected what little bit of fitness I had before I fell ill. If the old 3/1 rule is correct, I have about 3 weeks of work to do to get back to where I was, which was mediocre anyway. Kinda like clawing my way back to the middle!

I really need to track down some buckle for my shoes as well. It's not an entirely pleasant feeling to have the buckle come undone when making an effort @ 45kmh. Let the scouring of the internet begin.

And Operation Two Wheeler begins tomorrow for #1. He got a 'pedal bike' for his birthday, so it's time to break the bad boy out!

Back on the horse

Well, my 'issue' has been resolved, but I'm still a tad under the weather. As most who ride would do, I got on the bike anyway. After 8 days off, Saturday's ride was a bit rough for the first hour or so. Even though we were going SLOOOOW, the legs felt barely attached to the rest of my body. The fact that it was like riding through a wet washcloth didn't exactly help. If you look up 'humid' in the dictionary, it says, see 31 July 2009.
Coco, Meat and I did right at 2.5 hours at little more than talking pace, but it was really all I wanted. I DID get to expel a lot of 'stuff' that has been lingering in my sinuses and I felt better for the ride.
Sunday, Il Prof's ride had a larger than usual turnout, which was great. Once we got to the end of Double Elon, the majority of the bunch decided to turn and cut off a bit of the ride. FK, Rich and Doog took off on Airbase, while Chris and I spun and talked.
It was another cloudy, humid day, but better than Saturday. I felt better too. The legs are still there, I just need to get rid of the goo that's hanging around in my chest.

#2's 4th birthday was yesterday. He had a party at The Little Gym. That place is genius! A big open room with a padded floor, tumbling mats and big crash pads....a 4 year old's dream scenario. AND, the employees take care of everything. No setting up, no keeping kids entertained, no cleanup...worth every penny!!! Of course, he made out like a bandit in the gift department. Then we went to dinner with the fam @ Rockaway's. It was a long day, to say the least. I was so tired, I couldn't go to sleep and once I did, I was wide awake @ 5 a.m.!! Naps will be had by all today!

See you guys @ the TNCWC!