25 February 2010

Slowly...

I'm kicking this cold thing, albeit very slowly. I'm feeling better, but still quite a distance from baseline, whatever that may be! I made the (poor) decision to get on the elliptical tonight. After 15 minutes, I was sweating like an immigrant day-laborer, and felt okay...
At 30 minutes, my body decided it didn't like what I was doing and staged a coup d'etat. I honestly thought I was either having a stroke, or some sort of infarction...possibly both. I got off, went into the living room and just laid down on the cold, bare hardwood floor. I now understand why the dog lays on it in the summer months.
Suffice to say, I'm not getting on the bike for a few more days. Walking 20 feet when you explode during exercise is one thing. Being stuck out in the country when you come apart is a different animal altogether.
I think I need a break anyway. I was feeling a bit beat up and tired, plus my back was protesting EVERY ride.
I'll be out next week...

I know this is a 'bike-related' blog sort-of-thing, but I'm also a car geek. And being a child of the '70s and '80s, I have a particular softspot for 2nd generation Camaros and Firebirds. I tripped over a link to a collection in central Florida that made my head swim and loins ache. Just looking at it made my mullet start growing back in!!!! UNFUCKINGBELIEVEABLE!!!!!

Two builds coming up...
A carbon bike and a carbon bike...I'll post pics when they are complete! No cat out of the bag right now!

24 February 2010

Still sick...still resting...

Omloop HNB is this weekend...

Here's the last KM from last year...

21 February 2010

Ooof!

Ok, it's here. My yearly sinus infection has found it's way home.
I got up yesterday, feeling quite poorly, but I decided to ride anyway. 3 hours and 90km later, I felt worse. So instead of going to bed, I ran errands and did a little plumbing repair for Il Prof.
@ 9, I crawled into bed and have been here ever since...pretty close to wrecked...

Of course, it's the nicest day of the year thus far.

I'll post some videos to keep you entertained. Other than that, I got nothin'.

19 February 2010

Coolest video you'll see today!



The good stuff starts @ 1:50...change to 720p and hit the arrows in the lower right corner to make it full screen...trust me!
Rip a hole in the sky!

17 February 2010

A life lesson...



Never mess around with a big, old dude with tattoos!!! That's what you call a Kershaw County ass-whippin'!

Here's the direct link...

16 February 2010

An observation...

So I was out on my normal Tuesday night HoP and I ran across a gaggle of fixie hipster/scenester douchebags. And by 'ran across', I mean nearly fucking killed/got killed by them. As I crossed an intersection LEGALLY, the little group of the aforementioned DBs blew through a stop sign and almost caused a collision of epic proportions. NONE of the scenesters had front lights and I only saw one red blinky taillight to cover the entire group.
Now, I'm all for riding and enjoying yourself, but if you're out after dark, regardless of the type of bike you're on, and don't bother to put lights on your bike (which is the LAW btw!), then I don't feel bad if you get popped by a car. I'm sure the prevailing attitude of the bunch was that lights aren't CORE! After you dumbasses get cracked by some Junior Leaguer in her Lexus SUV, you can put cards in the spokes of your Quickie chair! Now that's living the lifestyle!

Not only is riding at night without lights dangerous and ILLEGAL, it makes ALL cyclists look bad in the eyes of motorists. I know that cyclists see the distinctions between our chosen paths, but drivers just see a person on a bike, acting like a jackass by running lights/signs and not adhering to both the laws of the land and common sense!

And don't think for a minute that this is just my attitude towards a particular sub-culture of cyclists, because it isn't...
I had this very same conversation with a non-cycling friend of mine the other day. He commented that 'a group if bikers' downtown blew through a light in front of him, at night, and he nearly killed them all.
I hate to say it, but he would not have been at fault for the accident!

C'mon folks, use some brainpower here. Forego that new pair of Dickies, or that 'vintage' t-shirt @ American Apparel and stop at the shop to pick up some lights! You life you save may be mine!

15 February 2010

Snow+warm temps=Mud

Saturday was fun and snowy. Sunday was fun and really wet. The tarmac was dry, but I chose a path less traveled. I hit my double secret off-road training loop for a planned 2 hour ride. To say it was soggy out there would be an understatement. Once I got into the lower part of the loop, down by the river, the double track was so wet that the tires sank, literally, an inch into the soft ground.
I got all the way to the climb out, and I was unceremoniously stopped by what could be considered a small pond. It looked like a certain large, furry, dam building, semi-aquatic rodent had been at work at the normally placid stream crossing. Fuzzy little bastard forced me to backtrack...!
A big effort followed once I was back on the access road...according to the video camera timer, it was 10 minutes. Doesn't sound like much, but with 45 pounds of air in 700x40 tires, on a wet, sandy, chopped up farm track, it was plenty.
A quick pop onto Bluff took me around the stadium. I felt pretty good, so I turned up into the railroad yard and went as hard as I could until I ran into S. Beltline. It worked out to another 10 minute effort on what could be described as a poorly maintained service road. Thanks to CSX for my own, personal stretch of Hell.
Short spin home and that was that...well, not really...because of the softness of the ground, and my forced turnaround, it was 2:20 on the bike.
The Salsa was so disgusting that I was forced to load it up in the War Wagon and take it to the car wash. A quick hit with the high-pressure sprayer and it was back to it's former glory. VERY euro...
5 days on last week...today is a rest day...
Thinking about a dirt ride out through Blythewood and Ridgeway next weekend, if anyone is up for it....
Peace!

13 February 2010

It was snowy....




Yeah, I rode this morning. @ 6" of snow in town. It wasn't too bad on the main roads...pretty much just wet and slushy. Once in the shade, like behind a big building, it was ICY!
I made the mistake of cutting down through the park on Wheat St. this morning too. I started to slide, made a pitiful effort to save it and just ate it. The deep snow in the park was fluffy! No harm, no foul.
Up through campus, down Main St. and into Finlay Park for a minute. Pretty empty this morning, but so quiet and peaceful...a bit surreal!
ack up through campus, through the 'hood and down to Owens Field. I did a few quick laps of the cross course and then decided to go home. Considering all shifting had ended, the brakes were merely a suggestion and the back wheel was dragging in the rear triangle, 90 minutes was enough!
The weather was perfect. Big bright sun, no wind and snow! Coupled that with the fact that there were no cars on the road, and it was a great ride!
I would have video, but I think the camera took a hit when I ate it and got knocked off kilter. The vid quality was great, if you like looking straight down at the snow.

Got harassed by some dickhead in an Expedition. He went out of his way to roll up beside me to tell me what I was doing was 'very dangerous'! I'm riding along, as happy as a person can be, minding my own fucking business, and this fatass rolls up next to me, in the ice and snow, to yell!
Which of the two things was more dangerous? How shitty is that guy's life if he felt the need to do that? I guess I was holding him up on his way to get to Hardee's for his sausage biscuit.
Funny part? I saw him again about 4 minutes later waiting on a light...it took me the same amount of time to get there...putz!

Enjoy the snow people! Peace!

12 February 2010

Superman and Clark Kent

Funny how one day is totally different than the next. Like the title states, Superman and Clark Kent are often separated by a scant few hours.
I went out last night, felt like GD Superman. Good lungs, good legs, focus and concentration on point. Felt really good for the 95 minutes of fun last night.
Seeing as I'm making an effort to shed some lbs. from my big self, I came home, had a bowl of cereal and lazed about. Looking back, that was the problem.
I woke up this morning, feeling like I'd just ridden four hard hours. Dehydrated, sore back, legs and joints, as well as a general feeling of malaise. What did my relatively high IQ tell me to do? Stay home and re-fuel? Nope! As usual, my dumb took over and told me to get on the bike.
So I listened...
I'd planned on just doing an easy spin, which was good, as easy was all I had this morning! Of course, all things conspired against me. It was cold, I went out with the tailwind, my chosen route had been summarily destroyed by the floods, and I was forced to scale a 8 foot fence that was topped by barbed wire to avoid having to backtrack for 15 minutes.
To add insult to my already injured soul, when I got back to West Columbia, there was a train stopped on the tracks, forcing me to backtrack anyway.
At this point, I gave up and just rolled home slowly. I feel like crap, I've slammed down more water than a camel at an oasis, and my head is splitting as if it's being mined for dumb!
I should have just stayed home...

Evidently, there is snow on the way, so I'm fueling up in anticipation of a snow ride in the morning. I'm going to ride either way, but the snow would definitely add some fun to the equation. Not holding my breath though...

10 February 2010

Those white lines are SLICK!

So last night, after consulting the radar all afternoon, I headed out for an extended night ride. It was rather pleasant for the first 45 minutes of my ride, so I turned the direction that was the complete opposite of home, to make the ride longer. As it usually happens, I was nearly to my turnaround point when the skies began to cry.
At first, the light drizzle wasn't bothersome, nor was it cold. After I was good and wet, it was time to navigate USC's campus, which involves slowing down and paying close attention to make sure that Mandy Pepperidge didn't crush me beneath the wheels of the Land Rover that daddy bought her. This, of course, made me feel the cold, cold rain, to the point where I was ready to get home.
Once I'd run the gauntlet safely, the pace picked back up. In my haste to get through the 'hood, and back to the house, I took a corner a bit too fast, hit the raised white line lines of a crosswalk, and executed what could only be described as a perfect 180 degree skid/2 wheel drift. No crash, thankfully! I think the sheer vacuum of my sphincter slamming shut kept me upright. Those bitches are slick and WILL force you to change lines!
From that point, I rode gingerly, as every intersection in Shandon is polluted with those lovely, 18" wide crosswalk lines.
Home with a nice, wet, and chilly 1:45 on the bike. The upside was the wet roads, as they cleaned about 1/3 of the accumulated crap off the Salsa.
I got up to go out this morning and was hit by a 30+ mph wind gust. I quickly turned and took it right back in the house. 45 minutes of core, kettlebell and foam roller later, I was fine!

And to my homies up North...stay inside and be safe. That crazy weather is nothing to play with!

07 February 2010

A sad day indeed...



Franco Ballerini died tragically at the age of 45...
I could write something here, but I think Velonews has covered all the bases. If you don't know who Franco Ballerini is/was, then you are missing out! He was one of the last generation of TRUE hard men of the North. Wins @ Roubaix in 1995 and 1998. Cycling has lost a giant and he will be missed!

I did 3.5 hours in the cold this morning. Pretty uneventful, but it made me realize that the short and sharp efforts are there, but the long, drawn out efforts need some work. Of course, I've ridden exactly 5 rides of 3 hours or more all winter, so I'm not too concerned about it.
I did raise the saddle height on the Ridley by 5mm and it's much better. I don't feel like I'm sitting in a hole now, and the twingy knee pain has disappeared. The positions on the Salsa and the Ridley are virtually the same now.

That's all I got today...F the Super Bowl and go watch your old copies of 95 and 98 Roubaix!

05 February 2010

'ello...'ello

It's a LOVELY day today. Glad it's a rest day...39 degrees, steady rain and dark does not motivate one to ride outside!
I got my ride on last night instead of this morning. Though I thoroughly enjoy riding alone at night, I can say with some degree of certainty that I'm growing a bit weary of it. C'mon daylight savings time!
Anyway, I felt quite poorly all day, and wasn't really too excited about going out, but I HTFU and went anyway. After @ 20 minutes, I started to feel better. That was quickly tempered as I dropped down onto the service road by the river. I forgot that it had rained a couple of days ago...let's just say the road was 'juicy'. Being wet is one thing, and being cold is one thing. Being wet AND cold really sucks ass! Again, I channeled my inner MDro and soldiered on.
A nice loop through West Columbia, back through the Vista and campus and then home, for a nice 95 minutes on the cross bike.
Two things really added the frosting to the cake though...
The first was as I was sitting at the light on North Main, getting ready to cross Elmwood. As usual, I'm sitting in traffic, claiming my 'de jure' part of the lane, when I hear an engine revving wildly and the screech of brakes. I turn to look and it's a new Toyota Camry. Great...I'll be a Toyota statistic and I wasn't even driving one!
The second topper was coming home and being locked out of the house. Sweaty, cold, wet, muddy, and in the dark...freaking super. Fortunately, my formative years included doing some things I'm not proud of, so I learned to make entrance into places where one is not, necessarily, supposed to be. Not proud of it, just the way it is...
My ingress was met by a snarling, 19 pound Jack Russell. Nice to know she's paying attention!
Ride tomorrow morning. 9 @ the gate.
Sunday...don't know. It's supposed to be cold, so it may be a day to get in the woods...

03 February 2010

Best video you'll see this week!

A rant...

You know, I feel sorry for some people. I'm sorry that they are ignorant dumbfucks that didn't study hard enough in school, or they knocked up their trailer park girlfriend and had to go to work doing manual labor. That's NOT MY PROBLEM though!!!
I got run off the road this morning by an asshole driver from Shuman-Owens building supply...down into the ditch! I didn't go down, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Of course, there was no number on the truck to remember. Instead, I flew home, cutting my ride short, took a shower and headed down to their facility on Shop Rd.
The vocalization of my displeasure started with the dispatcher, as he is responsible for his asshole drivers. Upon hearing that our conversation was becoming heated, the manager decided to weigh in with his opinion, stating that the drivers are very busy and in a rush a lot of the time. To which I responded that he'd be a whole lot later for his drop if he runs over a guy on a bike.
The discourse went back and forth for a few minutes and my head started to get hot, which is very bad.
The manager actually said that I should have been riding on another road so I wasn't impeding traffic..seriously, he said that shit! I gave him a short education in SC Vehicle Law. Assmonkey!
I soon realized that arguing with these two room temperature IQ jerkoffs was akin to shouting into a hole in the ground, and just turned to walk out.
As I reached the door, the dispatcher muttled something that sounded remarkably like 'mucking passcole'...
The hot came right back. I was in his fat, little, redneck face QUICK, asking him to repeat what he'd just said. Of course, he didn't have the stones! Pussy! I offered to go outside to discuss it further with him AND the manager. Funny how neither had a damn thing to say when I offered to beat their asses as proxy for their driver...
The whole place got REAL quiet too. I made my point!

I'm thinking a Glock 33 may get added to the flat kit!

01 February 2010

Kickass!



After a trip that would make most frequent flyers blush, the new Diadora ProTrail Carbon shoes arrived at la casa this morning. So fresh...so clean...and they fit exactly like the Pro Carbon road shoes that I love so much. Now to set the badboys up...new cleats and new plates are waiting in the ManHole(tm). A review will follow later...

I channeled my inner-MDro yesterday and went outside for a ride in the cold. It was 29 when I left and 34 when I rolled in 1:45 later. The only thing that was at all cold were my feet, and I was wearing two sets of shoecovers. The rest of me was kept warm by Giordana's stellar Roubaix tights and Roubaix jersey. As for gloves, you can take all of the $50+ specialty winter BS gloves from all of the oh-so-Euro manufacturers, and stuff them! The $7 fleece/lined gloves from Kohl's made my hands sweaty...in 30 degrees...

I also mapped out a 45 mile ride that involves copious amounts of dirt. Blythewood/Ridgeway/Winnsboro/Blythewood is the loop. Cross bikes, or bikes with some sort of fat tire are not required, but wouldn't hurt. The skinniest tire I'd consider would be a 28...just sayin'...

Yoga and core work were on the calendar this morning. I need to do the yoga at least once or twice a week...man, it feels good the be nice and stretched out!

Cross Worlds were great yesterday...Stybar went horizon on the field. The course was angry and it took it's anger out on the racers. TJ finished a solid 14th, which is great considering he started in the 40s. The USA put two in the top ten, with Jamie Driscoll finishing 19th...freaking great results!

On the motorsports tip, The Daytona 24 was a freaking snoozefest. Small fields and too many car failures made it a little boring and seem a little jokey. Hell, the 'Porsche' engine that won wasn't even a Porsche Racing flat-6! It was a punched out V8 that was pulled from a Cayenne SUV. How I long for the halcyon days of IMSA GT/GTO/GTU cars, when balls and money ruled the day! Oh, and if you don't know who Derek Bell is, ask somebody!


Peace!