Go buy something!

http://www.cafepress.com/Shutupandgoride

CX Worlds

Streams went to shit yesterday, so here are the last two laps, plus a little bit...

(bad DJ voice) And we're baaack....

Sorry, had to take Junior Management to school, then break out a quick 50km on the CX bike. Though I'd feel like crap, considering my back and legs are crunchy from climbing the extension ladder all weekend, but my quick easy spin turned into a 50km mash the pedals sort of affair. Maybe painting a house, and not eating tainted steak, is the secret to strong rides.

So NY Velocity posted an interview with Kid Rock, er...I mean, Floyd Landis. The interviewer? Paul Kimmage...
Yeah, I read it, and here's my synopsis...
Blah, blah, blah, dope, dope, dope, Lance, Lance, Lance...
Same shit, different day, week, month, year...literally. I just don't fucking care what either of these douches has to say...sorry...

Looks like Trek is scrambling to put together some sort of Specialized Roubaix-esque machine for Team Lay-Oh-Pard to use during the Spring Classics. From the photo in that article, it looks like they just called Hong-Fu, or one of the myriad other Chinese manufacturers and sourced a frame. Trek will probably just steal...excuse me...'liberate' a design from another company, as is their M.O.! Hope the steerer tubes are up to snuff...

Obree comes out. Good for him! Maybe this announcement will give Wiggins the courage to admit he's a dandy.

Enough of this...have a good Monday everyone!

Oh Bertie...

Why is it so difficult to just take the easy way?
Bertie said he'd done nothing, then blamed it on an asthmatic cow that had been chewing on medical waste.
Bertie said he would retire if sanctioned. Well, he pulled a John Kerry on that one.
Now, he says he will fight the positive and the sanction all the way to the CAS, since they have such a wonderful track record of rendering decisions that come down on the side of the athlete. The Spanish Federation, for all of their foibles, actually said that Bertie could get a LONGER sanction if he goes to the CAS.
Let's do the hard math here...
Old Fingerbang got caught, yet admitted nothing. He got a year. The time frame got pushed back to be retroactive to the date of the positive, so in reality, after the decision was rendered 48 hours ago, it really equates to a 6 month suspension.
My advice to AC?
Take the bitter pill! Keep your mouth shut. Do the six months. Continue to train. Come back in August, just in time for La Vuelta. Don't be a putz if you win. Smile sheepishly, say 'gracias', and walk away.
Of course, we're talking about a giant ego with the charisma of a ferret, so what I've written above is little more than a dream...

Oh, and the TdF should push hard and see if it's testes will descend far enough to exclude Saxo Bank and allow Geox to ride. Again, I'm dreaming here. This is the French we're talking about...

Okay, enough editorializing...
Time to kit up and go play in the sunshine! Same loop as yesterday plus a bit. Lexington County has decided to 'improve' my favorite patch of dirt, so it was junk yesterday...surprise, surprise! Seeing how I seem to be a glutton for punishment, I'm headed back out there this morning...

Happy Friday!

Breaking News

Bertie gets a year suspension for his Clen positive. Likely stripped of his Tour title as well...

Anyone want to meet me @ Five Guys for a celebratory burger tonight? What? Too soon?

That popping noise your heard was Riis' head exploding...

Humpy

The 'old' descent of the Kemmel. 20% down, cobbles and a hard right at the bottom. If it scared the pros bad enough to have it removed from the race, then it should scare you. The picture is brilliant. Jered Gruber is, in fact, the man!

And as we all know, I'm an average rider, at best, but I have a well above average love for bicycles as art. This frameset (596) makes me want to do inappropriate things to it. Just sexy...

me ride-
2 hours on the CX bike in 40 degree light rain yesterday. It was quite nice, though I was just flat. I think the days of going up Gervais to get home are waning as well. Construction has turned it into a one-lane fistfight. Some jerk-off in a non-descript sedan, with 22" wheels, did the usual hurry-to-the-lane-closure, only to buzz me, then swerve into traffic and get hit in the door by a F450 work truck. I waited for the CPD and gave my expert opinion as to the cause of the accident. Sedan driving dumbass got three tickets...yeeoouch, and I got a thank you from the CPD officer. My tax dollars at work, for once...

No ride today. Gonna be nice the next few days and Junior Mgmt. is going to the Lexington Branch office for the weekend, so I'll have time on the bike and time to prepare the house for a sign to go in the yard. If you know anyone who needs a '30s bungalow that's been completely re-done, lemme know! I'll give you a nice spiff...

It's Wednesday...after lunch, you're on the backside of the week!

You want Big Ring?

Phillippe Gilbert is so Big Ring that his small ring is brand new!

Do the news Lou!

-Stybar must feel like the prettiest girl at the dance! To that end, the owner of Telenet-Fidea is a schmuck. When QuickStep makes you an offer to buy your ENTIRE team, you name a number, and then retire once the 'i's are dotted and 't's are crossed. Especially considering a Czech billionaire is the one stroking the checks.
I have a feeling that Stybar will end up with much less $, and the Telenet deal will go away. Stop the swordfight gentlemen, it's bad for business!

-Vaughters seems to be making an effort to distance himself from all things USPS and Lance. Stick your head a little deeper in the sand JV...maybe folks will believe that you were the only clean guy on the LA Express!
Firing White was a little harsh, especially considering his success as a DS. Now he can just go work for GreenEDGE, which is probably what was going to happen anyway. JV is a bit more duplicitous than people believe...

-Katie F'n Compton goes horizon at Hoogerheide, and again, there's no video of it...
Look for Katie to wreck the WC race next weekend!
And it seems the Belgians at CX Worlds are about as cooperative as the Italians at Road Worlds.

-Stage 5 of the TdU was a crit/circuit and was BRUTAL! Rarely do you see the entire field lined out like that...

...and how about McEwen? That old dog can still hunt!

-And today's episode of 'As the Lance Turns' is canceled because, well, I just couldn't care any less about the whole thing! Want to bust a doper? Put Joe Papp's drug dealing ass in jail...

No ride today...the antibiotics I've been on for the past 10 days have effectively rendered me ineffectual. My stomach sounds like a cage fight is going on, which make levels of motivation very low. Don't want to be out in Sandy Run and have to make a stop in the pines...

Namaste...

TdU Stage 5

Poor Bobridge! Guy goes down in the corner and then gets run the F over!

2.5 hours in the cold sunshine this morning. Followed a little hidden doubletrack way out off Old State. After about 10 minutes of meandering thru the woods, it dumped me out in the Eastman Chemical plant railroad yard. The EPA should really head out there to poke around, because that place is just fouling the countryside.
Once out of the plant property, I rolled back down thru the dirt, up across West Cola, up Gervais and home.
Good ride on a nice day. Oh, and an open note to the big ass black dog that chased me for about 400m on Old State...F you and thank you. I needed the interval! It had to have been someone's hunting dog, as a black lab that lounges on the couch could never run that far that fast.

Have a good Saturday!

TdU Stage 4

And the final kilometers of Stage 3

Bling, Bling

Yeah, his nickname is 'Bling', and it seems he's got a little kick...

And on a personal note, it's amazing how light, quick and lively the road unit feels after weeks on end of schlepping around the CX bike with 32-35c knobbley tires. 2 hours passed quickly under wheels this morning, and the pace chosen was quite easy to maintain. Plus, there was a big, yellow orb in the sky that gave off bright light and warmth. It was nice to ride without getting wet and/or dirty.

Namaste...

Blah, blah, blah...

Yeah, I read the SI article. Nothing new was said...just a re-hash of 10 year old claims by people who have an axe to grind. I'm not going to run through to the accusations, nor the the fact that they can all be explained without too much research or effort.
And like I said on FB and Twitter earlier today, listening to the soft-headed, Ameri-centric pundits on CNN, ESPN, and the rest, is akin to listening to my 5 year old discuss physics with his 3 year old brother!

Nevermind the fact that NFL and MLB players are dopers of the worst kind, yet the 'reporters' fawn over them like they are the second coming of ___________ ! (insert the deity of your choice in the space provided)
Nevermind the fact that cyclists get tested more than ANY other athletes on the planet, and those tests are administered RIGHT NOW. No waiting, no advance warning! In both the MLB and the NFL, the testing bodies (not the USADA btw) call the teams and give them somewhere between 48 and 72 hours notice that they will be coming to their facilities. This advance warning is given so the teams can prepare a location within the facility for testing to be carried out. 2 to 3 day warning? I don't know exactly what it takes to clear one's system of PEDs, or other illegal drugs, but I do know it can be done within 72 hours! Yeah, I know this, as I have an acquaintance who works in the Philadelphia Eagles training facility.

The part if this that really pisses me off is that the American public receives these broadcasts in their homes, and swallows them down like they swallow mass quantities of fast food. The reports are one-sided and do not explain any intricacies that may exist, nor do they give the answers to the easy questions.
Then, Joe Six Pack, sitting in his mustard stained wife-beater, powers up his room temperature IQ, and jumps to a conclusion that's horribly skewed and jaded. "Lance is a cheating SOB!", he proclaims!
All the while, JSP continues to watch ESPN, and the aforementioned NFL superstars. You know, the guys who are 6'4" and weigh 250 pounds, but run like gazelles, have 6% body fat, and abuse their bodies by running into each other at full speed for 18 weeks of the season. Yeah, those guys are like that because they eat right and get lots of sleep...
If you believe that, here's another one...
I'm banging Megan Fox...daily and WELL!

I just do not care if LA doped. What's past is past...let it go...
Let's move on and be concerned with what's happening in cycling TODAY!

TdU Stg 2

Welcome to the season...please leave your pound of flesh with the coat check girl...

Edit:



Yeeoouch!

And this is just bad...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/carla-swart-killed-in-south-africa

She rode up the street @ Lees-McRae. Terrible stuff, but it proves the point that we, as cyclists, no matter what you think or believe in, must be absolutely aware of our surroundings!
As hard as it is to accept, the truck driver holds no fault in this one...
RIP Carla!

Pic post

Hmmm...Bond and GW on this thing for 2011 Masters Nationals? Sounds like the top step of the podium to me...

Jens says "Shut Up Camera!" (pic courtesy of Kristof Ramon) Check out his photos...pretty brilliant...

Rest day today. I actually had to do some work this morning to earn some money. Shocking, I know...
The custom MAX-tubed Hampsten I'm working on isn't gonna pay for itself.
Actually, if anyone needs a kidney, I'm open to offers. It's lightly used with some good miles left in it.

5 day stack starts tomorrow...can't wait! May actually throw a leg over the Ridley...

Namaste...

Sunday Muddy Sunday

That course made my pants tight! 32+kmh average speed? The way Pauwels took Albert deep into the corner like that, you'd think he's been watching Aussie Supercars on the satellite.



TdU got underway this morning. Well, it was this morning here, while it might have been Tuesday there. I can't get the time difference figured out. Nothing says LOVE like a 60 minute crit filled with Euro-Dogs to start the season. Oh, did I mention they averaged 48kmh? Yeah, you read that correctly. That's 30mph in old money!
And Liggett was calling them Leopard Trek, not Lay-Oh-Pard. I will say though, and this pains me a bit, the kits look nice on the bike.
Here's a link to their hotel rider for Le Tour...

As for me, I went out on the CX bike again...like that's any great surprise. Yesterday's wet and heavy dirt turned into wet and heavy thin mud. Shit was everywhere. I did scout a new ninja training ground that a cursory search of Google maps yielded. It would be great if not for the plethora of deer tracks and large caliber rifle shells laying about. It's really nice to stop and have a break naturel and notice that you're watering a pile of .30-06 casings. Seeing as I'm roughly the same size on the bike as a large buck moving through the woods, and we live in semi-rural SC, I got the hell out!
I finished up 2 more hours in the mud, returned home and lounged. The CX bike did get a much needed bath though. It's actually orange and black under the fine meringue of dried mud.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Some changes...

I like this Leppard jersey better...

They're making it hard...

So we all waited, with not-so-baited breath, for the whole Schleck superteam to be announced. When they announced last week, it came off a bit contrived. Now, these guys have the balls to send out to the press what amounts to a rock band tour rider.
Read it yourself HERE...
Really? REALLY? Lay-Oh-Pard? Lay-Oh-Pard sort of makes Nygaard look like a Re-Tard.
Thank goodness they got Mercedes as the car sponsor. Can you imagine if they'd gone the way of Team Sky, and gotten Jag Estates for team cars? Lay-Oh-Pard Trek presented by Jag-u-ahr. It would probably be enough to give Liggett a stroke.
In my heart of hearts, I hope the release is a tongue-in-cheek joke. If not, I'm waiting for the announcement that Nigel Tufnel will be riding for them.
I want to root for them, but as the title of this post states...

Sachs spouting off about the NAHBS. If you ordered a frame from him back in the 70s, you should be getting it soon...
Like I've said before, I'm a sucker for the art that is a properly built and sorted steel frame, but cannot fathom waiting 7 years for one. Here's a tip, STFU and pick up the torch...

2011 Team kits...in depth...

The WX has improved here, but there is still a small amount of ice lurking...waiting to reach up and snatch the bike from beneath you when you least expect it. Because of this threat, I chose to be the large sweaty rat on the small spinning wheel again this morning. 75' more of SST/tempo on the turbo while watching '10 Fleche-Wallone. Again, it felt sort of good to spin a gear hard and get a good sweat going. Wait...what? That sounded like I'm enjoying riding the trainer! WTF is happening here? Help meeeeeeee.......
That being said, I'm going outside tomorrow!

Peace...

My kind of ride

How Euro-dogs descend...



Kids to school, albeit delayed. Back on the bike...

Edit...



75' of SST on the turbo this morning...never caught Flecha though!

Strep throat be damned...

CR and I went out for a short spin in the snow/ice/slush/mud this morning. It wasn't as fun as riding in freshly fallen powder, but surely beat the hell out of riding the trainer. It also afforded me the opportunity to cough up some very attractive stuff once I got home.

The IRD Fire Cross tires work really well in the wet slop too!



Albert killed the field in Belgium last Sunday. Poor Nys...guy wracked with the flu, but still lines up and was somewhere around 6th when he dropped out. Win, quit, whatever...dude is nails!

Overview of Czech champs...Stybar went horizon, as expected...



Local Twitter legend @dwuori wrote a guest entry on Handlebar Mustache. Damn funny stuff...and more than likely a bit prophetic.

Tour down Under kicks off in about a week. Hopefully the weather will Oz a break, b/c they've been taking a Kershaw County ass-whipping lately. The 4 inches of snow and ice we got here suddenly doesn't seem so bad, eh?

A much needed visit to Renick is on tap for tomorrow morning...hopefully. The Snowpacolypse has made a mess of things around here...

Peace!

Khhhhaaaaaaannnnnnn!

4+ inches of snow and I am hamstrung with strep. I truly love riding in the snow...

Guess I'll just watch it out the window today...

A special thank you...

A special thank you goes out to my 5 year old. You've given me joy, smiles, laughter, solace...a full range of emotions...
Today though, what I'd like to really thank him for is the raging case of strep throat that I'm now battling. Felt like Superman yesterday...feel like Clark Kent's grandmother today.

What really makes this little bout with illness so, so special, is the fact that I had throat surgery last Monday. As you, dear reader, can imagine, the area located approximately between my chin and sternum feels fan-fucking-tastic right now!

I went to Doctor's Care (yeah, I know!) this morning and was seen by Dr. Hotty McBlonde Big Boobs. Yeah, nothing like looking and feeling puny while a 30 year old, newly minted Doc rubs her rack on your arm while listening to your breathing. Good morning Sunshine!

So instead of giving me a shot of Rocephin, as swallowing is, well, quite challenging right now, Tits McGee gave me a prescription for 875mg Amoxicillin. Imagine again, dear reader, a pill the size of the end of your thumb, from the first knuckle to the tip! The pills should have come with a giant straw, like they use to blow meds down the throats of horses.

Oh, and it's supposed to snow here tonight...

Happy 2011! It's been kickass thus far...

Not much lost

So I took 5 days off the bike due to my little throat/esophagus procedure. Yesterday was a struggle, at best. It seemed like every pedal rev was for naught. My normal two hour loop was interminable.
Same loop this morning, same (maybe stronger) wind, same everything...expect my performance. Sure, fighting the headwind was a big ball of suck, but it didn't feel like I was dragging a brake. Hell, when I hit Old State, I pushed and actually stayed on the rivet for the entire 15 minutes of dirt, even @ the bridge, where I neglected to see the 8" deep hole that I shellaced with the rear wheel. It had a bit of a wobble for the remainder of the ride. Fortunately, Uncle Shrews works Saturdays at CC now, so the issue(s) were quickly rectified. Remind me to go buy him a 6er of good beer...

Speaking of dirt, it looks like a 'Roubaix' style ride might be coming together in the coming weeks. Figure on 80-ish km, and 10 or so sections of dirt. Like the last ride, all will be easily traversed on a road bike. More to come...

Now, on to actual interesting stuff...

Stybar win Czech National champs

French and Belgian cross champs tomorrow morning (US)

Team 'our kit looks like Sky and Garmin' introduced yesterday. Scarves? Really? It makes one wonder how Vaughters will try to upstage Leopard @ the Garmin-Cervelo reveal. It'll probably look something like this... only with less chicks...

Circulus finds a permanent place to wreak havoc and cause injury. Wondering what the jump in PDW's health insurance premium is going to be? Oh, FWIW, PDW makes some cool shit too...

Anywho...get out and enjoy the ride...

Humpday

So I rarely check the email account that I have linked to the blog. Why? I really don't need deals on Cialis, making $500/wk working from home is, in fact, a scam, and reading emails from Nigerian businessmen is SO 2008.
Every so often, there are gems. I've met, and corresponded with a few 'industry' types, and even gotten some schwag out of the deal. Gotten a few compliments, and a few 'go-fuck-yourself' notes. I like those the best, because...well...


Tonight, I got an email, albeit a couple of weeks old, with an address that one normally doesn't see attached to mail sent to a monkey show like I'm running here. The addy was @NASA.gov !!! When one see a gub'ment address, it's usually bad. Like IRS or Homeland Security bad.
In this case however, it was from a guy who works at Langley, in Virginia. Obviously he's a guy who needs to partake in something that doesn't tax his brain when he gets off work.
Anyway, thanks to him, and all of the others who frequent this dirt road exit off the information superhighway.

Now on to the news:

How did this happen? Campy SR 11 is the best product? NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE is this, albeit small, town rides SR 11. Hell, there's more Di2 running around!

Phil Z about to get corn-holed by the USADA. Wonder who 'the source' was? Not hard to figure it out, eh? Funny that every related article listed on the page is about Papp...

Speaking of slippery little fuckers and delays...

If you don't go here, then you should...

And if you're into clean, crisp, forward design, check out my friend Bob's site. He's pretty GD brilliant. I want the shock table...BAAAD!

Anyway, back on the bike tomorrow night...

Peace...

COME ON!

Slippery little fucker got his sentencing delayed...AGAIN!!

Sure, DOING drugs to be a bike racer is a low, shitty thing to do, especially when you dope your way to the middle, like Papp did, only to get busted at some two-bit race like the Tour of Turkey. Doing drugs though, does not warrant time in a concrete box.

You know what DOES warrant time in the hole? SELLING drugs to 187 'clients' , then testifying under oath WHILE continuing to sell drugs does, in fact, warrant time being cellies with some random member of the Aryan Nation. His sentencing agreement is sealed, which I have no issue with, but the fact that it's been nearly a year is happy horseshit.

I guaran-damn-tee, if it was some guy who got popped for selling weed to that many people, he'd be sitting in the State Pen, regardless of how many people he snitched on.

_____________________________________________________________________

One more day off the bike for me...Doc's orders...
The throat is feeling better, but is still damn sore. My left arm feels like it's going to fall off, thanks to the 'nurse' who started my IV. Oh well...I'll survive.

Back on the horse Thursday....

Oy vey...

Let's start with yesterday...the talking points...

-2 hour CX ride in the drizzle
-Saw a coyote on Old State Rd
-Felt good...rode well

Shower/lunch

-decided to cut through Cayce (never do) to go p/u Junior Mgmt
-Blue lights
-51 in a 35 $185 & 4pts (reduced to 44/35 $88 and 2pts)

Today

-LexMed
-EGD
-Scar tissue removal/throat biopsies
-Nurse missed the vein first time
-arm looks like a heroin addict
-slept 3.5 hours this afternoon
-throat hurts like I shot-gunned a broken CFL bulb

I think I'll practice some retail therapy...

Is this too much?

Battle...

No way Nys was going to lose his own race...NO WAY!

The plan was to ride this morning, to start the New Year off right, but the H.O. wanted to travel North, to Charlotte, and visit the mecca of Swedish build-it-yourself, IKEA. Seeing that IKEA pleases my inner gay, I was cool with skipping a ride.
Seeing as HQ is moving into a bigger facility in the coming months, plans were made for the upfit today.

We probably walked 5k in the store, so I got a little work in!

Back on the horse tomorrow. Next week will be a wash thanks to LexMed...