Mid-Week

And maybe a lesson...
We'll get to that...

Another trainer ride yesterday. Upped the time to 35 minutes. Still just spinning the 39x19, but it's better than the alternative. I could probably go longer, harder, and push a bigger gear, but I'm trying to be smart about rehab. Yeah...me...smart...who knew?
Which bring us to the lesson...
Sort of a cyclocross tinged lesson, but a lesson nonetheless...

Hoogerheide gives us the visuals...

There's a saying in CX...
"Commit to The Rut".
Sometimes, the only way to get through things is to do just that. The Rut sometimes sucks. It might be bumpy, or lead one off into an unintended direction, but as shown above, The Rut ends.
The Rut can be long. The Rut can be short. You might get muddy.
Ride into it. Commit. Drive forward. Follow it where it takes you.
The Rut ends. It leads to a better line. It leads to smooth surfaces.

Commit to The Rut


And I'm out...

Back at it...sort of...

4 days on the trainer last week.
No, nothing of any consequence, other than getting the legs going around, and trying to rebuild a little leg strength. Even so, 2 hours on the bike is more than I've done for the last 10 weeks. It's something.
And as much as I dislike the trainer, the time passes pretty quickly when one hasn't been on the bike for months. 30 minutes is a blink.
30mins x 4 again this week, then 45 x 4 next week. Once I reach an hour, I'll go outside. Really not worth getting dressed for anything less than an hour. I just don't understand getting Winter kit on, then riding for 30 minutes. Takes longer to kit up, and then get undressed once home.

I suppose I should get the Ridley done too. Thankfully, it's supposed to be warm and sunny this weekend. Might be able to finish the paintwork...

And I'm going to start another little project...

And as it happens, I have a Colnago frame in Service Course.
Jonas did a number on us last weekend...

My poor palms had snow on them! GASP...

Hoogerheide looked like a good time yesterday...


That wasn't mud, it was Nutella...
And here are the steps...42 of them...

The UCI outlawed this...

No ridey today. I need to do some PT exercises. I've released myself from care, as I can do all of the same exercises at home, for free. PT has turned into a VERY expensive hour at the gym. I like my therapist, but not at $75/hour. And his assistant's perma-resting bitchface has gotten tiresome.
So, Peace Out Palmetto Health. You've gotten enough $ from me. I have bike shit to buy!!

And a 73 year old British woman has been charged with reckless driving for mowing down 6 members of the Giant-Alpecin team. She was driving on the wrong side of the road on her Spanish holiday. John Degenkolb and Chad Haga received the most severe injuries...
Click the additional links in the CyclingNews story for all the details. Those guys are DAMN lucky...

Happy Monday! I need to go shovel the driveway...LOLZ.

Hidey-ho...

Another spin on the trainer this morning. Better than the first.
No RoM issues. No pain. A bit of stiffness, but I think that has a two-fold reason.
1) 3 months of not using that leg.
2) PT was yesterday, and we did some new exercises.

Instead of 15 minutes on, then a stretch, I just spun through for a solid 30 minutes. No fuss. The taint needs to toughen back up though...
2009 Milan-San Remo kept me company...


As people are wont to do, I got a new phone for Christmas. That left my perfectly good "old" phone as a paperweight. An internet capable, GPS-enabled paperweight.
Instead of buying a basic Garmin, then whinging later when it quits working, I decided to make my old MotoX into a GPS bike computer.
Using a Garmin attachment point seemed like the best, most elegant (if there is such a thing) solution.
There's a company in Utah called DogEarsGPS. They make a small, billet aluminum piece that replaces the plastic attachment point on the back of a Garmin computer. Why do they make this? Well, the little plastic "dog ears" always break off Garmins.
I bought the piece, did a little measuring, and attached the alu Dog Ear to the back of the phone case.
Works perfectly.

FYI, Service Course sits at 40m/131ft above sea level. The mount is solid as a rock. Can't wait to get outside and try it. That's Google MyTracks, BTW.
Now to dump every non-essential app and program off the old phone.
If your Garmin has broken tabs, order the aluminum piece from DogEars. DO IT!

Style...
Either you have it...

Or you don't...

Why do I imagine that Farrar smells of hair product and patchouli?
Speaking of style...

Peto didn't shave his legs before San Luis. The horror....!!!!

My birthday is just around the corner. Just sayin'...

And with that, I've burned enough of your productivity for the day.

(Sorta) Back at it....

Last week, I was given tacit approval to ride again. It was one of those, "I don't see why not..." sort of things.
Of course, this was after a series of leading questions from my physical therapist. I really like it when people talk to me like a small, dull child. Of course, sometimes, it's necessary.
It this case though, it is not. I've been off the bike for 10 weeks. That's somewhere around 35-40 rides missed. Ballpark? 80-90 HOURS lost.
I'm not going to push through this recovery, and injure myself further. Being off the bike SUUUUCKS!
I rode the trainer this morning. 15 minutes. Stretch. Then another 15 minutes. Pushing that 39x19 around @ 90-ish rpm, with the tire just barely kissing the roller.
Gotta say...it felt pretty good. The action itself was odd at first, but after about 3 minutes, it passed.
No pain. I'm good with that.
Probably do that for the next 5-6 rides. No reason to rush. No pro teams are watching a 46 year old guy in SC.
I will say, my pedal stroke on the right side is different now. Looks, and feels correct, like the knee had been injured for a long while. We'll see how it goes when the pedals are turned in anger...

Fun little course in Lignieres for the World Cup race yesterday...


It also showed why I'll never be a WC. Other than a distinct lack of ability, I cannot ride a one-handed wheelie...
Boonen looked ready to rumble at the Etixx-QuickStep presentation. Hopefully he and Fabi will battle in the Spring Classics

Does this position make anyone else's nethers hurt simply by looking at it?

This just hurts my feelings...
And Cannondale's new kits remind me of something...

Ok...enough for Monday. I'll be updating more than once a week. I got lazy over Christmas/Surgery break.

FUCancer

Seriously, Fuck you cancer. And I mean it.
My friend Ken has cancer. Colon cancer. He's battled it for three years. It's gotten to the point where he is in hospice care. Ken is a young man.
He is a talented musician, a supremely witty writer, a great rider, and a husband. All of those things aside, he is, honestly, one the nicest, most earnest people that I have ever had the privilege to know.
I'm not going to sit here and embellish to make you think we are BFFs. We aren't. BUT...

If you know me, or you ride around here, you know that I ride ALOT, with A LOT of different folks.
I can say, without any sort of equivocation, one of my top 5 rides EVER included Ken.
It was a memorial ride for Ian Foyster. It was a dirt road affair put on by Toby Porter. It was in Lexington. The date was January 2, 2010.
It was a ball-biting cold day. We rolled out anyway. Lots of stuff went on that day. Smiles, laughs, pictures, ball-breaking...and Kenny crashed. And when I say crashed, I mean CRASHED. Normally, on a dirt road, it's no so bad. Ken found the ONE section of dirt that had exposed bedrock. It was NOT a gradual stop.
Upon taking inventory, he pulled off one kneewarmer to find a peanut M&M-sized stone had lodged itself IN his leg. Kinda of odd to see, and definitely a first for me.
He popped the rock out, leaving a little, half-melon ball hole in the side of his knee. We were NOT close to home...or anywhere for that matter.
Ken cleaned up, sacked up, and we rode on. Never a complaint.
That ride was a lot of things. Hard, long, cold, fun, and friendship forming. I think about it often...a little more now.
Ken has been unable to work, and his wife took a leave of absence from USC to help care for him. Bills are doing what bills do...
A YouCaring page has been set up to accept donations for Ken and his wife, to help them get by a little better. If you have a few bucks, please consider tossing it their way.

HERE'S THE LINK!!!!

Thanks!!!

We're all in this thing together!

Sitting here watching the wheels go round.

Lots of CX to watch last weekend. National championships everywhere.
Belgium was probably the best mens' race.



Lightning fast. More of a dirt crit than CX race. If you wanted a grinder of a course, it was up in Asheville.
Both races were great.
Can't embed them, but follow the link below for full replays of both races.

THE LINK

Looked like fun. Sorry I missed freezing my ass off! Really sorry I missed seeing friends from all over the country.

I did get primer AND sealer on the Ridley.

Now to wait for some weather warm enough to lay down some paint...
Not like I can ride the flipping thing anyway!
Also got the new Diadora Vortex Pros set up.

Same sole as my other Diadoras, so it was easy peasy. Gotta say too, I'm no weight weenie...no reason to be, but these things are LIGHT. How light? 100g per shoe. You say big deal, but that's 1/4 pound on each side. And that's rotational weight.
Also stopped down to the fish store with Junior Management, and picked up a new family member.

The boys are all off into Star Wars right now, so they named his Admiral Ackbar. Google it.
All in all, it was a full weekend of doing jack shit.
And there was a discussion about "style". I hate to break it to you, but not many guys today have it. Sagan...Kittel...a few others. It's either there, or it ain't. You can't force style.

 Yates? Style. And the double-bend. Makes my wrists hurt looking at the picture.

Merckx playing the part of Sheriff. Look at the length of the line behind him. He didn't lay down the Law. He WAS the Law.
And so ends today's lesson...
It's Monday, and the sun is out. Go outside.

+12

The kids FINALLY went back to school! And I got to go get the crap kicked out of me at PT. Injured/repaired knee notwithstanding, PT shows just how weak cyclists bodies truly are. Seemingly simple balance exercises are work...even on my good leg.
Might be time to work something into the schedule that requires lateral movement.
Overall though, I'm getting better.
RoM is with 20 degrees of normal. Swelling is almost gone, and as usual, no pain. I'd say that's okay for 12 days.
The Noah got re-sanded last week. I just wasn't happy with the paint on the frame. The paint came from two different production lots, and while one would think they would be the same color, I could tell a difference. My OCD comes home to roost...

Ready for an acetone wipedown,  and a second go w/primer and paint. #noahrepaint #taketwo

A photo posted by MM (@mminsc) on Jan 1, 2016 at 2:36pm PST

 I'm no structural engineer, but this just isn't a good idea...

 Found an idea for the re-design of the dining room. Sent the construction budget thru the roof!!

I'd like to think this old fella was mates with Coppi, and is stopping by to say hello...

I had someone stop by for some advice about a shifting issue on their road bike. The cables and limit screws were all wrong, and the brakes were reversed. We won't mention the installation of the new chain...

Remember, purchase of tools does not include knowledge of use.

Lots of cross around New Year's Day...
Loenhout


GP Sven Nys


Leuven


Sven's little shunt in the ditch broke his fork. Looked like it broke his spirit too. He didn't seem terribly excited about racing from that point.

The Noah is at a standstill until this weekend. It's too cold to lay down any new primer or paint. I'm waiting on the second set of decals too. Hurry up and wait. Story of my life these days...