A holiday?

I'm glad everyone thinks Labor Day is a holiday. The people who think this obviously do not have children.
It's a day off work AND school. So instead of a quiet morning, the Phineas and Ferb movie is rolling on the 50". Oh joy...
There will be little done today that resembles productivity.

Saturday, I slept in and decided to do a loop of Lower Richland. One two hour ride reminded me exactly why I stopped riding out there. The roads are shit. The terrain is shit. The drivers are shit. Nothing like getting buzzed by Methuselah's older brother, driving an ancient pickup truck, pulling a fossilized pop-up camper. Yeah, it's WAAAY safer out there...
Old State Road, which is DIRT, is smoother than about 50% of the tar and chip garbage roads out in LR.
You guys can have it...

(Let's compare)...
A stretch of the aforementioned tar and chip in LR...

Or a stretch of road out in Lexington County...
Tough choice, I know...

Sunday, 5 of us did a really nice ride out into Lexington County. It was quite nice, and the antithesis to Saturday. Nice smooth roads, rolling hills, very little traffic, and a road that had remained undiscovered until recently. We didn't get passed by a car for the first HOUR of the ride!!!
Oh, and for the naysayers, when you ride out into Lexington County, you come home with a tailwind...and it's largely downhill. Shocking, I know!
Downhill + tailwind + 52/12 + 120rpm = yesterday's top speed. As the Brits say, do the maths...

And the rumors are true, Lay-An-Egg Trek is folding itself into the Radio Smack organization. I guess Levi booked out b/c he knew that he'd be playing 3rd or 4th fiddle to the Schlecks...or whoever....
Another rumor floating around is about the custom Pinarellos that were delivered to Team Sky Service Course. They were small frames and had the initials "MC" written on them. Hmmm....rhymes with Park Spavendish...

Anyway...enough of this nonsense. Time to go ride bikes with Junior Management...

Friday Shizz

An article has been going around for the last few days concerning the Lost Art of The Group Ride. It covers pretty much all of the bases that several of us have been grousing about for the last couple of YEARS.
It tickles me to no end when I think of the people who are sitting in front of their computer screens, agreeing with the aforementioned article, yet some of those same people are the very ones who the article is written about/for.
We all know these people. Doesn't take much hard thought for the names to come to mind, does it?
If you have to think about it, or grumble to whoever will listen, then the article is for/about you!

I remember the old school rides in town. The guys then were fast, hard as nails, and actually helped noobs along. Again, it doesn't take much for me to remember a few of the guys that were instrumental in me becoming a part of the group in the early 90s.
People do not remember middle of the road. They recall the positive, and the negative. Which are you?


This year, I can recall about 6 group rides I've actually enjoyed. All were fun, positive, and plenty fast in spots to get work in if one was so inclined, you know, the way rides used to be...

Not much else going on...
Good spin on the road bike this morning. First ride on the Mavic shoes. They are really nice. I just need to get all of the wedges, insoles, and various other scheisse that I require, dialed in. A few more sub-2 hour rides on them, and we'll be good to go.

Pretty nice out there this morning...

I'm sorry...

...did I break your concentration?


Want to touch the hiney...

Silly season begins

Radio Shack/Lay-O-Pard Trek merger?
What are they gonna call the 'Super team'? Radi-O-Pard Shack? Lay-O-Pard Schleck p/b Radio Trek?
Denials are coming fast and furious, but the fact that the angry bald midget signed with Omega Pharma-Quickstep this morning means that there won't be a place for him in the new team structure. Of course, it's a mutually beneficial situation for the team and Levi. They get his UCI points to bolster their position as a ProTour team, and he gets one final big $ contract to grow his 401k.
I think it may have been an oversight on Omega Pharma's part though. They may have believed they were actually getting a pair of denim pants...I don't know...

Type 1 going big(ger) time? Signing another Euro-Dog seems to indicate so...

GreenEdge is signing pretty much everyone! Matty Wilson, Baden Cooke, Tomas Vaitkus, Langeveld, Simon Clarke...

Goss and Eisel to Sky. Can Cavendish be far behind?

Good ride last night. Mega fast first 20 minutes. Don't let the naysayers fool you! It was as fast as ANY 2o minutes of the TNWC...ever. I dropped out of the front group to wait on Il Prof and TVH, but quickly realized my mistake, as I was trapped in no man's land. A little group of us got together and stayed together until my front derailleur took a shit on Gator. Once fixed, I was off the back of the group, and remained within 400m of them for the remainder of the ride. Just couldn't bring it back.
As for the derailleur that's been misbehaving for months, I finally traced the issue. The little bastard of a screw that holds the plates together had taken it's leave, thus the plates weren't moving when they were supposed to. Going up was a struggle, and going back down to the small ring caused all sorts of issues. One new screw and washer, and voila the 6 year old 7800 f/d works perfectly once again! I need to have a chat with my mechanic...oh wait...

Have a good humpday! Namaste!

Edit:
McEwen to GreenEdge
Tejay Van Garderen and Marco Pinotti to BMC

Weekend wrap up

The Tour of Colorado ended today. Great racing in a great setting. Too bad it was won by the angry bald midget. Of course, he's loved because he an American. Nevermind the whole doping thing...
Vanilla is also the favorite flavor of ice cream, and the Toyota Camry is the best selling car in the US, so there you are...
Financing is reportedly in place for 2012 as well, so that's a good thing. Hopefully the politics that are rife in the incestuous world known as professional cycling won't strangle the race.

GP Plouay was today too. Crazy run for the finish...good stuff!



Two good rides this weekend for the kid as well. The quiet and solitude were welcome, considering the sheer number of rugrats running, and laying/crying/pooping, around the house these days.

Saturday was a dirt affair in an effort to stay in the trees, and out of the breeze caused by Irene.



Out in the country, in the open, it was stiff. In the trees, not so bad. The wind had the fauna stirred up out in the sticks though. Several does, a LARGE buck and a nasty little hog were all seen.
The plus? The wind was at my back for the run up Gervais to end the loop.

Sunday was idyllic. Very little wind, no clouds and big blue sky for a nice road ride across LR and back up into the Fort.



Once home, I set up the new Mavic kicks. They feel like slippers! The plan was to keep them sequestered until Spring, but I have a hard time believing that timeline. Call me crazy...

It's Friday, you ain't got no job...

Three long weeks have passed since I'd been to the Chiro/ART Doc. I needed it this morning. My appointments are usually 15-20 minutes. This morning? 45. I was jacked up. No wonder it felt like shit to ride the bike.

On the ride tip, I did an easy 2 hours on the CX bike yesterday. Beautiful morning for it...

Big blue sky, little wind, fertile farmland...

I don't know what the British are selling here, but I'll take 17!

I DO know what Cipollini is selling here, and I'll take 17!

The Vuelta is going on...yawn...
The Tour of Colorado has drawn the big names though. Yeah, yeah, I know that's not what it's called, but I refuse to call it the USPro Cycling Challenge. Sounds like the MS150, or some other charity ride for Pete's sake!
That being said, The Angry Bald Midget is winning. Yawn. Once a doper, always a doper. #bottle
The race and scenery are brilliant though. Colorado (high elevation) in the summer is pretty close to perfect.

Okay...the newest addition to the management trainee program is raising hell...gotta go...

Ridey

Funny how motivation ebbs and flows.
Two weeks ago, I was super motivated. Rode A LOT of hours. Did some quality work. Felt good.
Last week, no motivation at all. Still rode double digit hours. Felt like shit, on and off the bike.

I'm feeling ridey again this week, but I still feel like crap. Personally, I'm blaming the fact that there's a three week old fruit of my loins in the house, and school started. I slept until 8am every morning through the summer. The baby arrived at roughly the same time school started, which means sleep got shot directly in the keester. I'm just tired...mentally and physically. TGoJR made the comment that basically said if there was a reason to be tired and have bad form, a new baby is probably it.

Anyway, I thought I felt okay last night, but just had nothing. I stayed with the lead group until 302, lost a contact, and just sat up and one-eyed it back to the house. This was on top of the TWO flats I had in the parking lot BEFORE the ride started. Maybe I should have stayed home...

This morning, my spirits were buoyed a bit. No, I didn't catch sorority rush again! Junior Management #2 and I had a perfect ride down on the riverfront. Big sun, empty trail and quality time. Not much better!

We rode 5 miles. As usual, he just killed it and never complained once! Ride with your kids people!

And this is just good stuff...



I like Rahsaan. I know Rahsaan. I talk to Rahsaan regularly. I consider him a friend. Rahsaan deserves better than how he's been treated by the cycling establishment. Dopers get welcomed back with open arms, yet one of the best riders in the country can't get a ride? I'd rather have a guy that speaks his mind and raises hell once in a while than some mealy mouthed pack fill, or a 'reformed' doper.
Good on you RB. Let me know if I can help!

Monday morning Cyclocross clinic

For all of you practicing your CX get-off/remount...

Here's a master class in how it's done!

A long-ish turns into...

...a LONG 3.5 hours!
I left on the CX bike with the plan to knock out @ 2.5 hours on the Jericho. I'm trying to loop together some dirt roads out in Lexington/Calhoun Counties for a Toby Porter-style adventure ride. Google Maps is very helpful in this endeavour, if you are planning to ride at whatever altitude the satellite circles the Earth. On the map, the road of choice looked perfetto. It was, of course, at the furthest possible point from the house.

(one of those 'too busy' roads people don't want to ride)

Knowing I should have scouted this loop in the truck first, I left the house. 90 minutes later, I made the right turn onto my 'perfect' dirt cut-through road, only to sink into Calhoun County's finest sand. Yep, the road was completely unrideable. FUCK! I could see the damn thing snaking up the ridgeline, but could do nothing about it.
Walking the 3km to the top help no romance, so I turned around and re-traced my steps home.
80km is a nice jaunt through the country, unless you're pushing 700x33 CX tires with 50psi in them.
Out of food, out of water, and coming apart, I limped the last 30 minutes through downtown/campus, and got home. Did I mention that I rode my tired/sweaty/dirty/stank self through the middle of sorority rush? Nice...

(this buoyed my spirits a bit)

As soon as I hit the door, a Mix1, a San Pellegrino Aranciata, a bottle of water, and a Coke were put down like so many lame horses. Luckily, there were no Krispy Kremes in the house...

No ridey tomorrow...

Maybe I'll watch the Vuelta...or go to Lowe's. Both are right up there on the excitement scale...

Just for Junk (TnA)

Turtle starts with "T" as well...

I saved this big old fella this morning. He was BIG, and I've never seen a box turtle with orange/red coloring. I should have brought him home.
Good ride...no effort was put forth this morning...just rolled it over on the dirt for 1:45.

What a lovely morning...

It was one of those morning's that I really didn't WANT to ride, but I NEEDED to go out. 70 degrees, a light breeze, and the big Sun.
I felt really flat, yet the speed was about normal for the dirt loop. The grand total time difference for the loop...TWO minutes. The long loop normally takes somewhere around 2 hours, and this morning, it was 2:02.
I did make a large mistake though. Instead of taking the regular loop through Five Points, I turned and came home through campus. Today was the first day of classes...
It had a certain Beijing traffic feel. I couldn't even ogle the undergrads for fear that I'd get smashed flat by some fratboy in his bro-dozer.
Note to self, take the long way home...

La Vuelta starts this weekend, if you're into such things...

Motorpace

100km = 60mph+ in old money

Good ride last night, even though I felt like crap. I did feel better once I got home though...one of those days...
Of course, riding in the evenings is a tenuous thing around here right now, considering the H.O. is left with The Three Amigos while I'm out on the bike. She'd better get used to it though, as I'll probably be forced to ride at night this winter...

Not much else going on...Peace!

Danny Mac

Yeah, he's pretty good...

Riding bikes is fun!

Thursday, I did the WeCola ride, even though the weather looked threatening. I guess the spectre of getting a bit wet kept a majority of the group at home. Nonetheless, we still rolled out with 25+.
I did a little bit of Frankenstein-ing to the Jericho, both as an exercise in quelling a bit of boredom, and an honest effort to evaluate how the Foco-tubed steel frame rode with the deep carbon hoops. After the ride, I can say with some certainty that my next frame will be steel. The ride was sublime. Butter on a bald monkey smooth. Love...
Good ride too. The goal was to ride with a little pace for about 30 minutes, then spin home. The first part worked out fine, as did the second. As I was turning onto Blossom to cross the river, a LARGE bolt of lightning hit very close. So much for spinning home...
I walked in the door about 7 minutes before the first drops of the FOUR inches of rain we received, fell.
Friday, CR and I spun for about 90 minutes...another enjoyable ride.
This morning, CR and I went into LexCo and did a completely different and new loop that included a couple of new roads. Good stuff packed into 80km. We also located some excellent sections for a dirt/cx ride this winter. Details will come when I scout the roads in my truck. Invitations will be sent...

Tmrw, JB and I will be hitting some LexCo dirt.

That will make 6 days on the bike(s) this week, and should put me somewhere North of 320km. That's 200 miles in old money, and that hasn't happened since, oh, JUNE!

This is a sample of the horrible traffic that some think exists out in LexCo. Terrible, just terrible...

Mid-week check-in

So yesterday, I decided to run MyTracks during an interval. It really didn't change much, other than the knowledge that a little man in my pocket was tracking my every move.
The results? Like Monday, I pushed a a bit harder than I normally would have...


View 2011-08-09 09:40 in a larger map

No big deal you say. Not that fast you say. Well, take this into consideration...
It was done on a CX bike, pushing 33c tires with 50-55psi...and it was done on the finest Lexington County dirt, and included a section of soft doubletrack through the woods.
31:17 interval time. Click on the 'larger map' link for the GPS specifics...
I'll take it...

Personally, I like Cav. This Nike spot says it all. Naysayers will point out that he needs a leadout, or can't get over a hill, or gets chubby in the off-season. Blah...blah...blah...
20 TdF stage wins say a lot, and I don't remember seeing a leadout when he won MSR in 2009...
Others moan that he lacks panache. Really? Seeking out your teammates to thank them, immediately after winning, is class.

Maybe, as he gets older, he'll turn into a Museeuw type of rider. Johan started as a sprinter, and when his speed fell off, he became a Classics killer.
We can hope...

Monday

Good ride on the Ridley this morning. It always feels weird to get on the road bike after riding the CX bike for several consecutive rides. Sure, all of the fit measurements are the same, but the differences in geometry and material shine through.
I also popped a 2.5mm spacer under the seatmeast cap to raise the saddle a bit. 2.5mm!! When I rolled out of the yard, it seemed like I raised the saddle a foot! Fine lines people, fine lines!
I also tried out Google MyTracks on my phone. Pretty freaking brilliant. No need for a Garmin product...none at all! It keeps track of all pertinent info, including elevation gain/loss, and it actively maps your route. It also made me ride harder, since I knew there was a little electronic passenger tracking my every move.


Robert Forstermann has come for your children. Dude is as serious as a heart attack...

Here's a video of RF and Hoy going after it at Worlds.

Enjoy your week people...6 days until the kiddoes go back to school! Yippee!

For your Sunday viewing pleasure

Vive le tour! from Bear Thunder on Vimeo.

Back on the horse

Steel is real...


Good 2 hour CX ride this morning. The dirt was HEAVY after all of the rain yesterday. Wasn't particularly muddy, but there was definitely enough moisture to come home dirty. Like I've always said, good rides are measured with simple lines...be they tan lines, or dirt lines...
I did get to witness a LARGE redtail hawk make the swoop and grab on an unsuspecting squirrel while on one of the double secret trails. Pretty badass...

Hello World!

We decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby, since the whole thing was a surprise.
Well, not the WHOLE thing...we know HOW it happened! ;)
Lo and behold, we were graced with another boy at 9:34am today. And to answer your next question, yes, he's a big fella. 9 lbs 12oz and 22 inches to be exact. That's 4334 grams for my non-English measure audience.

I'm already sourcing parts to build a wheelset that will carry him over the cobbles...

No name yet...the H.O. is about as decisive as a fat person on the fried food row of the State Fair.
The In-Laws were here today, trying to "help" with names. It seems that they have an affection for names that belong to Jiffy-Lube employees. Colt? Clint? Really?
I appreciate the effort, but...wait, no I don't...

Rides are done for a few days

It seems the H.O. has made it to the finish line, or will in about 18-ish hours, in the great baby race. This means I will be on family duty for the next 3 or 4 days.
Thus, I have been on the bike the past two mornings.

Monday a.m. : CX ride on the double secret dirt loop. Rode hard, put away wet. Second ride of the morning was with the M.T.s to get them used to their new bikes. #1 got a 20" Specialized Hotrock for his birthday, and #2 got bumped up the the 16" Specialized Hotrock. Both handled themselves with aplomb in their maiden voyages on the new whips.

This morning, I did 2/3 of the Iron Cross on the Fort, and just enjoyed the sunshine and quiet.

The only noise other than high dollar Italian rubber on tarmac, and the mechanical whir of the Ridley, was the small arms fire that has become de rigeur on the Army's largest training base.

It's almost comforting. After a solid 50km spin, I came home and loaded the boys up for another ride.
Second day on the new rigs, and they got thrown in the mix. Dirt roads? No problem!


An hour on the dirt in WeCola passed quickly, and without incident. My kids are harder than you!

Some rides are good for your body. Riding with your children is good for your soul! Peace! See you in a few!