A quickie...

Cav received the MBE from the Queen today.

Wonder what his official title will be? I think 'Sir Mark Cavendish of Short legs in Tall Socks' sounds about right...


^^^^^^^NICE!

And Team Dicky is ON IT today...gotta say, I agree with everything he said...

Get up and get rolling...

This should help getting your Monday started...

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I think we need to print these off and play at the next big CX race.

Speaking of CX...

Nys shows why he's known as the "Kaanibal" this weekend. Wins at both Koksjide and Gieten. Nice!

Koksjide highlights

Gieten Highlights

They say there are 'horses for courses', but I haven't seen one give Nys trouble...ever.

Something to watch...
These dudes have bike control, period!



(break)

Yesterday was the 'rolling paceline' ride. Nice 2.5 hours with about 90 minutes of it being at SST/Tempo pace, and just rolling through the line. Well, for most of us. It seems the concept of a steady paceline is just beyond some people. I really like having to accelerate in the LEFT line to stay on a wheel. It's okay though, as the offender got shown what speed was a few times yesterday when he was chased down, and unceremoniously blown out by the one, and only, Ben Jones.

This morning, we had a nice, modified loop through LexCo. 80km, some good climbs, and a couple of sections that were fast. It's nice rolling along in the line @ 45-50kmh, being pulled by Der Kaiser at one end, and pushed by a cross/tail wind at the other.

My legs are hollow meat sticks at this point. I've ridden 7 of the last 9 days...right at 17 hours of saddle time. Friday and Saturday, I also raked, blew, and dragged leaves for a total of 6 hours, so I'll call it 23 hours of 'training' for the week. I'm just a little bit wrecked.
All of this riding HAS forced most of the "stuff" from my head, so the head cold that's been hanging around for the better part of two weeks is on it's way out.

It seems nap time is upon us...

Hope everyone had a good extended weekend!

Gobble...gobble..

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

No, on to the show...

It was BALMY Tuesday night, which brought out a HUGE group for the night ride. Conservatively, there were 40 out for the fun. The funny part? As we sat at the Confederate War Memorial at the State House, it was quite easy to see that we outnumbered the Occupy Columbia dumbasses by more than 2 to 1. What does that tell you?
How about we start an Occupy A Bike movement? #occupybikeseat

Back to the ride...
If one remembers a few short weeks ago, Tipper got destroyed by a large doe down by the river. Well, it seems the old boy still has some lingering mental issues with that section of trail. After Tuesday, it seems that we all should! I led down into the trail, looked up, and saw a HUGE buck standing about 100 yards away. By HUGE, I mean a 200+ pound, 8 to 10 point, hang on the den wall, trophy. He was impressive. He ran up the hill, into the woods, towards our direction of travel. Sphincters were tight until we got out of the park and into Olympia.

Good ride though...two hours of fun in the dark.

Intermission:As if we needed proof that the whole "fixie hipster/scenester, douchebag" thing has jumped the shark, this pic was captured in WalMart! Jeez...

This morning, I woke up late, saw the family off to Chesterfield for the madness that is their "family" Thanksgiving. It's really nothing more than than an excuse for everyone to get together, be really snarky and passive/aggressive, and get a free meal. I'll pass, thanks.
Instead, I got on the CX bike and rolled out into Lexington County for a couple of hours. Definite North wind this morning, which made the ride home a bit of a slog, but Rule #5 takes precedence, I drove it home.

The family will be back @ 1600h for dinner. They better damn well better be, considering the amount of time I spent on the bird. Brined and fried baby!
Now? It's time for my pre-post turkey nap nap. Yeah, it's a thinker...

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving! Remember, it's only a day. You should be thankful for what, and who, you have in your lives everyday!

Oy vey...and a badass dog!

So last week, I had my "If I ain't sick, it ain't Thanksgiving" head cold. Thankfully, it didn't turn into a full blown sinus infection, as usually happens. A shitload of vitamins, Claritin D, fluids, and the Neti Pot ran the bitch out of town.
I also did NOT even look at the bike for 5 days.
The combination of these two things made Saturday's ride an exercise in Rule #5. I rarely leave with the group, then just turn off. I hate that shit! Anyway, halfway out of the Fort, I was ready to bail.
Once to the gate, I got off, had a stretch, a break naturel, and coughed out something that looked remarkably like a Portuguese Man O' War, then climbed back onto the bike.
We rode a rolling paceline for the better part of the next 2 hours, which I wholeheartedly believe pushed out a lot of the bad stuff in my body. I sweat, coughed, and blew snot rockets for the entire time...and felt better for it when I hit the door with 75km.
Sunday the bunch rolled out into Calhoun County. I think Il Prof was tired from Saturday, as about an hour in, he suggested a route that was shorter! In the 15+ years we've ridden together, I don't think I've ever heard such a suggestion. From him, it bordered of blasphemy.
We shortened the loop, but still ended up with almost 3 hours and right at 80km.
It was good to see Marc Williams again too. Riding with Coco is rare these days, as he's now pitching his tent in Greenville. Dude is just strong...even in November.

Once home, I raked leaves in the backyard for two hours. I should advertise leaf raking as a core workout...maybe create a DVD series, because the area between my collarbones and junk is SORE today. I'm grateful that it started to rain, and I had to come inside, or I may not be ambulatory today!

On the news tip, Contador's doping case is FINALLY going before CAS today. Yeah, that only took 16 months. At this point, who cares? Let the dude race...

Lily is cooler than your dog! Pay special attention to a few of the double jumps...



Ok, you've wasted enough time here, get back to work! Enjoy your Monday. The sun is out and it's gonna be 75...

Hmmm...I've been thinking...

...and we know how dangerous that can be.

Yesterday, I called Michael Diamond the King of the Douchebags. In the ensuing hours, I have had several conversations with folks I like, and respect.
My opinion of Mr. Diamond may have softened a bit, nearly to the point of being on his side. My opinions of Masters dopers however, remains firm, but I digress.

It seems that Mr. Diamond is a 63 year old enthusiast, rider, and (very) part-time racer. He's a Cat 5. He finished 5th of 9 in the Florida State TT championship...60-65 age group.

Here's where I can agree with his refusal. If you the USADA came up to ME, in the same situation, and demanded a sample, I might just tell them to get fucked on principle. They can't show up at NRC races to do testing, where you KNOW dudes are on the AvGas, but they can spend the $ to come to BFE Florida to test ONE 63 year old guy?
Yeah, F YOU USADA and USA Cycling.

My only standing problem with Mr. Diamond is the fact that rumors are flying in Jacksonville that he had been openly bragging on group rides about his 'doping'. Now, 'doping' to a 63 year old could be Viagra or Cialis. Hey, blood flow is blood flow, right?
Of course, we all know how sorority girl-ish racers can be, so it's also not beyond the realm that someone in the group doesn't like Mr. Diamond, and called the tipline.

Who knows?

If Mr. Diamond WAS taking something, AND finished 5th, AND refused b/c he knew he was dirty, then yes, he's a douchebag.
If he refused out of principle, then good on him...and I'm sorry!

Un-fckn-believable!

Douchebags, I'd like to introduce you to your new King...

Unreal! The worst part? He finished 5th...OUT OF NINE!!!!!

2 more

Just two more days until I'm allowed to ride again. Mind you, this was a self-imposed time off the bike. Well, sort of...
The Boss has been working in another city for a few days, so I've been single-parenting. She took M.T. #3 with her, so it's just been me and the other two. Normally, I would drop them at school, then hit the bike. It seems that scheduling and a wonderful head cold have conspired against me this week. I think about 75% of the Southeast has this cold that's running around.
It's all good though. I'd rather be getting better through rest, forced or otherwise, than miss riding next week, when the schedule gets wide open.

Cousin Wes is hating life in this one. Notice he hasn't let go of the bars. And yes, we are related at some point down the line(age).

Play on Playa! When you have your name on your Dugasts, AND on your custom Ridley/Merckx, I'm pretty sure you've arrived. Badass...

A flow chart

Right click --- "View Image"

Happy Birthday Bernard

Bon 57eme Anniversaire Bernard, et merci pour le bon temps.

After Voeckler, he's the most aggressive French cyclist...and he's been retired for 2 decades!

G.O.A.T.? Perhaps...

Stuff

I really want...more like NEED Stybar's Merckx CX frameset. It sort of just does it for me...

Oh, here it is in action from Hamme-Zogge today...

Saturday's ride was supposed to be 40-ish miles. I guess the "-ISH" part was enough of a gray area to add 15 miles to the ride because I had 55 when I hit the front door. Nothing really to report about the ride other than Cam and TVH's near deer experience out on MLK in Hopkins.
The first, and largest deer passed cleanly between Il Prof and the three of us. The second two were close enough for Cal to lock it down, thus causing TVH to lock it down and slide sideways at a rather acute angle to the road. The FOURTH deer chose not to cross the road and hit the brakes about 6 feet from us. It would not have been an attractive, nor inexpensive shunt with Bambi. I had the Contour HD on the bike, but did not have it running...DAMMIT!

This morning, Il Prof, Dr. LP and I met for another 55 miles out through Calhoun and Lexington. Good variation of the semi-normal loop. The big fun? A sort of stiff tailwind home. Fish Hatchery was a ripper.

Another 55 miles in the books. It's a shame people can't be bothered to come out for these rides...
Oh well, their loss...

Happy Nigel Tufnel Day

11.11.11

And this is just funny...and painfully true...



This one makes my pants tighter...



Didn't ride last night, as I just didn't feel like putting on bike clothes...one of those days.
Ride tomorrow (Saturday) morning @ 0900 from Brennen Elementary. It's gonna be sunny and nice. Pull on your big girl pants and come out.

Oy...

So Campagnolo has finally released, er...unveiled it's electronic groupsets. Both Record and Super Record will be available sometime in February...so they say...
Campag also says that the pricing will fall in line with Di2, which in Campy-nese means it will cost $1000 more.
As for now, it's vaporware over which the cycling cognoscenti have worked themselves into a lather.

I'm all for the electronic stuff, but the only way to go at this point is the Ultegra Di2. Same price as mechanical D/A, and better performance than D/A Di2. And it's 200-ish grams heavier, which is minimal, at best...

Good night ride last night. We hit the fields down by The Strom at one point and there were some kids...college-aged mind you, playing Quidditch!! Yeah, the made up, Harry potter game. I had to look it up...
Seriously, if my dad would have caught me playing whatever-the-fuck in college, he would have stopped payment on the check!
As for the ride itself, not a whole lot beats rolling around in 60 degree temps, in the dark, in November. Sweeeet....(Cartman voice)

Man, I'm dragging ass...where's the Keurig?

It's Wednesday...more than halfway home folks!

Weekend-y

Let's start with the happenings...

GP Mario de Clercq went off this morning. It seems that if you live in Belgium, or one of the surrounding countries, and have a farm, you can host a GvA CX race. I was expecting to see them dodging cattle.

Contador got hitched. His wife's name is Macarena...the jokes, they write themselves.

-I wonder what the first dance was?
-Gives new meaning to 'doing the macarena'...
-The menu? Beef, of course...

The Amstel Curacao race went off last week. The pictures do little for the whole "cyclists are gay" thing...

I'm no expert, but I'm willing to wager some of my hard-earned American money that this guy did not hop up and skip happily away from this "incident". I think he was dressed up as 'Waldo' from the famous, "Where's Waldo" kid's books.
If you really want the answer to the question, the safe bet would probably be, "In the ER..."

The wind was HOWLING yesterday, so I did what a smart cyclist would do...I stayed in the woods. A nice CX ride through Lexington County. Even though the trees knocked down some of the gale, it was still a stiff breeze.

This morning, we set off for Calhoun County, and did the standard, old school Gaston loop. 95km later, I hit the door, changed clothes, and did 2 hours of yardwork. I love my big trees, except in November, when the leaves fall at a rate that makes clearing the yard Vietnamesque. You fight the battle, over and over, but somehow, you merely break even.

As I sit here pecking out this entry, I'm completely wrecked. Did I mention I have the privilege of schlepping out to Lexington to pick up the children? Yeah, that's gonna wait a bit. I have the beginning of the NASCAR race to sleep through...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Life of a pro

A Manual for Speed: Sam Johnson on Nutrition for Pros from manualforspeed on Vimeo.

Sounds glamorous to be a pro-dog, huh?

Once in a while

I don't believe in talking politics, as everyone has their own opinions, but the above picture pretty much says it all. If the Occupy dingles want to make a REAL, substantive difference, pack up, get on a plane/train/bus, and go to DC while Congress is in session. Marching around at the SC Statehouse is going to make exactly NO difference!
Oh, and to the Occupy Columbia idjits, you really can't rage against the system while knocking on their door to see if they can plug in your extension cord! (facepalm)
Ok, enough...

Scene from Zonhoven CX last weekend had a CRAZAZY sand pit descent that turned 180 degrees into a runup that was something from Dante's Inferno. In the pic above, I cannot decide what is worse...
Crashing chest first in the sand, and all that comes with it, or....
Getting a colorectal exam from a Dugast tubular.

Highlights from VT4

Sporza

KoppenbergCross was Tuesday...a 'normal' course...

Here are some highlights from Sporza...

Last Lap

Sorry, embed of the videos isn't available from Sporza.


Good night ride last night. Nearly 2.5 hours in the dark. The new burner was outstanding, and threw plenty of light up the road.
Several in the group thought we may have had a Stephen Garcia sighting on the RiverWalk too. I have my doubts though, as the guy was jogging, and I didn't smell weed and/or booze.

Peace and chicken grease...

A sunday morning, in pictures...

High security at the back of Fort Jackson.

Rolling under fall skies

This would NOT be a terrible spot to build a little house...

Jesus, when the hell did all of that gray start growing on my face?

The furrowed fields of Flanders, er...I mean Eastover.

Upon returning from 90+km in the big sunshine, the boys disemboweled their pumpkin. In hindsight, I probably should have cut the hole in the top a bit bigger...

It was a good morning...

Saturday lamentations

So, after coming home from a wet/muddy-ish/slick-ish CX ride this morning, I began a cursory search for a CX bike with discs. You know, just in case...(wink, wink)
Former HMFIC of Marketing at Specialized, Rick Vosper, happens to be a principle at Airborne. We go back and forth on the Twitters, so I decided to take a gander at their wares.

The Delta CX that Airborne offers seems to tick all of the correct boxes. My inner bike snob has been quieted over the last few years, especially when it comes to bicycles that I'm going to simply beat the shit out of. $3000+ on a CX, that I'm paying for? Not bloody likely.
Road bike? Yep, still a bit snobbish, yet softening around the edges, but I digress.

A $1200 CX bike is right in the power alley. And let's remember, this would be CX bike #3 in the quiver. (n+1, right?)
I'm still batting around the idea of Southern X, so the Delta CX would be a good arrow. The Jericho would be primary, but if the weather is shit, a disc brake rig might be the correct call.

I'm also open to sponsorship arrangements (read : whoring myself out). At 6'1" and 185, there is plenty of real estate on which to plaster your corporate logo. (you listening Rick?)

If you are so inclined to visit Airborne's site, also take a look at the Goblin. A very cost effective, and well-spec'd way to get into the 29er game. AND it's a pretty badass green color...

As for the aforementioned ride this morning...
It was two hours in the wet, 46 degree, windy ass country. The tarmac roads were slick from the little bit of rain we received overnight. That rain was the first in WEEKS, so it brought every bit of the Middle East's finest to the surface. Between the rain, the wet leaves, and the mud, the close calls counted 2...at 45 minutes into the ride. I dialed back in an effort to keep my big ass ON the bike. Clement LAS tires are great, as long as it's dry...

Road ride tomorrow...Outspokin'...0900...60 miles +/-

Namaste

Pictures...pretty and not so...

Theses guys are NOT fucking around with this flyover/under/through...

The guys at Firefly know how to use their CNC machines!

Zee Germans are not on zee dope! Years of careful breeding has led us to this point. The dude on the left isn't trying hard enough! You can see daylight between his thighs!

Bottom bracket standards explained. I understand the stuff, and it's confusing...


Every time the hipster/scenester/fixie DB crowd becomes annoying, I find a photo that makes me re-think my position. She should NOT re-think her position...

2 solid hours on the CX bike again last night. I was forced to use the NiteRider 400lux light to (attempt) to illuminate the dark. Yeah...just not the same as the 1000lux flamethrower. As soon as I back to Service Course, I ordered another BIG light. The plan was to pick up the 1600lux unit, but upon reading reviews, and doing some research, I chose the improved version of my old light. A new, brighter LED, and an improved battery, made the decision a bit easier.
And let's be frank, anything over 1000 lumens isn't a quantum leap forward in output. It just drains your battery that much quicker. I could explain exactly how this works, but it would likely sound like Charlie Brown's teacher after the first paragraph...

Have a good weekend...go ride!

Dark is...well...DARK!

So I left Service Course last night with the plan to do the first part of my WeCola CX loop, then try to catch the night group ride.
Things went to plan...
I can say, with a reasonable amount of certainty, riding the dirt road, that's supposedly haunted, at dusk, will fuck with your inner eight year old. As soon as I got into the canopy of trees, and away from any escape routes, the hammer went down. I rode at, or a bit above, threshold for the length of Old State Rd. Proof? I had a string of drool hanging from my lower lip, a la Tony Martin, when I hit the neighborhood.
Upon making the turn, I saw headlights and blinkies. Yes, I caught the ride...

The next hour or so was spent rolling around downtown, having a good time.

At 8, I split of to go home. Upon hitting The Statehouse grounds, and laughing heartily at the 'Occupy Columbia' dopesticks***, my light died, and could not be resuscitated. I had no choice but to go ninja for the rest of the trip home. To quote the title of this post, the dark is DARK!! Especially when the 1000lumens one is used to having light the way has gone silent.
Riding through campus and 5 Points was an exercise in cat-like agility. Once into Shandon, I dialed back the sniper stare.

Other than the light taking a crap, it was a great ride. I felt good, rode well, and had a good time. Isn't that what it's all about?

*** - Yeah, the "Occupy" dummies has a laptop, hooked to a projector, streaming TV onto a movie screen. $1000+ dollars of equipment to watch the news, while they protest the inequalities of economy. Irony much?And HED wins best use of a vehicle for marketing purposes. Split window panel vans make me feel all warm and funny...