"'Hug it out, bitch.' That is what men say to each other after a fight. They hug it out, in doing so they just let it go, and walk away, and they're done. Not a good idea to say that to a woman, however, I've found. Doesn't translate."
This one is from a rerun. I needed a good laugh.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Ever wondered? Ever noticed?
Have you ever wondered why the same things keep happening repeatedly? These things seem to be outside your control, but are they really?
Have you ever noticed that when times are tough, that you pay more attention to the lyrics in songs? I know I do.
I finally bought the new Wilco album on Friday. Honestly, it's a little ho hum. I wasn't horribly impressed. I'm not sure that I ever will be that impressed, but I'm getting the feeling that it will become an important album to me.
Have you ever noticed that when times are tough, that you pay more attention to the lyrics in songs? I know I do.
I finally bought the new Wilco album on Friday. Honestly, it's a little ho hum. I wasn't horribly impressed. I'm not sure that I ever will be that impressed, but I'm getting the feeling that it will become an important album to me.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Things Fall Apart
A good book. Google it.
It looks like LeMond is right about one thing. The whole house of cards is starting to crumble. Just check the headlines of the two major cycling outlets.
www.velonews.com
www.cyclingnews.com
It looks like LeMond is right about one thing. The whole house of cards is starting to crumble. Just check the headlines of the two major cycling outlets.
www.velonews.com
www.cyclingnews.com
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Title?
Not sure what to call this one.
I'm feeling much better today. A lot of my semi-slow friends are off racing the Battle the Bear. With highs in the 80s here in Denver (the race is just down the road), and no shade on the course whatsoever, I'm skipping. Well, I'm skipping because of the way I've felt this week. I've got a grand total of 3.5 hours on the bike as of Tuesday. Usually by Saturday morning I'll have 6-9 hours under the belt.
Anyway, I'm sitting here on the couch drinking my French Pressed Pablo's French Roast coffee. Good stuff! They roast on Tuesday's. You also save $2 per pound if you buy on Tuesdays, so a pound is only $10. I went in a few Tuesdays ago, and the beans had been roasted only 3 hours prior to my purchase. Man does that make a difference. Even with some other roasters in the area that I like, sometimes the coffee has a slight bitterness to it from being a touch stale. This stuff didn't have that until about 2.5 weeks after I bought it.
Several years ago, I actually went skiing with the guy that owns this place. At that point, the shop was on 14th St. in downtown Denver. Now he has moved out to 6th and Washington. If you're ever in the area, check it out.
Well, I guess I'll get out and test the legs a little today. I'm starting to wonder if this past weeks condition has been more from fighting a sickness. I had a sinus infection kick up about a month ago. I haven't had one of those since I moved to Denver 8 years ago. Down in the Dirty South, I used to get them every spring and fall. I've been trying to avoid the antibiotics since the infection cropped up in the middle of an important training block. After Angel Fire (Chili Challenge), I may have to give in and get some.
One more thing to note. Apparently if you mention Floyd Landis in your blog, you will get a ton of hits. My blog was on fire (well, on fire for my blog) after posting that little article about Greg LeMond. Most of you know what has happened since. I don't know what to make of this whole three ring circus. At a minimum, I'm greatly disappointed. I may post on that later.
I'm feeling much better today. A lot of my semi-slow friends are off racing the Battle the Bear. With highs in the 80s here in Denver (the race is just down the road), and no shade on the course whatsoever, I'm skipping. Well, I'm skipping because of the way I've felt this week. I've got a grand total of 3.5 hours on the bike as of Tuesday. Usually by Saturday morning I'll have 6-9 hours under the belt.
Anyway, I'm sitting here on the couch drinking my French Pressed Pablo's French Roast coffee. Good stuff! They roast on Tuesday's. You also save $2 per pound if you buy on Tuesdays, so a pound is only $10. I went in a few Tuesdays ago, and the beans had been roasted only 3 hours prior to my purchase. Man does that make a difference. Even with some other roasters in the area that I like, sometimes the coffee has a slight bitterness to it from being a touch stale. This stuff didn't have that until about 2.5 weeks after I bought it.
Several years ago, I actually went skiing with the guy that owns this place. At that point, the shop was on 14th St. in downtown Denver. Now he has moved out to 6th and Washington. If you're ever in the area, check it out.
Well, I guess I'll get out and test the legs a little today. I'm starting to wonder if this past weeks condition has been more from fighting a sickness. I had a sinus infection kick up about a month ago. I haven't had one of those since I moved to Denver 8 years ago. Down in the Dirty South, I used to get them every spring and fall. I've been trying to avoid the antibiotics since the infection cropped up in the middle of an important training block. After Angel Fire (Chili Challenge), I may have to give in and get some.
One more thing to note. Apparently if you mention Floyd Landis in your blog, you will get a ton of hits. My blog was on fire (well, on fire for my blog) after posting that little article about Greg LeMond. Most of you know what has happened since. I don't know what to make of this whole three ring circus. At a minimum, I'm greatly disappointed. I may post on that later.
Friday, May 18, 2007
uh oh
Well, I've pushed my luck. I'm deep in the valley of fatigue and have felt like crap all week. It reminds me of years past, but not last year. Things clicked last year.
It's partially my fault. I had some lack of discipline in some areas. My training schedule seemed a little funky this year. I think I kicked my self over the edge with my semi-bonk in the race on Saturday and my choice of ride Sunday.
There hasn't been much riding for me this week. I also rested quite a bit, but today I felt worse than I have all week. I guess I'll rest up this weekend and hopefully get things rolling by Tuesday to get myself ready for next weekend.
It's partially my fault. I had some lack of discipline in some areas. My training schedule seemed a little funky this year. I think I kicked my self over the edge with my semi-bonk in the race on Saturday and my choice of ride Sunday.
There hasn't been much riding for me this week. I also rested quite a bit, but today I felt worse than I have all week. I guess I'll rest up this weekend and hopefully get things rolling by Tuesday to get myself ready for next weekend.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Greg LeMond
I'm really not decided on the Floyd Landis fiasco. Both sides seem to have a lot to explain. I want to know what the hell Greg LeMond knows or could say about it.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=2872955&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=2872955&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Chalk Creek Stampede - First Semi-slow race
Well, the first semi-pro race is in the bag. Again, everyone has already blogged about it, but I'm usually just too tired to think when I've actually got time to blog.
The race was near Buena Vista, Colorado. Nathrop to be exact. It has a post office. That's about it. My race wasn't until 2:15, so I slept at home as I usually do for this race. I got to the venue at about 12:30, and rode the 2 miles to register out in the middle of a field. It wasn't that bad, but I felt sorry for the people that had to walk that.
This venue is kind of unique in the fact that it's all on private land. The owners are nice enough to let us race on it every year. It's not the best singletrack in the world, but it's definitely a good race venue. Well, it's good for some. I usually flat out suck at this race.
We'll skip forward to the race. My group was delayed just a bit. We ended up starting 2 minutes after the pros who started at 2:30 instead of 2:15. The start was a flat dusty road. I spent my time hanging out in the back of a front pack of about 20 guys. Somehow I managed to get behind this guy that was extremely afraid of rocks and zig zagged back and forth across the road. I guess no one told him that sometimes there are rocks in mountain bike races. Not to worry though, my mediocrity allowed him to pull away after the first lap.
So anyway. We start up the first climb, and I'm still in the front group. In fact, I was behind a reigning Elite National Champion. HER name is Georgia Gould. After that first steep pitch, I never saw the stars and stripes jersey again.
There were a few of us riding together for the first lap, and let me tell you we were hammering it. It was me, Brian, and his teammate Derrick. There was orange everywhere! That's their team color.
After the only descent, there is a windy (not the stuff that blows, the stuff that goes around and back and forth, but they have the stuff that blows too) section. I managed to eat a little dirt. No harm. I just hopped back on the bike. Brian passed me, and I think I held Derrick up.
Like I mentioned, the first lap was blazing fast. I meant to set my Garmin to auto laps, but I forgot, so I don't know my lap times. My goal going in was for a finishing time of around 2:06, so 30-32 minute laps were in order.
Halfway through the 2nd lap, Brian and Derrick must have thought I stunk, so they rode off without me. Bastards! I decided to settle into my own groove. I had about 9 not so easy training hours going into this race, so I was expecting my legs to be wasted. Funny thing was, they really weren't. I felt pretty good. However, this is Chalk Creek. We both hate each other equally. Toward the end of the 2nd lap, I started to get my hunger thing. Not sure what causes this, but it happened a few times last year. On the last couple of laps, it wasn't my legs that were keeping me from pushing it, it was feeling like I would bonk if I took it up a notch.
Also, somewhere on the 2nd or 3rd lap, I could hear my front brake rotor dragging a touch on the brake pad. It didn't seem to be slowing me down, so I just had to keep on going. Besides, when I came through the start/finish area for the 4th and final lap, my time was at 1:32. Well on my goal pace. I was really surprised by that, until I was given a moment to catch my breath. Once the oxygen reached my brain, I realized that there was a lack of the normal gale force headwinds on the false flat at the very back of the course.
I ended up finishing with a 2:04:xx. Well past my goal, but without the typical race conditions. For instance, 2:06 won my expert group last year. This year it was around 1:55. Chalk Creek strikes again.
All and all, I wasn't surprised by the result. I kind of expected it because of my training going into the race and the fact that it's a raw power course. I'm definitely more of a climber and descender. Funny thing is, back in my early days of racing, the raw power courses were the courses where I excelled. Of course my race weight then was 170-175. Last year it was about 164-165. Now it's a solid 160. Less weight does not usually equal more power.
Sunday was a big snafu at the race. I'll keep it short and say that I originally thought I would be racing at 2:00 PM. I was driving back to Buena Vista and got to Fairplay when I was told that it would be closer to 5:00 or 6:00. The the prospect of driving 2+ hours home after that, I pulled a Uey in the middle of Highway 285 and headed home. I got a nice, hard 3 hour ride in instead of a 30 minute short track race.
Here is the Motion Based file of the race:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2715478
The race was near Buena Vista, Colorado. Nathrop to be exact. It has a post office. That's about it. My race wasn't until 2:15, so I slept at home as I usually do for this race. I got to the venue at about 12:30, and rode the 2 miles to register out in the middle of a field. It wasn't that bad, but I felt sorry for the people that had to walk that.
This venue is kind of unique in the fact that it's all on private land. The owners are nice enough to let us race on it every year. It's not the best singletrack in the world, but it's definitely a good race venue. Well, it's good for some. I usually flat out suck at this race.
We'll skip forward to the race. My group was delayed just a bit. We ended up starting 2 minutes after the pros who started at 2:30 instead of 2:15. The start was a flat dusty road. I spent my time hanging out in the back of a front pack of about 20 guys. Somehow I managed to get behind this guy that was extremely afraid of rocks and zig zagged back and forth across the road. I guess no one told him that sometimes there are rocks in mountain bike races. Not to worry though, my mediocrity allowed him to pull away after the first lap.
So anyway. We start up the first climb, and I'm still in the front group. In fact, I was behind a reigning Elite National Champion. HER name is Georgia Gould. After that first steep pitch, I never saw the stars and stripes jersey again.
There were a few of us riding together for the first lap, and let me tell you we were hammering it. It was me, Brian, and his teammate Derrick. There was orange everywhere! That's their team color.
After the only descent, there is a windy (not the stuff that blows, the stuff that goes around and back and forth, but they have the stuff that blows too) section. I managed to eat a little dirt. No harm. I just hopped back on the bike. Brian passed me, and I think I held Derrick up.
Like I mentioned, the first lap was blazing fast. I meant to set my Garmin to auto laps, but I forgot, so I don't know my lap times. My goal going in was for a finishing time of around 2:06, so 30-32 minute laps were in order.
Halfway through the 2nd lap, Brian and Derrick must have thought I stunk, so they rode off without me. Bastards! I decided to settle into my own groove. I had about 9 not so easy training hours going into this race, so I was expecting my legs to be wasted. Funny thing was, they really weren't. I felt pretty good. However, this is Chalk Creek. We both hate each other equally. Toward the end of the 2nd lap, I started to get my hunger thing. Not sure what causes this, but it happened a few times last year. On the last couple of laps, it wasn't my legs that were keeping me from pushing it, it was feeling like I would bonk if I took it up a notch.
Also, somewhere on the 2nd or 3rd lap, I could hear my front brake rotor dragging a touch on the brake pad. It didn't seem to be slowing me down, so I just had to keep on going. Besides, when I came through the start/finish area for the 4th and final lap, my time was at 1:32. Well on my goal pace. I was really surprised by that, until I was given a moment to catch my breath. Once the oxygen reached my brain, I realized that there was a lack of the normal gale force headwinds on the false flat at the very back of the course.
I ended up finishing with a 2:04:xx. Well past my goal, but without the typical race conditions. For instance, 2:06 won my expert group last year. This year it was around 1:55. Chalk Creek strikes again.
All and all, I wasn't surprised by the result. I kind of expected it because of my training going into the race and the fact that it's a raw power course. I'm definitely more of a climber and descender. Funny thing is, back in my early days of racing, the raw power courses were the courses where I excelled. Of course my race weight then was 170-175. Last year it was about 164-165. Now it's a solid 160. Less weight does not usually equal more power.
Sunday was a big snafu at the race. I'll keep it short and say that I originally thought I would be racing at 2:00 PM. I was driving back to Buena Vista and got to Fairplay when I was told that it would be closer to 5:00 or 6:00. The the prospect of driving 2+ hours home after that, I pulled a Uey in the middle of Highway 285 and headed home. I got a nice, hard 3 hour ride in instead of a 30 minute short track race.
Here is the Motion Based file of the race:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2715478
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Office Quote of the Week
"Nobody told me there would be hot dogs."
Had to see it to get it. Good stuff.
Had to see it to get it. Good stuff.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Huh?
Ok, I had a training ride today. It wasn't cold, it wasn't raining or snowing, and it wasn't windy. I was very confused. It was a beautiful night with a nice sunset.
My numbers looked good again. I was rested, but not fresh. Just last week I was beginning to think I was on the verge of overtraining, but things seem back to normal. I guess that's a good thing.
My numbers looked good again. I was rested, but not fresh. Just last week I was beginning to think I was on the verge of overtraining, but things seem back to normal. I guess that's a good thing.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Behind
So now that I've updated to the new blogger finally, I can see that I'm way behind on posts as compared to last year. So here is a junk post.
Actually I was just thinking about my first mountain bike race, which is next weekend. It's the Chalk Creek Stampede. There is a 28 mile standard cross county race on Saturday and a 25 to 30 minute Short Track Cross Country race on Sunday.
It's my first race as a semi-pro, so that alone will make it hurt. The kicker is 1) I have heavy training week this week and 2) I've only been on the mountain bike 8.5 hours since about November. I was going to try to get out today, but laziness got the best of me.
I hope my new Yeti will be here soon. Even if it comes in this week, I won't race it this weekend. Now I have to decide if I'm going to get one of these bad boys.
I have to decide by the 15th. I'm guessing my answer will be yes. I also need a new road bike. Rough life.
Actually I was just thinking about my first mountain bike race, which is next weekend. It's the Chalk Creek Stampede. There is a 28 mile standard cross county race on Saturday and a 25 to 30 minute Short Track Cross Country race on Sunday.
It's my first race as a semi-pro, so that alone will make it hurt. The kicker is 1) I have heavy training week this week and 2) I've only been on the mountain bike 8.5 hours since about November. I was going to try to get out today, but laziness got the best of me.
I hope my new Yeti will be here soon. Even if it comes in this week, I won't race it this weekend. Now I have to decide if I'm going to get one of these bad boys.
I have to decide by the 15th. I'm guessing my answer will be yes. I also need a new road bike. Rough life.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
A little late/Deer Trail RR
Everyone and their respective brothers has blogged about this race. At 77 advertised miles (ended up being 75), it would equal my longest ride of the year. That was during my base phase, so that one was a lot slower.
Not much to say about this one. It was fun. Close to 90 guys started. We were on narrow road, and we only had half the road the whole time because the centerline rule was in effect. I really didn't make much of an effort to be at the front of the pack at the start because I thought I would have plenty of time to work my way up. Well, that didn't happen. Each time I made some progress, a group of guys would come up the opposite side. I guess I still have a thing or two to learn about moving up in the group, but I'm making progress. I'm sure it will all be lost once the dirt season starts.
Anyway, I sat in the whole time because of this lack of ability to get up. Found my self in the main group in the last few miles of steep rollers. Legs still felt good, and I hoped to wind up in a sprint. Three guys got off the front with about a mile to go. I guess that prevented the group I was in from picking up the pace, and it never really strung out at all. As we were coming into the last few hundred meters to the finish, there were guys all across the half road we had, so even though the legs felt good, there wasn't much I could do with them. So I finished in the main group. The back of the main group. I guess it doesn't matter if I was 29th or 8th in that group. Oh well. Good times nonetheless.
Here is the motionbased file:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2590220
I've been struggling a bit of late. Questionable scheduling for my training, and a little over-enjoyment on the beer scene have worn me out a bit. I'm not quite as disciplined with that this year. Last year I would have a beer or two on Saturday nights. There have been a couple of times this year were I've probably had one too many. Especially last weekend with the Braves in town. Of course, the game I made it to the fockers lost. I went to the Falling Rock and had a Rochefort 10. Heaven in a bottle. Is it a coincidence that it's brewed by monks?
So as I said, I've been struggling a bit this week. I've had a vague training schedule, so I've been pushing the envelope a bit too much maybe. I felt better today, but the legs were a little fatigued. I tried to make the Chatfield hammerfest, but I got down there and realized I left my water bottles at home. Not sure if anyone would have been there with races going on this weekend. I drove home and rode from home. I ended up at the same place climbing Deer Creek Canyon. I went it to the climb kind of mellow, but but the number looked good, so I decided to get a Functional Threshold average. I ended up climbing longer than the 20 minutes required for that, and my pace was a little bit lower in the beginning. My average ended up being pretty good. My weight is down from last year so my power/weight ratio is looking pretty good. The only thing I'm concerned about was that I was pretty worked after that effort.
I'm almost through with the first week of a big 2 week training block. My first mountain bike races are next weekend. I'm sure those will hurt considering the volume and intensity I will have in me going into them. It should be fun. It's all part of the master plan.
Time to finish my Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. Cheers!
Oh yeah, I have some pictures from the Moab trip. I'll get those up later.
Not much to say about this one. It was fun. Close to 90 guys started. We were on narrow road, and we only had half the road the whole time because the centerline rule was in effect. I really didn't make much of an effort to be at the front of the pack at the start because I thought I would have plenty of time to work my way up. Well, that didn't happen. Each time I made some progress, a group of guys would come up the opposite side. I guess I still have a thing or two to learn about moving up in the group, but I'm making progress. I'm sure it will all be lost once the dirt season starts.
Anyway, I sat in the whole time because of this lack of ability to get up. Found my self in the main group in the last few miles of steep rollers. Legs still felt good, and I hoped to wind up in a sprint. Three guys got off the front with about a mile to go. I guess that prevented the group I was in from picking up the pace, and it never really strung out at all. As we were coming into the last few hundred meters to the finish, there were guys all across the half road we had, so even though the legs felt good, there wasn't much I could do with them. So I finished in the main group. The back of the main group. I guess it doesn't matter if I was 29th or 8th in that group. Oh well. Good times nonetheless.
Here is the motionbased file:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2590220
I've been struggling a bit of late. Questionable scheduling for my training, and a little over-enjoyment on the beer scene have worn me out a bit. I'm not quite as disciplined with that this year. Last year I would have a beer or two on Saturday nights. There have been a couple of times this year were I've probably had one too many. Especially last weekend with the Braves in town. Of course, the game I made it to the fockers lost. I went to the Falling Rock and had a Rochefort 10. Heaven in a bottle. Is it a coincidence that it's brewed by monks?
So as I said, I've been struggling a bit this week. I've had a vague training schedule, so I've been pushing the envelope a bit too much maybe. I felt better today, but the legs were a little fatigued. I tried to make the Chatfield hammerfest, but I got down there and realized I left my water bottles at home. Not sure if anyone would have been there with races going on this weekend. I drove home and rode from home. I ended up at the same place climbing Deer Creek Canyon. I went it to the climb kind of mellow, but but the number looked good, so I decided to get a Functional Threshold average. I ended up climbing longer than the 20 minutes required for that, and my pace was a little bit lower in the beginning. My average ended up being pretty good. My weight is down from last year so my power/weight ratio is looking pretty good. The only thing I'm concerned about was that I was pretty worked after that effort.
I'm almost through with the first week of a big 2 week training block. My first mountain bike races are next weekend. I'm sure those will hurt considering the volume and intensity I will have in me going into them. It should be fun. It's all part of the master plan.
Time to finish my Collaboration Not Litigation Ale. Cheers!
Oh yeah, I have some pictures from the Moab trip. I'll get those up later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
