From the top of Mack Ridge about to head down. Super sweet trail.
Looking down on the Kokopelli trail. 
The Frontside trail over on the 18 road side.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Out of Commission
The home computer is being repaired. I'll try to get some pics from Fruita up when I get it back.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Fruita
Off to Fruita tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some pics up this weekend.
Word is Saul Raisin is doing better, but still has a long way to go. As a fellow North Georgia boy, I've been following his career pretty closely. In fact, in the first mountain bike race I ever participated in, Saul was a young 16 year old racing expert. I'm sure he kicked my ass. Hell, I think everyone kicked my ass that day. Get back on that bike soon Saul!
Word is Saul Raisin is doing better, but still has a long way to go. As a fellow North Georgia boy, I've been following his career pretty closely. In fact, in the first mountain bike race I ever participated in, Saul was a young 16 year old racing expert. I'm sure he kicked my ass. Hell, I think everyone kicked my ass that day. Get back on that bike soon Saul!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
7 Steps to . . .
a successful bike race. Or at least one of great suffering.
1) Go to Nuggets (or your local professional sports team) game 2 nights before race. Stay out a minimum of 2 hours past normal bed time.
2) Do not clean bike the day before race as normal.
3) Do not eat adequately the night before the race.
4) Do drive the equivalent mileage of Denver to Boulder and back.
5) Do stay on your feet while you and a friend repair minor bike issue.
6) Do stay too long socializing at aforementioned friend's house.
7) Do go to bed 30 minutes after normal bed time, but just lay there and not go to sleep until 4 hours before you have to get up for your race.
If you follow my patented steps, YOU TOO can have a (semi-)successful race. For additional information on how to follow these steps, please send $19.99 to . . . .
So these are all the things I decided to do before the Boulder Roubaix this past Saturday. For those not in the know, no, this isn't a race from Boulder to Roubaix, France. That would take a paddle boat. I don't have one.
It is the Colorado version of the great spring classic Paris-Roubaix. Or the Queen of The Classics as it is called. No cobblestones on the Boulder version, but it is 75% dirt roads. Some of that is smooth, some washboard, some gravel, and some potholes. At times, the latter 3 are mixed together.
I almost bailed on the race due to the lack of sleep, but since I'm a cheap bastard and the reason for the trip to Boulder the night before was to pre-register, I decided I was going to at least make it a day of solid mental training. Mental training it was because I was tired, and my legs were more tired.
I decided my plan was just to get far enough to the front to be safe and see if I could stick there for the race. 5 laps of 8.6 miles. Not a huge distance, but definitely enough when you are already tired to start. So anyway, the game plan worked for about 5 minutes, but then all of a sudden, I found myself looking at about 40 asses in front of me. In case you are wondering, this is NOT a good thing in a race with rough roads, sketchy riders, and flying water bottles.
I eventually got myself back into a safer position, but every lap I was thinking, "man, I'm spent. There is no way I'm going to be able to stay with this front group another lap." As the race went on, the front group whittled down. On the last lap, I was still with the front group, barely. The pace was picking up, and again I was thinking, see above. As we were headed for the fairly steep rollers, I was thinking, "this is the end." It wasn't. Right after the last turn, there is a small rise. I though, "I'm never going to be able to stay with this acceleration." Well, I was still there after the acceleration, barely. There were about 20 guys left in the last section of about 500-1000 meters. Don't take my word on that because I'm not good at estimating the number in groups or the distance from point A to point B. Because of the increase in speed, everyone was lined up single file, and again, I was barely hanging on to the back. My goal at the point was just a top 20. With about 300-400m to go, I told myself, "just suck it up. You only have a minute or two left of suffering." So I start to drop the chain down the cassette and accelerate. Much to my surprise, I start passing guys. Goal: top 15. I pass a few more guys. Goal top 10. A guy attacks to the left, but at that point I didn't have the angle on him, so I go right. I accelerate a little more, and I'm on the second place guys wheel, and from what I can tell I got a solid gap on everyone else. At this point, first place was pretty much gone, I decided to pass 2nd place and I got past him freely. I still sprinted it out, but I guess another guy (a very young one), had caught my wheel at some point. He nipped me right at the line, so I took 3rd.
All in all a good day. Boulder Beer was there giving out free beer, so a Mojo IPA was my post-race recovery drink. My 3rd place prize was a sixer of Pass Time Ale. Beer is as good as gold in my book, so it was almost bike being a pro on this day.
Here is an action shot. That is me in the red, white, and blue. Just a guess, but I'm thinking the guy in front was suffering more than me. I picked up this picture here.
1) Go to Nuggets (or your local professional sports team) game 2 nights before race. Stay out a minimum of 2 hours past normal bed time.
2) Do not clean bike the day before race as normal.
3) Do not eat adequately the night before the race.
4) Do drive the equivalent mileage of Denver to Boulder and back.
5) Do stay on your feet while you and a friend repair minor bike issue.
6) Do stay too long socializing at aforementioned friend's house.
7) Do go to bed 30 minutes after normal bed time, but just lay there and not go to sleep until 4 hours before you have to get up for your race.
If you follow my patented steps, YOU TOO can have a (semi-)successful race. For additional information on how to follow these steps, please send $19.99 to . . . .
So these are all the things I decided to do before the Boulder Roubaix this past Saturday. For those not in the know, no, this isn't a race from Boulder to Roubaix, France. That would take a paddle boat. I don't have one.
It is the Colorado version of the great spring classic Paris-Roubaix. Or the Queen of The Classics as it is called. No cobblestones on the Boulder version, but it is 75% dirt roads. Some of that is smooth, some washboard, some gravel, and some potholes. At times, the latter 3 are mixed together.
I almost bailed on the race due to the lack of sleep, but since I'm a cheap bastard and the reason for the trip to Boulder the night before was to pre-register, I decided I was going to at least make it a day of solid mental training. Mental training it was because I was tired, and my legs were more tired.
I decided my plan was just to get far enough to the front to be safe and see if I could stick there for the race. 5 laps of 8.6 miles. Not a huge distance, but definitely enough when you are already tired to start. So anyway, the game plan worked for about 5 minutes, but then all of a sudden, I found myself looking at about 40 asses in front of me. In case you are wondering, this is NOT a good thing in a race with rough roads, sketchy riders, and flying water bottles.
I eventually got myself back into a safer position, but every lap I was thinking, "man, I'm spent. There is no way I'm going to be able to stay with this front group another lap." As the race went on, the front group whittled down. On the last lap, I was still with the front group, barely. The pace was picking up, and again I was thinking, see above. As we were headed for the fairly steep rollers, I was thinking, "this is the end." It wasn't. Right after the last turn, there is a small rise. I though, "I'm never going to be able to stay with this acceleration." Well, I was still there after the acceleration, barely. There were about 20 guys left in the last section of about 500-1000 meters. Don't take my word on that because I'm not good at estimating the number in groups or the distance from point A to point B. Because of the increase in speed, everyone was lined up single file, and again, I was barely hanging on to the back. My goal at the point was just a top 20. With about 300-400m to go, I told myself, "just suck it up. You only have a minute or two left of suffering." So I start to drop the chain down the cassette and accelerate. Much to my surprise, I start passing guys. Goal: top 15. I pass a few more guys. Goal top 10. A guy attacks to the left, but at that point I didn't have the angle on him, so I go right. I accelerate a little more, and I'm on the second place guys wheel, and from what I can tell I got a solid gap on everyone else. At this point, first place was pretty much gone, I decided to pass 2nd place and I got past him freely. I still sprinted it out, but I guess another guy (a very young one), had caught my wheel at some point. He nipped me right at the line, so I took 3rd.
All in all a good day. Boulder Beer was there giving out free beer, so a Mojo IPA was my post-race recovery drink. My 3rd place prize was a sixer of Pass Time Ale. Beer is as good as gold in my book, so it was almost bike being a pro on this day.
Here is an action shot. That is me in the red, white, and blue. Just a guess, but I'm thinking the guy in front was suffering more than me. I picked up this picture here.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
F#&@ing Wind
I'm here to declare the wind as my mortal enemy. I hate the mofo. I curse it not under my breath, but out loud. Very much out loud.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Koppenberg
The Koppenberg is a notorious climb in The Tour of Flanders/Ronde van Vlaanderen. It has a maximum grade of 25%. I did the Koppenberg Circuit race this past weekend. It's a local race that is on a 3.5 mile circuit with 50% of that being dirt roads. It gets its name from the a similar but not nearly as notorious climb in the race. I think it's maximum grade is only about 17%, not nearly as long, and is made of dirt, not cobbles. The races are held on the same day. Rumor has it that Tom Boonen is afraid of the one here in Colorado.
Of course, here in Colorado the few weeks/months, there hasn't been such a thing as a completely perfect weather day. If it's nice and sunny outside, you can betcha bottom dollar it's going to be windy, and windy it was. Just in case the climb wasn't tough enough, "they" decided to point the wind in the direction that would provide a head wind while climbing. Perfect. I would say it added about 3% to the climb, or so I would like to think.
The race went ok for me. I didn't feel horrible, but I could tell I was at the end of my 2nd period of intensity training. The legs didn't have quite the snap they've had in previous races or rides.
I learned the biggest lesson of this race last year. Get to the front fast. The race starts well before the whistle when jockeying for start line position. I was able to get to the front of the line, and get a good start. I stayed with the front group for most of the race. It was probably about 30 guys (out of 85+ starters) for the first lap, but throughout the race was whittled down. I started having some trouble on the 2nd lap. After the top of the climb, there is a long flat section of dirt road that has a nasty cross to head wind. I was staying toward the back of the group to find shelter from the wind. I saw a guy attack hard over to the left side of the road and decided I would try to get up to him and see what happens. Well in that process, I managed to find a nice stretch of washboard (it is exactly what it sounds like) that slowed me up a lot and isolated me in the wind. I busted my ass to get back up to the group which I finally did on a downhill paved section.
I was able to recover a little on the dirt road section. I made a move to the front of the group for the big climb, but about 1/3 of the way up I found myself in the rut on the left side. I had to get off my bike and run the rest of the hill. By that time, the front group was way too far gone. I got close to them with the help of some other guys, but spent too much energy doing so. The good thing was that I was still able to attack and try to bridge some gaps with that not so fresh feeling (yes that was intentional, ha ha).
I ended up 17th out of 85 finishers. The top 15 finished pretty much together. Without the falter on the hill, I may have been with them. I was a little disappointed, but it was a fun race nonetheless.
The Superior, CO version on the Koppenberg. It's not over at the top of this picture. It goes up for a few more feet after that.
The real deal. These are shots by Graham Watson, and I picked them up here. These pictures were taken several years ago, but from what I can tell, the thing is still just as difficult. Every year it's in the Tour of Flanders, top level PRO cyclists have to hoof it up the thing. You've gotta love Belgium. I drank some Belgium beer on Sunday just to make sure I got the full effect.
Of course, here in Colorado the few weeks/months, there hasn't been such a thing as a completely perfect weather day. If it's nice and sunny outside, you can betcha bottom dollar it's going to be windy, and windy it was. Just in case the climb wasn't tough enough, "they" decided to point the wind in the direction that would provide a head wind while climbing. Perfect. I would say it added about 3% to the climb, or so I would like to think.
The race went ok for me. I didn't feel horrible, but I could tell I was at the end of my 2nd period of intensity training. The legs didn't have quite the snap they've had in previous races or rides.
I learned the biggest lesson of this race last year. Get to the front fast. The race starts well before the whistle when jockeying for start line position. I was able to get to the front of the line, and get a good start. I stayed with the front group for most of the race. It was probably about 30 guys (out of 85+ starters) for the first lap, but throughout the race was whittled down. I started having some trouble on the 2nd lap. After the top of the climb, there is a long flat section of dirt road that has a nasty cross to head wind. I was staying toward the back of the group to find shelter from the wind. I saw a guy attack hard over to the left side of the road and decided I would try to get up to him and see what happens. Well in that process, I managed to find a nice stretch of washboard (it is exactly what it sounds like) that slowed me up a lot and isolated me in the wind. I busted my ass to get back up to the group which I finally did on a downhill paved section.
I was able to recover a little on the dirt road section. I made a move to the front of the group for the big climb, but about 1/3 of the way up I found myself in the rut on the left side. I had to get off my bike and run the rest of the hill. By that time, the front group was way too far gone. I got close to them with the help of some other guys, but spent too much energy doing so. The good thing was that I was still able to attack and try to bridge some gaps with that not so fresh feeling (yes that was intentional, ha ha).
I ended up 17th out of 85 finishers. The top 15 finished pretty much together. Without the falter on the hill, I may have been with them. I was a little disappointed, but it was a fun race nonetheless.
The Superior, CO version on the Koppenberg. It's not over at the top of this picture. It goes up for a few more feet after that.
The real deal. These are shots by Graham Watson, and I picked them up here. These pictures were taken several years ago, but from what I can tell, the thing is still just as difficult. Every year it's in the Tour of Flanders, top level PRO cyclists have to hoof it up the thing. You've gotta love Belgium. I drank some Belgium beer on Sunday just to make sure I got the full effect.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
So Nice, I Got One Twice!
The new ride. I picked it up yesterday. The guys at Yeti were super friendly as usual. It's pretty much the same as the old one. New paint job and ti bolt kit. Thanks BikeSource and Yeti!
Yes, this is the bottom of the downtube. You can take pictures when I huck it over your head. Yeah right. Pretty sweet.
The head tube badge. Nice!
The badge on the back of the seat tube.
New Light weight race wheels. Hope thes puppies work out ok. I'm a little apprehensive. YES! The rotor is made of gold. It's the latest hot cycling material.
A little off topic here, but this is me after getting caught out in a quick snow storm while on a ride. This is after a little thawing out. Gotta love March in Colorado. Explanation for the eyes. A car pulled out in front of me, scared me, and my eyes froze open like that. I'm not sure about the tongue.
The iced up drivetrain and spokes. I'm not sure why I took pictures of this. I've had a much more fozen bike many times before. This was one of those sloppy wet snows.
I need to get my ass to cleaning my bike (yes, it's still dirty from that ride two weeks ago. Poor thing) so I can actually ride today.
Yes, this is the bottom of the downtube. You can take pictures when I huck it over your head. Yeah right. Pretty sweet.
The head tube badge. Nice! 
The badge on the back of the seat tube.
New Light weight race wheels. Hope thes puppies work out ok. I'm a little apprehensive. YES! The rotor is made of gold. It's the latest hot cycling material.
A little off topic here, but this is me after getting caught out in a quick snow storm while on a ride. This is after a little thawing out. Gotta love March in Colorado. Explanation for the eyes. A car pulled out in front of me, scared me, and my eyes froze open like that. I'm not sure about the tongue.
The iced up drivetrain and spokes. I'm not sure why I took pictures of this. I've had a much more fozen bike many times before. This was one of those sloppy wet snows.I need to get my ass to cleaning my bike (yes, it's still dirty from that ride two weeks ago. Poor thing) so I can actually ride today.
Stupid Blogger
This thing can be kind of annoying when you are trying to create a post with pictures. I spent 30 minutes on a post and it ended up all fucked up. I'll try it again later.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Bitchin
No no no. Not the good kind like "that's bitchin dude." Complaints here. That's all.
Bitch #1) How many more times do I have to hear, "Wichita State Shocks Tennessee." I don't even like The Univ. of Tenn., but shit I heard that phrase 100 times this past weekend. Every time someone said this the person thought he was brilliant of thinking of it. Get it? Wichita State's "mascot" is a Shocker. To all you media people, stating the obvious headline is not creativity. What the hell is a Shocker anyway? Hellfire I done stuck my finger in that there light socket and got a shocker. Or did every student upon admission to the school receive some bit of surprising news? A prerequisite maybe?
Bitch #2) There isn't 12 inches of snow on the ground. All freaking day yesterday every forecaster in the Denver area was saying we were going to get a foot of snow or more. They never relented. It was supposed to start at 3 PM and keep going through today. Well, it didn't start at three. In fact, it didn't start snowing until around 9:30 and was barely sticking. Still the meteorologists persisted with their 12 inch forecast. Seeing as I literally had no food in my place, I headed to the store to get some just in case work was called off. I even got inspired and picked up stuff for breakfast in the morning. Buckwheat pancakes, bacon (I don't even remember the last time I bought bacon. Has to have been at least a year or more.), and some tasty grits.
Well, I woke up this morning and opened the door. Much to my dismay there was barely a couple of inches on the ground. No unhealthy, fattening breakfast on this morning. Bastard meteorologist.
Bitch #1) How many more times do I have to hear, "Wichita State Shocks Tennessee." I don't even like The Univ. of Tenn., but shit I heard that phrase 100 times this past weekend. Every time someone said this the person thought he was brilliant of thinking of it. Get it? Wichita State's "mascot" is a Shocker. To all you media people, stating the obvious headline is not creativity. What the hell is a Shocker anyway? Hellfire I done stuck my finger in that there light socket and got a shocker. Or did every student upon admission to the school receive some bit of surprising news? A prerequisite maybe?
Bitch #2) There isn't 12 inches of snow on the ground. All freaking day yesterday every forecaster in the Denver area was saying we were going to get a foot of snow or more. They never relented. It was supposed to start at 3 PM and keep going through today. Well, it didn't start at three. In fact, it didn't start snowing until around 9:30 and was barely sticking. Still the meteorologists persisted with their 12 inch forecast. Seeing as I literally had no food in my place, I headed to the store to get some just in case work was called off. I even got inspired and picked up stuff for breakfast in the morning. Buckwheat pancakes, bacon (I don't even remember the last time I bought bacon. Has to have been at least a year or more.), and some tasty grits.
Well, I woke up this morning and opened the door. Much to my dismay there was barely a couple of inches on the ground. No unhealthy, fattening breakfast on this morning. Bastard meteorologist.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Loser
I often bitch about how certain friends don't keep in touch and how I'm always the one that has to make contact. Well, tonight I was invited to a party, and I can't peel my lazy ass off the couch. Between the training and being busy as hell at work (take note because this is about the only time I'll use that four letter word here), I don't have much energy to do anything else. I wouldn't have been much fun to be around tonight anyway.
I dropped my laptop today. Needless to say, it's acting a little funky now. Fonts changed. Firefox freezes up all the time. Damn, I've got a lot of broke down shit right now. I don't even know where to start with it all, so I ain't going to start.
I dropped my laptop today. Needless to say, it's acting a little funky now. Fonts changed. Firefox freezes up all the time. Damn, I've got a lot of broke down shit right now. I don't even know where to start with it all, so I ain't going to start.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Mennonite Power!
Way to go Floyd! 2 races. 2 wins. I hope he isn't peaking early. Could this be his year for Le Tour? I was on the Basso vs. Ullrich wagon (leaning toward Ullrich), but my boy has some form.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
And The Season Begins
Mountain bike racing is a long way off, but the local road races officially began today. There are a series of crits the next few weekends, and today was the first.
I had only done about 3 crits prior to today. There is a certain art to being successful to these things. You have to be more than just fit. You have to be tactical. Today was my best result in a crit, but I still have a lot to learn.
Crit is short for criterium, but if you look up the definition of criterium, it doesn't quite fit the North American version. On this side of the pond, the courses are usually about 1 to 2 miles long with several turns. They last anywhere from 45 minutes to a little over an hour, so they are really fast. High speeds and tight turns make for a lot of action.
I ended up racing Category 4 today. I made a feeble attempt at racing the 3s, but the promoter put the kibosh on that. That's another story, and I understand and respect the promoter's position.
A group of about 70 guys started doing our circles at around 11:15. There was one pretty sustained and fairly steep climb in the race. Sustained and steep for a crit I should say. They are usually fairly flat. It was definitely a big ring climb and only lasted about 30 seconds of each lap.
About 15 minutes in, I decided to test the ol' legs a bit. I opened it up a bit about 20 meters from the top of the hill, and powered over the tap. I got a solid gap on the main field, which, is a first for me in a crit. I hammered it a bit, and managed to get some more time on them. As I looked over my shoulder, and/or under my arm, I saw another guy bridging the gap to me. I'm thinking, "sweet, someone to work with and see if we can make this thing stick." Well, apparently he didn't have the same idea. He comes flying by me without even a consideration of doing any work together. I was kind of baffled by it. Especially in a crit where big breaks aren't usually too successful. I wasn't even remotely ready to try to get on his wheel. He was gone, so I decided to drop back to the pack and see if I could organize a chase. Better to do it with someone and not alone. Nobody else seemed to like that idea though. I would pull hard and peel off for someone else to pull through. Never really happened. Some guys would take the lead, but there was never a real solid, consistent push to catch the guy off the front.
After a while, I gave up on catching the guy. I decided to sit in the pack for a while, but some riders were getting a little crazy on their bikes and there were constant decelerations. I went back to the front and tried to push the pace again.
I'll take you to the last lap. The finish was stationed at the top of the hill I mentioned before. The group started picking up the pace down the hill for the last lap, but as we hit the flat straight section at the bottom, everyone slowed up again. By this time I was frustrated with that crap. I decided to power to the front. I knew it was kind of early, but I thought, "hey, maybe it will stick or I'll at least wear those guys out before the sprint." Well, it worked for the most part, but a few guys got around me in the middle of the hill. I ended up holding on for 6th.
Not such a bad result for a tough training week and a four hour ride the day before. I need to get over the mental hump of, "I'm going to hard right now. I'll never get away with it." I need to try to make a break stick or when I decided to hammer a bit, just be smart about it and keep a solid effort. I guess that is part of leaning the whole crit thing. Hope none of those other guys are reading this. Ha.
That's it for today. I've some music that I want to write about, but that will have to wait. Here are some Google Earth Images of the race course.
The course went clockwise on these roads.
This gives you some idea of the hill.
I had only done about 3 crits prior to today. There is a certain art to being successful to these things. You have to be more than just fit. You have to be tactical. Today was my best result in a crit, but I still have a lot to learn.
Crit is short for criterium, but if you look up the definition of criterium, it doesn't quite fit the North American version. On this side of the pond, the courses are usually about 1 to 2 miles long with several turns. They last anywhere from 45 minutes to a little over an hour, so they are really fast. High speeds and tight turns make for a lot of action.
I ended up racing Category 4 today. I made a feeble attempt at racing the 3s, but the promoter put the kibosh on that. That's another story, and I understand and respect the promoter's position.
A group of about 70 guys started doing our circles at around 11:15. There was one pretty sustained and fairly steep climb in the race. Sustained and steep for a crit I should say. They are usually fairly flat. It was definitely a big ring climb and only lasted about 30 seconds of each lap.
About 15 minutes in, I decided to test the ol' legs a bit. I opened it up a bit about 20 meters from the top of the hill, and powered over the tap. I got a solid gap on the main field, which, is a first for me in a crit. I hammered it a bit, and managed to get some more time on them. As I looked over my shoulder, and/or under my arm, I saw another guy bridging the gap to me. I'm thinking, "sweet, someone to work with and see if we can make this thing stick." Well, apparently he didn't have the same idea. He comes flying by me without even a consideration of doing any work together. I was kind of baffled by it. Especially in a crit where big breaks aren't usually too successful. I wasn't even remotely ready to try to get on his wheel. He was gone, so I decided to drop back to the pack and see if I could organize a chase. Better to do it with someone and not alone. Nobody else seemed to like that idea though. I would pull hard and peel off for someone else to pull through. Never really happened. Some guys would take the lead, but there was never a real solid, consistent push to catch the guy off the front.
After a while, I gave up on catching the guy. I decided to sit in the pack for a while, but some riders were getting a little crazy on their bikes and there were constant decelerations. I went back to the front and tried to push the pace again.
I'll take you to the last lap. The finish was stationed at the top of the hill I mentioned before. The group started picking up the pace down the hill for the last lap, but as we hit the flat straight section at the bottom, everyone slowed up again. By this time I was frustrated with that crap. I decided to power to the front. I knew it was kind of early, but I thought, "hey, maybe it will stick or I'll at least wear those guys out before the sprint." Well, it worked for the most part, but a few guys got around me in the middle of the hill. I ended up holding on for 6th.
Not such a bad result for a tough training week and a four hour ride the day before. I need to get over the mental hump of, "I'm going to hard right now. I'll never get away with it." I need to try to make a break stick or when I decided to hammer a bit, just be smart about it and keep a solid effort. I guess that is part of leaning the whole crit thing. Hope none of those other guys are reading this. Ha.
That's it for today. I've some music that I want to write about, but that will have to wait. Here are some Google Earth Images of the race course.
The course went clockwise on these roads.
This gives you some idea of the hill.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Lazy Bastard
This isn't the illegitimate older brother of the La-Z-Boy. This is me. I'm one lazy fuck. Excuse my language, but it's true. Unless it involves my working (earning a living), getting a bike ready for riding, or riding a bike, I don't do anything. I would take a picture of my apartment and show you, but you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from a landfill.
I didn't used to be this way. In fact, I used to be a pretty anal neat freak. I used to get pleasure out of washing a car or cleaning my apartment, but then as Hank said, "I saw the light." I learned there were better ways to spend the time of the one life I've been given. Of course, I don't say that too much when I'm searching in vain for something I need for a ride. Like the one arm warmer that seems to always get separated from its companion.
Speaking of riding, it was a good weekend for that activity. Especially after the deep freeze of last weekend. I don't care what you Minnesotans and Gunnsionians say, 0-5 degrees is cold, and I'm staying out of it.
Saturday, I met up with a group ride south of Denver. I've always meant to do more of these, but I never seem to get around to it. I plan on changing that this year. It was pretty fast from the beginning. Think fast to warm up to really fast for the remainder of the time. After the first 10 minutes, it was pretty much balls to the wall for the next 50. At least for me it was. I was pleasantly surprised to stay with this group of guys considering I just started doing intensity training and haven't done any race tempo stuff. It was a ride of some steep rollers, and I was good until about the last 5 minutes when the sprinter types started gearing up for the "finish."
After the "finish" and the hill turned upward, I still had a little kick and some of those guys were worked. I guess my home is in the hills. Everyone split up from there, and I went to my car to see if my misplaced contact had remained lodged in my eye. Luckily it had, but it was a bitch to get it out. I popped it back in and decided to do some more riding.
The destination was the top of Deer Creek Canyon Road, or whatever it is called at the top. I was surprised at how well I was climbing. I kept a steady pace, locked in on a good power zone and managed to pass a few fit looking people on the way up. Another pleasant surprise I must say. I would wager to say I climbed it just about as fast as I ever have, but I rarely climb the whole thing in one fell swoop. This road is usually the location of some post-work climbing repeats.
I'm one of those sick bastards (when I'm not a lazy bastard) that actually likes climbing. It's nice to get into a groove and push yourself up the mountain. I think I'll show you this ride.
I've known about Google Earth for some time now, but I haven't downloaded it until recently due do the aforementioned affliction. I am now an addict. Mostly due to the fact that I live and ride in an urban area, so a lot of the rides I do, dirt and road, are pretty sharply imaged. I saved some images to post here.
I didn't used to be this way. In fact, I used to be a pretty anal neat freak. I used to get pleasure out of washing a car or cleaning my apartment, but then as Hank said, "I saw the light." I learned there were better ways to spend the time of the one life I've been given. Of course, I don't say that too much when I'm searching in vain for something I need for a ride. Like the one arm warmer that seems to always get separated from its companion.
Speaking of riding, it was a good weekend for that activity. Especially after the deep freeze of last weekend. I don't care what you Minnesotans and Gunnsionians say, 0-5 degrees is cold, and I'm staying out of it.
Saturday, I met up with a group ride south of Denver. I've always meant to do more of these, but I never seem to get around to it. I plan on changing that this year. It was pretty fast from the beginning. Think fast to warm up to really fast for the remainder of the time. After the first 10 minutes, it was pretty much balls to the wall for the next 50. At least for me it was. I was pleasantly surprised to stay with this group of guys considering I just started doing intensity training and haven't done any race tempo stuff. It was a ride of some steep rollers, and I was good until about the last 5 minutes when the sprinter types started gearing up for the "finish."
After the "finish" and the hill turned upward, I still had a little kick and some of those guys were worked. I guess my home is in the hills. Everyone split up from there, and I went to my car to see if my misplaced contact had remained lodged in my eye. Luckily it had, but it was a bitch to get it out. I popped it back in and decided to do some more riding.
The destination was the top of Deer Creek Canyon Road, or whatever it is called at the top. I was surprised at how well I was climbing. I kept a steady pace, locked in on a good power zone and managed to pass a few fit looking people on the way up. Another pleasant surprise I must say. I would wager to say I climbed it just about as fast as I ever have, but I rarely climb the whole thing in one fell swoop. This road is usually the location of some post-work climbing repeats.
I'm one of those sick bastards (when I'm not a lazy bastard) that actually likes climbing. It's nice to get into a groove and push yourself up the mountain. I think I'll show you this ride.
I've known about Google Earth for some time now, but I haven't downloaded it until recently due do the aforementioned affliction. I am now an addict. Mostly due to the fact that I live and ride in an urban area, so a lot of the rides I do, dirt and road, are pretty sharply imaged. I saved some images to post here.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Jeff
Here is the setlist for the Jeff Tweedy show I went to last week. Pretty good show, but I was tired. We also had to wait outsided for 30 minutes in line for them to open the doors. It was 3 degrees.
http://wilcobase.com/event.php?event_key=922
http://wilcobase.com/event.php?event_key=922
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
finally
Well, I've been to Devil's Thumb several times over the last few years. I always think, man there are some great views here. I should bring my camera. Here are the pictures. 
The view of the Divide from one of the loop areas. This area used to be my favorite area to ski until they had to close some of the trails due to the infamous pine beetle. If you look closely, you can see the name sake of the ranch, Devil's Thumb. Here is a close up anyway.
So, as you can see, it's a beautiful area, and it has 160k of trails. You used to be able to get away from people for the most part, but that has really changed in the last year. You just have to head to the long and/or steep climbs. I like that more and more people are becoming involved in this sport, but there isn't quite the friendly atmosphere that there used to be. I said hello to several people today that just looked at me funny in response. God forbid you have fun while you are outside exercising.
Speaking of God, and on to the next finally. I've found religion. Now I know what you are thinking if you've read my blog. You are thinking, I thought you were patently against religion. I guess all I can say is sometimes people change. Now, I'm a Pastafarian. This is an image of my new god.
You can find out more about my new religion here.
The view of the Divide from one of the loop areas. This area used to be my favorite area to ski until they had to close some of the trails due to the infamous pine beetle. If you look closely, you can see the name sake of the ranch, Devil's Thumb. Here is a close up anyway.
So, as you can see, it's a beautiful area, and it has 160k of trails. You used to be able to get away from people for the most part, but that has really changed in the last year. You just have to head to the long and/or steep climbs. I like that more and more people are becoming involved in this sport, but there isn't quite the friendly atmosphere that there used to be. I said hello to several people today that just looked at me funny in response. God forbid you have fun while you are outside exercising.
Speaking of God, and on to the next finally. I've found religion. Now I know what you are thinking if you've read my blog. You are thinking, I thought you were patently against religion. I guess all I can say is sometimes people change. Now, I'm a Pastafarian. This is an image of my new god.
You can find out more about my new religion here.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
ok
"Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy."
Who is this guy's speech writer? Is it just me or did he compare his war to the great emancipation and the civil rights movement? I think he has lost his mind. How much longer will the people of this nation let his administration erode our civil liberties?
Who is this guy's speech writer? Is it just me or did he compare his war to the great emancipation and the civil rights movement? I think he has lost his mind. How much longer will the people of this nation let his administration erode our civil liberties?
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Monday, January 16, 2006
Good Times
Well, I opted for mountain biking on Saturday. I told my friends I really didn't need to be out over 2 hours. Well, multiply that by 2 and that is how long I was actually. All and all it was fun. The Yeti was riding like a dream. I spent half of last season trying to get her dialed in, and on Saturday, I just guessed at air pressures for both shocks and it was smoooooth. I guess I had the rebound dampening set up pretty good. Here are some pics:
Saw this guy over at Green Mountain. He was gnawing on something.
Mattius, me, and Moonshine at the top of Lookout Mountain.
Yummmmm. Saw this in the middle of the trail on Enchanted Forest. I don't think it was what the above coyote was gnawing on.
A view of Denver from the hills of Lake Hood. If you look closely, you can see the location of Saturday night's beat down. Say what you want. 4 of those turnovers were forced, and Lynch was putting Brady on his ass all night.
So after the ride, I rushed home and cleaned up to get back to Moonshine's to watch the game on his freaking huge plasma. All day the guys were talking about watching it on his new projector. I walk into his house and see big TV and can't figure out why we needed the projector. Good game. A struggle like I thought it would be. Yes, Champ Bailey is an idiot. I don't care what he said in the post game interview. He wasn't just winded. Ben Watson has 50 lbs on him, ran 30 more yards, and nailed him with a full head of steam. Had some good beers too. I've really been into the super hoppy IPA's lately. Nothing else has really satisfied me except the Trappist ale taste fest I had on New Year's Eve. Full Sail's IPA is what I had Saturday night and is a pretty good one.
Sunday was a good ski day with friends. Gotta love Colorado. Mountain biking in 65 degree weather one day, and skate skiing the next. I've also heard Colorado brews more beer than any where else in the world. I bet Belgium and Germany would give them a run for their money, but we do have a lot of beer here. Biking, skiing, and beer. What more can you ask for?
Saw this guy over at Green Mountain. He was gnawing on something.
Mattius, me, and Moonshine at the top of Lookout Mountain.
Yummmmm. Saw this in the middle of the trail on Enchanted Forest. I don't think it was what the above coyote was gnawing on.
A view of Denver from the hills of Lake Hood. If you look closely, you can see the location of Saturday night's beat down. Say what you want. 4 of those turnovers were forced, and Lynch was putting Brady on his ass all night.So after the ride, I rushed home and cleaned up to get back to Moonshine's to watch the game on his freaking huge plasma. All day the guys were talking about watching it on his new projector. I walk into his house and see big TV and can't figure out why we needed the projector. Good game. A struggle like I thought it would be. Yes, Champ Bailey is an idiot. I don't care what he said in the post game interview. He wasn't just winded. Ben Watson has 50 lbs on him, ran 30 more yards, and nailed him with a full head of steam. Had some good beers too. I've really been into the super hoppy IPA's lately. Nothing else has really satisfied me except the Trappist ale taste fest I had on New Year's Eve. Full Sail's IPA is what I had Saturday night and is a pretty good one.
Sunday was a good ski day with friends. Gotta love Colorado. Mountain biking in 65 degree weather one day, and skate skiing the next. I've also heard Colorado brews more beer than any where else in the world. I bet Belgium and Germany would give them a run for their money, but we do have a lot of beer here. Biking, skiing, and beer. What more can you ask for?
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Espresso Fiend
Didn't Wilco have a song by that name? Espresso Fiend, my lord you're mean, I'll be dancin like a fiend, uh, ok. It wasn't Espresso Fiend.
Speaking of Wilco, I got my Jeff Tweedy tickets in the mail this week. Now all I have to do is make sure I don't lose them before the show in February.
Back to the title of this post. I've really been hitting the espresso lately and loving it. Not sure why. I've been drinking it for a long time, but I've really enjoyed it lately. I've even been scheduling espresso breaks in my longer road rides. It really makes a difference on a 4 or 5 hour ride when you have that to look forward to. Probably not the best idea, but hey the Euro Pros do it right?
I've had my little Mr. Coffee espresso machine for years. Probably a first generation for that type of machine. I got as a birthday present from a girlfriend in college, so it has got to be pushing 10 years now. I'm still only 23 though. Anyway, the little guy is still pumping out the good stuff. Man, now that I read that sentence, that sounds really sick. It's not the fanciest thing around, but it works and is much, much cheaper than one of the real deals.
At the moment, I'm trying to decided if I will go mountain biking with a couple of friends. It's been so nice around here lately, and it is supposed to get up into the mid 60s today. The mountains have been getting tons of snow, but down here it's been dry as a bone. We've even been having grass and forest fires like they are in OK. My point is, the trails should be pretty devoid of snow.
My dilemma is, however, that this is a low volume week before I hit my last phase/month of foundation/base, and I want to also go skate skiing with aforementioned friends tomorrow. I don't know if that is a good way to wrap up a low volume weekend or not. But man oh man the Yeti has been quietly whispering in my ear to take it out. It's starting to reach a yell.
The picture above is a shot of an espresso glass C-dawg got me for Christmas. Pretty nifty huh?
Sunday, January 08, 2006
MMJ and why do I read magazines backwards
MMJ aka My Morning Jacket. These guys have been around a while, but I've just recently gotten into them. My boy Tre has been listening to them for a few years now. I, let's say, borrowed one of his MMJ albums when I went to visit his family in Indy, and I just recently bought the new album, Z.
It's pretty good stuff. The only thing I don't really like about the band is their tendency to "jam." I've never been a big fan of bands that do "jam." Especially with this band. The leader singers voice is like another instrument. I know, I know, vocals ARE instruments, but this guys voice is like another non human instrument. Whenever I'm listening to one of their songs, I wait with anticipation for is singing. So needless to say, I don't like the long instrumentals or "jams." I don't usually like it anyway. Not with rock bands anyway.
So, if you get a chance, I would recommend picking up a copy of Z. It was on a lot of mainstream and not so mainstream "best of 05" lists.
I also picked up Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary. Another quality album. Some people are talking about how great it is, but I don't know if I hear greatness in it. However, it is definitely a good, enjoyable album. They sound like a lot of the band coming out of Canada and more specifically Toronto these days. A little The Arcade Fire with a little Modest Mouse. I can't recall some of the other bands coming out that area right now. Oh, Broken Social Scene. They seem to have a certain kind of thing going on up there right now. I guess that happens in a lot of cities with a big music scene. Good stuff from those people right now.
Thank god for Google. I use Gmail, Blogger obviously, and I also use Google Alerts that are delivered to my Gmail. They are essentially news clippers. Well, as you can tell, Wilco is my favorite band. They have kind of been on the DL lately, so I haven't really been checking into their website with regularity. Actually, I visited last week, and there was no knew content. Well lo and behold, this morning there was my Wilco Google Alert in my inbox. It said my boy Jeff was heading out on a solo tour, and guess what. He is playing at a small venue about 5 minutes from my house. I picked up a couple of tickets for next months show. Should be good. I don't know if it is really a Jeff Tweedy solo tour considering that John Stirrat and Nels Cline are going to be accompanying the lead singer. It's more like a 1/2 Wilco tour. So Wilco minus sonic stuff. Should be fun. Maybe he will belt out some old Uncle Tupelo stuff. Probably not, but one can hope can't he? What is a life without dreams?
I need to get on the road before the weather gets a little unfriendly, but I need finish up the topic here. I was sitting around reading some of the same Rolling Stone article that I alluded to in the previous post. I noticed that I pretty much ALWAYS read magazines from back to front. Why is that? I don't think it's abnormal. It seems a lot of people do that.
Oh well, there was some more funny stuff in the Worst Year Ever section. Fine, I'm going to type a piece in now whether or not in hindsight it doesn't seem that funny. "That dog they cloned in South Korea? Kind of creepy. But not nearly the blow the gene pool as the news that Britney Spears would now be eating for two with the full sanction of the medical community. Son Sean Preston was born in September; eleven weeks later, baby-daddy Kevin Federline had reportedly been given the boot. An actual K-Fed rap lyric: 'My prediction is that y'all gonna hate on the style we create.' Thanks, Nostradamus." There was some more to that section that I'm not going to plug in because you need to see the accompanying picture. I will tell you that the picture has a rather large and in charge Britney exposing most of her breasts as usual. This picture will probably keep me from ever looking at another picture of her again and saying, "daaaymmmn." anyway ol "K-Fed" is in the rear with a WT wife beater on (seems to fit him well, not the actual fit on him) carrying one of the stupid little purses to carry a squeaky little annoying dog along with you. Hey! You can't make Britney carry a 1lb dog around while she is pregnant.
It's pretty good stuff. The only thing I don't really like about the band is their tendency to "jam." I've never been a big fan of bands that do "jam." Especially with this band. The leader singers voice is like another instrument. I know, I know, vocals ARE instruments, but this guys voice is like another non human instrument. Whenever I'm listening to one of their songs, I wait with anticipation for is singing. So needless to say, I don't like the long instrumentals or "jams." I don't usually like it anyway. Not with rock bands anyway.
So, if you get a chance, I would recommend picking up a copy of Z. It was on a lot of mainstream and not so mainstream "best of 05" lists.
I also picked up Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary. Another quality album. Some people are talking about how great it is, but I don't know if I hear greatness in it. However, it is definitely a good, enjoyable album. They sound like a lot of the band coming out of Canada and more specifically Toronto these days. A little The Arcade Fire with a little Modest Mouse. I can't recall some of the other bands coming out that area right now. Oh, Broken Social Scene. They seem to have a certain kind of thing going on up there right now. I guess that happens in a lot of cities with a big music scene. Good stuff from those people right now.
Thank god for Google. I use Gmail, Blogger obviously, and I also use Google Alerts that are delivered to my Gmail. They are essentially news clippers. Well, as you can tell, Wilco is my favorite band. They have kind of been on the DL lately, so I haven't really been checking into their website with regularity. Actually, I visited last week, and there was no knew content. Well lo and behold, this morning there was my Wilco Google Alert in my inbox. It said my boy Jeff was heading out on a solo tour, and guess what. He is playing at a small venue about 5 minutes from my house. I picked up a couple of tickets for next months show. Should be good. I don't know if it is really a Jeff Tweedy solo tour considering that John Stirrat and Nels Cline are going to be accompanying the lead singer. It's more like a 1/2 Wilco tour. So Wilco minus sonic stuff. Should be fun. Maybe he will belt out some old Uncle Tupelo stuff. Probably not, but one can hope can't he? What is a life without dreams?
I need to get on the road before the weather gets a little unfriendly, but I need finish up the topic here. I was sitting around reading some of the same Rolling Stone article that I alluded to in the previous post. I noticed that I pretty much ALWAYS read magazines from back to front. Why is that? I don't think it's abnormal. It seems a lot of people do that.
Oh well, there was some more funny stuff in the Worst Year Ever section. Fine, I'm going to type a piece in now whether or not in hindsight it doesn't seem that funny. "That dog they cloned in South Korea? Kind of creepy. But not nearly the blow the gene pool as the news that Britney Spears would now be eating for two with the full sanction of the medical community. Son Sean Preston was born in September; eleven weeks later, baby-daddy Kevin Federline had reportedly been given the boot. An actual K-Fed rap lyric: 'My prediction is that y'all gonna hate on the style we create.' Thanks, Nostradamus." There was some more to that section that I'm not going to plug in because you need to see the accompanying picture. I will tell you that the picture has a rather large and in charge Britney exposing most of her breasts as usual. This picture will probably keep me from ever looking at another picture of her again and saying, "daaaymmmn." anyway ol "K-Fed" is in the rear with a WT wife beater on (seems to fit him well, not the actual fit on him) carrying one of the stupid little purses to carry a squeaky little annoying dog along with you. Hey! You can't make Britney carry a 1lb dog around while she is pregnant.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Beautiful Day
Tried to get up somewhat early to get a jump on whatever training I decided to do. I set the clock for about a quarter til 7, but I forgot one important step. I didn't turn the damn thing on. I ended up waking myself up around 7:15.
C-Dawg and myself decided it would be a good day for skate skiing. After 5+ hours on the trainer this week, I was ready for something a little different because my ass was starting to get numb. The only thing is we our timing was a little off to get up into the hills. We hit the 70 (we don't really say that around here) around 8:30, which, is pretty much the most popular time to go to the mountains. One reason I like skate skiing so much, is one can usually time it where one misses most of the traffic. I guess we weren't thinking this morning.
Despite the traffic, I don't know how you could have asked for a better day. Sunny day, not much wind, felt good, and snow conditions were good. Of course this means, you go out and hit some of the hardest trails at The Thumb. Not the hardest, but a damn close competitor for that title. They call it Lactic Grande, so I'll let you draw your own conclusion about the profile of that trail. When we hit the highest point of the trail system, there was a great view of the valley to one direction and a great view of The Divide on the other side. Can't ask for much more than that. Of course, I didn't have my camera, but if I would have, it would have been cloudy.
We made the long, fast, and sketchy drop back into the valley and on to the lodge. Had a little americano break, which, gave us the boost we needed to finish up our adventure. We ended getting in 3 hours. Pretty solid day on the skis especially considering the vertical. Nothing like Christmas weekend though. Big Sky has a nordic center called Lone Mountain. Lone Mountain=straight up. Short summary: 1.5 hours up (1800 ft), 45 minutes down. And when I say up I mean it. There wasn't one slight decent the whole time to the top.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to finish up the week with nice 4 hour road ride. Hopefully the weather will hold. I've really been craving some dirt time, but I just can't seem to make myself drive to the trails.
Well, I was going to type in a little blur I saw in Rolling Stone. It cracked me up this morning, but now as I am reading it, doesn't quite get me like it did 14 hours ago. I must have been high on the espresso.
C-Dawg and myself decided it would be a good day for skate skiing. After 5+ hours on the trainer this week, I was ready for something a little different because my ass was starting to get numb. The only thing is we our timing was a little off to get up into the hills. We hit the 70 (we don't really say that around here) around 8:30, which, is pretty much the most popular time to go to the mountains. One reason I like skate skiing so much, is one can usually time it where one misses most of the traffic. I guess we weren't thinking this morning.
Despite the traffic, I don't know how you could have asked for a better day. Sunny day, not much wind, felt good, and snow conditions were good. Of course this means, you go out and hit some of the hardest trails at The Thumb. Not the hardest, but a damn close competitor for that title. They call it Lactic Grande, so I'll let you draw your own conclusion about the profile of that trail. When we hit the highest point of the trail system, there was a great view of the valley to one direction and a great view of The Divide on the other side. Can't ask for much more than that. Of course, I didn't have my camera, but if I would have, it would have been cloudy.
We made the long, fast, and sketchy drop back into the valley and on to the lodge. Had a little americano break, which, gave us the boost we needed to finish up our adventure. We ended getting in 3 hours. Pretty solid day on the skis especially considering the vertical. Nothing like Christmas weekend though. Big Sky has a nordic center called Lone Mountain. Lone Mountain=straight up. Short summary: 1.5 hours up (1800 ft), 45 minutes down. And when I say up I mean it. There wasn't one slight decent the whole time to the top.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try to finish up the week with nice 4 hour road ride. Hopefully the weather will hold. I've really been craving some dirt time, but I just can't seem to make myself drive to the trails.
Well, I was going to type in a little blur I saw in Rolling Stone. It cracked me up this morning, but now as I am reading it, doesn't quite get me like it did 14 hours ago. I must have been high on the espresso.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Sunday Morning
Well, well. Here I sit typing on the computer not accomplishing anything. I won't even get up to turn on the TV. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I like to catch Meet The Press if I'm around on Sunday morning.
Oh good, Condi is on telling is why it was ok for good ol' boy W to spy on us without warrants. We don't need that 4th Amendment anyway.
Normally I get a one ride in and one skate ski in on the weekend during this time of year. I rode yesterday, and I don't see myself getting ready and making the drive to the mountains. It's a little chilly down here and up there. If I were up there, I would probably wax up the skis and head out, but I'm not making the drive so ski in single digit temperatures. I guess it's another day on the trainer. Oh boy! My entertainment choices for the thrilling adventure are as follows: football on the TV/Ipod in the ears, Dazed and Confused on the TV, 2004 Paris-Roubaix with or without the IPod. I wish I had the '05 running on DVD.
Yesterday I was on the trainer too. It was my first "field test" of the new training season. The field tests are, in my situation, two 8 minute maximal efforts with a 10 minute rest inbetween. The reason for the test is to give me a rough idea of what my lactate threshold for watts and heart rate is. Considering the long work week and the fact that I thought good preparation would be drinking too much the night before, I was happy with my results. They were better than the last test I did, which, was back in April after some intensity training. The only intestine training I have had lately are the sporadic cyclocross races I've been doing and some moderate skate skiing. Granted, the test in April was outside on rolling terrain, and yesterday's test was inside, but the improvements were substantial. If only my stomach would participate in these improvements.
Oh good, Condi is on telling is why it was ok for good ol' boy W to spy on us without warrants. We don't need that 4th Amendment anyway.
Normally I get a one ride in and one skate ski in on the weekend during this time of year. I rode yesterday, and I don't see myself getting ready and making the drive to the mountains. It's a little chilly down here and up there. If I were up there, I would probably wax up the skis and head out, but I'm not making the drive so ski in single digit temperatures. I guess it's another day on the trainer. Oh boy! My entertainment choices for the thrilling adventure are as follows: football on the TV/Ipod in the ears, Dazed and Confused on the TV, 2004 Paris-Roubaix with or without the IPod. I wish I had the '05 running on DVD.
Yesterday I was on the trainer too. It was my first "field test" of the new training season. The field tests are, in my situation, two 8 minute maximal efforts with a 10 minute rest inbetween. The reason for the test is to give me a rough idea of what my lactate threshold for watts and heart rate is. Considering the long work week and the fact that I thought good preparation would be drinking too much the night before, I was happy with my results. They were better than the last test I did, which, was back in April after some intensity training. The only intestine training I have had lately are the sporadic cyclocross races I've been doing and some moderate skate skiing. Granted, the test in April was outside on rolling terrain, and yesterday's test was inside, but the improvements were substantial. If only my stomach would participate in these improvements.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Torture
"The enemy we fight has no respect for human life. They don't deserve our sympathy. But this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are." Senator John McCain
Sunday, December 11, 2005
busy weekend
Friday night: Holiday Party
Saturday: 3 hour skate ski
Saturday night: Holiday party.
Sunday: 2.5 hour ride in some icy conditions
Sunday afternoon: Broncos game. Beer and talking to Jesus
Sunday night: Candlelight and typing this.
Saturday: 3 hour skate ski
Saturday night: Holiday party.
Sunday: 2.5 hour ride in some icy conditions
Sunday afternoon: Broncos game. Beer and talking to Jesus
Sunday night: Candlelight and typing this.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Addicted?
Ok people. Here in Denver it is -5 degrees this morning. My hands got cold touching the steering wheel WITH lobster gloves on my hands. They were still cold at the end of a 45 minute commute with the heat on high.
During my drive, I saw one idiot that insisted on rolling her window down to smoke a cigarette. Are you kidding me? I'm sure I'll see some people outside smoking today even though it's only supposed to get up to around 6 degrees today.
During my drive, I saw one idiot that insisted on rolling her window down to smoke a cigarette. Are you kidding me? I'm sure I'll see some people outside smoking today even though it's only supposed to get up to around 6 degrees today.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Runs
Found this cool application while surfing around. I guess it's a "mashup." I'm not going to explain that. Google it. But here is the link to my evening runs. One shorter and one longer. I hope all my stalkers don't use this to hunt me down. Maybe I'll use it to map out some of my rides. That will probably take a bit longer.
http://profile.mapmyrun.com/mtbfool
http://profile.mapmyrun.com/mtbfool
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Can't sleep
One would think after suffering through a cyclocross race and then, coming home and having a couple of beers, one would sleep well. Well, one didn't. I think my neighbors got home from closing time and were feeling a little clumsy from having a good time. They woke me up around 3 AM and I couldn't get back to sleep. Oh well, I wanted to get up into the mountains early today, so I could make back in time for the Broncos game.
That's right kiddos. Today will be the first day of skate skiing. Sounds like I could have gotten some earlier days in because the mountains have been getting pummled by snow the last few weeks. I guess I was just waiting for cross to be over and now it is.
The race yesterday was actually pretty fun. First semi-foul weather race of the year. I got up to a few inches of snow outside the door, but at the race locale, no dice. It was a little muddy, and pretty cold too. I busted out the Pam for the bike, but I don't think I really needed. In case you are wondering, strategically placed Pam helps prevent mud from caking up. Saving weight and a gunked up drive train.
I also decided to put some Sore No More on my legs so I could forego knee or leg warmers. You know, freak the cold weinies out for a psychological advantage. And if I told you my result, you could see that those 20 odd guys that finished in front of me were clearly intimidated.
I better get going so I can hit the road.
Hasta Lavista Wildabeasta.
That's right kiddos. Today will be the first day of skate skiing. Sounds like I could have gotten some earlier days in because the mountains have been getting pummled by snow the last few weeks. I guess I was just waiting for cross to be over and now it is.
The race yesterday was actually pretty fun. First semi-foul weather race of the year. I got up to a few inches of snow outside the door, but at the race locale, no dice. It was a little muddy, and pretty cold too. I busted out the Pam for the bike, but I don't think I really needed. In case you are wondering, strategically placed Pam helps prevent mud from caking up. Saving weight and a gunked up drive train.
I also decided to put some Sore No More on my legs so I could forego knee or leg warmers. You know, freak the cold weinies out for a psychological advantage. And if I told you my result, you could see that those 20 odd guys that finished in front of me were clearly intimidated.
I better get going so I can hit the road.
Hasta Lavista Wildabeasta.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
and It Burns, Burns, Burns
I have a friend that recently opined on the overexposure of Johnny Cash these days. I tend to agree, but this is freaking hilarious.
Preparation H made a bid to use Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire to sell the hemorrhoid cream. Cash's daughter, singer- songwriter Rosanne Cash, refused to allow it and told Advertising Age magazine the idea was "moronic."
Oh the pain of the Ol' ring of fire.
Preparation H made a bid to use Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire to sell the hemorrhoid cream. Cash's daughter, singer- songwriter Rosanne Cash, refused to allow it and told Advertising Age magazine the idea was "moronic."
Oh the pain of the Ol' ring of fire.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Happy Fucking Thanksgiving
I would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my family back in Georgia that understood why I needed to move to Colorado. They understood so very well that they stopped talking to me. I think we are going on 4 years now. Thanks family. I'll always remember you.
Yeah. Sarcasm, but really dough, it was a good thanksgiving. I cooked my first turkey. A 14 lbs. honker. It turned out really well. I surprised myself. Me and my boy C-Dog pulled of a traditional meal. Turkey, mashed taters, green bean casserole, dressing (from scratch beeatch), and a lot of booze. If I say so myself, it was pretty damn good.
C-dog and I went out last night to the Larimer Lounge to catch a couple of bands. I wore my Dopers Suck t-shirt out. That usually gets A LOT of funny looks and a few odd comments. Most people don't understand the meaning behind the shirt. A cycling brotha from Boulder started the theme. He doesn't know me, but I appreciate what he does within the community.
Back to the show. We saw Born Under the Flood and Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots. Both very good bands seen at a lo lo price. I love the Larimer Lounge and haven't been there in about a year. It was a lot more smoky this time around, but that's a small price to pay. After C-dog and I were done with the music, we called the 7s and the 3s. Those are the local cabbies. They never showed up, and we ended up taking a hike about 10 blocks away. Let me tell you, it wasn't warm.
By the time we caught a cab, we had both decided it was time to hit the Denver Diner. As you can guess, it was time for a nice greasy breakfast. I had the Ranch Breakfast. I won't go into the details, but it was hell of a lot of food for a low price. The result of the late night breakfast was getting bed at 3:30 and waking up at 9:30. That's a late start on today's meal, but we pulled it off. We even managed to fit in a 3.5 mile jog. We also hit the trifecta. Liquor, wine, and beer. All good shit.
Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, so I would really like to send a word of appreciation out to my true friends, which, are my true family. I hope you all had a good one. I did. Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow, but if tradition holds true, it should be slow and we'll watch a little college pigskin.
I feel like I had a lot more to say, but I guess I'll leave it at that.
Yeah. Sarcasm, but really dough, it was a good thanksgiving. I cooked my first turkey. A 14 lbs. honker. It turned out really well. I surprised myself. Me and my boy C-Dog pulled of a traditional meal. Turkey, mashed taters, green bean casserole, dressing (from scratch beeatch), and a lot of booze. If I say so myself, it was pretty damn good.
C-dog and I went out last night to the Larimer Lounge to catch a couple of bands. I wore my Dopers Suck t-shirt out. That usually gets A LOT of funny looks and a few odd comments. Most people don't understand the meaning behind the shirt. A cycling brotha from Boulder started the theme. He doesn't know me, but I appreciate what he does within the community.
Back to the show. We saw Born Under the Flood and Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots. Both very good bands seen at a lo lo price. I love the Larimer Lounge and haven't been there in about a year. It was a lot more smoky this time around, but that's a small price to pay. After C-dog and I were done with the music, we called the 7s and the 3s. Those are the local cabbies. They never showed up, and we ended up taking a hike about 10 blocks away. Let me tell you, it wasn't warm.
By the time we caught a cab, we had both decided it was time to hit the Denver Diner. As you can guess, it was time for a nice greasy breakfast. I had the Ranch Breakfast. I won't go into the details, but it was hell of a lot of food for a low price. The result of the late night breakfast was getting bed at 3:30 and waking up at 9:30. That's a late start on today's meal, but we pulled it off. We even managed to fit in a 3.5 mile jog. We also hit the trifecta. Liquor, wine, and beer. All good shit.
Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, so I would really like to send a word of appreciation out to my true friends, which, are my true family. I hope you all had a good one. I did. Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow, but if tradition holds true, it should be slow and we'll watch a little college pigskin.
I feel like I had a lot more to say, but I guess I'll leave it at that.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Racing
Can I just say that I love racing? I know that sounds stupid, but I really do. Even when I suck ass at the discipline I'm participating in. There is just something about feeling that pain. Wondering why you are putting yourself through said pain. Putting yourself through more pain to sprint it out for higher a mid-pack place. Then, you finish and you absolutely know why you do it. You can't explain it but you feel it.
Can you guess that I raced today?
I got an e-mail from my Dad today. A bunch of gibberish about Liberals vs. Conservatives. I believe in good arguments about the virtues of each side left or right, but this "joke" just pissed me off to be honest with you. I let my Dad know how I felt about his e-mail. He said he read it as a joke. I said I think the people that send it along believe it to an extent. I think I pissed him off.
Well, I ended up watching Dateline AGAIN last night. Somehow I get sucked into that on Friday nights when I have neither the physical nor the mental energy to do anything else but watch TV. I guess I end up on Dateline because I don't have cable, so I only have 4 channels to choose from.
It was, however, a pretty interesting show. It was about Mark Chapman. You know, the guy that gunned down John Lennon. There were people on there that were arguing that he wasn't really off his rocker. That he did it for attention. HELLOOOOOOO. If you do that kind of thing for fame, I think you are off your rocker.
I learned a lot about Mr. Chapman and a few things about Lennon, but this thing dragged on forever. Forever I say. 2 freaking hours, but my ass was too tired to pull myself off the couch. Now, I don't know if you have watched any of those "TV magazine" shows where they only have a story and don't have any video footage to show you, but shit, I saw the same fucking five pictures of Mark Chapman at least 20 times. Every possible angle, again 20 times, of The Dakota, which is the building in which John, Yoko, and Sean lived. Same pictures of Mark Chapman again. The cover of The Catcher In The Rye at least 20 times. I guess ol' Markie boy had more than one obsession. The obsession with The Catcher supposedly planted the murder idea in his head, and believe now I know what the cover looks like. There had to be at least 15 minutes of shots of the cover taking up the 120 minutes contributed to the show.
Enough ranting. Like I said, it was pretty good, but it could have been wrapped up in an hour.
I don't know if I have disclosed this before, but I'm a Bama fan. Yes, they got their asses handed to them. Yes, it was by Auburn. No, I didn't go to Alabama, but a lot of my family did. I was on my way there, but I guess I didn't have the right people (or anyone) guiding me along. You would think with a family full of Alabama fans there would have been a little encouragement for me to go to Tuscaloosa. Every once and a while, I have a regret or two about that, but I probably wouldn't be out here if I had gone there.
I need another beer.
It's almost time to start skate skiing. In fact, I bet the mountains got enough snow this past week for some of the nordic centers to start opening. We'll see how the upper body holds up this year since I decided to forgo the weight room this fall.
I was in Urban Outfitters a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across a nice stainless steel flask. I flip it over and it has a picture of Jesus. Under the picture it reads, "What Wouldn't Jesus Do?" It made me laugh out loud in the store for about 5 minutes, so obviously I had to waste $14 on it. I filled it up with a Macallan 12 (probably a 14 or 15 by now) today and took it to the races. Took it with me out to watch the races after mine, but never took a nip. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe on Thanksgiving. To be honest with you, I thought it said, "What Would Jesus Do?" That's what really made me laugh. That makes more sense to my sarcastic mind, but it still makes me laugh now.
I'm going to get that beer. Later aight.
Can you guess that I raced today?
I got an e-mail from my Dad today. A bunch of gibberish about Liberals vs. Conservatives. I believe in good arguments about the virtues of each side left or right, but this "joke" just pissed me off to be honest with you. I let my Dad know how I felt about his e-mail. He said he read it as a joke. I said I think the people that send it along believe it to an extent. I think I pissed him off.
Well, I ended up watching Dateline AGAIN last night. Somehow I get sucked into that on Friday nights when I have neither the physical nor the mental energy to do anything else but watch TV. I guess I end up on Dateline because I don't have cable, so I only have 4 channels to choose from.
It was, however, a pretty interesting show. It was about Mark Chapman. You know, the guy that gunned down John Lennon. There were people on there that were arguing that he wasn't really off his rocker. That he did it for attention. HELLOOOOOOO. If you do that kind of thing for fame, I think you are off your rocker.
I learned a lot about Mr. Chapman and a few things about Lennon, but this thing dragged on forever. Forever I say. 2 freaking hours, but my ass was too tired to pull myself off the couch. Now, I don't know if you have watched any of those "TV magazine" shows where they only have a story and don't have any video footage to show you, but shit, I saw the same fucking five pictures of Mark Chapman at least 20 times. Every possible angle, again 20 times, of The Dakota, which is the building in which John, Yoko, and Sean lived. Same pictures of Mark Chapman again. The cover of The Catcher In The Rye at least 20 times. I guess ol' Markie boy had more than one obsession. The obsession with The Catcher supposedly planted the murder idea in his head, and believe now I know what the cover looks like. There had to be at least 15 minutes of shots of the cover taking up the 120 minutes contributed to the show.
Enough ranting. Like I said, it was pretty good, but it could have been wrapped up in an hour.
I don't know if I have disclosed this before, but I'm a Bama fan. Yes, they got their asses handed to them. Yes, it was by Auburn. No, I didn't go to Alabama, but a lot of my family did. I was on my way there, but I guess I didn't have the right people (or anyone) guiding me along. You would think with a family full of Alabama fans there would have been a little encouragement for me to go to Tuscaloosa. Every once and a while, I have a regret or two about that, but I probably wouldn't be out here if I had gone there.
I need another beer.
It's almost time to start skate skiing. In fact, I bet the mountains got enough snow this past week for some of the nordic centers to start opening. We'll see how the upper body holds up this year since I decided to forgo the weight room this fall.
I was in Urban Outfitters a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across a nice stainless steel flask. I flip it over and it has a picture of Jesus. Under the picture it reads, "What Wouldn't Jesus Do?" It made me laugh out loud in the store for about 5 minutes, so obviously I had to waste $14 on it. I filled it up with a Macallan 12 (probably a 14 or 15 by now) today and took it to the races. Took it with me out to watch the races after mine, but never took a nip. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe on Thanksgiving. To be honest with you, I thought it said, "What Would Jesus Do?" That's what really made me laugh. That makes more sense to my sarcastic mind, but it still makes me laugh now.
I'm going to get that beer. Later aight.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
This Guy Must Be A Terrorist
Maybe W can get ahold of him and teach him a thing or two about how we do things here in 'Mercia. Who is this commy liberal? He clearly knows nothing about our country.
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." - Thomas Jefferson
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." - Thomas Jefferson
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
TV melts the brain
How much time do I waste staring at the TV. I'm sitting here trying to think of something to contribute to the blog, but the boob tube has sucked out what little brain power I had.
I stumbled across this site the other day. It's called chattablogs.com. It's a free blog host for Chattanooga residents I think. Except, I stumbled across one where all the references were to Chicago locales. I went to school in Chattavegas, and I keep expecting to stumble across a blog of someone I know, but it seems to be mostly the musings of your typical southern religious folks. I seem some pictures of the town and miss it, but then I read some of the religious blogs and it makes me glad I don't have to deal with those people anymore. Some of the posts are really quite amusing.
It looks like Mr. Bush and the republicans are under the gun after yesterday's elections. Maybe that is a sign of things to come.
Speaking of religion and politics, there was a piece on Dateline a couple of weeks ago about how much political power the evangelical christians are wielding these days. It was a little disturbing to be honest with you. Why do these people insist on imposing there "moral values" on the rest of us? What happened to freedom of religion? Go read your history books people.
On to a lighter subject. I did another cross race this past weekend. Had a very tiny bit of go left at the end of the race. I usually just get passed during the entire thing, but I was actually passing people at the end of this one. That was nice for a change, but I still wasn't happy with the results. It's amazing how much fitness I lose in a short amount of time. Guys that I could keep up with in a mountain bike race make me look like I'm pedaling with one leg. Trust me, it's not as fast as this guy. Maybe it's all the booze I shove down my gullet for the months after my last mountain bike race.
Well, I'll try to hit it again this weekend. Maybe I'll do better if I don't drink a six pack the night before. The odds of either of those happening are pretty minimal.
That's it for tonight.
I stumbled across this site the other day. It's called chattablogs.com. It's a free blog host for Chattanooga residents I think. Except, I stumbled across one where all the references were to Chicago locales. I went to school in Chattavegas, and I keep expecting to stumble across a blog of someone I know, but it seems to be mostly the musings of your typical southern religious folks. I seem some pictures of the town and miss it, but then I read some of the religious blogs and it makes me glad I don't have to deal with those people anymore. Some of the posts are really quite amusing.
It looks like Mr. Bush and the republicans are under the gun after yesterday's elections. Maybe that is a sign of things to come.
Speaking of religion and politics, there was a piece on Dateline a couple of weeks ago about how much political power the evangelical christians are wielding these days. It was a little disturbing to be honest with you. Why do these people insist on imposing there "moral values" on the rest of us? What happened to freedom of religion? Go read your history books people.
On to a lighter subject. I did another cross race this past weekend. Had a very tiny bit of go left at the end of the race. I usually just get passed during the entire thing, but I was actually passing people at the end of this one. That was nice for a change, but I still wasn't happy with the results. It's amazing how much fitness I lose in a short amount of time. Guys that I could keep up with in a mountain bike race make me look like I'm pedaling with one leg. Trust me, it's not as fast as this guy. Maybe it's all the booze I shove down my gullet for the months after my last mountain bike race.
Well, I'll try to hit it again this weekend. Maybe I'll do better if I don't drink a six pack the night before. The odds of either of those happening are pretty minimal.
That's it for tonight.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
WINDY
WINDY as hell today. Doesn't make for a fun ride. Neither does the fact that I'm only good for about 2 hours right now. Pretty sad state of affaris.
I stumbled across this link at the Drunk Cyclist blog. Pretty good article about the war and media coverage.
http://nitpicker.blogspot.com/2005/10/soul-of-victor-davis-hanson.html
It's long, but some good stuff. Especially the E.B. White quote.
I stumbled across this link at the Drunk Cyclist blog. Pretty good article about the war and media coverage.
http://nitpicker.blogspot.com/2005/10/soul-of-victor-davis-hanson.html
It's long, but some good stuff. Especially the E.B. White quote.
Excuse Me?
Ah, the sound of rain while lying in bed. A beautiful thing it is. Very relaxing, or if you have cyclocross race on the schedule the next day, very exciting.
I rolled out of bed at around 7:30. Much earlier that I had wanted due to the fact that my race wasn't until 1:20, but that's happens when you are a loser and go to bed at 9 on a Friday night. Anyway, I decided to get up and have my espresso. Pre-race caffeine buzzes are great. A plus is that they help other things get going too.
Since I had plenty of time to kill, I pop open the ol' laptop to do a little surfing. I don't know what universal force guided me over to the ACA website, but I'm glad it did. There is big bold letters was,"Due to last night weather conditions, today's (Nov 5th) . . . venue is unridable. The race has been postponed till Nov 27th- venue to be determined."
now I can't get this stupid bold shit off.
I sit there and stare at this interesting statement. I think to myself, "I thought it was fall and I thought this was a cross race." When you start talking mud, rain, snow, etc, most cyclocrossers get a big stiffie. While I don't consider myself a cross racer, I love those conditions. I don't necessarily like them when I have to get on my road bike or mountain bike, but for cross, it's a blast. Not rideable is ok because a typical cross race includes you getting of your bike, shouldering it, and running. A little more won't hurt.
It didn't rain that much last night, and it's been dry as hell around here for the last month. I would think the small amount of rain we got last night would get soaked right up. I e-mailed the race promoter a nice e-mail. I didn't criticize him, but asked for the reasoning. I'm guessing it was the property owner's call. They had the state championships out there last year, and it was a snowy muddy mess.
Oh well. In the words of Mr. Bertuzzi, "it is what is. It is what it is. It is what it is." However, I did skip BEER last night, and I'm angry about that.
In other news, I don't think I ever mentioned on this very popular blog that I was growing a mustache. I know I know. Mustaches are way too cool for a person of my lowly stature, but I was doing it for charity. I manage to raise a bit of money, but the best part was the inclusion of the 'stache in my Halloween costume. Rachel and I went as Officers Johnson and Dangle from Reno 911. Yes, I wore the short shorts. Yes, we had pictures taken. No, the weren't full body shots. Only from the waist up. One's mind doesn't conjure such brilliant ideas when you're pouring Everclear down your throat. The point being, maybe I'll have some pics up in the next day or so.
I rolled out of bed at around 7:30. Much earlier that I had wanted due to the fact that my race wasn't until 1:20, but that's happens when you are a loser and go to bed at 9 on a Friday night. Anyway, I decided to get up and have my espresso. Pre-race caffeine buzzes are great. A plus is that they help other things get going too.
Since I had plenty of time to kill, I pop open the ol' laptop to do a little surfing. I don't know what universal force guided me over to the ACA website, but I'm glad it did. There is big bold letters was,"Due to last night weather conditions, today's (Nov 5th) . . . venue is unridable. The race has been postponed till Nov 27th- venue to be determined."
now I can't get this stupid bold shit off.
I sit there and stare at this interesting statement. I think to myself, "I thought it was fall and I thought this was a cross race." When you start talking mud, rain, snow, etc, most cyclocrossers get a big stiffie. While I don't consider myself a cross racer, I love those conditions. I don't necessarily like them when I have to get on my road bike or mountain bike, but for cross, it's a blast. Not rideable is ok because a typical cross race includes you getting of your bike, shouldering it, and running. A little more won't hurt.
It didn't rain that much last night, and it's been dry as hell around here for the last month. I would think the small amount of rain we got last night would get soaked right up. I e-mailed the race promoter a nice e-mail. I didn't criticize him, but asked for the reasoning. I'm guessing it was the property owner's call. They had the state championships out there last year, and it was a snowy muddy mess.
Oh well. In the words of Mr. Bertuzzi, "it is what is. It is what it is. It is what it is." However, I did skip BEER last night, and I'm angry about that.
In other news, I don't think I ever mentioned on this very popular blog that I was growing a mustache. I know I know. Mustaches are way too cool for a person of my lowly stature, but I was doing it for charity. I manage to raise a bit of money, but the best part was the inclusion of the 'stache in my Halloween costume. Rachel and I went as Officers Johnson and Dangle from Reno 911. Yes, I wore the short shorts. Yes, we had pictures taken. No, the weren't full body shots. Only from the waist up. One's mind doesn't conjure such brilliant ideas when you're pouring Everclear down your throat. The point being, maybe I'll have some pics up in the next day or so.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
I'm A Wheel
Just got back from Indianapolis. Indiana that is. Went out at the last minute to surprise my boy Tracy for his 30th birthday. He didn't have a clue I was coming, and his wife picked me up at the airport. I rang the doorbell and his exact words were, "what the f8ck?" I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he definitely was surprised.
One of the bonuses of going out there was to catch yet another Wilco show. If they are still playing 30 years from now, I'm we'll be going 30 years from now, and hopefully we'll be draggin' D and B with us.
Of course, it was a great show. Every Wilco show is a great show. It wasn't the best I've seen (and definitely not the cheapest), but it was a hell of a lot of fun.
Now, I'm back in Denver. Sitting outside in the ol' courtyard and drinking a beer while the sun goes down. It was fun to see the McGills. They are definitely on the right track I'm happy to report. The two little ones are cute as hell too.
Well, I've committed to getting a little more organized with my training early this year. At least, that is what I've talked about with Coach Phil. After we got of the phone, however, it seemed like I'm not doing things too much different than in previous years. It's just going to be a little more structured. I guess that means I'll be laying off the booze a little earlier this year. I guess I should say a little more a little earlier. I can't see myself not being liquored/beered/wined up on Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday after all. Food and booze. What more could you ask for?
I did manage to get my ass off the couch last weekend for a 'cross race. I was pretty happy with it considering I never have big aspirations for that discipline. It's just something I do to get me motivated to get out and exercise some this time of year and to keep from putting on too many L-Bs. Anyway, it seemed like I carried over a small amount of bike fitness, but there was a lot of running. I definitely don't have that snap in my legs yet. Considering how much crap I've been eating and how much beer I've been imbibing, I did pretty decent.
I guess that is about it for now. I'm going to try to update this thing a little more frequently.
One of the bonuses of going out there was to catch yet another Wilco show. If they are still playing 30 years from now, I'm we'll be going 30 years from now, and hopefully we'll be draggin' D and B with us.
Of course, it was a great show. Every Wilco show is a great show. It wasn't the best I've seen (and definitely not the cheapest), but it was a hell of a lot of fun.
Now, I'm back in Denver. Sitting outside in the ol' courtyard and drinking a beer while the sun goes down. It was fun to see the McGills. They are definitely on the right track I'm happy to report. The two little ones are cute as hell too.
Well, I've committed to getting a little more organized with my training early this year. At least, that is what I've talked about with Coach Phil. After we got of the phone, however, it seemed like I'm not doing things too much different than in previous years. It's just going to be a little more structured. I guess that means I'll be laying off the booze a little earlier this year. I guess I should say a little more a little earlier. I can't see myself not being liquored/beered/wined up on Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday after all. Food and booze. What more could you ask for?
I did manage to get my ass off the couch last weekend for a 'cross race. I was pretty happy with it considering I never have big aspirations for that discipline. It's just something I do to get me motivated to get out and exercise some this time of year and to keep from putting on too many L-Bs. Anyway, it seemed like I carried over a small amount of bike fitness, but there was a lot of running. I definitely don't have that snap in my legs yet. Considering how much crap I've been eating and how much beer I've been imbibing, I did pretty decent.
I guess that is about it for now. I'm going to try to update this thing a little more frequently.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Monday, September 05, 2005
On the Ball
I was driving to Keystone yesterday morning when I was struck by the marketing genius of the people at the Silver Plume Bureau of Tourism. Right at the exit for the town, there was a 4 ft x 6 ft sign. It was white lettering with a green background that read, "Visit Silver Plume."
I was so taken by the command, that if I wasn't blazing down the interstate at the extreme speed of 60 mph, I would have stopped. Alas! The speed was just too great to make the exit in time.
I was so taken by the command, that if I wasn't blazing down the interstate at the extreme speed of 60 mph, I would have stopped. Alas! The speed was just too great to make the exit in time.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The Podium
Well, Lance won again. I guess that has been known for a week now. What a way to end an era. I've always had a love/hate relationship with LA. I admire what he has overcome and accomplished, but at times he does and says some things that I don't agree with. That being said, I wouldn't turn him down if he called me up to go for a ride, and he definitely is an inspiration. At some point or another, we've all tried to emulate him out on our rides. You don't want to copy second best.
Way to go Lance!
I feel sorry for Rasmussen and his melt down in the final time trial. He was definitely one of the big stories of The Tour, and he used to be a mountain biker. I'm partial to those guys. Cadel Evans is another one. It was good, however, to see Jan fight back and be able to hop up on the podium. He definitely had a tough start after crashing into the back of his team car the day before the start.
Basso looked as strong as ever. He has become an excellent time trialer, although he did start out a little too fast in the final one. I think he will be a force to reckon with in the future. Next year's race should be spectacular. Basso, Ullrich, Vinokurov with Liberty Seguros, Valverde, and more. I'm sure there will be some other revelation that no one counted on.
Now time for my races. The standard mountain bike cross country race was on Saturday. I pre-rode the course on Friday. My legs felt pretty good, so I was excited about the race. My plan was just to get up with the top 5 at the start and see if it sticks. The sticking was the big question. You see, after a hair pin start, the course takes a turn straight up hill. Were talking about 1300 feet of climbing in about 3 or 4 miles. If you can't do the math, that is steep.
Well, I did manage to get it to stick. For the first time in a race this year, I felt like I was climbing strongly. I think I fell back to about 8th at one point, but was able to attack at the crest of the first climb and make up a couple of places. I had a solid descent, and was able to get with a couple of guys for the 2nd round of the big climb. I still felt strong and was able to make some accelerations to try to drop some guys. One guy overtook me, but I got the other one. By the top of the course I was pretty spent. I made a visit it to la la land at one point. I couldn't figure out why the singletrack was so rough, but then I looked down and noticed my fork was locked out. There's an explanation for you. I just had the descent left, and I was in pretty good shape. I did lose one place right before the last section of singletrack. There was one little uphill section left, but I didn't have enough to catch the passer. I got to the finish and the announcer said I was the 5th place finisher. My best finish at a National, and since they go 5 deep for the podium at those races, my first National podium! Of course, that is always thanks to a little good luck.
I decided to celebrate a little. Rachel, my dad, and I decided to go get some dinner. Just in time too because a hell of a storm rolled in to the village. A gullywasher I tell you. A waterfall appeared on the steps from the upper level of the village to the middle level. I decided this was a perfect time to polish off some drinks. A beer and three margs later I was feeling pretty good, however, an hour earlier, I had decided I was going to do the short track cross country race on Sunday.
Luckily, said race wasn't until 10:30 on Sunday. I woke up in the morning feeling pretty good. That is until I got on the bike and had to ride it up that damned hill to the short track course. The legs were definitely feeling yesterday's effort, but after a little warm up, they started coming around a little.
The short track course was actually a decent mountain bike course. At some places, the short track races are nothing more than a glorified road criterium race, but this one actually had a couple of sections where you had to make an effort to keep the bike rolling and upright.
10:30 rolled around and we had a whistle sending us off. For some reason, the crafty racer next to me decided to take a diagonal line straight into my path. He nearly knocked me off my bike, and I had to sprint around the group and back up to the front. Not a good thing considering this is only a 25 minute race anyway, and it's balls to the walls from the gun (or whistle). I could never make contact with the front two guys, but did manage to get in a group with two other guys. I eventually dropped them. One of the tried to run some cyclocross wheels and tires and wasn't able to get through the rough stuff too well, and the other simply faded a bit. Well, Mr. Other didn't fade for too long, and despite my best efforts, he kept getting closer. Eventually, I decided to cut my losses because I wasn't gaining any ground on those front burners. I slowed to let Mr. Other catch up. I sat in the front a while and eventually decided to let him and do some work. With a lap to go, I had decided I would attack him at the top of the short bumpy climb he had trouble with on the previous laps. I managed to dig down and find a little something for the attack and put a gap on him by the downhill section. It stuck to the end, and in case you lost track of where I was, that was a 3rd place finish. Another best and podium at a national. The training seems to be working. Thanks Phil!
My dad managed to get 3rd in his race on Saturday. An all time best for him! Way to go Dad! Well, I guess that's enough rambling on about stuff that only I really care about.
Maybe sometime in the future I'll get all philosophical and type something someone else can relate to. Yeah right!
Friday, July 22, 2005
Chillin In Snowmass
Typing here in the hotel room. Not really a hotel I guess. It's a "lodge." Nice place with friendly employees.
Right now I'm watching the VH1 countdown of the 40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirty Songs ever. There commentary on all these VH1 shows crack me up. So far, we've seen, Whomp There It Is by Tag Team, I Want Action Tonight by Poison, and Bump, Bump, Bump by B2K. Quality songs I tell you. Were at 30 to go, so we have quality and quantity. What more could you ask for? I can't believe I don't have cable for all this educational programming.
So the reason I'm in Snowmass is for my first National Mountain Bike Series race. NMBS or National for short. This course is usually a 13 mile loop. Steep, long climbs, tough rolling single track, and some nice singletrack descents. Oh sorry, I just noticed that Dirty is actually Dirrty. Oh boy, I Touch Myself by The DiVinyls.
Anyway, back to tomorrows race. They essentially cut the course in half, but we still only have to do two laps. That will make the race about an hour shorter than in previous years, and it will be fast fast fast.
I felt pretty good pre-riding the course today, so I hope to feel at least that good tomorrow. I was feeling pretty questionable earlier this week due to a couple of stressful weeks at work and some intense training. Not a good combo, but I think I'm on the rebound. Hopefully the race at Winter Park a couple of weekends ago is an indication of things to come. Let's just hope my stomach cooperates.
I WANT ACTION TONIGHT, SATISFACTION ALL NIGHT!
Right now I'm watching the VH1 countdown of the 40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirty Songs ever. There commentary on all these VH1 shows crack me up. So far, we've seen, Whomp There It Is by Tag Team, I Want Action Tonight by Poison, and Bump, Bump, Bump by B2K. Quality songs I tell you. Were at 30 to go, so we have quality and quantity. What more could you ask for? I can't believe I don't have cable for all this educational programming.
So the reason I'm in Snowmass is for my first National Mountain Bike Series race. NMBS or National for short. This course is usually a 13 mile loop. Steep, long climbs, tough rolling single track, and some nice singletrack descents. Oh sorry, I just noticed that Dirty is actually Dirrty. Oh boy, I Touch Myself by The DiVinyls.
Anyway, back to tomorrows race. They essentially cut the course in half, but we still only have to do two laps. That will make the race about an hour shorter than in previous years, and it will be fast fast fast.
I felt pretty good pre-riding the course today, so I hope to feel at least that good tomorrow. I was feeling pretty questionable earlier this week due to a couple of stressful weeks at work and some intense training. Not a good combo, but I think I'm on the rebound. Hopefully the race at Winter Park a couple of weekends ago is an indication of things to come. Let's just hope my stomach cooperates.
I WANT ACTION TONIGHT, SATISFACTION ALL NIGHT!
Monday, July 18, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Racing, racing, racing
Well, that is what has consumed my life lately. Either getting ready for it, doing it, or watching it on TV.
How about the Tour? A few surprises and a lot of wrecks. Those guys were dropping like flies on yesterday's stage. Looked like mostly stupid crashes most likely caused by fatigued.
Lance found himself alone on the final climb of stage 7. It was a nice gradual climb, which, produced some really high speeds. T-Mobile definitely took advantage of Lance's solitude. Vinokourov, the Krazy Kazakh, accelerated several times, but LA was able to counter. Eventually, Kloden went out, and they let him go. In a short amount of time, he caught the race leader Weening, and they duked it out to the very end. Supposedly Weening crossed the line first. I think his slobber, as seen to the left, gave him the 1cm edge at the finish.
As far as yesterday's stage goes, you gotta give your props to the former MOUNTAIN BIKE racer Rasmussen. What a solo break for the win. I recorded that stage, and unfortunately, learned of the results, via my coaching website. I went to log in Sunday's ride, and right there in the top right corner it said, "Rasumssen takes stage." Damnitalltohell, I waited all day to watch the reply, and it wasn't nearly as exciting to watch knowing that his attack stuck all the way through. Good stuff nonetheless.
I did a short mountain bike race in Winter Park on Saturday. I had a fairly heavy week of training in the week preceding. Moderate volume and high intensity with the hardest effort on Thursday.
When I started to warm up for the race, I was definitely feeling that effort in my legs. With it being such a short race, I knew I was in for a little extra suffering. I actually had a pretty good start. I didn't feel like I had gone out that hard, but I looked back and no one was with me. The fast guys of the group eventually caught up, and my legs were feeling pretty tired from the get go. Good thing it was just a fun/training race.
With a little bit of luck and a lot of "sucking it up," I was able to get back on the podium for the first time in a while. With a 3rd place (out of only 8 guys), it was the bottom of the podium, but it's still the podium. I was only a minute and a half of the winner, a guy that wins some of the other local races, and I improved my time by a minute and a half over last year on the same course. Not bad for a tough training week. All and all I was happy with it.
Time to get ready for the National in Snowmass in a couple of weeks.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
My Head Itches
Will you scratch it? At 65 km an hour? Thanks.So, can you tell I'm back in the race scene? I haven't been updating the blog too much.
Hmm, what's been going on? Lots of training/riding. Raced at Eldora this past weekend. Last year, that was a pretty good race for me. It started off that way for me this year, but with about a lap and half to go, I imploded and seriously faded off pace. I guess all and all it wasn't too bad considering. There were some folks complaining on the series website about the amount of mud in one particular section. My question to those folks is: do you race mountain bikes. I did a national out in Wisconsin a few years ago, and the entire course was that muddy. I think the racers out here get a little too used to our dry conditions. In my opinion, it was a great course. It has a little bit of everything, including a nice gnarly fast rocky descent. Well, fast for some. Not so fast for me. I'm still working on getting the new bike dialed.
After the race, Rachel and I headed over to Grand Lake to stay at a friends cabin. I don't know if cabin is an appropriate description since it's bigger than most peoples houses. The main room has huge picture windows with a view of the Neversummer range. Sweet.
We rushed out as soon as we got there to watch Le Tour. Good opening stage. How about Big Dave taking the maillot jaune on the first day? I guess that is the biggest excitement except for Big Tex making Jan look like he was pure climber domestique during his TT. It's definitely not matching the excitement of the Giro. We'll see.
Sunday, a bunch of us headed out to Winter Park to get some riding in. Didn't turn out to be much of a ride because it started raining and the temps dropped in to the 40s after about an hour and a half. Rachel cooked us a great dinner that night, and the beer from the Grand Lake Brewery tasted way too good.
Monday was supposed to be a rest day according to the schedule, but Mattius, Woodrow, and myself headed out for a semi-epic ride. We headed out from the "cabin" and straight up to the Divide. TONS of climbing. From what I had heard of this ride, I thought it was going to be boring, but once we hit the single track, it was daaaamn fun. We got up above tree line and to the border of the Neversummer Wilderness Area, where of course, we had to turn around. The 3 hours of climbing was about to turn into about 45 minutes of some pretty rockin descending. Rocky, rooty, muddy, you name it we had it. Tight switch backs, stream crossing, baby heads, and lots of berms to catch some air. Great 4 hour ride. Especially for a day that I wasn't supposed to be on the bike at all.
It was good hanging out with everyone. I hadn't seen Moon in a while and Wood in a long while. Wood's an old racing buddy that feel out of the scene for a variety of reasons a while back. Thanks Matt and Holly for putting us up!
Time for bed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
