Mmmm, Singletrack. I think this is Steve's loop. Didn't do it this year, but it's fun.
It was cloudy all day on Saturday and snowing at the higher elevations. Colorado rocks!
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?
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