Its the Season

If clothes were bike parts...I would be rolling out a new Major Jake, however since they are not, I will be sportin' some new threads. X-mas was a little more chaotic but without the severe weather this year. A good few days with family, friends, more family and new beers. The little man reaped the benefits of his first xmas, he is burried under a pile of musical toys, blinking lights, stuffed animals and I'm shackled with the bill to Duracell and Energeizer for all the batteries. Finally got over my cough, my endurance is piss poor, stamina is in the crapper. Started back on the bike for a few minutes before the fuse blew in the basement compound and that needed to be sorted out so it prematurely ended the ride. Hope to be back on the saddle soon enough. Looking into the spring road events, MTB events and going to focus on cross in the fall. the only things that I'm lacking for these ambitious goals is fitness, a cross bike, dinero and time. Been following the americans in belgium right now, some good stuff, so many races in such short time is awsome, keeps the blood flowing. Hope to have some new picts up soon of the winter bike projects, makeing sure the gus and vuth keep busy helpin me get ready. Of course there will be no mentioning of how the bengals put a big damper on my xmas eve. Well since the holidays are over its time to detox and dry out for a few hours before the new year is flushed in. Off to eat some leftover pie.

Nats

This was the best photo that I took on saturday, I really suck at taking picts of objects that move so fast. Once i get photos from ESC, i'll post his, they are much better, a few shots with the caveman and J Pow. A great day of racing, beer and fun. It was great to see Page really attacking the entire race, his form seems to be coming back. Can't wait to see the results as the Twin towers and page are back in Belgium racing on saturday. Their form is on!

Getting ready for the holidays at the compound. Been a busy few days getting ready for the fam and friends. Was able to spare some time to watch the Bengals debacle on monday night football...totally saw that coming though! Started to clear out the crap that clutters the compound so I can once again dig out the bike, rollers and trainer and get ready for the january, now if only there were extra hours in the day and extra hours of sleep in the little elfs schedule...have a good holiday...

Basement Findings

After much sorting and digging around the compound. The glorious brewing equipment of yester-year was uncovered and cleaned, ready to be fired up and put back into full rotation. Once the holidays settle down, the flu subsides and training begins again, I'll need carbohydrate replenishments. For those that remember the thirsty years in newmarket and the brewing traditions established there, Fusion brewery will open back up in new location with first beers expected in early to mid february. The old brewery crew could be called back to duty Bread Ninja and Ryan among others for sampling and bottling purposes. There is only one roadblock and that is a 20 pound animal, a wolverine, with a voracious appetite for toys and attention leaving nothing but drool, diapers and tired arms from airplane rides in his wake. However i'm sure once he smells the sweet aroma of such hoppy creations, that will all change.

Also of note, this weekend, can the weather be any better for a trip to the CX nationals. I won't have to track down my winter boots for a change this year. Can't wait to see all the festivities this year!!! Ride on

Holiday Spirit

This was my weekend. After some crazy driving visiting family and coughing in new locations, the holiday decorating went into full swing. Made a mad dash for a decent tree, loaded her up onto the roof of old reliable and headed home. 3 totes of crap later, and what you see is what you get. The little man was just in awe as we brought the outdoors to him. The lower branches have already been coated in the layer slime. My x-mas list was left beneath next to the stocking. In no immediate order, Flyte SR-2, Titus Racer-X, C-dale Rush, ESC to finally ride those dust collectors he owns (congrats on the promo), new rear brakes for said reliable car. Sunday was rounded out with a few of Berkshires finests ales, more hours at work and a Bengals victory.
The doc on monday has given me two more weeks for lung recovery, she did mention that its sounds like i'm breathing through a snorkel, an improvement over last time. Jan 2nd, winter base miles begin for the spring, it has decided by coach Gus. Going to bring a whole new effort to wells ave and get ready for the Fat Tire Classic among other events that the warden may let me enter. Alright, since there isn't much bike stuff to discuss or anything else for that matter, I'll spare details. Congrats on those that rounded out the Verge series, till next saturday in Providence!!!

Holiday Flem and Cheer

This should become my weekly flem update. Yes, i'm still sick. However I have decided that this will not keep me away from my duties to watch football and consume large quantities of wings, beers and other fine foods. On Sunday, the football gods smiled and presented a perfect day for spending time with friends. First order of business was the get the holiday cards done. Luckily the little man is quite savy in front of the camera and Vuth had no trouble snapping off quality pict after quality pict. He did an amazing job and I must admit as an assistant, along with michelle, we got it done. The little man was nothing but smiles and laughs. Second order of business...football. Patriots looked a little shaky against the Detroit Lion juggernaut and super QB Jon Kitna. hahaha. Luckily beers kept me calm and the Gus provided color commentary and in general kept it tight. Foods were prepared with rapid haste and consumed twice as fast. Luckily ESC was there to help control the little man and also help consume all that was prepared (knowing that the Giants were about to loose-Those aren't interceptions Eli is throwing, those are cries for help). Third order of business on the day was to get the compound decorated and full of holiday cheer. It was pointed out to me that if the season ended today, the Patriots would have to take on the Mighty Bengals, it would be a tough game to watch, where do my allegiances lie......damn. I would discuss cross and my lack of form or season for that matter but since i'm still coughing, wheezing and considered by many of cambridges doctors one day away from a lung transplant it is too depressing. My next cross appearance will be as a spectator at the Nats. To all actually racing, good luck, kick some ass, leave nothing behind and you'll hear me cheering from the beer tent as I and the rest of the gang self-medicate and ring the cow bell.

X-rays

This can't be good. I had my lungs x-rayed today. Exciting, if there is a way to get a hold of the picts, you will see them shortly. In the meantime, as the saying goes, "Starve a fever, feed a cold"....well I'm eating a leftover chocolate cream pie for late breakfast. So tastey.

This week, other than coughing, i get to look forward to my compound being over-run with x-mas and holiday stuff. The compound was just getting back to being clean and organized when the wife blew in and wanted to start getting the holiday stuff unpacked. 6 huge bins of stuff litter the floor, the bike trainer has been pushed aside, the rollers have been covered over and bikes have been lost under ornaments, decorative tree's and other stuff that will soon clutter the upstairs as well. The compound is in a sad state of affairs. So sad...So sad.....

Flem

Holy flem. I'm still friggin sick. Bronchitis has now spread to more of a pneumonia like infection. I can't get over this. I spend all day and night coughing. Its nuts. I haven't been this sick in years, I don't even remember the last time. I'm winded walking up steps. Today I put the snow tires on the car, I broke a sweat doing that. I can't wait to get healthy and get back on the bike. But since I can't even breathe deep right now without coughing till i'm dizzy, I think i'm skipping the rest of the season and going right into the off-season and base miles. Thanksgiving, i've definately added a few pounds after eating at both families, turkey, gravey, mashed, pie, more pie and a quick trip to duchess burger....feeling a little lethargic from all the tastey foods. Check out how Trebon is doing over in Belgium Tree Farm A good read between coughing fits.

Down and Out

I don't think I've ever been this sick. I can't even walk up my front steps without getting winded which then cuases me to start coughing up a storm. It's crazy. Breathing deeply is my enemy. I re-arranged the compound last night to make room for more of the little mans stuff and I think that was the most the bikes have moved in two weeks. They moved from one side of the compound to the other. This winter the Giant needs a full tear down. I've made it my goal to upgrade...yes...all you out there that make fun of my bullet proof STX-RC (early 90's)_ throw back trigger shifters...mind you, they have never broken, never got stuck, never froze, and never failed me in the worst conditions ..well I am upgrading after 3 seasons of racing. I know, you are thinking, finally he is gonna get some nice 9speed pods on that rig....what..no way.. I got some brand new Deore XT 8speed triggers. 9speed stuff is to fragile in the mud, 8 speed still churns it out and never need a delicated cleaning...So, the Giant is getting a tear down this winter, the ESC_GT will get tuned before heading back to its owner and the schwinn will have the full Gus overhaul and ready for wells ave this spring. All the luck to Trebon in Euoroland in the coming weeks. Till then......

Falling Apart

Its been a long time since i've had some time and internet access. To sum it up, its been a long two weeks. Spent 5 -days at Conference center located in an industrial complex in Chantilly VA. For those who don't know where that is, i can only say its close to Dulles airport but far away from anything fun. We were stuck at this hotel/conference center way too long. HOwever the 3 meals a day were pretty sweet. All you can eat buffet style, but lets not forget the all you can drink. I was so sick of eating, which i didn't think could happen, I was looking forward to a bowl of Raisan bran for a change. I have not gotten out and ridden in two weeks and it will be even longer. I have got the nastiest cough which I can't seem to shake, only to have the doc tell me it's bronchitis. I'm falling apart. I am short of breathe and the coughing is getting annoying. I am just waiting for the Nationals in Rhode Island, at least i can drink beer and spectate regardless of health and bike. Some chemists I work with ordered this, some kind of flux capacitor reactor (just kidding), but its about the size of a refridgerator...and is pretty fun to roll around the hallways when investors are taking tours. Science humor....not that funny. I now have to review a bunch of science slides from the meeting and present all my "findings," what fun...now you too can enjoy the excitement of drug resistance mutations....I have to get back on the bike!!

Tendonitis

Thursday was not a day meant to be spent inside at work, and since my work environment is a spiraling pit of despair and group politics, I figured i would leave early and go for a ride. It was sunny and warm out, amazing riding weather for november. Got about 2 miles into the ride and my left knee was feeling slushy. I can't even describe it. Its the same broken kneecap knee, so I'm going to assume its patellar tendonitis. I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure thats it. Decided to take the flat route home and just roll along. Still amazing weather, didn't get the full hour in but enjoyed every minute of it. Too bad it gets dark by 5:15pm.... The warm evening also lead to great grilling weather. Fired up the Charbroil one more time and cooked up some decent grub. Looks like more good weather ahead.
If you haven't heard, check out Jason Sager blog. A great bike racer and one of the nicest guys in the sport, getting the shaft by USADA....Jason Sager

Tuesday Morning Commute

Woke up before the sun, looked out the window and didn't see any frost on the car or grass. Thought it must be relatively warm out. Threw on the arm warmers and the long sleeve jersey and a pair of baggy MTB shorts. Headed out the door for the 10 mile trek to work. About 5 minutes in, I realized I should have worn leg warmers. My knees are still cold, they feel like there is slush in there. Toes also got cold. I even wore heavy wool socks over my shoes but I guess its time to buy real shoe covers or come up with a better Macgyverism to keep my toes warm. Either way, got to work relatively warm. Much better than my warm up at Winding Trails.

If you are a jogger that has their MP3 player cranked and you can't hear me yelling "On your Left" multiple times...don't get all pissed and start cursing at me when I ride by, still allowing you plenty of room to meander all over the bike path. I can hold my line, why can't you run in straight line!

Biking home in the dark should be challenging, maybe do some sprints to stay warm and suffer a little.

Chainbiter

Getting up at 5:30 hard enough but sitting on a start line when its only 30 degrees out was another thing. Woke up, had the car packed, even swung by to pick ESC (no comment) up and travel down to Farmington. Ride down, no traffic. The course was well laid out. A super heavy frost coated every blade of grass that wasn't in the sun. Two sandy sections, one was leg sucking fun right before the finish. A quick run up and and only one set of barriers. A nice downhill and some field crossing sections. A fast course with some slippery sections.

Got a great start off the line, Was up into the top 15 going into the woods where you had to bunny hop a curb, that was a big bottle neck as riders slowed down and popped over the curb. A fast straight section led to the first turn through the sand pit, it was loose stuff and my tires caked up leading up to the first quick hill, no problems except dualing it out with a rider from Colby (at least thats what his jersey said), a slow climb into the woods and a nice downhill I was able to maintain position for most of the first lap, the long stints in the field really hurt me as stronger riders could pull away. I couldn't keep the speed up but was able to draft a little and use other riders to pace myself somewhat. The barriers were no problem, however did see one guy shin-it and i'm sure he is hurting today. The twisty turns were fun as well as the run up. Those items I'm ok at, the short sprints are good too but its those long flat sections that I run out of gas on. I was sufferin immensely, and after the first lap, it was a matter of damage control and not slide back too much. I lost a few positions every lap till the end. It was good to have ESC out there cheering and screaming, I need to get him some Pom Poms next time and maybe a fifth of Jack so he keeps warm (no comment once again). The last lap a group of three riders were pacing back up to me (or I was going slow, either way, they were catching up) so I went as hard as I could and dropped them on the run up and last sand pit, finished strong and beat one rider across the line in a sloppy sprint by both of us. Overall finished in 46th...ehh..not great but not bad either. The GT faired pretty well with no mechanicals despite all that sand. The Candy SL's are another story, Had a hard time getting clipped in so i might switch to egg beaters and carve some tread off my shoes to open the tread blocks better. Maybe they will shed the dirt/sand better. Two upcoming weekends of work related crap and meetings, then it's the holidays so that could have been my last CX race for the season, we will see if I can get out and suck wind (ie: have fun) elsewhere this season.

Sunday..No North Hampton CX race for me. Family, relatives, and friends descended the Chap-compound and we consumed large quantities of food and malted beverages. The little biker-to-be didn't nap and was having too much fun to be bothered by sleeping. A good afternoon but a rough monday morning.

No signs of the apocalypse as ESC bailed on spinning this morning....something about football...and late night....something.....something....just kidding.

ChainBiter - 5:30am

The little one decided he had enough of his deep slumber so he work way too early again this morning. 5:30am....got him up and fed, decided that since going back to sleep was not an option, hitting the rollers for a quick spin would be a good idea. 40 minute roller workout at 5:45 in the morning, was tough to stomach but it kept the legs moving. I have been wicked hungry all morning just eating everything in site. I haven't gotten much time to ride this week so saturdays race should be an adventure (some about soul-crushing hills and sand pits was mentioned). Wednesday I was able to get 15 minutes on the soccer fields, practice some s-turns, dismounts and such, since the field lights were left on...then darkness fell, guess the light timer clicked off and I was standing in the middle of a dark soccer field. Packed it up and headed home, ready for all you can eat taco night. Saturday-Chainbiter, looking forward to it.

Candy and Bacon

Warm evening last night, surely there will be loads of costume clad children tramping up and down the street. Finished the night off with 5 kids, 2 not-so young kids and a giant bowl of candy all for myself. Even got to take the little one for a stroll, he collected candy as well, but since he doesn't have any teeth yet, I'll just add his candy to my candy pile, thank you very much. I'm not even sure if you can puree a candy bar...I might have to experiment this evening, results to follow.

Wednesday morning commute to work was a warm and wet surprise, When did it rain? More rain tonight and in the morning will kill thursdays ride. At least it was warm but any intention of taking the longer route to work was immeadiately erased from that individual brain cell about two minutes after getting drenched on the ride in. Big Truck + big puddle = wet chap. Thought I could avoid it but the legs just didn't have the kick to out sprint the Mack Turbo Diesel. Legs are tired still from sundays race. Hope to get them to come around by friday, but with the anticipation of free food (bacon wrapped scallops, a gift from the gods) and barley beverages all on the company tab, we'll see. Training this week will be limited, cross drills in the soccer fields definately hampered by the lack of sun at 6pm and ever increasing family obligations, as the gus says "married-man duties". Rumor is that ESC was at the gym this morning taking a spinning class...yes...I too was looking for signs of the apocalypse...

Photo and Bad Chinese Food

I ate day old Chinese food last night and tonight, I'm paying the price heavily. I'll leave it at that. I can't even think about sitting on a bike seat right now. Anyhow, what happens when your cheering sections goes out drinkin the night before, the camera gets left behind (this pertains to both of you...you know who you are) Anyhow, so the only photos I can find are from FastShots, he does a great job and shows up to many events and he's easy to order from. This is the only photo I can find of my demise: Me on the ESC with some bad Leg warmers

Canton Cup

I was looking forward to the C-race in Canton. Had two friends coming down to leer, cheer and hang out. The field was HUGE. Since I'm just out there having fun and still learning the ropes I started in the back of the field. I had a great start, passed many guys on the slight hill before entering the first turn. The bike was cooperating with the legs. Held my position and gained some positions on the first set of barriers. Hitting the pavement behind the course, witnessed too many crashes. Remember, knobby tires and high speed damp pavement turns do not mix. I've made the mistake too many times on the MTB at other events. All guys seemed to be ok, missing some skin maybe but otherwise no medi-vac. Continueing along the 1st lap, gained a few more spots on the 2nd set of 12 inch barriers only to loose some spots on the marshy grass and some bad cornering techniques. I had a blast on the long run-up to the track, that last section of the course was pretty fun and the last set of barriers some friends had camped out and were screaming lunatics, thanks, extra motivation was good. Even saw Allison Dunlap talkin' to the Gus. NICE. 2nd lap was more of the same however I wasn't moving forward as the front group had seperated and I was riding around in no-mans land and thats when the slide started. Slipped on one turn and a few riders past me, got stuck behind a slow rider and others caught back up to me so I decided to race it hard and drop them again. 3rd lap, a fun lap for suffering. Right after the long run-up I was remounting the bike on the track and I slipped but I didn't go down, I just had a very awkward recovery, at least the Seivel was there to yell enough to get my motivation back up. The last lap my backward momentum continued as I was cooked. Nothing left in the tank, bile taste in my mouth. That had to be the longest CX race of my year, even the few MTB Races I did. I finished around 43 minutes, I think my position was 46/76. I'll take it. The wind was more of a battle than I anticipated and riding around solo in the fields and on the track with no one to draft really drained my legs. Getting a better start will surely help. It seems that the front group takes off and everybody behind them gets stuck in bottlenecks letting the leaders get a way, but I'm just stating the obvious. Still having fun, the fitness is pretty average for this late in the season (at least for me). I have to get over the stamina and endurance hurdle. Next week, Chainbiter. I should once again be gracing the tail end of the field. Gotta get the bike cleaned up and ready. Hopefully there won't be any hurricane force winds to deal with and if there is, I'm bringing a sail.

No Trabajo

Decided that thursday was not a day meant for me to be at work. Aidan and I raked leaves, cleaned up the garage, well, he drooled more than helped. A good day away from the mad lab and blonde power struggle. Thursday late afternoon broke out for a good riding spell, got in a good 40 minute warmup that included the common street hill, the concord ave hill and a good 1 mile stretch of freshly packed crushed stone that was such a blast to roll over, )as they are about to repave rt. 60, tons of fun) NICE. Topped off that with some cross drills over in the belmont woods. Run-ups, sprints, jumping a stream, fast laps, startle some joggers, overall it was a good 70 muinute romp. The legs felt good for some odd reason, becuase I know on sunday my legs will be nothing but dead weight. Yes...cider donuts were in and tasty as ever, how can something this tastey be so bad...screw the cardiologists, they can enjoy their salads and brown tofu thingies.

Head-Winded

Ride home was an all out effort against a headwind. The legs were toast after only 2 miles of pedaling into it, got home only 5 minutes off my regular time though. However i'm feeling it only a few hours after, then again it could be the recovery suds. Ohlins bakery called, fresh cider donuts tommorrow morning, you know where I'll be at 6:30am...stocking up on some "power circles". However maybe I should be more concerned that the bakery calls me to let me know when certain flavors of donuts are being made...it certainly helps talking it up with the head baker there. The ESC is getting ready for canton on sunday. I think the screaming Gus will make the trip too. Not sure yet but just maybe, maybe even the owner of ESC too. hahaha. Anyhow, gotta get ready to watch Lost and finish my recovery meal....its chilling in the fridge.

The river is Protected

Wednesdays, always a tough day. Got in a good 35 minute ride home yesterday. Full out sprint, to get home in time to relieve the babysitter. Legs are jello today. Still have to resolve the pedal issue, it's definately busted and I need to take the Candy off the Giant and switch it over. The benefits of having the same style pedal on all three bikes (Crank Bro's Quattro on the road bike, awsome pedal). Quick story before I forget, this morning, 6am, wicked dark out, cruising along the river, Army-ROTC was out in full camo, packs and weapons. It was pretty funny to see them jump when i came flying by but it was also pretty odd to see a hundred or so soilders, in full gear, with look-out posts, scouts and all that stuff you see in the movies with M-16s doing exercises around the river......Started the outline to the new ESC downtube label, gotta work out what graphic font to use and locate the screen printing supplies, they are somewhere in the basement I believe but many things go to the basement never to return. Canton Cup is this weekend..that should be a fun race especially after the BC football game and festivies on saturday, as well as the time change. Gotta wake up the Gus....

Thread City Cyclocross-Crank(less) Brothers

The ride down was probably the best part of the whole morning. Great foliage, calm ride, no traffic on the pike, of course it was 7am so I shouldn't expect there to be any. Easy driving. The venue was at the Mansfield Hollow state park which is just another of saying the Mansfield Dam. The c-mens field was larger than I expected, many people there to kick my ass all over the course. It was a long lap based on my pre-ride warmup inspection. Lots of little run ups, some rideable, some not, one wet run if you stepped off the sand. For those who attended, you know you saw at least one person get their feet wet in the reservoir. Usual banter on the start line, blah blah blah (wish i could race with my MP3 player). The whistle goes off, we all take off, a cold start for sure. The wind started picking up or it was always blowing and i just didn't realize it until the lap the started and we were in the open field. The first half of lap one went well, but it was the sandy rundown and run-up when everything came apart. For starters my right Crank Brother Candy Pedal was a pain to engage, really troubling. I couldn't put much power down with my foot slipping all over the place. I was able to manage the run ups ok and not fall on my skinny ass. I could pass people on the run up and any downhill technical stuff but in the end too much of my energy was spent trying to get my feet clipped in. While I was worrying about that, pinch flat...luckily I had a borrowed set of pit wheels and was right back out there finding new and creative ways to stink. Not a problem, got back on the course only to endo in the next patch of loose sand/dirt. At that point i was just trying not to wash completely out and the day became an exercise in one legged pedaling and different ways to curse at ones shoe/pedal. Crossed the finish line with feeling I had to puke, so I guess I gave it everything I had Overall, 20th out of 27th, even if the pedal didn't break, I wouldn't have faired much better. Left the race exhausted and hungry (for something fried and greasy). I know what I need to work on....everything, more power, more energy, more endurance but at least the bike is one piece. It wasn't until I got home that I figured out what was wrong with the pedal. The clip-in mechanism/spring is popped out of alignment becuase it's bent not allowing the cleat to engage properly, ie: its' a fancy way of saying...hello warranty coverage. On a funny note, on the last lap, on this crazy hill, you had to ride along an earthan wall, about 60 or 70 degree angle, and this college kid from UNH runs into a Masters 35+ guy (looked like they both collided together at the same time )....the guy started screaming "you ruined my race, blah blah blah, a few explicitives" it was pretty funny to pass him laughing becuase he was waayyyyy too serious. He was all bent out of shape, and he wasn't even a leader or in the top 5 I don' think. I give credit to the college kid, it's racing and he held his ground (its not like this guy is gunning for sponsorship, and he is definately not the next Ryan Trebon or J Powers). I'm probably wrong but it was funny to watch and finish my day off with that, just my two cents (racing is racing). Next up...a new pedal, a kid who refuses to sleep, a crappy work week and some tailgating..I might even sneak out to the canton cup to see if I can find out how close I can come to puking without actually hurling.

Why

Why do coworkers insist on coming to work when they are beyond sick. Three people here are sick as dogs, coughing and sneezing on everything, feverish. WHY..my head feels like I got hit by this:

Wheeling and Dealing

After some serious searching, a little craigslist swapping, some extra hours at work, and hiding out in the basement (or as my wife calls it, the compound), new hoops were the first order of business. Figure they can be put on the schwinn come spring time. As Gus would say "these are TIGHT!". Speaking of which, the crazy brazilian is back. His 3 week adventure back home with family is over and he is back. You'll be seeing him at a cross event near you sometime soon. Mansfield CT is the idea for saturday. Figure test out the wheels and my severe lack of fitness. Weather, work, mother-in law and the 5 month old (but thats ok) have hampered every single ride this week. Course description? no idea. Doesn't matter all that much, I plan on achieving new levels of suckage. Should be fun to see if I can put a new spin on coming in last place. If the weather holds true, sunny and potentially in the mid-50's, these will be perfect days for cross. Hope to get three more races in before time and money run out. Then it will be recharge time and winter evenings on the trainer or rollers, whatever i don't fall off first. Time to track down some cider donuts...power circles! Thanks ESC for the bike.

None of that for me

This weekend was round 2 of the VERGE series up in New Gloucester, it took me a about a minute to say no to that race..mapquest..more than a 2 hour drive, each way. I'll take a rain check. So instead, I did what some might consider training, 20 minute warm up down by the river, growler row was silent. Headed over to the Union street ball fields for dodging rover landmines and barrel sprints. 20 minutes of various drills i've picked up from various other bloggers Colt-the newest Kona Tower, and The Zoo. Barrel races, run-ups, dogding dog crap, all while anaerobic. Then a few minutes to cool down on the way home while practicing the bunny hops over curbs for fun...The rest of saturday was spent playing "How big is Aidan"....and "Where is Aidan"...that rounded out saturday

Sunday was spent also avoiding New Gloucester. It was an eggs and bacon morning followed by corn pancakes drenched in maply syrup. It was tastey, such a treat. The lady I ventured out for a little stroll through the town center, checkin' out the foliage. The little man was keepin a keen eye on the giraffe, wrapped in his death grip. Good weather. The afternoon was followed by watching the Bungles suck it against Tampa Bay, what a joke. Bungles of old are back, finding new ways to suck, they suck worse than I suck at this bike racing thing. Polished off the afternoon with another trip around the river, different route, quiet growler day once again, and topped it off with 15 minutes of sprints along the soccer fields. The sievel bailed and had to watch Eli suck on a new level while Tiki carried the team on his back along with a solid receiving corps..oh well. He'll use that bike one day, have faith.....thats enough brain drool for today. No ride today as I washed my helmet pads last night, 2 went into the washer, only one returned...gone...so I have to find new pads to stink up

Training in the art of Tailgating

Thursday....Got some new training done, Tailgating. Spent the late afternoon and early evening on the campus of BC getting ready for the big VT game. Much better than doing sprints, barrel races, or anything exercise related. Grilled burgers, brats, hot wings, chips and copious amounts of liquid refreshment kept me hydrated and ready for the next challenge. Sitting through the game. BC won, suprisingly

Got 8 days to get ready for the next event. Probably ride the mansfield event, weather and aidan dependant. Much smaller field of riders, so i'll suck even worse and won't be able to hide behind the large field like at Gloucester...

Is it nap time yet?

C-race - Repeat

I just read over my post from the other day and realized it wasn't up to snuff from the usual garbage I dribble out on this page. So, I'm going to leave that steaming lump up and add this re-update about my time in Gloucester (stop reading now if your are looking for something more exciting)

The day started off with frantic haste to get out hte door in time. Was pretty excited to be at my first CX race, especially one with such a large turnout. All the waitlisters got entered into the race without any problems (however the results page say otherwise). Got to the starting line late and was stuck too many rows deep. Rolled off and made it through all the course bottlenecks with no broken spokes or damage, witnessed a few crashes, some bold moves. The wheels stayed true, stayed clipped in when i had to and unclipped when I had to run, no serious asthma attacks, dust wasn't too bad yet. The laps just counted off with painful anticipation till I heard final lap. About time. I realized that I suck at running, running in sand, running up hill, pedaling uphill, and controlling the old ticker. It felt like I started in a pack of 100 people but it could have been less. I was pretty secure in pushing the bike through the turns and using as little brakes as possible, figured i would push the ESC through the turns and hope the tires hold. Maxxis Larsen Mimo's..awsome traction, crap rolling resistance. Finished 37th in the C-men group...it took about 45 minutes to straighten out the results page becuase they had my correct time but the wrong name. Turns out hte number I had was for someone who pre-registered but didn't show up. Long story short, finished in about 41 minutes. I was passsed by the top 3 in the womens group that lined up at 9am. If i improved my start...should of, would of, could of. Ah well. It was an awsome time. Wished I could have stunk it up on sunday but didn't have the time off. ALready looking at the calender for the next event. Hope to hit a few more before the snow flies, but that probably won't stop me either

If your curious, spent sunday picking pumpkins, apples and anything else at Conners Farm. Monday...was spent on Thayer street and brown university in Providence, quite the experience. Thayer street, a people watching goldmine. 20 miles on the road bike monday...legs are good, body is tired.

Gloucester C-race: Efforts from the Back of the Pack

I'm sure I'll Change the title before the week is out. Saturday, 6am is when my race really started. The race to get the car packed, the bike dialed in, to escape any escapades with my awake 4month old (at least he waited till I left the house before he pooped...its was huge, so I was told), all wondering if I would even be able to race due to my delayed registration. C-race...8:35am I was in, the numbers were pinned to my jersey, #437...and interesting number. Rode most of the course when I heard the call up for staging. By the time I got to the "line", I was about 80 riders deep. Stuck in the back, no biggie, it was my first Cross race ever, so I just wanted to have fun and not destroy the bike (as it is not mine). The whistle blew and we were off, after we had to wait a few seconds for the other 79 people in front of me to start rolling, a few bottle necks on the first lap allowed the leaders to get the gap and just take off. I rode in the middle or what seemed like the middle of the pack. Handling the bike on the s-turns and the twistys was relatively easy, I was able to push through the turns and pick good lines most of the time, it was the sand and the long straight aways that kicked my ass, repeatedly, not to mention the part of the course that led to the run up, that sucked my strength as well and i just plain sucked at it. Oh yeah, running, I sucked at that too. I rode with the same group of riders for most of the race, just holding their wheels and occasionally swapping positions. The things I remember during the race were strange. I remember a green surly cross-check bike and the rider kept hitting the dirt on any sharp turn, but he would always catch back up on the straight-aways....the thank you I got for setting a good tempo on the final lap for this woman rider and giving her a good draft (I think she got 3rd..yes...she started 30 seconds behind me, she was good), a girl on a Salsa bike that could really get some distance on her snot shots and dish out the smack talk to a slower rider blocking her, some guys rear leg was all carved up and bleeding everywhere...and finally this one guy right before the run-up, every lap he had a good cheer "If you aren't feeling the pain, you are not going hard enough"..another "Welcome to the pain cave" and something along those lines, he had others but the brain is just not working. Overall, I got 37th in the c-men (my number...437..coincidence. I learned alot, didn't get lapped, bike / rider left without any severe damage or trauma, just left gloucester wanting more. I immeadiately went home, stopped a the half-way cafe for some recovery food essentials, Stone coast brews, wings and other fine culinary creations from the frielator.

Preparations for Waitlisting

25 minute warm up spin along the river (Growler Row)
5 min. high tempo
5 min. change flat tire
10 min. meandering around Wheelworks for the right tube and drooling over some new rides
10 min. re-warming up and quick sprints
10 min. barrel drills, dismounts, runs (sprint from one end of a football field to the other end with plenty of recover time)
5 min. cool down trip home

Post-Ride festivities
Dinner: Pasta, Doritos, a Pickle, glass of vino, pecans, peanuts, chocolate milk (strictly for recovery), Dos esquis, Otter Creek, Grapes (from the ESC vineyard)..

Played with Aidan, changed a few diapers, baby games and books, drool puddles, etc

Watched Lost with Todd, put the tire on the new front rim...(pretty sweet)

yupp, this is a boring one

Training in Anticipation of being Waitlisted

Where did everybody come from. Friday...BikeReg registration was wide open for the C-class riders for the Gran Prix of Gloucester, plenty of space left, didn't have the plastic on hand so I figured I would register sunday evening. Load up the page sunday evening...CLOSED. Looks like I'm waitlisted in a sea of other waitlisted riders. Still, despite this "setback", hopped on the GT last night for a little one on one training ride. Hit the MDC fields to find one quarter occupied by about 100 geese, another half taken over by the local soccer practice (minivans and SUVs as far as the eye could see). So I was relegated to the baseball field, ruts, bumps and overgrown grass. A great training pace, got the heart rate up..170 bpm, maintained that for a while, even hit the roof at 181 bpm, not too bad (yes, that stinks for 99% of most racers but it's a chappy record), kept it going for 15 minutes, linked up with two other guys doing some CX drills, Practiced sprints, dismounts/remounts...and falling. I got about 45 minutes on the bike before the front tire slipped on a turn while I was out of the saddle, cranking hard on the pedals. Went down, don't know what happened but I'm pretty sure I actually heard the spokes break on the rear wheel, the rear derailleur hanger bent and whole lot of grass stains on my right side. Decided that it was the sign to call it quits for the day, huffed it over to Farinas for a quick fix, tune up in anticipation of saturday, albiet knowing I'm most likely not going to get a starting place. Well there are plenty of races left on the calender. Definately enjoying the sfelt GT ride, the maxxis mimo's very predictable. Scooting around joggers, bladers, walkers, etc along the river is so much easier knowing i can just hop the sidewalk and hit the grass, so much easier and a whole lot more fun! Thanks to ESC

Covers

Happy Birthday
Tough exterior, weathered, hardened...but sensitive and soft like teddy bears
Ha Ha
Have a good one!

Video....Courtesy of ESC

Not Tight

Yes, I look that tired......welcome to bonkville

Just a start

Alan, the Photographer does a great job getting some good shots for the Root66 crowd.

Sprints with the Hometown Crowd

I don't remember what the last post was about, but i'm sure it had to mention the cold/fever I had. I'll just start off with the good stuff and skip the fluff (however fluff, peanut butter with Nutella would be a triple decker combo of sweet sanwichy goodness).... Headed to CT for the Smashing Pumpkins race. A new set up, wife, infant, stroller and the whole family were in tow. The legs weren't exactly up to snuff after a good 3-day fever, sore throat combo infection and limited sleep. Had my cousin and Todd out on the course taking pictures and heckling me to go on. So with the family on the sidelines, had to give it a good shot, or least a good start.
It was a small group, about 12 in my age class. Talk of some new single track out on the backside of the course was all the talk at the starting line. We line up, the whistle blows, and I just decide to Tree Farm it off the line and rocket (Sprint off the line and make everyone crank to catch up...stretching the field out, breaking the rythym, maybe cracking a few riders). Took off, had a good 5 second gap on the field, the heart rate went up, breakfast came with it and I had to settle down to follow AJ for a bit who caught up but he was on a mission, luckily James and I hooked up and paced eachother for most of the first lap. Good start..! Riding hard on the first 3/4 of the lap..felt ok, not great but I was giving it a good show. Picked up a stick in the rear derailleur, chain started skipping like mad. Just kept riding it out becuase riders were behind me, or at least I thought. Tried motoring back to 2nd wheel but no luck, derailleur and drivetrain were having none of that. Todd and Eric were cheerin' me through the fun sections. Gave it a little extra gas, it always helps. Came through for the 2nd lap, nobody behind me, passed by the folks, having a good time, forgot about that puke feeling I had. I should have known that it wasn't going to get better. Midway through, a guy on a CX bike was drafting me so I tried to dump him, only on the single track but he would be right back up there on the wide flats....he did a few jump and jive moves and was around me on a piece of somewhat technical terrain with log rollers (more like a speed bump, I think todd has a photo of that section, i wasn't keeping it "tight"). I should have taken notes for the CX season becuase this guy was like silk, super smooth. One technical section later the rear tire slid off a root and the bike and I went down. The cleat on the right shoe came loose and I could not get unclipped. Decided it was just quicker to take my foot out of the shoe, remounted the bike only to find the rear wheel out of true as well. It was cocked over to one side and the brakes were rubbing, had to disconnect the rear brake. A bunch of 40-49 yr old passed by while I sorted that out. Didn't want to give up. When you fall, you can either get up and ride hard and pissed or allow it shake you off your rythym and kill your motivation. I did a little of both. Rode the last mile out and finished a respectable 3rd. 54 minutes or there abouts I think. Pictures will follow, maybe a video, it was a great race despite the mechanicals. it was good to have the family, grandparents, wife / son, todd, etc. It was a good race. No more beginner, next season...Sport, a whole new level of finishing last! As Coach-G says...Keep it Tight Roadie.

Down and out

Its been 5 days and it has been nothing but a feverish, mucous, sneezin' wheezin' mess. I cannot kick this cold. Those little viral monsters have invaded my system and avoide immune system detection. The lack of sleep probably has not helped much since the little man is sick as well. When he doesn't sleep, we don't sleep. The Last ride was sunday and that was only 30 minutes of pain. Today was the first day riding since then, and the legs feel dead. Hopefully they will come around before sunday. I just want to finish the event, get some training on the legs, maybe try out a few CX moves that the coach-g taught me and see how it goes. I imagine its gonna be tough to breathe when every breath you take is followed by a hacking cough and some rainbow color flem. I thought everyone would want the visual. Just a quick update, thats all I have, it's been an ueventful week. La Casa De Pedro...probably one of the best restaraunts around. Check it out if you are in the area. There steak, chorizo, paella, etc...all amazing dishes and the list goes on.

Landmines and Lapped traffic

Its been quiet a few interesting days on and off the bike. Boston college once agian pulledi to ff in double overtime so it was a good game for the little man to see. The crowd noise definately jolted him a little bit but being able to stare at some many moving objects made his day. The legs felt a little better with a few days off so saturday evening, hit the streets with the CX bike and got the saddle height dialed in as well handle bar tilt. The bike is definately coming around, which is more than I can say for the rider atop. Hit some baseball fields to practice dismounts and remounts. Went pretty well until the legs gave out and decided it was best to ride it home before bonkville set in. Sunday was a day in patience. I did a local CX training race...15 laps, 30 minutes. Didn't sound so bad. It pretty much went as follows: Sprint off the line, taste puke, jump off bike, run, jump a barrier (a horse couldn't jump this thing- i looked like a fat kid at military camp), taste more puke, slide back on the saddle, hammer....get lapped. I finished 4-laps down..luckily there were two other suckers who kept me company and the leaders had no fun passing this wheezing looser. I had the only bike that didn't have an ounce of carbon fiber or some fancy name brand part I couldn't pronounce. Proud that I was keeping it real....at the back...way back of the pack. Sunday late afternoon, the coach showed up and demanded beer and tightness so the schwinn got the Coach-G tune up and the GT got a little TLC as well and then it was off to have the brazilan heckle me in the training fields. Got some good advice, good tips, some strange commentary that makes no sense. After parking it for the day, I noticed my basement smelled rather rank, turns out people don't clean up after their dogs as much as I thought...shoes, tires...nastiness....No more riding for a few days this week...nothing like a fever, a cold and a sore throat to round the weekend off

Maidan Voyage

Yes, you are looking at the new, slightly used CX bike. Look out C-class riders, for those of you looking to finish last, watch out, cause thats my spot. I'm gonna challenge you for second to last place, just maybe. Podiums, I don't think so, Beers back at the car becuase you didn't DNF, hell yes!!!
I got the maxxis mimo tires on last night and they look pretty tight. However this morning, riding the GT in, I noticed that these tires have amazing traction, they pick up every grain of sand and dust and spit it back in your face...which was a good thing becuase I needed something to wake me up. The bike handles pretty nice. I have to work out the positioning still, raise the seat, get a new stem to push the bars further out for my lanky arms. But the bike is ready to ride. She can handle the bumps really well and when it gets rough, nothing gets rattled loose. It's definately a real looker....and since I ride so slow, everyone will get a long, very long look.
Happy birthday to Vuth, turning the big 30....its all downhill now, so ride it fast and corner hard, becuase its only a few more years till your 40......

I don't have much to update since this day job has been getting in the way of riding and hanging out with friends. Not too mention the drool creature at home is getting rather active these days. Rolling over, eating his hands, rolling over some more, coating most everything in a thick layer of drool. NICE....

Lookin out for the one you love

2 person tent, girlfriend, and a bike....tough decisions have to be made

Hills-Laughs-More Hills

Labor day weekend. If I were to count the calories consumed compared to the calories burned, it would sicken even the hardest individual. It was a great weekend even though it rained pretty good one day. I could give you the detailed synopsis events of the weekend but I wouldn't want to bore you with the mudane details of middle aged newbie parent trying to entertain his son with goofy expressions every 5 seconds that illicit a funky smile or gob of drool. The brief but not brief vesion goes as follows. I brought the roadbike up north so the Schwinn could grace the newly paved route 103. Saturday I went out at turtle pace and just took it a nice 80 minute stroll, creeping along the harbor. I noticed that some maple trees were already turning. Its too soon for this to happen. I made it to the top of Mnt. Aggie, it was pretty tough going, the form just wasn't there so I turned around and headed home. Saturday night, I hung with two familiar faces. Good to see the boys again even though one of them rides around on "Tiger Paw" tires. Those tires sound like they belong on some pink tricycle. I couldn't let that slide. I made it be known. And its good to see that the UNH site has got photo's up, it made for an entertaining evening.
Sunday. Rain and dreary skies. It kept up us cooped up for most of hte day, occasional sneaking out with the little one so he could drool in the fresh ocean air. Not too mention, watching the water run out of the gutters...to him...that was some pretty amazing entertainment.
Monday, i think my legs were made of lead. They could even push the pedals so like a true athlete in training I joined up (more like tagged along) with some bike club. I talked briefly with one fellow about Cross racing. He said it was the ultimate suffer-fest, more pain than i could ever imagine. He wasn't painting a bright picture. The group ride finished their warm up period and put it into high gear. I was dropped pretty damn quickly. They passed me again after they themselves did two laps up Mnt. Aggie. Cyclocross season, still have to think about it.
Gotta get the Giant up an runnin for the Landmine race this weekend but I think to spare my equipment from further super-abuse. If it's raining on sunday, I'm skipping the race and riding sprints in the basement instead. Maybe fire up hte ESC-GT and get her ready for the first foray into "suffer-fest". Why couldn't they say..."its tough but not bad".....

Shutdown - Restart

So, the brain tells the rest of the body what to do
however there are some days when I have to believe the brain is tired, ready to give up, thinking of quiting, but the legs are saying "screw the brain." They just go about their business. They are the engine that just keeps running even after the key has been pulled. They know what to do, i think the legs stopped listening to the brain the other day. 80 minutes of riding in traffic, stop lights, pedestrians, 23.42 miles...thats about an average of 27km/hr. Not too shabby for me. The next day...brain and legs agreed..nap time. Lets see if the form returns tommorrow after a rest day...cuase "I don't think this is a Brains kind of operation"...just have to keep reminding myself of that. Its a weekend, back in a few days after I have mounted the new Maxxis Mimo tires on the ESC-GT...Gotta spin those out on the trails and see how they handle. Get ready for my first cross disaster. Still, DNF's are not acceptable, becuase even a bad race day, can become a training day

The Fire Is Out

The Giant is fixed, shifting pretty flawlessly, the rear wheel is a little off but its going to take a beating at the Landmine race, so you would think it would be easy to get back out there. The weather, the lack of sleep, the crap food I ate the other night, whatever the excuse, the legs are just tired, the brain is tired, the soul is gone. Complete flame out. However i found a killer deal on some maxxis mimo CX tires so I went ahead, sold some stuff on craigslist, ordered up the new tires and hopefully they will arrive so i can mount them on the ESC-GT bike and get out there to see if this CX-stuff is for this amigo. We'll see how it goes.
Another busy week behind the lab bench, taking care of business as usual. The little one and I spent the whole day together yesterday, we both were pretty wiped out at the end of the day and glad to see mom arrive home. Time well spent, soon on the menu...Gloucester CX Event, BC Football and Bruins Games. There will be plenty of things for him to see and drool over, becuase he is great at looking and drooling. It's his bread and butter.
Football season is upon us. Carson Palmer looked amazing the other night, solid passing, got knocked around, his knee looked good. We'll have to see how the season starts but do I dare be optimistic, these are the "Bungles"....but with Chad, Rudi, TJ, Def and Palmer all back in the mix.....hmmm
Alright, this update has been rather uneventful. Nothing new to report, it's been one of those weeks, weekends, whatever where time has passed and your still not sure what you have done. So much like the week, this update is exactly that...space...check out vuth's blog, he's got stuff updated on it

The Muffler Chronicles

So, I guess 7 years on the B-pipe isn't too bad considering the car isn't driven too much. Its tough to tell from the pictures but, the pipe rusted out and broke off right before the resonator. Right after the aft-catalytic converter heat shield. This of course happened just as I left work. But with a little imagination, the experienced wisdom of Evil Sievel custom exhuast repair, lots of picture hanger wire, and some MacGyver ingenuity, the civic made it home. I'm sure most of Cambridge, Watertown, Waltham and surrounding community heard the beast coming home. I think I might have woken up the entire campus of Harvard driving down memorial drive. People always have said that the civic is a head turner with the good looks but now it really gets your attention in that "holy christ what is that awful sound" kind of way. Looks like I'm taking a trip over to Hondaa King Auto Repair

Monday...what

It was one of those weekends where you aren't too too busy, or at least you don't have alot planned but the time just flies by and before you know it, it's sunday 11pm and you realize that in just a few short hours (and run-on sentences) that you have to be at work. Basically my weekend was concluded with some bike rebuilding with the help of Vuth, the new master mechanic. After Harris Cyclery put the new BB on, the chain-line was off on the front derailleur. A new cable and an hour of labor, its working pretty good now. Next up was the rear wheel on the schwinn that took a beating in the past week. It was all out of true but now is moving along pretty smoothly. Master Mechanic approved
Monday was going to be a long day and it turned out to be pretty interesting. Came across a last minute Red Sox / Yankees ticket. Pretty sweet. Bleacher seats, so there was sure to be some action between NY and Red Sox fans. Maybe a little jawing, some punches, anything. I was a little surprised, the fans were pretty quiet and rather mellow. The players were pretty mellow as well. The sox lost and too top it off, my experiments in the lab didn't work either. So monday came and went in less than spectacular fashion.
Anybody know anything about cheap CX rims, just an idea of what I might need. I did however get to ride the bike home and I tried pushing every pedal stroke, every second only to bonk about 20 minutes...so if CX is gonna be that intense..I have to figure something out.
Well, i gotta run and check on the little one, see what he is drooling on now.

Happy Parent and Miles Logged

Yesterday was a great afternoon for the legs, 23.52 miles in 1:22:31. That was some motoring for me...ok...it was amazing motoring for me. It was such a great day for a ride i would have liked to keep going but the thought of Mexican food at home was too tempting. Got some nice Tacos de carne asada w/ gaucamole, refrieds..hmm tastey good. This morning the legs felt a little empty on juice however I was able to motor along at a pretty good clip avoiding joggers and rollerbladers along the river. I think once college is back in session it will be time for a new route to work. It's an idea. One of many that circulate in this empty noggin'.
Enjoy the pict, becuase that is one happy parent right there and one happy kid...i'm sure all the girls were checkin' him out, I think I was the accesory at that point.
On a funny note, a mouse crapped in my little zen garden at work...it was a pretty interesting way to start the morning...guess the garden doubles as a litter box!
Till the next time, the chores are adding up, the list is getting long, better get cranking on it before the leaves start dropping

The verdict

The bike has been repaired. If Norm couldn't fix it, no one could. Can't wait to get the old' gal back this weekend. Even though the cash was supertight and I had to go with a lowly shimano XT bottom bracket, i'm hoping it will hold up as long as the race face did. we will see.
Last night..Aidans first Red Sox game. He was more into people watching, finding the blinking lights than he was into watching the game. He'll soon learn. It was a great time and he behaved really well. Many thanks to nancy and jeff for the tickets and the ride over. I think Aidans and Beatrice (spelling?) first date out went pretty well,ahahaha. Picts will be posted of this monumentous occasion. Its not often that I get to go to a sox game but with him it was a new experience and he did pretty well. Too bad he didn't sleep well last night cuase i'm feeling a little tired today
To the morning ride in, great morning to get out and ride around the river. IT was a great ride but the legs feel like trash. Can't get out of the saddle and crank. Maybe the CNS is just tired and I need some time off the saddle. a rest week. Until I download those picts....thats about it

Hodges Damn Destruction

Sunday, at 9:30 am I knew exactly what was needed for this style of course, all out pedaling. The course was completely different this year and during the pre-ride I heard a little creaking from down below. Bottom bracket...its made noise before so I didn't think much of it. We get called to the line. It was a long gradual fire road of loose rock and gravel until you enter the first stint of single track. Whistle blows, we all take off. I couldn't get clipped in right away so I had to make up ground and was able to get to second right when we turn into the woods...and then it happened. That strange noise, something you have never heard before but you know instantly that it cannot be good. Creak, Groan, and an odd scraping sound. Bottom bracket just self destructed but it wasn't all lost yet, I managed to hold first down for about a mile before the wobbly spindle became a floating wobbly spindle and I lost any shifting. My bike was in full ghost shift mode. I mananged the first lap and even did the second lap. Trying to run, walk, huff and puff through it. I figured any kind of aerobic training would be good and I haven't run in MTB shoes before so why not. FInished the race dead last but there will not be a DNF next to my plate #. I think I only finished about 14 minutes off the leader.
The bike is going ot need some serious work. The bottom bracket cups could be siezed in the frame but Norm over at the Cyclery is gonna work the black magic and coax it out....I hope.....he had a reserved optimism about it. Till the next time, the sounds of shredding steel will sure haunt my dreams

Updation

Yeah, thats a made up word.
So, its been a long time I have not seen the duo of John and Mike. I haven't seen John since the wedding (left) and Mike since...who knows when (right). It was a good weekend to get the old family and friends reunion together. As kids the four of us use to raise such hell. Terrorize Holyoke community college on our dirt bikes, fireworks at the resavoir, chillin on the beach or hitting up the arcades, you name it! It was great to catch up with them and have a few beers over old laughs. The weekend and few days off was much needed. If it wasn't for this annoyingly itchy poison ivy, it would have been perfect. Too, Jack, sorry we didn't get to down a few pounders. I gotta get my act together. One day soon, schaefer pounders or Long trails will be flowing while the grill is cooking up something tastey. Congrats on the promotion too.
Has it been that long already. With this poison ivy everywhere, the lycra has not been comfortable and my form of late has suffered. I rode the scwhinn tonight up through arlington and lexington only to find that legs are mush, and I couldn't push the pedals. Ah, maybe tommorow will be a better day for dancin'. Gotta keep the miles up for this weekends race. Its gonna be fast and not technical so I'm already at a disadvantage. Techincal is where i'm pretty good at, its those long stretches of all out pedaling that just sap my energy. Anyhow, race this weekend, race in a few few weeks and then MTB season is over and I have to give a thought the CX season....can I handle it...can it handle me...

The itch that you can't scratch

Poison Ivy...AHAHAH.
I have it on my face, arm, legs, back, stomach
Teaches me not to fall again....so itchy
i just want to itch itch itch

Fort Rock Rumble

wow, bumps, bruises, scrapes, broken parts and a huge smile was all that was left on my face at the end of this race. a great trip for sure. I have never ridden Fort Rock in my life but from Vuths accounts, its suppose to be a great area to ride so I couldn't pass up this oppurtunity. Since time is short, my basic recap or what I can remember was as follows: Vuth got a great start and I followed him up the hill and we entered the single track one two three. It was a great start for both of us, making everybody behind us work. Good strategy. About 30 seconds into the woods I was already hopping off hte bike and runing over rock gardens to gain any advantage. IT worked pretty well, those cyclocross guys have something with all that dismounting and running. I was ablte to keep moving forward and I caught most of the senior 1 men pretty quickly. By mile 4 I was on the tail of some kid on a cannondale scalpel that I spoke to before hte race. He was pretty cocky so I rode his tail and kept gunning by him until he cracked. I think he finished two minutes behind me in the senior 1 men. By mile 6 my back was really tightening up and I took huge spill off this long wood bridge. I believe that is where i got all my poison ivy from!!!! Managed to break my computer and bend a brake lever. But pushed it to hte line and had a great finish. Vuth had a great finish for his first race, if it wasn't for his flat I think he could of had 4th place easily and with some more time...3rd. It was a great race day, a great time, thanks EFTA and everybody...alright, its late and the poison ivy is really itchy

Mild Heat

Wednesday had to be the hottest day of the year for me by far. The morning commute to work was bearable but you could already notice the mercury tipping 90 degree's by 9am. It was quite the shock to the system leaving work and trying to ride in the stiffling heat. My brain just cooked under the helmet. I managed to ride until goose bumps started forming and I was getting the chills, hello heat exhuastion. At that point I salvaged what was the rest of the ride home. I could even wear the HRM becuase it kept sliding out of position, i was sweaty mess.
Looks like Fort Rock Revenge is going to get some good weather and the rain doesn't look like it will materialized. This could mean a race without drivetrain issues but somehow I just got the feeling I jinxed that.
I don't know what to think about the cyclocross racing idea. It sounded exciting at first but now that I am starting to see CX guys out training, I am wondering if it is a sound decision. We will have to wait and see. Right about now I could use a Bratwurst, a burger and a nice plate of steamers. Have you ever craved food so bad that you can taste it!
Last night, we tried a new sub shop. Mimo's. It's a little tiny Italian sub shop with great food. We both got smalls to split and share, they were HUGE. A Meatball sub and a Chicken parm sub, both were great. Good amounts of meat and sauce. Pretty inexpensive and low key. I could definately find myself eating there again...and again..and again.

Say What

Something about riding home after "one of those days" at work that relaxes the mind. Work lately hasn't been the biggest priority. I have a 14 pound creature at home that likes constant movement and motion, which is fine with me becuase i can never sit still anyways, always gotta keep shuffling around. not too mention he is growing at such a rapid pace, everyday he does something new. Like the other night, he spit up down my shirt and in my hair...something new!!! Monday I was able to turn a 25 mile ride out of my commute home. Really kept the pace up and about 2 miles from home, I ran out of energy, the tank had run dry, Welcome to Bonkville...population..ONE. A good ride but it was getting steamy. It's only going to get worse as the week progesses, a predicted 100 degrees on wednesday. I can't even remember what that is gonna feel like. Heat wave, global warming.....just means the beers will taste that much colder! Now thats spin...
Something I can't figure out. Why is it, when you are driving on the highway and all the sudden everybody slams on their brakes...only to see a state trooper with someone already pulled over. I don't quite get it. Why slam on your brakes? Do you think the police officer is going to decide that rather than giving a ticket to the person he already has pulled over, he is gonna run back to his cruiser, jump in and chase you down. What suddenly makes you a better person to ticket. Just an everyday occurance.
Can't stop the rambling, it's just dribbling out this evening.
So, Sunday...the MTB race at FORT ROCK, Exeter NH. This should prove interesting as saturday is my company outing and it's open bar. Hmm...Choices...i'm sure all you can eat BBQ and cold suds will win over smart / healthy eating and sunday will turn into a great Lactic acid suffer festival of pain..Bring it on...well..only mildly. The great news is that Vuth is going to attempt his first race. I'm telling him to take it easy, ride clean lines and don't go above his limits on the first lap...but since I've never raced there before, i'm just as beginner as he is. It will be fun regardless.

Which Direction

The nice thing about taking the road bike out is that you can ride in any direction and not have to use your car to get there, which is good when you have an infant at home that wants alot of attention. This morning the little one awoke rather early so I was able to get out of house at 7am for a good 60 minute ride (not much for you pro's but good enough for my sleep deprived state of mind). It was pretty crazy to see all the wind and rain damage after last nights thundershowers swept through. Lots of downed tree limbs, road washouts, etc. Got home in time to feed the little one and do some tummy time with him. He was in a good mood so it was a ton of fun and I missed what apparantly would be considered toxic waste...a good pooping.
The mountain bike is degreased, cleaned up and ready to roll again. The shifting isn't as crisp but its still clickin' away hittin' all gears so I can't complain with 8 year old shifters
Brother in law was also in town filming a pilot for his pyschic improv group. It went really well and I can't wait to see the finished results. It should be pretty amazing. Alright, gotta get this day started and start knocking things off this to-do list, becuase its a long list, that only grows and grows. Sounds like the neighbors garage door opener is about to die, so i'll probably have to take a look that too, better add that too the list.

Passing the time

My pirate name is:

Dirty Harry Kidd

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You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate
name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Drug testing

You have to be kidding me. Just what cycling needs now, another doping scandal. It's too early to throw Floyd under the bus like so many already have, the US media has pounced, like it always does when a scandal appears. I thought the riders name was to be kept in secret until the B-sample or a guilty verdict was place. What do I know. Does anybody really have any idea what happens to the human body, the metabolism issues, cardiovascular, hormonal, endocrine, regulatory system. The list goes on. You are looking at a complicated network that keeps us doing what we do everyday and to place hard, sustained, painful, efforts, day after day after day. Sure his B-sample can be positive for Testasterone again but why would a cyclist take it, to bulk up, that last thing a climber wants to do is carry his huge 24 inch pythons up the Alp De Huez. Then again, a quick search of Medline shows an article like this

High doses of alcohol increase urinary testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio in females.

Karila T, Kosunen V, Leinonen A, Tahtela R, Seppala T.
National Public Health Institute, Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Helsinki, Finland.

The effect of alcohol (1.2 and 2.0 g/kg) on the urinary testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio was studied by two experiments each conducted with four healthy females and males. The intake of 2.0 g/kg of ethanol within 5 h in the evening significantly increased plasma testosterone concentration and ratio of T/E in urine collected next morning in females. The results suggest that alcohol increases the T/E ratio more in females than in males. The effect of high doses of alcohol on urinary T/E ratio must be kept in mind when doping tests are performed during training periods.

NO matter the outcome, his win, his name have all been tainted. Its done, its draining, exhausting and the effort to debate this is wasted...lets talk about something else....how about those Bears

Mad Mud Cycling

Hola Amigos
So i've been on vacation. I don't even know where to start this long ramble. Vacation was pretty good. It started the same day that Ryan Trebon rocked the US Nationals and Barry Wicks gased it in the Short Track Contest. Way to go for Adam Craig who nailed the Super-D and last but not least Carl Decker for the SS win. A great weekend for Kona. I hope to see some great performances at the worlds for those guys. Also, I cannot forget to mention the man of the hour, Floyd Landis. A great and inspiring ride. He has done something that I personally never witnessed, bringing back an 8 minute gap with a nice solo effort. Pretty nice. It was a good and unpredictiable tour.
So...vacation. Needed to take some time off with the little one and we packed it up to maine. Had a great trip and Aidan of course had a good time, he filled his diapers with excitment!!! Got my 1st long MTB ride in of the season with Vuth at Mnt Aggie. A great ride with plenty of time to get lost...seriously, we got lost but eventually ended back up on the road, so it was all good fun. A warm day but it wasn't too bad in the woods with the shade and all the friendly mosquitos. I was able to manage a good 2 hour ride on wednesday that included two climbs up the Mnt Aggie access road so that put the hurt on. I biked along the ocean and the york harbor area for some fun every day to keep the mileage up. We found a really good Tapas place...yes I know what you are thinking, over-priced tiny dishes of food. No...at this place you got plenty of food for your 5 bucks. All Tapas were 5 dollars, the most expensive thing was the cheese platter but it was worth every penny. Chapman Cottage was a great place. Good food, nice and quiet, a good little escape for the wife and I.
So, back to reality, decided that I needed to see how my two weeks of training went so I entered the Root66 Nutmeg Nor'easter race. It had rained alot but I wasn't too worried about that. Since i haven't raced in a while I was more worried about having trouble riding upright. The course has a small climb right at the start banner, this leads up to some single track that was rather muddy. I had to get a good start becuase once everyone funnels into the singletrack I didn't want to get stuck behind people slipping, sliding and falling over, that would just allow the leaders to get away. So being inspired by Tree-Farms approach to the nationals, I figured if it worked for him, it should fail miserably for me. The start whistle goes off and I set a good tempo going up the first hill and enter the single track leading the pack. I kept the tempo up, further stringing out everybody behind me. It was a great start, i thought i was going fast and riding strong. I managed to keep that position for about a mile and then i got passed like I was standing still. That was tough but i held onto second for as long as I could, but eventually got passed by the 2nd and 3rd riders, they were never to be seen after the 2nd lap. i couldn't keep up the strong effort, I have to find a way to get my heart rate to recover quicker and have the legs to close down gaps. I finished in 4th. It was a real challenging mud fiesta. I had some serious chain-suck issues and derailleur shifting problems...more like lack of shifting that was the problem. Dirt really cakes onto the front derailleur and it just won't budge after a while, so I have to be very selective in my gearing. I had a few good slips, the Fire-Pro XC were the wrong tire choice, they caked with mud and never shed any of it. I had a great time and I wish I could race more as it felt amazing to lead that first mile or so. I had high hopes and finished with high hopes. It was also the first time that members of our age group were talking about training techniques and diet...none of which I follow but it really showed how riders want to improve, move up and keep the level of competition high. I have to motivate and get more mileage on the legs if I want to keep up. Thats about it for now, if I get motivated and the little one lets me, maybe i'll post a pict or two.

Poor Timing and No Motivation

I don't really even know where to begin. What people can do with a snowplow, some paint and lots of time. It was a fast week at work and at home. Only got to ride on monday and tuesday but tuesdays saddle time was cut short due to thunderstorms. I tried getting up this morning with good intention of getting at least 90-120 minutes of riding in before I went to work , however, Aidan didn't wake up at his usual 5am so we got to sleep in. Maybe i should be more happy about that. However the fact of the matter is that I have two weekends of racing coming up and I have to get more time on the saddle. Also I want to improve at wells ave and maybe win an intermediate sprint, just maybe, these seem like lofty but attainable goals.
Cyclocross is the next idea floating around my empty head. Hopefully the owner of ESC will let me borrow his CX bike for my first CX event. Any suggestions out there? So knowing that i want to participate in that sufferfest, I want to start getting ready for that as well so I don't choke miserably. Gotta get ready for it all.
Hopefully this weekend and next week will be a good riding week. I do look forward to riding Mount Aggimenticus this weekend. That should be a great ride on sunday with Vuth. He'll back on the mTB for the first time in weeks and I'll be back on the Giant for the first time in months...and this time...I'll have brakes. Just got it tuned up and ready to go .
As for the Tour. Levi leienheimer and George Hincapie have not been the presence everybody though. Nor has Chris Horner but he is still there giving good interviews and all that. More mountain stages to come but Floyd Looks strong however I wouldn't rule out Cadel Evans right now. He is right up there as well and this is a tour of anarchy as someone put it, so anything and everything goes.
Gotta run, and keep and eye for the US National MTB races this weekend.

Weekend Success-Wells Ave

I can't believe it's already monday. It was a good weekend. The little one went on his first shopping trip, Trader Joes. Yes, really exciting but were able to hit up the isles of trader joes as well as Russo's market and get plenty of food for the week without incident. It turned out pretty good. Enjoyed the weather on saturday, got some yard work done, some cleaning, overall it was a good day.
Wells Ave racing was in store for sunday. Waking up early, the legs were pretty sore from MTB on friday so I wus'd out and drove over to the training race. Cat-5 C-race. 15 laps, about 14 miles overall I think. I wasn't expecting much with my last poor performance there. This time the field was much larger. Right from the roll-off were going 26-28mph, and we basically held that most of the race, a few slower laps when traffic got on the course. I hung with Francisco for a few laps but he charged to the front before he rode his goal to lead a lap and then dropped back. I was actually feeling pretty good tucked in the middle of the group. I made my way to the front with the help of someone we'll call Mr Arms...(HUGE biceps, body builder type racing in a white tshirt)..we got up to the front by going to the outside but we got passed by another surging group of 5 or 6 t(here were only two of us). We tried going for one intermediate sprint bonus but fell short by 50 meters. We faded back to recollect and recoup for a few laps. Tried again but went at it alone, big mistake and I paid the price, but I did get to the front and then faded back quickly. On the final lap, Mr. Arms and I tried getting to the front and working our way up, but we probably started too early on our sprint pullout and got beat going down the last leg. However this race, for whatever reason was alot better than my other wells ave attempt. So with yesterdays good race and good effort, I went home to grill up some goodies, have a few beers in the summer sun and play with the little one.

Lycra Fights

Yikes, it's friday. Its been one of those weeks where you can't keep the days straight becuase you already started off sleep deprived, over-fed and half brain dead waiting for the next upcoming weekend. The Tour de France has been pretty good so far. Its too bad Chris Horner busted up his hand, I hope to see him perform well in the mountains, maybe pull out a shocker but we'll see. Can you imagine two skinny lycra clad cyclists going at it while on their bikes. The exerpt is pasted below, it must have been pretty funny to the viewers
The two who got it on yesterday without boxing gloves were Walter Beneteau of Bouygues Telecom, whose teammate Jêrome Pineau is leading the mountains classification and Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente, who is second in the rankings. The two mixed it up previously, being fined for "irregular behaviour" on Wednesday.
Writing on www.sports1.de, Voigt described the scene this way: "Today the two were riding next to each other and all of a sudden, the Spaniard hits Beneteau full in the face! It was really loud, just like in a boxing match! Beneteau's helmet and glasses practically flew off his head! He swerved, because of course he hadn't been expecting anything like that."

The weekend is upon us. Hopefully we'll be able to talk to the new neighbors about their smoking and it seeping into our condo. I'm looking out for my infant and nobody else, he is all that matters when it comes to anything right now. Don't want their second hand smoke cuasing problems later on. Too much information has come out recently about the complications. Anyhow, thats condo living, can't afford anything else but we got a pretty nice pad so I can't complain, plenty of room for all the bikes, parts and accesories that always seem to find their way home to my house. Hopefully get some more grilling in this weekend, should be good weather, NO RAIN in this forecast. We'll see if I can get up on sunday AM and be ready for anothing ass-kicking at wells ave Cat 5 style. Fun...I'm such the beginner
Gotta run.

Ribs and Hill Climbs

Got to admit. These three day work weeks are pretty sweet. It was one of those weekends that could have kept going and you wouldn't have thought a second about what day it was. Got in plenty of BBQ action on saturday. Crazy steak tips, Chicken, Bacon wrapped corn. Bacon Wrapped Corn that was grilled to perfection...Smoked Ribs where the meat just fell off the bone. Saturdays feast was BBQ perfection. Saturday evening was spent sipping some Peebers on the StockPot deck with Jack. Catching up and just taking it easy seaside. Portsmouth is an amazing place to visit and probably an even better place to live, oh well...until then, its just enjoying the time spent there with friends....drinking beer on a deck somewhere.
Sunday, spent some time on the Maine coast. It was great weather for the first bike ride in 5 days. Got in only 20 miles before I gave up and headed home. Good to get the legs back into it and give the new Crank Brothers pedals a try out. The Quattro's are pretty nice. The first ride, they felt perfect. The rest of sunday was spent helping out around the condo, BBQ with the in-laws up on a lake cottage. A good time. Plenty of good eats as well. Never leave a table of food in front of me, becuase I can decimate an all you can eat BBQ like you have never seen. I apparantly digest food before it even hits my stomach.
Monday was spent on the saddle once again but I managed to push out a 2 hour ride, a tad over 30 miles, but the big thing for this rider was my first attempt at climbing Mount Agamenticus. There is a service road to the top, no flats, no false flats, all uphill. I managed to make it with no stops, a big feat for me becuase i'm usually to beat to even try it by the time i get there. Spent some time on the beach and once again eating a huge meal at a surfside fried seafood shack. Polished off a post-ride recovery meal of fried flams that were average and a fried haddock sandwich to top it off. Love the fried seafood.
Tuesday, headed back home to make it for the BBQ de Gus. He had a brazilian BBQ 4th of july style party. Good times. Many of his shaved leg cohorts were there to watch the Italy/Germany soccer game followed by that days Tour De France Stage. I had the hairiest legs of the bunch, those roadies can teach a woman how to shave her legs, it's just unsettling. They are a good group to chat it up with. But being a MTBer it's sort of like skiers vs snowboarders.....I'm done rambling on, till the next day. Gotta keep watching the tour, hopefully Chris Horner will have a stage suprise (but his hand injury might put the axe on that), maybe George or Levi will open up it up a bit, but then again the Bobby Julich could be the dark horse bringing the time trial pain...

Pedals of Fire

Yeah, as the great-Gus once said "You gotta keep it tight Roadie...TIGHT" And well, product speaks louder than words, so here they are. The new pedals. They go well with the color scheme of the XTC...a visual feast of color for your eyes.

The Tour in Chaos

I just read this morning that Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, both are out of the tour becuase their name...THEIR NAME... has been implicated in the spanish doping scandal. 31 riders have been kicked out, Mancebo, Sevilla, Beloki just to name a few. I'm sure by this evening there will be even more riders, what a shame. This really opens the doors to Hincapie, Leipenheimer, Landis, Cadel Evans, Rasmussen, who knows, maybe a few new names but there will always be that asterisk for this year 2006....no Ullrich, no Basso. In utter shock. This is event is something I look forward to every year...now....the luster isn't there. I will still watch and monitor the race every day but its going to miss something. Italian soccer mired in controversy, go Juventis, American Baseball..thanks balco, Cycling, Basketball thugs, Football thugs, Cheating college football stars taking money under the table...this is what sports has become.
Other than that, getting ready for the long weekend. I hope to get some picts posted of the new pedals up pretty soon. It won't be till after tuesday since I'm going to be pretty busy over the holiday. The crank brothers pedals, the candy and Quattro are very nice and shiny but their respective clip-in doesn't feel just right, it feels too soft and the cleat material seems like its going to wear out quickly. Only time will tell.
The Vuth is getting married this weekend...hope the sun stays out for him and his fiancee. He'll have fun either way. I hope to get back on the bike this weekend, its been too long off it, One hour ride one day to get the legs ready and then hill climbs the next day. Maybe a wells ave race on the 9th, we'll see. Gotta get in better shape, too many deserts and not enough fun time on the bike, but i have been able to spend loads of time with the litte one...and he is doing really well, the joy and excitment he brings is pretty amazing.

The big ball of fire in the sky

Tuesdays, a good day to get out and ride, well, instead I'll be at the Sox game loading up on the sausage subs and over-priced beers, but it will be worth it.
Took a nice spin yesterday, able to get about an hour in just before dinner time. Lots of road and washout debri on the roads but I kept motoring along. Met up with some other roadies to get a nice paceline going, however it seemed that my pulls up front were at about 3 mph slower than their pulls, i was eventually dropped......not that they or I was surprised.
Just a few days left before the Tour..Can't wait, hopefully we will some great riding, good break-aways and Chris Horner sitting on the ground at the end of each stage (Get that man a Chair).
Not sure about a new tire for the MTB. I run Panaracer Fire-Pro's right now but was thinking of switching to the Kendal Nevegal 2.1 Stick-E or the Kenda Blue Groove. I'm not sure. I don't want to get a new tire that can't prevent the random pinch flat. So far the Panaracers have been pretty solid during the races, do I dare switch...an ideas?
Gotta start really thinking about this Cyclocross stuff, do i even dare...can I even compete if I can't keep up with a Cat 5 racer...hmm...training time...zero. Rather watch the little one lie on his stomach and roll over...its pretty exciting as a new parent, then again, a shiny object would keep me occupied right about now