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...