Choices

Which is a more difficult situation?

a) having few choices

b) having many choices

What the hell am I talking about?

Cycling People

Well, once again, Solobreak was left off of People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" list. WTF? Any of the ladies who have known me and seen me dance know just what a travesty and a sham this is. And Solobreak wasn't the only cyclist dissed by these fools. In fact, I don't think there were hardly any athletes at all who even received an honorable mention. Do you have to be a famous entertainer to make this list? Then why don't they call it "Sexiest Rich as all fucking shit male entertainer alive?" And even then, who picks this shit? From the baby-faces on some of the top ten, I'm guessing it's a blue-ribbon panel of banished Congressmen and Catholic priests.

Sticking up for the rights of cyclists is part of our mission here. Beyond that, the power of the web and blogging has taken publishing out of the hands of the few and cast it in to the capable arms of the many. Print-media crap like People is going down like the back of the pack at a Cat 5 crit. So here we go, I'm launching my own "sexiest men alive" list, sure to become a worldwide phenomenon.

#5 Solobreak



What the hell, you didn't think I was going to leave myself off the list, did you? Yeah sure, my habits and mannerisms read like a list of turnoffs in a just about any woman's bio, but with wit, charm, athleticism, and dance moves like mine, none of that matters.

#4 Zoo



All I have to say here is "Save a little for next time dude."

#3 Gewilli



These stupid lists always have some father-figure guy on there, with a bunch of crap about how nothing is sexier than a man who cries, changes diapers, and makes waffles in the morning. Yeah, sure, whatever you say. This plays well to the couch cows who buy People, so we'll take a chance with it too. A close and tough one, Moveitfred and Feltslave were the also rans.

#2 C Todd



What list would be complete without a martini wine drinking, business class flying, loft living, silk tie wearing, chick pillowing party machine like CTodd? From the pic, you can obviously see the ladies are all over this guy. Thanks to the paparazzi for snagging this one. Bold got a few votes in this category, but since he hasn't made the switch from multi-sporter to bike racer yet, he just didn't get the nod. Besides that, once it was noted that CTodd had a copy of The Reluctant Metrosexual on his bookshelf (I'm not making this up!), the deal was sealed. Maybe next year Bold.

#1 This Person



'Cause nothing is sexier than a buff man's body, especially when it's attached to a woman. Or is that Gene Simmons?

Thanks for reading!

note: I stand corrected on CTodd's choice of adult beverage. I could have sworn there was a martini post back in his archives somewhere. And forgive me for the "nothing is sexier than a buff man's body" thing. Just shows I've been hanging out with the Cronoman too long (and he's probably pissed that I left Tommy M. off the list...) Really Ge, this was pure marketing. Until yesterday, the comments count has been way down. Looks like controversy sells better than sex. Who knew?

The you've got to be shittin' me department

Last night Cyclingnews.com reported that United States Anti-Doping Agency has reached an agreement with multi-doping violation "athlete" Genevieve Jeanson to overturn her "lifetime" ban and once again let the Canadian (kicked out of her native cycling organization for being a doper) race under the colors of the good ole U.S. of A. If there was ever a shred of evidence that USADA and USA Cycling were serious about curtailing doping amongst athletes, that is long gone now. "Give me your tired, your poor, your doped to the gills..."

When you hear me moaning and groaning

Here is a must read link. We should all be very grateful to KL for sending me this:

Masters Athlete Physiology and Performance

This is a scientific training site, focused on non-beginner masters, that isn't trying to sell you something, and although research based, is written in plain language and without all the latest buzzwords. Excellent information throughout, but be sure to check the main "Exercise Physiology" link and the running link. If you're training your ass off and it doesn't seem to be working, you might find some clues in here as to why.

I'm sure you also read the Vaughter's interview on cyclingnews. When this guy was racing, and all we had to go one were media snippets, and when he was a commentator on OLN, I found him hard to like. However, this quote just about says it all for me:

"I have never met one professional cyclist that wanted to dope. At least at the start of their careers. Not one."

Amen brother. We all get into this sport to get fit and be healthy. I know lots of us used the sport to get the hell away from recreational drugs and rockstar partying. So how is it that the best of the best, the most elite cyclists, the ones who train the hardest and take the best care of themselves end up using IV drugs and other unnatural shit? Thanks for reading.

P and L

Well, the sidebar gets an update today. No, didn't set any PRs or win any races, but I sold one frame and a couple of wheels at the bike swap. Someone got a great deal on my 1991 Panasonic team bike that I bought from Markie Mark back in 97. In the end I had to let it go for $100 to avoid taking it home. It had a brand new headset and bottom bracket, along with some nice single pivot Dura Ace brakes, the original 8 speed DA shifters and derailleur, and even a seatpost, seat, bars, and stem (all pretty junky though). The guy got a steal, but he didn't even realize it. I wanted at least $200, but the need to reduce the household inventory was just too great to resist the c-note. None of my other items fetched more than $20, but I blew out tons of old components, tires, etc, much of them for $1 a piece and ended up netting $300 total. I didn't even look at what the other vendors were selling, as my mission was to reduce, reduce, reduce. KL picked up an extra set of ATACs for $20, but that was the extent of the damage.

So I still have a set of brand-new, in the box, early nineties vintage Campy Chorus brakes, complete with levers, white hoods, and cables that you can have for the Blogger special price of $100 plus shipping. These are perfect of any Italian bike restoration project. My N.O.S. Campy Victory Strada tubular rims (one 32h and one 36h) also made the trip back home, and I'd be happy with $20 each for those. Oh yeah, and BTW, I got $1 for the black Silca from last week's picture. It went in the first two minutes of setup, so maybe I should have held out for $3 or so...

The riches gained on Sunday will allow me to pay for a massage that I probably don't need tommorow. The four day weekend, complete with mostly good weather, didn't yield a big block of training. I'm in downtime mode now. The change is hard to get used to, but the next three or four weeks really are the best time to back off from the bike. After the long season, the desire to ride just ain't happening for me. In good news, my back feels better, still very uncomfortable when trying to sleep, but otherwise not on my mind. Early weight gain however, presents a bit more of a problem. I've already attained a higher mass than I did at any point last winter. This is a bit strange, as my fall program of running exceeds last year's. Perhaps my diet has strayed a bit too far away from where it ought to be, which is another dissappointment, especially after skipping Thanksgiving and all (although I did score a $10 pie for $3 at the day after sale at Big Y).

Now I'm mulling a bigger commitment to running this winter. Things have gone quite well so far with my three day a week schedule. My race results are way better than ever before, albeit in small time local races that host only a handful of "real" runners. That doesn't matter though, as I've personally knocked over a minute/mile off of my race times from just two years ago, all with minimal run training. This weekend I discovered the FIRST running website, which advocates, of all things, a three day per week running program. They have (for free) plans to prepare for a 10K, as well as half and even full marathons while running just three days per week, with strong emphasis on recovery. It's hard for me to commit to a winter running project, as I'm not too keen on running between the snowbanks, but I think I'm going to give the half-marathon program a half-hearted try, and if the winter stays mild we'll see where that leads. The biggest change from my current casual running efforts will be to do a long run one day each weekend. Saturday KL and I stayed out on the trails of Borderland for 1:10, a record for me. Over the next two months I'm going to try to push this up past 90 minutes. There is a 15k race in Raynham in January, then a 10 miler in Foxboro in February. If all this works out, could a trip to New Bedford postpone the start of my 2007 cycling season? Thanks for reading

Blunt Trauma

The dull ache across my upper back kept me up most of the night. I just couldn't get comfortable. I caught most of the News Hour with Jim Lehrer when PBS-44 decided to come in half way decent for a change (the joys of rabbit ears and no cable. TV just ain't worth it). Why the pain? I would never have predicted this one...



As you can see, KL and I went out mountain biking on Friday. Backing up to Thursday, the forecast deluge of rain was nice enough to mostly hold off until after the Tiger Turkey Chase 5 miler. This year's event attracted 370 runners, which is pretty good. The course around town measures more like 4.86 miles than 5, so I cannot count my 31:21 finish time as a PR, but this, and running in only 17 seconds behind KL reassured me that all hope and fitness has not yet been lost. Soon after the race, the skies opened and the rest of the day rain poured down. No, we did not eat turkey, no special feast, nothing like that. Afternoon gluttony just isn't our style.

Friday dawned clear and nice, but flooding in the woods was a certainty. Rather than waste time traveling to Blue Hills, we stuck to the local trails so that we could bail to the roads if the flooding proved too severe. The town forest was impassable, with the trail completely under water. Taking the road down to Borderland, the access road in was amazingly dry. We found things were generally not muddy, but huge puddles of standing water had accumulated here and there. At one spot over on the backside of the bog, runoff had completely swamped the main road:



Navigating around the temporary pond, we made our way up Mountain Road (surprisingly dry) and up into the Morse Loop at the north end of the park. We found some new single track the NEMBA crew had created and then KL got a lesson in riding through huge puddles as we came upon more flooding. Still no mud though. The day was nice and warm, so we stopped at a flat spot in the trail for a quick primer on log hopping. KL hasn't done much mountain biking, despite her storied career as a road racer. I'm not exactly John Tomac either, but I was the only instructor available. So we have this small log (huh-huh) laying across the trail, and I'm trying to show her ways to ride over it. This reveals that KL does not know how to do a wheelie. Well, apparently neither do I... Normally, I never get the front wheel anywhere near the balance point, instead merely lofting it just enough to get up onto an obstacle. Well, concentrating on form, I lectured her to select the correct gear, shift your weight back... gentle tug on the bars as you drive the bike forward... right fucking over, hard, never got unclipped at all, full force slam tailbone, shoulders, back of the head. Ouch. Fucking ouch. I lay there convulsing, wind 90% knocked out of me, as my pupil looked on in horror. Man that fucking hurt. Seeing stars, down on all fours, trying to suck some air into my temporarily squashed diaphragm.

I had my camera, water bottle, and inflator in my back pockets too. Luckily no damage. The helmet wasn't cracked either (I need a new one anyway though). My upper back, right between the shoulder blades, took the brunt of the impact. Luckily, the ground wasn't frozen, and there were only a few rocks to land on. Could have been worse. That concluded today's lesson.

We rode back home. I felt like shit the rest of the day. This morning my head is still a bit foggy and my back hurts like hell, but it's just an ache and no specific area of pain indicating anything broken. Looks like a steady diet of ibuprophen for another day or two. The weather looks awesome, so maybe we'll get out a bit today, but tommorow is the bicycle swap meet and I've got to turn some excess junk into cash. That's the scoop. Hope you all had a great holiday, and kept the jelly side up. Thanks for reading.

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The sun finally made an appearance this afternoon. Blue Hill looked pretty inviting as the sun sunk into the west, illuminating the steep face of the hill that looks out past the cube farm and over Route 128.



The Lowell CX results were posted, and my name is somehow missing. Since they broke out the 35+ and 45+ results, but did not list any times, I'm left wondering exactly where I finished. I know I was one spot ahead of Jeff P. from Cyclonauts, but he was in the 35's. I was behind Leeberg from Gearworks, and also immediately behind and NEBC rider, but I'm not sure if it's the guy listed in the 35's or the one in the 45's. So I must have been somewhere between 16th and 19th in the 45's. Either that or they found a reason to DQ me (three steps forward in the pit without a bike? I don't think so, as there was no official in the pit and I was hidden behind the support van at the time of the alleged incident that only I know took place). Besides, usually they list DQs on the sheet. Oh well.

The course was excellent, very old school, yet without anything that wouldn't be acceptable at a top notch pro race. I wish this one fell earlier in the season when I still had a bit of fitness, as this is my kind of course. There were lots of good pedaling sections. Just for the hell of it, I started the race on my Yo Eddy. I got a much better than usual start after banging bars with some guy all the way into the backside of the running track. After the stone steps, I ended up just a bit more than halfway back through the field. On the MTB, riding the "run up" climb was quite easy, even with the mess that occurred on the first lap. On the downhill switchbacks, this bike was totally secure, even with 1.7 inch tires. The first lap I didn't lose too many spots, and even passed a few here and there. Then on the next lap I came upon JD riding his single speed. I passed him on the flat before the big climb, but then as I turned onto it, he comes flying by me. Apparently he was resting on the flat so that he could wind it up and carry speed into the hill. I rode in a group with him and some other guys the rest of the lap, but then one of my knee warmers slid down to my ankle. Knowing this was sure to snag the chainring, I pulled it off while we were on the track, but that took me longer than expected and I lost the group. That was the beginning of the end.

I blew myself up trying to catch them, and as I sucked wind to try and recover, Jimmy O'mara (BOB baby!) caught and passed me. I followed wild Jim, but when he bunny-hopped the stone steps I heard the hiss of his pinched rear tube. Of course, he kept riding hard (crazed ex-motocrosser) and I focused on trying to pass him on the inside, anticipating the inevitable slide out. This ended up totally messing me up, and I misjudged (actually forgot) where a corner was and slid to a near stop. After finally clearing my teammate/menace, I again blew myself to smithereens trying to regain the lost ground.

About this time, I was hearing "four to go" over the PA. That didn't seem correct, as we had already done four laps, and were 33 minutes into it. I wasn't sure if it were a 45 minute or a 50 minute. That was when I decided to switch to the cross bike on the next lap. I took the bike out of the pit, and right away I could feel how much easier it was to gain speed. The MTB would be faster in a one lap race, but the amount of power it took to keep it going was way higher. Of course, the cross bike wasn't on rails in the corners like the MTB, and compared to the one-finger V brakes on the Yo, the cross bike may as well have no brakes at all. The Frogleg cantilevers on there are a copy of ancient Mafac technology, and they are fucking useless.

After a few encounters with the tape, I lost yet more spots. Mercifully, (that word comes up a lot in cross race reports), the lap counter said two to go, and we would only do seven laps, not eight. I saved a bit to make a run at the three guys close in front of me, but when I wound it up on the track at the end, so did they, and I caught nobody. Gewilli even might have been able to have a go at me if he'd got a better start.

During this race I realized that continuing on this season was futile. My body was telling me all the wrong things during this race. The edge is now dull, and I couldn't go hard for more than half a lap without blowing up, and then it would take me forever to recover. Just a few weeks ago this was not the case. So that is it for me.

This was also my last race in the yellow, red, and blue clown suit of Team BOB. No, I'm not changing teams, but we have secured three new sponsors for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons and will thus be racing in completely new kits next year. You'll just have to wait for the press release to see our new colors. This was a very big deal put together by Feltslave, with an exciting new product from a non cycling industry title sponsor. The product will hit the supermarket shelves this January, so make sure you buy tons of it. Thanks for reading!

And so it ends - my 2006 bike racing season

Results from the Lowell CX race haven't been posted yet, but I don't need to see them to know that I scored some big Bloggercross points yesterday, albeit a few less than Gewilli. No matter, as now I've met the five race minimum, and I'll be sitting on my point total from here on in. I am done.

A quick review of the training log reveals that I toed the line for competition 46 times this calendar year. This includes six running races (two each 5K, 10K, 5 mile, with a PR at each distance), nine training crits, five training time trials, three duathlons, five cyclocross races, and twenty-one bike races (counting individual stages). I had only one DNF, a flat tire in a training TT, and of course I didn't start the last stage at the GMSR. Then we had D2R2, not a competition, but this 10 hour epic helped make the year memorable. Surely my biggest season in years, and I snagged a few podiums at "real" races and managed to win a Tuesday night Wompatuck for only my second time ever.

At Lowell, I could only "race" for a half a lap without blowing up. Enough is enough. I've been training and racing pretty consistently for eight months and it's time for a break. I'll run in my local Thanksgiving day 5 miler on Thursday, then that will be that. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Obligatory Friday Post

Quick and dirty post. Spent the morning on domestic hygiene and made some good progress, but I still have a long way to go. No training today. The week wasn't so bad, did a couple of runs, despite stubbing my toe badly on Monday, and I got in my usually telecommuting road ride during Wednesday's warmth. Applied some TLC to my Wicked Fat Chance, lubing the brake cables and putting on some old 1.7 Ritchey Megabites. Took the cages and bar-ends off too, so I might try it for a lap or two at Lowell.

I'll go all Gewilliesque now. Here is the menu today here at Canton:

Entree
B.B.Q. Rib Dinner with Baked Beans, Collard Greens, and Corn Bread

Rita's Choice
Blackened Catfish with Remoulade Sauce and Dirty Rice

Soup
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Specials
Assorted Pizzas
Fried Shrimp Po Boy with Shredded Lettuce and Spicy Red Pepper Mayo

What should I go with? Decisions, decisions. I'll have to scope it out. I've still been waiting for a sunny day to take some pictures of my lavish new digs.

So who is doing which race at Lowell? I want to go head to head with you clowns, but doing the masters at 10 am and getting it over with has a certain appeal too. I know Zoo and Feltslave are too junior to do the masters, but what about Gee? It would be really cool if moveitfred could take the boat ride and come to the city of boat people for the race too. This might be the last chance. Zoo and Felt doing the B's?

Thanks for reading.

Purple People Eaters

In honor of Feltslave's upgrade to Cat 3, I share this photo of my last moments as a Cat 4. This is July 1987, and I'm wearing the original purple colors of my first team, the Boston Road Club, who are also hosts to this weekend's cross race in Lowell.



This is the Bay State Games criterium, back when it was held right out on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The start finish was between the bridges, and the course headed west, through the "cobbled" Mass Ave underpass before doing a hairpin turn and coming back east. You then did another hairpin and sprinted back up the other side. My day ended with a podium on the steps of one of those buildings (an MIT library maybe?), in 3rd place. Back then you needed three top 3's or six top 6's to upgrade, and this was my third 3rd place after similar finishes at Myles Standish (where Charge Pond is) and the old Springfield, Vermont criterium. As a Cat 4, we raced at 9 am, before all the cars had even been towed from the course, and I was out till 3 in the morning the night before...



Next up, just a quick one for Gewilli, here is my collection of Dura-Ace freewheel cogs. These work on both 6-speed and 7-speed bodies. All the ones in the plastic box are still brand new. I had a bunch of 7-speed bodies (still do) and my favorite combos for racing were 12-20 and 13-22. I miss the "even" gears... I had to throw that 12-17 Regina 6-speed can in there too. 42x17 low gear. Sound like fun? Thanks for reading.

Cappo Il Bruce

No question who the head of the RIRGM is. The big leather plunger was the obvious link. Not as obvious (actually, impossible to see) was the actual Silca brand frame pump head in the plastic bag. In my blindness, I couldn't find the grommets, but I knew they were in there. Now I know who to call next time I'm looking for something.

Other acceptable answers would have been that the primary subjects were both Italian (the mafia reference was a hint, get it?) and that both pictures were taken in my dungeon. I should probably omit the "I majored in I.T. and I have a minor in my basement" joke, but I won't.

The Regina stuff, yeah, maybe you also noted two of them are the "Superleggera" alloy models that lasted about a week. Couldn't pass them up for something less than $100 each at the old Nashbar outlet store in Needham. One of them was a 12-17 that got converted to a 12-15 four-speed after the larger cogs ripped from the body as Il Bruce notes. I rode the district TT with it one year.



In this one, I had to throw the 6-speed 15-21 junior gear in there. Great for training. Shimano actually makes this kind of stuff available in 10 speed cassettes now. A 14-27 is perfect for the winter. Gewilli's rust comment motivated me to clean up the pumps. The black one seems toasted, it has no plunger; I don't think it was leather originally. The pink one successfully inflated an old Clement Super Condor that I dragged out for the occasion, but the guage doesn't work. Thanks for reading mofos!

Shiny Objects

The blog has apparently been enjoying a recent spike in popularity. As you know, the writing has been rather, uhhhh, uninspired lately, so it must be the pictures that are attracting all the attention. Actually, I think it's the old newspaper with the cross article. That sort of stuff has always been the main traffic driver over on my personal website. Nonetheless, if it's pictures the public wants, that's what you'll get. I know my prose provides more substance, and generally I'm not bashful about extolling my vast wisdom, but hey, I got a new camera.

This one is for Gewilli and the Il Bruce, aka the Rhode Island Retrogrouch Mafia.



This one is also for you guys.



Now the bonus question: Who can provide me with two reasons why the subject matter of these photos are related? Zoom in and look closely. Thanks for reading.

Fact of the Day

Did you know that Providence was once home to a 10,000 seat velodrome known as the Providence Cyclodome?

Check it out

Built in 1925, the track also hosted the Providence Steamroller NFL team for seven years. Couldn't find much other info.

More on the Mudder

OK, since Gewilli can't seem to wait, here is my race report for UNH. The results aren't posted yet, so we'll just have to see how accurate this is.

Starting back on Friday, I got up to the KLNTC a bit late in the day. Heading out on the CX bike by myself, my route went north toward Plymouth. Taking Bridgewater Hill Road to Dick Brown Road would point me to Newfound Lake. I'd never done it in this direction before... Luckily I had my 38 mm tires and 12-32 cassette. I was in the 38x32 much of the way up, wishing for more. There were three or four "XXXX HILL ROAD" signs that I didn't stop to photograph, because I was in oxygen debt already. There was also "Alpine Road" which doesn't have hill or mountain in the name, but still should be good enough. I bombed down 3A past Newfound and into Bristol, then took the ever so lumpy-profiled Old Bristol Road back to the homestead, bringing it in at around two hours. This was a nice opener up ride after taking four days for R&R from Monday to Thursday. On to Durham.

We had received the email from the promoter warning of a mud bath. I'd have bagged it for sure, but the weather forecast called for temps in the incredibly unseasonable 60's, so I armor-alled the bike, packed up, and headed down via Route 4, which makes up the right armpit of New Hampshire (Route 4 west toward Lebanon is neck and neck with Claremont for the left armpit title). Things started to look nicer as we neared the seacoast, less discount cigs signs, and more trees. I'd never been to the UNH Durham campus before, and I must say I was impressed. The course was easy to find, and there was ample paved parking. They were running pretty late, and I had about 30 minutes to get ready for the master's race, but I decided that was too much of a stretch, so I signed up for the Senior 3 race which started two hours later.

Basically this course had two halfs (duh), moist and slightly hilly in the front, and muddy in the back (huh-huh, huh-huh). You could see the entire front half from registration. After kitting up, I tried to check out the backside, but soon realized the entire area was under two inches of water. What once was a crappy rugby practice field was already a furrowed mess of shredded grass, manure, water, and mud. It was flat and non-technical, but there were about 400 meters of flat "grass" that wove back and forth, and it was only about 50% rideable. The runners looked much faster than those who tried to ride, so it was really a question of economy. I immediately planned on doing A LOT of running, and chose to warmup on the road only, as well as going for a jog. I never even previewed the entire course, as keeping the bike clean seemed like a better way to go.

I duct-taped my shoes and even my socks to be sure the straps would stay secure in the shin-deep muck. I lined up with 27 other starters, all younger than I, some by twenty years. We took off and I stayed at the back to get a look at the course. We weaved through some technical parts and then when we dumped out into the deep mud I dismounted and immediately ran by three or four who were bogged down up to their hubs. I may have run a bit too much the first lap, as I got pretty blown. The next lap I settled in, but after trying to ride some of the deep cuck, I got out on the front half of the course and my chain was skipping like crazy, as the derailleur had dragged through the deep mud and now was an unrecognizable blob the size of a softball. The only two gears I used the rest of the race were the 38x27 and the 38x24. It was that slow. The third lap I made sure I rode through some of the deepest standing water in an attempt to rinse the bike, then from that point on I ran all the deep sections, also trudging through the deepest water to try and keep the shoes clean. I may have passed one more guy, then another with a mechanical, but honestly I haven't got a good idea of where I ended up.

I was surprised when the one to go bell sounded. I made a good charge on the running sections, but didn't catch the next guy. It was over 41 minutes after it started, so mercifully the officials didn't keep us out there past five laps. I got cleaned up under an unattended spigot, thankful that the duct tape kept my shoes from getting ruined. There were about two pounds of grass tangled around each cantilever stud. We got going while it was still light out, and I felt great, really opened up, like I'd done a running race. My average HR for this littel soiree turned out to be 167, with tons of time over 170. Yowza. We'll see when (if) the results come out, but I'm guessing there were some DNF's ahead of me too, so maybe 20th? Sunday we rode the MTBs and found some great roads, the dirt sections would have been OK for road bikes. Next year we'll have some great loops mapped out. Not sure about Friday, but Sunday was 660 meters of climbing in under two hours, never more than seven miles from the homestead. Very cool. Thanks for reading.

Hill Street Blewz

These might give you some idea of what the riding is like at the KL North Training Center.

3073 Words

Since the UNH results aren't up yet, I'll have to go visual this morning. Nice rides both Friday and Sunday up at the KL North Training Center. Found some new roads that we really want to share with the flatlanders...



Nice drivetrain panda shot. Check out the movie.



The CX steed poses in front of the sprawling KL North Training Center.



If MoveitFred can have a church on his blog, so can I. Thanks for reading.

Mudder

UNH CX, see, I'm not afraid of the muck. Check out the video. Half of the lap, it was faster to run. Of course, this meant I was fucking blown. At least it was warm. There was at least 10 pounds of dirt, grass, and cow shit caked onto my bike by the time it was all over. Yeah, sure, it doesn't look so muddy, but that is only because my intrepid film crew wasn't foolish enough to wade over to the worst part of the course. The section in the video was one of the faster sections; some laps I rode it.

Gewill was busy rinsing pacifiers and scarfing down Kozy Shack while the real racers romped in the mud.

More CX Nostalgia

This is the Old Colony Memorial sports page from December 17, 1992. Maybe this would have been more appropriate for next week, as the race which is covered is the Plymouth CX running next Sunday. The top photo features none other than Curley, resplendent in his champ's jersey and Bolle Adam Ant glasses, Mike Barrett, and Tom Stevens. Then we have Kathi Riggert going over the hurdles, followed by Solobreak sipping water after breaking his frame in the famous Oak Tree Incident, and Markie Mark riding unattached. If you click the photo it will take you to a higher res version, and if you zoom in with an image editor you should be able to read the text. Thanks for reading.

Quiet at last

Sorry for my postlessness. Taking the week off from training, at least until Friday. It already seems like it has been an eternity, which I guess is a good thing. As I do whenever I don't post, I've been trying to step up my comments on other people's blogs. Gewilli, thanks for noticing.

I'm getting some stuff done at home that I've been putting off. Also had two of my nerd friends from work over Tuesday night to watch White Castle. So fucking funny. Clerks2 comes out on DVD November 28. I am not much of a movie guy, don't have cable, spent lots of time without a TV, just never got into sitting and watching stuff, but I like to laugh.

Today is our first day at the Canton building. I was going to do a photo essay with my new digicam (just bought a cheap Nikon L4 so I could take it on the bike. Didn't want to get carried away, as usual...), but it was raining this morning, and still is. My entire group (all five of us) are holed up in a training room because all our stuff did not get moved here on schedule. Maybe later... We got a great spot though, my cube is tucked way into a quiet corner of the building, which is nice because this place has 600 seats and most of it is pretty open. Living large with five entrees a day to choose from in the caf... Thanks for reading.

Farmed Out

Saturday started when the alarm went off at 3:48 am. For some reason, I though Farmington was at least a 2.5 hour drive, and I wanted to be early in order to get a good warmup. Well, I still didn't get out the door until 6:15, but I had my bike lubed, checked, and ready to go. Driving was fast and easy. With the end of summer "travel season" the Mass Pike was rather deserted at that hour. Around 7:30, rolling toward Hartford, I looked at my watch and realized Bold, Kahuna and others were just beginning their day long odyssey at the Florida Ironman Triathlon. You go girls!

I arrived at the Winding Trails Recreation Center/Buffy and Chip Mercedes Park right around 8:15, only two hours from home. Farmington is one wierd-assed town, in a wierd-assed state, with wierd-assed people, and this venue is pretty wierd-assed. It's some kind of planned community of mega-priced condo type homes for the insurance executives and other Connecticuttites that live around there, and how the hell anyone convinced them to allow an annual cross race is beyond me. Snagging a prime spot right next to the Cronoman and Tim-mee!, I was also adjacent to staging. Garabed was there behind Tim-meee's! van riding the trainer with a full cast on his lower leg, giving an interview to a reporter from the Hartford Courant who was apparently gullible enough to believe that a 54 year old dude with an 18 year old attitude was going to do a cross race with a broken leg. I wish I could pick up a copy of the paper to see that story.

I was able to do a record two full preview laps of the course before the C-monkeys and the B Masters herd rolled off. Feltslave ran away and hid from the field, winning handily. Time to move up to the B's sandbagster! Zoo man took a few minutes from his busy schedule of chick pleasuring to also complete the race, a couple of ticks of the clock behind the flying fruit buyer. On to the masters. I'd pre-regged pretty early, and I had been assigned number 31, just one row behind the seeded riders. Seemed sweet, as the field numbered 97 starters. The start went OK, I held my spot on the long paved stretch, but chaos ensued after we hopped the curb onto the double-track, and all hell broke loose when we hit the first sandpit. I did not fare too well, as at first I thought I was going to be able to ride it, then I got taken down rather clumsily, but the worst part was that after running out with everyone else, I was in WAY too big of a gear. Going up the hill into the chicane, I lost about ten spots lugging it over.

The Chainbiter course has always been excellent, but this year they pulled out all the stops and made it about ten feet wide all the way around. On the long grind hill out of the chicane, I thought I was doing OK, but I was very close to blowing up. Once we descended back down and looped through the fields and playgrounds, I still hadn't recovered much. The second lap was even worse. Fast guys had already gone around me, but I'd also moved past some who got good starts before chunking it early. At the completion of the second lap, I was still fighting, but totally gassed. When I saw laps cards that said four to go, that may have been my last second as a real bike racer this year. I'd been expecting a five lap race, as the C-men only did four. Four more laps? Fuck! There was no way I could hang on, and unable to withstand the pain, I caved. At least ten riders flew by me on the climb. I was still going hard enough to be suffering, but it wasn't enough. The next lap, I found myself with the same backmarkers I'm used to duking it out with. My good starting spot had meant nothing. Later on, I would see that the winner of the race wore bib 86, meaning he started in the back row. So there you go. On this course, you could move up if you had to, and had the legs...

The fifth time up the long grind, I had the sense to put the bike in the little ring. I'd been staying in the big ring all the way around in order to avoid my recurring front derailleur overshifting problems. We'd tried making some adjustments pre-race, but even with the limiter screw turned in all the way I could throw the chain if I were careless. Last year on this course I figured out the little ring was way better, but didn't remember this tidbit until late in the race this year. Not only was spinning up it faster, it left me way less extended, and thus able to make some real power over the flats on the rest of the course. On the last lap, once again I spun, holding off Paul Weiss (Portland Velo) and Wayne Cunningham (NEBC). On the long grade, I could see a group of about six riders not too far up. I knew if I dug deep, I could probably catch the group, but I also knew how much that would hurt, and doubted whether I could capitalize on the move and actually pass any of them during the final half lap. A real racer would have gone for it, but like a wounded animal, I pussied out and stayed within my limits on the climb.

Once we got down on the flats, I gassed it hard, putting some distance on those behinds me, but the group ahead accelerated and shattered and I caught nobody. I just rolled it in for a not so stellar 63rd out of 84 finishers (97 starters), also 2/3 of the way down in the 45+ standings.

The drive home was not bad, and I was back on the couch by 1:50 pm, surely a record. Saturday night my knee was sore, and as I lay there with an ice pack, I had to consider ending my season right then and there. I've already had two knee surgeries, and they were the reason I gave up on cyclocross the first time ten years ago. I love the road too much to mess things up just doing this for a winter pasttime. The gains I've made in overall fitness and conditioning, along with preventive massage, and not to mention the modern, kinder, gentler cross courses have made it a lot less risky to compete, but maybe I've had enough for this year. My road season started in early April, and I've competed over 30 times since then, not including training races.

Sunday morning I got up at 4 am, as I was already preregistered for Northampton. I got ready, but when it was time to go, I realized I was not motivated and was also unsure about my knee. I bagged it, instead heading up to the KL north training center to spend the day with my sweet frauline. We went mountain biking at Gunstock, where she dropped me on every climb. My knee was OK, but I still realized that not racing was the correct decision, as my body had nothing to offer. I'm not sure why I'm so dead, maybe it's long term burnout, or maybe last Sunday's double-duty 10K and cross race spanked me so hard that I'm done in. Either way, this week I'm not training. I'll see how I feel on Friday, and maybe dabble in a race next week just so I might have an ounce of fitness for Lowell, because I like the course and it is a nice lower profile race. After that, I'm done. Thanks for reading.

Training by numbers...

... and how it might mislead you. Here is a bar chart of my total training hours for the first ten months of this year, both running and cycling:



Here is another chart, same timeframe, but this one shows only time spent in zones 4 and 5:



The first chart contains all of the information that is in the second chart, but breaking it out and looking at them together graphically emphasizes the fact my time at intesity varies less than my total time. Comparing the two, we can see that the two months with the most time at intensity, April and October, were not the highest monthly totals. In the case of October, it is not even close. One might conclude this was due to shorter daylight constraining training time, and weekend competitions at high intensity tend to skew the percentages of time at intensity upward. In the case of October, this may or may not be entirely true. In the case of April, however, I suspect a relatively lower overall level of fitness has something to do with it, especially when comparing to the summer months.

During the peak season, total hours are up, and so is fitness. Therefore, HR is depressed for two reasons, first fatigue, and second because with high fitness it takes a much bigger effort to drive the HR up.

My numbers during last week's races were extraordinarily high. Was this due to an extremely focused, intense effort, or waining fitness? Does it even matter at this stage of the season? More commentary is sure to follow. Right this second, getting out the door for a run is much more important. Thanks for reading.