No love

Yowser, what a kick in the nutsack today’s commute in was. Last week was the rest week between phases base 2 & 3 so I expected to come into today with happy legs just raring to go. Boy was I wrong. I had decided to give the trails a try this morning since the snowmobiles have had ample opportunity to pack things down so I mounted up the Dos and it was clear in the first 10 minutes of road slogging that it wasn’t going to be a good one. I couldn’t get my heart rate up easily and when I did, I couldn’t maintain it. I wanted to bail on riding the trails and just spin in on the road but the prospect of doing the entire thirteen miles on the fat 2.3’s seemed even worse than anything I would run into on the trails. A half hour in I hit the start of the Schmid Preserve trails and thankfully it had seen at least a few snowmobiles leaving a nice, packed and grippy surface. For a moment my mojo came back on the first quick downhill but quickly left me on the first climb. Of course, by then I was (in poker terms) pot committed so I soldiered on. After cresting the hill, I was once again feeling ok so I began to think about hitting up some of the single track sections. One little voice in my head urged me to stick to the well traveled snowmobile trails while another (somewhat less intelligent) voice argued that the single track has probably been used enough to make riding possible. Turns out I should have listened to the first voice because not only was the single track not ride able but it was pretty much un-walkable too because of the crusty snow. If it wasn’t for the toe spikes in my shoes I’d probably still be in the woods nursing a broken leg. Finally after about 20 minutes of hoofing it at an astounding 2-3mph I finally got back to the snowmobile trails (man how I love snowmobiles). From there it was a quick scoot out to the road and a few miles to the office. Stick a fork in me, I was done. I was so tired and defeated that I didn’t even have the energy to take a 30 second shower that the hot water at the office allows. Instead opting to simply wash up and throw on some deodorant. Funny, nobody seems to be sitting near me today.

El Mariachi and Butt-Tunes

I was perusing the Bikeman website this A.M. and noticed they have the El Mariachi complete bike up on their homepage. Damn, what a deal! For under 1600 clams you get a very nicely spec'd 1x9 bike with an easy conversion to single speed. If I were going to do the single speed 29'er thing this year, that would be the way that I'd go (but I'm not Marcy, seriously). That's easily cheaper than you could do the same build for from scratch. Wheels and frame alone would run you over a grand. As usual, Salsa's paint job is pretty sweet too but from the looks of it, they stayed a bit more conservative than usual avoiding all of the pin stripping. Its not for me this year but one of you lucky guys can be rolling large this year.

Order up your super sweet steel (is real) El Mariachi today.

I just got this from RoadBikeRider.com

"---Pearl Izumi has just introduced bike shorts that are Bluetooth compatible and have an integrated Mp3 player with 16 hours of storage. The Vertex MP3 Bib Short sells for $500, and if you can afford that you can probably afford the hospital bill. Just think -- drivers will no longer be the only people on the road distracted by a cell phone in one ear and music in the other."

Holy shit! What the hell is Pearl Izumi thinking? Bluetooth and mp3 shorts!?! I could understand a jersey having those capabilities (safety issues aside) but shorts just don't make sense to me. It seems like that is the last place you want extra wires, batteries etc. Unless, of course, you talk out of your ass (as many blowhard riders do) in which case, that is the perfect location.

Recovery?

This week marks rest week number two for the season. It has come at a somewhat good time. B is super sick right now and Marcy and I find ourselves with just enough energy to get through the days let alone getting our workouts in. Since this is a rest week for me that means I've been forced to cut the workout hours back drastically which is good but sleep has been less than optimal, which is bad. Oh well, she's on the meds now so I suspect that things will turn around soon and by the end of the week I can get back to my scheduled routine.

Nostalgia

Andy posted a sweet video of some ice riding over at his blog. Check it out. When I worked in Camden, we did lots of winter rides like that (minus the hucking that is). We had a weekly group ride that went out after work. We'd ride and freeze for a couple of hours and then do it again the next week. It needed to be well below zero for us to bail. Good times. If there is one thing that I miss about working in Camden is the good riding and more importantly, the good riding buddies. Where I'm at now, I have a much shorter commute and a better work environment which is cool but I sure do miss those sweet trails and the killer hard road group rides. Can anyone say sprint intervals? I think for this year, Marcy and I have figured out how to get some of that back. I'm going to turn Tuesday's into my loooooong saddle days. I'll leave work at normal-ish time, drive home, hop on the road bike, ride the 30 miles to Camden to hit the group ride. I'll then bleed from the eyes for two hours and then do the 30 mile ride home. Should turn into a killer day in the saddle getting in both some serious endurance miles as well as some anaerobic work. Pretty sweet. Thankfully, if I overextend myself I can always catch a ride back with MadMike (who only lives a few miles from me) after the group ride. Sweetness, now if only I could figure out a similar routine to get over there to ride the mountain bike but 30 miles on pavement on fat knobbies aint gonna happen.

Shhhhh!

Don't tell anyone but I have diaper cream on my ass this morning. They say necessity is the mother of invention and all I can say is that I have one mother of a saddle sore on my left cheek (so big its creating its own gravitational field) that needed attention stat. I quickly scanned my mental roladex for something to use to treat it and nothing came to mind so when I spied a tube of diaper cream on the bathroom counter I gave 'er a go. I figure if it can head B's red, chapped bottom it might do the same for me. Thankfully there wasn't a tube of Vagasil on the counter.

Also, I've been thinking a bit more about my upcoming wheel build and I'm seriously considering giving the Stan's Flow or Arch a go. According to what I'm reading online on MTBR they are a very good rim and they, of course, mount up tubeless really well and actually require a tire lever to mount the tire and for anyone who owns a 29'er can attest to, you never typically have to use a tire lever. This sounds like a good thing until you're in a rush trying to get the tire back on after a tube change and the tire keeps falling off the other side of the rim. Freaking frustrating. Not to mention a tight fit is really necessary for a good tubeless conversion. Who knows what I'll end up doing but with Jason stealing my original build of Hope P2 hubs and Bonty Mustang rims I figure I might as well give it a bit more thought.

We're moving!

If you want to relocate to a new cycling centered community in Greenville SC check out this link. Good ole Big George is one of the ringleaders. At only $500,000-1.2 mil per house site, my only worry is what we'll do with all of the extra cash we'll have laying around after we sell our 1100 sf ranch.

A new low

Weight that is, not photo-op. No pics of me with a finger up my butt. Maybe tomorrow but today's news is that I've dropped below 190 lbs for the first time in about 2 years. Basically since Brynna was born. Coincidence? I think not. Since starting my 2007 training year at the beginning of January 7+ pounds have melted away. Yippee! It looks like my goal weight of 185 by the beginning of the season is attainable. I know that 185 is still pretty heavy bike racer wise but since I'm 6'-3" its not that shabby plus in high school I hovered between 180-185 and I was one skinny mo-fo and I don't want to look like that again. I hoping to keep the pecs around for the ladies so a couple of extra pounds are ok.

I wonder if one of the reasons for the weight coming off is that somehow, without trying, I've basically eliminated red meat from my diet. I'm not sure how or when it happened but I can't remember the last time I had a steak or hamburger. Weird. I'm sure upping my training hours drastically is doing most of the work but eliminating fatty red meat has got to help. Of course, when grilling weather returns this spring I'm sure I'll be grilling up some slabs of cow flesh every chance I get. There is nothing like a rare sirloin grilling tip. Yum.

Also, I'm happy to announce that Marcy and I have finally gotten with the times and gotten an I-pod and we're trying to figure out what to name it and are looking for clever ideas. Jason already has Ipodious sewn up so thats out. Any ideas? FYI, we got the Nano 2gig.


Marcy says that my winter cycling cap makes me look like a pin head. What do you think?

Lastly, here is a pic of mans best friend trying to save me from having fun sledding with the fam. Thanks Chance, you're the best.

Ti carver

I held a prototype of the sweet little bad boy while at Bikeman over the weekend. A very sweet ti 96'er frame. Nice finish, nice welds. Maybe by the time they become available I'll have the fundage to build one up as a single (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Ice naps

When, oh, when will Nokian come out with a REAL 29’er studded tire? For the past few winters, I’ve been rolling exclusively on their Extreme 294 and those suckers hook up extremely well even on the sketchiest of ice. This year, being on a 29’er has been a bit frustrating. Friday I snuck out at lunch for a 2 hr mountain bike ride and spent a great deal of my time trying to avoid falling on my face and on more than a few occasions taking some serious ice naps (once while going 20+/- downhill, ouch)! When Nokian comes out with a full width (now they only have cyclocross size 29’er studded tires) studded tire, I’ll be all the freak over it.


I saw the other day about some dude who turned his igniters into some pretty sweet studded tires but if you've ever tried to stud a tire, you know why I don't want to do it. Its super time comsuming, no cheaper than buying a tire and you end up with tires that are super sketchy if you have to cover any pavement. No thanks, I'll wait for Nokian.

Flandis

Stolen from RoadBikeRider.com

Today in Paris and somewhere in the U.S. on May 14 are two key dates in Floyd Landis's life. The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) is moving ahead with its hearing on Landis today. A decision by the nine-member panel could mean a ban from racing on French soil (i.e., in the Tour de France) for as long as two years. Or the hearing might determine that Landis is innocent, that he did not use a banned substance, testosterone, while winning the 2006 Tour. The agency could also postpone its ruling, which is what Landis's lawyers are requesting. Then in mid May, Landis will at long last have his appeal heard by a three-member arbitration panel in the U.S. This is the big one. If his legal team fails to convince the panel that his testosterone irregularities in the 17th stage were due to sloppy procedures by the French national doping lab, Landis stands to lose his Tour title and all prize money. He would be banned from sanctioned competition for two years and ProTour team membership for four years. Those penalties could mean that Landis, 31, is finished in pro racing. He underscored the likelihood in December when he said, "If I'm banned for four years and stripped of my title and prize-money, I'll never race again. My desire for it would have been obliterated." AFLD president Phillipe Bourdry told the Associated Press that Landis can be assured of a fair hearing today even though the rider won't attend. "It's not because someone is positive that he must be automatically suspended," said Bourdry. "The rights of the defense are very important." Landis's lawyers have asked the AFLD to delay its ruling until a decision has been reached in the U.S. The May hearing apparently will be open to the public at Floyd's request. He's said he wants his defense understood by everyone. His legal team is still trying to obtain lab reports on his other urine samples at the Tour, all of which showed no illegal drugs in his system and especially not the synthetic testosterone he was found positive for after stage 17. Landis claims that test was flawed for various reasons. Arnie Baker, M.D., the RBR eBook author who has coached and advised Landis for years, is leading a group of medical experts that contends it has found flaws in the French doping lab's procedures. "The results are not reliable," said Baker. "The whole document is riddled with errors. The sample was clearly contaminated and mislabeled. I'm not sure whose urine I'm looking at here. "This whole thing is so full of errors I don't know what to think except I can't call it a positive test," Baker added. "I don't think the [U.S. Anti-doping Agency] should be looking at sanctions. I think [the World Anti-Doping Agency] should be looking to improve practices." There will be no USADA reaction to any defense charges until the May hearing, said the agency's general counsel, Travis Tygartfrom. "Unfortunately, as a case gets played out in the media, people will only ever see one side of that story," he said in November. "Our rules don't allow us to comment." However, if the May hearing is indeed public, everyone will get the chance to observe the arguments firsthand. Landis is thought to be the only U.S. athlete ever to request that his doping trial be aired in the sunshine. Depending on the arbitration panel's verdict, either Landis or the USADA could appeal the result to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Its decision would be final. ______________________________________ Tour de Finance Floyd Landis spoke at his second fundraiser last night, this one in Brooklyn. About 200 people paid $35 apiece to hear him, according to the New York Times. The money is earmarked for Landis's legal defense, which is said to have cost him about $500,000 so far. Landis told the supportive crowd that "in the 2006 Tour de France, and for that matter the rest of my career, I never used performance-enhancing substances." His talk was preceded by a PowerPoint presentation from Dr. Arnie Baker that detailed Landis's defense. "There are so many mistakes," Baker said. "If there should be sanctions, it should be on the lab." The crowd cheered loudly at the end of Baker's presentation, according to the Times, and gave Landis a standing ovation.

Personally, I hope he's innocent but we'll see.

The world is at my feet.

Recently, I've been feeling bad about myself because of the dismal number of visitors I get to this blog. It seems like the traffic has really dropped off since the end of the riding season. Makes sense really, I would expect for people to pick up the pace again as spring approaches. It turns out though that my traffic is almost at the same level as it was last September which was my best month over the summer. Huh, interesting. Of course we're still talking about really dismal numbers but at least I know that despite my lack of time or energy to blog, there are still a few readers who stick with me no matter how bad the content is. My guess is that they come back hoping for some more posts like the one with me sitting on the can or pissing in the woods. Of course, with the bar set so low, I can do nothing but improve!

Yes really, I give!

Yikes! Tad bit nipply out there these days. I actually bailed on my commute yesterday because it was too damn cold in the morning. I used the "I didn't sleep well" excuse but I know for a fact that if it had been 20deg instead of 2 I would have been hauling my carcass in on the road rocket. I guess there is a limit to how tough I'll pretend to be. Instead of the ride, I had a kick ass jog and cyclocore workout before work that left my feeling a little bit wobbly kneed. This time of year I should really be spending more of my time on that type of stuff anyway and gradually work that bike hours up. My saddle sore (who I think I'll name Mr. Pussington) thanks me.

One good thing about all of the cold-ass weather is that when it warms up even moderately it feels like a frickin heat wave. Last Wednesday, when I rode home, it was 19 degs and I couldn't believe how nice it was. Lame.