Apparently for some reason people (that would be you, if you are reading this) actually read what I write. I don't know why, and I really don't care. Ok, I do care that you read, otherwise this would be a big waste of my time. Since you read it, it is probably a big waste of your time, but hopefully you do get some value out of this endeavor.
I was told by an anonymous source that I need to write more often. I should. I would like to write everyday, and I try. Believe me I try. I just don't have the talent to put words down everyday and "have something". It is an ego boost to have my "reader" want more. So I say "Thank You" for reading and enjoying what I have to say or not to say.
The year of 2010 is coming to a close, and by all accounts it was a good year, or was it? How do you say "that was a good year?" In 30 years from now will people raise their wine glass and say "2010 that was a good year". Well, I had a good year. I had an injury-free cycling year, that's a first. Most recently I did have an unexplained illness that forced me to miss out on the Copper Triangle, and then had me off the bike for about a month. "I'm feeling better now"
Not to dwell on the past, because it is history, history that cannot be changed. The past is for learning from ones mistakes, and hope for a better, brighter future. I'm looking forward to a new year. Look at it this way, in a few short days we will have the first day of Winter. That is the shortest day of the year, well sun lite short. What does that mean for us cyclists? The days will be getting longer, the sun will be staying out longer and before we know it, it will be spring.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
WORK is a four letter word
What you do does not make you who you are.
"...you're not how much money you've got in the bank. You're not your job. You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself.... You're not your name.... You're not your problems.... You're not your age.... You are not your hopes." ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 18Work is a reflection of who you are, it is not what you are.
Monday, December 6, 2010
OK State CX Champs
If you are looking for the box score or the "race report" you came to the wrong place. I went to Chandler Park yesterday to heckle my teammates and hand-up some water bottles. Oh, and watch some CX racing. I pilfered these pictures from one of Seth Likens' pages on Facebook. Have you heard of him? Well if you haven't here is some of his work. Hate to say work, it is truly art. I am a little biased, he is on our team, and he has some really good pictures of the artist formerly known as Glenn Duh. You know the camera adds 10lbs, in my case that is a good thing. Heck yeah, it makes me look pretty good, well have to say Seth makes me look good on the bike. 
Enough about me. What a race yesterday. First of all -Cold, would not be a CX race without some sort of crazy weather. Daniel raced the 123's and had some HR issues and retired early, no biggie he still had the Single Speed race coming up. Marty and Kevin raced the Cat 4 race. The Doctor was in the house, and made pain look good. Dude's got more style than any single human can handle, good thing he has a PHD. Cory was the lone wolf pack of one for the ladies of Team Tom's. Brown Bear lined up with an out-gunned junior field. "can't bring a knife to a gunfight" 
At the time of press...I don't know the results of my people, Marty and Kevin finished in the top 15, Cory was 3rd or 4th????? Brown Bear came home with a new jersey. A State Champion's jersey. 
All Photos without Seth Likens permission
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Psycho Cross
What would prompt someone to take a perfectly good road bike and pilot it off-road? And, what would compel normal people to come out and stand by barriers, course tape, in wheel pits and freeze extremities? Belgians, blame it on the cycling mad hordes of Belgians.
Somehow we have imported waffles, beer, cycling, and craziness from a country in Northern Europe. It has taken us quite a while to get to where we are with CX, don't get me wrong we are no where near the stature of our drunken forefathers. We have come a long way baby, and the road is long and paved with cobbles, mud, sand, barriers, off-camber turns, stairs, and sand.
CX is blowing up all over the country. CX in the states has been an odd assortment of MTB racers and Roadies that had bastard children. We are talking about a freakshow of which no one wanted to claim. Now that CX is becoming "mainstream" (as mainstream as it can be), people (MTB & Roadies) actually claim to race CX. We even have an American racing in the mud in Europe. Jonathan Page. Represent.
Today I found myself standing on the side of a CX course yelling insults, heckling, and passing up water bottles to racing teammates. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was 35 degrees? Why? Because I am crazy for CX, and I love to support my teammates and this growing sport we call Cyclo-Cross.
Somehow we have imported waffles, beer, cycling, and craziness from a country in Northern Europe. It has taken us quite a while to get to where we are with CX, don't get me wrong we are no where near the stature of our drunken forefathers. We have come a long way baby, and the road is long and paved with cobbles, mud, sand, barriers, off-camber turns, stairs, and sand.
CX is blowing up all over the country. CX in the states has been an odd assortment of MTB racers and Roadies that had bastard children. We are talking about a freakshow of which no one wanted to claim. Now that CX is becoming "mainstream" (as mainstream as it can be), people (MTB & Roadies) actually claim to race CX. We even have an American racing in the mud in Europe. Jonathan Page. Represent.
Today I found myself standing on the side of a CX course yelling insults, heckling, and passing up water bottles to racing teammates. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was 35 degrees? Why? Because I am crazy for CX, and I love to support my teammates and this growing sport we call Cyclo-Cross.
Early Christmas
Ask my wife, I'm a child. I'm a child with ADHD...want to go ride bikes? I can't wait, can't wait in line, can't wait for packages to show up, can't wait for my beer to be done. So I did it. I opened one three days early, and the world as we know it is still here.
I am officially or technically supposed to open it on Monday, but I had to see how my baby was doing. I grabbed one of the three 12oz beers that I have and I reached for the bottle opener. The cap came off and the carbonation brought the beer to life. I took a sniff of the longneck, and it smelled... smelled like beer... good beer. I poured said beer into my favorite glassware and the perfect head crowned the beer like frothy royalty.
First sip was a little scary, all that time, energy, THE WAITING was over and for what? Great beer (by my standards) and brewed by my own hands, with my ability to follow directions and a recipe (thank you Mrs. Miller 4th grade who said I would never amount to anything).
I brewed Beer
I am officially or technically supposed to open it on Monday, but I had to see how my baby was doing. I grabbed one of the three 12oz beers that I have and I reached for the bottle opener. The cap came off and the carbonation brought the beer to life. I took a sniff of the longneck, and it smelled... smelled like beer... good beer. I poured said beer into my favorite glassware and the perfect head crowned the beer like frothy royalty.
First sip was a little scary, all that time, energy, THE WAITING was over and for what? Great beer (by my standards) and brewed by my own hands, with my ability to follow directions and a recipe (thank you Mrs. Miller 4th grade who said I would never amount to anything).
Friday, December 3, 2010
r.e.s.p.e.c.t, find out what...
Why is a cardinal sin to wear a Pro kit? The World Champ's Ranbow Strips? Le Grimpeur's Dots? The Maillot Jaune? Every other sport in the world shows respect to players, clubs, sports, teams, and leagues by adorning a jersey, a hat, jackets, you name it, emblems and numbers, names and advertisements are on anything conceivable. Why is it that we look upon someone as a poseur when they wear a Radioshack jersey to a practice crit or on a group ride?
I played hockey for a few years and you can wear a Gretzky 99 jersey and nobody will say a word, now wear 99 as your number on your club team and you will get heckled. It seems to be a way of honoring the "greatness" of a hero by wearing "their" jersey, but not their number. Other ways to honor your hero is to wear their number or a combo of that number, just don't do it with 99. Teams will retire numbers to show the highest of honor, and that protects that number from another player wearing it.
Cycling is a sport based on "earning". You have to earn everything in cycling. You pay for fitness by training and putting countless miles into the legs. Pain is a currency that cyclist use to gain what they have. For a cyclist you cannot wear Rainbow stripes unless you earn them, so to see someone in the "stripes" is a form of disrespect even though the intent was most likely the opposite. Even in the club team ranks you have to earn your jersey. Yes, I know...there are some clubs that allow anyone to join as long as they pay dues. There are teams that will invite you to join, thus requiring you to "earn" your spot.
I see it as an honor to wear a ProTour kit, but if I saw someone wearing my team kit I would not be honored, I would be P!$$ed. They did not earn it and do not have the right to be in the colors that I pay for every time I turn a pedal over. It is disrespect to my teammates who have labored with me in the heat, cold, wind, rain, through road trips, and road rash. That's fine buy your ProTour kit, and put it in a shadow box and hang it in your office, over the mantel, in the living room. Just don't wear it out on a club ride, save that for NASCAR.
If you want to wear something to show your allegiance to your team, buy a euro cycling cap and proudly wear it under your helmet. Find a team t-shirt, or a cool track jacket and wear it to the local pub. I love the KOM competitions in the Grands, I wanted to start a collection of as many jerseys that I could. I have the KOM from the first California, and I have the Dots from le Tour. I would wear these out on rides, but now I straddle the fence as to what is acceptable fashion. I want to honor these jerseys, the people who have worn them and the riders that vie for them, but I do not want to appear to have something that I did not earn.
I played hockey for a few years and you can wear a Gretzky 99 jersey and nobody will say a word, now wear 99 as your number on your club team and you will get heckled. It seems to be a way of honoring the "greatness" of a hero by wearing "their" jersey, but not their number. Other ways to honor your hero is to wear their number or a combo of that number, just don't do it with 99. Teams will retire numbers to show the highest of honor, and that protects that number from another player wearing it.
Cycling is a sport based on "earning". You have to earn everything in cycling. You pay for fitness by training and putting countless miles into the legs. Pain is a currency that cyclist use to gain what they have. For a cyclist you cannot wear Rainbow stripes unless you earn them, so to see someone in the "stripes" is a form of disrespect even though the intent was most likely the opposite. Even in the club team ranks you have to earn your jersey. Yes, I know...there are some clubs that allow anyone to join as long as they pay dues. There are teams that will invite you to join, thus requiring you to "earn" your spot.
I see it as an honor to wear a ProTour kit, but if I saw someone wearing my team kit I would not be honored, I would be P!$$ed. They did not earn it and do not have the right to be in the colors that I pay for every time I turn a pedal over. It is disrespect to my teammates who have labored with me in the heat, cold, wind, rain, through road trips, and road rash. That's fine buy your ProTour kit, and put it in a shadow box and hang it in your office, over the mantel, in the living room. Just don't wear it out on a club ride, save that for NASCAR.
If you want to wear something to show your allegiance to your team, buy a euro cycling cap and proudly wear it under your helmet. Find a team t-shirt, or a cool track jacket and wear it to the local pub. I love the KOM competitions in the Grands, I wanted to start a collection of as many jerseys that I could. I have the KOM from the first California, and I have the Dots from le Tour. I would wear these out on rides, but now I straddle the fence as to what is acceptable fashion. I want to honor these jerseys, the people who have worn them and the riders that vie for them, but I do not want to appear to have something that I did not earn.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
measure
How do you quantify pain, how do you explain suffering?
What words do you use to describe what it feels like to do intervals on a trainer, indoors staring at a wall or the sweat puddled floor? You don't have to say words or try and explain what it is or how it feels to someone who has experienced a trainer interval. You do have to find words to tell your mystified co-workers around the cubical, what it means to drain your existence out with every pedal stroke. To tell another cyclist is easy. We have all been there, the over-used "pain cave". "Dude, I was in the 'pain cave' last night" It's getting lame the way we over use words, I mean ridiculous how everyone says "it's ridiculous".
Time seems to go slower when the effort is compounded to the point that you can count the seconds it takes for one second to the next. At what pedal RPM and Wattage does the average cyclist unravel the space time continuum and time slows down? It might even go in reverse a little? I counted the swirls of the woodgrain in the floor, I stared holes into the clock on the wall, I blacked out and tried to go to a "happy place" but ended up in the porta-john of misery. You have been there it's like the pain cave but worse, it's stinky, hot, and nobody replaced the toilet paper. Once you get to a certain level of physical self-abuse your senses become heightened. I think that I was able to see the different cells in my epidermal layer in my right thigh while doing a 10min threshold interval last night. I could hear every valve in my heart open and close, I could even see stars through the walls and ceiling.
"Words all fail the magic prize.." There really is no good way to paint a picture of how one feels during an extreme bout of physical self loathing. Someone once told me that racing bikes is "pain management" the more pain that you can handle the better you will be. The longer you race and train the more pain becomes a friend or more like a relative that has overstayed their welcome, but you get used to the suffering. And just when you think you have this whole "pain cave" thing under control...Pain brings his friends fatigue and injury over for a party. Yeah!
Remember: when you are sitting on the couch there is some crazy pain junkie out there on a trainer doing intervals.
What words do you use to describe what it feels like to do intervals on a trainer, indoors staring at a wall or the sweat puddled floor? You don't have to say words or try and explain what it is or how it feels to someone who has experienced a trainer interval. You do have to find words to tell your mystified co-workers around the cubical, what it means to drain your existence out with every pedal stroke. To tell another cyclist is easy. We have all been there, the over-used "pain cave". "Dude, I was in the 'pain cave' last night" It's getting lame the way we over use words, I mean ridiculous how everyone says "it's ridiculous".
Time seems to go slower when the effort is compounded to the point that you can count the seconds it takes for one second to the next. At what pedal RPM and Wattage does the average cyclist unravel the space time continuum and time slows down? It might even go in reverse a little? I counted the swirls of the woodgrain in the floor, I stared holes into the clock on the wall, I blacked out and tried to go to a "happy place" but ended up in the porta-john of misery. You have been there it's like the pain cave but worse, it's stinky, hot, and nobody replaced the toilet paper. Once you get to a certain level of physical self-abuse your senses become heightened. I think that I was able to see the different cells in my epidermal layer in my right thigh while doing a 10min threshold interval last night. I could hear every valve in my heart open and close, I could even see stars through the walls and ceiling.
"Words all fail the magic prize.." There really is no good way to paint a picture of how one feels during an extreme bout of physical self loathing. Someone once told me that racing bikes is "pain management" the more pain that you can handle the better you will be. The longer you race and train the more pain becomes a friend or more like a relative that has overstayed their welcome, but you get used to the suffering. And just when you think you have this whole "pain cave" thing under control...Pain brings his friends fatigue and injury over for a party. Yeah!
Remember: when you are sitting on the couch there is some crazy pain junkie out there on a trainer doing intervals.
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