Shabbos +1: The 2007 finale

So here's the deal: I can't do the bike in the morning and run in the afternoon thing. And I can't really wait until the afternoon to ride. So I'm going at 8. Yeah, it'll be cold. Point of origin is negotiable, but I have to be at my house at 11:30. Oh, and the wind will be from the south.

There's frozen Goose poop everywhere!!!

At least on the Keystone trail between 25th St and Cornhusker, there is.

After reading this blog, I got a hankerin for a bike ride. I haven't really been on a true bike ride in about 3 weeks, maybe more. So after work, at 4:30pm, I figured I'd do my 1.5 hr loop down Bellevue blvd to Old Town Bellevue, then back up the trail. I'd have just enough time to pick up my woman from her work a little after 6pm. But wait Mike, wasn't it 23 degrees with a NE wind at 8-ish mph? Why would you head South at the beginning? And wasn't it foolish to try it on your heavy commuter without shoe covers???

Hey, I was jonesin for a ride so I threw caution to the wind (which really made me suffer going into that wind along the Keystone at the end of the ride) and went for it anyway. My core was fine and my feet were good....for the first half hour or so. Then the circulation somehow stopped flowing to the toes on my left foot. This always happens because I have bony feet and my left is my dominant mashing side. It was pretty outside with lots of frost and slow traffic, but man did the foot thing get to me eventually. I think even if I had had heavy shoe covers, they would have eventually froze.

After I got the the Keystone trail at 25th St, I realized the ride was taking longer than normal. I had to get off the bike and run for a while to thaw out my toes a little. After a 5 minute jog, they felt pretty good, aside from my 2nd toe on my left foot. It was the weirdest feeling. It felt like I had a metal toe ring on that was making all the rest of my toes (especially the big toe next to it) get cold really fast. I hopped back on the bike and tried to focus on pulling up instead of mashing. This is very difficult to do when you're tired, hungry, going into a headwind, and worried about getting home as soon as possible. Then the Goose poop came into view. It was all over the trail and was more dangerous than the sheets of ice by the under-bridges passes. I'd try to dodge them, but hit a couple and almost got taken out. Them suckers are like little boulders. So if you plan on riding the Keystone between Cornhusker and 25th, beware. I was late picking up the woman because somehow, the ride took almost 2 hours. I guess the heavy bike and running to thaw the feet made a difference, but man that was a tough one. I think I'm going to stay away from night rides and just do runs during the week. For feets sake.



Here's a looksie at the condition of said feet right after the ride: (warning, gross foot content ahead)





Directly after taking this picture, I hopped into the shower since my core temp was dropping. This was a bad idea because blood rushed to the reddish parts of my left foot and swelled up bad. I was also really really cold. After my shower I got fully clothed and just dove under the covers of the bed hoping the warm comforter would help me out. It did, but only after about 10 minutes of shivering. So can anyone tell me why my left foot does this and how I can remedy the situation. In the summertime, I don't care that the circulation goes away because it's hot and that blood is needed elsewhere. But in the wintertime, frozen feet keep me from riding outside. I think I need to go see an athletic foot doctor who specializes in cycling. Right, like there's such a person out there....

Weekend run or ride?

Any plans for this weekends get together, assuming we have one? I'm free all weekend and need some exercise. This weather better improve soon or I'm gonna give Ms. Thang mother nature a stern shaking of my fist followed by a serious look of disapproval.

Last mass email from dear old dad.

So my dad sends me great forwards from his work email. You know, those fowards where your address is in the middle of about 100 others. Good times.

Well my dad added to a forward today, " Just a Christmas funny to send along. And you can delete this email address. I am retiring from UP and this is my last day."

UGH, that hit me like a ton of bricks. My dad is officially entering retiredom. I can't even imagine the wave of emotions he's going through. All I can say is, thank you dad, for being the greatest dad I know. You have always been there and I hope you enjoy your free time now and I love you.

Thanks again and Congratulations!!

Saturday run

Is this still in the works? Time? Place?

Munsy's Tuesday run

My evening run by the numbers: (or something like that)

Distance: 4-ish miles on Brady's suggested route.
Conditions: Ice in spots where snow melt was turning as temp was dropping
Temperature: 30* or so at the beginning, mid twenties by the end
Elapsed Time: 30-ish minutes, not including walkdown
Average pace: somewhere between fast and slow
Max HR: up there
Average HR: somewhere between dead and up there
Calories burned: not enough to justify eating this. (shucks) Instead, I ate the leftovers of this(still probably too much, but too delicious).

Comments: Yay! I did a run on my own! I think the secret is to go out before I eat dinner. No more, "Oh I'll just wait till my stomach settles.." 2 hrs later... "Oh hey, my favorite show is on.." which is pretty much anything that will hold my attention for 2 minutes... Later... "Darn it, it's 10pm, time for sleep."

I will keep in shape this winter, oh yes, I will.

The Running Man

Now if only I had a fancy gold onesy with Pro-Wing hightops. (From the age of 9 to 13 I only wore full velcro Pro Wing Hightops - I was stylin)

Another good run with this guy and this guy yesterday. Another 7-ish miles. Bryan made the observation that most people getting into running do one-mile runs for a few months and then maybe move up to 2 milers. I thank him and Brady for the compliments. I would also like to know the feeling of being a really fit runner. I'm sure it's just as nice as being a really strong cyclist. Knowing that you can take on and bury most people that you run/ride with, and still smile and be nice to them while doing it. Now that's a good feeling.

So my plan is to ride to/from work and run for my exercise. Running is really easy to do even if there's drifts of snow along the roads. Not so much with biking. Then, once the drifts rescind, I'll head back out on the roadbike. I think this is a better long term health decision. I've read of 60 year old male cyclists who have the bone density of an 80 year old woman. Cyclings great for aerobic system and the joints, but it's recommended that you get some impact training on you bones, whether that be running or weight training.

So that's my plan. Now the hard part is committing to it. It's kinda hard for me to be sitting there after work in my nice warm abode and get amped up for a run outdoors when it's 20-something degrees and dark. Hence the beginning of my belly and my need for slacker pants. Anyone want to meet up for group runs after 6pm??

It's Done!

The finished product.



11-23 Powerdome cassette


Carbon Compact


Ti Front der


I think the scales is wrong! But I hope not!


These wheels are just sick! and cut off another pound!

I wish they were mine.

Learnin some skillz.

I've been riding to work and ya know, it's not that bad out there. You just have to go slow around corners and start the deceleration process on downhills a good couple blocks early. But it's kinda fun riding squirrely. I almost went down today in front of a bunch of Jr high kids. I transitioned from a sidewalk to brick street at a turn and that was truly slick. I felt the front end start to go, but I kept it up.

I think we should get out with the heavy bikes and do some easy riding. Learn some handling skills. Could be fun!

Former UNL Cycling Team member, now meber of MIT Cycling Team helps set world record in human-powered computation

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/dec07/dec13news

Former UNL Cycling Team Member, Nick Loomis, now student at MIT helps push 1.2 kilowatts! as a new method to power their brainiac, take over the world "Supercomputers" - Lance couldn't even do that...

A team of 10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) cyclists used bicycles to power a supercomputer conducting research on nuclear fusion Tuesday in order to complete the largest human-powered computation in history.

Riding bicycles attached to electrical generators, the students not only saved energy by using human power to run the SiCortex SC648 supercomputer, they used the computer to conduct research promoting alternative energy, as well. Several students on the MIT Cycling Team research nuclear fusion, a potentially promising source of energy that would provide an environmentally-friendly alternative relative to currently used nuclear fission power that produces dangerous radioactive waste.

A large part of their research is conducted using supercomputers that can model plasmas at nearly 10 million degrees centigrade. The bicycle powered computer ran a modeling application written by Greg Wallace, a graduate student at MIT and an avid mountain biker.

The MIT Cycling Team joined forces with the Massachusetts company specializing in energy-efficient supercomputing. The MIT cyclists powered the supercomputer drawing 1.2 kilowatts of electricity, riding non-stop for almost 20 minutes. A conventional supercomputer might require ten times as much power to perform the same calculations.

"By harnessing the energy creation processes of the sun, our research opens the possibility of limitless energy," said John Wright, a member of MIT's Plasma Science & Fusion Center and an avid cyclist. "But we still need to do our parts individually, such as by using energy-efficient computers in our research."

The start of something new!

We start with the Cervelo R3 @ 15.85lb


A little alloy and carbon here


A lot of carbon there


A double tap here


A power dome there


And lets not forget a little ti as well!

I'll let you know how things work out!

What am I, a runner?

So I ran again on Sunday for some unknown reason. Well, actually for a good reason; it's really cold and there's slick spots all around. Not very safe for a fast moving cyclist wanting to keep all their digits and stay upright.

Brady picked me up and we met up with Bryan out at Zorinsky Lake. I only realized after the run how insane this was. I've been on "serious" runs for a total of something like 10 times since I've picked up cycling. Now I was joining two runners who had recently become cyclists. Role reversal? I think so.

It's chilly so we get started right away. Now on all postings and mentions of the planned run pegged it as being about 4 miles. I'm completely cool with that. I need to do more of those 3-4 mile runs to get my legs used to the idea that they can hold body weight and not just mash bike cranks in a circle. So as we're running, all Brady and Bryan (who somehow had all this energy and extra breath to hold conversations) could talk about was how much they both hated this trail. I was having a blast. The scenery was nice, the wind wasn't bad especially in the trees, and the trail was padded with a slight layer of snow. We get to the 2-ish mile mark where we'd change direction and head back to the cars if we were doing the PLANNED 4 mile run. Well, since Brady and Bryan had all this energy and, "we weren't going very fast or hard," we decided to make the whole trek around the lake. Every now and then, between stories, Brady or Bryan would ask how I was doing. I'd be able to get out an, "I'm ok" on exhales, but that's about it. I tried a full sentence once and according to Bryan, it sounded like, "ablsiebhaevoiejghse." So that was the last time I joined the conversations. Until the topic of bike stuff came up. Then I slowed my running down to talk a little more. Nevermind this was at mile 6 and I was ready to fall over in the snow and make snow angels till I felt no more.

So the run finished up and we talked a little, drank a little chewy hot cocoa (Thanks Brady!!), then we headed our separate ways. I live in between Brady and Zorinsky, so Brady was nice enough to give me a ride. On the way home we were joking about the run and conversations, then it happened. Here's how the dialog went:

Joke, joke, joke, "Hey Mike, after that 7.5 mile run you feel like helping me move a TV up some stairs, don't ya?"
Me: "Heh heh, sure, sounds fun!"
Brady: "Well I'm not joking. Can you help me?"



Me: "Oh. Ok."
Brady: "And it's not a regular TV, it's a 36 inch Trinitron behemoth."



Me: "Oh. Ok."



Brady: "It's gotta weigh like 200-300 pounds."




Me: "Oh. Ok."


So we head over to his place and sure enough, it's basically the biggest TV I've ever handled. I've done plenty or 27" and 32" TVs, but this was a new experience. We only nearly dropped it 2 or 3 times, but we got it up the stairs. And into the enterainment center. After moving that around a few times. Brady was nice enough to repay me in a recipe and ingredients for my dinner I was cooking. All was good.

Today, I'm sore. And tired. Even after 8 hours of truly deep sleep. The coffee will keep my body going, but my mind and eyeballs are still tired. Don't know how else to explain it. So I need to go running more often so planned 4 mile runs that turn into marathons will be less painful.

So, On a whim...

I ran to work.

I didn't feel like driving since my car is not good in the snow and I'd be parking on the side streets. I also didn't feel like riding my bike and dying. So I ran. I only live 2.5 miles away. Plus I got to wear one of my fancy new cheap running shirts (over a long sleeve baselayer of course). My pants legs over my quads looked like I peed on myself since the snow melted right away as it fell on me. I also wore a thin beanie and my white cycling cap just to remove any doubt motorists may have had about the level of my sanity. Plus it kept the snow from falling in my eyes.

So now to get home after 8:30pm when my shift ends.....hmmm??? I could either take the MAT bus since the roads will probably be better by then, or just run some more. I'll let my feet decide.

Woah!!!

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This just came up while trying to keep abreast on everyone's blogs. Why can't they do maintenance at 3 in the morning when no one, except Bryan, is awake? It wasn't a big deal. All was said and done in about 10 minutes.

Not much else going on in Munsonland. Not a lot of exercise going on, just Santaday shopping. Kinda interested in running with the guys though. Come on Brady, post our Shabbos afternoon running plans here. I triple dog dare ya!

How does an "Ice Event"

as Bryan called it, take out the whole day? Well when you bake some cookies, watch a couple movies, then eat a wonderful food-inducing-coma stew, you generally don't get much done.

I meant to maybe leave the house and do something. Anything. Especially head over to Ryan and Roxys for their annual endo the year partay. However, the stew that my woman made was pretty serious. I mean, damn. I ate a bowl, felt full, and laid down for a second. 2 hours later, and well past my bedtime, I awoke and realized I should probably call it a lost day.

In other news, a brand spankin new Charbucks opened a block away from me. And here I am trying to get away from drinking coffee. Gah. All that construction at the old Aksarben area is either going to bring many conveniences, or turn my new neighborhood into a bustling, traffic-jammed headache.

In other, other news, I think I need to work off some of the laziness I acrued today. Bryan, post a time and place if you'd like to meet for a short-ish ride tomorrow morning. I'll check and confirm in the early morning since I'm going to bed now. I do have to be home by 11:30, and would like to take it easier on the ride than last week. It's supposed to be mid 20s with a NW upper teens wind - just lovely. If the rollers/trainer sound like a better option for you, I completely understand. I'll just head out for an afternoon run or something. It's all good.

Have you seen this guy??

For clues, seach here. Or here. Or finally, here.

Shabbos +1 ski trip

Things aren't looking good for Shabbos +1, kids. If there's snow -- and the Weather Channel says 100% chance on Saturday -- we should hit the dirt.

Quick, somebody buy me a mountain bike!

It's official.

Ya know how Aaron mentioned on the turkey day ride post to not be a fatty? Well, I'm afraid I really need to heed that advice. I jumped on the scale a couple times in the past week and I'm up to 168.8!!!! I haven't been that heavy since my first year as a cat 4, about 4 years ago.

So I've officially let myself go. I should have figured that a few months of doing maybe one long ride a week interspersed with commuting all of 6 miles round trip was not going to be enough calorie burning for the amount of food I was packing in.

So now's the time. I'm going to start training......for nothing. Other than to keep my weight down and have fun on the group rides next year. It's really fun to hurt people on group rides. Pushing them to their limits will help both them and me.

I ran this morning. I think I have to pick that up again if I want to drop some weight. Use some different muscles to shock my body into being a better furnace. I also need to portion control. I don't need a double serving of cereal for a total of 400-500 calories in the morning. And I especially need to limit or drop the consumption of soda. That's another 400 calories I'm consuming a day. So I either need to switch to diet soda (blech) or just guzzle the H2O.

At my fittest I was right around 150. I could fly up climbs and still have a monster engine to hurt people on the flats. I don't know if I'll get down that far, but I know it'll be healthier overall if I do. So if you see me drinking a regular soda or pounding doughnuts (unless we're on a 4+ hour ride), give me that stern look of disappointment to get me back on track.

Weekend plans.

So my plan is to do the Eppley road TT with Brady and friends at 1pm on Saturday. Sounds like a good time.

Then Sunday, or rather Shabbos +1, I do have to be at my house by 11:30am, so the earlier we get started, the better. I mentioned before possibly starting at 8am at one of the coffee shops by 120th and Blondo. Makes for an easy ride for Bryan so he won't have to drive half the distance to our meeting place.

Let me know if this sounds like a good idea for Sunday. If not, well too bad.

Happy T day

Give thanks gobble gobble

T-day + 1 ride.

The offers have been made.

Crane coffee at Cass and the Keystone trail at either 8am or noon.

Chime in if you have family obligations and would like to ride while all the crazy people are shopping beginning at 8am. Yes it will be cold, 25 degrees, but we can get a good 3 or 4 hours before families start to feel dejected.

Chime in also if you would like to avoid your families or get off work(?!) at noon like Jonny does and want to go riding at noon. It's supposed to be around 40 by that time. 25 verses 40....hmmmm....

So this is an official poll. The responses will determine our start time. Post now or forever hold your peas.

T-day ride....

Thanksgiving weekend 2007, earn your "consumption of mass quantities" ride.

"Yeaaaagggghhhhhh! Lets do this!" Joe -from Family Guy

ps. don't be a fatty

A Shabbos +1 FYI

I'm not riding. Mike's not riding. Observe the day in your own special manner.

Reality check

Props to Brady for making me check myself, before I wrecked myself.

Backstory:

On the ride home after the truly fun and adventurous Cranksgiving race, I mentioned to Brady that I was thinking of converting my heavy Bianchi commuter to a single speed. He piped up right away, "Now why would you do that? What's wrong with the way it is now?" This reaction caught me off guard.

Usually when you tell a cyclist you're going to strip down to one gear, they shower you with accolades for being a bad-ass. I believe Brady was really just naively curious why limiting yourself to one gear would be a good idea. In the conversation, I tried to explain away how one gear is less maintenance in crappy weather, less possible equipment to fail, and a little lighter too. We changed subjects after that. But everytime I pondered what kind of fancy lightweight single speed specific wheel I could build up, or what gear I should use, Brady's question would again ring thru my mind. Then yesterday, I got the answer.

I decided to pick up a couple groceries on my way home from work, but made a little ride of it by heading out to the Hy-vee on Cass St and 70something-ith. My legs and back were sore from my fun mtb ride the evening before and there was a slight 30-40mph North wind. So when I turned north on the trail from Pacific street, I busted down to my 23 tooth cog in the back and spun easy. I was Sssssooooo glad to not have a 42 - 16 gear as my only choice. Plus, the side benefit is I won't spend any more money on stuff I really don't need.

So to Brady, Thank you sir for your astute observation of the glaringly obvious. One gear is not all you need all the time.

Coffee...

Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee

(deep breath)

COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE

(pant, pant)

coffee....

Just a pre-warning.

I'll be out of any Shabbos riding this weekend since the cyclocross races in Lincoln are hosted by our team and I'm helping out. Oh wait a minute, Bryan's doing that crazy running thing and not many others have been joining our ride, so there you go.

Ok so nevermind. IGNORE THIS POST and go on about your business.

Shabbos +1: sleeping in

I propose the following:

8:30 start from my house.
Coffee prior, if you're there about 20 minutes early
Ride for 3 hours.
Go home.

This is my job.

Just replace the words "text", "book", and "scroll" with file, powerpoint, and transparency in respective order and you will have the same dialogue I encounter almost everyday.

Like Bryan, I need to get a new job. "But I still love technology, Always and forever..."

Wow, that was fun!!11

So I scurried around during the day to get ready for my first try at night time MTB riding. I had to dig out my headlight system and recharge the battery. My commuter now has a generator hub, so I no longer have to remember, but usually forget, to recharge a battery. So anyway. I get the battery going over lunch. Mod posted that he was leaving from the Trek Store to ride out there. I joined him right around 5-ish. We were both on single speeds so the riding was mellow. We had plenty of time to get there anyway. The destination was Tranquility with it's brand new trail additions.



It was dim when we arrived, but got really dark by the time we started. At the meeting place, there was only 4 of us so we were worried about attendance. Then down the trail came 6 or 7 dancing helmet lights. That was a sight I had never seen and it was pretty cool.

So we get going and since I had never done this before, I rode near the back with guys that were taking it easy. I kinda wish I had gone with the 5 or 6 faster guys at the beginning, just to get a better workout, but it was nice just riding and chatting. When us easy pacers got to the top of a hill, we took a breather and watched the fast guys headlights zig back and forth like a train of lightning bugs. Crazy fast Doug who was on a single speed cross bike took the lead after that and he was just gone. There was no way I was going to catch him. It didn't help that this particular section of the trail was completely new and rather twisty, but I thought I could at least keep him in sight. I was wrong. After the end of that lap, we all hung around for little then started the 2nd lap. I rode with the fast guys this time. They were taking it easier which is how I stayed with them. However, once Mod got to the front and got to a technical section, he was also just gone. Usually I can make up ground on the longer stretches, but Tranquility has been completely redone to make it much more technical. My long stretches were no more. Plus I was fading fast. By the end of the 2nd lap, I was toast. But it was fun.

A few of us rode, while others drove, over to Josh and Khamails place for some amazing food. It was the perfect end to a new adventure. Great food and great company. Epicly good times.

Doping is bad, Mkay?!

A two-year study has found "frightening damage" to the offspring of 52 East German athletes from the doping-infused era of the 1970s and '80s. Of 69 children, 7 have physical deformities and 4 are mentally handicapped -- a rate of serious medical issues much higher than in the general population. The reason is forced consumption of anabolic steroids during the athletes' competitive period, according to the study conducted by the Germany University at Humboldt. More than 25% of their kids have allergies and 23% have asthma. Among the former athletes, now aged 40-60, the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth is a staggering 32 times higher than in the normal German population. In addition, 25% have suffered some form of cancer and 61% have had therapy for psychiatric disorders, including 38% with severe depression and suicidal tendencies.

Wonder if they've ever done a study like this with American football, wrasslin, or Barry Bonds? I also wonder if EPO has any side effects like this. Pretty scary stuff.

At least I have a blog...

There, are you happy Legg?









I don't have much to say. I haven't been training. I haven't been doing anything really exciting. Unfortunately, there's just been a lot of TV watching.

I do have all except one part needed to put together Peters bike. Backstory; Peter calls me up saying he's living in Cali and won't be back till Xmas time. However, the HighGear Team issue Cannondale bike he borrowed was in pieces at his mom's house in fricken Papillion. And it needs to be put back together and taken to the shop post-haste (I love using old-time wording). So the biggest hassle was, his mom pretty much threw ALL of his bike stuff in some boxes so figuring out what cassette parts went together and how to get a whole headset working for the bike included a few too many trips to Papillion. And I still have to go back and find the top cap for a headset I got assembled. And let me tell you something, Peter and his bro have too many amazing bike parts just laying around. I probably shouldn't go into all the goodies I drooled over scavenging parts for the bike, but let's just say, there's enough parts for a few high end bikes. Yes, I'm jealous much.

So, for all my time and traveling Peter owes me a few meals at King-Kongs and/or Chipotle. It's a lot of gas money heading all the way down there, and I'm sure his mom is getting tired of me showing up, tearing up the garage searching for parts, then putting it back together again.

So what about you Legg? Care to respond and keep my blog hoppin? Or should I make you an author on this site too so you can be part of the MITMON experience!?!?!?

and + 1

Sunday, Jonny and I are meeting at my apt at 8am then leaving shortly thereafter. If you want to join in to make an actual group ride, post a reply and we'll setup a meeting place.

Obligatory Shabbos post

I think we've run the subject of men's nipples far into the ground by now ... I hope.

Shabbos this week -- Bike Masters ride at 9 on Saturday. Gonna be probably a tiny bit faster than normal Shabbos rides, but that shouldn't be a problem. We'll crush them through sheer might.

If you'd like to participate in pre-ride coffee, be at my house by 8:30, and then we'll ride up to the shop. Do let me know if you'll be there -- I'd like to have the beans harvested in time for proper roasting and grinding. Thanks.

Cat Scratch Fever.

Ok, I don't have a fever, but I did get a pretty good cat scratch. One of our cats was being particularly squirrelly and playing around under the bed, so I batted at the sheets hanging down from the sides. Well of course she thought this was plenty fun and batted back. Well, all it took was one instance of both of us batting at the same time to end the game. She won by drawing blood. It could have been a lot of blood if the sheets were thinner. My defeat was a nice gash on my middle finger. So I went to my trusty standby for a cure. (I was going to upload a pic of said product, but teh bloggzors is acting weird)

This stuff is amazing. I don't remember which race it was, but a couple years ago I got this mini-grab bag of body care stuff from their company. It's called Zip's Natural Sport. They have just a few products such as the Scab Dab stuff I use often, some muscle rub for alleviating aches, soap, and for the runners - Nip Stick(which I think is just chapstick for your nipples). I've never experienced it, but apparently some runners have issues with their nips while running. Bryan or Brady, could you explain this one?

So anyway, I can see that this gash from my cat's claw is kinda deep. So I immediately wash it pretty good with anti-bacterial soap, dab on some of this Scab Dab, then cover with a band-aid. The gash was almost too long for my band-aids, but it worked. The scratch originally occured on Monday night, and today, I have no need for a band-aid. This stuff has some weird natural super healing powers. It somehow really aids in healing, unlike Neosporin, which is mainly used to over-disinfect. Before, when I'd use Neosporin it would take a long time for scrapes and scratches to heal. This Scab Dab stuff is really nice. Once i run out of the little .25 oz sample/travel version, I'm going to order the larger 1.5 oz tin for $9.00. Trust me, it's well worth it.

Gotta love the little things that cycling helps in every day life.

Stolen

This clip stolen from CVO, who in turn stole it from Pinch Flat news.

Shabbos + 1 anyone?

Not much to report in my world, hence the same pic of Mr. Liggett up top for quite a while.

My plans for this weekend are: ride my mtb Saturday morning and hopefully do a group ride Sunday morning. Anyone can tag along if they want to respond and discuss when/where these 2 major events should happen. My loosely made plans right now are riding the mtb probably at either Swanson or Lake Manawa, or maybe even the Wabash, or maybe Tranquility, or, well that's about it. Time? Um somewhere in the 8-ish to noonish area. I have a strict schedule as you can see.

Sunday, well, meet somewhere along the Keystone sometime in the morning. Again a strict schedule. I will need to be home by 11:30am though, so no century for me this weekend...ctm. (chortles to myself, kinda like lol).

So, anyone got any feedback?

Suitcase full of courage!

So what would you pay for a "Suitcase full of Courage"?



The boys from Pacific think it's worth $10,000.00!

Inspiration

So on the Breast Cancer Awareness ride, I volunteered my time to be at the turn around for the 25 mile ride. I drove the High Gear Van down to Capehart Rd and setup shop with bananas, apples, and water. Most of the people came rolling in as one large group, but didn't stay for too long since they probably didn't want to get too cool. Then, after a while another group came and went, then finally the sweepers, Troy and Charlie, followed the last group in. This group consisted of an 82 year old guy from Kansas City who was riding with his daughter, her husband, and her friend.

I chatted with the KC guy for a while as he was refueling and he was, truly, where I want to be when I grow up. At 82, he either rode his bike, took a walk, or both almost every day. He went on bike trips when he had the chance and just enjoyed life. He said he lived alone in KC (my guess is his wife passed away some time ago), so he could "go riding whenever (he) liked."

Sure he could only ride at an 8 mph pace, but he's 82!! To be in that good of shape at that age is, what I believe, cycling's biggest benefit. My Uncle, who is getting up there in age and is retired, leads bike tours as a way to have fun while earning a little bit of mullah. I wish I could do that right now. That would be so much fun!

So some people hate getting older. I say, there's plenty to look forward to, so enjoy the process, and get out there and ride!

Shabbos +1

It looks like rain. Awesome. If it's raining when you wake up, or if the radar will be covering Omaha with a big dose of green soon, stay home.

Otherwise:
Crane Coffee on the Keystone (78th/Cass)
8 a.m.

Exposing my..

soul to all. There's nothing going on here at work. Nada. So I'm gonna tell a little story bout myself and I hope to get some responses of similar fashion. Sometime, whenever, just write about your experience in reference to:

Music. Bryan's post got me thinking about music and how people come upon their musical identity. Why do some people listen to purely country music and think that hip hop can't even be considered music? What influences a person to start listening to their type of music. How do people know what "everything" is when they say they listen to "everything"?

Here's my back ground. I grew up with my mom playing piano for me and my two brothers. That was great entertainment. We'd dance around while she would play Gershwin, Bach, Chopin, and many others that I can't remember now. That tied in well with Bugs Bunny cartoons since the background music was usually played by orchestras and sounded like classical music. Then when I got old enough, 2nd grade, I started taking piano lessons. About the same time, my big brother, who's older than me by 3 years, started listening to pop music. This is me bearing my soul just so everyone know's where I'm coming from. My early favorite songs were all the hits from the early 80s: from Pink Cadillac, by Natalie Cole, to Duran Duran. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade were all pop hits for me, courtesy of me blindly following my older brother. My first tape was Michael Jackson's Bad. So yes, it was that bad.

In 5th grade, my friends changed a little. I started hanging out with kids who had long hair. I, myself started to grow a flop since that is what skaters did, and I was now officially a skateboarder.

I started listening to early Metallica, Megadeath, and found my new TV love: Headbangers Ball. Every Saturday night I was up till all hours of the night just reveling in the massive sounding aggressive music. At first I hated the glam-rock, but after seeing how many women loved their music, which at that time of life started to become really important, I changed my mind. So that was 5th through 7th grade. My tastes in rock did eventually morph to a more funky sound. Primus, Suicidal Tendencies, and other bass guitar heavy rock started to mold my listening preferences. I started playing bass in orchestra in 6th grade along with my piano lessons, so I wanted to hear music that had lots of bass in it. Anthrax had some great bass lines and had some decent messages in their music. It wasn't dark like the death metal, but it wasn't glitz and glam of the hair bands. They eventually did "Bring the Noise" with Public Enemy. That was pretty much it afterwards.

In Jr. High, my school was pretty ghetto. So since most of the girls liked hip hop and RnB, guess what I started liking? Yes ganster rap was in full effect at that time and being that I came from the extreme of rock with speed metal, I had to go to the extreme with rap. It's fun to, every now and then, break out the old Spice 1, Comptons Most Wanted, or South Central Cartel cds. Yes, they were all real rappers. I grew tired of the severely modified songs they put out on the radio though. I guess playing just beeps every other word isn't great music, huh? Eventually my tastes grew up a little and I wanted to find hip hop that was fun, not gangster. That was a challenge, but when I found great artists, I bought everything I could from them. A Tribe Called Quest is probably my favorite group ever. Most people will never know of College Boys, Masta Ace, Rahzel, or any of the other positive hip hop acts that were once out there. Luckily, people like Common (who, when I first heard him in '94, was Common Sense), Wyclef Jean, Digital Underground, Outkast, and a few others could break into the limelight and show that hip hop doesn't all have to be about guns and money.

So hip hop and RnB was my music of choice until college. I went to school in Kearney, NE and was deftly afraid that my roommate was going to be some Country loving, rap hating hick. My first conversation with my freshman year roommate was funny because this very topic came up. He was just like me!! He hated country and loved rap. Granted it was only West coast stuff for him. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and others like that. So we shared our versions of good hip hop and grew from it. He learned about Wu-Tang Clan from me, and I learned that Ice-Cube became somewhat of a militant version of Public Enemy. It was great.

Also at that time I decided I was going to major in music. This meant I could link all those years of playing classical music on the piano and bass in orchestra to the theory behind music. This made pop and rock music really boring to me. I began to recognize when rock musicians really knew music or if they were just playing power chords and getting rich off of catchy choruses. I started really getting into "modern" classical music. Stuff from the Romantic era to this century (1815 - 2000) . Later Beethoven had some great angsty sounds, Prokofiev and Shostakovich had been through the world wars so their music was heavily influenced by pain. The sound of classical became more and more strident until things became experimental. Listen: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki Some of the really modern stuff is just random like Cage's 4'33" which is a guy sitting at a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. The idea is that the "music" is all the ambient noise of the theater and that there is really no true silence until death. In other classes I learned about world music and found that there's a lot of different sounds out there to experience. So when people say, "Oh I listen to everything," I feel like asking, "So what is your favorite Gamelan orchestra?"

Nowadays, good music is hard to find for me. And it's not because my favorite band grew up and got old, it's because I'm looking for something totally new to me. Not another rock band that sounds something like blank, mixed with a little blank. Just something completely different. Good hip hop to me has to use different sounds and beats to catch my interest. Missy Elliot with Timbaland is a good example of this. Every couple years, Timbaland reinvents his sound and others play catch up. Pharrell with Star Trak music had a whole new soundscape that many pop artists paid him to create for them. Most of the new stuff is just bland. I understand how people like new rap, which all sounds the same to me, because I went through that when I was first discovering hip hop.

On the rock side of things, Coheed and Cambria was the last band that I really got excited about and they're kind of underground. They have real musical talent and I had never heard of a story going throughout entire albums, sometimes called Progressive Rock. I understand now that Pink Floyd did this and so did a few others. I've tried and tried to get into most classic rock and I just can't do it. That includes heavier rock, hippie rock, folksy stuff, etc. The lead singers voice has a big part in this. If I don't like the singers voice, I'm never going to get into their music. Most of the major players of classic rock just don't work for me. The Beatles, The Who, AC/DC, Bob Dylan (so yes Bryan, when you did play Dylan, I was offended...(just kidding)), Led Zeppelin, etc. are all ingrained in the musical fabric of rock, but it's just not something I like to hear. I say this about country, mariachi music, and many other kinds of music: I respect the musicians and what they can do, it just doesn't sound good to me. I'm sure this is the same way most people feel about hip hop and pop music. Except about the being musically talented part.

Most new stuff I find interesting is usually electronic. Postal Service, Dntel, Royksopp, Sigur Roos, Eberhard Weber, Gary Burton, and all kinds of weird ambient music is just "new" music to my ears. I like variation. Something could have a wailing guitar, violins in the background, and a crazy phat bass beat and I'd be a happy camper. Especially if I liked the lead singers voice and the lyrics made sense or told a story. Or even if there wasn't a singer, music can be just as good. A classical bassist named Edgar Meyer created his own sound. He was influenced by jazz and bluegrass so he wrote his own music that is just different. I love stuff like that.

So now you know what I listen to. I have 400 cds of classical, rock, techno, pop, hip hop, RnB, world, showtunes, videogame music, anime soundtrack music, movie soundtrack music, etc. If I had all kinds of money, I'd need many terabytes of hard-drive space to download music from the internets. That's what was so great about the hayday of Napster. You could easily find new music for free. Not just sample it, but have it. It was always fun to look at peoples playlists when you found a song you wanted to download from them. Needless to say, I usually found a few people like me who had similar random tastes in music like I do.

So....that's all I gotta say bout that. Let me know either a short or long version of your musical history on a reply here, or on your own blog. Expose yourself. It feels good.

On Ebay.

So I sold some stuff on ebay recently. I got my tri-spokes, a pair of road shoes, pair of mtb shoes, and the Speedplay X-1 pedals that Peter sold to me at the beginning of this year. Total take home is around $1100!! So I'm ok with that. Time to pay down some debt.

I feel a little guilty about getting $140 0ut of the Speedplay pedals since Peter sold them to me for $70. Hey Petey, you want an extra $35? Show up to a ride sometime and I'll pony up the mullah. That's PAF. Peter getting paid to go on a group ride.

The Word on Shabbos +1

Looks like there might be rain or storms for Sunday morning. Let's plan for 8 am at Aksarben and decide from there. Please respond if you're planning on attending and/or would like to change meeting time/location. If it looks like lightning, just assume that I'm sleeping in instead. Or, if no one responds and there's no lightning, I'll show up and ride by myself if need be.

Shabbos: The word

Saturday: 7:45 a.m.
Place: Scooter's Coffeehouse on 120th and Blondo (SE corner of intersection)
Departure from Scooter's: 8:15 a.m.
Destination: Bike Masters group ride at 8:30. From there, lord knows where we're going.
Speed: As always, quick social

See you there.

Jon -- do you want to meet at Scooters or meet on Maple and ride down together?

Shabbos

No, not Shabbos +1. Shabbos. I'm going to be gone on Shabbos +1, but really want to ride on Shabbos.

I'm thinking 8 a.m. for a three-hour ride or so. Sean, one my teammates, will be in town and is down for anything. Though he does need a bike. Anybody got a moderately fast 55 or 56cm bike available for the morning?

But where shall we convene? Crane Coffee on the Keystone seems like the easy choice. There's also the Bike Masters ride at 8:30, which really wouldn't make it Shabbos.

Let's figure some stuff out.

Better news

In a few weeks, like maybe two or three, we'll be able to return to the former Caribou Coffee for a European coffee experience. The dude who owns Omaha's Taco Del Mar stores is going to lease the Caribou spaces for his own joint.

But does that mean we all have to get white bar tape, wear white shoes and carry a baguette in our seat pack?

Bad bad bad bad news (confirmed)

All Omaha Caribou Coffee locations have closed. The 156th and Maple one is gone, and the store finder on the company's web site says there are no locations within 50 miles.

Shabbos +1 is now homeless.

look here.

In case of rain ...

Wear a jacket. Unless the heavens are torn open and riding would be utterly stupid, I'm still planning on tomorrow morning. And if we have to hang out at Caribou for an hour or so, well ... you gotta do what you gotta do.

Shabbos +1 - the glorious return

It's really only been, what, two weeks since we rode on Shabbos +1? That's two weeks too long, friends.

time: 8 a.m., leave at 8:15 (got it, Munson?)
place: Caribou on 72nd and Pacific
destination: unknown, though I haven't been to Fort Calhoun in about five or six weeks.
speed: quick social, because Mike can't hammer
burritos: optional, though they can be exchanged for components or whole bikes, depending on the size and ingredients of the burrito

I am thoroughly convinced that wool is the way to go for layering. I have a single Smartwool longsleeved base layer that is versatile enough for the entire winter. It has a tall collar with a zipper to allow me to adjust for temp. I can wear this layer up till about 65 degrees. After mid 60's it get's a little warm though. Then I start looking like Fred when he wears a wool jersey on an 80 degree day. Not pretty.






Here is a review of this base-layer. This morning, since I needed to wash my Smartwool shirt after wearing it a few days, I used my old cool weather layering ensemble from last year; a Craft sleeveless baselayer, arm warmers and my jersey. It was amazing how much colder the Craft shirt/jersey was compared to the long sleeved wool base-layer with a jersey. So now I have all these Craft sleeveless under shirts that I'd rather trade for Smartwool lightweight/midweight Zip-Ts (the official name of this garment - if you want to do a search). Anyone want to buy some Craft under shirts?

Could I have been more lazy??

For some reason, I didn't touch the bike this weekend. Jonny and I had planned on riding both days, but he didn't call me and I didn't call him, so somehow, no plans were made.

I did a lot of sitting. I was on call Saturday am till noon so I have that as a little bit of an excuse. Then I went over to my parents house and helped out around the house. Then on Sunday I got up around 7-ish, but kinda moped around after fixing/eating omelets. I didn't have my cell phone on, (unbeknownst to me) until 11 am so all kinds of people could have called to go on bike rides. But instead, I just hung out, watched some tv, surfed the net. Then the woman and I headed out to see "Resident Evil: Extinction." It was ok, but could have been better. You know how the 2nd Lord Of the Rings was a big filler and you really wanted to see the next movie right away, well this movie was kind of like that. The end of it left 2 major plot developments for the next movie. I'll probably watch the next one just to continue the story.

So anyway, I'm hoping I don't have too many more of these lazy weekends because I don't like man-boobs. And that's what I get when I gain weight. Ugh.

This just in from Shim ...

Mike, for those Sabbos guys that read this web page/blog we will be doing the Wed night ride route as a part of the Sat a.m. ride from Trek store at 10 on Saturday.

Ok, enough of the emo stuff...

Fred directed me to the information being passed between him and Brady on his blog. You should all be aware of their dialogue and consider it important information.

I got the TSIDS.

TV Show Induced Depression. There's this great website. It has all kinds of shows, movies, etc that you can watch for free. Some of the stuff doesn't really work since it's too new or too old, but if you want to catch up on various weekly shows, movies, or whatever, you can watch them commercial free on this sight (with a high speed i-net connection, of course). There's a tv-show called, "Dead Like Me" that I saw a couple times when Cox had a month of free Showtime on cable. It was funny and different. Basically the plot is, the main character was an angsty 18 year-old who died when a toilet seat came falling down to earth from a space station. She became a grim reaper. So now she gets post-its with a name and ETD, estimated time of death. As a grim reaper, she has to pop the soul out from the person who is about to die in some sort of accident. That way their soul doesn't have to experience the death, and can pass onto their version of "heaven" peacefully. Different premise and some great comedy in this show.

So I've been watching the episodes on this website pretty consistently. Now I'm in a state of apathy/depression. Way too much dwelling on death and the meaning of life, etc, etc. I just don't feel like riding the bike even though it's been great weather recently. Not sure why, I just don't feel the need to ride around with no goal. So I'm going to start watching a different show. Maybe Arrested Development? There's tons to choose from, so I will try to find the most funny, cheery, happy-inducing show to help me get out of this funk.

Enjoy the link and don't watch too much.

Monday excursion.

I haven't been riding much recently with my moving and wedding trip and such. So Monday was the first time in a couple months I actually rode for a couple hours after work. And since I got to work at 6:30am I was on my commuter with my seizure inducing lights. This bike has to weigh 25-28 lbs. It's a pig. The front wheel has a generator hub so it's as heavy as a normal rear wheel. It has my heavy duty touring rack for when I need to slap on panniers to haul clothes or food to/from work. I adjusted the stem to allow for a very upright riding position so yesterdays ride into the 20mph headwind was especially fun. The other problem with a heavy bike is, for some reason, a strong tailwind really doesn't push you along as much.

I did the downtown, bellevue blvd, Hayworth park, to the trail loop. Since I was pretty slow going up hills and such, this ride which would normally take me just under a couple hours took almost 2.5 hrs. I forgot my cycling gloves so my palms were pretty sore afterward.

So now that I know I can ride a bit of a distance on my heavy bike, should we make this Sundays Shabbos +1 ride the official first of many heavy bike trudges? Carribou at 8am for a couple, may 3 hrs? Anyone, anyone? Fred, still got your old Lemond to dust off?

Call it early planning

Sunday is the annual Bike Masters fall century. It usually takes a good portion of the day. I don't want to ride for a good portion of the day.

The ride will go through north Omaha, downtown and then into Bellevue and then Glenwood and some other places. I don't want to go to Iowa. Normally, yes. Not Sunday. No time. So I'm going to start at the shop at 8 a.m. with the group, and then turn around when they get to the Bellevue bridge. From there, I'll probably take the most direct route home -- whatever that might be.

So ... let's start Shabbos +1 from Bike Masters. Or my house. Whatever. I'll even have coffee if you manage to get to my house by 7:30. Maybe free breakfast if you change a diaper.

Shabbos +1

Everybody's on their own this weekend. Mike's gone, Matt's playing in the woods, Fred probably has to study ... uh ... Brady's probably doing whatever tri-geeks do ... and I have a bunch of company. I may go for a run instead. Or a quick two-hour ride or something.

We'll be back in action (possibly) on September 16. State crit is next Sunday, so I'm out for that one.

Stay safe this weekend, kids.

Happy 3 day weekend to all those who get it.

I'll be in Pittsburgh from Thursday till Tuesday helping my little brother get committed.....to his fiance. So enjoy the nice weather on your bikes if you get an extra day. I'm driving to and from so most of my time will be fighting to stay awake on the road. I see many Mt. Dews and Gensing pills in my future.

Hey, you know what's awesome?

Shabbos +1 is awesome. That's why we should go ride bikes on that day.
Leave Caribou at 7:30
Go ride around
Come home (hopefully before the kid is screaming too much)

I have a one-time pass (because Grandma will be here), so I should -- nay, MUST -- use it.

The Challenge of Corporate Cycling

So after not riding very much during the weekdays before, hell, even the month before, I decide to hop on with Bryan and crew meeting at Carribou to head down to the Corporate Cycling Challenge. Amazingly, I was almost on time for the 7:15 meeting time. Somehow, Bryan let everyone else know that the real meeting to have coffee time was 7am. So, I was given the "Munson time cushion." It all worked out. It was Me, Bryan, Fred, Brady, and John(first time meeting him). So we took off.

On the way down, we got Boonened by Mark Brackenbury, but we caught back up to him. Then we also rode along with Roxy and Ryan who were running the skinnies for a change. It was also interesting to ride toward downtown and be passed by so many cars with bikes attached to them. Different. Once we got to the start place, it was PACKED!! I think this has been the largest OCCC yet. We quickly got to the front since riding around all the slower riders is quite dangerous. Brian even wanted to start a block up the road, but peer pressure caved in and we were on the front lines.

It started pretty mellow, and the large front fast group formed almost instantly. Bryan and I decided not to be a part of it since were being passed by the guys who joined that group. Way too many sketchy fast Keystone trail guys to ride comfortably with. So we hung back and eventually were vindicated when a big crash happened from that group when they crossed some railroad tracks. We did get caught up riding kinda quickly for a while since lots of guys were passing us. Ya know, it's just pride messing with ya. As soon as we hit Hwy 75 where there's a long grinding hill, we passed many many people who had just a few more pounds than us to carry.

On the long downhill on hwy 75, we came apon John, Bryan's friend. He was in the fast group until he flatted going over a pothole during the descent. So we helped him change it and another guy hit the same spot and double flatted. He fixed up his one wheel with his one tube, but needed our help for the other. Then when we were just about done with his, 2 women came rolling to a stop around us and started getting their flat changing stuff out. I noticed this woman was going to try to use her CO2 on her innertube that was wrapped around the rim, WITH NO TIRE ON IT. Luckily I stopped her, put the tire back on, got the innertube properly seated and let them spray their liquid freezing air in. We then took off, the 4 of us, John, Bryan, Me, the guy who double flatted who recently moved here from Indiana. Anyone actually catch his name?? He was a nice guy.

During all the flat changing, we got passed by ssssoooo many people. As we were heading into Ft. Calhoun, we were passing people, but there were swarms of slow riders. And I felt so bad for the few cars that tried to get past these large bunches of weekend warriors using hwy 75 as their personal bike trail. They were taking up the entire road without a care in the world. Nothing will make a driver hate cyclists more than causing them to creep along at 15 mph on a hwy where the speed limit is 65. Such is life I guess.

Of course, on the way back, John had to get another flat so we'd have to again repass all those slower people we had gotten around. Oh well, it was fun regardless.

I'm slowly getting more and more out of shape. It was probably the not eating or drinking enough, but that ride just took it out of me. I ate some good Hy-Vee catered food that UNMC ordered for a picnic, then headed home. I could have napped the whole afternoon, but I had laundry to do. Hurray.

Shabbos +1

Anybody wanna crash the Corporate Cup ride with me?

Depending on how things are (or aren't) progressing in the ever-expanding womb, I may be free to ride. Since I'll be around an hour away the whole time, it shouldn't be too out of the question to meet at Caribou, ride downtown, do the Cup ride and come home. But I reserve the right to bail ... you know, in case my first-born child feels like making an appearance.

The ride starts at 8 by ConAgra, so we should leave Caribou at, what, 7:15?

Not to steal the thunder of cometitive sleeping ...

But check out the newest post on my blog -- it's a cool idea and plan that could turn into a very cool event. Worth your time for a little click. And send any input my way.

Continue the nap.

Man, why am I so tired???

I just can't understand it. All I did was commute to and from work last week. Then, starting early on Saturday, I rode for 4 hours ending around noon in the hot-as-the-ass-of-death midday sun. Then I spent a few hours at the bike shops, where I found the new '08 Lemond Poprad had come out. Really nice. So then I got a hankerin to build up my old cross bike. So I started on that which kept me up till 11pm or so.

Then Sunday, I again got up early to head down to Louisville for the Raven's Nest 5K trail run. I've never done a running race, so this was an experience. Bryan was my guide since he's an ex-competitive runner. We lined up near the front and started pretty fast (at least for me) when the gun went off. I stayed with the top 10-15 fast guys for a while, but about half way through, I got pretty tired and had to walk a few times. I got past a couple people at first, but then was passed by others toward the end. By the end of the race, Jonny and Ryan had ridden down to join me in an easy spin for about 45 minutes or so. When we got back, the race organizers were packing up. Bryan later emailed me and told me I got 2nd in my age group (20-29) and was 15th overall out of a little over 100 people!!! So, needless to say, I'm kinda liking this running stuff. I've only really been running for about 3 weeks, and I'm probably going to keep it up. It'll be nice to have a cheaper sport for a while. Save some money.

So anyway, after the race and ride, I head home for a much needed nap. After snoozing a couple hours, I hop up and get back to work on the cross bike. I'm wrenching away as the weather goes from a heat index of 100+ to a crazy storm with buckets of rain and huge winds. It was nice though since it dropped the temp a bunch. After picking up my woman from work and grocery shopping and dinner, I keep pluggin away at the bike. By 11:30pm, I'm nearly finished, but going cross-eyed from being so sleepy. I don't get to bed until 12:30 and decide that I'll finish the bike up after work the next day. Well 6am rolls around and I'm wide awake. I was gonna sleep in till 7:30am, but that wasn't happening. So back to work on the bike I go. I finish it completely right as it's time to head off to work. My saddle position and handlebar height are kind of off, but I can iron that out later on.

I wonder why I'm so tired at work now??? Coffee please!!!

Oh, Shhhhhabbos +1

The Shabbos +1 will not be observed by bicycle this week. Mike and I will spend the morning (or about 25 minutes of it) in a 5K trail race near Louisville. Feel free to worship at your own time, place and pace.

Shomer Shabbos!!!

What sounds good to everyone? It's gonna get up to 94 that day so the earlier we get started, the better. Peter, I know you hate waking up early, but I haven't ridden with you in months, so sack up and set that alarm!!

How does Carribou (72nd and Pacific St) at 7:30 am sound? Earlier?

Fred is thinking of joining us and I know he could start at something like 6am, but I don't think all of us could make that.

Please respond with suggestions or deep thoughts.

SSSSSSSSssssoooooooo.... Is this bad???

I thought to myself, "Self, sometimes when your saddle sores are too annoying to ride, but you don't want the hassle of driving to work, what other method of commute could you use?"

Answer: Running. I figured it out. If I take the shortest flatest route to work, it's a touch over 4 miles. Not bad. I can work up to running 8 min. miles and be there in roughly 35 minutes. I have regular clothes at work since I ride there, so I'll just have to figure out the sweaty part. Well, no matter what I do, I'm sweaty when I ride to work. Just not as sweaty as I'd be if I were running. So if I start yogging now and work up to an efficient 5 mile jaunt, I'll try that out come fall when it's cooler in the AM.

So I started tonight. I ran 4 miles. I haven't ran in like 6 months. Is that bad?? Answer: yes!

Different muscles are now officially broken. My left calf, my left quad, both my shin muscles, and my left knee are pretty sore. I could tell that biking does absolutely nothing for my mid-section because running gave me a full core workout.

So I have a couple question for Bryan. Is it normal to have a lopsided stride? I already know I'm really disproportioned in my cycling, but do runners normally have a stronger "kick" foot, while the other one is just sorta along for the ride? In cycling, my left leg naturally mashes down providing the bulk of my propulsion while my right leg is really good at lifting. (I'm not crazy, I have the muscle dispropotions to prove it.) So in biking, I work hard at trying to equalize my leg strength. Should I do this in running? Should I focus on pushing more with my right leg since it's usually just the weak step between left leg strides?
Another question: Should I run every other day? Every day for a few, then take a few off? Run seriously once a week with walking in between so I can mimic my bike training?

I guess it would help if you knew my goals, huh? Well I don't know them either. Take THAT! HA!! Uh, what I mean is, I'd like some general tips that work for all running so I can decide later whether longer distance or fast short runs are my forte.

Bryan, thanks in advance. Everyone else, if you see a wheezing runner taking up the trail, don't run him over. It could be me.

Photographic proof: Still alive

Gotta ask him for the details, though.

Hey Mike

are you still alive?

Shabbos +1

8 a.m.
Caribou Coffee
3-4 hours of probably not very intense riding.

I'm about to go play the Des Moines Register in softball, while Mike is probably getting done with his TT right now. So, seriously, it's gonna be pretty relaxed.

Hope this works for most everyone.

the color change has me pretty freaked out.

I'm not afraid to admit it.

My Sunday group ride turned solo.

In the infamous words of the Geico caveman guys, "Not cool!" I guess we all miscommunicated as to what was going on for the ride. I didn't check my blog and just went on the verbal agreement that 8am at Highgear was the plan.

Well everyone missed a once in a lifetime event. I WAS EARLY!!! I thought I was going to be late as usual since I left my place at 7:35am, figuring it takes a half hour to get there. So I hammered it and took the most direct route: trail to Q st, over to 72nd, to Harrison, down 84th to the shop. It was early on Sunday so traffic was light, otherwise I'd never ride those roads. I got to the shop in 20 minutes! I was pulling into Highgear at 7:54, but I thought my new cyclo-computers clock was wrong since the parking lot was empty. "Did I miss them again?" I turned on my cell phone and was baffled to see a time readout that wasn't past the designated ride start. This was new unexplored territory for me. So I waited. That was a weird feeling. Sorry guys, I never knew how frustrating that can be. I kept checking the time, riding in circles, picking my nose. Oh wait, no one's supposed to know that last part. At 8:04, my usual arrival time when 8:00 is the "leave the parking lot" time, I started calling around. Bryan (who's cell phone # I need by the way) was in bed when I called. Sorry bud for disrupting your post-bad-race depression laden slumber. I've been there before, and the last thing you want is some ill-informed, happy-cheery, I-love-mornings guy calling you when all you want to do is beat on your tear stained pillow then fall back asleep cuddling it as if it were your childhood blanky. I changed many tear stained pillow cases at the beginning of this season, so I know what's up. Ryan's phone was turned off so I took that as a hint to leave him alone. I had read on Matt's blog at around 10pm that he was out of the ride. So solo ride it was!

I took off for hwy 370 to head toward Gretna. I hadn't done the 2 rivers loop in a while and I missed it. It's almost a good thing that no one was riding with me. Bike riding really clears the sinuses and I had much sinus to clear up. And these weren't the normal easy out snot rockets. We're talking long gooey streams of sickly boogers. I have since decided that cycling gloves are essential from now on. I used to go gloveless and use sleeves to wipe my nose on, but glove are much more efficient at catching and removing large amounts of face-wide nose streamers. Ok, I'm done with the gross stuff now.

The first half of the ride went by quick. I got out to 2 rivers and then turned East onto Center. After that huge hill I turned North again on Skyline Drive. This is a nice road. The houses have gotta be the most expensive around these parts. No cookie cutters either, really different new houses all well taken care of. Skyline leads you up to Elkhorn and the most fun road, Old Lincoln Highway. This road leaves Elkhorn heading East from 204th st along the railroad tracks and then curves around onto 174th and it's 80% brick! Almost 2 miles of pave and it's a blast to compete with other guys on group rides to see who can hammer the fastest on this rough stuff. However, by this time in the ride, I was getting tired and hungry since I didn't bring any food along. Also, this was my first ride in a week so I just bypassed the fun road and hit the KwikStop instead. I then headed N on 204th to State street and should've kept going to hwy 36 to turn East. But no, I took State with all its' hills and new development. Right around 156th, where there used to be farmlands, there's now this horrid cookie cutter housing area. It's so drab and boring. All the houses are basically the same shape, are some shade of tan or brown and are way too close together. I have no idea why someone would pay money to live there. I guess I can understand if they didn't work downtown and the houses were dirt cheap(since they lacked any character and seemed to be assembled in a factory). So, after the hills of State st, I was glad to get back on the trail. I stopped to help a guy who got a flat and forgot his pump. Total ride time was about 3.5 hrs. Nice weather, lots of deep thoughts since riding solo, and plenty of streaming boogers. Good times.

Shabbos +1

What say you, people?

I'm going to bed in 30 minutes. Whatever you say, do it quick.

Edit: 7:15 a.m. -- no ride for me. Not really feeling it right now.

Get ready for some cheerin.

Fred, Bryan, I'm on the sidelines for the race. I'll be at the start/finish line runnin the camera in hopes to see one of youse guyse cross the line first. So if you hear random hollering coming from the line, you'll know it's me. Things like "French Toast," "Der Jan," or the ever famous "Shomer Shabbos!!!!!"

Of course all this will be followed by hacking, coughing, or nose blowing since my cold is in full effect.

See you guys in Papillion.

Back (and maybe) with avengeance....

So after the lovely Shabbos + 1 easy spin ride, I went to go see Transformers for the second time with my bro and dad. After the movie or even before, I started to feel kinda sick. I was really sleepy and not hungry even though we did a 3 hour ride. Then in the afternoon, I started to get that dreaded tickle/scratch in the back of my throat that usually signifies a cold coming on. Well I took it easy Monday, no ride to work even, and had an afternoon nap, but was still feeling exhausted. I had a cough that was producing mucus, my lymph nodes were swollen, general achy-ness all over, and some lovely sinus drainage. The easy monday didn't solve any of it, so no ride to work today either. Which usually means no training ride unless I ignore the messy apartment and don't feel like eating till late. Both of which are tough to do when they sound less strenuous than a ride.

SO, if I can't shake this damn thing by this weekend, I may be out of the twilight crit. Or I may just suffer though it and not do well at all, which could be the case anyway since I have no idea how I'll stack up against my fellow cat 1/2s. I haven't trained or raced against any of them since Norfolk which was a long time ago. I know I've gotten faster since then, but by how much I'm not sure. At any rate, this race will be fun. A new course to try and having it in the evening will be a whole different experience.

Shabbos and a planned Shabbos + 1

So we definitely rolled on Shabbos. We rolled up hills then down hills, then up hills, then down...you get the picture. It was a really fun ride and exactly the type of kick in the bootay I need to get that upper level fitness. Byan, Fred, and Brady were the partakers in the ritualistic cleansing of spirit through excruciating pain ride. Remember Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves hanging by some hooks through his chest. Yeah, that painful. The good kind of pain where you can't hear anything anymore since your heart is beating so hard the blood vessels in your ears drown out all other noise. It was a glorious morning.

So the plan for Shabbos + 1 is meet at Carribou coffee (72nd and Pacific) at 7:30am (7:15 my time so I'm not late). We'll decide where we're going from there. Heck, if it's real windy and Bryan and I are still pooped, we may just coast down the trail and back just to heal the legs a little.

Post group ride day(s) lead legs.

Ever notice the day after a couple longer hard days, if you take a day off, your legs feel like lead? I know it's smart to put a real easy ride in to spin out the legs, but my snooze button was hit one too many times for me to ride into work. Basically, if I don't ride into work, I don't ride that day. That's part of the reason why my off season was so crappy this year. I didn't or couldn't ride into work because of all the snow, cold, and sometimes weird work schedule.

So I drove to work on Thursday which ended up being a good thing since I played taxi most of my non working day. My woman needed a ride to her work since she missed the bus so that was my lunch hour, and my big brother needed to be picked up also after work. By the end of the day with all that sitting around, my legs were locked up and my joints were sore. I know I could have alleviated the tension by stretching but I'm a biker, not a crazy runner. We don't stretch, it's part of our culture. Those that do stretch are often "mixed sport" kind of people or they converted from some other lesser sport to biking. So today after work, I'm going to follow Fred's ride advice, without the horrible Taco bell food.

Independence day group ride quotes.

July 4th group ride on the Wed. night ride route. 5 of us: Jon, Fred, Bryan, Brady, and yours falsely. Jon and I had just done a slight hammerfest a mere 12 hours prior, so we were pretty baked. Here are some of the more choice quotes that were heard on the group ride:

"We call it the 'French Toast'" - Fred

"There's a hole back there....Shomer Shabbos!!!!" - Mike

"I have this amazing saddle sore. I will post a pic of it on my blog." - Fred

"Fred, you dropped me." - Jon (who was only a bike length away near the top of the hill and then was with Fred after the crest)

Any of youse guyse have others that were of note? Post a comment to remind us all of how awesomely epic the ride was.

There's some great stories behind some of these quotes. Ask us and we'll fill you in. Or, just show up to one of our rides and experience and/or add your own choice quotes.

Day off mega miles-fest.

So the plan is, well I don't know yet. There are 2 rides I'm up for on Wednesday morning. At 5:45am(?!?!) at Culvers in Bellevue, Kent, and some other fast guys are doing a cool one hundred. At 7am (more reasonable) Fred is planning on leaving the Trek Store to do the normal Wednesday night ride route up to Ft Calhoun and back. So that one will only be 45-ish miles or so. Could always tack on some more miles if time/stamina allow. I'm doing a small team ride with Jonny and one of the Lincoln team guys tonight and I know Jonny wants to do a ride tomorrow, but maybe not 100. Therefore it's more likely we'll do the Trek ride at 7am. If Jonny rides down there, he'll have a good hour in already so his ride to and from the group ride might give him enough.

All this is just planning, no decisions have been made. Please respond if you would like to sway me more toward the 7am Trek Store ride.

You know what I'd like to see (or hear)?

Munson's reflections on the new Madone. Did ya ride it? Didja didja didja?

Doh! Just messed up my blog

Well it's not too bad. But now when you click on other blog links to the right, they don't come up in new tabs, which I like. What do you guys think, being that I have a whole 3 or 4 people that read this thing?

Shabbos + 1 is gravy

So after some late Saturday night rescheduling, (sorry Peter, but I had to be somewhere at noon and really wanted more than 2.5 hrs) Bryan, Matt, and I met up at the coffee joint to fuel up on super juice.

We rolled North up towards Ponca area and hit this wicked downhill on the way. That's the sweet part about riding with different people is you get to find new routes that you'd never know about otherwise. We crawled up L' Alpe d' Hummel then shortly after, I introduced the guys to the nice climb on North 47th st. This climb is fun since it has a few turns so you feel like it's never going to end. We then headed toward the airport. We took the trail along the muddy Mo to get there. This trail is not quite like others in Omaha. Just a little more ghetto.

Here's the trail:




And here's something you'll find along the trail:




Crack anyone?

So Matt had never been around the airport road and he fell victim to that roads' spell. For some reason, that road makes you want to sprint or ride fast. I guess it makes sense when you think about it; it's pan flat, it's a long stretch of road with not much traffic, and there's a headwind no matter which way you ride. We're just riding along the road when Matt gets into the big ring and just takes off. He has a pretty good sprint, although there was no way I was gonna challenge him after my 4 hr mtb enduro race the day before. Bryan thought about it, but didn't jump quick enough. Sprints are that way, you got at most 2 seconds to go with them if you want a fighting chance.

So we finish up by pounding over the cobbles of downtown since the farts festival was going on. The last few hills were tough for all of us, so we got a good ride in. If you've been reading the mtbomaha blog, you'd find this ride was EPIC.

Shabbos +1

If all goes well, it'll be our second straight week without gunplay! Don't stop believing, guys!

The plan -- now in red, and now edited

Meet: 8 a.m., Caribou Coffee on 72nd and Pacific
Leave: 8:15ish
Route: Probably the original Shabbos +1 ride, or some variant thereof.
Wind: From the south around 10, allegedly. I hereby give Mike permission to sit in, given the strenuous activities he's currently undertaking.
Length: Oh, you mean the ride length ... sorry ... (zip) ... 3-4 hours?

Be there.

What's the feeling

on Shabbos +1? I'm up for a ride of about 4 hours before it gets hot as balls. Mike, I know you're racing on Shabbos, so 4 might be too long.

What say you, constituents of Lebowskiville?

My Weirdnesday night ride

So since I'm rolling on Shabbos up in Ponca for 4 hours on my fat tired bike, I decided to hit the hills of Jewell on Wednesday night. I rode from work, and coincidentally, met up with Steve Jarrett along the way. Our routes aligned on 13th and that road that comes up from the riverside trail, Springlake Park. That was almost a mile away from Rosenblatt and people were parking all over the place. It was nuts!!!

Jarrett and I got to Jewell and did the first lap at a slower pace. He waited up for me a couple times since I think he was worried if I was gonna make it or not. I guess I've never really ridden with him on the mtb before. I was on my single speed which is not quite optimal for that park. Ok, it hurt bad after the first lap. My core got roxxored. We decided to go out for just one more lap and Jarrett said he was gonna hit it hard, but we'd meet up at the end to ride back home for a while. Well, after the first couple of climbs, he was just gone. That park zig-zags quite a bit so I saw him a couple times, but there was no way I was catching him. That trail is fun, but crazy technical, at least for this roadie. The trail is narrow, mostly off camber, and has ninja trees that jump out at you. I'd have to ride it consistently for a couple weeks to get comfy on it.

The main weirdness happened on our ride down Bellevue blvd heading home. We ran into Ryan Feagan, on his ROAD BIKE. So there I am, a roadie riding fat tires, and there he is, a mtber riding skinnies. Twilight zone indeed.