Friday, August 31, 2007

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.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

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.

Friday, August 24, 2007

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.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

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.

Friday, August 17, 2007

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?

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

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.

Monday, August 13, 2007

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!!!

Friday, August 10, 2007

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.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

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.