Due to a terrifying line of succession, with Mike out of town I am the boss of you, MITMON readers. I checked with Al Haig and he said I'm pretty much free to do whatever I want. It's an awesome, yet solemn, responsibility.
Here's some info to help ease the transition:
1. I propose a Shabbos (Saturday) ride.
2. The time of the ride shall be 6:15 a.m., at Bike Masters or another suitable spot.
3. The pace of the ride shall be race-pace or faster. Probably faster considering we were doing 14 mph at one point in Norfolk. That was pretty fookin' ridiculous.
4. The route of the ride shall be determined later, and most likely based upon wind.
5. Again, the pace of the ride will be fast. Possibly throw-up fast.
6. The length of the ride shall be 3 hours, no more. JP has to be home by 9:30 because his wife has to work and is therefore leaving the kids with him. I would think that at ages 6 and 4, the kids can be by themselves for a few hours. If Jack can do it, why can't they?
7. Think about joining us if you want to go fast. With a gap in Nebraska racing -- or even Iowa racing -- getting more nasty high-speed work in is a good idea.
8. Leave questions or concerns in the comments.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Some interesting events.
Things are gonna be busy this week in prep for my 2 week vacation to Pennsylvania. I leave this Sunday for the East to watch Aaron Pool race in the Tour of PA, visit some relatives, and bike around with my dad. I will be back on the 5th of July. So I may be ready for a Shabbos +1 on the 6th if I've wound down enough. We'll see. Plans can be put up here and hopefully I'll get a chance to check them while out of town.
Monday was a great/horrible day for the woman. Michelle never had a drivers license. Her parents never got around to teaching her and she got along just fine on the bus and with rides from friends. Well on Monday, after a few months of great lessons from my (now retired) dad, she passed the drivers exam and can drive where ever she wants now. No more waiting on the bus. The bus is a great way to save money instead of having a car, but not really convenient. At one point, she was living in mid-town and working out west. She had to take a bus downtown to catch another bus that would head out west. It was an hour and a half trip each way, everyday. Basically, more time than it takes to drive to Lincoln. EVERY DAY. She went mildly bonkers after a couple years of that. Now she works closer to home, so the bus ride wasn't as bad, but still, the need for her to be able to drive became more evident. And since I'll be gone for 2 weeks, she'll be able to get to the store, go out, and generally have more freedom than she's ever had in the past. Good times ahead for her. The horrible part of that day was that she went into the dentists to get a couple wisdom teeth pulled. Way to have a rollercoaster start to the week.
In friends news, Bryan's search for a new job landed him in the same building. He is now working as a tech-geek writer and WORKING DAYS!! I can't imagine the strain of working the shift he's been on for a while, 4(ish)pm - 1(ish)pm. I gripe and complain about working 11am - 8pm for a month at a time, but that's not cutting into a normal sleep schedule. I'm guessing now that he can get proper recovery, he'll be able to really up the intensity of his training. Plus being able to join the Wed. group rides always boosts performance. Congratulations Bryan. Other friend Brady is unwinding from a tough battle in a half-Iron Man down in Kansas. Brady has proved he is one tough cookie when it comes to being on the rivet. Congrats man, for a job well done. Fred, welcome back to blog world. Hopefully we'll get in more early morning rides on the weekend. But not for a few weeks. Catatarian of the year award goes to Bob for rescuing a little bundle of fur from certain automotive doom. Thank you sir, on behalf of all cat people everywhere.
Monday was a great/horrible day for the woman. Michelle never had a drivers license. Her parents never got around to teaching her and she got along just fine on the bus and with rides from friends. Well on Monday, after a few months of great lessons from my (now retired) dad, she passed the drivers exam and can drive where ever she wants now. No more waiting on the bus. The bus is a great way to save money instead of having a car, but not really convenient. At one point, she was living in mid-town and working out west. She had to take a bus downtown to catch another bus that would head out west. It was an hour and a half trip each way, everyday. Basically, more time than it takes to drive to Lincoln. EVERY DAY. She went mildly bonkers after a couple years of that. Now she works closer to home, so the bus ride wasn't as bad, but still, the need for her to be able to drive became more evident. And since I'll be gone for 2 weeks, she'll be able to get to the store, go out, and generally have more freedom than she's ever had in the past. Good times ahead for her. The horrible part of that day was that she went into the dentists to get a couple wisdom teeth pulled. Way to have a rollercoaster start to the week.
In friends news, Bryan's search for a new job landed him in the same building. He is now working as a tech-geek writer and WORKING DAYS!! I can't imagine the strain of working the shift he's been on for a while, 4(ish)pm - 1(ish)pm. I gripe and complain about working 11am - 8pm for a month at a time, but that's not cutting into a normal sleep schedule. I'm guessing now that he can get proper recovery, he'll be able to really up the intensity of his training. Plus being able to join the Wed. group rides always boosts performance. Congratulations Bryan. Other friend Brady is unwinding from a tough battle in a half-Iron Man down in Kansas. Brady has proved he is one tough cookie when it comes to being on the rivet. Congrats man, for a job well done. Fred, welcome back to blog world. Hopefully we'll get in more early morning rides on the weekend. But not for a few weeks. Catatarian of the year award goes to Bob for rescuing a little bundle of fur from certain automotive doom. Thank you sir, on behalf of all cat people everywhere.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Am I lazy? Yes I am.
bryan said...
a Shabbos +1 proposal:
Sunday, 6:30 a.m. at Crane. I'm planning on 5ish hours, so we'd be back by 11 or 11:30 at the latest. Mike Munson has to be back by 11:30. My wife would prefer that, too.
Speed: It's tough to hammer for 5 hours. Let's call it spirited, but never fast.
I concur with Bryan.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Speaking of riding for fun...
Shabbos ride anyone? We could resurrect the way early (anti-Peter) ride and get a few hours in before the heat and wind get bad.
Post your ride times/routes/suggestions/ideas/philosophies.
Post your ride times/routes/suggestions/ideas/philosophies.
My type of cycling hero.
This guy knows how to ride. For fun and for life. That's the way it should be.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Various stuff.
The weekend came and went and I got in an hour ride with the woman. That's it. Otherwise it was on call duty, clean, work on bikes, projects, and avoid tornadoes.
Brady invited me on an early early ride Saturday morn, but I didn't get the message till late. Plus I would have had to turn back after about 45 minutes to be home so I could sit around for my on-call duty. Sucks. In a few months our on call is going to stretch out to once every 6 weeks instead of once every 4. That'll be nice. However this is going to come with other shift changes that'll see me doing the late shift (11am to 8pm) 4 times a year instead of 3. It's all kinds of weird, but we'll see how it pans out.
Bryan had a great weekend at Norfolk. Way to go, buddy! I sure wish I could have been there to race and watch others race, but seriously, I gotta keep chipping away at my debt load. $4 a gallon gas and lack of training motivation has all but taken me out of racing this year.
Aaron Pool is taking up my slack of team representation by doing really well at a UCI stage race in Spain(?). He had multiple top tens, wore the best young riders jersey for a day and says he felt strong in all aspects of his racing. In just a couple weeks, he and a few teammates are flying this way to do the Tour of Pennsylvania. My dad and I are heading out that way for a nice vacation of following the race, visiting family, and riding some rails-to-trails. Fun times!
I mentioned before that I worked on bikes and started a project. Well here's the details, if anyone wants to know, which I'm sure you do, oh yes you do. Actually, don't feel bad about not reading from here on. Topic is dinking with bikes and working with wood, that's it.
So on the bike front, I've successfully stayed away from doing a big purchase. If I think about it, I've made at least one pretty big purchase if not a couple, every year for the past 4 years. It's either been a whole bike, a wheelset, or a bunch of parts. This year, I've bought a couple small items to keep the bikes going, but that's it. And my debt load reflects this. I'm making huge gains on it, and it feels great. So anyway. What I have done to quell my need to get new stuff is continuously change old stuff. I have a bike that my parents got me in 10th grade, so about 14 years ago. This bike was made right when "hybrids" first came onto the scene. It's more of an off-road hybrid since it has 26" tires. It's definitely not aggressive trail riding worthy. I have recently used random parts to make it into a cruiser/fun ride bike that I use on outings with the woman. It has a nice upright position and a big cushy saddle. Very anti-racer like!
The Bianchi commuter I bought last year has also gotten some changes. The stock wheels it came with are heavy, especially with the front hub being a generator. Since the days are so long, I don't really need a generator light, so I swapped out the wheels for lighter training ones. I have my Ree-Lights on these, just to cover any early day/evening rides. I also changed out the rear derailleur and cogset to a mtb setup. The stock was 12-27 on the rear with a single 42th chainring up front. Since this bike is a beast (28lbs with heavy wheels, 26lbs with light ones), I needed something easier than a 42x27 to get me up the hills. Now I have an 11-34 on the back so I could conceivably climb some mountains. I may need that for my Pennsylvania trip since there are some mountains over there. Another little thing I'm quite proud I figured out was my fender setup. If you have fenders on your bike and you ride in the wet, you know that having the fenders fairly close to the tires really helps ward off tire spray. So on the rear fender, there are 3 mounting points usually: a cross brace right next to the bottom bracket, a cross brace near the brakes, and the 2 metal rod thingies that attach to the rear drop-outs near the rear wheel axle. It's easy to adjust 2 of the 3 mounting points. The bottom bracket brace is not so easy. I've heard of people using spacers and longer bolts to move the front of the rear-tire fender closer so it can protect the chain from getting tire spray. When I was going through my parts for a long bolt, I found one of those inner-tube valve stem nuts and got a great idea. I took an old innertube, cut out the valve stem and got a couple more of those valve nuts. I secured the valve stem to the fender, added another stem nut, ran it through the frame's cross brace, then added a final valve stem nut. So now, I can loosen a couple of those nuts (by hand, which is nice since it's a very tight space in there) and adjust the fender for when I might use larger tires. At this point if you still have any idea what I'm talking about, congratulations, you are as big of a bike-wrench-nerd as I am. If not, I might post pics later to show what the heck even I'm talking about.
Edit: here's the pics of said fender greatness:
You can see how it's a valve stem.
Here you can almost see the part that used to be part of the tube.
And here you can see the ginormous pie-plate like rear cogset. Also note how close the fender is to the tire. No spray on my chain now!
On the wood work side, our place has a great/horrible skylight right above our bed. It's great for lighting, but horrible when it rains. The thing acts like a drum for every rain drop and we sleep right under it. It's no fun being woken up by a snare solo at 3am. So my parents were kind enough to give me some spare pieces of wood to create a sort of sound deadening baffle. I started work on that yesterday and will hopefully finish it soon since the rest of the week looks like lots of random storms are coming.
So that's what's going on in my neighborhood. What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Brady invited me on an early early ride Saturday morn, but I didn't get the message till late. Plus I would have had to turn back after about 45 minutes to be home so I could sit around for my on-call duty. Sucks. In a few months our on call is going to stretch out to once every 6 weeks instead of once every 4. That'll be nice. However this is going to come with other shift changes that'll see me doing the late shift (11am to 8pm) 4 times a year instead of 3. It's all kinds of weird, but we'll see how it pans out.
Bryan had a great weekend at Norfolk. Way to go, buddy! I sure wish I could have been there to race and watch others race, but seriously, I gotta keep chipping away at my debt load. $4 a gallon gas and lack of training motivation has all but taken me out of racing this year.
Aaron Pool is taking up my slack of team representation by doing really well at a UCI stage race in Spain(?). He had multiple top tens, wore the best young riders jersey for a day and says he felt strong in all aspects of his racing. In just a couple weeks, he and a few teammates are flying this way to do the Tour of Pennsylvania. My dad and I are heading out that way for a nice vacation of following the race, visiting family, and riding some rails-to-trails. Fun times!
I mentioned before that I worked on bikes and started a project. Well here's the details, if anyone wants to know, which I'm sure you do, oh yes you do. Actually, don't feel bad about not reading from here on. Topic is dinking with bikes and working with wood, that's it.
So on the bike front, I've successfully stayed away from doing a big purchase. If I think about it, I've made at least one pretty big purchase if not a couple, every year for the past 4 years. It's either been a whole bike, a wheelset, or a bunch of parts. This year, I've bought a couple small items to keep the bikes going, but that's it. And my debt load reflects this. I'm making huge gains on it, and it feels great. So anyway. What I have done to quell my need to get new stuff is continuously change old stuff. I have a bike that my parents got me in 10th grade, so about 14 years ago. This bike was made right when "hybrids" first came onto the scene. It's more of an off-road hybrid since it has 26" tires. It's definitely not aggressive trail riding worthy. I have recently used random parts to make it into a cruiser/fun ride bike that I use on outings with the woman. It has a nice upright position and a big cushy saddle. Very anti-racer like!
The Bianchi commuter I bought last year has also gotten some changes. The stock wheels it came with are heavy, especially with the front hub being a generator. Since the days are so long, I don't really need a generator light, so I swapped out the wheels for lighter training ones. I have my Ree-Lights on these, just to cover any early day/evening rides. I also changed out the rear derailleur and cogset to a mtb setup. The stock was 12-27 on the rear with a single 42th chainring up front. Since this bike is a beast (28lbs with heavy wheels, 26lbs with light ones), I needed something easier than a 42x27 to get me up the hills. Now I have an 11-34 on the back so I could conceivably climb some mountains. I may need that for my Pennsylvania trip since there are some mountains over there. Another little thing I'm quite proud I figured out was my fender setup. If you have fenders on your bike and you ride in the wet, you know that having the fenders fairly close to the tires really helps ward off tire spray. So on the rear fender, there are 3 mounting points usually: a cross brace right next to the bottom bracket, a cross brace near the brakes, and the 2 metal rod thingies that attach to the rear drop-outs near the rear wheel axle. It's easy to adjust 2 of the 3 mounting points. The bottom bracket brace is not so easy. I've heard of people using spacers and longer bolts to move the front of the rear-tire fender closer so it can protect the chain from getting tire spray. When I was going through my parts for a long bolt, I found one of those inner-tube valve stem nuts and got a great idea. I took an old innertube, cut out the valve stem and got a couple more of those valve nuts. I secured the valve stem to the fender, added another stem nut, ran it through the frame's cross brace, then added a final valve stem nut. So now, I can loosen a couple of those nuts (by hand, which is nice since it's a very tight space in there) and adjust the fender for when I might use larger tires. At this point if you still have any idea what I'm talking about, congratulations, you are as big of a bike-wrench-nerd as I am. If not, I might post pics later to show what the heck even I'm talking about.
Edit: here's the pics of said fender greatness:
You can see how it's a valve stem.
Here you can almost see the part that used to be part of the tube.
And here you can see the ginormous pie-plate like rear cogset. Also note how close the fender is to the tire. No spray on my chain now!
On the wood work side, our place has a great/horrible skylight right above our bed. It's great for lighting, but horrible when it rains. The thing acts like a drum for every rain drop and we sleep right under it. It's no fun being woken up by a snare solo at 3am. So my parents were kind enough to give me some spare pieces of wood to create a sort of sound deadening baffle. I started work on that yesterday and will hopefully finish it soon since the rest of the week looks like lots of random storms are coming.
So that's what's going on in my neighborhood. What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Friday, June 06, 2008
And talk about the weather.
Something happens and I'm head over heals,
I never find out, till I'm head over heals.
If you know the song, you're singing it in your head right now. Tears for Fears. The Big Chair. One of my all time favoritist albums.
So anyway, talk about the weather. It's been just crazy. Storms every evening. Rain. Overflowing rivers. The mtb crowd is suffering withdrawal since there hasn't been a dry trail around for a couple weeks. Remember the big weather news like 3 years ago was DROUGHT!!! The Drought of the Century, blah, blah, blah... Not much of that going on now. Good ol' global warming is kicking in so polar ice caps can melt to provide the world with water to fix the droughts. That's my theory. Even though I only know 1 semesters worth of Earth science, I'm sticking to my ideas.
Good luck to those peeps heading up to NorfoLLk. I'm outo shape and broke so I canno make the trip. That road race is really tough and the crit is super fun. Hopefully the weather will kinda cooperate for you guys up there. Most of the really bad stuff has been lingering around Omaha and to the South, so Norfollk should be good.
I'm on call again on Saturday morning and will probably do a bike ride with the woman in the afternoon if the wind/rain/tornadic activity does not blow up. I will, however, be up for a ride either Sunday Morning or afternoon if those staying in the big O want to join in. Leave a message at the beep, or rather comment.
I never find out, till I'm head over heals.
If you know the song, you're singing it in your head right now. Tears for Fears. The Big Chair. One of my all time favoritist albums.
So anyway, talk about the weather. It's been just crazy. Storms every evening. Rain. Overflowing rivers. The mtb crowd is suffering withdrawal since there hasn't been a dry trail around for a couple weeks. Remember the big weather news like 3 years ago was DROUGHT!!! The Drought of the Century, blah, blah, blah... Not much of that going on now. Good ol' global warming is kicking in so polar ice caps can melt to provide the world with water to fix the droughts. That's my theory. Even though I only know 1 semesters worth of Earth science, I'm sticking to my ideas.
Good luck to those peeps heading up to NorfoLLk. I'm outo shape and broke so I canno make the trip. That road race is really tough and the crit is super fun. Hopefully the weather will kinda cooperate for you guys up there. Most of the really bad stuff has been lingering around Omaha and to the South, so Norfollk should be good.
I'm on call again on Saturday morning and will probably do a bike ride with the woman in the afternoon if the wind/rain/tornadic activity does not blow up. I will, however, be up for a ride either Sunday Morning or afternoon if those staying in the big O want to join in. Leave a message at the beep, or rather comment.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Ouchie
So I joined Brady and his Triathlete friends for some LT intervals. They met early and had a freezing cold swim while I just rode to Lake Manawa from home. We all got a nice warmup in.
The plan was to do a lap of the course as a group, send one person off at a time the next lap for TT efforts, do another group easy lap, then do a pursuit dealie where the slowest person from the first effort gets sent off first while the fastest guy goes last.
I had forgotten the plan was to do this 2nd TT effort and probably went way too hard on the first one. I did the 6.62 mile lap in 15'20" so at an average of about 25.6mph. I was extatic with this time since I really haven't been training seriously this year. Never mind that I had on a skin suit, lycra booties, shaved arms/legs, and aero bars. I needed all the help I could get. Now Lucas; the guy that I chased on the first lap, had no aero bars, skin suit, or lycra booties. His first time was only 20 seconds slower than mine. Sheesh, that's one strong mofo. On the 2nd effort, I again chased him, but I never came close to seeing him. His 2nd time was 15'26" whereas mine dragged out to a 15'36".
So that was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. I hurt alot now, but it was fun and I need this type of motivation. Now I think it's time for a nap.
The plan was to do a lap of the course as a group, send one person off at a time the next lap for TT efforts, do another group easy lap, then do a pursuit dealie where the slowest person from the first effort gets sent off first while the fastest guy goes last.
I had forgotten the plan was to do this 2nd TT effort and probably went way too hard on the first one. I did the 6.62 mile lap in 15'20" so at an average of about 25.6mph. I was extatic with this time since I really haven't been training seriously this year. Never mind that I had on a skin suit, lycra booties, shaved arms/legs, and aero bars. I needed all the help I could get. Now Lucas; the guy that I chased on the first lap, had no aero bars, skin suit, or lycra booties. His first time was only 20 seconds slower than mine. Sheesh, that's one strong mofo. On the 2nd effort, I again chased him, but I never came close to seeing him. His 2nd time was 15'26" whereas mine dragged out to a 15'36".
So that was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. I hurt alot now, but it was fun and I need this type of motivation. Now I think it's time for a nap.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Nice mellow weekend.
The woman and I had a nice 3 days together. Since she's been working at Goodwill, her days off are usually Wednesday and Saturday. So when she saw that she had the entire 3 days off, she was just a little giddy about it.
Saturday was Michelle's little sisters' graduation. So we attended the ceremony then headed over to her mom's place for the celebration. Much food, fun, and badminton were had by all. Then, she got her graduation present: a Nintendo Wii. The new video game systems are crazy. They connect wirelessly to your network with ease, the graphics are amazing, and they come with too many buttons. Anyway, we played lots of Super Mario Smash Brothers, which was a lot of confusing fun.
Sunday we got Michelle a bike. I had taken her into the bike shop just a couple times before and nothing really interested her. But after the days got warmer and she test-rode this bike she said, "If I get this bike, I will ride it." So Sunday, we got it and we rode. Now, this is the first bike ride she's done in a few years, so making it from our place to the Keystone and up to Dodge was a pretty big accomplishment. We'll probably start out with a ride during the week and 1 or 2 rides on the weekend. She wants to get into shape and the bike will be better for her since she stands all day at work.
Monday was spring cleaning time. We cranked up the stereo, opened up all the windows and went to town on the place. We've lived in this place for about 8 months now and still had some unfinished organizing to do. That, and laundry. And dusting. And sweeping. It's amazing with hardwood floors, you can sweep every three days and still feel grit when walking around barefoot. Makes you realize how much crud must get ingrained into carpet. The cats are also starting to shed, so vacuuming our stairs and upper floor has become pretty common.
In all the cleaning commotion, I spaced out Chris's graduation party. So sorry to Chris and Bryan! I missed out on some good times with great friends. Congratulations Chris.
Other than that, not much has been going on. My hammies are super tight from either the cleaning or the badminton. Not sure which or why. I guess everytime the birdie fell, I had to pick it up. And I spent alot of time hunched over with dusting and such. Guess I need to do some stretches at the desk.
Hope everyone else's long weekend was well used.
Saturday was Michelle's little sisters' graduation. So we attended the ceremony then headed over to her mom's place for the celebration. Much food, fun, and badminton were had by all. Then, she got her graduation present: a Nintendo Wii. The new video game systems are crazy. They connect wirelessly to your network with ease, the graphics are amazing, and they come with too many buttons. Anyway, we played lots of Super Mario Smash Brothers, which was a lot of confusing fun.
Sunday we got Michelle a bike. I had taken her into the bike shop just a couple times before and nothing really interested her. But after the days got warmer and she test-rode this bike she said, "If I get this bike, I will ride it." So Sunday, we got it and we rode. Now, this is the first bike ride she's done in a few years, so making it from our place to the Keystone and up to Dodge was a pretty big accomplishment. We'll probably start out with a ride during the week and 1 or 2 rides on the weekend. She wants to get into shape and the bike will be better for her since she stands all day at work.
Monday was spring cleaning time. We cranked up the stereo, opened up all the windows and went to town on the place. We've lived in this place for about 8 months now and still had some unfinished organizing to do. That, and laundry. And dusting. And sweeping. It's amazing with hardwood floors, you can sweep every three days and still feel grit when walking around barefoot. Makes you realize how much crud must get ingrained into carpet. The cats are also starting to shed, so vacuuming our stairs and upper floor has become pretty common.
In all the cleaning commotion, I spaced out Chris's graduation party. So sorry to Chris and Bryan! I missed out on some good times with great friends. Congratulations Chris.
Other than that, not much has been going on. My hammies are super tight from either the cleaning or the badminton. Not sure which or why. I guess everytime the birdie fell, I had to pick it up. And I spent alot of time hunched over with dusting and such. Guess I need to do some stretches at the desk.
Hope everyone else's long weekend was well used.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
I wouldn't call this eye candy...
but, I plan on buying some of this when it comes out.
Dave is truly a funny guy and if he doesn't charge Assos prices for his butt butter, I'll put it into regular use.
Dave is truly a funny guy and if he doesn't charge Assos prices for his butt butter, I'll put it into regular use.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I'm doing a half marathon this weekend....
...on my bike. This event is happening Sunday morning and I'm volunteering to help ride along for assistance. I've actually never been to a marathon(or half) so this will let me see if I ever really want to think about trying it some day. If anyone wants to join me for a long sloooow day in the saddle, I'll be leaving my place around 6-ish am to be out at 108th and hwy 370 by 7am.
On a side note, my latter June/early July trip with my dad out to Pennsylvania just got more exciting. Poolboy and his team of miscreants are shipping back overseas to partake in the Tour of PA. So we'll have plenty to do in the 2 weeks I'm taking vacation.
On a side-side note, the 2nd unannounced part of my great discoveries post was that I thought about getting a "do-all" bike frame and build it up with spare parts I have. I know, however, I'd end up buying extra stuff too. So I have since decided to "do-all" with stuff that I already have. My Fisher Ferrous is one sweet ride and the frame I was thinking about is in the same ballpark as the Ferrous. So with some tweaking, I think I can make it my year round commuter/gravel road rider/mtb bike. The only other biking to cover, fast road rides, will be taken care of by my current road machine, the ever trustworthy aluminum Lemond bike. So I can sell my Bianchi (which is a great bike, just too big, too heavy, and not off-roadable) and make do with what I currently have. I'm starting to make some headway on my huge debt load so that feels really good(if you want want to experience what a financial punch to the gut is like, ask me how much debt I have sometime). Any new bike purchase/racing plans would put a halt to that progress, so I must maintain course and live as simply as possible.
Good luck to all of you doing the TT this weekend. I'll be doing some overtime hours at work that morning wishing I could be meditating about bunnies and lollipops to quell the searing pain of my legs/lungs.
On a side note, my latter June/early July trip with my dad out to Pennsylvania just got more exciting. Poolboy and his team of miscreants are shipping back overseas to partake in the Tour of PA. So we'll have plenty to do in the 2 weeks I'm taking vacation.
On a side-side note, the 2nd unannounced part of my great discoveries post was that I thought about getting a "do-all" bike frame and build it up with spare parts I have. I know, however, I'd end up buying extra stuff too. So I have since decided to "do-all" with stuff that I already have. My Fisher Ferrous is one sweet ride and the frame I was thinking about is in the same ballpark as the Ferrous. So with some tweaking, I think I can make it my year round commuter/gravel road rider/mtb bike. The only other biking to cover, fast road rides, will be taken care of by my current road machine, the ever trustworthy aluminum Lemond bike. So I can sell my Bianchi (which is a great bike, just too big, too heavy, and not off-roadable) and make do with what I currently have. I'm starting to make some headway on my huge debt load so that feels really good(if you want want to experience what a financial punch to the gut is like, ask me how much debt I have sometime). Any new bike purchase/racing plans would put a halt to that progress, so I must maintain course and live as simply as possible.
Good luck to all of you doing the TT this weekend. I'll be doing some overtime hours at work that morning wishing I could be meditating about bunnies and lollipops to quell the searing pain of my legs/lungs.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Shabbos: A plan
Since Mike posted a two-part revelation that only included one part, we've all been left panting for the conclusion. Let's all gather and pant together.
That sounds dirty.
Anyway, tomorrow is Shabbos, the day of riding. And since nobody's racing, how about meeting at Bike Masters for the 9 a.m. group ride? If you want to get punchy at the front, we can do that. If you don't ... well, you can ride with the guy who shows up on his hybrid. Kidding, kidding. It'll be a good chance to get some quick work in.
Now, what about rain? Well, if it's raining at 9, I'm going back to bed. I'll just ride later. And no, I'm not riding the trainer or rollers. It's outside or nothing. A day off probably wouldn't hurt, anyway.
So that's the plan. See you there.
That sounds dirty.
Anyway, tomorrow is Shabbos, the day of riding. And since nobody's racing, how about meeting at Bike Masters for the 9 a.m. group ride? If you want to get punchy at the front, we can do that. If you don't ... well, you can ride with the guy who shows up on his hybrid. Kidding, kidding. It'll be a good chance to get some quick work in.
Now, what about rain? Well, if it's raining at 9, I'm going back to bed. I'll just ride later. And no, I'm not riding the trainer or rollers. It's outside or nothing. A day off probably wouldn't hurt, anyway.
So that's the plan. See you there.
Monday, May 05, 2008
What will I think of next??
Sometimes I don't feel like a complete tool. Sometimes I figure things out that really makes me feel smrt.
Ride into work this morning: 43 degrees. Not bad, but needed a long sleeve something, light gloves, a cycling cap under the helmet, and knickers to keep the knees functioning. Since I was in commute mode(strictly riding to and from work), I didn't need any fancy cycling clothes, just comfy looking street wear. I just wore my Shimano sandals with wool socks, cycling shorts under my knickers, a Nike longsleeve running shirt (Bryan, I think I have the one that you've raved about and yes, it's purdy dern good), Nike short sleeve running shirt over LS shirt, my favorite Defeet mid-weight gloves, and cycling cap. I was just right for the 20 minute jaunt in mid fourties weather.
Ride home from work: 80 degrees. All the aforementioned items besides sandals, shorts, and short sleeve shirt were too much for the ride home. At first I tried stuffing my socks, gloves, and cap into my knickers pockets, but it was very uncomfortable. Then I looked at the long sleeve shirt I wasn't going to wear and thought, "That would make a pretty nice fanny pack." So I laid the shirt out, placed the cap, socks, and gloves in the middle, folded up the body part, then used the sleeves to wrap around my waist under my shirt. It worked perfectly. I again, had just the right level of clothing for 80 degrees and was happy as a camper riding home.
So that was my first bright idea of the day. My 2nd one is a much more involved revelation (HA!) that will take another posting tomorrow when I'm not so tired. I'm back to the 6:30am - 3:30pm shift and 10pm is officially calling-it-quits time. Stay tuned for my 2nd amazing discovery that just might involve the conjuring of a new bike.
Ride into work this morning: 43 degrees. Not bad, but needed a long sleeve something, light gloves, a cycling cap under the helmet, and knickers to keep the knees functioning. Since I was in commute mode(strictly riding to and from work), I didn't need any fancy cycling clothes, just comfy looking street wear. I just wore my Shimano sandals with wool socks, cycling shorts under my knickers, a Nike longsleeve running shirt (Bryan, I think I have the one that you've raved about and yes, it's purdy dern good), Nike short sleeve running shirt over LS shirt, my favorite Defeet mid-weight gloves, and cycling cap. I was just right for the 20 minute jaunt in mid fourties weather.
Ride home from work: 80 degrees. All the aforementioned items besides sandals, shorts, and short sleeve shirt were too much for the ride home. At first I tried stuffing my socks, gloves, and cap into my knickers pockets, but it was very uncomfortable. Then I looked at the long sleeve shirt I wasn't going to wear and thought, "That would make a pretty nice fanny pack." So I laid the shirt out, placed the cap, socks, and gloves in the middle, folded up the body part, then used the sleeves to wrap around my waist under my shirt. It worked perfectly. I again, had just the right level of clothing for 80 degrees and was happy as a camper riding home.
So that was my first bright idea of the day. My 2nd one is a much more involved revelation (HA!) that will take another posting tomorrow when I'm not so tired. I'm back to the 6:30am - 3:30pm shift and 10pm is officially calling-it-quits time. Stay tuned for my 2nd amazing discovery that just might involve the conjuring of a new bike.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Hey, do you feel like throwing up?
Come to Hummel Park around 9 on Saturday morning. I'm doing hill repeats. It's gonna be awesome.
Or not. But I'll still be there.
Or not. But I'll still be there.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Another big mileage weekend, sortof.
Jonny and I did the Great Plains Bicycle Club Spring Fling Metric Century on Saturday. First we asserted our authority for the first 15 miles and just rode off the front from Louisville to get to the first Sag station in Plattesmouth. After that we had a few headwind sections, so we got together with some strong guys and just rotated at a nice easy pace. The pace was a little too much for a couple of the guys so by the end of the bad headwind sections, at about mile 55, it was down to Jonny, me, and one other guy. At that point, the metric Century route headed back to Louisville. The 24 mile route took this same road, but then went West. (Hard to explain) Anyway, we added most of the 24 mile route and tacked on an extra 13 miles or so to our metric century by heading out to good ol' Murdock, up around South Bend, across the river onto hwy 31, then back to Louisville. They had hotdogs n Brats waiting at the end that were quite scrumptious. So that was 4 hours to do 73-ish miles. Good times.
Then Sunday, it was reality check time. I got a text from Ryan F saying that he, Roxy, Kev, and Shim were going out on a 3-4 hour ride. Now I knew they would go hard since Kevin is as strong as an ox and his long ride days are a little too quickish (by about 5 mph) for my current fitness level. Well little did I know that the fury was about to be brought. On the ride were: Ryan and Roxy, Jeff Bergan(sp?), Kevin, Shim, Jay Chesterman (of Iowa mtb fame), Jim (last name escapes me), Kent, Stephen Jarrett, and me. If you know those names, you know that they are all pretty much MTB specialists. Well apparently, all of them had some steam to blow off since the race down in Kansas got post-poned on them at the last minute. I told myself I was only going to ride with them for a little while since I was super sore after my 4 hr ride the previous day. We took the usual Wed night Trek store ride route which entails going North on the trail, bipping over to Irvington road, out to hwy 36, over to 72nd and the Omaha Trace, Ft. Calhoun, Boyers Chute, then South home some way. The "go fast" parts are always Irvington road up a long grinder hill, Omaha Trace, and the route between Ft. Calhoun and Hummel Park. I was at the front for the Irvington road hill, but then away they went, and I was off the back. We all regrouped to start the next fast section, Omaha Trace. Well we were on it for quite a while and the speed was mellow. I thought this was great and decided I could actually eat some food to keep the fire going. Well mid-bar, with a mouth full of food, the hammer dropped. And off the back I was again. This time I all but sat up and almost turned around. But I figured I was only a few miles from Ft. Calhoun and it would be easier with the group riding a tailwind. This assumption was wrong. After the Ft. Calhoun regrouping, the pace picked up on the flat roads by Boyers Chute. Now what was frustrating about this, and I don't mean to knock all the mtbers I was with, the group did not work well together at all. And I don't want to name names (Shim) but drafting confidently was hard since there were some squirrels among us. Anyway, once the big hills hit, the group split in 2: the guys who were in TT mode to get home on time, and the rest of us who were taking it easy. We rode home at a very mellow pace, but my legs were super hurty. This is the kind of achiness you're supposed to have in the winter when putting in mega mile days for the off-season. But alas, I'm doing my base training in April/May. Hopefully I'll reap the benefits in the late season. I guess we'll see.
Congrats to Bryan for fairing very well at his first out of state cat 4 race - the Iowa City race weekend. He is picking things up and getting stronger with every race, so that's good. Teammate Ryan Legg also did that race and got a 10th place money spot in the RR which is amazing considering the distance, competition, and weather conditions. He had a pack finish for the crit, but has grown a fire in his belly for racing since he knows now he is fit enough to be with the strongest guys. Ryan, you are one fast mofo, give em hell. Kevin, Noah (Kevin's son), and Troy were down in Kansas doing the Velotek Grand Prix. Kevin did very well getting on the podium with Brian Jensen. *(little disclaimer that there was a field of 5 cat 1/2s). This race has been, for the last few years at least, been run without a cat 1/2 field, strictly cat 3/4/5s, Masters, womens, and juniors. I believe it was run this way so cat 3s and Masters could actually get large payouts. This is kind of a good idea since those fields bring in the most people, but I'm sure it alienated a lot of cat 1/2s. So that plus the cost of traveling is my guess as to why the field was so small. Congrats guys, on having a fun successful weekend.
So that was just a brief summary of my weekend, how was yours?
Then Sunday, it was reality check time. I got a text from Ryan F saying that he, Roxy, Kev, and Shim were going out on a 3-4 hour ride. Now I knew they would go hard since Kevin is as strong as an ox and his long ride days are a little too quickish (by about 5 mph) for my current fitness level. Well little did I know that the fury was about to be brought. On the ride were: Ryan and Roxy, Jeff Bergan(sp?), Kevin, Shim, Jay Chesterman (of Iowa mtb fame), Jim (last name escapes me), Kent, Stephen Jarrett, and me. If you know those names, you know that they are all pretty much MTB specialists. Well apparently, all of them had some steam to blow off since the race down in Kansas got post-poned on them at the last minute. I told myself I was only going to ride with them for a little while since I was super sore after my 4 hr ride the previous day. We took the usual Wed night Trek store ride route which entails going North on the trail, bipping over to Irvington road, out to hwy 36, over to 72nd and the Omaha Trace, Ft. Calhoun, Boyers Chute, then South home some way. The "go fast" parts are always Irvington road up a long grinder hill, Omaha Trace, and the route between Ft. Calhoun and Hummel Park. I was at the front for the Irvington road hill, but then away they went, and I was off the back. We all regrouped to start the next fast section, Omaha Trace. Well we were on it for quite a while and the speed was mellow. I thought this was great and decided I could actually eat some food to keep the fire going. Well mid-bar, with a mouth full of food, the hammer dropped. And off the back I was again. This time I all but sat up and almost turned around. But I figured I was only a few miles from Ft. Calhoun and it would be easier with the group riding a tailwind. This assumption was wrong. After the Ft. Calhoun regrouping, the pace picked up on the flat roads by Boyers Chute. Now what was frustrating about this, and I don't mean to knock all the mtbers I was with, the group did not work well together at all. And I don't want to name names (Shim) but drafting confidently was hard since there were some squirrels among us. Anyway, once the big hills hit, the group split in 2: the guys who were in TT mode to get home on time, and the rest of us who were taking it easy. We rode home at a very mellow pace, but my legs were super hurty. This is the kind of achiness you're supposed to have in the winter when putting in mega mile days for the off-season. But alas, I'm doing my base training in April/May. Hopefully I'll reap the benefits in the late season. I guess we'll see.
Congrats to Bryan for fairing very well at his first out of state cat 4 race - the Iowa City race weekend. He is picking things up and getting stronger with every race, so that's good. Teammate Ryan Legg also did that race and got a 10th place money spot in the RR which is amazing considering the distance, competition, and weather conditions. He had a pack finish for the crit, but has grown a fire in his belly for racing since he knows now he is fit enough to be with the strongest guys. Ryan, you are one fast mofo, give em hell. Kevin, Noah (Kevin's son), and Troy were down in Kansas doing the Velotek Grand Prix. Kevin did very well getting on the podium with Brian Jensen. *(little disclaimer that there was a field of 5 cat 1/2s). This race has been, for the last few years at least, been run without a cat 1/2 field, strictly cat 3/4/5s, Masters, womens, and juniors. I believe it was run this way so cat 3s and Masters could actually get large payouts. This is kind of a good idea since those fields bring in the most people, but I'm sure it alienated a lot of cat 1/2s. So that plus the cost of traveling is my guess as to why the field was so small. Congrats guys, on having a fun successful weekend.
So that was just a brief summary of my weekend, how was yours?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Cold has now subsided.
Well now that it's not dipping down to the 20s for overnight lows and I'm working the late shift, I've been actually riding a bunch. I've ridden 4 of the last 5 days. Saturday was a 3.5 hour jaunt with some teammates. Needless to say, it got kinda quick in places. That was mid-day so when 7am ride time on Sunday showed up, I was not at all recovered. I hurt from the very first pedal stroke and was happy with just doing 3.5 hours. The compatriots on this newly revived Shabbos + 1 ride were: Bryan, Brady, and Joe S. Everyone was a little tired, except for Brady. He's posted some news on his blog regarding his repositioning and knee issues. I dunno. I think he must have installed a bionic knee, and maybe a side order of whale lungs, because he put the hurt on all of us during some climbs. So that was a great hard weekend.
I took Monday easy with just the commute to/from work. Then Tuesday and today I hit the trails at Swanson for some single speed leg blasting workouts. I got in 3 laps in before work Tuesday, one with Mod. He was taking it easy on his full squish 29er Fisher with gears. Just like always, any technical section we hit and BAM, he's gone. I just can't rip the corners or ride as smooth as the true mountain bike brethren. Maybe someday I'll get it. Today, I slept in and was only able to get 2 laps in. I was just fine with that as I'm going to need a couple days recovery after all these miles on road and bumps off road.
It has been perfect weather recently. Riding to/from work, I've just been wearing everyday shorts and a t-shirt. I just pedal easily and I don't sweat. I'd love to look like an average joe who decided $3.50 a gallon is not worth it and is quietly protesting the use of cars with every ride. In plain clothes, I don't seem to get yelled at by many disgruntled drivers compared to when I'm riding in tight cycling clothing. Kinda weird. I'd love to find a t-shirt that had a pic of a gas pump with a red circle/cross through it to wear while I'm riding. If I could get just one person to try bike commuting, I'd be thrilled.
Oh yeah! This weekends plans. There's a Great Plains Spring Fling metric Century (near bottom of page) that leaves Louisville at 9am on Saturday. I'm planning on it, and I know Jonny Randell's in too. Brady mentioned he might crash the party also. I know the Iowa City races are the destination for most of the racing peeps out there. I do love those races, but man, I'm out of shape and broke. Maybe next year. So that also means Sunday is up in the air. We'll see what happens.
Hope everyone's enjoying the weather!
I took Monday easy with just the commute to/from work. Then Tuesday and today I hit the trails at Swanson for some single speed leg blasting workouts. I got in 3 laps in before work Tuesday, one with Mod. He was taking it easy on his full squish 29er Fisher with gears. Just like always, any technical section we hit and BAM, he's gone. I just can't rip the corners or ride as smooth as the true mountain bike brethren. Maybe someday I'll get it. Today, I slept in and was only able to get 2 laps in. I was just fine with that as I'm going to need a couple days recovery after all these miles on road and bumps off road.
It has been perfect weather recently. Riding to/from work, I've just been wearing everyday shorts and a t-shirt. I just pedal easily and I don't sweat. I'd love to look like an average joe who decided $3.50 a gallon is not worth it and is quietly protesting the use of cars with every ride. In plain clothes, I don't seem to get yelled at by many disgruntled drivers compared to when I'm riding in tight cycling clothing. Kinda weird. I'd love to find a t-shirt that had a pic of a gas pump with a red circle/cross through it to wear while I'm riding. If I could get just one person to try bike commuting, I'd be thrilled.
Oh yeah! This weekends plans. There's a Great Plains Spring Fling metric Century (near bottom of page) that leaves Louisville at 9am on Saturday. I'm planning on it, and I know Jonny Randell's in too. Brady mentioned he might crash the party also. I know the Iowa City races are the destination for most of the racing peeps out there. I do love those races, but man, I'm out of shape and broke. Maybe next year. So that also means Sunday is up in the air. We'll see what happens.
Hope everyone's enjoying the weather!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
What's that you say?
Shabbos +1 is back??? From it's original starting location?
That's right my cycling brethren. The coffee shop formally known as Caribou has a new name. I don't know what that name is, even though I've been by it a dozen times or so. But this Sunday, at 7am, the brainchild of one Peter B (only in attendance once and now in California) and Mr. Mitmoned himself (as once seen in cycling sandals and rumored to do so again) will sure as Sheldon, roll on Shabbos.....+1.
Wouldn't it be great if Fred showed up in his wool jersey, ready to sweat out some last apprehensions before his final finals? And wouldn't it be great if Brady showed up with flags hanging off the back of Old Yeller so they can slow down his blazing fast speed since fixing his knee issues?(congratulations on that again, by the way)
Come one, come all to the event of a lifetime(or rather since it got really, really cold).
Meeting time: 7am
Meeting Place: The coffee shop formally known as Caribou (72nd-ish and Pacific)
Ride type: Friendly social ride with speeds averaging in the upper teens.
Distance/time: we'll figure it out based on who shows up and time constraints.
There'll be fun, laughs, and hopefully more than 2 people!! Hope to see you ALL there!!
That's right my cycling brethren. The coffee shop formally known as Caribou has a new name. I don't know what that name is, even though I've been by it a dozen times or so. But this Sunday, at 7am, the brainchild of one Peter B (only in attendance once and now in California) and Mr. Mitmoned himself (as once seen in cycling sandals and rumored to do so again) will sure as Sheldon, roll on Shabbos.....+1.
Wouldn't it be great if Fred showed up in his wool jersey, ready to sweat out some last apprehensions before his final finals? And wouldn't it be great if Brady showed up with flags hanging off the back of Old Yeller so they can slow down his blazing fast speed since fixing his knee issues?(congratulations on that again, by the way)
Come one, come all to the event of a lifetime(or rather since it got really, really cold).
Meeting time: 7am
Meeting Place: The coffee shop formally known as Caribou (72nd-ish and Pacific)
Ride type: Friendly social ride with speeds averaging in the upper teens.
Distance/time: we'll figure it out based on who shows up and time constraints.
There'll be fun, laughs, and hopefully more than 2 people!! Hope to see you ALL there!!
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