re-todd ride...

Tuesday night in the Newark Metropolitan area typically finds a small group of riders collecting at a church on Polly Drummond Rd. Not by chance, this church butts up against some of the most manicured singletrack in the region. The aim of these riders each week is to carve this non-technical singletrack as fast as possible until, one-by-one, each pair of legs is shot. This ride, dear reader, has been refered to as the "Tuesday Night Titans" in the past. I like to think of it as the Tuesday night Re-Todd ride, as Ex-Presidente Todd is the fearless leader.

Nonetheless, tonight, I found myself lining up with others to chase Ex-Pres around the steamrolled singletrack. This was against my better judgement as I'm fighting some strange sore throat thing (a thing the Dr. said was not strep, not mono, not tonsilitis but likely allergies. So then she gives me a new allergy drug and says try this. And then she prescribes a light round of antibiotics. "I thought you said I wasn't sick Doc?" She says, "it's just in case your inflamed throat is infected." Here's to strengthing the antibiotic-resistant bacteria!). In hopes they'd leave without me, I set about tighting my chain which, in fairness, has been popping off way too often.

Well, they waited. And my chain tension was fine. And it was time to roll. I admit, my legs were feeling ok, though my head wasn't in the ride. Each time I swallow, you see, pain shoots through my throat. Not pleasant, and not good for concentration. And 50 minutes into the ride, this takes its toll as my front wheel finds a nice rut to play in, and goes on its merry way off the outside of a turn. Thigh, meet the cold, hard ground. Shin, meet the bike frame.


My ego is bruised more than anything, and I took it as a sign to go home. When in doubt, leave it out. Now it's time for a little recovery. Don't worry, the Doc prescribed this too:

function over form...

Form is out these days. My body is road-weary, my belly is a little bigger than usual. This was evidenced most recently while riding with Faticus and the Keg Breaker. There was some snap in the legs, but there was no endurance. One hour into our traipse around Fair Hill and I was cooked. Two hours and I was pretty cracked. At the three hour mark I was shattered. But not that painful, I-hate-riding shattered. I was still smiling, still happy to be out on two wheels and hanging with good friends.

Form is also going out the door with my Spot Brand 29er frame: classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=20180&cat=38. Which must mean I'm on a new bike:

The Kona does not yet have a nickname.

Function is the word of the day on both fronts. My legs are spinning. They will pedal a bike and take me from point A to B. The Kona rides beautifully - possibly better than the Spot. It just feels more balanced, and I'm using the rear wheel I've always wanted to use.

But I must admit. Form is suffering a little with the loss of the Spot frame. I really like the clean lines of the steel tubing. I really liked the solid white frame with black components. I liked that the Spot was one-of-a-kind (for better or worse). The Kona is a sharp looking bike, but it doesn't have the same panache as the Spot.

Finally, I'll post this because I think it's a good cause and I know how little funding cancers outside of the Boob Cancer world receive. Plus you can win some cool shit.

www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=6529

Please enter early and often, and send along to your friends.

useless toys...

Seeing as my last 3 weeks of riding have totalled 9, maybe 10 hours in the saddle (yes, folks, that's 3 hours per week), I figured I'd take the opportunity today, the first day in a few with sun, to head out on the road.

Faticus and Slick Rick the Ruler offered up a nice option with a 3 hour loop around Chester County. Sadly, when I awoke this morning to see the tops of the trees fighting to stay vertical in the wind, I knew I was in for a little pain.

Joining yours truly on the roster for today's suffering:

• Jan, aka Uncle Mike - the angrier than usual German who made the smart move and went home to the trainer.
• Dennisbike, who also bailed early.
• fatmarc, who was apparently on a super secret Mayhem training plan that banned both the little ring and any water consumption.
• Buddy the Leg Breaker, who "was feeling really shitty" as he took four of the six king of the mountain sprints.
• Leo.... enough said.
• TedLogic: the timing of his attacks will always keep the peloton guessing, while his 'recovery periods' provided some much needed rest for my fat ass.
• and lastly, Slick Rick the ruler. Thank god I could grab his wheel in the wind today.
  

Ahh, the joy of drafting Slick Rick in 25 mph headwinds.

Adding to the fun today, and the last (very) few times I've ridden is the fact that my bike is adorned with a Garmin GPS device, known universally to be a completely unnecessary yet amazingly fun toy. At least you can upload your data straight to mapmyride.com.

From the integrated altimeter and heart rate monitor I've learned that my heart beats faster when I'm climbing... Amazing!!!

The headwind made today's stats look pretty pathetic, but we were all shattered up the last climb today, so I suppose that's what counts. I'm just glad to have some hours in the saddle.

groundhog day...

Phil saw his shadow, and in that vein, we hit up Jack Frost for a little free-heel skiing action on Saturday.

Talent on the left, hack on the right.

Nothing says 600 vertical feet like skiing in jeans.

Tough Cookie and the Conquerer are both smooth like Jif.

Best. Stop sign. Ever.

Apparently, Jebbagger's bad influence is wearing off on Peaches.

Rich had a flat...

...so I had a sip.

One thing we can all agree on.

laid back...

Pretty standard weekend - climbing, riding, cross-worlds on a projector, and eating.

Tough Cookie bouldering.

St0pped for a PBR at Homegrown while waiting for some takeout; ran into Faticus and Chunky Monkey...

...and BreyLaLa.

Saturday's brutal Fair Hill ride reminded me that January is for base miles. And I have a long way to go if I really want to race the SM100. Yeah that hurt a lot.

Jeb-bagger: not a role model. Unless you consider a Stars and Stripes jersey worthwhile. He and Papa Smurf took me for nice recovery ride on Sunday, which I promptly followed up with a lot of food and TV.

oh well...

I plan on highlighting my Holiday antics, but maybe I won't because - as my 2 loyal readers have probably noticed - I've been neglecting my blog of late. Needless to say, it was an awesome break, almost completely detached from a computer / email. That being said, I missed the part where SSWC 2008 registration opened online at 00:01 PST on Jan 1, 2008. I submitted my registration late on the 2nd and just received this:

Thank you for your interest in SSWC08. Unfortunately registration filled up prior to receiving your form. We had over 800 people interested and only 350 spots to fill. We hope you will still consider coming out to Napa, CA for the race festivities and to cheer on your fellow single speeders. There will be various rides around the Bay Area the week leading up to the race and afterward too, so it should be a lot of fun. We will be posting a blog soon to keep everyone up to date on what's going on. Thank you.

SSWC08 Team

Depending on how my vacation days and work travel shake out this year, maybe I'll still make the trip out there. But it is a week before the SM100, so maybe I'll just lay low.

Either way, reflecting on my goals for the upcoming year, I am considering having no goals, just guidelines. Based on the fact that my 'cross goals were demolished by a hectic vacation and work travel schedule, and based on my disappointment with that demolition, I think a healthier mindset will be to do what I can do, and strive for balance.

I'm pretty sure that I don't want to give up opportunities to ski this winter, and opportunities to climb this spring and summer and fall, but both those things take away significant chunks of valuable training time. That doesn't even take into consideration the inevitable travel I will have for work.

I'm just going to have to accept the fact that if I want to be a jack of all trades, I may just have to be part of the B-team when it comes to the bike.

I think I'm ok with that.

a day late...

The legs come around.

I went for a "recovery ride" today after yesterday's abysmal effort at Lilypons (Ed Sanders Memorial Cross). Of course yesterday's "mystery legs" which left me clawing for a top 20 finish came around in time for me to ride my road bike after work. Sad when your previous week's race acts as your openers for the next week's training.

Thanks to dennisbike.com for the photo.

[ PS - Does anyone else take it for granted that we have 2 pro-level photographers shooting every race? I'm just glad I don't race with them anymore so I can get some ego boosters like this. ]

I will say this. Faticus, Jan, E-town, Zaynus Insanus: All on fire. Riding so well. If they are pissing excellence, well boy, I think I need a golden shower. Blair Blair too. Monkey and Fitzy making strides. God. Everyone is riding so well. I need some of that mojo.

Probably shouldn't have gone so hard today, but I was kind of pissed off at myself and I wanted the legs to hurt. Payback for their insolence. And the new carbon dubs are hard to ride slow. They just leave you wanting to hear that carbon roar on the pavement. And they are so stiff when you want to lay down a hard acceleration.

Another day, another dollar...

down and out...

Feeling less than stellar lately. Not terribly motivated, both on and off of the bike. A month plus of travel and no regular exercise really has me feeling fat and slow. Coupled with some stressful shit at home and work, I'm just having trouble getting motivated.

Usually the bike is my tool to vent frustration, but getting schooled hardcore at cross practice, at the fat-cave, and at grass track is really just driving me further into the ground. Now I may have to go to fucking Taiwan again in the middle of cross season. Racing Bs? What was I thinking.

All I can say is I hope I pull out of this downward spiral and get my shit together. This is not me, and I'm sick of feeling shitty.

On to not whining: I wanted to mention something I heard on NPR. I have been a regular listener in the past, but lately it's been more like NP-WAR - all Iraq all the time. BORRRING. Anyone with half a brain knows everything about that war has been fucked from the start. Rambling on and on about it on NPR is like Jerry Falwell preaching to a busload of choir girls. So now I just check in periodically to see what they are talking about.

This was a nice segment: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14321590. Robert Reich speaks to the conflict that Americans at large cope with: we want cheap shit, but we're unwilling to pay the social costs. His take on things is pretty pragmatic, logical, and I think he's got a message from which the general public could benefit. Sadly it's NPR and that'll never happen. I ripped this off of amazon.com about his latest book:

In this compelling and important analysis of the triumph of capitalism and the decline of democracy, former labor secretary Reich urges us to rebalance the roles of business and government. Power, he writes, has shifted away from us in our capacities as citizens and toward us as consumers and investors. While praising the spread of global capitalism, he laments that supercapitalism has brought with it alienation from politics and community. The solution: to separate capitalism from democracy, and guard the border between them. Plainspoken and forceful, if somewhat repetitious, the book urges new and strengthened laws and regulations to restore authority to the citizens in us. Reich's proposals are anything but knee-jerk liberal: he calls for abolishing the corporate income tax and labels the corporate social responsibility movement distracting and even counterproductive. As in 2004's Reason, Reich exhibits perhaps too much confidence in Americans' ability to think and act in their own best interests. But he refuses to shift blame for corporations' dominance to the usual suspects, instead pointing a finger at consumers like you and me who want better deals, and from investors like us who want better returns, he writes. Provocatively argued, this book could help begin a necessary national conversation.

Sorry to bore you.

Go see Superbad. Listen to Harvey Danger. Peace, grease, and sleaze.