Race report soon, but in the meantime....

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Hiatus

So I guess I have some race reports to catch up on - Mercer Cup and Whitmore's -but before I do, I gotta vent about something (warning, profanitly laced post).

I've spent many hours of my life in gyms and gym locker rooms. I understand that a locker room is a place for getting naked. However, many guys take this freedom too, too far. And its always the old, really fat, really hairy, utterly disgusting guys. Not that being fat and really hairy makes you disgusting, cause I am quite hairy and was once very fat, its your actions when you happen to have those characteristics. Let me explain.

When you change in the locker room, its OK to get naked, then put on your workout clothing or street clothes, whatever. The only other place you should buck naked is in the shower and MAYBE the scale. There is no walking around, walking to the shower, combing your hair in front of the mirror, or doing calisthenics naked!

I always see these old fat bastards with their tiny shriveled little penis heads barely protruding from the fat enveloping their waste waddling around making it obvious they want everyone there to see how comfortable they are being naked. Now, you are probably saying, "Dude, why are you looking close enough to notice that their tiny dicks barely stick out from their lard?" Well my answer is this - when you watch Apes fuck on the Discovery channel, its not dirty cause they are apes, though it still makes you feel uneasy like there is something wrong with you for watching...but ultimately you learn something, so its OK.

Last night some FPOS (fat piece of shit) walked to the shower naked with his towel in his hand at his side. DUDE! You have the towel right there! Just wrap that shit up! Then to further make me want to spoon my eyes out, he comes back from the shower dripping wet. He couldn't even towel off at the shower. He got back to his locker and started to dry off, making sure to put one leg up on the bench and spread his ass so he could dry out down below.

I've seen guys do full stretch routines naked, talk to their buddies while sitting Indian style and scratch their ass and grunt in front of the mirror completely fucking naked with no regard for their fellow man.

My question is this - what makes these old fat dudes do this? My best guess is that they feel so emasculated in every other aspect of there life- whether it be at work getting yelled at by their younger and smarter boss, getting yelled at by their wife while not ever getting any ass, or watching their stock broker take all the money - that they have to somehow assert that they are, in fact, all that is man.

But the truth is, a man knows when to not shove his shit in another man's face. You never see the truly ripped, Adonis looking guys who are dedicated to their fitness and physique doing that unnecessary bullshit.

There is a time and place for whipping it out. Right Turner?

"Incidentally....

...we noticed that Americans like to drink beer and then talk about how they like to drink beer, as though liking to drink beer is something cool and exclusive."

Perfect quote. From http://www.deraileduk.com/

Keep it dark

Another ride in the dark last night. Looking froward to another one tonight. I love riding at night. Hopefully sometime soon I'll have to slap my fenders on. Did I mention I like adverse conditions?

I was going to meet up with YAMBA, the local mountain bike club, for a night right on the trails tonight, but these antibiotics have my muscles all tight and I don't want to snap an achilles. And since mountain biking is basically just a serious of massive power intervals, especially here where the landscape is dominated by short steep peaks, I'll stick to easy cruising on the road for a bit.

So sick and tired of having all sorts of training interrupted regularly about every 2-3 weeks by illness, work, or my legs just plain taking a crap because they suck now. What a bunch of shit.

Check out this video I got from DrunkCyclist. Maybe if I don't get my arteries fixed I'll turn to this...

History of tax brackets

See Turner's Post to see how the wealthy really did use to pay their share.

LIGHTS! (continued)

There are no other lights in the garage. Its not the best way to show how awesome these things are, but you get the point.

Let there be (lifesaving) Light!

Just finished my first night ride on my new DiNotte lights. Best. Purchase. Ever.



I purchased the 600L headlight and the 140L taillight. The rear light in particular is a lifesaver. It lays out so much light its crazy. Cars have never stayed further away from me, day or night. I keep it on steady mode as there is a lot of evidence that says that a blinking tail light attracts drivers and they get closer to you - the moth to a flame effect. And I believe it.



Cars were certainly erring on the side of getting dangerously close to oncoming traffic. Which is a change. I rode in a lot of traffic and not once felt uncomfortable.

The headlight is spectacular, too. The whole road lights up like I've got HID car headlights. The beam patter is near perfect, too. There is a nice concentration where you want it, but also a nice broad spread to catch all the peripheral shit.

I'll get some good pics up soon. These things rock.

Election Day should be a Holiday

Election Day should be a national holiday.

It's more important to the health of our nation than any other holiday or day of the year. So make it a federal holiday. Businesses would be closed- no one would have to miss work.

While we are at it, make it a giant celebration. Lower the drinking age to 18 so Soldiers can legally get a drink. Keep the bars open all night starting midnight the day of election day. Cities will have fireworks. Frats will have keggers. There will be parades.

Also, why do you have to register? Honestly its just a barrier to keeping the lower classes (and often less enthused) from voting. If you can show ID in any form that shows you are a citizen (SS Card, Drivers License, Birth Certificate, Green Card), then you should be able to vote. Why add the extra steps????

KBS 'Cross Report

So, I manned up and got back in the saddle and raced the Kelly Benefits Strategies 'Cross race.

I need more blood! My legs just shit out after a couple laps. Once again I was with the leaders for the first couple laps and then I just couldn't hold pace at all. I started dropping back, got passed by a couple guys and then Evan Fader caught me and I got on his wheel for the last 3 laps.

Somewhere around the end of lap 2 I downshifted pretty hard at a bad moment and tweaked my deraileur. Never done anything like that before. So for the next few laps the chain would pop off of the casssette under power every couple crank revolutions. So I had to stay in the saddle and stay smooth - that cost me good time for sure.

I pulled a pretty stupid move in the sandpit that cost Fader a bunch of positions which I felt pretty bad about, but that's racing. He was trying to ride the sandpit and was getting through it, although losing time for sure, and I ran up on his inside carrying my momentum and just plowed into him. I think that if I didn't knock Fader of his bike he might have been able to catch the leaders and I might have been able to drag on his wheel. Maybe.

Oh well. Came in for 6th.

Freakin' Great Ride....

It makes no sense.

I was supposed to race Cross today, but I've been having this problem the last week where every night I wake up in a sweat. I mean completely drenched. Me and the bed. So its hard to go back to sleep when your bed is soaking wet. I've also had this problem on and off for the last several months.

Well last night I woke up withe same thing and my chest hurt kinda badly. So I was freaked out. When the alarm went off at 6am I felt like shit, probably because I was dehydrated from sweating, and decided to not race since I had been sick for the past two weeks and didn't want to have a shitty Fall riding season because I pushed it too hard too soon.

So I decided to go for a little ride around 11am. Holy shit. I felt fantastic. No chain day. Best I have felt since Collegiate Nationals May '07. Legs turned over nice and smooth. I was bombing descents and railing turns faster than I had in a long time. The bike felt perfectly comfortable. And I was pushing 2-3 gears higher for a given effort than I have been as of late.

What gives? I mean, its nice to have such a great ride and the weather was mind-blowingly perfect, but if I could have used that for a race?! Oh well....

It was a beautiful day. I wish I could have video cameras hooked directly to my eyes and record the whole ride and play it back at will just to capture that feeling. It would be great for a trainer workout. Something about fall rides...I think because the sun is lower in the sky so the light is a little more orange..its like a day-long sunset.

Cancel It Out

Teammate needed

http://www.bcbikerace.com/

Who wants to be my teammate? It's only an $1800 entry fee.

Fixie Lovin'

Took the Langster out for 1.5 hours. Wasn't quite that cold like yesterday when the computer read 35 degrees in the last half of the ride, but there was some cold wind floating around.

Riding the fixed gear is a blast. I used to have one and I forgot how cool it is. I only had one oh shit moment when I forgot you can't coast. You see, on a fixed gear a funny thing happens when you go to lock your leg at the bottom of the stroke. The rear wheel comes flying of the ground intent on throwing you over the handlebars. I am unsure of the physics behind this, but rest assured it is sphincter clenching experience.

So here I am reaching for my cell in my jersey pocket to check the time and see how much daylight is left when I forget to keep pedaling. So I am in traffic with one hand on the bars and one in my back jersey pocket. I somehow didn't crash and roll underneath a pick-up truck, but I did have to ride through a few front lawns to save it.


Also, for those like me who hate wearing gloves and wait until its is absolutely necessary to preserve your digits, Burt's Bees Hand Salve is perfect. Slap it on your hands before you ride and it keeps your skin from cracking and bleeding. I love the feeling of coming in from a cold ride and your skin bursts into flames as it tries to heat back up. Seriously. I enjoy it. Also I enjoy Burt's Bee's Lifeguard lip balm - it leaves your lips looking like your near death but the wind won't rip them open.


I've also got a good beard going to keep the face warm. It really makes a difference. I also got a great set of Dinotte lights coming tomorrow so when daylight savings is over this weekend, I can ride after work with a little less fear of death.

Blogging is like training

When you interrupt the flow, its hard to get started again. So tonight I will blog once again after I take my new fixed gear out for a spin.

In the meantime:

Gotta play catch up

Got some racing to tell ya'll about and the Misfits concert. I've been sick as hell, but will update soon.

In the meantime read this shit. This is the stuff that scares the hell out of me.

VeloNews article

New Blog

I will be creating a new blog that I will write in, in addition to this one.

The purpose of the new blog will be to raise awareness for the iliac artery problems I experienced as a result of cycling. I will discuss all the tests, surgery(s), follow ups, and complications I have experienced and discuss the various schools of thought and techniques used to combat this issue.

There is a lack of information easily available about this condition and there are lots more people suffering from this than anybody probably guesses. Hopefully I can provide some people with the information and experiences I wish I had a my disposal before going under the knife.

I will try my best to keep the discussion neutral and not bring in all of my emotions around the topic. Once I get some info up there, start clicking and spreading the word.

Sunday Night at the grocery store

So, here we have an infuriating case of HCWDB.



What makes this so infuriating? The headband! WTF? The only white guys who can get away with that are bald, have gigantic arms, or Brett Michaels.

This tool was seen with his trophy wife checking out. They obviously just came back from the gym or a run together. She was really fit and toned, which I was actually impressed by as she looked like the kinda chick that liked to be spoon fed breakfast in bed.

As you can notice in the photo, he suffers from chronic forgetting to also workout my leg muscles cause all chicks see is my arms - itis. I thought this affliction was limited to frat head fucks at Penn State, but I guess it has spread. He stayed in the above position the whole time, making a point to show everyone around he didn't have help his woman with the groceries- thats the bitch's job!

Check it...

http://bikepennst8.blogspot.com/2008/10/lemond.html

Awe of Mountain Biking

I went for a pretty awesome Mountain Bike ride last night at the Lakes. I went around Lake Redman so I could ride trail 7, which is probably the most bad ass trail in the area. It used to be known as the Goat Trail as parts are very narrow, off camber, and very technical with roots and loose rocks. Like the kind of trail you see mountain goats screwing around on and are like, "damn, how do they do that?"

As I am climbing this trail, I think to myself, this is pretty incredible. Its amazing I can actually ride a bike up this shit. I am in awe of the fact that the tires can get enough grip, that the front end will stay on the ground (barely) with how steep it is, that my mind automatically applies the proper body english to keep the bike upright and straight, and that I have the power to muscle up it.

At some point on this trail, you have to go through this tunnel. It is part of the trail and there is no way around it. It goes underneath Route 83. It is about 4 feet high, so you have to get off your bike and walk through it all crouched over. Its also pretty damn long. And dark. And scary.


When I was in 8th grade I first rode this trail with my best friend at the time, Brad. We were out on this trail all alone and come to this tunnel and were scared shitless. We spent a good 20 minutes trying to find the trail that surely went around the tunnel, but no, it didn't exist. So we decided that we would walk through it and I would go first, but he would keep his hand on my back so I knew something didn't eat his ass. About half way through the tunnel we started screaming like little girls and frantically ran like Predator was chasing us.

That tunnel still scares the shit out of me today. So when I went through it last night, I first threw a few rocks in the water to see if anything moved. Then found a big as stick and brought it with me. Its super dark, so you can see what you are walking on and the water is about 8 inches deep. About half way through I still get that damn feeling like something is chasing me. Christ.

I think I'll review my Specialized Stumpjumper 29er next. Why? Cause I am highly critical and hyper-sensitive. Most people think I am crazy, but I really do notice tons of shit most people don't. And I've always wanted to review shit, and if I can't get stuff for free to review, I'll just review my own stuff.

Why Wal Mart Rocks

A lot of people hate on Wal-Mart. But most of the dislike for Wal Mart is very unfounded. Let me just counter a couple popular arguments.

Argument: Wal-Mart's employees don't have insurance. Therefore Wal-Mart is an evil empire.
Counter: Yes, Wal-Mart employees may not have health care, but if it weren't for Wal-Mart, many of the employees would likely not have health care AND NOT have a JOB. Next time you go to Wal-Mart, look around. They hire many people who otherwise would be un-hirable. Like the 400lb morbidly obese lady at customer service whose only job is to sit in a chair. She doesn't even sit behind the service counter! Not to mention the mentally challenged they hire. Find me another company who will hire slow people just to say "Hello" all day long.

Argument: Wal Mart hurts small business.
Counter: You are damn right it does. But the smart companies have learned that you can't "out Wal Mart Wal Mart." So they make a fortune differentiating themselves from Wal-Mart. That's called free market ingenuity and ultimately creates jobs in the end. Plus, the economy as a whole and quality of life of society at large is greater off even with the loss of the small businesses Wal- Mart puts out. This is partly because of the previous argument- people who, without Wal-Mart, would be jobless now have jobs and purchasing power - and partly because Wal-Mart affords people a quality of life they otherwise would not have.

Case in point - a little while ago I was at WalyMart and I overheard this very hard lived looking man say to his friend, "You see WalyMart has computers now? I always wanted one of them there computers, but I never could afford one before. But now I can!" You could tell this dude has lived a hard, hard life. And it nearly brought a tear to my eye when I heard the joy in his voice over this.

And, Wal-Mart creates tons of jobs. Not only at the stores they open, but since they have such great purchasing power, they enable the manufactures of products to produce more products and therefore hire more people. Wait, whats that you say? All the products are made in China so it doesn't help create jobs here? WRONG! Someone has to import, inventory, store, and distribute all the merchandise here in the States. It hires truck drivers, forklift operators, importers, warehouse owners, etc. etc. etc.

Bottom line: If you hate Wal-Mart, its probably because you are well off enough to be in a position to hate Wal-Mart and shop elsewhere. Count your lucky stars.

Potted Meat

Instead of racing this past weekend, I helped Kat move into her new apartment outside NYC.

We stopped in at the local Dollar Store to stock up on some low cost essentials. I tell you what, that is one scary place. I tried in vain to find sugar fags. Seem the only place that has them anymore is Five Below.

Anyway, I did find the following gems:


We also saw this odd fellow at the grocery store. Too bad I couldn't manage a frontal shot, but the creature sports a mohawk, UnderArmour shirt, and giant football padded pants.


From a turnpike rest stop. When you don't someone pissing in a urinal, might as well advertise your tasty uric acid aroma McGriddles!

Buffet Knows Trickle Down Economics is Bullshit...

"Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26 billion), said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. Mr Buffett told his audience, which included John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Alan Patricof, the founder of the US branch of Apax Partners, that US government policy had accentuated a disparity of wealth that hurt the economy by stifling opportunity and motivation."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/article1996735.ece

National Priorities

http://www.nationalpriorities.org

Go there and play around on the site. You can take a look at the cost of the Iraq war or the Bailout plan among others specific to your state or community and then choose a trade off, or what the money could have bought instead.

For example:
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs?location_type=1&state=42&program=577&tradeoff_item_item=280&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off

Phelps Cyclocross Report

On Saturday I raced the Phelps School Cyclocross race in Malvern, PA. It was a well put together race and a great venue. Its a shame that not many people showed up. Hopefully next year more will come out.

It was a nice course. Not very technical, but had a very tricky off-camber turn that was basically a giant U-Turn on the side of a hill. Mix in a little bit of rain, mud, and shitty brakes packed full of grass clippings and you have a teeth clenching experience.

The Men's B race started pretty fast as it was going to be a fight to the first turn which was more than 90 degrees and off camber. I wiped out in the last turn on the first lap and as I rolled onto my back I saw Woody go by and knew I had to get my ass back in gear. If you know Woody, you know the guy has a 1km sprint, so you have to go with him or lose him.

Half way through lap two I had caught Woody and we worked together and started putting some time into any chasers. We had a solid 40 second gap by lap 4 and knew we would go 1-2 as long as we stayed upright. I was stronger up the run ups and climbs (I think), but Woody was much stronger on the long flat sections.
So last lap I would not come around Woody and was planning to hammer the final climb, but Woody hammered the shit out of the long flat section and dropped me. The guy has a motor. Kind of annoying to be dropped on a flat section. WTF? If you look at the HR file above, you'll see my HR didn't go any higher in the finish - I was toast when he attacked. Anyway, I came in like 10 seconds behind Woody for 2nd place and a minute ahead of the next finisher.



I have to work on my facial expressions when I race.

I developed a cramp in my left hamstring during the race and figured I might as well ensure I can't walk the next day, so I entered the A race. Plus there were only 9 guys in it. I finished 6th and got $10!

Um. Yes.

White Privilege

from: http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege-updated

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”


White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while if you're black and believe in reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), you're a dangerous and mushy liberal who isn't fit to safeguard American institutions.


White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.


White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto is “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.


White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college and the fact that she lives near Russia, you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.


White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”


White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.


White privilege is when you can take nearly twenty-four hours to get to a hospital after beginning to leak amniotic fluid, and still be viewed as a great mom whose commitment to her children is unquestionable, and whose "next door neighbor" qualities make her ready to be VP, while if you're a black candidate for president and you let your children be interviewed for a few seconds on TV, you're irresponsibly exploiting them.

White privilege is being able to give a 36-minute speech in which you talk about lipstick and make fun of your opponent, while laying out no substantive policy positions on any issue at all, and still manage to be considered a legitimate candidate, while a black person who gives an hour speech the week before, in which he lays out specific policy proposals on several issues, is still criticized for being too vague about what he would do if elected.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.


White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.


White privilege is being able to go to a prestigious prep school, then to Yale and Harvard Business School (George W. Bush), and still be seen as an "average guy," while being black, going to a prestigious prep school, then Occidental College, then Columbia, and then Harvard Law, makes you "uppity" and a snob who probably looks down on regular folks.

White privilege is being able to graduate near the bottom of your college class (McCain), or graduate with a C average from Yale (W.), and that's OK, and you're still cut out to be president, but if you're black and you graduate near the top of your class from Harvard Law, you can't be trusted to make good decisions in office.

White privilege is being able to dump your first wife after she's disfigured in a car crash so you can take up with a multi-millionaire beauty queen (who you then go on to call the c-word in public) and still be thought of as a man of strong family values, while if you're black and married for nearly 20 years to the same woman, your family is viewed as un-American and your gestures of affection for each other are called "terrorist fist bumps."

White privilege is when you can develop a pain-killer addiction, having obtained your drug of choice illegally like Cindy McCain, go on to beat that addiction, and everyone praises you for being so strong, while being a black guy who smoked pot a few times in college and never became an addict means people will wonder if perhaps you still get high, and even ask whether or not you may have sold drugs at some point.

White privilege is being able to sing a song about bombing Iran and still be viewed as a sober and rational statesman, with the maturity to be president, while being black and suggesting that the U.S. should speak with other nations, even when we have disagreements with them, makes you dangerously naive and immature.

White privilege is being able to say that you hate "gooks" and "will always hate them," and yet, you aren't a racist because, ya know, you were a POW, so you're entitled to your hatred, while being black and noting that black anger about racism is understandable, given the history of your country, makes you a dangerous bigot.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism and an absent father is apparently among the "lesser adversities" faced by other politicians, as Sarah Palin explained in her convention speech.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…


White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Waste of time...

Having to sit at work while a model cranks away on a database, even though you worked overtime the night before manually getting data from a 10 Million + line database, just so it doesn't look bad that you "left early" is really retarded. Its a waste of time. Its a waste of morale. Its just a waste. And there are few things I hate more than waste.

Its 4:20- shouldn't I be out riding instead of watching the clouds go by? I mean I'm getting paid to do nothing right now anyway.

Where was the money when.....

Where was the $700 BILLION to rebuild our schools (you know there are still poor public schools that don't have running water or indoor bathrooms?)? Where was the $700 BILLION to fix our crumbling infrastructure? All the sudden Wall Street need an ass load of money to fix problems it created by being run by a bunch of pompous dicks, and Voila! The money is there.

Could you imagine if they have found $700 BILLION to fix education? Holy shit. We may actually have a good education system that is fair and educates children from poor areas just as well as kids from rich areas (this is why property tax funding of school districts is retarded and a perfect tool for keeping the less privileged in that position).

Now, I do understand the effect of not bailing them out. Its going to put a lot of people out of business right down to your local Amish furniture maker (well maybe not them - they have wealth in land). But you get the point.

I'm torn. Do we bail these assholes out in the hopes of protecting non-assholes who got hurt a long the way? Will it really put the economy back on the right track? Or do we let these companies and the people who made stupid risks, deceived people about the depth of the risk, and people who bought things they could never afford go under and let the market take care of it? If we truly go laissez-faire, the market will adjust and correct the loss of these giants. In a free market, you do need some failures to clean the market of shit. Its painful, takes time, and some people will get hurt (ruined), but in the long run, its the safest way to a well functioning market.

Hopefully the new FBI probe of Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, and AIG will expose lots of nasty shit so we can start clearing some of the feces out of the ranks of the people who really run this country- CEOs, CFOs and other acronym-clad dick heads.

I fear if we continually "quick-fix" the economy, we are going to get an even bigger shaft than Lehman Brothers bending us over in the future. And their shaft is already pretty big.

Not enough time in the day

I miss college. I could go to class, study, take tests, take care of my bikes, and still ride 20 hours a week if I wanted.

Now that I am at a full-time job, there is just not enough time to get everything done. I've had trouble just getting my bike in order for this weekend. I have to replace the rear derailleur, clean the bike, and get a set of wheels ready to race since I can no longer use that tubeless set after the problems it caused me this past weekend. I also have to strip my road bike I used this season to return the frame and I had to install a new fork on my mountain bike.

I go to work at 8 and come home at 5 if I am lucky. Then I'd like to train for a couple hours and on a couple days also go to the gym or practice 'cross barriers. By the time I am done with all of this it is usually between 8-9, which only leaves me 1-2 hours at the most to get anything done. But then I have to factor in time to make dinner, take a shower, all that little stuff that adds up.

It doesn't help that I never sleep through the night either because my sinuses keep me from breathing or I have to piss 3-4 times- or I might be able to get up early and do stuff before work.

All you guys that have been working full time, have a family, and still race at a high level, let me know how the hell you do it. What am I missing?

Charm City Cross 2/3/4 Men

The race was awesome. Nice technical course without much hills (both super strong points for me). 3 barrier sections. An awesomely long sand pit.


I registered late and they staged by race number, so I started in the very back of a field of at least 100 people. By the end of the 1st lap I had clawed my way all the way through them and was in no man's land between the 10 man group that got off the front (like yesterday) and everyone else. Somewhere around lap 2 a guy dropped off the initial selection of 10 and I marked him the rest of the race (4 more laps I think).

Problem. Every time I jumped back on my bike, my tubeless rear tire "burped" and let some air out. I really need to re-glue a set of tubulars. So by the last lap I was running like 15 psi. On one of of the of camber turns in the last lap, the tire rolled and send me to the deck. It stayed on, so I hopped right up ( I think I'm skilled at crashing and getting up again in a very smooth, "I tried that" manner). Upon landing on my saddle I noticed it was cocked about 60 degrees out of the proper orientation. So I grabbed it between my thighs and wrenched it back to almost straight.

I was caught by a chaser because of the wreck, but he tanked it in the last set of barriers, so I pulled out an 11th place. Not bad for starting 80+ back.

First Cross Race Report

Nittany Lion Cross. It was pretty bad ass. Nice fast course. 2 sand pits.

I raced the Men's 2/3/4 or B men. Things started out good and I ended up on the tail end of a 15 guy group that was off the front. Somewhere around the 3rd lap my left lung decided to blow up and I started going backwards. Fast. I think it was because of the hard start in the cold air, but it hurt so bad I thought I was going to have to pull out. Also, I burped the rear tire somehow (I am running tubeless) and although it sealed right up, it lost a good bit of pressure. So for the rest of the race I thought I'd lose my tire every turn.

Later in the 3rd lap I got caught by a group of 4 guys. I realized that I was much faster through the turns, but lacked power in the hills. So a lap later I started drilling it through the turns and dropped those guys and caught Colin Sandberg and Thomas Wood who had dropped off the original group. We were together for the final 2 laps. I knew I wouldn't out sprint them, but I was still able to carry a little more speed through the turns so tried to work that, but to no avail. They stayed on my wheel and romped me in the sprint.

So, I finished 15th. I spent the whole race, 45 minutes, in zone 5, or above 180 BPM. Some superstar 15 yr old won by a mile.

I did get to see Coach Young again, which was great. I love that man. Just wish I had some good news to tell him.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Bike Products

So I was thinking. There are tons of companies, especially bicycle companies who make products and promote events that raise awareness and money for Breast Cancer treatment and research. I think this is wonderful. It also means you can get lots of cool stuff in a cool shade of pink -although I think once pink became a popular color, they decided, "Hey, since this bike is pink and pink is the breast cancer color, let's tie to Breast Cancer Awareness as a selling point!"

That's right- I do think (actually I know from working in the industry) that people wanted pink bike products first, then as an after thought it became a great fundraising idea. Regardless, it is a very good thing.

But what about other cancers? What about prostate cancer? Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America. 1 man dies from prostate cancer every 19 minutes.

Is it because "breast" conjures up more pleasant images and feelings than "prostate?" I've seen bumper stickers that say "Feel your Boobies" in order to get you to self-screen. I have yet to see, "Feel your Prostate!"

What color would you designate the color of Prostate Cancer? Gangrenous Green? Honestly, that is the color that comes to my mind. Can't use Yellow. So, I propose Orange, specifically Hugger Orange, as the official color of Prostate Cancer Awareness.

All you industry folks get on it!

Effed up my Tubulars

Now, I have glued many a set of tubulars without incident. However, last night's gluing went horribly, horribly wrong.

The whole thing could have been a scene from a Griswald Family Bike Shop Adventure. The process started normally a few days ago when I stripped the old glue and began the layering process. Finally, 3 days of glue layering and setting later, I applied the 3rd and final coat to the rims and began to mount the tires.

As I got to the bottom of the rim to push on the final 6-7inches of tire, it became quite apparent that it wasn't going to happen. I tried so hard that got blisters on my thumbs. I had stretched the tires for 24 hours previous to the whole process, but for some reason, they were no longer stretched! I had to act fast cause glue was quickly setting up. In my haste, I began grabbing the rim the help leverage the tire on at which point my nitrile gloves had become glued to the rim. So I had to take them off. Problem was now my hands were covered in the glue and my fingers were stuck together.

If you know me, then you know a bout of profanity laden Tourrets spewed from my mouth for the next 5 minutes. I finally wrestled the tire on with my paws, but the result was such a catastrophe that it is un-fuckin'-rideable. As I drowned my sorrows with beer and spent the next half hour scraping glue and the first layer of skin from my hands, I realized the temperature in the basement was much colder at the time of mounting the tires than it was when I had initially stretched them. I'm guessing this was the problem.

Who knows. I quit.

Got It!

So, I got my 2 upgrade following Yuasa. It was an anti-climatic finish to the road season. But, on to 'cross now!

The bike is all set, the tubulars are in the process of being glued, and the dismounts/remounts are getting smoother. Huzzah.

From Drunkcyclist - Thanks, Spice, for the heads up

I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re
“exotic, different.”

* Grow up in Alaska, eating moose burgers, you’re the
quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you’re a maverick.

*Graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well
grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years
as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of
the state Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years
in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million
people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran’s Affairs committees, you
don’t have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people,
then you’re qualified to become the country’s second highest ranking
executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you’re
not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you’re a
Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including
the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no
other option in sex education in your state’s school system while your
unwed 17-year-old daughter ends up pregnant , you’re very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in
a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city
community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family’s values
don’t represent America’s.

* If you’re husband is nicknamed “First Dude”, with at least one
DWI conviction and no college education, who didn’t register to vote
until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the
secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely
admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

YES!

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/09/matt_damon_wants_to_know_if_sa.html

Watch the video at the bottom. I also want to know if Sarah Palin believes dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago.

Last road race of the season?

Well its a been a really tough season. Not so much physically- more so mentally and emotionally. It's really hard going into a race season having absolutely no idea what you are capable of. I had no miles in my legs and a pretty troubling physical ailment, not to mention a shitload of stress to deal with.

All and all, I guess it went pretty well. Did really well in a few 1/2/3 races, including Basking Ridge which had a star-studded field. I had some pretty good finishes in Cat 3 races, including a last lap solo to 4th at Iron Hill and a 2nd overall at Tour de Millersburg which was comprised of a 2nd in the Crit and 2nd in the Road Race.

I earned 23 points during the '08 season towards my Cat 2 upgrade. I was going to try and put in for the upgrade and do Yuasa as a 2, but in the end I realized I would feel better about racing as a 3 and sewing up those last couple points for real so there is no doubt about whether the upgrade was earned. So, right now the plan is to do the 3 and 1/2/3 races at Yuasa and that will wrap up the road season.

I've already started lifting weights regularly and next week I'll start jogging in preparation for 'cross season. I already built myself some sweet portable barriers to practice with.

I'll rant about the whole "I'm a fat wrinkly old man and must show you my dick as much as possible in the locker room" phenomenon in the next post. Get excited!

Holy Super Cars Batman!

Today I drove a Nissan GTR. If you don't know about this car...you must not have a pulse. Its one of the fastest production cars in the world and spanks all the other super cars at Nuremberg, including the Begatti Veyron. I rang it out pretty good - fucking amazing. 0-60 in 3.3 seconds, 1.4 mile in 11.7 seconds and will go 197 mph flat out.


The Misfits are coming to Lancaster! Fuck yea. Just like the GTR, you better know who the Misfits are. That's all I can say about that.

Mountain biking is so much fun. Especially when the weather is like it was today - like the middle of Fall. The trails are covered in leaves. Something about riding through the woods faster than is probably sane and inhaling the sweet smells of the forest and decomposing leaves brings me so much joy.

Going to get Personal

So everyone is like, "What's the big deal, who cares about getting your 2?"

It means a lot to me. It may be silly to some. But let me lay it out there.

I used to 250 lbs and pretty much hated myself. I found cycling in college and started racing. Won my first race and was hooked. Nothing has brought more joy and passion (and heartache) to my life than cycling. It took from me being a sad fat kid with no focus to a confident person with a true zeal for something.

I prepared so meticulously for the 07 Collegiate season that it blows my mind looking back. I put in all the hours, worked with my coach, and sacrificed the normal "fun" college lifestyle so I could really knock it out of the park. I know most people don't understand collegiate racing, but racing A's is the real deal. Especially collegiate nationals. You are with a lot of good riders, many of whom are 1's, 2's, and some pros.

I nearly had the whole season and my dreams to go to nationals derailed from a problem that no one could figure out. Every doctor told me I was crazy when I told them my legs felt like they were swelling up and going to explode when I rode my bike. Finally, after a year of testing, poking, prodding, and condescending ass doctors, I found an answer after Bobby Lea had surgery to fix his arteries. So I got tested and found out I had a 30% reduction of blood flow to my legs during cycling because of the narrowing of the iliac arteries- which was caused by cycling.

So I spent 6.5 hours under the knife in a very complicated and high risk procedure to prevent the problem from progressing and in attempt to be able to ride at my full potential - something I knew I had not been able to do for a whole year previously. I didn't want to be 40 and ask, "what if I had gotten this problem fixed?"

Then surgery gets fucked up. My arteries are made worse. And I spent the last year wondering if I am ever going to be able to ride well again, or if at all, because once again the doctors didn't believe me there was another problem and refused to retest me. I had to find a doctor at Stanford and fly out there just to have someone listen to me and realize I wasn't crazy.

Meanwhile I see guys I used to race with, some honestly not as talented, going places and racing at levels I knew I was capable of. All my sacrifice for the years before seemed wasted.

Now I have to decide if I want to get my arteries fixed again. It is a lot to have weighing on you. The only thing keeping me going is getting better and faster and realizing every ounce of potential I have with the cards I've been handed.

So, there it is. I know lots of people in the world have it way worse than me. But this is my world and my perspective.

A special thanks to all my friends who have been there for me through all of this and who continue to encourage me. You know who you are. Also a special thanks to my girlfriend, Kathryn, who has put up with all of my shit the last year as I have battled this.

My Mistake

Yo, I'll own up to a mistake. I did NOT have the upgrade points prior to surgery. I thought I did. I calculated them as I was laying in the hospital bed a day after surgery and I fucked up.

So, I'll own up to my misstatement. It still doesn't change the fact that upgrades are handled unfairly and improperly.

I do have to "call you out" about something, Swiatek, How could you be, "tired of hearing me cry day in and day out?" When was the last time we even spoke? I can't even remember what your voice sounds like.

At the end of the day, I've got respect for everyone that rides, races, and doesn't talk shit when it comes time to race. So, no disrespect to anyone. Seriously.

Hot Damn

http://velonews.com/article/82892/sources-lance-armstrong-coming-back

I had to check and see if it were April 1st as I read this.

New Rule

If you have an Under Armour sticker on your car, you are a tool. 

I am Back!

And I am going to start with a rant. I have a lot to talk about. The last year has been absolutely crazy and there is a lot to tell of you (maybe 2 people who will read this?). But before I go in to all the shit about surgery, how it was messed up, what I am going to do, and what everyone should learn from my experience, I have to rant about something that has been pissing me of all season - Upgrade Hypocricy.

Before I had my surgery back in May '07, I had the requried points to upgrade to Cat 2. Then I had surgery and spent the whole season recovering, so I didn't think about upgrading. Then this season I start racing again and realize I had the points and was getting sick of the stupid shit that goes on in Cat 3 races so I requested my uprade based on the fact that I had the points the season before and I have placed top 10 in a couple 1/2/3 races. 

I was denied. Even though I had the points a year earlier. Even though I had more than adequate experience racing at a Cat 2 or higher level. Even though I had raced Men's A in College the year before and gone to Nationals. 

Also, my surgery got messed up. I developed more of the problem they went into fix, so now when I ride at anything above a tempo pace, I have a 50% reduction of blood flow to my legs. So when I got in the break at the 1/2/3 in Marlton with Mike Miller and his Alliance boys and when I soloed off the front for 4th at Iron Hill and when I took 2nd in the Road Race, Crit and Overall at Tour De Millersburg, I did it all with 50% LESS BLOOD TO MY LEGS THAN I SHOULD HAVE.

Think about it - thats 50% less oxygen, nutrients and acid-clearing fresh blood.

That means I am doing well based off racing ability, experience, bike handling, and smarts.

Below are the links to 3 riders who got their 2 upgrades who clearly did not have anywhere near the points. I know of many more, but these are good examples. I am not angry these riders got their 2, I am angry that I was denied for "not having enough points". The process is corrupt. It's all about who know or who ass you kiss. 

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?compid=196716&all=1

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?compid=223905

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?compid=80336&all=1

If you are going to not follow the rules you claim to uphold, then at least have the decency to break them for everyone.