It's crazy out there

BLOG HAS MOVED

2010-12-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

Ch-Ch-Check it!

mspohn.wordpress.com

New Gig

2010-04-22T13:38:00.002-05:00

6 Months since my last update.

My new gig:

A Day in The Life of RPC from craig dodson on Vimeo.

What a year

2009-09-27T19:27:00.005-05:00

Well, the road season wrapped up with Univest for me. It was an amazing experience, and after the crit I spent time with the promoters, podium girls, and other officials signing autographs for the fans. That was by far one of the coolest things I did all year and I really loved "playing the part" and interacting with people that genuinely loved watching what we do in their town.

It was the cap to an amazing year. This season's ride was the most undulating of all my seasons, and actually, years of life I've had. Those that know me well know have seen me go through some incredibly low times this year, but that was coupled with the highest highs I've had.

On the bike I managed to break through the chains that have been holding me back the previous seasons. Some chains were physical, like the after effects of my surgery. Some were mental, like regaining my confidence on the bike. But I busted my ass last winter and seemingly managed to pull myself through that BS.

I had a great team and together we accomplished some great results. Turkey Hill was a breakthrough for me and that confidence led to a win at Wilmington and a string of fantastic results. It was the most amazing of feelings, accomplishing some of what I knew I was capable of and having people I had always looked up to as racers compliment me and my racing.

I've made some incredible friends this year. Friends from all over the globe. Relationships I hope last a lifetime. My older friendships became strengthened. I got to spend time with great racers and learned how to use their experience to understand what I was doing better. Guys like Elliston, Kincaid, Pat Raines, the whole Mt. Khakis crew and Chad Andrews.

My teammates, Andy and Kyle who are also a couple of my best friends, and the rest the amazing Dynaflo crew were there every step of the way and I owe them a great deal of thanks. Their confidence in me helped me realize my own potential. And my family who have, albeit with great, but understandable, hesitation at times supported me through this whole ride. Oh and Bill Fleming at Dynaflo Pumps who is the greatest sponsor and boss and allows me to put food and the table and puts up with the time off and crazy mishaps.

Also thanks to all the people that cheered, supported, and followed my racing. I appreciate it more than you know.

Off the bike plenty of ridiculousness ensued as it seemed the faster I was on the bike, the less things went right off it. Cars were crashed, engines were blown up, relationships came and went, but I learned to use it as fuel for success on the bike.

So, here's a toast to great friends, great competition, great teammates, great teachers and always going for bigger and better.

To big things next year!

Buy my stuff - help me race this fall!!

2009-09-08T18:44:00.003-05:00

Ok so I need to sell of an accumulation of parts and what not to fund my racing this fall, if you need something I don't have listed here, ask, I probably have it somewhere! If interested in something let me know and Ill work a cheap ass price with you. If i don't dump this stuff soon, the better stuff will go up on eBay.

Dura Ace 7800 39/53 Chain Rings - used, but not worn out, will work perfect with a new chain
FSA RD-88 Wheelset, straight, true, used for a training wheelset on the cross bike last year
Vision Clip On Mini Aero Bars - great set up for clip ons when using a road bike in a time trial, nice and short to put in a good position when not messing with your road set up
Dt Swiss 470 SL 29er wheelset - used probably less than 15 times. Straight, true, work like new, look almost as good (came off my stumpy 29er)
Specialized Carbon seatpost 27.2
Dura Ace 7800 front and rear shifters/brake levers - used a couple seasons, still function as they should
Hutchinson Fusion Road Tubeless Tires - barely used
Michelin Cyclocross Mud 2 Clinchers - still have full tread, will go the whole season no problem
Sugino Messenger Track crankset - 42T ring 130 BCD, 170 mm arms
TruVativ 144 BCD 48T 1/8" track ring Brand NEW

also have 2 carbon specialized forks if anyone needs a 1 1/8" integrated carbon road fork. Both brand new.

also may be selling my Kreitler Rollers - the smaller 3" diameter drums - wonderful condition, work great, bearings great

P-Burg

2009-09-05T18:39:00.002-05:00

For some reason I was ultra aggressive today. Started early and stayed aggressive all day. A break got established shortly after I came back from a move and I honestly didn't realize as many guys as did got up the road. There were 7 up the road. The rest of the race was just a flurry of attacks that weren't going anywhere. At some point Ramone Benitez and Gui Nelessen got up the road and with 4 to go I bridged up to them. They outsprinted me and I came in 10th.

Year of the breakaway (or chase breakaway?) for me.

Wilkes-Barre Twilight

2009-09-05T07:57:00.002-05:00

Good first year race. I love twilight crits. 1 mile, really wide course.

A few laps in, when Bobby Lea was sitting at the front and sensing he was a marked rider, I made a move and stayed out for 3 laps, taking a prime in the process. A few laps later my teammate, Andy, made a move which I countered and stayed out for a couple laps with a Richmond Pro rider. Right as we were brought back, Fuentes and DeWald from Battley Harley Davidson took off.

I was tanked from just getting brought back and sitting at the front, but knew I had to make it across. I took off with Jackie Simes from Team Mt. Khakis and we made it across in a couple laps. Mike Miller from Alliance and Gavi Epstein from Champ Sys and Shane Kline from Kelly Benefits joined us.

I took a prime in the break on the backside line. One the last lap there were a handful of attacks and one point I found myself at the front of a chase, which was countered, then I just barely couldn't get the last wheel as it came by at the last turn. So I came in a few lengths behind the sprint for the win. 6th place. 2 premes. Not too bad of a night.

Being aggressive paid off.

Thater

2009-08-30T14:01:00.002-05:00

So I've been on an antibiotic and antifungal for the last week and I thought it wasn't affecting me until I raced Thater this morning. I found myself getting dizzy through the turns, which I decided was probably a good indicator that I should drop anchor and save my body for the rest of the season...like Univest.

Don't need to dig myself a massive ditch right now. Should be off the meds mid week.

Real bummer, the legs felt really great.

RIP M3

2009-08-28T15:03:00.003-05:00

So, last night I was in an accident and I'm pretty sure the M3 is totaled. All the body panels are screwed, the front wheels point different directions, etc. I don't feel like rehashing the details here since I've told the story so much already today, but no - I did not wrap it around a tree going 150 like most people thought it would meet its demise.

Sucks so bad. I might never find another E36 M3 Sedan that clean. Ever. Without spending $25k for one that sat in a garage with 15k miles on it. And I only got to drive it for a few weeks.

Yay Infected Road Rash!

2009-08-24T21:38:00.005-05:00

So my road rash on my hip from hitting the deck at nationals has gotten infected. It looks nasty and boy does it hurt. It might explain a little why I felt like such crap at Mengoni. Probably the worst I have felt on the bike all year.

I was still able to put myself in all the moves I wanted to be in, and chose to not go with the last move that finally stuck. Figured we'd drag it back right at the line, and it nearly happened. A crash in the final 500 meters put the brakes on that plan. Literally. Anyway, chocked back a 14th place. Good prize money, though, for a race that size - $70 for 14th.

So if you want to see the nasty infected road rash on my hip, CLICK HERE.

I'm on antibiotics. We'll see how it feels for Thater Sunday. Planning to still race it. Hope I can - it's an awesome race for a good cause.

Crit Nats Report

2009-08-19T11:34:00.003-05:00

Well, it could have gone better, but I can't be too mad.

I was sitting mid pack, then about 10 laps in the skies opened and it Monsooned on us. Realized the danger of that course when it was wet I floated my way through the pack to the front of the race and held top 10-15th the rest of the race. Every couple laps I would hear dudes hitting the deck in turn 7 behind me. A small break went later in the race with Mike Margarite from Empire (he got 3rd, so mad props to him!), which I am really perturbed that I didn't go after because my legs told me to and my brain for some reason figured it would come back.

Anyway, I was sitting pretty for the sprint, about 10th wheel when with 5 laps to go, my front tire decided it couldn't grip turn 7 anymore and I slide across the ground like Raggady Andy. I managed to get to the pit in time and got placed back in at the front, but as the adrenaline left my body and I got cold, I just couldn't put the power out in those final laps.

After the race I noticed a crack in my front carbon tubular I was racing on. I thought I had heard crack down in NC at the crossroads series one night when I attacked in the gutter, but had not found the crack till after Nats. Wonder if the cracked rim could have cause the rim to deform enough under cornering load to have contributed to me wiping out....?

Cool race. Awesome atmosphere. Anxiety producing course. Geronimo rode a great race and placed 7th.

Up on tap:
Chris Thater
Phillipsburg Crit
PA State RR Championships (in my backyard!)
Basking Ridge
UNIVEST!!

Plus maybe a Tuesday night Madison next week??

Downers Grove Pro/Am

2009-08-15T22:22:00.001-05:00

Quick race report. Cliff notes version.

Felt good. Course had some sketch spots where the tar repairs made it feel like your rear tire was flat and washing out. That took a Jelly Belly guy out in front of me before turn 2 half way into the race.

About that same time I heard Pat Raines's voice saying, "race every race with all you got, it'll make you stronger later." So I started to really position myself and I really started to have fun. Again, I did too much work, but felt good. Last lap, I was a few wheels behind Wiswell and really happy with my position for the sprint (there were a couple groups up the road).

At the top of the hill, Wiswell got chopped in the turn starting a chain reaction which caused a major position reshuffling behind which I got caught in. My fault for being too far back at that point of the race, but I also didn't want to take a dive in the last couple turns on the last lap before tomorrow.

Good sensations for tomorrow!

Downers Grove Day 1

2009-08-15T10:35:00.003-05:00

Just got back from riding to the course and Trade Joes to get some groceries for the weekend. My hotel is about 4 miles from the course, the Marriott Downers Grove, so I'll be riding to the races each day. Stopped by the Trek of Downers Grove on the way back to pick up some stuff and put some air in my tires since I didn't have space to pack a pump! Good guys, they were very interested in helping me get ready for my races since they were surprised I flew out here by myself with no knowledge of the area. I told them an iPhone and common sense were all you need.

The flight was good, as any flight that touches down in one piece is a good flight. Pilot was definitely a Navy pilot as he hooked real hard looking to catch that cable as if on a carrier.

But, someone on the flight felt it was a good place to evacuate some noxious gases....THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! The flight attendants kept walking by the area of suspected offended with a pained look on their face while trying their best to discretely spray air freshener. At one point it got so bad I walked to the back. They asked me if I needed anything and I replied "fresh air." We all had a good laugh and I stayed back there for a while so they fed me all I could handle of wheat thins and peanuts.

Tonight is the Pro/Am race. Its just a race for money, not for the title. I'm doing it primarily to get a feel for the course so I am as prepared as possible for the real race tomorrow - US Elite Criterium Nationals!

Crossroads, Mt Khakis, Learning

2009-08-10T22:15:00.005-05:00

Went down to NC to race the Crossroads Crit series and Hanes Park this past week. I stayed with the Mt. Khakis team. They were kind enough to take me under their wing and teach me a thing or two. Racing with those guys actually taught me more about racing in a week than I learned in the past few years of racing.

The racing was really good. Tuesday through Friday were night crits on really cool courses. The one course was .4 miles and we did sub 40 second laps all night I think. Adam Myerson really paid attention to what I was doing during the race and gave me some really great constructive criticism and really made me think about what I was doing and why.

Pat Raines gave me a lot of super solid advice before the races which was great in combo with Big Willy Elliston there to give me the heads up on how stuff would go down and generally make me chill out. Friday was great because I got to ride a lap with Kincaid before the start which really helped my positioning once the defecation hit the rotary oscillator.

I made the break in Saturday's race to advance my overall position to 9th in the omnium for Crossroads. Room for improvement, but not too shabby. Issac Howe really had some breakthrough performances getting into the winning breakaways in two of the races and placing second in each then cinching up 2nd overall. Barlevav pulled of the overall victory.

Gabe Lloyd rode really really well. I was impressed, but poor dude had some unfortunate mishaps and hit the deck twice. But he soldiered on like he always does.

Sunday was Hanes Park Pro/1 NRC race. I felt the best all week at this race and followed some moves. It was the first race all week I actually felt like I had some snap. I was sitting pretty coming into the last lap right behind the Mt. Khaki train when a rider towards the very front ate tarmac in turn 1 on the bell lap. So I had to come nearly to a stand still and restart. Frustrating, but incredibly encouraging that I felt like I could go with almost anything during the rest of the race.

Next up - Crit Nats!!

Mocksville

2009-08-04T23:03:00.002-05:00

First night done. Half-mile 4 corner crit, slight rise between turns 3 and 4. Parts of the course were incredibly dark. Race started at 8:45pm. Word is I might have finished in the money. Like last spot. So, we'll see.

I gotta work on floating in the pack a little more smoothly. 5 more nights to do that.

My bi-weekly update

2009-08-04T09:26:00.002-05:00

Down here in Winston-Salem with the Mt Kahkis crew for the Crossroads Classic crit series. Plus Haynes Park on Sunday. 6 nights of crit racing. The races during the week start at 8:45 PM and are pretty crazy little short courses. Hopefully I'll be able to get in on the action Saturday night at the Charlotte Criterium, but its invite only and haven't found a composite team yet.

I'll try to update on the action as the week goes on, but you know how good I am at that.

Back to it

2009-07-22T15:08:00.002-05:00

Got some racing done this past weekend.

Saturday at the track was a bust. Legs still feeling junky, but I think the track blew them open a bit. Sunday I was able to put them to good use in the break at Mullica. The blogs have already blown up about what went down, so I'm not gonna rehash the details, but I'm putting an end to it right here, right now. And I can do that since I was in the break.

Mad respect all around for all those who get on their bike every weekend and show up and lay it down. Let's continue to talk with our legs, good or bad decisions abound.

So yea, legs felt good again Sunday. Was happy to have something left in the tank after getting caught to lead Andy out for a decent result. Dude has slaved for me and guided me all year and I'm glad to give some back.

Crack your favorite brew tonight. It's hump day. All downhill from here.

What a rut

2009-07-17T15:09:00.002-05:00

Found myself in a bit of a rut here. Had a fantastic run of racing and life in general there for a while. Then, I took a break. Few days off the bike, another week easy. That was the beginning of a downward slide, but it should have been the beginning of another period of tearing it up.

That's the way it goes though. Cycling and life. Just ebbs and flows.

I did get my cat 1 upgrade following the mess that was Fitchburg. That feels really good. It's sort of a symbol for all the dedication and sacrifice I have made to get to this level.

Though since then, I've been struggling to regain the form I had earlier in the season. Top it off with a hard crash at Fitchburg and a stupid, ridiculous crash in the Thursday night training series at Rodale last night, and I'm in need of a new groove. Some old DB last night decided he wanted to get in front of me. Too bad he didn't wait till he cleared my front wheel before swinging over and sticking his rear mech in front wheel sending me hurtling to the ground to reopen my wounds from Fitch.

I'll try and hit the track tomorrow morning so I can get an invite to Tuesday nights on the track and if my frame is good (it might have been f'ed up in the crash last night) I'll hit up Mullica on Sunday.

Hopefully it clears up for some good Friday night racing action. Need some beers, racin, and friends to lift the spirits.

Update soon

2009-07-08T15:52:00.002-05:00

I swear. I'll write something here soon. Dropped of the blog radar for a while. In the meantime, check out Andy's post about the hard time we had at Fitchburg.

Back to healing the road rash...

Shamwow In Jail

2009-05-23T18:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=1453

Wilmington Grand Prix

2009-05-16T21:52:00.003-05:00

132 Starters. 48 Finishers.

Normal pack jockeying for first half of the race. Couple moves go and come back. 13 laps to go, two guys are sitting off the front like 10 meters not going out or coming back. Feels like the right time to make a move.

Take off, pass the two out front and hammer my brains out alone for 3 laps. The two I passed bridge up and we work together from there. The gap went up to 25 seconds at one point, but then started to come back down to 10 seconds with like 5 laps to go.

Thanks to some work breaking up the chases from the teammates and some extra burying of the legs we get the gap back up a bit. Last lap I sit on and coming out of turn 4 I just let it all loose and take the win by a good gap.

Solid day in all.

Habitat

2009-05-10T22:57:00.003-05:00

Cool course. 2nd time I've done it.

A few laps in, Fader and another rider are up the road a little bit. I roll up to them and get on the front and drive for a little bit and a good little gap opens up. We collect a few guys and get rolling, but never too well. So we spend a few laps out there and get caught. I try another move which also fails.

Finally, Whitman and Miller get up the road a bit. So I decide that is the move. Spend half a lap to roll up to them. We get going pretty well, have a good gap. A Colavita guy rolls up and works with us pretty hard. 4 more guys bridge up to us, including Fader, a KBS Pro, another Colavita guy, and someone else I can't remember.

Nearly repeated the Deer disaster of last year on the 2nd to last lap. A whole herd crossed the course in front of us.

I was stupid and got caught up front on the last lap on the back stretch. A Colavita guy went solo off us. Should have gone with him, but I was a pussy. We were guttered hard on the left side of the road and I attacked to the right side of the road and put my head down just long enough to ride right off the road. So after acknowledging my retardedness I came back and was still caught out front. So I went real hard into the final hill as my only hope. Got passed by just about everyone.

Got 7th.

True Athletes

2009-05-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Memorial Hall

2009-05-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

Before the race I told myself I have never seen a break away succeed in the P123 race on this course. So, I planned to just sit in till the end, which I should have done. But instead I went with a bunch of moves by Geronimo and Elliston and did way too much work. Sprinted in the money for 13th. Not too bad, but not great and not smart. Oh well....still have lots of lessons to learn.

On a side note, how is Turkey Hill not a PA BAR race?

Turkey Hill

2009-05-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

So, the day started with a little pre-race crash in the parking lot. There was the film of oil and water just on the surface of the asphalt that made it slick as hell - I was slipping in my street shoes. Came around a turn and the front tire gave up the ghost.

I roll up to the line with some road rash and beat up kit and get the expected comments. Starting out batting a thousand here.

Race starts and stays together till 5 laps to go. This whole time I am on Stephan Kincaid's wheel like white on rice. I have a tendency of blowing my wad early and being overly aggressive chasing shit down, so I figured it would be the best learning experience I could get to just see what he does. As a former winner of the race and one of the most experienced dudes in the peleton, plus someone I highly respect, I felt comfortable knowing I could learn from his knowledge.

I was so much so on his wheel that I got some comments. Skip (George) on Alliance said, "Hey Stephan, scratch your ass. I want to see if this guy on your wheel will scratch his too!" I'll come back to that in a moment.

So, a break got established, I believe, with 5 to go and gained a 1:15 on the field. Still, I sat in. On the last lap just out of the feed zone, Miller attacks through the rollers. Geronimo gets to the front, pulls through, pulls off and looks around and put his hand up in the air. At that exact moment, it got real slow, so I decided it was time to go and get up to Miller, who was in No Man's Land.

I made it up to Miller along with some other guy just before the gambler wall. We worked and caught the break on the finish stretch about a mile from the line on the last rise. The break had two Harley guys including Dewald, a couple Kelly Benefit Guys, a Hershey dude and some others. I think it was about 12 guys once we got there.

Tried to find the right wheels in the sprint, opened her up, and came in a solid 3rd!

I'll take that.

After the race, I went up to Skip and said, "That is why when Stephan scratches his ass, I scratch my ass."

The 1st and 2nd place names escape me now, but winner was a Kelly Benefit Pro, and the 2nd place was a Latitude guy.

Team Work

2009-04-29T08:57:00.002-05:00

Did the Oley Training race last night. Had my backpack on since I rode to work, then to the ride, then back home. Figured it added good training resistance. About 5 miles into the ride there was a small move about 100 meters up the road with Nick, Rasta, Big Jim, and a couple other guys, but it wasn't gaining any ground. So, I bridged up to it, told everybody to enjoy the draft afforded to them by the backpack, and got on the front and drilled it to open up a gap that wouldn't close.

The last five miles or so we started to up the pace up some of the rollers which shelled everyone but Nick, Rasta, and Big Jim. Coming into last couple miles we finally were able to shell Big Jim (he's pretty damn strong) and then Nick and I decided to work on a little team tactics.

I stayed back and let Nick drive us towards the line. He rotated with Rasta a bit, with me hanging off the back. Finally, before the last sweeping turn, Nick attacked which forced Rasta to chase. Once Rasta caught Nick, I countered hard on the inside of the turn and soloed the last mile for the win. Yea, its just a training race, but its cool to see tactics come together to win a race.

That's what training races are for - not just to get a hard ass work out, but to practice the skills and thought processes you need on race day that will culminate in a win.

Fucks my shit up

2009-04-28T20:48:00.001-05:00

Lesson...

2009-04-28T19:02:00.003-05:00

Don't put your Nalgene in the dishwasher. The lid might melt off and land on the heating coil.

Ephrata Crit

2009-04-26T17:33:00.003-05:00

Wow. That was hard.

After yesterdays mental meltdown, I decided before the race I was going to pick 1 move I thought was a good move to cover and keep it to that. Well...I picked the right move, but picked it too late and couldn't get across to it. So I spent a lap tanking myself to get there, never did, and came back to wait it out to the finish. I stayed about 10 wheels back the rest of the race and with about 10 laps to go Bikereg.com, Empire, and Battley went to the front and really started to string shit out.

So I stayed on either Geronimo or the Bikereg Sprinter guy's (name is escaping me now) wheel. With 2 laps to go, some Jabroni cut inside on turn 3 and swung wide and I made an instinctual bonehead mistake and grabbed my rear brake (at least I didn't grab my front). The rear slid and hop and caught just as I let off the brake and I saved it. I lost a couple spots there. The last 2 laps were insane fast and I finished right at end of the sprint group. Came across the line about to throw up and not being able to see straight, so it was lit up pretty well.

I'm getting there...

This is why I am an idiot...

2009-04-25T16:28:00.003-05:00

Ephrata RR

80 miles in just under 3 hours. I covered every single move like a stupid moron. I know better...what the hell was going through my head? Was it the heat? WTF?

Like Knight Rider

2009-04-24T14:43:00.005-05:00

So I'm crusin' down 476 south on Sunday in my '85 Trans Am. Knight Rider Style baby. Ok, so it is actually my Dad's car that I was borrowing until I find what I am looking for, which is weird for me because this is the first time since the day I turned 14 that I have not owned my own car. First car was this:

Anyway, I am rolling along at about 75 with the windows down and the stereo blaring. I go to accelerate mildly and the car downshifts, but cannot get out of its own way. All the sudden, I can't even maintain highway speed. So I take a gander at my gauges. Well, the engine temp and CEL are located on the cluster furthest away from the driver on the right, partially obstructed by the dash and completely out of line of sight, so you would never notice a problem unless you crank your neck like 60 degrees to check it (see red circled gauge below).

The temp gauge is off the scale. Big time. I pull over, pop the hood, and notice a melted fan shroud and the coolant boiling ferociously in the reservoir. No good. Bottom line: I toasted the motor and associated cooling components. Good Shit. That's a first, even for me.

Battenkill Report

2009-04-24T13:01:00.002-05:00

Battenkill. I guess you could say it went well. Race was actually pretty sedate until the last 15 miles or so. We'd drill it up climbs and through dirt sections, but then the whole field would slow up to a crawl and everyone would catch back on.

On the last true dirt descent, which was very fast, loose, and on a sweeping left hander, I was about 10 wheels from the front of the race sitting in perfect position feeling freakin' great. Two Jabroni's decided they could take the turn twice as fast as everyone else and swung wide, forcing me into the forest. Seriously. I was bombing through leaves, twigs, tree stumps, dead bodies, who the hell knows what. I'm not sure how I saved it and stayed on my bike and made it back on the course, but I'll attribute that to my Cyclocross skills.

50 guys must have passed me as I was trying to stay alive through the brush. The dirt road led us onto a paved climb, which I hammered up and found myself in a group I thought to be the lead group... until I crested the hill and saw the pace car up the road. So I jumped off that group and bridged up to a chase of 5 guys. I asked, "Is that our group?" to which some punk ass replied, "Shut the fuck up and pedal." Which was funny, because NONE of them knew how to paceline. I coached them for the next few kilometers and we finally got something resembling a paceline together and got within 50 meters of the lead group at the final climb which was dirt and quite steep.

I tried to bridge across, but it didn't happen. So I rolled in with the chase group. The initial results had me at 16th and now they say I placed 20th, but I'm positive 16th was the right placing, since I came in 2nd in the chase group. The timing on the latest results has me finishing 2nd to last in terms of time in the chase group, so that's not right. But oh well, no more glory in 16th than in 20th.

So that was Battenkill... that's racin'.

Speaking of messed up results, USA Cycling has me 22nd in the Omnium for the Philly 2Day, but the official results have me 15th. Oh well, again, no real change in bragging rights.

Fun things to come

2009-04-22T22:18:00.002-05:00

Report on Battenkill plus how I seized a Chevy 305 motor in an 85 Trans Am this weekend. Oh yea....

Not for the average child...

2009-04-16T23:10:00.002-05:00

Off to Battenkill

2009-04-16T22:59:00.003-05:00

Got my wheels all glued up. Might actually train on these bad boys after the race since my current training wheels are just about to give up the ghost. With Stans in them I won't have much to worry about.

Did the Thursday night training crit across from the velodrome tonight. It was pretty awesome, got some good sprinting in. I need to really work on getting my snap back, but that'll come.

Also: 8th in the bar isn't too bad of a way to start the season. Sure it'll change, but a nice little confidence boost for now.

Battnenkill Prep

2009-04-14T21:30:00.003-05:00

Walked into my Parents' basement Sunday night. Found a brand new pair of tubular wheels I totally forgot I had. Sweet find right before Tour of the Battenkill.

Got me some Vittora Pavé EVO-CG tires. Will put some Stan's in them. Should be a bomb-proof set up.

And yes, I know. They aren't centered. They are just on there to stretch them out.

First race of 2009

2009-04-09T08:23:00.003-05:00

First weekend went off really well. Raced at the Philadelphia 2 Day Cycling Classic.

Pulled 15th in the circuit and 20th in the crit for 15th overall in the P123. Not too shabby for the first race of the season, especially since I was on the front covering everything I could for the entirety of both races.

Kyle hit Stefan Grecu's dog in the circuit race. Jason flatted two laps in. Fun stuff.

Anyone know any websites of any of the multitudes of photographers that were there that weekend? Those people need to hand out business cards.

Demons

2009-03-24T23:31:00.002-05:00

So, my neighbor of like 10 years committed suicide yesterday. Really nice guy. I had always sensed a sadness in him, but it seems like everyone else was completely shocked.

Guess the whole point of this post is- we all have our demons. Some of us find ways to cope with them, some spend a lifetime running from them, some of us even make friends with them, but we all have them and life is a long process of figuring out what to do about them.

I hope to god he finally has the peace he was looking for.

Daddy needs a new car

2009-03-20T10:47:00.002-05:00

Should I get this:

2002 BMW M5

Not the MOST practical for a cyclist, but fun and would put a smile on my face every time I drive it.

Or a boring Subaru cause its a good cyclist car...

Remember, no mortgage or kids yet, so...

This guy (or girl) deserves an award

2009-03-07T17:10:00.003-05:00

I said this when I first saw this a couple years back - whoever came up with this marketing campaign deserves an award, a raise, and some sort of sexual favor. If you can find me any other ad that so perfectly blends the visual with the audio to create the desired emotional response, I will go down on you. Of course, I am the ultimate judge of any submission.

Makes me want to sign up.

Fat Pussy?

2009-03-04T22:30:00.001-05:00

Real Screenshot from weather.com tonight...

Balance

2009-02-12T20:50:00.004-05:00

Life is all about balance. Something I have been without for a long time.

Being out of balance can tear your life apart. You fail to see the forest from the trees. Personal relationships suffer, you forget to laugh at the things you find funny, you forget to compliment those most deserving of it. One of the worst things I end up doing when I am about of balance is failing to let those around me know how happy I actually am. Even when I was incredibly happy, I acted miserable. I didn't realize I was acting miserable, though. I thought my happy thoughts on the inside were making their way outward.

Weird, right?

Bottoms up to Balance tonight!

Arrivee

2009-01-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

What I want to say is phrased very eloquently in my head, but I realize I will not get them out so cleanly. So I apologize if I fumble at the words like a pimply faced teenager asking a girl out for the first time.

There are periods in our lives when we truly are in hell. The problem with being in hell is not what you go through as you are there. The problem is the person it turns you into while you are there and how it clouds your clarity such that you don't even know it that you've become someone you wouldn't recognize.

During these times, some of us are fortunate to have someone in your life that stays by your side regardless of how trying that becomes. Unfortunately, we don't realize that sometimes we don't treat these people as the angels that they truly are. We don't see how the pain we are going through changes our behaviors. The effect of our suffering runs so deep that we no longer have the capacity to express positive emotions and we end up poisoning our lives and the relationships with these angels with the pain we can't seem to shake.

These angels try to let us know we are hurting them, but pain is a selfish emotion. We know we are hurting them and we desperately don't want to, but the pain doesn't allow us to consider the severity of the consequences of our actions on others. We can react so negatively to positive things that its nauseating. We get so mad about stupid trivial things that outside of hell, we would be able to laugh off.

One day, the angel can no longer take it. We've coated their wings with the black oil of our negativity. Eventually, we leave hell. We go back to being the person we were and our friends and loved ones truly love and appreciate. However, sometimes this is too late for the angel and that angel finally leaves to cleanse their wings of your poison.

You can't blame them, really. You just wish, harder than you've ever wished before, that you would have had the clarity to see what you were doing and you would do anything- ANYTHING to go back. To see the hurt your pain was causing in others. To see how you reacted so stupidly to so many things. How the best things in your life, you drove away.

Unfortunately, as a cruel twist of life, we sometimes lack the ability to save the things we need the most until they are past the point of saving. We reach the Arrivee banner a little too late. Your fans have long since left. Underneath the Arrivee banner we can look back on the roads that got us there. We can see what we've done, what we should have done, and what we need to do.

The lesson is this- every night, force yourself to stand underneath an Arrivee banner so you can gain the clarity you need to keep your angel close. Even in Hell, the banners exist, though they are so, so hard to find. As you sit there at the end of the day looking back at the path you just traveled, think about how your every action impacts those around you. Think about the great things people are doing for you that you never notice. And notice that the things you think you dislike or irritate you are the first things you will miss with all your being when they are gone.

Pics...

2009-01-22T20:54:00.001-05:00

Holy Shit!

2009-01-22T13:54:00.002-05:00

Better Pictures to come, but to cap off one of the most horrible last 3 days, my prized possession, my Colnago frame, met its demise today.

You can't see it in this picture, but a steel wire, about the gauge of a spoke, with hooks on either end found its way into my wheel and hooked onto the spokes, wrapping around the chain and derailleur, thus ripping the derailleur and hanger from the bike. The hanger is not replaceable, therefore the frame is toast.

Inspired by Drunkcyclist...

2009-01-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

a Haiku

Cold wet icy roads
Punish me for miles and miles-
It keeps my soul warm.

The mystery pooper

2009-01-14T15:21:00.004-05:00

So every morning around 9 or 10 I make my way to the Men's room in search of a welcoming stall to perform my daily duties (pun intended).

Every so often, I swing open a stall door only to find a large turd sitting in the bowl. Immediately I am upset that there is someone in this company with no respect for his fellow man. But then it becomes a mystery. Because not only is there a giant turd floating in the bowl unchecked, but there is NO TOILET PAPER mingling with the offending bowel movement.

This means that some sick bastard sits down, takes a dump, says "You know what? I don't need to wipe my ass and because of that, I don't even need to flush." I'm sure the offender doesn't wash his hands either, because he didn't have to get his digits near his rectum.

I am totally at a loss here. I can't figure this one out. What is the motivation? Does he leave shit streaks on all his clothing? At one point I thought, maybe this dude is so proud at his ability to "ghost" a turd every time, that he has to show it off. But then I came across several instances where the turd was clearly not ghost-able. At least by modern standards.

Anyone got any ideas on this one? Its freakin' me out.

Spotted at the Mall

2009-01-13T15:58:00.001-05:00

If I had time, I would have gone and talked to the guy. An old guy like that has some stories for certain.

A little backtracking race reports..

2009-01-13T08:23:00.004-05:00

I owe you guys these...but since they are so old now, they will be short.

PA CX State Champs B race - Really cool course, hope it comes back next year only bigger. From the gun Colin Prensky takes off and I take off in pursuit. Couldn't quite close the gap. Zach Adams bridged up to me and then up to Colin leaving me still in pursuit. On the 3rd lap, I catch (they let me catch) Colin and Zach and ride their wheels until the penultimate lap through the barriers. I focused on NOT crashing so much that I stared at the barriers until I rode right into them. It only cost me a couple seconds, but it was enough to shatter me. So I soloed in for 3rd. Zach and Colin were killin' it.

Staten Island CX B Race - AWESOME course. Weather was just what cross should be - absolutely atrocious. Rain, wind, cold, tons of sloppy sloppy mud and a beach run. On the first lap, Colin and I get a good little gap. 2nd lap I crash hardcore because I had two pairs of gloves one and my hands popped off the hoods riding through a culvert. Once catching back on, we just drilled it all the way home. Colin dropped me like bad habit in the last 200 meters. The atmosphere around this race was amazing. They had killer handmade trophies and Belgian waffles (pics to come). And like 50lbs of bacon.

Phillipsburg Riverfront Cross - Props to Bill for putting on a great race. The course was awesome and it was well put together. Its too bad his race was the same day the big MAC race in Reston, VA. Turnout was low, but it still was great. I knew I had to continue my progression from 3rd, to 2nd, and to 1st. So I went as hard as I could right off the line and never looked back. Soloed in for 1st I think about a minute 30 ahead of 2nd place. Finally got to put the arms up in victory salute, even if I did have a retarded looking face. Props to Lou Devlin for coming out and doing well in his first cross race.

The real excitement came from the A race which I jumped right into after my race. I was sweaty from the first race and it was getting colder and windier out. Around the 4th lap, I smelled hot dogs at the top of the run up where all the heckling was taking place. So I yelled "get me a hot dog!" The next lap, my buddy Sam, had a hot dog and PBR waiting to hand me. I grabbed the hot dog, shoved it down my throat, and took the PBR and chugged it as I rode the next half lap or so. Beer and a hot dog had never tasted so good! I was bonking hardcore at that point and I think those are the only things that saved me enough so I could finish. I still have mustard stains on my bar tape and hoods.

Gotta ease into this...

2009-01-12T14:23:00.003-05:00

...so I don't blow my wad too early.

Wow I let this thing lapse. It has been lonely without you guys.

Lets see....Cross season finished really well. 3rd at PA State CX Champs, 2nd the next day at Staten Island, and 1st the following weekend at P-Burg. Can't complain for my first season of cross.

Starting to rack up the miles for the upcoming season. Spent 4 hours in the saddle yesterday on the 'cross bike on the road. Knobbies on the road are great when its cold as hell, windy, and icy/wet. You go much slower for the same effort and cadence, so you don't get as cold.

At one point the road was completely iced, so I had to ride in the adjacent field. The field was also iced over, but the surface was bumpy and rough enough to garner some small amount of traction.

Have lots to say and have some good pics to post. I also have to talk about the beer and hot dog feed in the P-Burg A race. But like I said, don't wanna lose it too soon.

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

2008-12-03T20:23:00.001-05:00

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Hiatus

2008-11-26T08:25:00.004-05:00

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....

2008-11-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

...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

2008-11-06T07:59:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-05T06:38:00.001-05:00

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

LIGHTS! (continued)

2008-11-04T21:07:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-11-04T17:39:00.006-05:00

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

2008-11-03T16:48:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-03T11:12:00.002-05:00

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....

2008-11-01T13:37:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

Teammate needed

2008-10-31T10:38:00.003-05:00

http://www.bcbikerace.com/

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

Fixie Lovin'

2008-10-30T18:16:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-30T12:57:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-23T10:04:00.001-05:00

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

2008-10-14T12:45:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-12T19:58:00.004-05:00

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...

2008-10-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

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

Awe of Mountain Biking

2008-10-08T09:34:00.008-05:00

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

2008-10-07T14:24:00.005-05:00

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

2008-10-07T13:58:00.005-05:00

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...

2008-10-02T14:05:00.002-05:00

"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

2008-10-01T14:19:00.004-05:00

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

2008-09-29T08:59:00.010-05:00

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.

2008-09-26T21:43:00.001-05:00

White Privilege

2008-09-26T12:26:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-09-25T15:11:00.003-05:00

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.....

2008-09-24T11:22:00.004-05:00

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

2008-09-24T08:42:00.004-05:00

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

2008-09-21T15:21:00.009-05:00

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

2008-09-20T16:46:00.007-05:00

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

2008-09-19T12:51:00.005-05:00

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

2008-09-19T07:47:00.005-05:00

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!

2008-09-15T22:03:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-15T20:41:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-09-15T12:24:00.004-05:00

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?

2008-09-12T12:39:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-09-10T21:14:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

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

2008-09-09T08:24:00.004-05:00

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

2008-09-08T12:43:00.001-05:00

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

2008-09-08T11:50:00.001-05:00

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

I am Back!

2008-09-08T09:13:00.003-05:00

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.

Gotta harden up

2007-07-27T21:50:00.000-05:00

I am going nuts.

The recovery has been going well and I have been pretty positive since I saw the Doc last week and he said everything was AOK. But, now I got word tonight that Bobby Lea*might* be having some issues with one of his legs again. I know its only through the grape vine, but it scares the living hell out of me. We are a small group of people, cyclists who have had iliac patch angioplasty, and little data is available about our condition, what to expect, or how to recover properly from surgery. So when I hear one person has an issue, it freaks me out.

I'm pretty sure I have been doing most everything in the way of recovery correct. But, Jesus, I am scared. Maybe I just have to harden the fuck up and learn to be positive and just keep going forward with the faith that I am doing everything I can to make sure I am good to go. But am I really? I just need my own ultrasound so I can look at the patches and look in my arteries 15 times a day. I check the pulses in my feet like 35 times a day. It's getting tiring.

And every time I feel tightness in my legs or a little crampy feeling somewhere I think its all over. The surgery failed. I am going to be like I was before. Damnit!

See, my brain thinks shit like, "what if you get scarring inside the arteries from where they were cut? will that block the arteries up like before?" and, "maybe you have been doing too much and are going to screw up the patches," and my favorite, "You're gonna fuckin' die!"

Yea, I just gotta harden the fuck up.

Finished Wheels

2007-07-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

So I finally finished those wheels I have been building up. Aluminum nipples suck. Building with them sucks. These wheels shave nearly 200 grams off of my Mavic Ksyrium SSL's. The Chris King rear hub is actually quieter on the road than I had thought, but I'm sure it'll get louder as the grease thins up in the freehub. Here is some eye candy. Blue was the right color. And yes, I know I need to cut the rear skewer axle. Damn Salsa making one size fits all rear skewers.

Wheel Building

2007-06-24T20:41:00.001-05:00

There are few things more awesome than building a wheel. I am not sure why. It's just damn cool.

I started building up my new wheelset. King hubs laced to Reflex CD Tubular rims via Sapim CX-Ray spokes. Aww yea baby.

Phoenix

2007-06-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

Blogging is like training- You have to slowly get back into it if you have been away from it for a while.

It has been 3 weeks since the surgery and I have started to ride again! Here I am on my first time back on the bike this past Monday. Like the Phoenix, I am rising from the mother f'ing ashes a new man.

I rode for a 2nd time on the trainer today. Just 30 minutes, but damn it feels good. I feel amazing on the bike. KNOCK ON WOOD. Seriously. Everyone knock on wood right now. 3 times.
I'll explain the Cervelo logos taped on to my bike later. So, perhaps the surgery is going to work. Feels promising so far.

That is all. There is much more to update and the updating will increase (linearly, so don't get too excited) with the increase in training.

Peace

Might as well update

2007-06-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

I have so much to talk about. Graduation, Collegiate Cycling Nationals, and surgery.

We'll start with the surgery since thats what I am currently dealing with. I am sitting in a bed at the UVa hospital. It turns out that many of the problems I have been encountering this year with my training have been caused by narrow Illiac arteries. So basically, I just have not been getting blood flow to my legs. I heard that Bobby Lea had this surgery done so I came down here and did a stress test and the found that during intense efforts, the blood pressure to my legs actually dropped!

How about that shit. So, they cut me open and cut open my arteries and made them the correct size. They also cut a grove in my inguinal ligament to allow the artery to pass though without being pinched. You see, because of being on the bike, the ateries get stretched, and that causes them to narrow (imagine stretching a staw).

It turns out that they think 1 in 5 elite level cyclists are affected by this. Well, thats all I got for now. Will update about Nats and all that stuff next.

Escape Artist

2007-01-08T15:24:00.000-05:00

My new profession in 2007 will be as an escape artist:

Goat Races!

2007-01-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

I was forced to take a couple days off of my bike following my encounter with the ice (see below), not because of injury, but because in the fall my saddle broke and I couldn't get a hold of another one. But, yesterday I was rewarded with this on my first ride back:

This was a little town right near Three Mile Island. A connection perhaps?

Fuck Ice

2007-01-03T13:20:00.000-05:00