Gotta harden up

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goat Races!

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

Ex-Wanna-be baseball players

So, I had a great ride out to Gettysburg and back today, but something happened on the way home that really pissed me off. On the way back I was riding through a green light and opposing traffic was stopped waiting for their light to turn green. So I pass this GOLD Nissan Altima and glance over and this old fuck was giving me the finger. For absolutely no reason.

He was that old guy that you know used to think he was going to be a Major League baseball player. You know the type. The middle-aged, heavy-set man with the blue mirror frameless Oakleys and spikey crew-cut grey hair. Like a washed up pitcher from the 90's. Remember them?

Anyway, just as he did this his light turned green and he took of. I signaled for his fat ass to turn around, but I guess he's too washed up to have any balls left.

Which brings me to baseball. Baseball really does seem to breed assholes. Maybe its becuase its not a sport, rather it is a GAME. Maybe it is due to the fact that there is no athleticism involved. Oh, and they get paid ridiculous amounts for being overweight and having 'roid rage.

Another Year Down

Another year under the belt. I could go on highlighting the ups and downs, but thanks to the girl of my dreams, the downs were softened and the ups were highlighted. So, I dedicate this past year and the one to come to Kathryn Elizabeth Ann Stevens. She is my driving force. She is the best support system I could ask for. She sticks with me through the hard times and creates some real magical times. I couldn't ask for better.

So, thank you, my love.

Things that make you feel good

So I rode a lot this week and one particular event sticks out in my mind. I was riding through the city of York and stopped at a redlight in at an intersection in the poorer part of town, for lack of a better word. This little kid on his bike rides up beside me on the sidewalk:

Kid: "Can you ride with 1 hand?"
Me: "Yes, I can. Can you?"
Kid: (enthusiastically) "Yes! I just learned how."
Me: "That's great! Can you do it with no hands yet?"
Kid: "Not yet."
Me: "Don't worry, you'll learn very soon."
The kid smiles wide. Light turns green.
Me: "I have to go now. Have a good day."
Kid: (sounding very worried) "Where are you going?"
Me: "I'm going home."
Kid: "Oh, thats ok."

Moments like these make me feel good. To a small child, I'm sure I look like what a Pro looks like to me, and who knows, maybe the memory of a nice "pro" will stick in his mind and he will take to cycling.

Good stuff.

Motivation

Christmas - Base Miles

It's been a while and a lot has happened.

The semester from hell ended and I did suprisingly well. I am now posses a B.S. in Crime, Law, and Justice and am 15 credits from a B.S. in Economics.

Christmas was fantastic. I spent it with the girl of my dreams and her family. It was nice to be a part of their family for Chistmas. I never really got to know my grandparents, so it was nice talking with her 90+ year old grandparents.

I've been logging the base miles and it feels great. Except for that damn saddle sore. So I spent 2 hours today in the drops. Staying low keeps the pressure off of it.


Knock on wood for me people. I need to keep logging these miles without interruption.

Liggett's Wisdom

Read this Pezcyclingnews.com interview with Phil Liggett. He has a lot of great things to say and his views on all the things going on in cycling are about the only thing that make sense in cycling.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4545

Buy my cross bike!

I'm hurting bad for cash and I need to have money for the upcoming road season.

BUY ME!!

Need some changes in cycling

There needs to be change in the cycling community. And it does not involve doping.

The recent death of Isaac Gálvez at the Ghent six-day track event examplifies how dangerous the barriers used in cycling can be. Take a look at the steel railing around the track. Gálvez hit that steel rail at about 55 kph.

Similar, though non-permanent, steel barriers are used in the final meters of race courses around the world and have cause some serious injuries to riders. Remember Abdoujaparov’s crash into the barriers during the 91 tour?

Collapsable barriers are the answer and they need to be implemented. There is a company making safe barriers. I can't remember the name or find them on the net, but I think Erik Saunders has something to do with them. Someone find them and let me know.

And it starts

Wow. I am a poor writer. But fuck it.

It's that time of the year again- when I get intimate with my bike and the back roads, mountains, valleys, and ass-tacular motorists of the State College area. When my food expenditure goes through the roof because of the requisite 5000 calories per day. When my face is windburnt from the 30 degree F temperature of the infamous 360 degree State College headwind. And when saddle sores are abound. Oh yea, baby. It's time for base miles.

I did some real rides this week. A two hour ride with my buddy Whitman the other day was my first real ride in a couple weeks. Unbeknownst to me, my saddle slipped back in the rails a good 6mm and the back of my knees suffered. Then I did a 3 hour ride with Whitman, his girl, Dana, and a bunch of other people from the club. We did this sweet climb up Blue Ball road- it was dirt. Even better than Blue Ball road was the fact that the route, if looked at aerially, was shaped like a cock and balls.

So I am stoked (yes I used the word stoked) to start my base miles and become a machine. Or zombie. Whichever.

Well said

http://velonews.com/news/fea/11124.0.html

Reform Education NOW! Please......

So basically, professors need to learn what is important and what is not. Penn State professors (not all, but most) seem to think that what is important is the ability to memorize every stupid little statistic, fact, and mind numbingly stupid figure. I could go on for a couple hours in explanation of this, but here is a short example.

My Women's Studies (rape) midterm was stupid. All it tested was your ability to memorize the exact percentages of women raped, men raped, spousal rapes, etc.. But knowing the exact numbers aren't important. What is important is understanding the theories that explain these numbers and being able to apply them. So, since I studied that and focused on being analytical instead just mindlessly memorizing shit, I didn't do so well (21/30). Jesus H Christ in a chicken basket. In the real world I will be the one getting ahead because I know how to siphon out important material from the infinite amount of bullshit.

Tired

You know what? I am tired. Tired of feeling like I am fat. Yes, I know. I am not fat. But I do have a healthy "blanket of warmth" around my midsection. It is the last remaining reminder of a life-long struggle with weight.

I once pegged the scales at 250. Now I am 165. As amazing as that is I want to know what it feels like to be in "peak form". I want to know what 8% or less bodyfat feels like. I want to know what it feels like to have a six-pack. Or at least ab muscles that are defined enough to be seen. All that stands in my way, at least in my mind, is the last layer of blubber.

This winter has to be when it comes off. It is now or never.

However, this is too thin. Poor George looks like a bobblehead.