Team Work

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

Lesson...

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

Ephrata Crit

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...

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

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

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

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...

Off to Battenkill

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

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

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

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

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

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?

Real Screenshot from weather.com tonight...

Balance

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

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...

Holy Shit!

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.