Between $500 and $4,000 each

12 Container house: http://www.architectureandhygiene.com/12conHouse/12con_main.html

This is kinda cool also - there is a vacant lot down the street from me. Oh...the possibilities.
http://www.m-house.org

Of course this one is not from America
http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/

I know there's more stuff out there.

December Weight Loss Plan

Well I'm undergoing an involuntary weight loss plan right now. All of a sudden, and I mean all of a sudden I just got extra sick. Chills, nausea and my body is now experiencing a whole host of related maladies. So the silver lining in this is that I get to lose some of the pounds I've packed on because I'm not eating anytime soon. Anyway, I'm going skiing this weekend which is going to be pretty rad.

My New Project

Christmas was great. I got to spend time with my family, eat too much, drink *way* too much and have some time to kill on the computer. Idle hands are truly the devil's playthings though. Check out this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/49CC-SLANT-HEAD-MOTOR-BICYCLE-BIKE-GAS-ENGINE-KITS-KIT_W0QQitemZ380088332121QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item380088332121&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1309|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Powerking:
http://stores.ebay.com/powerkingshop

I want one of these. I've got a bunch of old frames that I could outfit.

I'm still in South Carolina. It was 70F today. We had a fire outside, at night. Not one of us had a jacket on. I did ride my dad's hybrid around for a bit but not for long. Tomorrow is hopefully a day at the gun range. Shooting guns is kind of savage but totally fun.

I just lost my embedding virginity

Well, I just embedded a map to my blog. No longer is the concept of "embed" a total mystery to me. Mapmyride.com is a pretty cool application so I'll be happy to advertise for them. South Carolina was a bit less cold today albeit a bit more rainy.

Map My Ride Test

ATL

Went down to Atlanta today - visited CNN, saw some Olympic stuff, and went down to the underground mall. We got to see the anchors actually report the news on both CNN and Headline News. I know, I know, not majorly exciting but it was fun. The underground was cool, despite the fact that it was populated a lot of extra sketchy people. What possesses someone to tattoo a dollar sign on their face is beyond me. It was once the downtown but they built buildings over it for some reason. They left the street as it was - old school curbs, paving bricks for the street. I like stuff like this - abandoned/ruined places with a history a person can learn about. This place wasn't a ruin but it had a former life in the past so I guess I can put it in the abanonded category. On another note I've got some pictures of abandoned stuff in the Scituate reservoir area that I've got to do something with. There is a lot of abandoned stuff in there from before they flooded it. Downtown Atlanta itself was kind of eerie today - it has big buildings, wide streets, a functional subway/train system and absolutely no traffic. For such a big city there weren't that many people downtown. Maybe they were all at the Mall? The freeways around the ATL have God awful traffic - like the massive 40 mile traffic jam that we sat in on our way back up I85. the worst part of this jam was the back up of cars onto the interstate waiting to get in line for this huge mall. Atlanta is huge - lots of big two/three story condo/apt. buildings, airport sized one story factories and endless circular mazes of McMansions. Sorry guys, didn't see one bike but I still have hope. Maybe it was the weather today. The weather was nothing like the sunny subtropical south one would like to expect on their vacation. Today - it was 30F during the day - which is like arctic for down here. I can only imagine (well, I guess I could check online but I don't want to) what it is like in the northeast. Atlanta is a pretty cool city all in all. I don't know about riding bikes around it though...although the roads around here are really good. Tomorrow we are either going up to Asheville or just hanging around Greenville. If we do go to Asheville we are hiking up Sassafrass Mtn. which is the highest point in SC. No snow right now in the hills down here. I'm going to take my Dad's ancient old hybrid out for a few hours at some point. I love riding in the south - great roads with no potholes and as long as you're respectful people are usually courteous to you on the road, most of the time. About the hybrid no toe clips, no proper cycling clothing. Probably jeans and a sweatshirt for attire.

Snow Experiment

The National Weather Service says its going to snow on Friday. Here is an excerpt of the forecast:

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP FROM WEST TO EAST BETWEEN 8 AM AND NOON
ON FRIDAY. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BECOME HEAVY DURING THE
AFTERNOON...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES
PER HOUR. THE FRIDAY EVENING RUSH HOUR MAY BE QUITE MESSY WITH HEAVY
SNOW STILL FALLING. THE SNOW SHOULD TAPER TO SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE
INTERIOR DURING THE EVENING HOURS...BUT THE STEADY SNOW WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE ALONG THE COAST WELL INTO THE NIGHT.

AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL FALL SOUTH OF
THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE AND PARTICULARLY ON THE SOUTH COAST. THE
POTENTIAL DOES EXIST FOR SOME LOCATIONS TO SEE UP TO A FOOT OF
SNOW...WITH THE HIGHEST PROBABILITY ALONG THE SOUTH COAST.

So...will this be correct or not?  Will I be cross country skiing on
Saturday or will it be a day to go on a long ride?
Regardless, I don't know of any study which has assessed the percentage of
times weather forecasters are correct when forecasting snow events.
More to follow...

Posting

I'm liking this posting frequently thing.
I've learned that riding long makes you weak as hell in the gym the day after - upper body and lower body. I guess that means I pushed myself. I just got my reflective vest (2.99 on Ebay). It was shipped from Hong Kong - complete with nifty Chinese stamps.

Any Given Sunday

Had a great ride today - I went out towards the reservoir where I unexpectedly met up w/ Aaron from Providence. In total we got 3 hours in and I'm totally psyched about this. I've really got to trim down - I'm up in the high 180s which is way too much. How did this happen? So I'm hungry now but not overly so, just a little bit. I actually feel really good right now - legs not overly sore, knees don't feel as if they are 100 years old. The girl that checked me out at Stop and Shop was sniffling and I could tell had a slight fever (unless she just smoked a big fatty blunt). I hope she didn't pass on her infection - that would totally suck. There's a bad one going around work.
Going to South Carolina for next weekend to see the remnants of my family which should be nice. I think I'm going to rent a bike and do a couple rides - in sneakers and with bike shorts under sweatpants of course. I'll have to rent a bike from somewhere b/c I'm not bringing mine on the plane. There is really, really good riding down there - smooth roads that go on forever and ever. I am not bringing any cold weather gear even though I know better and should because it gets cold there sometimes. I'm excited to go to Atlanta on the 21st. We're going to catch a pro hockey game. Apart from this, I'm going to hike Sassafras Mtn. which is SC's highest point.

Today was cold

I was a lazy ass today. I did nothing all day and I'm not going to feel guilty about it at all. I've also decided on going after my phD @ Northeastern when I'm done w/ PC. It should only take a couple of years after I'm done w/ what I'm doing now. Regardless, I guess coming to that decision was doing something. This means a few more years of being the world's cheapest biker, although I'm getting my road rig ready and equipped for next season. Anyway, I've got to get my cross bike ready so if (when) I wake up early I can go on a ride up to Lincoln Wds. (0900) but things don't look good in that department. I found out why my avg. spd was so low on the CX ride the other day - broken rear spoke and I've got to repair my extra tubular tire. Ditching the broken spoke wheel and putting on my tubular. Uncharted territory here - I've stitched one up w/ floss before and had it work but I'm not doing that to this one - taking out the core and putting in the sealant stuff should do the trick.
Today is the first day that my knees have not been extra painful. I had problems walking stairs all week - like walking up and down at an angle to minimize the awful shots of pain. This means running is out. Walking up stairs holding the handrail like I'm 80 is not something I look forward to. I've also got to lose some weight - way too heavy right now. I don't know how much I can lose, but if that scale at the YMCA is right I've got a lot to lose.
Leah and I are getting sushi tonight. I'm really hungry. I love sushi. Low fat and healthy.

The girls on the second floor

whom live beneath me are really, really going to hate me after I'm done riding the trainer. Maybe they shouldn't have parties that end "early" like 2AM.

Tyra

When I came home tonight I flipped on the TV. I did not look at it...I flipped it on only. I began to cook dinner. After a while I started to listen to it. There was this show on - called "Tyra." This was the stupidest shit I've seen in a while. Anyway, I hit the bikepath tonight with my crappy light. It went well. I TT'd up to a group of 3 guys who ended up being pretty strong. We went the whole way - which ended up being about 1.5 hours. It felt great to get a good ride in during the week. I'm really looking forward to next cycling season. Mike Sam, Wild Bill and I went on the first winter ride of the season on Sunday. Like it started to sleet when we started out - it got worse and worse as we got further but it was just sleet. The roads got slick when we were about an hour out. I dumped it on Mann School which was kinda fun actually - I've got a nice totally black bruise that doesn't really hurt. I guess I made the most awful sound when I went down which also was kind of gratifying. It poured down rain from Greenville all the way into town. Hands 100% numb. No feeling. Same with feet. Soaked through and through. Just a tip - do not ever wash your bike in the shower. It makes a hell of a mess.

Apart from this I need to reassess my disposition at work. I spent the week with my family, whom I almost never see and thus was able to relax. The past two days I've been too relaxed to deal with situations that I must deal with and therefore I have become comfortable. This will change tomorrow. It is impossible to do this job and try to keep it low stress - which is frustrating but whatever.

I'm starting a facebook page advocating locking Plaxico Burress up for at least the minimum. Tyra has left the TV hopefully forever and I put CNN on. Bloomberg says the minimum is 3.5 years. Even though I'm relatively liberal when it comes to violent crime I have 0 tolerance. Corrections creates jobs anyway and we are in a recession. Yeah, its a long time but don't have illegal firearms with you at the club. See, this type of shit is exactly what is wrong with America. Succeeding but still behaving as if you haven't. Lets see - I'm a professional athlete making millions of dollars a year and I'm going to bring a loaded illegal firearm into a nightclub (I'm sure his defense will be that he needs it for "protection"). Dude has no sense - what was he going to do with it? Show it off? Impress his friends and other lowlifes at the club? Act extra cool with your pistol. Dude plays in the NFL. The NFL and he's good. Who is he afraid of? Really, who is he afraid of. Think about it. Nor does the guy have any firearms training or experience because if he had, he would not have shot himself in the leg. Tips for Plaxico: 1. Outgrow nightclubs. Instead attend expensive fundraisers, political events, volunteer functions and black tie cocktail parties. 2. Do not go to places where you are likely to be forced to use a firearm to protect yourself. This is not Baghdad - it is the United States. If you want to go to a place where a lot of people carry guns then you should go to such a place and when (if) you return you can give the NFL a report on how well the people lived there. I guess not attending the club could be looked at as "not keeping it real." Guess what, you cease to be real once you make it to the NFL and make a shit-ton of money. Plaxico sucks. Michael Vick also sucks. Vick sucks worse though. Alright, I'm done with my mostly negative unpleasant blog post. But I feel better.

Frozen Toes

I did a relatively short easy 30 mile ride today on my now ultralight single speed cross bike. I did not wear booties. I did wear extra socks - thick fleece socks. I thought this would have been OK. It was not. The balls of my feet through my toes are still mostly numb right now and I've been home for 20 minutes. They are gonna feel really good when I take a shower.
Despite the cold (which really wasn't bad at all apart from cold feet) it felt great to go for a ride and enjoy it again. Like it felt really great - I really love riding my bike sometimes. I'm beginning to long for the days of solid group road rides in the spring and mid/late winter. I'm putting these off though until the end of December at the earliest - probably start them up in mid-January actually.

My parents are coming to town tomorrow so I'll be tied up next week mostly. I hope I can stay on my weekday YMCA treadmill/weights routine. I've been doing this upper body workout: do one pullup, wait ten seconds. Do two pullups, wait 20 sec., 3 pullups - 30 seconds. Do them until you cannot do them anymore always resting 10 sec per pullup. When you can't do them anymore then go back down the same way you came up. When I'm done do sets of pushups. Just doing this makes me sore as hell - but its getting easier and soreness is abating somewhat.

I think I remember skiing...

Well it got cold out, which I really don't mind at all right now. I like cold. While I totally plan on actually riding both days this weekend - I'm hoping it snows pretty soon in northern New England. I really want to get a good year of cross country in and to do some alpine backcountry stuff. There's got to be a lot of backcountry stuff within a few hours of here...I just don't know where it is yet. I'll find it - eventually. I remember doing a lot of semi-backcountry in VT when I lived there - I think I skied the Teardrop on Mansfield every weekend because I was too "cheap" to buy lift tickets. I really wasn't cheap, I just couldn't afford them. Stowe (which has by far the sickest backcountry stuff) wants like $70 a day or something. I also remember doing some really stupid shit - like skiing down Camel's Hump in a snowstorm and having to drive an '86 Cutlass with summer tires home down the access road. I ditched the car once and the three other guys had to push it out. It was so sketchy - white knuckle to the max. There was some really fun stuff too - like skiing the Robbins Mtn. power line (you can see it off I89 in Richmond) in a totally untouched state, with my brother who was still learning snowboarding but fought like hell to stay up (he failed at that and so did I). I think our goal was to admire our lines from a distance - it was all messed up because all of us kept falling - the snow was so deep and heavy. Like you made three turns, leaning all the way back and had to stop because you were too tired to continue. Everything I wore was soaked from falling in that stuff - snow was all inside my boots, hat, inside of gloves...everywhere.

Cross country for me is like mountain biking in the winter - even though bikes are cool cross country is better. I really miss cross country skiing. Getting up the southern VT portion of the Catamount trail would be good this winter. I've done a bit of it - from App. Gap thru Smugglers - which was great when the snow didn't suck and my skis were appropriately maintained. I have delusions of skiing the entire thing at some point - in sections. Sort of all set with winter camping because it sucks and you are always cold. Well enough for now.

A Reason Things are Screwed Up...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/12/earlyshow/main4595179.shtml

Maserati

On my way home I saw a guy w/ NY plates driving a Maserati. Only some f*&%$#ng egomaniac spends that much on a car - I wonder if he worked for one of those banks (yeah, that failed and got a government IV)? If he did/does then really whose car is that anyway?

About my ornery early AM mood. I didn't get to bed until late last night (Leah and I have been watching this show called "Dexter" - both of us are addicted). Besides, couldn't really sleep anyway because someone forgot to tell the maybe 22 year old girls who live below me that their college experience ended last year and that having "little" parties CONSTANTLY bothers your neighbors. Well one of the guys they had over got locked out early this AM and rung their doorbell every 5 minutes for :45 minutes at 6AM. I heard the downstairs doorbell loud and clear...how could they have missed it. My dog heard it too and believe me, he let me know that someone was there. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on them because I slept through a bomb threat during my freshman year of college. I straight slept through it. Anyways I go outside and let the guy in. I kinda felt bad because I was real dick to him (I asked him if he was going to keep ringing the doorbell even though nobody's answered the door), but I kinda don't because I really didn't get that much rest (< 4 hours) so that these kids can have a good time. I don't sleep that great anyway (well, maybe only during bomb threats) so I just got up.

And they're rude too. They'll walk right by you and say nothing - both of them. Its just disrespectful - and I've honestly had it with people w/ bad manners or who are disrespectful. On the other hand I know that at times I can be introverted and I'll keep to myself. I guess there are two sides to every story, and I don't know their side although I wish they would shut the hell up at a decent hour - and 2 AM is not a decent hour.

On the stressful front I've picked up some additional responsibilities at work. Lots of hallway stuff, some bad hallway stuff. I am bad luck - every time I'm on something happens. I find the most complicated and stressful situations. Its been some getting used to but I think I'm managing it. I've got one year left of school. I cannot wait to be finished with classes. Last year, I took 7 classes which is probably what put a huge dent into my cycling season, not to mention social time. Its getting a little better now though, work is work.

I rode my cross bike 30 miles today...on the road. It felt great although my bike was undergeared (36x16). I haven't been really riding and it I think I'm starting to get my Mojo back. I'm still gonna hold off training until January though because whenever I can only stay excited for racing for a while.

I had a good run yesterday - I kept it to 7 miles. Yes, knees still hurt. Yes, IT band started up too...so I know I've got to be careful. I've got to go run on the track/treadmill instead of the roads.

Since One Could Only Pre-Reg

I will voice my opinion that I'm not in favor of pre-reg only races. It would have been cool had they had the registration up until the day before instead of closing it out on Thursday. It was for this reason that I did not go to Northampton and ride the Sunday race. I'm sure there was a reason for having such a short deadline and I know that promoting a race is complicated. On the upside, the race promoters would have at least a few more entrants, and hence more revenue if they relaxed their deadlines for registration. Furthermore, I don't think that it would be that hard to produce a bikereg printout of confirmed riders on the night before (so close registration on Friday PM for Sat and Sat. PM for Sun.) and then assign numbers from there. Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it so I didn't register. So, I'm going to do a Plymouth race next week...maybe Sunday. Hell, maybe even Saturday. Maybe both even! We'll see.

Anyway, I haven't been riding. I started running a lot more and lifting weights. I did my longest run ever today - 10.1 miles. It really wasn't all that bad, although I have some interesting chafing issues which I will spare folks from reading about. I kept my HR in the aerobic zone except when I ran up College Hill which put the ol' HR in the red. This week I got 28 miles of running in, which is more than I've ever done. I wish I ran in high school though - my skinny ass got bounced around the football field in the fall. I still do not understand how the hell people can run marathons....my knees started getting some pain at mile 7 so I think that might be my limit for running. I'll give the long run another shot though next weekend. I've got the singlespeed cross bike ready. I can't wait to ride it. Hopefully I can get it out for Wednesday down at the NBX course where I am lining up at the rear and just riding the course for fitness and fun. Call it low expectations, lack of self-esteem or whatever, I feel no shame in doing this purposely at this point.

Single Speed

I now own a ghettoized single speed cross bike. Since my shifter was busted I simply took off the rear derailleur, broke the chain, shortened it and reattached it. I rode it around for about a half an hour today...and I need to shorten the chain again because its not where I want it to be. I'll get to it. Working on bikes is something I'll do...but I'm not particularly good at it nor do I really enjoy it. So I'll have to repeat the chain shortening chore this week. One thing I will say is that the lighter bike with no derailleur feels like you are flying up hills. I might have to lighten up my road bike. I'm from the school of thought where minor fluctuations in weight don't matter...I might change my philosophy now.

Apart from this I've been running. Did 6 miles today. I did 5.4 miles on Friday AM (0530) and a couple other runs last week. Running in the morning kinda sucks, but its kinda good also because I got a ton of shit done - like I was hyper productive. I'm trying to get up to 25 miles this week. I did not get the ten in but I'm hoping to get an 8 mile run in tomorrow. I've started lifting weights too...at the YMCA. Its supposed to help and believe me, I need help with my riding esp. power output. I hope a solid season of weights will help my power output and breakaway/TT type of riding.

I'm really tired of writing papers. Like, really tired of it. Leah and I are going to Not Just Snacks tonight to get Indian food. I love Indian food. It is my favorite.

The Middleboro that Wasn't

So I rushed all around to get myself to Middleboro. Got lost in Middleboro and in some other town next to it. Found the venue after getting tailgated twice and flipped off once. Took out my bike and rode it around. Rear has a flat - wasn't flat the other day but it's flat now and I haven't ridden it since I got it back. Whatever, easy to fix. I put on my new cross tubular wheel I was going to ride anyway and it felt "fresh."

I'm all psyched to ride and to "attempt" to race this thing. (I'm kinda out of race shape and suck at cross anyway). So then I decide that I'm going to shift. Nothing happens. Hmmm? Why? Well the housing which the cable presses against - from the derailleur itself to the rear stay was not attached? OK. I can fix this - so I reattached it. Now, I haven't ridden this thing since I got it back from the shop on Monday which was a mistake. Shifters still don't work. Lube the hell out of them. Nothing except a pair of lubricated hands (some of the bike lube actually took the glue that was still on my hands from gluing up that tubular last night). Shit. So I can either race tonight in my 36x13 or maybe the 50x13 (yeah, right) or I can sit it out and maybe not risk any injury. I totally could have raced but I really didn't want to at this point - especially in that gear ratio.

So solution number 1 is to buy a new shifter set for my road bike and attach the old road shifters to my cross bike (I don't give a fuck about cross...its just something to do for me). Solution two is to simply create a single speed by breaking the chain. I think this might be the solution. Anyone else have any solutions?

Apart from this I've been running. I did 4.5 miles last PM, easy and I'm not sore. Saturday was one hour - which is a personal record. (you bet I was sore after that). I don't know how people manage to run marathons - I give them credit. Before this winter is over I'm going to do my own personal half ironman w/o the swim (maybe I'll use my rowing machine instead). Lets say a 60 mile ride and then a 13 mile run. Should be possible. On tap this weekend is a 10 mile run. I've taken on a lot of new stuff at work and running fits in way better to my schedule anyway.

Thanks for reading my complaints. Well, maybe some racing next week. The time off thinking about racing has been good for me. I'm starting to think about road again (with excitement) even though its far off.

NBX

I'm going down to the 'cross series tomorrow night. I have room for one. Lv @530 or within 10 mins of that.

How ashamed would my dog be if a video of him reacting to the bath was posted on the internet. Shaking, whimpering, whining, hiding...all because of the bath.

Don't do this.

Do not leave a pen in your pants pocket when you do laundry. Trust me on this one. Don't do this. Ever.

The Last Ninigret 2008 and Credit Cards

I've got my motivation to race again - I've got things to settle down in other areas of my life which will free me up to train. The paradox is that the race season is over unless I actually count Jamestown and go to Prospect Park in NY for a 630 AM race. BTW: Next year I'm doing one of those. Well, at least I know I'm not entirely mentally ruined. Ninigret today was a whole lot of fun. It felt great just to be out there. I felt good most of the time too! Except when I did some work - where I felt immediately terrible - what can you expect of an out of shape cyclist.

Great financial news today (sarcastic). Wow. The banks aren't doing well. They fucked up bad. Real bad. I wonder if the bank(s) which hold credit cards will let their lenders off if they fail? Now that would be nice now don't you think?

New lame post about being sick

Shit. Lost voice yesterday - last two periods. Lips would move, brain attempted to produce sound yet nothing came out. PS: I'm a high school teacher. Not being able to speak is a problem - I talk loudly too - like so loud the students cannot possibly have sidebar conversations. I actually thought I was getting better but I had a 100 degree fever last night - all night.

OK. So apart from this I'm totally regenerating my love of cycling. Thanks Mr. Cold. Running is cool, but I like riding better. I hope to hit that Ninigret this weekend, sit in and not get dropped! So my last ride was 9/13. So what. My last workout was 9/17. So what. Yeah, last road ride was 8/31 - albeit it was a great ride. I had some slight momentum prior to this downward spiral so hopefully I'll rebuild some fitness. This illness has taken the wind out of my 'cross season plans a bit. Its not really a big deal at all but it might set me back a bit. Oh well, I'll just spend the money I was going to spend on 'cross on next year's road season. I really haven't put togehter a solid training program since the end of July with some bursts in August. I'm going to put things back together. I need to and I am going to.

I think I've used the first person pronoun "I" way too many times in the previous section.

Check out this video:
http://www.pineapplestudios.com/DOTVideosSite/Blackstone.html
It would have bee uploaded it to Youtube and then connected it here. Mozilla has an easy to access cache that can capture flash video. Just rename them w/ a .flv extension and play them. They are used all the time in our classes. Not a problem. However, the video is in Quicktime and being an Apple product - impossible to service without taking the program apart or by buying some Pro edition that is not being purchased by this author because he has better things to spend money on - like bike shit & grad school. Unlike the vast, overwhelming majority of folks, this computer user not really a fan of a lot of Apple products. Some of their stuff is really innovative, it certainly looks better, it gets less viruses (but PC's can stay clean if you stay off bittorrent and *other* types of sites, but its altogether undetermined if it performs any better - unless you have a full suite of Apple compatitible products which ironically can only be brought through Apple. Hmmm? Just try to take the battery out of an Ipod.

Anyway:

Please be aware of the lack of the usage of the first person pronoun in the final part of this lame post about being sick - which is not way too long because without riding I'm way too bored.

Every Year

I get sick about this time. Every year. Not real sick, just enough to screw up my athletic plans for the weekend. Throat on fire, head clogged with green shit, feel like total crap. Great. Why can't I get the two days of low grade fever during the week instead of Saturday morning? I'll go to work through anything. There is nothing one can do about this either except to wait it out. I've taken some time off the bike anyway because I would have to work really hard to fit it in so I guess the timing of this current sickness isn't bad. I need a break from the bike anyway. I've been running instead- I did 6 miles on Wed. I was brutally sore Thursday and even more sore yesterday but oddly my legs felt great today - relatively speaking.

Wrentham Cross #2

Raced Wrentham last PM. Did 1x2x3 laps. I think that the laps last about 7-8 minutes or so - so between 42 and 48 minutes of racing. I was sore from running but I think that it should complement what approximates my attempt at cyclocross. Been running a lot - went tonight. Really sore right now and hungry because all I ate today was a sandwich and some granola bars. Its getting easier - I'm going to do five miles next time. I'll probably hit up Amesbury on Sat. and maybe Wells on Sunday. Not going if its raining - well I might go anyway. I do need to get the fact that my front wheel was rattling in the corners - which did indeed force me to ditch the bike hard once. No Bob Beals. Kinda sucks, but this only frees me up for cyclocross. I need to do some work on my cross bike so thats a project in and of itself. Stuff to do on the cross bike: address front wheel, address rear wheel and its wobble, and adjust shifting. I'm trying a cyclocross season which follows this training plan: run Tues/Thurs and Sat or Sun (depending on race schedule), race on Wed., rides on Tues or Thurs or both or none depending on time. Maybe a Monday run if I feel like it and rides Sat/Sun. So what is that? 5-7 workouts a week with at least 3 and maybe five rides. Should be OK. Actually, it has to be OK because that is all that I'm going to do for training.

Glad

I'm glad that I did not register for Topsfield.  I woke up nice and early this AM ready to consider if I should get the bike and bike stuff ready.   It was pouring.  My dog - "Gus" who isn't afraid of squaring up with the biggest dogs wouldn't even go outside.  I want to post a video of him having a complete spaz when he sees another dog.  Maybe this heavy rain will stop - it looks like its supposed to on the radar so I can get a little road ride in and a run in also (on the track...hmm, maybe the Brown track with some stadium stairs work? - no running on roads yet).  Not sure if they are going to have Wells if this tropical storm moves in - which would kinda suck - meaning not having Wells would suck.  I think the tropical storm is actually kind of exciting in a novelty sort of way although it becomes far less exciting if our bike races are canceled because of it.   

Wed.

Q: When does cyclocross season start for the residents of Peach Ave?
A: Cyclocross season began at 5:30 PM on September 3.
Q: Where?
A: Wrentham. Wednesday training race.
Q: How did the race go?
A: We did three laps to start with. They were not timed so I don't know how long we were out for. Actually, I got a flat on the first lap and the guys were good enough to donate a tube to me. I totally almost went over the bars in one of the corners. Shit...I thought it was going flat.
Q: Were there any more races?
A: Yes. There were two more races.
Q: How did these other races feel?
A: Awful. They both felt awful. Mouth filled with dirt. Body covered in dirt. At threshold or higher the whole time. Just wanting the experience to be over. Lower back having pain - this always happens. It was a great time actually...in some sadistic way.

I haven't decided on Topsfield. I'll probably go up to Haverhill actually as there is no way I'm racing if its raining at this point of the year. Right now, it looks like rain for the weekend.

Apart from this I just listened to Mitt Romney's speech at the Republican convention. Yep, I'm a total dork. Another unimaginative speech repeating the same old Republican party line - family values, stop terror, Democrats tax and spend, Dems. want a society of freeloaders etc... Not sure if he put something in there about guns and religion but he very well could have. Actually he probably should have just for good measure. Last time I checked that war on terror was awfully expensive but what do I know? Oh, the revenue for this is raised not by taxes but by selling T-Bills and other treasury securites to our allies - like China. Quite possibly a great legacy. Check this out too - the Gulf of Mexico oil machinery was shut down for three days to prepare for Gustav. The price went down to the lowest levels its been in a while. Hmm...why? Did speculators (oil companies and their allies) agree to stop buying oil for a little while? Did the RNC have anything to do with this decision?
Frigging Huckabee's on, he just said that a relative's heroes were Jesus, FDR and Elvis. Since when in the USA did it become OK to mention Jesus at a political gathering. Am I missing something here? These politicians using this religion stuff really, really pisses me off. It really does - it has no place in government at all. Nope - don't want to see pictures of my President going to church. Don't care. None of my business.

I love this...

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From Flint MI... we should adopt this policy here:

Just What I Needed

Arcadia today was sweet. Motivation has returned. Actually I did only a little bit in Arcadia - I did what amounted to a long road ride on my cross bike. I got lost. It was great. I had a great time. Once I found my bearings I made my way back to my car, got some more water and then went into Arcadia itself. I practiced mount and dismounts. I made some serious progress into eliminating the dreaded stutter step when remounting - I did about 3 miles of this. Getting on the bike, off the bike, on the bike, off the bike. I felt awesome when I hit the remount right, it felt "right" and so smooth. I've still got a lot of work to do though. It was a great ride...I decided to call it a day when I started getting tired and thus banged my stuff hard on the remount. Yep, cross....banging stuff around, landing on the rear wheel, getting dirty. Its gonna be fun this year.

Well, Thats All For Now

Its that time. Every time I've looked at the road bike the past couple of months I've uttered a subconscious sigh to myself. Apart from brief and intense motivational moments attributed to racing, the desire to do the requisite training is not there. I do admire those who can train all year, race for results & balance multiple priorities successfully. So the road bike is hung up...its coming out though for a couple more midweek Ninigrets, Bob Beals, Topsfield, and one of those late CT races. Only one bike gets the coveted spot in the living room. My yellow GT cross bike is there now - where it will stay until the end of January. I think its a wise decision to just finally admit that road is pretty well over this year for me instead of mentally beating myself up all the time about not wanting to ride, not riding and subsequently not performing to where I think I can perform. So fall is for fun and thats exactly what is going to happen. Today I'm taking the GT down to the Arcadia area - the place where I first started riding actually - I still have my old Univega MTB I got when I was 15 - it still fits too! I grew up down there and I used to ride in there all the time so whenever I go there its like a homecoming for me.


Good luck today if you are up at Green Mountain. Shit, the 1/2 guys finished about :20 mintues ahead of virtually every other field in the 64 mile race. If the times are right that must have been a fast, hot and hard race! I think today is the hard day up there so good luck!

Crazy Ol' Kids

In my neighborhood I've noticed some of the craziest kids doing the craziest things. Yesterday I saw a kid drop the hill onto North Main with a razor scooter. He dropped Abbott St. Abbott St. is so bumpy you have to slow down to less than 10 mph to avoid bottoming out your car. North Main is busy. Today on my way home I saw a 13 year old on a "motorcycle" and a passenger rip down Camp St. He almost dumped it because he doesn't know how to really ride a bike & manage the weight of a passenger. He swerved hard a few times to stay upright. The bike was still larger than the kid and passenger combined. He then kept right on going. The bike was one of those mini bikes but it was totally done up. Very wide front and what looked like a somewhat large engine. Damn...the thing looked cool though.

About cycling, I've been out riding more this week than past weeks, trying to build up to Bob Beals. Cross is coming too. I really have no expectations for cross except to have fun. I guess I should start doing some specific training though.

Thunderstorms and Fall River

Fall River: I really like this race. I signed up for the Cat. 3 race on bikereg and then I signed up for the P-3 race on the day of. The 3 race was at a decent pace, nothing too severe at first. Yabroudy and 3 Exodus guys went off the front at 15 laps to go. I knew that this would be too long for me to stay out so I didn't go with them. About 8 laps, maybe 10 laps is my absolute limit in a break like that with those guys. They stayed away the entire time which is exactly what I feared when they went away. Besides, these guys were probably the strongest guys in the race. Not a lot of guys were willing to chase either - someone would go off the front and the field would let them and then a half lap later they would get caught. Same old story. The field spent the last 5 laps getting ready for the sprint for 5th. I felt like total shit at the end so I didn't do the P-3 event I spent $12 on. I need to be riding more, this I know. In an attempt to ride more yesterday I went out in the morning - north to Lincoln and Smithfield land. It was sunny in Providence, nice temperature, a bit windy though. I got to Wilbur Rd. and proceeded to do repeats up it. It started raining big drops. Big drops are bad. I instantly turned around and thought that I could somehow go the direction where there was blue sky and "beat" the thunderstorm. I do know this is impossible but I tried anyway - and thus failed miserably. Then it started dumping down big drops, it got windy, cold and started to thunder. No shelter anywhere and I'm not really a fan of being out in a thunderstorm like this. So I decided to cut the ride short and head on in. I basically time trialled back to town. Once I descended Woodward into Prov. guess what? It was sunny and dry.

Swimming and the Olympics

Unless I've been mistaken, I thought the Olympics featured more sports besides swimming. I'm usually wrong about these things but I've got a hunch that there are a few more sports involved.

Witches Cup

Well I drove up to Salem to participate in the Witches Cup race.
Just a FAQ about the drive although I don't want this to be a blog where I continuously whine about traffic!
Q. How long does it take to drive to Salem from Providence?
A. Under normal circumstances it takes about an hour and a half and is about 75 miles.
Q. How long does it take to drive to Salem if you leave Providence at 3PM on a Wednesday.
A. It takes two hours and forty five minutes (2:45).
Q. Why does it take so long?
A. Because too many people attempt to get on 3 north and especially 93 north from Boston.
Q. During this trip, how long does it take to get from RT 2/128 North to the I93 Exchange - this is about a ten mile stretch.
A. This takes one hour ten minutes (1:10)

My performance is this race was lackluster to say the least. I am disappointed in myself and really aggravated in general. It took me a little bit to click in which in this field made my mid pack position at the starting line evaporate and which put me squarely at the back. From the line guys were getting gapped back there (which is why you stay out of the back of these at all costs). I mean gapped - like big gaps. Like, why did you come out to race gaps. It wasn't really all that hard at first. It felt like the end was near but I thought I could make it - I got about 20 minutes in before the last ten or so guys came off the rear together and since I was in the rear with them I came off. I think there was a crash in the corner (I heard one but didn't see it) and then a huge gap opened. No chance to chase on - believe me I tried with another guy and couldn't make it up. This thing then looked like it slowed down the field was all together. Some guys who are really strong came off also which made me feel a bit better but whatever I know I can stay with a really strong group like this.

I was super mad at the end of this event. I am currently still really pissed off and unpleasant and I really don't want to be. I should have been riding more this week. I should have gone to Wompatuck last night. I should have raced this weekend. Truth be told, I was lazy and now I am paying the price.

There was even traffic on 93 at 9PM going south. Like 15mph from Columbia Rd. to Furnace Brook Pkwy- another section of a few miles.

I will be out at Fall River doing both the Cat 3 race and the 1-2-3 race. I perhaps may go to Loudon although thats damn far from here for a crit. I am absolutely focussed on this race right now. I want to be out racing. I am a better racer than what happened tonight this much is for sure.

Walking

I've been doing a lot of walking the past few days. Today is no exception. I woke up this morning (late) and did the normal dog walking routine, eat breakfast, surf the internet and drink my usual massive amount of coffee. I then decided to take this pair of pants to the tailor b/c like every other piece of clothing I own they do not fit properly. On my way out of the driveway the car is pulling hard to the left...this can only mean one thing - flat tire. So I pumped it up with my bicycle pump (217 pumps by the way will inflate the small tires on my car to about 30psi) and took it to the service station to have it plugged. Yes, I can do this myself but its a real pain in the ass so I'd rather take it somewhere. I should have done it myself but I probably would have had the same results.
One of the lugs that holds the tire on snapped with a hand wrench. WTF? These things are supposed to be strong, stronger than the force of a single human being. Strong enough to hold a tire on a car and stop it going 80mph. If I remember right momentum = mass*velocity and a car has a hell of a lot of momentum at freeway speeds. Anyway, this created a problem because now there are two things to fix: the pin which attaches the wheel to the car, and my tire (which has to be replaced). The huge metal piece in my tire had to lodge itself near the sidewall - which means the tire is garbage now. So what I thought was going to be a 20$ or so job now is going to cost like 100$ (probably more). Yep, probably getting somewhat ripped off, but maybe not. I can't tell. They wouldn't replace the pin for free which kinda pissed me off but they took a lot off the labor.

At least I got to walk a mile and half home. So I'm not going to Nashua - I could take the train up to Lowell and ride up there but thats a major pain in the ass. Nor can I really spare the extra money right now.

There's gonna be some running race in Providence Sept. 7. I might hit that up. 5K. I've never done a running event before. I hope they have some running events later on in the year because I think I'll be more conditioned then. November/December would be good.

Word

Well I just registered for Fall River. I want to do Salem...but I dion't want to go solo...so who's in? FYI - The current list of confirmed riders will let you know why I don't want to go solo.

Pro/1/2/3		top
Jesse	Anthony	Team Type 1
Peter	Bradshaw	NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental
Chris	Coutu	MetLife p/b unlose.it
Tom	Gosselin	Fitness Together/IF powered by Lionette's
John	Grenier	BOB Cycling-Stonyfield Farms-Goodale's Bike Shops
Craig	Harrison	Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving Racing Team
Morgan	Hiller	CLNoonan/KAM/Coast to Coast
Daniel	Joakim	Bicycle Link/MBRC
Tim	Johnson	Health Net Pro Cycling Team
Ryan	Kelly	NorEast Cycling
Robert	Kramer	Ridley Factory Team
Sean	Langford	CCB/Volkswagen
Frank	McCormack	T.E.A.M. Fuji
Mark	McCormack	T.E.A.M. Fuji
Shawn	McCormack	T.E.A.M. Fuji
Shawn	Milne	Team Type 1
Colin H.	Murphy	Kenda/Raleigh Cycling Team
Adam	Myerson	Time Pro Cycling
Mike	Pavlov	CCB/Volkswagen
Mike	Rowell	NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental
Kurt	Schmid
Duane	Skofield	BOB/shift-stonyfieldfarms-Ariza-goodales
Ward	Solar	Nerac Cycling
Roy	Van Cleef	NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental
Pro/1/2/3 Entries: 24
Total Entries: 72

Not liking this ... but it should be exciting nonetheless. Fuck it - I'm going anyway.

I've been in Boston all week working regular hours (not flex hours...that would be different). Do not let anyone ever mislead you about this: The commute fucking sucks. Anyone lying to themselves in an attempt to rationalize this is lying to themselves.
Train: almost 2 hours each direction door to door (which is what counts isn't it?) & don't think you're getting a seat before Mansfield on the way home either. Cost including green line bullshit 9.75$ each way. Good thing I rode my bike to the station b/c that would cost more.
Car: can be OK but its tedious and they drive like idiots (I'm totally convinced they do this on purpose). About 1.5 hours each way. Can be shorter, can be longer. Ultimately cheaper than train. No place to park, must find parking so you can factor this into commute time.
Bike: 3h each way. Cannot be done everyday.
Since its like 9PM I've got to go to sleep because I've been the crankiest son of a bitch all week. Good night.

Long post about Wells Ave.

Today was my first day on the road bike after a week off. A swift MTB on Wed. and my normal little rides around town the rest of the week. Nothing yesterday...feeling burnt out big time so I prescribed some rest. Today at Wells I found my rhythm again. I felt better when I was warming up in the parking lot. During the race I did manage to get into the break at lap 20. This was way too long for me. I lasted in it until lap 11 - so about 18 minutes give or take. The break was slowing down and I took too much of a pull and I went off. The field almost caught them in the finish. I should have fought harder to stay on, I probably could have. I should have taken some pulls off. Kinda disappointed in myself but this was good training anyway and this taught me that I can only stay in these things for about twenty minutes or so. Believe me, the time I was in this break felt like an absolute eternity. I did get a prime which was cool and I felt like my sprint was coming along so I've got to ride the wave and race Nashua.
I'm in Boston all week so I'm going to hit Wompatuck on Tuesday...Ninigret might be a real stretch though. Probably do an evening TT in Seekonk while taking Thurs/Friday off or easy. I hope to ride up to Boston at least once and get a ride back. I figure that if I leave at 530 I'll get there about 8AM which should be plenty of time. We'll see about this one.

Seriously Easy

Tonight I did the 2nd seriously easy run of the 2008 late summer season. Ten minutes - easy. Kept HR low, low, low. I ran in cemetery to be on grass and most importantly, not seriously embarrassed by running my slow ass on public streets. Mentally I know I've got to do something different, apart from riding my road bike - as I felt great after this 'run.' I hope to be running quite often by the end of the fall - hopefully up to an hour so I can stay fit and mentally refreshed throughout the winter.
I'll give a report out on my soreness factor tomorrow. In past when I've begun running after a purely cycling regiment I've gotten SORE for a LONG TIME. Maybe I'll put in a decent cross season this year...its an awful long road season and my hats off to those folks who race every weekend effectively. I can't seem to do this yet. While my burnout state is better this year than it was last year I vacillate from being seriously psyched up for races and not having any motivation at all to race. Whatever motivation I had (like last week) has seemed to vanish almost overnight!
I don't know if I can bring myself to drive 2+ hours to Concord on Sat. although I might go up to Bow on Sunday. A :45 minute crit is not really worth 5h in the car for me at this point this season.
I went on a seriously fun MTB in Big River last night with Mike and Lynn. We went swimming after which was a blast.

Cadel Evans

An OK outburst...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikzgWE3t0A

A better one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9St8xiaKzA&feature=related

The best one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fe79ZuDKfk&feature=related

Why am I not surprised...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/29/dcl.cop.decks.cyclist.cnn

...everything comes out with the proliferation of video capture.

Schedule

I did Norwell yesterday. There is nothing to report about this race except I was really pissed off at the end of it.

I know this schedule will change but it gives me an idea of how to plan my training for the next few weeks. Training? Yeah, I've been actually training again instead of pretending to train.


Week 1:
8/2: Concord
8/3: Bow - maybe.

Week 2:
8/9: Nashua
*or maybe Rochester.
8/10: Tokeneke...maybe?

Week 3:
8/13: Salem (Witches Cup)
8/16: NY Capitol Region RR
8/17: Fall River (Priority Race)

Week 4:
8/21: Pittsfield
8/23: Medford, NJ or Saco, ME
8/24: Blunt Park 'Cross, Springfield, MA.

Week 6:
9/6: Topsfield
9/7: Haverhill or *Tour of the Catskills

Week 7:
9/13 and 9/14: Bob Beals

Week 8:
9/20: Norwich, CT
9/21: Portsmouth

Norwell not Hilltowns

Looks like I'm skipping Hilltowns to put a solid effort into Norwell. I'm probably doing just the Cat. 3 race. There are some teams in there so its going to have be critical to cover attacks in order to get into the breakaway if anyone is strong enough to put enough gas on. I felt good last night and was able to stay where I wanted to be most of the time. I felt as if my power was coming along properly and I was able to ride at the right intensity necessary. I probably lost 5 seconds per lap being extra lame in the corners but I've recently had a bad experience of not respecting them. I did not get sick for once which I think means I'm getting somewhat fit. Hopefully I feel good on Sun. Not doing Hilltowns because I know I'll be tired after that, probably too much so to properly race Norwell. Tomorrow I'm back out to Wilbur Rd. or Cumberland Hill to do hill repeats until failure. I might even drive up to Wachussett to do proper repeats. Saturday is easy around town stuff, maybe even go to the beach or do something lazy and fun.

Last Day of School

Last day of school is tomorrow. Cannot wait. Believe me, I cannot wait. Going to celebrate by going to Ninigret. It better not rain. If it does rain, my usual method of celebration will be initiated. Hyundai leaves PC (River Ave. @ 4:15 or so). I did 4 sprints today on the Blvd. (instead of my prescribed 5) and was going to do more but I got a flat and decided to hustle on home. I felt great the first two, OK on the third, not so much OK and the fourth. On my ride home from PC I hit the East Side hill as hard as I possibly could which I guess counts for the fifth sprint.

Pig, Pig, Pig, Pig

I went to stop and shop for groceries - I need to start eating better and I had a plan of what to get. I was picking stuff up when I went by the sushi section. I walked by it and decided to go back and investigate. I picked up one box of it and decided that would augment my planned dinner of tacos. About 20 paces away I NEEDED TO TURN AROUND and immediately grabbed a second box - a box of the good sushi. This sushi was subconsciously calling my name. I couldn't resist it. No one person should ever spend as much as I did on Stop and Shop sushi, but I would have spent 2X what I spent on shitty beer if I went out tonight so I don't feel so bad.

BTW: Powerpoint sucks. I've been plugging Millwork One/Weebike.com also at the end of every presentation I give - I'm working on putting the logo on a powerpoint slide. Much like Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter Z and the number 12 (I think I remember this from my youth), my presentations are brought to the class by Millwork 1/Weebike.com and the generous support of the Stafford Direct Loan program. No one hears this of course because its me who is giving the presentation and believe me I'm not the most "exciting" person around which means the majority of the class is either staring at me - but that glassy eyed kind of staring which begs to ask the question "When is this guy going to shut the fuck up?" I talk anyway, loudly and slowly in my attempt to drag the presentation out for as long as possible so I can get the highest grade possible. The rest of the class is doing something totally unrelated, like sitting in front of a laptop looking like they are paying attention while they surf the internet or do something else, drawing, staring out the window, leaving to answer phone calls, texting (yes, adults in grad school text), or doing whatever you do when you are bored off of your ass.

Warm Weather

Apart from sitting at the computer, typing papers for school I have been a lump of shit. I am way more productive in the mornings so I work until I'm useless from wakeup till uselessness sets in. Then I come back to it and type some more crap. Type, type, type, surf the internet, type, type type, type. I found this website, steephill.tv which allows me to actually watch the tour in real time, which is really cool. School has a way of narrowing my ability to plan for future events, seriously I cannot plan a thing more than a week out, but its over this week, and I cannot wait. I will celebrate my last day of classes with a Ninigret crit on Wednesday as opposed to my "normal" method of celebrating anything (and everything for that fact). In my efforts to defeat lameness, I went on a solo 2.5 hour bike ride. Ride was not lame because I purchased good headphones which don't fall off every time I hit a bump and second because I put all new music in the Ipod. Yesterday I did one hour but I did five solid sprints...the first ones about a minute a piece but later ones were only at :30 seconds. Today, I felt like garbage. I went out Woodward to do the Wilbur/Harris Ave. climbing interval loop I do from time to time. I only did two, and the second one was awful, I totally blew up on it. I then went to the old Lincoln Crit course and reminisced about it briefly before going out 116 to W. Reservoir and out Rocky Hill Road. Decent ride, again feeling shitty the whole time. I think the temp had something to do with the quality of this ride as it was 90F+. Tomorrow I may ride or I may not because its supposed to be 94F and I'm waking up on my own schedule, which means if I go out its going to be later. I'm just not sitting in a car 3h. one way up to Claremont. I've probably done that ride 75 times during the seven years I lived in Vermont. I may go to Naugutuck though on Sunday - I'll decide tomorrow. I'm psyched to focus on bike racing entirely for the month of August...I'd like to peak for the late Aug./Sept series of races, including Bob Beals.

Rest Week

Well I think I'm going to take a rest week. I didn't plan this but I still am a bit tired from Attleboro and I shouldn't be this far out. I was going to do sprint intervals today but they will wait. Attleboro was a decent race. The 30+ was fun, the Cat. 3 race got boring by the end. I think I went around that course 90 times, which is about 20 times too many. Good training though...hopefully I finally truly recover soon. I felt like crap at the end of this race which probably accounts for my long recovery time. My long recovery time could also be related to stress as I'm taking full load of summer courses right now and there is a lot of stuff to do. While in reality none of this stuff 'matters' in a financial sense - it matters to me and so I've got to finish up strong, just another week. Most of the big stuff is due this week so I should be OK next week.

I keep getting these emails about the bike lane on Blackstone. Lots of emails. I really want to reply but I don't see the point. Arguing with people does not get you anywhere, ever. In case you haven't been over there they put a bike lane where the right lane of the Boulevard used to be. They actually scraped off the dotted center line. I think its a good idea. Never liked the two lane approach anyway, too much like an expressway. I've ridden hundreds, probably thousands of loops there. I think I've seen one rollerblader...ever. Very few runners, most take the middle. There is now enough space for like five runners to run abreast in the far right pedestrian lane and not even come close to the bike land. I run there sometimes in the colder months actually. Yep, in the road. Nope, not going to change that either. Yep, don't care if I get yelled at. In one ear, out the other. I'll yell back and taunt anyway, other runners will do the same so I suggest that no one decides to be a hero and tell a runner where to go. Bikers can go around a runner and its not really a problem. The lane gives us more space and more of a right to use the road - we now have a lot of road now. Its a park which means its recreational space. This new striping cannot be changed anyway so we all mind as well accept it and enjoy it.

Good Ride

Today's riding experience was much better than yesterday's. I 'stayed up' too late last night and did not make it to Wells today. I rode up through Cumberland into Wrentham and into Franklin. I like this ride, there are some good hills in there and the roads are really nice - some open farmland mixed with woods, so there is a lot of scenery variety. There was a lot of people riding today. All types of people too, from recreational groups, to families, to a Quad guy to this Millworks guy. It was nice to see a lot of folks out because I think its good for the sport. I think its better to have a lot of people excited about cycling in general. I felt quite good and did some big ring TT type stuff again. I didn't quantify any of it, but when I felt good I went hard and when I needed to rest I rested. I tried to keep the efforts at least a mile - I got 3 really good kinda longer efforts in and a load of little 2-3 minute efforts which has resulted in me being beat right now. Upper Union St. in Franklin is a kick ass road going north - slight tailwind and slight downhill meant 30+ mph for 2 miles. So much fun.

I've had some success trying to follow the Tour de France...Eurosport has live audio, ITV has a podcast with interviews, and Youtube has amateur videos, along with Steephill.tv (which has professional video). I don't have the 'good' cable which gets Versus, so I'm going to have to improvise.

This week was the first week I've really tied a lot of good training together, today, yesterday, sprints on Friday and Ninigret on Weds. I'm hopefully going to put some good training in next week too...sprints Tuesday, long/hard Weds, moderate or easy on Thurs., easy and short Friday and then Attleboro. In the past I've ridden to Attleboro, but I might not this year because I've gotten dehydrated when its been hot. Something is 'up' with my digestive system anyway, I vomit after every race, get cramps for hours later and for some reason I require a huge amount of water. Actually, I know whats up with it, its called being out of shape and this is a situation I'm well on my way to rectifying. So if its hot, I'm driving, if its cool - I'm riding. I've got a hell of week with school and work coming up though so I hope to get everything in. I've got to miss the Bikeworks TT until the last week in July so thats a big bummer because I really like that TT.

Apart from cycling I've been bogged down with school. I cannot wait for it to be over - Wednesday, July 23. I

40% Chance of Rain

Just so I'm on the same page as the National Weather Service a 40% chance of rain does not mean that you stand a 4/10 chance of being rained on. It means you will be rained on 40% of the time. The first half of my ride was fine, out to North Smithfield, doing some solo hard pulls and 3-10 minute TT efforts. I felt really good. Then it began raining. I crashed the other day, not too hard, but kinda hard - so I've got some cuts and scrapes, big deal, but I left the ones on my legs uncovered.

I will never do this again (leave leg cuts uncovered). Why?

Well, it began raining & where did it begin raining you may ask? Yes, thats right, North Smithfield. Now North Smithfield isn't all that far from Providence by any means, but its not exactly in town either. I was about 20 miles into my ride. At first it wasn't bad, just drizzle and some big rainy drops here and there. However, once the road got wet spray began to creep off my front tire. My legs got sandblasted with everything on the road the entire way home. It doesn't hurt that bad - its hurts just bad enough to put someone like myself in an awful bad, grumpy mood. I was real pissed off the whole way in. I ducked out to RT 7 and commenced a TT effort into town. So, in retrospect it was good that it began raining as I got a superior workout in.

BTW: It stopped raining once I came down Cobble Hill into Pawtucket. I knew that was going to happen.

I signed up for Attleboro: 30+ and Cat 3. Not sure about New Britain if I'm going out there or not. I might, or I might not. Probably Claremont in NH on the 19th and Nagutuck on the 20th. Probably Hilltowns on the 26th, but I might not and focus on the Norwell race on the 27th.

My new routine

A new part of my precious daily routine will now commence as evidenced by this photo. If you read this blog chances are you know what I'm talking about.

Went into corner too fast. Pedaled through about half-way. Crashed. End of story. Thanks Lynn Samaratano, Murat and Bill Doonan for the help. Murat and Lynn both stopped for me and I want to thank them for making sure I didn't lie unresponsive on the pavement waiting to get run over by other bikers or eaten by Coyotes.

I feel really good on the bike though and hope to be racing at Wells on Sunday. I did Newton last week - a good race. I liked it. I also did Cox - a very hard race which is ancient history by now.

I've got to sign up for Attleboro, New Britain etc... I'm so psyched to race now. Its been a long time since I've been motivated. I hope my motivation keeps up! Gotta go.

Short Monson Report

I had a bad feeling about this race before it began. Everyone in the parking lot had their 'game faces' on and this usually means trouble. In general, the atmosphere was not as relaxed as it has been during previous races this year. Why do I feel this way? I don't know - were a lot of guys anxious about this race? They shouldn't have been. Its only 56 miles and there really aren't major climbs to overcome. Regardless I was in a hurry in the AM and forgot water bottles. I picked up some at the store on the way out. No problem. They fit in my cages well & they were in there tight. I raced with these Gatorade bottles for the first couple years I raced and nothing bad happened they always fit fine. I got dressed and took my position at the rear of the field as about the entire field lined up :20 minutes before the race was supposed to go off. Classic. We began the event by going down a medium sized hill and taking a left onto a main road. It was neutral down the hill which is something I welcomed. Since I was at the rear wanted to move up. I already saw some stupid riding going down the hill - going after places that really weren't there, excessive side to side movement. Everyone knows what I'm talking about so I won't belabor the point. At the bottom of the hill there is a left. I took the left and had to move over because someone took the turn too sharply. OK, no problem. Well I slammed into a deep mean pothole which jettisoned my water bottles. Both of them. Remember, I'm still at the rear and I'm still moving away from Mr. Sketchy. I did not stop to pick them up - I decided to go on. Nate Turillo saved my ass by giving me an extra bottle.

The race was fun and kinda fast from here on out. I moved up into the first 20 bikes or so and stayed there. A few attacks went off but nothing really powerful. About mile 20 it began raining. At mile 30 or so there was a diagonal railroad crossing. I hopped it - it was slick but it wasn't that bad. The next mile there was another crossing & yes, someone hit it wrong. They went down, taking me down and a bunch of others. I didn't really get hurt, just cut up a little and bruised a little bit. I think the bike is ok. This was the end of the race today. Like I said, I knew something was going to happen. From now on, I will be very careful in my event selection. This is usually a good race and I felt very good in the race. I really felt I could have made an impact - especially once I heard the race came apart about 20 miles left which I think would have suited me as I was able to ride through the field on the climbs but whatever, I'll race another day.

No Housatonic for me - I'll do an endurance ride tomorrow.

Consecutive Posts

I'm into this posting thing lately. Today I woke up at 445 AM and could not sleep any longer so I decided to start my day. I felt pretty good actually - I had some work to do which I was glad to get done. I'm so much more productive in the mornings as opposed to any other time of the day.
Whenever I go really hard I wake up super early so this fits the pattern. I also had a splitting headache for part of the day which means I was dehydrated. So I didn't go up to Wells. I'm also have such a sunburn that even when I go outside into the sun it hurts. I decided to ride around Providence for a while. I did some east side loops for a while - then I went down to the Wickenden area because I never go down there.
The new pedestrian bridge is up over 195 and the gate is open and you can ride over it - although you are not supposed to I guess. The cop that stopped me watched me go into it, then watched me come out over it then decided to stop me. He was on a scooter and intentionally pulled in front of me with what one would call a siren. He was cool though and didn't give me a super hard time so I left on good terms.
I forgot how much I hate hot weather. We don't have AC at work. It will be like between 85 and 90 in there - the third and fourth floors will be hot as hell and I mean hot, sweltering, no escape hot. On a positive note, one of my favorite shows is on...Ice Road Truckers.

Spring to Summer

Yesterday it was spring. Today it is summer. Go figure. Well, I did take the bus down to Ninigret today - It dropped me off on the corner of Waites Corner Rd. and RT 2. About 12 or so miles down to the Ninigret venue. A good warm up. So I warmed up and just rode around the lot a bit, chatted with some folks and hit the start line. Race started well - some early attacks but nothing substantial. Yabroudy took off about halfway in and took about 6 guys with him. A few others joined in the break after Yabroudy soloed the final 8 or so laps and the break thus slowed down a bit. There were about 12 of us in the break, pace was decent - a few guys attacked the break which isn't wise as they didn't have the staying power to stay off - they dangled 20 meters off the front for one minute. One unmentioned guy was getting pissed that folks weren't pulling through hard enough and jammed on his brakes a few times when he was done pulling through in frustration.
One word for this stuff - Lame.

Anyway I got pushed off into the grass in the final approach so I didn't get in there but whatever, it was a good ride anyway. I was on the outside before the last corner and today the move went from the inside/middle. The wind was an issue also and I think folks were trying to stay out of it as it was a tailwind in the finish and thus was a crosswind on the straight before the final corner.

So I saw Chris Burke warming up and we made plans to ride back to Providence. Alfredo from Bikeworks was with us too. We went the long way through Hope Valley and Arcadia. It was hot and the sun was very, very strong.
Sunburn is kicking right now - I was wearing sunblock but I think it wore off. Damn. Its a very specific sunburn - hands are white, area around eyes where sunglasses were is white, feet=white, watchband=white. Upper arm: permanent line of white to where jersey is where freckles and today's sunburn take over.
This ride featured all of us sweaty and sunburnt riders stopping at the pizza place on RT 3 and 165 getting a sit down meal of spaghetti at a restaurant - sitting our sweaty asses on their furniture and having a waitress. Classic. Despite my reservations about eating stuff like this I felt great by the end of the ride. We were attacking the hills close in to town even. Of course the first hour or so after the meal was at a good aerobic pace. I ended up with a sunburn, 5:30, a sore left knee and 92 miles for the day. I might go to Wells tomorrow but I might not. I just might do an hour and half of moderate/easy fun type stuff. Maybe even a mountainbike. This is the second time in a week that I've got knee stuff so it might be wise for me to chill on the miles.

I'm trying not to use AC as much as possible but that might be a challenge. I'm on the third floor. It is hot as hell in here. I mean hot...candles and soap become soft. In goes the AC tonight.

No Ninigret 4 Me

Not able to hit Ninigret tonight, something I'm okay with this week. I've got a presentation due tomorrow and I have some other obligations that I want to take care of. Ninigret next week and hopefully every week thereafter. This will be three days off the bike - I did some commuting yesterday but does that really count? I'll end up doing commute stuff tomorrow too - maybe I can get away with one hour with some intensity stuff in there.

I want to explore the bus option to Ninigret just to try it maybe on Sat. First race at 1210, leave at 940 and get to 138/2 at 1021? Put in a hour ride down. Wouldn't it suck though to have all the bike racks taken - well it wouldn't be that bad to have a long ride back..
http://www.ripta.com/schedules/view.php?route=66&direction=2

I did an experiment today at work. I've been taking my pulse regularly throughout the day. When I'm at work, in the building I work in my pulse lies between 55 and 62 beats per minute. Yesterday when I was a conference, outside the building my pulse was 44 bpm - consistently over four readings. I'm going to continue to take measurements to see if I can link together stress and consistent elevated pulse rate. There has to be some connection.

Celtics/Lakers tomorrow. I'm totally going to watch this game - maybe at a bar somewhere at that. My class gets out at 9PM so thats about tip off time.

I Went to the Union Rally and All I Got Was a T-Shirt

I also got some video. I'm specifically referring to the union rally I went to today @ the state house to protest all the cuts the governor is proposing. There were a lot of people there - 3,000 to 5,000. Has it made the papers yet? No. Has it made channel 10, 12 or 6? No. Is it on Youtube? It will be shortly when I post my video. Said video will also be sent to the mainstream media outlets. None of them were at the rally. Why not one may ask? Perhaps it has something to do with the corporate ownership of these companies and their management's overall hatred of unionized labor. The fact that this rally was not publicized is unacceptable in all regards. It may get an inside page in the Journal, maybe only in the Metro section, maybe in the editorial section. It might not get anything at all. It might get a big write up with a photo, or it might get very little. Who knows?

On the heels of the apparent Obama victory, an event which I regard as a major positive to the majority of people in this country we need to decide what kind of society we are going to tolerate. Our media outlets do not convey the truth all the time. None of them were there today so I'll be shocked if there is much positive press on this. Of course all the talk radio people and local pundits will be out gunning for unions on the airwaves. Ed Achorn will have another bad editorial about how unions are bleeding the state dry while good hardworking upper middle class people you know, the same people who have attained such a degree of security and prosperity that they forget that 1. They are privileged and 2. the economic situation they enjoy may or may not be due to their hard work as much as it could be due to birthright or luck. Of course, the anti-union, anti-labor forces would like you to believe that a vast majority of the population of the state owns businesses or are CEO's. Do this activity: Go to a place where they don't pay their government workers well. Come back and report to me how life is there. Did you feel safe? Would you like to live there? Think about it. Believe it or not, most of the people listening to these folks would directly benefit from some form of unionization in their workplaces yet have resigned themselves to passively agree with a person they identify with because they make extremely complex issues seems black and white - simple to understand. I'm going to sleep now before I get started on taxation. I implore everyone to become familiar with the tax code.

Yes RI is a high tax state, but for whom? Yes, sales and income tax are here. Gas tax too...roads don't build themselves. What about capital gains? Are fees taxes? (yes they are) Have fees gone up? Yes. Property tax - up or down? Up. Regressive? Yes. Most regressive states - surely not Florida, NH and Tennesseee. Yep. FL and TN - sales tax high, massive property tax as the state levies a property tax to support itself whereas property taxes are levied by the municipality in RI, MA and even NY (NY has America's highest taxes all around). NH - New England's tax haven (for now) - no sales tax, but state property tax, local property tax, and high fees. Who is hurt by high property taxes? Quiz time: Retirees on fixed incomes or people that own million dollar homes? Both of them but who hurts more?

I'm done. Good night.

Western RI has a lot of little hills

that really hurt me today. I rode with a couple new local guys today - I was very impressed how strong they were. Tempo/tt efforts the entire time, yeah the time - 4 + hours, 76 miles. So I'm pretty beat right now. Left knee has some issues...if you call shooting pain on effort inside your knee an issue and thus had to be the lame guy on the ride on the way in who says "you guys take off and I'll roll on in." But whatever, I'm going to ice it down and it should be alright. Its happened before but this time was a lot of pain so I've got be careful. This ailment probably has to do with the sheer number of hills we did - we were either climbing or descending most of the time and most of the time I was in the big ring spinning a big gear which felt comfortable but must not agree with my muscular-skeletal system. I made it for about three hours before I didn't feel good anymore which isn't bad considering I haven't ridden for over three hours since February. I'm going to make a better attempt to put long rides in more frequently although I'm convinced that they can take away from your fitness...especially short distance fitness, if done too often. Since most races are crits I'm going to be very careful about mega hard long distance efforts.

Ninigret on Weds. A group got off and I missed it. Same old story. I tried my hardest to get into something else but to no avail. Steve, Kellogg and myself tried to put something together but it didn't make it - one of these days I'm getting into the break. Arc en Ciel blocks so well too - all of us have to be aware of this in the field and if an Arc en Ciel guy is there - especially one of the really strong guys, then we should just concede that he is not going to pull through and the person who is in the third position should come around.

Ninigret on Wednesday and on Saturday. Lots of flat road, wind and spinning in circles. Hopefully something can happen. Probably hit up another torture ride on Sunday.

May the Road Rise to Meet You

May the wind be always at your back...
Because if its not the wind is going to torment you when you ride your bike. Mike and I did a good ride out towards the east. Lots of pollen out there today - I felt good in town but my eyes got really puffy, itchy and sore when I got out of the city and into the wilds of Massachusetts.
I raced at Stafford Springs on Saturday. Stafford was fun - the 3/4 featured a break which I guess broke up a bit in the end because of a crash amongst the breakaway riders? The P-1-2-3 was fun too...it was actually easier in some ways as opposed to the 3/4. The P-3 race was much smoother and faster. This race featured a breakaway of 4 very, very strong guys. Said breakaway did manage to lap the field with about 4 to go.
I might hit up Bethel on Sunday 12PM and 1PM race times- I'm probably not going up to Auburn, ME to race on Sat. although I might 57 miles at 12PM so thats a 7AM departure. Both might happen.

Brown graduated this weekend. This means there is a lot of free stuff to be found - trash night is tomorrow. I'm going hunting right now. I will post pictures of stuff that I find. Things I'm looking for that I don't want to buy and would much rather find:

1. Entertainment Center - preferably from IKEA and in great shape.
2. Books
3. Moped
4. Lamps
5. Braided rug that has not been pissed on.
6. Bookshelves

You never know what you can find out there

Sterling and MTB

The Sterling race is where my lack of training has really been brought to my attention. I felt awful on the climb, especially as time went on - dry heaves, feeling like I wanted to vomit for the second half of the climb. I was unable to do anything but sit-in which was not my intention nor did hanging onto a race fit anywhere in my personal expectations of where I should be right now. I sat up in the sprint because I would have been a total hazard as I would have been falling backwards anyway. Again, I was unable to eat much until the evening - which means I overdid it and thus I need to train more effectively. Apart from this, I think I made a solid deposit in the training bank (because I felt like garbage at the end). I enhanced this deposit with a solid MTB with Mike and Bill (and some other fast dude) this morning. This was the hardest MTB I've ever done as I was at or above threshold much of the time. I want to at least MTB 1X/week from now on. I do need to do quite a bit of work to my bike to get it really ready to ride in the woods at speed - my rear shifter doesn't work right and its really annoying to only have 3 gears.... In addition to working on my bike, I've got to do some work on my fitness as even though I thoroughly enjoyed the ride I felt like I had no power and no fitness most of the time. Every little 20 foot rise felt like a mountain.

Anyway, this was my first 'real' training week in terms of hours for quite some time so I'm quite pleased with it.

Wompatuck

tomorrow...so cancel your appointments, close up early, get your excuses ready and seek solace in the fact that its easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Theres bike racing to be done and life is short.

Got room for one - leaving my house 4:30.

Slug

This is my last week of being a slug regarding training. My training the past week has been inconsistent at best, although I've got some good rides in there. Why can't I stick to a consistent training plan? No Wells today ...I'm not sure if they canceled it or not but it was pouring in the AM and I just didn't get to it Hopefully, I'm gonna hit Wompatuck on Tuesday. Sterling next Sunday, which is a great race. I signed up for the June 7 Ninigret today and the Cox race. That Cox race is going to be fast and hard...a cat 2/3 event. It will be very tough as they changed the course to go up Waterman and then straight back down Angell. Damn. I'm getting my ass in gear to get ready for that one - 8 weeks. I'll put in a three week hard block, rest couple days, another hard block and then ease off a week before the race.

Race Schedule (which I will have to change as time goes on...I just want to plan out races a little more than a few weeks)

MAY

5/12 Sterling
May 17 Sunappee? (This was the first race I ever did actually-2003...and yes I got dropped by the main field when I was a Cat 5)
5/24 Cyclonauts
5/25 Hartford?

JUNE

6/7 Ninigret Cat 3 and P-3
6/8 CT coast - maybe and then again, maybe not
6/14 - Monson
6/15 - The Housatonic 'death march'
6/21 - New Britain - call this one a priority race.
6/22 - New London "Whaling City" if they do it
6/28 - Cox
6/29 - East Hartford - a big maybe on this one
6/30 - Thompson...maybe ride out to this one.

*probably not going to get Fitchburg in

JULY - going to be an interesting month depending on what I take for classes.

7/12 - Attleboro
7/13 - New Britain #2
7/19 - Claremont NH
7/20 - Naugutuck
7/26 - Hilltowns
7/27 - Norwell CR

AUGUST - I'll probably start doing some cross stuff actually now...just for fun though

8/10 Tokeneke
8/17 Fall River
8/23 Saco Bay

Today's weather is miserable

I just did an hour and half outside today - mostly tempo with some short 3-5 minute efforts thrown in there. Even though its May, indoor training is still an option, an option I probably should have exercised. It is currently 43F and drizzle/light rain. It sucks balls to ride in. I had to wipe off my glasses every two seconds in order to see. By the end I was getting really irate w/ everything. Everything I have on is wet - not soaking wet, just wet enough to annoy the hell out of me.

I had planned a MTB today b/c there is no race today but its so shitty out and my hose isn't working so cleaning up would be a massive pain in the ass. I'm going to Wells tomorrow if its not raining - if I'm going to Wells I want to do some extra miles at the end to get my endurance miles in. I've been neglecting these. If it is raining probably I'll wait for it to stop or do some indoor structured stuff.

I took that bikepath behind the Manton Projects today to get out of town. Not a bad bikepath at all and it gets you out to Johnston, near some decent stuff. Its worth riding on and I think its a useful option to get out to the reservoir as opposed to the normal ways out down Plainfield St/Hartford Ave.

Palmer

Raced out at Palmer with Scott on Sunday. The race itself was pretty easy, no real hard parts...a bit of effort on the rollers but nothing really that hard. I tried for a few minutes to get away with some other folks at about mile 35 or so but it wasn't going to happen as we just dangled off the front for a few minutes. Everyone drifted back and awaited the inevitable super crowded field sprint - yes... the sixty mile waiting game. The super crowded field sprint was just that - super tight/crowded and I thought really annoying. I don't like racing where its like a fast group ride with a dollar/points value town line sprint at the end but whatever - the race was fun anyway. I thought I was in a good spot, and I felt real good but I really wasn't in a good spot so I really didn't try all that hard to sprint it out - just kind of pedal on at the pace of the field. This race would have been better served if somehow the last 2 miles or so would have been open road w/ no yellow line (from the railroad bridge onto the finish) but that would have been tough to pull off logistically. With that said, these races are always put on really well and its a real production to put one on so my hats off to the promoters. There were a lot of young and crazy riders in here which made for a race that was far different than Ninigret/Wells or Charge Pond.

Jiminy next week...not sure yet. Maybe & then again, maybe not. Wells Sun.- probably as I can't do the Blue Hills Classic b/c they don't have my category or age group. Sterling next weekend. I like Sterling because you cannot sit in on the sprint - you've got to sprint up that thing - a lot more equity in that sprint. I've been in this race where two guys formed a breakaway that whole race - 60 miles & without a lot of help from their teams. Now theres some bike racing which I respect.

Despite the fact that I thought the race was easy I'm pretty tired still today. Maybe I'll get some time in tomorrow. Oh well...same old story here - this year is going to be called the "year of recovery". Today I also got formally admitted to my graduate program which is a very good thing for me at least - one less headache.

A Thousand & One East Side Rides

Once again I rode around the E. Side yesterday. The past year I've found it real hard to motivate and do out of the city solo rides after work. Don't get me wrong, I still do them but not nearly as much as I have in the past, something I'm quite fine actually. Today I did quality full bore race finish efforts up Mount Hope - a combo of Doyle/Cypress with one Jenckes put in there. I've got a nice loop with Cypress that goes Cypress to the top and then down to Camp, down to Locust and then either down Duncan or Jenkins back to Cypress. Its extra hard for me to do this because you spend a lot of time climbing and not really enough time resting. I was pretty beat after an hour and a quarter. I did these rides with my stuff from work on me so hopefully the extra weight gets factored into my fitness quotient.

I think I need to eat more thru the day. Last night I ate almost an entire pepperoni pizza from Minerva's (I didn't get the last two pieces) and some of Leah's buffalo chicken wrap. This is not normal. Same thing tonight - huge amount of food for dinner. I hate thinking about this stuff

Tomorrow its a moderate length ride with TT/Breakaway efforts split up. Today is recovery and my calasthenics routine. Psyched for Palmer this weekend. I like this race - then after that its some base building time unless I'm going out to Jiminy - which I might do actually. http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/photos.htm
The warm weather got me thinking of skiing actually - late season skiing is the best by far. I might hit up the Tuckerman Ravine next weekend to break things up. I've skied Tucks a number of times in the past and had a blast every time. I'm sure its gonna be real chewed up and bumpy. While its anti-climatic to drive three hours & hike two hours for a thirty second ski run it is worth it.