Its been a while

So its been a while since I've updated this. I've been busy.
Finished up my first year as an assistant principal in Providence, went away a bunch, took a class and been basically just enjoying myself.
Since last Sunday (like August 7) I have had some form of an upper respiratory infection which has transitioned into bronchitis. Its almost gone now but I'm still coughing and ejecting phlegm. The past four days I've managed to run though. I had a legit fever for three days last week - a rotten experience in August. Make no mistake about this, lower respiratory tract stuff impairs my ability to train.

Monday - Off
Tuesday - 6.7 easy
Wednesday - 4 (Marc Berry's running bachelor party - long story)
Thursday - 5.5...mostly speedwork at the Hope track - did a 400 at 75, then 4 x 800 about 3 min/ea but the first 2 about 2:50. Did not feel fast but I still feel as if its a step in the right direction as I couldn't fathom doing these last week. And yes, I was hungover.
Friday - 7.06 easy

Making my way to Burlington tomorrow for Sarah's triathlon then up to Montreal for the night before coming back. Leaving at 0330 today - or is it tomorrow? Regardless, I should have some great pictures for later on.
I'm going to target a series of races early in September. I ran the Blessing in late July - proving what happens when you go out too hard. Then I got sick. Its time to get my thoroughly mediocre form back and I'm psyched to do so.

Someone stole our recycle bin

Yes, someone has stolen the green recycle bin from my house. The do not pick up the trash unless the green bin is next to the blue bin. Trash has not been picked up for two weeks. They also got a nifty new truck that automatically picks up the bins. This is shit as now the guy just drives around and has this arm that picks up bins whereas they used to pick up all the shit on the street - so now there are mattresses, boxsprings, chairs, trees, child's toys, broken up beds etc... all over the city. Not to mention people who most likely have been laid off.
Usually I would be three sheets to the wind as the Superbowl should be on but they have moved it up to February. The Pro-Bowl doesn't do it for me. Anyway, I've got two rides in this week and two solid runs which is a successful week for me right now. I did a Gold's Gym triathlon day - 4 miles aerobic on the treadmill and then ten miles or about :40 minutes on the virtual reality spin bike. This was a great workout, as it was uphill nearly all the way. It wasn't totally accurate but it was pretty close, there was a power output section, heart rate, and cadence and an approximation of speed.
Everything has been inside as I'm not punishing myself right now in the cold. I'm waiting for some warmer weather to seriously start putting the miles in, its a long season and I've burnt myself out in the past training hard at this point in the year. Regardless, I hope to be in something approaching racing shape for the beginning of June or at most July. I should get into something approaching cat. 3 flat race field fodder fitness much sooner than that. Despite being out of bike racing shape, I'm still doing all the early season stuff because I like doing that stuff.
Running is going okay - did my personal best in the mile the other day. Could not imagine doing that for 3 miles or for 6 miles for that matter. Goal is to run a half marathon - sanctioned or not. I don't care. I've got to do the St. Pats 5K in March to represent my Irish heritage, or so that's what I tell myself.
Rode the homemade moped yesterday. It was cold and it took forever for it to start but start it did. There is some shit coming out of the exhaust when I stopped and let it rest. I bought a speedometer for it so I can post speed reports later on.

So I'm back

So I'm back riding again. Well, I went on a ride Saturday for 30 miles which was my first ride over ten minutes since late August. It felt great to be on the bike again. I sorely needed the time off. I believe that even though I have a huge amount of fitness to regain I will have the proper motivation to do so when the time is right. Time looks tight until about April but then things should calm down. If I can get 100 miles per week until then I should be OK. Weekday riding is pretty much out of the question - unless I just make cycling a complete priority and neglect other, more important parts of my life for it (which I am not going to do at age 32). I hope to get out there though and be somewhat competitive in the spring because I have come to realize how important riding and racing are to me.
Been running a lot though.
I cannot wait to represent M1 in '10!
*my run (7 miles) on Sunday was my best "long" run ever. I directly attribute this due to cycling on Saturday. Someone told me that cycling helps your running once, and I believe them. Its not supposed to work the other way around - I will post my findings on this blog.
Work is getting really interesting. Picked up some new duties there...will report on this one later on when I find out what really is going on. All good things but this one is to be continued...
My last semester looks to be bitch though - 3 book reviews, 4 projects (8-15 pages ea.), a one hour solo powerpoint, journals each week (2 pages), and a five page culminating paper. Lots of nights and Saturdays and Sunday mornings. I can only do this stuff in the morning as I cannot read or write anything useful after noon and before like 9:00PM.

Road Trip

So I went on my first road trip in a few months, well...maybe its been more than a few months but I'm not counting. It was great to get out of dodge for a week, this is something I need to do more often. Only one more class in this endless degree program. I enjoy the feeling of opportunity and the perception of enhanced personal growth that school has given me but I am beginning to loathe the amount of work that it involves.
So we drove straight to South Carolina from Providence. This took 21.5 hours 8AM to 530AM. Really wasn't all that bad, but it was long. We had four people and a dog so we had to stop, we got stuck in this great big giant parking lot which is also known as Route 495 around Washington, DC, and we stopped for a sit down dinner in Virginia. Delaware continues to be my least favorite state - it is the home of big bank credit cards, tolls, and endless traffic jams to pay tolls. 95 goes through like ten miles of this state. Rhode Island should learn from the second smallest state and have tolls at the border to raise revenue instead of taxing the shit out of its residents. Most Rhode Islanders don't leave the state for anything anyways so I don't know why this scheme isn't an option for our lawmakers.
South Carolina with the family was great, I miss them and should visit far more often than twice a year. I must make it a priority to get down to the great prefabricated south more often, maybe even to do some running or even bike races. I went for a run on Christmas which served as my only outlet for exercise. Running in SC is sketchy - there are no sidewalks and the roads have no shoulders. People drive fast and I got the feeling they don't appreciate people running on the roads.
We drove up to Philadelphia (12 hours) on Saturday to meet up with my uncle and his girlfriend. This was a great time, I haven't seen my uncle in fifteen years and it was great to see him. Philadelphia is huge. I always thought it was similar in size to Boston, it is not - it is far larger, almost like a smaller sized New York. It did not seem nearly as busy as Boston though. It sort of has a vibe like Providence - much more grandiose and vibrant though. Somewhat of a worn industrial city with a colonial Americana heritage element mixed in. This completes my hanging out (code for drinking beer) in every big north-east coast city (except for Wilmington...mostly because it is in Delaware and isn't that big). See earlier comments about Delaware.
After walking around in the rain for a while we finally made it to the bar. For some reason, the beer in Philly seemed to be extra potent. This was not a good thing when you drink a lot of this. On this trip my {domestic accountability factor ©} is negligible, save for the absolutely horrible two day hangover I had on the way home. This hangover ranks in the top three of my life, and believe me - this list is very long. After the first of the year it is back to adulthood however I still have a few days off. Tomorrow I plan on going skiing, or to Boston. Depends on "who is around." I did not go skiing AT ALL last year - because last year was shitty. I hope 2010 is better. 2009 sucked. Boston = alone, skiing = others. Will go to art museum, shopping and library in Boston to cement image as total nerd. It might be cool to run the Blue Hill Skyline. I am waiting for the first of the year to ride again, and I'm not riding for hours and hours in the freezing cold - yet. Date is January 15 for scheduled rides. Riding in the cold requires an extra measure of motivation I'm still working on. Still on a running schedule for a little while.
Right now the dog is looking at me and whining slightly. Me thinks he wants something so its time to go.

The Great Wait

December is the season of waiting. From Thanksgiving to Christmas everyone seems to be waiting for Christmas. Waiting, not starting anything, just making through each day. Today I have been waiting to leave to visit my family in South Carolina. We are driving. We were supposed to leave yesterday at 8AM. We did not for obvious reasons - although we tried to get out but the car rental place was closed (even though they said they were open on the phone).
So today comes and I'm ready to leave early. Wake up at 6AM, put that essential run in and then call my traveling companions to see what time we were leaving. Complications, complications, complications. Receive answer that we aren't leaving for a while. So I went to the gym and did an extra hard weight workout. I did sets of bench press with an easy weight immediately followed by a set of 6 pullups immediately followed by a set of knees/elbows followed by bench etc...
Get back home, shower and put everything that was packed into a bag yesterday back into a bag and call traveling companions again. Receive word that we are still tied up and will not leave for another little while.
OK. Fine. On Facebook, read a bit, watch TV, walk dog, chip ice off steps, throw darts, pace around, call some people, email some others, more Facebook, read entire NYTimes website, Wall Street Journal, comment to Providence Journal. BTW: The people that comment to this newspaper consistently are a bunch of total idiots. Not all of them, but a lot of them. Especially anyone that PUTS THEIR COMMENTS IN ALL CAPS. It is no wonder why the economy in this state is in such a state of decay.
Wait...wait...wait...wait...wait...wait...wait...wait..
So it gets to like 2PM. One thing I'm not good at is sitting around. I pretty much have to do something at all times. So the word comes out that we are going tomorrow morning. Wait all day to find out we are going tomorrow. This really isn't anyone's fault, it is just how it worked out. At least I was at home and not in the airport - where I would be drinking too much beer and most likely would have to attend rehab once I reached South Carolina.

Winter 2009

I know, its been a while.
Anyway, I've been keeping myself busy - really busy. This is a good thing for me because I am my own worst enemy if I am not busy.
Well, I'm almost done with grad school. Just one more class. Last semester was insane. I wrote over 85 pages for this class, which is a lot for me. This is not to mention the amount of time I spent researching and conducting action research for these projects. I'm actually excited for some of the projects that I'm going to be working on in the spring - mostly database and e-learning stuff.
On the training front its been all running. I finally got to the point where I can eat a gigantic Chipotle burrito and then run 5 miles 2 hours later(like I just did) without totally dying. This is one of the measures I am defining my success in my winter training program since the eighteen minute 5k is not coming anytime soon. I'm working on eating better but its so hard for me to do this and I categorically refuse to be anal about what I eat. Cycling is on hold until I get some more time. Running is far less time intensive. It is also a lot easier on the wallet since I'm paying for school out of my own pocket. Since I'm not all set financially, school is a huge expense for me, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Most of my runs are between 3.5 (short late weekday run) to 11 miles. I want to push that long run up to about 13-15 miles in a few weeks but I'm a bit apprehensive about piling on miles right away as running injuries are a real problem. There is a 10K in Newport tomorrow which I may do or if I don't I'll do the long 13 mile run instead. Apart from running I've been lifting a bit - which I enjoy. For me, lifting and doing long runs do not mix. Maybe its my diet, maybe stress, maybe lack of rest, poor form or a combination of all of those. I've also been doing this crossfit stuff. Crossfit is about the best full body workout I've ever done.
I do miss riding though, I've got to get on the bike for a few times each week...soon.
Road trip to South Carolina next week - 4 of us. Stopping in Philadelphia, DC, Charlottesville then the long haul to Greenville for Christmas. Plan on doing a run in DC and some hiking in Charlottesville.

Thoughts on Training

Well its almost October and its been a while since that I have updated the blog. Cycling has been put on hold for the remainder of the year, save maybe a cross race later on in the season. I am not retired, just taking some time off of structured training for a while. Foremost amongst my reasons revolves around the fact that I have very little time to sit on the bike and secondary is still this burnout bug that I still am dealing with. Burnout is something you can put off, and put off, and put off but you can never escape it. Like death, taxes, and hangovers, it always will catch up with you. I think I've been putting burnout off for a couple of years. The thing about burnout is this - when you are in a burnout phase all one can do is train to maintain fitness. Workouts/rides become work, they become stale and over time nothing could rejuvenate myself to be excited about riding for more than three days at a time. This is the part of burnout that is so difficult to manage, having a string of good workouts clustered in a short period followed by another short period where I became bored and uninterested in riding. This makes for inconsistent training, and thus mediocre results. Mentally this leaves a schizophrenic training paradigm where I was reflecting and excited about the few good workouts, believing that burnout was over and then falling back into the unmotivated trap once again only to repeat the cycle. All the while I was internally giving myself a hard time because I know I can train properly and get results. Racing is a blast but not meeting my expectations is not acceptable.

So in an effort to cope with this I've put cycling on hold and I started running. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be racing and cycling a lot I just can't get to it right now...next year is going to be my year. Running is far less time intensive than cycling. I bet that I can control my weight and improve as a runner on nearly four hours of running a week opposed to seven hours to achieve the same goals cycling. I know that I need to ride four days a week for at least seven hours minimum to maintain (and not build) any cycling form. Ten to twelve hours is what I need to race somewhat competitively (which is like 10th place for me) in gently rolling road races and fifteen plus hours a week is what I would have to do if I ever decided to go for broke and try to upgrade another category. I know I have to ride a lot to improve. There is no substitute. Furthermore, I know that each ride has to have a focus and that I am 100% committed to that focus every day that I ride. That is 100% committed...not 75%, not 90% but totally focused on training. Four hours of running a week for me is about 30 miles a week, give or take (probably take). This is my goal from now until the end of February. Along with this is my goal to lift weights 3 times per week. The hour run mark has been broken as of last Thursday, up next is a ten mile run. My first 5K was last weekend which was really a lot of fun.
Yeah, I was just looking at my last post about being sick, I'm not kidding, I was sick. I was sick for five days (100F+ fever for three, 99F for two) and had a cough for two weeks after. This is it for tonight, more news forthcoming...

H1N1? & far too detailed post about TV.

My TV and I are getting much more closely acquainted as I have alternated between the couch and my bed proper for the past day and a half. I've still got a 101F fever which I've had since yesterday morning. Honestly, I don't feel like doing anything (this includes moving more than one foot at a time) - I've got the worst sore throat I've had in years, slight nausea, I'm totally congested and I can tell this disease is now getting into my larynx. Last night I went to bed at 830PM and awoke at 0900. There was no dinner involved. I got a call earlier and I answered the phone but could not speak. I guess getting this on the long weekend isn't all that bad b/c going to work like this would suck. Last week I got digital cable because they were running a deal - only costs 10$/month x-tra and I get Showtime for 5$/mo. I have watched 4 channels on digital cable today: G4, Nat Geo, the extra history channel and the military channel. Occasionally I'll watch something else like sports. This on-demand stuff is new to me, so far today I've watched the latest Rambo movie and Rescue Dawn. I actually enjoyed Rambo, Rescue Dawn was good but a bit long. Right now, Lockup Raw is on.
Why is there so much stupid UFO shit on? Come on, this stuff is ridiculous! Anything with Nostradamus = a stupid program. 9/11 conspiracy stuff = really totally stupid & kind of offensive actually. There is actually a two hour program dedicated to 9/11 conspiracy nonsense.
Anyway, in two weeks I'm running the CVS downtown 5K. This will be my first running race - ever. Cycling is just too time intensive right now with my internship and my job. My last run was on Wednesday, I'll probably have a week off of running because I can tell I'll be sick for a few more days.

Lamest Summer Ever

2009 has played host to what is quite possibly the lamest summer ever experienced by this author. Several factors have contributed in making '09 lame.
Factor 1: Economic recession/depression. Economic Depression related issues get my number one vote for why this summer has been so lame. Many good, talented people are sadly out of work or working at jobs which have no prospect of offering much in the future. Those with jobs frequently have anxiety about losing them. On a personal note the great recession has impeded any attempts to go away.
Factor 2: Weather. It rains too much. While rain has great rejuvenating qualities to it and psychologically it has a soothing effect it has rained far too much for comfort this summer.
Factor 3: Cycling burnout. Just not into training at this point. Racing yes. Training no. Taking some time off the bike. Going to the gym, running the track and treadmill in place of cycling. Running 20 EZ miles a week without awful muscle soreness. Is 40 miles/week a possibility? And another thing - how quickly one forgets what kinds of freaks of nature inhabit gyms? Example: While benching 315 lbs is admirable, using really bad/heinous form without a spotter is just plain stupid. What is the point? Another really common practice one will witness at the gym is the fact that just about nobody does legs or lower back. Personally, this is a benefit because those pieces of equipment are always open.
Factor 4: Summer job. Far more stressful than it has to be. Details are not needed because they will be offensive.
Will 2009 turn around? Time will tell. I will repost later on with other factors relating to the lameness of 2009.

Chinese Man Vandalizes Cars That Run Red Lights

Chinese Man Vandalizes Cars That Run Red Lights

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Wow. Its July.

July is almost half over. How did this happen? Despite all the complaints, I have enjoyed this weather we have been having. Cool and rainy is fine with me. I'm not really a fan of tons of bright sunshine and hot weather. Anyway, my training miles have been on the thin side lately. I did Attleboro last Sat. which was my first race in about a month. It was great to see some folks I haven't seen in a while up there. It was fast and fun and sort of re-ignited my love of bike racing. I love racing, although training can be a drag sometimes. Hopefully I get to make a return to Ninigret on Wednesday. This is possible now because I bought a car. I was without one for about a month, which wasn't really all that bad but it really wasn't that cool either. Believe it or not it actually became more difficult for me to get rides in although my commute miles went way up. Apart from cycling I've been playing golf once a week and doing a bit of running - about ten miles per week. I feel as if the running I have been doing has helped me considerably on the bike. I'm psyched to do some triathalon days this summer: maybe swimming at the beach, a solid training ride, and a decent run.

Self Absorbed Post About Cycling

So I got the second 4 hour plus ride done in a week. Jerimoth Hill and its environs. I'm psyched for this as I've almost gotten 200 miles in this week. I hope to near 250 by the end of tomorrow. Prior to this block of training I've managed only about 150 miles max per week. This year actually 150 miles would have been an epic week. My motivation is coming back big time, I'm getting more focused and excited to ride and race. Not having a car is helping me get the training in I need. Just got the hot water heater fixed which is cool because not having hot water kind of sucks. I went to the Y to take a shower but my membership expired when I changed my bank card and they told me that it would cost nearly 100 bucks to reactivate it. So I had to ride over to my brother's and take a shower. I did the cold shower thing for the past couple days but it really sucks and I wanted a hot shower after riding. The benefit to this is that I got an extra half hour of riding in. Everyone wins in this situation.
My plans to go up to Wells tomorrow have gotten complicated. I still might ride if I get up early enough but I'm not sure if I want to put in a 50 mile ride before the race itself and then another 10 miles to sit in the sun and wait for the train to Providence. Especially since I just got invited to a BBQ which I did not plan for. I've ridden up, raced and ridden back before but it was kinda awful - almost 140 miles and almost 8 hours. Honestly though, it was one of my best races at Wells Ave. If I can't get up there I'm doing a 4 hour ride to the flat lands of eastern MA. I changed my position and this has made my knees feel better but there still is some pain so I don't want to really push it on the hills. My knees hurt like hell all week.
Car news is forthcoming. Soon enough Mr. H will be flossing around the East Side in a phat whip.

Sunday of Memorial Day

I finally got lucky and rode away from a rain shower today. I was riding about and it started to rain. Thunder was heard and a few streaks of lightning lit up the sky. The big drops of rain were just beginning to fall so I decided to turn around and attempt to go towards the blue sky in the distance - like at red zone intensity. In the past every attempt at this operation has failed, except for today. Yesterday was Stafford Springs. Millwork One had a strong field out for this race - we had six guys in the 1/2/3 and five guys in the 35+. How about some 30+ races folks? On a personal note, I have decided to boycott all 35+ races for the next three years. I wish I was in it though because one of our guys bridged up to a strong break with three to go and overtook the riders in the break, which destroyed the break when one of the riders attempted to stay on Alain's wheel and he couldn't. Matt Kressy got fourth in a strong finish while Murat came through with a 7th place. The 1/2/3 race was characterized by a blistering first few laps which resulted in the stronger guys forming a series of splits which subsequently lapped the field with 17 to go. Millworks had three guys out in the break which was great. Honestly, I just wanted to finish the race so I guess my low expectation was met, although I'm starting to feel stronger and more confident. I'm going to put in some solid training over the next few weeks as my schedule lightens a bit, hopefully getting five solid days per week in. Three of these days should feature LT+ intervals while at least two should be longer rides at a reasonable pace. One of the days of LT+ needs to have sprints, not that they will ever help my sprint as I'm probably the shittiest sprinter around but they might help. This might be the last summer where I can really focus on stuff like this so I have to dedicate myself to it now. Tomorrow its a long ride - maybe to the Blue Hill to do some repeats. We will see...

Lazy Sack of Shit - Stream of Consciousness Post

I feel like a lazy ass. Today it was raining in the AM and I did not want to ride in it so I decided to pack up the dog and go somewhere different than the usual spots for a walk. So I went to this place in North Providence - yeah it was fine. Leah said my car sounded funny last night but I was ignorant and dismissive and just let it go. On the way back up the hill to my house the stupid car stops dead. It started making a shitload of noise on Douglas on the way to my house. I thought I could get it home. I failed. Cost $60 to get towed like one mile. Not liking this but at least it didn't crap out on me somewhere else further away and cost me a lot of money. Anyway I totally had plans to ride today but I ended up just riding around town in between searching for vehicles on the internet and periodically checking Facebook - like something going to happen in the two minutes from when I checked it last. Anyone ever keep going to the kitchen cabinets in search of food when there isn't any? Same effect. Instead of riding, I went and hung out w/ Leah on Thayer for a while, went to the Brown Bookstore and stopped in at City Sports. BTW: The Brown Bookstore smelled like shit in there, some nauseating stench was coming from there and it wasn't from the dirty hippies around there. Anyway I'm going carless for a while - because I can. I've just got myself to worry about these days so there is no reason to have a car around if I don't want one. I'm eventually going to get one but I'm not in a hurry. My old red Bianchi is going to be my car for a while.
Tomorrow is the first day in my LAST sit down class at PC. Nobody rides bikes at PC - at all, ever. Everyone thinks I'm crazy and they don't understand. It is a very traditional type of school which could benefit from a cycling team. I was full time last semester so I guess I could have started one (and raced collegiate at that!) but I didn't because I was too caught up with other stuff. Wouldn't a Millworks 1/PC cycling team partnership be some cool shit? Speaking of PC, today would have been a great day to waste on a hangover but I felt good (because I didn't go out last night and thus did not drink anything) and thus have nothing to blame my lack of motivation to ride on, except myself - because I'm essentially a lazy sack of shit. I actually felt truly good today mentally for the first time in a few months - mostly due to not having a massive amount of shit to type up and prepare for the week. I do have to admit the stress of what I was doing last semester was getting to me a bit.
Its time to break the sack of shit open and listen to old school rap music (Wu Tang, Geto Boyz, old Outkast...) while watching internet highlights from the Giro on the trainer.

OK. I just followed through on the trainer ride. It felt OK. Didn't get 2 x20 but did get a 7, 10 then a 5 minute interval in...fucking display driver failed on the computer so I watched the Celtics instead. Right now I am going to look through the cabinets (again) and somehow magically appetizing food should appear. So - Stafford next weekend? I figure I can ride to Wells and then take the train back. That should be good for like 80+ miles, miles which I sorely need. Psyched for it. I can't do Ninigret until this class is over anyway. There is a fast RI ride on Tuesdays from Providence I guess anyway which can substitute for Wompatuck.

Can the Celtics Pull it off?

Can the Celtics pull it off? 5:55 left. Down by 9.
Can I pull off a solid cycling season? I think so. I feel as if I'm down a month and a half. Things should get much more chill in my direction over the next few weeks when I finish with school for good. One more class - data and technology with should be right up my quasi OCD alley. Handed in my final portfolio today which was a huge relief. Its kind of silly that you need a Masters Degree to basically suspend teenagers from school as a vice principal but I guess it keeps people out of the profession that don't really want to be there. Back to riding, getting quality rides in about 3 to 5 times per week. All inner city trips of mine that don't involve carrying tons of stuff are on the bike - which I think helps fitness somewhat. Trying to hit Ninigret & Wells as much as possible but I've got to take a raincheck on tomorrow. I hope to rock some sick intervals tomorrow instead. No Sunappee for me but I'm up for Stafford Memorial Day weekend.
2:08 left: Celtics 83, Magic 85.
Hope is sill alive

The real reason behind not going to Quabbin

Its not going away

Another boring post about cycling

I'm on day 3 of a four day block of sunburnt, dehydrating and tiring hard rides. I'm getting real cranky although I'm starting to feel OK on the bike. I like this feeling - I think it means I'm making progress in the fitness department. Hit Wells today and did 40 more laps around an industrial park in Newton. During the race I was thinking about how many times in my life I've done this loop? I couldn't tell if I've ridden 1,000 Wells Ave loops or less, its only 25 races? Who holds the record for maximum number of times around Wells Ave? What about Ninigret? Wompatuck? All contenders should all get trophies, attaboys and pats on the back - just like little league.
I think we should make a statute for the person who has the record number of times around Blackstone Blvd. I'm liking something like a modernized statue of Atlas holding a bike on his shoulders instead of the world. Painted gold. Bright gold. Or maybe Atlas should be riding the bike still holding the earth? It should be placed at the southern end by the "parking lot" so all can see as they enter the Providence's shrine to cycling. Any candidates....I've done a lot out there but there's folks out there who have been up and down our east side oasis many, many more times. With so many RISD folks around here we could probably pull this off - I think I'll email a professor and give him an idea for a project. Does RISD even have "professors" or are their instructors called something else just to be called something else because the coolest thing in the world is to "appear to" be unique and original?

Stolen Bike Alert

Someone stole my 1997 Specialized Stumpjumper between 11:30PM Saturday 4/18 and 10:00 AM Sunday 4/19. This bike is a dark blue "ghettoized" single speed conversion. The decals on the bike are yellow. It has a really old chain and no derailleurs. It has a 7 speed freewheel in the rear and a triple up front with only the middle chain ring usable. The seatpost is FROZEN and thus has no seat post binder bolt. Bike has 26x1.95 knobby tires. There is another bolt frozen in the right rear dropouts where a metal rack used to sit.

Sat. 4/11/2009

Despite the fact that it is officially "spring" this date probably was the lowest my core body temp has ever been. I rode in the rain and then hung out for a few hours at Ninigret. I really hope that I don't get sick out of this. It was fucking cold outside, windy and pouring rain. I could not get warm after my pathetic attempt at racing - I sat in the car and blasted the heat. Took off shoes and put feet next to heater. Still cold. A little relief in the car but not enough. On the way home heat all the way up and I was still cold. I took a shower at home and it made me feel better - but it took quite a while. How the hell did the AM forecast of showers ending by 11AM turn into 39F and Hvy. rain all day? It was fun anyway though. Wells tomorrow morning for me and then its time to reevaluate my training ethic and program. I've got to get out and ride more often.

I had to write about it

At least I got a bit of a tan today. Tonight I'm not really into blogging about the life vortex which is my grad program. School is like a black hole where all of my creativity & vitality has gone to be crushed. While on the subject of being crushed, the Marblehead race was today. A few laps into a big group goes off the front - including the extra fast guys. Extra fast guys split away from that group and raced their own race. My slow ass stayed in the big group, where I was more than happy to be. I did not contest the sprint at this point, because it is totally stupid to do so. Some guys were sprinting though which was kinda foolish as the first 30+ spots were up the road. One guy even thought it was still cross season and used some of the back stretch front yards as a means to move up. This shit kinda sketched me out because my shoulder is still fucked up after crashing a few weeks ago. I can't lift it without pain past a certain point and it just annoys the hell out of me.