(American) Football Rules!

Reason #1 why football on tv rules: Howie Long. 'nuff said.

Happy New Year and stuff! The past week or so I've spent a fair amount of time working, riding or on the couch watching football - college, pro, whatever's on - and not doing much else I'd consider productive. Some killer respiratory bug thing has been kicking my butt so the couch has pretty much been my destination of choice after work and saddle time are over for the day. I've made some observations that I'm going to share with y'all about football on tv:

The Top 10:
1. Howie Long is a stud. Nothing more to say on that one and I don't think there are many guys out there who will disagree with that assessment. Really, man-love is okay in this situation.
2. The SUNY Buffalo Bulls did something amazing this year in getting to the International Bowl even though they lost - and the story of the 1958 team that refused to play in that year's Tangerine Bowl received much deserved attention.
3. Football is one FAST game - even the really fat guys are fast which brings me to observation number 4:
4. Some of those really fat guys should not be allowed to wear white pants in public. Or anywhere else for that matter. Indeed....
5. The really elite receivers are tremendous athletes - speed, soft hands, unbelievable body control, balance and awareness all while this/close to getting hit really hard which brings me to observation number 6:
6. Holy crap those guys hit each other HARD. No wonder why they can only play once a week. I used to date this loser football player a long time ago and I remember him telling me that getting hit or (better yet) popping some other poor guy really hard "makes you feel alive." I didn't totally get it at the time but I certainly do now. It must be kind of like doing all out, "I'd rather be dead oh my god I taste blood" intervals on the bike. I get it.
7. Many of the players are just plain humongous people - a tight end who's 6'6" and weighs 285? Yeah, that's a lot of powerful humanity to tackle, isn't it? The again, there's the 5'6" 185lb running back who busts through the line and runs 60+ yards for a TD. Gotta respect that. And let's not overlook the 40 something kicker who nails a 50 yard field goal to send the game into OT.
8. The vast majority of commercials are for big manly-man trucks, fast food, financial services and beer. Big surprise there.
9. Football is vastly more entertaining in the freezing coldness with some killer wind and precipitation to make things more interesting. Sunny and 80 degrees with a light breeze from the south is best for golf (observations about which I will share in a subsequent post).
10. WTF are the cheerleaders really doing out there anyway? Most of them don't get paid so what's the point? Maybe they get to keep the uniform and tax deduct the boob job. Oh, I'm sorry, they're all attorneys, accountants, CEOs and physicians who are moonlighting. I get it now.

That's about all for now - not a whole lot going on but for lots of cold weather riding and work.

Hello Cervelo!!

This past autumn I sold a couple of my older bikes in effort to raise the funds to upgrade to a nicer time trial bike. I'd been actively looking for a few months when MetLifeGuy came across a used Cervelo P2c on ebay that was the proper size so I watched it for a few days and was lucky enough to place the winning bid with just seconds to go in the auction. Now that was a rush but not something I plan to do again any time soon - auctions and my anxious nature are not compatible.

Spin class this Christmas Eve morning was tough but a solid group of hard-working athletes showed up and crushed out 30+min of threshold efforts to the following soundtrack:

Somewhere a Clock is Ticking - Snow Patrol
WMA - PJ
Whatever Happened to My Rock n' Roll - BRMC
Suicide Blonde - INXS
I Feel Love - Blue Man Group feat. Tracy Bonham and Rob Swift
Cochise - Audioslave
She Builds Quick Machines - Velvet Revolver
What Difference Does it Make? - The Smiths
Dakota - Stereophonics
The Shock of the Lightning - Oasis
Breathe - The Prodigy
Thirty-Three - Smashing Pumpkins

Not much else to say at the moment - cupcakes are finished, 007 is on the big screen and my feet are up. It's ugly out there - way too much precip but I'm hoping to ride outside tomorrow, my head needs it - bad. The rollers are just not a fun way to spend saddle time.

White Stuff

The Sears Tower Lobby Christmas Tree

Chicago was yet again hammered with overnight snow which necessitated a morning commute on my beloved CTA blue line. Cross-country skiing down Milwaukee Ave. crossed my mind but I wimped out. I have a 5 block walk from the Loop's Jackson Boulevard stop over to the gym which takes me past the Sears Tower and a few other buildings of note. I snapped the above pic while waiting to cross Wacker Drive - nice pile of snow that guy's standing next to, eh? How touristy of me.

Looking North on the Jackson Blvd. bridge over the Chicago River. The light in the center is Boeing World HQ

I was hoping that we'd have a good turnout for early class this morning and we did - everyone worked hard and was very focused. It was definitely a morning where just getting out of bed was a task - as a good friend reminded me the other day, 'champions do it when they don't want to' so that was the underlying theme for class today.

A very cool thing happened on the way home - I saw the prez-elect's motorcade. The federal building where all the transition activity is occurring and where BO keeps an office is on Jackson Blvd. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office is also somewhere around there but unfortunately I've not had the occasion to see him...major bummer. I couldn't snap a pic because the secret service or some such clandestine service agent would probably have ended up taking my phone but it was a pretty cool thing to see.

It's time to complete my second round of morning coffee and then head out to finish clearing the snow around my place. Exciting news: the bike room will be welcoming a new tenant next week - I'll post photos when the Cervelo arrives. Until then, I'll leave you with a thought shared via email this morning:

Illinois - where our governors make our license plates.

6ix

Just looked out the front window and I swear this guy was out there.

Uh yeah - that's the outdoor temp (not the windchill which is surely colder) as I contemplate rolling out this morning for work. Do I drive? Do I ride? I'm SO CONFLICTED. I still have a little time before making the final decision. Maybe I'll ride and bring cab fare for the way home, just in case. This might be beyond an HTFU situation. It's a 30min trip each way. Ugh.

The plan for class today is warm up followed by some tasty threshold/sub-threshold work. Should be great fun. Here's the soundtrack:

Not Enough Time - INXS
Poundcake - Van Halen
Black Math - The White Stripes
Twilight Zone - Golden Earring
The Impression that I Get - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Isn't She Lovely? - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Are You Gonna Be My Girl? - Jet
My Kind of Girl - The 45s
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter... - PJ
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
Read My Mind - The Killers
The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix

Congrats to Wayne Simon (Mr. Pink) on his podium finish at Masters 'Cross Nationals. Shout outs are also in order to fellow Verdigrisians Tim, Chris, Scott and David for fine performances at nationals - way to go guys! June Upshaw deserves recognition for taking the overall title in the Chicago Cross Cup. June had a solid season with consistent finishes - she earned the title and my hat is off to her. Well done, Junebug! Not to be overlooked was Mike Wakeley's successful cross season and respectable showing at nationals. Wakes is an expert mechanic, strong technical rider and all around cool guy - dude, you're one of my favorites. I'll be looking for you on the TT circuit in 2009!

What I'm reading at the moment: 'Next Man Up' by John Feinstein. It's a total-access, in-depth insider account of the Baltimore Ravens' 2004 season. I just finished 'Fates Worse than Death' by Kurt Vonnegut - humorous, insightful and thought-provoking stuff.

That's all for now - I have to begin layering for my bitter cold journey to the Loop...

UPDATE: I caved after speaking with some voices of reason and decided to drive only to find my garage doors frozen shut. That necessitated a CTA blue line commute - something just shy of a living-hell experience....Chicago winter just sucks.

NI9E

That would be the air temperature in the big city at commute-o'clock time this morning. No idea what the windchill was. Didn't want to know. It had to be sub zero. I briefly pondered driving into the loop for work this morning and then thought, 'it's only 30min each way. HTFU. You can do it.' When members at the gym ask me how I could possibly ride in such weather my response is always the same: I hate to drive, find and pay for parking my car more than I hate riding in the freezing coldness. It was a near-hateful experience this morning that could only have been worse in the presence of drifting and blowing snow - and that will indeed happen before the end of this winter. The 'cross bike has become the main commuting ride as of this week. Too much debris on the road and the likelihood of skinny tire flats has forced the switch. Changing a flat in single-digit temps? I think not.

It was very cool to ride with a dedicated group of spinheads this morning. Our work was steady and hard with a good playlist:

Dirty Laundry (live) - The Eagles
Walk All Over You - AC/DC
Weapon of Choice - BRMC
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Superman - Goldfinger
How We Operate - Gomez
Everlong - Foo Fighters
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
rearviewmirror - PJ
Middle of the Road - The Pretenders
Fortune Teller - Robert Plant and Allison Krauss
Drift and Die - Puddle of Mudd
Deep Seat - Swervedriver

It appears to me that the temps are going to rise enough for me to ride outdoors this weekend - probably near 20 and maybe a little higher. I really really do not like indoor training so I'll do whatever it takes to avoid roller time. Sunday is the state cross championship at Montrose Harbor. Again this year I will be spectating and don't plan to be there for very long - football starts at noon and my place on the couch will be calling. Good luck to all the crazy racers who toe the line that day - I'm sure it's gonna be great fun. I'll have my cowbell(s)!!!

What I'm reading: 'Candide' by Voltaire (in English) at the moment but I'm not sure what's coming up next. A trip to the used bookstore this afternoon for sure.

That's about all I have for now - thank you for reading. I might have some (HUGE!) interesting news to share next week so stay tuned....