UCI Tour de Leelanau Recap

Sunset over Grand Traverse Bay, Saturday around 9:30pm. Yeah, believe it or not I do notice stuff like that.

The Leelanau Peninsula area of Michigan is the world's largest producer of cherries - it was amazing to see grove after grove of trees in full blossom. Equally amazing was the amount of dandelions, mosquitos and other annoying bugs that call the area home. I was totally clueless about how much irritating 'stuff' was floating around in the air up there! I am an asthmatic/allergic person and had no idea going in what I was going to have to deal with. Our hosts, Vic and Jean Peterson, made us all feel welcome for the weekend in their Sutton's Bay home.

We'd assembled a team of 4 for the UCI sanctioned Tour de Leelanau on Sunday. Anne, Yukie, Lori and I were representing in a super strong field of approximately 50 women. The course was close to 70mi long with at least 80 turns, 4 KOMs and 4 intermediate sprints on rolling to hilly terrain. Pavement was all pretty decent - we were able to preview some of the course on Friday and were pleased with what we saw. We rolled Saturday morning for a short pre-race ride during which I'd experienced some serious shortness of breath/difficulty breathing. Since I was satisfied with the power numbers I was seeing, I shrugged it off and figured I was just tired or that I needed to just HTFU.

We shoved off to a slippery start in some rain that saw a few near wrecks before we even got through the first mile. Temps were warm and there was some wind but the sky eventually cleared which made for really good conditions. I knew we were in for a long, hard day - the pace was fast and there was a lot of action at the front very early into the race. I saw incredibly strong riders get off their bikes, sit on the street and wait for their team cars to retrieve them.

I put my head down, stayed focused and the miles rolled by before I noticed that I was wheezing a bit and (of all things) yawning!! I progressively started to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chest and before long was having an extremely difficult time breathing - I'd not taken any medication before the race and the cherry blossoms and other assorted irritants were really getting to me. I don't have a therapeutic use exemption form on file for UCI racing - if I'd taken my meds and gotten selected for doping control I would have tested positive for a banned substance and received a 2 year suspension - not good. Eventually I crawled into the team car and watched things play out to the bitter end.

I'm sort of bummed about how things went but really, in the end, there's not a whole lot I could have done about it. Anne and Lori had strong finishes and Yukie suffered from the same asthma/allergic problems that I'd experienced. Not a super team showing but given the circumstances, it could have been worse. It was great just to be able to chill with my teammates in Northern Michigan for part of Memorial Day weekend. I even managed to read an entire book and half of a second one.

I received a bit of bad news when I arrived home late Sunday night - one of my most favorite racing studs was injured rather badly in a crash over the weekend. He was having an incredible season thus far so it was quite an unfortunate thing. The good thing is that he's tough as nails and will surely work hard to recover and be strong again. Hang in there and be patient, dude.

Up next, a visit with my old teammate Trudy who's in town visiting from Australia - I can't wait to see her!! After that, a time trial in Wisconsin next weekend and some other local/regional stuff. As always, thank you for reading and for your comments!

Tour of Arkansas - Part 3

This pig is the property of...Roger Waters

I can't believe it takes three separate posts to actually recap the entire Arkansas excursion to my satisfaction. I left out a lot of small yet very funny things that made the trip a blast - for instance doing donuts around the backyard bonfire on the John Deere....so many stories, so little time...

* Don't play drinking games with Kristin Wentworth. You will not prevail.
* Next time I get a wild hair up my ass I'll do something easier than climb Mt. Nebo.
* At Starbucks in St. Louis you can sweet talk the 18 year old who takes your order and score a DOUBLE double espresso - that's right, 4 shots. It'll carry you all the way home and through the next day without a crash.
* Standing on the podium, while really cool, can be an intimidating experience.
* Don't do a 100K road race that includes a mountain pass on a chamois you've never worn.
* I can climb well enough to survive but not well enough to be called a climber.
*Don't go out too hard in the beginning of a time trial. You WILL pay later.
* In a pinch, a shed will do just fine for a church in Arkansas.
* Don't leave your post-race PBJ unattended (right next to yourself) with a hound dog in the vicinity. It will disappear in one gulp.
* Keep your mouth closed while descending unless you want to swallow a natural treasure along the way.

The Pre-TT Playlist (strange mix but it did the job, I'd say):
Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd
I'm Gonna Crawl - Led Zeppelin
Radioactive - The Firm
Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix
When You Were Young - The Killers
You Really Got Me - Van Halen
Stop - Jane's Addiction
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant
I Will Follow (Live) - U2
Holiday - Green Day
I Feel Love - BMG
Machinehead - Bush
Save You - PJ
This is a Call - Foo Fighters
Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
Everywhere I Go - The Call
The Mercy Beat - The The

That's all for now - thanks for reading....

Tour of Arkansas - Part 2

Ah yes, the long strange trip continued on Sunday with a 60min criterium in downtown Van Buren, about 15min from Ft. Smith. We arrived early (after a 20min buzz through the slowest Starbucks on the planet) and the temps were already in the upper 70s with the requisite Arkansas humidity. At last we were able to review the results from yesterday's TT which enabled us to formulate a plan to keep our top GC riders protected and wear down Metro VW. Marion, Carolyn, Samantha and Sally made the trip down from Fayetteville to cheer for us.

The course was .6mi long, entirely flat with 6 turns, a chicane on the back stretch and a few gnarly pavement spots - a course that suits me perfectly. I was feeling good during warm up and was ready to go hard from the start. I'd shaken my brain with a killer warm-up playlist and was totally focused. I'll post the playlist later.

Things started off pedestrian enough with Kat in a small early break that was brought back in. At about 15min in I sprinted for a prime and stayed away for a while until getting brought back in by Metro VW (apparently they felt I was a threat). It was at that point that a strong attack went away with Metro VW and Kristin that we were content to let go. I pretty much sat on for the remainder of the race and scored another easy prime while allowing the break to rejoin the field. Andrea was still in the group too, so I was prepared to do whatever I could to provide a strong leadout for she and Kristin.

Coming through the final turn, Kristin was on my wheel. I was ready to take her up the left side to the line when a Metro VW rider took a wide line through the turn that caused us to hesitate in order to avoid a wreck. That instantaneous hesitation was enough to get Metro VW across the line first ahead of Kristin.

I'm not one to ever examine results all that closely so I'm sorry to admit that I don't know where everyone eventually finished. Suffice to say that we had a strong team showing that allowed us to take 3 of 5 podium positions for the overall. Kristen in 2nd, Andrea in 3rd and me in 4th. I had no idea that I'd actually made the podium and was in a t-shirt and shorts when the ceremony started. I had to run back over to the car, get into kit and sprint back over to the podium - I just made it! I know there were a bunch of pictures being snapped so if I come across one, I'll be sure to post.

After collecting our primes and prize money we headed back to the Smith's in Fayetteville to eat, shower and drop Anne at the airport before starting the drive home. It was at some point before we left that I found out about the stellar performances by Josh, Ted and Mike at the Double Bong 40K TT. For them, it was a double double bong. For some reason one 40K in a day is just not enough so they do two. Well done, guys - makes my legs ache just thinking about it.

Up next: Tour de Leelanau in Traverse City, MI - a UCI race - on Sunday the 25th. For the first time in too many years I will not be heading to the Quad Cities area to race - a very WELCOME departure from the usual tiresome routine of Snake Alley, Melon City and Rock Island. I might race locally on Memorial Day, maybe not. Depends on how the legs feel.

I'm thinking that eventually there will be a Part 3 post that will include the warm-up playlist and some general observations about the trip and the ride home. I did actually manage to read two books but didn't have time to do much else with all the racing and travel. Here's a teaser story from the trip home:

Kristin and I are somewhere in BFE Missouri and come up on a car that probably hasn't been washed.....ever. In the car are two 'interesting' looking large fellows with lots of facial hair (ick) and tattoos. Written in soap on the back window? "I wish my wife was this dirty." Nice.

Tour of Arkansas - Part 1

Driving home from Arkansas all night is easy to do when you are a chronic insomniac. I had the pleasure of being completely awake from 4am Sunday to 4am Monday (and beyond) which provided me with plenty of time to think about what I'd include in this post. Now that I have had a chance to sit and actually write there's no way I can possibly include every last race detail or story that was part of the long, strange trip to Arkansas. So this will be part 1 and part 2 will follow, when I have the time to pound it out. I might even add a part 3 that details some of my observations and humorous musings - we'll see.

The Tour of Arkansas is a points omnium/stage race of 3 events (road race, time trial and criterium) held over 2 days. The first day is a morning 100K road race that concludes with a 10ish mile climb at 8% up Mt. Magazine (the highest point in the state of Arkansas) and that afternoon is an approximately 40K time trial - a long, hard day indeed. The field was small (something in the 17-20 range) but it was quality with representation by Advil-Chapstick and Metro VW. Because of the small numbers we did the RR with the Masters men. Now I like racing with the Masters guys here but I can't say the same about the guys down there. At one point in the race I turned around and intimated to a guy sucking wheel that maybe he should take a pull for once. His response? Roll by me and rip a nasty loud fart. I mean, I can appreciate body humor and all but COME ON. Zero class. I passed him on the Mt. Magazine climb and said nothing - to do so would have dignified it.

I was feeling decent but still very anxious about the climb then I promptly punctured. I had to wait for support to fix it so I ended up rolling in later on and scoring no points for the stage. Kristin, Anne, Kat, Lee and Andrea all had strong finishes in the RR. We had a very small amount of downtime then had to pack the cars and roll to the TT start in Paris, AR. Yeah, Paris is in Arkansas. Betcha didn't realize that, did ya?

I figured out that I still had good legs while warming up for the TT. The course was mostly flat to rolling with what seemed to be a ubiquitous cross/head wind. I was totally wired and ready to smoke that TT - and I did just that. In retrospect I went out way too hard and really suffered the last few miles but in the end my time was good enough to win - by a minute. That gave me 10 points and moved me into 6th place in the GC. I came to find out later that the Metro VW rider who finished 2nd is a multiple-time US National U23 TT Champion. She must've worked really hard in the RR and been really tired, right?

After the TT we headed to Ft. Smith where we stopped for some decent Mexican food and then on to our hotel. We had no idea what the GC standings were so we went to bed that night not exactly sure what our game plan would be for the criterium the next day in Van Buren. I didn't sleep but maybe 4 hours that night and my legs were a little sore so I had no idea what I was going to be able to do in the crit.

I found out at some point during the day that the MetLife boys back home had pretty killer results at the Monsters of the Midway crit - always great to hear stuff like that. Gentlemen, as always - way to represent!

Arkansas - The Natural State?

Checking in from the thriving metropolis of Dardanelle, AR, home of Sam Walton's original store and one of Tyson's chicken rendering plants - things around here are well, different. Really different... My teammates and I have broken into pairs and are spread out across four host homes in the shadow of Mt. Nebo, which isn't actually a mountain at all - it's like 400ft too short to be formally be called a mountain. I guess that makes it a hill. Whatever. Either way it's bigger than any 'hill' I have back home so the thought of climbing it gives me the shakes.

We got in a great ride yesterday that took us through Petit Jean, Arkansas' first and flagship state park. According to the website "Petit Jean mountain is named for a girl who disguised herself as a boy and secretly accompanied her sweetheart, an early explorer, to the New World and to this mountain." That's enough history, I'm exhausted. Thanks to the absence of a leash law in this area we were chased by at least a dozen dogs and had the occasion to experience armadillo road kill in various states of decay. With the exception of one stretch, road surfaces here are exceptional, the riding is great and the scenery is quite good.

Today we previewed the Mt. Magazine climb that we have to do at the end of Saturday morning's road race (with the masters men, since there are only like 12 women signed up for the race). Mt. Magazine is the highest peak in Arkansas and the climb we'll be doing is about 10mi long at about 8%, sustained. It felt steep in the car so I'm just really not looking forward to it at all. Honestly, I'd really like to just skip the road race.

After that we rode the time trial course - 22ish miles that we will be doing on Saturday afternoon, after the killer road race. The TT course is great - mostly flat to rolling with a few little up sections and a couple of turns. Good pavement surface, wind might be a factor - it definitely suits me.

While the racing isn't going to be the greatest, it's been a good week for training and spending time with my teammates. We all live so far apart we don't really get to see each other unless we're racing, so getting to know each other better and riding together has been a good thing.

Not sure when I will have the opportunity to post again as we'll be moving on after tomorrow so I wanted to take a sec to wish the guys back home good luck this weekend. You are all amazingly fit and strong - I am confident that you will own the weekend and continue to dominate the Midwest masters racing scene. I miss you all!

JMSR Stage 4 - Fayetteville Criterium

The last stage at Joe Martin is a criterium in downtown Fayetteville. The course has 8 turns with a significant downhill section and climb into the finish that strings the field out and pops riders off the back on the first lap. The weather was brisk and the wind pretty strong but the sun was out which made for relatively comfortable racing conditions. Team Kenda Tire was sitting in 3rd for the team GC less than 20sec ahead of Advil-Chapstick so it was important for us to keep at least 3 of our riders in the main group if we were to successfully defend our position.

Racing got underway and as expected, the field pretty much blew apart within the first few laps with a main group forming and a lot of smaller splinter bunches strung out along the course. There were a few small attacks during the 60min race but everything was reeled back in and the main group was together for the final sprint which was won by Colavita-Sutter Home. Kristin, Anne and Kat were with the front group so we were looking great. In the end, we were able to secure our 3rd place finish in the team overall and actually grew the time advantage we had over Advil-Chapstick.

I know, everyone's asking, "so how did you do?" Well......I actually relinquished my number to the officials before we started. I'll have to keep this as nondescript as possible so as not to gross out the squeamish people. Unfortunately the combination of three days of hard racing and having to wear a new chamois (we just got our uniform shorts) that my body was not used to left me physically unable to sit on my saddle on Sunday morning. I felt great and was ready to go but (without being overly graphic) my saddle area was in sorry shape. So I sat on the corner at turn 5 with a radio to keep my teammates informed as things developed in the race and offered encouragement as the race progressed.

I was painfully torn and upset at the prospect of having to sit out the last day when I was feeling great and after such a strong finish on Saturday. I wanted so badly to support my team and help secure our position in the team GC. After a conversation with a physician, some hard thought and a even few tears I rationalized it this way: we have another weekend of hard racing ahead that I want to be 100% for - I owe it to the team and to myself to be completely healthy and ready to do my job. I'm comfortable with the choice I made and my teammates supported me completely.

So we'll be bike gyspsies for a few days between here and Russellville where we'll be doing the Tour of Arkansas. I'm looking forward to some more excellent race performances but also the fun and adventures we'll have along the way. I'll try to post when I can - not sure what the wireless access situation is going to be like as we move around.

Thanks so much for reading and for your comments - I appreciate it!

JMSR Stage 3 - Hogeye Circuit

I'm not kidding - HOGEYE is the name of the town...gotta love it. After a restless night that saw me sleep very little we rolled out to the start area early for today's stage - a 69mi jaunt on a course that heads out of Fayetteville for about 9-10ish miles to a rolling to hilly 23mi loop that Pro Women did twice before heading back on the out stretch to the finish.

The course contains a short, steep and very significant climb at 11.1mi in that everyone refers to as "the wall." No further description needed - it's just killer-steep and gives the gravity-challenged (like me) fits of anxiety. Right after that climb is a longish but more gradual up-stretch that has a bit of a kicker just before the end - the first time up wasn't so bad. It hurt like hell but I made it. A Cheerwine rider attacked just before the end of that section and got away - for the entire race. I got shelled off the back there on the second lap and fought desperately for 10min or so to get back in contact with the group. I suffered so horribly - it was everything I could do to work back through the caravan and to the back of the main group but once I made it everything was good.

Anne had been off on a solo break for a bit and then Andrea and Kristin spent some time off the front as well. It was encouraging to see that our moves were respected - other teams worked to bring our team back in after attacks. I was battling the course more than anything else but I was ready to do whatever it took to keep my teammates safe, even if it meant the end of my day. Things rolled along at a steady clip and as we got closer to the finish we were informed by race officials that we were being neutralized and stopped to let the pro men's field go by. This was a good thing because while we stood there and waited, Mary and Lee caught back up to us and then rolled with us when we re-started.

At about 5K to go the pace had picked up significantly when Advil-Chapstick attacked and strung things out a bit. We had a strong tailwind heading into a downhill finish. At about 1K out a Cheerwine rider bit the pavement right in front of Kristin and I and I believe also Andrea. I was able to dive hard right to avoid the pile-up but I have no idea how Kristin survived it. I punched it hard and saw the finish line ahead - spun out in the biggest gear on my bike. I worked my way past a few slower wheels and found myself thinking "holy shit - you are about to have the best NRC finish you have ever had." I crossed the line 4th in the field sprint on the wheel of one of the best sprinters in the country, finishing 5th on the day. Click here for a picture - I'm in green and black behind Laura VanGilder. Kristin, Anne, Lee and Mary all came across at the same time. Kat and Amy rolled in a little later - our entire team surviving another hard fought day.

Right now I am just totally 'over the moon' about today's race. I didn't win and I didn't win the field sprint but it was by far the most rewarding result I have ever gotten. I suffered like a dog when I thought I'd rather be dead. I was able to pull off something beyond what I ever thought I could do. So damn cool. I probably won't sleep again tonight.

Thanks to Carolyn and Marion for all their help and cheers today, you are the best. Also huge thanks to Paul and Mike in the team car for keeping us all informed on our radios. I cannot stand Justin Timberlake but the radio broadcast the second time up the wall proved helpful. Now just get some Hendrix or Led Zeppelin and we'll really be in business.

Congrats to my favorite guys back home who kicked some serious ass in the P1/2 and Masters 2-man TT in Garden Prairie - well done, gentlemen. It is because you hurt me so terribly in training that I could do what I did today - thank you, it makes me stronger.

The Joe Martin Stage Race concludes tomorrow with a criterium in downtown Fayetteville. The course is technical and has a significant climb. Hopefully we will all have good legs and successfully defend or even improve our Team GC position.

As always, thanks for reading. I'll try to update things as I am able. Also, check out Kristin's and Anne's blogs (links on the right) - they've got some great photos and insight into the goings-on down here.

JMSR Stage 2 - Cedarville to Fayetteville RR

Friday's stage was 64mi of rolling to hilly terrain with a tasty 9mi climb up Mt. Gaylor at about the 24mi point. Elevation at the base of the climb is 700ft, at the top it's 2050ft and the grade is pretty steady - nothing too killer. My job for the day was to cover attacks/be in any break within the first 20mi or so. Anne, Kristin and Lee were our top GC riders and so it was the duty of the team to protect them, ensure that they stayed out of trouble and that they were part of any group that got a gap that stuck.

We chased down a few early attacks and did a good job covering things off the front so we were all pretty much together at the base of Mt. Gaylor. Near the top right by the feed zone things got twitchy and a sizable gap formed. I looked around and saw that Andrea and Anne were both in the front group and pretty much felt that things would come back together on the descent but unfortunately that never happened. There was a relatively stiff cross/head wind all the way back to Fayetteville and with 2 of our riders in the lead group we were content to just pull through in the chase group and not work too hard. Kristin, Lee and I were part of that second group that finished a few minutes down on the day. I had some problems with cramping as the temp was in the 80s but managed to keep things together to the end. Kat was having a really hard time with dehydration but she, Mary and Amy all survived the day so we were looking good sitting 3rd in team GC behind Cheerwine and Revolution, just ahead of Advil-Chapstick.

I was ECSTATIC to have made it to the top of Mt. Gaylor nearly in contact with the front group - I think if I'd really punched it hard through the feed zone I could have made it across the gap but hindsight is always clearer. Lee and Kristin were with me and I wanted to make sure they got to town in good shape - which they both did.

Carolyn was kind enough to shuttle us around all day and then she and Marion were both there to greet us at the finish. After a long day they made us the most killer smoked chicken enchiladas - they are amazing hosts!! I cannot thank them enough for taking care of us - it makes recovering and preparation so much easier.

JMSR - Devil's Den Uphill TT

GO HOGS!!! WOOOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!

So far things in Arr-kan-saw have been decent, all things considered. After a long drive down with Kristin in some serious rain we were welcomed by our hosts Marion and Carolyn Smith and their two very sweet Dachshunds, Sally and Samantha. They were kind enough to make us dinner then we headed over to the host hotel to retrieve race numbers and stuff. I was very tired and had a killer headache so I was pretty much asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night.

The first stage (on Thursday) was the Devil's Den Uphill TT, about 2.5mi long with an average grade of somewhere between 6 and 7%. I'm really not a good climber but I was hoping to have a respectable performance. I'd had an okay warm up and basically trashed myself early by going out too hard then suffered the rest of the way to a somewhat disappointing finish. After looking at the file from my ride it's clear that I really couldn't have done much more except pace myself better which would have probably led to a better outcome. Am I happy with things? Hell no, but it's too late to do anything about it now. I will assume the role of 'domestique' at this point and basically work my ass off to protect my teammates who finished better on the TT.

Our hosts invited the entire team over for dinner after the TT and we spent the better part of the evening laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. At one point I actually ended up with Gatorade finding it's way out my nose and onto the floor after Kat recounted a work encounter that involved a senile nursing home patient who refused to wash her hands after 'doing her business.' Guess you had to be there... I again hit the pillow with a splitting headache.

I'm optimistic that we can make some things happen for our team and get some well-deserved respect in today's road race. I'll attempt to post after we're done. In case I don't get to do that until tomorrow, I want to send a message to the guys back home who will be doing the 2-person TT on Saturday - ride like hell and take no prisoners!!

As always, thanks for reading...and to confirm my earlier suspicions, yes - everything in Arkansas is indeed about HOGS...check it out here.

Arkansas Road Trip!!

Before I jump into the pre-trip diatribe I want to send some good, positive energy in the general direction of my teammate Kris Keim who sustained a broken pelvis at Tour of the Gila last week - feel better soon, K2!!

This two stage race voyage should prove to be quite an adventure - Kristin and I are rolling out Wednesday morning headed toward Fayetteville, AR and the Joe Martin Stage Race May 8-11 (4 stages). Fayetteville - where everything is all about hogs (or is it hawgs?). I've done this race in the past without good result - there's a lot of climbing and we've firmly established that I am gravity challenged, so this should be interesting. That said, I am riding decently right now so I am cautiously optimistic about my chances for some good finishes. After Joe Martin we'll head over to Russellville for Tour of Arkansas and some more quality climbing opportunities May 17-18 (3 stages). We've assembled a strong team for both events so we're hoping for some top finishes and a little respect.

I'll attempt to blog a bit from the road - no idea what kind of internet access I'm going to have in Arkansas. Call me a pessimist but the prospect of having regular, easy access to high-speed wi-fi in Arkansas isn't looking promising. I imagine, though, that we'll have plenty of opportunities to eat some killer barbecue (ugh...my supremely delicate gut is spasming at the mere thought) and visit Wal-Mart. I'll get a fair amount of reading done, a little work, and hopefully lots of sleep. Wish me luck in avoiding my teammates relentless attempts to feed me cookies.

I'll miss everyone back home - some more than others, and you know who you are :) - but I hope to have some good stories to share upon my return. I'll be around for a few days and then off to Traverse City, MI for Tour de Leelanau (a UCI race!!) over Memorial Day weekend. Beyond that it's looking like a little break from travel before heading to Minnesota for another stage race and then to Louisville for Masters Road Nationals in June.

Thanks for reading - and yes, the Chicago Police Department is still very much ON NOTICE for it's numerous bike related ordinance transgressions...more on that when I get home.

What I'm Blasting My Ears With Lately....

I said last post that I'd put together a partial list of some of the stuff I've been listening to lately so here's a random sampling of my playlist titled 'Shut Up and Ride Your Bike.' Keep in mind I said it was a bizarre mix of things.....

Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedies
Friends - Led Zeppelin
Henrietta - The Fratellis
Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
Genepool Convulsions - The Hives
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder
Comedown - Bush
Dammit - Blink 182
The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin
Natural One - The Folk Implosion
Space for the Papa - Jeff Beck
I'm Gonna Crawl - Led Zeppelin
A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Pink Floyd
Ruby Soho - Rancid
Better Man - PJ
Fame - David Bowie
Miss You - Rolling Stones
Train in Vain - The Clash
The Mercy Beat - The The
MIA - Foo Fighters
Rats - PJ
Dig Lazarus Dig - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Whipping Post - The Allman Brothers Band
Deadweight - Beck
Molly - Sponge
Brianstorm - Arctic Monkeys
Song X - Neil Young
It's Alright - Big Head Todd and the Monsters
40' - Franz Ferdinand
Fortune Teller - Robert Plant and Allison Krauss (god I can listen to this song a hundred times a day)
Release - PJ
Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden
Strange Condition - Peter Yorn
Try Not to Breathe - REM
Gallow's Pole - Led Zeppelin

Lots of Zep - go figure. It's been working of late for my twisted brain but that'll change soon enough.

Harvard 33.3K TT Report

Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler.

Bloody freezing and windy on Sunday in the far Northwest Chicago suburb of Harvard. It's actually so far away I don't know that it can be classified as a suburb - it might as well be in Wisconsin. I rolled out at the butt-crack o'dawn with my most favorite ultra-super-hyper-fast MetLife boys, Josh and Mike for what proved to be a pretty successful day of racing.

Things were moving slowly when we arrived to retrieve numbers so warm-up was cut really short - I think I managed 16ish minutes on the rollers after layering on the warm and minty goodness we call embrocation. I usually do about 30-35min of structured warm-up before racing. Not so long ago a too-short warm up would have had my fragile pre-race psyche out of it's tree but I just sort of let it go and rolled with what the situation dealt me. My legs felt decent which provided some confidence that things would be okay when I wasn't distracted by my body's uncontrolled shivering.

The 33.3K Harvard course is unique - it heads out on a longish stretch that has a few curves and turns before terminating in a 4 corner loop that leads back to the original stretch away from the start. I know that's not a great description but suffice to say it's better than a boring out-and-back course. It's entirely flat except for some very minor, gradual changes in grade in a few areas and the pavement is decent. There was significant cross/head wind much of the day, especially on the way out which allowed for some good speed on the way in to the finish.

My time trial started well and I basically had a solid performance that earned a first place finish in the Women's Open category. I wasn't entirely satisfied with how things went for me but in retrospect I suppose it was about the best I could do, so I'll take it - another medal for the refrigerator door. Things were definitely tough with the wind and coldness - I know...HTFU! What was running through my head the whole time? Ugh - Cheap Sunglasses by ZZ Top - oh my....don't ask.

That's right, don't mess with Snoopy - MetLife mascot and pop culture icon that he is.

The MetLife guys continue to impress - they owned the day with Josh taking first in the 50+ and Pro 1/2 and Mike killing the 40+ and earning 3rd in the Pro 1/2. Technically, I race for MetLife too - my American Bicycle Racing license identifies my team association as MetLife/Pony Shop so it was pretty much a Snoopy sweep in the thriving metropolis of Harvard (yes, they even have a Wal Mart). Nice job guys - you're the best. Now if only I could somehow get you to accompany me to Arkansas for Joe Martin and Tour of Arkansas.....

Thanks for reading - I might get around to posting a revised list of motivational tunes at some point. Lately I've been groovin' mostly to a lot of classic rock, some more mellow stuff and a smidge of edgy almost-punky-but-not-quite stuff, quite the interesting combination.

A Minor Rant

I'm pretty certain that most of us are fully aware of the dangers associated with commuting by bike in a city the size of Chicago. Aw hell - I think just plain riding a bike in Chicago is thrill enough sometimes. Anyway, I have to spew a little bile in the general direction of the fine institution known as the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Now I know there are lots of good cops out there (and I don't mean the ones I've dated) but I think there are a lot of jerk-o's out there too.

For instance, while riding on the magnificent stretch of Milwaukee Avenue between Logan Boulevard and DesPlaines (probably about 5-6mi or so) there is a BIKE LANE at all times. Which means the lane is reserved for BIKE TRAFFIC, right? Further, that cars (especially POLICE cars) should not actually stop and park in the lane, right? I'm thinking it's reasonable to assume those things and I suspect that you agree (unless you are a jerk-o cop).

If that's the case (and it IS the case), I can't help but be pissed off about POLICE CARS being parked - simultaneously - on both sides of Milwaukee Avenue blocking the bike lane in both directions four out of the last five times I have commuted to work. I'm bent out of shape mostly because due to their rudeness, I am nearly smashed by cars swerving to avoid hitting the parked police cars. I mean really, WTF?!

I'd been quiet until today when I looked over at the two ample (read: FAT) law enforcement officers standing nearby just talking to each other and said, "nice job guys - it's a freaking bike lane, not a parking space." It was so obvious that they were not in protect and serve mode. Their response? Disbelief that anyone would question their actions. If they'd been wrestling a purse snatcher to the ground or cracking the skull of a drug dealer then cool - park wherever you want. But it was clear that they were just too lazy or too self-important to go find someplace else to park and have their coffee talk.

Cops need to do their job and enforce the fine that was included in the ordinance recently passed by city hall that prohibits parking in the bike lane - one that protects cyclists from danger. Cyclists have every right to be on the road. They should be afforded every protective measure possible to ensure their safety when they adhere to the laws that govern riding a bike on the street. Likewise, jerk-o's who disregard the laws should be appropriately punished, even (and maybe even especially) cops.

Rant completed. Agree or not, thanks for reading.

It Was Almost Like Spring

Yay!! No mittens today - just lots of sun. These 2 characters show up on the blog a lot. That's because they're a couple of bad-asses whose athletic ability I truly respect.

I left the warmers at home and jumped in with my favorite boys (Josh and Mike) for the Cherry Valley 30K TT on Sunday. It's a race that I've not done before - in fact, I've not done a lot of time trials in my (too) many years of racing - so I was having the usual pre-race anxiety attack. That said, I must admit that music selection on the drive out was choice - Led Zeppelin can always take a bit of the edge off for me, transforming me into only half the paranoid spaz of my typical pre-race persona. My expectation for the day was to just do the best I could without killing myself too horribly since I'm still coughing a bit and still not 100%. I know - that excuse is getting old, isn't it? I just can't seem to completely shake this thing.

The course was out and back with some small rises here and there, a sweet gravel stretch with some sizable potholes, some bad pavement, a few turns and the ubiquitous Midwest wind that seems to always be in your face and/or blasting you from the side. That said, it was an otherwise amazing day as far as weather goes - the sun was warm and the air temp in the upper 60s - maybe even in the 70s away from the puddle (Lake Michigan). It felt almost like spring.

Warm up went well - I changed up my playlist a bit and added some new things to my usual mix including Matthew Sweet, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Smithereens, Peter Yorn, Green Day, Robert Plant, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, some more Rolling Stones, The The and Neil Young. I know, another interesting combination, but it works for me. I was feeling decent after warm up, not stellar but certainly better than last week.

It ended up that I turned in a respectable time and finished as first loser on the day to an athlete I respect a great deal - she's the current 35-39 Masters National Road Race Champion. Somehow I managed to sneak by her last week but she paid me back this week with a strong performance. The guys continued their streak of domination winning the Pro 1/2, 40+ and 50+ categories with impressive efforts. They both did 2 time trials (they always do) which always makes me feel small and weak. Nice job Josh and Mike - again, way to represent. Now shut up and go ride your bike.

Training this coming week is mostly (but not all) low key - bummer too because all of a sudden it's not freaking freezing here. I have a 2 race weekend coming up - a criterium on Saturday in Milwaukee that has an interesting hill that will allow me to convincingly demonstrate my climbing prowess (ugh), and another 30K TT on Sunday. I hope my cough disappears between now and then.

As always, thank you for reading. Now go resume doing something productive, slacker!!

Look Who Came to Spin Class This Morning!!

That's right! Barbie graced us with her presence and proceeded to tear through her 15 minute threshold intervals this morning. Must be all that winter unicycle training paying off at last. Pretty soon we're going to take the training wheels off her six13 so she can fully explore the limits of her off-season upgrade to Dura Ace while Chad, Waldorf and Statler try in vain to hold onto her wheel. Good luck, boys - better hope Beth doesn't show up too....

We listened to a pretty wide variety of music in class this morning - I try to keep everyone happy (though I know full well that there are some people in this world who will never be happy). Pre-ride tunes included some Hendrix and Frampton. When we got into the work it was more cerebral for the first part then fun stuff to finish.

The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix
Show Me the Way - Peter Frampton
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
The Perfect Drug - Trent Reznor
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Coldplay
There There - Radiohead
Top Jimmy - Van Halen
Someday I Suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Basket Case - Green Day
I'm a Believer - Smashmouth
American Idiot - Green Day
I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys

Then we rolled easy to Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult and London Calling by the Clash. It was a nearly full room today - everyone worked very hard and walked away having accomplished something before ever arriving at the office. Thanks everyone - what you do with your 'play' time makes my 'work' worthwhile.

Late-breaking news compliments of No-Twitch: I actually won the TT on Sunday with the fastest overall time by a girl on the day - another medal for the refrigerator door! Mike and Josh's times were good enough for 2nd in their age groups and 2nd and 5th in the Pro 1/2 field. Well done, tools. Can't wait for this weekend!! For now, I'll go put my feet up before the 'midweek gem' tonight. Yesterday's sprints and anaerobic power intervals roached me but good.

Wisconsin. Windy. Cold. Snowing. Windy. Cold. Snowing. Windy. Cold. Snowing.

Josh and Mike, warming up. I was too busy taking pictures and letting the pre-race anxiety build to warm up.

Yep, it was really windy, cold (like 37ish degrees, maybe) and occasionally snowing this morning for the Single Bong 20k TT in Kansasville, Wisconsin. I figured it was an improvement over the frozen and soaking wet nearly 3hr slog I did yesterday so I was pretty stoked. The way I saw it, I'd be training in the bad weather if I'd stayed home so I might as well go race for a blingin' medal. That, and (bonus!) I got to chill with two of my most favorite TT beasts, Josh and Mike.

Josh, going nowhere fast, yet. He asked if the helmet makes his ass look big. I dunno - what do you think? If you have to ask, you probably already know the answer.
I chopped Mike's head off in his solo shot so I'll have to try again next weekend (sorry dude).

I'm still having a bit of lingering sickness but I was feeling much better compared to last week, so I was hoping for a respectable performance this morning. I did actually spend some time warming up on the rollers, listening to some motivational tunes but my legs never really felt good and my power numbers were a little disappointing prior to start time. Things got off to a fast start on the tailwind section of the three turn square-ish course that featured some really small rollers and a gradual rise here and there. I was chased by a dog along the way (I suspect nearly everyone encountered this dog at some point) and passed a few guys before getting pretty much blasted and bounced around by the headwind and cross headwind for the remainder of the ride.

After everything was said and done I wasn't particularly satisfied with my result but given the fact that I'm still a little sick and the conditions just really sucked, I suppose things could have been much worse. Josh and Mike both had a good day on the bike - nice job, guys. Way to represent.

Next up - 30k TT in Cherry Valley, IL next weekend. The long-term forecast is for much better weather but at this point, who knows what will happen? I'm just hoping to ride stronger, learn something and to keep pulling good, positive things out of every performance.

As always, thanks for reading. Now, back to The Masters....Immelman's on fire.

Sick Sucks

Oh la la......my TT bike...newly upgraded to 10spd Dura Ace because well, I deserve it.

I figured y'all were getting tired of looking at that dude's ass on my previous post (well, I wasn't) so I decided to bring you up to date with a weekend race recap and some other stuff. Based on the title I'm sure you've surmised that I'm under the weather - in a big and nasty way. It's a good thing I don't get sick very often - maybe once a year with a minor cold thrown in - because this sucks. I'll spare you the specifics but just know that I have a killer cough, vicious headache and can't eat much beyond toast and tea.

So I decided to go race my bike on Sunday, just because I couldn't stand the thought of sitting on my ass on the couch for another day. My pre-race ride on Saturday was rather pathetic so I didn't have very high hopes going into the John Frasier Memorial 10mi Time Trial. I spent most of the drive to the race venue in a semi-conscious state hoping to not feel the need to ask Josh (who was driving) to pull over. Fortunately I had a later start time than my travel companions so I was able to sleep in the car while Ted, Josh and Mike warmed up and prepared to race - each of them doing 2 time trials, because they're a bunch of bad-ass TT beasts.

We've established that I'm not much of a climber. Well, I'm a marginal TT racer at best so I can't say that I really look forward to doing them. But, they're good for me - I suffer a bit, I get stronger, I get smarter, I find a little confidence and I always take something positive away from a respectable TT effort. My warm-up went half decent and the sun was out so I figured I'd just go out, ride hard, keep my effort under control (ie: no hurling) and my time would end up being what it would be. I knew after the guys came back to the car after their first TTs that the cross wind was pretty strong and that there was a bit of a head wind stretch as well.

Things started out well enough and I actually ended up having a half decent ride, all things considered. Most of all I really just didn't want to bury myself and get sicker - I was in damage control mode, in a way. In the end I finished in second place, less than 3 seconds off the lead and a minute ahead of third place. Of course I now look back and know that I could have easily worked much harder than I did and probably won but in the grand scheme of things I was happy with the outcome.

Fortunately I slept through most of the drive home. Thanks to Ted, Josh and Mike for tolerating my whining and sickness. In a weird and twisted way I think I'm beginning to like this time trial thing. Either that or I'm just trying to justify having another nice bike with expensive equipment (bling!!).

Where is Spring?

I have no idea who's ass this is but all I can say is "ow," and "wow..."

All joking aside, seems a bunch of male readers/browsers/phantom blog lurkers had a lot of funny comments about the "big cock" picture on my previous post. It's a chicken, boys. Friggin' gutterbrains :).

What have I been listening to lately? Here's a brief smattering....so much music, so little time...

Life on a Chain - Peter Yorn
Drop Dead Legs - Van Halen
Punkrocker - The Teddybears (feat. Iggy Pop) - thanks to Kristin for that one...
This is a Call - Foo Fighters
Don't Change - INXS
Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer - Morphine
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - Jet
Where are We Runnin'? - Lenny Kravitz
Mrs. Robinson - The Lemonheads
Jerk it Out - Caesars
Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
Cult of Personality - Living Color
Fire Woman - The Cult
The Only One I Know - Charlatans UK
London Calling - The Clash
The Healer - John Lee Hooker
They're Blind - The Replacements
It Can Happen - Yes
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads
Out in the Cold - Tom Petty
Given to Fly - PJ
Set Me Free - Velvet Revolver
Found Out About You - Gin Blossoms
Rush - Big Audio Dynamite
Last Night - The Strokes
Highwire Days - Psychedelic Furs
Someone's Calling - Modern English
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
MFC - PJ
The Rascal King - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
....finished with Warning Sign by Coldplay. Another one of those I love but can't explain.


I'm racing this weekend - will it ever stop raining?? I was hoping to avoid having to apply embrocation - I don't like getting it all over my hands and stuff. Is anyone out there game to come along and do the application for me? Gutterbrains, you gettin' this? It's definitely a guy's job. Let me know.

Pictures!!

Mary, me and the Robbinsville Chicken

You can find Jessi's spring break pictures by clicking here

Spring Break Observations and Other Things

Winter unicycle training...the new way to develop a monstrous sprint

Now that I've re-entered my pre-spring break life and routine I've had a chance to sort of review my experiences and come up with a list of observations made with regard to the trip, coming home and various other things. Some are funny, some not so much but they're all things that have occurred to me, just the same.

* Drivers in Chicago are still malicious assholes. I was so hoping that wouldn't be the case but I've been disappointed yet again!
* It's still not spring in the Midwest. It might never be.
* My nearly 10 year old Jeep Wrangler can still go above 90mph without incident though I will say that's not something I care to investigate on a regular basis.
* Elite male bike racers can eat ASTOUNDING quantities of food.
* Southwestern North Carolina is an amazing place that demands a return visit at some point.
* Competitive kayakers are freakishly strong and skilled.
* You should try to finish an entire GU before returning the wrapper to your jersey pocket unless you enjoy having annoying stickiness all over your stuff.
* It appears that adult bookstores and ultra-mega super born-again Christian churches can peaceably co-exist as neighbors.
* Fierce melon Gatorade needs to be introduced to southwestern North Carolina.
* There remains a place in this day and age where radio stations are devoted entirely to the broadcast of bluegrass music. I am indeed a music junkie but I can't handle that.
* Descending a mountainside at nearly 50mph provides an intoxicating rush that I cannot duplicate at home. That might be a cool thing to try on a tandem or fixed gear sometime.
* There are still enormous potholes all over the place in Chicago.
* "Oil" by Upton Sinclair is a really fantastic read (yes, I know the title of a book should be underlined but blogger doesn't provide that option).
* If I ingest a massive quantity of Bonine (meclizine) beforehand I can conquer the Tail of the Dragon without feeling like I'm gonna hurl.
* My teammate Kat Clark missed her calling and should be a comedian. She's hysterical.
* A confederate flag can be an appropriate house/trailer warming gift in some instances (like, in North Carolina).
* Did I mention that Chicago drivers are still malicious assholes? They are, just in case you missed that one.

Not much more to share at the moment. I'm taking it easy on the bike for a few days then it's back to work preparing to race. Thanks for reading - it's good to be home even though the weather still sucks.

Last Day, Best Day

Check out the Flag over my bike...oh yeah....
(thanks to Kristin for the photo)

This was our last day of riding here in southwestern North Carolina before heading back to the cold, snowy Midwest. After a long, slow get-up we loaded up the bikes and drove over to Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) to spectate at the kayak races before rolling out on a 4+hr ride through the mountains. It was sort of cold in the morning but things warmed up nicely by ride time - enough in fact that I was able to go out with only armwarmers and removed them within 10min. I do indeed have tan lines, thank you very much.

Jessi, Kristin, Kat, Rachel and I rode along the river for a while before heading inland to do the 45ish minute Junaluska climb then back toward NOC on Wayah, up Winding Stairs and back down on 19 to our departure point. Everyone pretty much agreed that this was a most excellent ride - weather was perfect, scenery was fantastic and our route was just long enough. I didn't hit anything close to 50mph but that's okay - I had a good day on the bike and felt like I climbed pretty well, for a 'sprinter,' or whatever I am.

We stopped for an early dinner (I won't divulge what I ate because it was just plain bad and wrong in every way) and headed back to the cabin for showers, a final load of laundry and some relaxation before we leave early tomorrow morning.

Day 6 - Tail of the Dragon

We rolled out a little later this morning to allow time for the air temp to rise. Jessi, Kristin, Kat, Justin and I headed out on a 70mi loop that took us into Fontana Village then down along the Cheoa and Little Tennessee rivers before heading back up into Robbinsville and over Stecoah Gap. It was an amazing route today - we spent a lot of time riding along the river bank just taking in some pretty incredible scenery and enjoying the warm sun on our backs. Not quite a perfect ride but it sure was good.

At one point we rolled into a service station at the base of the Tail of the Dragon, a super tight curvy stretch of Highway 129 that has 318 curves in 11mi. We didn't actually ride on it - that probably would've ranked right up there with the morning commute on Milwaukee Avenue in terms of carnage potential. Given my proclivity for motion sickness it was a wise choice to forego the dragon today, or for that matter, any day.

Tomorrow we'll be heading out to ride after checking out the kayak races on the Nantahala River in the morning. Only one more day of riding to go before we head back to the snowy Midwest on Sunday morning. I hear it's pretty nasty back home - looks to be a week for riding the Frankenbike.

No Sleep = No Legs

After a night of epic insomnia I was feeling puny - we rolled out into (literally) freezing temps with the UW guys who were drilling it from the gun. When I realized what was going on I rolled off the back, content to head over to Cherohala Skyway and up the 10+mi climb to the top by myself. I wasn't feeling the love and it was probably better for me to be alone anyway.

Not too much later I picked up Kristin and Jessi - they'd seen the writing on the wall and knew it was best to take things down a notch and do our own ride. We headed into Robbinsville with a bitter cross/head wind to go along with the cold temps. Had the sun not been shining things would've been just like home!!

We covered a significant amount (10+mi) of rolling terrain before starting the sustained climb up the Cherohala Skyway. Somewhere around 3500ft all the trees began to display a sparkling coat of frost. The wind was vicious around some of the switchbacks and the temps were definitely below freezing. I'd been experiencing some problems with regulating my body temp and was alternately too warm then too cold - just not comfortable. I wasn't able to feel my hands or feet but for the burning sensation of frozen-ness. I looked down at my top tube and noticed something frozen on it then realized it was my own snot and spit. Nasty.

I had a lot of interesting conversations with myself (and the lizard) on that climb and had a good amount of time to think about lots of stuff. Though I did suffer a bit on the way, I certainly paused to look around at the amazing Smoky Mountain landscape that surrounded me. We didn't stay long at the summit - it was really cold up there at approximately 5600ft (give or take 1000ft). I put on another baselayer and headed back down the mountainside. The descent got a little tricky a couple of times with gravel and surface changes but I didn't need to touch the brakes much - the wind made things difficult and I was only able to get up to 46mph for any length of time. At one point we were chased by a dog which made things interesting for a brief moment.

By the time we reached the ranger station just outside Robbinsville I'd been on the bike for about 4.5hr. I'd had quite enough at that point so I put my bike in the ISCorp car and got a ride back to the cabin. We still have 2 more days of riding and I really didn't want to be totally smoked for it.

While I didn't feel super today, it wasn't an entirely bad day on the bike. I've decided that I might dislike climbing as much as I dislike cooking. Dunno - that's a close call. In a sense they're both necessary evils and really - doing stuff that pushes you to explore the limits of your comfort zone is a good thing, right?

Day 4 - Embrocation Anyone?

The plan for today was an easy recovery ride of about 2 hours. The forecast was calling for rain starting at mid-day so we rolled a little early in order to escape the impending precip. Temps were decent - low 60s at ride time but I rode out wearing warmers as I was confident that even a small amount of descending would leave me shivering.

We headed toward Stecoah under cloudy skies and after about 15min of riding it was clear that most of us were overdressed. I started unzipping and peeling off warmers in effort to regulate my body temp to no avail. We got to the base of Stecoah Gap and the rain starting coming DOWN. My gloves, arm and legwarmers were soaked and already in my pockets so I pulled on the rain jacket and we headed back. I would've given anything to have some minty warm embrocation on my legs for the ride back!

So it's more bike cleaning and laundry for today. We've entertained the idea heading into Bryson City later on for some coffee and relaxation but the rain keeps falling and the likelihood of that keeps diminishing. The plan for tomorrow is about 100mi - my legs feel good and I've been climbing well all week so I'm definitely looking forward to it. We'll have a bigger group tomorrow as the Cincinnati contingent will be joining us for at least some of the ride, the UW Madison team will be along, Mary's husband Jay is arriving tonight from Loveland and Kat Clark is coming in for the rest of the week.

Thanks for reading - I think I'll just go put my feet up, read and relax for a while...

Day 3 - Front Side of Wayah Bald

Jessi, Me, Mary and Kristin at the top - before the freezing descent.
Thanks for taking the pic, John.

I could've used my bike cleaning dude after today's ride....We rolled out from Nantahala Outdoor Center under cloudy skies with temps in the upper 40s planning to climb the more gradual side of Wayah Bald. I was feeling good and the ascent went well - I got to the top with Kristin and Mary, two very strong climbers. We waited at the top for the rest of our group and by that point we'd been getting rained on for a good 20min or so. We were soaked, underdressed and getting colder the longer we waited.

We regrouped and started what proved to be a pretty dicey descent. I headed down first and had a few nervous moments through some slick, gravel-filled hairpin turns but got down in one piece and waited at the bottom for everyone. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of traffic on the mountain today - only a few cars and trucks passed me on the way down. This was certainly not a day to attempt a 50mph descent - getting to the bottom without incident was definitely the priority.

We ducked into a gas station at the corner of Wayah and Old Murphy Roads to warm up and made the decision to call for a ride back to Nantahala. Everyone was thoroughly soaked, shivering and really not prepared to ride the remaining 35mi back to our starting point - we didn't bring dry gloves or rain jackets along as the forecast said the rain would hold off until much later in the afternoon. We were retrieved about an hour later at which time I was still wet, shivering and numb - it was actually painful and I was extremely uncomfortable.

It wasn't a bad day on the bike - rather quite a good one for me while we were actually riding. Tomorrow looks to be an easy day and we hope to get out before the rain starts around mid-day. I have photos to post from today's ride but Blogger is still moving slow on photo uploads so I'll get them up at some point later on.

As always, thanks for reading. Now I have to go clean my very dirty bike....

Day 2 - Stecoah Gap

Kristin and I before rolling out

After a long, slow get up this morning, we rolled out from our secluded mountain retreat for an approximately 50mi loop that took us to the top of Stecoah Gap which stands at about 3200ft of elevation. Weather was nearly perfect - upper 50s and sunny with a little wind but nothing too bad. Mary, Kristin, Jessi, Rachel and I shared the work and had a really good day in the saddle. We were sort of tired from yesterday so things stayed pretty mellow except for the descending....I just missed hitting 50mph on the ride down to Robbinsville.

I got sucked into cooking duty this evening so I downed a bottle of Guinness not just to celebrate St. Patrick's Day but also to help me tolerate the abuse that was thrown at me by my teammates. I don't like to cook - I do it rarely and only under duress. Jessi was kind enough to photograph me hard at work in the kitchen, half intoxicated. I am a serious lightweight when it comes to alcohol consumption - so much in fact that I truly am a non-drinker but for the occasional hit. I'll post the pic once Jessi sends it over.

The plan for tomorrow is to climb the front side of Wayah Bald. Mary informed me that we'll have some company on the ride tomorrow - John and Scott from Cincinnati are here!! This is both good and bad - the opportunity to watch man-butt on the ride is always good. The fact that the last time I saw John (back in September) he kept feeding me shots isn't necessarily good...

Thanks for reading - I have to post pictures from today's ride retrospectively as blogger's upload function is painfully slow at the moment.

Day 1 - Wayah Bald - The Steep Way

Heading back to Nantahala Outdoor Center at the end of today's ride

Our loop today departed from the Nantahala Outdoor Center and took us up and down the mountains for a total of 70 miles. When Kristin, Jessi, Rachel, Yvonne and I rolled out a little after 10:30 this morning the sun was shining and the temp was in the mid-50s. I have to admit that I was a little nervous - as we all well know, climbing is not my forte so suffering up the mountains isn't always my favorite thing to do. We ended up spending about 4hr in the saddle and had a really fabulous ride - the scenery isn't breathtaking at this time of year but it's certainly cool to descend at speed on mountain roads that run parallel to rolling rapids and through secluded valleys. I don't miss the buses, cabs and potholes of Chicago at the moment.

I have to extend congrats to Ansgar and Mike for representing in Kenosha today - Ansgar won and Mike finished 5th in the 40+ race. I don't recall how they finished in the 30+ race at the moment but I'll update this post when I get that info. Nice job guys!!

Spring Break - I am SO Outta Here

It's a good thing racing season is right around the corner - these photo-less blog posts are boring!! The temp around here finally broke 50 yesterday, just in time for me to leave town for some training in the Asheville, NC area. I've not ever been to Asheville so I'm excited at the opportunity to get in some good miles, chill with my teammates and (ugh) do some climbing. Climbing - not my forte. I have a complex relationship with climbing - I don't dislike it, but I'm not very good at it so it pains and annoys me. Longer, sustained climbing isn't all that bad - I just hang there at functional threshold power and grind. It's the short, steep stuff that kills me - Chicago is flatter than flat so finding places to work on kicker hills is challenging, to understate the obvious.

I'm always amused by my teammates gear selection for climbing:

Debbie: "So Jessi, what are you running for the hills today?"
Jessi: "Oh, I have an 11/23. I really only need an 11/21 but the 23 was all I had laying around."
Debbie (feeling ill): "Yeah, I have the 12/27 just in case I need the bail-out gear."
Jessi: "Really? I was thinking we could just big-ring the whole thing."
Debbie: "God - I wish this bike had the compact crank on it."
Jessi: "Aw, you'll be fine. It'll just hurt a lot and at some point you'll wish you were dead. Don't worry - we'll wait for you at the top, maybe."

Ah yes - lots of love right there.

I have to actually drive to the thriving central Illinois metropolis of Champaign-Urbana so I made a special playlist to make the Jeep time tolerable. I do not particularly enjoy driving (at all) so having decent music is about the only thing that makes it survivable. You'll notice that this one is decidedly dominated by classic rock - definitely my favorite genre.

Fortune Teller - Robert Plant
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Hang Fire - Rolling Stones
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
Four Sticks - Led Zeppelin
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
Cold Shot - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix
Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
Rebel Rebel - David Bowie
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Invisible Sun - The Police
Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty
Do You Feel Like We Do - Peter Frampton (live, of course)
I Feel Free - Cream
Blues Before and After - The Smithereens
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Eminence Front - The Who
No Quarter - Led Zeppelin
Should I Stay or Should I Go? - The Clash
Jeremy - PJ
Run for the Hills - Iron Maiden
It Can Happen - Yes
Working Man - Rush
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Don't Look Back - Boston
Riders on the Storm - The Doors
Pump it Up -Elvis Costello
Cocaine - Eric Clapton
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend

There's more but I think you get the idea.

Anyway, I'll try to check in from Asheville and post pictures and commentary as I am able. It's my understanding that while we do have wi-fi in our mountain retreat the signal isn't consistently good.

Thanks for reading - try to get outside and do something illegal while the weather is nice at home (it can be very liberating to blow a stop sign and not be caught or crashed...). I'll see you in a week or so.

And So It Begins.....

The 2008 season 'officially' began for me this morning in Kenosha, WI - I did the Masters 40/49 (yes, with the men) criterium held courtesy of Kenosha Velosport in an industrial park off Hwy 158. I'd have to say that air temp at race time (10am) was maybe 20 degrees. Maybe. But that's just a sidenote to an otherwise truly Midwest too-early season race. There wasn't much wind, just a little bit coming off the lake and right in your face between turns 3 and 4 which made for a nice cross/head wind on the back stretch. It wasn't a hateful wind but I made sure to keep my nose out of it.

Let me tell you a little about the course....pretty much flat 1 mile loop with various "hazards" to negotiate - I have to give credit to the American Bicycle Racing crew and Kenosha Velosport for doing what they could to make the course race-able. Some of the snow had melted so what water had found it's way to the pavement was frozen in a few areas that were nicely marked with some orange traffic cones. Then there were a few other icy patches that were large enough that there was just no need for traffic cones... There were lots of bumpy stretches with dicey pavment seams and most of the smaller potholes had been filled. Gravel and debris were out in force in all the corners and the larger potholes were covered with cut-to-fit pieces of plywood and held in place with duct tape. I'm not kidding. You better believe there were guys running those things over every lap.

Things got off to a reasonable start and after a few laps some hard attacks starting happening, though nothing that really hurt me much. Right after closing down a gap on the right side of the road a hard attack went up the left side. I saw that MetLifeGuy was on it so I sat in and let it go. With a hard effort I probably could've gotten over too but staying with those guys would've been supremely difficult - they're a bunch of friggin' beasts and I'd have likely gotten spit out sooner or later. Turned out the break held and MetLifeGuy ended up 3rd in the 40+. Ansgar took the field sprint for 4th and I was close behind taking 5th. In retrospect I should have registered and also done the 30+ race that followed. In that race the guys did a fine job of representing again with MetLifeGuy getting into a late break good enough for 4th and Ansgar again taking the field sprint.

It ultimately turned out to be a good day, even with the freezing coldness and course "features." Next time I'll be sure to do two races - I'm not remotely tired today and I can surely use the work.

Thanks for reading. 4 more days to NC....

Could it Be??

I leave for NC in 7 days and yep - the weather here still sucks something terrible so my departure can't arrive soon enough. It's a downright balmy 15 degrees at post time and the wind chill has got to be in the single digits. So it's another day for the rollers - could it be the last day of dedicated indoor training for the winter of 2007-08? I sure hope so - based on some of the long term weather forecasts (abc7chicago.com) it appears that things might be turning the corner and I daresay that spring may actually arrive sometime before June. Then again, this is Chicago....

Today's indoor session ended up to be in the 2-2.5 hour range and involved a fair amount of time spent at threshold. "What's threshold?" you ask...well, it's that place where the work is hard enough that you feel somewhat nauseous (so very pleasant) and you suffer a great deal but not so horribly that you'd rather be dead. I like to think of it as "uncomfortably difficult, but not un-doably so." Pre and post ride doppio - a given. Fortunately I had some fierce melon Gatorade on hand today so at least that critical part was covered. I needed some good, hard, angst-driven tunes broken up with more mellow stuff....here's a random sample - I was in an odd mood this morning so if it seems like a weird combination well, it is.

Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

Paint It, Black - Rolling Stones

Walk All Over You - AC/DC

Once - PJ

Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter

Welcome to Paradise - Green Day

You Could Be Mine - Guns 'n Roses

Stop - Jane's Addiction

Pain - Jimmy Eat World

Little Things - Bush

Watch the Tapes - LCD Soundsystem

WMA - PJ

Wrong Way - Sublime

She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

What Matters - Matthew Sweet

All I Want is You - U2

Fade - Staind

Natural One - Folk Implosion

All Day and All of the Night (Live version) - The Kinks

Breakerfall - PJ

Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver

Best of Both Worlds - Van Halen

MIA - Foo Fighters

Wherever I May Roam - Metallica

PDA - Interpol

Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet

Tall Cool One - Robert Plant

Time Bomb - Rancid

Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins

Better Man - PJ

Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin

Stay (Far Away So Close) - U2

Truly a weird assortment but it did the job for me this morning. I was feeling mellow so the low key stuff was perfect. What? Me - mellow? Yep. Probably more often than you might think. So begins the mental preparation for tomorrow's training criterium in Kenosha, WI...it's gonna be COLD.

The Morning SpinHeads...A Highly Cerebral Group

Keith, Me, Lindsey, Chad and Marianne - after 30min @ Threshold.

See? I really do teach Spinning on the rollers.

The south end of the room - mind over matter...
Lookin' good McMahon!!

The north end of the room - the legs follow what the mind tells them to do...

Above are a few pics from this morning's 6:30am Spinning class at the Loop gym where I teach and maintain a personal training clientele. The morning group is full of super strong, fit, focused athletes who always work very hard in class - no small task at that hour of the day. I've threatened for a while that that one day I would bring my camera to class - it happened today and I'm sorry to say that poor Bill missed his chance to be a star. Bummer. On the playlist:

Piss it all Away - Puddle of Mudd

Shine it all Around - Robert Plant and the New Sensations

Demolition Man - The Police

Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

World Wide Suicide - PJ

Teen Angst - Cracker

Panama - Van Halen

Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden

My intervals will be completed later - I'm not a morning person. I like to say that I can function in the morning but I can't perform. Not sure if it'll be indoors or out - the temp will be agreeable (woo-hoo!! almost 35 degrees!!) but logistics might be difficult given the type of work I need to do today - longer intervals are very difficult to do when you're constantly stopping for traffic signals and other related hazards.

Ugly Bike Love

The Winter Beater - Sporting the Fenders, 28-hole 404s and a Power Meter. Fat.

So I've decided to post a blog entry dedicated entirely to the beast we call the winter beater - but I need your help to make the post a reality. I know that lots of you have a frankenbike - the bike with a mix of mismatched parts that you vaguely remember was pretty high-end back in the day which now sits in storage wishing that you'd ride it (Bill, the LeMond, need I say more?). Is your winter beater a carbon Colnago cross bike with reflective tires, full chrome fenders, 15 lights and an SRM? Or, do you maybe reserve a bike specifically for winter commuting with studded tires that weighs about 40 pounds? Or a single speed Surly Steamroller wrapped with electrical tape and bling'd with a carbon fork? I'm looking for photos to include in the post (to start with anyway) so if you have something cool to share, please send it along.

Let the Countdown Begin - Again

That's right - I'm leaving town again for some training because the weather here in Chicago just plain, well SUCKS. We're caught in this cycle of snow/rain/melt/freeze/snow again/rain again/melt again/freeze again which alternately inititates a cycle of ride, fix punctures, get nearly run over by buses, cabs and other assorted a**hole drivers, clean the bike, etc. It's just wrong to remark on a long ride that it's a "nice day" when the temp barely reaches 20 degrees. I am just horribly sick of it and maybe even moderately depressed because of it. I knew things were getting bad when just getting stuck at traffic signals on the bike was beginning to seriously annoy me, along with other things that I normally just ignore. This morning's commute to and from the loop (about 8mi each way, depending on the route I take) was the final nail in the coffin - I've freakin' had it!! I have to get out of town so I'll be heading down to North Carolina for a long stretch with some teammates for some fair-weather training and hill work - some of my 'favorite' stuff.

Today's training session was completed yet again on the rollers and the soundtrack was a little bit more, um, aggressive in some ways... Pre and post ride doppio - that goes without saying. Good thing my upstairs neighbor wasn't home - the music was very loud and so were my rollers. I didn't have any fierce melon Gatorade so I had to make do with some lemon lime. To me, lemon lime to Gatorade is sort of like what vanilla is to ice cream - not amazing, but always does the job just the same.

Closer - Nine Inch Nails

How Many More Times - Led Zeppelin

Deep - PJ

I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys

Temptation - The Tea Party

3 Libras - A Perfect Circle

Cochise - Audioslave

Story of My Life - Social Distortion

I Will Follow - U2

Drift and Die - Puddle of Mudd

The Perfect Drug - Trent Reznor

Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy

Firestarter - The Prodigy

The Pretender - Foo Fighters

Serenity - Godsmack

American Idiot - Green Day

Flagpole Sitter - Harvey Danger

Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives

In the End - Linkin Park

Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden

Battleflag - Lo Fidelity Allstars

Jesus Built My Hot Rod - Ministry

Aneurysm - Nirvana (the live version is best)

Thin Air - PJ (again, the live version is best)

I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones

Armageddon Days are Here Again - The The

Shudder/King of Snake - Underworld

Ca plane pour moi - Plastic Bertrand

I finished things off with Trouble by Coldplay - I love it for reasons I can't explain. I think there were a few more "uplifting" tracks but I don't recall them at the moment. Anyway, thanks for reading. Can't wait to get out of here, even if it means having to climb hills - 17 days and counting....