Giving credit

This entry is all about the proper respect being given to someone/thing when it is truly desreved. Think about your life for a second. If there is something that you absolutely excelled in, could you do it for 16 hours a day? The amount of focus and energy would be almost incomprehensible. That leads to todays recipient of my highest praise. HOBBES!!!!!!!
There he is, on the right, holding on to wakefulnes by his two front teeth. Actually he has four teeth. Yes just four front teeth. The others are nubs from 14 years of tough living. Hobbes is the king of sleep, as are most cats I guess. The difference is Hobbes sleeps so that he can later achieve bouts of athletic prowess that are only dreamed of by other quadripeds. My guess is that his nightly jump onto the counter to search for butter, flour or food scraps has an opportunity energy cost of probably three hours sleep. It depends if he actually can get into the butter for nourishment. Not only is he extremely athletic. We, especially Amy, likes to think of Hobbes as something akin to a prototypical NFL DE. Kind of big, (16 lbs) yet very agile, quick and strong. If you walk by him he will showcase all three atributes by lulling you into a false sense of security by looking something like a hunting trophy rug. Then as you pass, usually with a drink or soup in hand, he stretches his disproportionately long arms out and wraps around your ankle. He then pulls his back legs into your anle and proceeds to "give you the business."
Of course that is exhausting, so Hobbes needs his rest. After a tough day he just wants to be alone, note the top left pic.
Hobbes' other great talent is his wits and opposable thumbs. He can actually open the latch to the basement door if we shut him down there. I have witnessed the feat with thine own eyes.
I could go on heaping credit on this well-deserving feline, but by the sounds of his whines i can sense Hobbes is a little famished and probably needs to sleep. He has been up almost seven hours, with but a little nap.

Hot or Not

Hot or Not
Wicked awesome stir fry for dinner; Bread and butter post ride sandwich
Scott Z off the front all day in Cali; CSC lead-out train, unless you ride for T-Mobile
US Olympic snowboarding; Jack-Ass Bode Miller
American Idol; Olympic figure skating
Saturday kick-ass ride; Sunday recovery ride in 20-30 mph wind
Sleeping in; 7:30 am conference call
Excel at your job; Kiss your bosses ass
12 year anniversary in 3 weeks; One week meeting in FL, the next day
Ebay; Ebay
Blogging; Blogging
Ipod while training; Not hearing the oncoming rednecks
Sopranos starts 3/12; $75/month for cable
Joey Cheek, total class; Jackasses Shani Davis & Chad Hedrick
Me being happy; Me being a cycnic

Music to my ears

Pick Pickler!!!!!!!!
That little hottie is half my age. WTF! The island of Mandisa was really good tonight, and the 17 year old prodigy who did Midnight train to Georgia was incredible.
On another note VH1 classic was rippin' on 2 for Tuesday tonight. Smiths: Sheila take a bow, Two old school U2 songs before Bono turned world saver and the Coupe de Gras Psych Furs (senior citizen version) Pretty in Pink live. Pretty in Pink is a personal fave from the days of Ducky at the dance. It was cool.
Speaking of Ducky, if you are not watching Two and a half men you are missing one of the best shows on TV. Funny beyonf belief, a lot of the humor is sexual and the FCC most be on the edge of their seats.
Poor Stevie opera is begging for her life as her sung was poor. Unfortunately is was not as piss poor as the chick who sang Because the night. Butchered a song I really enjoy, damn. I am just waiting for Simon to ask to bang her.
Hopefully the rest of the show is better.

Da girls

So I finally get home from my team ride today and Ames was watching our neices. Riley who is 4 and Maggie who is 2. They are quite the little pair. I walk in the door and Amy is in the obligatory lapper chair, laptop that is for all you depraved fiends. The girls are "hiding" on thefloor behind her. I play along saying I can not see them, they start to giggle. So now I threaten them with tickling unless they come out and say hello. More giggling, so it is tickle time. Now keep in mind, that I have been listening, yes listening to MRN on the way home and I know their is only 10 laps to go in Daytona. The predicament is that Charlotte's Web is on TV. So I "ask" the girls if I may change the show, and they agree as long as I "fly" them.
No problem, 10 laps, 5 minutes a few lifts in the air. So I pick one up and quickly lift them in the air and set them on the coach, then I pick the other up. Well the little shavers realize I can not really turn them down, so it is like a little production line. Lift, set down, pick up, lift set down and on and on. As I set one down and pick up the other, the one I just set down is now waiting for round 2,3,15,37. All of this as I try diligently to watch the end of the race. Damn cautions keep the game going far too long. Finally I made both of them sit down on the coach with me and watch the last two laps. I coached the oldest, Riley, to make sure she tells Mommy & Daddy that she watched NASCAR with Uncle Mike this weekend. That out to be priceless. Like when I tought a two year old Riley to do the "hook 'em horns" fingers and raise her arm above her head and say "Rock and Roll". SHe actually walked around for a while with her fingers in the Hook em Horns position. Damn I'm a cool uncle.
Well now I am doing laundry, some Lilly work, Ebay listing and getting ready for a well needed shower.
Good eve, all.

Meet & greet

This weekend was the official Meredith Group-GPOA team meeting, bonding, riding weekend. Of course it was wicked cold. Saturday was a team ride, but I missed it due to helping out at my buddy's shop. Holemes Cycling & Fitness for all of your cycling & fitness needs. After a day of retail I hopped in the Blaze and headed for Warminster. I arrive just in time to grab a beer say my hellos & intros, order food and set off to our meeting. After a delicious Italian take-out meal, compliments of our tireless DS Denny Dansak, we started the meeting. Basically it was lay out the rules of the road so to speak, figure our race schedule, and go over team & individual goals. After a very productive and and at times quite funny meeting it was almost 11:30. We parted ways to meet up at 11:00 for day two of team riding. I missed Saturday, but it seemed like a very good ride with 12 guys for 4+ hours. Sunday was about the same with eight of us and 4+ hours again. It was 19 degrees out when we started. Remarkably it really was not uncomfortable once my face was sufficiently numb. We hit out for 71 miles all told with some good paceline work and time to talk more with my new mates Steevo, Stubna and Geronimo. I was very impressed with the way everyone rode. A group of 5 of us pushed a 1-2 mile dirt climb and thatb felt good. I know I came away from the 36 hours with a great feeling about our team and how we are riding. With the firepower we have, it should be a successful year. I really think we will rise to the occasion and above at some big races. It will be great to lay it down to watch Jared, Nate, Rob, Geronimo et al finish it off. We have great workers and classy winners. This will be fun. Stay tuned for more as we get our fancy new steeds and their fancy new hoops.
Yeah boys & girls I am more excited than I have ever been to race. The team rocks!

What does it take?

So a lot of my cronies, as well as myself, are really riding the hours/miles right now. Which poses the question "What does it take to seperate yourself?" Is it more training, is it time in the gym, is it an ability to suffer, is it being willing to forgo things that others will not? Yes, to an extent.
Some people could ride twenty hours a week, yet never be able to sprint or climb or be willing to sacrifice. It is interesting to read of what seems to be a rennesaince of personal discovery. I look at my good friend Mike Miller. He has sacrificed more than anyone I know, to achieve his goals in cycling. I respect what he has achieved the last three years. Mike is the epitome of "what does it take?" This year I look at my new teammate Stephan. For anyone who has raced the road, you know of Stephan. He is pure talent. It was cool to see him come out last year and race again. With no team, he was always there. I look forward to trying to help him achieve his goals. Stephan has what it takes to be a champion.
The list is quite long with examples of people who have achieved great things, each to varying extents, have what it takes.
Are you willing to prepare longer, harder or smarter than your competition? When you do, remember that your work guaranteed you nothing. While you are doing your thing, so am I , and dozens of others who feel we are doing what it takes to win.
What does it take? If I knew, I sure as shit would not give it away.
Good luck to all my friends and competitors. We will soon see if I, you, them "have what it takes"

I have the shits of the, well, ... read on

So As I mentioned previously I have some sort of virus/bug/unwanted visitor in my lower GI that has now plagued me for four days. It is at least relatively predictable. Eat, wait one hour, experience gnarly cramps & stomach pains, then release.
So today I go out for a ride and am not feeling so physically weak so I start to push it a bit. Well, the same core muscles required to do some big gear efforts are also the same ones used to help in the release of my unwanted belly demons. So I am twenty minutes in, and I start to feel the rumbly in the tumbly, I think damn twenty minutes to the LA Twp park. I can make it. Well two minutes later Ring of Fire comes on the the Ipod and somewhere stirs the pot so to speak. I remember there is a new development going in about a mile away. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Positive talk and praying there is a Honey Pot at the site. I am in luck there is the sweet blue plastic depository. I fiddle with my helmet straps and unzip the jacket. while squeezing tight. I make in into the Porta not a second to soon. KerPow, Kazaam, oh oh oh that burning ring of fire, down, down , down the flames going higher. Oh the not so sweet irony.
Off I go for the rest of the ride. Over to the park to look at some course changes and the addition of a wicked long run section. Damn, feeling it again. I head home, another 45 minutes or so.
TESSIE FREAKIN' RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry. I get home and am undoing my jacket, helmet, pants everything. I scream inside . Off with the shoes, and to the bathroom yet again. Barely. Whew. Weigh myself, 152.6. That is not good. Five pounds since Saturday and I am eating.
Hopefully all is better tomorrow.
Gotta go, not to the bathroom that is.
Later
AI rocks!!!!!!!

Weekend rides

Bo f'ing ring!
Ames was away at Scrapapalooza III, so it was just me and Hobbes for the long weekend. I must say the high point of productivity was cutting back the ornamental grasses on Saturday. A whopping 30 minutes of work to my credit this weekend. Whew.
I figured it was a good weekend to get in some killer rides and not feel guilty about being gone all day. Entertained thoughts of driving to my new teammate, Stephan's place and going on a long ride with him. However, the season is long and less time spent driving somewhere to ride won out for Saturday. I decided to ride to Linglestown to meet up with the Faulkner Honda team and join their ride, then ride home. Since I was looking for 5 hours this would be the ticket, and it was. A relatively hard first hour or so got me to the ride, then 2 1/2 hours of pretty easy riding with FHR ( Watts went from 220 @ 1hr to 185 at 3.5 hours), then refuel and head home.
My old high school hoops coach rung in my mind. I could hear him scream. "Andy Miller" what is the shortest distance between two points?" " A straight freakin' line." That is another story altogether. My straight line took me over an 8%'er for a mile, and the steep .5 mile pitch to my house. Time to gear down and just get over them. I did, and it felt good to end with two climbs. 5:08 and 92 miles in for the day.
Sunday awoke to cool air and threat of rain. I better go soon. Rolled out at 10:00, and at 10:05 the rain started. Thank goodness I was rockin' the new Craft rain pants & rain jacket. I finally prepared. Zero power as i managed to also get sick somehow Saturday and purged everything from my system. So 1.5 raining hours of 38 degrees later I get home and dry off. Immediately the rain stops and within 30 minutes the sun peaks out and the temps rise. Stupid weatherman and his pm rain.
Well I did not purge everything, as I spent the rest of Sunday close to the bathroom. What a shitty day literally & proverbially. Even Desperate Housewives was a repeat.
I hope today is better, although 7:30 am Monday Conf calls are usually not harbingers of good news.
Later.

Guilty Pleasures

I must confess to being an American Idol fan. The first weeks are equal parts entertaining and equal parts disturbing for me. It amazes me that people think they are the least bit talented. I mean it would be as if I were to audition, I freakin' suck. What people will do for their 15 minutes, is kind of comical.
Ice Cream and/or chocolate, when that stuff is in the house, I eat it like it is my job. In the 8th grade I went a complete marking period eating two ice cream sandwiches and a container of chocolate milk for lunch. It was sweet, literally and proverbially
Bike stuff. Yes I am a bike geek. Wheels, tires, bikes, etc... you name it I dream of it, then I buy it, then I sell it. At last count the Holmes cycling & fitness crew had me at 32 bikes in my "riding life", number 33 is on the way.
Beer. I like beer. hmmmm beer, I like beer.
Those are a good start

In the Ipod, on the road

Here is a small sample of some Ipod tunes and how they rock to ride.
I am going to be a coach and do whole training programs based solely on songlists.

David Gray, This year's love. Good easy spin tune
The Verve, Lucky Man. see above
Black Crowes, Sometimes Salvation. Tempo
Kiss, Christine Sixteen. Jumps
Eminem, Lose Yourself. Four minutes of interval pain
Neil Young, After the Gold Rush. Immediately after the M
Kid Rock, Black Chick White Guy. 12 minutes of 50-11. Yes I said 50. New sprint secret.
The Smiths, How soon is now. Ames knows.
Johnny Cash, I've been everywhere. Fast pedal 120 rpm sets

Just a taste. So all you Ipod riders, what are you listening to when you hit the road?

Million dollar baby

I just watched this flick, DVR is great. Way more than a boxing movie. I was all set to ramble philosophically on this, but just do not think I could do justice to the depth of the movie. I do tend to wear my heart/feelings on my sleeve at times, and this film was quite moving for me. The last hour really poses two very deep questions.

How far will you go for someone else?

Really, how far will you go, to the Uni-Mart for chips?
Giant for tampons?
Miss a race for a dinner?
Would you give an organ if it meant you will save a life at the expense not being able to live the same life you lead now?
Would you do as Clint had to do in Million dollar baby? I will not spoil the ending.

If your life ended today, did you live a full life?

OK, so not your everyday stupid myopic cycling blather.

By the numbers

1 Gears on the bike I have been riding
2 Fenders on the bike when it rains
3 Number of people who read this blog
4 Days until the MAC Hoo Ha
5 Straight seasons of 50+ races
6 Part of the name of a new road frame???
7 Complete bikes I have built up presently
8 Cogs on Gunnar's bike, 1 speed (fast)
9 Races in the MAC for 2006
10 Speed Dura-Ace, sweet
11 Speed needed to achieve 56 rpm's on the fixie
12 ounces in the Victory beer I had with dinner
13 Second part of the name of a new frame???
17 Fixed gear cog
19 Seasons of racing
20.6 Average speed for my last 30 minutes on the fixie tonight
21 Scarlett Johannson's age. New Time mag pic is not shabby
27 Bail out cog
28 Average speed of a Cat 2 crit
29 Average speed of a Cat 1,2 crit
30 Average speed of a Pro crit. ProCrit, that was funny. Get it, EPO. Brand name ProCrit.
34 How old you need to be to race in the 35+ category
35 Meaningless actual age
36 Top speed in a fixed gear sprint, actually 36.3
39 My actual age on 9/4/06
40 My racing age on 12/17/06. Cool how that works.
48 "Points" I have with Lilly, on 10/1/06. Need 80 to retire decently
55 The age at which I could retire and be professional blogger
Good night

On the road again

It is back to training for the road season again. After a massive 8 day off-season, I started with some easy 90 minute rides 12/18. Now three weeks later I am enjoying putting in the time. I had a great ride with a teammate, Fred Billet, on Friday. 2 1/2 hours around Valley Forge and the Philly bike path to manayunk and back. It was awesome to be with someone, riding and catching up. Fred is such a great guy and it made the time in the saddle more enjoyable. I do 90% of my training alone and without ever seeing another rider. Friday we saw probably two dozen people on the path. Keep in mind it was 37 out and in Jan. It is cool to see people exercising, commuting, training and just enjoying being on a bike.
The season is rolling around and the team, Meredith Group-GPOA has a weekend get-together next weekend in Philly. Hopefully we can figure out the priorities and see where we are in regards to fitness. With Nats in 7 Springs this year I am sure the PA crowd will be flying in the early season, so time spent riding now, is well spent.
The team has picked up Cannondale as a bike sponsor this year. Suffice it to say that the sponsorship agreement is very good. I can not wait to get aboard my new steed and get rolling. With another three weeks of base/JRA I should be ready to start putting down some efforts in Feb. I try to get in 1,000 miles of base before any efforts start. That way I can get some endurance back after cross eason. Until next time.

Walk the Line

Ames & I saw the Johnny Cash flick "Walk the Line" last evening. It was an interesting story of what makes a person tick. It was a study in how your earlist life experiences ultimately mold who you are and how you react to things. As the film went on, it seemingly portrayed Cash as he was. There was no glossing over the fact he was an addict for a certain period in his life. That he loved June from early childhood, and never thought it was wrong to keep loving her while he was married to his first wife. I love Biopic movies. I also enjoy seeing things that show the whole story, without the removal of the unseemly details. If I am not mistaken Cash's daughters were less than happy upon seeing the movie screening. I can see why. The flick concentrated on the side of their father that probably caused them the most pain.
I left the movie with a greater understanding of one of the most inflential country artists ever. I also walked away with a deeper appreciation of the power of passion and the heights it can take you. If you have not seen the movie, check it out. If you do not own any Cash in your music library, well that is your loss. Cash is not everyday listening, but it is required listening.

Powers that be

Sometimes the logic of major companies escapes me. I will focus on the beloved Colonel today. Not Sanders, but Colonel Eli Lilly. I work for Eli Lilly Pharma in a Neuroscience position. We went through a realignment in November, to better align with our customers. I agree that we have WAY too many reps in our company, as does Pfizer, BMS, Merck and the other players. The bad should be pared away. I am all for that. Stop promoting 23-24 year old kids with no experience, but are willing to move to Indy to do some job for 18 months and then be christened a manager. Thet have no skills, except they were "geo flexible".
Sorry, I digress.
So people were realigned and some of the consequences were wacky. People living in a town, yet not having that town, and having to drive 1 hour to get to their territory. People who never sold a drug, no picking up a new drug and dropping what the sold in the past. Who knows. Go along with the flow & hope it works out. I am trying to change territories so that i can go back to selling something that I believe in & understand, vs something I have never sold. Does that not make sense? I will find out soon enough.

2:13

How long it took me to blow today while on the fixie. Still had three little hills to go and 4 miles to go. It took 17 painful minutes to finish up. BLECH! I was so slow the last climb past Super Rutters I took the sidewalk to avoid the no shoulder road. Some old Biatch still found the nerve to lay on the horn as she passed!?! WTF!
The first 1:45 was sweet, feeling good, rolling the hills. Then the drink 1/2 a bottle of water caught up to me. Stopped for a Coke and mixed in the bottle, but that only lasted well, you do the math, 28 minutes.
Still fun to ride & not be working. That will lead to my next post.

For the record

The infamous bet w/ my lovely wife is as follows. She gets $100 if I dump my fixie bfore 3/1/06, due to me forgetting it is a fixie and launching myself to the ground while trying to coast or forgetting to keep pedaling.
The incident in question was just stupid ice road skidding. Downhill sheet of ice. One 1968 Dia-Compe brake creating a controlled pedalling skid.
She will not get one red cent from that little debacle.

Fixie fun???

Not really. Rode w/ DK today. We said we would ride last evening, I decided it would be a straight and flat shot then return. Boring yes, but good for fixed gear. Easy to keep 19, and few hills. Well for some reason I turned off on a road that I knew put us into some serious rollers. Rollers suck for the fixie. I have got it to where I can keep 25 relatively comfortably for extended downhills. The shit is, that is 150 rpm's. So when the geared guys are coasting I am spinning sick. Yeah, it was harder than I wanted, but it was fun. Not much conversation since I was constantly way behind on descents, then busting it to catch on before the next roller. To ad insults to injury I slid out on some downhill ice & railed my knee. Pretty sore right now, and three of my ribs have distinct scrapes and bruises. Pretty funny looking actually.
Next time I institute winter gear restrictions w/ Gus, 53-23 or 38-16. I will be nice and allow coasting though.
Ames ripped up a killer broccoli casserole and spiced up chicken for dinner. Damn fine. Played some cribbage w/ Wendy later, Amy won by one peg. Damn! Henze & Bob get home Wednesday, it will be good to see them. Rumor has it, the Island Bar will be open Friday night.
Christmas just around the corner now and I am done shopping. The internet has made me even more of a hermit than before. I do most stuff online and love it.
Till the next time.

Cut & paste

Yes, all i am doing is a cut & paste from my guest blogging.
This is new though. Pretty f'in epic. Actually gave me goose bumps as i watched #9 & 10.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2116229454&code=19696083&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite


MidAtlanticCross
gossip and fun, not UCI points
« first thoughts
Wanting More… »
Too much…
…happened in four days to write about it. I would do a disservice, trying to mention it all. This blog will be a one-two word timeline train of thought. Hold on tight.bikes wheels clothes 5 1/2 hour drive Legal Seafood Weather Channel Yozell roomie pre-ride FORT arrivals Lemongrass vegetarians VOC dimebags home on the range snow Gunnar Fergie pouring rain slush race wind sleet whiteout numb freezing disoriented scared crying convulsing blubbering disrobed Bill savior Carharts Lemongrass French coffee hot numb fingers General Tso Wittwer Steiner peppers team pic beer juniors cheering Betsy pitting elites Dieter amazing Selander future Wells otherworldly Wells otherworldy meeting boring dinner good friends good Troy mohawk Liberty Cup Wells wow drink Lemongrass 737 tunes friends toasts party skinsuits condoms musette hats Wittwer Gunnar Melodie Metzgar Velo Bellas Wicks ethiopian AC AB bathroom piggybacks cooler crash ham sammies security guards musette vomit bags crowded beds cock blocks plasma remote security guard armwrestlingsock gloves tractor trailer diners bed gas driveThere you go. Four days in a nutshell.
Special thanks to Bill & Ryan Leach for looking out for my wellbeing Friday, thank you.
Gregg Dion for your support & generosity.
Amy for your understanding of this obsession/passion.

B-Day

Since the three or four people who may actually look at this know I race bikes, I will try to stay away from that topic. Ames B-day today thirty-seven. Damn near her whole office, 28 people, went out to celebrate with her on Friday. I was so moved by the outpouring of friendship, I felt obliged to cover the bar tab. Money well worth it. To see Ames and all her friends & co-workers enjoying themselves was awesome. Tonight we are going to Stock's on 2nd for dinner with Roxnne & Trooper McCombs. IRox is one of Ames best friends. I have dubbed them lesbo lovers, aka donut bumpers. Rox persona is Boston Creme, while Amy's is French Kruller. So, I made the dinner reseervations under Kruller. I will probably not be able to keep a straight face tonight as I approach the Maitre d', Kruller party of four.
Should be fun, good food, good drinks and good fun.
NATS, HDTV and Wireless all to come. I know, so thrilling. Welcome to my world. Actually it is pretty freakin' good, and I enjoy it immensely.