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.