That's right folks... as a sequel to the amazing non-seller It's Not About the Road Rash, we have the heart wrenching story of one man's quest to escape the clutches of paper tape and non-stick bandages and his loving wife's dreams of not being woken up at 5:30 every day to bandage his ass.
I think tomorrow may be a bandage free day. I'm down to one on what was clearly the worst spot and I think even that has made it far enough finally. Add to that my first comeback trainer ride (is it a comeback if you were only down two weeks?) last night and I think this crash story may be coming to an end. That is until the next race I get in and I pansy out when things get hairy. I'm probably inside for a few more days and then maybe next week I'll be brave enough to ride in if I have a bike back. The car crash bike is going to be rebuilt starting tomorrow so that will take a bit. The race crash bike is just waiting on new bars and I should have that soon (expected it today). Fortunately I had the single-speed for last night... further proof that you can't have too many bikes.
So totally switching gears... how does a 6 year old lose his sneakers... in the house? He wore them Sunday to dinner, got home, and did something with them. He wouldn't have needed them yesterday or today for school and then they were gone when I went looking for his t-ball stuff tonight. All I can come up with is that they're in the "baby's" room (he's sleeping so I can't exactly flip the light on) or the baby wandered off with them somewhere. We have this little 8x10 mud room that we always go in and out through so there's no reason they wouldn't be there... oh except for they aren't. Anywho... just realized most people don't care about my son's shoes, but then again Kerry found it worthwhile to remind us of Dylan McKay or whatever his name was so I can ramble about shoes I guess... ah the beauty of blog land... ramble at will and people can ignore as needed.
Time for dinner for me and the wife... yes it's almost 9 p.m. Such is life...
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
A day of chasing
OK, so my job was to chase the pack, but that's besides the point. Saturday's course vehicle experience was kinda fun and the 3 hours went by much quicker than expected. If you're a NASCAR fan in the regards of itching to see the next guy wreck at 200mph, then it wasn't a very exciting race... not so much as a flat tire. Otherwise it was moderately interesting. For me, the good part was 3 hours of ridealong with the USCF official and getting to see what goes on behind the scenes and find out what really drives them nuts and what they'll write your number down for. Note to racers: if you're wandering over or around the yellow line and either the moto drives up next to you and lays on the horn or the follow car lays on the horn, move the f over and stay there. It doesn't mean sneak to the right of the line for a second and then jump back out to move up in the field. If the roads had been wider and we could have gotten the truck up next to the field, the official was ready to just start pulling the repeat offenders. It's also funny to hear the radio chatter that happens during a somewhat uneventful race. We were trying to come up with a plan to get a 25mph handoff of some chocolate cones or iced-coffees, but we never pulled it together.
In other news, I'm one step closer to being back. I got clearance today to resume biking activity that doesn't hurt. First trial will be tonight on the trainer. I've only got one gear since the SS is the only non-wrecked, non-mountain bike at my disposal so hopefully that keeps me in check. I looked at the calendar and if I'm lucky I can still make Housatonic which was hopefully going to be a big one for me. We'll see how the next few weeks pan out.
Hopefully everyone was good to all forms of moms yesterday. The fam congregated at my sister's house in the morning and then last night I tried to keep my wife from doing very much at all. We took her to dinner and then I pulled 3 baths, 3 sets of teeth, and 3 rounds of get into bed rodeo. Fortunately all three were beat and very willingly crashed into the pillow. Mmmmm, sleep...
In other news, I'm one step closer to being back. I got clearance today to resume biking activity that doesn't hurt. First trial will be tonight on the trainer. I've only got one gear since the SS is the only non-wrecked, non-mountain bike at my disposal so hopefully that keeps me in check. I looked at the calendar and if I'm lucky I can still make Housatonic which was hopefully going to be a big one for me. We'll see how the next few weeks pan out.
Hopefully everyone was good to all forms of moms yesterday. The fam congregated at my sister's house in the morning and then last night I tried to keep my wife from doing very much at all. We took her to dinner and then I pulled 3 baths, 3 sets of teeth, and 3 rounds of get into bed rodeo. Fortunately all three were beat and very willingly crashed into the pillow. Mmmmm, sleep...
Friday, May 11, 2007
An argument for exercise
So I've convinced myself that my rapid healing over the past several days is a result of being in shape in the first place. I figure if you have your shit together to start with, all the wound fighters can work their magic on the busted up stuff without having to worry about anything else. It certainly helps that my lack of training (a big number of hours out of my calendar) has given me more time to sleep. Sleep=good especially for rebuilding. So get out there and get your shit together kids... you'll be happy you did the next time you hurt yourself.
So check the sidebar... some updated linkage. Felt a little weird not only linking Solo but also nicknaming him since I don't know him, but a) the dude's got some good stuff to read, and b) you get the other side of the G vs. Solo bickering that way :) I stole G's reference as a nickname because I found it amusing. I'll buy him some coffee for the copyright violation. Need to do some profile updates to put some more stuff about me out there... I'll get to it at some point.
It looks like the sky is about to explode outside so that'll put a damper on a nice walk after lunch. Guess I'll put it off till later if things let up.
Working Sterling as a driver tomorrow so that'll be fun. May be less fun if I pull trail car for the pro race since it'll be 3.5 hours of watching a bunch of dude's asses. Oh well... can't always be the one benefitting from the volunteers. If you're not signed up for Sterling, show up and register. Great race. Some of the big name domestic dopers, uh, racers have even ridden and won there so that can be your link to near fame for the weekend.
So check the sidebar... some updated linkage. Felt a little weird not only linking Solo but also nicknaming him since I don't know him, but a) the dude's got some good stuff to read, and b) you get the other side of the G vs. Solo bickering that way :) I stole G's reference as a nickname because I found it amusing. I'll buy him some coffee for the copyright violation. Need to do some profile updates to put some more stuff about me out there... I'll get to it at some point.
It looks like the sky is about to explode outside so that'll put a damper on a nice walk after lunch. Guess I'll put it off till later if things let up.
Working Sterling as a driver tomorrow so that'll be fun. May be less fun if I pull trail car for the pro race since it'll be 3.5 hours of watching a bunch of dude's asses. Oh well... can't always be the one benefitting from the volunteers. If you're not signed up for Sterling, show up and register. Great race. Some of the big name domestic dopers, uh, racers have even ridden and won there so that can be your link to near fame for the weekend.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Good, Bad, or Ugly?
So the f'd up leg thing... well it's pretty f'd up. I've reached a point that during any given day I flop between wondering if there's permanent damage to thinking maybe I can get out for a ride in the next few days. I can tell for certain that there will be no running for quite some time which has it's own long-term issues, but one thing at a time. A lot of the swelling is gone, but it still varies a bit by time of day and what I've been doing. The bruising will probably take another week or two to fade since it was caused by bleeding from whatever ruptured and was really severe and widespread. It currently feels like you'd expect a really severe groin pull to feel, but it also extends further than that. If I've been either sitting or standing for too long and I switch to the other, I get horrible aching pains that run down the whole inner part of my leg down to my knee. It fades but takes a few minutes sometimes. If I've been sitting too long, I'm really really stiff when I stand up and limp pretty bad for a few minutes. If I walk for long enough the whole thing really loosens up pretty well, but I still have a slight hitch in my step where I can't really reach too far forward with the good leg because it stretches the bad side too much. I did walk up the 4 flights of stairs at work the last 2 mornings and that really didn't make it better or worse. The stairs part definitely did not hurt in and of itself so maybe I'm getting close to trainer rides where there's no risk of falling or sudden dismounts. Follow up appointment on Monday and I'm going to try and keep being good till then. I am going to try and swing the sticks a few times over the next few days and see if a quick round of 9 in the wee hours of Sunday morning is safe. Even if I play horribly, which is a good prediction, I'd feel better about getting out for 90 minutes or so Sunday a.m. and doing something semi-active.
Oatmeal is gone... time to work.
Oatmeal is gone... time to work.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Ok, now what do I do?
Last night was my final exam for the spring semester. I procrastinated like never before and went into yesterday horribly unprepared so I bagged out at 1 and went to hide on campus for a few hours to cram. This was a rare case where I think I retained some knowledge from my cramming because I had just lacked the hours to increase my understanding and it wasn't that I was learning it for the first time. It worked out well because a girl from class came in about 90 minutes before the start to study and she helped me out with some stuff that I just wasn't getting. Turns out that was a major part of the exam so it paid off huge. Too bad the stuff I understood that I was helping her out with wasn't on there anywhere. It was one of these exams where I either got 100 or a 0. The mid-term took me 2 hours and 10 minutes and I was like the third one done. This one took me an hour 20 and that was with doing a recheck. I was definitely that guy who finishes when other people are only half way through and the panic sets in with them as I pick up my stuff and go.
So now that that class is done, I've got over a month with no school commitments, possibly a month of no serious training if any at all, and work is still sort of slow. Hmmmm... what to do. I told my wife that our house is going to be gorgeous by the time I'm allowed back on the bike if it goes a while. There's no way I'm going to sit and do nothing so maybe I can catch up on everything I've been putting off. Not my first choice, but an acceptable short-term fill in since I wish I had more time to do mini-projects anyways. I think I'm also going to try and get some golf in since my neighbor is a golf junkie and I've got a couple tournaments this summer. I can probably walk 9, but if we go a full round I'll have to take a cart for now.
So advice to bike racers... keep your road rash covered and moist and it heals amazingly fast. I've got spots that I was sure were going to be weeks in healing and they're almost gone. I've got a spot on my leg that wasn't bad so I never covered it and it's probably going to take the longest. I found one really good article here. This one helped a lot.
My torn whateveritis in my leg is still pretty f'd up, but more about that later.
So now that that class is done, I've got over a month with no school commitments, possibly a month of no serious training if any at all, and work is still sort of slow. Hmmmm... what to do. I told my wife that our house is going to be gorgeous by the time I'm allowed back on the bike if it goes a while. There's no way I'm going to sit and do nothing so maybe I can catch up on everything I've been putting off. Not my first choice, but an acceptable short-term fill in since I wish I had more time to do mini-projects anyways. I think I'm also going to try and get some golf in since my neighbor is a golf junkie and I've got a couple tournaments this summer. I can probably walk 9, but if we go a full round I'll have to take a cart for now.
So advice to bike racers... keep your road rash covered and moist and it heals amazingly fast. I've got spots that I was sure were going to be weeks in healing and they're almost gone. I've got a spot on my leg that wasn't bad so I never covered it and it's probably going to take the longest. I found one really good article here. This one helped a lot.
My torn whateveritis in my leg is still pretty f'd up, but more about that later.
Friday, May 04, 2007
It's not about the road rash
Minimal whining today. Stuff hurts. Stuff is healing. I'll live. And like I said before, man am I going to be pissed when I come back. How many days till cross?
Not much on tap for the weekend. Was going to do the MTB race in RI on Sunday, but... Usual Saturday morning chaos tomorrow and then dinner with some old friends tomorrow night. Sunday I may attempt to hobble around and mow the lawn. I sort of have no choice because I'll need to buy livestock soon if I don't cut it and I refuse to let a few week setback fuel any desires to buy a riding mower. I can run 50 miles... I can walk around the yard for 90 minutes and cut the grass even if it is on 1.5 legs.
Good luck to anyone racing Jiminy or Blue Hills this weekend (or Glocester for the dirt inclined). If you're not signed up for Sterling, do it. That blue team hooks you up with a great race and the weather can't possibly be worse than last year :) I think I'm driving a lead or trail car for the afternoon so hope to see people there.
Not much on tap for the weekend. Was going to do the MTB race in RI on Sunday, but... Usual Saturday morning chaos tomorrow and then dinner with some old friends tomorrow night. Sunday I may attempt to hobble around and mow the lawn. I sort of have no choice because I'll need to buy livestock soon if I don't cut it and I refuse to let a few week setback fuel any desires to buy a riding mower. I can run 50 miles... I can walk around the yard for 90 minutes and cut the grass even if it is on 1.5 legs.
Good luck to anyone racing Jiminy or Blue Hills this weekend (or Glocester for the dirt inclined). If you're not signed up for Sterling, do it. That blue team hooks you up with a great race and the weather can't possibly be worse than last year :) I think I'm driving a lead or trail car for the afternoon so hope to see people there.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Reality sets in
So the extent of my injuries is really starting to set in... I figure I've got at least a week before nothing stings in the shower. If anything the progress on the torn muscle has been backwards. The bruises are going to be here for a while. On Sunday when I was still being super optimistic I seriously considered setting up the single-speed on a trainer to see if I could pedal. Right now it doesn't sound like a good idea or even a little fun. Some of this will be funny some day... it took me 5 minutes to put on socks this morning. My wife will hear years of jokes about having to bandage my ass. I'll have scars that I can show off and say with a smile "Hey, remember that time I got launched in the finish at Sturbridge... man that sucked". Today however I have to stay real still and hope I don't rub anything the wrong way. That is for the 30 minutes or so that I stay sitting before I have to move around in order to keep my leg loose. Argh, this is hard.
On the positive side, I've got a couple areas that are almost bandage free and according to my wife I somehow had a good healing day yesterday. I've also started formulating my negotiation plan with the doctor and a list of activities that may not aggravate the injury... stairs don't hurt, rowing might work, if I'm real careful throwing a leg over and I stay inside I think I can pedal. I know there's no need to push it, but not pushing it and trying not to lose your mind are two different things.
I'm hoping for good news from insurance land today or tomorrow. Waiting on confirmation that they have all the documents and then an estimate of when they hope to resolve this. I'm hoping the answer is quickly, but I've obviously got some time to get the bike back.
On the positive side, I've got a couple areas that are almost bandage free and according to my wife I somehow had a good healing day yesterday. I've also started formulating my negotiation plan with the doctor and a list of activities that may not aggravate the injury... stairs don't hurt, rowing might work, if I'm real careful throwing a leg over and I stay inside I think I can pedal. I know there's no need to push it, but not pushing it and trying not to lose your mind are two different things.
I'm hoping for good news from insurance land today or tomorrow. Waiting on confirmation that they have all the documents and then an estimate of when they hope to resolve this. I'm hoping the answer is quickly, but I've obviously got some time to get the bike back.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Choosing to be positive
The dojo the boys go to is always good for posting inspirational and/or informational articles and stories on the wall. The latest is this big long story about the guy who's obnoxiously positive all the time and he tells the guy who asks him that he realized at some point that he wakes up every day with the choice to be positive or to be negative about what happens to him and he chooses to look on the bright side. He later falls off a tower and is in real bad shape. He's being wheeled into the OR and he can see that the doctors are thinking he's a goner. The nurse is asking him if he's allergic to anything and he yells out "Yes... gravity!" When everyone stops laughing he tells them he's not going anywhere and they better treat him that way. In any case... if I can ever find an electronic copy of the whole thing, I'll post it.
So I'm trying my best to make that positive choice. In the span of 4 days I got hit by a car and then threw my body awkwardly into pavement at high speed while wearing 2 oz of clothing and a plastic bowl on my head. I have no broken bones, I was able to kiss my boys goodnight, and my mental function is no worse than it was before. Yes I'm down and out for way longer than I think I can tolerate, but I'm here. Ask me again in 4 weeks if I'm able to be as chipper, but for today I'll be corny and sappy.
It's only been about 60 hours and the 12" x 3" scab on my shin didn't sting in the shower today... see, I'm getting there already.
So I'm trying my best to make that positive choice. In the span of 4 days I got hit by a car and then threw my body awkwardly into pavement at high speed while wearing 2 oz of clothing and a plastic bowl on my head. I have no broken bones, I was able to kiss my boys goodnight, and my mental function is no worse than it was before. Yes I'm down and out for way longer than I think I can tolerate, but I'm here. Ask me again in 4 weeks if I'm able to be as chipper, but for today I'll be corny and sappy.
It's only been about 60 hours and the 12" x 3" scab on my shin didn't sting in the shower today... see, I'm getting there already.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Down and out
I'll keep this short to avoid veering off into a flaming rant...
Diagnosis from the doctor is a likely 6 weeks of no leg-related aerobic exercise. I've got a significant tear of some tendon in my right groin and it just need to heal and the stuff around it needs to strengthen to support it. Progress check in 2 weeks so I'll behave until then, but then we'll see how limited I am. Keep that cross counter rolling G... I'm going to be good and pissed by then so it looks like cross may have to be my main season after all.
Diagnosis from the doctor is a likely 6 weeks of no leg-related aerobic exercise. I've got a significant tear of some tendon in my right groin and it just need to heal and the stuff around it needs to strengthen to support it. Progress check in 2 weeks so I'll behave until then, but then we'll see how limited I am. Keep that cross counter rolling G... I'm going to be good and pissed by then so it looks like cross may have to be my main season after all.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
I could have taken a more subtle hint
If someone out there doesn't want me riding a bike, why couldn't they have just gotten them stolen or something? Yesterday, my week went from bad to ridiculous.
Headed out to Sturbridge for the 3/4 race yesterday. This was my first 3/4 road race and really I don't remember if I've done any 4 or 4/5 races since I upgraded. Racing up builds character (or something). Field was probably about 100 and the weather was quite nice... shorts and short sleeves all the way even though I saw several sets of arm and knee warmers around. The race was 7 laps of a reportedly 7 mile loop, although my computer at the end of the race said something like 43.5 miles so they rounded up I guess. We rolled out last on the day and the rollout was uneventful even though I did end up at the back which worried me for a second in case some guys were ambitious and took off. Not to worry though as NEBC sent one guy up the road like they do in every race I've ever been in, but we knew he'd be back. About a mile past the S/F line, there's a REALLY sketchy right turn that's about 130 degrees and sort of off-camber. Amazingly there were no serious mishaps on that turn, but it's always a tough one because it goes mildly downhill after and guys always go screaming off of the turn. If you're too far back it requires quite a sprint to stay on. Then it's probably close to a mile uphill, most of it almost false-flat-ish, but the last 400m or so is legit, although still big-ringable. Legs were responding very well on the uphill and I just followed the pace of the crowd. Then it's a short screaming down, some flats, a keep you honest short uphill, and then the finish stretch of about 1.5k which is really fast. The RD managed to arrange closed road for the entire loop which is amazing, but it was only partially meaningful for most of the race because there were cars coming the other way the whole race. I will throw out props to the Blue Angels who lead/trail the fields at this race on their m'cycles and do an awesome job.
It's fair to say that for whatever reason, the field was just plain sketchy. We'd go from like 23 to 18 in 2 seconds on an open section of road with nobody off the front. I almost got taken out going up the hill because some guy squeezed me, I got my bars partially hooked, and then me and that guy had to untangle on the move. I got elbowed into the left gutter even though I clearly had a lane. Then I had to return the favor to a guy who tried to squeeze me off the road on the right. I think the whole open road thing hurt in this case because everyone wanted the front row even though nobody wanted to do anything when they got there. We even had a crash on lap one on a dead flat section of the widest road. There was a steady stream of 1-4 guys who'd go off the front, their team(s) might try to block a little, and they'd get maybe 20-30 seconds max. On lap 4, partially as an experiment, I tried a solo bridge up to 2 guys who were out about 20 seconds. I got off the front pretty easily and then realized I had one with me. This could have been good because 4 of us might have stayed off for a while, but I got 2/3 of the way and realized I just didn't have enough legs. I sat up just before the keep-you-honest hill so I could get a breath and latch back on. Other than that nonsense, I just tried to stay invisible and do very little work.
With 1 to go, I made sure I was in the front third. I was probably 20th going through the sketchy turn and then stayed near the front on the long hill and followed pace. I hauled up the last hill and got 15th or 20th through the last turn onto the finish road. Then things blew up. Instead of one of the teams that had 4 or 5 gunning it and forming the pointy end of the race, it almost immediately went like 6 or 7 wide with everyone filling the whole road. There was maybe a 3 guy train on the right, but then it was just a mass of speeding bikers. I was staying left and catching on to guys going forward with the hopes that we'd be the fast line and we'd surprise the right train. I was in an ok position, but looking back now, I might have been able to get in the top 20, but I wasn't going to win from where I was. With about 500m to go, some guy to the right of me squeezed over and all hell broke loose. I tried to hold him off, but got pushed far enough left that I think my front wheel caught on something and I got launched forwards. One other guy got taken out too and I honestly don't know if he hit me or if he got knocked down also. One guy who was on the back said all of a sudden he just looked up and saw my bike about 10 feet in the air. The good news is no bones broken and my squash is intact. I have more road rash than anyone deserves and if you must know, a lot of it is on my ass which is making for a very pleasant experience. The most concerning injury is some sort of groin muscle pull or tear that I could feel pop during the crash. It's swollen and almost feels like there's something missing where there should be a muscle.
The bright side, if there is one, is that I definitely had the fitness going on. Computer said avg speed of 24.5 mph, avg HR 145, max 175, distance 43.5ish. I looked down at one point on the finish road about half way through the race and HR was 119. Let's see how long it takes me to get back on the horse, that is when I have one to get back on. I've got one road bike that's trapped in insurance land and another that needs a damage assessment. I've got two wrecked Ksyriums and who knows what else. We'll see if they can be rebuilt or what. I've still got the SS and the mountain bike, so we'll see when me leg lets me get out.
There you go G... how's that for a report? Oh, I did see Kerry at the race. She said it was a pack finish in the women's pro and looked semi-satisfied. My teammate saw her later and says "Pink wheels... that's awesome!" :) There you go Kerry, tell the sponsors the crowd likes 'em too.
That's all bike racers and friends. Time to go change some bandages. Oh, and by the way, hold your lines please.
Headed out to Sturbridge for the 3/4 race yesterday. This was my first 3/4 road race and really I don't remember if I've done any 4 or 4/5 races since I upgraded. Racing up builds character (or something). Field was probably about 100 and the weather was quite nice... shorts and short sleeves all the way even though I saw several sets of arm and knee warmers around. The race was 7 laps of a reportedly 7 mile loop, although my computer at the end of the race said something like 43.5 miles so they rounded up I guess. We rolled out last on the day and the rollout was uneventful even though I did end up at the back which worried me for a second in case some guys were ambitious and took off. Not to worry though as NEBC sent one guy up the road like they do in every race I've ever been in, but we knew he'd be back. About a mile past the S/F line, there's a REALLY sketchy right turn that's about 130 degrees and sort of off-camber. Amazingly there were no serious mishaps on that turn, but it's always a tough one because it goes mildly downhill after and guys always go screaming off of the turn. If you're too far back it requires quite a sprint to stay on. Then it's probably close to a mile uphill, most of it almost false-flat-ish, but the last 400m or so is legit, although still big-ringable. Legs were responding very well on the uphill and I just followed the pace of the crowd. Then it's a short screaming down, some flats, a keep you honest short uphill, and then the finish stretch of about 1.5k which is really fast. The RD managed to arrange closed road for the entire loop which is amazing, but it was only partially meaningful for most of the race because there were cars coming the other way the whole race. I will throw out props to the Blue Angels who lead/trail the fields at this race on their m'cycles and do an awesome job.
It's fair to say that for whatever reason, the field was just plain sketchy. We'd go from like 23 to 18 in 2 seconds on an open section of road with nobody off the front. I almost got taken out going up the hill because some guy squeezed me, I got my bars partially hooked, and then me and that guy had to untangle on the move. I got elbowed into the left gutter even though I clearly had a lane. Then I had to return the favor to a guy who tried to squeeze me off the road on the right. I think the whole open road thing hurt in this case because everyone wanted the front row even though nobody wanted to do anything when they got there. We even had a crash on lap one on a dead flat section of the widest road. There was a steady stream of 1-4 guys who'd go off the front, their team(s) might try to block a little, and they'd get maybe 20-30 seconds max. On lap 4, partially as an experiment, I tried a solo bridge up to 2 guys who were out about 20 seconds. I got off the front pretty easily and then realized I had one with me. This could have been good because 4 of us might have stayed off for a while, but I got 2/3 of the way and realized I just didn't have enough legs. I sat up just before the keep-you-honest hill so I could get a breath and latch back on. Other than that nonsense, I just tried to stay invisible and do very little work.
With 1 to go, I made sure I was in the front third. I was probably 20th going through the sketchy turn and then stayed near the front on the long hill and followed pace. I hauled up the last hill and got 15th or 20th through the last turn onto the finish road. Then things blew up. Instead of one of the teams that had 4 or 5 gunning it and forming the pointy end of the race, it almost immediately went like 6 or 7 wide with everyone filling the whole road. There was maybe a 3 guy train on the right, but then it was just a mass of speeding bikers. I was staying left and catching on to guys going forward with the hopes that we'd be the fast line and we'd surprise the right train. I was in an ok position, but looking back now, I might have been able to get in the top 20, but I wasn't going to win from where I was. With about 500m to go, some guy to the right of me squeezed over and all hell broke loose. I tried to hold him off, but got pushed far enough left that I think my front wheel caught on something and I got launched forwards. One other guy got taken out too and I honestly don't know if he hit me or if he got knocked down also. One guy who was on the back said all of a sudden he just looked up and saw my bike about 10 feet in the air. The good news is no bones broken and my squash is intact. I have more road rash than anyone deserves and if you must know, a lot of it is on my ass which is making for a very pleasant experience. The most concerning injury is some sort of groin muscle pull or tear that I could feel pop during the crash. It's swollen and almost feels like there's something missing where there should be a muscle.
The bright side, if there is one, is that I definitely had the fitness going on. Computer said avg speed of 24.5 mph, avg HR 145, max 175, distance 43.5ish. I looked down at one point on the finish road about half way through the race and HR was 119. Let's see how long it takes me to get back on the horse, that is when I have one to get back on. I've got one road bike that's trapped in insurance land and another that needs a damage assessment. I've got two wrecked Ksyriums and who knows what else. We'll see if they can be rebuilt or what. I've still got the SS and the mountain bike, so we'll see when me leg lets me get out.
There you go G... how's that for a report? Oh, I did see Kerry at the race. She said it was a pack finish in the women's pro and looked semi-satisfied. My teammate saw her later and says "Pink wheels... that's awesome!" :) There you go Kerry, tell the sponsors the crowd likes 'em too.
That's all bike racers and friends. Time to go change some bandages. Oh, and by the way, hold your lines please.
Friday, April 27, 2007
My "Holy crap" moment
So normally I don't get too hung up on what could have happened. I, like most parents, of course have visions of the horrible things that could happen if you're not careful ( You'll shoot your eye out), but once something is over and done I don't waste much energy on what could have happened because it didn't. Yesterday was a little bit of an exception. I was replaying in my head the impact with the car. For anyone who's ever been in any kind of accident and wasn't very seriously hurt, this stuff usually plays back in crystal clear HD for as long as you want it to. What occurred to me is how little the guy missed my leg by. The impact was basically his driver's front corner right on the rear quick release. Next time you're on your bike, put your left leg in any position you want and look at how close your foot/ankle/leg is to where the guy hit me. That sunk in a little yesterday and a sense of 'Holy Shit!' set in for a few. Oh well, like I said, it didn't happen so no sense worrying.
Damage estimate is in... this guy is probably going to fall over when he finds out the price of bike parts. Oh well... maybe it'll teach him to pay attention. Then again, I still won't assume he sees me...
Damage estimate is in... this guy is probably going to fall over when he finds out the price of bike parts. Oh well... maybe it'll teach him to pay attention. Then again, I still won't assume he sees me...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Bright Side: It could have been an Escalade
Well, my ride home last night was way more exciting than I wanted. Here's the short version which I posted elsewhere:
So I rode into work today as I've been trying to do once or twice a week. All rides so far have been uneventful. Today... not so much. I wasn't thrilled that the weather nerds got it wrong again, but no big deal. My route takes me on route 20 through the main part of Waltham which can be an adventure, but usually just requires being awake and watching everyone. I went through the light at Prospect St right in front of Frank's and was cruising along without any traffic around me (I think they got held up by someone turning). There are a few side streets on the right and I see this car up the road stopped like he was going to take a left into one of the streets, but he looks like he has overshot the turn so he's almost making a partial u-turn to go into the street. He waited a long time to actually turn and I could see he had been staring in my direction so I figured he was waiting. Just as I got close enough to not really have an out, he hits the gas and goes for the street. I knew I couldn't stop in time to not ride right into the side of the car and he sort of checked up mid-turn so I figured he saw me and was stopping. I went in front of him in an arc into the side street figuring worst case he'll see me when I'm in front of him. Well, I think the first time he saw me was when I was sliding through the crosswalk. I had made it most of the way by, but then he drove right into the rear wheel. Him hitting me along with the wheel getting tacoed and coming to a dead stop sort of just tossed me over sideways. I landed primarily on my hip/butt and have a pretty impressive bruise/raspberry to show for it. I was able to roll on my back and skid on my backpack a few feet so really the damage to me was minimal. The bike is an unknown... obviously destroyed rear wheel (sorry Neil... that free wheel WAS working great), bars should be replaced because the hit the ground and got scratched up, frame might be bent. If there's a bright spot, I carried it a block to Frank's and asked him to go over it for me and then he let me hang out and wait for a ride.
The colorful version:
The way they guy was making the turn it was obvious that he couldn't drive which f'd me up more. He sort of paused twice in the middle of doing it so it gave me the sense (twice) that he saw me. When he ever accelerated and drove right into me it was just sheer disbelief. I probably scared the life out of him because I bounced up pretty quickly and walked towards the car using of course the highest quality of language to express my displeasure :) I think it was something to the effect of "What the f$&k were you looking at?" I was really worried for a minute because he immediately started in with asking me how much it would cost to fix everything and that he wanted to pay me so it didn't go against his insurance. I was waiting for the follow up of "I don't have insurance". The shop is supposed to call today with the damage assessment and then I'm going to write it up and give him a very limited time to pay me. A small part of me wants to do it through his insurance so he gets several years worth of painful reminders to pay attention while he's driving. Heaven forbid one of those hooligans on a two-wheeled machine try to share the road with him and get in his way. Honestly, as long as he pays up I'll just let it go. It could have been sooooooooo much worse. My wife actually handled it VERY well. I did have to make that phone call which started out with "First I'll tell you I'm fine, but..." It worked out extra well because the first call I made was to tell her I needed a ride since she was over 20 miles away and I knew it would take a while. I told her to get me at the shop and she just sort of assumed the bike came apart on me or something and said she'd call me back. She's just thankful and will be fine eventually.
Ok, time to work. I'm going to have to get up every 30 minutes or so and walk around today to try and keep this hip loose. I'll find out tonight how it feels while riding.
So I rode into work today as I've been trying to do once or twice a week. All rides so far have been uneventful. Today... not so much. I wasn't thrilled that the weather nerds got it wrong again, but no big deal. My route takes me on route 20 through the main part of Waltham which can be an adventure, but usually just requires being awake and watching everyone. I went through the light at Prospect St right in front of Frank's and was cruising along without any traffic around me (I think they got held up by someone turning). There are a few side streets on the right and I see this car up the road stopped like he was going to take a left into one of the streets, but he looks like he has overshot the turn so he's almost making a partial u-turn to go into the street. He waited a long time to actually turn and I could see he had been staring in my direction so I figured he was waiting. Just as I got close enough to not really have an out, he hits the gas and goes for the street. I knew I couldn't stop in time to not ride right into the side of the car and he sort of checked up mid-turn so I figured he saw me and was stopping. I went in front of him in an arc into the side street figuring worst case he'll see me when I'm in front of him. Well, I think the first time he saw me was when I was sliding through the crosswalk. I had made it most of the way by, but then he drove right into the rear wheel. Him hitting me along with the wheel getting tacoed and coming to a dead stop sort of just tossed me over sideways. I landed primarily on my hip/butt and have a pretty impressive bruise/raspberry to show for it. I was able to roll on my back and skid on my backpack a few feet so really the damage to me was minimal. The bike is an unknown... obviously destroyed rear wheel (sorry Neil... that free wheel WAS working great), bars should be replaced because the hit the ground and got scratched up, frame might be bent. If there's a bright spot, I carried it a block to Frank's and asked him to go over it for me and then he let me hang out and wait for a ride.
The colorful version:
The way they guy was making the turn it was obvious that he couldn't drive which f'd me up more. He sort of paused twice in the middle of doing it so it gave me the sense (twice) that he saw me. When he ever accelerated and drove right into me it was just sheer disbelief. I probably scared the life out of him because I bounced up pretty quickly and walked towards the car using of course the highest quality of language to express my displeasure :) I think it was something to the effect of "What the f$&k were you looking at?" I was really worried for a minute because he immediately started in with asking me how much it would cost to fix everything and that he wanted to pay me so it didn't go against his insurance. I was waiting for the follow up of "I don't have insurance". The shop is supposed to call today with the damage assessment and then I'm going to write it up and give him a very limited time to pay me. A small part of me wants to do it through his insurance so he gets several years worth of painful reminders to pay attention while he's driving. Heaven forbid one of those hooligans on a two-wheeled machine try to share the road with him and get in his way. Honestly, as long as he pays up I'll just let it go. It could have been sooooooooo much worse. My wife actually handled it VERY well. I did have to make that phone call which started out with "First I'll tell you I'm fine, but..." It worked out extra well because the first call I made was to tell her I needed a ride since she was over 20 miles away and I knew it would take a while. I told her to get me at the shop and she just sort of assumed the bike came apart on me or something and said she'd call me back. She's just thankful and will be fine eventually.
Ok, time to work. I'm going to have to get up every 30 minutes or so and walk around today to try and keep this hip loose. I'll find out tonight how it feels while riding.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Commuting day
Wrapping up the hard part of the pre-race week with the trek in and back today. I was going to write up this big long thing this morning because I was all juiced with my ride in, but now my lack of sleep is setting in so let's just sum it up by saying it was fast and fun. Primarily green lights and elapsed time was down. Ride home may not be so forgiving with the weather moving in. We shall find out.
Bad week for the bikes... brought the race rig in for a tuneup and ended up having to replace the carbon seatpost because it was cracked. Then I got it home last night and put it on the trainer (no time to go out in the daylight) and found out that I and the shop had missed the fact that the BB was loose or something. Creaks when climbing and if you tourqued the arms around you could see it moving a little. Swapped the wheel on the commuter and put that on the trainer to finish the workout and realized the whole steering stack was loose so things were rattling (should have checked this earlier because I thought I was getting some weirdness going over the roots on the bike path). Got that all tightened up so it's happy again. Let's hope things go right with the race bike... what was that rule about never doing work right before a race? Must get out on it tomorrow night and/or Friday to be sure. If Sturbridge were going unusually well and I had a mechanical I would not at all be pleased. I really wish I had more time to work on my bikes myself, but I just have to rely on the shop/sponsor or the things would be coming apart under me when I didn't maintain them. Gotta make the tradeoffs...
Need food...
Bad week for the bikes... brought the race rig in for a tuneup and ended up having to replace the carbon seatpost because it was cracked. Then I got it home last night and put it on the trainer (no time to go out in the daylight) and found out that I and the shop had missed the fact that the BB was loose or something. Creaks when climbing and if you tourqued the arms around you could see it moving a little. Swapped the wheel on the commuter and put that on the trainer to finish the workout and realized the whole steering stack was loose so things were rattling (should have checked this earlier because I thought I was getting some weirdness going over the roots on the bike path). Got that all tightened up so it's happy again. Let's hope things go right with the race bike... what was that rule about never doing work right before a race? Must get out on it tomorrow night and/or Friday to be sure. If Sturbridge were going unusually well and I had a mechanical I would not at all be pleased. I really wish I had more time to work on my bikes myself, but I just have to rely on the shop/sponsor or the things would be coming apart under me when I didn't maintain them. Gotta make the tradeoffs...
Need food...
Monday, April 23, 2007
Too early to be nervous?
Ok, Sturbridge isn't till Saturday and I'm already nervous. I think the last time I was this anxious this far ahead of an event I ran 7hrs 31min for 50 miles... good sign... we'll see. Fitness test yesterday morning went pretty well. 40 miles, 1hour 58min. I never really pushed it at all. Not a shred of flat road on the loop. I told my wife I'm cautiously optimistic. Who knows, I could be OTB 5 miles in. Too many days away to worry about it so I should just calm down. Ok, enough rambling on that.
So I'm not sure if this one gets filed under PSA, TMI, PITA, or FUBAR, but it's kinda funny nonetheless. Let's start by saying that when your saddle sits 90.5cm above the bottom bracket, shaving is a bit more time consuming than for most. Because I'm both busy and sorta lazy with some things, I decided to take the advice of a friend and try that hair remover creme stuff. To cut to the chase, I think I'm going to stick to a razor. For starters, they can flavor that stuff with all the melon/lavendar/perfume that they want, it freaking stinks. It reminds me of when I was little and was stuck hanging around while my mom got her hair permed. Secondly, maybe it's just my skin, but it stung like a mofo. Lastly, I still had spots I have to shave so it was only partially worthwhile.
Dropped the bike off Friday because the rear shifting had just gone sloppy on me. Got the call today that while they were working on it they found that my carbon seatpost had a crack in it... dammit. I've got the steel frame waiting in the wings for next season so I decided to go with a trick Thompson aluminum post instead of another carbon. Cheapest carbon worth buying was still $30 more. Who knows... the bike may ride like crap now, but let's see. 4 days to try it out and get used to it.
Back to 24 (the one show I actually sit and watch)
So I'm not sure if this one gets filed under PSA, TMI, PITA, or FUBAR, but it's kinda funny nonetheless. Let's start by saying that when your saddle sits 90.5cm above the bottom bracket, shaving is a bit more time consuming than for most. Because I'm both busy and sorta lazy with some things, I decided to take the advice of a friend and try that hair remover creme stuff. To cut to the chase, I think I'm going to stick to a razor. For starters, they can flavor that stuff with all the melon/lavendar/perfume that they want, it freaking stinks. It reminds me of when I was little and was stuck hanging around while my mom got her hair permed. Secondly, maybe it's just my skin, but it stung like a mofo. Lastly, I still had spots I have to shave so it was only partially worthwhile.
Dropped the bike off Friday because the rear shifting had just gone sloppy on me. Got the call today that while they were working on it they found that my carbon seatpost had a crack in it... dammit. I've got the steel frame waiting in the wings for next season so I decided to go with a trick Thompson aluminum post instead of another carbon. Cheapest carbon worth buying was still $30 more. Who knows... the bike may ride like crap now, but let's see. 4 days to try it out and get used to it.
Back to 24 (the one show I actually sit and watch)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Friday blowoff
The combination of one of the first legitimately nice days in a long time and school vacation has made this place just a comedy of absence today. I think the first 3 people I looked for on an important issue were all out for the day so then I just gave up. Oh well, maybe that means I won't get yelled at today.
Unfortunately the warmth did take it's sweet old time settling in today. I had all my clothes for the ride laid out last night and then after opening the door to let the dog out I grabbed an extra layer. It was 28 at the house this morning and it felt at least that cold until I got the blood flowing. Going to be a weird ride home... I came in with winter booties, 2 pairs of gloves, leg warmers, and a winter hat and I'll probably ride home in shorts and short sleeves. Another bonus is that unless it shifts, I've got sort of a cross-tail wind which should be a nice break from the dead on headwind I had last week.
No race plans this weekend despite the opportunities. The motorcycle will officially change ownership tomorrow so I have to wrap that up and then Sunday we've got some plans. On top of it, I've got 3 races in 4 weeks starting with Sturbridge so I'm trying to not burn all my points at once. Should be able to get some miles in in any case so hopefully I get to enjoy the sun.
Not sure if I mentioned it before, but the garage got a little more full this week... through a long chain of events, I picked up a sweet Guerciotti steel racing frame for cheap. It will replace the current race rig for next season so in the meantime I get to just drool on it and scope out a few parts on ebay. I had considered just selling the current bike as a whole bike and then getting all new for this one, but I don't think I can make enough to offset the cost of a new gruppo, etc. Might have to just transfer as much as possible and then sell off what's left for cheap. We'll see how many pennies I can save and then decide. Besides, I've got a cross bike to build this summer so I get to play with new parts there :)
Unfortunately the warmth did take it's sweet old time settling in today. I had all my clothes for the ride laid out last night and then after opening the door to let the dog out I grabbed an extra layer. It was 28 at the house this morning and it felt at least that cold until I got the blood flowing. Going to be a weird ride home... I came in with winter booties, 2 pairs of gloves, leg warmers, and a winter hat and I'll probably ride home in shorts and short sleeves. Another bonus is that unless it shifts, I've got sort of a cross-tail wind which should be a nice break from the dead on headwind I had last week.
No race plans this weekend despite the opportunities. The motorcycle will officially change ownership tomorrow so I have to wrap that up and then Sunday we've got some plans. On top of it, I've got 3 races in 4 weeks starting with Sturbridge so I'm trying to not burn all my points at once. Should be able to get some miles in in any case so hopefully I get to enjoy the sun.
Not sure if I mentioned it before, but the garage got a little more full this week... through a long chain of events, I picked up a sweet Guerciotti steel racing frame for cheap. It will replace the current race rig for next season so in the meantime I get to just drool on it and scope out a few parts on ebay. I had considered just selling the current bike as a whole bike and then getting all new for this one, but I don't think I can make enough to offset the cost of a new gruppo, etc. Might have to just transfer as much as possible and then sell off what's left for cheap. We'll see how many pennies I can save and then decide. Besides, I've got a cross bike to build this summer so I get to play with new parts there :)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Playing catch up
Need to catch up on everything... updates here, work, sleep, training, etc. Let's see... weekend recap first:
Saturday, kid's stuff, yard work, got to play 9 holes of golf (earliest I have ever been on a course), then not much Sat night.
Sunday, found out that sometimes it pays to procrastinate... I had planned to be out on the roads at 6:30 for an attack/interval workout to beat the weather and not conflict with my wife's plans. Lounged around in bed and by the time I got ready it was around 7. Literally just as I'm about to put my shoes on I see the wet dots forming on the front walk. I was already dressed so I stripped off the warm stuff and set up in the garage. Turned up some loud angry music way too loud and off I went. Great workout... probably the best I've felt in a while. Later in the day tried to change the oil on the m'cycle before I get it sold and found out that the drain plug is impossible to get to without a lift. I don't have one so I need to borrow one or bring it to a shop. We'll see, but that bike should be gone soon which will provide cash for the cross bike.
Yesterday I pulled on the full rain gear and went out to cheer on the crazies at the marathon. It is amazingly hard to pick your friends out of a moving crowd that big and of the 20 or so people I knew running, I somehow missed every one of them. Weather ended up being less of a factor than expected, but still a factor so huge props to everyone who finished. Some people I know even got PR's so it couldn't have been all bad.
Next 2 days I'm in class at work so it's a little bit of a mental blowoff. I'll make sure that things aren't imploding during breaks, but that's about it. Unless we get shut out by the crowds tonight, my wife and I are going to catch the advanced showing of The Flying Scotsman which is coming out in May. Should be fun.
So a little tangent here because I was thinking about it over the weekend... I'm curious to find out if I'm just simply not cut out for this cycling thing or if maybe, the elitist nature of the sport extends into how many hours you spent training. There does seem to be an air of "I trained more hours than you and my bike is shinier" about this sport which is obviously not completely connected to race results. I got on this because I was feeling pretty good about my 8.5 hours or so of saddle time last week and then I was clicking around through a maze of linked blogs and I find a guy (i think he's a 3) who was talking about a relatively easy week of 18.5 training hours. One thing I know for certain is that unless I start commuting the 57 round trip every day, I will probably never approach 20 hours of saddle time in a week. Part of me thinks back to my hard core running days when I was reasonably successful on 40-50 miles a week of training. I knew other guys who really were no more successful on 80 miles a week or more. Christ, I think my longest every marathon training week was under 70 and that was the year I ran 2:53 in terrible weather. So I wonder in the back of my head if I can pull this cycling thing off on being the focused-training-with-low-mileage-guy or if I'm going to get schooled. We shall see. I'm still REALLY looking forward to some mountain bike races this season (never did one before) because mentally the race will be easier for me. Pretty much the same as running... go faster than everyone else. I think it will forever drive me nuts that in road races, the fastest guy in a field has little guarantee that he will win.
Saturday, kid's stuff, yard work, got to play 9 holes of golf (earliest I have ever been on a course), then not much Sat night.
Sunday, found out that sometimes it pays to procrastinate... I had planned to be out on the roads at 6:30 for an attack/interval workout to beat the weather and not conflict with my wife's plans. Lounged around in bed and by the time I got ready it was around 7. Literally just as I'm about to put my shoes on I see the wet dots forming on the front walk. I was already dressed so I stripped off the warm stuff and set up in the garage. Turned up some loud angry music way too loud and off I went. Great workout... probably the best I've felt in a while. Later in the day tried to change the oil on the m'cycle before I get it sold and found out that the drain plug is impossible to get to without a lift. I don't have one so I need to borrow one or bring it to a shop. We'll see, but that bike should be gone soon which will provide cash for the cross bike.
Yesterday I pulled on the full rain gear and went out to cheer on the crazies at the marathon. It is amazingly hard to pick your friends out of a moving crowd that big and of the 20 or so people I knew running, I somehow missed every one of them. Weather ended up being less of a factor than expected, but still a factor so huge props to everyone who finished. Some people I know even got PR's so it couldn't have been all bad.
Next 2 days I'm in class at work so it's a little bit of a mental blowoff. I'll make sure that things aren't imploding during breaks, but that's about it. Unless we get shut out by the crowds tonight, my wife and I are going to catch the advanced showing of The Flying Scotsman which is coming out in May. Should be fun.
So a little tangent here because I was thinking about it over the weekend... I'm curious to find out if I'm just simply not cut out for this cycling thing or if maybe, the elitist nature of the sport extends into how many hours you spent training. There does seem to be an air of "I trained more hours than you and my bike is shinier" about this sport which is obviously not completely connected to race results. I got on this because I was feeling pretty good about my 8.5 hours or so of saddle time last week and then I was clicking around through a maze of linked blogs and I find a guy (i think he's a 3) who was talking about a relatively easy week of 18.5 training hours. One thing I know for certain is that unless I start commuting the 57 round trip every day, I will probably never approach 20 hours of saddle time in a week. Part of me thinks back to my hard core running days when I was reasonably successful on 40-50 miles a week of training. I knew other guys who really were no more successful on 80 miles a week or more. Christ, I think my longest every marathon training week was under 70 and that was the year I ran 2:53 in terrible weather. So I wonder in the back of my head if I can pull this cycling thing off on being the focused-training-with-low-mileage-guy or if I'm going to get schooled. We shall see. I'm still REALLY looking forward to some mountain bike races this season (never did one before) because mentally the race will be easier for me. Pretty much the same as running... go faster than everyone else. I think it will forever drive me nuts that in road races, the fastest guy in a field has little guarantee that he will win.
Friday, April 13, 2007
I suppose it could be worse
Ways that dealing with the weather could be worse:
1) I could be racing BKR this weekend
2) I could be running Boston on Monday
3) It could be icy in the morning so either I couldn't ride or I crashed a lot
I was going to fire up the rant machine, but everyone knows the weather sucks so I'll spare you. My #1 hope is that all the 3's and 4's out there are trying to stay warm and dry and will be less ready than me for Sturbridge. I doubt it, but here's hoping.
Quiet weekend on tap and I'm taking Monday off. I firmly believe that the state should just shut down on Patriots day so everyone can enjoy the marathon and the Sox game. It's hit or miss around here and it turns out I missed at this place. Oh well, I have a vaca day I can use. Odds are very good that we won't bring the whole fam, but I'll probably head down to watch some true suffering. Good luck to everyone who's going to attempt it. I've run one in that kind of wind and rain, but it was at least 30 degrees warmer than they're saying.
What are the chances that the wind will die down or shift to a tail wind for the ride home? Probably way lower that I'd hope...
It might be sunny and break 50 tomorrow... go enjoy it before it snows again.
1) I could be racing BKR this weekend
2) I could be running Boston on Monday
3) It could be icy in the morning so either I couldn't ride or I crashed a lot
I was going to fire up the rant machine, but everyone knows the weather sucks so I'll spare you. My #1 hope is that all the 3's and 4's out there are trying to stay warm and dry and will be less ready than me for Sturbridge. I doubt it, but here's hoping.
Quiet weekend on tap and I'm taking Monday off. I firmly believe that the state should just shut down on Patriots day so everyone can enjoy the marathon and the Sox game. It's hit or miss around here and it turns out I missed at this place. Oh well, I have a vaca day I can use. Odds are very good that we won't bring the whole fam, but I'll probably head down to watch some true suffering. Good luck to everyone who's going to attempt it. I've run one in that kind of wind and rain, but it was at least 30 degrees warmer than they're saying.
What are the chances that the wind will die down or shift to a tail wind for the ride home? Probably way lower that I'd hope...
It might be sunny and break 50 tomorrow... go enjoy it before it snows again.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Just plain awful
What a contrast in rides today. This morning I got up and bundled up for the lovely 30 degree temps and headed out at little later than planned. Last time I rode in I was a mess in the morning and it was a slow ugly ride. Today I planned to head out at a nice steady clip, pick one gear and stick with it for a while since it's mainly flat the first 6 or so miles and actually warm up. Got into a nice groove and then continued to feel better and better. I didn't ride yesterday and ran instead, but I ran too hard so I figured I'd be toast this morning... not so. By the time I got to work, including getting stuck at two of the longest traffic lights on the route, I was 6 minutes faster than the ugly ride last week. I was curious to see how that would effect the ride home and unfortunately I got to find out.
The ride home can only be described as an exercise in suffering. It's good to learn how to suffer so that when you get there in a race you can say "Been there, done that" and you know that you're not really going to fall over dead on the spot. Now if practicing it just didn't suck so much. The trip was a brutal combination of dead legs from the morning, a dead on strong headwind, getting stuck at every light imaginable, and getting cut off and nearly taken out by idiots most of the way. The last several miles I was just preaching to myself that some day, in a race when it matters, I'm going to be better off for that ride. Let's just hope it's true.
Hard to get really excited that the Sox destroyed the Mariners, but it was opening day and they did put a beat down on them so I'll forget that they kinda stink :)
Oh, and by the way, I can't find it in my own archive, but I know that back when we were sunbathing and wanting to reopen the pools in December, I know I called it that by the end of the winter we'd all still be bitching that we wanted it to end. Well put me on the list of people proving me right... I should not be wearing wool socks and 3 layers to ride in mid-April. Enough already...
The ride home can only be described as an exercise in suffering. It's good to learn how to suffer so that when you get there in a race you can say "Been there, done that" and you know that you're not really going to fall over dead on the spot. Now if practicing it just didn't suck so much. The trip was a brutal combination of dead legs from the morning, a dead on strong headwind, getting stuck at every light imaginable, and getting cut off and nearly taken out by idiots most of the way. The last several miles I was just preaching to myself that some day, in a race when it matters, I'm going to be better off for that ride. Let's just hope it's true.
Hard to get really excited that the Sox destroyed the Mariners, but it was opening day and they did put a beat down on them so I'll forget that they kinda stink :)
Oh, and by the way, I can't find it in my own archive, but I know that back when we were sunbathing and wanting to reopen the pools in December, I know I called it that by the end of the winter we'd all still be bitching that we wanted it to end. Well put me on the list of people proving me right... I should not be wearing wool socks and 3 layers to ride in mid-April. Enough already...
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Anyone want a dog?
Ok, so I have one of the most disobedient dogs on the planet. I'll wholeheartedly admit that I'm a terrible doggy parent, but before all the dog people start on me, she's very well cared for, has more than she deserves for comfort, and I will admit that she misbehaves because I never trained her. In any case... years ago we fenced in the back yard so she could get some exercise and we could feel better about not walking her several times a day which she could probably use but we don't have time for. Before too long, she learned how to jump the fence. Now she's a little 20lb dog and it's a 42" fence so it's some decent determination for her to get out. My wife threw in the towel like 2 years ago and now will not let her out without a leash on, period. I have hung in there and I'll let her run around the back yard free, but I stand there and watch her the whole time. Well tonight I let her out when we get home and then I stop watching her for a second. She went around the one corner of the house where I can't see her, but figured she was doing her business. After a minute or so of her not appearing, I look around the corner and find that someone had left the gate open. What I had not mentioned yet was that my neighbors have about 15 grandchildren who are the most poorly behaved, poorly supervised (you think there's a connection) children on the planet. I know for a fact that they are constantly in our yard and this is not the first time they've left the gate open. To cut to the chase, the dog ran free for 3 hours before I finally was able to tackle her (we're talking full sprawl NFL open field tackle) when she came over to say hi to a dog that was being walked by her owner. She, as always, had rolled in some other dogs business so of course she had to go straight in the tub and I am not yet sure if I killed the smell. All these years I've said that I wouldn't get rid of her because I cared about her just enough that I didn't want her to end up with people who were mean to her. It's nights like this that make me figure she's tough and she'll do fine...
Friday, April 06, 2007
Observations
Random collection of thoughts from this week...
Things that are pissing me off:
1) People who cross sidewalks without looking. I almost took out a Harvard and an MIT student this week because they strolled across a busy sidewalk with their head up their ass and didn't check first. So much for those being the smart schools.
2) People who walk 4 wide across sidewalks that are regularly used by runners and bikers. C'mon people, let's share.
3) People who make decisions without considering the consequences. Also known as people who don't know what the hell they're talking about when they sign off on something.
Things that frustrate me:
Being outside the mass market average. Can't just go anywhere and buy pants. Can't go anywhere at all and buy a bike. Get this band of numbness about 4 inches above my ankle where the tights don't go down far enough and the shoe covers don't come up high enough. I understand how business works so I get it, but I still get screwed.
Things that made me jealous this week:
Pseudo-pro or not, KL got hooked up. Good for her... sort of makes me want to train harder.
Got a laugh out of:
This week's Todcast... 3 appearances from the Tufts crit footage for me including video evidence of me giving away 11th place. Oh, and the Chaz Michael Michaels comment was freaking hilarious.
Back to work...
Things that are pissing me off:
1) People who cross sidewalks without looking. I almost took out a Harvard and an MIT student this week because they strolled across a busy sidewalk with their head up their ass and didn't check first. So much for those being the smart schools.
2) People who walk 4 wide across sidewalks that are regularly used by runners and bikers. C'mon people, let's share.
3) People who make decisions without considering the consequences. Also known as people who don't know what the hell they're talking about when they sign off on something.
Things that frustrate me:
Being outside the mass market average. Can't just go anywhere and buy pants. Can't go anywhere at all and buy a bike. Get this band of numbness about 4 inches above my ankle where the tights don't go down far enough and the shoe covers don't come up high enough. I understand how business works so I get it, but I still get screwed.
Things that made me jealous this week:
Pseudo-pro or not, KL got hooked up. Good for her... sort of makes me want to train harder.
Got a laugh out of:
This week's Todcast... 3 appearances from the Tufts crit footage for me including video evidence of me giving away 11th place. Oh, and the Chaz Michael Michaels comment was freaking hilarious.
Back to work...
Monday, April 02, 2007
Season Opener
Lot's to talk about today so this may get broken into multiple posts...
Kicked the season off yesterday with the Tufts Criterium which is a USCF race thrown in with the Beanpot collegiate weekend. Sick course... 1k loop, 6 90 degree corners, one is downhill at 25+ mph, short steep section into the start/finish road. Last year I did this race and it was my first real (non-Wells) crit ever. I got lapped twice and pulled. Field was way smaller this year, I think partially because of Marblehead. I got a spot right on the line which was great and then blew it by missing a pedal and not getting out quick. Proved to be fatal because a crash on turn 2 (the fast downhill) about 8 guys ahead of me on lap one split the field and that was that. Fortunately, we were able to get some groups together and eventually the race came down to 2 groups. Leaders were probably a minute up and then there was my group. I stupidly took the lead at the bell and got hung out there. Tried to make it happen the last time up the hill, but it didn't work and I got 7th in the group. Just finishing was major progress since it was a 3/4 race so I was pleased overall, but proved to myself how critical the start is in a tough crit. There were lots of good things that happened during the race though... felt real smooth tearing through corners, rode well in a groups, had a couple times that I had to chase a guy that I really needed to be behind and I did. All in all a good kickoff to the season. I think the key was shaving off the winter fur yesterday morning :)
Hmmm, other biking news... the MRC crew showed some force in the b's and c's at Wells yesterday and took 2 seconds. Lots of guys got a chance to try lots of stuff which is the whole point of that race so they were all happy. Also a guy I know won the masters at Marblehead and looks to have outsprinted Johnny Bold to do it... I'm officially impressed. I know he's pumped about it so kudos to him.
Ok... back to work... funny children stories later.
Kicked the season off yesterday with the Tufts Criterium which is a USCF race thrown in with the Beanpot collegiate weekend. Sick course... 1k loop, 6 90 degree corners, one is downhill at 25+ mph, short steep section into the start/finish road. Last year I did this race and it was my first real (non-Wells) crit ever. I got lapped twice and pulled. Field was way smaller this year, I think partially because of Marblehead. I got a spot right on the line which was great and then blew it by missing a pedal and not getting out quick. Proved to be fatal because a crash on turn 2 (the fast downhill) about 8 guys ahead of me on lap one split the field and that was that. Fortunately, we were able to get some groups together and eventually the race came down to 2 groups. Leaders were probably a minute up and then there was my group. I stupidly took the lead at the bell and got hung out there. Tried to make it happen the last time up the hill, but it didn't work and I got 7th in the group. Just finishing was major progress since it was a 3/4 race so I was pleased overall, but proved to myself how critical the start is in a tough crit. There were lots of good things that happened during the race though... felt real smooth tearing through corners, rode well in a groups, had a couple times that I had to chase a guy that I really needed to be behind and I did. All in all a good kickoff to the season. I think the key was shaving off the winter fur yesterday morning :)
Hmmm, other biking news... the MRC crew showed some force in the b's and c's at Wells yesterday and took 2 seconds. Lots of guys got a chance to try lots of stuff which is the whole point of that race so they were all happy. Also a guy I know won the masters at Marblehead and looks to have outsprinted Johnny Bold to do it... I'm officially impressed. I know he's pumped about it so kudos to him.
Ok... back to work... funny children stories later.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Attack of the snooze alarm
So I'm a chronic snooze-alarm abuser. The average day is anywhere from 15-30 minutes of hitting (ok slamming) the little button every 8 minutes. I think my record is 2 hours. Occassionally, I go a step further and convince myself that I'm truly awake and I shut the alarm off. About half the time when I do that, I was not really awake and I wake up some time later in a panic. Today was that day. I'm supposed to be up around 5 for work. On a day I'm riding it's important I get up close to that so that I can be dressed, fed, and on my bike before 6. Today when I finished the snooze dance and then the I'm awake so I'll shut the alarm off but I wasn't really awake so I fell back asleep game, it was 6 when I jumped up in a panic. After much deliberation, and the temperature this morning didn't help, I bagged it and proceeded to sit in traffic for an hour+ drive in. I should have just ridden anyways. I know that the snoozing game comes down to habit as well as not sleeping enough. But a) how do you break a habit that's so ingrained that you do it when you're semi-conscious, and b) I don't have the energy to get into a discussion of how my life is an endless circle of not having enough time and therefore suffering on sleep. Anywho... Hopefully I can get out of here early enough to head out after work. I don't even want to guess at the mood I'll be in if I get stuck tonight and get home too late.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Mmmmm, food
Soggy and chilly ride in this morning. I guess more grungy than soggy. No rain falling but plenty of spray coming up. Temp was 38 and I had to stop 5 miles in for a second layer of gloves. Nice and toasty after that. New distance with the crappy road taken out is 28.6 and I made it in just a touch faster. Kept it in the fun ring for the last 12 miles or so so the speed was up some. Breakfast was a breakfast cookie and coffee before the ride and then a banana, oatmeal with walnuts added, a muffin, and coffee at work. Lunch so far is a meatball sub and fries (file under bad) and there's sure to be at least one snack later. Temps in the 60's for the ride home so should be fun. Need to decide how much to rest up before Tufts on Sunday. I'd like to make a better showing than last year, but you have to have a special kind of race to contend at that one. Debating skipping Thursday ride in, but we'll see how I feel tonight. It really gets down to business at Sturbridge so I could afford to train through this one. Back to work (and food)...
Monday, March 26, 2007
Mini rant on...
So I can sum up the last 5 miles or so of Friday's ride home in one word: suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Ok, maybe that's an overstatement, but... I was feeling pretty good about myself because the wind was dead in my face the whole way home and I had made it well past the 50 mile point for the day feeling ok. I was sort of counting the miles until I came unglued and sure enough it happened with about 3 miles to go. I talked myself through the rest of it which went by very painfully and I finally roll into the driveway after a little over an hour 40. I don't know what even made me check, but as I'm rolling into the garage I check the rear wheel only to find out that a spoke had gone loose as a noodle so the wheel would not spin once around without being stopped by the brake. Well, that was some unneccessary suffering. No idea when it busted, but long story short the wheel is trashed. My hope is that it goes back to the cross race where I dinged it up and it was worse than they thought when they trued it back. Worst case scenario is that the very minor bend in the seat stay on the Lemond shredded the wheel. I may find that out tomorrow if I wreck another wheel. Biggest suckage comes from the fact that the wheel is out of warranty, rebuild cost is about $10 less than the cost of new, and even a 105 hub with an open pro rim is about $140 which I really hadn't planned on spending. If anyone out there has a 9-speed Shimano they want to sell me cheap, feel free to let me know.
Oh, and the blinky thing is long gone. Either I missed it or it's on the really crappy road that I skipped. New one will be firmly strapped to the frame tonight for the morning.
Midterm tonight... argh.
/Rant
Oh, and the blinky thing is long gone. Either I missed it or it's on the really crappy road that I skipped. New one will be firmly strapped to the frame tonight for the morning.
Midterm tonight... argh.
/Rant
Friday, March 23, 2007
28.25
That's the official mileage on the ride in. Left home around 6:05 and it took about 1.5 hours to get here. Couple sections of road that I may have to rethink because the pavement really sucks, but I think the mods will add distance. Not sure I want to add more than a mile or so, but we'll see. Might try one change on the way home.
It ended up being an absolutely beautiful morning to be riding (I know G would say every morning is beautiful to be riding in). 2 thin long sleeve layers and a wind jacket and I was too warm. Almost lost the jacket at one point, but I kept hitting cold patches on the back roads so I kept it. I'll feel almost naked on the way home with the almost 60 degree temps. One mishap of the trip was that the brand new blinky tail light is gonzo. Had it clipped onto the loop on the seat bag and apparently that wasn't good enough. I've been telling people I hope it survived the fall and didn't get run over because it will make it easier to find on the way home :) I've accepted that it's $20 down the drain so we'll see if I get lucky.
It's going to take a while to figure out the ride day diet. Went with the standard breakfast which probably wasn't enough and I was probably low on fluids due to being overdressed so I just haven't felt right all morning. Just scarfed some pizza and gatorade and I'm thinking about where more food will come from. May hit the caf for round 2 or maybe go to the coffee shop for caffeine and fat/sugar. There's always the 4 pounds of trail mix I have left...
Ok, I'm supposed to be working through lunch to get out of here on time...
It ended up being an absolutely beautiful morning to be riding (I know G would say every morning is beautiful to be riding in). 2 thin long sleeve layers and a wind jacket and I was too warm. Almost lost the jacket at one point, but I kept hitting cold patches on the back roads so I kept it. I'll feel almost naked on the way home with the almost 60 degree temps. One mishap of the trip was that the brand new blinky tail light is gonzo. Had it clipped onto the loop on the seat bag and apparently that wasn't good enough. I've been telling people I hope it survived the fall and didn't get run over because it will make it easier to find on the way home :) I've accepted that it's $20 down the drain so we'll see if I get lucky.
It's going to take a while to figure out the ride day diet. Went with the standard breakfast which probably wasn't enough and I was probably low on fluids due to being overdressed so I just haven't felt right all morning. Just scarfed some pizza and gatorade and I'm thinking about where more food will come from. May hit the caf for round 2 or maybe go to the coffee shop for caffeine and fat/sugar. There's always the 4 pounds of trail mix I have left...
Ok, I'm supposed to be working through lunch to get out of here on time...
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Nutritional Information
OK, 2 reactions to this article: 1) Is anyone actually surprised by this? and 2) Did I really need to see the actual numbers? I know that my diet sometimes leaves much to be desired, but I have 2 theories on that: I'm content with categorizing foods as "bad" and "not bad" and making conscious decisions based on that and also one of my favorite book quotes "If the fire's hot enough, anything will burn, even Big Macs." To steal an offer from solo... free leadout to anyone who can name the book.
Time to get back to work I suppose. Need to go collect my free small iced in a bit from DnD.
Time to get back to work I suppose. Need to go collect my free small iced in a bit from DnD.
Nutritional Information
OK, 2 reactions to this article: 1) Is anyone actually surprised by this? and 2) Did I really need to see the actual numbers? I know that my diet sometimes leaves much to be desired, but I have 2 theories on that: I'm content with categorizing foods as "bad" and "not bad" and making conscious decisions based on that and also one of my favorite book quotes "If the fire's hot enough, anything will burn, even Big Macs." To steal an offer from solo... free leadout to anyone who can name the book.
Time to get back to work I suppose. Need to go collect my free small iced in a bit from DnD.
Time to get back to work I suppose. Need to go collect my free small iced in a bit from DnD.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Ah, the joy of Monday morning. Being away last week and then being jet lagged, I think I had some excessive paranoia about getting up this morning so I was awake at 3:45, then at some point the middle one came in to inform us that he was going to the bathroom, then I was pretty much awake at 5 even though I lounged in bed for a while. Legs are pretty much cooked today from 4+ hours on the trainer between Friday night and yesterday. Climbing repeats during a 2 hour session Saturday and then a high cadence/increasing resistance workout yesterday didn't help. If all goes as planned, I'll ride in sometime later this week and then hit Wells Sunday. The bike is almost completely set up now... I'm just finishing up a light mount that I had to rig up because I couldn't get it to sit right on the bars. Pictures when it's finished.
Ok, Monday humor:
Ok, Monday humor:
Snow cleanup actually sucked a little less than I expected Saturday. Got the oldest to help me shovel the neighbor's steps and our back steps so he got paid and he was thrilled. Of course his brother then wanted to be paid for dutifully kicking all the icicles off the cars... he was so cute about it we had to give in.
Anywho... I need to search for some productive energy. It wasn't at the bottom of my bowl of oatmeal so maybe it's hiding in the coffee...
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Oh the horror...
Well I've reached the point of blog neglect that I am starting to get all sorts of crap from both of my readers :) I guess it's time to update everyone. I'm actually quite pleased to say that I am currently sitting outdoors in San Jose enjoying the very pleasant 75ish degree weather. While 55+ back in Bahstun is quite nice for March, 75 and palm trees still wins. I'm not a big fan of the left coast in general, but this is kinda nice. Speaking of this other coast, flying in here from Vegas on a nice clear day I realized that I do have to come back at some point with a bike to ride. Looks like some beautiful roads up through the hills and farm land.
So what's going on you ask... well... training is going sort of ok and I've at least reached the point where I have a race schedule that my wife has bought into. It's all subject to change, but at least it's a goal. I believe I'm heading to Forrest Park Sunday, then maybe Wells the next week, then definitely Tufts for a good ole whooping. This past weekend I went all in with the long ride kickoff for the season and put in 72 miles between the 2 days with 46 of it Sunday. Turns out that once we hit midseason, Wells is a very tolerable 23 or so miles from home so I could legitimately ride down there, suck some wheels in the B's and then ride home. We'll see if that plan ever gets put into use. Sadly I am losing the weekend momentum as I am bikeless out here in San Josey so it's just running for a couple days.
At home, the next phase of the never ending quest to turn our shack into less of a dump kicked off yesterday with Dad replacing the staircase to the basement and putting up the first couple walls. I sooooooooooooooooo wish I had the stones to quit my job and go into business with him so I didn't have to hire him to do work like this, but it will probably never happen so I just have to admire his hard work while I type away.
Ok, so I should probably catch up on emails some more even though everyone at work is long gone. This trip is panning out well and I'm getting to see some friends that I see rarely. Lunch with one today and dinner with some more tonight. Tomorrow it's a long day with more conference in the a.m. and then the long trek home starting around noon. Maybe if I get bored in the Vegas airport on the way back I'll copy KL and throw something up here. Till then...
So what's going on you ask... well... training is going sort of ok and I've at least reached the point where I have a race schedule that my wife has bought into. It's all subject to change, but at least it's a goal. I believe I'm heading to Forrest Park Sunday, then maybe Wells the next week, then definitely Tufts for a good ole whooping. This past weekend I went all in with the long ride kickoff for the season and put in 72 miles between the 2 days with 46 of it Sunday. Turns out that once we hit midseason, Wells is a very tolerable 23 or so miles from home so I could legitimately ride down there, suck some wheels in the B's and then ride home. We'll see if that plan ever gets put into use. Sadly I am losing the weekend momentum as I am bikeless out here in San Josey so it's just running for a couple days.
At home, the next phase of the never ending quest to turn our shack into less of a dump kicked off yesterday with Dad replacing the staircase to the basement and putting up the first couple walls. I sooooooooooooooooo wish I had the stones to quit my job and go into business with him so I didn't have to hire him to do work like this, but it will probably never happen so I just have to admire his hard work while I type away.
Ok, so I should probably catch up on emails some more even though everyone at work is long gone. This trip is panning out well and I'm getting to see some friends that I see rarely. Lunch with one today and dinner with some more tonight. Tomorrow it's a long day with more conference in the a.m. and then the long trek home starting around noon. Maybe if I get bored in the Vegas airport on the way back I'll copy KL and throw something up here. Till then...
Friday, March 02, 2007
Blech!
What a crappy day. Actually I shouldn't be bitching because there's been lots of sun lately and the last two days were beautiful (for Feb/March). The issue is that my office window faces almost directly south so I currently get a very nice view most days of the sun going left to right over the buildings down the street. I also get here early enough that I get to see most of the cycle. On a day like today, part of my brain thinks it never gets past 6:30 or 7 because the grayness across the way never goes away. Add to that it being Friday and you get me posting blog stuff in the middle of the morning instead of being productive. How about some humor to try and make things better:
Ok, I feel just a little better. Anywho... I suppose I'll do something. Riding is going to be screwed up this weekend because we're going "away" (to Hartford) for a show Saturday night. I'll probably be on the gerbil wheel at odd hours trying to get some time in.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
More humor
Not a lot of time this morning, but here's some more exam humor to lighten your day:
I'm in the process of figuring out my intended race schedule for most of the season or at least the first few months. When you have 3 kids, 2 jobs, and 2 athletes you either get on the calendar early or sometimes you don't get on at all. I compiled all of the road and mountain bike race calendars into one list yesterday so now I have to figure out what looks good. The trick is how many can I go to without torturing the family. We'll see how it pans out.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday humor
Well my boring life continues to provide very little blog fodder, but I fear being delisted by Gewilli so I have to throw something up. How about some Monday humor? I got a whole series of these from a friend and the title was "Let's face it, we've all got frustrated in exams". I'll stagger the posting of these so I don't blow all the fun at once:
I'm sure the teachers out there will enjoy these.
We had a freakin blast yesterday mountain biking. Hard packed snow has filled in all the spaces on the trails so it was more like really hilly and occassionally slippery pavement. Huge group too so fun was had by all. So far this winter I've only blatantly skipped one ride because of unrideable conditions so let's hope it continues. The commuter bike is in the shop for final prep so I hope the weather cooperates there too. Daylight is now on my side so it's almost time. Only bummer was that there's no reasonable way to get any more than a large trunk bag on the bike because it's definitely a road bike rather than a tourer so I have to go with a backpack. Kinda annoyed there, but I got a really sweet one from REI over the weekend so we'll make it work.
Ok, better do something productive.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Art Gallery
Ok, as promised... the tattoo gallery. In chronological order:
Circa 1994:
~ 1995:
2003 (5th anniversary gift):
2007 (Valentine's gift):
Huge props to T of T's Tattoos in Hudson, MA for the most recent work. For anyone who cares, the most recent one is supposedly a Starley chainring. Bonus points to the first person who gets the Starley reference. More bonus points to anyone who does it without Google. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend.
Circa 1994:
~ 1995:
2003 (5th anniversary gift):
2007 (Valentine's gift):
Huge props to T of T's Tattoos in Hudson, MA for the most recent work. For anyone who cares, the most recent one is supposedly a Starley chainring. Bonus points to the first person who gets the Starley reference. More bonus points to anyone who does it without Google. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The rare late night post
Ok, so 10:30's not too late, but it's gonna feel like it at 5 a.m. when the alarm goes off. Just finished cleaning up from 90 minutes on the gerbil wheel and watching the B's blow it again. I should have just finished tape 3 of the 02 Tour to spare myself the pain. Oh, and today's PSA... grease your Speedplay pedals instead of waiting until way later than you probably should have done it. It actually took some force to push the sludge out the back side while I worked the new stuff in. They weren't crunchy so I think all will be ok.
Sort of a slow weekend on tap I guess... with Feb vaca next week there's no swimming or skating for the boys this weekend. So it's just karate and public skating if we decide to take them for extra practice. We're booked for back to back appts at the tattoo parlor tomorrow so I'll finally have the new ink to show off. Pictures no later than Sunday... I promise. I'll even include the rest of the skin art gallery since I'm making the effort. Gotta love when your 5th anniversary gift and a valentine's gift from your wife are tattoos. She's a keeper :)
Ok... hopefully I've wound down enough to sleep. I'm actually better off than my wife... her soccer game started at 10. Still better than the 11:20 p.m. game scheduled in a few weeks. Till the weekend...
Sort of a slow weekend on tap I guess... with Feb vaca next week there's no swimming or skating for the boys this weekend. So it's just karate and public skating if we decide to take them for extra practice. We're booked for back to back appts at the tattoo parlor tomorrow so I'll finally have the new ink to show off. Pictures no later than Sunday... I promise. I'll even include the rest of the skin art gallery since I'm making the effort. Gotta love when your 5th anniversary gift and a valentine's gift from your wife are tattoos. She's a keeper :)
Ok... hopefully I've wound down enough to sleep. I'm actually better off than my wife... her soccer game started at 10. Still better than the 11:20 p.m. game scheduled in a few weeks. Till the weekend...
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Weekly
I guess this is more to keep up the weekly updates than anything. There isn't a hell of a lot going on right now. I did finally get the second bathroom signed off by the town so I now have almost as many bathrooms in the house as I do bedrooms. Considering there's 5 of us living there, that's either a good or a bad thing (or both). I still have work to do but at least the inspectors are gone. Should have the new tattoo by the end of the weekend unless something changes, but I have to go check out the studio tonight to be sure I'll go to that one. Of the other two places I've been, one is real far away and the other closed becaue the guy moved to Florida. I wish I could find the kid from there who did the last one because he was outstanding.
In biking land, I'm more or less behind on anything related to bike maintenance. The commuter bike stalled even though I have all the parts. I've had too many other things to do and it's too freaking cold in the garage to work out there so I'd have to haul it all into the house. The road bike squeaks and creaks right now, but if I turn up the TV loud enough, I can't hear it. The mountain bike probably needs a cleaning too, but the snow ride last weekend cleaned a lot of the caked on stuff off. I should probably lube everything at the very least just to avoid something going wrong. I'll put it on the list and see if I get to it.
Ok, I'm at work so I think that means I'm supposed to do something productive...
In biking land, I'm more or less behind on anything related to bike maintenance. The commuter bike stalled even though I have all the parts. I've had too many other things to do and it's too freaking cold in the garage to work out there so I'd have to haul it all into the house. The road bike squeaks and creaks right now, but if I turn up the TV loud enough, I can't hear it. The mountain bike probably needs a cleaning too, but the snow ride last weekend cleaned a lot of the caked on stuff off. I should probably lube everything at the very least just to avoid something going wrong. I'll put it on the list and see if I get to it.
Ok, I'm at work so I think that means I'm supposed to do something productive...
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Attempting to get focused
Now that January is leaving us, I think it's time to at least have it in my head that the season is not too far off. The first race I care about that I'm seeing on the schedule is Tufts on April 1st. Memory tells me that there were other races earlier than that last year, but maybe it was just Wells. In either case, unless I'm forgetting a March race that was fun, Tufts will be the target. To celebrate this new found motivation, I actually threw some hard intervals into my lunch run today. It was, um, hard. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow, but that's good. Now I just need to remember how to actually train without going all gung ho now and being dead by May. The unfortunate byproduct of the motivation is also hunger. I finished lunch about 30 minutes ago and I feel like I could chew a finger off just for a snack. I think I'm going to need some joe and a fattening treat a little later.
Sunrise is now before 7 a.m. and sunset is almost officially past 5 again. I'm starting to see peeks of light as early as 6:15 on clear days and it's almost legitimately light at 5:30. Serious outdoor riding and other nonsense can only be so far away.
Oh, and I've now got a tattoo design done and a studio picked out. Just need time and money now. This page is in serious need of pictures so I'll probably throw up the artwork, bathroom (nearly complete), and bikes all at once... I hope.
Sunrise is now before 7 a.m. and sunset is almost officially past 5 again. I'm starting to see peeks of light as early as 6:15 on clear days and it's almost legitimately light at 5:30. Serious outdoor riding and other nonsense can only be so far away.
Oh, and I've now got a tattoo design done and a studio picked out. Just need time and money now. This page is in serious need of pictures so I'll probably throw up the artwork, bathroom (nearly complete), and bikes all at once... I hope.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Two for two
Wow, 2 days, 2 posts... some sort of record. I've been doing a bunch of simulation work the last couple days and their of a duration that you have to do something to entertain yourself while it runs, but it's not really long enough to get into anything else very in depth. So I burn more time than I should on the web and here I am.
Got the tattoo bug again recently and now it's in full force thanks to kjellquist's new ink. I think I know what I want so I just have to figure out which studio, when, and where on my body. Comically enough, my wife would kill me if I went and got it without her going and getting one too so we have to plan that. We spent our 5th wedding anniversary in a tattoo parlor which is highly amusing to people who wouldn't expect it from us. I'm up to 3 and I say I'm shutting myself off after 4. The thing is that I think it's kinda cool to tell your story through some body art. I won't be the guy that gets my entire back done, but I still like them.
Not a lot else going on. Still collecting bike parts for the commuter including a big score on a D/A derailleur on ebay last night so I need to stay on that. Warmer times will be here soon enough. then again, everything is warm compared to today.
Got the tattoo bug again recently and now it's in full force thanks to kjellquist's new ink. I think I know what I want so I just have to figure out which studio, when, and where on my body. Comically enough, my wife would kill me if I went and got it without her going and getting one too so we have to plan that. We spent our 5th wedding anniversary in a tattoo parlor which is highly amusing to people who wouldn't expect it from us. I'm up to 3 and I say I'm shutting myself off after 4. The thing is that I think it's kinda cool to tell your story through some body art. I won't be the guy that gets my entire back done, but I still like them.
Not a lot else going on. Still collecting bike parts for the commuter including a big score on a D/A derailleur on ebay last night so I need to stay on that. Warmer times will be here soon enough. then again, everything is warm compared to today.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Weekly
So this seems to be turning into a once weekly update... not entirely by choice, but it is in any case. It's about that time...
Hmmm, anything good happen in the past week... other than me starting to stress about being behind on life again, not a whole lot. Got some riding in last weekend despite the frigid cold. Took a spill on some ice on Sunday and now I have one of the uglier bruises I've ever had on my hip. Sadly I'm still in the falling-down-alot phase of mountain biking and it's because I suck and not because I'm being agressive. Hopefully I'll get over that hump soon and be able to limit myself to crashing because I did something totally insane and I deserved it. Classes have started up again so that's a chunk of my life I have to fit in. The class seems like it could be worse, but it's still class time and some time outside. I'll get through this eventually and hopefully it's worth it. Finally decided to blow off some other things on my list this week and start rebuilding the commuter bike. So far I've only replaced the crankset and bottom bracket and identified a bunch of parts I need to find or buy. I sort of stole some stuff off this bike to get the cross bike going so now I can't steal it back. Thank goodness for ebay. It's almost getting to the time of year where I should get semi-serious about training. After racing cross, January can be a blowoff, but February is short and is awful close to March and April when the season really starts. I believe Tufts is April 1 this year so that's my current target for minimal suckage.
Ok, my sims have finally finished. Let's hope I got it right this time so I didn't just throw away another 10+ minutes waiting for useless results.
Oh, go Bears! I never thought I'd say that, but Peyton Manning just pisses me off.
Hmmm, anything good happen in the past week... other than me starting to stress about being behind on life again, not a whole lot. Got some riding in last weekend despite the frigid cold. Took a spill on some ice on Sunday and now I have one of the uglier bruises I've ever had on my hip. Sadly I'm still in the falling-down-alot phase of mountain biking and it's because I suck and not because I'm being agressive. Hopefully I'll get over that hump soon and be able to limit myself to crashing because I did something totally insane and I deserved it. Classes have started up again so that's a chunk of my life I have to fit in. The class seems like it could be worse, but it's still class time and some time outside. I'll get through this eventually and hopefully it's worth it. Finally decided to blow off some other things on my list this week and start rebuilding the commuter bike. So far I've only replaced the crankset and bottom bracket and identified a bunch of parts I need to find or buy. I sort of stole some stuff off this bike to get the cross bike going so now I can't steal it back. Thank goodness for ebay. It's almost getting to the time of year where I should get semi-serious about training. After racing cross, January can be a blowoff, but February is short and is awful close to March and April when the season really starts. I believe Tufts is April 1 this year so that's my current target for minimal suckage.
Ok, my sims have finally finished. Let's hope I got it right this time so I didn't just throw away another 10+ minutes waiting for useless results.
Oh, go Bears! I never thought I'd say that, but Peyton Manning just pisses me off.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Odd weather and messed up news
So we got our first "snow" of the year last night, but it cleared up so nicely that I went out running at lunch. Barely a slush pile to be seen and bright sun for most of it. The ironic thing is that after all our nice weather and such a nice day today, this is the first day I've seen ice on the Chalz Rivah this year. I guess the 36 hours of real cold combined with the wind is doing it. Pretty cool sounds with the water moving under the layer of ice due to the wind out there. Even though I suck at it compared to days past, running makes me happy.
Breaking news out of the area this morning is that some 16 year old kid stabbed a 15 year old kid to death at a suburban school in a town where nothing bad is supposed to happen. Bad things happen everywhere sadly and now some family is dealing with unimaginable tragedy. Having to go through something like this is one of my biggest fears... how do you even begin to deal?
Ok, enough depressing news... everyone have a safe and fun weekend.
Breaking news out of the area this morning is that some 16 year old kid stabbed a 15 year old kid to death at a suburban school in a town where nothing bad is supposed to happen. Bad things happen everywhere sadly and now some family is dealing with unimaginable tragedy. Having to go through something like this is one of my biggest fears... how do you even begin to deal?
Ok, enough depressing news... everyone have a safe and fun weekend.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Update for the sake of updating
Well, there's nothing in particular going on, but it's been almost a week so I figured I'd toss something out there. After the holiday breaks from many responsibilities like school (us and the kids), work, training, etc we're getting back into having about 3 too many constraints on our time. Fortunately my wife will be sort of done with classes this week until summer (if she decides to do a summer class) so there'll be one less thing there. I had gotten some time to catch up on a bunch of projects, but that time is dwindling and most of them aren't done so I'm trying not to get overly stressed about it... it's not working. I tend to get frustrated that the battle against the clock is usually a losing battle. No matter how you slice it and how motivated you are, when there are 3 kids, 2 careers, 2 athletes, and a house to keep up, something falls off the list and it's usually not an easy decision on what to drop. I usually try not to drop anything other than sleep and I know that doesn't make things better. Oh well... one of these days I'll figure out the secret.
Not much other news. I am finding that winter is seeming much shorter to me this year partially because of the abnormal weather and partially because I have a goal of starting my bike commuting in early March so that will sort of signal the end of winter for me. Those first few weeks may not feel like the end of winter on the ride in, but there's still sort of a milestone there.
Back to work...
Not much other news. I am finding that winter is seeming much shorter to me this year partially because of the abnormal weather and partially because I have a goal of starting my bike commuting in early March so that will sort of signal the end of winter for me. Those first few weeks may not feel like the end of winter on the ride in, but there's still sort of a milestone there.
Back to work...
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Battle Scars
Well upon MoveItFred's request, here's one of the remnants of the crash. Fortunately for me, I heal pretty quick so my back looks very uninteresting now compared to Monday. Most of the scabs have come off my eye too so now it's just bruise remnants and where the scar is going to be:
Not the best photo, but all I could do by myself with a mirror to see the view screen. Next time I'll remember to get the good pics the day after.
Not a hell of a lot going on today. The kids all have sleepovers at other people's houses tonight so we have an actual adult dinner date planned. Past history tells me that we'll get a call round about dessert that one of them needs stitches or something. Let's hope not...
Not the best photo, but all I could do by myself with a mirror to see the view screen. Next time I'll remember to get the good pics the day after.
Not a hell of a lot going on today. The kids all have sleepovers at other people's houses tonight so we have an actual adult dinner date planned. Past history tells me that we'll get a call round about dessert that one of them needs stitches or something. Let's hope not...
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Long overdue update...
Well folks, updates have been sparse lately and this past weekend was worthy of several so let's see if I can get it all down. Now is a good time since I tweaked something in my back this evening and I am pretty debilitated right now, but typing doesn't hurt.
Let's roll back to Friday... I woke up Friday morning and had one of those "should I just roll back over and call in sick later" moments. My cold had kicked into high gear and I was miserable. Problem is that I have to make a judgement call at about 5 a.m. on whether I'll feel better enough after the cold drugs to make it through. I decided yes which turned out to be wrong. To keep this boring story of my misery short, I made it until about 11:30 and came home to lay on the couch and watch Rocky III (sadly I enjoyed it a little). That and lots of sleep that night had me feeling much better Saturday.
Saturday a.m. was chaos because the boys had karate, then swimming right after. With the ridiculously nice weather, everyone in the club was riding so I had set a soft goal of meeting the local group at noon and I would ride over to meet them since it's maybe 5 miles away. Well, we pulled in the driveway at 11:43 from swimming and I did the super quick change, prayed that everything on the road bike was healthy, and sprinted out of the driveway. I ended up averaging just under 23 mph with a minor tailwind getting there but I made it just in time. After that it was a very leisurely, but long, stroll through the burbs and everyone just enjoyed the global warming fest. I was totally spent by the time I completed the ride and the ride home and we had done 47.5 which was the highest in many months for one sitting. Rest of the day was uneventful except for the Dallas game debacle. I actually hate the Cowboys so it was good fun for me :)
Sunday a.m. I had a planned MTB ride with some of the guys in Hopkinton. We headed out and I knew quickly I was in trouble. The cold had made a resurgence, I was still spent from Saturday's miles, and the guys I was with would be out of sight on the trail before I could even clip into my pedals. I was outside getting excercise, but that was the extent of the fun I was having. Then I capped it off... We're literally <5min from the end of the ride and we head down a nice smooth hill, out of the woods onto a big grassy area. I could see at the bottom there was a dip and then what looked like a little gulley and then just flat grass. I never touched the brakes and found at the bottom that it was a pretty big dip and the bump actually dropped slightly on the other side before the shelf. I got myself airborne and had my weight going forward so I just kept rotating and watched the ground approach. Front wheel hit hard and then my face/head/shoulder followed. Behind me I just heard "Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!" Total casualties were a cracked helmet, cut over the eyebrow and the side of my head from my glasses, an ugly thing on my side from landing on my CO2 pump, and a big ugly on my shoulder. The bruises are starting to heal and I rode away, but I'm still getting over the whole experience. Next time out is going to be a big sissy ride :)
Since that not a whole lot has happened. Middle one was sick today so I had to bail early and I'll have to make that up tomorrow or something. He seems fine now, but he's been trying for a month to kick whatever he has. Further proof that we have 3... we let him go a month before we got him checked out. Oldest would have been admitted to a private hospital 3 weeks ago :)
Ok, I'm going to see if I can do anything other than type without being in pain. Congrats if you actually made it through reading this.
Let's roll back to Friday... I woke up Friday morning and had one of those "should I just roll back over and call in sick later" moments. My cold had kicked into high gear and I was miserable. Problem is that I have to make a judgement call at about 5 a.m. on whether I'll feel better enough after the cold drugs to make it through. I decided yes which turned out to be wrong. To keep this boring story of my misery short, I made it until about 11:30 and came home to lay on the couch and watch Rocky III (sadly I enjoyed it a little). That and lots of sleep that night had me feeling much better Saturday.
Saturday a.m. was chaos because the boys had karate, then swimming right after. With the ridiculously nice weather, everyone in the club was riding so I had set a soft goal of meeting the local group at noon and I would ride over to meet them since it's maybe 5 miles away. Well, we pulled in the driveway at 11:43 from swimming and I did the super quick change, prayed that everything on the road bike was healthy, and sprinted out of the driveway. I ended up averaging just under 23 mph with a minor tailwind getting there but I made it just in time. After that it was a very leisurely, but long, stroll through the burbs and everyone just enjoyed the global warming fest. I was totally spent by the time I completed the ride and the ride home and we had done 47.5 which was the highest in many months for one sitting. Rest of the day was uneventful except for the Dallas game debacle. I actually hate the Cowboys so it was good fun for me :)
Sunday a.m. I had a planned MTB ride with some of the guys in Hopkinton. We headed out and I knew quickly I was in trouble. The cold had made a resurgence, I was still spent from Saturday's miles, and the guys I was with would be out of sight on the trail before I could even clip into my pedals. I was outside getting excercise, but that was the extent of the fun I was having. Then I capped it off... We're literally <5min from the end of the ride and we head down a nice smooth hill, out of the woods onto a big grassy area. I could see at the bottom there was a dip and then what looked like a little gulley and then just flat grass. I never touched the brakes and found at the bottom that it was a pretty big dip and the bump actually dropped slightly on the other side before the shelf. I got myself airborne and had my weight going forward so I just kept rotating and watched the ground approach. Front wheel hit hard and then my face/head/shoulder followed. Behind me I just heard "Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!" Total casualties were a cracked helmet, cut over the eyebrow and the side of my head from my glasses, an ugly thing on my side from landing on my CO2 pump, and a big ugly on my shoulder. The bruises are starting to heal and I rode away, but I'm still getting over the whole experience. Next time out is going to be a big sissy ride :)
Since that not a whole lot has happened. Middle one was sick today so I had to bail early and I'll have to make that up tomorrow or something. He seems fine now, but he's been trying for a month to kick whatever he has. Further proof that we have 3... we let him go a month before we got him checked out. Oldest would have been admitted to a private hospital 3 weeks ago :)
Ok, I'm going to see if I can do anything other than type without being in pain. Congrats if you actually made it through reading this.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Grrr, Argh...
What do you get when you get a severe type-A person sick enough that they leave work early and don't feel look doing anything? A very frustrated individual. I finally threw in the towel today at work and conceded to the germ warfare my kids have been subjecting me to for weeks. I also decided that it was more fair to not stay around infecting everyone I work with. I got home and felt ok so I started picking up the house some. I made it through maybe an hour of that and totally ran out of energy so I laid on the couch for an hour and a half. I don't lay down for that long unless I'm sleeping so at this point in the evening, I feel like I've been useless all day. Oh well, I'll probably pack it in soon and try to sleep it off so that I have some hope of enjoying the nice weather to get out for rides this weekend. Roads tomorrow, trails Sunday if everything goes right. Winter will hit eventually (and all of New England will bitch about it like we've had the worst winter ever) so better enjoy it now.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Random Updates
In no particular order:
- Work is obviously in reboot mode today since it was pretty quiet. That was good because the oldest was here for the morning due to a professional day for the teachers at the school.
- Figured out today that Daylight Saving starts March 11th... now I know when my target date is for starting to bike commute a couple days a week.
- Did an ok job not turning into a fat sloth over the past week even if I did eat my face off at every party.
- Let the NFL playoffs begin... let the attempts to watch 4 games a weekend begin too
- Bathroom addition project is really gaining steam. I should be laying floor tile tonight. Maybe a picture to follow.
Ok, sims are done running... back to earning my pay.
- Work is obviously in reboot mode today since it was pretty quiet. That was good because the oldest was here for the morning due to a professional day for the teachers at the school.
- Figured out today that Daylight Saving starts March 11th... now I know when my target date is for starting to bike commute a couple days a week.
- Did an ok job not turning into a fat sloth over the past week even if I did eat my face off at every party.
- Let the NFL playoffs begin... let the attempts to watch 4 games a weekend begin too
- Bathroom addition project is really gaining steam. I should be laying floor tile tonight. Maybe a picture to follow.
Ok, sims are done running... back to earning my pay.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Not a great start to the day
So already this morning I have bailed on mountain biking that I had planned to do because it's a) cold and b) a little icy. I also just had to send the older two back to bed because they are incapable of playing anything together without it turning into an argument. It's both of their faults, but maybe 5 for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct will help them remember that they need to try not to piss each other off.
Oh well, coffee is almost ready so that will make me feel better :) Hopefully I can take my skirt off later today and get out for a run or something. Maybe I'll throw the lights on the SS and go out on that so I'm at least getting a bike ride in like I planned.
Oh well, coffee is almost ready so that will make me feel better :) Hopefully I can take my skirt off later today and get out for a run or something. Maybe I'll throw the lights on the SS and go out on that so I'm at least getting a bike ride in like I planned.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Xmas Carnage
Well I'm not sure I've recovered from the Christmas hangover and I know for sure that my house hasn't. The boys got just about everything imaginable this year and of course they still complained about what they didn't get. If anyone out there knows the trick to finding balance between sufficiently spoiling your kids and teaching them to appreciate what they have then let me know :) We have the added fun of the older two fighting over wanting to use each other's stuff... I swear we should just buy a pile of stuff for the two of them and then let them take turns choosing like you used to pick teams in gym class. Oh the poor pairs of socks that get picked last... they'll be scarred for life.
Work is pretty dead quiet this week which you would think would mean I get stuff done, but I'm doing yearly evaluations for my whole group this week so that burns a bunch of time. Plus people not being here to bother you also means people aren't here to respond to questions so it's a win/lose. I think I'll still take the quiet over chaos.
2 pieces of big news on the bike front (even though I'm temporarily a runner again just to retrain some of those muscles): First is that I finally got the garage organized last night and I managed to take advantage of the crazy high ceiling by hanging everything bike related. There are currently 4 bikes, 1 partial bike, and 5 wheels overhead with one bike still on the wall. If anything them being all visible makes it look like I have more which I didn't think was possible. Secondly, I made sure to leave expansion space in the overhead bike jungle because I got approval to go ahead with a custom cross frame for next season. I meet with the frame builder next week to kick it off and he said he'll make sure to have it ready in time to practice on it before the season starts. This will be my first custom and I fear how much I'll like it because there are sure to be more to follow. The 8 month or so wait for it will be well worth it, but it will be torture. I'll have to spend the time picking out the goodies to put on to it :)
Ok, back to work... but first, for the cross fans out there, check out the performances so far by Jonathan Page over in Euro land. Guy has been top 15 in nearly every race since going over... worlds could be interesting.
Work is pretty dead quiet this week which you would think would mean I get stuff done, but I'm doing yearly evaluations for my whole group this week so that burns a bunch of time. Plus people not being here to bother you also means people aren't here to respond to questions so it's a win/lose. I think I'll still take the quiet over chaos.
2 pieces of big news on the bike front (even though I'm temporarily a runner again just to retrain some of those muscles): First is that I finally got the garage organized last night and I managed to take advantage of the crazy high ceiling by hanging everything bike related. There are currently 4 bikes, 1 partial bike, and 5 wheels overhead with one bike still on the wall. If anything them being all visible makes it look like I have more which I didn't think was possible. Secondly, I made sure to leave expansion space in the overhead bike jungle because I got approval to go ahead with a custom cross frame for next season. I meet with the frame builder next week to kick it off and he said he'll make sure to have it ready in time to practice on it before the season starts. This will be my first custom and I fear how much I'll like it because there are sure to be more to follow. The 8 month or so wait for it will be well worth it, but it will be torture. I'll have to spend the time picking out the goodies to put on to it :)
Ok, back to work... but first, for the cross fans out there, check out the performances so far by Jonathan Page over in Euro land. Guy has been top 15 in nearly every race since going over... worlds could be interesting.
Friday, December 22, 2006
The longest afternoon
Gather round kids and we'll learn why procrastination is bad... So this summer when my wife blew out her knee and then had surgery to put it back together, I had to miss some work time. Not a lot, but an hour here and there. Well we have a way to make that up later, but you have to do it within a certain time period or they charge you vaca. Well I never made it all up and as a result I have to put in extra hours before the end of the year. So here I sit, on the Friday before Xmas, in almost a completely empty building. Part of it is that I'm horribly honest about these types of things so I feel like something bad will happen if I bug out 30 minutes early when I put in saying I'd be here x number of hours today. Must be some fear of getting caught that my mom instilled in me... thanks mom!
Anywho... for anyone who's readying: Merry Christmas! For anyone who's offended because they don't celebrate Christmas: Tough Sh@t! I celebrate Christmas and I felt like saying something nice... get over it.
The boys are all excited about Monday so that should be interesting. We did end up with a change in plans today that has us going to the in-laws for dinner that day. That sucks because we have to pack up and drive there, but it kicks ass because we don't have to cook or clean. I'm numb to driving so I'll take it.
Ok, the timecard police are probably watching so I should get back to work...
Anywho... for anyone who's readying: Merry Christmas! For anyone who's offended because they don't celebrate Christmas: Tough Sh@t! I celebrate Christmas and I felt like saying something nice... get over it.
The boys are all excited about Monday so that should be interesting. We did end up with a change in plans today that has us going to the in-laws for dinner that day. That sucks because we have to pack up and drive there, but it kicks ass because we don't have to cook or clean. I'm numb to driving so I'll take it.
Ok, the timecard police are probably watching so I should get back to work...
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The long overdue weekend report
I think I've finally gotten my head back on straight enough to sum up the weekend of craziness at cross nationals. The sad thing is that I think it was more hectic being a "home race" than it will be if I get permission to go to KC next year, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So here goes...
Friday: Woke up way too early for work so I could get as many work hours in by 11 and then leave for the race. I was anxious as hell so it was hard to be productive the whole time I was here. The real snag I hit was lunch. The caf opens at 11:30 and there is nothing that I could easily drive by, park, swing in, and swing out on my way out of town. I figured I'd either get something on the road or immediately when I got there. Well, long story short, my lunch ended up being multiple mini Clif bars and a slice of banana bread because the only food I could find for sale at the race was BBQ sandwiches which were not a good plan <2 hours before the race. Jumped on the course immediately when I got there and got in 2 laps. The course seemed crazy long and definitely a collection of challenges. It's hard to say it was hard, but it sure wasn't easy. There was a little of everything you could imagine complete with a few greasy corners and a minimum of 4 dismounts per lap for mortals who can't bunny hop barriers or ride up stairs (I saw both over the course of the 3 days). I felt kinda ok, but wasn't sure since my chest cold had kicked in a little. For a while did some number pinning, waiting around, and then warming up on the roads and trainer. Saw a bunch of the guys standing around the pits before the M35+ ended because their days ended early. Got lined up for the race DFL as I knew I would be and then the whistle blew. Now I expected to be hanging on when we took off, but this was freaking insane. By the time we hit the barriers I was solidly in last with no sign of gaining ground. I found out later that the first two rows of my field contained guys who ride local elite races and do well. The true low point of the race was coming through after 2 laps and seeing 4 to go when I was sure there was no way we could do more than 5 total. To cut the agony short, I got lapped 2/3 of the way through lap 4 and just rode into the pits and pulled myself. I rode terrible and was just stunned by how fast those guys were. For the record, it was the fastest Masters race of the event. Picked myself up a little with way too much food and some tasty adult bevs at Fire and Ice with some of the guys and went home to crash.
Saturday: Boys had karate from 8:30 to 10 so we did that and then headed to pick up Jeff and get down there in time for the U23 and elite mens races. Timed it perfect and even had time to swing by the Kona team tent and try to convince Treefarm to sell me one of his bikes. No luck there, but it was fun anyways. BTW, I don't know what the stink was about with $5 parking... I never saw anyone charging all weekend so I never paid. Fine spot all three days. The summary of the Saturday races was just simply fast. You cannot fathom how fast those guys are and the way Trebon just rode away from everyone was sick. It helped those guys that the course was dry and packed so there were no conditions to contend with. Probably the only downer of the day was having to constantly remind myself that while it's exciting for me to be 1 foot away from some of the world's best cyclists, the boys think I'm one of the world's greatest so to them it doesn't matter. Trying to explain something that's exciting to you in a way that it will be interesting to your children while realizing that they probably aren't 1/10 as interested as you is one of the many challenges of parenthood. They got to throw leaves at each other and some other kid they latched onto so they had an equal amount of fun :)
Sunday: Up early again and back in the car for another trip to Provo. Course opened at 7:30 and I wanted a good number of laps so I could feel out the course better and figure out how stiff I was. That was a huge advantage because I figured out that this one power hill that I couldn't ride Friday (I was the only tool running) was completely rideable if I set it up. I think Friday also had to do with how crummy I felt. Got in 3 laps before the women's B started and then had time to snack a little and get in some time on the trainer. A trainer with a single speed is kinda of strange because all you can do is spin faster which isn't without value, but it's limited. Got ready and headed down for the lineup slug fest. Started in 140th spot out of 172 (reportedly) which was really funny to see. Really cool thing was that I lined up next to another SS'er who was riding a gigantic gear. Now even funnier than the lineup was the pileup we had on the off-camber which had frosted over at night and then thawed during the women's race. We get there and it's just a wall of humanity and I can hear the announcer yelling "Oh my goodness it's total mayhem". Once everyone sorted themselves out, I realized I was pretty far back in the field (painfully close to last), but that was ok because I could tell it wasn't as fast a race. The rest of the time I just rode hard, had a boat load of fun, and would constantly latch on with a guy for a bit and then lose him. Even though I hurt when I was done, I had enough left to be making faces at Gewilli when he was yelling stuff at me. It was a total blast and I finished 126th without getting lapped so it was a success. The day did end on a sour note with Coley breaking his leg after riding around 5th spot for a chunk of lap one of the other B race.
Ok, that's way too much work time wasted. Till next time...
Friday: Woke up way too early for work so I could get as many work hours in by 11 and then leave for the race. I was anxious as hell so it was hard to be productive the whole time I was here. The real snag I hit was lunch. The caf opens at 11:30 and there is nothing that I could easily drive by, park, swing in, and swing out on my way out of town. I figured I'd either get something on the road or immediately when I got there. Well, long story short, my lunch ended up being multiple mini Clif bars and a slice of banana bread because the only food I could find for sale at the race was BBQ sandwiches which were not a good plan <2 hours before the race. Jumped on the course immediately when I got there and got in 2 laps. The course seemed crazy long and definitely a collection of challenges. It's hard to say it was hard, but it sure wasn't easy. There was a little of everything you could imagine complete with a few greasy corners and a minimum of 4 dismounts per lap for mortals who can't bunny hop barriers or ride up stairs (I saw both over the course of the 3 days). I felt kinda ok, but wasn't sure since my chest cold had kicked in a little. For a while did some number pinning, waiting around, and then warming up on the roads and trainer. Saw a bunch of the guys standing around the pits before the M35+ ended because their days ended early. Got lined up for the race DFL as I knew I would be and then the whistle blew. Now I expected to be hanging on when we took off, but this was freaking insane. By the time we hit the barriers I was solidly in last with no sign of gaining ground. I found out later that the first two rows of my field contained guys who ride local elite races and do well. The true low point of the race was coming through after 2 laps and seeing 4 to go when I was sure there was no way we could do more than 5 total. To cut the agony short, I got lapped 2/3 of the way through lap 4 and just rode into the pits and pulled myself. I rode terrible and was just stunned by how fast those guys were. For the record, it was the fastest Masters race of the event. Picked myself up a little with way too much food and some tasty adult bevs at Fire and Ice with some of the guys and went home to crash.
Saturday: Boys had karate from 8:30 to 10 so we did that and then headed to pick up Jeff and get down there in time for the U23 and elite mens races. Timed it perfect and even had time to swing by the Kona team tent and try to convince Treefarm to sell me one of his bikes. No luck there, but it was fun anyways. BTW, I don't know what the stink was about with $5 parking... I never saw anyone charging all weekend so I never paid. Fine spot all three days. The summary of the Saturday races was just simply fast. You cannot fathom how fast those guys are and the way Trebon just rode away from everyone was sick. It helped those guys that the course was dry and packed so there were no conditions to contend with. Probably the only downer of the day was having to constantly remind myself that while it's exciting for me to be 1 foot away from some of the world's best cyclists, the boys think I'm one of the world's greatest so to them it doesn't matter. Trying to explain something that's exciting to you in a way that it will be interesting to your children while realizing that they probably aren't 1/10 as interested as you is one of the many challenges of parenthood. They got to throw leaves at each other and some other kid they latched onto so they had an equal amount of fun :)
Sunday: Up early again and back in the car for another trip to Provo. Course opened at 7:30 and I wanted a good number of laps so I could feel out the course better and figure out how stiff I was. That was a huge advantage because I figured out that this one power hill that I couldn't ride Friday (I was the only tool running) was completely rideable if I set it up. I think Friday also had to do with how crummy I felt. Got in 3 laps before the women's B started and then had time to snack a little and get in some time on the trainer. A trainer with a single speed is kinda of strange because all you can do is spin faster which isn't without value, but it's limited. Got ready and headed down for the lineup slug fest. Started in 140th spot out of 172 (reportedly) which was really funny to see. Really cool thing was that I lined up next to another SS'er who was riding a gigantic gear. Now even funnier than the lineup was the pileup we had on the off-camber which had frosted over at night and then thawed during the women's race. We get there and it's just a wall of humanity and I can hear the announcer yelling "Oh my goodness it's total mayhem". Once everyone sorted themselves out, I realized I was pretty far back in the field (painfully close to last), but that was ok because I could tell it wasn't as fast a race. The rest of the time I just rode hard, had a boat load of fun, and would constantly latch on with a guy for a bit and then lose him. Even though I hurt when I was done, I had enough left to be making faces at Gewilli when he was yelling stuff at me. It was a total blast and I finished 126th without getting lapped so it was a success. The day did end on a sour note with Coley breaking his leg after riding around 5th spot for a chunk of lap one of the other B race.
Ok, that's way too much work time wasted. Till next time...
Friday, December 15, 2006
Crazy weekend on tap
Finally made it to Friday so at least I know the distractions of Nationals will soon come to an end. I've been telling myself for 2 days that it's just another race, which to me, it is since I'm starting last and wouldn't win if I were starting first. Still, it's against much better competition so I've set my goals on things like not crashing and not getting lapped. On a loop this long, either the leaders would have to be superhuman or I'd have to lose an entire wheel and be running to get lapped... I hope. Anywho... just a few more hours to wait.
Odds are I'll be driving well over 500 miles over the next couple days. My driving schedule will be something like:
Friday - Hudson to Cambridge to Providence to Hudson
Saturday - Hudson to Grafton to Providence to Grafton to Hudson
Sunday - Hudson to Providence to Hudson to Sturbridge to Hudson
And people wonder how we put 40k plus miles on the two cars in total for a year.
Odds are I'll be driving well over 500 miles over the next couple days. My driving schedule will be something like:
Friday - Hudson to Cambridge to Providence to Hudson
Saturday - Hudson to Grafton to Providence to Grafton to Hudson
Sunday - Hudson to Providence to Hudson to Sturbridge to Hudson
And people wonder how we put 40k plus miles on the two cars in total for a year.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Thank goodness for sand
Yesterday was the Verge cross series finale in Warwick, RI and I headed down for a final tuneup before the Nationals beat down. Speaking of, the Masters 30+ field is one of the smallest there so I'm feeling good about that. Anywho, when I got there for the race (after a minor detour due to crappy directions on the race flyer) and headed over to reg I had a minor panic attack as I could see that a large chunk of the course was on dead flat ground weaving through the woods. While a 36x17 gear is good for most cross courses, dead flat ones mean everyone else will be in their big rings and I'll just be going backwards. Figured if nothing else the workout would be good and set about getting ready. Hopped on for a few warmup laps and found that the course was very twisty so there wouldn't be a lot of sections for most guys to really open it up, plus there was a long beach run. They were still taping the course so I kept getting to one section and losing where I was supposed to go. I guessed and kind just kept looping around the same sections that 1) had no barriers, and 2) had no clear start/finish. Finally on my last trip around before the start, they cleared it up and I realized I had missed a whole section of the course with another long beach run and some uphill barriers. Unfortunately I also realized the the start was on a long dowhill stretch of pavement. This meant I'd be pretty close to last by the time we hit the sand no matter how fast I could spin.
We all line up in the staging area and got to chat up the SS bike with some guys. It's amazing how much talk a <$500 bike gets. I'm wearing #378 and I registered like 10 days ago so I'm figuring I'll be way back. They start callups and they started with 350... Woo hoo! Ended up starting in the second row which was a big relief. Whistle blows and it's a mad dash down the hill and of course I'm going from second row to about 40th because I've got no big gear. Held on for dear life and then we hit the sand and I must have passed 20 guys. A couple of general notes here: there were 2 paved 180 turns at the bottom of the hill and I found out that C cross racers cannot take turns at speed. I'm by no means great but I still made up huge chunks on groups just going through the 2 turns kinda well. Secondly, my remounts were uncharacteristically good yesterday which was huge. Moving on, I felt like I held position well throughout the race and not too many masters caught me. I did get to ride a short while with Gewilli who I also got to chat with after the race, but then I went down on probably one of the easier corners just because I did something dumb. I seemed like just a fall over crash, but my knee and hip are pretty stiff today. I was able to get back up quick and not lose too many spots. Rest of the race was uneventful and I kept feeling like I rode pretty well and I was blasting guys on the sand runs. Had no idea which position I was in so when I found a hand scribbled list of numbers taped to the window inside, I was thrilled to find I got 18th. Best placing this season and I was <2 min down to the winner so I'll take it. Nationals in 4 days...
In non-biking news, we took the kids to a Xmas thing at Gilette yesterday which they really enjoyed and then the older 2 had skating last night. Final class of this session and both of them got medals so they were thrilled. That and some positive words from the teacher I think convinced the oldest to go for more lessons even though he claimed he didn't want to. It's amazing that when they started the oldest couldn't really skate and the younger could barely stand up steady. Yesterday before class they were running around playing tag in their skates and then were playing tag with the teachers on the ice. I miss having the brain to learn things that fast :)
Ok, I should do some work... or something.
We all line up in the staging area and got to chat up the SS bike with some guys. It's amazing how much talk a <$500 bike gets. I'm wearing #378 and I registered like 10 days ago so I'm figuring I'll be way back. They start callups and they started with 350... Woo hoo! Ended up starting in the second row which was a big relief. Whistle blows and it's a mad dash down the hill and of course I'm going from second row to about 40th because I've got no big gear. Held on for dear life and then we hit the sand and I must have passed 20 guys. A couple of general notes here: there were 2 paved 180 turns at the bottom of the hill and I found out that C cross racers cannot take turns at speed. I'm by no means great but I still made up huge chunks on groups just going through the 2 turns kinda well. Secondly, my remounts were uncharacteristically good yesterday which was huge. Moving on, I felt like I held position well throughout the race and not too many masters caught me. I did get to ride a short while with Gewilli who I also got to chat with after the race, but then I went down on probably one of the easier corners just because I did something dumb. I seemed like just a fall over crash, but my knee and hip are pretty stiff today. I was able to get back up quick and not lose too many spots. Rest of the race was uneventful and I kept feeling like I rode pretty well and I was blasting guys on the sand runs. Had no idea which position I was in so when I found a hand scribbled list of numbers taped to the window inside, I was thrilled to find I got 18th. Best placing this season and I was <2 min down to the winner so I'll take it. Nationals in 4 days...
In non-biking news, we took the kids to a Xmas thing at Gilette yesterday which they really enjoyed and then the older 2 had skating last night. Final class of this session and both of them got medals so they were thrilled. That and some positive words from the teacher I think convinced the oldest to go for more lessons even though he claimed he didn't want to. It's amazing that when they started the oldest couldn't really skate and the younger could barely stand up steady. Yesterday before class they were running around playing tag in their skates and then were playing tag with the teachers on the ice. I miss having the brain to learn things that fast :)
Ok, I should do some work... or something.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Don't try this at home...
Yet another crazy early day today. Sadly I was up at 4:40 because I foolishly decided to finish of the chips and way-too-spicy salsa my wife got with dinner last night right before bed. Not a good idea. It's good to get here early though because I have to get the boys tonight so she can go to pre-class for her week-long winter class. The school offers a limited number of intensive courses that are 1 week long and you go 8 hours a day for that week. For most you meet ahead of time to get some prep work and then a few weeks after it's done you hand something in. Not a bad deal if you can spare the week and her work is letting her do it on work time. Sweet deal.
By the way, I do have to point out that I can't exactly recommend a couple dealing with 2 full-time jobs, 2 ongoing graduate degree programs, 3 kids under the age of 6, a house, a dog, a cat, 4 fish, 2 hermit crabs, and never ending home improvement projects. It leads to a severe lack of sleep and an ever growing list of things you never get to because they don't make the cut. Oh well... I'd probably be bored if there was any less to do... maybe.
Warwick, RI cross on Sunday and then Nats Friday and Sunday. Decided to take a half day and throw my hat in for the Masters U35 race. I'll be starting DFL so I just hope at least one guy has a mechanical and I don't finish there.
By the way, I do have to point out that I can't exactly recommend a couple dealing with 2 full-time jobs, 2 ongoing graduate degree programs, 3 kids under the age of 6, a house, a dog, a cat, 4 fish, 2 hermit crabs, and never ending home improvement projects. It leads to a severe lack of sleep and an ever growing list of things you never get to because they don't make the cut. Oh well... I'd probably be bored if there was any less to do... maybe.
Warwick, RI cross on Sunday and then Nats Friday and Sunday. Decided to take a half day and throw my hat in for the Masters U35 race. I'll be starting DFL so I just hope at least one guy has a mechanical and I don't finish there.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Stat of the day
Forgot to post this earlier. Here's today's scary stat: I took my BP last night because it's been way too long and the doc would probably yell at me for it...
BP 116/67
HR 41
Apparently the meds and this excercise stuff are working :) I had just had a beer which I suspect lowers all of the above by a couple points, but I think I'm still doing ok.
BP 116/67
HR 41
Apparently the meds and this excercise stuff are working :) I had just had a beer which I suspect lowers all of the above by a couple points, but I think I'm still doing ok.
Weekend Review
Well the weekend was so busy that it even took me an extra day to write about it. I was reminded again this weekend that I'm too old to do anything fun. Friday night we went to a fancy black tie charity party at the Park Plaza. I got to chat some with former Pats QB Scott Zolak for a while at the pre-party and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. We were talking about our kids at one point and he joked that because his 6 year old daughter is real tall we should get her and my oldest son together. I'm thinking "That would be just fine with me to have a former pro-QB in the family... let's do it even if they are only 6" :) Anywho, we didn't leave the party until after 1, then had to walk back to out hotel so it was 2ish before we got to bed. The painful part was the boys had a karate tournament at 8 a.m. so we had to leave Boston at 6:30 to get home. What made it worse was that after a busy day, I had to get up at 4:30 Sunday morning to go set up for the MRC cross race. It was completely amazing to see how many guys were out there in the 25 degree weather at 6 a.m. We had the course set up in about 45 minutes except for some finishing touches. Reviews seem to be that everyone loved the event so it was worth it even if I had to bail after setup to go to a breakfast with the family and then a birthday party.
This coming weekend is the Warwick, RI cross race on Sunday and then the following weekend is Nationals. I have to decide today if I'm going to be insane and race Masters 30+ on Friday and then the B race Sunday. I'm already signed up for the B race so I just have to decide if I want to take a half day to drive down and start in the back row of 100+ guys. I suspect I'll do better in the 30+ than B's so it may be worth it.
In other news the bathroom project is almost there. Painting is now done so next steps are finish electrical, the floor, and trim. Might get to the floor this Saturday so there's a chance I may have this thing done this year. Need to schedule Dad to help hang the door and some other stuff, but school is nearly done for the semester so I should be able to put some time in.
This coming weekend is the Warwick, RI cross race on Sunday and then the following weekend is Nationals. I have to decide today if I'm going to be insane and race Masters 30+ on Friday and then the B race Sunday. I'm already signed up for the B race so I just have to decide if I want to take a half day to drive down and start in the back row of 100+ guys. I suspect I'll do better in the 30+ than B's so it may be worth it.
In other news the bathroom project is almost there. Painting is now done so next steps are finish electrical, the floor, and trim. Might get to the floor this Saturday so there's a chance I may have this thing done this year. Need to schedule Dad to help hang the door and some other stuff, but school is nearly done for the semester so I should be able to put some time in.
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