Tool

Ah yes, the dual meaning title...

I've become a reasonably ok bike mechanic. When I say reasonably ok I do not in any way mean that you should trust me to work on your $5000 bike and not eff it up, but I at least trust myself to work on my own expensive bike and then ride it. I do have a bad habit though of letting maintenance type stuff go way too long and then of course it ends up being more expensive and a big pain in the ass. Case in point: I finally got around to pulling apart the whole front end of my steel cross bike for the first time in 2 years. Let's just say that I got some quality time with some sandpaper while I cleaned the rust off of the steerer tube. Anyways... so my latest is that the rear shifting on my road bike has been getting kinda stiff and flaky for a while. I knew it was time to change out the lower piece of housing at least and probably replace the cable too. Well tonight I tried to just swap out the housing and grease up the cable a little. Lacking a very good cutter (the proper TOOL), the ends of the housing were a little ragged. In the process of threading the used cable through with it's imperfect end, I got a couple of strands caught and proceeded to peel them a ways back and basically destroy the cable. Of course I didn't have a spare on hand. So I have now disabled my bike over a $2 part because I procrastinated and wasn't careful (I am a TOOL). Ah well... easy problem to back out of at least.

whyidonotplayhoops

Two weekends ago I played basketball twice in 3 days. I had fun. I even played respectably well, then again it wasn't exactly a high caliber game. The day after the second game I felt like I had pulled a muscle in the right side of my chest. It got progressively more acute over the next few days and I finally reached the conclusion that I probably cracked a rib. I can tell I've turned the corner and it's getting better as long as I don't do anything stupid (unlikely). That'll teach skinny guys like me to jump in with the big boys.

Oh, and I missed the window of opportunity on the hideous looking elbow. More or less picture implanting a Twinkie in your arm. Now picture what your arm would look like once all that blood/fluid distributes itself throughout your elbow and forearm. Guess I'll just have to get on the pictures right away the next time I hurt myself. You know by now it won't be that long of a wait.

Fail

I can't remember if I made it public, but I had put my name in for Leadville this year. I got the "We regret to inform you..." email today. Major bummer since a guy from the club that I really enjoy riding with got in. Of the 7 of us I know that put in, it looks like he may have been the only lucky one. Sadly, there's no way I can burn a hall pass to go out to crew for him and/or help with the race. Have to save those for the events I'm in. Ah well... better luck next year.

If I get ambitious tonight I have to get a picture of my arm up here. I took a huge hit on my elbow 10 days ago when I hit a patch of ice and it's still hideous. Definitely worst contusion I've ever had and that's saying sumthin.

Bear with me

I'm going to be doing some redecorating around here so bear with me while I get things in order.

Speaking of redecorating, you can go check out some exciting news over here. That will also double as my pre-built excuse for why I suck this season.

That was weird

If you've ever even met me you've probably figured out that I don't sleep much. I can carry on with what sounds like not a lot of sleep for quite a while, but it does catch up with me now and then. Yesterday I pulled a marathon day where I got up at 4 to go to a teammate's house for a spin and CX Worlds viewing party. Who could say no to a trainer workout with company while watching the best of the best and chasing it with beer and waffles? Anywho... by late afternoon I was pretty beat, but hung in there until maybe 9:30. This morning I got up at 4 (typical for work day) and I just could. not. wake. up. On the drive to work I almost turned around 3 times because I felt like I was not all that safe to be driving. Chugging my first cup of joe wasn't helping. 2 more cups when I got to work and there was still nothing firing. I found myself apologizing to everyone because I was being a grouchy jerk and I just generally avoided people. Finally around 11:30 I just admitted I was just wasting the electricity to light my office and went home. I basically went right to bed and slept for the better part of 4 hours. I think that did the trick, but I'm still trying to get over the groggy daytime sleeping feeling. Definitely seem more coherent. We'll see how it goes when the kid circus starts in a little while.

The Good Side of Bad

If there's any up-side to finding out 5 years ago that my blood pressure was the equivalent of an 80 year old chain smoker who snacked on sticks of butter wrapped in bacon it's that every few years I get to see cool pictures of my heart. Must be the nerd in me talking, but seeing all the valves and everything work is pretty frickin cool. Fortunately nothing I saw looked like the turbo on G's car spewing fluids everywhere... I'm pretty sure that would have been bad. I'll wait to hear from the doctor before declaring myself healthy or anything, but if recent rides on the bike mean anything, something is working right.

I've said it before: Don't assume everything is perfect because you're in shape and active. I was probably the "healthy" guy next in line for a heart attack. It's not much more than a minor inconvenience to get yourself checked out regularly.

Day 6

After a couple months of intense slacking, I went for the aforementioned LT test which seems to have been the much needed kick in the ass. Today was my sixth straight day of riding. Yay. Granted the last 4 have been in the cozy little corner I set up in the basement, but it's January in Massachusetts... that's what we do. Things look good to hit the pavement both days this weekend again after a nicely timed "rest" day tomorrow ("rest" because there'll be no riding, but I am playing hockey). I can only hope that this is the start of a nice trend.

Oh, and there will be some upcoming big news over on my rarely used other blog. I'll try to remember to flag it here, but feel free to check it out periodically.

Reality Check

Last night I went down to visit coach guy for a little LT testing since it's time to get off my ass. Let's just say it was a sobering reminder that I've got me some work to do. All things considered, it probably should have been worse. I've probably pedaled a bike about 6 times since the end of October. Somewhere around that time I did nothing at all for about 3 weeks. I basically went into this cold. It's ok... I just need to do some rearranging in the basement tonight so I can set up a nice spot for the trainer. I lost my heated trainer room to the kids and the couple times I've ridden in the garage in the past couple weeks my feet went numb it was so cold. That's not going to do much for motivation so I'll just do some cleaning and be good. It's only January... no worries.

Oh and an old teammate from high school is pulling me into an alumni vs. students charity basketball game in a few weeks. I basically told him I suck about as much as I did back then, but I'm at least in shape enough to run with the kids. Should be entertaining. If anyone wants a laugh, the money is going to cancer research and tickets are only 3 bucks. I can post info if there's any desire. If you're on FB you may just get the info there.

Goals - What's "too late"

All this reflection and planning and prognosticating by some people these days got me thinking about an old goal of mine. I ran competitively through high school, college, and for several years after. One could argue I was even pretty good at it. I sort of became a middle/long distance guy focusing on the 800m and 1500m on the track and 5k to 5miles elsewhere. I've had mixed success above and below those ranges, but suffice it to say I spent lots of hours banging out hard short intervals. I'd have to check my list, but I believe my PR in the 1500m was 4:05 point something (and I know it was at the D3 New England Outdoor Championships at Williams College in 1996 :) ). For a long time I was pretty certain I had the ability to get under 4 minutes, but leaving the structure of college and not being able to afford a coach then, I never made a serious push for it. Tack on 3 kids, a lot of years, and aspirations of being a bike racer and here we are.

The past few years I've gotten pulled into this fun little event in June where the local clubs do a "marathon relay": 26 people each do a mile (and someone sprints out the .2) for bragging rights and a few medals. It's been a fun event because mentally I'm programmed to run the mile (there's an approach to this race and not everyone gets it) so I can use it as a way to measure general fitness, although not running fitness so much since I've barely run at all leading up to it. A good sign is that my time has come down 3 years in a row. Last year I ran a 4:54 (granted it's 1600m which is not a full mile and you get a running start, but still...) with just a handful of running days and one pace check on a track a day or two before. It got me thinking: What if I actually trained for this? Last night I was thinking to myself that this year I should really honestly train for it, but still as a secondary goal to bike racing. Today I started thinking a little bigger: What if I really honestly gave it another shot before it's too late? But that sounds like a lot of pressure... oh no, if I don't do it now I never will. I don't need that shit.

The fact of the matter is, the more years that go by, the harder it will be for me to pull together what it takes to go that fast. There's a reason I gave up running as a primary sport... it hurt too much to do it that hard every day. With a smart enough approach it's still not outside the realm of possibility, but it would have to be kinda soon. I have my name in for Leadville this year and I wanted to do something even bigger next year (to be announced later). Maybe if I don't get in to Leadville I'll ponder the idea some more. It's just big enough that it would have to be THE goal so I have to think about it. We'll see....

Driving Lessons

I had a gigantic rant being scripted in my head on the drive in today, but I think I've calmed down a little. Lets keep it short and say that I am convinced that passive and uncomfortable drivers have got to be the source of the vast majority of traffic problems. If the big wide road with all those fast moving cars scares you, stay off of it. If you think you're proving something by using it despite your white-knuckled ineptitude, at least have some courtesy and stay in the right lane.

Oh, and I could no longer ignore the feeling that I was missing out on some worldwide party that all my friends were at so I got on Facebook this week. Feel free to find me there and say hi, but my guess is that after the initial fascination period, I'll update that about as often as I update this.

Merry Christmas

All the best to everyone.

Season of Suck is Over

I pulled the plug weeks (months even) ago so attending the Ice Weasels race was purely about Colin and Thom being good guys and all the nonsense that ensues on Nationals weekend at non-Nationals races. Enter the ridiculous outfit displayed in Saturday's post. The schedule only allowed for me to take a beating in the 1/2/3 race so I figured I'd at least try to make Colin laugh so hard that he ate it on a snowy corner while he lapped me. Oh, and did I mention I had a playing card taped to my fork so I had motor noises? Appropriately, my highlights from the race were not so much about racing: 2 cupcake feeds, some girl at the top of the runup saying "Oh, here comes Speedo", Bauer stuffing a dollar bill in the back of my shorts... you know... the good stuff. I put in a token effort each time down the start straight and even bothered to pass a guy on the final lap along there. I had enough fun that it didn't feel like it was even close to an hour. Thanks to the IBC crew for putting this one on.

Ice Weasels

As expected, the 1/2/3 field at Ice Weasels had a party at the back... full report tomorrow:


photo courtesy of Doublehop

Here's hoping

I just watched the video of the Nats course preview over at CX Mag. All I can say is that I hope the course sucks way way less than it looks from the video. I can't wait for the hard hitting review from Solo and G. Don't have to worry about either of them holding back if it's a piece of crap.

Father knows best?

I've been trying to coach my oldest a bit to improve his hitting for baseball. He's a good hitter at the level he's playing at, but he's just got too much going on in his swing for it to work against good pitching. He basically looks like Gary Sheffield at the plate right now. I've been trying to get him to quiet everything down and only make the motions he needs to. Every time I give him advice, I get the classic eye roll and associated "Dad you're a pain in the ass" look.

Last night at the baseball clinic one of the coaches was working with him on his swing while hitting off a tee. Afterwards I asked him if the coach told him anything helpful. He proceeded to demonstrate how the guy taught him to just slide his foot rather than pick it up and take a big step so that he stayed on balance and what to do with his head and shoulders to keep them on the ball. Sure sounded an awful lot like what I had been telling him... I guess coach isn't a pain in the ass. Then again coach isn't going to tell him to pick up his laundry and brush his teeth.

Credit for the Good Guys

Forgot to post up my justification why the Crank Brothers folks deserve some of your hard earned cycling dollars... well some of us earn it... others just sell t-shirts.

I've been an Eggbeaters guy for a few years now. I never could get Shimano pedals to a tension I liked. I was either stuck in them or popping out. Not a good recipe when you're a hack mountain biker and supposed cross racer. So I tried Eggbeaters... and I was hooked. Fast forward 2.5 cross seasons, 2 editions of 24 Hours of Great Glen (one in a major mud slog), and 3 full seasons of mountain biking. Sadly my precious pedals had loosened up to the point that I was popping out of them a lot. I figured there was no way they were still warranteed, but figured maybe the CB dudes would want to see how they wore out... so I dropped them a line. I got the pretty standard "Send them in and we'll evaluate." Maybe 2 weeks later I get an email saying they had checked them out and they need new springs and a rebuild kit for the seals and bearings. Cost to me: $20. For both I asked? Yes, for both. So about 10 days later I got back a like-new set of pedals with new springs, bearings, seals, grease, and nice and shiny for $20. Those parts wearing out: unfortunate. Crank Bros hooking me up: frickin awesome.

Hello, INS... there's this Candian kid I'd like you to look into

Declaring myself healed from my recent calf woes, I decided it was ok to hit the double at Sterling this weekend. I'll cut to the chase and say that the head start they gave this kid was just enough to allow him to (barely) lap me both days thus ending my race (probably mercifully) a lap early. Overall I felt like I rode my bike well, but maybe that's because it's easier to corner at low speeds. I simply just have no power or fitness right now and that's a bad combination. I've also discovered (or more like it was pointed out to me) that I need to take a couple links out of my chain to keep it from bouncing off the way it seems to every race. Ah well... both courses were super fun and you can't beat the Sterling venue. To add to the glory of the weekend, my oldest made a full lap of the course with me in between races. It's fun to see youthful recklessness on display even in a kid who's pretty conservative. He never thought twice about ripping down the off-camber into the stairs full gas with no brakes. His racing age is 10 next year... maybe there's a cub juniors race upcoming...

Long freaking day

Oldest was picked up from school yesterday with a fever of 103.5. Today he got to the point that he was crying from the pain in his right side. After 5 hours in the ER tonight, diagnosis: pneumonia. Let's hope the script we got does quick work on this bugger...

Knock on something...

I'm on day 5 of the comeback plan and all signs are good. Today was the real test since I went for a short run which was the source of the problem originally. The 3 hours of mountain biking over the weekend were a good test too. If I can prevent myself from doing anything stupid, Sterling should be a go. Yay. Oh, and if I'm about to get lapped by anyone, throw some tacks in front of me so I can claim mechanical...

Sports Parenting

Since I don't ride my bike right now, but parenting never takes a break, lets visit that topic for a second. More and more all the time I'm finding out how hard it is to strike a balance on how hard to push the boys on certain things. Most of our kids activities are sports-related so let's go with that. On the one hand, I refuse to be the beauty pagent mom. I said this to my wife the other day and she got it immediately. There's some useless TV show on MTV or some other crap channel about people dressing their 3 year olds up like little toy dolls and parading them around the country to beauty pagents. These people are dumping 10's of thousands of dollars on coaches and outfits and makeup and all this other bullshit for a 3 year old who is crying that they don't want to do it and doesn't have 2 minutes to sit and play with a ball. If I ever become that parent, shoot me. On the other end of the spectrum you've got the "obesity epidemic" and the generation of professional video game players. Now I remember being a Super Mario shark at one point in my life, but it was typically to unwind from the 3 hours of pond skating. If I ever give in to my boys' preference for watching TV and playing Wii, shoot me for that too. But in between those two is a pretty big frickin range. Do I bring my kid to the AAU tryout because he's got genuine talent even though he says he's not sure if he wants to? Do I let them hone their NHL 2K10 skills for a couple months since they just came off 3 months of football? I'm not sure that I have or will ever have the perfect answer. Maybe I hire the professional beauty coach and tell them they're fired the first time my kid cries. Who knows... it's as much about creating opportunities and preventing the "Man, I wish I had..." as it is letting them be kids and just grow up when it's time to grow up and not when I say they should. Remind me why I signed up for this gig?