Saying Goodbye

We've been together for 5 years, you and I. It was love at first sight. It took a while to find you. Once I found you it took a few months before you were ready to come home. You were worth the wait.


You were always there, waiting patiently for your time to go out. You never got upset when I left at you home and took out another.

Then there two. The day we brought home your companion and replaced part of you with non-OEM part you were so so happy.


You didn't complain when we took another to Colorado for two weeks in 2006. Remember how we made up at the 12 hour race after that? We took you there to ride. But we took our time to ride a couple laps at leisurely pace while others were racing.

In 2008 teamed up to make our debut on a national scene. 2008 Cyclocross Nationals. We made a great team. That day we were the first race of the day. 8 am, mid-teens, frozen solid ground, covered in snow and ice. It was a great time. In the end we brought home a finish on the lead lap and even beat a great racer, Gunnar Shogren.

In the recent years I took some time away from you. You still didn't complain. While I dabbled in the latest damper technology from the fine folks at Fox, you patiently waited because you knew I would be back.

And when I returned it felt so great to be back out with you. That is why today was so horrible. They trails were frozen. We headed to Chubb. It was like old times. Others said, "No way, your are crazy!" But you didn't pay any attention to the nay sayers. We took our time and just enjoyed the day. At the end is went it all went wrong. You could of told me how you feeling before it happened, but now there is no going back. What is done, is done.



It is time to say goodbye. I will miss you. You cannot and will not be replaced.

Furby vs. Armstrong

Today while I riding with my daughter in tow I was listening to the Spokesman Podcast. Those affiliated with family services can relax. I was on a multiuse path, had only one ear bud in, and had bells and reflectors. Anyways, the panel was discussing various topics Fred related and they mentioned that Lance Armstrong became all "furby" like with his adoption of social media in his comeback. That got many thinking. Dangerous I know.

First thought, the effect social media and Web 2.0 and it's impact on subcultures. More specifically our cycling community. Local and global. I won't bother with you any long winded description on that. My brother already wrote an graduate level paper, which has been published here, on the internet and subcultures and offers great insight into a website run by a certain Big Johnny and how Drunkcylist.com is a prime example. Big Johnny gave him an A on it.

I'll stop digressing now.

Second thought and point of this rambling. Back to the Armstrong is Furby like thing. Since both are on the internet I thought I would compare the two to prove that Lance is no Furby. But it might be cooler if he was.

Round #1: Who was there first?

Easy. Furby. He was blogging way before Armstrong was twittering. He may not travel to Hawaii for training but he does provide some great training insght.

Round #2: Who has more watts/oz?

Seems like every "serious" cyclist has a powermeter these days. I don't have one, because...well.... I'm more concerned about the beer being cold after the ride then how many watts I averaged or maxed out on during a climb. If you take total watts and noralize it by dividing by beer consumed in oz. per week Fubry's Watts/oz is far superior to that Tour de France winner.

Round #3: Who has done more for the cancer community?

I have to give Armstrong at least on softball. But Fatty would give him a run for the money.

Round #4: Guy I would like to ride with, but haven't.

Riding with Lance would be a pain. All those cars, cameras, and on lookers? Pfft. Have you seen some of his rides? 1000+ showed up in Ireland. 5000 in Australia. Talk about road rage from drivers?!?!?! I would feel much safer with Furby. Keep the group small. Besides at the end of the ride, or more likely during, there will be beer. Cold, clean, refreshing beer. He also has the can lead you the best road food out there. I challenge Lance to name one convenience store food that makes for excellent cycling fuel.

I think it is safe to say that both Furby and Armstrong have adopted Web 2.0 as a way to keep in touch with their cronies, but I also know that Mr. Armstrong is no Furby.

CXMAS makes the season

I attended CXMAS as rolling spectator yesterday. Good times were had by all. 132 brave solders were there. Only one say to sum up the day.....HERE

Fresh Start

The past week has been a little hectic around the house. Several very good reasons why. With all that has been going on I did manage to sneak in some rides. A couple to the hospital. A few out on the roads. Zero rides on the trails.

I have also been trying to figure out what is the proper attire to wear under my winter riding jacket. I procured this jacket after the most of the winter had past. My old jacket I have had for 6 years and I knew what I cold wear and be comfortable. Not too cold. Not too hot. Just right. The one jacket is a far superior riding jacket. I road Thursday and it was in the teens. I had the jacket, base layer and Giordana winter jersey. I was melting in 2 miles. Most of which was down hill. Road at the freezing mark in base layer and jacket at a very slow pace. Melting again. Guess I'll just have to wear nothing under this jacket. I would rather be a little warm than cold any day. Just wish I could figure out the proper layering under it before CXMAS!

CX is still hard

I went ahead and signed up for the CX race today. Single speed. It was hard. I kept my SS mountain bike gearing, 32/18. Glad I kept that! Just simply switched the fat tires for CX tires. Easy change.

Got there early enough to do one recon lap. That was enough. Then they lined up for the start. 15 SS. Started us 10 seconds in front of the other C racers. My goals were not to crash, not get crashed, and have fun. Pretty much accomplished those goals. Although I did a nice slide on the 180 on the pavement on the final lap. No injuries except the ego. Thank goodness for sealed parking lots, they allow you so slide without injury.

The start was not bad. Took a spot at the pack and just took my time. Passed a few folks on the climb the first lap and then that was it for me. Just riding laps after that. I forgot how hard CX really is. It is hard. No bones about it. It was awesome! I settled in and battled a few folks back and forth. I did manage to make up some ground on the climbs and the long run up along the fence. I have to give Jonathan Schilling some props for his cheering on the hill. For a young lad he did some great cheering and did a good job of motivating me, and others.

I ended up getting lapped by Chris Connelly, but he lapped a ton of people. I wasn't last and I think it was a good day to return to racing.

A Typical Day

So since I'm not really racing or training for anything I don't really look at any data anymore. Until the other day. I began to think, which is never good. Cyclist always look at their data after a race or a training ride. It used to be heart rate was the big indicator. Now a days it seems like any low life Cat 5 has a power meter. Some people use them for good. Others just use them for show. I'm still in the heart rate monitor mode. Anyways, since I'm not racing I figured I would log my heart rate for a day at work. Could I see moments of stress? How low would my heart rate be while I was in deep thought. Would a cup of coffee cause a heart rate spike. I even went so far as to try and write down when I got up, ate, drank, etc. to see if I could detect those spikes and lulls. Well here it is. My typical day. All the spikes pretty much equate to getting up to do something. Walk, talk, get a book, whatever. A find it interesting that my maximum is 112 BPM which I'm fairly confident there are some around me who would log that for a minimum.

Bubba is upon us

Less than 24 hours until Bubba. Night race. Mudd. Cowbells. Beers. Racers. Bullhorn. It will be an event not to be missed.