this just in

I found out I got a hit from denmark based on a google search of 'big soft fleshy pussy'.


mmmmmmbwahahahahha!!!!!

I Like Racing Bikes

As the title of this blog suggests, I find racing and riding hard quite cathartic. I haven't raced in a while due to a number of factors, but I decided to wimp out on the Powow Triathlon and go to a local criterium instead.

The Attleboro crit is a fun fast affair, with a reasonably technical course, a small hill, and a very fast corner heading into the line, exactly 1km. They've had it pretty much consistently for about 20 years I think. I know I raced it for the first time in about '96.

I signed up for the 35+ and 45 +. The 45s went off first, and were separated by the cat 5 race so I had some recovery. It was a great field, 53 riders, with some big names, including Solobreak.

It started off fast, quite a bit faster than any 45+ race I've done. Good thing though, I started at the back and was almost taken out in the first 100 feet twice by two guys struggling to get into their pedals and wobbling all over.

I followed the pace for the first 5-6 laps, and felt comfortable. People started going off the front, and I was content to let them ride. I just stayed with the chases. With 11 laps to go out of 30, a bell rang for a prime. I thought this would be a launching pad for a break, and I was feeling good enough to get into one. Sure enough, a few guys latched onto the people going for the prime.

Oopsie - the bell rings again for a back to back! Since I was in about 5th wheel I held the spot. Coming into the line through the fast corner the leader sat up, and I decided to go for it. I jumped, blasted past on the left, and went to drop it into my 12 for the final push.

nothing happened.

It wasn't dropping down. I just kept hammering, spinning my 13 for all I had, when a guy from celtic cycles just rolled by me, taking the prime by a wheel.

Shit!

So I sat in after that, trying to see if a barrel tweak could get it to drop down. No luck. It just sat on the 13 and rattled. Then it dawned on me, This wheel set, Mavic gel330 sew-ups with a campy cassette, sits a bit more to the right in the dropouts. When I use these wheels I have to remember to tweak barrel and the stop screw.

OK , now I know, if I want to place I have to get out front early and make people pass me. No problem. I had been moving up the hill and passing on the insides of the corners all day. I'm content to sit in. A small break had formed at the front, and Solobreak was doing a great job reeling them in. He has one of the best sprinters in new england on his team, so it's worth it for him to work. I actually have another one of the best sprinters in new england on my team as well, but I hadn't seen him the whole race. He's typically quite active, so I didn't know if he was going to play or not. it was too late in the race to drift back and find out.

We head into the bell lap. I know I have to be on the right to move up on the inside all the way up and down the hill.

I need to get to the right.
blocked in.
blocked in.
dammit, the hill is coming up quick, people passing on the right, doing exactly what I need to do.

shit. I roll up the hill at the back of the field. No point in me going from here, not being stuck in my 13. I let the field roll away. I see solo pulled off to the right, obviously completely spent.

Nice work, solo, I couldn't have done that.

Come to find out, my sprinter teammate went for the win and got 2nd. Solo's sprinter got blocked in, and finished near the back.

Funny how bike races work out like that.

The 35+ wasn't as fast as the 45s believe it or not. Of course, I had no intention of doing anything in the race, so maybe it's just that I wasn't try as hard. Still, the first 3-4 laps of the 45s were single file, the first few of the 35s were all bunched up.

A break with three good riders from three good teams got away about 1/2 way through, and it stuck. Sunapee, CCB, and Fuji blocked for their guys. There was alot of activity from the teams that missed the break - gearworks and corner cycle, so the pace was kept high and the break never got more the 30 seconds, but with 6 guys blocking it wasn't coming back. The last few laps were quite fast, and since I had fixed my derailleur I was able to drop into the 12 for a reasonable finish - reasonable in that I was able to sprint and didn't watch the action from behind.

35+ - 17th out of 56, 48 minutes, about 27 mph
45+ - DFL, didn't even get listed, but the field did 40 minutes, avg about 28 mph

So I didn't place at all, but I had fun. I felt good. Again as the title of the blog implies, it did wonders for my attitude.

This week is the WMSR. Should be fun!

Big Soft Fleshy Pussy

I used to call a riding buddy that whenever he either didn't show up for a ride in less than ideal conditions or hiked his MTB rather than risk life and limb.

Now that applies quite firmly to me. I was scheduled to do my first triathlon this weekend, the Powow Triathlon in amesbury, ma. The swim scared me off. I don't swim to begin with. I _can_ swim, and do, just not often, and with no intent of training when I do. So, based on the lack of training, and the daunting task of a 1/2 mile swim, I bailed. I signed up for two masters crit at Attleboro instead.

Riding in this morning, my attitude was at a disturbing low. The lack of training, the cold temps, the rain....as the descriptor of this blog states - 'my descent into madness'. Between my life and the weather, I managed _ONE_ cbtt* this month. I had intended a weekly attendance. I've attended the BOB tuesday night fights once since the beginning of june. I mean, I was wearing arm warmers this morning and my hands still got cold. IT'S FUCKING JULY ALREADY!!!!!!!

So, I'm not sure how I'll fair saturday at attleboro. I'm confident I won't get dropped, but whether I'll be able to have an impact on the race remains to be seen.

Hey, atleast I won't drown.

(* for kicks, try googling "cbt" instead of "cbtt" with your filter off, don't say I didn't warn ya!)

Back Up The Spiral

A more true axiom than Lennon's "life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" could not be spoken. My training of late, as a result of the confluence of significant events in people lives that are close to me has been getting in the way of any reasonable semblance of training or racing. While Solobreak was out making a goal of riding 500K over three days, and Chronoman was contesting the fitchburg stage race to the best of his abilities, I was mired in the morass of jobwifehomecarkids life. We all have to accept the effects on our lives of the decisions we make, and mine are the fact that training and racing are going to suffer if I don't want my house or marriage to.

Saturday morning I was recruited into taking a relative to the airport for a 9:30 flight, so she had to be there by 8:30. That blew any plans of local running races out since they both started at 8:30. The rest of the day was eaten up by yard work - nothing had been done in weeks because of the weather. Still, Saturday Night was eventful and fun, with a rogue firework show in my backyard, a nice fire in the stone pit, and a HeiniKeg on ice.

I had hoped to at least get down to the BRC Wells Ave training crit this sunday, but yard maintenance at the apartment building in manchester ruined those plans as well. Still, I managed to get almost two hours in at the FOMBA land in Auburn. (funny, their website says the trails are closed as of _today_ because of rain. I thought they were in great shape yesterday). If you're ever in the area with a few hours to spare, it is without a doubt some of the best single-track in the country. They have over 15 miles of rocky, rooty, windy, twisty technical single track now. I got in about 10 miles of it. The rain has left standing water on some of the trails, but it was just the right amount in my opinion. The significant majority of the trails were dry, with the occasional puddle here and there. Not enough to make the rocks and roots slippery, but enough to pop out of the trail with significant coatings and clumps of mud all over me and my bike.

uhhh huhuh huh huhuh...cool

Not great pictures, but you get the idea.

I haven't ridden FOMBA since thier 'turkey burner' last fall, but I felt a good groove for most of the trip. The epic 3.1 mile "Fire Line" trail gave me the most trouble, and I severely lost the groove and ended up dismounting half a dozen times, including a front wheel wash out as I rounded a muddy corner and ended up in the bushes. The last trail I rode was the one mile 'fox tail', and I got into a good groove with no dabs at all. A moderately skilled rider can easily tick off a 6 mph pace when on the trails. I managed just about that, with "fire line" being the slowest pace at about 5.9.

I capped it off doing a bunch of yard work in manchester, and de-upholstering and dis-assembling a couch left in the yard by the previous tenant. The city won't take couches left at the curb, so I removed all the upholstery and stuffed it into contractor bags which they'll take, then brought the wood home for my fire pit.

So this weekend I'm scheduled to do the Powwow Triathlon in Amesbury Ma. I'm not so worried about the run or the bike obviously, but I don't swim, and the weather hasn't exactly been conducive to swimming. I've probably gotten about 30 minutes of swimming in since we opened our pool at the end of april, just enough to remember how to do a crawl stroke without taking on mouthfuls of water.

It's a 1/2 mile swim, what's a good time for a 1/2 mile swim? Last years results look like 15 miles is pretty average. Anyone who was anyone seemed to do around 12, the winners under 11. Truth is, I don't fucking know. If I get out in 15 or under, I think I'll be pretty happy. I know all the roads the bike course is on, so I should do pretty well there, but I've _never_ tried to ride a bike after a long swim, let alone treat it like a time trial.

Strategy? Don't drown.

I Just Wanna Know When I Get Mine.....

When the pros were awarded on the podium, they received a pint glass as their prize - less than typical pro compensation

Snide references over The Great Pint Glass Debacle of 2006 aside, this week has been an exercise in temperance. I managed three commutes this week if you count today. Not typically anything that would be blogworthy, except that this morning was the first time since monday of last week that I managed a ride without getting rained on. That's 170 miles, about 8 hours total, getting wet every time, and I still got wet this morning from the wet roads. The conditions for the ride home tonight remain to be seen, but even it it doesn't rain on the ride, the roads will most likely still be wet.

That's probably half the mileage and time I would normally ride for this time of year, but between the weather and the events leading up to last weekend, I'm not complaining. I was planning on running the North Andover July 4th 10K but as has been usual for my racing/training this year, Life has conspired against me, as I need to get a relative that was up here for last weekend to the airport for a 10AM flight.

So, I'll probably then be encumbered with getting whatever yard work I haven't been able to do done for the past month becaus of the rain. My lawn hasn't been mowed in two weeks. I haven't trimed any shrubbery at all this year (easy, solo), and I haven't taken my dog for a run in two weeks.

and as I write this....well whaddaya know, the sun just came out.

Where The Fuck Have You Been?

This is kind of a mish-mash of a post, but I've been busy the past few weeks with planning a 50th anniversary party, trying to get my third floor apartment in Manchester rented, and stuff that I actually get paid to do. But here's what's happening.

I was thrilled to see a Tour De France special that didn't involve Lance Armstrong. The Sundance channel played a program called "Blood, Sweat, and Gears: racing Clean to the Tour De France" last night.

It's about the history of the Team Garmin/Slipstream, and their bid to get a spot in the tour. It isn't that I don't like lance, I am in fact a lance fan, it's just that there isn't nearly enough coverage of the other americans in the race. I haven't had the chance to watch all of it, but the first 20 minutes or so were pretty good. I'll have to force my wife to watch it to get a perspective of a non-cyclist.

The party last weekend went off pretty well. In case you haven't been reading, my parents 50th wedding anniversary party was last week end. I held it at the Phoenix Room in Newburyport.

I hired a string quartet to play baroque and chamber music for the first half, a folk duo (the Ayotte Brothers) to play folk songs from the 60's and 70s for the second half, then wrapped it up with a performance of "Seasons of Love" from Rent by the First Religious Society Choir of Newburyport, and a finale of "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" by Green Day, with one of the Ayottes on guitar/ vocals, and a friend of mine and me accompanying on violin and flute. The Ayotte brothers were quite good, with a very wide repitoire and exceptional harmonies.

So now I'm back to being able to focus a bit more on training, even though I still have to get my 3rd floor apartment rented - meaning I'll have to re-arrange my schedule for showings. I fucking hate that house, and I hate being a landlord.

Even still, I managed to get some riding in last week, I stuck to straight commuting, just for the mental balance, and of course it rained pretty much on every ride. Last wedensday, as I was preparing to leave work, I found I had a flat tire. Now, Last year I blogged about wearing tires out. After that post I bought a set of my favorite commuter tires, Panaracer Stradius Pro. Well, lo and behold, This is what I found when I went to remove the tire.

If you can't tell from the photos, There's a lot of cord showing. I'm talking, like 50% of the circumference of the tire. Those are actually three _different_ sections of the tire. The flat was a puncture as opposed to a pinch flat. Now, As already noted, I've had at least a dozen flats already this year. Really, I'm not kidding. So it isn't as if I haven't been paying attention to the condition of the tires. This happened rather quickly, sometime in the past couple of weeks. So, I repair the tire, and note how much cord is showing, and think I should really take it easy on the way home, easy spin up hills, no sprinting for lights or truck drafts, keep the power to rear wheel smooth, so as not to wear through the cord.

I get outside, clip my right foot in, and push off slightly with my left foot and hear

"RRRIIIPPP"

I look down, and half of the sole of my shoe has separated from the upper.

I stuck a roll of tape in the gap to show how far the sole ripped off. The dark and light grey patches are where I've used epoxy in the past. My theory is, the shoe has been wet for so long, that the fibers of the upper (some type of processed leather) finally got saturated enough to detach themselves from the epoxy.

Now, these shoes don't owe me a fucking thing. Northwave Team somethingorothers. I bought them in 1997 for $180. Amortized, that's $18 a year. I probably have 50,000 miles on them, if not more. They've been crashed quite a few times, and repaired. I repair them with JB weld epoxy. It forms a great seal, is waterproof, and very rigid. Their ad suggests it can be used to repair engine parts, and is strong enough to be drilled and tapped. But, after ten years and then riding in the rain for a week, I'm not surprised. It isn't the epoxy that's failing, it's the fabric/material in the upper. The last epoxy repair I did was over two years ago, and I had noticed that it was starting to separate again a few weeks ago. I'll give it another repair, What the hell, if they fall apart again, I'll think about some new shoes. I have three other pairs of road shoes, anyways.

Of course, this made the ride home _extra_ interesting, since I could put no upward pressure on the left side. Hey, things could have been worse......

Besides, Solo ain't got nothin on me for wearing shit out.

Oh, one last thing. My wife retired. She's worked for the various iterations of verizon for the past 23 years. They're reducing headcount, and asked for volunteers on the idea of early retirement. If she leaves now, they'll give her the entire retirement package she would have been eligible for had she stayed the extra 14 months. She'll end up with about a years salary, health benefits for as long as they offer them, plus her retirement pension - lets just say we could live off that for years to come.

Here's the kicker - Verizon is famous for double dipping. In 6 months she'll be eligible to go back as a contractor, getting a contractor wage, while still drawing benefits from the pension system, and as a contractor if they tell her she needs to stay late to do some project she can say no.

Long ago, there was a singer songwriter by the name of Mason Williams, who had a very quirky sense of humor - he used to work with Steve Martin in the 60s on the Smothers Brothers show.

He Wrote - "Once there was a man who worked at the same company for 25 years, and never missed a day. When he retired, they had a party and gave him a gold watch. Just imagine that wondrous watch. Being able to see the last 25 years of his life at a glance, while letting him watch the rest of it run out".

Baby's Day Out

I haven't ridden a real time trial in almost two years. Sure, I done the duatlhons, but I mean a real, start-off-with-a-holder-set-off-in-intervals time trial

I've been toying with the idea of riding a weekly course myself, using the old boxford course that nebc used to run in the 90's. After reading a couple of Solobreaks posts on the charlie baker time trial, I decided to give it a go, especially since they actually track and place fixed gear results. I love riding time trials on a fixed gear.

So, tuesday night I gave the Kellogg frame with Mavic Challenger disk wheel and 52x16 the once over.

Wednesday I went to the time trial. I haven't ridden this course in maybe 12 years. It hasn't changed much thanks to concord and carlisles zoning restrictions (aka snob zoning).

The guy parked next to me had a fan loader he was warming up on. Damn those things are noisy. How the hell could he stand it? An old friend came by to chat and we had to raise our voices to hear each other, this was _out_ side.

I met a few people I hadn't seen in well over ten years. There were alot more women there than in the past, more people in general than when I used to ride it. A few on the women were quite cute, especially all in their matching NEBC skin suits. Karen Smyers of IronMan Triathlon and cancer survivng fame was also there, as was Skip Foley.

I was rider #46,they had 57 that night. Taking my place on the line, I didn't quite get my pedals set right. Big deal, that might cost me all of one second. I decided not to worry about it.

From 'go', I launched a rolled the 52x16 up to speed. I came right up to 100 rpm, and spun it past up to 110. I noticed my speed read 0. It occured to me that was the one thing I didn't check the night before. My cadence monitor was working, and that is what I was using as the main metric anyways. After the TT I found out the wheel magnet was missing.

The first mile is uphill, but not what one would call a climb. More like a 1% grade. In the old days when the finish was at the top of this rise, it felt like a climb. That was when we did the full loop of 10.8 miles. Now this rise in the first few miles, so it's no big deal. I was keeping a cadence of over 100 all the way, dropping to 90 at the crest. I was feeling pretty good, better than I thought I would. Then a rider came by, flying, Some cars were passing me slower than this dude. he wasn't my 30 second or minute man, I knew both of them, I didn't know this guy, he had to be 1:30 behind me, at least.

I plugged on, still feeling good.

Then I took the right turn onto monument street - it instantly felt like I had hit the brakes. I didn't think there was any wind, and it didn't feel like a head wind, but that would explain why I felt so good heading out.

I was struggling to keep my cadence up at this point. This section is significantly more rolling than the first half. In the early 90's they had moved the start/finish up to carlisle center, so this section was only a couple of miles in. Now that it was at the end, it was more troublesome. Still, pushing the fixed gear over these hills was easier than a regular road bike. Going over the last hill I kept my cadence at 70, not too bad.

From the top of the last hill it's downhill all the way to the finish, except for the last 100 feet or so that goes up to the line. Not having ridden this in over a decade, I held back a little. It may have cost me a couple of seconds, but I wasn't too worried about it. I crossed the line in 23:50, for an average of 24.5 mph. I was quite happy with that. I had gone into it hoping I would break 24 minutes,and I did so.

I have a season goal of breaking 26 mph average on the fixed gear. I think it's do able!