nazi douchebags

Well, I guess the party’s over. I came to work this morning and was greeted with this:

We had a reprieve from the web Nazis here for a while, but, I guess they decided the pay the bill and get the subscription turned back on. No more google groups or webmail. Fortunately they haven’t figured out how to get rid of the local non-browser hotmail client known as ‘live mail’.

We get warning pages too, so I can click by them and still get to those sites. Blogger is one of them. So I can get to _most_ of my favorite blogs except Drunk Cyclist. That’s too bad, since he’s one of the best cyber warriors out there, not to mention a Good American Free-thinking Liberal (not hung up on all that ‘god’ nonsense. I don’t think he’s an atheist, I just think he realizes how fucking stupid religionists are, though I could be wrong).

I was stylin’ during the Giro, since live tickers weren’t being blocked, but I remember when the filter _was_ in the page I have to keep hitting ‘update’ and then keep hitting ‘proceed’ to get the ticker to update. It happens automatically without the filter.

Fucking douchbag Nazis….

I got out on the MTB on both Saturday and Sunday, in the heat. I was diggin’ it. I really dig this 95 degree 90% humidity action. Saturday was a shorter ride since I had some errands to run, but Sunday I did my favorite local ride in the Winnekenni conservation area.

Winnekenni isn’t huge (allegedly 700 acres), but there are a lot of trails, including two sections of super twisty single track totaling about 1.5 miles, most of it on the side of a hill that wraps around on itself several times, and a ½ mile long access road hill at about 5% - not very steep but with washouts and very soft spots. I managed to string together a point to point route about 6.8 miles that only uses one short section of fire road twice. If you go one way, then turn around and ride it the other direction, you get a reasonably technical 13 mile workout that takes just under 90 minutes with about 1200 feet of climbing, most of it in little 50’ rises, not including the ride to and from the park. It’s usually sparsely populated enough so you can really push the effort and not have to worry about other park users.

This is the polar output:

I didn’t feel any real pain either day, though towards the end of Sundays ride, I could feel a slight pain in the connective tissue on the outside of my right calf.

I rode to work today, and felt good all the way in, except that I ended up with the same pain after I got in.

At my therapy session today, we discussed the pain, where it was, when it showed up…Shes thinking I might need some of those high-end custom orthotics.

But the good news is that _none_ of the pain I’ve been having is debilitating, I’m going to start upping my weekly milage, try to get in more two-hour rides. When I can do a ten-hour week with no pain, I’ll try the Tuesday Night Fights.

What's It All About?

I've been trying to put together another 'hardware' post, but damnit if I can't get the stupid fucking camera to stop taking blurry pictures. Am I that tweaked from not being able to ride extensively that I can't even hold a camera? This is how the bikes came out:

..................Tsunami road..............................Bontrager Cx...........................Cube TT................................

I have a better camera that I use at work for taking tech. pictures. I'll bring that home and get some better shots.

I'm having problems justifying the amount of cycling garbage in my basement lately. Now that I really don't have a team to ride for, and I won't be able to tell how extensive the damage to my achilles is for another few months, and face it, I'm not going to be winning anything unless I keep riding 'till I'm 70 and I'm the only guy entered in the 70+ category. I have 9 bikes that are completely set up and ready to ride. I have two spare sets of good MTB wheels and three good sets of spare road wheels on top of the wheels _on_ the bikes. I have two 12 foot long shelves of bike parts, plus a few medium size moving boxes of other parts laying around. I even have _complete_ Mavic Mektronic component group in anit-static packaging.

Why?

Some promise of latent cycling glory?

Not.

Right now it's about fitness. I enjoy keeping my weight down and being able to still fit into my old concert t-shirts. I have a 20 year old leather jacket that only fits slightly more snugly than when I first got it.

And then there's the 'Zen'.

I simply enjoy getting out on the bike. Riding along on some of the quiet back roads that I work into my commute, all I can hear is the whir of the cassette and the dull roar of the deep section Rolfs on the smooth pavement, save the occasional chorus of birds. I _am_ in love with cycling.












Yesterday I was stopped at Lafayette Square in Haverhill waiting for the light to change, and the din of the city - sub woofers, car/truck/Mcycle motors, acted almost as an aphrodisiac - I _am_ in love with cycling.








Once I get back out on the MTB, I will feel the peace and oneness with the dirt, mud, rocks, and roots. The loudest sounds coming from the chain slapping the drive-side stay. I enjoy coursing along a smooth twisty piece of single track more than most anything - pausing to take in the bucolic vista of a lake or rocky stream. I _am_ in love with cycling.





In order to attain these two not-so-disparate nirvanas I really only need one bike - my old handmade steel Bontrager CX would work just fine, though an additional set of light wheels for road riding would be nice.

But I have 9. What a waste.