rest day

woke-up.
got caffeinated.
crawled onto the pain machine for a while, wasn't feeling it.
made some oats w/curants, banana, brown sugar.
got more caffeinated.
sun was shining.
decided to ride to work.
can't argue with the sun.
20mph steady tailwind from the west.
something to look forward to.
got into bike gear.
takes a while when it's 10 degrees outside.
realized commuter bike had 2nd flat in as many days.
might as well ride race rig, tires are full and happy.
flatted 5miles from work.
no pump.
5 bike curriers pass as i run / rode flat / walked / sulked to work.
didn't expect any help, didn't get any offers.
cold bostonians scurry-by, heads exposed to the elements, can't fuss that $100 haircut.
walked slow the final few blocks, enjoyed the sun.
decided today was a rest day, can't rush on a rest day.
30mins late to work now.
guess it's time to rush that rest day.

pain machine

this winter has been so mild, haven't had to lay-down too many 3hr pieces on the indoor trainer, been limited to 40-60' per day in the mornings before the commute to work. but, cold temps, high winds and snow/ice on the roadways had me pedaling inside today. my rear is still bothering me from last wknd's fall and by 120' into today's session i was ready to be done with it. the next 60' crawled by so damn slow i grabbed a beer from the fridge w/15' to go as a "reward", to make the final 15' palatable. that pleasure lasted all of 30 seconds, guess i really can open up the hatch when huffing and puffing at 75-80% of max... here's hoping we get our unseasonable temps back! the pain machine has to be my least favorite part of preparations for racing - it's the only time i feel like i'm training vs riding to ride... but, once again, can't complain about this winter - been in the woods almost every single week!

thinking about it again, yesterday's snow ride was amazing. ground rock-hard, excellent traction, challenging ice/water crossings, then a steady light powder covering it all in a blanket of slippery uncertainty. the ride home was a blast. made me think of those old mario brother's style video games - there's always an "ice board" where you have to adjust for the slick conditions. a good video game player quickly recognizes the effects of the conditions, compensates and escapes unscathed - mostly. that's the kind of ride we had home. unscathed - mostly. couple crashes, but luckily we also got a couple extra lives.

night swimming

headed north shore way thursday night to drop-off/pick-up/drink a beer with jamie at western cycle, then over to andy's for a night rip. ended-up leaving a bike at western to see if anyone is interested, need to roll on a limited payroll this yr, going to a one-rig set-up. save on maintenance and whatnot. shit, maybe i should just roll w/one gear... naaaah.

somewhere in the woods on thursday night, andy and i crossed onto a large chunk of ice, a flooded area that had frozen-up. with trees all about, can't be permanent or deep, right? 20ft short of shore, WHAM!, andy breaks through into water over the hubs. has to crack-through 1/2" ice to shore. i'm laughing so hard i almost fall over, then realize i've got to cross that shit! WHAM! in over the knees. what's crazy is that the ibex woolie kept me damn warm for the rest of short ride. wool. old school. why is the old school so damn expensive?

got back-out onto the bay circuit trail today, this time with maps/gps. pretty wild we can roll 1/2m from andy's place, hop-on this carriage road and open 'er up mtb style for a hundred miles. problem is, keep having issues. andy document a few of the problems today... the bay circuit ooks like a mellow ride, but has slapped us down way short of goal twice in a row! for some reason we had 3 pairs of extra gloves between the two of us, but no dry socks. those would have done us right, kept the tires rollin'. maybe. the snow was getting pretty heavy, slick as snot, even tougher to see the ice underneath, couple good falls between the two of us. but, falls and issues aside, all i know is that it's not cold at all in the woods, but once on the road we're freezing our asses off!

haven't quite found the hours again this wk. not sure if tomorrow will be indoor or outdoor, but 3hrs is on-tap. cold temps/big wind to look forward to outside, epic movie and sufferation on the pain machine inside... tough decision. got to fix this not-getting-enough-hours thing. have just the plan... ride more!

it's wednesday

check-out this bit of footage from nathan. damn. and i was just getting myself fired-up to do the weekly crit races this year, work on my road license a bit. having never done a road event am automatically a cat 5. would like to work it up to a cat 3 over the next couple years for events such as the Green Mtn Stage Race. Only way to move-up is to race - and that means taking the risk of hitting the pavement. Mountain biking is about your ability to handle your bike, only in the rarest of situations is a crash be caused by another rider. On the road it's a whole 'nother story - the guy next to me could be holding the fate of my collarbone. Without risk there's no reward?

enough of that road nonsense.

i hate saying this, but man, my butt hurts. on sunday's ride, my pants got caught behind the seat on a descent (before i left the house jenn said, "you're wearing those pants? you'll get caught-up in those" - i ignored her, she was right of course). anyway, it was a weird fall, i was way back off the saddle from a steep, rocky descent, then up onto a bridge over a stream, struggled to get pants loose, then realized i had no where to go but down, didn't want to get wet (it was 28 degrees) and somehow managed to fall back onto the bike - taking the rear wheel's skewer to the arse. wailed it. still hurts. needless to say, been doing a lot of standing on the commute. indoor trainer time is even worse than usual...

talking about the indoor trainer - have had some really good Olympic stuff to watch in the mornings while pedaling before the bike commute to work. lots of hockey, then yesterday saw the men's biathalon 4x10 relay - the nordic skiing events are by far my favorite events of the games. but, lots of craziness with the Austrian's and doping allegations... after the biathlon relay an announcer asked why the American's do so "poorly" compared to European nordic skiers - i think the answer is right there in front of us. dope. it's always about the dope - and that truly sucks.

duece mtb

been out on the trails the past couple days. temps in the 20's and solid winds haven't been an issue in the woods. about 4, maybe 5 total hours of wheel spin, so not a ton of hours, but good stuff, fun stuff, steep climbs, rugged descents. i hate weights, the gym, rides like these are my replacement... or excuse for being outside goofing-off on the bike. sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between training and just having a lot of fun riding great lines! the hardtail was back in action today - with Kenda Karma 2.1's on front/back. these tires are really impressing me. 2nd ride with 'em. super-fast rolling, ultra-light and the rubber sticks like glue. gives confidence where a true racing tire would flail. unfortunately, that didn't stop me from taking a hard fall near the end of today's ride, then andy took one to the hand not long after. both were total bonehead diggers, but you'll have that. we were feeling pretty invincible, riding everything, hammering-down, then that was it. gas tanks empty and wham! a couple good ones to remind us.

my webserver appears to be down. the day-off tomorrow just turned into a trip to the office to work on the servers. needed to anyway. was looking at a couple hours easy spinning hrs on the trainer tomorrow, then a nice walk with jenn and the dog, now i guess i'll wake-up early and crawl into work for a little while first...

wine

went-out with mike toomey and his girlfriend Joy last night. andy stopped on his way home from work and had a couple pints before we moved the drinking to some posh place in the copley westin. drank some wine. then some more. decided riding home was perfectly acceptable, so headed back to my office and the bike around 11. hung-out there, chugged a bunch of water (i guess i'm not completely stupid) then proceeded to ride like my pants were on fire for 45mins! it was a ton of fun, the bike felt like a child's toy, so easy to throw around, get-up and sprint. i always tell myself that these rides are ok as it's a heck of a lot better than getting bombed and driving home like a lunatic! got in some trouble this morning for it (as i should). there is of course a subway stop a mile from the house... just had to ride.

woke-up this morning in a pretty foul mood, jenn made breakfast and coffee (thankfully), i growled a bit, then crawled into the car and up to andy's for a ride. temps in the high 20's, big wind - but as usual, all the bad ju-ju was thoroughly cured by the couple hour mtb rip w/andy and the dogs! feeling so solid now, albeit a bit foolish for last night's indescretion...

time to get my bowl-on. then off to the pub to meet-up with jenn's brother. been going to The Field since my first trip to boston 10 years ago. hard to believe it's been 10yrs... many a pint and a dart gave have gone down in that place.

VT

drove-up to VT yesterday to meet with a small company. my interview skills are certainly not as sharp as i'd like, but that's part of this process, refining the answers, getting my head around what i've done and how to leverage my current skills to expand and grow. it would be unrealistic to think that my first interview in over 4 years would yield the anticipated responses... this bout of unusual self-doubt aside, the opportunity looks to be much more interesting after the meeting than it was prior to. my "perfect" job in VT will be at a small company, allow me to wear multiple hats, learn and grow professionally by merging current skill-sets with new responsibilities, and have an impact on sales and performance. that's pretty broad, but am pleasantly surprised at how closely this first opportunity meets those broad goals.

have found myself on the indoor trainer quite a bit more this wk than all winter due to schedule. yesterday i squeaked-in 30' before getting ready for trip to VT, then threw a leg back over at 8p for another 60'. this morning i called-off the ride at 40' (vs planned 60') due to heavy winds forecast for the area. steady 25mph SW headwind on way to work, then same speed NE headwind on way home, will need some legs for the ride home tonight, will still get the 120' i was looking for...

the 18" of snow we got last wknd has gotten decimated by the warm temps this wk! (was in shorts this a.m.). even though temps will plummet this wknd, i see a trail ride coming together... the only question is whether it'll be on studded tires or not... hard to believe we got-out before the snow last wknd and will get-out again this wknd. like i've been saying for 3months, crazy winter!

game on

not sick anymore. sweet. got my ride on today, weather here is amazing, was in long sleeve and jersey this afternoon, more of the same tomorrow. sweet! wasn't sure if i'd find the hours this week, but it's looking good now.

more excited everyday about the next.

olympics are on.

baby!

didn't sleep a wink last night, just felt terrible, some sort of flu thing. kicked that cold, then this. crawled out of bed, took dog for short walk, told my office i'd be skipping work and tried to get some sleep. no luck. figured i might as well try riding. rode indoor for about an hour, felt pretty bad, but it's good mental training at least. decided being at home sucks so came into office... i guess 6 or 7 of the 12 people at our friend's 1-yr-old's b-day party on saturday caught this thing. kids. germs. bad. our baby will be germ free. that's right, you heard it here first (unless i already told you), jenn is making a human! on or about aug 29th our lives will change for the better, it may be more sleep deprived, but for the better...

lots going-on, i also got my first interview request with a company in Burlington, VT. it's a little early in our plans as we're looking to move this Fall after Jenn has the baby, but it can't hurt to see what's out there...

and finally, on the bike front, decided to ditch the Ti Deluxe for a Steel Deluxe. IFab makes the best steel frames around, why not test one out for a season? my wallet already thanks me.

this is a pretty lackluster post, especially considering how big (or little as it may be) the news is! jenn's having a baby! i guess if i wasn't so sick, i'd churn-out some deeper thoughts, but for now, it's good to have the "secret" out to everyone. Jenn and I even got to hear the baby's heartbeat last night. that was pretty awesome... there really is a baby in there.

Bay Circuit Trail

Enormous nor'easter dumpin' and dumpin' and dumpin' on our epic trail conditions, looking at 18" or so. Yack! Oh well, nothing last forever... AND, andy and I got a solid mtb ride in yesterday under sunny skies (and ass-cold temps). my car read 18 on the way to andy's at 7a and when we wrapped-up at noon temps had "soared" to 28. We had a great time getting lost trying to follow the Bay Circuit Trail. The trails we frequent on the North Shore of Boston are crazy-technical and a blast to ride, so we usually ignore the more mellow routes and options in and around the area. Yesterday's exploration of the carriage roads of the Bay Circuit was great for simple spinning vs the "power riding" style necessary for technical trails - and opens-up some great endurance training opportunities leading-up (and past) the Cohutta 100miler in April.

The start to this season has been much different than past couple years as Andy is also getting ready for the Cohutta and the weather's been perfect. I can sometimes hook-up with Rob for road rides in the winter, then mtb rides out our door(s) in the Fells come Spring/Summer, but having Andy all fired-up for the Cohutta has been great company on the early season training rides. I do believe that solo rides are necessary for interval work (rob and i did a couple good ones together, but those days are rare), but that's only 1-2days/wk and having someone to train with on the other days (or at least 1-2/wk) is really sweet.

Man, i really love to ride my bike! raced back from yesterday's ride to attend a 1yr-old's b-day party, which was fun for us adults too (beer and cake, how can you beat that!?), then un-loaded the bike from the car and all i wanted to do was ride more, who cares that i already rode for 4hrs... so i spun around the neighborhood jumping off curbs and whatnot until my hands were frozen and it was time to watch the real pros do their thing on the Olympics... who doesn't love the Olympics!? dedication at it's best. nbc's coverage might be lame, but it's still great to watch...

Ti Deluxe

Look at this baby! IFab's Ti Deluxe, custom fit. In 8wks, i'll hopefully be putting my butt cheeks on this bad-boy for the Cohutta 100miler. We'll see, can't hold my breath that they'll get my bike cut, welded and ready to go in 8wks with the back-order of bikes they already have, but i can dare to dream... I have a feeling that Andy and I will be in TN, putting my rig together by headlamp hours before the race starts - just like 2004's Jay 60miler. Only question is, how many bikes will i liquidate for the ti deluxe?... Maybe I should put one of those "help support my blah, blah, blah's" on the blog, try to raise money. Everyone knows there isn't a more worthy cause than a white middle-class dude's need to race his bike. AIDS epidemic in Africa? Political refugees? Pakistani earthquake survivors? Hurricane Katrina's homeless? Them or me... man, my stomach hurts just thinking about how much of a prick i'd be to ask anyone for a dime when so many people can't even imagine riding a bike for pleasure, much less a bike as amazing as this... thank goodness (or is that God) for my Episcopal guilt. I may be agnostic, but the guilt is still there. Whew, I digress, back to the news.

MONSTER snow-storm is barring-down on us. A true nor'easter. it's going to roll-up the coast, then just sit and churn-out 2-3" per hour on saturday night into sunday. Our epic trail conditions will come to an end for a while, but can't complain, this has been the most incredible winter of trail riding i've seen... and we knew at least one nasty nor'eastern would hit before it was all said and done. Problem is, this f'er is tracking up the coast and doesn't look to be heading far north at all, meaning the mtns that really need snow will go w/o. Best trail riding in memory = bad skiiing. Can't have it all.

Rob had to bail on tomorrow's road ride, so am cruising to North Shore for a 5 hour road and mtb epic with Andy. We're planning on a monster rip! Sunday will definitely be spent indoors on the trainer, then when the snow eases-back, shoveling and a snowshoe with Jenn and Bronte in the Fells. i look forward to playing in the snow, but am definitely disappointed in losing our amazing winter trail conditions...

Independent Fabrication

It appears I'll be riding for a new grassroots sponsor this year - Independent Fabrication! Thanks to Thom Parsons, a real solid dude and rider, my scene was dubbed acceptable for representing their grassroots squad. CrankRacing has been a great place to get myself into the scene, meet other riders, share experiences, but i was feeling ready for the next step (if it can be called that being a pure amatuer). I have no place being cocky or whatnot, as i'm a tiny guppy in the ocean of cycling, but for those of us who thrive on physical personal accomplishment, getting suited-up for a great local bike company like IFab is awesome stuff. This will be my 4th year of racing mtbikes and my 3rd year training to do so. Each year has brought significant strides as the legs have "matured", really can't wait to see what this year brings. Will i top-out? or will i make another next step and be a (expert class) podium threat in most races vs just a couple? Lots of talented guys in these here parts (which is great!), i bet they've been eating their wheaties all winter long too... and that reminds me, better have my 4th cookie of the day, only ate about 8 last night. Jenn made 'em before i got home last night, oatmeal/cherry/chocolate chip, good stuff. Perfect fuel for tonight's night ride!

cooked

the legs are just done this wk. saturday's power session followed by sunday's 3-4hr mtb was just what i was looking for, but been tough to get 2hrs/day this week with the legs sluggish and tight. but, it's good to be back into hard training with goals on the horizon. having the legs feel like dogshit is part of the ritual... and i've managed to get the planned 2hrs/day, just been riding real easy, with the occasional sprint for a red light...

night ride tomrrow with Barry, Andy and the dog, looking fwd to it - hoping the legs snap-out of this 3-day funk they've been in. to me, these goat-hill technical trails are weight sessions - short blasts of power... winter's back, but shit, temps in the 20's is nothing! we escaped the snow, we escaped the -10 degree days and missed only one wk of night riding since daylight savings time!

Winter Gear

Wanted to take a couple minutes to talk about some of my favorite winter riding gear. Why? 'cuase i'm a blogger and that's what blogger's do - babble-on and on and on ...

Craft Face Protector - very thin material, breathable, good in modest temps (30) and good for ultra-cold (-10) by layering other hats. Wind-stopper material at neck. Well designed. This has replaced all the other neck warmers i own...

Buff Headgear - they're a sponsor, so i got a couple for free, but keep one with me at almost all times. it is the perfect hat for temps from 30-55 - and before i got the Craft Face Protector, a solid neck warmer.

Hoodless lightweight Jackets - i've collected 3 i use regularly:

Non-waterproof Craft safety yellow with pit zips for night commuting.
Waterproof Sierra Designs single-layer shell (can't find any mention of the Sierra Designs jacket online, i snagged it for $10 on clearance rack at REI.
The infamous Marmot Windshirt, one of the best designed light-weight jackets on the planet.

In my opinion, what makes a jacket good or bad is air-flow. Cuffs that aren't too tight, allow air to get in there and cool your arms, if you need to keep air out, that's what gloves are for. the Craft jacket does not allow air to travel up arms... pit zips are nice, but not necessary as long as there are vents in back. pit zips on Craft jacket do not offset lack of airflow in sleeves, arms are soaked in sweat after only 30mins of riding, but it is cut long and protects lower back from road spray.

Patagonia Capaline - Silk, Light and Mid-weight. Layering the bottoms, tops and socks keeps me warm and happy in any temp and by buying it off-season from "web specials" can usually find it for less than half-price. lots of breathable materials out there, but keep coming back to the Patagucci as it wears like iron.

IBEX wool - these stuff is the shit!, but for ultra-cold days. The same weight material from IBEX is 2-3times warmer than Capiliene, but pricey stuff. Someday i'll own more of this stuff - when i'm rich.

Booties - Craft Nemo Cover - they work.

Gloves - 661 is a sponsor, so i get their stuff on the cheap, but the Storm Plus gloves have really been great. The cinching gauntlet is perfect when temps plummet or in cold rain. Waterproof, bomb-proof, and great for skiing when temps are 25 or above. but, no venting, so when temps get about 35-40, they are just too warm.

I think that's it. that's the scoop on what keeps me happy and on the bike all winter long...

scared for good reason

well, i was worried that the 2nd ride of the wknd could get ugly for me, especially with andy rested and fired-up to ride - and sure enough, it was downright ugly. was hoping legs would open-up 30mins or so into the ride, but they just shut-down and the next couple hours were brutal, some of the ugliest, sloppiest, most desperate riding i can remember doing. but, this is great! to get into these sort of hours and efforts in early february is unbelievable. will be ready for Cohutta 100 in april, andy's been loading-up on hours this winter, that dude will be ready. back to sunday, bronte the dog, andy, kenny and i on this one, storm the night before plus melting snow left us with crank-deep ponds and slick shit everywhere. after about 10secs of riding we were just plowing through the ponds and across a couple swift-water crossings. my mojo was gone with my legs, but sometimes i feel like i need to go on these rides of sufferation to get stronger, to move-on in the sport or simply get back to where i was last season. when we crossed the last slick narrow bridge to the parking lot, i could say with confidence that a good wknd of riding had been laid-down - and a good wk overall.

this morning it's clear and cool, but not cold, 34 is a great temp for riding to work, winds over 20 for next couple days, have to remember to not fight it, but just ride at tempo and let it throw me around as it will.

time to get rocking, got some work that needs doing, didn't get much done this wknd with all the riding, then the super bowl - was an interesting game, kept the interest and great to see Cowher and crew finally bring one home, he deserved one more than any coach in the NFL...

3 flat day turns golden

230min, 70m ride today, this is february? Was supposed to meet-up with a couple guys, but en route to the meeting place had 3 flats! First one was a chunk of glass, removed it, but didn't inspect tire fully, got going, piisssstttt, wtf? i missed a second piece of glass in the tire, decided to ride-on the flat to ATA Cycles which was en route to the meeting place. I hate ATA, they usually treat me like garbage, but today it was cool, guy dug-out second small piece of glass, i patched the tire and talked 'em down from 6.25 on a tube to 2/$10, fixed the flat, ran-out the door, got about 1/2mile, then pisssttt! Another f'ing flat! but f'ing glad i asked for 2 tubes. rode that flat down to the meeting place in harvard, but the other guys had already jetted-off... ended-up riding alone and just hammering it out. felt great, wandered around a bit in Acton, came back for a loop around the fells. just a great ride. thought about continuing today's ride into a full century, a sub-6hr 100m would be a great mental push right now, but wimped-out and made the excuse that i needed the legs for a big group mtbike ride tomorrow with Andy, Barry, George and others. but seriously, i'm scared of the beat-down andy's gonna put on us after resting past couple days. crazy winter! if you love riding, this is the shit. last season barely ended, pretty much have just ridden right-on through with lots of good food, beer and rest to fatten-up. crazy winter = crazy legs!

Cohutta 100miler

Race season is finally coming together with this epic season opener! The Cohutta 100miler. If anyone out there has more info on this one, let me know - as i don't know anything about it except that i'll be on the starting line with Andy at 7am on April 22nd, ready to crawl into the pain cave.

Others:
June 17/18, 24hrs of Cutler
July 30, Jay 60
Sept 24, VT 50

If i do a solo 24, 24hrs of Cutler is it - solo 24 for $85! that's proper - and they raised $6000 for charity last year (that's why i race EFTA vs NORBA, all goes to charity). who needs $300 entry fees? why get reamed to race a race that no one cares about except you? even when you place, no one cares past that moment when you crawl-up on the podium and folks go "holy shit, that dude's insane." it's simply not worth paying Granny Gear, 24 of Adrenaline, or 24 of Great Glen when a race like Source Burn 24 can hook ya up with free Rudy Project's, Sirius radios, etc and the big venue takes a dump on ya (sorry, bitter about getting a set of cheap tires from 24 of A last year). i'd rather have it all go to charity, keep the tires.

Also racing as much of the EFTA circuit as possible. thinking of focusing on power for shorter circuit racing this year. why not?

5/7/06 Glocester Grind
6/4/06 Bradbury Mountain Challenge
6/11/06 North Shore Classic Bradley Palmer State Forest
6/25/06 Clifford Park Assault
7/9/06 All Out In Moody Park
7/23/06 The Eastern Cup
8/6/06 Papa's/Back Bay Cycles(Mud in your Eye)
8/27/06 The Pinnacle
9/10/06 The Horror at Harding Hill Road
10/1/06 Grillz Memorial

AND, in the news:
This article by the DEA was odd. Using human "drug mules" is ok, but using puppies is an "outrageous and heinous smuggling method". Poor puppies. it's ok if people risk their lives, but those poor puppies... it's ok if we put cosmetics in their eyes and all that, but dear god, don't use 'em to smuggle those drugs, that's what poor families all across mexico are for.