Busy B

Well, it's been a while since I posted, sorry to my 3 readers for the delay. It's been a busy year thus far, seems like last year I was saying the same thing. It turned out to be a less than stellar year in '08 after work duties kept me off the bike right around this time and I suffered for the rest of the year with a lack of fitness and a big appetite for fast food and beer. This year I've not been quite as busy at work, so I'm happy for that and riding has been consistent, well, other than weather related ride cancellations. I've had a couple of long rides, a 75 miler and a 94 miler, the rest have been anywhere from 60 minutes to 3 and a half hours. My fitness is coming around, I've lost a few pounds around the waist and I actually have a biker tan now, so that must mean the riding has been good. Unfortunately it's not been good enough to get back in to the local WCA races in the next month or so since I'm not quite in racing shape, but getting there. I haven't done any intervals, speedwork, or hill work of any kind so racing is just not an option right now. I'm just enjoying the rides right now and once I think my base is good, then the intervals and hill work will start, probably in the next 3 to 4 weeks. I'm looking at the closest race being on June 26th, the Greenbush road race, which is part of the Tour of America's Dairyland. I'll have lots of riding in by then and will feel comfortable with that as my first race. Other than that I think I may only do two other races this year, the UW Whitewater RR on July 4th and the Omro RR on July 5th. No StupidWeek crits for me this year, I'm just completely turned off of that race right now. The locations are crap, the organization is crap, and last year there were racers whom couldn't cash their prize checks because they were bouncing. The only race I may do depending upon whom they allow to do it, would be the Lakefront road race, but from the sounds of it they aren't using the long course, it's the old short course, which is fine, so we'll see I guess. I don't want to give them my money but it would be nice to get in another race. My goal this year, which is somewhat of a transitional year to shore some things up, was to do at least 3 races. I'd already have my 3 races in by then, so I'll decide after I do those. Other than that, I've got quite a few centuries planned, I'm also doing the Insane Terrain Challenge with my dad in July, Google it, it's 121 miles with 12,400 feet of climbing, insane is right! I've also got my own double century/twelve hour ride planned for July 19th, a week after the Insane Terrain ride because I'll be in optimal shape. A couple of years ago I wanted to ride as long as I could and ended up with 180 miles, this year I'm shooting for 200 miles or 12 hours, whichever comes first. I've never done 200 miles so it'll be a first and a major accomplishment for me, can't wait.
Anyways, short term, it's supposed to rain tonight and I have to go to my mom's graduation, she finished up her nursing degree, so she'll be starting a new career as a nurse (obviously). I'll be riding tomorrow and Friday and Saturday is iffy right now, temps in the 50s and 50% chance of rain. Sunday is supposed to be nice, and for at least a 4 hour window of the day I'll be in Burlington for Mother's Day so I'll need to plan a ride in the morning or the late afternoon or evening. Well, that's enough for now, don't want to overwhelm you with too much....until next time....

Thank goodness they took the

Thank goodness they took the snow out of tomorrow's forecast. I think......

No Mas

No Mas! That's what I was saying yesterday when I ended my 4 hour ride, I was pretty tired. It's been a while since I've done 4 hours, I can't really remember the last time actually, it had to be March or April of last year I'm guessing. I loved the weather though, sunny, warm, and hardly any wind. I did a big loop from New Berlin to Waukesha, out towards Mukwonago, back to Waukesha and then home. There were tons of riders, joggers, and families out walking, too bad today had to turn out like it did because I think everyone is ready for this weather to be here to stay. I wanted to do a century yesterday because I knew it wasn't going to be that warm for at least another week (maybe this weekend), and I declared earlier this year that I would do a century every month. Well, now it looks like I have to do that century this weekend, I don't have much of a choice, I'm sure I can manage on Sunday because Saturday there is a WCA race right by my house that I'm going to go over and watch for most of the day. I'll probably set up a grill and bring a cooler of beer, but then again, maybe I'll just ride over. So anyways, Sunday is the day right now for the century, the plan is to ride out to my parents house in Burlington, have some soda and a snack, say hello and turn around and come back. I'm also off of work, as much as possible anyways, this week. I have to do some e-mails and set up some network cutovers from home while I'm on vacation but I have to say it's better than actually being there. 6 days away from work will be great, yeah, it's only 6 because I was actually there working today for 2 hours to prep for vacation. It seems like there is always more work to do the week before vacation and the week after, so it's almost like not getting a break at all. Anyways, the plan is to ride for 3 hours or so per day this week, except for tomorrow which doesn't look all that great, and then do my big ride on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, no doubt about that. Other than that, I'll be doing some landscaping this week, housework, and just getting some odds and ends done. I'll also be riding with my dad out in Burlington one day this week too, not sure what he has planned yet but I'll try not to hurt him too much. Well, I'll give regular vacation updates this week and hopefully the weather cooperates for all my plans.

Detour In To Darkness

Unfortunately a detour in to darkness is exactly what I got last night as I was out for what was a planned 90 minute ride which would get me home at 7:30, which happens to be sunset. Well, I didn't get home until 8:05 as I was about 3 miles from home and hit a closed road that detoured me about 2 miles back from where I just came, another two miles west, where I was earlier in the ride, and then finally home coming 3 miles from the other direction. It was pitch black when I hit the driveway and the only thing lighting my way home was the light from the cars which were surprised I'm sure to see a cyclist on the road at that time. Thankfully they were all polite and no one gave me the business for being out without a light. I say thankfully for them, not for me, because if anyone would've said something there would've been a throwdown, I wasn't in the best mood after having my HR pegged around 190 for 30 minutes trying to fly home. I need to figure out a way to get my shoes off quickly though during those times, they put cyclists at a definite disadvantage if someone gets out of their car. "Excuse me, can you wait while I get these shoes off, thanks..." usually won't cut it after you just hurled a verbal barrage at some redneck in a truck....not that I'm stereotyping people who drive trucks...or rednecks. That's experience talking though, especially riding on as many farm roads as I've ridden on, that's just the way it is. Anyways, it was a good ride in spite of that, I was pegged for 45 minutes at least of my 2 hour ride and the weather was perfect and there were lots of people out and about. I'm sore today though so the plan is to do a bit of a recovery ride for about 75 minutes and then relax tonight. I'll see what the weather holds the next few days but it looks o.k. so far so I'm thinking there are quite a few hours of riding in my near future. Chipotle is on the menu today with Dave, fuel for tonight's ride, can't wait.

Bliss

Now my heart is full
Now my heart is full
And I just can't explain
So I won't even try to.....


O.K., maybe I'll try...........I rode 3 and a half hours yesterday, it was amazing, I felt great. I couldn't have had a much better day on the bike, well, if I had more time and more energy in reserves I guess there'd be that chance. Saw plenty of bikers, some groups of 3 to 4 riders. Those I chased and some chasers, none caught and not caught myself, but the excitement was there, my heart was full of cycling and it couldn't have been a better day.
Today was a cloudy, windy, cold day as predicted but I had nary a disappointing feeling, I was at peace knowing there are more days than not to come that were like yesterday. Looking at the upcoming forecast gave me hope that the next couple of days are winter's last hold on us, clinging desperately, but I have to say, NOT everyday is like Sunday, not everyday is silent and grey. I'm ready to ride, even if it does take a couple more days to do so....until then, here is how I spent my day....

Keepin' On

If anything is "keepin' on", it's winter. Temps have been pretty good of late, but as typical of Spring we've been getting showers on and off so riding has been sparse, but there are obviously better days to come. Sunday isn't one of them though as we are forecasted to get either no snow or 4 to 7 inches "depending upon conditions" as the weathermen say. It's supposed to be in the low to mid 30s so my guess is that we'll get just enough to piss me off, but hopefully not enough to where I have to shovel. Either way, riding will not happen outdoors on Sunday. Today and tomorrow though look like adequate enough temps to ride outside so I'll be hitting the roads for about 75-90 minutes tonight and then hopefully 3 hours tomorrow for a couple of leisurely rides. Today is supposed to be 47-49 but with hefty winds in the 20-30mph range, so I'll get a workout whether I want it or not.
On another note, I've harped on this in the past, actually the last two years at this time, but it looks like the first WCA race will be cancelled again. I'll stand on my soapbox one more time and say - Why on earth are we starting races the first week of April in Wisconsin and finishing the season in July essentially??? It makes no sense, everyone can complain about working around Superweek and such and being wasted after that is over, but there is no reason that after a break of a couple weeks that WCA races can't resume through the first week of September. Don't schedule the first two races at least in April and move them to the back end of the schedule. If there is concern that people won't do those races because the "season" is done, then don't schedule any races in April and put 4 or 5 races after Superweek so that it forces the racers to go to those races if they want to get points. Anyways, it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't rant about this every year. I don't want to hear from mountain bikers and cyclocrossers either, if you do both and the schedules conflict then just make a choice which one you want to do, nothing will ever make everyone happy. And by the way, after all the Superweek issues last year I think they've gone down hill anyways, and with the first half of the schedule heavy with Illinois races, who really cares anymore, it's not what it used to be.
So here is where I went for dinner last night, it was o.k, nothing special. They just opened though so the menu is limited right now until they get going and they aren't really a "Brew Haus" yet as they don't have the permits but I was told they are expecting to either sell (their label) or make their own beer by summer, but I don't think the waiter really knew. They had the bare minimum of Miller, Guinness, Stella, Spotted Cow, and one or two others that I don't remember. I was expecting something different I guess since it just opened by my house and I was excited to go with the thought that I was going to get some new microbrew from them. When I walked in and didn't see any tanks I knew I was going to be disappointed. Oh well, I'll come back in 3 or 4 months to see if they've made any progress. If they don't live up to the "Brew Haus" name of actually making Brew then I don't think they'll last very long.

It's Gotta Be The Bike....

....that's slowing me down, so had to get a new one. Unfortunately the steed won't see the road today, although I've been out for almost 4 hours on it the last two days and it's a beauty. It soaks up the road like the Cannondale never could, although I knew what I was getting with the Cannondale so I wasn't suprised and have always loved Cannondales by the way. But it was time for a carbon bike and I'm glad I took the plunge, this thing is like a Cadillac on the road as far as ride quality, but it feels like a dump truck heading up hills....oh wait, that's me that's the fatty dump truck. Actually the bike will fly up hills, if I weren't so fat I'd feel weightless on this thing, but as it stands I have some work to do with my fitness and then the GTR will do the rest. I blinged it out of course with some flames and lots of skulls, 14 to be exact. Yeah, it's not classy on the roadie scene, probably fitting in more with mountain bikers or cyclocross, but I'm a rocker and my favorite band is Avenged Sevenfold which rocks the skulls so I'm following suit. It's gotta be customized to follow my tastes, so that's that. I also added a lot of orange touches to it in the form of cable stops, crimps, handlebar plugs and spacers. I've got some Michelin Pro 3s coming in the nice Yellow Flash and Service Orange colors as well to liven it up. Nobody will miss me on the road this year. Check out some pics....you may not love the look, but that's o.k., we can't all be rockers at heart.....

Snowshoeing Anyone?

So last night was not too shabby at all, lower 50s, but a bit cloudy and it did sprinkle on me a bit but that stopped after about 15 minutes. I was at work at 6:00 so was heading out the door at 4:00 with the intention of being on the bike at 4:30. I got home though and it was pretty dark and had just started raining so I figured I'd wait it out for 20 minutes or so. It started to clear up after about 10 minutes so I figured I'd head out and got out the door at 5:00. I got in a very nice 2 hour ride and if I had my light on the bike I would've ridden about 20-30 minutes more. There were a lot of people out walking, running, and riding, most of them probably figuring it could be the last time for the next few days. We are supposed to get anywhere from 4 to 9 inches of snow depending upon how cold it gets overnight, it might be a slushy mix, but there is no doubt that it will snow some at least. Either way it appears cycling outside is not going to happen this weekend so I'm looking at getting out the snowshoes if it does snow enough, we'll have to see what happens. If it doesn't snow enough then I'll probably just ride the bike inside for a little over the weekend to maintain fitness, maybe 90 minutes or so each day Saturday and Sunday. I'm not going to try to do what I was doing last year or the year before where I was riding 3 hours each day on the trainer if I couldn't get outside, I don't really have a reason to do that this year. It's kind of nice mentally because then I don't feel pressured and I can get some stuff done around the house too this weekend, maybe even relax by a fire in the fireplace (versus anywhere else in the house obviously). I wish I could've taken some pics last night to make this post more interesting, but my cell phone was tucked nicely in my jersey pocket under my rain jacket in case it started raining a lot so I wasn't going to try to dig it out.
In the meantime here is a link with a pic to Cole House, a Wisconsin local, who won a fairly prestigious race in Belgium for U23 riders, great job to him and good exposure for Wisco riders. Check it out......
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=4073

Bahh....

So I resigned myself to riding inside last night on the rollers and it ended up not being as bad as I thought it would be. I was realllly tempted to ride outside in spite of the wind and imminent rain but I had been at work since 6:00a.m. and just wanted to sit down for a bit after I got home, plus Melissa made lasagna so that was too much of a temptation. So it's 7:30 now and I've been at work again since 6:00a.m. this morning and I only got about four and a half hours of sleep after tossing and turning most of the night because I couldn't breathe really well. My sinuses are stuffed up and I was trying to mouth breathe as I fell asleep and the pressure on my sinuses just made trying to fall asleep difficult. But anyways, back to my original point, I did ride the rollers last night, only for an hour but it was something, so I'm happy with that. I believe it is supposed to stay dry today and temps will be mid-40s so I'm thinking of cutting out of work today at 4:00 or 4:30 and getting in 60-90 minutes on the road. We'll see how tired I am, but I'm guessing I can manage to perk up enough to ride, especially since this weekend isn't looking so good right now. I really don't have a plan right now for the week, just ride as much as I can and then this weekend I'll play it by ear with regard to the weather and how much I'll ride. If it's dry then I'll be out for 3 hours each day just to get in some miles. I'm not really looking at "quality" rides right now, no intervals or anything like that, just enjoyable normal rides to get some miles back in the legs. I've got some housework, of course, planned for the weekend as well. I'll be out in the yard trimming trees if it's dry, otherwise I'll be in the garage doing some Spring cleaning with the intent of getting rid of some old junk. I've got bike parts I need to get on eBay this weekend as well, along with my Cannondale frame but I'm still making sure my new rig is working well before getting rid of that. So far, so good.
Other than that, too bad about Lance, I was disappointed that he crashed (just think how he felt), I was really looking forward to seeing how he would do in his first Giro. Sounds like he will definitely be back for the Tour, but may skip the Giro or just do part of it. He probably won't be competitive as planned, but you never know with Lance, he's a very determined person.
Also, check out the WCA website, wicycling.org, and read the article about Paul Warloski, a local cyclist that got hit by a car recently. He's got a good blog about his rehabilitation and sounds like he is in good spirits. I live in the same area as Paul and have seen him out riding quite a few times, along with racing along side him in a bunch of races in 2007 before I upgraded last year. He seemed like a really nice guy so I wish him the best in his recovery.
That's it for now, until next time.....

Physics

It sure is weird how time seems to drag during the week while I'm at work and yet the weekends seem to fly by so quickly. It isn't time space continuum because I think that's some sort of weird thing with time and space on some sort of linear plane or non-linear plane, spatial or something like that, 4-D maybe. Christ, I don't know, Google it. Anyways, hopefully this weekend drags on forever because the temps are supposed to be above 50 both days with some adequate sunshine beginning tomorrow afternoon and mostly cloudy skies Sunday but a bit warmer temps. I'm looking forward to doubling up with 3 hour rides each day, that's about my limit right now as I ride myself back in to shape. I'd like to do more but I'm trying to be smart about my riding and I don't want to overdo it right away as I play catch-up to those that have been riding throughout the winter. My weight is still not coming along as well as I'd like but I'm starting to turn the screws a bit and hope to cut it down fairly quickly. As the weeks progress I'll get in longer and longer rides and will start to get out to do some organized rides and maybe take a weekend trip or two to enjoy some hillier roads, Blue Mounds is on my list for sure.
On another note, I got my USAC Coaching certification so I'm now a level 3 coach (only) but will continue to learn as much as I can and hope to obtain a level 2 certification as soon as possible. I've got to figure out how I want to go about doing some coaching just to get some experience, I'll probably just start with friends and family that ride and some word of mouth, but at this point I'm not looking to take anyone on for payment, I need to organize things a bit first. I'm working on my American College of Sports Medicine Personal Trainer certification as well so I hope to tie them both together to do some coaching and training together, probably work part time at a fitness center as well. There is the Princeton Club by my house which is a huuggge fitness center, so a weekend job or weeknights there in the winter may be in order. No way I'd do it over the summer though, I need to bike or I'd go crazy. Well, more crazy than I already am. That's it for now, good riding to everyone this weekend, until next time.........

WTF???

So I'll start with my great ride today, only 2.5 hours, but I was feeling sore from my ride yesterday...sore back, sore butt, sore shoulders, so it was good that I cut it a little short. Plus I did more yardwork today as well so that was more than enough combined with yesterday's ride and yardwork. I saw a lot of riders out today, maybe 6 to 8 total and at least twice that many joggers and walkers. It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Now on to the weird part of the day. I'm driving back with my wife from Pick N' Save here in New Berlin and as we are heading down National I see this big yellow truck and trailer in a parking lot between Culvers and a car wash. It's a crappy old parking lot that's used for a number of things, Christmas tree sales in the winter, people park their cars there to sell, cops sit there, it's really not used for anything. Today though it was used to park this beast -

I have no clue why it was there and I could only fathom a guess that it was filled with goodies that I would want and there was no one sitting in it. My guess is that they were driving to some event some where and stopped at Culvers to eat. I have no clue what could be going in Wisconsin at this time of year that would yield a visit from this beautiful Mavic truck, but I want to know. They didn't stop at my house and drop off a bunch of wheels so it couldn't have been anything too good. Oh well. Until next time.......

This Is More Like It

Weather was pretty nice today, probably 45-47 degrees and not much wind, maybe 8-10 mph and I did my best to enjoy it. I got out this morning and did some yardwork up until about 11:30ish and then got out for an afternoon ride. It was great, the sun felt good, and my legs actually had a little zip in them. I'm a little sore now though and will probably feel a little less zippy tomorrow I'm sure. Tomorrow is supposed to bring some better weather and I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully another great ride of 3 hours or so. I did a couple of minutes under 3 hours today (literally 2:58), and would like to do the same tomorrow, at least that's what my planned route calls for as long as I stick to my projected average speed. I saw 4 or 5 other cyclists out there today and a countless number of walkers and joggers. It's great to see everyone enjoying the change of weather, but it's only March 14th, and the chance of getting more snow is still pretty good. I think back to last year and how we didn't really get rid of all the snow until the end of April I think or early May. There's no snow now though and none in the forecast so I'm happy with that. It's supposed to be in the upper 50s and possibly 60 this week but next weekend will be back in the mid to upper 30s. My plan is to get out and ride after work during the week for as long as daylight allows and then get about 6 hours next weekend.
On another note, looks like Contador was actually human today, although a hunger knock was the cause, maybe not so much his fitness, so I'm sure he's not so worried about what appears inevitable for the TdF, a victory. His team at Paris-Nice is definitely not the "A" team though so his supporting cast can't really be to blame, they just aren't that good except for Popovych, who is one of the few from this squad who will be on the TdF squad.
Well, that's it for now, until next time.........

Scary Sh*t

Things To Come....

Preview of things to come.......

Lovely Florida

I'm out in lovely Florida right now for work, been keeping the eating under control, more than normal anyways when I'm out here. I'm feeling really good about coming back home and getting back on the bike without feeling like I gained 5 lbs, no major weight gain this time. I saw that it was nice for about 3 days while I was gone, but it looks like some rain and maybe even some snow this week when I get back. I'll try my best to bundle up and ride outside when possible this week, if there is too much rain then I won't bother but if the roads are just wet, then I'll probably be out there. Sunset will be about 6:50ish so that gives me time for about 60-75 minutes outside in the next week or two. I feel like the weather will turn for the better soon, I'll be getting out for some longer after-work rides and then hopefully a century or two in the next month. Yes, I said the next month, I'd like to get one long ride in every month, my goal is a century a month at least through October. I'm definitely excited for the year to start, now the weather just needs to cooperate and I'll be good to go. I'm still keeping the weight steady, I'm not exactly on schedule there to be at my goal weight for the end of the month, but I'm close. All in all, life is well, and it's now time to get back to work, since that's what I'm here for I guess.

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NAHBS

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For The Ladies

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Scoots

Scoots where are you?

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Zipp...Beautiful Dark Red Color

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