Good Show

Just gotta mention that  Mrs. Stallion and I saw Victor Wooten and JD Blair at The Egg last night.  Great, fun, engaging, interactive show.  Damn funky.  Highly recommended.

Does this theme make my blog look fat?

I’m debating on whether or not to keep this theme.  Too fem?

So Much For That Experiment

Note: Sorry about the dearth of posts.  I’ve got a lengthier one in the works.

So yesterday was an island of great cycling weather in between two crappy days.  I left work early in order to get in a good 2 hour-plus ride in lovely Vischer Ferry.  I get home and notice I have a flat on my rear tire.  Ugh.  I’m no wrench but I can repair a flat.

Now, I’ve seen competitions (on You Tube anyway) of people changing out a tube in under a minute.  You will notice I don’t appear in these videos.  I take my time to remove the old tube and try to locate the failure.  After wrestling with it for what felt like 20 minutes I find that the failure was a puncture through the sidewall.  Of my Continental Gatorskins.

Aren’t these supposed to be the tires with awesome sidewall protection?  I haven’t had a puncture flat in 5 years.  Add this to the lame road feel of these tires and I will never buy them again.  In fact, the tire that replaced it on my bike is an old GP4000 front tire that was destined for the trainer as a rear wheel beater.  Well, it’s getting pressed into service about a month early.

If you’re interested, the GP4000s have a much livelier road feel and I run them at about 10psi lower than the Gatorskins.  I guess there’s a reason that the GP4000s are a go-to model for so many riders.  They WILL be on my bike come next spring.

P.S. – the latex gloves I keep in the garage for this type of bike work – especially anything that involves fiddling with the chain – are a great idea.  That black grime that can get on your skin does not wash away easily.

A Case of Guilt Gut

I remember the term “guilt gut” as the feeling you get in your stomach when you knew that you did something wrong.

Tonight was going to be a ride day.  Turns out, I get stuck in traffic on the way home from work.  It took about 3 times as long as usual.  So I get home and I’m a little stressed and tired.  Mrs. Stallion suggests riding tomorrow and going out for dinner.

The combination of being a good husband and lack of discipline made the decision for me.  So of course, I could do the right thing health-wise and get a satisfying light meal.  I do the exact opposite; an Italian Mix sub.  At least I was able to resist the temptation for dessert.

The feeling afterward was that of Guilt Gut.  In a literal sense, I felt very full.  This was a big, big sandwich eaten with a 20 ounce soda.  In a figurative sense, I felt terrible for the 180 degree turn my evening took.  Instead of exercise and oatmeal, I ate an unhealthy dinner and watched TV.

There have been times like this in the past.  Most of the time I don’t learn from it.  Sometimes, however, the light goes on and discipline returns.  I want that to happen this time.  I hate the guilty feeling because I know what I did was wrong.

I can’t believe I’m thinking this

A thought crackled through my brain as I was looking at the weather forecast for this week.

“I do better on the Trainer”

Blasphemy.

I utter this in the middle of July?  What the Hell am I thinking?  The trainer is supposed to be the embodiment of a tortuous, monotony-filled, claustrophobic bore-fest of a winter season that seemingly drags on forever.  I should be reveling in the delights of a summer season filled with new personal bests, long rides pushing up against 3 hours and the occasional unsupported metric century.

The reality: I have been doing about two rides a week since Memorial Day.  My fitness has taken a big hit and my weight is creeping up (slowly, thank God).  Most of last summer and into the current one my riding has become increasingly sporadic.  Goals go out the window and I’m happy just to get something in.

The irony is that during the winter my rides on the Trainer are scheduled out.  I can say with a high degree of certainty that I will do 3 rides every week, and occasionally a bonus one.  Also, I’m realizing that the quick weight workout I do after trainer rides is more beneficial that I thought.  The loss of tone is really evident even if the strength losses themselves are moderate.

The solution?  Difficult to say; “ride more” is easier said than done apparently.  I may need to change focus to shorter rides so I can get home from work, do a short (under an hour) ride with a little intensity and still have time to do the other things that may have gotten in the way.  To draw the TdF analogy, now I’m hunting for stage wins.

Where was I?

The last few weeks have been weird.  The Mrs. and I moved into a more appropriate domicile about 3 weeks ago.  Since then, it’s been mostly errands, appointments, contractors, weekend parties and projects with a few “normal” days interspersed.

Fortunately I have access to the same bike routes that I like and have been getting in 2 or 3 rides each week.  I know there’s been a dearth of posts, so sorry about that.

I’m totally psyched for the Tour.  It starts Saturday and it’s looking to be a good one.  I have read the articles on this years route and there are parts that stand out to me.  First, the stage 3 ride on the cobbles.  It seems to me that the LA fanboys are viewing this as the “OMG Contador will miss the cut because we all know Spaniards can’t ride cobbles” stage.  I have trouble thinking that he can lose huge chunks of time there.  I’d like to see Lance do well, but this view of the stage seems exaggerated.  I’m glad that they have cobbles on this years route, if only for variety in the first week.

The two trips up the Tourmalet should prove interesting.  Such a sadistic pastime, enjoying others’ suffering.  I think I like the Tours that have major mountain stages in the Pyrenees better than the Alps.  Difficult to quantify: the nutso Basque fans, the climbs themselves, I dunno.

If they aren’t going to have a Team Time Trial, they should have two long Individual TTs instead of one on the penultimate stage.  I remember not too long ago there would be a pair of TTs no shorter than 40k or so.  They were a great way to show just who is the strongest rider.

Anyway, that’s my two cents.  It’s good to be somewhat back and I totally can’t wait for three weeks of great racing.

Allez!

I’m Still Alive

Still dealing with work and moving issues, but I am getting my rides in.  I’d like to be riding more, but I should be happy with what I’m able to do.

I have been following this year’s Giro (totally not at work), and it’s been awesome.  It’s too bad this race doesn’t get more international attention.

As a side note to the Giro: Time Warner Cable doesn’t carry Universal Sports.  They used to, but they dropped it.  Step up and serve your customers, TWC.  Have you ever heard of a network called “This”?  Neither has anyone else, but that’s what replaced Universal Sports on Time Warner out here.

Oh yeah, I think Floyd Landis said some stuff last week?  I don’t know, it was hard to find any opinion on it.  One thing that didn’t get much press until yesterday is how what he did would affect his team.  I think it was a dick move to do what he did to the Bahati Foundation team’s image.  I stated before how I felt about that team.  Floyd seemed like a real incongruous pick to ride there, but I guess Rahsaan (like many others) believed Floyd.

Well, he’s succeeded in killing major sponsorship for the team.  Thanks for nothing, you just screwed a bunch of people’s livelihoods.

A right good ass kicking

Through forces beyond my control, I was unable to get out for a ride for a solid 9 (!) days.  Suffice it to say that going out for a 40 mile ride on a Saturday morning with little wind and temps in the 70s was enticing.  I was psyched – I needed this ride.

I went out on a route that I am very familiar with and I knew would take a little over 2 hours.  The first climb up Schauber Road was what I expected:  a steep grade that takes a couple minutes to get up.  I went into the red zone for the last 100 yards or so.  That’s the standard plan for that climb; short anaerobic bursts are needed for fitness gains.  I got to the top a little slower than usual, but I wasn’t expecting to hold on to all of my form after 9 days.

The second climb is a very steep but also very short “berg” about 4 miles later that takes around 30 seconds to ascend.  I got up it, but holy cow it was tough.  I was still feeling the first climb all the way out to this one.

This was the theme for the ride.  I had one more serious climb and a bunch of rollers thereafter.  I felt winded and worn out for the duration.  This is what it’s like to lose form this quickly – the first big effort is doable, but the subsequent ones are where the lack of fitness shows itself.

I purposely added a mostly flat 3 miles to the end of the ride in the hope that I would get a small endurance benefit from it.  There’s no two ways around it, I felt it.  I really hope that this ride gets me some fitness in return, but it was a toughie.

Some of you have noticed the dearth of posts lately.  I’ll try to put up more frequent posts, but the Mrs. and I are in the process of moving to a new house so all the craziness that goes with selling, buying, agents, lawyers, mortgage, etc. exacts its toll.  I’ll need more frequent rides to balance out my sanity.

Doing Good, Giving Back

I had always thought there was something intriguing about Rahsaan Bahati.  Well this guy is something else.  Not only is he a top-level crit rider (he was national champ in 2008), he also now heads up an eponymous team and foundation.

He’s always been a winner on the road, now he is rapidly achieving Mensch status.  I recently listened to a great interview with him on Competitor Radio.  I get the feeling that the sky is the limit for him, whether it be as a team DS, a rider or as a volunteer.

Unfortunately the foundation team will not be racing the Tour of California, but in many ways they will always be a winning team.

Inside Looking Out

Sun through the window

Ride prospects are deceiving

Alas, the wind wins