Sunday, February 26, 2006

Boring Update #3 in a row.

Our ride today turned into my ride as soon as I woke up. Last night Scott told me he needed a little rest and this morning Mike was throwing up and for some reason didn't feel like riding? I didn't let it get my spirits down though, and departed Greeley at approximately 9:45am heading due west. I stayed right on HWY 34 all the way up to Estes Park where I headed straight to the Mountain Home Cafe for a cup of coffee and a plate of banana pancakes. The pancakes were every bit as good as last time, and they kept refilling my coffee cup until I finally had to tell the lady to stop. A couple of the waitresses (older strange mountain folk) hung around my booth and talked to me about everything from riding bikes, to one of their "different" daughters that makes all her own clothes but looks like a bum, and rides a bike everywhere with a huge duffel bag over her shoulder, to teaching school, and we even touched a lot on what it's like living in a mountain town. I think I could dig living in one of those wierd little nooks of the world someday. The people are definitely different, and sometimes borderline creepy, but I like it. I headed home through Glen Haven, which my waitress had given me the complete road reports for, down to which corners are sandy, where it might be wet, and where the ice had just melted. The descent was great, I always love bombing down that road. The sand made it a little hair raising at times, even forcing me to unclip a foot once, but I still managed to nail a 90kph straightaway. I made it home 40 minutes faster than it took me to get there, not surprising considering I descended 3000' rather than climbing it, but there was a headwind going down the Big Thompson Canyon. I think there ALWAYS is though?

The past few days have started to take it out of me, but it feels great to be getting some serious miles in. I think I've decided the Tour of the Gila is going to be my first goal for the season so that's what has been motivating the long hours. If nothing else, 5 hard days of racing should catapult me into the summer with some descent form? I'm off the warm up my couch for a while before Grey's Anatomy and then an early bedtime.

I just realized this is the 125th boring update in a row, not 3rd.

Is it wierd that I feel like I'm taking a break only riding 4 hours tomorrow? Nick knows what I'm talking about.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

G-FL-K-G-LS-M-J-W-SL-G

Today I completed the Northern Colorado semi-classic known as the Greeley-Feed Lots-Kersey-Greeley-La Salle-Milliken-Johnstown-Windsor-Seeley Lake-Greeley. It was a nice ride, but I decided not to eat the last 50 miles which resulted in me beating on the door of the Breadboard until they let me in to raid the kitchen. Luckily my good friend Mike was ready and waiting with 275 blackened chicken breasts. I made it home, and enjoyed a day old cinnamon roll or two, ok, it was two. Now it's nap time, which just may turn into bed time. Thanks for reading. Tomorrow is another long day, I'll try to get some pictures up after our ride tomorrow.

Blah.

All day has just felt like BLAGGHHHH! I managed to get a solid 4 hours on my bike this morning, but then class and my Earth Sciences seminar was a daze, and I helped my good friend Mike move a dresser tonight and after a beer or two, I feel like I'm moving in slow slow motion. I got all my riding clothes clean, so I should be ready for the weekend. If I could only get that kit back from Nick. I'm gonna get to bed so I can get up and do something productive in the morning. You guessed it, I'll be riding my bike once again. Damn I'm exciting.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Tour of California.

We have cycling coverage on mainstream cable! Pretty freekin cool if you ask me. Now, for my prediction. I think Tommy D is gonna pull it off, although after today, George would be a safe bet too. I'm just going with Tommy D, cause I always have to root for him. Here is a quick run down of why I'm not sure if I want to be a Tommy D fan anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'll probably always cheer for him, but this is all a little disapointing to me...


First I should show why I liked him to begin with...






But then this happened.






I guess I just hoped to get a little more out of him. If it's not Tom winning California, I hope it's George or Bobby J, but I'll still be cheering for Tom, even after all that has happened.

Friday, February 17, 2006

It Snowed Again.


This is getting old already. My training this week has gone down the toilet because I'm too big of a baby to ride in the snow and can stomach the idea of riding my trainer. I guess I should be grateful for the weekend we just had and Tuesday's 60 degree temps, but right now I'm looking at the glass half empty. I think I'm going to attempt some NES powered trainer time. I just need to decide if I should go with Super Mario Bros. or Contra. I think I'll start with the first and see how it goes.

(Continued)

Well I managed to squeeze an hour out of my trainer. If I get another in tonight I won't be doing too bad, right? The Nintendo lasted a half hour before I gave up. I either have to rest my hands on the side of my wrists and try to hold the remote between them, or go full aero, lay on my elbows and hold the remote out in front of me. Maybe it'll work better if I put my TT stuff on my bike? The other problem is that whenever I get to a point in the game that takes any concentration, my cadence drops to about 50. Maybe I'll practice more tonight and see if I can figure it out a little better. P.S. I went with Super Mario Bros. Not a bad choice, but maybe a different game would work better? Also I almost forgot to congratulate my wonderful Aunt B for 8 months without a job jump. You sure are growing up right in front of our eyes!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

I love/hate Colorado.

Yesterday it was over 60 degrees and I got in 3 hours wearing shorts and arm warmers. I was hot the whole time and loving it. I don't think there are many people who can say they got a tan on Valentines Day. I felt great though after taking a little rest day on Monday after way too big of a day on Sunday. I had great expectations for the week, but it was spitting snow by the end of the evening. Today was freezing, and flurrying all day and now we have at least an inch of snow so we'll see how the week of training ends up. Maybe it's time to blow the dust off my trainer and log in some quality time with it.

I've been so in to the Olympis lately. I just watched the men's mogul competition, I was really hoping Jeremy Bloom could've pulled off a medal, but oh well. Short track speed skating is up so I'd better go tune in. I hear there is going to be a Yankton reunion here in Greeley this weekend so if anyone feels like joining, you're more than welcome. That's all for now.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Yesterday's Ride.

So. Yesterday I set a new personal record with Scott. 200 kilometers, 4,000+ feet of climbing in 7:18 minutes. The day started out awesome with some breaking news in my personal life, followed by a delicious breakfast.

I knew that to last the distance, I was going to need more than this, so just an hour into our ride we swung through a gas station for a cheese muffin. I developed a love for gas station cheese muffins on a ride last year, and have yet to lose the desire to eat one every time I see one. Sunday was no different.

After this short stop it was off to Estes Park. We climbed up HWY 34, past Drake and on to Estes.

50 miles into our ride, we stopped for what was supposed to be a cup of coffee and a pastry, but turned into the most amazing Banana Pancakes I've ever experienced.

They truly were an experience, and they were so dense I couldn't put down any more food for the next 50 miles. We made our way up HWY 36 then down into Lyons and back home on HWY 66 to CR 17, up the Russian, and in on 10th St. Fueled only on sugar water and a goo pack, the last 75 miles of our journey turned into an endorphin fueled carnival which included, but was not limited to, a runaway bike ramp through a ditch, the fake striking of several boxes of matches, several giggle-fests, two uphill sprints, plenty of singing, and even a little Wayne's World "camera one, camera two."

I turned over 200k a half block from my apartment, took a tubbie/shower, then watched a little olympic action before finishing a plate of Fajitas from the Rio. We then moved the party to Kari's waterbed and watched more Olympics and Grey's Anatomy with her, Scott, and my new lady-friend Aimee.

Today I was exhausted, but I made it to class. I even rode my bike there so I could take it to the power wash afterwards. I got it all cleaned and lubed for tomorrow, and I think I'm going to sit around for the rest of the night and watch more olympics. The girls are snowboarding right now, that would be cool if they could pull of as good of results as the guys did last night.

BIG DAY on the bike, and I have a girlfriend!


Monday, February 06, 2006

First UNC group ride of the year.


Saturday morning marked the first group ride of the year for the UNC Cycling team. I think this will become a regular thing. We meet at the Roubaix Bicycle company at 10am, then head out for an easy hour to hour and a half spin before coffee at my apartment. We had 9 riders in attendance this Saturday and hopefully that number continues to grow as the season approaches. We had a great ride, a little cold, but fun for everyone I think? I think I got to ride with everyone and talk to everyone, then coffee and doughnuts, how could it be a bad day? To make things even better I managed to get in another 2 and a half hours in the afternoon. I rode a little dirt down by Lasalle that I hadn't visited for at least a year, which I've already returned to since Saturday.

Sunday was supposed to be THE man-up ride of the year, but I turned into a wuss with the wind blowing and myself feeling a little blown from the day before. For those of you interested, I think it may go off next Sunday and the route goes as follows. Greeley to Estes Park via HWY 34 (not Glen Haven), Estes to Longmont, Longmont to Greeley. It should measure out to around 200k with somewhere between 3000' and 4000' of climbing. I think we'll be departing early from Scott's house, if you're interested, let me know.

Today was another gorgous day. I got to ride in knee warmers which hasn't happened since probably October. I got in a solid 2.5 hours today, with Scott. Some of it was a little beyond base pace, but we were trying to get me to class on time. I think tomorrow is going to be more of the same, except my ride will be sandwiched between classes starting at 9:30am and not ending till 8:30pm. Oh well, those days are unavoidable I guess, and it'll be even harder once those hours start to increase. I also got the second layer of glue on Scott's rims and tires for him this afternoon. I'm happy to glue them for him, but I think the fumes are starting to get to me. I'll be happy when they are done tomorrow and he can take them back to his place.

Here are a few things I've learned in the past months.

#1 It's amazing how many people actually read this crap.

#2 Secrets make people feel important.

#3 "Wedding Crashers" hasn't gotten old after watching it 10 times in a couple weeks.

#4 "Grey's Anatomy" is awesome.

#5 Skate skiing is fun, but you feel like you got kicked in the ass the next day, on both sides.

#6 Maps don't excite most people the way they excite me.

#7 I'm glad my parents don't run for office so I'm still allowed to waste my (and your) time writing crap on here.

#8 Sometimes you have to hit the bottom before you can start working your way back up.

#9 Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. (John F. Kennedy helped me with that one)

#10 There are daily earthquakes in the midwest.

#11 Ice Skating rocks my socks!

#12 The new "Mr. GWHS" is nowhere near as good as last year's.

#13 I haven't yet grown to love football.

#14 Class is way easier, and less nerve-wracking, when you go consistently.

#15 Hip-Hop? There's so many things you could say about hip-hop.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at the ride Saturday.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Bike Review #3

Alright folks, it's time for my review of my new Cannondale Caad 8 road bike. I've only ridden this thing a few times, but thus far I have no complaints. It's definitely stiffer than what I'm used to which is a good and bad thing. This is an all aluminum frame, with a carbon fork that has a carbon steerer. It came stock with an FSA integrated headset.

I'm running all my old components on this bike right now. I've got my old old Ultegra crank and bottom bracket, although I'm hoping to have a new Dura-Ace 10 crank before race season. I'm running a Dura-Ace 9sp rear derailleur that I got from Scott after he crashed and "ruined" it, Ultegra 9sp front derailleur with the controversial clamp, a Sram PC-99 hollowpin chain, Ultegra 11-23 cassette, and Speedplay X1 pedals. I got the pedals second hand for 80 bucks, so I think there must be something special about them since they aren't worth a penny over 50 bucks.

The wheelset is a pair of Ultegra hubs laced to Mavic Open Pros with Wheelsmith double butted spokes. I bought this wheelset this fall after I built a new one for Scott, and he no longer needed these. The rear rim was toast, but luckily Scott (being the good friend that he is) threw in an extra hoop that came off of his Power-Tap wheel. I laced it onto this hub and it's been rockin' ever since. I run Specialized Armadillo tires because nothing can beat them in these Greeley goatheads. I think I've gotten one flat on these tires because of a thorn, and they've lasted a couple thousand miles so far.

I've got a Selle Italia SLR saddle on top of a Cannondale Wind seatpost. I'm actually the first owner of the saddle, although the seatpost is secondhand from Scott. Evidently it wasn't long enough when he bought his Giant? In the bottom of this picture you can also see my Ultegra rear brake.

This last shot shows my Dura-Ace 9sp shifters (which I hear they quit making, so get your hands on a pair now if you can), my Ritchey Pro 44cm handlebar, my borrowed Felt 110mm stem, and Ultegra front brake. This shot also does a fine job of the red cables that I've grown to love. Don't worry, I actually put new housing on this bike when I built it up.

Like I said, I've only ridden this bike a few times, but I enjoyed every minute of the 2 and a half hours I spent on it today. Scott and I rode a bunch of dirt, and I could definitely tell I didn't have my flexy old Trek underneath me, but I think I really like it overall. I'm still trying to figure out if I like the lengh, or if I should go another 10mm longer. Only time will tell I guess. On our dirt adventures today, we found something you don't see everyday along the road.

I also tried to re-create moment from years past. It didn't work out as well, but it never will.

Here is a parting shot from the road. This is what it looks like in action, we'll have to wait a couple months to see if I have the motor to make it go fast.