Monday, February 26, 2007

Check it Yo...



Sorry the colors are inversed, I don't know why it does that?

Word on the street is that Nat Ross might be running the mic. Should be a fun day!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Real Quick.

A report was received at 5:02 p.m. Sunday of five kids throwing snowballs at two other kids. The children were advised to even up the teams.

A man in the 300 block of Maple reported at 7:26 p.m. Tuesday that a large rock had apparently been hit by a vehicle. There was no damage to the rock.

More later, I'm off to teach a Time Trial clinic in Denver.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Wasting Time, ToC, Elevator Music

My mom got on my case because it's been a few days since I've posted anything on here, so I figured, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, or something along those lines. My week has been pretty uneventful. I thought I had to work Monday night, so I rode early, cut my ride a little short, and showed up on time only to find out that I was on call and didn't have to work. I ran into the Feighny's on my way home and joined them with a group back at the Rio.

Yesterday I got in a good ride, met up with some of the UNC kids, got to watch Brian pop his calves over and over again for a couple hours. Last night, just as I've done the last three nights, I sat around and watched the Tour of California on Versus. Scott and Brian have been coming over as well to take advantage of my cable TV. I guess it's paying off in the end, gotta make friends somehow.

It's awesome to have cycling on TV, although we were noting last night, "Versus" would be the worst channel on TV if it weren't for cycling. I love how the cycling coverage is always sandwiched between ultimate fighting and bull riding.

I personally was a little disgusted with the ToC on Stage one. For those of you who don't know, the officials neutralized the finishing circuits because a crash took out some of the leaders. I understand nobody wants to see a race decided by a crash, but isn't that why GC teams have to work to keep their riders out of the danger? And also, why were only some of the crash victims given the same time as the leaders. Rory Sutherland had an awesome ride in the prologue, but was timed at 1.25 back after he crashed in the finish of stage one, yet Levi and Donald were given the time of the leaders? So Levi retains the jersey, and Sutherland gets bumped from 4th to 97th in the same crash? I guess I'm a little bitter because I would have LOVED to see Ben Jacques-Maynes in the leaders jersey, but the officials ruling stands, even if it makes no sense.

I'm riding with Scott today, but he bumped the departure time back a half an hour. I suppose I should get dressed and leave on time for once. Today will be my chance to shine. I was 20 minutes late meeting Scott the other day, I managed to miss him on the road, then crash answering my phone when he called to see where I was. Today should be better, but we'll see.

I've been listening to Elevator Music all morning. ERod, the singer, guitarist, songwriter trained me to bus the first time I worked at the Rio, and has been a good friend since. I always forget they have music on their website. Maybe someday I'll be able to get a CD?

That's all for now, thanks for checking in.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

On the mend.

A quick little 24 hour bug knocked me off my feet for the middle of the week, but I'm on the rebound now, and hope to be 100% by the beginning of next week. Wednesday afternoon I started to feel it, Thursday I never got off the couch, I tried to ride yesterday, but it wasn't happening 60mph gusts and snow, then I worked late last night. I got in a little over 2 hours today, but I wasn't feeling like normal. I just took a little nap, and I plan on riding all day tomorrow, so hopefully the bug is gone and I'll be back on the right track soon.

Right now it's time for a shower, maybe a little more food, and an early bedtime. It's kind of funny how obvious it is when something is wrong with me. I've been force feeding myself the past couple days, and still not getting close to the amount of calories I need to be taking in. On a typical day I have to pull on the reins even if I burn 3,000 calories on the bike.

In other news, it looks like my buddy Nat Ross is finding ways to keep fit even in bad weather. It takes a certain caliber athlete to pick up a new sport and qualify for the world championships in his first race. Congrats Nat, and good luck in Italy.

Alright, shower, eat, bed. Hope you all have evenings as exciting as mine planned.

P.S. I only screwed up one thing at work this morning, and didn't even piss any customers off. It's funny how much better your tips are when you bring people what they ordered.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Rest Day.

Today was my day off (the bike), so I worked at the bike shop, then messed around with my own bikes all evening. I did make some wonderful peanut chicken for Brian and myself, but he ditched out so I ate it alone.

I changed more tires at home tonight than I did at the shop today which is a bit ironic, but after a little tire juggling, I have a bunch of fully functioning bikes again. Not long ago I blew out the sidewall of one of my training tires. I borrowed the tires from my fixed gear so I could keep training, but that rendered my favorite bike (the fixie) useless. To fix this problem, I put some old cross tires on the fixed gear, and then put some even older cross tires on my cross bike, and also put a new front wheel on my road bike. I've been meaning to lace a new hoop onto my front road bike wheel since I pulled an eyelet through the rear wheel of the set and ordered new hoops for the set in September. I finally got around to it, laced the wheel tonight at home, and hopefully I'll be able to tension it tomorrow at the shop.

I also need to rebuild Scott's PowerTap hub as he's letting me use it this spring while he's in Belgium. On top of that, I need to wash my road bike, Scott's TT bike (I'm also borrowing this spring, thanks Scooter), and my cross bike. These crappy roads are taking a toll on my stable, and it's time for me to catch up on their TLC.

Bottom line... my fixed gear looks tough now with big knobby tires.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Base.

Sorry this site has turned pretty lame again. My camera has been dead for a couple days, and I've been pretty worked from riding and working over the weekend.

Saturday I worked at the Rio in the morning and then had our annual Rocky Mounts - Izze team meeting. Work was alright, and I made some decent money, and the meeting was pretty cool as always. I'm glad that I get to ride for a club that's core beliefs are so close to mine. I for one really appreciate an organization that gives more value to the respectful athlete with the right mindset than the jerk with solid results. I guess we actually purged our team of all the people who got too into themselves and getting on the podium, so it's back to only people who care equally about getting the result, but also about making good impressions and representing Rocky Mounts, Izze, and all our other sponsors in a positive way.

I also found out a few cool things I didn't know about the IZZE Beverage Company. I guess it's easiest to copy it all off the bottle. "PROJECT REACH: In partnership with the Global Education Fund, the IZZE Beverage Company funds and manages Project Reach, a program that provides education-based development for farm workers and their families in the communities where we buy our fruit." Anyway, their advertising guy was there, and it sounds like even though they were bought by Pepsi this year, they are sticking to their roots (which luckily enough for us includes the Rocky Mounts - Izze team).

Sunday I got in a BIG ride with a few different groups all linked together. This morning started off pretty crappy with a frustrating phone call, but I managed to get in a pretty solid 4 hours, by myself this time, but broken up by and extended coffee break with a friend I haven't seen in quite a while. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off the bike, but working at the bike shop. Not the best recovery day, but it'll have to do. This week is supposed to get cold, and I'm not looking forward to the trainer at all, looks like long rides over the weekend again. My camera is charged, so there should be a few pictures with the next update.

Here is a parting shot of the "thing" that Brian got to babysit over the weekend.

Friday, February 09, 2007

He's Back!


We had to wait a full two years, but Tyler is finally back. I understand that he lost the support of a lot of you, but I've been a big fan all along. I hear he's focusing on the Giro this spring, that could be an awesome race to watch if Basso tries the double again, and I hear Mayo is going to try to do both. I love the Giro, so I'm excited for it to get started.

I've got a lot of work to do before May, so I suppose it's alright that it's still a few months away. I'm about ready to beat Mike Nelson's face in, the past two days we had mid-40's in the forecast, and I would put up good money that it never got above freezing either day.

I got a solid 2.5 hours in yesterday on the TT bike, then defrosted with an hour and a half on the trainer inside. Today looks to be another bone chiller, so we'll see how long I last outside. I'm pondering riding the trainer for an hour before I go out.

Tonight I get to bus at the Rio, wait tomorrow morning, then Rocky Mounts team meeting tomorrow night, so riding might prove to be hard to fit in, but I'll just have to see what I can do. That's about all I've got right now, thanks for checking in.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Four and a half hours in the fog.

Mist wisps from my lips,
Into the fog I pedal,
This is why we ride.

There is a little Haiku written personally for Brian Amstutz. I know he'll like it.



Today's ride was great. The forecast said it would get up to 44 degrees, but judging by the ice that kept growing on the leading edge of my bike, the rate at which my bottles froze, and the way my toes felt when I got home, I don't believe the temperature rose much above freezing today.




Regardless it was a great ride. A few things brought me warmth and sunshine despite the fog.

#1 Gas station Cream Cheese muffin in Windsor.

#2 Steak, potatoes, cheese, and green chili breakfast burrito in Milliken.



#3 Warm water at Dillards in Galeton.



#4 A "Star Crunch" as I cruised back into Greeley.

Overall great day, today wasn't about training, I had fun on the bike, it's days like this that make me want to ride.

Monday, February 05, 2007

First crash of '07.

I rode 3.5 hours this afternoon, and then crashed just as I turned into my parking lot at the end of my ride. I slipped on some ice and fell in a puddle that was deep enough to cover my mid section. I'm glad it was at the end of my ride, or I would have FROZEN since I was soaking wet when I got inside.

I rode an hour this morning, then picked up Alex Lewis at the dorms for another two hours. I thought I'd packed enough food, but by the time we got to Milliken, I was STARVING. I ate an absolutely glorious breakfast burrito at a gas station and cruised in just in time to shower and go work at the Rio. I didn't make much money, but I did get $10 in $2 bills from some old guy. If you're really nice I might send you one, just paypal $5 to coreycrlsn@hotmail.com.

For those of you who haven't heard, I've gotten the chance to work with Rick Crawford and the Endurance Training Network as a satellite coach. I'll be working with a few individual clients this year and hopefully working with a collegiate team here in Colorado, but there will be more to come on that front at a later date.

That's all for now, I'll have pictures of this weekend's group ride on here soon. Thanks for checking in.

Friday, February 02, 2007

I just watched Jonestown : Paradise Lost.

It was a docu/drama on the history channel about the mass murder/suicide at Jonestown, Guyana in the 70's. Anyway, the guy playing Jim Jones looked a lot like my brother, kind of creeped me out. This picture is pretty bad, but apparently Rick Roberts' career didn't really take off after playing Jones.





The last photo, a self-portrait of Edgar Degas, also has an uncanny similarity to Dave' Suave'... you be the judge.

It's on loan.


But I figured with the red housing it least has a touch of Corey on it.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

It's only a matter of time.


February is upon us. I suppose that means many different things, in two weeks every girl in the country who was happy with their single life, will suddenly feel so lonely they won't be able to help but weep. Every guy with a night class on that amorous day will be scrambling to get something together for his girlfriend who is sitting next to him in class, and has no idea he forgot about Valentines Day.

It also means more bitter cold weather here along the Front Range.

Some recognize February as Black History month, or the month of Groundhog's Day.

Other's look forward to February as National Bird Feeders month, or even National Condom Month.

February hosts the Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, and as everyone knows, The Daytona 500.

What does February mean to me? Easy, it's one month away from my birthday month. Those of you who know me, know how important my birthday is, probably more important than any of your birthdays. It's so important in fact, I don't celebrate a day, not even a week, but March is my birthday month, 1st through the 31st. I do share my birthday with a lot of people I know, and they can have their days, but it's still MY month.

My Cousin Kayla - 9th
My Godmother - 10th
Wayne Williamson- 12th
Ron Bush - 17th
Me - 20th
Grandma Carlson - 20th
Grandpa Carlson - 21st
Dave Towle - 21st
My Lovely Mother- 22nd*
Aunt Kristi - 25th
My Brother David- 30th

*TURNING 50!

I know there are others, the Valentines Day blunder girlfriend is in there too, I think the 11th? But the important thing to remember, is that the most important birthday in there is mine. So... start the countdown, March is only 28 days away.

In other news. I've been pretty busy this week. There might be some changes coming my way, but there will be more info on that in the coming weeks. I got a good trainer party ride in with Scott yesterday afternoon, but I think I'm flying solo today. I should quit dragging my feet and get on it. Thanks for checking in, have a great February.

P.S. If your comment has been deleted within the past few days, maybe you should watch the language. I have the right to rid this site of any distasteful content.