Upping the Miles.

It's been awhile. I've been putting in a few more miles recently and while it's helping my fitness I guess my knee isn't what it used to be and it's feeling it. I took today off and bought a 6-pack of Blue Moon (Yeah just like that Cop from Cambridge likes) and figure it was time to update the old blog.

Tour de France: So the tour came and went and no surprises here. Alberto won. I think he's doped to the gills but that's just my opinion. Congrats to him. Lance? He did well but just didn't quite have the snap to handle the accelerations. No news there.

The Shack? It looks like Radio Shack will be the sponsor next year. Look for The Shaq, The Shack and Lance ads soon.

Back to riding. I did a couple group rides recently, the first of the year, and it felt really great to be out there riding again with other people. There are some new fast guys to deal with Aren't there always? I'm a lot slower than last year, but if last night's ride is any indicator I'm coming around again and should be able to hang with the big dogs again soon. (Hopefully) anyway.

Personal Note: I'm missing the girls.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mom's day to all the moms out there. Yeah like any moms read this blog.

I finally was able to do a nice three day block of hard riding in and it felt REALLY good. Friday I did 40 with a block of intervals. Saturday I did 45 with the steepest hills I could find around here. Today I did another 2+ hours with a lot of grinding into head winds. I'm feeling tired and happy right now after a late night snack of Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Oh, and it was great seeing Ale-Jet (Petacchi) thump Cavendish at the Giro d'Italia today.

Friday Fixie.

I was really taken by two things in this picture. Green bikes and Lugged Steel are Classic!

Just Riding.

Today's weather was one of those perfect spring days; bright sun, deep blue skies, cool but not cold temps and not too much wind. After yesterday's all-day rain with no riding I was more than due to go put a hurtin on myself out on the road. I can't really call what I'm doing these days training, but it's more like riding because I love to ride until I can start training again. Oh, that doesn't mean I'm not in decent enough shape. A little fat though I gotta work on that. The numbers I put up today for this little 30.5 mile loop I do tells me I'm on par with last year at this time, if not a bit faster. I'm not doing any speed work or intervals right now though, it's more like fast riding until I'm tired and happy.

Tonight's Ride: 30.5 miles / 21.2avg mph (Personal Best for this loop) / 1:26:06 / Max Spd 41.6mph I didn't wear my hr monitor. Total for the day 48 miles.

The Yellow Jersey

I recently read The Yellow Jersey by Ralph Hurne and it was a pretty good read. In some chapters it seems kinda dated reading it today as it was written in 1973. Something about it reminded me a bit of Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and think it must have had to do with the era they were written. Nowhere near as freaky as Zen--, but Hurne's writing is very good and the parts about racing and the struggle of The Tour make for a real page turner.

In a nutshell it's the story of a retired pro cyclist named Terry Davenport living out his post career days by stringing along women who either keep him financially afloat or have a way of making him feel as though he's not lost it age wise just yet. Circumstances come about that lead to him coming out of retirement to be a domestique for a rider he coaches to ride The Tour de France.

At 37, (Isn't Lance 37?) Terry gives it a go and some amazing things happen that change his role on the team dramatically. I'd probably read it if I were you,... or not. Actually, yeah, read it. It was fun.

Errands by Bike.

Finding time to train these days for me is a royal pain in the arse. Sure, it can be done, but with all the scheduling hassles that come with it sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. But then I remind myself why I ride in the first place. I just love riding. Going fast, no speed limits, coasting downhills in an aero tuck, exploring new roads,... That's what it's all about.

Anyway, today I found myself running some errands by bike, something I rarely seem to do living here in suburbia and I love it. I also found the training effect I get from the fast riding between stops, in pants, is really one heck of a work-out.

I think I posted once before about there being no such thing as junk miles when it comes to riding/training. After today I still stand by that 100%.

Oh, by the way, I have managed over 140 miles over the last 3 days and I feel really good. No recovery issues whatsoever. Not bad for an old guy.

In other news I found it sad that Cannondale is ending all bicycle production in my home state of Pennsylvania. I know all about business being business, but it still saddens me. I hope a few of those enterprising souls that are to be left go take their skills and start a new niche bicycle company that builds no-nonsense Aluminum framed hard-core race bikes in the tradition of the CAAD Series of bikes. I'll be one of their first customers.

Still Alive.

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog, but no worries, (not that there ever where any) I'm still alive, doing some riding and hope to even do some racing this year. You see, my wife recently changed jobs and her 60+ hours a week including weekends has put a major hit in my riding time. Watching and raising the girls the best I know how is far more important than CAT IV racing is, so that's where my time is spent these days.

That said, I still do get out on the road some, the trainer, and commute to work by bike so I'm not getting too fat yet. Slower though for sure. My oh-so-loved group rides are out of the question, and Saturday racing is pretty much out for now also. As the days get longer I'm going to start training more in the mornings so I can get the miles in I need to do some competitive racing this summer.

I'm still probably 10-15 lbs heavier than I was this time last year so I feel my slowness mostly in the hills. Lucky for me, most races don't have hills these days. It is a bit depressing watching the LSV/KB email updates on the racing going on and I'm not there, but the year is young and I'm gonna stay positive.

Yesterday I did 4.5 LSD hours (75+ miles) on some new roads I haven't been on before and worked my way over to my wife's new workplace so we could have dinner together. The girls are on Spring Break this week at my parents so I'm upping my miles to try and take off some weight and get some base in.

Well that's that. Hope all of you are having a great season so far and I'm looking forward to seeing you out at the races, or even just out on the road!

Movie Night.

Last night I took the girls over to Race Pace for movie night. Some of the other guys in the club were there and they showed us the 2009 LSV/KBS kit we'll be wearing this year. Very Nice. Mari picked my name out of the helmet and I won the door prize. Thanks Marc for everything! We watched the movie about Philly Week, one I hadn't seen before.

I hope they do more of these in the future because it was cool talking to guys when they're not wearing tights, helmets and huffing/puffing up hills. Next time I'm bringing some beer!

Weekend Ride Report.

If you happen to be lucky enough to be on the east coast of the USA this weekend you would've been treated to two days of perfect riding weather. 50's and sun. Sure, today was windy but who can complain for February.

Yesterday I had big plans, but they were dashed around 3 hours in. You see, my new bike has the Hutchinson Tubeless clinchers on Dura-Ace wheels and they totally kick ass. In fact they ride about as close as you are going to get to tubulars in my opinion. Another great thing about them is how great they resist getting flats. Last year at this time I had 3 or 4 flats by February, yet with this set of tires I've been riding flat free since October on some of the crappiest roads you'll find in these parts. OK, I'm lazy and yesterday I didn't take anything with me to fix a flat on the road. I was just entering Mt. Airy, MD when I hit the nastiest looking groove in the road. As soon as I hit it I knew it wasn't gonna be good. Sure enough, slow leak. So I pull over and get out my phone for my wife to rescue me. Dead phone.

Luckily a guy was selling a Jeep in the parking lot and he loaned me his phone. Thanks bro. Oh well, it was a nice day so I sat and waited for my ride. Nice people looking at cars asked me if I needed any help to which I said no thanks. There are still some nice people in this world afterall I thought.

Anyway, that was my ride yesterday. Today I wanted to go a bit longer, but felt really crappy out there on the road. Towards the end I felt like I was bonking even. Still a good ride though. 110 miles for the weekend. I'll take it.

Superbowl Sunday Riding.

First off, Congrats to the Pittsburgh Steelers on winning their 6th superbowl. I've been a fan since I learned what football is and it was a joy to watch Ben march them down the field for the big win. Incredible.

Sunday's Ride: It was a salty and wet but very warm 3.5hr harder ride out through Damascus and Mt. Airy and back home with plenty of time to get back for cooking some steaks, having some beers and watch my Steelers beat up on the Cardinals. By the way, I underestimated the Cards, they are a legitimate Superbowl team. Warner and Fitz in particular. I wish I could've went out today since it was beautiful out there. Looks like back to the trainer tonight.