shimano christmas

It was a Shimano Christmas for Helix. Pretty soon he'll be sporting his new Ulterga components: front and rear brakes and a rear derailer. All he's missing now are some Ultegra shifters.

Patience, young grasshopper.

So the Baguers are here and we have actually gotten on our bikes...once. And believe it or not, Pinky rode...only to get a flat and at the end of the ride. Big Red may have danced his last dance. I think there's a wall somewhere in this house with his name on it.

So, Pink and The Mighty Cuban scoped out three shops today in search of Big Red's successor. So far in the running are a couple of Cannondales, a Felt, and a LeMond. There will be some test riding this week and then I guess we'll need a third mortgage to buy it.

Pictures will be posted, I'm sure.

Papa, are you proud?

mail call

Every time I ride I do something a little different, maybe even a little better.

Yesterday I took almost every hill out of the saddle AND in my big gear. I only faltered on one really long climb that I started out of the saddle in my big gear, dropped to my middle ring, and then finally had to sit down and use the baby ring. But it was a long hill. Overall, I was pretty proud of myself. And it was a new route too, so that was nice and refreshing.

I still don't think I'm going to be quite ready to ride with the rest of the NYUNADS this coming weekend though.

Also forgot to mention that I discovered a new hazard on the road. Not people talking on their cell phones or playing with iPods, not hidden holes or grates in the road, not irate rednecks with shotgun racks in their pick-up trucks, none of those things.

Open mailboxes.
Ouch.

I almost clipped my shoulder last week and weaved out of the way just in time. That definitely would have left a mark, might have even knocked me off Helix.

Beware the open mailbox.

just like Jan, sort of

Today was big day for Cupcake in a few ways.

First I left the house without my sunglasses. Rookie mistake that fortunately didn't affect me too much. Maybe the color on my face will even out a bit more.

Since I slept in a little longer than anticipated I needed to truncate today's ride (had to come to work early enough to get home to watch some football - specifically to see if I can spot Bags in the crowd in South Bend).

Two big things happened. As Bags will attest I am neither good at nor comfortable with being out of the saddle for very long, although I did get better with his instruction and motivation. On two small climbs today (out of the neighborhood and the first hill up Briarcliff) I did them entirely out of the saddle. And I didn't feel bad.

The other big accomplishment was that I stayed in my big gear for 90% of my ride and pushed myself more than usual. I discovered while Bags was here that even though I felt like I was getting good rides the reason I didn't feel like I was getting any better was because I wasn't pushing myself hard enough.

Overall, a good day. Since I've got no plans tomorrow it should be a longer ride. Counting down the days until NJ...

overused and underpaid

Last night was my first night playing volleyball since Nationals at the end of May.

I now know why cycling (or another sport that doesn't involve the use of my shoulder) needs to be my sport of the future. And yes, Dad, I know you told me to take up golf years ago for this very reason.

Playing volleyball for roughly 16 years has put my shoulder in a tender position. I can barely move it after only one night of play. On the bright side, because of the cycling I wasn't as out of shape as I usually am when the season starts. Cardio-wise I felt pretty good and by the end of the night whatever little bit of jump I had started to come back. Unfortunately, none of that really helps me if my shoulder is hanging on by a thread - we can all guess that defense is not my strong point and hitting is my golden ticket.

Ok, so I exaggerate, it's not really hanging by a lone tendon, but it is pretty sore. I'm hoping that playing once a week won't aggravate it more than usual until the coaching season starts after Thanksgiving. That's what really does me in for the year.

That being said, Helix will see some pavement today.

work? what's that?

Wow, has it really been 14 days since my last post?

Don't fret - just because the posting was lacking doesn't mean I wasn't riding. Actually, I think I had ridden quite a bit, and then the yankees got here.

Most of you already know what a sloth-fest it was the week the Bags' clan was here. It was brilliant. I have never played so much PS2 in my entire life. And actually, haven't played it but once since they left. I was starting to get calluses on my thumbs.

But I have to say I think I know how the Beak feels, or rather, how the Beak FELT since as of this past weekend he has advanced his standard of cycling. I thought I was a decent rider, and then Bags got here and I realized how much I sucked. It was nothing short of demoralizing the first day. After that I just accepted it and had a good ride our second day out.

Only three weeks until the October Challenge, which I am now dreading given the perspective of how I really stack up, at least to Bags. I can now definitively say, without a doubt, were it to be a race, Team Chianti would crumble like queso fresco.

But alas, we all just ride to have fun, right? Who cares about winning, right? Yeah, I know, who am I kidding?

katrina has arrived

Yesterday it rained all day and today the weather has been nothing short of bizarre.

I woke up and it was incredibly windy but nothing else. Driving to work it was wet, rainy, and sunny all at the same time - kind of like after a sun shower. It's been this strange intermittent rain all day but still pretty bright out, yet the clouds are so dark and moving like a movie time lapse scene where 24 hours is shown over a period of a minute and a half. Creepy.

We're supposed to get rain throughout the rest of today and then it should be beautiful weather the rest of the week and weekend.

T minus 54:50:43 until the Baguers hit the tarmac in ATL.

me, me, and me

One of my favorite phrases that I use often (and no, it's not, "Huh,") is that you learn something new every day. Today was certainly no exception.

Well, perhaps I should start with yesterday for the sake of uniformity.

Got home last night, a little later than planned, but rode the extended BCM. I knew I would be slower because I was trying to keep my heart rate under 160 bpm. It was a really nice ride - I can't believe how fortunate I've been with the cool weather this week. So I rattled off just under 20 miles.

I planned on riding the Chamblee-Tucker route today, which was 23 miles the last time Pinky and I rode it. Strangely enough though, it was only 16.2 miles today. I doubt that the route magically morphed it's distance between the two rides, yet I can't explain it. You know, quantum theory states that time is different for everyone (or something like that). Maybe that applies to distance as well, or we live in the Bermuda triangle of the Atlanta area. Seriously though, I don't know why our math was so off but today's ride was shorter than anticipated.

Back to what I learned today about me.

Today I realized that I have become more attune to my heart rate without looking at the monitor. I usually don't change the limits so the beeping means nothing to me - I just keep looking at it. But today I did change the limits to keep myself under 170 bpm. I could actually tell by how I felt, within 1 bpm, what the monitor said, without looking, almost every time. It was eerie, yet impressive.

The other thing I noticed about my heart rate this week is that I'm recovering a lot faster than I have been. I'm taking this as a sign that I'm getting better, whether it means that or not.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about merging the extended BCM and Chamblee-Tucker routes which I think should put me over 30 miles. But given my Nobel math skills and the Bermuda triangle scenario it will probably only be 6 miles and I'll end up in Alabama.

clueso

My Pinky is a good man.

The guy cooks dinner 6 out of 7 nights a week so when he asks me to whip something up, I can't really say no. Thus, there was no ride for Cupcake last night, but I did make a killer Thai red curry with tofu and vegetables.

That being said, tonight we'll ride (the 'we' being Helix and me).

Since there is nothing to report...

Check out this musician, Clueso. One of the PIs who has been working in Vienna brought this back. It's a unique sound that iTunes classifies as rap/hip hop. And oh yeah, it's in German. The album is 'Gute Music' and you can listen to some of the tracks. I think it rocks.

Papa, you're fluent, aren't you? Enjoy.

hit me 2x

Incredibly enough, it's been two days in a row with fantastic rides.

Last night I rolled off 17.72 miles and I thought I was going at a slightly slower pace than the day before, but I wasn't. My average speed was still up and I felt great. My heart rate was slightly lower than the day before, which is good. Looks like the 13 days in rhinovirus hell might not have been that bad for my overall status.

Pink goes to the doctor this morning. I'm sure we'll all be awaiting the verdict. I just hope it's nothing serious and the doctor tells him to get back on Big Red!

Today I'm going to pump out the 21-miler but take it easy. That should get me ready for whatever I decide to do this weekend.

cupcake is back

Wow - yesterday's ride was phenomenal.

I got home late and it was looking pretty overcast - not so much that it was going to rain but it was getting dark and I only have the flashing light on the back of my seat post. So instead of scrapping the day I decided to do a shorter ride than I planned but to haul ass to get home before it got dark. As I told Pinky, I'm not so worried about being able to see where I'm going but more that I'll get hit by some jackass who isn't paying attention to the flashing light on Helix.

I did the Walmart ride (10.5 miles) at a pretty good pace; I barely had time to drink any water because I kept timing all the traffic lights right. I picked up my average speed by more than 1 mph (even though it felt like it should have been more) and felt GREAT when I got home. I think my legs have finally come back and this time it only took two rides for my seat to re-adjust to being on the saddle.

It's amazing how a drop in the temperature can make you feel when you ride. Because it was so late and overcast it was probably about 10 degrees cooler than it has been and it was bloody brilliant to ride in that. Tonight, though, I am going to try to get home earlier and pack in about 20 miles. I'm hoping today will be another cooler day.

Pinky had a nice homemade pizza ready to go when I got home and we sat down to watch Entourage. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's on HBO so if you have HBO and digital cable you can watch it On Demand. I highly recommend it - my favorite show on television right now.

home brew

Gosh, it was hot out this morning.

Yesterday I went out about 8:30 am and this morning about 9:30. There must have been at least a 15 degree difference in the temperature between the two. Managed to squeeze off 18 miles this morning, albeit a tough 18. This is almost like starting over. I suspect that this week I'll start to feel like I'm closer to where I was before the back-packing trip. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself so I can see an end in sight to this punishment.

Other activities for today include beer making, mixed in with some drinking. Pinky and his friend Matt have been at it since before I returned from my ride and they've still got several hours to go, on both counts. It sure does smell good. Anyone around at Christmas should get to sample the goods.

Carry on, then. I can hear them opening the next bottles.

sniff sniff

I found out last night that Bags predicted to Papa that our training would falter. After an unprecedented 13 days off the road I would say his assessment was accurate. But have no fear, Helix has been resurrected from the stuffy confines of the garage and loved breathing the fresh morning air today. I promised Bags I would ride today and blog post-haste, so be it.

We hit the road around 8:30 am and rode 13.52 miles, about 50 minutes. And believe me, I paid for my 13 days huddled up on the couch with a blanket and a box of tissues. But tomorrow will be easier. I don't have a million other things to do so I can go for a nice, long, easy ride.

And apparently Pinky has an excuse as well for being off the saddle. He hurt his back about a month ago and clearly hasn't been forthcoming about how much it hurt him. He's off to finally see a doctor and we'll see where that puts him.

pink in headlights

It's been several days off for Team Chianti, which doesn't necessarily bode well for Cupcake. After vowing to never miss 4 days in a row again I have now been off the saddle for a consecutive 6 days. This will hurt.

The back-packing trip took out some of my steam but it's the rhinovirus that's got me now. I'm hoping to shed this thing enough so that I can ride tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.

Since there's no cycling team news here's a recap of our recent trip.

We spent in the first night in a motel in Robbinsville because it was raining so hard, but actually had to drive to another county for dinner so we could have some wine. Believe it or not, there are still dry counties in this country. What are these people thinking??? Their moonshine must be too good.

Monday we hiked in a little over 5 miles on the Snowbird Creek Trail in NC. For the most part it was pretty flat, except when Pinky misread the map and we had to climb a STEEP 1.1 mile section to get to camp. Fabulous.

We set up camp near a great waterfall that flowed into a sizeable pool of frigid water, which Pinky did actually swim in. We fished for Brookies (Brook Trout for the non-anglers) that afternoon and the following day. Brookies are quite possibly the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. And the ones we caught were about that size.

Back at the cars we chatted with some forest service workers who of course told us that the best fishing was right there at the trailhead because that's where they stock the creek. Wouldn't you know it.

a bit chilly

So I might be turning into a morning rider after all.

Today we finally got Pink and Big Red back on the road. They rode about 8.5 miles and I kept going to try and loosen my legs up with a long easy ride. I ended up doing 18.5 miles and felt great. It was so cool and pleasant to ride this morning - dare I say I even felt a slight chill going down the hill by our house.

I also saw where every cyclist in the greater Atlanta area meets on Saturday mornings. There is a group ride that leaves from near our house, however, I don't think this will be one Pinky and I ride with. Apparently, this is no ride for amateurs, and the pace is fierce. But I did get some nice waves from the guys as they put their bikes together. There must have been 30 or 40 of them.

I'll squeeze in a quick ride in the morning before we head to the mountains for the next couple of days. Like I said, if I can help it, I won't be off four days in a row again.

Also of news, the Bags clan have confirmed their trip and we're looking forward to showing Bags our rides down here and getting him out for a couple of days in a row.

pink's return

Hmm, yesterday was rough. After resting Wednesday because it was just too hot, I rode the same long ride as Tuesday, 20.93 miles. But I felt so much slower. I really had to push to get home in the same time as I did Tuesday. Pink says it's because it was so hot outside.

I feel like I'm getting worse but I'm doing longer rides. So far this week, with 3 rides, I am over 50 miles and about 4 hours total time. I've still got 2, maybe 3 rides left before we jet for the NC mountains Sunday. A few days of back-packing will be nice.

Pinky finally got his wheel back but got home too late to ride last night. Tomorrow we get him back on the road.

Ciao!

team wagon

Is it possible that if you are feeling stressed or have had a particularly stressful day that your heart rate will be above what it normally should be during a ride? Yesterday I only did the Walmart ride, barely 11 miles, and it was tough. My heart rate was way faster than what it was the day before on the tougher ride and I don't really have an explanation. I wasn't averaging any faster than I usually do, although I did hit a new max speed.

Another oddity that I noticed, probably some time last week, was that Team Chianti is transforming into Team On-the-Wagon.

Papa asked me in Italy if we drank wine every night. Since Pinky sells it for a living, of course I said yes. Wine with dinner pretty much every night. It's a given.

But since we've started training I find us only busting a cork the night before a rest day. Bizarre behavior for us. I didn't think Pinky would love anything more than the grape.

FYI...Pinky's wheel is finally ready so we'll see if we can't get him out there tonight.

things I've learned

Sorry for the late post...I had no idea there was such a demand.

As most know, I also coach volleyball. A couple of years ago one of our new coaches emailed the rest of us after his first weekend of coaching girls in a volleyball tournament. His email started off something like this:

Things I've learned this weekend...
Sometimes girls will cry for no reason at all.

He went on to list a few other things that were pretty funny. I've stolen this format from him once before. Many of you may have even received that email after my initial start at training for the Italy trip. It went something like this:

Things I've learned this weekend...
Hills suck and I'm out of shape.

I honestly don't remember what else I had on the list so I'm compelled to make a new one. So, for the second time I'm ripping off my friend Mike's original email.

Things I learned this weekend...
1. Four days off in a row is TOO many for Cupcake and Helix. The first 10 minutes of my ride were hard. I didn't like that. I will not go that long without riding again, if I can help it.
2. Despite being off Helix for four days, it wasn't as detrimental as I thought it would be. For a much longer ride my max speed (which has been steadily increasing) was the same and so was my average, including all the new hills I added.
3. No matter how I feel during the first part of a ride, I am ALWAYS going to feel better in the second half.
4. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I really missed riding this weekend. I think I've actually become a little addicted.

Since it had been so long I thought I owed myself a longer ride so I rode about 21 miles, my longest weekday ride yet. I combined the BCM and my Walmart loop. It was kind of tough since the part I added was all uphill. But it felt good. I might have even felt a little nauseated, although fortunately nothing came to fruition.

FYI, the bike shop forgot about Pinky's wheel so he still doesn't have it. Won't be ready until Wednesday. That means more than a week off Big Red for Pinky. Ouch.

the dark side

I did something yesterday that Pinky says is out of character for me. I got honked at while I was climbing a hill. As I looked up I could see the guy was looking in his rear view mirror so I gave him the bird.

I felt satisfied.

It's Getting Hot in Here

Like I've already told a few people, it was still in the 90's when I rode last night at 7 pm. I went for a short ride, but only because my route didn't work out quite like I thought it would. I ended up only riding for 40 minutes but it was a good 40. Today I'm doing the BCM and I'm going to try it like I did last week staying in my endurance range. We'll see if my time's changed at all.

Forgot to mention that Pinky's run-ins with unfriendly types has stalled at two. Saturday, a guy in a Corvette honked at us and when Pinky politely asked him not to do that he said, "F*** you! Get on the sidewalk!" He drove off before Pinky could tell him that was illegal but not before Pinky returned the obscenity.

The second guy was a red neck in a pick-up truck who apparently cut Pinky off (funny how these incidents seem to happen when I'm on the ride but before I really get to the scene). Pinky asked him to be careful because he could have hit one of us (which I did hear him say politely). As I rolled up I heard Pinky say, "It's illegal." And then the conversation ended the same as the other, with the generous exchange of appropriate salutations.

Pinky, fighting for the rights of cyclists everywhere.

Jobs' commencement speech

A friend forwarded this to me. Check it out.

Brilliant Sunday...for Lance, too!

Today is a much needed rest day but yesterday was brilliant.

We rode about 22 miles from our house to Decatur and back. I've figured out that Pinky goes out too hard (he says he can't go any slower) but then halfway through the ride, when I'm hitting my peak, he's beat. So in the center of Decatur I was about to hit my stride on the long straight road when Pinky decided we need a shortcut to get home to avoid a hill so he cut into a neighborhood.

This decision led to about a half a dozen more hills because we got lost in it. Finally emerging onto a main road, we were back on course for home. About 2 miles from the house Pinky got a flat, but because he told me to go ahead of him, I rode for a long time before realizing he was yelling at me to stop. I sprinted home (ok, not really a full sprint) and got the car.

We had to go to two shops before we found someone to fix Big Red's busted sew-up tire. We also saw Big Red's potential successor, a very nice Cannondale. Hmmm.

Pinky's domestique

Is it possible? Could it have happened so quickly? Have I really become Pinky's domestique? Yes, it's official: after a week of solid riding Pinky is faster, stronger, and a faster climber than I am. But I did take him on a sprint over one small climb today. And then he got me right back on the very next one.

This morning we rode out Chamblee-Tucker which was the greatest - it must have been at least a couple of miles without a traffic light. It was nice to get a rhythm going. We had about 4 small climbs on this ride, not including the dreaded neighborhood hills. What we thought was going to be pretty tough ended up being okay and the last climb proved to be the toughest. And then of course the two last ones to actually get to the driveway. He beat me into the driveway and then cheered me on - I needed it for that nasty little one.

For me this was a little harder ride since I was trying to go at Pinky's pace. I spent the entire hour and four minutes over 168 bpm (max at 194, the driveway of course). But I still felt good when we got home. So far this is the best workout I've had.

I've logged 73.79 miles this week, and I'll definitely make my goal of 100 miles before next Friday, probably by Tuesday. Tomorrow we're planning to ride to Decatur and back, about 23 miles. Should be a good ride, no surprising hills that I can think of. Maybe I need to adjust my goal??

Also tried out our homemade energy bars this morning. I'm pretty impressed actually - they're tasty!

Pinkus Vomitus

Pinky rode the BCM this morning in 1:08:00. Pinky puked. He says it's because he drank too much water too fast. Uh huh. Is puking kind of like crashing: it's not a question IF it's going to happen, but more a matter of when?

What endurance zone?!

As per Papa's suggestion, I went for a "longish" ride today, but not before some thunder delayed my departure. Pinky told me I was being a wuss and to get out there, so I did.

I rode our self-named 15-mile BCM loop (Brockett-Cooledge-McClendon) and my goal was to stay in my "endurance zone," which I figured out (through many online calculations and Papa's own estimate) to be 130-145. I set my upper limit on the heart monitor to 155 since this was my first time and I wasn't sure if I was going to make the thing explode or not if I went over.

It was so damn hard to stay in that zone! I rode so slowly, covering the 15 miles in 1:25:00. Ouch. I felt like I was crawling at times. Am I doing something wrong or am I just that out of shape that any effort makes my heart rate skyrocket? I guess the good thing is that I rode for an hour plus.

I also tackled something that I've been afraid of for a long time. The route had me come back into the neighborhood on the side that Pinky and I have been avoiding like the plague. An immediate hill, followed by a steep descent and immediate turn onto the mother of all hills - our street. The first hill in was a piece of cake, I didn't set the monitor off until I reached the top. But our street was another story - I had that thing screaming at me almost from the get-go. I was cruising along at first, right after the turn, and then not two seconds later I thought I was peddling through cement. I dropped into my babiest of all gears and after what Pinky thinks is 30 seconds (really, it seemed much longer) I finally get to our driveway.

You'd think it would be over, but no, our driveway is its own separate climb from hell. I could hardly peddle - I actually thought might stall and fall over.

Note to self: I would have been better off summiting the street and hitting the driveway on the return descent.

Primer Impacto

My father will say that I've reached the pinnacle of Geekdom with the creation of a blog. With Pinky and I starting to ride our bicycles more I wanted to be able to document the pain and suffering we're going through to prepare for the yet-to-be-titled riding challenge in October.

I also remember telling my Dad at some point that I didn't want to work anymore and that I wanted to write. He suggested that writing be my vocation instead of a career. So here we are. I'm vocating.

Today my plan is to go for a 45 minute endurance ride. I'll have to guess at what my "endurance" is since I don't have a heart monitor yet. But I gather from my reading that it's riding at 65% of my max heart rate. And apparently, we need to have goals also.

Pinky's goal for the end of the August: ride 360 miles.
My goal for the end of the August: ride more than Pinky.

Seeing how he rides early in the day and myself late I think this shouldn't be too hard, unless he falsifies his data. And he would so that he could outride me. We'll have to see how this pans out.