CX Worlds Predictions?
Top 5 Predictions for CX Worlds:
Men: Boom, Stybar, Nys, Albert, Page
Women: Compton, Hanka, Van den Brand, Vos, Simms!
I'll be watching here.
So who you got?
A more normal man
I was walking with my 6 year old daughter today, singing silly songs and saying silly things.
She stopped, looked up at me and said:
Why aren't you like a normal man
I laughed loudly and told her that was never going to happen!
Cyclocross 2010
Am I thinking about it already? Oh yeah.
Guess what I'm going to ride next year? I'll give you a hint:
Cold Sunday Ride
We had a nice little team ride Sunday. I guess everyone thought it was off due to the snow, because there were only four of us out there. It never cracked 40 degrees (for us Portlanders, that's kind of cold).
We added a few miles and rode up Dairy Creek. It was pretty cool with just four guys getting followed by Phil in the van. All that was missing was beanie caps instead of helmets and we would have felt totally PRO. We almost made it to the top, but the snow was a couple inches deep for the last 1/4 mile so we just turned around.
We had one junior rider with us. We weren't going that hard on the way home, but he kept falling off the back so we'd have to sit up and wait for him. After that, I just rode behind him and gave him a big push every time a gap opened up. His legs were so trashed after the ride, he could barely walk. I have a feeling he slept really well last night.
I rode the fixed gear again. Two more spokes gone, which leaves about 10 of the 36 originals. Shouldn't take long. I keep wondering if I'm ever going to get dropped while riding the fixie on the team rides, but so far it's never happened.
What If
As far a cycling goes, the winter is a clean slate for me. With the last race of the season over, it's time to start the whole annual sequence over again. I kind of know what I should be doing, but I never do it. I'm a Fun Guy, not a Fitness Guy.
Lately, I've been contemplating a lot of what-ifs. What if I tried a structured training plan for a year. Logged my workouts, with predetermined goals before heading out the door for a ride. I've been doing this long enough to know that working out without any direction is a good way to have fun, but the racing is going to suffer.
I wrestle with this, back and forth. One one hand, I love cycling, and I want to still love it when I'm an old man. It's a great way to stay in shape, and that's something I'm determined to do for the rest of my life.
On the other hand, I love physical competition. It's a big part of my motivation for going out and riding, and staying in shape. It would be nice to earn some respectable results.
When I look at some of my racing peers who are stronger and faster than I am, I sometimes catch myself pondering the difference between him and I, especially as December draws near. I ask myself if he is a better athlete than I am, and I don't believe he is.
No. I'm just playing, and he's competing. He works harder and smarter, and deserves to be where he is.
What if I just tried to do it right? Could I do it? Could I stick with it? Could I keep it from taking over my life? Would it work? I don't know, but maybe I should try it out.
Winter is clean slate. What if I do things differently this time around?
German Forklift Training Film
We went to a friends house tonight. After a few glasses of wine, someone showed me a video he claims he had to watch for work.
It starts slow, but gets progressively more nasty. By the end, we were rolling on the floor with laughter. Because we are sick, sick people.
Hammer/CMG Announces 2009 Sponsors and Roster
Press Release from Jacob Rathe's new team...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE HAMMER/CMG RACING TEAM ANNOUNCES ITS
2009 SPONSORS AND TEAM ROSTER.
The Hammer/CMG Racing Team is managed and coached by former Olympian and U.S. Bicycle Hall of Fame inductee Oliver "Butch" Martin.
Team Sponsors:
Hammer Nutrition, Bike & Hike, Giant Bicycles and the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group
Team Roster:
Austin Arguello* Beaverton, OR age 17
Marcel deLisser Portland, OR age 18
Max Durtschi* Ketchum, ID age 17
Marshall Opel* Whitefish, MT age 17
Jacob Rathe* Portland, OR age 17
Wes Stein, Corvallis, OR age 17
*Members of U.S. Junior National Team
LHC Induced Black Holes
Perhaps you've heard about the LHC. It's an amazing project, basically a huge underground loop that accelerates particles and smashes them into each other at previously unobtainable speeds.
Why? To answer questions in physics that remain unanswered. I won't pretend to understand most of them. I get it, but I can't explain it.
Anyway, one interesting affect of this particle smashing is the creation of tiny black holes. Yeah! Black holes!
There's been concern that these experiments will actually destroy the Earth, but all the calculations said this could not happen, because they would decay faster than they would grow.
Well, I guess with the delay of getting LHC up and running, more calculations have been run, and some of them are showing different numbers...numbers that suggest those tiny black holes could exist for seconds, or even minutes.
I don't know how long a tiny black hole would have to exist before it swallows the Earth, but I bet a couple minutes would do it.
So I guess they're going to have to tread lightly at first. I'm all in favor of the experiments. And if the world was going to end, this would be a pretty cool way for it to happen!
See you on the other side.
Live long enough to be a problem to your kids
I saw this today, thought it was pretty funny:
Live long enough to be a problem to your kids
First ride of the year
Sunday morning marked the first BBC team ride of the year. I was excited to go, but first, I had to get dressed.
Wearing just the right amount of clothes is key for a comfortable winter ride. I've got my selection process down pretty well. My grandmother used to tell me If there's enough blue in the sky to make a pair of sailor's jeans, it's going to be a good day, and I believe it. I step outside and take a look around. Arms held out to feel the weather, I look up for that blue sky and check how the trees move in the wind. It doesn't take long.
I was scrambling to find all my inclement weather gear. One leg warmer in the dresser, one under the bed, no problem. Gloves, liners, layers eventually made their way to a staging pile. I got dressed, grabbed a water bottle and some granola bars, and I'm off to the cave.
I have a man cave, an external garage dedicated to all my bike crap. I entered my secret code into the keypad, and the door creaked open to reveal a stable of bikes standing on the back wall. I'd like to say it's a cycling nirvana in there, but the floor is littered with bike parts, rags, and is quite untidy. I tiptoed through the obstacle course and took hold of my trusty steed, the orange fixed gear bicycle. It's been ready in waiting, so I'm good to go.
I was late. Not sure how late, but I knew digging my phone out of my pocket to check the clock will make it worse. That's pretty late. I just got on my bike and spun the 42x17 down the road.
I knew the team had already left the starting spot. Not a big deal because the rule is usually to go no faster than the slowest person, and we have some young kids riding with us. I knew the route, so I took the quickest path to overtake them.
West Union road, in the distance I spotted a familiar site that warmed my soul - a white VW van following a double pace line about 15 deep, all wearing green and yellow of the BBC. Just a quarter mile of roadway was separating me from a lot of people I really like. I smiled and spun on.
I approached the back of Phil's van, hazard lights blinking, spare wheels and water in the back, ready for anything. Phil spotted me in the rear view mirror, moved over, and I rode though to the back of the pack. I didn't realize how much I've missed this, but it was instantly evident.
There was a kid sitting a good 10 feet off the back of the pack, arms stiff, not pedaling smoothly, clearly uncomfortable. I took a few minutes to say hello and get him to relax. Relax your shoulders. Bend your elbows. Don't stare at the wheel in front of you. Relax. He got a little better, so I decided to move up and say hello to my friends who didn't know I'd arrived yet.
I half wheeled little Ritchey Suditu just in time to hear him say something about me. He was a little surprised to look over and see me sitting there. I laughed and caught up with my teammates for a while, until we approached the sprint.
The sprint takes place just before the Mountaindale store, and it's hotly contested...even in January, on the first ride of the year. I rode to the front and raised the pace. There was no way I was going to "win" with a fixed gear 42x17, but the kids reacted anyway. They always do. So much testosterone, so little control. I laughed and pulled over as a string of carbon race machines wisped by.
We regrouped and took a short break. Phil got out of the van, gave a few pointers, and handed out the ever popular whole wheat fig bars. He told us to ride home in a double pace line, and skip the hills today.
Riding back the way we came, catching up with more friends along the way, we were back at Sunset Athletic Club before I knew it. We regrouped, thanked Phil, chatted a bit more, and headed for home.
Another first team ride of the year in the books, and I am delighted to have been a part of it.
