A little perspective

The last LARPD today, and the weather finally got a bit cross-like, enough to give the mud that nice slimyness that gets all over the place but doesn't stick.

Lots of fun fighting for last for me, but I still has a blast.

Cesar is riding on another planet right now on that SS machine, it's all I can do to avoid being lapped. Good for him, he obviously did his homework and put in the miles and hard work. Dude got 3rd today in the open A's race with some tough company in the house.

A lot has happened to me since the first LARPD, I rode home from the first one in rippin' shape from a summer of long miles and many hills, holding my weight down at 81 kg and roughly 6 percent pizza and a occasional donut. I finished mid pack in the open A's in 103 degree temps, pushing a ridiculous 48 x 17.I remember being completely stoked about the season's possibilities.

That night, my mom lapsed into a sub conscious state as the final infections raged through her body. After a long night just to get her admitted to St. Josephs because her primary care physician didn't want to come down to admit her personally, she stayed there for 5 days, until I made the decision to take her to hospice, where she finally had some peace, and after 4 days of vigil, she let go.

A day or two later, I flipped my bike over a podunk whoop de do while JRA at lunch and piledrove my face and head into the ground.MAny x-rays and chiro ensued,and Dr Richard did a great job helping me be able to turn my head again.

I was able to race, albeit gingerly, and it took me a while to plunge off the side of a drop again without touching the brakes.

Around late October I pounded myself again, JRA at lunch again, and swore to stop just riding around like that. This time I bruised my coccyx, and there's nothing like violent prison sex with your saddle to get your mind off hammering.
Seeing me get in and out of bed I look like a old old man. My neck hurts, my ass hurts, and god knows what else will be the flavor of the day post race . Sleep this fall has been rather skimpy, to say the least.

Back to LARPD after a fall of mediocrity, December 8th. I used a 42 x 16 that day on a sticky course and definitely had problems pushing it. Grumpiness ensued, followed by bitchiness, like I'm getting paid to be wanking it on two wheels.
A burrito fixed some of the problem, and we went home so I could finish building my kids new bedroom set and at least finish one damn thing this year.
I got a call that night that my dad had broken his hip in a fall and was headed to St Joe's.
It's getting to the point I don't want to answer the phone after a race.

Today I headed over to see him at his new rehab place after LARPD.
I got him cable into his room and he was having trouble with the TV Ears he got for x-mas.
The therapist came in and we went to PT together.
As I watched him struggle to walk 15 feet down a walkway , I reflected on todays' stair run up, and the eight or nine times up that thing.

I really can't complain.

happy holidays

Holiday Trifle-

2 pkg. Vanilla Pudding ( not instant)
quart of milk
1 angel food cake
1 cup raspberry jam
4 cups whipping cream
4 bananas, sliced
canned cherries in syrup 1 can
canned blueberries in syrup 1 can
canned blackberries in syrup, 1 can
canned raspberries in syrup, 1 can
Drain all cans of berries and reserve 2 cups liquid. you can mix berries or keep separate.
1 cup slivered almonds

Early in the day before.... make vanilla pudding per directions on package, then refrigerate until chilled.

1 cut angelfood cake into 1/2 inch slices, layer across bottom of a trifle dish or other 10-12" across dish approx. 12 inches deep.

Spread raspberry preserves on cake

spread layer of bananas

Spread layer of berries
drizzle berry juice ( 1/2 cup per layer)

spread layer of pudding

spread small layer of whipped cream

place another layer of angelfood cake slices

continue with layers 3 times...

cover with wrap and chill for a day or two.

Before serving, top with remaining whipped cream and almonds.

Watch W/kg ratios go spiraling into the abyss.........

break it down- tale of the tape

Easy to see where my season fell apart, the months of September and October are particularly bad from a training time perspective.

For me, a very average athlete I have always done best around 15 hours a week.

I typically set my hours a little low and then try to exceed them( gives me a reachable goal), but I've had trouble even making these conservative numbers this year :-(

Typical masters racer, too much life getting in the way, it's important to realize this stuff doesn't pay the bills.

Looking at the big picture, I hopefully will complete the entire CCCX series this year, that's a first.

I definitely improved my technical skills some this year, the sand no longer fills my heart with dread...

I figured out a few things that work for me on the singlespeeder and will have some sweet sew-ups and race wheels for it next year.

My running got much better, as I ran up the steps at Live-no-more for the ninth time Saturday,I realized I used to always be walking by the fourth lap.

Small victories are still good un's.

Perhaps this influenced my state of mind as I had a good time on Saturday even as I got last place in the A's.

I could have gotten second to last but after sitting on a A40 guys' wheel for like 4 laps I felt it was only right to help him get to the next guy up the line( ended up incinerating myself and getting dropped off, but what the hey, papa didn't raise no punk), a small field all together, A's, SS, Masters A, and junior A.

3 crashes/ wild moments kept things interesting, I tried to avoid the mayhem and stay in a group, this course will punish the man that goes it alone, especially on the big backside.

Props to Shane and his crew for a great local series, making the rodeo grounds SO much better than I expected.

Peace To All,

J

Homemade Fudge With White Chocolate Topping

Thanks to all the well wishes, my Pops is doing better, and after a week in the hospital flirting with pretty Filipino nurses, is now ensconced at a rehab facility for the next month or so, where he alternately watches his new TV/ flirts with pretty Filipino nurses and argues that he needs his mentholatum rub for his sore shoulder/knee/ankle/ anything but his hip.

An old marathon swimmer that once swam 24 miles across Lake Superior, the man knows his embrocation strategies by now and why the doctor is argueing about it is beyond me.

The cross racing is sucking big time, I was bummed a bit , but after looking at my logs, it's easy to see the cause.
I'm so undertrained it's lousy.
But I really don't care.

I'm handling my business well these days and getting priorities in line.

If I have to hang X-mas lights at 10 pm on Saturday Night to race Sunday, so be it.

And as soon as the expectations and frustration left, I started to have fun again.

A spirited race for 5th ensued last Sunday and my fading ass was in it for a while.
Yippee!

Our new boss canceled our X-mas party this year, the grinch.

So we have had two of our own so far this week.

Quite the brotherhood of ditchdiggers I belong to here, I went away a couple of times, but always come back.

We work hard in the mud when it's 30 degrees at four am, laugh about the crazy times in the East O and North Richmond.

Sometimes your niche isn't the easiest or the smartest.

But once you recognize that brotherhood, and we do fight like hated siblings at times, although the fistfights are rare now that alcohol is a no-no on the job, but once you realize that's who you are?

Best thing to do is live it.

This guys' stuff, crackin' me up.

The bike world is a twisted place, he does a nice job shining the light into that dark closet

What has been preoccupying my time lately.

OG got one of these beauties installed today, and we hope to be out of the woods in a few days., but his tickers' wound a little tight right now.

Tuesday Worlds, if the start money can be guaranteed in Belgian chocolate.

Mr. Brightsides

Wednesday and it's time to put the cry- towel away.

Sundays' disappointments and mucho suckage fade over time,
replaced by a hopeful salvaging of some good patches.

So I'll ignore the tactical errors, the big sprint for the holeshot to nowheresville, and the barrier faux pas on the first lap( sorry Tim), cause who wants to cry anyway?

Sand. Technical turns. My nemesis.

I swapped my tires out for some Cross- Wolfs, and had a pretty good race for me and my level of ability.
Rode the long sandy descent well most of the times, stayed nice and loose, there were a couple of laps in the middle to end where my arms were filling up with lactic acid and other nasty byproducts of hammering and I got tight and tried to muscle it.

And you can't muscle sand, baby.

But considering I would be running that section last year I'm happy with my ride there.

I rode the swoopies fairly well, though the gear choice for me was a little tall still and I had problems jumping out of the corners.

The singlespeedin' is a blast, but figuring out the perfect gear for the cause?
I'm a little ways off.
Thet course for me was a 42 x 18, and I stuck with a 17.

I got dropped every time in the corners and the one punchy hill by guys spinning a little more.
Every lap.

Listening to my instincts would have paid off big time Sunday. Trusting the instinct is key.

Districts is Saturday and I hope it rains like hell. I hope the corral is under water by Friday afternoon.

CCCP on Sunday- I'm coming out for this one, the only BASP race venue I really like.

More sand.Lots of sand.

It finally seems like cross season.

Safety Bike

I think I can find room for one of these in my garage still.....

Soulja Boy Tellem, the kids' got style.



Chaperoned the sixth-grade dance out in P-town tonight, well, this afternoon.



No pictures allowed of the fun, mortification of certain tween' girls would be certain.



This tune got em all inside again and out of mischief for a bit, though.






Funny, last time I heard this tune was Wednesday night, 72nd and Hamilton in the East O.



Kid was riding a tricked out scraper bike with a stereo the size of a Lazyboy on the front basket.


Like I said, it's got all the kids' dancing.

Costanoa

Campsite all set up for Turkey Day.

Beautiful clear days and cold at night.

The menu- yum. The last time we were here the restaurant wasn't opened yet and they were having a few growing pains.

Their all grown up now.

Petit Baked Brie & Mango Chutney Puff Pastry, Candied Pecans
Choice of Salad or Soup
Organic Hearts of Romaine, Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit, Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, Pomegranate Port Vinaigrett
Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Toasted Coconut
Choice of Entrée
Lemon-Herb Infused Roasted Turkey Breast, Skillet Cornbread & Andouille Sausage Stuffing with Turkey Sage Gravy
Natural Maple Glazed Apple Wood Smoked Ham with House Made Persimmon Preserves
Wild Mushroom, Roasted Winter Vegetable & Herb-Soy Tempeh Pot Pie (Vegetarian)
Entrées served with
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Crème Fraiche and Chives
Candied Yams with Rum & Molasses
Orange Cranberry Relish
Local Organic Wilted Greens: Rainbow Chard, Kale & Spinach
Assorted House Made Warm Breads & Biscuits With Whipped Honey Butter
Choice of House Made Desserts
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Whipped Cream
Warm Apple Pie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Ollalieberry Sauce
Includes Coffee, Hot Tea and Hot Apple Cider

This guy was hanging out in the stables a couple hundred yards away, a nice Tennessee Walker.

The view out the kitchen window.

" Who's he kidding, everyone knows my dad doesn't consult a map!"

These chairs in the warm fall sunshine sucked us in for a bit, after the yoga class the girls were tired, but not so tired to miss a five mile hike on the beach with some sweet tidepools.









Tidepool jumpin', adventure seekin', yoga stretchin' Little C.

Nice spot for a rest interval.

10 sprintys and I was done and back at the trailer, catching up on a classic read that I've been meaning to finish-

Everywhere I look there's Kentucky Fried Chicken

The location- a super secret trail in the easy bay.

So secret, you have to triple trespass just to get to the start.

Myself and a like minded companion descend for 5 minutes on a leafy trail about a foot wide at best.

The trail ends at a old dump site , tons of blue glass bottles and junk.

We look down and there is a nicely eaten deer carcass at our feet.
And a big big crash in the bushes above us on the ridge.

I can see my house from here but can't figure how to reach it with getting a citation for crossing some big wigs' private idaho.

We backtrack and trespass some more, including fence-hopping this time bushwhacking south.
And find the trail we were looking for.

And jam before we're the dessert.

Infovistas' got mad skillz

Everybody listen to Nicole........

A whole lotta go-get-em in a small package.

It's ok, Mike, your still part of the bunch.

We at Infovista would like all our competitors in the cat 4's and 5's to be intelligent and safe on their bikes.

40 year old collarbones take a lot longer to heal.....

.Some Merkeley pointers on staying upright and fast through the corners were well-taken.



















Not only will she go for a 4 hour car ride to feed a grumpy old man in a cross race, she opened the house up and fed 20 hungry bike racers today-

Thanks Miz C!

Chick Flix

Alright, I may be in danger of getting my Man-Card pulled,
but this show is good stuff.

Thank gawd for Tivo, I have about four of em I watch during the week.

Touchie- Feelie, The best show about TheGame I've ever seen,Smoke em If Ya Got Em, Love So-Cal Style, and Slash And Burn.
Most TV is junk and if I had my way I'd have ala-carte package with HBO, Showtime, Local News with Roberta cause she says hi when she jogs by, and we get out hair cut in the same swank palace of couiffure, and VS. A Broadband feed of Cycling.TV would about top it off.

Cycling TV- the World Cup in The Czech Republic this last week, Nys showed again why he's the best in the world and left the local stud hanging out to dry......

OTC- Chula Vista

Sunday Ride- I think this road goes to Arizona somewheres, but we only had a hour and change before we had to be back :-(

The fires burnt through here and missed completely the only campground or civilization out this way.

The little building on the right is where we practiced sitting for 9 hours a day in a classroom while looking out a window at nice climbs..

The weightroom is on the left- seriously cool set of stuff in there on platforms.

It was interesting the lack of machines and prevalence of pure free stuff and stability gizmos.

The first night in town, we saw a kid doing a easy hop onto a four foot box, some sick plyo and athletic skill on display.

Half of the Track and Field area- I only brought some clunky Merrells, so no chance to rip a 400 off on this legendary field of dreams.

Pictures of many past olympians and monster T & F dudes hanging around, hmmmm, none of Marian Jones now....

The boat house was below this, quite a few rower types in residency right now.

I wish I got a pic of the crit couse, but due to our schedule we rode it at dusk and I was just concentrating on staying between the shadowy bushes. Smooth as glass, though.

The dining hall and one of many hangout areas- excellent food and many choices. I think I gained a pound a day. They really take care of the athletes and let them focus on being great.

Gift shop- very important part ofthe trip, must bring items home to the family if one is ever to be allowed out of the house again.

Nuff' said about that.

Gracias to Merkeley Bike for driving a hard core sixteen hours to be able to ride about 2 and a half total.We had a fun time and learned a lot!

What happens on Diablo stays on Diablo

Funny how these creative concepts, problem solving, and resolving conversations come into my head one after another on the climb to the summit.....

And fade into memory on the way home.

Kneewarmers, people. Bring em along.

Track Hack

Two sessions today- the beginner and Larry's intermediate one.

I wanted to get the rest of the mandatory stuff out of the way in case I can get my butt down there to race next year, and had a good time.

Larry's was especially good good stuff, we got to experience the miss'n'out, which is a devilish concoction,but a great way to get pack awareness. I finally understand a few terms bandied about, like blue line, Stay, Rail, etc.


Very cool day and I got some solid efforts in, the session was planned well where you could go hard or not, I chose, ummm, hard.
I think a good meal @ Fresh Choice, some sleep, and a couple hours riding around on the lame-o group ride tommorrow should fit the recovery bill nicely.

Working the big OT tommorrow afternoon and will miss the biggest party of the year down in the Cruz, but I gotta pay for the bike habit somehow :-)

Looking forward to the pics....

Paris- Tours- the new Ambien

Hit the Live-no-more Rodeo Grounds today for some bike rodeo,
Shane and his band of brothers are really getting the course wired, much nicer than Labor Day when I was last there.
Small fields, probably reflective of Candlestick tomorrow, but for my money, a good good race.
40 steps to oblivion went pretty well, which bodes well for December.
Cesar is about unbeatable right now in the SS, as he made the front group with the line of loons blowing apart into the breeze, and I went all Cat 4 and actually thought the loons behind him would keep it together.....
One of the most subtle lies in bike racing to tell yourself," it's fine back here. They'll never let those guys go....... I'm saving up and riding smart..... no pain,.... no pain.... awww fukkkk."

Anyhow, good burrito fest afterwards @ Tequilas' on Main, a cup of Cole after visiting Merkle's lair of tires and hoops, and the most boring race I've watched this year on Versus.
At least until the last 5-8 K, when Pozzato and Gilbert took off with Kroon getting dragged along.
Watch those cameras, boys, Robbie M is a madman to hold it up after smacking the camera with his head and Oscar Freire did a nice job keeping it from being much worse.
I'll miss the Stick tommorrow, not my favorite race anyway, though the racing should be good stuff and tactical as all get out on that flat dump.
Looking forward to the stories...
J

CCCX #3- Fort Ord- Revenge Of The Sand Peoples

New venue,
I was excited, I haven't raced over on this side of Fort Ord for probably 8-10 years, I remember much much sand, surf guitar music playing from giant speakers on top of somones' van, a girl knocking the Seal into a pole on a sandy descent, tough crosser girls even back then, and lots of sand.
Rolled down nice and late loving the 1:30 start, made pancakes for the girls before I left even!
The course was very smooth single track mixed with a few long road sections, one longish run between barriers that I listened to someone smarter than me and ran, rolling the bike next to me, kind of different but it worked fine, and a sand ride-up was the crux and right in front of the vocal parking lot crew, but the 42 x 17 was for once the right gear.
I used a bottle cage today with my feeder of preference off shuttling children to B-day parties, but with no shouldering the bike it wasn't a big deal.
I went with Kenda Small Block Eights today, and should have listened to the instincts and went with a little more knob, like the Panaracers.
We started all together today with the full A contingent, adding a different dimension, as the SS guys were at the end of a very long line of suffering by the first singletrack.
If you missed that bus, homeboy,it was over right there, and I went and bobbled a couple of times in the turns, the SB8's were fine unless I missed the perfect line and only the perfect line would do in that crowd and at that speed, then I would slide into some interesting contortions and was OTB by a lap in or so.
Hung with some stragglers from the geared race for about 3 laps, but kept getting gapped on the long asphalt sections from them.
Fitness felt pretty good, I settled into a rhythm and saved a little, the front group was making a solid 30 seconds a lap on me and lapped me with 4 to go, and I figured I might need a little sumthin' if one of those hapless souls caught out behind me caught up, kind of turned the dial to 7 on the suffer-meter and rode a good hard effort.
Cleaned the sandy hill every time, roughly 10 laps for a hour twenty, a good hard day and a fun fun time.
The buy-cell boys were on fire again today and stayed on the Strawberry/Rocklobster choo choo early, they seem to be able to turn their bikes much better than me, played their cards right for 1,2, that bunch seems to swap the W every week, but they are definitely the ones to watch in the single speeders.
Next week a race close enough to ride to, and I think that's exactly what I'll do. 33 steps of pain and wholesome goodness, repeat till stupid :-)

Blahblahblah

Urp de Urp

My oh my, all the cross happenings, I meant to show up, but had to work Sunday afternoon and began to stress over getting across the Bay Bridge with 30 minutes to spare, and how I like to stay and hang out anyway, and getting right into a car after sucks, and as Vick would say, I am excellent at talking you out of racing, and I did it to myself.

Sounds like a course for heavy clinchers, ummm, like the ones I'm riding right now.

And 50 guys in both the geezer fields is very impressive and cool.

And that SS field looked to be heating up as well.

Anyhow, I got a new SS MTB that I traded with the Seal for my old SS MTB that fit us both better- a 18" for a 17", both steel, just a little better fit, and came home with an extra bike by mistake, a converted road fixie that will be perfect for the rollers in a month or two.

I love silly bikes like this, The Seal built this completely out of parts he found in the trash, nice re-use!

Speaking of re-use, I'm a little frazzled answering questions aboutmy craigslist posting-http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/442677243.html

" What is the size?" Ummmm, I posted it.Let me decipher for you, though. I understand we don't all get the metric system round these parts :-)

"what are the components" Ummm, I thought I got that one too. It works perfectly.

Or the famous e-mail with no questions or preface- "200 bucks."

The more I polish it, move it around the garage, the more I appreciate the old girl and want to keep her.I start to admire the sensibility of a pump peg, or four bottle cages, or a nice rack and bag for the back and how nice riding to the farmers market and coming home with dinner in that bag is, and dammit, I know I promised to clear some junk out, but come on!

This is how come I have 7 bikes in the garage. Easy to buy them, hard to let them go.

I went a little over the edge with this weeks training, lots and lots of tempo and group riding, topped off with riding the SS crosser yesterday on the Sunday hammerfest, trying to get those legs to spin fast fast fast for a hour, a nice micro-cycle of stress, take a day easy, then hit it again.

Finally some stress in my life is resolved and I can push it again on the training side of life,my body doesn't care what type of stress I introduce, when the reservoir is filled, it will react negatively.

A hard lesson for me to learn , that the improvement comes from the recovery. Employing solid recovery strategies even while I couldn't train much helped me through the summer of hell, basic stuff, no mumbo-jumbo, eating right, a multi-vitamin, stretching, building strength and aligning my body has left me in good shape, not very fast, but able, for example, to fall on my face and be able to race that weekend still.

All good stuff and I look forward to this Saturday , a fun filled day for all.I'll be trained up and tired, but will show up and give the gas until I implode, loving the sweet pain of cross again.

J

It's bizness time.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

I gotta learn how to get the video to embed into Blogger...

Just loving these guys, though.

Happy Anniversary, Miz C!

J

I wanna quit football and be a cheerleader...

And other stupid thoughts...

Be careful the tunes you listen to on the way home from a self-pummeling and major suckage-fest, they may have new meaning.

10 laps of pain on the plate today for me, after 2 I was hurting, after 5 I was whining about how I was really a B and how did they even let me into this stupid parade of idiocy and self flagellation, at 7 I really felt the spurtle and hairballs coming around, and hoped that my crank would come loose again so I had a good excuse to drop out and go eat meatballs, at 8 I relaxed and greeted the pain instead of fighting it, and somehow held my spot from then on.
Not like I got any faster, really, and by the end even the flattish stuff was leaving me gasping for precious O2, but everybody else hurt too, I guess.

Strawberries for the whole SS bunch today, only 6 of us lining up, and we all deserved em'.

Took Morgans advice and rode what was actually a very nice challenging course with barely any brakes, cool buffed out singletrack mostly and a doode could roll that stuff.

A month off, basically, is what it boiled down to, getting Lifed on.
A pretty important month from a training standpoint, being in a Base 3 kind of way, lots of tempo rides and interval sessions got missed, the stuff that lays a nice ground for the icing on the fitness, but hey, we can't control life sometimes and it's twists and turns, and I'm going to live with it and enjoy the day.
The fitness is sucking but the freshness is high, gotta figure out if I can roll a 3 week block or stay on schedule with a rest week.

Sounds like the Lion was a kick in the pants, I ended up working at the coaching biz a little and Working the See Jane Triathlon, doing some bike support and registration, fun seeing all the clients finish their goal race and talking to them afterwards you could feel the excitement, glad I was a little part of it.

Miz C and I were discussing the lack of spectators today for the A race in Salinas, folks, these are some seriously good athletes out there to watch, that hill was a great shady place to spectate and wipe the grovel off the ground.
I've seen more spectators at a Earlybird Criterium,hmmm..

Nice fall weather right now, so get out and ride!
Horse-traded my old crosser to a teamie today, put the Burley on the Craigs List, making some room in the garage and trying to get my hands on some nice race wheels before the season is done.
Hope your all well and enuff blather from me...