Thursday, January 29, 2009

Being sick sucks.

Yes, it's entirely true. It sucks to have a cold. It sucks even more when it goes from your head into your chest and you just feel like utter crap for a few days. Riding? Tuh, forget it. Doing anything involving coherent thought? Forget it.

Even better is the fact of having to move on Saturday. Should be a joyful experience. I'm tired, I don't feel well, and I just don't feel like fighting with the cable company anymore. Bastards. That's a post for another day.

Oh, and update. The Williams Lake Classic mountain bike race will be June 14th, 2009. And it'll be the first race in the Catskill Mountain Bike Race Series. I'll be planning to train for that, for sure. Hopefully the snow will be gone by then.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Just one of those weeks...

...where you have to run yourself into the ground in order to move, finish getting together your life so you can start work, and of course, try to go for a ride. Yeah, right.

I haven't been on the trainer in about a week and I have about...oh, maybe 4 or 5 days to get my base miles in before I need to start the 12 week power program. Yes, there's a race in May that I'd like to be in some kind of shape to ride without dragging my balls behind me. I'm not expecting much, and the fact that I'm in the middle of a move and starting a new job doesn't help.

Blah. I'm rambling. Off to watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations."

Monday, January 19, 2009

Just a quick note?

Moving sucks. That's a foregone conclusion in most circles, but it's always magnified when you're the sucker that's sucking up a move. Coordinating help, dealing with surly family members who don't want to be bothered to help you move the mess that they partially helped create, and ever-present issues with landlords (both new and old) and utility companies all combine into a vicious stew of suck that is necessarily consumed only to cause an epic case of "life diarrhea." That's right, you become "ol' gravy legs" in an instant when you sign about 4 months of your life away and commit to this atrocity of human existence. I'd prefer to slam my face in a garage door given the chance, but I suppose it is all part of the ebb and flow of life.

That being said...I'm going to sit down, immerse myself in articles about the Tour Down Under and try to forget this truckload of life-poop that's been shoveled into my lap.

Oh, and for the record...

FUCK THE EAGLES. McNabb, you inaccurate son of a whore, get out. Now. And take fatso Andy Reid with you.

Oh god, I need to ride the trainer and get some anger out...

Thursday, January 15, 2009

And now for these commercial messages...

Five days. No, not five days until the Scripture written, Weekly World News reported end of the world as we know it and predicted by Nostradumbass (although there may be some kind of cosmic implosion of sorts.) No, it's five days to the Tour Down Under and the professional return of The Mighty Uniballer, Lance Armstrong. How will it go? How will he do? Will he have his old form back so quickly? Will he conceive yet another child after making sweet, sweet mattress music with his black (or yellow, I think yellow is currently leading) brake hoods? The world is waiting with baited breath to see the final results, both of the genetics test for his girlfriend and his placing in the TdU.

Really though. Love him or hate him, he's back and he's racing for a message. Now don't take this post the wrong way; I love Lance. He was (still is?) the greatest cyclist of his time, possibly of all time. But the cries ring out "He's a doper! Throw him out!" He still beat everyone in the field, and everyone was, at that time, on even terms, and he did it SEVEN times. Oh, and he did beat cancer before that. If there's any blemishes on his reputation, I'd venture to guess that it would be his weakness for ditzy blondes and Matthew XcConaughey. Personally, I prefer the blondes myself, but hey, that's his business.

What I'm really sick of is the utter media circus surrounding this race and this guy. I mean, leave the guy alone for a day, let him visit with family, whatever. But Lance wanted some publicity and he got it. He didn't (or maybe he did and I'm the dope here) bank on the media turning his life upside down with this news of a return. Really, leave the guy alone. There are other people in this race, let's hear something about them as well. We love all of cycling. Lance is just a part of the whole package.

C'est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell. (Bonus points to who can tell me the artist and song. No google. I'm watching you like ceiling cat.)

Oh, and as I said earlier, yellow seems to be the winner. From Twitter:
"560 VOTES: 262 BLACK (47%) / 298 YELLOW (53%) Many B votes want Y tape. Twitterati hath spoken: GO YELLOW."

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Oh the things you'll eat...

So for the past week or so I've been attempting to log my diet using fitday.com. Holy shit, says I. I can't believe some of the stuff I actually stuff into my face with just a casual thought of its utterly abominable dietary contents. Yet amazingly, since I'm polishing off chocolate mousse pie, cookies, soup and other sundry junk food that's leftover from the holidays, I've actually managed to lose the few pounds I put on since Thanksgiving. This is of course no small miracle considering my time on the trainer has been limited by things like finding a place to live and moving. Such is life.

In other news, the Wii Fit is actually a really cool little gaming item. I may actually use the yoga included therein, and I might actually be able to touch my toes by the end of the summer. That would be something I haven't been able to do since I was five. Imagine that.

Oh, and yet more snow here in the northeast. I'm really getting sick of this (and having to fight to break cars free of snow drifts). Show me sun! NOW!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Just had to post this:

This photo caught my eye. Look closely...



That's the same road bike I'm riding right now.

Oh, and there's some woman in the photo too.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I love William's Sonoma

What a great place. I'd love to have one of these for the wine snob in me, or perhaps one of these for the post ride entertainment.

In cycling news, it looks like the ice storm here in the north east will as yet prevent any outdoor riding. So that means I'm surfing Velonews and found this gem:

In a year of the comeback, perhaps it’s inevitable that Michael Rasmussen will join the band of riders pedaling back into the fray.

So "pulled from le Tour because he lied to his own team" is expecting that someone will come back and sponsor him? I can't believe that he's expecting to have an easy time coming back. I mean, it's one thing if you're someone like Ivan Basso, who served his two years and was a main rival of the top tier riders when he left the scene, but Chicken wasn't a huge winner of anything except the unlucky lottery.

In fact, he know this:
“It all depends on who wants to have me and where I want to be employed. It doesn’t make sense for me to sign with an Italian team if I want to race the Vuelta. My main goal is still to race the grand tours and we’ll see if I can find a suitable employer. I am confident.”

You keep being confident, Chicken. I'm sure you'll end up with some continental team, and have all kinds of chances to win Grand Tours.

On that note, time to go find some non-William's Sonoma produced coffee.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Trainer time...

Ho hum, more time on the trainer. It does give me time to think anyway.

What does one reflect on while pedaling for an hour and not moving a millimeter (unless you get over-exuberant and the trainer slides an inch to the left?) Well, there's the obvious thoughts of how nice it would be to hit the paved streets, put fat tires to dirt that's not riddled with frost heave, or even breath fresh air instead of recycled canned air. On the other hand, you can think about the New Year's resolution(s) that you've already broken or are in the process of breaking. And then again, you can simply meditate on the trainer until the incessant beeping of your heart rate monitor jolts you back to reality.

Really, how do you pass the time on the trainer without wanting to slit your wrists or auto-erotically asphyxiate yourself with your heart rate monitor strap (now that I write that, I'm slightly disturbed that I came up with it.) A training goal helps. So do some Tour videos or Giro videos. Or you could brave the cold and ride outside.

Nah.

Time to set goals and order race videos I guess...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year to all!

Happy 2009 blog-monkeys.

Notes to live by in the new year:

1. Champagne is probably the quickest way to get drunk as a skunk, especially after killing a growler of exceptionally potent beer. For those looking for some kind of comparison, try drinking a half gallon of gasoline and chasing it with a double shot of acetone. Ok, I don't really know what I'm saying, but you get the idea.

2. I hate the trainer, but it is a necessary evil. I need to shed those extra pounds that, no matter how carefully you watch what you stuff into your face over the holidays, seem imminently attracted to my mid-section. As I said, necessary evil.

3. Have a goal. Mid May race date, which means I need to be finishing my 12 week power intervals by the first of May. That means...I need to be starting those in February. Wonderful. See number 2 above. Oh well, that's what goals are for.

4. I hate the trainer. Still.

5. Watch what you eat. It's all too easy to spend the day foraging and eating crap. Five or six small meals throughout the day are the ticket, and healthy snacks of fruits, veggies, low fat yogurt, etc keep you from getting the munchies. If you're a mountain biker and a big pot-head, this need not apply.

6. It's too cold for mountain biking, but damn do I miss it. I can't wait for the snow to be gone. I really can't.

7. I hate the trainer. Did I mention that?

8. Have yourselves a happy, stress free and bike filled new year. You owe it to yourself.