A time to rest

Girona, ESP
Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Today was a bit slow; I think it was actually my first day off the bike in Europe… ever. Pretty sweet, you realize just how much of nothing is going on, and how set outside of the world you are. The day wasn’t totally wasted though; I mopped the floor for the first time. I’m willing to bet it’s never been mopped since its inception. It still needs to be mopped again, but in a couple more good moppings it should be good to go. Then I ate lunch and took the ‘rest day nap.’ Although walking is generally forbidden on rest days, I had to go grab some groceries from the store. On the way I couldn’t help but wander off my normal path to see where some of the little alleys go. It’s really quite amazing because there are so many of them. Even on the most off the beaten path alley there’ll be at least three shops. I don’t think you could wander every day for the next 20 years and find every shop… Everyday since I arrived I’ve noticed that the streets are always full of wandering people. I thought at first that it was due to the proximity of the shops from the apartments, like how you see plenty of cars on the freeway at every hour of the day. But then as I wandered today I noticed that the people aren’t going to the store or anywhere in particular, they’re wandering like a tourist wanders. They wander in and out of the shops with “no particular place to go” all day, every day…
Then I came home and surfed the internet some more. I had this theory that I wanted to try out; could it be that US stocks fair as Euro stocks do? So this morning I checked what looked like the S&P’s of Britain, Spain, France & Germany on Yahoo’s alternative language web sites & they were all down. So around 7:00 I checked the US markets to see how they’d faired & behold, they were all down! I’d placed a limit order for ITU (Banco Itau) and the stock had come crashing through the limit when the market opened… Maybe I’ll sell that… maybe not…

World turning: It's not about them, it's about me!

Girona, ESP
Monday, May 29, 2006

I’m back in Spain after doing euro race #2, and I’ll tell you, it’s not actually that bad. I think it just takes a concerted effort to respect that you’re an American in Spain and Spain has a different code than the US that you’ve got to adjust to. The fact that they look at you and say “okay, you speak English, that’s fine, if you don’t speak Spanish then I’ll speak English…” is a bit of a courtesy on you’re behalf- and realizing that is the key. But, there’s got to be more to Europe than the usual… Ya know, at first you think wow, I’m in Spain! But then a couple weeks later you realize that it’s the same rhythm of life. Everyone’s going to work, coming home, going on “holiday,” etc., etc. Sure, it’s different but it’s the same idea. In the end everyone is working for the same thing. Isn’t there anywhere where it’s actually different, where the world revolves around you? Maybe only Canada... patriatism runs rampant there...

Tour de Gironde International

Bordeaux, FRA to Girona, ESP- Post stage 4 Tour de Gironde International
Sunday, May 28, 2006

Yesterday I was relegated 1 minute for going left in a round-a-bout and fined 150 Swiss Franks. Despite the fact that on every round-a-bout half the field went left, they penalized only five guys, two being TIAA-CREF (Craig & I)… In this race 1 minute is pretty much the same as disqualifying someone because the separation between 1st and 20th is 15 seconds. Because of this set back, I did all I could to help out the guys still contending for GC; Frank, Mike and Brad. Over the first couple of GPMs I chased and attacked, but then fate set in and I crashed. I think my destiny may be to crash on the last stage of every other stage race. I busted my front shifter so I got a spare and chased back on over the next set of GPMs. When I got back to the field there was a group of ten up the road, and the leaders chased it down for the next 40 KM. Then some attacks went and I jumped on a couple guys as they were attacking. Mike and I ended up getting away with a group of ~8 guys, of the eight only two others would work. I wanted Mike to sit on too if no one else was going to work so he could cover the moves. I had nothing to lose so I ended up doing almost all the work, it was totally nuts. I’ve no idea what these guys expect to accomplish by sitting on! They get in a move & everyone sits up and starts yelling at each other in French. They’re absolutely ridiculous, I wanted to reach back and slap ‘em. Eventually the field, with the leaders team chasing began to catch us (surprise since only me and another guy were working), so Mike attacked and some of the guys who were sitting on followed. After the race he informed me that they didn’t work with him either. So in the next minute or so, the remnants of the break got caught and then Mike got caught. We had some 16 kilometers to go in an 8 km circuit. It came down to another field sprint; we couldn’t set up Brad, so again he was on his own. He ended up getting 4th.
The crash, of course, was my fault. I was in the top 6 or 7 guys and we came around this corner on a super narrow road and it looked like the road went straight, but in fact it turned down to the left. By the time I realized this it was too late and I broad-sided a Belgian National team guy. I took him out pretty good, but ended up doing a lot worse damage to myself and my bike. The road was not paved well, more like a meat grinder than a road, so when I touched it, it ground me up pretty well. We weren’t going too fast so it wasn’t that bad, but I’m pretty pissed ‘cause it’s like my 6th crash of the year. Not to mention the one 5 days ago during training… I think the Belgian guy landed in the grass, he just needed help untangling my handle bar from his wheel… I didn’t get there so fast because I was walking around looking for my bike, when I spotted it I realized that the shifter was busted and had to get a spare. The spare had the seat a bit too low, but nothing that I couldn’t ride with. Other than the last stage and the penalty the race went much better than I thought it would. So, yeah, good times…

Bordeaux, FRA- Tour de Gironde International
Saturday, May 27, 2006

Today was a day of absolute flatness with an average of some 45 kph. For the first 50 km or so it was attack after attack until a break got away. Then, for the first time in the race things slowed down and the leader’s team took up the task of setting tempo ‘til the last 15 km or so. At 15 km to go they caught everyone in the break except for one remaining Dutch guy, who ended up winning it by some 20 seconds. We’re not sure if he’s able to go up hills or not, so that’ll kinda dictate whether he’s capable of holding it for the rest of the race. We had anticipated a field sprint prior to the race, so we planned to set pace for Brad coming into the circuit- and we did, until we started gapping each other off like a bunch of crazy Jap Kamikazes with no purpose in life. I’ve never heard of a team that can’t set tempo until now, maybe we can get an invitation to the Shimano Youth Series? Despite our incompetence Brad managed a couple Jedi weaves and finished second in the sprint, third on the day due to the Dutchman off the front. If we’d managed to ride it together we’d of caught the Dutchman, probably open gaps in the field due to the technical circuit, and deliver Brad for the easy win. Lucky thing there’s no team time trial in the race ‘cause we’d of all crashed out… But tomorrow’s another day and the chances are that the whole team’ll get in the break- we’re still the strongest team (even if we can’t do a lead out… yet) & the race isn’t over until after tomorrow. Give us time and we’ll be able to set Boonen up for the win…

Bordeaux, FRA- The time between
Friday, May 26, 2006

So I’ll bet you wonder what I do when I’m not riding during the races?.. Well, here’s the inside scoop on what it’s like off the bike- it’s not about the bike anyway, right? Basically there are four things that’ve gotta be done between the race and going to bed: laundry, massage, eating and then stretching. For laundry I unpin my numbers and put all the dirty cloth in a little fish net bag, I take it and throw it outside my door for Alyssa to grab. Then I come back in my room, take a shower and then sit on my bed and watch (through my window) as the mechanics clean my bike for about ten minutes. After that I listen to music and type a blog or two, since I don’t usually have internet I don’t post it yet. After that I watch the 8 channels of dudes on TV who speak French and crack stupid French jokes. Usually somewhere along the way I go to Alyssa and get a protein bar or two and then come back and watch the mechanics clean the team cars. Ten minutes or so later, Sandra or Alyssa will come in and tell me it’s time for my massage (which is 30 minutes of excruciating pain and suffering). Then I hobble over to dinner and play with my poorly cooked French food for about an hour. After that I come back in my room and watch some more French TV, or read a bit more of Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane investing in an insane world. Then I’ll go to bed (between 9 & 10:30) after eating some cereal from the team’s cereal reserves. Action packed eh?

Bordeaux, FRA- Tour de Gironde International
Friday, May 26, 2006

I noticed yesterday that the super hard attacks were starting to fade half way through the race. It seemed that the guys kept getting weaker as the race continued. Today it was even more so, we were by far the strongest team from the gun. It seemed in the beginning that there was a good chance that the entire team would get in a break together… But in the end only half the team made it. The break turned out to be of 16 guys, Frank and I made it initially, then Mike bridged up on a hilly section. No one wanted to work so we ended up attacking each other quite a bit, but it always came back together. Finally the gap came down to ~45 seconds with 20 km to go, and the motivation to stay away finally descended on the rest of the guys and all ~16 of the dudes started pulling like mad. A bunch of the guys in the break got dropped with the new pace. Then we came into the circuit with 7 km to go and the attacks kept the pace high enough to avoid being caught. Frank got 4th on the day and we finished some 20 seconds up on the field.

Bordeaux, FRA- Tour de Gironde International
Thursday, May 25, 2006

Welcome to Bordeaux! Today’s stage was that of large rolling hills and wind. I guess the wind wasn’t so bad, but for someone who doesn’t react to a windy course very well; this was enough to make it a fairly wicked day. I think this is just about the best training I could be doing though… it’s everything I’m not good at: full-throttle, in the gutter, super hard attacks & steep but short kicking climbs. Of course I’m not doing this for the training, I didn’t come to say “yeah, this is just for training, I don’t care how I do-” I’d like to get in a break and win a stage or whatever it takes to win one. If that doesn’t work we come to the field sprint and give everything for Brad. Today, we were supposed to get up there and help him out in the sprint, but I just couldn’t move up to lay it down for him for 300 of the last 500 meters. And I’m always hesitant to get in there with a bunch of big guys that I don’t have much faith in. I’ve gotta get over that though so we can win a couple of these. We are undoubtedly the strongest team here.
On another note, we drove around a bit in France and I noticed that the dudes who live here are pretty into cycling. There are always a handful of legitimate cyclists out riding, quite impressive. France has made it easy for ‘em to ride, almost every major road has a bike lane that actually continues for the duration of the road. Different than the U.S where they put a bike lane on the road and you find that it’s disappeared 2 miles later…

Bordeaux, FRA- Tour de Gironde International
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Today’s the day of travel from Girona to Bordeaux. So I woke up at 7 (the earliest I’ve woke up in some time do to this thing called jet lag) and rode for a couple hours. We left at 11:00 and drove for some 5 hours before arriving in Bordeaux. My initial impression of Bordeaux is an urban sprawl, but I haven’t seen enough to know for sure. I’ll let you know when the race is over… At the moment, for all you “home-gamers,” I’d compare it to Renton with an overabundance of bike lanes, small roads, round-a-bouts, & smokers. I guess this is an amateur race, so no T-mobile or Discovery. An overall win is going to be determined by who makes the breaks. No doubt about it.
After doing my second, 30 minute ride, when I arrived in Bordeaux, I can’t help but compliment one certain attribute of France. They’ve got the bike thing down- for the most part. Every road, so far, is either small and lightly traveled enough to make it perfect for cycling, or it has a bike lane in it. Even in Bordeaux’s urban sprawl there are little roads in the middle of the town. It’s like the place just grew up around a little country town, which I presume it did… But France didn’t get the drift like Spain did on round-a-bouts… There are next to no stop lights in Spain, but in France there are enough to make it dangerous to run all of ‘em. & when you can’t run ‘em all, there’s too many. You see the round-a-bout is the perfect alternative to a stop light because you only have to look for traffic from one side, and the cars can’t go fast enough to make it so you have to wait. This is opportunistic for the cyclist because it means there’s always space for you to come shooting in no matter how many cars are in it. Quite unique really, forward Spanglish thinking once again…

Frolicking in the Gironian countryside

Girona, ESP
Monday, May 22, 2006

Today I did an easy 3 hours towards some St. town. Half the towns are named after saints, so keeping ‘em separated becomes a bit of a burden- I wonder how the pope does it? But I guess that’s what he’s paid to do… Anyway, I rode out to this town and turned on to this rode, then turned on to another road (right), and went through two roundabouts before coming to a bridge with a little road branching off to the left immediately after crossing the bridge. The road turned out to follow the river up to its head waters, which, might I add, were somewhat more substantial than I had reckoned. Here’s the thing- in Spain healthy streams are not something you often run across. Usually they’re deluded, lacking luster and anything of life. But this one was as lively as could be; it frolicked with underbrush beneath the bridge… So I followed it up and noticed that there was a fairly insignificant dam holding headwaters back. Most intriguing really, so I kept following the road. Eventually I came to a bridge that crossed what headwaters were left and started climbing up the side of the valley (this river went straight back into the mountains). I came out of the forest and there was this fricken huge dam in front of me with what looked like an ocean behind it! I rode across the dam, and could hardly glance down the side without fearing the fall that loomed below. The road continued around the headwaters, but I didn’t have any time left to explore, so I descended a road made of rubbish as I pondered the chances of turning onto the road I’d just discovered.

Ronde de L'Isard d'Ariege

Girona, ESP
Monday, May 22, 2006

Yesterday went down a bit different than we’d hoped, in fact you could say that it was totally counter to what we’d planned. I got in a break over a little hill, then we got caught before the first major hill (7-8km). I got totally popped on the way over this one. I thought the race was over at that point, but somehow we managed to chase back on right before the big 20 km climb. On this one I felt much better, and watched as our 6 guy group chiseled down to three. Then someone attacked and the yellow jersey guy responded, leaving just another guy and I. Right then I cracked and it was a struggle all the way up. I think everyone cracked somewhere along the way, it was just a matter of when. We came over the top and descended 25 km to the finish. I got ~11th, so that’s probably 8th or 9th overall.

Masset, FRA
Saturday, May 20, 2006

Today was a bit out of the norm with an unusually early wake up of 6:25 & departure of 7:15. I guess I’m getting soft with the go, go French lifestyle (in case you missed the ridicule, that was a joke)… It was one of those days, though; ya know, the day loathed by those in the peloton & cherished by spectators. A double day is one where you race twice during the day. In our case it was a “flat” stage in the morning (9:00) and a time trial in the afternoon (4:38). The “flat” stage was actually a dreadfully hilly course. No one expected the hills, but fortunately I was chasing attacks when we hit the hilly section and was thus given the pleasure of chasing them on the way up the little climbs too. The peloton split several times, but at the end it came back together when the break went away. It barely made it to the line, so close in fact that there was no time gap between the break and the peloton.
The time trial turned out to be a beast. It was a fairly short 20 km, 30 minute course, but it was rolling, hilly, windy & bumpy. I guess I did pretty well, but I felt like absolute garbage. After the climb, as usual, my legs fell asleep. I don’t know why they do this! There was no downhill immediately after the hill so I was left to pedal with sleeping legs for nearly the duration of the race. I wonder how much better I’dve done had they not fallen asleep- or if it made a difference at all. There’s gotta be someone out there who knows what this problem is? It happens during long climbs and time trials, basically sustained all out efforts.

Masset, FRA
Friday, May 19, 2006

In case you’ve been wondering why its Masset everytime, it’s where were staying. Basically we’ve gotta transfer to the race start everyday from the “lodge” (that’s right, it’s kind of a pansy-arse French “hunting lodge-” instead of hunting the game, here in France they run away when they see it…). The transfers are a bit epic because the town’s in a valley with the Pyrenees jutting out all around it. That means we take the camper and the cars over at least three tour de France 1st category climbs- around 250 turns on the way. I started riding in the team cars instead of the camper.
Today was a bit of a disappointment. After the race you always wonder what you didn’t do that you could’ve done, and I’ve got a list three pages long for today. Today’s stage finished with a ~20 km climb (2, 10 km climbs, separated by a 1 minute descent). Basically they could’ve started the race at the base of the climb and the same thing’dve happened… In the first 10 km a group of eight or so with Nate in it went away. We caught them at the beginning of the climb and the race was on the way up the climb. This is where I screwed up and ended up in 10th. Sure 10th is fine for your first season racing with pro tour teams in the race, but it’s quite the opposite when it’s a u23 race & the national team’s amongst your competitors... instead of pro tour teams. So now I’ve just gotta drop ‘em all by at least 3 minutes on Sunday if I wanna win this thing… I think its possible if “all systems are go.”

Masset, FRA
Thursday, May 18, 2006

France… it’s a great place. They’ve got all sorts of swanky little things, like salty soup and curtains that don’t block the sun. I’m sure they prefer it that way though- extra-super-French-sophistication’s what I call it… & the Euro’s worth more than the dollar? Must be because they invent all this new stuff, like cheese for desert with shredded carrots on the side. I don’t mind it though in moderation, I mean that’s what they do right? Everything in moderation? Train in moderation, retreat in moderation, and make up for it by overloading on the wine, cheese and chocolate. But that’s the refined, chic French elegance that we all love, right? “We want world peace! Let’s riot!” Nonetheless, I’ve got that newfound respect for France after discovering Spain’s filthy little secret.
Today was Stage 1 of 5 of L’Isard, a u23 race in France. It was a new experience for me & a bit of a reality check. Amongst the many races we’ve done that are Pro Tour level, this a small fish- and it definitely felt like it. I know this is the first stage and it’s way too early to start “counting el Chickenitos,” but the level of this race I’d compare with an NRC race… I’m sure things’ll change tomorrow, but in the meantime I’m hoping to win this over the next couple days. By the way, several of the climbs we do in this race are also in the Tour… I think that’s, uhhh, certainly of note…

Masset, FRA
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

We did the drive over from Spain… and the mountains are spectacular! They go, and go, and go… and go. Every road from the valley goes up, and every sign has a Col on the front of it, as in Peak for mountain. This would be an incredible place to train.
Today I found something out that’s a bit of a revelation. Spain isn’t really a country so to speak. A country can’t function if there’s no patriotism, and this is something that Spain does not have. Cataluna thinks it’s a separate state, and the bask country thinks it is, what about the rest of Spain… What is it? I can’t really say I respect a place like that. I saw a sign today that said, “freedom for Catalan, were not Spain and were not France (Catalonians speak a French/Spanish combination that I call Spanglish).” France however is Patriotic, that’s how they can hate the rest of the countries, because they love France. That’s something you can have a respect for, there’s actually something to live for then. But I’m not going to lie about the French, I don’t like them either… They’re dirty people who strive for nothing. But I’ll let on that this area of France is much improved from Marseilles and significantly better than Girona. I was wondering if the Europeans ever kept their stuff clean and I found, finally, that they do. Here most everything is nice and cared for. Hats off to (previously occupied) France for keep’n the place clean…
Tomorrow’s the first day of the race, and although it’s u23, it’s gonna keep on going up. Several of the climbs in this race are of the ones done in the Tour de France. It’ll be interesting.

Girona life

Girona, ESP
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

I leave today for L’Isard so I did an easy ride this morning and a hard 5 hour ride yesterday. There are a bunch of good routes around here; it’s just a matter of putting ‘em all together so you don’t end up coming back on the highway half the time. The roads are small here too, and although there’s not much commuting traffic, having no shoulder’s no good if even a few cars are going 80 km/hr.
Aside from the riding there’s not much action going on. There’s a dude I can see from the outside loft who stands on his loft and smokes cigar after cigar. Then there’re the workers upstairs who hammer on the floor all day long. & of course there’s the euro techno that you hear no matter where you go. This morning I had to ride up to the shop through the narrow alleys between the ~5 story apartment complexes. The alleys get narrower and narrower as you get further back, until a small euro car could barely fit through. The alleys get super steep too, I’m pushing it using a 23. But the most euro part of it all are the treacherous cobbles the road is made of. They are literally made of small rock pushed into cement- going up the steep narrow roads with cobbles becomes a full body workout quite quickly. I made it, although I wound up at the cathedral accidentally at first. It’s quite impressive, very big and old. Perhaps one of the only old things that actually looks kept up…

Summer in Spain

Girona, ESP
Monday, May 15, 2006

Since I was here last one significant factor has changed: the weather. I went out on a ride when I got here yesterday, and it was so nice. It was like 3:00 and I went out with a vest, shorts, and a jersey- and ended up doing the whole thing with the vest unzipped & ran out of water in the first hour. Must’ve been ~85 degrees, which is a fresh alternative to the racing in a thermal jacket that was happening when I was here in February. Other than that, I haven’t noticed much of a difference, although I’ve vowed to cope with the new lifestyle this time. I began yesterday after my ride by riding around the town, trying to actually get bearings on where the town is. I found this to be key, ‘cause otherwise you’re never quite there. I discovered more about the place yesterday afternoon than I did the entire two weeks I was here previously. Now all I’ve got to do is learn Spanish, or Spainglish, which they speak here. I checked at the Universitat de Girona (which is right behind us), and its 128 Euros for a class (like ESL, except SSL). I couldn’t take a class though ‘cause I wouldn’t be here enough.

Barcelona, ESP to Girona, ESP
Sunday, May 14, 2006

Since the team (& staff) is off to a race in France, we had to take the train back to the apartment. This turned out to take nearly as long as the flight. We screwed up, and then screwed up again, & again. First we couldn’t find the trains to begin with. Then we got on the train and transferred, then transferred, then missed the transfer, and missed it again. It all only added up to 6.50 E. I’m not sure you can beat that price with a stick.
On the subject of beating things, there was a bit of a show at the train station. For some reason these little bunnies were dancing around helplessly (I think something happened to their mother), and this J-bird came over and started killing each one, one at a time. It would poke the eyes out with it’s beak, the process took some five minutes. You could actually see the blood squirt out and watch as it squealed and flopped around helplessly. The first time we figured it was better to let it die, but when it went for a second one we started throwing rocks (it was on the other side of the tracks behind a fence) and things to scare it away. But then the train came so we had to leave, we could here the squeals as we got on.

Philadelphia, PN to Barcelona, ESP
Sunday, May 14, 2006

US Airline’s spectacular service improved marginally as they served both dinner and a breakfast morsel. They decided not to turn the lights off though… So I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, in fact, I don’t recall getting any at all. Hence this flight took the cake as far as being the worst flight to date goes. By the way, we didn’t spend the night in Philadelphia; Sunday’s the result of the time change.

SeaTac, WA to Philadelphia, PN
Saturday, May 13, 2006

The flight left at 6:30 this morning, entailing a 4:00 wakeup and a wander through the house- I’m about to be gone for a month -routine. This is where you try to sleep and think about what you may have forgotten at the same time. It doesn’t work very well, you may’ve guessed, but you end up doing more worrying than sleeping. Before you know it, the alarms wailing and you’re in a mad dash to squander what little time you have before driving to the airport.
We’re flying on this ghastly, depraved & corrupting airline called US Airways. This is by far the worst airline I’ve ever been on (they are part of United’s star alliance though, so the miles correspond with each other). At check in they’ve got ~15 attendants of which none feel like helping you. So what should take maybe 5 minutes took 30. Then they didn’t serve food from Seattle to Philadelphia (6:30am- 11:30am), I almost feinted on the way out. This guy behind me did though…

North Bend, WA
May 12, 2006

Okay, I’ll admit it: I lost my passport and I’ve been going through some serious tribulations for the past week to get a new one. It was supposed to arrive at my house Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. That was fine, I figured that it was just the government hard at work and it’d be there yesterday… but it wasn’t. So I ended up calling the passport people and trying to track it down. They didn’t know if they’d shipped it Fed Ex or USPS, so they didn’t have a tracking number! I ended up going to the Seattle Regional Passport Center to get one made in one day, that’s right, get there at 8:00 in the morning and wait all day for them to make a new one. I got there and they found out that they’d shipped it USPS, but they couldn’t deliver it because no one was home to sign for it when they delivered it. For some reason they didn’t bother to leave a note. Nonetheless this was a big relief, so I went to the post office and finally picked it up… the day before leaving for Barcelona. It was funny because I was there before the Passport Center opened with a couple of other people who were sort of in the same boat. They were talking about how they needed it in a week or two… when they asked me when I was leaving; I beat ‘em all “tomorrow…”
“Let us know how that works out…”
“I will punks, ha! Who’s fly’n now?” Actually, I didn’t say that, but I thought it… & that’s all that matters anyway.
I had a four hour ride to do when I got home, I was so plagued with bad luck that I decided to do it on the trainer. 30 minutes after I got done I noticed that I had a flat tire… What’s next? United 93….

Ellensburg, WA
May 11, 2006

I’d heard stories of a daunting climb in Ellensburg, so when I got word that I needed to do some 15 minute climbing intervals I had no where else to go. Ellensburg is on the east side of the mountains (I’m on the west), so the drive was about an hour and a half. We got to it, which I will name the “Reecer Road Climb,” and discovered that Ellensburg is an absolutely horrible place. It doesn’t rain, but the wind doesn’t stop either. You can look at any given standing object and notice that it leans to the east. The climb turned out to be amazing. It’s on a one lane road going up to 5000 feet, but I couldn’t get to the top because of the snow. Basically it twists through the trees with sections of 20 percent. I’m surprised that something like this exists. The entire climb is ~16 km, maybe more when the snow melts. With my 15 minute intervals I made it roughly half way, I climbed the whole thing after I got done. It’s hard to do less than 200 watts going up in a 23 for me.
The worst part were the intervals I had to do after the ride when I got home. At 6:30 in the evening after riding for a little over 4 hours, you get quite lazy and tired- even more so after your shifter cable breaks while you’re on the trainer. That’s right; my shifter cable finally gave up the ghost after suffering through a winter of cold and rain. So I ended up doing the intervals on the trainer on the time trial bike. Not fun, I finished at 8:30 for a grand total of 6 hours.

The scam stops here

North Bend, WA
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

It was a rough one today. I did 4.5 hours with hill repeats in the morning, then an hour in the evening on the trainer with 4 efforts. Of course there was a problem though… While I was on the trainer my rear derailleur cable broke! Only in Washington do you feel the repercussions of winter during spring. The water must’ve been systematically breaking down my cable as I rode each day until today, on the trainer of all places, it breaks. And I had stainless steel cables too… never will I pay for that crap again, it’s just another little scam. Everything’s a scam. Anyway, I was twenty minutes into the ride, so I stopped and changed to my time trial bike and started over. I’m weird that way, if I feel like the ride is in danger of losing its full potential, I’ll add time or start over to actually end up getting more out of the ride. Take flat tires for instance, if I get a flat then I add 11 minutes to the ride. I’ve no idea where I came up with that number… So it was 6 hours total today… Argh!

Here’s the latest and greatest in stocks for you… Hansen Energy Drinks (HANS), up 16% today! Another one to watch is Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)… By the way, I heard CSC isn’t doing so hot right now & there considering dropping sponsorship of their team. Maybe Basso’ll be do’n the disco next year…

Butterfly Plague

North Bend, WA
Monday, May 08, 2006

I discovered a startling fact today… California sees worst butterflies season in 35 years! (courtesy of Yahoo news). It seems that the recently cold and wet conditions in California have taken a toll on the butterflies, and, heaven forbid, the butterflies are cocooning six feet under! A befuddled Art Shapiro thinks that "there will probably be long-term repercussions, especially for species already in serious decline," he’s a professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California Davis. Hmm, I can only dread the possible repercussions of the butterfly plague… will spiders begin to die off? That’d be terrible… even ghastly! But I guess were speaking in terms of evolutionary implications… so perhaps the remaining butterflies would grow an extra layer of blubber to stay warm in the increasingly bitter cold conditions of California. We’d call them the blubberflies…

For more breaking news on the latest on the insect front, check out these superb stories (you won’t be able to take your eyes off ‘em…):

Why Ants Rule the World
Advanced Optics ... on Butterfly Wings
Why Insects Swarm, and the Gory Endings of Loners
Slim Secret: Butterflies Burn Fat in Cocoon

Battling back

North Bend, WA
Sunday, May 7th, 2006

The road to recovery’s been quite a battle. The doc said it was okay to race and train, but it felt like I was gonna up ‘n die in the process. But looking back on it now, I’m glad I gutted it out and did the miles…Always looking back proves what you could’ve done, and when you feel like you couldn’t have done more it’s always good (well, almost). I’m, of course very disappointed about Georgia, but you can put things behind you and just focus on the rest of the year. That’s why when you look back and realize that you’ve put everything into it, you know that the future can only hold something spectacular ‘n upsetting for the competition.

Alive 'n kick'n

North Bend, WA
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The antibiotics kicked in quite quickly & I only ended up having two days completely off the bike, so only two days of complete and utter on the couch sickness. It looks like the weathers turning to spring now too; today is 70 degrees without a cloud in the sky. I’ve only done one day on the trainer this week (3hrs) because the rain was off and on. Since I attribute my sickness to the rain, I’ve decided to stick it out in doors for now on when it rains. Maybe I won’t get sick that way, I’ll also where a hazmat suit around to avoid rogue diseases ‘n such- I presume that that’d be a bit cumbersome though…