Nothing like a good ride to remedy a bad race. 58 mile day on my 925.

Well I woke up and really wanted to go for a good ride. Too bad I woke up to thunderstorms and pouring rain. This is not an exaggeration. I dropped the Amy off at work and there were puddles as deep as the wheel wells on the car. Not stoked.
I was going stir crazy so I finally set up my rollers hoping to at least exercise and I was 10 minutes into riding them when the belt to the killer headwind fan snapped. I also snapped.
I jumped on my new Redline 9.2.5 fixed gear. I put the cyclecomputer on it that I had been delaying putting on it, and headed out into the rain. The only thing not stock on the bike are the pedals, I put shimano 525's, and I used cateye cotton bar tape planning on it being a coffee cruiser, I want the tape to last a long time.

The bike has a few flaws. It initially came with too short of a stem. I bought the 52 and the stem was like 80mm, so I replaced it with a 110. The sloping top tube makes me unable to squeeze my frame pump from the bottom bracket going vertically, which would be nice cause there are no bottle mounts on the seat tube. The track dropouts make it kind of hard to get the wheel out with the rear fender atatched, which could be a pain changing a flat.

I did a rolling to hilly 3 hour 15 minute, 58 mile ride. I must say that the Redline moustache bars are actually more comfortable than my Nitto bars. It might be because I a narrow guy and the Nitto's are wide, but these I found better. The stock 42x15 gearing is what I used to have on my first fixed gear, and I didn't find it too bad. For my other fixed gear I now have a 39x15, which is a good city gear. I am not sure what type of hubs redline is using, but they are really really smooth. Same with the cranks and bottom bracket. I hit a maximum cadence of 167 and never really felt sketchy.

This is my first fixed gear with a front and rear brake. I thought it was overkill and that I would take one off when I first got the bike, but I must say that I love it. I was bombing into some hairpins and didn't have to worry about washing out or a sudden animal or car.

The sun came out and I smiled all the way to my skim mocha on my way home.

Tour de Granville. First race of the year!

Spring has sprung and bike racing fever has hit. We pile 5 people and bikes into Doc Snydes "short bus." What we lacked in leg room, we made up for with humor. Anyway, we left Pittsburgh and drove into a rain storm.

The PRO 1/2/3 field (yes there was a PRO)field only had like 25 guys, 10 of which raced for the new AF Team Inferno. So the course was basically a rectangle with the start finish at a school. The road going through the school was about 1k. Before we got onto the open roads we were going 30+mph and there was like 5 different attacks.
I specifically remember a few thoughts:
- "man I am not going to finish today."
- "I thought I was in shape??"
- "Dude get in this break."
- "Ok I missed it, maybe Jared will get into the break."
- "I imagine if they have 4 guys in that break they aren't going to chase it down."

That group has a gap on us, and I try to attack over a small hill. I give it all I have to get into the hell of no man's land with an AF guy sitting on my wheel. I was out there for like 50 miles or so it seemed when another guy came up to us with an AF guy on his wheel. Me and the Advantage Benefits-Endeavour guy take turns pulling only to have the same gap up to the leaders. I figure we might be able to stay out and the AF guys might start working if we get a big enough gap on the group behind us. I was really impressed when Jeremy Grimm, a 3rd AF guy bridged up to our group. The Endeavour guy stopped working and went with the first counter attack. Then it is just me chasing 2 AF's and the Endeavour with 1 guy on my wheel. The field catches us and 3 more AF's are in a team time trial up the road. The Endeavour guy goes backwards and DNF's. Kirk Albers" of Jelly Belly is then chasing and pissed nobody is helping. I am in the dog house and there are only like 3 other guys that will work. Jared rallied the troops for chase down, and we had the 3 AF guys down to like 15 seconds, but it never worked.
The last lap I just kept everything together as best as I could. I attacked a few times thinking people might just let me go,but no dice. The Inferno guys quit with 1 to go to watch the real finish. Jared wins the field sprint for what we believe is 10th place. Brutal. I think I got 13thish?
Oh yeah did I mention that it was 45 degrees and pouring rain the whole time with massive amounts of horse maneur on the roads?
Things that I did wrong:
- Lined up late toward the back
- Didnt go with the 1 counter attack that stuck (duh)
- Should have given a bit more for the pride sprint at the line

Things that I did right:
- Perfect amount of clothing!
- I would like to think that I did a good job keeping it together in the end.

Weekend / few random things

Saturday: Passed my upgrade test and am now a Cat B USCF official. Kind of neat right? , the whiner Stubna and I set the record from my house to North Park, 34 minutes of hammering against traffic on a sunny afternoon.
Sunday:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups skim milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg white
pinch of cinnamon
added 1 banana and blueberies
This was the breakfast we crushed while sipping on some French roast. Of course with real maple syrup and fresh peanutbutter on top.
Dan Chew showed up at 915 to lead us to his friends' ride up north. A couple of hours up, a couple of hours back and soon enough you have a 7:30 ride at 117 miles. Danny Chew can put down a fierce attack at mile 105, leaving you to only wonder how gnarly he was before he rode a 28lb bike. OH YEAH!


Also:

- If the person who left their dog shit on Hastings street last night reads this, please email me so I can ruin a day of your life like you ruined my night last night.Thanks.

- I am so freaking excited to race bicycles this year.

- I am really excited for fresh fruits and veggies this summer when it is all in season

- I am so proud of the Amy for working 40+ hours as a student teacher and not getting paid and being the cutest barista around for another 18 hours a week on top of that.

- My new redline 9.2.5 is totally sweet and totally cheap!

This blog is now about baking

Stevia root. Not FDA approved, might cause your eyeballs to fall out, but boy is it sweet! I have been doing some baking in my spare time. Mostly cookies and biscotti using this root. I think it is illegal to call it "sweet" or the fda will seize my computer and house. I have to call it a "supplement." All I know is if ia recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, you add 1/3 of a TEASPOON of stevia. It doesnt spike your glycemic levels, it doesnt have calories, it doesnt turn into bad stuff like sugar does. Pretty cool right? Well depending on the recipe, it can have a bitter aftertaste, almost like anise. Like anise on steriods mixed with sweet and low. Maybe its cause they are both roots it makes them taste alike? Well these underground foods are good, I would check them out.
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of stevia
1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of Whole oats
1/2 cup of dates chopped

SWEET COOKIES!
375 for 8 minutes
Pancakes. A great man once said "a comedy routine should not be like pancakes; real good at first, but by the end you are sick of them." Well I love pancakes, and have a few good recipes. The easiest and best being:
2 cups WHOLE WHEAT
2 cups Skim/soy milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

How simple is that? it is a great recipe, its healthy and good.

Dirty Dozen.....

Every group ride turns into a race at some point or another. If its the city limit, or county sign, top of the hill, who can pull the most etc. Well why not have a group ride that has a structured race in it? Awesome. Just ride along and talk to your friends about everything going on with them now that the race season has been over for 3 months or whatever. Every once in awhile you kill yourself to get up a hill. Awesome.

10 Minutes into the ride, at least half of the people there had the cold weather raspy voice cough that you get turning yourself inside out in 28 degrees. Not fun. The dude at the CTR gave me "room for cream" in my Americano, not cool. Mike Stubna crushed it up the first 2 hills and worried me until experience reigned supreme! Peter whiner Cully had "family stuff" to do so he couldnt crush everybody with a 2 month old femur (and try to redeem himself to john minturn to whom he lost a hill the previous week, forcing him to create a myspace profile!!!). Joe Valise (sorry spelling) was just a monster, stronger this year than last for sure.

THe after party had 0 pizzas and 0 break offs. There was a headstand contest, there was flip cup. Danny Chew talked about the breakaway he was in at UsPro with: Chris Charmichael, Andy Hampsten, Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel and a few other no names.It was the second group coming into the finish. Totally nuts.

Mark Nicoll was totally on fire. He is down in weight, hasnt ridden in 2 months and big ringed 2 hills. He got 3rd on logan which is totally NOT a sprinters hill.

Johnturn totally won 2 hills, Sycamor and Flowers, I really wanted sycamore, but its cool he got it. That is all I remember for now

PA State Championship.

So Saturday Morning I decided to call Johnturn and head to the middle of nowhere for the State Cyclocross Championship. I decided to race the A's for some reason. We got there at a decent time, the course was good, Mike Hebe gave me my helmet that I lost at the last race. Things were looking good. There was free Redbull, I had my free Gu, which was vanilla bean flavor and it tasted like vanilla pudding. Sweet.
I figured that a top 10 finish wasnt an unreasonable goal with only 14 starters. I had a good start, up the hill and into the grass. I was rubbing elbows with the fast guys, I was behind the picked favorite to win, who did win. I felt good. At some point during the first lap something bad happened and I tried quitting, but didnt have the energy to lift up the yellow tape. After the race John laughed at me and said "Dude you were going backwards so fast!" Awesome. So I rode around the rest of the race getting sympathy cheers from the dudes I usually race in the B's...
John finally got some new music on the Ipod. We rocked Dino JR Fossils, Mettallica Justice for All, The Clash The Clash, Ramones Ramones, Pittsburgh's Greatest finally hooked it up.
We packed up faster than ever and were at Waffle house before the podium presentation even started.
We ran into Jeff Guy at the Starbucks on the turnpike and he asked if I crashed. awesome.
Mad Props to RUGGS for scoring the masters GOLD!

500 miles is a real long drive in a car

Leaving Saturday morning for the race was sweet. This was the Western most MAC race and it was only 3.5 hours away! Mapquest must have a new feature that adds in bathroom breaks cause it said 3.5 hours and that is what it took. Sweet.

Lots of dudes from Pittsburgh at the race, maybe cause it was the GPOA sponsored race. Either way, mad props to big Brian W and Jeff Guy for racing the masters then lining up for the B's 12 minutes after the finish. Totally nuts on a 75 degree day.

I felt like total crapola and thought I folded my wheel when it kicked out and made some crazy noises.

The pro dudes went super crazy fast and a few were bunnyhopping the barriers. Totally nuts.

We left the race with Ruggs following the Kraynicks team car in his truck. John was on Navigation, and his performance was lackluster. I got us there without getting lost once. We made TWO! wrong turns in the first 4 miles leaving the race. Totally cute girls smiled and waved at us on the Skukill express way. That ruled. We hung out late talking about bike racing with Ruggs. Late being 10:30pm.

Sunday AM we had a Jr track world champion cook us oatmeal. That was sweet. John put enough sugar his oatmeal that it covered the whole top of the bowl. Oh wait, he thought it was sugar, but it was SALT. Come on dude. Ruggs bailed before us cause he had to dominate the Masters race, which started earlier than ours.

On the way to the race, I felt sluggish and bought my first redbull. 2 dollars dude. We get to the race... free redbull everywhere. After the race, I win a case of redbull. man. Where is my helmet? Oh wait.. its at the race yesterday on the ground where I left it! Team helmet!!!!!
We watched Ruggs get 4th in a totally hard masters race. Awesome. John suffered from another bike problem, while I just suffered to finish.

The dudes from www.harriscycleryracing.com gave me a sweet Tshirt. Those guys have the second coolest team going.


6.5 hour drive home. I went with the Cafe au Lait. John had his first americano. We also had pancakes from the Key City Diner. The girl brough us an odd amount of syrups and John didnt hesitate to show his greed when he used 3 and left me two. Selfish. Apparently it was a long drive home, I dont know cause I slept for awhile. We tried listening to all 3710 songs on his IPOD on shuffle, but only made it to like 50 before I put the 8 mile sound track on to amp us up.

Nature provided some sweet lightning on the way home. It was all around us, which was cool until we were in the middle of a hail storm. I couldnt see the lines on the road or anything for about 5 minutes. It was seriously crazy. John couldnt handle the Americano and started sweating and getting edgy towards the end of the ride. Awesome weekend.

Master Cross race

We crammed 4 bodies into a toyota trecel. One was like 6'3 or something. Mayhew said it was a clown car. 3 bikes on the rack and one scraped when we were leaving so we had to take the front wheel off and put it on Pete and Patti's laps! The all dayer was totally full (all dayer= a 10 cup thermos), and amy was in charge of distribution. We experienced the fall leaves on the way down, which eventually gave way to the beauty of the nuclear power plant along the river. God I love scenic drives.

Johnturn wasnt there this weekend. He was going to do a race in Cincinatti if he could show up on time, we'll have to check out his blog to see (http://johnturn.blogspot.com)...

The worst part of the race was the attendance. It is sad that somebody goes to so much trouble to put on a local race and it has such low turnout. It is even sadder when said person is really nice.

No Im wrong, the worst part of the race was deciding the night before that riding bikes home from it would be a good idea. God was that a long ride, like 47 miles in 3:30 or something. I was really tired, Patty fell over, but toughed it out and the whiner got dropped on all the hills! Pete will make his comeback though, I just need to give him time.

I tried to buy Kiva Han Venetian blend of coffee for the day of, but they didnt have it at the craig street store and the other one was closed so I was forced to brew my own Charbucks. It was free though, so that was sweet. Also did 2 snickers marathon bars over the course of the day, that was also sweeeet.

Welcome back Garbarska

Wissichickon cross. What is up with these names???

We woke up early. Wait, I did at least. John laid on the futon and slept for like 3 more hours. We touched butts in the middle of the night, maybe it kept him up late with deep questions. We drank nonrace winning coffee and ate peanutbutter bagels and bananas. I was pretty stoked on the sun being out. We said goodbye to our awesome hosts and their zoo of pets.

We totally got to the race without getting lost! First time yet as far as I know.

I raced and did not win due to the lack of race winning coffee.

John flatted out, we did a super pro, super sweet wheel change. Wicks and McCormack gave a visible sigh of relief when they saw Johnturn going into the pit. Richard Sachs was standing next to me and was obviously impressed with our wheel change.

I dont really remember too much else.

Is the G silent in Granouge? How do you say this word?

This blog will be about the weekend's cyclocross race.

We started by driving to Philadelphia Friday night. We ate Pad Thai in the car, we brought our own cock sauce, they should really put that stuff in packets. The drive was really short cause I fell asleep and left John to drive on his own.

Saturday morning Gary made us coffee using the coffee he bought that came in a package with a skull and cross bones on it. It said it was "gaurenteed to win races." I dont know who made this stuff, but I felt kind of buzzed on it. That was paired with the peanutbutter bagel and a banana.
We drove to the race and only got lost once for maybe 10 minutes. We asked some dude for directions and his dog slobbered all over John's car.

There was a lot of rain and some bike racing.

I only had one pair of shoes with me, and I really hate having wet feet, this was not sweet. We sat in the car and watched dudes try to get out of the parking area while debating if the walk to the finish was worth the 19 dollars that John may or may not have won. He guilt tripped me into walking with him. It was pouring. They were out of free coffee too!!

I had a falling down moment on the way back to philadelphia. We went to the gas station and it was my turn to pump/pay. I couldnt get my damn card to work in the first pump, so I had John pull forward to the next one. There were gas lines and people waiting. We pulled up and it wouldnt work in that one either. Then I was ready to quit and just go to another station, but I ended up losing the gas cap somehow (VW"s have some hokey slot on the cap that you slide onto the tank door). John found the cap in the parking lot and this lady with worse teeth than mine got my card to work. I lied and told her I was from New Jersey and I had never pumped gas before. Total lie.

We ate more Pad Thai in philly in some yuppie resteraunt that John probably liked. How do you ask a cute waitress for the cock sauce? We had to buy coffee that was NOT gaurenteed to win races.