Sinew Sisters of Spin

Last night was Spin class with "Ginger Snap" a woman about 5'2, minus 3% body fat and sinew. She has a passion for "jumps" mostly of the one second up and down variety. Being one of the only guys in the class my anatomy does not cotton to such, shall we say, abrupt movements. After four minutes I swear my chamois was scorched from the friction!

I had done weights the night before. Silly, the first time back in over a week and I tried to increase weight. That left my legs feeling a little deprived of strength for Spin. Today I was tired -- the good kind, the one that leaves you feeling satisfied that you worked out.

Fond memories of Italy and visiting David, got this from a travel companion who accurately shows what the ideal form looks like after two years living off the Land of Opportunity:



Spin On

Sunday Cometh

Today is the final day of my self imposed rest period. I took a week off the bike to help out Nifi, focus on work and rest. None of that really has happened (as I sit at work typing away). My rests period became a "Blue Period" instead. The past few days have been full of rain and clouds with a mood to match. Believe me, this is not to complain about work, I am thankful in this time of economic strife to have a great job, it has just been pressure filled lately and it will continue. So onward I go.

A quick congratulations to the nation of China for their spectacular Olympic Opening Ceremony. In a word "Wow!" Amazing that it was all so precise and human powered. The underlying message: Don't f**k with us. Message received.

Spin On

Peaks & Valley's: Mountain Mama '08

Trip Report for the '08 Mountain Mama Challenge ("it's a challenge not a race") goes something like this:

Got to the airport, bike and bags carefully organized. Two bags -- one for cycling and a quick change for a ride if time allowed and one for clothes and liquids. I was immediately notified that the bike bag would not fit in the overhead as planned.


So, a rapid bit of reconfiguring and I was headed to the gate. Oops, liquids in the carry-on, back to the ticket counter, swap out toiletries. Off again. Oops, bottle of wine in the carry-on. Back to the now obviously frustrated Delta agent. But I cannot complain too much, it only cost me $25 to get the bag and bike on board.

After arriving in NC, Spengahli collected me and we visited Mock Orange a seriously cool bike shop with great stuff and retro, college town vibe. Then it was off to Cycles d'Oro to pick up swag and tweaked bikes for the ride. Dale and the crew have a wonderful shop with surprises at every turn. From the great lines to the d'Oro jersey I couldn't resist.

The rest of the day was spent shopping for food, only stopping long enough to eat before shopping for more food and Belgian ale.

Friday morning we prepped and awaited the arrival of our newest Team R2R member James "Heavy D". This Scottish lad is a Clydesdale rider (over 201) who is revitalizing his excersize program to train for marathons and just got back into riding a few weeks ago. Here is his baby picture:



Sorry, couldn't resist the cheap shot -- last one, promise.

We headed out to Monterey, VA anticipating a valley ride. I had insisted to Spengahli that I could not do the 27+ valley ride on Friday, then get up and do the 70 Saturday. Last year the altitude, running around and sherpaing gear toasted my legs. I also know full well that my adopted brother in cycling would talk me into it at some point. So, we found a quiet parking lot in Monterey, changed into our gear ready to head out. HDs bike needed air so we filled it up, pulling the valve stem out in the process. Quick tire change (sort of -- it looked like two monkeys trying to f**k a football). Off we went. A mile in HD was out of site. Spengahli and I doubled back to find him at the side of the road trying to remove his rear wheel. Another flat! Henceforth he was dubbed "Flat Bastard". One last tube, the only CO2 cartridge and we said a little prayer to the Bike Gods and headed out again. As can happen with a new bike, FBs cables need adjusting and on an initial climb, his chain came off and lodged in his deraileur. We got it cured and the below picture is a shot of some great territory:



We came back to the van to see the side door wide open! WTF...? I think that is the point my HR hit my max of 208. We sprinted to the van and amazingly nothing was missing, wallets, money, keys, watches, cameras...beer! Testament to a small town.

We made it to Bear Mountain in the dark, off-loaded and settled in for a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call. The night was terrible for me. Couldn't fall asleep thinking about the planned extra distance -- Valley Ride, plus the three climbs including Hoover -- a 19% grade. Then huge storms rolled in. Thunder, rain, wind. Ironically, Nifi's one concern was the errant smoke alarm battery test going off while I was gone. As it had been happening lately I made sure all ours at home were checked. Not so here. At some point a beep started, about every two minutes. Turns out it was FBs phone charger. We got that solved. Then Spehgali started talking in his sleep! One nature call later I netted about 3 hours of sleep off and on!

6:00 a.m. came too soon. It was soon followed by a monsoon-like storm. Driving and riding in that weather did not sit well with any of us. So, we opted to be sane and hunker down:



We awoke later to the sun and sound of wood being chopped (not sawed). We kitted up and headed out. It was decided to do the 27+ again. If we wanted to do the climbs we would have no sag support. Better judgement called to decline wet, rural roads and steep descents.

Today was much better -- especially for Flat Bastard who had no mechanicals. We rode strong and relatively swiftly, representing the team colors well:



Spengahli and I did the largest climb twice:



before taking a break:



Back to Bear Mountain to consume grilled tuna steaks, wine and Belgian Ale:



And spend time with new and old friends:



Another group that stayed out at Bear Mountain was a group of seven who did the 100 mile ride. That is a BRUTAL trek with over 14,000 vertical feet of climbing (compared to about 3,200 for the Valley). As they slugged ale, one rider sipped on a Dads root beer wearing thick round glasses, a tie-dyed shirt, looking very "earthy". Lest we judge, his name -- Sparkey Ion. He rode the 100 in just over six hours on a 30 year old 3-speed Raleigh/Phillips iron frame bike! More amazing was that he has not missed a day running in over 10 years, including that morning (in the storm, before the Century!)

Return trip was uneventful aside from the $175 fee for my bike on Delta. Apparently I "slipped one past the goalie" on the way up. I was to be charged both ways. That means it cost $50 more for my bike than my body. Golf bags under 50 pounds are free. I counted eight on the tarmac waiting to leave. Think $25 is fair? Think of the number of golf bags versus bikes and the money they would make! Eeergh...

All in all it was a great trip. I have a tinge of disappointment not riding the 70 as planned, but I did ride 60. I spent time with great friends in a wonderful part of the country. I relaxed. I ate well -- maybe too well. Now it is time to take a week off from riding and focus on work and family. Looking forward to a ride in October with the Team:)

Spin On

Tick-Tock

I suppose I am as ready as I can be for the Mountain Mama. I had my training down to a T but things just managed to f**k with that plan. First, Friday I had a case of what had to be food poisoning. I felt like doo-doo all day long, like a hang-over with out the pleasant prelude the night before. To top it off I had an invitation to a company function -- dinner and drinks.

That evening I got home and made myself try and stick to the schedule. I jumped on the trainer (it was raining) but only lasted 25 minutes. Knees hurt, stomach revolted. I got things ready for Spin on Saturday despite my doubts. Dinner was great, I had no "issues" aside from seven courses with wine pairings. Needless to say, Spin went bye-bye. But, I did later manage to get on the road for 20+ miles. The night was spent with friends celebrating the visit of my dear old friend and former room-mate Jeff. Nice time, dinner and not as late an evening.

Jeff and I were going to ride Sunday but the weather and general malaise kept us casual. It was to be my day of climbing -- I was a bit sorry to miss that. I got on the trainer late that afternoon -- rain again. Errands superseded my time at the office -- gotta keep the Nifi happy... #1 priority!

Monday -- up at 4:30, in the office by 5:00 (a.m.) Work, stress, work. HOA meeting then back to work til 10 (p.m.)

Tuesday -- same, but no return to work (thankfully) a 19 mile ride and breaking the bike down for travel.

Wednesday -- same, Spin tonight.

Anxious to get up to see the Team and culminate a long journey.

Spin On

Reaching Your Goals...Almost

Yesterday was a rest day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't exciting (for a bike nerd like me.)

I had contacted Brent and Ryan at Twin Six to find out where they get the T6 shirts done. I own several and the quality, design and printing is really cool -- like nothing I have come across in the bike wearables realm. So, they actually had someone contact me asking how THEY could help our "worthy cause"! I was pretty stoked. See, Spengahli and I shared a similar dream/vision many (many) years ago. We were in a similar position and in similar careers (again, many years ago). The difference? They actually did it, and are making a successful go of it. Yes, I am green with envy. Therefore when they offered up some kind of interest I was thrilled. They do some great work for Fat Cyclist's initiative to raise money for cancer research. Check it out...

While T6 can't take on our group just yet -- they have a lot of irons in the fire -- they did make a donation to LLRoF and offered to help support our cause by sending gear. That is a good start. Perhaps if we are ever able to broaden our scope it will be more feasible for others to get involved. Right now, I'll take the gear:)

Not sure about training tonight -- suffering from an inordinate amount of stress and tainted Chinese take-out. Sweats, chills and aches -- for starters.

Spin On

Winding Down

As I approach MM I am in my last week of "full" training and will begin to taper. I did some weights last night and plan to hit the road tonight. My last big effort will be Sunday. Instead of doing the charted out 65 again I am going to climb the bridge several times to get a sense of my climbing legs (and VO Max which is what really suffers!).

Last night we broke up the routine and took the girls out early before an imminent rain storm. Just made it home, ate dinner, sipped wine and listened to the rain, atypically it fell without the associated thunder storm. Felt odd, but in a good, cozy way.

The Ruff Rider tee's came in today. Not 100% thrilled, but if there is enough interest I can always order from another source.



Spin On

Goals & Trolls

This weekend was about doing what I said I would, starting with 24+ on Friday night. Felt good, maybe because it was an opportunity to clean out the baggage from the week and ride away from work for a couple days. Funny how our weekends now tend to get planned the weekend ahead. Ride, Chimay, diner out.

Saturday was spin with a not-so great instructor. Songs were long and boring. I think I kicked her ass:) But it was a hard effort and my HR was pretty good: 179 Max, 130 Avg, 912 calories. Yard work, errands, etc. We had a great Italy re-cap dinner with the Michellini's. Jacimo took some great shots which I will have to get up on the blog. My fear was enjoying too much wine before my planned 65 on Sunday, but I think I tempered it with water and cheesecake. Dee-lish.

Sunday came too quickly. It is my only day to "sleep in" but it is a choice over the heat. I got over the first hurdle just by putting on my kit and walking outside. Hellishly hot at 9:10. But I rode. I told myself I did not have the energy to take on the "Troll Booth Keeper" and if directed, I would hit the sidewalk. Instead there was a car in the lane, I deftly moved to the inside and up the bridge. I smiled as I heard the air-raid warning siren guessing it was on my behalf. Suddenly, a third of the way up a fist-sized chunk of concrete flew up and hit me in the ankle out of nowhere. WTF! I had to stop, check that nothing had fallen off the bike. Nope. I surmised that the "Troll Booth" keeper willed it upon me. Picture a troll, eyes scowling, fingers at the temples willing the rock to fly up and launch toward me in retribution for my stealth move. At least that is what I think happened.

The ride was good going out, nice people, well wishes and concerns about the heat. I was able to ride with a young woman named Courtney for a while. She is a percussionist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra She was on vacation and had her bike shipped down. A great Scott. She had ridden that morning with a group of folks including a Cat 1 racer who do an island loop on the weekends. Congrats for hanging with them -- fast. Me, just slogging along.

I did the 65. Took 8.5 minutes off my 60 time and a five mile cool-down. The heat really kicked in about mile 38. I think I was barely sweating by the end but I needed the saddle time for Mountain Mama.

Took the girls to the beach -- our first time as a family. Shilo managed to drink saltwater and turned herself into a walking water cannon -- if you get my drift. Quite a site -- projectile anal fluids.

On that note, spin on