Racing Re-cap

Been a long month.  I finally kicked that nasty bug that popped up after Moosecross, but only after nearly 3 weeks.  Since my shortcomings at Spooky cross, I really wanted to put something together for the last half of the season. 

First up was Cube Cross #1 in Rexburg.  The guys in Rexburg have this great park with narrow paved paths, lots of grass, some good run-up opportunites, and some tight little singletrack in which to lay out an ever-changing array of courses.  And they don't dissapoint.  This race had some super technical stuff with some off-camber singletrack that ran about 6 feet above a pond, a steep downhill that should probably be a run-up, and some tricky corners (made hard by wet dead leaves). 

I got off to a good start and made sure I was in good position going into the singletrack the first time around.  It was a pretty big group with the Men's Advanced and Men's Beginner racing together, but things started to get sorted out pretty fast after a lap and I found myself sitting in 6th positon and dueling with another guy for 5th.  I finally got the best of him on the barriers and stretched it out all the way to the finish.  Notched a soild 5th place in the Men's Beginner class picking up 21pts for the overall.

The next weekend it was off to Boise for a family weekend where I got to sneak in a cross race over in Nampa.  I knew this was going to be a big race (stop #4 of the SICX series), but didn't really put much stock in a good result considering I was coming "off the couch" for these last races.  I'd done very little training in the weeks since Spooky cross due to some very inclimate weather and lack of daylight.

A field of 40 (Mens 4, Masters 45+) or so lined up at the start and thinking I was really not in contention for much, I lined up at the back.  The course was really just a grass road race, not one dismount, so wasn't going to suit me in any way.  About the only thing I had going for me was the weather.  It was a cool 31F at the start, only warming up to about 35F by the time we finished.  After a chaotic start, I again rode on the back of the second group for the first lap, before finally letting them go.  I dueled with a young guy for the next two laps before he got the better of me on the long hill.  I set my sights on another rider we had been closing in on and finally caught him with one to go.  I rode on that guy for half a lap or so and dispatched him on a steep hill in the middle of the course.  I held him off to take 20th on the day.  Not too bad, and I kinda felt like a chump for not taking things alittle more serious.

One week later was round 3 of the Cube Series.  I knew I wasn't going to be in contention for the overall having missed a race, but after waking up that morning to 3 inches of fresh snow, I knew it was going to be epic race.  I could not have done a worse job preparing myself for the race; hungover from a party the night before, missing breakfast cause I was racing around trying to find my stuff, getting to the race only 40mins before the start due to winter driving, etc., etc.  Funny thing was, I felt good.  I was layered up well and ready to go by the time we started.  Again we had a solidly technical course with good single track, a steep run up (the one we came down before), and lots of corners into barriers to make it hard. 

And if all that wasn't enough...then came the weather. 

When we started, it was cold an windy, but not much moisture to speak of.  The course had some wet spots, but nothing to really worry about.  20 mins. into the race, the first bits of hail started to spit from the sky.  5 min later, the gropple was blowing sideways, stinging the face and making it hard to look up to see where you were going.

I had been battling with a guy in front of me for the first half the race, and now found myself trying to hold off a challenge from behind me.  I put in one big effort into the headwind and got the gap I needed to hold onto my postion.  With two laps to go, the snow went nuclear.  With one lap to go, the snow had collected a good three inches making the course a thick soup of slushy water. 

Once I finished, I rode straight by the officals not even checking on my placing, and climbed into the back of the van.  My feet were compeletly numb, but everything else was good.  It took me a few minutes to get settled down and changed, but once I climbed back outside to retrive my bike, It was already covered with an inch of falling snow.  I'm still not sure where I finished, but think I was probably about 7th or 8th overall.  I'll have to call tomorrow.

One thing is for sure, I felt like a complete badass after that one.

'A Hot Mess!'

A "hot mess" is a term used in the Couloir kitchen to describe someone who, despite their best efforts, keeps screwing something up.  This does not mean you are a "clusterf*#k".  That would imply a permenant condition.  Being a "hot mess" is usually a temporary issue, but can lead to being a "clusterf*#k".

This would best describe my current state.  Toward the end of my vacation, I came down with a cold brought home by either my mother (sorry mom), or my daughter Zoe (probably more likely).  Despite my best attempts to alieve the situation, and a rest week from hard riding, I was unable to shake it before Spooky Cross.  We had a great turnout for Spooky, lots of riders and a great stoke in the air, but I was in it deep.  I had gone for a quick ride on Friday night to sort things out, and quickly found out I couldn't breath without coughing up the lung butter.  This should have been the tell tale sign to sleep in and just spectate Saturday's race.  But after running into Fitzy and J.P. doing recon on J.P.'s new rig, I thought; "Stop being such a wanker!"

So come Saturday morning I lined up with 25 or so other cats looking for the hole shot.  After the first lap, I was slowly getting the message things weren't going to go in my favor.  After holding on to the tale end of the second group, I started losing ground to them when I had to sit up and cough it out.  After dropping back to the last guy and realizing I could ride with him pretty easily, I thought maybe I'll just cruise around with this guy for a few laps.

Wasn't going to happen.  Again, a severe coughing attack caused me to sit up...this time for good.  I figured this wasn't the best thing I could be doing for myself, so I pulled into the Start/Finish and put some warm clothes on.  I really hated quiting a race put on by my shop, and in front of the whole team, but figured descretion was the better part of valor.

So come Sunday, and getting alittle antsy cause I hadn't really ridden all week except for Friday's re-con and Saturday's warm-up and 15min of racing, I thought maybe I could go out for an easy spin in the evening.

And back to the locker you go...

I woke up on Monday feeling worse than I did Friday, setting myself up for an interesting problem.  I haven't really done much training in a week, I have a race in Rexburg this Saturday, and I'm not completely on top of my health.  Hence the fact I'm a Hot Mess.  What to do?  Seriously, if anyone has any suggestions, please comment.  I would love to hear.  I'm skipped today's ride, but figure I might try to ride a bit tomorrow, take a day off, and do openers on Friday and hope for the best.

Anybody got a Z-pack...hook a brother up!!

R and R

Rest and Relaxtion are underrated if you ask me.  I'm coming to the end of a 12 day vacation and just finished the last of my really hard training for the year, and to say the least, I have enjoyed slowing down.  Luckily for me, work won't get too stressful for another month or so, so I can enjoy this for a bit longer.

Funny thing is, you don't really realize how wound up you are until you relax a bit.

I also didn't even realize it was time work in some rest from the bike until I got a head cold last week and started doing some reading online about training and such.  Knowing I needed to nurse the cold away before this weekends racing, I started to look at the past few weeks of training, and realized every ride I had done for the past 4-5 weeks had either been intervals, openers, or racing.

I've also decided, the days of above LT intervals are done.  With the racing I've done, and all the racing still to come over the next 5 weeks, I'm going to cut back on the intensity during the week in order to stay fresh for the weekends.  This is not say I'm gonna kick it on the couch eating Cheetos only getting up for a race on Saturday.  I will be taking Mondays off.  Tues will be 1.5 to 2hrs easy with some sprints thrown in.  Wed. will be my only real hard day with 2x20min sub-LT intervals on the cross course.  Thursday will be off, and Friday openers to get ready for Saturday's racing.

Sundays will be my day.  My day to just enjoy riding a bike.  No structure.  Just me, a mountain pass and some music.  Last Sunday, I did a half hour warm up before tackling Pine Creek Pass for some LT work.  After topping out, 20 min and 1000' vertical later, I looked to my left and remembered a co-worker talking about how the Forest Service just regraded the dirt road at the top.  So took the left and keep climbing.  With the fall colors on the trees and 360 degree views all around, this became one of those epic rides you remember for years.  So I'm going to look for more of these before its time to rack the bike for the winter.

Well, this cold has now moved into my chest and I've been coughing up lung butter for the past few days.  I'm going to do a quick spin tonight and see if racing is even a possibility for tomorrow.  I'm a bit worried about trying to race with a chest cold considering I usually feel like I'm going to cough up a lung in a race when I'm healthy!!  We will see.  But needless to say I will be at the race one way or another.

Moosecross and a drawing board.

Qualitative vs. Quantatative.

These are two ways one can judge performance.  Quantatative would be the numbers, the formal date collected to show progress and ultimately, success.  Qualitative is a bit more vague.  Its more about how things got done, not nessesarily just the outcome.  As much as I like the latter, the former can't be overlooked.

So, in regards to Moosecross, we are going to look at both sides of this coin.

Qualitative:

1. Moosecross was absolutely awesome!  The course, the weather, the stoke, the venue...the cannon(had a real cannon to start every race, almost pissed myself at the start)!!!  Everything was totally first class and everybody involved had a fantastic time.
2. The racing was great!  Big fields, good riders, and a very tacky, technical course made for a lot of fun to be had.  Saturday's race was the better of the two for me.  Despite having some pedal troubles that kept me from clicking in properly after most dismounts, I rode a pretty steady and smooth race.  I was actually impressing myself on the tech side, catching and passing a few guys in the final two laps really only due to my cornering ablility and familiarity with the course
3. I prepared well for the weekend.  I put together two solid weeks of training after Kross Kickoff, stayed healthy and maintained my diet.  Despite the fact my mom flew in Thursday night, I built a birthday cake for Zoe's birthday party on Saturday night, mowed the lawn Sunday morning and got ready for my wife and I's anniversary "staycation", I still managed to get everything together, stay on top of my hydration, and even get a little rest between races.
4. My mom, wife and youngest daugher were all on hand to watch their son, husband, and father do something he loves to do.
5. My youngest daughter Zoe raced in her first race...at the tender age of 3.  What a stud!

Now the Quantitative:

1. Despite getting to the first corner in 4th position both days, I ended up finishing 31st in the Mens Cat. 4 race on Saturday.
2. I put up a DNF in Sundays race after breaking my chain with 2 laps to go.  Wasn't too much of a loss as I was riding in last place, trying to keep a junior rider at bay (he eventually caught and passed me after I had to stop and fight with my pedal again).
3. I started the weekend at a robust 227lbs, by far the largest guy in the race.

So in summery...

I had a great weekend.  My mom was here. I started my vacation from work.  Celebrated Zoe's birthday with family and friends and got to watch her in her first race.  Was able to race 'cross in my hometown with all the great people that promote and enjoy this sport.  Then got to spend two days with my wife at the Four Seasons, soaking away in the hot tubs, wondering where to go for dinner.

I also realized I still have a long way to go.  I have little in the way of power...or strength...or speed.  I look back at all the work I've done thus far and get a bit discouraged to be honest, wondering if I will ever get back any of the fitness I once had.  I wonder if I should have been more realistic, should have worried less about a "program" and more about just riding hard.

So I'm getting "back to the basics" a little bit.  I'm gonna keep riding hard, racing smooth, and having fun. 

And hope at some point, the quantatative matches the qualitative. 

Kross Kickoff!!!

Just a quick update. 

Kross Kickoff went great for all involved, huge shout out to Dave Byers, Jay P. and everyone else who played their part.  Everyone had a blast.

The course was a bit more technical than last year and was made even hardered by all the DUST!!!  Its been very dry here as of late and a few sections of the course were covered in a super fine dust that was deeper than it apperared, causing you to have to ride it in a straight line in order to not wash out.

The boys of black, green and orange had a great day, although not as many top steps as we may have liked.  I think the ladies took all the steps except the top one, and were very impressive indeed.  Fitzy himself took the second step in the Masters race after a race long battle a human lung.

In the Mens A and B catagories, Gabe "50 cent" and Bergy ruled all by banging heads (literally) throughout the race to finish one-two respectively.  Dave Saurman and I finished second and third respectively in the B's after not being able to catch a rider from Peaked Sports who was absolutely flying.  I think Dave might have had a chance early on, until he clipped a barrier before the run up.

Things went well for me.  After coming into the first corner in forth position, I drilled it for the first lap, only to find myself alone with a 5-10 second gap on forth place.  Once I was by myself, I just tried to be smooth and work on extending that lead to secure third place.  And that was pretty much the story for the next 5 laps. I eventually finished third, averaging 163bpm with a max of 193bpm for 50 mins.  Moosecross is next up in two weeks, so I'm getting after the intensity this week in hopes of making the top 10 there. 

Thanks for reading guys.

Here we go...

Well folks, that time is now here.  All the blabbing I've done for the past few months about training (or lack there of), weight (more the excess of), or being overworked for one reason or another matter little anymore.  It is now time to put up, or shut up.

Tomorrow is the first race of the season for us 'crossers, a very happy day.  Tomorrow I will ride around for 45min., completely hypoxic, trying not to crash and burn on the barriers and run up of the Kross Kickoff course in my sleepy village of Victor ID.  This is the first race of a four race series, and the first race of what will be a eight week cross season for me.

The bike is tuned.  New wheels, new seat (had to finally retire the old Turbomatic), new rubber...all the bases have been covered.  Tonight I will go out, do an hour on the course, throw in a few solid efforts to get the HR up, then go home and eat a solid pasta dinner.  Just like the old days...

I'm a little more than excited to say the least.  I got a chance to do the Jackson Group Ride on Tuesday night to get my one real hard ride of the week in and it went very well.  I hung tough till we hit the bigger hills, then turned around and did a few hill repeats till the group came back from the turn-around.  We all cruised in from Wilson after that and I will say, the legs felt good.

Tomorrow will start with my favorite pre-race breakfast (waffles of course), then just stay on top of the hydration till 10.30a in order to get a solid hour of warm-up in.

So here we go...

Home Sweet Home.

Home is a good place.  Its a place you feel comfortable, feel like you can be yourself without any judgement.  A place you feel grounded, but can still reach for your goals.  I have always had this in my personal and professional life, with lots of support around me that let me push myself.

And now I couldn't be more stoked to land with the boys at Fitzgerald's Bicycles for this coming 'cross season.  These guys are the most supportive, proactive, fun-loving group around.  And I will get to line up with them this fall proudly wearing the black, green and orange of the Fitzy crew.

These guys essentially brought cyclocross to this area (as well as the Victor Bike Park, snow biking, indoor cycling training in the winter, and tons of support for our trail networks), with Moosecross and the Victor Cyclocross series.  So in a round about way, they brought me back to cycling.

Now road cyclist haven't always the most welcoming breed of rider in the world, I know cause I was one of them once upon a time.  Unfortunately, I once did my fair share of judging others.  Names like Twinkie, Fred, Gomer, OTB Joe, and a whole list of others comes to mind.

But these guys are different.  In my first cyclocross race, which was the first Moosecross so many years ago, these guys were instantly supportive of any and all.  They cheered me, and everyone else, with a vigor only seen in the most intense cyclocross settings.  I hadn't seen anything like it before.

I always knew these were the guys I wanted to ride with, but wanted to wear that jersey proudly.  So I never quite got things together to approach them about riding for them.  Now, don't get me wrong.  They asked me numerous times and I'm pretty sure they would have supported me even if I'd never ridden a bike, weighed 300lbs and  had a "rookie mark" tattooed on my forehead.  That's the kind of guys they are.  They want everyone to have a good time riding a bike.  It is also a bonus they are sponsored by my favorite brewery, Snake River Brewery, with whom I have had a professional relationship with for years.

And so it was that yesterday, my birthday, I went into the shop and picked up a team uniform, 'cross team skinsuit, some new rubber the team will ride this season, and a few other items.  Everything felt good, except for maybe the skinsuit.  I may still be packing a few too many stones for it too fit just right, but that's OK.  A little more motivation to lose the remaining pounds before things get really going.

I had a really great week of training this week, minus a bailed out attempt to ride from Swan Valley to Victor over Pine Creek Pass.  It wasn't for a lack of trying.  Mel had already dropped me off and I was on my way when my rear wheel broke a spoke, forcing me to call her back for a ride home.  After that, I decided to call it a week and sit on the porch with glass of Hendricks the boys in the kitchen got me for my B-day.  I was able to also walk 18 holes of golf on Monday which was a nice way to stretch the legs before this weeks training.

This week will be more of the same.  Short intervals tomorrow and Thursday, some long intervals on Saturday and a MTB ride on Sunday.  Should be a pretty brutal week.

We will also be abstaining from the beer for the next few weeks in an attempt to squeeze into that skinsuit by Moosecross.

See you cats on the cross course.

 

Have another Cocktail!

Been a tough few weeks, but things are getting back on track.  I was partaking in "one too many" of my favorite summertime drink, and ended up paying dearly for it.  Let me describe this particularly nasty concoction for you so you can get a bit of understanding:

2 parts 12-14 hours work days (10hrs of which are on your feet, racing around the resort or on the line)
1 part  limited sleep (4-6hrs per night)
1 part  guilt (for not spending any time with your family)
1 part  interval training (however, not as much as I would like)

Then comes the real the real kicker...the "lack of medication floater".

Let me explain before you guys start to think of me as the second coming of Rush.  I have a degenerative thyroid, which basically means if I don't take my 75mcg of Levoxel everyday, i start to get a little run down.  We discovered this problem about 7 years ago while I was working in Colorado and have learned to manage it with the medication.  If I'm on the meds, all is well.  Miss a few days, no big deal.  Miss a week or so, and its the "permanent hangover" .

This was the case this past month, and it paid me back in spades.  My prescription ran out, and when that happens, I have to go to the doc for a blood test and all that shit.  Well, I just couldn't seem to make time for that and thought maybe I could get away with it for a bit. Bad call.  My summers are so frickin' busy now, that any deviation in this regiment stands out like Sobe sandbagging his way through a Cat 3 crit.

So, we had to change the program once again to let me recuperate from my misgivings.  Good news is everything seems to be coming back together just in time to get three solid weeks of intensity in before the first  races of the season.

My weight is going back down, 226lbs as of this morning, and yesterdays intervals went great.  I did  two sets of 3X2min of above LT on the lower slopes of Teton Pass.  As they were so short, I stood up for the entire two minutes of the intervals and had 3 minutes to recover between each.  Surprisingly I felt pretty strong for all six intervals and feel pretty good today as well.

Tomorrow, we are going to do two more sets of 3X3min above LT with 3 minutes of rest in between.  Then it is on to some Over/Under intervals for Saturday, and a long mountain bike ride on Sunday.  I will follow more or less this same weekly schedule for the next three weeks before a quick rest the week before the first race.

One thing I have noticed is how my body reacts to rest now that I'm older.  I really seem to gain quite abit from extended periods of rest that I don't think I ever had when I was young.  I probably need the rest more now obviously, but I also don't lose as much fitness as I used to.  Kinda cool that way.

Time to get some real work done, and stop taking nips from the glass.

"Daya herd dat?"

These are the words of my soon to be three year old daughter Zoe anytime she hears something out of the ordinary.  Could be a motorcycle going by, an airplane, or the sound an email makes coming through my phone. She is a bit hyper-aware of things like this.

Soon, she will hear a new sound.

You can almost hear it now.  Shhh...be quite and listen.  "Daya herd dat?"  I know, its very faint.  But trust me folks, it will soon be deafening.

That's right...its is the sweet sound of cowbells.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls,....'Cross time is almost here!!!!!!

My excitement is starting to build.  I'm at the point of looking at my 'cross bike, wanting so much to put my fatties on and get going, but know I have yet another month before the first race of the season.

It looks as though I'm going to have a pretty good schedule of racing this season starting Sept 24th for the Kross Kickoff in Victor.  From there, we have the following:

Moose Cross Oct 8-9
Jackson/Victor Weekend Oct 22-23
Crosstoberfest Oct 29-30
Cube Cross #1 Nov 5
Cube Cross #2 Nov 12
State Champs Nov 19-20

After that, it will be time to chill for a bit before hockey starts in Jan.

The training is going OK, not a ton of volume right now, but lots of intensity.  Last Tues was a killer with 36min (3x12min) of Over/Under intervals.  Pretty painful, but great training for 'cross.  I've also been hitting the bike park at the resort, trying to work on my handling skills mostly and just getting comfy on the dirt again.  Once I suit up the 'cross bike with knobs, I'm going to bring it out and ride the easier trails at the park to really dial in my rig.

My weight is now down to 226lbs.  I haven't been losing as much as I have in the past, but then again, I'm not riding as much either.  My intake has gotten back on track, still having a lite breakfast, a large lunch, and passing on dinner.  Skipping dinner has been pretty easy recently as Couloir has been absolutely slammed every night.  My only real vice has been beer.  For a while, I was abstaining completely.  However, considering the fact that I'm amped up on espresso and iced tea (Splenda, no sugar) all night to get through service, a beer after work is the only thing that is getting me to sleep before 1am.  I'm hoping work starts to slack up soon so I can have a bit more time to get it all together before Sept. 24th.

Overall things haven't gone to plan, but haven't gone bad either.  Doesn't really matter though, cause the cowbells are coming, and I love that sweet, sweet sound.

"That day, for no paticular reason, I decided to go for a little run."

These were the immortal words of Forrest Gump in the movie from 1994.  I saw this movie at an 11pm showing in Orlando, FL after my mother told me "you have to go see it!".  As funny as it sounds, this is still one of my favorite movies of all time.  Even funnier, this is exactly how I felt last Sunday morning.

As you read my last post, I was more than a little disillusioned with my training.  I decided I would try to salvage my week with a "free ride" (no structured intervals).  My wife asked me how long I would be gone, to which I replied, "One hour if I feel bad, two if i feel good."  As I pulled away from the house, I noticed I didn't feel too bad, which was suprising since I'd only worked 60 hrs in the last 5 days.

So I put in my tunes (Widespread Panic) and headed toward Driggs on the bike path.  After 20 min, things were feeling pretty good, so I made the turn toward the Tetons for a long gradual false-flat I sometimes use for intervals.  As things were feeling pretty good at this point, I decided I'd just cruise up to Alta at the base of the Tetons.

Once I got to Alta, things started to get interesting.  Just past Alta is the climb to Grand Targhee Ski Resort; probably 5 miles and about 2000' of elevation.  I rode through Alta and onto the climb, telling myself I'd just turn around at the first switchback and head home.

At the switchback, I was really starting to feel good...scary kinda good...good I haven't felt in years, kinda good.  So I decided I go up to the lookout.

At the lookout, I figured I had gone this far, I just go up to the third switchback...

Then, for no paticular reason, I rode all the way to the top.  And I don't mean like grinding along, suffering like a dog.  I mean riding with a rhythm, with purpose.  Breathing in, and breathing out.  Cruising.

Once I turned around, I realized I would only have 45 min. to get back to the house to catch the final stage of the Tour.  So I bombed the decent...white line to yellow line and back again...full tuck...laughing hysterically.

Once back on the valley floor, I wondered if I was being spoiled by some sort of mysterious tailwind.  I was turning over a 48-14 (cross gears) again with this crazy rhythm, breathing in, breathing out.  Passing the flagposts in Driggs, they sat still, barely a flutter to them.

I motored all the way back to Victor, up the false flat to my turn and finally sat up to stretch my legs and cool down.  I was a little late catching the Tour.

I rode for 2hr and 52min at an average heart rate of 142 and maxed out at 167.

If it weren't for wanting some family time at home...I might have ridden clear to the ocean.

The tailgate must be loose...

I have fallen off the wagon.

I always tend to bite off a little more than I can chew.  I think I do that on purpose, my way of keeping myself out of the comfort zone.  It has been my ethos for the past few years that if your not moving forward, your are moving backwards.  Nothing can stay static.  If you are static, your dying.  Maybe call it fear.

This has resulted in more commitments than I can seem to meet.  These past two weeks, I've been super busy with work; a cousin in town trying to learn the ropes of the restaurant biz; a non-profit fundraiser for a vertical greenhouse to be built in Jackson; and a family that doesn't ask when I coming home anymore, but when I have to leave.

Needless to say, this has been very trying on me and those around me.  I have not ridden my bike in 7 days.  Not the best thing for the crux of my 8 week program, but something had to give.  Luckly, the furnace is still warm and I have managed to shed more weight and am now down to 230lbs.

Not that I haven't been screwing that up too.  At least one beer after work every night (more like two); not drinking enough water (my lip is now split from dehydration); and I finally snaped and had a chili-slaw dog with French Fries...yea, I said it...french fries.

I find it kinda funny that in my last post, I was so full of confidence, and now I'm eating french fries, drinking beer, and generally not even trying to get out of bed in the morning to go train (in my defense, it is the only time I seem to have with my family at this point).

So I ask again...where do we go from here?

I guess its time to get up, dust myself off, and get back on the wagon.

I imagine it will leave without me if I'm not careful.

Mmmmm...I make a mean Humble Pie.

Humility is a good thing.  And being a humble person in this day and age is not the most vogue thing, unfortunately.  Now I haven't always been the most humble person (complete understatement).  When I was racing full-time, I may have once or twice said something that could have been misunderstood as being conceded.  And in my current career, I'm sure it could be confused that I'm a little more than confident at times about my abilities.  I blame it on my inability to communicate well (my wife may have said that once or twice).

However, I recently have been learning some serious lessons about humility, and unfortunately I feel the need to share them with all of you.  Now, thankfully, no one reads my blog really anyway.

Otherwise I wouldn't tell you about the humility of being dropped in a Cat. 4 criterium not once, but twice.

I wouldn't really bother to bring up the fact that even though I've lost over 20 lbs in the past 10 weeks, I still look like 10lbs of potatoes stuffed in a 5lb sack in my race kit.

And I surly wouldn't bring up the fact that I drove an hour each way to Idaho Falls for the Alan Butler Memorial Criterium to get dropped after a mere 13 minutes of racing...that's right folks, I made it a whopping 13 mins in my first race on the road in 15 years.

I'm sure I would also neglect to bring up the fact that I was lapped not once...not twice...not three times...not four times...but yes, five times at the Jackson Hole Downtown Criterium.

So what does all this mean?

It means I'm giving everyone fair notice.

As soon as I'm done eating steaming bowl after steaming bowl of humble pie, I'm going to be able to open an icy cold can of Whoop Ass...take that first sip...and say "Ahhh".

I know this is going to be a long road.  It might be this fall,might be next year, but at some point, I will be on the serving end of the humble pie gravy train.

Not a question of if...just a question of when.

How's that for humility?

And then there were intervals...

I have a few minutes, so I'm going to try and get an update in.  Two weeks ago i completed my base training (6 weeks) and trimmed myself down from 255lbs. to a now stout 240 even.  Not too bad, but still a long way to go.  Last week was a rest week where I should have kept up with my training volume, just cut back on any intensity. Well, even the best laid plans don't always come through.  I only got one ride in all week, but considering I opened my fine dining restaurant, took on another business opportunity, began work with a local charity, and had the best fathers day ever with the family...it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

So this week, I have begun my next 8 week cycle.  I will not have another rest week until Aug. 15th-21st.  Gonna be a long two months, but this cycle will be very important for a number of reasons.

1. Invervals.
I haven't done anything even remotely like intervals in 15 years, and even then, I didn't really embrace them as I should.  I will  be doing most of these on flat(ish) roads to work primarily on speed and my lactate threshold.

2.Racing.
I will have my first race in 3 weeks at the Jackson Hole Downtown Criterium on July 10th.  This race should be good with its figure 8 course, flat profile, and good roads.  The high bottom bracket of the cross bike will be suited well, now I just need to get the legs up to speed in order to stay in the group.  This didn't go so well at the last group ride, so everyone cross your fingers.  The end of the eight weeks will culminate with the Idaho State Criterium Championships in Boise which I have set as my first real goal of the year.

3.Investment.
These 8 weeks will be a huge investment for the cyclocross season which will start September 24th.  These weeks I need to see the rest of the weight come off and the leg speed increase.  If all goes well, I will take a four week break from structured training before resuming the really hard part of the year in tune up for the Cross season.  No matter how you cut it, you gotta make regular deposits to the Pain Bank!

4. Motivation
If I can keep it together for the next two months, I should have more than enough investment to see me through the real meat of the season...Cyclocross!!!!!  It also really helps to hear about my best bud Sobe slaying all last weekend in a few races on the east coast.  To hear of Brian winning a field sprint in a criterium, is something a kin to Mark Cavendish winning atop the Tourmelet.  At least to my ears anyway.
Big Congrats Brother!   

That's about all I have for now, I'll get another update out there next week.

Carbon Bling and OTB Joe.

Forgive me father, for it has been weeks since my last confession...

Group rides can be funny things.  Every town has their Tues. Night World Championships, the Wed morning slug fest, or the weekend Death Rides.  Growing up, Brian and I would attend these rides religiously as part of our training.  We had the Sprints at Southpark or the Tampa Crit on Tues.  The San Antonio pro ride on Wed. mornings and the UCF throwdown on Thurs. nights. The weekends were split between Winter Park on Sat. mornings and the Windemere Death Ride on Sundays, or for some real pain, the USF group ride followed by the Tampa Telecom Crit on Sunday afternoon. These were great times, and a great way to test yourself and your form against your peers.  You got an up close and personal look at who was going well and who was not; important information for the next weeks races.

Being my last week of base training I decided to attended my first group ride over in Jackson to see how things were going.  On the fitness side of things, I am still lacking.  When the pace really ratcheted up...I was OTB Joe.  After being shelled like a spent cartridge, I hooked up with another dude in my same position, and traded pulls all the way home.  I felt pretty good for all intents and purposes, just really lack any kind of leg speed.  This makes sense considering I have only really be working on strength for the past few weeks.

I did make some other observations during the evening.

1.  Since when did everyone ride there race wheels at a group ride.  Back in the day, you wouldn't be caught dead riding your nice wheels in training, people would make fun of you.

2.  Since when does everyone sprint out of the parking lot.  Again, back in the day, you took it easy for the first 10K.  You allowed the late comers to catch up, caught up with your buds, and let your legs loosen up a bit before the flogging.

3.  I actually remember how to ride in the group (while I was in the group).  I remembered the little signs, felt the ebb and flow, and generally just felt like a fish in water.  This was probably the best part of the whole evening.  Thankfully, I haven't lost the skills I once had, only the fitness.

See you cats on the flip side, got a rest week coming.

Humble Pie with a Disclamer

This is not a BLOG!  I don't do blogs.  I won't be writing anything witty about current events, global warming, celebrity square dancing, or Lance Armstrong's "thereapy".  If that's what your looking for, go to NYCbikesnob, he does all that stuff.  This is a journal.  A journal about my year trying to become any athlete (or something resembling an athlete) again.  Once upon a time, my best friend Brian Sjoberg and I (with a cast of other characters) used to race our bikes from Florida to Canada and everywhere in between.  And you know what?  We were good.  In our day, we were really good. Winning races, traveling the country, and getting into as much mischief as a van full of teenagers could.  It was a fantastic trip.  But all good things do come to an end, and eventually, it just wasn't fun anymore...

So it was time for a change.  Not really digging college, I switched teams.  From a cycling team to a kitchen team...and loved every minute of it.  Now I was moving around the country every few years with a beautiful wife and two crazy kids, trying to increase my knowledge and my paycheck.  And I did pretty well at that too.  I finally made the big time as an Executive Chef of a large resort in Jackson Hole, WY, had another beautiful daughter, and bought a house.

Unfortunately, all the growth in my life came with a cost to my body.  In fifteen years, I went from 178lbs to 259lbs!  I ate poorly, drank too much, got no exercise...pretty much drove my body into the ground at the expense of my career.  My wife tried, she really did.  She was the only voice of reason and I didn't listen.  I was too caught up in being a chef, which is very easy to do.

So what happened? Why the change now?

In the fall of 2008, a cyclocross race (Moosecross) was put on in my sleepy village.  Having bought a cyclocross bike the year before in order to attempt to start riding again on the dirt roads around my house, I thought why not.  If you have never done cyclocross...it is hard...really hard.  It is basically one 45min Zone 5 interval, if you can imagine such a thing.  However, it also has it's advantages;  only 45 mins long, always in the fall (my restaurants are closed), no hills, and you get to get insanely dirty doing it.  It was an absolute blast, probably the most fun I'd had on a bike in 20 years.  So I hatched a plan to return to racing via cyclocross.  The only problem is...I suck.  I suck bad.  I have zero fitness, little strength, and no cardiovascular health.  At the beginning of this year, my BP was 149/98.  I have since raced Moosecross a few times as well as CubeCross, and not done very well to say the least (lapped by a 16yr old kid on a Mtn bike).  I did score a 4th at Cube Cross a few years back, but really have done no real training and little skills work that are required in 'cross.

So where are we now?

Well, I'm glad to say things are looking better.  My weight is slowly dropping, and my BP is 118/82.  I have mapped out my entire year in three cycles with a bit of rest in between.  I had tried a real training program last year but overreached something fierce.  In a place where you really can't plan on riding on the road until at least mid April, I chose the Moab Gran Fondo as my first goal.  With little more that 12-13 days of riding in my legs, the 66 mile, 5600' elevation gain, ride destroyed me.  I was the dead last finisher at 5:59:36.  Twenty four seconds from not making the time cut.  So needless to say, I have decided to have a more reasonable approach.

I am currently in week 5 of a 6 week "base" cycle.  No, this is not your average base cycle obviously.  I ride between 90-150min, four days per week, with between 20-60min of Tempo depending on the week.  All I'm trying to do at this point is get comfortable, build a little strength, and lose some weight.  I have been moderately successful on all fronts thus far, but still have a long way to go.  So we will just have to see if this old fat man still has a little spark... I'm not make any promises.