Monday, March 29, 2010

All these dirty directions

This past weekend I did what I've been putting off for a number of reasons including weather etc. I hit the trails on my new mountain bike (by new I mean Feb 11th 2010...) The problem is I have been on a rigid bike forever. I don't like dialing in a bikes fit because it is very time consuming, and a general pain in the ass. But once I do it, I dont fcuk with it much after that and it usually works out pretty well. So Saturday I rode with all stock equipment. Most importantly the raised bars. I decided to give them a chance. So I rode with a collection of allen keys and raised and lowered a few times. I decided I'd have to go with the flat bars from my old bike. So now I'm commited, I have to take apart the bike I'm used to and commit to the new full suspension bike. I had a bit of comfort knowing I could have switched pedals if need be and ride what I was used to in Aprils race, but my initial impression with the new bike justified taking the old bike apart. Sunday I returned to the forest with flat bars installed and allen keys in pocket.. A few things to point out. Both Saturdays ride and Sundays, I was pleasantly surprised with how the brand new ride handled on a number of sections I thought I would have been sketchier on. Especially since I was just starting to get used to the ride. Another really nice thing I noticed is for all purposes the bike feels like a hard tail until it encounters a bit of rough, then it floats me thru it and goes back to feeling like a hard tail when finished.The one nice thing with a mountain bike is you can adjust saddle height a bit easier than the road bikes thanks to the quick release. So YES I moved the saddle up-down-up-down-up and at one point it felt ok toward the end of the ride so there it stayed.. I've still got some homework to do. The  fork is a good one but I really think it can be dialed in better. Thats the thing I DON'T like about modern day mountain biking, too many adjustments. I HAD to read the suspension frames manual over the weekend and that's one of the reasons I think the frame rode as surprisingly nice as it did. I now need to see how to get rid of the reactions of the fork I don't like. More reading and adjusting. Hard tails and road bikes simply need micromilimeter adjustments with the same tape measure you've used for the last 20 years and its all good LOL. Now with the wonders of off road technology there are shock pumps, micro adjust rebound knobs, and rebound adjustors.Dampening, lock outs, brain rebound HOLY SIHT! You wonder why the bike sat? I didn't even have to mention trails in the midwest can't be ridden in March because thats when winter is washing itself away.Back to Sunday or day 2, I rode on a long roller coaster single track thet ran about a mile and a half long. A great run. I was again surprised at how I was able to ride thru these constant twists and rollers easier. Day two's thoughts are that the bike is definitley not holding me back and when I'm dialed in I think i'm really going to like this thing.  To think I'm still waiting for cleats for my new off road shoes. Thats going to be another days of adjusting...So yeah, it was more on the ride off the bike adjust, and repeat than it was miles and miles of great riding but it was a necessary evil and one I put off long enough.The end result is it's starting to come together, and just when the trails are drying out. Perfect timing I guess, it just didn't need to be so damn complicated.


allez
ray

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

a reason to run

My entire athletic life I've always done it for me, always focused on the PR, or beating my brother LOL. Then something happened about a year or so ago. My LPM (Long time Personal Manager LOL) needed help preparing for a half marathon. She always has done a number of 5ks each summer, but now wanted to step up to bigger things. It became an hour or so of good quality long runs on Sundays. Time just for us. YES the pace was slow, and at times I felt like I could be keeping up with a brisk walk. Then it happened, I no longer cared how fast the pace was, I focused on how she was doing, then it progressed. She ran into a number of injury, and fitness related hurdles. It then became something much bigger. I developed a training regimen for her. Cross training activities, weight training plans, pep talks, the whole shabang. It's been a good experience for me to share my knowledge, its been a great opportunity to add something for us to do together. Last weekend I ran the Shamrock shuffle with her. I was not running for me, I was running WITH her. Encouraging and motivating her when necessary. We crossed the finish line holding hands, and it BETTER have been photographed! So FORGET about the finish time (55:08) or the pace, or the placing. I was there for her, and approach the whole experience as a selfless act, a way to give back, and it's been a GREAT addition to our relationship. It's wonderful to see her develop as an athlete, and make her own personal strides. It will be interesting to see where this goes, if I were to guess I'd venture to say Triathlons?. Considering how she is ALWAYS there for me, and has been a silent $ponsor to my years of bike related expenses for the last 20 years, it's the least I can do. I will no doubt find a few interesting runs to do on my own, but I'm commited to helping here every step of the way regardless of pace ;) It's one of my lifes purposes, and thanks to her I've realized it's value...
Allez
Ray

Saturday, March 20, 2010

weather, suspension headaches, inner harmony, and up the irons

Shame, it's been in the 60s a few times this week, and I did not find myself happily rolling down the roads due to the need to make a living, and a hellish few days at the "W word". The week has actually been a pretty low quality series of workouts. So here is the weekend and the temps have DROPPED, and I'm actually looking at snow/sleet blowing sideways as I type. It's March, and this is how it's supposed to be. I could do without the rain, because that's going to be a showstopper for any riding today, and I HAVE the free time to do it GRRRR.I think I will take advantage of todays free time and try to get fit and adjusted to my new MTB. Its a GASP Full suspension ride and along with that comes a hundred different adjustments to make air pressure seat height shock dampening, etc etc. The thought of that makes my head hurt, and I've been putting it off for at least a month now. Rigis bikes are simpler nuff said...
So I'm still taking Saturday morning YOGA, and continue to enjoy it, especially afterward when I can feel the benefits of the stretches, postures and limberness thanks to all the poses. Note to self, being the only dude in the class isn't all that bad either :) That, and the fact it's something my long time personal manager and I have included in our quality time activities. Last but certainly not least, I have scored 2 tickets to see Maiden in July with boy #1. I look forward to things like this because as they get older it becomes harder and harder to find things to do together, that he WANTS to do with me... So UP THE IRONS!!
allez
Ray

Monday, March 15, 2010

When did Merckx find the time?

Funny, you always read about how Eddie would tweak his position on the bike sometimes even during a race adjusting saddle height etc. So this past week I replaced my stem and by Saturday I had only ridden the new length stem on the rollers once midweek. I faced a dilemma. sunday was a team development ride that I wanted to go to. It was a 90 miler and that is cause in and of itself to take notice. I decided not to go, and do a local ride instaead to be sure I was comfortable on the bike with the new stem. GOOD thing I did, because I swaer I adjusted the height of the stem and tilt of the bars about hald a dozen times before I found the sweet spot.  The new position feels comfortable, and this is after getting in a solo 60 mile effort. MAN! I don't even want to think about the headache I'm going to have when I start to dial in my new road shoes from SIDI. THAT involves the saddle height as well as the cleats. :( I guess it's the yang to the yin of picking up some SWEEEET new "Ruby Slippers" NOTE I've been in the same TIME shoes for the last 10 plus years...
allez!
Ray

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Crazy racing?

Over the last couple of days I've stumbled upon race info for a couple events that look pretty "interesting". For whatever reason I'm seeing a pattern where I'm starting to gravitate toward the more "interesting" events, as opposed to your typical races. Think it all started when I decided to do the  Madison-Chicago 200 relay race last year.That was WAYYYY cool. The first one that caught my eye is the quarryman challenge, which is a 10 mile run in Lemont on what I know to be a brutally hilly route. The funny thing is I'm trying to talk my brother into doing it, and he has no idea what awaits. To be fair, hes in some decent shape coming off a very respectable under 4 hour marathon last year in Chicago.
The other race is a 10 hour 75 mile course in the Mineral Point/Blue Mounds area in Southwest Wisconsin on August 28th.The Unnamed Epic!  It looks tough, but can easily help justify the new full suspension bike I now own. I should be in some pretty good condition coming off of the Madison Gran Fondo a few weeks earlier, so the timing looks good. So forget about racing around an industrial park, or yet another downtown 5k. Got to keep it interesting...
allez!
Ray

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

48 hours gives you a lot of time for reflection...

So yeah... I've been down and out with the flu, and with not being able to do anything other than stare at the ceiling or mindlessly at the TV for 2 and a half days,  it gave my mind PLENTY of time to reflect on a WHOLE bunch of topics. Without typing pages and pages of stuff I thought I would touch on the one that hit home the most. OK I rarely get sick, and when it's the flu it all but kills me. This time around it came after a harder longer ride, and to be honest I was scared that it wasn't the flu. I thought my body was reacting to the training in a negative way, and I was in the beginning phases of a legitimate health scare. You see a number of years ago I encountered a legitimate health scare and it was the single most scary thing I've ever experienced in my life. To this day it lingers in the quiet recesses of my mind.... So I'm thinking it's poor diet?, its a heart ailment due to some hereditary issues? It's the fact  I'm in my 40's, and jumping back into intense training after all these years and my body can't handle it and I'm bringing on my demise with the focus and determination that sop many athletes have toward training? Something that due to some issue in the past is going to do me in? To be honest, I was "running scared" (well "staring at the walls" scared). Could my previous indescretions at living well be dooming me? Was I in for a downfall as scary as I experienced a number of years ago? Having all this internal chatter going on when you can hardly get thru the day because of weakness, and illness puts one on the losing side of controlling one's Mitote. Then came the thinking thru the currenty career issues, but we're not going there today. So anyway, shame on me but I was somewhat relieved when one of my boys had to stay home from school today because they've come down with the flu bug. I guess I'm doing alright outside of being sick, I just have to get my strenght back. That and follow thru on a couple diet ideas, even some lifestyle (read that stress management) areas as well. NOT that "the voice" isn't hiding in the recesses of my mind...  DAMN that FLU
Allez
Ray

Monday, March 8, 2010

Jinxed by a blog post

About a week or so ago I read a blog post about someone who went to work out and shortly after getting back home was hit with the flu. I shuddered at the thought of how bogus that was for her. Little did I know...
So yesterday was a long ride with a friend/teammate, and I felt lousy from the start. I blamed it on the steak (out of the ordinary) meal from Saturday night at Gibsons. So off we go climbing etc for almost 4 hours. The whole time I was "off". I walk in the door as tired as anyone would be after a 4 hour ride im March and immediately was hit wth the flu. I have not eaten post ride, have no energy, and am screaming in discomfort. THIS SUCKS! The crazy thing is when I was REALLY struggling up the climbs etc, I was thinking my fitness level is not what I thought (not that I'm stellar by any stretch), and the longer the ride proceeded the more the self talk became, "you're out of your league, and should reconsider what your currently involved in..." So all I can say dare I say it is I'm glad it's the flu, and not the fact that training isn't working... CRAZY. It's been a very tough 24 hours so far.

Friday, March 5, 2010

DAMN training camp would be cooool - in San Luis Obispo at that!

I'm fortunate enough to be involved with a team this year, and with it comes the added responsibility and time dedicated to training, team meetings and everything else one gives up or does to ride competitively. Now when I heard about the team having training camps in mountainous regions of our great country, I instantly became jealous. It's events like that you only think about when it comes to the pro teams. To have it available to the team I'm on kicks A$$, but the cost and time to do it this year isn't part of my RAYality. I'ts nice to know that MAYBE next year I can further progress down the road to being a "EuroTrash Wannabe". Thank god the local weather for this weekend looks to be the nicest of the year so far. Temps hitting near 50 will probably mean that I will muster every hour and amount of energy to get in some mad mileage.
allez
Ray

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

s1gn of th3 times

The one thing I didn't like with the olympics were the snowboarder uniforms. Granted the look of the baggy jeaned flannel hoodie closely resembles "the younger generation and how it swings" (<-Van Halen Reference) I would think they would go the snowsuit look like all the other athletes did. I was equally as dissapointed when I seen ed hardy mickey mouse designs in a lot of shops on the hallowed disney grounds. Not knocking ed hardy, but disney used to be the mouse ,white gloves, yellow shoes, and the occasional wizard cap and riteous cape.... Didn't need the look of tag art all over. All this probably started when MTV was born. seriously.....

Monday, March 1, 2010

The paincave plague seens to be spreading

It's interesting, but I have heard and read a vast number of complaints (especially regarding attitude) from a lot of winter athletes. Let's face it, we've been stuck in garages and basements. Regardless of how interesting you make "the cave", riding a windtrainer, rollers, running on a treadmill, nordic trac etc, AND dealing with snow covered roads more than neccessary SUCK. At first it was a couple people, but it sure seems to be a timely issue recently. I'm not burned out yet though, not sure if it's because I've been able to mix it up enough to keep it interesting, or if it's because outside of a couple rare occurences, I've limited myself to 1 hour riding indoors and I refuse to use the treadmill. Granted, if it wasn't for being outdoors on the road a few times over the last couple weeks I might have a different attitude, all in all, I'm doin fine...
Allez
Ray