Heaven Knows...

A GREAT tune by the legendary Robert Plant. I respect his work with Led Zeppelin, but am all about his solo career. One word- AMAZING. So yesterday evening I decided to cancel my doctors visit. I'm not ready to discuss medicines. I know there are drawbacks on both sides of the fence, but I'm not ready to choose what side of he fence I want to be on, or MAYBE I did by cancelling the visit. I instead decided to stay a bit longer during the outing my boss had at the Taste of Chicago. Good time... I enjoyed the Goat and Plantains the most of all things I sampled. The weather was picture perfect and the company was good. "The Taste" has live bands each night, and on stage were Los Lonely Boys, and a bit later was Los Lobos. I went and caught some of the Los Lonely Boys . I managed to move up in the crowd to a good spot, and had fun. I called over to the house to rub it in that I was at a concert I wasn't planning on attending particularly because my "Long Time Personal Manager" digs this band. The joke would be on me shortly after. I decided to leave instead of staying for Los Lobos, so I could get home considering I'd been at work since about 6AM. On my way home I get a text from my boss saying Robert Plant is on stage. I ttotally thought she was fcking with me, SHE WASN'T... I MISSED seeing Robert Plant!!!!!!!!! albeit for only one song, but the fact I was there shortly before he was, and the fact I missed it completly sucked LOL At any rate at least it makes for a good story, and hopefully ALL YOU READERS got a good laugh today.  In hind sight his he covers a Los Lobos song on his latest album (that comes out in September) so there you have it.

I proceeded to go home and pull out the guitar for a bit of a Led Zep medley Heart Breaker and Nobodys Fault But Mine were the songs of the day.










Tonight is round 2 for the group run I've recently organized and promoted in the church bulletin. We're hoping to get a growing number of runners that come out for this. Last week was the kick off run but 10 minutes before the start, green/black storm clouds and sirens promply put an end to that. Today I see nothing but sunshine and temps in the mid 70s.
ROCK ON...
Ray

1 Hour (and you can't have it all)

Ever since I got serious about riding and became familiar with the local roads, I've been doing a time trial test on a 20 mile loop. It's hilly, and a great route for gauging where I'm at. Since the 90s (when I rode a LOT) I always set the benchmark at 1 hour. If I can break 1 hour I considered myself in reasonably good shape. Funny, you never WANT to go out and do it, but Friday morning prior to a long weekend away, I decided to jump into the paincave and see how I would do. Turns out I clocked in at 58 minutes and some change! Strange but I haven't had a lot of much needed self confidence this year, but a ride like this sure helps.

 The downside is I wen't out for a long run Saturday morning with my brother (who is training for a marathon) and he clearly smoked me the entire time. In years past I always outran him- every race, but 2 years of intervals and 2 seasons of marathon training has clearly made him superior to me on foot. I hardly run and right now it shows.- this coming from someone who recenty started a local running group LOL. At least my SIDI's look much cooler than his Nike's...

Somebody get me a Doctor

YES that is indeed one kick A$$ song by the MIGHTY Van Halen! It's also the issue at hand. I have a doctors appointment today and I've been contemplating cancelling it all week. Sometimes I'd prefer to ignore stuff and hope for the best, or try it MY WAY. Other times I ever so slightly trust in medicine. I had a similar issue about 6 years or so ago and it got me in trouble. SUCKS! that some things are hereditary.... Life as I know it includes meds for hypertension and cholesterol. It took a long time and like I said I ultimately found myself in a very scary situation for quite a while because I didn't want to take meds. It's crazy thinking. As an athlete you think your better and don't need meds. You also worry about how it will affect performance. etc. I'm in a similar situation and thank goodness I'm not in a crisis mode with my health, but nonetheless it's an issue that needs to be dealt with... Considering how a return to bike racing hasn't worked out for me, I shouldn't dwell on an impact to performance, but who out of any of us wants to slow down? Life is not easy. To add to it I'm supposed to go out with my boss and some coworkers for our annual summer outing tonight, prior to my doctors visit, and I haven't bailed (yet) WTF to do....

dirty news

Out near the trails I frequent they opened a new bike shop.http://www.2bici.com/ named 2 Bici bicycle shop. I stopped in to say hi and introduce myself to the guys. This is the 2nd time a shop opened in that space, but maybe these guys can "ride it out", so to speak :). The shop guys recognized me from the trails and a kit I was wearing. So we talked it up for a while, and off I went. The trails are getting close to ridable, but the recent rains have kept everybody off them. I found a good stretch on some high grounds and did what I could to ride dirty but it wasn't much. I need to, and want to, get myself out there regularly so I can really get myself dialed in with my position on this relatively new bike. I've decided to keep the new full suspension Specialized Stumpjumper instead of going back to the Rockhopper Pro. I was going to sell the full suspension to cover the cost of some wheels I recently bought, but instead decided to give it to one of the boys (kind of) He can ride it comfortably with the seat a bit low and a short stem on it. So he will be able to ride a really nice first mountain bike anytime we go out on the trails. It will stay in the coral the rest of the time because I don't want him trashing it under normal everday use like a typical teenager would. He hasn't caught on to the respect and care one needs to give to a bicycle (yet). He dug it and rode well the first time we went out together a few weeks ago too.He's a very talented cross country runner and knowing how well cycling can compliment running from a cross training perspective, and the fact that I may have found a GREAT way to bond as he gets older, I'm sure everyone wins, and paying off the wheels is secondary in importance compared to what the 2 of us can gain from riding (together) nice...So while I'm waiting for the trails to get a bit more dry and ridable I will dial in the cleats on some new shoes and get the bar height,  seat height, set back shock pressures etc etc just right with some rides on the road and multitrack if ridable. The one thing that sucks is the fact that there is tooooo many things to dial in for that perfect ride when you find yourself on a rather complicated full suspension mountain bike. Sometimes simple is best, but I'll take the time to benefit from the technology of today by being patient and working on all the necessary adjustments. UGH...
I want to be in good shape for the Palos meltdown in August, and hopefully get better results than the Sylvan island race I did back in April. This one is close to home and special considering I have been riding those trails forever.
As far as the running scene goes, I put an advertisement in the churches bulletin advertising a weekly Wednesday night run that starts in the schools parking lot. Over themonths/years I've seen a good number of people I know running thru the village and figured the Mob Rules! (obvious reference to a great Black Sabbath song and album)and I figured lets run together. I figure all it takes is a small amount of organization, and getting the word out there. I now have a night dedicated to running with my long time personal manager LOL, and can make it interesting by bringing some friends and aquaintances together as well. Maybe even be a positive inspiration to someone who's "sitting on the fence" to get back out there and get in shape. It's not like we all don't NEED to do that in one form or another for SO MANY different reasons. Let's see how this goes (in the long run) - a reference to an Eagles song ;)
Allez!
Ray

damn...

"Damn" is a mildly profane word used in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. The use of "damn" in Rhett Butler's parting line to Scarlett O'Hara in the film Gone with the Wind in 1939 captivated moviegoers with "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."


"Damn" is also used in some areas of the world [where?] as an exclamation when an extremely attractive person or object of approval is located; e.g. "Damn, he/she is fine" or perhaps "Damn, he has a nice car!". "Hot damn" may be used similarly, but it is somewhat distinct; for example, if one says, "Joe just won the lottery," a response of "Damn!" on its own can indicate disapproval, but "Hot damn!" indicates approval or surprise or pain.

"Damned" is also used as an adjective synonymous with "annoying" or "uncooperative," or as a means of giving emphasis. For example, "The damn(ed) furnace isn't working again!" or, "I just washed the damn(ed) car!" or, "The damn(ed) dog won't stop barking!" (The word "damned" is usually only used in North America, whereas in other English speaking countries the word is simply "damn".)

"Dang" or "darn" are sometimes used as euphemisms, specifically minced oaths, for damn.

that's all I can say...
Ray

climbing

I love the hills, and am in awe of mountain roads. I often daydream how epic it would be to find myself in places like Colorado or better yet on one of the countless famed European climbs. What I don't like is the climb back into a training routine after being out of it for a few weeks. YES vacation was a great time, but the amount of time riding and running shows. TOO MUCH comfort food lately hasn't helped any either.I miss that "sharp" feeling you get when your legs have that snap, and you've been in a good routine for a number of weeks. If there is a theme this year it is the fact that I have not been able to get into a consistent,stable routine. YES I've been riding, and to a lesser extent running, but it has not been with the consistency, determination, and precision as I had hoped. The consolation is it's not even the first day of summer, and I've got more miles in my legs than last year :) I wonder why I feel so out of it then?!I don't feel "driven" I'm still hoping to at least get a timetrial (or 2) in this season, and I'd like to get at least 3 mountain bike races in. I'm signed up and look forward to the Palos meltdown in August, and Chequamegon's fat tire festival in September, and as far as the road, I'm REAL excited to see that there are about 50 days until the Madison Wisconsin GranFondo. That's as close as I'm going to get to group road racing, and the event looks to be a great ride.Maybe it's the fantasy of riding a long tour stage on some great challenging roads that makes it so appealing. Much more so than 30 minutes plus X laps in a industrial park with the threat of burning the lycra being more so than a remote possibility. That's what seems to be the case in too much of my reading and  I never liked crits anyway, they aren't in my future. It's a shame the racing scene doesn't offer much more than that. So my racing schedule doesn't show to be full of races, but due to my schedule, and what I want to do, it fits me just fine. You have to keep it interesting for YOU to make it work right? Now to once again get myself back on track (maybe mentally?)...
Allez!
Ray

an ongoing artistic theme

 These shots are of road bikes I've ridden in front of a grotto dedicated to the Madonna located at a historical church/cemetery named Saint James of the Sag near Lemont/Palos Illinois. Fine Italian cycling  combined with the classic religous background seem to go hand in hand.