Laatste Ronde

I put a big dent in the down tube of my Waterford R-14 a few months ago. I investigated their crash replacement policy but I just don’t have the money right now. Instead, a friend gave me a screaming deal on a Trek 5500 frame and Reynolds Ouzo fork. Yesterday evening I hauled the bike stand out into the driveway and I swapped parts while my kids played in the yard.

First I stripped off the parts from the Waterford and put them in a box. I snipped all the cables and tossed them. I made sure that everything was working acceptably well and cleaned up a few things. Next, I stuffed the seat post into the Trek, hung it from the stand, and started assembling. I was struck at just how simple a bike is. A few easy to comprehend parts that one person can handle with a few special tools. I managed to strip a bike and hang the parts on another frame in a couple of hours. That includes trimming the dérailleurs and brakes and taking it for a spin in the street to make micro adjustments to the seat, bars, and cables. I’m an adequate mechanic and I’m sure the shop guys can smoke me for time. But still, simple.

The bar tape is still in the box and I’ll wrap the bars this evening. It ain’t a Waterford but it feels pretty good — during my several minute test ride in the street with under inflated tires. I think that part of my approval is due to the fact that it’s a road bike. And it feels so much more responsive and light that the Redline with fenders I’ve been riding for months.

I’m going to try to get in the first real ride on Wednesday.

Bikes are cool.

I rode at lunch with some of the usual suspects. One of my teammates made the ride and he’s got pretty good form right now. He was drilling it up the hills and it was pretty hard to hold his wheel. That kind of ride is good for me right now. I don’t have the motivation to go fast unless I get a little push — and he provided that today. It was definitely a fun ride and I’m happy to be out without the wet stuff coming down on my head.

I was planning on beginning my running regime this week but my ankle injury derailed that plan. The ankle feels good now so I believe I am ready to start running on Saturday or Sunday. I’m actually looking forward to it.

Running is part of my overall plan for the season. I had some great ideas for this year but the lousy weather, and to some degree working on the shop, have me reformulating my schedule. I had intended to do two peaks with the first coming up in about a month. That just ain’t happening. Instead, I’m going to just ride, run, and do some yoga (core stuff) for a few months. Starting in late August, I’ll ramp up the intensity and supplement my riding with the Kruger’s series. Starting in August, I’ll schedule my weeks as two on, one off. In the meantime, I want to make sure that I get enough rest and am going to stick to a three weeks on, one week off schedule.

As of right now, I plan to stick with the running to some degree though the end of the season. I’ll have to modulate it to fit in with racing.

That’s it in a nutshell. In the coming weeks, I’ll pen in some more structure but that will get me going for now.

I know I’m almost a week late on this “news” but here it is. The USGP schedule has been announced and it looks pretty much the same as last year. Not that I’m complaining since there will be a pair in my backyard … Here’s the press release:

Saratoga Springs, NY - Cross season is still months but anticipation is already running high and work is underway as the organizers of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross announce the dates and locations for the 2008 Series.

Considered the premiere professional and amateur national series of cyclocross racing the US, the USGP is thrilled to announce their return to Louisville, KY on October 25th and 26th, Mercer County, NJ on November 15th and 16th and Portland, OR on December 6th and 7th. Series founder Bruce Fina said, “We’re thrilled to be returning to three such excellent venues for the second year in a row. Last year’s USGP events were simply outstanding with tremendous support from the both the professional and local racing communities and City goverments. It’s very exciting to return to each of these great Cities knowing that this year will only be bigger and better.”

Kind of embarrassing that they misspelled “goverments” in the note. I think this is a pre-release rather than the official news since it is a one graph blurb tucked away on the USGP site. But still, c’mon.

It’s been cold and rainy for a long time. So when I was able to ride without arm warmers yesterday, I didn’t even think about applying some sunscreen. Consequently, I got a quick start on my cyclist tan lines.

On Friday I wrote about the slow motion crash I had while riding the trails at Lacamas Lake. Well, I rode for an additional 45 to 60 minutes without anything other than some discomfort. Walking around at work was a little painful but not too bad. By the evening, my ankle had swollen and I could hardly walk. Of course I spent Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday at my wife’s shop lifting heavy things, going up and down ladders, running errands, etc. It felt good enough today to go for a ride. Over the course of the day, I’ve bumped it a couple times while getting out of my car — dang that hurts.

But at least the shop it almost ready. I’m about finished with the heavy lifting and most of the inventory is labeled and tucked away. It looks like this Thursday is the opening day.

Today was great. For the first time this year, I was out with bare legs and bare arms. Granted, I’ve missed out on some previous great weather this year so many of my Northwest brethren have already experienced this joy. But it was a real treat for me. I took the cross bike out for a pin around Lacamas Park. It has lots of non-technical trails and multi-use paths with varied surfaces. There are some pretty good hills too. I felt better than I thought I would and had a wonderful time. There are some spots out there with areas of sharp rocks and I did a slow motion biff which resulted in a barked shin and ankle. On the way back to the office, I took the flat path along the lake.

Oh yeah, it was a great day to be on a bike.

Is anyone getting tired of complaining about the weather here in the Northwest? I’m not. On Tuesday I went for a ride in the middle of the day. The hour was pretty nice — fairly dry roads, no precip falling from the sky, and light wind. But with about a half hour to go, the wind gusted and the sky let loose. I was heading down a longish gentle descent and I started to feel the characteristic stinging of graupel on my face. Yeah, that’s right, that crap most of you call hail is really graupel. Graupel is a snowflake coated with rime ice, typically measuring 2-5 mm, and hurts like hell when a swarm slams into your face at thirty miles per.

I took shelter under a convenient fir and waited out the worst of the pellets. When they diminished substantially in size, I soldiered on in a steady hard rain that soaked me through. With only a mile or two to go, the sun broke through and I managed to get a little toasty warm (except for my icy feet and hands) before hitting the showers.

I’m fat again. Okay, not really fat but I’ve gained back about 15 of the 20 I lost last year. I’m pretty disappointed in myself but I’m ready to take control again. For that purpose, I’ve started another blog that’s all about my rather obsessive quest to drop the pounds (again). I figure that not all of my gentle readers want to hear the blow by blow and that’s why I’ve decided to offload that topic to another venue. Anyway, heres the link to Fatty. If you want to join in, stop on by.

Each year since I’ve been racing, I’ve fallen into a serious case of the blahs in the winter and/or spring. The first offseason, I took months to get going. The third, it took me almost six months to sort things out. This year it’s been kind of off and on for a while now but I’ve only had the deep blahs for the past five weeks. The weather is a significant contribution since it’s hard to get motivated to head out in the cold and rain for a bit of a spin. I don’t mind riding in the misty rain but we haven’t gotten much of that this year. The typical shower has been insistent and cold.

This year the rest of my life has intruded on my riding as well. My daughter is going to a school twenty minutes by car from home and my work. I am splitting commuting duties with my wife so I don’t have the luxury of the daily cycle commute anymore. The ride was only 20-24 minutes each way but through the winter, it was enough to keep some semblance of fitness. My wife is opening a yarn and fabric shop and I’ve been spending a lot of time painting and building bookshelves and cabinets for the shop — not to mention schlepping lots of heavy stuff around. The shop only carries natural fibers (no acrylics here) and has some lines of organic fibers too.

I tell myself that I really need to take it easy for a while each year. I make the argument that by losing some fitness I can achieve the panic that drives my training. I gently whisper that a little break from the saddle prevents burnout. But all of those rationalizations sound hollow when the legs are slow and the hills seem much steeper than they were in the Fall.

The weather has been terrible for much of the Spring but I keep hoping that warmer weather is just around the corner.

Are there any poetry fans out there? Perhaps you will recall that William Carlos Williams poem that he reportedly left for his wife where he apologizes without really apologizing at all. I was reminded of it by a recent “This American Life” episode and thought it would be fun to write a spoof. While it’s not cyclocross, it’s still cycling and topical.

This is just to say (from Boonen to Ballan and Cancellara)

I sprinted around you for the victory
Your legs had nothing left
Forgive me, the win inside the velodrome was amazing