I hate my trainer

Some days you have it and some days you don't. I put in 2 hours on the trainer yesterday and it seemed like I was re-living Debates Devos 2007. It was a tempo ride, (zone 3), which was a snap last Sunday but just a pain yesterday. The previous day's volume was 3 hours which went pretty well. Perhaps the accumulated stress just took its toll. Anyway, I am looking forward to the RR week that comes up next. Today calls for 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Lastly

Still more...

The Master

Now that kid was good wasn't he? Check out the real thing now, John Henry Bonham. What has always been amazing to me is that Bonham made so much sound without using double base drum rigs or double base drum pedals like so many drummers use today. He did it all with an amazing sense of rhythm. It is just my opinion but I think he is the prototypical rock and roll drummer. Watching other drummers emulate him is a thrill to watch.

Seething with envy...

I have been playing drums since high school. Basically, I am a very ordinary hacker type drummer, (way better than Jake Ritlewski though.) I was working in my studio today and put this little ditty on for some entertainment and was absolutely shocked. This kid is amazing! Enjoy.

Merry Christmas

If you're like me, you got up this morning, made coffee and sat down for a quick look at the Freep and the local blogs. The family is still asleep waiting on the agreed upon time to check out their gifts.

This has been a wonderful Christmas and I want to pay tribute to my wife. It is her birthday today and she has been a great cheerleader for the cyclists in this house. She goes to all our races, cheers us on, pins jerseys and exhibits enormous amounts of patience with the long hours of training we do. Not only that, but she makes Christmas happen in our house. Thank you Jeanne and happy birthday!

To all my readers, I wish you a very happy Christmas and a blessed, fast and safe new year.

Blogging in winter...

Sometimes it seems like I should just mothball this thing until spring. Really, what is there to talk about? Well, I guess there are a few things. On January first, the First Dozen ride takes place in Dearborn. This was a lot of fun last year as we gathered the SLC team in Northville and road to Dearborn for the ride. John Rigdon won the thing and just might have big plans again this year.

If you can make it to that parking lot corner of W. Cady and S. Center St. in Northville, come on down and join us. I don't have a time yet but will post one when it is agreed upon.

I had a great tempo workout on the computrainer last night. I was shocked at how strong I felt holding 230 watts for an hour and fifty minutes. My heart rate averaged 150 bpm. It is still early in the base building phase but I feel as though I am gathering strength and building a sound base of aerobic fitness. Steve McGregor is a genius.

Flying the line and other life events

I am presently seated in seat 4c on a NWA regional jet winging my way back to the "D" from Savannah, GA. I dropped off one of our airplanes this morning for an inspection. Savannah was cold but bright, clear and no snow. Metro airport was still digging out this morning. We had a clear path to the runway but it was still pretty slick. The runway was in very good shape. We blasted through the clouds early on and broke out on top in time to view a beautiful sunrise. What a privilege it is to do what I do for a living. There's no way I could describe adequately what it is like to rocket down the runway in this amazingly powerful jet, lift off the runway at 140 miles per hour then climb through a low cloud deck at 5,000 feet per minute then fly out of the top of that same cloud deck. We sometimes take if for granted and cease to be amazed but not today. It was amazing.

Blog Changes

Some of you have noticed I deleted some comments recently and weren't pleased. First off, please forgive me for doing this to you but I have been allowing anonymous comments and that potentially invites graffiti type comments. Some blogs I read get some real off-color stuff in their comments section and I don't really want that so all comments from now on will require you to register with blogger. It is painless and that will make sure we have the necessary context when reading them. When we are anonymous we may be tempted to write something we might not otherwise post. Thanks for understanding.

Week 2 of Base

The volume is kicking up to 16.5 hours this week. It is going to be a real challenge getting it done due to a challenging trip I have to crew mid-week. I think I have a plan that will work but it will involve hotel stationary bikes.

Race Calendar

Have you all noticed that the Wolverine TT is going to be the day after Dexter? Hines is going to be the day after BTR again. That's the way it has to be I guess but racing Dexter Saturday then the TT Sunday is going to have some affect on my time. It is going to take some planning to get maximum performance on those TT's.

Today's Sweatcast

Sweatcast today from 1:30-3:00pm EST. Ciao.

Our First Sweatcast

Wow that was a HUGE success!! It was great to have Fabian, Tom B. and George stop by. Thanks for helping James out with his pedal stroke George! I just want to make a cautionary note here to the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders...we are running a very "G" rated sweatcast and it is not a kind of online hook-up thing. You have all been banned!

Value Added

For those of you who use Yahoo Messenger, I will be broadcasting my workout today from 1230pm to 230pm. Come on by and say "hi". My Yahoo Messenger ID is dander10. See you there.

Almost forgot

One thing left out in the update was that I got a flu shot. After what I went through last year I want to do everything possible to be flu free in '08.

The latest...

All the news that's fit to print...


The Gala SLC End of Year Party

Saturday was the end of year party and it was well attended by the team. We enjoyed pizza, salad, pop and a rousing presentation by our own John Rigdon. The big news here is we had a chance to see our new cat 3 team all in one place and it was a beautiful thing. James commented to me that we have a "very strong team". I guess you have to get everyone in the room to get the full-on realization that we have the personnel to put the hurt on the cat 3 field next year. We are not resting on our laurels and are still looking for more riders who fit with our team. My hope was to have 25 riders. We won't make that but we will still have a large team numbering over 10 somewhere.

Computrainer Epiphany

No question this thing is the shizzle but they provide some of the lousiest supporting documents I have ever seen. Vague nondescript manuals that leave you wondering what is going on. The thing to do is try different things to make it talk, so to speak. My concern was that it wasn't calibrated and I was right. Using the manual and extrapolating, I discovered how to calibrate this thing so that a 250 watt 10 minute interval is not a near-death experience. After calibration I was floating up to 220 watts without a whole lot of stress. The HR would climb to around 150 bpm but that was it which, as you can imagine, pleased me greatly. It also explained why Bikeboy had such a rough time with it.

Interval day

I just stopped by the computer on my way to the torture chamber for 1.5 hours plus 2 x 10 zone four's. I am procrastinating, big time. Made myself an espresso to get through it all. After I need to go to the gym and by then a million other things will be clamoring for my attention.

Base training starts next week with 14 hours. Let the games begin. The season begins in earnest.

BTW Doug, it looks like I am going to pull through. It doesn't look so good for you. If you don't make it can I have your new DA grouppo?

Last Bike Will and Testament

Still not better today. In view of that and the Cat's most recent request, I hereby bequeath, upon my death, my Mavic SL wheels to Doug "the Cat" Gatto. Goodbye cruel world!

Sick

I finally succumbed to the same bug that has picked off each of my family members. Thursday night saw the onslought begin with a sore throat and fever. I medicated with Motrin and the fever subsided. I awoke feeling pretty good the next morning so I flew a trip to New York. We toured around Chinatown, Little Italy and Greenwich Village. At dinner I developed the fever again and had to buy Motrin since I was a long way from the hotel.

Still down today but hoping tomorrow will be better.

Solvang Hotel

For those of you following the training camp developments, the hotel is now the Royal Scandinavian in Solvang. They came in with a pretty good rate that beat the Marriott by $60/night.

Not so great

I put in two hours on the Computrainer today including two ten minute zone 4 intervals. I couldn't believe how hard it was to hold 250 watts. Curumba! I stink. Lots of work to be done. From there it was over to the gym for weight training.

Solvang

The Solvang training camp is beginning to form up. The camp will be February 27 - March 5 and will billet at the Buellton Marriott. The Carmichael camp will be there that week also.

Is Lance Next?

Marion Jones' results annulled on doping

By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports WriterFri Nov 23, 5:36 PM ET

Her career in disgrace and a prison sentence possibly looming, Marion Jones can longer even take solace in seeing her name beside her greatest feats in the record books.

What's more, track and field's governing body also wants Jones — who insists she is broke — to pay back about $700,000 of her winnings.

The International Association of Athletics Federation on Friday annulled all of her results dating to September 2000, including her Olympic and world championship titles, because of doping and told her to return her prize money from that period.

The organization also recommended that Jones' relay teammates be disqualified and lose their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

A man who answered the phone at Jones' home in Austin, Texas, said she had no comment.

The IAAF council also upheld the two-year ban imposed on Jones by U.S. officials. She retired last month after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators in 2003. Jones admitted she had taken the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001.

A man who answered the phone at Jones' home in Austin, Texas, said she had no comment.

Jones won gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 and the 1,600-meter relay in Sydney, as well as bronzes in the 400 relay and long jump. At the 2001 worlds, she won the 200 and the silver medal in the 100.

Jones has returned her five Olympic medals and agreed to forfeit all results dating to Sept. 1, 2000. But it's still up to the IAAF and International Olympic Committee to change the record books and revise the medals.

The IAAF said Jones was disqualified from all competitions since Sept. 1, 2000, with all results erased. That includes all relays, not just individual events.

The IAAF added Jones must return all awards, medals and money from that period. IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said Jones can't compete again unless she pays back the approximate $700,000.

Athletes who are eventually upgraded stand to receive a share of Jones' prize money. However, it's uncertain whether they will ever get the money because Jones is said to be broke.

Even though Jones has retired, she is officially suspended until Oct. 7, 2009. Jones would have to give the IAAF 12 months' notice if she wants to return to competition after the ban, Davies said.

The IAAF did not take a position on whether Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou should be upgraded to the Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters. That will be up to the IOC, which has authority over Olympic medals.

"We recommend that (the) IOC take the final decision," IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said.

Thanou and fellow Greek runner Kostas Kenteris failed to show for drug tests on the eve of the 2004 Athens Games, claiming they were injured in a motorcycle accident and eventually pulled out. They were later banned for two years.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has said there will be no automatic upgrade, and that only "clean" athletes will be moved up in the medals. The IOC is considering whether to leave the 100-meter winner's place vacant.

IAAF president Lamine Diack, who has branded Jones "one of the biggest frauds in sporting history", was at the meeting in Monte Carlo but did not speak to reporters.

Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas was the silver medalist behind Jones in the 200 meters, while Tatiana Kotova of Russia was fourth in the long jump. They could now be awarded gold and bronze by the IOC.

Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, Tasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson won golds as part of the 1,600-meter relay in Sydney. Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson were on the 400-meter relay team.

It's now up to the IOC to decide if Jamaica gets gold in the 1,600 relay and France bronze in the 400.

As for the 2001 worlds in Edmonton, Alberta, Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas moves up to gold in the 200, Latasha Jenkins of the United States to silver and Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands to bronze.

In the 100, won by Zhanna Block of Ukraine, Thanou would move from bronze to silver, and Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas from fourth to bronze.

"There is awareness of the situation for sure," Davies said. "But there is also the fact there is no reason we have at the moment why she (Thanou) shouldn't have the medal."

Enough

Uncle! Enough! No mas! I give! Go away! Never again! Goodbye cruel bird!

Back from Europe

I just returned from a short trip to Europe last night. This is my preferred Euro-trip. Just enough time to get a meal or two and walk the city. They have such a healthy attitude towards bikes over there. The Swedes commute on bikes and bike paths allow safe commuting anywhere in the city. I never, not once, saw a bike sharing a road with a car. Amazing. Bikes were parked everywhere around restaurants and shops. And you know what else? I can't remember seeing one obese person!

I cruised a bike shop on one of my walks. They have the most intricate townie bikes. Generators are built into the wheel hubs to provide power for lights. There were a few road bikes and a lot of mountain bikes but for sure it was the townie bike that was front and center.

Today being Thanksgiving, I will hit the bike for a couple of hours to make room. I ate way too much on the trip.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

A Peak Into The Inner Workings of My Mind

When I was a kid, Monty Python was on PBS every week and I loved it. Check this one out...pure magic!

Leaving Miami

I write this post from seat 11D on a NWA Airbus. We flew our last simulator ride this morning, turned in our rental car and shuttled to the terminal for a two hour and forty-five minute flight back to Detroit. The weather in Miami was nothing short of spectacular this week. The homecoming will be sweet tonight and I wouldn't want to live anywhere that Mrs. Jean Anderson and her three kids dwell but there are times when I wished she lived somewhere else; maybe near a beach. Maybe somewhere a little warmer? We talk about it all the time. You know, how we would like to escape the dismal Michigan winter but then spring comes again and we enjoy the incredible summer that makes us a bit forgetful. Contentment is one of those things that often eludes and I am no different than most.

For those of you who fear the long winter with me, you may be interested in a little project I am working on. Solvang, CA is well known for its fabulous riding and I am trying to put together a spring training camp for 8-10 riders. It is a bit late in the game for this winter but it is still possible. I looked into Arizona but the airfare was greater than flying into LAX. Go figure. Anyway, I would like to come up with a complete package for the trip so attendees would sign up and the rest is figured out for them including the training plan. What a great way to kick the indoor training blues and get a head start on the season. Look for more details in the near future.

Green fog in the hotel workout room

Stop the presses. I just returned from the workout room and there is big news. First, VH-1's 1980's viewer top 100 songs is da' bomb of bombs!! Wow, that was one of the quickest trainer workouts ever. 1.5 hours in a snap. What a strange decade of music! Some awesome transcendent music and some music that goes in the file with "Afternoon Delight".

I did run into one snag. This is an airport hotel adjacent to Miami International and it has an international clientèle. Well there was an incident...I reported to my wife from my Blackberry:

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	Smelly Indian dudes (turban)
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 01:07:04 +0000

I just gotta tell someone.  I am sharing the
workout room with two of
the smelliest dudes ever!  I mean it.
They put those HSC kids to shame.
Where's my Resolve when I need it.
Darrell Anderson

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	They're next to me now
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 01:08:43 +0000

Momma help me!  What is going on here?
Do they wear curry or eat it?
Darrell Anderson

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	Great God does it ever stink in here!!!!!!!!!!!
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 01:34:50 +0000

Darrell Anderson

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	Their hairy smellier buddy just walked in
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 01:39:22 +0000

Darrell Anderson

From:	"Jean Anderson" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
To:	dander10@yahoo.com
Subject:	Re: Their hairy smellier buddy just walked in
Date:	Wed, 7 Nov 2007 21:27:16 -0500

how's the stink fest?

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	Re: Their hairy smellier buddy just walked in
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 02:35:32 +0000

Oh my...I'm in the ER right now. Doc says I blew
out an olfactory gland or something like that...I dunno.
The hazmat team is in there right now hosing the
place down. They've placed "Bio-Hazard" signs up on the
door and have a guard from the EPA standing watch. Word is NIH
and the Center For Disease Control is getting involved.
I'll call when I get outta here. 

From:	"Jean Anderson" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
To:	dander10@yahoo.com
Subject:	Re: Their hairy smellier buddy just walked in
Date:	Wed, 7 Nov 2007 21:44:05 -0500

RAOFLOL

To:	"Jeanne Anderson"
Subject:	Re: Their hairy smellier buddy just walked in
From:	"Darrell Anderson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date:	Thu, 8 Nov 2007 02:53:45 +0000

Funny for you maybe. Let's see how you function with
a blown olfactory gland and singed eyebrows.

Riding the hotel bike

In a few minutes I will march down to the hotel exercise room for my fourth workout on one of their bikes here in Miami. These newer bikes are very, very good. The fit is not always the greatest but the mechanics of the bikes are great. This one has a built in TV which you can chose to watch or you can watch your progress on a course. You can program the ride for up to 99 minutes and your calorie burn rate, total burn and power output are all displayed. If you wear a hear rate sensor you will automatically display HR. Only problem here in Miami is that there are no fans in the room with me. I have been riding 1.5 hour rides and they are major sweat-a-thons.
Tonight might be slightly less thankfully.

The weather down her is fantastic. We have been watching the news at the training center and it looks like snow is flying around Michigan. Nasty.

Miami

I flew NWA down to Miami yesterday for a week of Fokker training. This city is completely whacked. I mean it. If you have spent any time down here in the last few years I am sure you would agree with me that it is sort of off the map. Once you get south of West Palm Beach you unofficially leave the bounds of the United States. It takes on more of a Latin flair and everything becomes spicier and more wild. Driving is just terrifying. I came to two intersections last night and came across a traffic signal that I have never seen anywhere in the U.S.. The traffic signal was hung horizontally and had five lights. From left to right, the first light was a red light. Next to that there was a green turn arrow. The remaining lights were the standard type. I pulled into the center turn lane and was issued the far left red light and the green arrow next door. What do I do? I honestly didn't know. It was like I was in a different country. I came to another signal in the area that was the same. So, today I asked my instructor and he said he has never seen that configuration. Hmmm....

{A scene from the Florida Department of Transportation}

Manager Jorge: "Hey all, Miami is really getting crazy these days. No one even knows what a turn signal is for and they could hit a telephone pole on the Bonneville salt flats. So I was thinkin', why don't we test out some new traffic signals down there that are kinda' ambiguous. Here's what I was thinking, we could throw up a few traffic lights that indicate two different commands. Whada' ya'll think?"

Team Member Jose: "Yeah that sounds great to me. Heck it can't get any worse down there and if these ambiguous lights catch on we could infuse Miami confusion all over the state."

Manager Jorge: "Okay, let's do it. Notify the local fire departments and insurance companies so that can lay in extra supplies and agents."

Anyway, let me just say Cuban food is outstanding.

Happy Birthday Bikeboy!!

Hey all. Join me in wishing BB a very happy 13th birthday today!

You could say it's humbling

So I finally break down and get a set of rollers. These things are da' bomb as far as indoor training devices go. I set the thing up and tell my faithful son to come down and watch me make a fool out of myself trying to ride this thing. Like a good journalist, he brings his camera. Sure enough, my first two minutes on my trainer made it onto the internet. Bummer. No I know how Brittany feels. Then, to make matters worse, that darn Cat sensed vulnerability and it's payback for all the grief I have given him all the way back to the pothole controversy at Runway. (I swear he nearly hit that pothole on every lap.) But does the famed journalist stop by later to capture the old man cranking away for over an hour on the new rig? Does he stop by today and film me in the middle of the room out of the doorway without my helmet? You won't see that on the internet. It's only the scandal that sells.

BTW, that helmet thing was no joke. I figured I was going down before I got the hang of it.

I should be doing something else but...

At the moment I am sitting in my off-site office here at Sunergos Coffee in Louisville, KY. I got the call from "The Man" yesterday to take my turn flying the company shuttle. It is an early morning (4am get-up) but it is great once you get going. I'm out the door around 445am, make a stop at the ATM then straight to Starbucks on Washtenaw near Arborland. This is a 24 hour variety Starbucks. "One grande drip bold with room please." They reply, "I'm sorry but we don't have bold this morning sir...would you like a shot of espresso in the morning blend at no charge?" "Yes please!" I say in return. Back in the truck and into the morning now at 510am. I arrive at Metro Airport at 5:25AM, finish my coffee and some news segment about the price of oil and I'm on my way into the office. I pass by security hailing them as I go and waltz into dispatch to find out that my first destination is completely fogged in. Now I spend 25 minutes reviewing weather and plans for a diversion to another airport at the destination city which is Cincinnati, OH.

We get a late start out of Detroit and sure enough our destination is fogged in so we change our destination to the main Cincinnati airport. We land, taxi in and unleash 23 agitated passengers upon the servicing agency at the Cincinnati airport. We are late leaving because there is mass confusion amongst the passengers. One got off thinking he was in Louisville. Another walked away without his bag and still more were unsure of how they would get to the plant.

We finally arrive in Louisville and hour late. I hitch a ride to Sunergos and here I am doing this when I should be getting important work done. I have a sunergos mocha java in front of me which is getting the creative juices flowing again. Lunch will happen at some point. The ladies, (I am the only male on this four member flight crew), will call me when they arise from their beauty sleep and we'll sample some of Louisville's finest cuisine. Then, it's back to the airport for two legs and into the office back home for some paperwork then I94 back to Saline. That's my day.

We had our first training session in the office Saturday. It was really nice. We had 5 riders with room for at least a couple more. Only problem was one fan for all of us! Ouch. I cooked. The kids really get off on the computrainer but they suffer on the hills.


Preparation phase starts later this week for some of my athletes and next week for the rest. It is exciting to see the training get under way. I have lost about 5 pounds from the end of the season. I know many of you have put on a few and I don't want to make you feel bad. Sorry. I decided to lose weight in the off season instead of gaining so I dieted for about three weeks suffering like a dog the whole time. I can't eat like that and train simultaneously it is just to rough. I am status quo now but I would like to do a slow deficit to lose another five before the start of the season. That means I need to cut out another 17,500 cals between now and May.That means something like 3000 cals per month or around a 100 calorie deficit per day. That should be do-able if I can resist the holiday feasting. If I can race at 150lb this season that would be great.

Passing the word

Hey all. Check out Bikeboy's latest posts. He has his "Bikeboy Awards" out for 2007. Great reading.

Doug's Fatal Decision

Here's the deal. Doug is taking a nasty old Al specialized Allez and putting DA on it. I have published numerous posts against but to no avail. I want to start a grass roots avalanche of pressure to get him to change his mind. I want you...no I'm ordering you all to go to his blog and hammer him! Don't let him make this awful mistake!! He has an incredible bike hook-up with our team and can get an amazing deal on a carbon bike. C'mon everyone, bring the heat. The Cat is a stubborn rider but if you all bring the heat he just might relent.

You slavishly read this pathetic post day in and day out and for what? Now you can do something for the good of all humanity. Please, don't let this happen! Write the Cat today and implore him to change his mind. Write your congressman and senator and ask them to apply pressure. You can make a difference!

Reflecting

I'm back baby...I'm back!! Enjoy this photo-recap of the past season.

You all need to get a life!!!!

I have been enduring a withering barrage of criticism over my inattention to this blog. Please accept my apologies but come on people...really...you need to move on! :-)

The off season has been very refreshing. It helped me to see what a toll the season took on me. It has been great to step away for a while including blogging. After the Priority Health Classic I had no interest in racing and little in riding my bike. I promptly left on an extended trip to Asia then the recovery was enough to keep me away from training for some time after returning. In place of riding regularly I have been interviewing athletes, preparing my office, setting up and learning the subtleties of my Computrainer, etc.. I have only one more annual plan to write and that would be my own. I am the last in line for coaching and I must say I am not the right coach for myself. If anyone wants to hear an opinion on self-coaching just ask me. It works but just barely. You get structure but no objectivity.

So far, I am coaching five athletes next season plus myself. It should be a ton of fun given the range of athletes. I have two U-23s and three masters racers. All are talented and should do well in the coming year.

At the moment I am out on another trip hitting both coasts plus Florida. It will be nice to not have to do these for a while.

My training will kick in next month. Preparation phase first until mid-December. Weight training, plyometrics, stretching and some on-bike training. Slowly I am beginning to look forward to the season. It will be a grind but I think fitness base is such that I could have a better season than the last. I could potentially see a 40K at :57 or less and a 20K under :27. I think these are very reasonable goals if I can faithfully ride my plan. I will need a new TT bike since I don't presently have one. That will be a trick. I also need to equip with a new powermeter. I have my sights set on the SRM at the moment. I love the powertap but the wheel issue is just too much. With the SRM I can use any wheel set I want. The SRM is more costly and isn't quite as accurate but considering the wheel issue I don't think it is too much more to spend.

How's that for an update?

Well...

It continues to be slow on the news front. We are kind of disconnected from the cx scene here at our house. My athletes and I are all in transition phase right now so we are not involved in any regimented training. I am conducting athlete interviews, writing annual training plans and finishing up the office. All that's left there is trim work, carpet cleaning and install of the wall mount LCD. The install will be complete next week.

Thankfully the jet lag let up Sunday night and I slept 12 hours! Things are mostly back to normal since.

Competitor Radio

I was goofing around on the internet tonight and I stumbled into this very cool internet radio site. Check out their archives and you'll be amazed. I listened to a very good interview with Betsy Andreu and another one with David Walsh.

Back In The USA!!!

At this moment I am traveling home on a Northwest Airlines jet from Seattle. I am totally gassed from the trip. Sleep has become a real chore. Some nights I get an hour or two then wake up wide awake my body not sure where it is at. Yesterday we flew ten hours and traveled nine time zones leaving at six pm from our departure point and landing at one pm at our destination which was five hours before we left! We went to the hotel in Seattle, slept for an hour then went out for dinner. Back at the hotel that evening I was hoping for a full night's sleep but it didn't happen. I ended up sleeping for a three hours then up for three then back to sleep for another hour and a half before I had to get up to go to the airport. That last little bit of sleep was seriously deep and it was like awaking from a coma. For a few moments I considered catching a later flight but fought fatigue instead and got myself to the airport.

Some of you might think my job is glamorous. I won't argue that it does have its moments but trips like this balance all that stuff. By the time you get home you are just so grateful for America! Land of the cheeseburger! When I think of Chinese food I get queasy. I want a cheeseburger so bad! Maybe tonight.

As far as cycling goes, I haven't done anything since leaving Anchorage. There were some good hotel workout rooms but I was always so tired it didn't make sense to deepen the fatigue any further.

This week I hope to finish up my office project and get busy with annual training plans for next season. It is exciting to think about next year and begin the process of preparing myself and my athletes.

The Latest Is Not Much...

Alright, it's the off season and blogging is just not what it was a week or two ago. That's a given, but here's the best of the rest.

Last Saturday I rode my bike. I rode my bike to Ann Arbor and hooked up with the AAVC group ride. It was a small group but a fun one. We rode out to Dexter, Chelsea then off the grid. Rich Stark led us on some roads that were completely foreign to me but it was crazy fun. DMO was kickin' it pretty good so I got some LT work in and we took in some beautiful scenery on a crisp fall day. I think we made it to Grass Lake and Norvell, (wherever that is), then back to Saline via Pleasant Lake Rd. I left the group there and rode back to my house. It was super, super fun.

Sunday, I didn't ride. Monday I noodled around for an hour or so.

Today, I am working. I rode on NWA to Anchorage to pick up a trip later in the week. At a stop over in Minneapolis, I picked up David Walsh's book "From Lance To Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy At The Tour De France".
I read a couple of chapters and am totally hooked. David Walsh has been painted as a Lance hater but that is not how he comes off in this book. He is taking a sober look at a cycling culture that has, over the last thirty years, given itself over to doping as an accepted standard. If you want to be competitive you have to dope. An early story tells the tail of junior racers being injected with unknown substances while racing in Europe! It sent a chill down my spine. These were kids and folks with zero medical cred are sticking needles into them, putting pills in their energy bars and so on. According to Walsh even Chris Carmichael was in on it. Before you write him off as a hater read the book. If we don't take a sober look at the situation we can't begin to do something about it. If we don't take a sober look at the situation we may end up putting our juniors in harm's way.

I worked on my website today on the airplane and it is almost ready for viewing. Oh what the heck...check it out:

http://www.velospeedtraining.com

The office is on hold while I'm on this trip. I almost pulled the trigger on an LCD screen yesterday but opted to hold off until I get back.

First week of the off season

I am so sorry for not posting all week. It just hit me on Monday that I don't have another road race until next April and therefore it was time to move other things to the top of my list. I set up my computrainer and I began the long process of trying to figure out how to use the software. I ordered business cards, T-shirts for my coaching business. I set up a new website that is not going to be worth looking at for a few weeks so I won't pass the url along just yet.

Wednesday I got the word that Rob Pulcipher suffered a heart attack on the dirt-hammer ride Tuesday night. The news came as a total shock. I visited Rob and Connie yesterday while Rob was in the midst of being discharged. He was in great spirits and looked great. The doctors have pronounced him "fixed" and he can plan on racing next year. Check out the AAVC forum for the details.

Also this week I began renovating what will be my office. Everything had to go and then prep and paint. I thought I had picked out a neutral color with a hint of orange but when it looks more like a bold suggestion of orange. I may end up re-painting the whole thing if it doesn't cure properly.

Okay, Which Ones Are Sprinters??

I lifted this pic off the Health Net teams website. Check out Menzies legs!

Priority Health Cycling Classic Recap

This was, bar none, the very best bike racing event James and I have raced this season. This was a first class event through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids on old and new brick streets.

The start was on Ionia between Fulton and Oakkes. The setting was beautiful with tall buildings loaded with bars and cafes and lots of brick roads. The course was flat but challenging because of the older brick roads. Turn 2 was by far the worst as the road was wavy. To say it was off camber would be kind. I don't think there was a single crash there all day and I think that says a lot about how careful everyone was. With the uneven bricks, a crash here would have been very painful. The rest of the corners were good with the possible exception of a few ill-placed manhole covers. Thankfully, the course was dry and they didn't cause a problem.

James rode the 4-5 race and did a fantastic job. He hung in there the entire race when fully developed, older riders got shucked off the back. He was the smallest rider in the field and always easy to find with his AAVC kit and white-ish helmet. There were moments where I thought he was going off the back but then he cranked it back up, grabbed a wheel and he was cruising again.

Giff, Zach and the rest of the AAVC boys animated the race and took most of the primes. They lost out to some stud sprinter in the end but it was a great show. It was a very exciting race to watch.

Next up came the 3's. I planned on racing the master 40+ today but I may have had better luck in the 3's due to Bart's upgrade. Zach McBride from Priority Health was all over that and absolutely hammered the field with a dominating performance. He was off the front taking primes, then chilled out just long enough in the pack to take the win. He has blossomed into a very special young rider. I doubt we will see him much longer in the 3's.

My race was next and I was excited to see Schwartzendrubber was racing. It is just easier to call him "Drubber". Jim Bruce from Lathrup lined up also. It was clear to me who needed to be watched closely. James kept an eye on the happenings at Seven Springs this summer and Drubber killed there. I knew he was the class of the field with Jim right there. From the gun, Jim was nabbing primes. BTW, the primes in this race were very rich indeed. $50 & $100 and maybe ever more.

I didn't feel all that great for the first half of the race. The pace was high and I felt like I needed it to slow some before I could become more of a factor. I don't know if it is where I am at in the season but I just felt tired in the first half. The second half was different. The field slowed and I began to feel energized. So, I moved to the front and started to mix it up a little. I made a move with Drubber and was really hoping he would go with me. I pulled through and said, "Let's go Drubber", thinking this may be my chance to get away. I looked back after a few seconds and I was by myself. He apparently wasn't ready to go. When he came by he told me I pulled too hard. I thought it was sort of a mild rebuke for not working smoothly in the break. He sensed I wasn't worthy of the risk and let me go. Later, he told Joe Lekovish that he just didn't have enough at that moment to go that hard.

I took an opportunistic prime for $50 in the last 15 minutes of the race. I found myself near the front with Krywanski leading. I went around him and spun it up. Someone challenged me on the right but I took the sprint fairly easily without going deep. At least I had something to show for the day.

I didn't have good position on that last lap. I should have fought more to get into the top five before the last turn. A group made their move and I was blocked. Coming through the last turn I tried to move up the left guttter, (an admittedly dangerous move), and nearly paid for it because the rider I was overtaking overcooked the turn and nearly pushed me into the curb. From there I floored it. I had good legs left this week so nobody passed me in the sprint and I picked off a few others. Good position on that second to last turn was the key. As I was working in the last lap I felt as though I had sprinting legs and I did. Just bad head-work getting into position. I took 9th place which was good for $45. Add that to my $50 prime and our entry fees and most of our gas was paid for. Not bad for a day like this.

The pro/1/2 race was the most exciting bike race I have ever watched. Health Net/Maxxis, Jittery Joes, Priority Health, Rite Aide and Marco Polo/Discovery Channel were represented. Kirk O'Bee, Cody Stevenson, Karl Menzies were some of the names in the field. Our MI field would have their hands full but they made us all proud with our own Vince Roberge finishing in the top 10!!

Mark White and Frank Pipp were off the front together about 20 seconds. We were hoping they would stay away and the crowds, (3 deep in places), were screaming like I have never heard at a bike race. It was just awesome! With the race coming down to the last few laps, Frank Pipp fell off and left Mark White on his own. We thought he was doomed but he continued to race his heart out trying to stay away. In the end, the charging field caught him and Menzies won the field sprint with Cody Stevenson of Jittery Joe's taking second. Richard England of Priority took third.

After the race, the Cody and the other Jittery Joe's riders came over to our tent and signed autographs for a half hour or so. Very nice folk indeed.

Can't say enough about this race everyone! We need more of this and according to Jamie Smith, we are going to get it. The promoters have promised us even more at this event next year! So put it on your calendar.

Debaets - Devos Pics