STS #4 Recap

A beautiful day for the last training race before the official season start and it was for sure the best race day of the season weather-wise. James raced and I helped coach the C-race today. Sarah Uhl, (I was going to hyperlink to a website for more info on Sarah but I couldn't settle on one...look her up yerself), was our guest coach so we were able to just hang out and help where needed. James and Alexey absolutely tore it up jumping the field and forming a break that ended up lapping them. They both looked very strong indeed. James took third and Alexey was either fifth or six. They continue to draw ooh's and ah's from folks as they watch these little guys reek havoc on the adults they race with.

As soon as the C's were done I had to run back to Saline to pick up some gear for a rider, then back to Runway, then take James to church, pick up Abby then return to Runway. So, to race the A's today I had to miss church. This wasn't my plan but by the time James was finished Pastor Chuck was into his second sermon point. Jean met me at the entrance of the church for the trade off. She wasn't pleased and she was justified. I royally screwed up everything.

Abby and I hurried back to Runway so I could get some kind of warm up in. If we had a team meeting, I wasn't able to make it.

We had a big field today. I lined up at the very back and the field was 7-8 deep filling the road. I am guessing we 50-60 riders. The field was a good one with riders from the Bissell team joining the fray. I also noticed that dude with the Hooters team who won James' suffer-face contest last year. ( Check that...it might have been Rigdon who took that prize.) Ben Renkama was there along with Bart Carlson and several other Coasties. The Wolverines were very well represented with Danny Klein, Big Ray, Tim Finkel, Kroske and a host of others.

Describing the first half of these crits is getting pretty boring. By now you are getting the picture I think. It was fast, fast, fast then a couple of breaks go, they get caught, the pace slows and a serious attack succeeds. I managed to get into a couple of these little skirmishes that went nowhere. Matches were needlessly burned but I had a lot of confidence that I could recover and go again. My chance came with about 30 minutes left. A Bissell rider had gone off on a flyer. Meanwhile, the pace slowed and I thought, "Shoot, I might as well take a shot here." So that's what I did. I jumped and rode off the front. Now, I have done this a few times in the last two seasons when riding this field but it doesn't seem to be appealing to anybody because no one will ride across to me. I can't blame them. Why should they risk missing a break with known strong riders to join up with me. After I jumped I just rode a shade harder than FTP. No powermeter today but I suspect I was pulling 300-320 watts. Enough to maintain my gap but probably not enough to make it 30 minutes. After nearly 1K off the front Ray Dybowski rode across to me and no one followed. I want to tell you, I feel like Rodney Dangerfield sometimes in that field. "Aw shoot, don't worry about those two. Ray can't make it with that guy. We'll reel them in." When I saw Ray I looked over and said, "C'mon Big Ray, LET'S GO!" And that's what we did. You see, I think Big Ray knew something the others didn't because he and I were in the most hideously painful, (for me that is), break at Ada last year. I think Ray calculated that this might be an opportunity and he capitalized on it guessing the field wouldn't feel threatened.

Well, we threw the hammer down and it was go-time. Before long we reeled in the flyer so now there were three. The riding was excruciatingly painful. After pulling too long once, I yelled as I had to give it all I had to hold the wheel of the guy in front of me. I heard some time gaps yelled out and I wasn't impressed with what I was hearing then silence. We held out all the way down to 2 laps to go. Somewhere in here an Essex Brass rider rode across to us and just kept going. I think it was Bruce Rivera. Anyway, no way I could hold his wheel as I was fading fast. I got back with Ray and we worked together to try and stay away. The field was closing fast and I knew it was going to be close. The entire last lap I was huffing and puffing the same way I do when collapsing on the graduated exercise test. The Essex Brass rider stayed away, the Bissell rider took second, Ray got third and I took fourth. We made it but by a hair's breath. It was close. The field sprint missed me by feet. I'll take it though.

Now 4th place in a training race isn't much to get excited about but finishing in front of a very strong field like that does give me a sense of accomplishment and if nothing else, perhaps others will take a chance on me in the future.

I didn't get a chance to hear about our team's work back in the field. If anyone can post up a comment on the race from that perspective it would be nice. My guess is the SLC boys were doing their best to gum-up the works back there.

Tmax

it,s Saturday night and tomorrow will be the final workout in Build 2. Friday afternoon I wandered back into O2 depravation mode with 8 Tmax intervals. It was very hard but very gratifying. I lost count and wasn't sure if I had 1 or 2 more to finish. So, I added up the total time I should have ridden to that point. We'll see when I get to read the file.

We did some TT work out at Willow this morning with the AAVC junior team. James looked very good. I predict a sub-34 minute time for him. I rode my new TT bike around trying to get the feel for it. It's getting better but still feels a bit foreign to me.

Tomorrow's final STS looks to be epic with perfect weather and decent form.

Fading to Grey

One of my goals in build phase is to make it to 8 Tmax intervals. I inched ever closer by finishing seven last night. It wasn't easy after rep #3 but I was able to hold my target power output through all the intervals. I had at least one more in me I think but I'll save that for another effort. By the time I got to the last 30 seconds on each interval I started to do that "huff and puff" thing we do when we are going for a max effort.

Today I am sitting in Louisville. The Master's Nationals are going to be held here this summer so yesterday I drove to Cycler's Cafe to see if anyone knew anything about the courses. The road course is going to be through a hilly metro park near Lexington and Grinstead.

The crit will be downtown and the TT starts from some casino over in Indiana.

Bad Weather

Build 2 week 2 came to a close today. The weekend racing was disrupted by winter's resurgence. Yesterday we had temps in the 30's and rain all day. This morning I woke up to snow. That notwithstanding, I went to Runway Plaza to coach the C's and was amazed to see 10 or so hardy soles ready to mix it up! Pretty impressive really. These guys area all new to racing but I think they are fully hooked after three weeks or racing. The wind was pretty nasty but the snow made judging wind direction very easy.

I gave serious thought to racing the A's but I didn't make it back from church in time. The field was chopped up pretty badly. The winning break got off with Big Ray, Tim Finkel, Pete Shilling and Larry Warbasse. Ray did what he does and just motored off the front with a couple of laps to go. My money was on Peter Shilling to win the sprint but Ray forced the issue.

After, we had a junior practice with a great young rider who came all the way from Grand Rapids to ride with us. That's commitment.

Waterford #2 A-Race Finish

Better late than never!

waiting

Here's a post from my Blackberry. BB and I are sitting in my car waiting for his youth group posse to arrive. 16 minutes late so far.

Last night called for 4 fifteen minute zone 4 intervals. I got the first one and collapsed and had to stop the workout. I was so completely wasted. I tried so hard to listen to the coach and not the athlete. I knew the right thing to do was to stop. Today I am still feeling off and elected to take a rest day instead of driving myself deeper into this nasty fatigue I am experiencing. I need more sleep than I have been getting. I think getting up Monday @ 230am and going to bed at 1130pm that night tool more out of me than I first thought.

Waterford #2

This was our first foray into the racing at the Waterford Raceway. This is a race course for cars but it serves us well as bike racing venue.

James went first and raced like a banshee in the C-racing. He was in the hunt as they headed for the sprint. Unfortunately he was crashed out a couple of hundred meters from the finish. When I realized he didn't make it to the finish I scanned the course for him found him in the grass. When we got to him he was sitting up struggling to breath. I made him lay back down to recover from the trauma. After a few more minutes he was able to breath easily again and get up. Zach brought in the camera and interviewed him. I think he has that on his blog if you haven't checked it out yet.

My race was an hour and thirty minutes plus 2 laps. Danny Klein flew off the front from the whistle. I couldn't believe it. We had a ton of racing and we were already flying. I rung up 330 watts for the first five minutes. That is zone 5 for me meaning I had about 6-7 minutes before things were going to start blowing up. Thankfully, my power requirement dropped down to 280 watts for the next five minutes which was manageable. Joe told me to hang onto Ben Renkema which sounded like a good idea but for how long? Look, this was a long race and there were a lot of turns and acts of aggression but in the end, none of the breaks were successful and it all came down to a field sprint. My legs felt great and I had a decent sprint left. Vince Roberge led me up to the front and I launched from several riders back. I didn't have any chance against the class of the field but I moved up some and finished in eighth place. Our own John Rigdon took 7th.

Overall, it took 281 watts of normative power and I averaged 161 beats per minute for one hour and thirty seven minutes. Phew! It hurt but I finished feeling fairly strong. I wish I had more time to write about the race but I just ran out of time. I hope to get some video up of the finish tomorrow.

A Total Failure

So I am determined to get to work fund raising for the MS150 today. I send out an email to over 100 people only to have the whole thing barf up on me. Outlook shows that the message never went out. Meanwhile, others contacted me to tell me they got up to 15 copies of the same message over 15 minutes! Geez, what can you do? Now I don't know who all got the 15 messages and who got none. Just $100 more and I can ride.

STS #1 Recap

We awoke to 33F temps and overcast skies this morning the day of our first race of the 2008 road season. Today was the AAVC Spring Training Series race #1. James and I were out the door by 7am to get coffee and bagels at Panera bread. The wind was blowing fairly strong out of the east which made if feel colder than it was. In light of that, James and I elected to do more of a mechanical than active warm up. We cranked up the temp in the car to 90F and just let it cook. Before long we were developing a sweat.

I left James in the car to go through the race day ritual of signing in and pinning bibs. Additional duties this year included coaching the C-racers. Anyone who wants to can join us for a half hour training session on the do's and don'ts of criterium racing. We had a sizable group numbering over 20. I bundled up in my North Face jacket to keep the sweat going from the car warm up while we rode around the course.

James and his fellow C-racers got off arond 9:15 am or so and boy was it a fun race to watch. I rode with them to give advice on staying upright and tactics. The actions was fast and furious as several attacks, (I hope I instigated some of them!), got off the front. None lasted very long. Ultimately one rider did ride away with it and never looked back. He was clearly a B-rider who was warming up. The rest were really racing. James stayed with the big dogs in the field and they eventually shattered the field. Their little group of 8-10 riders stayed intact and James took 6th in the field sprint giving him 7th overall. I pulled off for the last couple of laps to watch the sprint. On the last lap I yelled for James to not "go to early!" Almost as soon as I said that, He launched a major attack! I was standing with the other coaches and some team mates and we just had to laugh. I figured he was going to blow up and was going to just come riding in solo. Well, much to my surprise, I spotted James still with this group as they were climbing the hill just before the finish. Oh man did he finish this thing well! He later told me that his attack was designed to get him to the front to slow the field to get Alexey back on so they could do what they do when they race together. Well, it was a nice try but I don't think the others liked his idea. It was a splendid effort.

We debriefed the C-riders and then I put James in the car to take him home to get ready for church. From there it was off to church then back to runway for my race with the heat blasting out 90F air.

Our race was pretty standard Miscene crit racing. We were missing some of the best riders. There was a TT on the other side of the state and a practice race the day before so maybe those things explain the slim field. It could have been the low temps...I dunno.

So here's how it goes...fast, fast, fast for 10K or so then a break gets off and everything goes into slow motion. That is the recipe for most Michigan crits that I have raced. This one fit into that mold more or less. Our team managed to insert 3 riders in a 6? man break! That meant the rest of us had to slow the field and keep them from chasing the break. This sounds easy but it is not. It takes a lot of energy to do this because you have to cover every attack that threatens the break. I think we were successful in this because the break ended up lapping the field. We had Vince, Rob and Eric in the break and Joe, John, myself, James K., Pat, Scott Gifford and Alex in the field.

Paul Alman gave the lapped riders a 3 lap warning that their race would end so that the break could sort out their race on the following two laps. Somewhere in here Vince attacked again and the break was off the front again. I felt good coming down to the last lap and I was holding the position I had for most of the race. During that time I was chasing down Tim Finkel over and over again. He was doing his utmost to make an attack stick. So, I came around the last turn and Alex sprinted by me going up the hill to the finish. I jumped on his wheel and as he began to fade I turned on whatever jet power I had left and I took the field sprint for 7th? place overall.

Reflecting on the race, I think I did a good job after my team mates got away. The only thing that is bugging me is not going with Tim Finkel. He was giving me ample opportunities to make a go of it. At the time, I was concerned about holding anyone back that might threaten the break but there was a point when another break might have made sense for us. It's all inside baseball stuff because even if I had done that, I wouldn't have placed any better than I did and our team wouldn't have done any better. It is just a tactical decision I made that I am questioning. If you have any insight just leave me a comment.

As for how I felt all I can say is I felt great! As the race went on I felt stronger and stronger. It seemed like the hill was getting easier and not harder as the laps clicked away. I have never been a cold weather racer and maybe I needed to have a few laps to warm up some more. Anyway, it was fun and I learned some more about racing today! My boy did great and is showing promise and I had a fun reunion with friends I hadn't seen in several months.

More ramblings

You gotta love rest and recovery weeks. Tons of zone 2 work and a test or two. I was so excited to test that I moved my 30 minute CP test to yesterday thinking all the hard work in build would render big changes. It looked like that was going to be the case for the first fifteen minutes. I was feeling really good thinking I would really rev up the pace at the midpoint but, alas, that was not the case. At that point I began to feel weaker and weaker. By the time I was coming down to the last 3 minutes I knew I was not having a good day and instead of suffering needlessly I ended the test. I probably could have raised the result by a watt or two by going full anaerobic in those last few minutes. Instead, I retired. The power file revealed 296 watts which is an 11 watt decrease from last month. Egads!! This is where self-coaching gets really hard. I got down on myself and just figured I was going in reverse but what really happened?

To get to the bottom of this you have to know something about the "Valley of Fatigue". This is a term I learned from Joe Friel. As you train with intensity you begin at a certain level of fitness. Let's assign it an arbitrary number of "10". As you begin to train over build 1, fitness begins to fall as the stress of training wears on your physiological systems. This overload is necessary to force adaptation. After week 1 fitness falls to, say, 9, then 8 in week two and so on until you arrive at week 4 which is rest and recovery. A that point you are dangerously close to being overtrained. Let's assign another arbitrary number of "2" to denote this point. The goal is to train hard enough so that fitness drops to 2.0001 then administer rest in the fourth week. The body then adapts to the stress and fitness rises back up to say "11". Now build continues as does this pattern of falling fitness back to just above the point of overtraining. Then, peaking kicks in and a gradual pulling back on volume and intensity allow fitness to rise. Finally, race week comes with even more dramatic reductions in training stress and fitness soars to, let's say, "15.

So, here's what I think happened yesterday. I finished build 1 on Sunday with a zone 3-ish ride. Saturday was a killer Tmax day. I managed 6 of these very nasty things. I didn't sleep at all Sunday night and rested on Monday. Tuesday came along and I tested. I believe my fitness was still depressed from the training stress and adaptation didn't have time to do its work. My fitness was recovering from near overtraining. To score higher than previous tests, I needed enough time for fitness to rise above our arbitrary beginning point of "10".

The training plan is correct and the training stress combined with proper rest should do its work. This is where the athlete has to believe in his training and not panic. I do and I won't but it is not easy for the self-coached athlete. In my mind I have to fight the inclination to introduce even more training stress thinking I haven't trained hard enough.

So, I am going to rest even more this week and skip my graduated exercise test then, hopefully, race this weekend. Paul asked me to coach the the neophytes before the C-race on Sunday which means it will be difficult to get to the A-race with church and family requirements. BB has been on me looking for a plan. He's okay. He will get the C-race for sure then he can go to church.

Rock on...

Coaching

As I look out my window I see large patches of snow on the ground, the temperature hovers around 30F and we race this weekend. The forecast calls for a high temp of 40F on Sunday which means my teeth will be chattering during the early moments getting James ready for the C-race. Reflecting on last year, we had some cold STS races and some wet ones, (who can forget the worm slaughter), but I also remember racing without warmers. There is hope.

Coaching is fast becoming a large consumer of my time. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with these fine bike enthusiasts. I learn more every week as I sit down to think about them and their training. Monday's are rest days for me and it is also a convenient day for writing plans and writing up test summaries. I started my work day at 9am yesterday and finished up around 6pm. I still have one more plan to write and a full week of testing but I still love it. Most are now in build and real gains are just getting rolling. Most seem to feel strength building.

See you all at the races this weekend.

Insomnia

It's three am and here I am at the computer. Bummer. I have greatly reduced my caffeine intake over the last few months so when I had a grande half caf at Starbucks yesterday I guess I overdid it. The decaf americano at the airport probably sealed my fate.

First Outdoor Ride

Hey, I finally got outside last week and man was it sweet. Wednesday was my first foray. 58 miles via AA and HRD, Dexter and Chelsea. I made my first stop at Zou's for the year. It was like old times with the staff. They noted I hadn't been there since whenever and I told them it was the first since October. I love that place.

Thursday I put in some time on the trainer, (3 x 20 zone 4), then James and I joined some other folks out at Barton for what should have been an easy spin. My legs were shot from the intervals and I needed low intensity work. James and I both ended up working it. He was in zone 4 and I was in zone 3. It was still fun.

Friday, I put in 4 hours/75 miles back to Chelsea and the Waterloo Loop. It was in the 50
s and absolutely beautiful.

Jetting Home!!

Finally, I am on the last flights home after being out on the road for 8 days. I feel pretty good compared to my last trip to Asia. That time, the jetlag lasted 4 days and it was just brutal. Sleep came pretty easy while on the trip and our flights were usually during the daylight hours and not on the back-side of the clock. Sadly, I couldn't get first class so I am sandwiched into coach for this five and a half hour flight to Minneapolis. It's tight but at least I have an aisle seat.

Here's a picture of some glacier in Alaska as we were flying out. It is beautiful up there with the mountain peaks all covered up with snow and glaciers everywhere.

I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of family life and my exercise routine. Build 1 week 1 was almost a complete loss. I managed one day of VO2max intervals in Japan but nothing else. It is just too tiring to travel like this and the equipment is pretty spotty. There was a minor incident while in Japan. I worked out on the bike and then went to the exercise mat to stretch. My mistake was in not taking my shoes off. This is a big no-no in Japan. One of the very attentive workers in the gym came running across the room and made it clear with raised voice and waving hands that a serious infraction of the rules was being committed.

My new Power Tap arrived while I was gone. With the outdoor season getting rolling soon I plan on putting it to good use. I'll use it for my own training as well as James and my other athletes.

Here's another pic from the trip. This is on very short final approach to the Anchorage airport.

Out of China

We exited the PRC last night after a day and a half there. We landed earlier that same day back in Anchorage where we handed the airplane over to a relief crew. Travelling abroad gives me such an appreciation for our country. We don't know what pollution is here. The air is so dirty in China that you can taste it. I must complement them on their bikeb handling skills. I watched many a middle aged man or woman perform a track stand waiting to turn a corner.

Japanese Food

We are a crew of 5 and one of us is a woman and blond. So, every meal goes something like this: the 4 men want to get a pizza or pasta that we can actually enjoy but the fifth member of the group wants to have a dining experience. Eating here is a chore because of the language barrier and the nature of Japanese food. Every meal we end up painfully deliberating the issue and finally make a decision. Last night we actually sat down at an Italian restaurant then got up and moved to a Japanese restaurant. It was raw, bland and fishy tasting. Japanese standard. In spite of all that we laughed all the way through the meal mostly at ourselves.

I think I'm turning Japanese

If you can name the band that wrote that 80's hit you win absolutely nothing. Not even James' virtual non-existent pizza.

Yes I finally made it to the land that gave us Godzilla, Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion. Yesterday was pretty uneventful which was a nice change. We had a relaxing day in Anchorage while waiting for the other crew to bring the airplane up from Detroit. We set a record turning the airplane around in 25 minutes from touchdown to lift-off. Not bad considering we uplifted over 3,000 gallons of fuel. It was daylight the whole way which was nice. In addition to that we have 3 pilots on this crew which means long breaks for everybody!

I went to the A-bomb museum today which was very interesting. The Japanese see the whole thing differently than we do. In fact, it was a little distressing the way they presented it. There wasn't a single word of the behavior of the Japanese government during the war years and before. How they fought to the death as the Americans clawed their way across the Pacific.

A-bomb dome

How they massacred over 300,000 in Nanjing China over a long weekend. How they tore through Manchuria with genocidal fervor. How they refused to surrender even though they had lost the war with their cities lying in ruins. How their military misadventures led them to launch a surprise attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor. All these things that influenced the decision to drop the bomb were ignored. According to the museum, the Americans dropped the bomb to , (1) prove to the American people that the 2 billion dollar investment in the bomb was justified, and, (2) send a message to Stalin that we could do the same to him. Additionally, the museum details the terrible destruction wrought upon children to the exclusion of all others. The museum gives the impression that few adults or servicemen were killed even though Hiroshima was a major military staging area. That is why the Americans targeted the city. This disturbs me because the museum leaves one with a strong whiff of self-delusion. It is like they haven't yet come to grips with the past. The museum gives the impression that Japan was a peace loving nation not seeking to expand its borders and striving to live in harmony with all men. This, I believe, is delusional. History is what it is. We have to deal with it or we face the prospect of repeating it.

Anyway, I am going to go and ride the bike. I hope they have a better one than the one in Anchorage.

Hotel Death Ride

I finally get to Anchorage after an incredible string of bad luck. Great, I have enough time before dinner to bag an hour on the hotel stationary bike. All was well until I got about 45 minutes into the ride. I just couldn't get comfortable at first. Then, it was just plain miserable. At 1 hour I called it quits. I made my way back to my room and into the shower. It was then that I realized I had done some major damage to my taint'. Talk about tender....whoo. I am not going any where near that thing tomorrow!

Plans Disrupted

So I battle a raging snow storm to get to the airport and driving up to the gate at our hanger I hit the brakes on my 6,000 pound Expedition EL and nothing happens. The driveway was so slick the anti-lock brakes wouldn't allow any braking at all. I slowly rolled right into the gate! The poor guard saw me on the video cam and tried to open the brutally bent gate not knowing the damage me and my behemoth vehicle had done. Par for the course. I was running late due to the storm, bent the gate silly and now we made our way to the terminal for the next phase in my odyssey.

After an uneventful check-in and security screening, we strolled to the gate, (the one at the very end of the concourse), and were quite surprised to see a jet parked there. In my mind, I was sure there would be no airplane there because of inbound delays. They were unloading bags and we knew we would be running late but things looked promising. We had about 40 minutes to catch our connection in Minneapolis. It was going to be tight but we had a good shot. Well, we boarded 20 minutes before scheduled departure so things were still looking up but that is where the good news ends. We sat there over an hour. When we finally did push back we had to go to de-icing. Bottom line we took almost an hour and a half late. We did have a faint hope that the connecting flight would be delayed.

After we landed in Minneapolis I scanned the terminal for our connecting flight's gate and much to my surprise there was a 757 parked there which is the kind of airplane we were scheduled to fly on. We had a shot. We jumped off the airplane and ran to the gate only to see the jetway being pulled back and the airplane pushing back. We missed by the slimmest of margins.

So, we get a night in Minneapolis which meant dinner at the Twin Cities Grill at the Mall of America. NWA has us on a flight out at 1140 am today.

Latest Test

I finished up this testing for Base 3 today. The graduated exercise test showed progress as did the 30 minute critical power test. I felt much stronger on the 30 minute test today but only eeked out another 4 watts. Still, that is a solid 10 watt gain since my first test in early January. With 8 weeks of build training I hope to see more dramatic gains but even if I don't, a continuance of these minor gains over the remainder of the year would be substantial. I am now 8 watts from that goal of an FTP of 300 watts.

Testing and Fund Raising

Testing with the meter has been really fun and challenging. So far two athletes have gone through the process. The first had a couple of bad readings due to the operator that made the tests less valuable than they could have been. The next one went really well with very clear data. It won't be until the next test that we fully realize the value of this kind of testing. We will be able to measure very small gains viz the old school method that had a very high error that made month to month detection of gains difficult at best.

MS 150 News
We are gearing up for the Multiple Sclerosis fund raising season. I have formed a team with SLC racing as the kernal but anyone who wants to ride with us is welcome. Click here to go to my fund raising home page or to join the team!

It's Here!

The analyzer arrived today from Canada. Abby brought the box down to me in my office and we tore into it. I played around with it some and took a measurement of myself just sitting around and one of Bikeboy in the midst of an LT interval. He rang up a 4.9 mM/l. I read a little on testing adolescents and they may have different LT thresholds above 4.0 mM/l which is the number I see most defining LT. I can see where having two of these would be helpful in testing. I am going to have to get organized so my tests don't look like an I Love Lucy scene.

Lactate Pro

My new blood lactate analyzer is making its way to my home. I know it crossed the border on its way here from B.C.. I am hoping this will really sharpen the testing process. Trying to nail down LT without it is a little like reading tea leaves. You can approximate but with the error involved, how do you evaluate month to month improvement?

MIsty Mountain Hop

Geez, I'm really sorry but they are the best darn rock and roll band of all time!

Wanton Song

A Led Zeppelin classic done by the Black Crowes with Jimmy Page.

Chronicles of Narnia Rap

check it

Testing

It has been a very busy week. Work, coaching, training and being part of a family combine to make it a wild ride. I managed to finish up my base 2 testing on Tuesday. I am trending positive. Not spectacular gains but I am glad to be going forward. My FTP is now at 290 watts. Edging closer to that 300 number. I really thought I was going to get it on this test. Started out really strong but faded in the middle.

My Pick For Best Superbowl Ad

What do you think?

Saturday Sweat Fest

I sit here pounding down a fine cup of coffee that I wish were bottomless and wait for a group of rugged SLC riders to arrive for this mornings training ride. Snow has fallen again in Michigan so we find ourselves indoors once again.

James and I tested each other last night. He had a 15% improvement on his top end power while I had a 5% improvement.

I am in the process of purchasing a blood lactate analyzer. I have become convinced that approximating LT is not the way to go. The model I have identified is the Lactate Pro made in Canada. The unit itself is not that expensive. It's the test strips that add up. I have been told it can take between 5 and 10 strips per athlete at a little over $2.00 per strip. So do the math and not including the cost of the test unit material costs per test will be $10-$20. In my book it is worth every penny.

Due to popular demand...

Hi all. A small but vocal band of internet hooligans have demanded more blog material from me. Now when I post without much to say I get the "...zzzzzz" response. Is it worse to be a dead blog versus a boring, dull blog? Maybe that is something I could make a poll out of.

So, as of today, I haven't raced my bike since last September so I don't have any race reports. I could tell you of countless hours spent suffering wildly on the trainer but how would that enrich your day? Testing, coaching, etc, is going well. I am seeing good progress and that is gratifying. My stable of athletes is not full but it is close. I could probably handle another 2 without having to quit my day-job.

Here's a snapshot of my home this evening. My lovely wife is cooking dinner while I carve out a few minutes to try and make your lives worth living. (That's a joke Doug.)

She is making Chinese food tonight. James = not happy.

I have been working on coaching and work projects when not playing chauffeur.




If you don't live here in Michigan, we had the most
bizarre weather the last 24 hours. It was 48 degrees last night and this morning it was 8 degrees. You don't need to be a meteorologist to know that kind of swing will result in crazy winds and precipitation. Not much in the way of outdoor riding going on.

On a more serious note, I was reading bicycling mag and they had an article on car-bike accidents. The more I ride the more I am bothered by the number of close calls I've had. It seems it is easier to number the rides that are uneventful than the ones where a motorist, (usually someone in a pickup truck), cuts it too close. It seems to me that we have to each go on sort of a risk management program. Even this won't help if a drunk driver is bearing down on you. At the same time there are some no-brainer things you could do to avoid accidents. First, avoid riding in cities. Parking lot exits, intersections and parked cars are all hi risk factors for us. My plan has been to avoid riding at rush hour. That alone is huge. The next thing is to know where the gravel quarries are and avoid the routes to and from them like the plague. Country roads like Parker and Pleasant Lake are not only truck routes but have lots of traffic that moves very, very fast. Getting from Saline to HRD, I have to go through AA but I have found traveling off rush hours keeps the risk down. I do get concerned about cars pulling out on 7th at times. I am rolling downhill for large stretches of this commute and I get more than a little nervous about someone pulling out in front of me. Thinking it out a bit more, training in the morning can reduce chances of an encounter with a drunk driver. It is all about managing risk. There are times when you will end up plowing through rush hour but if you keep the number of times you do this down you will also keep your annual risk exposure down. Another obvious risk management suggestion is to obey all traffic laws. I have been stunned in the past when other riders have passed a line of cars stopped at a red light instead of getting in line with them. This doesn't help our cause. Running lights and stop signs will obviously increase risk.

Reading blogs, I have noticed a pattern regarding their training. When asked about their strengths and weaknesses they reveal their strength lies in the way they train. Those who don't have a regimented training plan but just go out and ride their bike usually end up riding tempo and are fairly good road racers and perhaps descent time trialists but they complain they just don't have a good sprint and have difficulty gaining separation. Perhaps they could have more snap in their legs if they decided to train their weakness instead of ignoring it. We all love to ride fast so we love to ride tempo when we are out for a training ride but when was the last time you performed shorter VO2max intervals in the middle of a glorious summer day's ride? I hope to take advantage of other racers who train like that in the coming season. My athletes will likewise attempt to prey upon these. Beware. We may not be as gifted but we may just be able to out-train and out-discipline many. Even at the ripe old age of 45.

The Fine Art of Bib Pinning

Where has this bib pinner gone wrong? Leave a corrective comment if you have one.

Update.

I know it has been a while since I posted and am in danger of entering the "deadblog" zone. Here's my bid to avoid that.

I finished base 1 like a man fleeing a burning building. My body had about had it by the time rest week rolled around. The last Thursday of the last week called for tempo ride. This thing was bad. I just couldn't get my heart rate elevated much above 135 bpm while holding around 230 watts. Don't think for a second that this is a good thing. Quite the contrary, it is a classic symptom of over training. That coupled with several nights of restless sleep convinced me that I was in need of some rest so I took the last day of that week off giving me two rest days before starting the rest and recovery week. Boy did that feel good. I began to sleep again and the ache I had been feeling in my legs for several days subsided.

After the rest week I came back energized so I did my CP30 test on the first day of base 2. It went pretty well. I was able to hold 300 watts for 30 minutes giving me an FTP of 285 watts. I hope to see 15 more watts by April.

I started putting my new TT bike together. It was all coming together until I tried to put the crankset on. To my horror, the inner chain ring was contacting the chainstay! To quote a friend, "That will really slow you down." A new frame is on the way.

On another front, I am working with a group of riders who plan on doing the WAM ride in July. One of my athletes asked if I would be willing to give these guys a hand with their training and I jumped at the opportunity. I know Make-a-Wish works mostly with kids which is great. I have had so many friends diagnosed with cancer in the last year. It feels good to do anything that might alleviate some of the suffering these folks go through.

I know this is a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz kind of post. Sorry 'bout that. No great races to talk about. No pics to post. BB did an amazing job on his CP30 test. He is going to be very fast this season. I have his power to weight ratio at 4.2 watts/kg. Not bad at all. He has improved his FTP by 50 watts over last year while increasing his pw .8 watts/kg.

Fokker 70 Tour

Here's a little video I shot in Louisville, KY last Thursday. The audio didn't come through but I think it is fine without it. I start out in row 1 of the airplane and move up to the galley and into the cockpit. I then reverse and move all the way back to the lavs at the rear of the machine. The little TV screen I point to in the cockpit displays all sorts of system information for maintenance. It helps them sort out problems with the airplane. It is sort of like the airplanes mouth and the mechanics ask it where it hurts.

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.