Sidelined. F***!

So my original update was going to be:

"Ten Great Things About Riding Fat"

10. You get to use those tacky club-cut jerseys.
9. Every hill is an interval.
8. No longer lust for a lighter bike.
7. Reminds you why race-fit guys are cocky.
6. Days off are well, just days.
5. If "no pain, no gain" is true, it's all gain.
4. No need to worry about bonking. Rides too short, reserves too deep.
3. Very little guilt about skipping group rides. Or any rides.
2. Chicks dig lycra when stretched to see-through proportions.

and of course

1. Descending!


Now for the real update:



This is me, now going on 4 weeks. Ostensibly caused by lifting (improperly) while doing yardwork, but more likely caused by a weak core not ready for riding, water skiing, and rowing. Anyhoo, it sucks. Big time. The past 48 hours have been the first where I've been free of painkillers and nsaids.

The likelihood of CO is nil for me, which (despite my incessant bitching and whining) I was looking forward to.

Enjoy your good health, and take care of it.

Sammy posted. so I must as well

My stuff isn't nearly as exciting as his.

Like biking, for instance. My involvement so far in 2012 was looking for something in my shop, walking past my bike on the stand, and thinking to myself, "I wonder what it was I intended to do to that bike when I clamped it in at the end of last season?"

Oh, and I bought a new rubber band for my Kreitler rollers because the one I had melted, leaning against a radiator. The reason for replacement is irrelevant; it needed replaced.

Both of these examples are cycling-related, and in poser land that counts as training.

Happy New Year

Well, I'm still fat.

Fatter, actually.

Playing hockey. Bastard college kids still have fast legs. That's okay I'm older than their freakin dads.

I ran, well jogged, well trudged. Actually I limped 3 miles on New Year's Eve. That was novel. It takes a lot less time to pepare to go out on a really slow run in the cold then it takes to prepare to go out for a really slow ride in the cold.

Running shoes are cheaper than bikes.

Nonetheless, I think I shall ride sometime prior to June 1 this year. Gotta get ready for training camp at Sammy's.

Worst of 2011: That stupid climb up that stupid road on the stupid first day of stupid training camp.

Best of 2011: Flipping the Ag3r calendar to January 2012. Didn't have to look at HD's pony-tail anymore. By the way, if that is a pony tail, what does that make his head?

New Year Resolution: I won't get on Richy's shit as much.

resolutions were meant to be broken


Still no Bimmer. I thinks it's on a cruise around the world.

LaTour Musings

Hardest Stage: Stage 3, Hardwood Mills RR

Sweetest Stage: Stage 13, Kremis TTT

Most Dangerous Stage (and most fun?): Stage 16, Double-Right TTT, 4th man

Best Improvement from Original: Expanding TTTs, with first few counting all riders. Required teamwork, strategy, and guts.

2nd Best Improvement: September

Most Impressive Effort: Hannah

Got stronger along the way: Retro

Best New Rider: tatuOwen

Gutsiest Rider: xRay

Sleeper overall result-getter: HD

Underestimated the Pain: Kirk

Best New Help: Ryan

Best Old Help: Alison

Master Database Manager: Hick

Yet-to-be-realized LaTour Goal: 3 teams

Is that a long-haired llama???

Nope, it's a long-haired slacker and a short-haired llama!!!

Pain, fun, beer, and food. In that order, another LaTour de LaTonka is in the books. Hit the "weather hole" between 95 degrees 95% humidity on Saturday and storms and rain Sunday afternoon. Hard rides, great friends, and our first female participant!

Thanks to Hick, Ryan, Al, RJ, Mason, and Brady for outstanding support. When the soreness subsides, planning for version 3 will begin!

LaTour

September 4. Beer, food, pain. Lots of laughs.

Damn I better start trainin.

Gira de Seis Lagos est September 4!

HOLD your calendars boys...September 4 it is! Guaranteed to be one of the best days on the bike in 2011...be there!!! Invite your buds. The more the merrier.

Seis Lagos Teaser/Update

Go here for an idea of all the fun, fun, fun til her daddy takes the t-bird away...

www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4644399

Also, consensus is for a September event. Let me know availability of 9/3,4, or 5 (Labor Day), or the following weekend, 9/10 or 11. The bigger the better...and more competitive.

GSL Clarification

Oh ye of Brew-related nomenclature: "Century" connotes distance, not format. There will be plenty of opportunity to defend the green weenie, including TWO state-line sprints! It is not a matter of if there will be stages, just how many and of what type. Stay tuned.

Gira de Seis Lagos

The 2011 version of the LaTour de LaTonka is being planned! Exact format will be forthcoming. I suggest two options for dates - either Labor Day weekend (September 3,4, or 5) to wrap up summer, or mid-October (15th or 16th) when leaves will be at/near peak (a nod to luring Sammy and sister Deidre to PA. Not to mention Jeff and Phantom!). 2-3 months notice should allow for a decision and the hold on the calendar. Comment preference here or by email. The charter LaTour group is invited, plus anybody else who is a good fit for our fun-loving, apres-ride beer-swilling gang.

Posing a Question

September 2011...Labor Day Weekend...in honor of the Vuelta...Gira de Seis Lagos. Another mixed-team, one-day, multi-stage tour, in a geography you never ride. Some cruising, some racing. Much fun. You in?

Headed Home

What a trip. Ended it with a sunrise solo ride up the canyon before one final Boulder espresso. Spiritual. Thanks to Sammy and his clan (including our new little sister Deidre!) for exceptional hospitality, route guidance, and suffering. A couple hundred miles in 5 days. Not far, except that so much was upwards. Thank God what goes up must come down!

If you don't like this ridin'...do something else.

Knackered. Sunburned. Happy.

Half Way There

2 days of serious-ass climbing, everybody is doing well. Today was an easy 2-hour flatland spin. Gonna hit the mountains again tomorrow. Fat, tired, refreshed, and beginning to feel the energy return.

In My Mind I'm Going to Colorado

Now that I have that hockey silliness out of my system, time to be RIDIN' not HIDIN'!!!

Checking In

It's awfully slow, but I can still turn the pedals...and get MUDDY while doing it!

2 1/2 @ 35-off

My best ski effort this summer. Not bad for me, as I waterski slightly less than I ride. If you don't know what this means, I'll have to explain it over beers some time.

Life Easing Up?

Well, the kid's off to college :( , the new hospital is built and open after years of effort, and there is small light beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel. Does this mean a return to the saddle for more than the occasional recreatonal ride? Stay tuned...

Still Alive

Just checking in. I've ridden a little, including 2 sessions on the "spin bike" at the hotel I was at Monday and Tuesday. Got in an hour each session...which for me is a LOT. I learned that the secret to a spinning is to keep the flywheel, well, spinning. Not going to build power doing this but a great way to accustom the legs to turning over fast and smoothly.

I forgot my ipod and the only tunes they had in the spin studio which I played LOUD through the overhead speakers was an 80s mix...some of it was really good and some of it was so cheesy I was laughing while riding. Reminded me of hittin on babes in college.

The good & the bad

The good: I've spent the past year planning & building a new house. It has a great area for a bike shop in the basement. Moving commenced 2 days ago.

The bad: No riding because I've spent the past year planning & building a new house.