| 2008 may |
| Tuesday, June 03, 2008 Million Mile May wrap-up I didn't hit my goal of 3073 miles in the month of May and ended in second place with 2499. A pretty good result considering I was injured and had to rehab some nasty tendinitis in my knee while continuing to ride. Kenny finished first with 2966. Good grief, schooled again by my little hero. Anyway, the job search goes on, but I'm in no rush with a full calendar of racing is ahead. With the right amounts of speed work and rest I should be flying for the remainder of the season. We shall see. Saturday, May 31, 2008 Terrible Two training We drove to the confluence and did three times up Old Forresthill at threshold followed by one time up Prospectors for a total of 25 miles. This was a hard workout even though the on bike time was only two hours. Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Nevada City training number two Eight times up Pennsylvania in the middle of a four hour ride followed by a solid forty minutes of tempo work. Sunday, May 25, 2008 Nevada City training number one All right, good news all around. We'll start with my legs are sound after all the abuse they have been through and I did a few 1K efforts up to Beale's Point and a solid twenty minutes of hill repeats on Pennsylvania Ave. My schedule is clear for the week and I'm down for some serious riding. On the job front we have decided to have a go at pushing my own business and with the resources available we have a good shot at making it fly. Off to clean the garage... Saturday, May 24, 2008 vacation! Well not exactly. This morning I got up at 6AM and had a total meltdown as I got ready to commute thirty miles in the rain while my buddies were preparing for the local criteriums out here in Rancho. Anyway, I donned my cape and soldiered out into the rain and up the bike trail but by the time I got to Beale's Point I was totally cracked. I got off my bike and into the team car. My tour was over. What a disappointment. I really wanted this job to work out, but there were just too many obstacles. This week I was met with howling winds, a torn tire that had me riding four miles on a rear flat, two near misses with delivery trucks, swarms of bugs in the dark and finally a bone chilling down pour. I was wondering what next, fire, famine, a flood, locusts, frogs, what? Enough already. I'm gonna take some time to get my head straight, be quiet, and listen for my new path. See you on the trail. Wednesday, May 21, 2008 lame Lame as in horse talk meaning the leg ain't sound. No matter how much I ice and pop Motrin I can't get around the irritated tendon in my knee. So I'm way off my goal but soldiering on. But, I don't mind getting my ass kicked by Kenny Kwong, after all it was he who first taught me how to race my bike. We are both Wheelmen and as long as one of us gets it that is fine with me. Monday, May 19, 2008 what a difference I made it through my first day on the new job without being insulted, micro-managed, or threatened. I can get accustomed to this, but it may take a while to let my guard down. I knew that other place was a snake pit, but didn't realize how much it affected my sense of well being. I might even be inspired to step up and put my vast experience to good use. As for the Million Mile May, lets just say I think I'm finding my legs and may make a big run this week. I got in 115 miles today and feel pretty good. 12 days to go. I'll have to average 120 miles per day to reach my goal. It's gonna be close. Sunday, May 18, 2008 hot hot hot Okay, that was hard. The Davis Double is supposed to be one of the easier doubles and attracts many first timers. But, by the time we got to the Resurrection climb up Highway 20 to the Colusa County line at the 140 mile mark it had to be at least 110 degrees at bike level. Add to that the construction zone and it was hairball! We started out at 5:20 in perfect cycling conditions and enjoyed a brisk paced group that towed us 43 miles in under two hours to our first rest stop at the Monticello Dam. Pope Valley was beautiful betwixt and between the color of Spring and the parched brown of Summer. So, the first 95 miles to Middletown were great. Then begins the death march. The eight miles climb to Cobb Mountain Elementary School was best described by Larry Robinson in his usual flamboyant panache, "I'm sorry but that Cobb Mountain is an ugly" dramatic pause with crinkled nose funk face "ugly climb". Amen brother, next year I'm taking me some shortcuts. And the rest of the ride was like I said, a death march. I'm feeling good in my seventy something degrees townhouse but as soon as I venture out to the garage I become heat and light sensitive and head back for cover. That said, the Davis Bike Club once again rose to the occasion and delivered the best support in the business. They threw down with 2000 pounds of ice accompanied with tube socks that you could fill and wrap around your neck. We ended up spending three hours at the rest stops and needed every minute of it to get right. I drank eight bottles of Perpetuem, two bottles of Gatorade, five little V8's, four bottles of plain water and at least a six pack of Coke and Mountain Dew. In addition I took maybe six Ecaps, ate two or three PB&J's and snarfed quite a few handsfull of potato chips. Katie, Logan and I stuck together all day and helped each other through. I am definitely suffering from overuse in my knees but seem to still have it under control. Luckily Logan is fit and fresh and did more than his share of the work to keep things moving along. Looking back this one will prolly go on the epic list. Friday, May 16, 2008 bike commute day I got Brian Hickey to say bike trail savage on the KCRA morning news... youtube.com At 4:50AM yesterday I got on my 40 pound commuter bike to head up to Old Folsom to join the 50 Corridor dot com commute to work day event form Folsom to the capitol. There were approximately 25 riders that made the trip including a few first timers that may have seen the light. Two of them work for SMUD so this is a good thing. Anyway, we got to the capitol around 8AM, I did the meet and greet and an interview or two then headed home to get on my racing bike and head back for the rally at noon. After some more schmoozing I rode up to Hazel then circled back home via the aqueduct and Mather Field. No riding today to save up for tomorrow. The Davis Double kicks off at 5:15 and we be riding 200 miles through the heat. The injuries seem to be under control but you never know until you hit that first big climb. Say a little prayer for me. Tuesday, May 13, 2008 ice ice baby I did some nice easy recovery miles today for a grand total of 56. This allowed that sneaky little Kenny Kwong to get within 48 miles of me. I guess I'm riding 600 miles in the next five days. Catch me if you can. My new job starts for sure on Monday the 19th. I'm happy to report the transition appears to be seamless. The shop is called The Hub and is run by a nice Christian family. Check it out at norcalhub DOT com. Sunday, May 11, 2008 11 days, 974 miles I'm nursing a pulled muscle in my calf so I'm about a hundred miles short of my goal and Kenny Kwong and Ken Bell are gaining on me. Today's ride went pretty good until the last three miles when I felt a pinch when leaving an intersection. Drat! I knew this was gonna be rough, but was hoping to be injury free and only dealing with bike weariness. Oh well, lots of ice and lots of rest and we'll hit it again tomorrow. I'm currently between jobs and I'll blog about that soon. Friday, May 02, 2008 mayisbikemonth.com Yep, I'm going for 3073 miles in the month of May. For the mathematically impaired that's about one hundred miles a day for 31 days straight. Two down and 29 to go. I'm knackered so I'll keep it short with a quote from my esteemed colleague Hunter Allen when asked about how to reach one's genetic potential: "One thing that I do know that works? HARD, HARD, HARD work and a boatload of it. Pain is temporary, accomplishment is forever". |
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