…Faster than Last

“Bones heal, pain is temporary, and chicks dig scars…”

recent posts

about Jason Kayzar:

Unprofessional Cyclist

  • January 2011 Networking Ride recap


    I’ve been riding a lot in the dark, snowy mornings lately, so I figured why not show up to the Networking Ride on my single-speed mountain bike?  The roads looked a little sketchy, and I wasn’t sure who’d be showing up (if anyone) for the 20-something degree ride yesterday.

    Thankfully, someone DID show up – Bill King; Centurion Data Systems VP and IS Corp road racer.  He did NOT show up on a SS though.  His bike was having some work done, so the shop gave him a brand new, full Dura Ace BMC race rig to use for the afternoon.  Obviously a very even match in rigs – not.

    Thankfully, Bill humored me with a nice easy roll around Oconomowoc Lake, then we hit Seester’s for some XX Ambers and a great conversation about strategies for growing business with social media (did I mention that this is a Business Networking event?).  Bill’s got some great ideas, I’d encourage anyone who’s not comfortable with social media to look him up.

    Next month’s ride is February 9th, and Spring will be here before you know it.  Bundle up and jump on the train!

  • “She’s the fastest train on the line”


    Taught SPIN this morning, 13 hill repeats.  Ended with this tune – pretty sure it was the only SPIN class in America to do so today, maybe ever:

    Hell yea!

  • First ride of 2011… finally.


    Leach and I braved the cold, windy morning to ride our bikes down to the Lake for my inaugural ride of the new year.  Took me a few more days than many others, but I finally got one in.

    It will probably take the rest of the year to get all of the salt off my bike.

    Totally worth it.

  • Check out the all new Team Wisconsin website!


    New sponsor, new website, new riders, new year!!

    Team Wisconsin Website


  • “Festive 500” – final day


    Nowhere near the 500km goal of the Festive 500, but I didn’t plan on it.  For me, this was a reminder to get out and ride every day (that I could).  A little sloppy this morning, but 40+ degrees was a lot nicer than the 4 degree wind-chill on Tuesday.  Had a great time, put some miles on the single speeds, and still made it to work on time each day.

    Looking forward to many more miles in 2011 and beyond.

  • Quadruple threat: 24 in 6


    24 miles with 3 fellow Spokesmen at 5:45am. 12 degrees, but  4 to 6 degrees with the West wind-chill.  Dark and chilly, but a nice pace and great company. Put the single speed through a little workout in the dark to keep things toasty.

    Helping Peter hit his mileage goal for the year, it was a good morning.

  • Double down on the temperature: 24 in 12


    24 zippy miles this morning at 5:45am aboard the Cannondale $150 single speed.  Sometimes it is my favorite bike – garbage parts, super simple, cheap and indestructible.  42×16 with a freewheel does it all.  I’m not cool/stupid enough to go fixie/no brakes on the road in December.

    Temp at the start was 12 degrees.  I thought it would be warmer, but my new wool socks kept me warm and dry with no booties or shoe covers. Long overdue new batteries in my Knog rear flashing light were guiding planes in toward me – Holy crap is that thing bright.

    Just me and the bread delivery and garbage trucks on the road this morning.

    Definitely won’t hit 500 km in 8 days, but I should be out on the bike every day this week.

    Great way to end the year.

  • Day 1(?) of 2010


    So, today was Day 1 of the Rapha “Festive 500” …

    I hit the road at 5:45am with a nice sized crew of Spokesmen to get a few miles in.  In all honesty, I do not plan to ride 500 kilometers in the next 8 days, but it was a good idea to have rattling around in my brain as the sun came up.  Great weather (high 20’s) relatively speaking, and the roads were pretty clean.

    The best part of the ride (aside from bc buying a round at Starbucks for anyone who rode in) was finally meeting Denny Yunk, who I have known via email and bike circles for years, but had never met.  He is as cool as laid back as I had hoped, and his commuter bike is a work of art.

    (the legendary Denny Yunk)

    Spokesmen ride again tomorrow at 7:00am… we’ll see if I add to my 2010 mileage, or catch up on a little sleep instead for Christmas Eve.

  • Rapha’s “Festive 500” challenge


    Thanks to the infamous Russell, by way of the not-quite-as-famous-but-equally-worthy bc, you now have a reason to live between Christmas Eve and NYE:

    Festive 500 link

    “We’re throwing down the gauntlet and challenging you to ride 500km between the 23rd and the 30th December 2010. Rather than let the holidays get the better of you we want to see riders worldwide taking up the challenge and joining us to ride 500km in a week.”

    Get some!!

  • “You’re crazy!”


    If I had a dime for every time I heard that, let’s just say I’d have a lot of dimes.

    The roads were in relatively good shape yesterday and 4 of us were game for a slightly shortened Networking ride.  20 degrees, sunny and very light winds made for surprisingly good conditions.  As we pulled out, the IS Corp car pulled up and a kid jumped out to take our picture.  Apparently, he had never seen guys riding in below freezing conditions(?).  As always, good company and good conversation abounded.  Several last-minute cancellations were called in due to “work”.  I’m starting to think that sub-50 degree temps make some people’s “work” inbox suddenly fill up (not you Lampe or Fleckenstein, I know you would have rolled with us).  And also as usual, the post-ride drinks were delicious.

    Certainly better than the “during the ride” drinks, which were rendered useless (frozen) shortly after we left.

    The bottom line is that with the right gear, riding in winter is just as fun, and mind-clearing as riding in summer.  Many of the same people who won’t ride in winter will ski, go snowmobiling or sit in tree stands for hours on end in sub-32 degree weather.  What’s crazy is sitting in a windowless cubicle for 9 hours a day sending emails to co-workers in the cubicles next to you.

    2011 dates are all posted.  Mark your calendars and tell your friends.

    There have been rumors swirling about “rookie riders buying rounds”… Don’t let it be you!

  • 7 things I learned today about Florida group rides


    1. It gets cold here sometimes. I left at 6:45 this morning and it was in the low 50s.  Not cold for November by Wisconsin standards, but pretty chilly when you have shorts and a short-sleeved jersey on.  So glad I left my arm warmers back inside the locked house.  When I showed up for the ride, some guys had toe warmers and beanies on, no one had bare arms, few had bare legs… except me.  I wore them like a Sconnie badge of courage.
    2. An 85 mile “group ride” in San Antonio, Florida is actually a training ride.  I lined up with about 30 Spanish-speaking South American Cat 1s to take off.  They weighed about a buck-thirty and their thighs were the size of pumpkins.  I was starting to feel like the minnow in a shark tank.  We took off and I was in the “A” group which meant once we got rolling, an average speed in the high 20’s.  I’m pretty sure I spit out my heart and at least 1 lung by mile 30.  Thankfully, we stopped to refill bottles at 43 miles, and the South American freaks of nature kept going.  Even though I was able to hang on up to that point, I was pretty sure I would have been left behind shortly afterward if I had stayed with them.  We re-formed an “A-” group, took the pace down a couple notches for 5 or 6 miles, then ramped it back up.
    3. Central Florida is hilly.  Not Colorado hilly, but Minnesota hilly.  We had over 2,500 feet of climbing in 60 miles.  I had no idea. I just assumed the whole state was flat.
    4. There’s a giant douche-bag in every big, open group ride, and Florida is no exception.  Mr. Steroid McSprintalot was not there to make friends today, he was there to slowly zig-zag his way up hills and then crush the sprints.  Nothing like a guy who can’t hold a line dropping F-bombs on me as I pass him because I didn’t call out “on your right!”.  Whatever.  Douche-bag.  Everyone else was pretty cool, except the South Americans might have been calling me the douche-bag and I just didn’t understand them…
    5. Pacelines have not made their way to Florida yet.  70+ people, and the whole group rides 1,2,3 & 4 up with the strong guys just staying in front, sometimes way over the centerline.  It was bizarre.  I would tuck in behind someone, waiting to take a pull, and then 3 or 4 guys would eventually just pull around and spread out.  No organization, no working together.
    6. Sitting up and blocking HAVE made their way here.  This was a group ride, but anytime a teammate went off the front, the other guys on the team would block.  WTF?  This is a group ride, not Superweek.
    7. All in all, it’s pretty cool to show up to a parking lot at dawn a thousand miles from home and have more than 70 other people there ready to get after it.  Cycling is cycling, and almost everyone I talked to today (when I could talk) was really cool and there for the same reason as me.

  • 3 foot rule, my butt!


    The 3 foot rule is a law in Florida, but someone forgot to tell all of the motorists here.

    Man, I thought the rednecks in pickups were bad in Wisconsin.  The fact is, 99.999% of motorists I encounter in WI are cyclist friendly, sometimes too much so.  Like when you’re attempting a track stand at a 4-way stop, and the car decides that you now have the right of way –

    (“Go” “No, you go”  “No I insist, you go” – then you both take off at the same time)

    Here, not only are there some scary non-shoulders, but the 3 foot rule is merely a suggestion given to every 10th vehicle.  At least no one leaned out of their pick-up and yelled crap I couldn’t understand once they were past me, but I definitely feared for my life on a few of the main roads today until I hit a little patch of shoulder I could swing onto.

  • Never say “…one last time”


    “As they speed thru the finish the flags go down.
    The fans get up, and get out of town.
    The arena is empty except for one man,
    Still driving and striving as fast as he can”

    CAKE – “Going the Distance”

    I guess I’ll never learn – I told myself this would probably be the last Kettles ride of the year.  I also went for a muddy ride by myself with no tools.  That was about the stupidest thing I’ve done since I started at the back of the pack in my first Crit (Superweek), thinking I would work my way up to the front.  FAIL.

    For those of us who don’t hunt (anymore), this was the perfect day for a ride.  45 and misty, the Kettles were a virtual ghost town this morning.  Everyone was either hunting, racing Cross or has already set up their trainers in the basement.  Too bad for you, the conditions were awesome. I jumped out of my truck and felt fast – WORS fast.  Slapped on a bright yellow helmet and even clipped on a little trail bell to let all the hung over hunters know that my brown bike with the white seat was NOT a deer.  I shot out of the parking lot and flew to the first wooden bridge, where I immediately slid sideways and ate mud.  Time to take it down about 4 notches.  The roll-in and all of the piney woods with gravel and sandy soil were super fast.  The light rain stuck everything together and it felt like riding on rails.  The rest of the trails (MOST of the trails) was like riding on Vaseline covered marble.  It’s been a dry Fall and the hard-pack trails roll super fast when it’s dry, but that little bit of rain just created a sheet of slime on the cement-like surface.  I think I was going faster up the hills than down on my first Blue Loop.

    A quick stop in the parking lot to shed a few layers, still not a sole in sight aside from 3 runners, and it was back on the trails.  By now the ground had soaked up a lot of the moisture and the trails were rolling pretty fast again.  Just shy of 4 miles in, I blew the chain apart.  Tools?  You bet, back in my truck in the parking lot!  Time for the walk of shame.  Still an awesome way to spend my morning.  Made it back to the parking lot around 9:45, just as a few crews of weekend warriors on their reflectorized full-suspension rigs were about to roll in.

    In just 24 hours I’ll be rollin’ down the road in Tampa, I’m guessing that when I get back in December the skinny skis will have taken over the Kettles.  So long John and Emma – see you in Spring!

  • How To: de-funk-ify old kits and shoes…


    Just sent this out to some friends, but I figured it was worth a post.

    My old kits are getting funkier every time I wear them, even though I only use sports-specific detergent and air dry them.  So I asked a friend at LG for some advice on getting the funk out:

    It’s not an issue with you or with the fabric.  Essentially, the synthetic fibers trap bacteria.  Bacteria creates funk.  This is the reason that you are seeing carbon material, Coolmax silver, and bamboo becoming so popular since they have antibacterial properties.

    There is something that you can do that may or may not help.  It is a bit different.  I haven’t used it yet, but it couldn’t really hurt anything.

    I have a friend/ fellow rider that used to run cross-country.  When his running shoes would get funky, he would put them in a shopping bag, tie it up, and toss them into his freezer overnight.

    In a nutshell, bacteria thrives on heat and moisture.  Putting the jersey in the freezer may kill the bacteria off enough to stop the funk.

    “Ow, we want the funk
    Give up the funk
    Ow, we need the funk
    We gotta have that funk”

  • November Networking Ride


    About 17 or so riders braved the chilly November weather… no wait, that was last year.

    Today, about 17 riders enjoyed the beautiful mid-60 degree afternoon in November on a 36 mile ride through Lake Country, West of Pewaukee.  Awesome day, awesome weather and a great group of riders who were comfortable riding in a chat group at 19.5mph.  Hard to believe we’re just over a month away from Christmas, until you look up at the wreaths on the streetlights:

    After just 1 delicious Modelo Negro, Andrew Ohlsson and I took off to ride home, and I swear the temp dropped 50 degrees.  Felt like I was riding home in Winter in my underwear.

    See you all in on December 8th!

  • Blue Loop at sunrise highlights


    So, if you chose to use the extra hour to sleep this morning, you missed out on some AWESOME riding.

    35 degrees at sun-up, no one else in sight – just me and the 69er single-speed; a great time to do a few blue loops…

    (you’ll need to hum to yourself, my 30,000 song iTunes library just crashed)

     

  • …it can’t ALWAYS be about cycling


    Ronnie & Clyde

    “Move the mic away from your face. C’mon, this beat cost a lot of money.”

  • How many miles a year do you log on a bike?


  • Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional


    If this looks like fun to you, you have a screw loose… or you’re better adjusted than most people.  You are either clinically insane, or you understand how to bring harmony and/or balance into your life.

    I’ve been riding bikes since I was about 6 or 7.  I was the last kid on my block to learn to ride so I guess I made up for it by continuing to ride into my adult life.  As a kid and even as a young adult I rode a lot, but always within boundaries.  I had never learned to suffer, and I had never learned to embrace suffering.

    The older I get, the more I realize that the prize is the journey.  Why else would I get up at 5:00am today to go out in the 40 degree darkness and wind and ride my bike up a hill over and over and over?  I’m no martyr, but I can take a lot more than I used to and it has made me a stronger rider and a better person.  In fact, I would argue that the majority of riders in my class who are faster than me just have a higher tolerance for suffering.  And probably better genes.  And they probably eat fewer cheeseburgers too…

    Greg LeMond certainly knows about suffering: “One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it’s not going to be satisfying.”

    So does Mat Hoffman: “Some people pay a thousand dollars for a tattoo. This scar cost me twenty grand.”

    Suffering brings rewards.  Those who can conquer a huge hill-climb or a fast century or the Bone Ride or long road race only to have to sprint it out at the end know about suffering.  They know that where you finish depends on how much you can take.  They also know that those who embrace the pain and the discomfort and use it to fuel themselves will be out in front.  And those who don’t will just hitch a ride in the sag wagon.

    How many fat people sit on their couch watching the “Biggest Loser” wishing they could be fit?  But one guy (Jerry Lisenby) not only lost weight on the show, he then pedaled across the US.  He was a big fat turd and then he learned to embrace the pain and suffering required to get stronger.  His ride was probably the adventure of a lifetime – something many of us would love to do but “can’t”.  Once he learned to accept and own that temporary agony, he was literally a whole different person.

    The point is that since I have chosen to surround myself with cyclists and “like-minded” people who embrace this way of thinking, I have become a much better version of the previous me.  As a novice mountain bike racer in my late teens, I would ride when I could in warm weather and show up at a few races and try my luck.  I never even got close to a podium, and I would even say “…as long as there’s at least one person behind me when I finish…”  What a load of crap.  Losing sucks.  What’s the point of racing if you’re not there to win?  That doesn’t mean I will win, but it’s all about my mindset and my internal willingness to suffer.

    Eddie Merckx:

    “This is one of the hardest sports, along with boxing. But in boxing, you take punches only two or three times a year. I race 150 to 180 days. I’m not a masochist. I don’t enjoy suffering. But I’ll drink champagne and smoke cigars after I quit, not before. When I abdicate my throne, it will be in full glory. I’m not made to be second best.”

  • Great forecast… for me to poop on!


    A slow leak in my rear tire this morning along with a glance at the rain outside at 5:00am convinced me to skip the outdoor ride and head to the WAC to ride the SPIN bike.

    LAME.  I don’t mind riding inside once in a while in crappy weather, in fact I teach SPIN every Wednesday.  But to be inside by choice on a 65 degree morning was a dumb decision.  I sweated up a storm so I was just as wet as I would have been outside anyway – except unlike the morning rain it was a “not-so-fresh” soaking.  The 150 mph high wind warning that started at 7am had so far produced nothing more than a light breeze, but I let the pending doom of the day ruin what would have been a great morning ride.  I could have grabbed a different bike, slapped my lights on it and been out the door in about 3 extra minutes, but instead I drove to the club like all the other sheep and did a boring SPIN class in a basement staring at myself in the giant mirrors the whole time.  It’s been such an unbelievably awesome spring/summer/fall for riding that I don’t ever want it to stop.

    Puker on Thursday morning – Tsunami be damned!

  • 3,000 miles in under 10 days? Sweet!


    It’s a sickness.  If this doesn’t motivate you, nothing can…

    http://bicycledreamsmovie.com/

    (Thanks Nate Andrews for the link)

  • Taking a week off the bike


    293rd day of the year, I have 148 rides in so far

    An average of 1 ride every other day since January 1.

    Taking a week off, then back at it.  Or maybe I’ll sneak out to the trails on Saturday…

  • The Tosa Spokesmen – who are they??


    “All Weather is Good Weather”

    If you have ever been on a group ride or some charity ride in Southeastern Wisconsin, you’ve probably seen one of these jerseys:

    The Spokesmen are a loosely organized group of riders from (wait for it…) Wauwatosa who get together just about every day, 365 days a year, to ride their bikes.  They are professionals: engineers, doctors, sales guys, etc. who have families and lives and just cherish getting away for an hour or two on the bike with a handful of friends.

    I was invited to join them for a ride exactly a year ago today, so I thought it was fitting to show them a little love.  In our small world of avid cyclists, word of rides and riders somehow gets around.  Brien Christopherson joined me last year on the Networking ride that I organize and in turn invited me to join him and the Spokesmen for a ride some Fall morning.

    I showed up at 5:45am with no lights, in my 20-year-old Bellweather winter gear, ready to rock.  I think we did a hilly “Tour of Tosa” my first ride, and I was instantly hooked.  I could show up just about any day of the week, in any weather, and be guaranteed anywhere from 1 to 20 riding partners for a spin before work.  And just like that, I was in.

    Next came the “Puker“, a weekly event that combines climbing a 3 block long hill with climbing a 3 block long hill again, and then climbing a 3 block long hill…  My first attempt was less than stellar.  But the beauty of the Spokesmen is that every ability level on the scale is represented.  There’s always someone slower than you, but there’s always someone faster too.  Over time, the Puker has become my favorite ride – hands down.  It has made me a much stronger climber, and I look forward to hot laps every Thursday morning now.

    For the past 3 years since getting back into cycling, (and really for the past 40 years) I had been hanging up my cleats shortly after Halloween.  I honestly couldn’t remember when I had ridden in Winter last, but it might have involved a BMX bike with Tuff Wheels…  The Spokesmen don’t all ride every day, or in any weather, but at least one of them does – which is the sheer beauty of this group of friends.  All cyclists are warmly accepted, as long as you like to ride and maybe enjoy a beer or two (and not necessarily in that order).  Some guys ride daily, year round.  Others just hop on for the occasional weekend ride.  But they all ride.  Some mornings we talk about bikes, some mornings we talk about work and some mornings we don’t talk at all – everyone just gets lost in the ride.

    So in addition to some new Winter gear, there’s a Spokesmen jersey on my Santa list this year.

  • October 13 Networking Ride wrap-up:


    If you like riding your bike in 66 degree sunny weather, this was the ride for you.

    About 16 (?) riders started, but we lost one early on to a broken spoke.  Those with intact wheels enjoyed about a 36 mile stroll through Lake Country, probably within a week of peak Fall colors.  Just a beautiful day, and a great mix of people.  We had riders from Green Bay, Madison and even Illinois (International if you include John Tonner, since he’s a Scotsman).

    The pace was nice, even though Mark Lampe was possessed and constantly rode 10 yards off the front.  Those of us who had time hit up a local watering hole for a few pints of Guinness and schmoozing after the ride.  It’s amazing that people will pay $100 to do some golf event in the hopes that they will be able to talk to prospective clients or business partners.  Our networking rides are free (unless you buy a round of beers…), have over 300 riders on the email list, and include people from 4 of the top 10 & 13 of the top 100 businesses in Wisconsin.  What better way to meet prospective clients, business partners and friends?

    I keep thinking that each ride will be the last one for the year in shorts and short sleeves, but this fantastic weather continues.  Join us Wednesday,  November 10th for the next ride – this time you might actually have to wear warmer gear.

  • Hundreds at the Littmann Loop ride on Sunday


    A very long weekend.  Went to Jeff Littmann’s service on Saturday, and skipped the last WORS race to take part in the Littmann Loop memorial ride on Sunday.  I rode to the ride from my house, and I was a little overwhelmed by emotion on the way there.  The church service the day before was a very formal Catholic service, the ride was an informal service on a whole different level.  As I rode to Attitude, I realized the enormity of the loss.  It was bigger than 1 man, it was all of the thousands of people’s lives that he had left his mark on.
    Who will fill that gap now?
    Billy O. said a few words before we took off.
    Old co-worker of mine at Vic Tanny, Justin Migliano who is a photojournalist for CBS 58 was there and did a very nice piece on the news last night:

  • Jeff Littmann Memorial Ride – this Sunday


    From: Doug Wambach @ Chiropractic Partners Cycling

    “I can’t explain the sadness I feel for what has taken place in the last week.  I have gotten to know Jeff quite well this year and feel that I’m a better person for that.  Obviously this hits all of us hard as he was a very popular person with reason.  For me it was the long doc rides just chatting with him and 1 particular ride this year when I flatted near his shop, he fixed up the tire in seconds and told me to get out and ride, he refused to take my money.  For this reason it would be fitting that we do what any of us would want the other to do in this scenerio, ride our bikes.  Being together will also help in our pain.  I know many of us go to church on Sunday mornings, but lets make our peace this week out on the pavement, something Jeff would highly approve.  Let’s get together this Sunday at Attitudes in Pewaukee, leaving 9 AM,  and ride to Dousman (the same route he would on Sat mornings).  This summer Jeff routinely turned off on Waterville and headed back to the shop to open.  The route will be about 35 miles.   Lets ride in silence for the first 2 miles and pray for safe riding and for Kelly, Mike, Ashley and family.

    Please join and spread the word to other riders/teams.”

    Attitude Sports – Pewaukee:

    http://www.attitudesports-pewaukee.com/Attitude_Sports_Pewaukee/Welcome.html

  • Jeff Littmann changed my life


    In the blink of an eye, one of the most influential people in my adult life is gone.

    Back in 1990, I was working in a bike shop that has since gone out of business.  This monster of a guy would come in every once in a while and talk to Todd Schmidt, one of the racers/mechanics at the shop.  One day we got a delivery: a brand new Colnago Master X Lite frameset.  It was the coolest bike I had ever seen.  Turns out this was a bike Todd was building up for the big guy, Jeff Littmann.  Jeff was still transitioning from bodybuilder to serious cyclist, so he looked like the Incredible Hulk compared to all the other noodle-armed cyclists we knew.

    Todd introduced me to Jeff, who was running all of the Vic Tanny clubs in Wisconsin.  This was the pinnacle of the 90’s fitness craze, and there was no doubt Jeff was a rock star on the scene.  I asked Jeff if I could interview for a position at one of the clubs, and a few weeks later I walked into Vic Tanny in Cudahy for the first time… as the Manager.

    Jeff taught me about personal accountability and responsibility.  He was a man of few words; you knew you were doing things right when he didn’t say anything, and if he opened his mouth, you were in trouble.  The few times Jeff did say something positive to me, it stuck like glue, and I hung on to it for weeks.  He walked the walk; working in the Clubs around the clock, 7 days a week.  If the toilets in the club were dirty, he cleaned them – then whoever was supposed to have cleaned them got an earful.  He was a polarizing person, everyone had an opinion about him, but he was always Jeff.  I have met very few people in my 20 years since then that are that true to themselves.  Jeff taught me to stand up for my values, and be true to myself.  Jeff giving me that chance also allowed me to meet my best friend, Mark Lampe – a guy cut from the same cloth.

    Littmann began training with Kurt Kuettle, a trainer at the clubs who had been a strength coach for the Brewers.  Jeff would bring in a seat post with his seat on it, and you’d see them wheel a stationary bike into a tiny office and close the door.  Minutes later Kurt would be screaming at Jeff as he put him through interval after interval after interval for what seemed like hours.

    Over the years, Jeff’s 100% commitment to fitness never wavered.  His life revolved around it until his very last memory.  I’m certain that I will never meet another man like Jeff – the world truly lost a superstar today.

  • Personal Lubrication time!


    Time for a massage!

    I haven’t had one since about 3,000 miles ago, and I don’t remember when the last one was before that.  I take really good care of my bikes, but it’s funny how I put care of my body way down on the list; somewhere between lawn mowing and sump pump maintenance.  Massages are not really the luxury that I always think of them as.  If you think of massages and chiropractic care like you think of regular maintenance on your car or your bike, you should be putting semi-regular visits in your calendar based on your mileage too.
    I typically treat the Chiropractor like the body shop – I visit after every major crash.  Thankfully, there was only 1 in 2010 so far, but it is still September.  Massages seem like a guilty pleasure, but anyone who’s had one after a tough race or a fast Century can certainly attest to their power.  Even a crappy massage feels good, but a real massage from someone who understands what they’re doing can be magical.  Cyclists are all about suffering; the more suffering you can endure, the better cyclist you are.  Same can be said about massages; you can’t loosen thousands of miles of knots with “light pressure” – sometimes you need to use jack hammers (or in the case of massage therapists – elbows).  Not much else hurts this good… can’t wait!

    P.S. – THE massage therapist:

    http://www.remedywithin.com/

  • “Cold symptoms”… leg warmers, jackets and full finger gloves.


    Not quite ice fishing season yet, but that cool Lake breeze and 45-50 degree temps will definitely wake you up at 5:30am.

    Cool enough for leg warmers and sleeves, but warm enough to feel just right once you’re warmed up.  Normally, this would feel much warmer, but I’ve really become pretty accustomed to our 80 degree mornings all summer, and I feel like a cold weather wimp.

    Despite the darkness for the majority of the 33 mile ride today, there was no shortage of beat-down-ocity.  My long, kid-less weekend in Chicago consisted of staying out until bar-time, sleeping in and consuming many adult beverages.  Today was my first ride since Thursday, and my thighs felt like they were made out of wood by the time we finished.  I’m just glad we didn’t do 50 or I’d have been in rough shape.

    A week and a half left until the last WORS race of 2010, and then it’s time to taper the riding a little and get some runs in.

  • 1990 Inaugural NORBA World Mountain Bike Championships


    ULTRA-RARE footage – check out Johnny T and his drop-bar/disc wheel rig!

    Hard to believe this was 20 years ago… until you see those Zubaz.