Off To Jellystone National Park!

It's spring break and therefore time to pack up the family truckster and head south to take the domestic goddess/tent bait and the whipper snappers camping.  We'll be pulling a Dick Cheney and heading to an undisclosed location, just without shooting anyone or plotting our evil world domination.  More like grilling hot dogs over a campfire(god I hope I can get that thing lit), making s'mores and general hilarity.  A little hiking and a little fishing, and yes dad's packing the road bike.  The gentlemen's race looms large and there are some semi-epic roads in the parts where we're heading, and with the Pave's mounted, a little time off road wouldn't kill me(in all likelihood)

My quest for entertainment for the trip is being filled by the new issue of Embrocation mag as noted previously and what I consider to be the finest of the classic greek road trip sagas.  I actually was reminded of the book by the unholy rouleur a dude far smarter than I.  Xenophon's The Persian Expedition(also known as Anabasis, just not on my copy) is the story of a greek mercenary army that, after their employer is killed in battle, has to fight their way to the safety of Greece.  Sounds just like "The Warriors" right?  I can't wait for the scenes between the Greek mercenaries and the Turnbull A.C.'s, but maybe I'm mixing the two.  My memory is a little faded due to some past indescretions that I needn't go into on this space.

So some decent reading and a whole lot of good tunes for the way down there(you almost made me spill it you trickster).  Possibly not to the professional level that Seiler, the papist and I managed after enough Fat Tire was displaced the other night....but hey that's another soundtrack for another time.

Hopefully I'll have some epic or at least interesting ride reports from our hidden location, and then we have a flurry of activity with the Road to Roubaix party @ the Mtnbike Depot, the Dirty TT, Land BTW Lakes mtn bike race, Mini Marathon, some spring road races(mayyyyybe) and the Gentlemen's Race.  

Shaping up to be a decent spring after all.  Now where did I pack that picnic basket Yogi?

Embrocation Magazine vol3

Vol 3 of  Embrocation Magazine hit the front porch this week and sent me into a quandry.  I really needed to save this for the upcoming camping trip, I mean 5/6 hrs in the car needing something to look at.  There was no way. I was out of that bet like Kramer.  

I had a conversation about this publication with the domestic goddess/communication major regarding weather a publication that comes out without a regular schedule is really a magazine or an art piece.  doesn't matter.  This is the cyclocross issue and whenever Jeremy feels like publishing more, I'll be ready.  Great layout and design, great photography and excellent articles.  

My  favorite was the shootout between HUP United and Team Super Relax.  I won''t spoil the ending or make you salivate by knowing that there's full coverage of the Rapha roller races in Portland with an emphasis on Team Beer.

go to Embrocation Magazine and get you some.  Then maybe Mr Dunn will make us another.

Road To Roubaix @ Mtn Bike Depot/Cross Supply

Official Louisville Premiere of Road to Roubaix

April 5th  7pm

Free Food and Drink.

From our friends at the Mtb Depot/Cross Supply.

I'm not sure how they'll top their Cyclocross World Championship party, but I'm willing to wager there'll be a good crowd of familiar faces and a lot of red cups of "recovery drink".

See you there.

SRAM-Wow!!

Sorry, it was there and it fit really well. With the Dirty TT coming up on April 16th, I knew I needed to get some things on the cx bike sorted out. The primary issue was the badly bent rear derailleur hanger and general issues with the derailleur itself. Aaron from the mtb depot/cx supply store and I discussed some options and decided to go SRAM. Hey, I already had the t-shirt, now my drive train partially matches. All I replaced was the rear derailleur and shifters. Apparently front derailleurs are "stupid" as Aaron put it. Well a stupid front derailleur means I don't have to buy another one.

I took the bike out last night and did the road ride that was on the schedule. With the exception of getting questioned by both web-people as to why I was on my cx bike(get lost trying to find river rd? She asked), great ride. It took a few minutes to get used to the double tap technology, but I really like the definite feel you get when shifting. I also really liked the clean look w/out all those cables coming out of the shifters.
Pix to come, but for a relatively inexpensive change, it's a definitely nice difference.

One other thing that came up during the ride is how badly we need the Rogue kit to show up. Riding GDI is tough in this town. Nobody waves. It was really tough riding past web-dude/former band leader at the Lex Circuit Race and getting the "oh, it's you!"
Gosh steven, I know you're still mourning the cancellation of "Battlestar Gallactica", but geez.
Seiler seems to think we are scant weeks away from debuting the Rogue "none more black" kit. Possibly at the dirty tt. Until then I'll rock the Rapha gear and the old TSB kit(which is just to annoy Logan)

In closing, please join me in congratulating Doug on his ass getting better. I'm not sure if that was a medical diagnosis or an advertisement or something he learned at the NASCAR race. Better than whose man? Better than whose?
Best we never know.

Good News All Around (doug)

At least I'm hoping it's good news. I'm pretty sure, after some reading, and some talking to people way smarter than me (NO, not at Bristol!), I think I figured out the ITB issue. Again, luckily, it has not reached a "critical" point, so this week of rest (from long runs, at least), some ice, some stretching, and some prescription anti-inflamitories, will probably do the trick as far as rehab. As far as prevention going forward, the whole thing kind of confused me, since I'd been carefully running the schedule, not ramping too quickly, and had not felt any pain until the most recent run. What caused the "rub"? Then I remembered that I often run shorter runs w/o my orthotics (for a softer, "racing flat" sort of feel), and had taken them out for both the 5k and the triathlon we recently ran. I had NOT replaced them for the 20 mile run that next Tuesday! The shoes I'm wearing now are not stability or motion control shoes, which hasn't been a huge deal b/c 1) I haven't had that many long runs, and 2) I normally have the orthotics. I have flat feet, and overpronate (at least moderately, if not severely). That long run w/o the inserts was most likely the cause of my pain. I ran a few miles today before doing a spinning class and muscle conditioning class and felt no pain. I'm going to give myself a few more days (hopefully getting a nice outdoor ride in tomorrow and CRIT on Friday), but I think I'm good to go. It's time to get some new shoes and to start breaking them in for the marathon (sharing time with the existing pair), but I'm going back to either a stability or a motion control, AND will keep the orthotics in on any run of significance going forward.

I also spoke to a well respected local triathlon focuses swim instructor, and plan to start some one-on-one lessons in the next week or so.

Now I just need to get out and practice cx dismounts and remounts from the aero bar position...

Enuff Suspense- Dirty TT Date

After an underwhelming outcry, we commence with the big announcement.

The Dirty TT/cyclocross individual pursuit
Thursday 4.16.09

We're going to Portland baby.
Yes, we'll be heading to the west end of Louisville for some crossy fun.
Stay tunes for directions, but mark the date, clear your calendars and for shits sake Hauber get your wheels ready.

Mgt.

The Grevieous Act Of Ridiculocity That You've Been Waiting For

The Dirty TT

Cyclocross Individual Pursuit

Many have asked why we would do something that is clearly(CLEARLY) so wrong in every way.

There's no explanation.

We'll tell you where.  We'll tell you when, but be ready.

We'll communicate through the usual channels to prevent detection.

I hear cowbells.

Do you?

IT Returns (Doug)

I finally got a chance to jump on and saw that B had posted some of his upcoming races (among other things, some of which are unfortunately related to my tailbone). I know he's excited to get back into some road racing. It's definitely a strong suit for B and many others on the Club Roster, present company excluded...really excluded. I'll be cheering for my Rogue clubmates, watching when I can, and following the results closely.

That said, I thought I'd post an update on the training, and at least what I'm committed to as far as upcoming races. We (Dr. OneDood and I) have been following Hal's schedule for the most part, with some brief interruptions for beer, basketball, birthdays, etc. I was able to run my first 20 mile training run last week (in addition to a 17 and an 18.25 the weeks before), so my training is going relatively well (not fast, mind you, but well). The 20 took me 3:03, which is really pushing the limits if I want to run a sub 4:00 race in Nashville, but well see if we can gain some speed over the next month. I now have almost 2 full weeks before another long run is scheduled, which is good, because I had some serious ITB issues near the end of the 20 miles, and it's still bothering me 3 days later (it killed in CRIT class this morning). I'm skipping the local 10k race here this weekend, so I can go to Bristol, TN and watch really fast cars and really drunk people. Cyclisthating Ari, Brian (I think), and my lovely bride Alison are all doing it, though. Good luck all.

As far as the scheduling goes, as I believe Brian mentioned in one of his earlier posts, Alison and I (and our Rogue clubmate - for triathlons only -Duane) got the season off to a good start last weekend at the Southern Indiana YMCA "Tri at the Y" Super Sprint. It was a 8 mile bike, 2 mile run, 300m swim race that just sort of got the competitive juices flowing. Duane is an excellent cyclist, and it showed. He opened a gap on the bike leg that could not be made up by anyone (he was pretty fast on the run and swim, too) and took the overall win. Really impressive, especially considering it was his first triathlon. I also put a pretty good race together, and despite sucking royale at the swim, was able to win my new age group (thanks to the fact that Duane's time was moved out of our age group and into the overall catagory for his win, that is). I suppose I should've been pretty good, though, as I was just 40 yrs. and one day old -- definitely the youngest member of my new M40-44 group. Alison got 2nd in the W35-39 group, so we all walked away with awards. Fun way to start the season.

So, assuming the 2 weeks of rest, ice, and stretching, and NASCAR is sufficient to fix the ITB (it should be), here's what's in store for me in the next few months:

April
5: Max Performance Sprint Triathlon #3
11: Papa John's 10 miler
18: Miami U. Student Foundation Sprint Triathlon (tentative)
25: Nashville Country Music Marathon

April 30-May 5: Disney World Vacation (sweet)

May
Nothing scheduled (yet) except lots of swim lessons

June
6-7: MS150 Bike the Bluegrass (not sure how many of these 150 miles I'm doing yet)
13: Shelbyville Olympic Triathlon

July
11: Muncie Endurathon, Half Ironman Triathlon

*Notice that nowhere on here is there anything even resembling a 100+ mile "epic" bike race over many hills and other difficult terrain.

pre-race thoughts(brian)

"The devil's name is dullness"
Robert E Lee

Like bobby I'm not afraid to run towards a battle where victory's unlikely just for a thrill. Obviously we don't share a lot of politics, but with my racing schedule firming up, it's time to do some battle.

This weekend is my first road race of the season, the Promotion Circuit Race and I'm hoping to do right by the Rogue Racing Project.
I'm following that with the White Lightning XC mtn bike race, the mini marathon and a "special project" that I'll be detailing later. It's thanks to our friends @ Rapha.

More details on that later as promised.

Ryan Flippin Adams (brian)

Great show last night from Ryan Adams.  Thanks to Fatty for the hook up. It's funny, going to see RA is a lot like going to see the Replacements used to be.  It was always going to be a complete trainwreck or a trainwreck that was the best show you'd seen in years.  It all depended on how drunk they were.  Now I'm not saying that Ryan topped the 'Mat's salad days, but it was a hell of a show.  Lot's of great tunes and some very "grateful" style jamming that you have to think he learned playing with Phil Lesh and Friends.  

I'm not sure why Ryan insisted on playing on such a dark stage, but if I could write songs like that, I'd come up with some interesting affectations for myself as well.

I understand that last time he swung thru town that the show was so bad the papist walked out mid way thru and it's reached legendary status in it's awfulness.  Totally different last night.  Great songs and the man was even personable.  The first time I saw him live was years ago, living in Dallas.  The domestic goddess/overly permissive one and I took our then 3 yr old to the Austin City Limits Music Festival.  Ryan was in rare form, but on the fortyeleven millionth F-bomb we decided to take the toddler to see what Emmy Lou Harris was up to.

That was Ryan's infamous show where he shouted "the grateful dead is punk as fuck".  I wasn't sure what he meant until he turned up in Phil's band down the road.

Why is Louisville such a magnet for horrific endings to shows?  Years ago the Black Crowes'  Chris Robinson got harassed by the village's finest onstage.  We got passed over for years after that type behavior.

In addition to the great show, I got an email out of the blue from a new friend at Rapha.  We've missed each other numerous times, and finally just got to chat on email.  I'll have a cool announcement later this week relating to the ultimate ridiculocity.  Sit tight.  It'll be worthwhile.  I need to make sure we're okay to publicize this and then you know it'll ramble on ad nauseum.

Hope everybody got out in the fan-effing-tastic weather.  I had a lovely crash free mountain bike ride.  slowly getting my feces stacked vertically.  Sometimes doing something completely different refreshes the whole thing.  It's my ongoing attempt to "flow" with the bike. The continual process of letting go. hmmm.

wild weekend(brian)

I guess I'll do the weekend roundup. Lots going on around town. First we had the opening race of the spring road racing series- the Long Run Park Circuit Race.
Lots of good friends w strong finishes.
In the womens races Oli had a strong 3rd in rough competition, having to sprint Tracey "the toaster" Tolson for the finish. Thats never an easy battle to win.
Kelley and Suzanne(aka rollergirl) both had strong showings in their race facing a tough field and a rain soaked course.
Mr garner nailed a top ten and the papist finished in the top half of the 4's. Not too shabby.

In tri-stuff, the Tri at the Y found Duane winning overall, with Dug winning his age group and meesuzdug getting 2nd in hers. And that's after a solid night of drinking! Thats a great way to start the tri season, especially since it was Duane's first tri.
So Dug, does this mean Duane outran you? I heard he was hell on the bike. Apparently the aero-bars do make a difference.

I believe I was drinking beer at a mexican joint and watching basketball during the roadrace, but I placed at the top of my age group in my event.

Sunday was as near a perfect day as I deserve. 6m trail run w the cyclisthaterAri, hang time with the kids, and then a superfast club ride w some friends from the BC/TL.
We had a 30 mph sprint in downtown and thats before they wound up the pace. Felt like one of the Kermis races in "a dog in a hat".
As we sped thru downtown, mrgarner commented on the "johnny cash" look I've been sporting, w the black rapha jersey and black shorts. I told him that if I was going to ride GDI I was going to try to look good doing it.

After the ride I got a chance to cook, which I should do more often. Beer can chicken and pomme frites. Not a bad way to end the weekend. And yes, the Fat Tire went down very quickly. Nice. I even helped to clean up to the shock and amazement of the domestic goddess/sous chef.

Now its nose to the gridstone time, work and training to jump into the Lexington Circuit race next weekend. I hate to miss this race. Its freaky fast, but really fun. We'll see.

And check the local fishwrap the Courier-Urinal for a shot of Duane leading the field on the bike. I'll throw up a link later.

Chilly Mtn Biking and Dug does 40 Liberace Style(brian)

First I think we should all wish Dug a big happy 40th birthday.  Granted it's a little suspicious that his friends from Dayton came to join us in celebration last weekend and Dug woke up with an unexplainable sore ass.  The fact that he needed x-rays means one of those boys was packing heat.  Or something.

Luckily this weekend he's celebrating the actual birthday in a far more manly and adventurous way.  Whats that? Huh? Oh never mind he's going to Circe Du Soleil.  Nothing better than lots of muscular mens holding each other in numerous positions and doing acrobatics while blasting smooth jazz.

Promise me this Dug? This time, and I mean this for all of us.  I don't care how moved you are.  Don 't jump up and scream "I can't quit you Jaques"

It's bad form.

Happy Birthday brother.

In other non-news, I spent last night out at Waverly park getting my assssss kicked on the mountain bike with Duane, who is far more nimble than anyone would guess by looking at him.  For the out of towners amongst you, Waverly Park is built in the shadow of an abandoned and supposedly haunted sanitorium(not a sanitArium, this is where they used to leave TB patients to die) complete with a "body chute" and all manner of creepy things other than Duane.  there are several loops out there and knowing that I am hopeless on all manner of conveyance but particularly the mtb, we started with the inner loop.  I totally dug this.  Fast and not really technical at all.  We flew through(at a flying snail's pace) sections and got around most of the things there were to deal with.  I obviously need to spend a lot more time doing this to get comfortable.  Thankfully Duane's a pretty good bike handler and verrrrrry patient.  He had a lot of helpful hints which I was glad to get.

We hit the other loop next and I really struggled climbing thru the leaves crashing in a non-spectacular but humiliating fashion.  It was a blast even when I struggled and we really only quit when we lost the day light.  We even spent some time working on some bunny hops and techniques for getting the front wheel up a little higher. This I can practice in my own hood without traipsing to the South End in the dream's hood.

Pair that with the fact that worked magically created enough time for me to watch the Cards in the Big East tournament and damn that was a decent day. UK winning had absolutely no impact on the quality of this day.

Good luck this weekend to all my Road Racing friends at Long Run Park.  I'll be there shaking the cowbell and heckling for you.

Stay tuned for the Cyclocross Individual Pursuit/Dirty TT  and The Bourbon Trail Epic ride.

If we can pull these off it'll be a miracle, but funny to watch nonetheless.

Birthday break (doug)

Well, as my 40th birthday approaches, and I read Brian's sad story of life without motivation, I thought I'd chip in and let him know that I, too, have been slacking, at least a little bit. As we approach the peak training period for my upcoming marathon, it happens to coincide with my favorite time of the year to NOT train. This ought to be good.

Dr. OneDood (also training for a marathon) and I altered Hal Higdon's plan again last week, and put in a great 18.25 miles at the park on Thursday. I got out Thursday night to watch my Dayton Flyers get humiliated on national TV, and then stayed out to drown my sorrows and hang out with Ari and some friends from the Y. I took Friday completely off, to focus on a very popular local 5k (the Anthem) on Saturday, where Alison and I ran with 10,000 other runners, including Brian with his son in tow for his first 5k race. The move of the 18 miles was important also because that Saturday evening was my 40th birthday party (a week early), and I did not want to have run 18 miles earlier in the day. The 5k went well (for me), and I finished in 22:04. I haven't run much faster than that in any 5k in my life (my PR is a 21:50), so I am happy I can still summon up some speed when I need it. Had the race been 5.1k, however, I may still be laying there, 100m from the finish, yelling "help me". I recovered quickly, though, and even fit an additional 5 miles in that afternoon, to make 8 for the day before the party.

The birthday party was great. We had friends from Louisville, Cincinnati, Dayton, Louisville, and Nashville come up or down to join me for an evening of Bocce at a local indoor Bocce bar, and then continued debauchery until all hours of the night.

So, Sunday was a total recovery day (from the party, not from the 8 miles). We actually had an amazing day. Alison and my daughter had birthday party duty all day, so my 7 year old (Kyle) and I took some gift cards I earned from work over to Best Buy and had a field day. We got mom a new camera (a nice one, I might add), and still had enough leftover to get ourselves both Wii Music and Wii Fit (as well as Wii Deca Sports, b/c I wanted to have curling...). We spent the afternoon playing outside, and then figuring out the games. I really love the Wii.

Monday, I woke up to a small "twinge" near my tailbone, and thought I may have bruised it doing sit-ups one of these days off (I do them just to appease my conscience on recovery days). It was no big deal, I thought, and headed off to CRIT on Monday morning. I got through CRIT just fine, although I had to by-pass the crunches, b/c the tailbone was aching.

After a day of work, I got home Monday evening and we all (the fam) went for a long walk up to a local restaurant and had dinner. On the walk home, the back/tailbone started REALLY hurting -- like to the point I couldn't really keep walking (or stand, or sit, or lay down) without extreme pain. The pain lasted completely through the night (no sleep), and I really thought something major had happened.

I spent Tuesday morning at the doctors office, getting tweaked and x-rayed, and then the rest of the day trying not to sit, stand, or lay down (walking actually seemed to be the least painful thing I could do). At this point, it doesn't seem to be a broken or bruised tailbone, but may be either a nerve/disc issue or a cyst of some sort. I have a feeling I'll be getting an MRI in the near future, but until then will just be sucking on Naproxyn like candies.

Actually, as of afternooon today (Wednesday), the pain from regular everyday movement (sitting, bending, turning, standing) has subsided significantly. I still don't have x-ray results, but don't expect anything to show up. I still have a decent amount of sensitivity to pressure/touch at the spot on my spine where whatever this issue is resides, but this is completely tolerable. I might still want an MRI to make sure there is nothing serious, but maybe it was just a bruise (fingers crossed). I may even be able to work out somehow this evening. Not sure if that's smart, but I really don't like the way I feel on "days off".

Mid_Week Update with 50% Less Pissiness(brian)

Okay I can't guarantee the 50%, but its been a good couple of days.  Work has ebbed for the moment, and while that's a little scary Im taking full advantage.  

I got out for a late afternoon ride with Mr Hawkins yesterday to see how my legs felt and conspire about the upcoming Epic.  I'm not sure he's ridden that slow in quite some time.  Perfect day though.  Surprising early finish to the day, great ride and conversation.  Dude was going for the total pro look with the full kit, white shoes and shades.  Me on the other hand, being between kits(as we've discussed) went for the long sleeved Rapha jersey.  Damn I wish those things were cheaper.  Sspeaking of, Road magazine rode with the Rapha boys for one stage of the T.O.C. and it almost killed them.  Tough roads for non-pro mortals.

I followed that with some red wine, grilled some fish with the fam and got a family bike ride together.  I am so not worthy of days like that.

Today was busy but I did get a late day trail run in with Cyclist-hating Ari and MeesusDoug, who now hates one particular cyclist.  The trails were sweet and I was wishing for the mountain bike instead of the trail shoes but here we were.  I'm helping cyclist hater train for a half marathon so we needed the miles.  Of course he wanted to walk the last bit, and feeling guilty for dragging them over some beautiful but hilly terrain.  That of course is the exact moment we run into the papist the web-dude and a dozen of the BC/TL former team mates on their way to the Tuesday Night Worlds street race/hammer fest.  So this is what's become of him, they must have been thinking.  Walking in the park on a sunny afternoon.  Glad we invested the time there.

Truth be told, I can't wait to get back in the swing of things.  I'm feeling stronger and even consulted a professional other than Dr Onedood(who spent Saturday night trying to convince me I had mono. You wonder why his patients hate him?)  Hopefully things will be back to normal directly.  Or as close to normal as I usually get.

Since I had suffered on the trails and the embarrassment of my current state, we grilled out again and cracked open a few Fat Tires.

Shit, it could be worse.

Cortez the Killer(brian)

"He came dancing across the water Cortez, cortez    What a killer"- Neil Young and thousands of bad coaches around the world.

It's funny that bad sales meetings and high school football players often get  the same misquoted version of Cortes, burning his boats so that there would be no retreat as they went to conquer the Aztecs.  It's supposed to mean that there's no option except victory.  

That's commitment.  

Except that's not what happened.  

Cortes didn't have the boats burned.  Cortes made a statement, but he had the boats disabled to prevent his men's disloyalty from getting him killed or left alone with some rightfully pissed off Aztecs. 

He left himself the option for return if he needed it.  Cortes was not stupid.

In reality we all do the same thing. There's always an option for a different avenue.  Blind faith doesn't serve anyone.

Why am I talking about spanish conquerors and quoting Neil Young(and the aforementioned failed motivators) at this hour on a Sunday night?  If you read this on a steady basis you know that I've been searching for motivation.  I'm not crying and if anybody sends me the HTFU bracelet I'll merely pass it on as I always do.  Actually feel free to send me one, I gave the last one to web-dude, but that's another story.

With the Spring Road Racing Series on hold due to work and cross season a lifetime away, hell I could come up with lots of excuses.   Work, being sick, weather, nothing to train for....trust me in this I am creative.  Far moreso than in the ramblings I regularly subject you people to(and by "you people I mean....oh never mind, take it however you want to).

What to do?  Bitching and getting fat is a realistic possibility, but not as rewarding.  Well, not long term rewarding.  M&M's taste really good with red wine and don't let anybody tell you different.  I can't afford to go out and just willy nilly buy lots of bigger pants so that's out.  

What I have found while reading the Rapha Continental site is the thought of the epic ride. Many of you have been spammed to death by me getting hyped up about this epic ride or that one.  All are far away and although amazing, probably not going to happen.  Without giving away too many details, Mr Hawkins and I have been working on a little epic of our own.  It's painful, beautiful and will require a lot more fitness than I have now to complete it.

And that's all I needed.  A new goal.  You see while Seiler , Doug and Dr Onedood are training for marathons(and an ironman in Seiler's case) and the papist, the web-people and schmeckle are all getting ready for road season, I was kind of stuck.  For the first time in a long, long time, I didn't have anything in the near-term.  I mean other than pacing cyclisthating Ari to a slow finish in the mini, but come on....Nothing to train for means a lot less intensity, and that's the part I need. It makes the furly ride on the trainer really hard to handle.  So it goes that the epic whose name I can not yet reveal is the new goal.  A few epic rides over the summer along with some ridiculous mountain biking are what I need.  Something to focus(or obsess) on.  Something to train for.   I need the distraction.  It's why I do this, and I expect it's why many of you do this.  It's fun and it takes you away.

I'll quote the web-dude in that "this is supposed to be our hobby, this bike thing, right?" Right indeed.  I'll keep you all posted on the epic.  The details, the route and such things.  We even have some cool pix.  But we have a few hurdles first.

More later, but at least it's something to train for.  Hope springs eternal, even on this site where it is an endangered species.

And for those of you that want to know why I used the last line of the song instead of the beginning?  Nerds.

wisdom for the week(brian)

"For every prohibition you create, you also create an underground"
Jello Biafra

Yeah it's been that kind of week

What Was The Question Again(brian)

I have someone from the mothership working with me for a few days this week.  Unlike most of these people this is someone I've known and enjoyed for y or 8 years.  Unfortunately for her she asked me a question last night.  After listening to me and a few of my favorite customers talk about music she hits me with this on the ride home-"so, how do you explain punk rock? I'm from a small town and we had no alternative music growing up"(no commentary on the many years after she left her home town and did nothing to expand the musical horizons)

Pandoras box open? check

ADHD kid with itunes library? check

highly abridged mix cd of "brian's encyclopedia of punk rock"? check

Once again, someone asked me what time it was and I built them a watch. I would post the playlist but I know that no one agrees on the starting point, the key players or how far to go(and myerson would rip this thing apart anyway). I had 3 discs to work with and went from the Ramones(sorry adam) thru the english stuff and bounced coast to coast with the americans.  Hardcore was less represented(depending on how you define it)

And this is how I have fun.  Thank god the cafe races start again next tuesday.  Our little Tuesday Night Worlds street race(that I get dropped on religously) and the Thursday Night pre-beer ride are sanity savers after this long dark winter.

And I have a new mix to listen to.

ps-pick your favorite and hit the genius button on itunes.  it actually comes up with playlists of things I wouldn't have thought of. It's like letting someone else play with your ipod.

Rogue Racing Project(brian)

As Douglass mentioned, this weekend we officially kicked off the Rogue Racing Project. We had a team ride and a kit ordering party at the Seiler estate. This is definitely a different approach to the team concept. A little more loose and open but still based upon trainng and racing with your friends and supporting each other through the myriad of events that we all seem to gravitate towards. We seem to have a phenomenal cross team shaping up and the try-athaletes seem top notch as well.

What this isn't is some kind of harsh breakup with the folks at BikeClicks/Team Louisville. These are good friends that are moving in a different direction. They have a solid program that is becoming more like a regular bike racing team. We have a more club style atmosphere. I think it will work. I hope so. It definitely looks like we are moving in a positive direction.

I still ride with the folks from the bc/tl, I still drink with them and we will have a lot of fun together come racing season. I felt like I had to clear this up. It would be easy to see a migration of folks from one team to another as some kind of damnation. The reality is that what we are doing will help them become who they want to be.

As long as I'm still drinking at the airstream during cross season this will be a huge success.

Remember

"beer don't care what jersey you have on"

Coach Says (doug)

So, going along with the new coach, despite too many bourbons at the Rogue Racing Project uniform fitting party and the partying with Brian afterwards, if my coach says I need to run my 8 miles tomorrow, I'm going to.

The suspense is killing me....Coach says, "SIGNS POINT TO NO".





You have to like a coach who knows his client.

Moulin Rogue...(doug)

So, we're way more fashionable than the french, right? Spell it right, and we're rebels...spell it wrong, and were wearing too much blush...Tonight we had the uniform ordering party for the new "ROGUE RACING PROJECT" (502 chapter), and it was cool. I actually was expecting a few folks I knew, and instead met 30 great folks all looking to be involved in a club that was based on fun, fitness, and friendly competition. Good food, good beers and bourbon, and great conversation about what we all love to do. I look forward to helping new chapters of Rogue Racing Project form in other cities.

Catch up - new coach (doug)

Wow, so if I'm going to keep the 10:1 ratio of Brian:Doug posts going, I've got to step it up. B has just gone crazy lately. With all the free time he has, and then the "domestic godess" leaving, he is WAY ahead of me right now.

So, despite my lack of posting, I've got some serious stuff going on. After years of floundering in the depths of mediocrity (ok, it's only been a year, and mediocrity would be an solid goal), I recently decided that I needed to put my training in the hands of a "third party", non-partisan coach. I know, your saying, "Doug, you scoff at Brian for hiring coaches". You're right, I do...regularly...but I found the PERFECT coach for me. Out of nowhere comes this no-nonsense, black, bald, coach, that simply tells me what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. No silly schedules, not screaming, just the right advice at the right time.

So, as I may have mentioned, I'd been varying from the Hal Higdon schedule recently, to mixed results, and as this week came around, I knew we had the new Rogue Racing Project party (explained in next post) coming up, so I wanted to know if I could skirt the Hal Higdon plan again this week. Thursday rolled around, and I was feeling good, so I checked in with my new coach to see if I should run the scheduled 17 miles on Thursday, and at first he wasn't sure. "ASK AGAIN LATER", he told me. Rats! I only had a small window if i was going to run 17 on Thursday instead of on Sunday. Minutes later I pressed him again. "OUTLOOK NOT SO GOOD", he said. So that was it.

"So I need to run it this weekend?", I asked him.
"AS I SEE IT, YES", he said.

Well, that's all I needed. who am I to argue with coach?

As it turns out, after all consultations with my new brilliant coach, I was told to do spinning and strength classes on wednesday, run 6 miles on Thursday, do CRIT on Friday, and run 17 on Saturday. Who knows what this brilliant coach has in store for me next, but who can argue with his success...

The 17 miles went brilliantly by this Saturday morning. It was my first group run, and my first early morning run (can you believe I was up at 5:50 and at the start point by 7 with our good friend Dr. OneDood?). The bald, black coach understands me and has my best interests at heart, and I won't doubt him going forward.