Crazy? perhaps.

Friday night pool at Ale Asylum


My neighbor put me onto a local guy riding around the world. His blog/website where you can follow his trip, is something you should visit. My only critique is his choice of frame. While it is solid and well made, if misfortune befalls him and a tube is bend or damaged, it will be very difficult to repair. I would have chosen a lugged frame which allows for even the most primitive tooling to repair. But then I'm sitting on a couch and the most I'll ride in one sitting is a a touch over 100 miles in one sitting. I won't deny him his daring.


After a morning workout at Z4F, I took Seph to her soccer game. She's getting better and more aware, as are her teammates. They've been playing together for 3 years now as well as being classmates in school. The familiarity and interaction they have off the field helps on game day and in practice. Nobody keeps score at their level but the kids are getting it and definately having fun.

After the game we visited Andy at Yellow Jersey so I could get a 9 speed shifter insert for the Vitus' Sach Ergo. More than a decade ago I was Andy's service manager and I've managed to keep a healthy relationship with him. So much so that Sephie was lucky enough to benefit from his generousity. She had found a pair of lavender waterbottle cages while Andy and I were talking. They were the usual $7 cages, but he said they were left over from the Maxwell Street Days sale and she could have them. That took the sting out of the $35 Campy/Sachs part and $100 Tufo Cross tires. Most of all it made her happy.

I then got to work installing the ToPeak rack on Karen's 7300 FX commuter. It's fully dialed.


So the rest of the day was spent tuning the Vitus. It had survived the trip from Seattle relatively unscathed. A broken deraileur adjuster barrel and broken rear wheel spoke were the only real damages as a result of a helpful sister-in-law's boyfriend. I'd asked the father-in-law to take it to a bike shop for packaging. Mike (the BF of Lori) took the Cannondale box I'd left there, pulled the wheels and seatpost and wedged it in the box. The pedals and handlebars were still on. When Brown dropped it off the rear deraileur was poking out of the box by 3 inches and the kinked housing held the broken barrel. Great. I know he was just trying to help, but dammit, he treated it like a POS (piece of shit) department store bike. That pisses me off more than the damages.

French bikes bring comfort to Fella.


A quick zip over to see Gary at Village Pedaller for a SRAM 9 speed chain made the the Vitus compatible with the Seven and the Serotta. Now all the 700c bikes are 9 speed. I almost feel modern. It was either buy the 9 speed stuff or spend hours on ebay finding 5 speed Regina freewheels for my Mavic and Campy hubs.

Getting better

4 Points, yes, just 4 points, separate me from Roger. I'm not cranky at anyone about it, but it has gotten me motivated to regain my ankle's range of motion and wrest 3rd away from Roger. Yesterday and today was spent at the Y getting the tendons to stretch. It's better and looser but still tight and has mild pain in extreme ranges... like running extension.

9 days to go.

warm and fuzzy

Yesterday left me tired and spent physically. Today drained my patience. The mouth-breathers I work with infuriate me. To quote an episode of South Park, "they took our jobs!" One would think unionized labor would understand the needs and desires of a person trying to provide for their family. Apparently that doesn't extend to non-English speakers from south of our border. The only thing that gets me hotter under the collar is when someone expects me to get out their way on a road when I'm on my bike. I've gotten into verbal and physical discussions over the years over the placement of my tires. While I like my off-road time, I enjoy the pavement more. If some cage driver can't take their foot off the gas for the half of a second needed to let an oncoming car pass then they've got bigger problems then my being on the road "in their way." I've had to use my fists to make my position clear in the past and I'm more than ready to show some SUV driving knob my perspective if they exit their cage.

And 50 in the 25 zone that is my neighborhood will definitely get them a beating.

Assholes. And there's a special place in hell for the lot of them.

Rollers

Tonight was my first 90 minute indoor training ride. On the Phinney on rollers. The others (2) were on CycleOps stationary trainers, think spinning class bikes. I had brought pedals if there was adjustability to the saddle height other than the 1" spaced holes the pin goes through on most stationary bikes. The posts had crappy saddles on them too so I opted for their rollers. The rollers were better than my Kreitlers. You might ask "how is that possible?" It was the suspension system it had which enabled me to get out of the saddle without crashing. The rollers were able to move fore and aft roughly 4 inches which was really cool. 30 or 45 minutes would be my threshold on my Kreitlers before my taint would be screaming. 90 minutes was still hard with the friction set and a triathlete leading the class. It left my legs feeling as though I'd done a race. And then I rode the half hour home. All in all a good workout, I'll be back for more.

crap on a stick

In the theory that everything is better on a stick, I'm putting this last week on a stick. My ankle doesn't seem to be making any progress. I tried rolling on some uneven terrain and doing some dismounts. The result was not happy. While I can make good power in my pedal stroke, when I hit the rough stuff the tendons don't have the flexability they need to absorb even the most basic off road shock. Dismounts were worse, at least the cyclocross style dismounts were. I've always put my right foot through to the left side if I've got any speed, but again, tendon strength and flexability isn't up to snuff.

So yesterday I put on a mellow 6 hours east to Watertown, south to Fort Atkinson and then home through Cambridge and Cottage Grove. Spinning along in the 39x15 at 18mph is no big deal, although I was getting a bit hungry by 4 hours in. Since I'd left my wallet and phone in the kitchen I had to tough it out. A peanut butter and cheese sandwich once home fixed everything until dinner.

While I was out Rick Walls called to invite me to ride Standing Rock. I returned the call later to wish him luck today at Iola. Didn't actually talk to him, so I'm assuming he's doing Iola.

With so much time in the saddle yesterday I was able to think about next season. With Sephie doing after-school at the YMCA I have no excuses for not working out before picking her up by 5:30. So I should be able to get in some gym-rat behavior at least 3 days a week. Mondays at Zoned 4 Fitness is a 90 minute cycling workout on either CycleOps stationary bikes or rollers with my bike. Bottom line is I'm fat and I need to lose weight. Running at least twice a week wouldn't hurt either.

I took a look at potential races in the south too, well, in Texas and Georgia anyway. Texas has some options but I need to find more in Georgia. Having brothers in Dallas and Atlanta will work for a week or two of dedicated training to get a solid base and build some strenght. Mas O Menos near Lajitas (find Big Bend National Park in West Texas) would be ideal for timing with work and early season timing... and that's only 4 and 1/2 months away.

one step forward...

...two stumbles sideways. The ankle was fine for 5 hours Saturday and Sunday was looking like a repeat, but Sephie had ear issues after a day at a Dells waterpark. So after driving up to rescue her and getting trapped in a loop of being social it was 3 pm and time to return home. On returning home it was decided she should be seen by a Dr so off to UW ER we went. By 9:30 I'd retreived the meds from Walgreens. By days end I'd accomplished two things... I'd made and drank two cups of coffee and I'd had half a beer. I didn't even shower until this afternoon.

But Seph is doing slighly better.

Work did nothing but give me the opportunity to work 12 hours and roll my ankle on the curbing in the parking lot at lunch. Fuck.

So instead of doing a 90 minute workout at Zoned 4 Fitness, I elevated my ankle and had a beer. I'm not overly optimistic about my ankle holding up in Iola and my workouts are lacking so I'm seriously considering bailing.

On the up-side a bike thief was caught and a bike returned to its owner. Sephie's soccer coach, Charlie, has a neighbor with, as he describes "a really sweet singlespeed." Unfortunately it was stolen so there was the understandable grieving and searching. This weekend was the Willy Street Fair. It's a relatively large event with a few blocks of Williamson Street taken up with 3 stages, booths of wares, food and drink. So Charlie is at WSF with his family having a good time when he sees a young woman on the neighbor's SS. He follows her to where she parks it and there's a guy with her. He gets a positive ID on the SS and strikes up an innocent conversation with them. He asks where they're from and they tell him "the west side." He replies "it sure is a shame you had to come all the way over to the east side to steal that bike" and he turns away to go home to get his neighbor. The thief is stupid enough to follow Charlie the few blocks berating him all the way. Upon return home the neighbor, who happens to be in his yard, sees his bike and confronts the thief. The thief tries to escape and is eventually cornered at Monty's Blue Plate Diner. Like all rats he gets nasty and turns to start a fight. Charlie's neighbor is more than willing to rumble but gives him 3 options. 1- Get a thrashing by him and Charlie. 2- Wait for the police who have been called. 3- give him the bike back and go back to the west side and crawl back under the rock.

He opted for option 3.

I need to give Charlie a beer.

it held up

Today was 3 hours on the Serotta. It began slow and easy spinning along in 39x15 (~18mph) while heading south. A turn west at an hour was into the wind but still running on the 39x15 comfortably. I hit Verona and turned around to come back to Madison and felt strong enough to go to the Big Ring. After a few miles in 54x15 (~25mph) my ankle was fine but my quads were feeling the effects of the time off for the ankle. I backed off until I was caught by a guy coming from Paoli. I wasn't going to let him ride away from me so I put it back on the 54 and hit it hard enough he didn't stay. More than likely he didn't want to play. Coming down Seminole Highway at a steady 23 felt pretty good and the ankle was fine. I rolled though the Arb and headed home as darkness was making it hard to see.

While I avoided major hills I did get out of the saddle enough to stress the ankle and it didn't give me any pain. If I can get some mileage in the next 7 days I'll feel much better about Iola.

'Cross season

After a descent 3+ hr ride Sunday afternoon the ankle is only an issue if I'm trying to run on uneven ground. With the rain and cold of Monday I stopped in to TBS to see the new 'cross toys. As I said the other day I need something to use as a head start on next season and a renewal of the NORBA license and the WCA series is a start. I need to call my father-in-law in Seattle and have him ship me the Vitus though, it isn't doing me any good hanging out there in his garage.

Today is a lost day too. Classes all day followed by an evening class until 8pm kills the opportunity to ride. The motorpacing behind the dump truck at lunch doesn't count.

SSWC07

It's a beautiful morning. 65 degrees F., nary a cloud in the sky and a light wind. So I'm planted in front of the computer drinking coffee waiting for the first batch of waffles.

Priorities.

I could be out cheering on friends and strangers competing in the IronMan, but no, I won't feed their addiction. Someone I know, Mark, has such a dislike for triathlons, or maybe triathletes, he has stated his opinion on more than one occasion. He feels a triathlon has no redeeming value at any level. It forces the person attempting to neglect their family while they train for swimming, riding and running. Keeping in mind these triathletes rarely are vying for top positions and after surviving their first Tri, they'll put themselves and their families through the wringer for another year in they hopes of bettering their performances by a few minutes. Feel free to direct your comments or insults to mesaunders@tds.net by all means.

Anyhow, I was dorking around looking at various images from SSWC07 when I found the images above. While I know Evil is everywhere, I didn't expect to see someone in the long sleeved BKB kit



Marco had gone with many hopes and dreams smuggled through customs. Unfortunately shit happens even to fast guys and he met with misfortune.


Next year's SSWC will be in Napa Valley (Northern California for those geographically impaired)

Apparently I need proper motivation to get fit and fast. I know I could go and have a great time, but I'd like to have a better than average performance at an event of that "stature." So I look forward to behaving much as the aforementioned triathletes in the next year.

Who wants to tell Karen?

Meet the neighbor

I'd just returned from a shake-down ride of the ankle when I was greeted by Rushmore. He's quite a cat. The neighbors across the street, Matt & Tracy with their children Oliver and Chloe, found the little guy a few weeks ago. He's got a handle on our three adult cats as well as figuring out the rear cat doors to gain access to their food and water in our kitchen. Earlier in the week he joined me while Sephie was at swimming practice and napped on our dining room table. I've been told he's not able to do that in his own home.

After a conversation with Rick, I think I'll be missing some easy points tomorrow. Everyone except Stuart and a few others are saving themselves for Chequamagon so it could be easy pickings. As tempting as it is I don't think my ankle would hold up to a race and I know it isn't worth the risk of rolling it on a dismount and being laid -up longer. Iola is two weeks away and I think I'll be better off waiting for that event.

Remaining season outlook

Grim? Certainly not as good as I'd hoped back in April. I'd been hoping for a season similar to the one Rick Walls or Kerry Drake is having. It would have been nice to have a few more top 3 placings and have a justifiable upgrade to Comp happen. But that would have required more training and better self control. I know I'm whining but it is out of disappointment in myself. I know what the formula is to return to form. Unfortunately it involves living like a monk for a month. My family and job wouldn't bee there afterwards if I did that. Still...

tried to take it easy

...and succeeded. Spraining my ankle Saturday was not the smartest thing I could do. I've not been motivated to ride and walking is a major accomplishment. Work isn't so bad as my boots brace it well enough and keep it steady. I'm not going to the WORS event this weekend. I'll try to do an easy (and flat) road ride and see how I fare.

I asked...

We rent our movies from Bongo Video which is a friendly neighborhood business. One of the cool things they have at the checkout counter is a Magic 8 Ball. Yesterday I rented "Pursuit of Happiness" so I asked the 8 Ball "will my ankle be ready for the race Sunday?" and it answered "don't count on it."

I'll noodle around town today with Sephie and Karen and see how it bears up but it is still tender and I'm weary of icing.

I found this from way back in 1992. Dad took it at the Spring Green race. It was the first race I did here after moving up from Texas. I miss the old neon Diamond Back Axis Team. I think the guy in front of me is Don from WORS. I'd love to see some results from that race.

that was brilliant

Last weekend Sherry Drake had invited me and the family to join them while they camped at Blue Mounds State Park. Blue Mounds has a network of trails which have been used for WEMS events and last years Singlespeed State Championships. Over the years I've camped with my Dad and brothers there, attended family reunions (the great skateboarding incident) hiked with a girlfriend, and run the trails with the Hash. It's a great park with amenities that include a pool.

So we packed the bikes on the jetta and drove the 45 minutes. The ranger at the gate gave us our annual pass and the site of the Drake's but no explanation why the pool was closed. The MTB trails had been closed for the previous week but were just opened. We pulled into the driveway of the site and Sherry was having a nap with Rowan, well, he was napping anyway. Bruce and Claire hadn't pulled in from Milwuakee yet and hadn't called so I decided not to wait.

After a primer on where Kerry would be riding I took off with a 34x20 and one spare tube. I found the trails to be in lousy shape mostly because the 15" of recent rain knocking all manner of branch and tree onto the trail. Just on the northern loop I counted 8 fallen trees which will require chainsaws to allow the trail though again. The soil was bearing up nicely mostly because the rocks were taking the abuse from the tires. I should have gotten a picture of a rock. They are everywhere. In all the times I'd been on those trails before they became MTB trails I'd never paid them any mind. From a technical skills perspective the rocks gave me a workout. I was running my tires at 45psi but found out it wasn't enough to avoid a pinchflat on the rear. I had almost finished putting the tube in when I started hearing a voice coming on the trail. After a bit I saw two riders, one was Kerry and the other was Greg. Greg was on a full squish Trek and his mouth was moving as much as his suspension and shifters. The steeper and rockier part of "Holy Shist" trail turned the ride into a typical singlespeed workout for all. The rocks are slippery and a good line doesn't exist though the branches. Maybe with a 32x22 I could ride through. On one section Kerry was leading with me behind him as Greg dropped his chain. We kept going and Kerry says "I like riding with singlespeeds. They're much quieter. I don't get to do it enough." Then he punched it up the trail. I hit it too and a stayed with him and that was the last we saw of Greg and his noisy bike. When we exited the trail I asked if we should wait for Greg. Kerry says "Why." I assumed Greg was with us. Kerry says he'd just met him for the first time in the parking lot today. I didn't hear any screams for help echoing through the park so we rolled back to the camp.

Sherry, Rowan, Karen and Sephie had gone for a hike so we had the site to ourselves. I had a beer, Kerry had some Cytomax and we relaxed. Claire and Bruce showed up a few minutes into my beer. They unloaded and got dressed and we rolled out into the trails again. Bruce was recovering from some bad clam chowder so he wanted to go easy. Not a problem for me, I was still learning the trails so there was no need to rail. A few minutes in and we had our first casualty- me. There was a rock garden after a creek-like crossing where I needed to dab when I ran out of momentum. when I put my left foot down it caught a rock and rolled under me as my weight bore down on the outside of my ankle. It felt just like I'd put my foot on a soccer ball as I hit the ground. Dammit. I was done for the day. Bruce and I headed back so I could put my foot up with some ice. The Ranger had dropped off the group after Sephie had been reduced to being carried by Karen when her flip-flips gave her blisters. I've lost track of how many times I tell that child to wear the right shoes for hiking, she's begun to to out her dad year ahead of schedule.

I kept the ankle elevated and iced while preparations for grilling were made. Beer helped reduce the pain as well. Claire and Kerry showed up eventually and Sherry and Janet went for a run. The 3 boys and Sephie played together and the adults relaxed.

By 9pm it was time to head back to the casa, leaving the campers to defend against the raccoons. As we drove out of the park a raccoon ran in front of the Jetta and was dribbled underneath. I turned around to see if it had been done in, but it scurried into the woods as another stopped in the road. It looked at me and paused with an expression (if that's possible) saying something like "uh-oh, he's coming back to finish us off"

We stopped at the grocery store in Blue Mounds for a round of ice cream cones before heading home. Except for the ankle, a pretty good day.

Today the ankle is tender and still swollen. I found my soccer brace and it feels more secure but I'm doubtfull about next weekend's race.