i think i get what henry's saying

Watched sherlock holmes yesterday. It was Awesome. Not your average everyday Sherlock Holmes and Watson, for certain, but who would expect such from Guy Ritchey. Lots of wizardry and magic, so you know i was into that.

Got to hang out in OC. Talk about being elbow to elbow with 750 assholes. Not just during the movie. Pretty much all day. At Plum Cafe, the best breakfast restaurant in the WORLD, while my mother in law was taking pictures, she set her camera down, and some rather dainty fellow asked fairly rudely if the camera was on him, recording him. Are you kidding me? I can say with my better-than-rudimentary knowledge of celebrity persona, this dude was nobody special. After i laughed and said no, i agonized over not saying, "Who the hell are you anyways? Also, why would i want to record you eating breakfast? Also, what are you going to do if i am? PLEASE try and do something with my camera, i'll make that coffee mug a permanent part of your body." In general, i dont enjoy confrontation, but with the dillusional and entitled, i make exceptions.

today: 3-10x70 bent over rows/3-10x35 snatches (each side, in succession)

im starting a liiiitle early

Im making a new years goal for myself.

By the turn of 2011, i want to:

be able to clean and press 2x 53 lb kettlebells 10 times.

be able to make it all the way to the signs at the top of crafton seated on my 1x speed.

Finish all my laps at the 24 hour in under and hour on my 1x speed

On the first one, i begin my regimen today:

3x 10 deadlifts w/ 2x35 lbs
3x 10 cleans w/ 2x35 lbs
3x 10 jerk w/ 2x35 lbs

i think its giving me.... the fear

Pretty frustrated. What do you do when the dude who signs your checks tells you to work super hard, pick up the pace, and do it with a smile; and oh, by the way, in 2 months you probably wont have the job anymore.

I also don't take kindly to the fact that when the belt needs to be tightened at one of my jobs, i'm the first to get the chop, because i work harder than everybody else there, being as i have 2 jobs.

maybe this is God telling me i need to beef up the old education. We'll see.

the gay warehouse worker on the office...

sorta looks like Dr. Norman Carter.

that's all.

tofu madness

i haven't really noticed any change, other than a little cranky-ness, from my recently adopted dietary plan. i did have some lentil soup from brisket's downtown that was off the chain though. Most under-rated restaurant in redlands.

Along with the increased aggression has come winter cold. i dont have it as bad as Walt, the dude building my bike as referenced here , however, for a california native sub 50 is pretty rough. This also might explain my crankyness of late. Hasn't cut into my riding though, surprisingly enough. Im using thom's demo bike which is one of the new fangled 6-series madones. Pretty cool for a plastic bike.

Along with the drop in temperature has come my desire for a snuggie. I know what you're thiking. Nerd. You're right, but i've never tried to deny it. I want a snuggie so bad! On recovery duty after turner tried to kill me and 8 other dudes on saturday, my blanket was just plain not cutting it. Only a snuggie could provide the solace/freedom to remain cozy whilst playing video games or reading comic books.

Along with the longing for a snuggie has come the desire to cast evil spells on my cats and create some sort of mythical hybrid creature. Although Stubbs already looks like a hybrid bulldog-chipmunk, im looking for something a little more badass. At any rate, here's a behemoth video to satiate any and all desire to cast an evil spell or two. At lease stave it off for a bit, anyways. I think this video best captures why evil will always conquer over good: because good is dumb.

be healthy

So, for the next month or so, i am going to be playing around with my diet.

People say when they go vegetarian, that they feel so much healthier and full of energy and and and etc. etc. etc. Now i think that this is partially placebo effect/bullshit that people say to make you believe what they believe, however, I have done a 6 year stint as a vegan, so i feel like i know how to do it right. I also know how to do it wrong as per the reference i am given by a great many of the vegans i know. If you consume rods whipped topping, or a little debbie donut, or the like in the name of it being coincidentally vegan, you may be standing up for the animals, but i hope you can find one that will stand up for you. If i saw people shoveling garbage into a chicken pen for a chicken to eat, i would stop them, and i freaking hate chickens. Such is the same reason i tell people who shove huge amounts of soy protein and hydrogenated oils into their mouths "hey, that suff would do you more good if you shoved it up your ass..."

If there is something behind this (and you veggie readers of this blog, please, comment) and i can feel better, or have more energy by eating a vegetarian diet, i'm gonna do so. After all, i love fruits and veggies. If there is a fruit or vegetable out there i don't like, i can always find a way to prepare it so i do.

chopper dropped by the shop do get his bike wrenched on. man. i'll let the pics do the talking.


"ive been having a lot of flats lately!" No shit?



"there's a grinding sound every time i steer at somewhat low speeds, like around that corner by the park on sunset..." that's cause half the park is embedded in your head tube sir."having a little trouble shifting lately...." that may be due to the fact that the ant magnet you call a bottom bracket shell is a giant sugar cube, sir.
chopper, im just wondering HOW you wiped your ass with your bottom bracket.

Now i'm going to hunt down and kill a falafel sandwich.

be healthy

Grand stolen bike inquisition!

So this week, we'll call him jay (a cop), reaped the benefits of my bike superherodom. Not by way of wrench (he's actually quite capable as far as mechanics), but due to my sleuthing skills.

After my mountain bike got stolen i approached jay to talk some shop when he came into the bike shop. i asked him about what the police could do for me, he promptly told me in the same boat as him, due to his bike getting stolen out of his garage around 2 months ago.

Fast forward to monday last week. Dude comes in to box up his project one madone. Hand build wheels. Odd. 140mm stem on a 54 cm frame. Odd. Flat black custom project one color. Odd. Never seen this dude at crit practice or on raincross or....well, i've never seen this dude. Again, Odd.

I search the annuals of my bike crime database. The bike sticks out as possibly jay's. I call jay. Sure as crap, he comes down and identifies the bike.

I felt so vindicated. Even if it wasn't my bike i found i still feel like i had vanquished a foe. Like i had punched satan square in the face.

here's a picture of captain america choking hitler so you can share in my feeling.

some worm stole my bike.

as well as a wheelset that i already had sold. Broke into my apartment in a 2-hour window of time, in broad daylight, used some bolt-cutters, and opened the lock on my garage door, and lifted the stuff inside, left most of it, just took my 2008 stumpjumper ht and a powertap wheelset. bastards. i'm sor of afraid of what i will do if i catch them.

1 man wrecking crew

ok, it's more like 3 or 4 man, but we are tearing apart the bike shop. Growing tired of a person, who does not employ me, telling me what and how to do, my job. Hopefully it will all be over soon.

Enjoying the new dude at the shop, john. I'm not 100 percent convinced that he likes me though. I'm sure he'll grow to like me, cuz hey, i'm pretty awesome.

Went to long beach comic con. Bought a LOT of key issues. Too good a deal not to pass up. Also, good to see that Geoff Johns spends some time around the weight pile. So man sloths at comic conventions. I think my personal fave issue i bought was:



In this issue, they tie, although, it's clearly barry allen being cool about it, because he smokes superman at least twice later on.

I've grown rather fond of the flash, who is in fact the worlds fastest man, which is kind of ironic coming from the worlds SLOWEST man. Speaking of slow, cross kicks of for myself this weekend. Getting ready to do some hurting.

kick in the door...

today, in the middle of my post ride cooldown, after an inspirational ride, with one of the the I.E.'s most inspirational team's most inspirational members, andrea hensler, i decided i need to work with the blessings God has given me. Blogging.

I have been sitting in on this whole blog thing for a while, while actual strong riders like chopper are straight up pulling train. So sit up a spell chop, let me take a turn.

Really enjoyed riding the bike today. Really. Only for like 2 hours, but it was great. Gonna keep the train-a-rolling with a ride tomorrow, and the redlands cyclocross happy hour on tuesday, and the beginning of my cross exploits in irvine. Loving it.

Now, being a member of a team with the notorious chopper, i have learned lots. Tune in here once a week for some words of wisdom from old chop chop.

pain in the neck

This week has been a nightmare. First, i got a cold in the middle of the hottest patch of the season. I'm pretty much over it now, but it was definitely raging at the beginning of the week> Then, just when the cold started giving out, i woke up with a huge pain in my neck. The old "slept on it wrong". Well, this is sore neck day #4. I think it may be time to get a new pillow.

new bike

so i got a new bike.

i know wht you're thinking, how many does THAT make, but this one is slightly different. This one has a grand total of 17$ invested. Its an old P.O.S. gitane that got donated with a rear freewheel wheel and a crank, seat, seatpost, headset and stem. I scavanged the rest from my bone box at work. only purchases were chain and brake, totaling 17$. I think i'm gonna give it to the wife, tho it is a tad big for her. What the hey, it's better than spending a piss load of money on a bike that doesn't get used, like many richbitch bike shop patrons. Riding the bike is SUPER fun, and has resparked my longing to ride. Think i'll be dusting off the 1x speed cross and go for a little ridezies this evening.

i really need to keep up on this thing.

so lately, here's the run down:

Comic books. Lots of 'em. Pretty stoked on Blackest Night, captain america:reborn, and hulk and daredevil.

Tried my hand at doing merch for a band. I would rather have been kicked square in the nuts, so i welched out on half of the agreement. 's ok though cuz i got virtually none of what i was told i would get, so is it really welching?

Riding my bike? Nooooooooooot exactly. I've been riding it for transportation. But as far as suited up and hammering out a couple of intervals? Nope. Do i feel bad about it now? Nope. Will i feel bd about it when i'm weeking softly in the shower after turning in a 19th place finish for every race during cross season. Probably.

I have been enjoying tuesdays off. It's sweet. Looking forward to Interbike and some quality vacation time.

What else? Cut the piss out of my finger at work, and i think my finger might be turning into a zombie finger. That's pretty sweet.

i tried to tell the photographer that it violated my tribal religious beliefs

but they took the picture anyways.


Im sort of a big deal in the bike service game, you might have noticed. Yes, when you hear a creaking in your bottom bracket, i will personally call your ass out by getting you to come out into the africa heat to make the sound for me in your wool slacks and penny loafers, as pictured here:

and god forbid you drag me all the way outside to make the noise for me and your bike "isn't making it out here....wierd."

then i have to explain to you that the $250.00 you spent to shave the 68 grams on your ti-spindled pedals, may well be the reason for the noise seeing as you way 195 pounds and the pedals have a 158 pound rider weight limit. How about you do an extra lap on sunset once a week for a year and save yourself a whole 5 pounds, for free!

Training and technical advice. Now that's what i call service.

's is how i feel after i ride and kickbox the same day...

at least im the one doing the hitting in kickboxing...

here's a week recap for you.

started doing this...



ended doing this...


i'm starting to get pissed again.

crits

are the pits.

that is all.

KrAcckkkkooOOW!

I think i am going to name my new bike the punisher due to the painful nature of cross and it's black and white color scheme. Also, i think im gonna peel off th headbadge and put a punisher skull on there. Also, i'm gonna look into changing the "GARY FISHER" to "THE PUNISHER", what the hey, all i have to do is change the gary f part.

2 days off!

that's right, 2!

Epic rides on both days. Thanks genius feature on my ipod. That little feature shaves off the 20 minutes i spend before a ride making a playlist, or waiting thru the boring parts of albums while i ride. All bases are covered with that one, aptly named, feature.

Today i spent memorial day at a sushi restaurant yelling at the waiter. Went to josh's house to watch the fights/ultimate warrior documentary (awesome). Then watched the steve-o documentary. What junk show that dude was. Stoked to see him clean, but, as a sober individual, i still don't get the whole self defeated "i'm a total loser, and that's just how it is" aspect that all NA or AA people tend to have. Don't get me wrong, if it gets you sober, i'm all for it, but, can't one be a little more positive about the person who you are now as opposed to how wrecked the person you were was? It just doesn't strike me as that type of organization.

Banged out another half an hour at tempo at home and now im too spun to sleep. Pisser.

KA-BLAM!

so, this is the beginning of the 4 month long gut-check that i like to refer to as period training. Most people are in the thick of it, i am starting my base mileage and resistance training. That's cuz i'd way rather kick total ass in the cross season than any other race season in existence.

Got my bike and promptly put 'er on a diet. 21 pounds out of the box (YIKES). now i got it down to just a scooch under 18. yay.

Let me just say, i have never been a weight weenie (truth), and i have never even weighed any of the other bikes i own (also truth). That should give you some idea how serious i am about kicking some ass this cross season. I decided to keep it real and get a steel cross bike this year come hell or high water, so right away i was nervous about the weight. Also, i don't feel as if i have committed any weight weenie specific crimes. No booster kits with 27 different ti and lightweight alloy fasteners. Minimal carbon parts, and the ones i do have i bought on the cheap (150 gram seatpost 35 bones!). My main point of contention was the wheelset.

Let me start off, for those of you who don't know me, by saying i hate shimano. However, this year i decided to forgo the gluing of 90 dollar tubulars, and try out this new fangled tubeless that the kids seem to be so hip on these days. It seems like a good way to run whatever tire pressure i want, get a sweet ride quality, and very pragmatic to boot. In the world of tubeless road stuff, we have shimano, campagnolo, and fulcrum to choose from. If you run anything that campy makes, off road, it voids the warranty. My shop doesn't deal in fulcrum. Sorta thinned the herd of choices so to speak.

Now, hutchinson MAKES a cross specific tire. Could i wait for us to get one in? Hell no! That's what stan's is for! So i opted to do a stan's kit on my new dura-ace/bontrager jones cx combo. Took a little cajoling for the rear tire to seat, but the front was very cooperative. In order to get everything sealed properly, one has to use a high pressure that is not conducive to ride with no tube. Of course one back's off the tire pressure before one tikes this tubless setup for one's maiden voyage.

Well, not this one. I got about 3 blocks and, well, just read the title of this post.

also...

i have reached my quota of one sissy-rock band to get into for the year. Band of horses.

for those of you keeping score that's

2007-Jesu
2008-crime in stereo
2009-band of horses

the worst part about any bike...

is waiting for it to show up. Wheels too. The worst part about wheels is waiting for them to show up. And headsets.

gettin shat done

heres the rundown:

• Cut Andrews hair
• Sent out the Xbox
  
• sent out the ebay stuff
• gonna talk to dorthy wong later about putting on a cross race(s) in socal
• bought some brakes
• picked up my once errant keys
• ate lunch
• scoped the sitch at gotschalks (snuggies for 15 bones? sign me up)
• Puttin more stuff up on fleabay
• cutting johson's hair

and my reward for all of this?

BOOM!

Beyond Hypothermia.

let me just start out by saying, 24 hour races are intense. I don't mean it in the keanu-reeves point-break super-bro sense of the word, i mean it in its most literal and real sense.

as it appears in the miriam webster dictionary;

intense
1.existing in an extreme degree - check
2.marked by or expressive of great zeal, energy, determination, or concentration - check
3.exhibiting strong feeling or earnestness of purpose; deeply felt - check

It was a 5 man team, which i can see why has its own category. Any more and you can organize things to maximize sleep and stuff. Any less would be like, what's the point, i should've done this solo.

Fist lap i was a total spastic. This should be no surprise to anybody who has seen me ride a mountain bike, but i still got in under an hour (my goal for the weekend). I saw some dude who looked like the trail reached up and punched him in the genitals and throat. He did NOT finish the first lap. So that was encouraging.

Second lap i decided to take it easy. I wanted to go for a super even keel pace and not spaz out on any of the climbs, as my technical skills are not up to par and 3 of the climbs i would say are above par. It went really well. No falling, couple of times i had to walk, but im starting to get it, which is good because its getting dark.

Third lap was crazyness. It was in the 30's. Let me just say it was a new experience. I don't ride at usually night, and i don't usually ride a mountain bike, so, you do the math. Thanks to Joy tho, for hooking me up with the light. Combining that with the light i already had as a helmet light made SUCH a difference. Still at this point the downhill sections were sketchy as hell. Completely rutted out and several lines to choose from one of which was the correct one. Not easy at night.

4th lap. Pure insanity. 4 a.m. Shadows were jumping out at me. My mind was playing tricks on me. All i could think of were fear and loathing quotes:

"I hate to say this, but this place is getting to me. I think I'm getting the Fear."

"24 hours of adrenaline is what the whole hip world would be doing Saturday nights if the Nazis had won the war. This was the Sixth Reich."

"A drug person can learn to cope with things like seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth. But no one should be asked to handle this trip."

"I was right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo, and somebody was giving booze to these goddamn things. Won't be long now before they tear us to shreds."

"Jesus, bad waves of paranoia, madness, fear and loathing - intolerable vibrations in this place. Get out. The weasels were closing in. I could smell the ugly brutes."

"That's fucking machine guns man, they're firing at us!"

"this bicycle belongs to the world bank! That money goes to ITALY!"

The crazy thing about lap 4 is, i could actually see myself handling better, and getting up the climbs with little skateboard scoots as opposed to walking.

5th lap. I was done. I had desire in me, but the legs were simply not there. For the interim in between my 2 consecutive laps i was just trying to get to sleep. Not enough food consumed, water was frozen, moral was low. That was the craziest lap of them all, because even though i was annihilated and defeated mentally, i still got the lap done in an hour flat. Crazy! My skills have definitely improved.

pics soon.

on the eve of the eve....

of our 24 hour race.

Me, sergio, andy, joe, and, jason are about to head up to idyllwild on friday for the 2-4. Pretty excited. I've never raced a mountain bike before, and this seems like it'll be fun. Due to my uncanny ability to shake it, i have scored us sponsorships with both Tifosi sunglasses and Stell Coffee and tea, which, if you know my illustrius history with the distributors of said sunglasses and coffee, wasn't hard. Still tho, free gear is sweet.

The race doesn't begin til saturday at noon, but we're gonna go up early and go for a little night ride. Should be fun. THe menu for the 2-4 looks to be: burgers, carne asada tacos, bagels, cereal, and various endurance fuels. I'm doing celebrity mountain biker and revered educator Joy D.'s hair tomorrow, perhaps she can educate me on more effective fueling.... looking at the list right now i'm thinking i can bring better items to the table.

If i'm not back by 4 on sunday, call the police.

holy hell

east bound and down, so funny. I laughed til i drooled.

BAT FIGHT with Will Ferrell from Will Ferrell

Am I Demon?

I think this is pretty much the inspiration for my hair. I think this is the direction it's going reguardless just based on how its growing. It fits as well as socks on a rooster that besides growing my hair i ride bikes. Still though, if danzig just showed up at a race, stomped everybody and vanished, i would be pretty stoked. That'll be the goal i guess.

FACT

This dude gets LAID.

Vicente Fernandez is the man.  I think i would like to go see him, but i wouldn't understand crap tht went on/what he said.  That'd suck.

Crafton today.  Crafton tomorrow.  Good training.  Geared up for team lazer wolf/24 hour race/camping extraviganza.  Might get to break in my new tent/sleeping bag next weekend for A.J.'s astronomy trip.  I'm thinking LOTS of hot chocolate.  Maybe marshmalows as well.  Could be good.  Could be great.

time to get bloody

Do i have a problem with overconfidence or am i just plain dim witted when i never factor in or consider eating crap on mountain bike rides?  

Went to hulda crooks and up the good old jedi.  Ate some shite about 4 times on the way down.  Nothing bad, just slightly skinned up and it was mostly due to the fact that those XTR pedals i have are death traps.  Definately going back to eggbeaters.  

Still tho, i never even thing about how often i eat it until im getting up off the ground going, "oh yeah, i remember this..."

Also, hulda crooks was SUPER sandy and loose and i only have one light, which was not enough.

any ways, i ate some crap but i had a blast.

time to get dirty

so the mountain bike dilemma is done.

And there she is.  At least this time i got what i wanted, for the most part.  If i was going to get a singlespeed i wanted a rig 29er.  If i was going to get a geared bike i wanted a hardtail 26 in bike.  

Dude who owned and rode this bike for a grand total of 5 rides, went OTB and broke his back.  What a pisser.  Not for me tho cuz he got rid of it on the fire sale tip.  Hopefully the bike has excersized all of the crash demons out of it.  The bike is far from stock with crossmax wheels which i will be working in a tubeless setup (adam, watch your hands), and a fox RLC fork.  I don't really like fox stuff, but everybody else seems to, so i think i will be selling this fork and getting myself a sid.  Also it has an XTR cassette, xt crank, and xtr pedals.  Gonna be getting rid of the xtr pedals too.  I dont know if i like them, i dont wanna know if i like them, i'm used to crank brothers from cross season, so that's what im doing.  

I think i'm gonna start slow by doing 6 laps at the 24 hour in san jacinto.  

Did i mention i have the handling skills of a thumbless orangutan?  

huffy

i am obsessed with huffy bikes.

First off.  Huffy= so much cooler a name for a bike than so many bike manufacturer's names who try to sound cool/tough.  Specailized?  Lame.  That's a description, not a name.  Trek?  Lame.  I still  think spock when i think trek.  Cannondale?  Ok, cannondale gets a pass because of the train on the fron and the use of "cannon" in the name.  Still Huffy for the win.

Second off.  Ever watch a movie that is so bad that it is awesome a la evil dead or strange brew.  That's how i feel about huffy bikes.  It amazes me that you can buy a full mountain bike with more gear combo's than my road bike for a mere 99 dollars.  First words outta your mouth are prolly gonna be something like "but the quality dude..."  Shut your suck hole.  It still blows my mind that that grouping of like, nuts, bolts, cables, levers, a freewheeling mechanism, and steel is under 100 dollars and it can be fixed to ride enough to get you around town (i know, i preform that miracle on the regular).  

Third, like it or not, i feel like huffy has a more solid history than even Schwinn bikes in my opinion.  Sure, schwinn had its heyday, a paramount with nuovo record and mavic seups still gives me a raging semi, however, schwinn sold the eff out, so they are turncoat bastards and can get bent.  Huffy has always been shot.  Lessin you count this pic of bob roll on a huffy in paris roubaix.

That's anther thing, i dont give a rats ass how many of his bikes ben serotta put a huffy headbadge on, them shits was a huffy.  Davis Phinney rode a huffy, Bob Roll rode a huffy.  

Also, today, one of my favorite passtimes went down at the bike shop.  Huffy tossing.  Eddie chucked the piss out of this huffy that somebody was donating (good luck finding replacement parts for that mother...).  It was awesome, but more for the hangtime than the distance.  But it was still awesome.  There needs to me more of this.  ALso some of you out there in blogger land might be like, "oh steve thats effed, you say you love huffys but you chuck em and break em and crap"  Put a sock in it.  Thats the best part about a huffy.  After all is said and done, its still some bike that science cant figure out why it runs for a total distibuting cost of 12 bucks.  NO matter how abused, how used, how thrashed, how annihilated a huffy is, its like a roach.  At the dawn of the Nuclear apocolypse, there will be 2 things left.  Huffys and the zombies who ride them.  

Im seriously considering getting a huffy tattoo.

FML.

for those of you who dont know, or for those of you who are bummed out about your life right now, and are of the persuasion that misery indeed loves company. www.fmylife.com.

in other FML news: this weekend was the 5th annual "feel my legs, i'm a racer" race. For those who are into the whole brevity thing, it is sometimes written as FML. How appropriate. Here are a few shots i took with my phone when i wasn't cramping, gasping for air, or bleeding from the eyes/anus.


this is the second climb. I think it was called eldridge.  See that spec waaaay up there between the trees that kind of looks like road.  That is road.  The same road i'm on when i took this photo.  On one of the times when i tacked back and forth, i stopped because my front wheel came off the ground.  I unclipped and it was painfully obvious i was going to have to go over to a neighboring driveway  if i wanted to make it the rest of the way up that lame excuse for a street.  

I dont know how to rotate photo's because i am one half cave-man, and one half awesome.  This is the top of the first climb

This is the famous fargo. 30% grade. Yes, 30. It is the steepest paved road west of the mississippi. No. Just no.

this is the descent after what i think was the 4th climb. Im pretty sure this is the one where an effing BUS bottomed out and was stuck up at the crest. As in, it had to wait for a tow truck because it was without use of a couple of wheels/drive shaft.

It was fun and it was my good friend sasha's birthday.  She's sweet, but her living situation is a bit less than sweet.  She's getting kicked out of her house, and the roommate who owns the house, (the one doing the kicking) without saying a word, lurked out of the shadows and into the room where i was sleeping, looked at me (right when i was about to get to sleep) looked around, and crept back into the shadows.  Even with all the physical tortures i went thru this weekend, that was by far the low point.  

Good food after the race.  Good game of kickball afterward where i'm pretty sure i threatened physical violence against every member of the opposite sex/opposite team (hey, i did my part to rep the IE at an LA race).  All in all good clean fun.  I need to climb more.  A lot more.  I think i'm gonna do ride around the bear, and breathless agony.  FML.

In other FML news, today was the celebration of my 31st birthday.  FML.  

first 400 takes it

when will you take me home lord?

Today:

6:30, wake up, breakfast, coffee and email check
7:30, hit he road for climbing intervals. Climbing intervals suck even if you are good at climbing. I am not good at climbing. So there's that.
9:00, hit the shower
9:45, arrive at work
12:30, ENJOY a lunch of low fat chili and two slices of bread.
5:20, PANIC when i realize i should have clocked out 10 minutes ago and should be on my way to welding class. Will have to make up the time on the road.
5:50, realized i'm 10 minutes away from class, plus or minus accounting for lights
5:52, blow light #1
5:54, blow light #2
5:59, arrive at class
6:45, start welding in the horizontal position. The steel, not my body.
9:10, arrive at auggies coffee shop for the sin of spin monday night ride
9:20, leave for the scavenger hunt
9:52, arrive at the UofR late, BUT the only dude with all the items.
10:05, say high to scott manning as he is strolling on state street with 2 acquaintences i do not know. We both do our best kayle leogrande impression
10:15, arrive at home. Begin recovery.

i smell so bad right now, it's attrocious. Feet and the sweat accumulated in all the activites post 9:00 shower. I'm re-thinking every cotton item i have on.

im gonna go lay down now.

If i haven't seen you in a while, now you get why.

i think this skit pretty well sums up trader joe's at 1 in the afternoon on a weekday.

hair growing competition....

is officially getting outta hand...

went to the doctor for the fist time in 32 years today....

upper respritory infection.  F.M.L.  Now i remember why its been so long since my last doctor visit. 

copied from red asphalt...

for some reason i posted it there...

why is british racing green the new hot color?


How is it that this color came to be? I can remember 3-4 years back, the color in question used to be forest green, or some thing of that nature (pun intended). Now everything that has that darker than normal green, is this british racing color.  


What erks the hell out of me about this is....
what the hell is so british about green? I mean, i guess technically, ireland is a part of "great brittan", however, i feel like green is pretty represetative of JUST irealnd, and not ALL of Great Brittan.
What KIND of racing are we talking here. This would put me high in the running for worlds longest post if i were to post every type of race that can be had.  
Is it EVERY race? The answer to that is no. I've seen brittish teams race. They dont wear green. Unless they're from ireland. In that case, see the first bulletpoint.
if its a brittish race, are all participants forced to adorn THAT color? How the hell could you tell who the winner is, if everybody in the field had the same color green on?  
why does every a-hole have to suggest it whenever green is brought up "no, its not lime green, its sort of a brittish racing green" or "im thinking chrome lugs, white bartape, and a brittish racing green headset"
Whenever it is suggested, the suggestor says it in a matter-of-fact sort of manner, like everybody should know the answers to the swarm of questions that the "brittish racing" part of the color brings up. Im willing to bet everybody is as perplexed as i am, but have just accepted it and act like they know (a social tendency that i have always LOATHED)

When i start frame buiding, i am specifically going to to make a norweigan racing pink frame just to piss people like me off, or to see if it can get the lames to make it trendy.

newz

on june 11th, i will be a certified welder

on july 19th, i will be a yamaguchi certified frame builder

it looks like i may start training on the track

all of the above makes me a very busy boy right now.

four wheel frusteration

k, so, i usually dont get pissed and rant on here about people of the motorcar persuation, but today i reached an epiphany.  The epiphany is this:  The worst part about my commute to riverside cyclery, is the asshats that drive next to me.

i say next to me, but sometimes i think the goal is to go over me.  Freaking people.  Today i was nigh more than a mile from my house, and i STOPPED (as in came to a full stop) at a stop sign.  Now to my right, there was a large van, so i can understand that the woman in the red car i am going to speak of didnt see me.  After the large van cleared the intersection, i began my forward progress, i think the woman in the red car was just completing her stop.  She was turning right from the same lane as the big van.  So, i, not going at a blazing speed, was taking advantage of my right of way, until the woman, not looking at me, pulled out in front of me, and i steered quickly behind her.  At this point in the story, im still not mad.  Then when i sit in behind her so she could maybe recognize that she nearly killed me, she does the old "crazy ivan" and slams her breaks.  It was at this point, while i was stearing around her i saw this sticker.

It was at this point, i felt i had to point out the hypocrisy of a christianity sticker on  a car who was driven by a woman who just TRIED TO COMMIT MURDER.  Because she had to stop to let her CHILD out at the ELEMETARY school (great values being passed down here in case you aren't noting the sarcasm) i was able to catch up to her and shout thru her window "I like your christian sticker..... its really COOOOL!!!!"  She honked and got madder.  WWJD?  Clearly not what master J would have done.  

Then on the way home, on a section where the bike path is totally effed, i was taking up MAYBE half a foot of the regular traffic lane.  MAYBE.  A couple of total elephants in their beat up chrysler honked and flipped me off, even though i did NOT impede their trip, and they did not slow down  a single MPH from the flow of traffic. I guess they were pissed that i have such sweet legs.  

the road from riverside to redlands is wrought with chotches.

base mileage

normally, its pretty boring.  no plan.  no pace.  no fun.

not yesterday.  Me and a big posse from the iefixed.net board, rolled down to tom'f farm like gangbusters.  Josh did some sprints.  Pretty sure i could have won, but:

a) it would have been like beating up a blind kid

b) all my track setups have tubulars, which would be a total bummer to lug out there and

c)Im not racing.  When i race its against other people who race not a bunch of urban cowboys in rolled up jeans.

high point of the day was josh missing first place by about 3cm.  Low point of the day was ralphIE and aaron going down on the train tracks in corona.  I wish none of it had happened.  However, it is hard to feel too sorry forsomebody who runs no breaks, and no helmets.  Kinda know what you signed up for.  Anyways, it looks like everybody is a tad banged up, but otherwise, OK.

lots of fun, cant wait to do it again.

back to carbon, and training with power

After puting it off for  month or so, i have finally made a decision on the 2009 steve-bike.

Specialized roubaix pro,

full campy record 11,

S0metimes handbuilt wheels with record hub front, powertap rear, open pr0 rims

sometimes mavic kryrum elites

sometimes flashpoints

also, im waiting on the carbon speed-limit brakes, by bontrager.  Light and sweet, and i like Greg Johnson too much to not suppory his trek peddaling endeavors.

as per the above reference, i have gone back to training with power with a powertap that, along with my rollers, is on its way from minnesota.  It's actually been long enough that i dont think i will be dreading it.  Plus its a wireless setup on other-than a chicago metro phonebook weight wheel setup.  

that been said.  Tired of japan's answer to hiroshima?  Ready to ride quality italian components?  Buy my old record 10-speed stuff.

creeping up on a month...

...since my last post.  Riding a lot.  Going pretty well, but, obviously, i need to ride more.  Will be a lot easier when i get my rollers in.  Matt Freeman was voted off the island a few weeks back.  Good riddance says I.  Who the hell does he think he is?  Shows up.  Organizes a ride.  Gets cold.  He leaves.  Pretty sure that as they say is that for tuesday nights.  The nerve of some people.  

On a serious note, my hair is getting A: long and B: sweet.  As usual i am sticking to a strict diet of metal and hard rock from the 70's and 80's.  So i am currently trying to make the transition to clean-cut, respectable athlete, to long haired, hessian....athlete.  In related news, i think i might also grow a lemmy mustache.