Tempotantrum

No time for pics yesterday!  Bossman got a couple but his view did not change much for most of the day.  He was having a bit of a down day and I had a good day so I drug him the reverse way around the Marshall loop.  At least reverse of what we usually do it.  It worked out well though cause we rocketed into our usual Bovine Bakery stop in 1.5 hrs.  So fast, that I broke all rules and did not get anything at a bakery!  Shame on me!  So the entire day was done at basically a tempo with some SST up the hills.  All in all 6500 ft of climbing and 4.5 hrs on the bike.  We did finish the day right though, once with a Fairfix espresso milk shake and then a Picasso pizza, appropriately named the Specialized.  It was so good that it was definitely the Sworks version!  Also I washed it down with a Lagunitas Maximus IPA. Yum, Phillips would be proud. 

Today is going to be fun!  We are going to roll out through the ewok village and up to 4 corners.  Then down through Muir woods, follow Hwy 1 to Stinson Beach, then Stinson Beach to the top of Tam.  Form there it will be decided on how cooked the legs are after 4 days of riding. 

On another note, changed flights today!  Michelle is going to come out and try her new bike for a few days! Yippie!

Day 2 in pic

Alien Race

Yesterday I made it into Marin and was able to get the bike put together and bossman and I made it around the dam loop.  Was a good way to to shake the legs and catch up with bossman.  I felt out of place on the road bike for a while though.  Handles so much quicker the the studded tire, bar mitted, cross bike.  Luckily I did not wrap it around a guardrail on our first 40mph descent down to Mill Valley.  Here is our route, it looks like we didn't make it home but it is cause we did the norm and stopped for an espresso milk shake at the Fairfix!

So now onto the alien race!  We rented this house in Fairfax and it came with a live in furry criter!  All is good with that, we have one ourselves.  Makes noise when it walks, noise when it moves, noise when its hungry, noise when its thirsty, blah, blah, blah.  This one is different though! We are in the middle of Cali and I cannot believe we have zero cell coverage.  I actually love that though cause it is really quiet!  For the cell coverage though I think this furry critter was put here from a lost planet and is transmitting everything back to the mother ship.  Little do they know they do not want to ever know what I am thinking!!  Look at this thing, I fear him! Those ears are antenna for sure and its head spins around to give me dirty looks! 

Either way the riding is great and I am hoping that today brings a bakery stop!! 

Puddle Jumper

So the last week has been fun.  It started out with a nice training block that almost had me requiring a walker to get on the airplane!  The one week was worth about 80 lattes, mmmmmm.  Not sure if anyone could handle me if I downed that much!  Then I boarded an airplane for Jersey to do an install at my sisters house.  I am so glad that Jasen went with me cause we worked 15 hr days and still barely finished the project up.  We got everything done, but no time for really shaking things down so lets hope we didn't miss anything.  We did board the plane looking at each other and thinking, what just happened?  We ran a little over 3000ft of wire through the wall, cut in 6 speakers zones, hung a 64" TV, programmed 6 keypads, and a URC remote all in 3 days.  Not bad.  I was so sore from climbing stairs and ladders that I really wish I had a day off upon my return, but it was right back to the bike grind on Monday. 

Besides the bike, we also lost a hot tub pump this week and converted the pool to a salt water pool.  Also what are people doing with our locker keys and towels, eating them?  I keep looking around the club to see if someone is playing a joke and they are hidden.  One time I will open a cabinet and find thousands of keys stuffed away!

On Tuesday, Scott was off and my legs were sore so we went out together to keep me honest.  It was definitely needed, cause I was ready to turn around and find the nearest couch!  The weather didn't help either, freezing rain topped with about an inch of snow.  We rode north of town and hit roads that I am still not sure were roads??  Either way we got 4 hrs of 2 wheels drifts, laughs, where the hell are we, and a nice meal at Bistro 212 once finished!  Oh yeah, and a latte. 

Then yesterday I had another long day as I started to pack for Cali and did a 5 hr ride on top of it.  Oh wait, I am gonna be riding my neglected road bike I have not touched since October, better re cable it and put some new tires on it too before boxing it up.  I finally finished up last night at a about midnight but I am set to go.  I also packed all my rain gear and it looks like it worked cause the forecast is for sun and 70 next week out there!  Might get a chance to start working on the pro lines??  That would be sweet! 

So back to the ride yesterday, it was nice here for February and I decided to continue the weekly trend and find some new roads.  It worked out pretty good with only a couple of stops to check the Garmin.  The funny thing about it is I did a 5 hr ride with only 1000ft elevation change?  That is about to change!  Mt Tam here I come!  Yesterdays route:

No rehab required

Or maybe I have not hit step one and cannot admit I have an issue.  I have heard this cycling thing explained many ways over the years; Living the dream, its my 2nd job, etc but Pete puts it best when I talk to him as he tells me I have an addiction!  Oh boy, I think he is right!!  I just keep riding and I love almost every minute of it.  This year has been much easier than in past winters though with the weather.  Seems that all my nasty grams to mother nature are paying off??  Doubt it but here is to wishful thinking! 

Even if the weather is temporary, I have definitely been taking advantage of it and have been putting some mile on the bike.  The scenery has even been changing with a nice trip to Chicago this past weekend where we hung out with Mikey and the two of us got out on a nice ride in the area.  I was actually surprised at how good the ride was.  Guess I had expectations of just riding the Lake Shore bike path so when we actually where out on some good roads I was more than happy.  We also re hydrated that night doing what we now best, drinking beer and having fun!!  Maybe too much fun! 

Then on Sunday, the Braun's hosted everyone for a group ride before the little one arrives!  We are all crossing our fingers hoping that not too many of Big D's traits get passed on!!  Just kidding:)  So ten of us cruised around the Waukesha area on Sunday for a few hours before eating all the food that Nikki, Lynn, and Laura had preparred for us!  What a great weekend!  Nest up is a trip to the east coast then followed right up with a trip to the west coast. 

For those interested in the routes:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Salt the rim

Usually for me this refers to the rim of my margarita glass.  Today not the case. Bummer!   Instead it was the edge of the road that was nice and salted.  Seems with the dusting of snow, and the excess salt the county has due to lack of snow, they decided to put it all on the roads this morning!  This made me come in with my tights covered in a nice white coating and everytime a car passed you could taste the salt in the air.  If it was only 40 degrees warmer I could of at least dreamed I was riding down HWY 1 on my way to Tam! Guess I will have to overcome this with 2 for 1 margaritas tomorrow at our local mexican joint! 

Shiver me timbers........

So yesterday the temp was not too bad but if you hit any open stretches the wind was fun! Luckily I planned a good route and minus the Amherst side of Morgan hill and the over pass next to the brewery I was good. When I hit those stretches though, the Bar Kites(Mitts) were doing their best to act as sails and and push me into the ditch on the ice/snow covered roads. This made it a little harder to maintain a constant power and I ended up coasting through some of these section with one leg unclipped and trying to counterbalance the wind effects with one leg! Even with mother nature throwing what she had my way, I did manage another 4 hr ride which seems to be bossmans go to length of the year. So here is the route:

Yeah, it was another southerly route, which is weird for this time of year.  Luckily for all of us the south winds keep bringing us mild temps and I hope this trend continues. 

So after the ride Mark brought some new name decals over for the bikes!  Thanks Don for letting him use your printer.  I will not share any of the bike stuff till we get them built, but I got 6 of them on Friday and they are going to be faster than last years bikes.  They look really good too! 

We then finished off our Saturday with a trip to the brewery to help them celebrate 14 yrs.  Michelle was volunteering at the food table so Timster, Sarah, and I sampled all their small batch beers and some of our favorites.  Not a bad way to rehydrate after a ride!! 

Now for the week I have a lot of riding on the schedule.  I also have an audio/video install to do at my sisters in New Jersey the week after so I have to get tools and parts shipped out and start on the programing.  Nothing crazy this time, mounting a 64" TV on the wall, then doing 6 zones with a Nuvo Grand Essentia.  One of the zones is outdoors so I am expecting them to have the coldest weather of the year while we are doing that!  Also doing a Paradigm Surround in their living room with an Anthem MRX receiver and a URC Remote.  Luckily my friend Jasen from Precision is going with me so it will be a lot of fun and we will be able to rip through it in no time, OK 3 days of 12-14 hrs a day cause we have to cut in all the speakers and chase the wires through the walls, oh yeah, doing a security system for them too! Should be fun!

S'more

MMMmmm!  So last night Michelle was making fun of me for roasting marshmallows in our indoor fireplace.  I couldn't help it though, they tasted so good!  I then moved onto making S'mores, even better! 

So on the ride front things have slowed down some due to sickness and a recovery week.  I guess if you have to get sick, a recovery week is the best time to plan it?  It is hard though to have the pedal to the metal on training then hit the brakes as hard as you can.  Lets hope the anti skid kicks in and I start feeling better so I do not slide all the way back down the hill! 

On the bike side, I heard that there are some Specialized Epic 29er frames on the way for the team.  I am super excited to see these new race rigs.  They should also be followed up soon with a care package of XX from SRAM which will go very nice with the already received Truvativ pick me up and is going to give the 212 Team the best weapon a team can ask for!  Thank you sponsors!! 

Also the time has come to think about looking good.  We always say if you are not going to race good, you better look good!  For us to accomplish this we use Hidden Bay!  They can not make it any easier or affordable to make a team look good with a high quality product.  So if you are looking at new kits this year give them a call.  You will not regret it.  Most of the 212 squad actually orders extra clothing each year because of the comfort of their new shorts. 

Race motivation

Cohutta 100 press realease.  Pretty excited for this race already, and it is still 4 months away!  This is where I started doing the NUE 100s and I always enjoy going back here.

Over the river and down the snow covered road....

.....to another 4 hrs of T.I.T.S I did go.  For those new, that is Time in the Saddle.  Saturday mother nature tried to deter me with the starting temp of -6F, but I made it.

Now is the good time to thank those that make products that you pay for no matter the cost!  Bar Mitts!  A must have for winter riding.  Luckily for us they were a sponsor of ours a few years ago and they keep your hands warm no matter the temps. 

Assos tights, yes they are really expensive, but they are the best!  I have bought only 4 sets in my entire time of winter riding and they just last!  So get over the price and Sponsor Yourself! That is there marketing slogan. 

Hand warmers!  You can get an entire box for something like $20.  When the temps drop I usually will wear toe warmers, then stuff one of these between my shoe and toe warmer, then put a bootie over.  Always works.  I also take an extra pair just in case the bonk hits, or dreaded winter flat.

My routes:

Saturday Route:

Sunday Route:

Not all about fat!

So there seems to be a 2nd 29er revolution starting and it has to do with the fat bike.  It seems as everyone has given up this opportunity to ride a normal bike and learn some bike handling skills out in the snow.  Don't get me wrong, I am sure they are fun to ride, just like mopeds and other things till your friends see you, and if you are a sport rider just looking to maintain some cardio through the winter they will work fine for you.  As a training tool, I'm not buying it.  I honestly thought I was cheating myself when I changed from a road bike all year round to a studded tire cross bike, but that now seems to be the bike I grab.  It works just fine in the snow and I am able to mount the power tap up to it, train, not go bow legged from a 140mm stance, and not have one more bike to maintain.  If Q factor doesn't matter then why does egg beater and speedplay make different axle lengths. So sorry Simonson, I will not be at Cohutta on that 19 lb fat bike you dreamed about. 

So onto some training.  It seems as things have ramped into full speed ahead with the the end goal of raising the bar going into the season, as it is every year.  Lots of new plans in the works and some extra volume should help.  The group of Sarah, Mark, Michelle, and I keep hitting the weights hard as well with Gabe to make sure come Sunday afternoon and a week of training the remote seems like a heavy object to lift.

Also on the training front, two camps are in the works. One for another trip to Cali in February with bossman to drag him around Mt Tam and Mt Diablo. We did this last year and it was such a blast. We have also completed plans for a team plus a couple extras camp in Prescott in March.  This one will be for the MTB and will be our first MTB camp.  Super excited about this.

Till then it seems as my anti fat bike riding will continue on the winter Wisco roads.  Here are a few random shots:

Riding in the storm last week

Forgot, you are not supposed to be able to ride this without a fat bike.

Blazed a lot of tracks that day on the cross bike in 4 inches of snow.

Krayer's get y'er guns!  Time to get some dinner!

My training weapon, minus the bar mitts which I swear by! Carbon and TI bolts = no rust!

Yeah, 5 degree wind chill and snow! That is ice on my nose and my glasses are frozen to my eye brows! So when is the Cali trip again!!! 

Pinky and the........

Agood reason why not to loose a bet, at least it was for a good cause though! 

Full Swing

The 2012 season is now in full swing without the end in sight.  This year promises to be another fun year of racing, traveling, and goofing off with the team.  The team will remain the same as last as we all continue to get older.  Luckily we have Myles and Darrin on the team to make us feel young again!  OK, not naming names, but there are a couple of us on the team that will never act a day over 12!  So the race schedule, that is different for each rider and will become more concrete over the next month.  I do know that my focus again will be on the NUE races and will be dragging Ryan into it as well this year.  Ryan though will transition back into WORS for the late season races while I plan to blow the entire WORS season off again this year!  Scott and Mark will also join us for some of the NUE races as well.  The rest of the team will be focused on WORS.

Also with the start of the 2012 season, Mike and company at the Chicago headquarters have been busy coming up with some new cool kit designs.  Once again Adventure 212 and Specialized will get a lot of real estate on the kit as we enter our 5th year as partners.  We are so lucky to be riding the best bike on the market and equipment with adding huge support from SRAM and Truvativ.

So for training.  Things are changing a little bit this year by adding a little more time on the bike for me.  Luckily for all of us here in Wisconsin the weather has been great which means you can usually find company on your longer rides.  This weekends ride at one point we had 10 riders made up of the Wildside team and A212.  It was lots of fun as we cruised around the hills of Denzer! 

So that is about it for my morning ramblings.

No other way

We all have our issues

If it happens once it is no big deal, but if it happens again then there might be an underlying issue.  I am talking about drinking and riding.  This past weekend Mark, Sarah, Todd, Di, Ryan, Lisa, and myself went out for a burn some calories before the eating and drinking begins ride.  No big thing, that is until Ryan and Todd found an unopened 6 pack of poor quality beer in the ditch!  Most people would ride by, not Ryan and Lisa though!  They stopped and picked it up, Denzer style!  Lets just say most of it was gone before we got back home!  Good thing we were on the rail trail and close to home!