Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Just the facts

I'm 37, there's a reason why i sometimes feel i'm in the middle of a crisis.

For the first time in a long time, i ran more than i rode this past weekend.
Friday, Ryan and i took the Bob out to Highland Road Park and ran LSU's freshly marked Cross Country course a few times. I thought it was rough, Ryan took a nap.

Sunday morning, we did about 10 around the lakes, then off to duck-feeding and finally a visit to the new Mike the Tiger. This running thing fits nicely into a busy schedule and i spend far less time fearing death at the hands of an automobile. Maybe i've got a future in it.

Did some new-dad bonding with Charlie D. on Sunday, great catching up with him. Hopefully i'll make it down to NOLA for a giro whenever they slow down (hahaha).

Might have stepped in it this morning as Norm and Paul Kerst were looking for TTT teammates. What the hell was i thinking?

My wife has gotten me thoroughly addicted to Facebook, and i'm ticked that Bobby J. has added her as a friend. My request is still out there and waiting.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

back to the sufferin

Tuesday night was my first training race back in quite a long time. I tried not to let that enter my mind and just ride like i never stopped doing them, but you can only really fake that for so long. Everything was good until a little bit before the prop sprint, all was good, me, SeaBass, Darius, Tim, Keith, Luke, and Bennie Flores of all people rotating really well. Then Keith pointed to Bennie as if to say "He's gonna win this sprint old school Bennie style" and that's when i yacked. The pace picked up and ... ... wait for it... ... wait for it ... ... David didn't. I watched as everybody rolled away, just getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.

I thought, "Well old boy, that's why you need to train" then like an angel sent back from the pack, here comes SeaBass floating back to help me out. In true TGV style, he cranked it up over about 15 minutes from my measly 21 to 24,25,26,27, finally 28 and voila we were back on, with just a minimal amount of regurgitated peanut butter left on my top tube. Sebastian is a motor, while sucking his draft mercilessly i kept staring at the C50HP logo on his chainstay thinking, Sebastian is producing a lot more than 50HP right now. It was an awesome display. We got back on, the group got smaller and i tried to help with a final leadout but nobody probably even thought i was trying as i could only eek out maybe 24 or so. Je suis lame.

It was fun talking medicine with Dr. Frusha who performed Amy's surgery today. That is another post altogether. More to come on that tomorrow.

My team is kicking ass at the Vuelta, i've jumped up to 82nd out of 744 teams. Today's win by Bennati should push me even further up. Sorry DJW, i don't think you're going to sneak out a win in Spain like you did in France. Also, what happened to our league? it died.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

nice riding weekend


I got more cycling time this weekend than i've had in quite a while. Sunday was awesome, i started out of Bains around noon by myself, first ride in the hills on the new ride, the Cyfac. This bike is true Darby-bane, French throughout, if i had the dough i should put a Mavic gruppo on it. Anyway, i expected to crawl up the hills, but was surprised not to. Figures i'd have a "no chain" day with nobody else around to see it.
So there i was having a great time, two hours into it, just me and the ipod, rolling back from Spillman, crossing the new bridge near Red Bug when PLADOW! massive sidewall blowout. Evidently there was mortar fire near the bridge that i wasn't aware of.
Left to my own devices, i scoured the nearby ditch to find a nice Frito-Lay wrapper, folded it 25 times, stuffed it into the tire, grabbed the CO2 and prayed. I added some Madden-tele-stration to show you what i'm talking about. The shortest way home was about 15 miles i guess, so i avoided every pot hole, thought smooth thoughts and rolled. The patch managed to hold up pretty well and no walking was necessary. Here's what it looked like by the time i got to the car.


Here's another action photo of the bike, it's a real beauty.

And here it is in front of our new house, we decided to downsize some, but you have to admit, the view is gorgeous.

v u e l t a revolver

I haven't been able to view any teams on the site yet, so in case anybody is interested, here's my fantasy squad for the Vuelta. The first two days went great with Bennati and Bettini, today, who had the Russian?

Rider 1: 16,Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ,EUS, #69
Rider 2: 12,Paolo BETTINI,QSI, #130
Rider 3: 20,Carlos SASTRE CANDIL,CSC, #166
Rider 4: 10,Juan Manuel GARATE,QSI, #129
Rider 5: 16,Daniele BENNATI,LAM, #99
Rider 6: 6,Santos GONZALEZ CAPILLA,KGZ, #93
Rider 7: 6,Joan HORRACH RIPPOLL,GCE, #34
Rider 8: 6,Pedro HORRILLO MUNOZ,RAB, #141
Rider 9: 8,Manuel BELTRAN MARTINEZ,LIQ, #108