Well today I was venturous, really venturous. The winds were howling and it was sunny and in the 50's. As I am accustomed to freezing for about 4 months every year and taking every bit of sunshine I can get I still have this nagging urge to get outside when the sun shines and not put myself on those indoor attempts at training (they really don't seem as effective as a good ride outside!). This turned out to be a not so good idea, the winds were really coming strong. Luckily as long as I headed west or east it wasn't much of a problem except for the occasional gust from the north, but I didn't do that. I meandered around in every possible cardinal direction and thus exposed myself to some sandblasting, a tail wind of epic proportions where I would spin a 120 cadence in the biggest gear on my road bike (53x12) or a insurmountable headwind where my cadence was closer to 70 in the 39x25. The hardest part of the day was the keeping upright or in a straight line while heading north or south. the winds would blow as hard as you can imagine off the mountains and rip my sideways, it was a very odd experience, then stop, so I would get my bearings get my cadence back and all of a sudden there they are again. This all amidst some traffic, not making for good times.
Lesson learned: when it is windy and you see the full trash cans in the alley behind your house blowing around like an empty plastic bag don't ride outside, it makes life a little scary!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
25 Things....
So I posted this on facebook a couple of days ago after being tagged in many other people's 25 things notes, but some of you may not be online networking nerds or are but don't check facebook so here it is:
1. I'm a college graduate and in graduate school for philosophy but still don't know what to do with my life.
2. Some of you may know this, but this year is my first year as a professional athlete, hopefully it goes well!?!
3. I am very good at wasting time, particularly on the internet when my reading is on the computer and not from a book.
4. Design and Architecture really interest me, especially lighting design and architectural design geared towards it, so many pretty things.
5. I have a 2 1/2 year old cat and a 7 month puppy that cause annoyance, aggravation, and laughter all at the same time.
6. I'm engaged to the most wonderful woman in the world! - she puts up with my cycling addiction and even encourages me!
7. Religion is confusing and difficult for me to know what to think about it. I really would love to have a religious mindset, but it is very difficult for me. I think I think too much about stuff - hence the bachelors in philosophy and soon to be masters.
8. I often regret not majoring in physics or engineering as they are far more practical fields.
9. My family can often be very difficult to deal with, but I love them regardless and look forward to family gatherings whenever we can all manage to be in the same place at the same time.
10. I love to travel, around the US, the world, wherever I am living. It is very hard for me to sit still - a problem when it comes to effective training as an athlete.
11. I enjoy all types of movies no matter how ridiculous and inane they are, I can always find something to appreciate in it.
12. I often do not believe I am as smart as my peers.
13. I really enjoy extended periods in the mountains with friends, regardless of the trials and tribulations one goes through, it is always fun. Spencer and Kate - last saturday was pretty awesome!
14. I am a very shy person. It takes a lot of mental preparation to call the pizza guy.
15. Weather greatly affects my mood. If it is gross and rainy out I tend to be very grumpy, unless I am lining up for a bike race (cross or mountain preferably), then I am smiling and laughing!?!
16. I love to cook food and eat food, it is one of the greatest pleasures I have.
17. I am a big fan of craft beers and expensive wines, but very rarely do I like any hard liquor.
18. Doing things from scratch, like making pizza, pasta, beer, wine, etc. is far more enjoyable than purchasing those items. There is a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Typically, the challenge is what intrigues me.
19. I am not much of a manly man. I like beer, I like sports (kind of, only when I actually go to the game), and I like cars (but not from the normal guy's perspective, I don't know anything about how they work nor do I understand it, I like the ones that look cool and can do cool stuff e.g. Subaru WRX, Honda Element, etc.). I enjoy reading, writing, cooking, playing music/listening to music, and going to the theatre (ballet, opera, etc.) much more than most guys do.
20. I love getting lost in new places. It is the best way to learn anything about where you are.
21. I am obsessive with my blackberry and feel the urge/need to check it every time it buzzes because I have a message of some sort.
22. Leaving Meadville after High School was the best decision I have ever made in my life, but I miss all of you who are still living in PA and wish we could hang out more.
23. I have the worst memory on the planet, I can be asked to do something and within a minute completely forget what I was supposed to do. I can also tell myself that I have to do X and forget soon thereafter and get very confused as to what I was doing.
24. I wish I was a better driver in traffic and didn't get so nervous, especially now that I live in a large metropolitan area.
25. I gave up being a vegetarian because: a) I love food b) I am poor and can't afford to feed myself as a vegetarian c) eating all natural and organic animal products are healthy
1. I'm a college graduate and in graduate school for philosophy but still don't know what to do with my life.
2. Some of you may know this, but this year is my first year as a professional athlete, hopefully it goes well!?!
3. I am very good at wasting time, particularly on the internet when my reading is on the computer and not from a book.
4. Design and Architecture really interest me, especially lighting design and architectural design geared towards it, so many pretty things.
5. I have a 2 1/2 year old cat and a 7 month puppy that cause annoyance, aggravation, and laughter all at the same time.
6. I'm engaged to the most wonderful woman in the world! - she puts up with my cycling addiction and even encourages me!
7. Religion is confusing and difficult for me to know what to think about it. I really would love to have a religious mindset, but it is very difficult for me. I think I think too much about stuff - hence the bachelors in philosophy and soon to be masters.
8. I often regret not majoring in physics or engineering as they are far more practical fields.
9. My family can often be very difficult to deal with, but I love them regardless and look forward to family gatherings whenever we can all manage to be in the same place at the same time.
10. I love to travel, around the US, the world, wherever I am living. It is very hard for me to sit still - a problem when it comes to effective training as an athlete.
11. I enjoy all types of movies no matter how ridiculous and inane they are, I can always find something to appreciate in it.
12. I often do not believe I am as smart as my peers.
13. I really enjoy extended periods in the mountains with friends, regardless of the trials and tribulations one goes through, it is always fun. Spencer and Kate - last saturday was pretty awesome!
14. I am a very shy person. It takes a lot of mental preparation to call the pizza guy.
15. Weather greatly affects my mood. If it is gross and rainy out I tend to be very grumpy, unless I am lining up for a bike race (cross or mountain preferably), then I am smiling and laughing!?!
16. I love to cook food and eat food, it is one of the greatest pleasures I have.
17. I am a big fan of craft beers and expensive wines, but very rarely do I like any hard liquor.
18. Doing things from scratch, like making pizza, pasta, beer, wine, etc. is far more enjoyable than purchasing those items. There is a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Typically, the challenge is what intrigues me.
19. I am not much of a manly man. I like beer, I like sports (kind of, only when I actually go to the game), and I like cars (but not from the normal guy's perspective, I don't know anything about how they work nor do I understand it, I like the ones that look cool and can do cool stuff e.g. Subaru WRX, Honda Element, etc.). I enjoy reading, writing, cooking, playing music/listening to music, and going to the theatre (ballet, opera, etc.) much more than most guys do.
20. I love getting lost in new places. It is the best way to learn anything about where you are.
21. I am obsessive with my blackberry and feel the urge/need to check it every time it buzzes because I have a message of some sort.
22. Leaving Meadville after High School was the best decision I have ever made in my life, but I miss all of you who are still living in PA and wish we could hang out more.
23. I have the worst memory on the planet, I can be asked to do something and within a minute completely forget what I was supposed to do. I can also tell myself that I have to do X and forget soon thereafter and get very confused as to what I was doing.
24. I wish I was a better driver in traffic and didn't get so nervous, especially now that I live in a large metropolitan area.
25. I gave up being a vegetarian because: a) I love food b) I am poor and can't afford to feed myself as a vegetarian c) eating all natural and organic animal products are healthy
Getting sick on a rest week!?!
So this week was meant to be a rest week, thankfully, after my adventures last saturday with Spencer and Kate I really needed it! Mostly because after putting in those 2.5 extra hours on the bike my ride time for the week was 18 hours 45 mins. This is the second biggest week I have ever done on the bike in my 4 years of racing and training, the biggest only being 19 hours 5 mins. So, to say the least I was pretty burnt, though, still feeling strong as I headed out for a recovery ride on Sunday morning.
Well, things got worse. Shannon has been sick all weekend, so I was spending a lot of time taking care of her and nursing her back to health, which unfortunately coincided with a big block of training, meaning my immune system was very unhappy. Consequently, tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat, ugh! Still went out for my ride on Tuesday, as it was only a sore throat and actually felt really strong, then....Wednesday morning the sore throat was gone but my nose was plugged, almost as if I had taken two wine bottle corks and shoved them up there. Once again I still went out for my ride, nice and easy hour of recovery. Felt ok on the bike. A little fuzzy in the head, but not like I was beaten down or anything and I was able to ride in the proper zones that my heart rate monitor told me with respect to perceived effort and cadence. Then this morning, ugh! Sore throat still gone, nose still plugged, now I have this obnoxious tickle in my throat that makes me cough every once in a while, arrrggggh! Don't think I am going to ride today!
While being sick though I have had time to experiment with new tasty healthy foods though, as I am doing everything in my power to make things better. First of these is Kombucha:
This stuff is pretty awesome, by the way! I have only tried the gingerberry flavor and the trilogy flavors, but they are mighty tasty and very good for you.
The other thing that I have been consuming a fair share of is Naked fruit juices, primarily the B-Monster. This stuff is might tasty and gets all of those good for you anti-oxidants that come in blueberries, plus other great fruites added to, it makes me happy when I drink it.
I've also been drinking Odwalla's Green Machine, mmmmmmm...... This stuff is like syrup but sweet and tasty. I recommend that everyone gives it a shot!!!
In fact I recommend everyone give these three things a shot as well, they are so tasty, it is pretty much ridiculous!!
Well, things got worse. Shannon has been sick all weekend, so I was spending a lot of time taking care of her and nursing her back to health, which unfortunately coincided with a big block of training, meaning my immune system was very unhappy. Consequently, tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat, ugh! Still went out for my ride on Tuesday, as it was only a sore throat and actually felt really strong, then....Wednesday morning the sore throat was gone but my nose was plugged, almost as if I had taken two wine bottle corks and shoved them up there. Once again I still went out for my ride, nice and easy hour of recovery. Felt ok on the bike. A little fuzzy in the head, but not like I was beaten down or anything and I was able to ride in the proper zones that my heart rate monitor told me with respect to perceived effort and cadence. Then this morning, ugh! Sore throat still gone, nose still plugged, now I have this obnoxious tickle in my throat that makes me cough every once in a while, arrrggggh! Don't think I am going to ride today!
While being sick though I have had time to experiment with new tasty healthy foods though, as I am doing everything in my power to make things better. First of these is Kombucha:
This stuff is pretty awesome, by the way! I have only tried the gingerberry flavor and the trilogy flavors, but they are mighty tasty and very good for you.
The other thing that I have been consuming a fair share of is Naked fruit juices, primarily the B-Monster. This stuff is might tasty and gets all of those good for you anti-oxidants that come in blueberries, plus other great fruites added to, it makes me happy when I drink it.
I've also been drinking Odwalla's Green Machine, mmmmmmm...... This stuff is like syrup but sweet and tasty. I recommend that everyone gives it a shot!!!
In fact I recommend everyone give these three things a shot as well, they are so tasty, it is pretty much ridiculous!!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Epic Road errrr Mtb ride?
So yesterday I went out with a great plan. Ride to Carter Lake, come down on the north side and then follow Pole Hill Road up and over towards Estes Park. I thought this was a great plan as I have mapped this ride out on MapMyRide.com and found that it absolutely goes through. Not only this but I knew from riding between Estes Park and Lyons a number of times that Pole Hill Road is a nice dirt road at least on the Highway 36 side. Well, the night before, via Twitter, I found out that two of my Mafia Teammates (Spencer Powlisson and Kate Scheider) who happen to be ECCC alums like me were heading in the same direction with the same idea for a ride. As I don't live in Boulder I knew it would take them longer to get Carter Lake than me. However, by the time I left I had figured that I was not going to run into them. Turns out I was wrong. After I crested the first tough climb on Pole Hill Road and started heading down who do I see but Spencer and Kate checking their iphones to see if they are lost or not. Well, a short conversation later and we were cruising down a tarred and chipped road. Something that the 3 of us are quite used to and comfortable riding our road bikes on. Well, as the ride went on it got a little looser and rougher and significantly steeper. Normally I am cool with that, but on a road bike our easiest gear (at least for me) is a 39 x 25, which is a very hard gear to push up loose steep climbs on treadless tires. We climbed, climbed, and climbed somemore picking our way through some gnarly terrain! For most of the ride things were going ok, I would say the biggest problem we were having were the couple of snow patchy sections that I had to dab on causing me to significantly lose my ability to clip in with my speedplay pedals. As we kept going we thought things were getting better, turns out we were wrong. At some point we came down a descent that well would have been tough on our mountain bikes with fat knobby tires and suspension, something we did not have. Then I saw a telltale sign of bad things to come, we were on forest service roads. This means no winter maintenance. Consequently turned into a couple of miles of hiking before we finally reached the final descent. The final descent was bad! I couldn't clip in due to snow packed cleats and thus had a ver hard time controlling my bike. Eventually, we hit the road section of Pole Hill Road and I was very happy, VERY HAPPY! This meant a short dirt road descent and then a fast 25 miles back home!
Check out Kate coming up one of the snowy climbs we did, before things got really crazy!
During this ride I learned a lot about what not to do. When looking at MapMyRide there is a reason why people typically don't go all the way on certain roads, they don't connect in the way one would hope. Another lesson I learned, it is always better to do adventure rides where you are exploring on longer training days instead of shorter ones. Finally, if you are going to explore don't do it alone. Thanks Kate and Spencer for going through that craziness yesterday, it would have been 100% unbearable without you guys losing heart with me everytime we saw the road go up again!
For another perspective check out Kate's Blog
Check out Kate coming up one of the snowy climbs we did, before things got really crazy!
During this ride I learned a lot about what not to do. When looking at MapMyRide there is a reason why people typically don't go all the way on certain roads, they don't connect in the way one would hope. Another lesson I learned, it is always better to do adventure rides where you are exploring on longer training days instead of shorter ones. Finally, if you are going to explore don't do it alone. Thanks Kate and Spencer for going through that craziness yesterday, it would have been 100% unbearable without you guys losing heart with me everytime we saw the road go up again!
For another perspective check out Kate's Blog
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Brewing Beer
Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this whole process as it was definitely quite comical watching Shannon and I dunk the strainer into the already strained wert (beer before it ferments) and going through the process of restraining it again. But here is our little story of our first attempt to make beer.
My parents have been brewing beer since I was in high school and it has definitely become quite the little operation they have going on in the basement with one beer fermenting in one fermenter while the another one is the secondary fermenter and then another whole batch is bottled for the last little bit of finishing. This whole process is not new to me.
When Shannon and I decided that we were interested in brewing, we thought, who better to call than 'Mom and Dad.' Turned out to work out well, when they arrived for the engagement party in Houston this past december they arrived with the Deluxe beer brewing kit, it is definitely deluxe and very cool at that. As soon as Shannon and I got back here to Longmont and had an afternoon to head to the Beer supply store and make our first batch we did.
The plan was simple, let's make an easy to do pale ale (one of our favourites) that does not take too long and has less of a chance to screw up. We paged through our copy of Charlie Papazian's Homebrewing Guide and then picked out the "Gone Fishin' Pale Ale."
After acquiring everything we 'hopped' to it and started boiling the boiling hops (Amarillos) and the malt in our very big pot. After 50 minutes of boiling it was time for the next hop addition (I can't remember exactly what this is right now) and then 10 minutes later we added the aroma hops.
Well it turns out that we were just dumping in the little hop packages we had bought without actually measuring out the required amount. For the first set we were fine, but the next two additions did not call for as much hops, making, at least we will see in another week or two, a very hoppy pale ale. I am not going to complain because I am a hop-head as many beer connoisseurs call it, so a hoppy pale ale is quite delightful.
After this process the next process is to strain the wert and cool it down as quickly as possible to 77 degrees. The reason you do this as quickly as possible, to keep out wild yeast strains from the air that turn good beer bad! We strained, dropped the strainer back into the wert requiring another straining process and then proceeded to do this again, how? I don't know!
Eventually we got it right and no more straining was required. But it cause a lot of beer to be spilled on the kitchen floor and thus an extensive clean up (hops are very bad for dogs and cats and we have one of each). After this clean up and the wert finally cooling down, well, we added the yeast, capped up the primary fermenter, checked the specific gravity (one way to estimate the amount of alcohol it will be when done fermenting, we estimate 5% by volume) and put it in the closet until the next week.
One week later, the easty part comes, transfer to the secondary fermenter. Well, luckily this is the really easy process and we actually succeeded in not making a mess of things. Now we are the wonderful stage where we didn't think things through and realized that we had forgotten to save beer bottles for bottling. By all accounts we are supposed to be bottling tomorrow night, that is not going to happen as our current bottle inventory is 36 and we need at leas 60 bottles. I guess the lady at the local liquor store must think we are alcoholics because every couple of days we come in buying two more six packs.
My fingers are still crossed that this beer will turn out well, but we will have to see, only a couple more weeks.
My parents have been brewing beer since I was in high school and it has definitely become quite the little operation they have going on in the basement with one beer fermenting in one fermenter while the another one is the secondary fermenter and then another whole batch is bottled for the last little bit of finishing. This whole process is not new to me.
When Shannon and I decided that we were interested in brewing, we thought, who better to call than 'Mom and Dad.' Turned out to work out well, when they arrived for the engagement party in Houston this past december they arrived with the Deluxe beer brewing kit, it is definitely deluxe and very cool at that. As soon as Shannon and I got back here to Longmont and had an afternoon to head to the Beer supply store and make our first batch we did.
The plan was simple, let's make an easy to do pale ale (one of our favourites) that does not take too long and has less of a chance to screw up. We paged through our copy of Charlie Papazian's Homebrewing Guide and then picked out the "Gone Fishin' Pale Ale."
After acquiring everything we 'hopped' to it and started boiling the boiling hops (Amarillos) and the malt in our very big pot. After 50 minutes of boiling it was time for the next hop addition (I can't remember exactly what this is right now) and then 10 minutes later we added the aroma hops.
Well it turns out that we were just dumping in the little hop packages we had bought without actually measuring out the required amount. For the first set we were fine, but the next two additions did not call for as much hops, making, at least we will see in another week or two, a very hoppy pale ale. I am not going to complain because I am a hop-head as many beer connoisseurs call it, so a hoppy pale ale is quite delightful.
After this process the next process is to strain the wert and cool it down as quickly as possible to 77 degrees. The reason you do this as quickly as possible, to keep out wild yeast strains from the air that turn good beer bad! We strained, dropped the strainer back into the wert requiring another straining process and then proceeded to do this again, how? I don't know!
Eventually we got it right and no more straining was required. But it cause a lot of beer to be spilled on the kitchen floor and thus an extensive clean up (hops are very bad for dogs and cats and we have one of each). After this clean up and the wert finally cooling down, well, we added the yeast, capped up the primary fermenter, checked the specific gravity (one way to estimate the amount of alcohol it will be when done fermenting, we estimate 5% by volume) and put it in the closet until the next week.
One week later, the easty part comes, transfer to the secondary fermenter. Well, luckily this is the really easy process and we actually succeeded in not making a mess of things. Now we are the wonderful stage where we didn't think things through and realized that we had forgotten to save beer bottles for bottling. By all accounts we are supposed to be bottling tomorrow night, that is not going to happen as our current bottle inventory is 36 and we need at leas 60 bottles. I guess the lady at the local liquor store must think we are alcoholics because every couple of days we come in buying two more six packs.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Blogging in Pictures
This past week has had a lot of happenings in the realm of riding and in the realm of not riding, so I will give a description of each picture, which is located without attention to particular order so everyone knows what I am up to and then discuss other amazing moments of the week later. So here it is:
On Sunday Shannon got some free tickets to the Nuggets game from one of her patients at the Dentist office she works at. We met up with some good friends (Tim, Amber, and Chuck). Drank beers, laughed, watched the Nuggets stomp the Utah Jazz. This isn't actually from that game but another one we went to previously where the Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns and we had better seats!
The amazing rusted out old car just before you get to the abandoned silo on the Picture Rock Trail. This is one of the best trails in all of the Front Range and the abandoned buildings and car make it all the better! (By the way that is my bike chilling by the car, she thought they could be friends!?!)
Here is the top of Heil Ranch almost at the observation point. Chuck and I got first tracks this morning in Heil, pretty cool!
Ahhh, the beauty of Sram Rival. Though the derailleur cable routing is a little tricky, this stuff is pretty awesome, even after one roller ride I am hooked!
Immediately before I took the final plunge on the new set up and wrapped the bar tape and cut the cables to the proper length and cut the new chain.
Wow, now we are back towards the beginning of the process, only a crankset and shifters placed on the bike, nothing else.
Just got the crankset on, Truvativ/Sram you guys rule making cranksets that don't require special tools like Shimano to remove and install!
Just finished stripping her down with the help of Bike'nHike in Longmont, CO. I don't own a Shimano dust cap removal tool for their external bottom bracket set ups, so I required their services.
On Sunday Jason Hilimire and I planned on hitting the trails in the snow. This is the first temperature reading my car got as I turned it on. In actuality it was closer to 11 degrees at the trail head and never broke 20 that whole day. For a better run check out Jason's Blog: www.jasonhilimire.com
On Saturday I went out and explored a new place called devil's Backbone in Loveland, CO. Pretty awesome, really pretty, and super fun trails! Good day of fun!
On Sunday Shannon got some free tickets to the Nuggets game from one of her patients at the Dentist office she works at. We met up with some good friends (Tim, Amber, and Chuck). Drank beers, laughed, watched the Nuggets stomp the Utah Jazz. This isn't actually from that game but another one we went to previously where the Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns and we had better seats!
The amazing rusted out old car just before you get to the abandoned silo on the Picture Rock Trail. This is one of the best trails in all of the Front Range and the abandoned buildings and car make it all the better! (By the way that is my bike chilling by the car, she thought they could be friends!?!)
Here is the top of Heil Ranch almost at the observation point. Chuck and I got first tracks this morning in Heil, pretty cool!
Ahhh, the beauty of Sram Rival. Though the derailleur cable routing is a little tricky, this stuff is pretty awesome, even after one roller ride I am hooked!
Immediately before I took the final plunge on the new set up and wrapped the bar tape and cut the cables to the proper length and cut the new chain.
Wow, now we are back towards the beginning of the process, only a crankset and shifters placed on the bike, nothing else.
Just got the crankset on, Truvativ/Sram you guys rule making cranksets that don't require special tools like Shimano to remove and install!
Just finished stripping her down with the help of Bike'nHike in Longmont, CO. I don't own a Shimano dust cap removal tool for their external bottom bracket set ups, so I required their services.
On Sunday Jason Hilimire and I planned on hitting the trails in the snow. This is the first temperature reading my car got as I turned it on. In actuality it was closer to 11 degrees at the trail head and never broke 20 that whole day. For a better run check out Jason's Blog: www.jasonhilimire.com
On Saturday I went out and explored a new place called devil's Backbone in Loveland, CO. Pretty awesome, really pretty, and super fun trails! Good day of fun!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Winter has returned
Well, after spending nearly 2 full weeks being pretty warm on the bike today ended that string of joy. I knew by watching the weather that things were going to turn for the worse today, but I don't think my body was quite as prepared for it as my mind. As I rolled out of the open space parking lot at the Left Hand Vally trail head to head up Left Hand Canyon mashing the big ring (muscle tension intervals) I realized that maybe my winter jacket, long sleeve jersey, leg warmers, shoe covers, winter gloves, and winter hat may not quite keep me as warm as I had hoped, this was because I was watching little snow flakes drift by my face every once in awhile. Well, the few every once in awhile turned into a good blowing of snow around the Left Hand and James Canyon split. However, luckily nothing was sticking to the dirt off the road (hopefully it will stay that way as I hope to check out some of the fine trails that Fort Collins has to offer tomorrow and then return to the awesome Heil/Hall route for sunday!) The worst part was that while stomping my biggest gears up the mountain at a very slow rpm I would begin to sweat fairly profusely, and then as I would head down to get some recovery that would all change and I would get very cold. I guess that is winter for you, maybe I should invest in some new DeFeet gloves and glove liners as well as extra booties to wear under my waterproof windproof curve booties and my problems will be solved.
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