Dreamed I was an Eskimo...

We got out today for a good couple few hours worth of snow riding. I think we only received mean laser eyes from a motorist once. I can't imagine how irritated he would have been had we actually impeded his progress or endangered him in some way. We couldn't have been more hated had we been having a gay pride parade in Tulsa. Flipping someone off with lobster mitts on doesn't work so well.

Hey speaking of hate, I can't believe how much of this kind of filth I hear from WORS people in our little blue island. Sad. Another blog in the trash can.

Freakin Magical

Earlier in December when it snowed for a week solid I was pretty pumped about Xmas. Rowan is the perfect age to get into it this year. By the 17th or so I was pretty much over it.

My "spirit" was rekindled however, when Rowan began asking questions to clarify the Santa story. He will be 4 in March, and he already thinks the story doesn't smell right. "Why does he come down the chimney, why doesn't he just knock on the door?" All said it did turn out to be pretty god damned magical. We sat up in bed while listening to Rowan come down the stairs on Xmas morning. He might be a born skeptic, but for now he is enchanted by the magic, or at least enchanted by the idea that he gets a bunch of cool stuff.

Speaking of cool stuff. Sheri decided that I haven't been a complete bastard this year and that I deserved a PowerTap for Xmas. She said something about loving and supporting me, and then mumbled something else about putting minutes on the Goat and no excuses. I am a big fan of numbers. Unfortunately, the day I set it up I was also stricken with an ear infection that knocked me on my ass. So I have a toy I haven't been able to play with yet. I'll be sure to post my numbers here when I have them so that everyone knows how slow I am.

Enough about stuff. I feel like my family, my racing, and my career have all come a long way in 2007. Now that I have Sheri hooked, we have a family of racers itching to take a bite out of 08. It has been good and it will only get better. I hope to see you all out there.(all 3 of you)

Slacker for Hire

I love working for a European company. These people know how to not work. After 3pm tomorrow, Bruker is CLOSED until Jan 2nd. This means I have some time to get all kinds of stuff done that I have been allowing to pile up. Here is some of that stuff, not necessarily in this order:

• Finish up a bunch of girly stuff like hanging curtains and decorating the house.


• True up 8-12 wheels that need it.


• Clean the early November mud from the Kona.


• Ship a BB back to Phil for a rebuild.


• Finish building up the Raleigh as the winter trail bike. Bleed the brakes and dig up a seat post clamp.


• Complete about 15 hours of training.


• Get both cars washed.


• Remember to call the Dish people about the 6 months free HD.


• Drink some beer.


• Install the 105 stuff that came off the cross bike on Sheri's Jamis.


• Strip the cheesy black paint from my White ind crank arms.


• Install new Hydro hose on the Kona.


• Shave the cat.


• 12 other bike maintenance related things that I can't remember.


• Accept Jesus as my lord and savior.


• Watch football.


• Play Santa.


• Drink more beer.


• Finally figure out how to setup zones on my Polar 720, and why the software is all jacked up.


• Sell some crap on Ebay.

If in late February I haven't posted anything new, it is because I bled to death attempting to shave the cat.

Climbing back up to Zero

Being sick for a month pretty much obliterated much of my planned prep work. Saturday's 3hour snow ride and an hour in the trainer last night have me feeling ready to move on since I was able to complete both rides without extended coughing fits. This leaves me with not quite 3 weeks of prep time before Base to attempt 3 different peak periods through the WORS series. Following a Friel type plan last year was working out great for me until injuries kind of derailed my season. Reality of course says that ANY riding, with or without structure would have helped me last year, but I was really doing it to accustom myself to a plan. 2008 however, won't show me the huge % increase that 2007 did without sticking to a plan. So far 08 is looking like this:

Can't see it? Well, that's a shame. Whatever. I believe that over extension provides some heuristic function. I also enjoy plastering colorful things to look at around my work place. The great thing about using Excel for your training plan is that it looks like you are working. Want to geek out on your training? Read the book, and check here for the spreadsheet.

Face Forward

I woke up this morning and felt like this:I still have some residual crap in my system, but I can get back on the bike now and start breaking it down for 08'. It wasn't quite the transition period I had planned, but I can say that having a plan to deviate from is a step up from having no plan at all. So for prep it is back to weights and stuff. When I say stuff I mean I actually read one of the Carmichael workouts in the B mag that I liked. The one hour weight loss workout is just what I was looking for to add some intensity to prep and base while also being stationary trainer friendly. I have a goal race weight of around 138-142. If my mitochondria are multiplying supermen by base, I should be able to get there.