I'm really in for it tomorrow!

They say that you're sorest after 2 days, just when you think "it's not so bad" on the day-after day 2 comes and gets you. Well, at least they say that for muscle soreness due to hard exertion, from crashes we'll see.

Today, was interesting as lifting my left thigh above a 45° angle meant pretty sizable amounts of pain, I hope tomorrow isn't worse. Despite the pain I did get my long ride in, though not quite a full 5 hours. During my ride I took it a little easy and my spin was defintely messed up, I did more pedal mashing than spinning today, but at the end of it I could lift my leg to about 55° before I couldn't ignore the pain....ahhh progress.

Tomorrow's ride will be difficult to get in as I had to change my flight home and will now be spending all day at work and then flying home in the evening, it might be a late night for me. I land at 8, get home and ride until 2 a.m., man that sucks I need a better solution.

CRASH! In a battle between

CRASH! In a battle between Nick on a bike and a metal pole, the pole wins. Details and some pictures to follow.

Wind, the Evil Element

I have long disliked the wind, it never is a good thing for a tall skinny guy; I'm light and have a lot of surface area as well, basically it pushes me around and steals my lunch money.

Lately, if my long rides are snow free they are windy, today was no exception as it took me 3 hours on a normal 2 hr 10 min course and at times I was in the drops and only going 6 mph. It's all about attitude though and it doesn't bother me like it used to just because I embrace the adversity. I broke a spoke 4 miles from home so I finished up the loop and then went inside and did another 2 hours on the trainer to get my 5 hours. "Off Road to Athens" is a great dvd to cycle to, my cadence started out around 85 rpm and was up to 105 by the end of the ride, just inspiration from the movie I guess.

Another 5 hour ride in store for tomorrow.

Good Luck to Jenny, she's running the Walt Disney World Marathon this weekend, kick butt and eat some Girl Scout cookies afterwards.

Back on Track

After a screwed up December, my training is finally back on track; stay away from my weekends snow!
I've got the new commuter bike outfitted with studs and fenders and so far have commuted in 4 times by bike and 3 times by car for 2008, off to a decent start. One of those commutes was on the Pugsley in 8 inches of snow, that took almost twice as long as usual and the shoulder on Wadsworth got down to only 2 foot wide at times. I might reconsider my route or even driving the next time it snows a significant amount, I prefer not to have cars flying by me on snow/ice at 45+ mph with only 2 feet of room in the dark.
I parked the bike outside, and even though the snow stopped I still got a little bit of drifting due to the wind.


Riding at 35 mph with that much snow on the rims is interesting, next time I'll knock it off to give the wheel better balance.


The new commuter bike as I bought it, not bad for $50. This is what I believe is a 1988 Trek 830, smooth steel throughout. The bike has previously been upgraded as it seems to have a sealed cartridge bottom bracket and cranks from 1994ish and an LX drivetrain. It's also a 6 speed so I've got a spare set of wheels (sweet, I'm glad I didn't get rid of those ancient wheels) that I can set up with a second set of tires, smoothies and studs all at with a quick wheel swap.
I haven't done much to it, I'm actually completely surprised at how clean it is and the condition it is in. I've installed fenders, mounted studs and put on a new seat. I didn't get too far into checking out all the internals, I'm saving that to do with Andie as it will be a crash course in advanced bike maintenance before she crews for me at 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo.

Today was the shakedown ride for the Trek 830, it did ok, but it's about 20 minutes slower on the way in with studs on, not bad, but I need to account for this. Now that it has been ridden I do have some things on the wishlist for it, new shifters (gripshift all the way for this bike) and pogies. I have to run to the local fabric stores to see if I can get cordura nylon there and then go over to the parents place to use mom's sewing machine to make those pogies.

It Was a Delicious Weekend

On a long ride this weekend I discovered a new and wonderful thing, Mint-Chocolate holiday GU. Some of these popped up in Andie's stocking and I got an extra box for me as well, I'm glad I did, these things are like liquid Thin Mints!

If anyone is looking for me this week, I'll be scouring all the local stores hunting down the remaining packages before they are gone.

It's only a week into the year and I'm already declaring this the Best Energy Food Flavor of 2008.
Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Holiday Photo Dump

Here's some photo's from a couple of days over the holiday break.Making Fresh Tracks

Finally, a picture to do the tires justice

I'm sure the golf course appreciates this one.

This is the Monocog's 2.35 Weirwolfs inside of an Endomorph track.

The snow is always good if you go hike a little

This is what I wore when I went out for a ride at -1°F, lots of layers. Total added clothes weight is 4.75 pounds. Dare I say that I was actually a little too warm in the sun.

The winter wears on

With the holidays over and life returning to "normal" expect to see some more pictures from winter activities. I'll update the blog more comprehensively when I have more time, which will be soon.