Cold

It's really cold today. I woke up cold and haven't got warm yet. This makes me tired. I need to get motivated for tonights training session, but right now I just want some scotch and a nap.

Lot's of cool stuff happened yesterday, but that will have to wait.

I saw this today:

Another Monday

Went to the Cherry Pie Crit yesterday. I was on the waiting list, so we drove up to Napa hoping I'd get called up, I didn't. E and I went for a ride instead. It was wet, and cold, but it was good to be on the bike. The two of us riding together is sometimes challenging, and I think we both get a little frustrated at times. But it's fun to do it together. We both know that it's something we need to work at, more so when, like now, I've been riding/racing quite a bit and she hasn't.

Garmin was scheduled to show up at the race, and there was a rumor that Astana was going to show up as well. But I didn't see either one. We left around 2:00- the Mens Pro race was scheduled for 3:00, but it was cold and we both wanted to get home into some dry warm clothes.

Next weekend is the Tour of California. It's been a long time since the US has seen a bike race with the level of talent that has been assembled here. I can't wait to see it.

Random Links:

Is George W Bush President?

And this is what is considered fun?

Israel; doing it's part to make us look good

NPR; Just the least evil?

Bush + Prison = Justice

Coulter + Prison = Too good to be true?

Fare Ye Well Maggie!

Magnus Backstedt retired today. To me this excerpt from his website tells me everything I need to know.

Favourite Stuff
Race: Roubaix...are there other races on the calendar?

The only race the man cared about for himself was the hardest of the hard

I'll definately miss seeing him this year.

Zero Tolerance

I'm generally pretty open minded. Many are the rules in our uptight society that I think should be either legalized or, at least, ignored.

But when it comes to lighting strippers on fire, then it's time for Old Testament "Eye for an Eye" justice.

Seriously, WTF? Lighting someone on fire?

A woman and a man called the 27-year-old dancer outside around 1 a.m. and then doused her with a flammable liquid next to the Babes & Beer sports club in the San Fernando Valley, police said.

Police identified the suspects as Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom, 27, and Nathaniel Marquis Petrillo, 22, both frequent patrons of the club.


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Godspeed Frederiek Nolf

"A fine is a cost of doing business."

Obama bringing his A game

So let me be clear: Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed. They've taken us from surpluses to an annual deficit of over a trillion dollars, and they've brought our economy to a halt. And that's precisely what the election we just had was all about. The American people have rendered their judgment. And now is the time to move forward, not back. Now is the time for action.

Peanut-allergy panic has spread across the nation

Bike v. Car

Of course, it's never really Bike v. Car, it's not much of a competition. The car wins, the cyclist's only victory is to come out of it uninjured. It happened to me again yeterday. Some old guy in a Volvo either didn't see me or was a jackass. I was in a traffic circle, he was at a Stop sign, about the time I got in front of him, he punched it. We ran together and my right foot/pedal hit the left front of his car. I'm hoping it left a nice scratch to help him remember the moment.

Great article here. Cars are weapons, and there is not nearly enough training given to the drivers that operate them. And there are not nearly enough deterrants to keep people from behaving like asshats. Case in point.

a white SUV pulled through the red light, but stopped short of them. A second car ignored the red signal and darted around the SUV, slamming into Asrir, knocking her up on the hood of the vehicle, and launching her to the pavement... According to witnesses, the driver had been talking on her cell phone. Later, she was not allowed to leave in her car.

To God the Glory??

I'm not much for football anymore. But I did enjoy the second half of the SB, and this made me laugh outloud.

Kurt Warner: "God Is To Blame For This Loss"

Clearly, however, Jesus let me down. And so I am not responsible for tonight's loss. If you want someone to blame, this one is 100% on the man upstairs."

Better

Yesterday was installment three in my return to bike racing. To recap, week one was a little better than I expected, week two was a lot worse. Going into week 3 I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a beautiful day, none of the wind that made week 2 so difficult.

The race before mine was held up 30-40 minutes because of crashes in the previous race. Our race was then held up 15-20 additional minutes because of crashes in the race that was held up by crashes in the previous race, yes there were lots of crashes.

Finally our race got started, and it felt like there was a lot of nervousness in the pack. I think it was the second lap when the rider in front of me worked himself into a position he shouldn't have, then got skittish and started to panic, then crashed. At least that's how it looked to me. Fortunately (for me) he fell to his left, had he fallen to the right he would have taken me out as well. There was a lot of contact in the group this week, but most everyone handled it well.

The laps were fast, but not blistering, and they were fairly predictable. Fast enough that no one seemed like they'd be able to get away for long. I felt pretty comfortable hanging out towards the rear of the pack and watching the laps tick down.

With one lap remaining, I decided to move up to position myself better for the sprint. Moving up was a little easier than I anticipated and I found myself at the front going into turn 2, coming out of turn two I could see by the shadows that I didn't have anyone on my wheel. At this point I had two options, sit up and wait to jump back in the pack and try for a bunch sprint or put the hammer down and see what happened. I went with option 2. About half way down the back stretch I saw someones shadow coming up on my wheel and knew I was doomed, but I couldn't tell if it was one guy or if he brought the whole pack, so I kept it going. At least I was going to make some people work, and it would likely string out the pack to ease congestion going through turn four and to the line. Coming out of turn three I was still driving things but knew I couldn't keep it up to the line. Then someone came by on the right, when I tried to jump over to him, there wasn't much left and a group came by on the right and I knew I was done. I probably crossed the line somewhere in the 10-15 range.

It wasn't a win but at least I could leave the race knowing I was a part of it. I'm fairly sure I influenced the outcome. It's a great place to build from.

Big thanks to Velo Promo for putting on the Early Bird series and to all the mentors and volunteers that made it possible.

I'm on a waiting list for next Sunday in Napa, we'll see what happens.

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Reading through Salon.com, this article caught my eye. And for some reason it made me think of this: