State Violence, State Control

It's almost goddamn March,  when will this winter turn and walk away? Yeah you better run you stupid season!!!!!!!  Winters seem to be getting shorter and more mild.  For years, ever since I started yearning to ride year round I have monitored (or attempted to) the winters length and severity.  Maybe they are just the same.....I don't know........Gov.  Jesse Ventura tells me that Global Warming is a hoax, and that  the somewhat  odd weather patterns are part of Earths natural cycle.  I was really hoping to ride outside this weekend, but CP24 staff weather specialist Nalini Sharma said that Sunday will be wet and sloppy.  Can't take a new bike out in that.

We added some new intervals to my nightly rides today.  I blasted some 80's punk/metal and mostly watched American History X.  I was feeling really strong tonight.  I didn't bail on any of the ride.  Sweat a lot too.  I usually don't perspire that much.  If I can get a power meter this spring, I may be detailing much different workouts.  But it is pretty trying getting through that last 15 minute hard effort.

Tonights ride:

15 minute warm up

3x15 minute intervals at 5% below threshold heart rate with 5 minute rest between

10 minute quick spinning at 60-65% ( a little faster than a cool down spin)

4x30 second sprints , with 30 second recovery between

10 minute cool down 

1 Duvel for a job well done, and if its slow tomorrow at the store we will watch the Spring classics begin.

I have my money on Phil Gilbert.  Dr Booth???

King for a day

Most of the time I ride at night.  Usually 9:30-11:00ish. If I am not doing a Spinervals or Carmichael DVD I do one of  my interval rides and I watch CP24.  It's good because it has a big clock that shows minutes and seconds so I can easily tell how long to do each set.  I also get to read the news.  Although, I am almost always listening to some sort of intense CD (see February's blog titles) and  I watch whichever news anchor is on.  Occasionally it's Gurdeep Ahluwalia, but most of the time, and if I am lucky its Farrah Nasser.  She loves her job.  She tells the news with a zeal and passion that few other anchorpersons have.  But  mostly she is just smokin' hot.  She is easily the best looking woman on CTV/CP24 but probably Canadian news in general.  I don't even need to hear her tell me what's up.  I can just tell if it's good news or bad.  But mostly, again, she is just really hot and I don't care what she is saying.  I wish she would come and cover one of our races.  I would make sure I somehow won/or crashed in that race  just so I could speak with her.   Afterall, I blew my chance with Dina a couple of years ago when I was at Breakfast Television.  Damnit.

                                      You're a dirty slut and I'm going to punch you in the ovaries.......

Tonight I am taking a night off.  For Christ's sake this blog is called Strong Beer, Strong Legs I can't just quit drinking just like that. I already eat way less food.  Dropped white bread and rice.  Eat almost no processed foods.   Tons less meat.  It makes me realize how shitty I was eating, even though it wasn't that bad.......I do start everyday with about 7 servings of fruit.  Tonight, however, I am having about 3 servings of beer.  Keller.  Not bad.  No Devil of a beer, but not bad.

Today Rob D'Amico came in to the store.  He tells me that Z-Team and Wheels of Bloor have merged.   I don't know whether to be upset and disheartened or just stay the course and hope that they incur some infighting and blow a team gasket.  Who the hell will be their team leader?!?!?!  Rob is probably the best (read: smartest) racer but Ian  and/or Bruce are strong as hell, and that's just the tip of the Iceberg.  They have Radek, Mike Peshco, Vic Pwu...........Christ they don't have any weak riders.  All these fucking guys just came back from Cuba and were flying down there.  Hell, Vic is going to Tenerife soon.

At least Marc and I are racing in Florida next month.  Oh, and Marco got hurt last night.  So he may be out for the season.  Crap.

I won't sleep well tonight.  Especially if I think about Farrah.

Darkness Descends

Occasionally you have to revert  to your roots.  Screen legend Tom Cruise once said 'sometimes you just gotta say what the fuck'.  So in complete juxtaposition to my training and eating plan I inhaled a plate of chicken wings and gave 3 drafts beers a good home.  It felt good.  Goddamnit , it felt great!!!  It wasn't even great beer.  Far from the Belgian strong beer to which I have become accustomed but our mere fancy free attitude made me really appreciate the warming glow that only nature's perfect beverage can provide.  Although I am not by any stretch deviating from my training plan , I can't wait for my next night out with several glasses of Flanders sunshine.

Maybe if I were to apply the same logic to riding I could see improvements in my strength and/or skill.  Maybe a week off the bike would give me a much needed mental or physical jump start when I get back on.

If not, I will have to settle for a couple of bottles of Chimay  to remind  me to appreciate life, both on and off the bike.

Apocalypse Inside

Here are the first pics of my new racing machine.  The Fulcrum wheels that you see are just on there until my Zipps arrive.  Hopefully next week.  As it stands it is 17lbs.  But those wheels are about 4 lbs and the Zipps are around 2.25lbs, and I will put on my titanium Speedplay pedals so that should bring it to just below 15lbs.
This Prince is 1cm shorter than my last Prince , but I always felt that bike was a bit long.  So I hope this one shreds.

I think I am expected to report my opinion on this bike for the new Invita Sport Blog.  That blog will be about the store, our brands, and fun stuff that happens there.  I'll also give my opinions on bikes, parts, on-bike clothes and supplements.

                                                               Dethroned Emperor

Leprechaun out.

As it was, as it soon shall be

I picked out my new bike today. Pinarello Prince.  It should be ready on Friday.  All except for the wheels.  I already have a smokin' fast Crit bike so I am going to sort of make this be more of a climbing road race bike.  Good for the Qualifiers as well as the hilly Nationals.

I have already have owned a few Pinarello's.  A steel Montello and a couple of Aluminum/Carbon ones.  Fantastic handling.  Matt DeCanios favorite bike. Juan Antonio got a Roubaix  podium spot on a Prince in 2005 I think.  I also think Ulrich won the 97 Tour on one.  Also Eric Zabel has a pile of notable wins aboard a Pinarello Prince.  I wish I had some good pics of my Orange Prince.  Full Record, with Cinelli Ram bars.  Those same bars are going on this Prince.  Although I am using Dura Ace 7900 on this build.  Oh well, I hope it impresses.   But I imagine this build will be just under 15lbs.

First Strike, Still Deadly

Sunday night Marco called me.  Wants to go riding.  It was above the freezing mark so I agreed.  We rode mountain bikes around our usual road riding loop and then hit the crit course and then a few hills up Eglinton .  Not a great hill, but in a big gear and on knobby tires I guess its ok.  I wish I would have worn shoes covers or thicker socks.  My toes were feeling pain that I haven't known before.

I guess the qualifying race for the World Masters Championships is in less than 3 months.  Somewhere in New York.  I have to do some more research on that, and by 'some research' I mean 'research'.  As I have really done shit sandwich.  But apparently its a 100 mile Grand Fondo , but they are only timing you on the climbs.  So it seems like we can take it easy throughout the race and then just torch the climbs.  Seems like a stupid way to gauge how fast someone is overall.

I am ordering a new pair of 2011 Zipp 202's this week.  Their service will be invaluable at that race.   I wonder where the whole team will stay down there.   I hope sub 15lb bikes are ok at this race.   Mine will be pushing  14lbs.

The other night with Marco I tried a new energy and vitamin chewable.  I am not sure exactly if it worked  or not, but last night  I had one of the best training rides downstairs that I have ever had.  Luckily my Guerciotti is stiff as hell or I may have snapped something off of  it.   I can only assume that the accompanying Energy drink was the cause.  It looks and tastes more like frozen concentrated orange juice, and is nothing like a Red Bull or Monster.  The 4 ingredients listed after water are basically all sugar or some variation of sugar.  So that would explain the burst of energy I felt.  The label states it is a 'Healthy Energy' dietary supplement, also a power antioxidant.  So I can only assume they have researched this and determined it to be true.

My honest take on this tasty beverage is as follows.  Yes, you will most likely experience a period of increased energy.  I imagine it would be on par with a can of Red Bull, a Hammer Gel,  or a donut and a Coke.  You may even get a small shot of vitamins.   I don't fully  see the benefit to taking an energy shot before a ride as the crash may come sooner rather than later.  I like to think you can complete a ride based on the nutrition already stored in your body, and the food and water you eat while you're riding, if you eat right.  Not a huge fan of the sugar blast.  But it will work for some quite nicely.  Eat 2 bananas before your ride and save some money, but I will repeat this stuff tastes pretty good.

I have to go drop $150+ on a new blender today.  All the frozen pineapple I throw in my current blender has ruined it.  I need to somehow hook up a blender up to my bike .

Word.

If you don't stand up, you don't stand a chance.

Today I got into Invita and was hoping for a rush of customers.  Nope.  Its still to early for our crowd to get in and start buying up all the new goodies.   I guess its just the racers who are out right now, both shopping and riding.  I counted and put away a crap load of cool merchandise.  The boxes of Sram Red and Campy Super Record were particularly drool worthy.  I didn't mind all the Colnago frame sets either.  Anyways I am continuing to meet new customers as well as existing ones.  A lot of nice bikes come through that door for Juan to fix.  That dude is one sick mechanic.  He takes  his shit to a whole 'nother level. 

                                                               Phil, Krys, and Juan.

Yesterday I banged off the hardest of my  rides for this week.  The second 20 minute effort was tough, but more tough just to sit through and complete than it was physically hard.  The sprinting at the end was like running for my life from a parliament of pissed off owls, a streak of Tigers, or even a crash of Rhinoceroses. Yeah, you heard me punchy.

Krys and Phil dropped by today.  Those handsome bastards were out running around in the snow attempting to get into race shape.  No running for me.  Indoor intervals and donut rides.

Oh yeah, if you are ever thinking about buying new shoes these DMT's are average, at best.   My Sidi Ergos are 10x better.   Even my old DMT Ultimax are better.  Just not as white.

T-Balls out.

Back in NYC

This month I am going to title all my posts with the names of intense songs or albums that I cranked and found helpful in putting the power to the wheels. Old Genesis is actually pretty hard.

I am following my program to the letter and the legs don't even look like mine anymore.  I am told next weeks program is adding a lot more power work.  The Barodeur is coming to town this spring.

After some long deliberation I have decided to try altering my diet a bit, starting now.  First thing is cutting out white bread.  I probably eat too much of that as it is.  Even if it is in the form of a soft fresh, delicious pita shell.  No more white rice.  More raw veggies.  Even less dairy.  Currently I don't consume much dairy, with the exception of choco milk.  But I can find an alternative.  I almost never eat read meat save maybe a monthly burger or steak burrito.  I have nearly dropped beer from my diet entirely. That is the hard one.  And although its an integral part of this diet I have to have some sort of crutch.  I never get drunk anymore, but I sure do love me some Duvel after a hard ride or while scanning my Internet machine.

Starting this year all the training is for the National Championships and the world Championships in Belgium.  We are not as concerned with the local  or provincial races.  I would love to do well in every race, but the Ardennes are the goal atop all other goals.    This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.   Racing in Belgium before I get too old, or too broke.  I am hoping for 2 weeks there.  Trip of a lifetime.

Gotta go sell some bikes today.

And then there were three.......

Today is a sad day for me.  I have them sometimes.  I had one about 5 years ago.  I felt I had to sell my Lemond Zurich, with full Dura-Ace for much less than it was worth.  All to ensure that the stupid mortage money was in the bank.  Lousy stupid needing a roof over your shoulders.  Then a few years later I sold my rarely-seen-in -North America Orange Pinarello Prince , also with full Dura Ace.  That time though, it was because I had purchased the bike you see below.  And it totally shredded that beautiful Pinarello to pieces.  Still, I should never have gotten ride of it.   I have a small photo album I keep beside my bed.  In contains pictures of my dogs (RIP boys) , and pictures of all the bikes I have owned.  CRAP!!!!!! I forgot about my steel EDDY MERCKX I gave to Paul Dean at Cycles London.  At least he would give it a good home, unlike that asshead who ruined the Pinarello.   

Why is it that parting with racing bikes is such a difficult endeavor?  I have had girlfriends I would, and have let go much easier than one of my bikes.  Shit, maybe even more so than a set of tires...........but back to my rant.  I have woken up sick thinking about 1 or more of my past bikes and where they might be.  Like a child who has stayed out past curfew, or runs away or something dumb like that.  You think "why did I let it go ???? For the love of god WHY???????"

Anyways, today is another day that I should have thought long and hard about.  As I sold my BMC Team Machine (see above pic again).  Definitely the best bike (or favorite child) I have ever had.  I know its going to a good home and will bring that skinny bastard a lot of fun.  Wait till he descends on that rocket.

All I have left now are the BMC Streetfire, Guerciotti Khaybar HT, and my mountain bike.

Sort of hoping my new bike will look kinda like this.