So, umm... yeah...

I was right, dammit- crazyass week this week. I would say "I told you so", but it's not like there was any argument about it.

The week was a blur... a very busy, Technicolor blur.

Monday I spent the entire day working on a presentation for our new VP of Sales and his trip to Australia to see our distributor there and show them a sneak peek at our 2011 bikes. (No, you can't have one... yet... )

Tuesday was spent getting our demo trailer cleaned out and repacked with bikes for our trip next week to Boulder City, Nevada. All of the bikes were tuned and prepped for the drive and the waiting riders.

Wednesday was spent in the field visiting local retailers and launching the new in-store POP displays we have created for all of the Haro/ Masi brands. This was one of the highlights though- I love being in the field- whether working with retailers or getting to spend time with consumers... I'm a "people person", so I enjoy getting to interact with people.

Thursday and Friday both consisted of attempting to build the presentation I am giving next week, except for that it is still not finished and I really should be working oin that right now... but that's what midnight at Sunday is for, right? Thursday was also my wife's 2nd doctor visit/ baby check-up. The baby is doing fantastic and so is my wife, though she is a bit anemic (which I knew was the case) and is now taking iron pills... which she sincerely hates. Still, overall, it was a very good visit with the doctor and very reassuring as well.

Today I got out for Weekend Worlds again. Unlike last week, I didn't win the final sprint, though I did get 3rd. The legs were just too tired after working too hard on a couple hills before the sprint. My legs never felt all that great this morning to begin with, but I wanted to try to be a little more "well rounded" on the ride today so I rode hard on the few good hills we have on the ride. I made it over the 1st hill with the leaders- since it is a fairly short one- and made the top 20 on the second, more difficult climb which is actually more of a series of stair step climbs. I was far from being a super star, but it was nice to be a little bit more aggressive and not just sitting in for the sprint. The recovery between efforts is getting better and giving me hope for the February 7th Red Trolley Criterium. If I can maintain my form next week while on the road, I'm really thinking I might do the race and get 2010 racing off to a good start... hopefully.

Today was also spent walking the tide pools with my 3 girls. We're having some awesome low tides right now, so it was really great to get to walk around exploring with my girls. I love time like that with them. I also got a nice surprise visit from my step-son. Since the divorce, I don't see him nearly as much as I would like to (which is really very hard for me to accept). He's got his first ever job down the street from my apartment now, so he stopped by on his way home after work. I can't remember the last time I was so happy to have an unannounced guest! I love that boy and miss him more than a few lines in a blog can explain.

Another highlight of the day was getting to record a podcast interview with Josh Boggs from Veloreviews.com- it should be posted pretty soon, so keep an ear out for it. I've "known" Josh for years it seems, but this was the first time we've actually ever spoken! Thanks again to Josh and Veloreviews.com for having me!

Tomorrow consists of finishing my presentation, doing laundry and packing and trying to get in a ride. Monday morning I leave for Nevada until Friday and will be getting to do some nice riding in Boulder City again around the Hoover Dam. Part of the perk to this trip is leading group rides along the lake and down to the dam. If I have to be away from home for the week, it's good to at least get to ride a lot!

Alright... time to finish this off and prepare for some sleep so I can get up and ride in the morning.

Tim

That felt good!

I already know I didn't blog last night, but it's only because I fell asleep on the couch again at 9:00 after I got my daughter to bed. It's been a long week and it caught up with me.

I got up this morning and cooked breakfast for my daughter and made my cappuccino, before scrambling to get ready for the Weekend Worlds... the Chili's Ride. This morning broke sunny and clear, with lots of standing water and wet roads. The temp was cool but the skies were not black with clouds... it was a perfect morning to ride! I got out the door with barely enough time to ride down and catch the small first group of the Chili's group (one of the local Saturday group training rides). I got down the hill and caught them as they were passing, so I whipped a U-turn and joined them. It was a small but dedicated group. After a little rolling, we were eventually caught by another group doing the same ride and our numbers grew to around 12- 15 riders. Again, much smaller than the usual 40+ riders, but it was a quality group of dedicated riders.

Even though I only had a granola bar and a cappuccino in my belly, my legs were feeling pretty healthy and once the caffeine began to wear off a little, my heart rate settled down a bit. The early accelerations came at the usual spots they always do with the usual suspects, but I was able to stay with the group and even help push the pace a few times. At roughly the midway point of the ride, the first "climb" to challenge our legs came and I was pleased to hang with the leaders much longer than usual. I crested the climb within sight of the leaders and in about 6th place. For me, that was a very good effort. I mean... I started the day at 208.2lbs... not exactly my climbing weight yet. After the climb, we stopped at our usual spot to regroup and refill water bottles. As we rolled off, we laughed about how massively outnumbered I was for the final sprint by my friends on the Adams Avenue Bikes team... about 8 of them against me. We rolled off laughing about how they were going to gang up on me and make it impossible for me to privateer the sprint. Truthfully, I agreed with them- the numbers were NOT in my favor, at all.

We rolled off towards our date with destiny and the final major sprint of Weekend Worlds. I put in a short, but legitimate pull for a few Km on the front... earning my keep in the group. As we headed down the long final few miles of rolling roads toward the sprint, my sprinter's nerves got all tingly with excitement... even knowing how improbable my chances were. The group was rotating well, with the AAB guys drilling the front fairly well to maintain a good tempo. It was clear they owned the ride. I tried to maintain my position in the front group, sitting third wheel as often as I could. As sometimes happens, we hit the final light of the road with a red light and had to slow to a near stop before the light changed and we were able to roll off with a fresh regrouping at the front with new AAB legs to set tempo for the finale!

Two weeks ago, with less ready legs, I was in roughly the same spot- riding the wheels of the leadout- when I nailed a pothole and double flatted. That image kept playing in my mind as I told myself to not repeat that sad performance. When we finally passed the offending potholes, I felt a lot safer, but also knew that the sprint was coming in a few more pedal strokes. I was still in third wheel as the AAB guys, including my friend C-Murder (Chris Michels of Focus Bikes), began to give it the final wind-up. When the lead rider pulled off and Chris began to wind up a sprint/ leadout for their big fast man Everett Hauser who was behind me, I knew I had to go or get swamped. I launched my sprint, deep in the drops and knuckling through the gears with my SRAM shifting (a sprinter's best friend). I was out of the saddle and flogging my scandium bike with all the power I could give the pedals. The chain lagged slightly dropping from the 12t down to the 11t, but once the shift was complete I gave it all I had left- which wasn't much- and ran for the finish with open road ahead of me... and heavy breathing behind me. I allowed myself the chance to peer back behind me through my legs to see that I had the sprint won and crossed the imaginary line with my arms held high! The "victory salute" was half joking with my friends and half honest and sincere elation. I don't know if this is the first time I have won a sprint like this since my crash nearly two years ago, but it was certainly the most satisfying if it wasn't!

After the sprint, my legs were wobbly noodles and my heart rate was damn near hummingbird speed... but I had won. I had won with terrible odds against me and good friends dead set against letting me win. Afterwards, there was plenty of discussion about how unlikely the win had been and how a lesson had been taught by a wily veteran. I admit I was very pleased with myself!

We added an extra few miles to the ride and rode up and over the 52HWy, which is a nasty 4+ mile climb! The group quickly dropped my exhausted ass and put a few KM gap into me as I settled into the best pace I could maintain. We regrouped at the bottom of the descent and I helped Chris with a flat, holding his impressively light Focus Izalco Milram team edition bike. We chatted about the sprint as I told them they'd gotten their revenge dropping me so easily on the climb.

Andrew and I rolled off through the Mission Trails park as the others rolled up and over the Mission Gorge climb. We chatted about our relative lack of condition and about life, etc. We nursed each other along on the final few miles, lending encouragement and support. We enjoyed the sun and lack of rain, though we were drenched to the bone and covered in mud from the water and debris all over the roads of the day's ride.

As we split to go to our respective homes, I was reminded of why it is that I love to ride bikes. Time with friends, healthy competition and a desire to force myself to dig just a little deeper. The ride had been an incredible one on many levels. It was so great to have that first feeling of truly getting something of my old legs back beneath me. Getting a "win"- even if the only prize is bragging rights for a week and the right to give my friends grief for not being to able to keep me from winning the sprint- is such an emotional boost. I'm a long way from being where I want to be, but sticking with the riding during lunch this week as it dumped rain on me, paid off and helped build the base for more miles.

I love riding a bike. I love riding a bike with my friends. I'm glad I keep coming back from these setbacks and frustrations again and again. I'm glad I haven't given up yet. I'm glad I'm actually motivated to buy my racing license again and contemplating racing in a few weeks against riders far better trained and prepared.

I hope your rides this weekend- or whatever it is you like to do- inspire you too. In the end, it's great to be alive and have friends... even friends who can't seem to keep me from winning a sprint that really should've been theirs! (I kid... I kid... sorta...)

Tim

It's great to ride...

It's been so great to get some miles in recently. My daughter is with her mother for a little camping trip, so I've had the past few days "free" to ride. I had a nice ride at home after work on Thursday and then on Friday I was feeling good so I rode hard at lunch and then did another hard ride from the office after work. Today I did one of the smaller but faster local group rides and had a good time. My legs were very tired from the double day on Friday, so it took a long time for them to warm up and they were missing a little bit of the snap- especially on the one challenging climb for the ride. After things regrouped a bit, I got my legs back- more or less- and settled into the group.

The last portion of the ride culminates in a series of easy rollers that set up the final sprint. It's a sprint that I know like the back of my hand and have a history of doing well in- it just suits my style of sprinting. The group stayed relatively intact and then about a mile or so from the sprint, a small group broke things up and I chased onto the group and sat on as best I could- which was not all that easy. Things came slightly back together just before the sprint and I found myself taking a pull in a spot I didn't want to, so I took a short pull and worked my way back into the shelter of the pack. It was right about then that the first attacks in the sprint happened and I had to back out of the group and move from the right side of the road and out to the left into the sprinting group. It took some effort, but I made it in and then launched my sprint. Things looked really good and I thought I had it for sure- and I think I would've- until my chain dropped off to the outside of the big ring as I was trying to get my 11t wound up. Sadly, that is why SRAM is now making a new, stiffer version of the big ring used on the Red group. I have the new ring to test out, but have lazily not installed it yet.

Still, even with the slight mechanical, I had a great ride and was really pleased that I was able to recover from the hard efforts earlier and have the legs to sprint well. I'm still just inching my way back to being stronger, but each little step like this sure feels good. Hopefully I'll have better sprinting legs at the track on Tuesday night. Would be nice to finish one of the races with a "podium" or a win.

Tomorrow is hopefully gonna be a nice long day of 100+ miles and further building of base fitness and endurance. The legs are super tired right now, but after a rest I hope they recover. Had a nice big meal of pasta with chicken sausage for dinner, so hopefully I'll have enough carbs and proteins to endure the day tomorrow.

Hope you are having your own epic weekend- with or without your bike.

Tim

A good tired...

Tonight I am tired in a way I haven't experienced in months; my legs and body are tired from riding. Multiple days of riding. I can't put into words how nice this feeling is. It is long, long, long overdue- as evidenced by my ever increasing weight. Once things kicked off over the summer with my return to traveling and work completely got busy all the time, riding vanished from my life. Before last week, I probably hadn't done a lunch time bike ride in about 3 months. The ride I did in Taiwan on December 7th was one of the first rides I had done in weeks and the longest I'd done in many months- possibly the longest since my crash in April. However, after that ride, I've only been able to ride on my SoulVille with my daughter for a couple miles at a lazy pace. Not that I'm complaining about riding with my daughter... but it isn't like a training ride.

This past week I actually rode at work during lunch for 3 days in a row. The first time I have done that in 3-4 months. I suffered like a pig to ride over a short loop that I have used as my recovery route or warm up route before race night at the track. Still, it was great to be ON a bike and it always only takes a few seconds for me to remember why I love to ride and why I love what I get to do for a living.

Yesterday and today I got out by myself for a bit of riding. Not much, of course, but a good couple hours each time. Yesterday was a nice loop I have done for the better part of the past 17 years. It was windy as all heck, with gusts reaching 30mph I am sure. Still, in between the moaning and groaning, I was happy as hell to be out. I got out on my wonderful Scandiun/ Carbon Gran Criterium prototype and really reconnected with why I love the bike so much. And... the purple paint is just too sweet!

Today, after putting the bike back together- it's been in my bike case since my return from Montreal in September- I got out on my Speciale Fixed. This is the bike that I have put more miles on than any other bike in my stable of bikes. I'm a spoiled guy and have more bikes than I should... but I love them all. That said, the Fixed is just such a joy to ride. Sure, I customized it a bit with some old track parts I have and a few other goodies... but I do love the way the thing rides.

Not a terrible day in SoCal- lightweight armwarmer day today.


A lot of blue in those skies today!


And there she is! My beloved fixed gear. A real dream to ride. I was very happy to spend a few hours on it.

Jersey is courtesy of my "keirin racing brother" in Tokyo. I figured, since I was on a fixed gear, I'd ride with pride in the special jersey in solidarity!

Admittedly, nearly 3 hours on the fixed gear, with the hills I had to ride, was a bit more than I should've bitten off. My legs, arms and neck were wasted by the time I got home. I was worn out and tired... that good kind of tired that goes deep into the muscles and reminds you why you ride.

After a shower and some lunch, I even hopped out on my SoulVille SS and ran to Trader Joe's for a few staple items. My legs were barking at me and I felt like I'd just finished riding something much more challenging... but I was happy to be spinning again, twice in the same day!

I hope your weekends were full of miles or some other activity that fills you with happiness. My daughter is asleep and snoring now... I will be soon too. The sleep of the tired. The sleep of sore muscles. The good sleep.

Tim

Weekends are made for riding bikes...

So this weekend Masidaughter and I had a great time together. I spent time working with her on riding her bike- she's got a bike that is actually now too small for her, so I'll need to get cracking there. But I pulled the training wheels off, along with the pedals, and had her using it like a push bike- it's a great way to get a feel for the balance of the bike. She gave it a good try, but it didn't click on the first try today. We'll try again the next weekend she is with me- she said she wants to... and that's promising.


Masidaughter wasn't the only one to get go on a bike ride though... I got a little pedaling action going too!



I hope your weekend brought you as many smiles as mine did.

Tim

Another weekend down.

Wow, folks, thanks for the support of the podcast and all the videos I've done over the past few days... especially the "wrap-up" with 5 videos. Man, that was painful to watch- I watched all of them for the first time just a moment ago. Ugh. I'll try to do better next time and keep it shorter.

Anyway, now that the novelty of the video is wearing off and I now know a little better what I'm doing, I'll be returning to more regular blogging. My goal is to do regular written blog posts, along with a couple videos per week and 1-3 podcasts per week as well. If I can do all of that, I'll be pretty happy. We'll see how long I can maintain that momentum.

Had a great ride yesterday- as I mentioned in one of the many videos- and had an even better ride today. Rode a couple hours on the fixed gear today and just felt awesome. My legs were sluggish and tired when I first rolled out, but as they warmed up, I felt really great. I didn't have a bunch of power, but once I got rolling the legs just felt so smooth on the pedals and the bike just felt perfect. It was one of those rare days where the riding felt magical. Man and machine were in harmony... it was awesome.

Tomorrow will likely be a short day in the office- I believe we'll be getting out a little early. Then on Tuesday, we're closed for the day and I intend to go out and ride my ass off. I'm going to try to do a ride that goes up a local mountain- Mount Palomar-and start my year off right... whining and complaining about how fat and outta shape I am. Just the same, it should be great fun.

So here's to hoping you all had great weekends and got to ride your favorite bike/s. I know I did.

Tim