Wednesday, January 31, 2007

X-Rays are in




Still need to have an actual doctor read the x-ray, but this is a fresh one from this morning.

JJ

a work project?

I do actually work from time to time, and to prove it here is a project we just finished up.



enjoy!

DEA

Need new legs

Lifting with A1 yesterday morning seemed fine until I was making my warm up run at Cranmore for Meisters (a weekly ski race series), I dropped into my first turns and my legs were screaming for me to ditch my tele gear and grab some alpine sticks- oh well. This is my version of the Kerkove 10 minutes of lunges with 12 pound weights- top to bottom not stop runs on tele gear with a deep stance and making good speed GS turns- ouch! Can't wait to hit the weighs with A1 again tomorrow morning- it'll hurt!

I'm fealing for JJ, he's had some rough patches with injuries over the years. We need to invest in some airbag technology for him. Either that or he needs to start drinking more milk- not sure which would work better.

A1 and I are still thinking about Cohutta, but need to work on the logistics. My wife and girls will be in Florida the week before and then if we go K and I will spin around and head down for a four day trip. Not sure how K's vacation time is holding up but we'll try to figure it out. Still not sure if we'd drive or fly- hmmmmmm.

I had intended to ride rollers last night, instead went to bed early. Tonight I'm planning on heading over the A1's house with the girls to skate on his new rink that he built- it looks pretty good. Apparently A1 used to be in charge of building ice for the Tamworth Parks and Rec as a kid- bet he didn't think those skills would come in handy later in life.

I've been experiencing great mental strife as I get ready to start stripping bikes down and selling frames and complete bikes to make may for the new fleet. I've just never liked selling gear that you've had such epic trips with, but I know it's the smart way to keeps some cash available for new gear and to also keep my basement from becoming fully clogged.

That does it at the moment.


later,


DEA

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

At least you can work out

Some of us are restricted/disabled. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since the incident which resulted in an avulsion fracture to my humerous. I go in for another round of x-rays tomorrow and hopefully there will be no evidence of displacement of the fracture which would most likely result in surgery. If surgery happens, not only will ski season be officially over, but the early part of cycling season would be in jeopardy as well. As it is now I am way off schedule for off-season training and have already had to bail on the first planned hundie race of the season that A1 and DEA are talking about riding in April. So over the past 2 weeks I have been stuck doing nothing but eating and living vicariously through A1 and DEA, I think I might need some medication for depression.

JJ

Why's, how's, who's, what's

So as DEA mentioned we met up again this morning for some leg work. Here's kind of how it went.

5:15, wake up, dress, stumble to couch. As I'm laying there I begin wondering "What the &%$@! am I doing up." It's January, it's 1 degree out, it's dark out, it's 5:15, and DEA is coming over to lift probably not having brushed his teeth yet.

5:45 Still laying on couch pondering above scenarios still

5:55 See above

6:00 DEA rols in and to the gym we go.

6:00 - 7:00 Start with squats, warm up and increase weights. Realize quickly legs are still at 5:15 mode (see above). Continue with elevated heel squats, leg curls, lunges, extensions and finally deadlifts.

At some point during the 6am and 7am hour I ask DEA what the hell are we doing and why. We're weekend warrior hacks. Why are we up at this hour during this time of year, etc (see above 5:15). What's the point, how will this help pay our bills or get us any further ahead in any actually helpful life skills. How many other fools like us are putting in this effort? I got nothing, I guess we want to be faster, maybe suffer a little less than someone else during a race or maybe it's just because we can. I guess that's good enough reason. Hopefully we keep this up right into warm weather and it actually pays off. Or we'll decide it's not worth it, drink beer all spring and then come summer reflect back and say "Imagaine what shape we'd be in if we kept up our January lifting..."

We'll see. Had a few more realizations this morning but I'm spent. I'll save those for another day.

A1

Heading in the right direction

A1 and I hit the weights again this morning wailing on our legs and lower back with reckless abandon. Should be interesting to see how they feel by tomorrow afternoon. I also got about 45 minutes in on rollers last night, I was shooting for an hour but it just wasn't in the cards.

Looking around the web it seems obvious that there are lots of people just like us (except they are all a lot more fit) who are anxious for the season to come into view. It's comforting to read about riders who I look at as top notch struggling with what they are going to do next season, trying to dial in gear, etc. I know that happens all the time but to read it in such a real way where you feel like you're just having a conversation is comforting.

That's the story at the moment.

later,


DEA

Monday, January 29, 2007

200 Pounds- Yikes!

Reality is setting in that the last couple of weeks I've spent more time ingesting calories then time burning them. The end result is that my figure has gotten bigger and the scale this morning read 200lbs. Well I guess that means it's time to get my ass back on the bike and more to the point it's time to drag out the rollers and start putting in some quality fat burning sessions. While that is part of the equation the other part is eating better. I'm curious how others do it- do they have will powers of steel, do they lack the desire to eat and drink to muck, or do they do a better job at the grocery store and just don't have temptation lying around? I just don't know. I can go for a while eating pretty well but then all hell breaks loose and I loose my nerve- argh....

Onto other topics. It's time to order frames for next year. I'm looking at a new road frame and a new 29er frame. At this point both from Salsa- a El Mariachi mtb frame that I'll run as a SS and that will be my primary mountain bike, and a Salsa Primero which will be my new road bike. Of course I'm hung up on the road bike as I could spend a little less and still get a kick ass steel road bike- just a touch heavier- not sure why I think I need the bling- but for some reason that is where my head is. The other option is the Salsa La Raza which is the direction I should go- comfortable, durable and CHEAP! You can see all these frames over at Salsa or over at Bikeman.com

It looks like the endurance mountain bike scene is gaining momentum and more and more races seem to be poping up. I hope we see a bit more activity here in New England. There could a few epic 100 mile races all within a few hours drive. Maybe we can get that thought flowing at the gathering of mountain bike minds on Tuesday, Feb 6th over at Moat. Time will tell.

That's it from the frozen north.

later,

DEA

Friday, January 26, 2007

It's 20 Below out...

I'm staying in. I made 40 oz of Vanilla tea and honey, yummy in my warm tummy.

A1

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Some training

Last night saw a visit to the treadmill. Warmed up then busted out 3 miles in 21 minutes 45 seconds. First 2 miles and first 1/2 of the 3rd mile at 7 1/2 minutes per mile, then up paced to 6 minutes a mile for the last 1/2 of the 3rd. That's a 7;15 mile average, not bad but I'd like to get sub 20, few more weeks and I think I'll try it.

Had the mp3 going:

Metallica - Whiskey in the Jar
Twisted Sister - We're not gonna take it
Beastie Boys - She's Crafty
Dropkick Murphy's - Tessie
Dropkick Murphy's - Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced

Then I pulled the cord out accidentally and had to finish in silence, tried to plug back in but but at 10 mph I couldn't do it and didn't want to really go off theback of the treadmill.

I also have started to monitor heart rate. At the end of the first mile my heart rate was 84 bpm, second mile was 111 bpm and end of third was 154.

Some plans in the works for next year if you can attend, Korea and I are hoping to be there:

Moat Mountain Smokehouse & Brewpub
Tuesday, February 6, 6:30 p.m.

"With winter upon us (sort of ), it seems like a good time to sit down, socialize, and figure out some plans for '07. I have no specific agenda but would like to discuss potential trail projects for '07, set a few maintenance dates and get ideas for our annual summer/fall weekend of fun."

Might try tonight to get out for a sort ride but temps are pretty low, -1 at 8:30 this morning and looks like it will be much colder by tonight. Maybe I'll just bring my bike outside and lick it to see if my tongue sticks.

A1

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

One year ago today

This whole blog thing started, bored and need something to laugh at check out our old blog. There's some funny shit written there.

Yup, so DEA and I didn't get together yesterday morning so I call last night to see about today. He can't, he's on his way to Springfield, MA for a meeting that came up. Oh well. So I had plans to get up and workout solo or go for a ride. Neither happened, funny how when you haven't committed to someone it's easy to bail on yourself. Tonight I'll do something, right tonight. I did get a little workout in last night as I shoveled the skating rink in our backyard, then put some water on it. OK so Nikki and the kids did most of the shoveling as i got the hoses out, then Nikki wanted to put the water down. I went sledding with the kids, that was a workout.

Healthy diet continued at lunch: Grilled Pepperjack Cheese Sandwich with a can of corned beef hash. yummy. Should've added steak sauce to the hash though, double yummy.

Here's something to think about (don't remember where I read it, sorry).

"To get the garbage out of New York City each day takes 450 tractor-trailer rigs which use a total of about 33,700 gallons of diesel fuel on their round trip to Pennsylvania. For every barrel of waste we put on the curb, there are 71 barrels of waste generated upstream in manufacturing the stuff we bought to produce the garbage. Over 163,000 computers and televisions become obsolete every day, and most end up in landfills, legal or not."

Yikes, that's a lot of garbage and fuel.

A1

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

A missed workout

The world has a new coating of white, not enought to evoke the powderday rule at work, but enough to spruce things up a bit. I had planned on lifting with A1 this morning at 6am at the Wrobleski Golds Gym- but alas the Freak had to assume his new duty as a plowman and go out a scrape down various patches of pavement while sitting below a spinning orange light. Workout averted. As painful as the last one was I'm kinda bummed to not be sitting here complaining about how much my legs hurt. Maybe we'll get that lifting session in after work. Hmmmm (yes honey, I know you have yoga tonight- we'd lift after that!)

With JJ on the sidelines, PJ shaking his head everytime I mention a bike ride during ski season, and NK busy planning a wedding- TWAF has been reduced to only two members able to get out and pedal outside. With only two of us still turning the pedals the overall TWAF energy levels start falling to dangerously low levels. So we need to get others out there to join us. Any takers? Tell you what- email me a good story/reason as to why you could help bring the TWAF energy levels up- A1 and I will look over the stories and select the best one and the luck winner will get an official TWAF t-shirt- your choice of Blue or Oatmeal. Drop those stories to sven at glengroup dot com (sorry don't want the web crawlers filling my junk mail any more then they already do!)

Later


DEA

Monday, January 22, 2007

First thoughts

As DEA mentioned we got out Friday night to try out the SS 29er. Decent ride through the back roads of Ctr. Conway. I like the feel of the bike and efficiency of the rigid. Feels like your on a road bike as it responds a lot quicker than the Trek Boingy Boingy. SS thoughts, well loved it one the climbs, flats and down hills pretty much suck although good excuse to coast. DEA gets pretty excited about spinning like a mad man and at one point he passed me on a downhill on Mill St. and I'm not sure how he stayed upright with the speed he was pedaling, dumb ass but hysterical.

Saturday I got out again for an hour or so. Not as good as Friday night as I took the roads to North Conway. Before I left the house I see the wind chill advisory. Seeing how I'm a genius I go anyway. I wasn't cold and in fact was over dressed, however on the North South Road on the only little hill the wind gusted as I came out of the tree cover and literally I went from about 15 mph to 1 and was doing all I could to stay upright, good times.

Sucks for JJ with his shoulder, although he'll spend the winter on the spin bike and beat the hell out of us come spring. For me, I like the SS thing so far but we'll see once we get on single track this spring.

A1

Saturday, January 20, 2007

More good news

So afer reading DEA's last post, I see the reason he likes to ride with me. He needs a slow guy to ride with to make him feel better about himself. Thanks buddy.

Good to hear there has been an actual sighting of A1 on a new bike. Was beginning to wonder if it was for real. I am not suprised he will do well on that setup. Must be nice to be like 30 and in shape.

On the damage assessment front, I got x-rays on thursday and this morning the Dr. called and said it appears I have a fracture-dislocation of the humeral head. Note good news I am guessing. Looks like I might be putting the ski's and snowboard away for the season already. The only exercise I'll get will be on the spinning bike.



JJ

Training?

A1 got me into the gym Thursday morning, then we got out on the road last night for a bit of gravel grinding followed by a solo session on the beloved Total Gym (yes I purched it from an infomecial, along with my Little Giant ladder!)

I even spent about 20 minutes stretching. Could this be what some people call training? Yikes!

A1 took the maden voyage on his new 29er SS last night- nothing like a maiden voyage at 8pm at night in the middle of January in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire. We'll have to wait for his update on what he thinks, my take- we've created a monster. A1 is a strong SOB and hauling his big travel Trek up hill has never been in the best interest of his speed- but now- oh man. I didn't have a moniter on last night up on our first climb he dropped me and I was moving, and there was nothing I could do- when I got back up to him (after he had sat up) my heart rate was in the 190 range and he was talking like he was kicked back on the couch watching the Pats piss off LT with their lights out dance. (what the heck was that?)

My point is that The Freak has found a tool to channel his strength and he's gonna go fast. I need JJ to heal up fast so I can I have someone to ride with that's more my speed.

Today it looks like K and I will take the girls and the mutts out for a XC ski, a bit of crust cruising as their still isn't enough snow for good set track.

That's it from here.

DEA

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Weaker and Feebler am I

Yesterday about noon I was skiing in the race course and I crashed. Not something foreign to me. I got hurt, again not an uncommon happening either.


Looks like I am out of commision for a while.

Here's what I did to myself:
Dislocated Shoulder

Popping the bone of the upper arm out of its socket is a common and painful injury. (Yes it is!!) An expert will need to realign the bone. (Unless you have done it enough times on your own.) Afterward, the damaged person will need to ice the shoulder to reduce swelling and immobilize the arm and shoulder in a sling.( Have one of those)

Rehabilitation might take two to three months. (That sucks) In severe cases, some players need surgery. (Most likely me I bet)

JJ

That's too much!

That image just hurts the eyes. Yikes. Worst part was A1 goes down to NC and posts on Dicky's blog about the image- our unsullied reputation has now been ruined. Yeah right!

As A1 (or Steak Sauce- depending on your shorthand) mentioned we did legs this morning. I'm gonna say that lifting with Mr. Amino is a bit painful, espcially since the last time I was in a weight room was when my parents were still paying good money for me to get knowledge put into my head. On a side note I just realized my oldest daughter is closer to her freshman year of college then I am to my own- damn, age is becoming a reality. Anyway we lifted, and my hamstrings are killing me. Tele skiing this weekend should feel good. But enough of the whining- it'll be good for me and it should help balance out my legs and back a bit which will be good for everyday life as well as riding.

Speaking of fitness and health, our own ANG (JJ, D2, etc) did in his shoulder yesterday in our weekly "for fun" downhill ski race series. Haven't gotten the official word on his time table but I do know he is already using it as a good reason not to head to Tennessee with A1 and I for the Cohutta 100 We'll have to see if we can actually make it happen. K seems to think it's a plan and that just means I need to bribe the folks into hanging at our place with the kids and dogs for about five days while we make the trip. Anyone out there done the race? I've ready Dicky's take on it, but he's in a different league. Any weekend warrior SS's out here that might give us a feel?

Also the new Team Bikeman.com kits are out, they look sweet. JJ and I will both be sporting thier colors while racing this year, but we will be TWAF's for life (especially since I still have about 75 TWAF t-shirts- anyone want one- make an offer!)

Working on rebuilding the fleet. Salsa's will be the frames of choice this year- more to come as I figure it out and dial in what parts I'm keeping and what will makes its way to e-bay.

Maybe an inch of snow in the forcast for tomorrow- again not enough to really improve the skiing but enough to further beat up the trails for riding- looks like it'll be rollers and gym time with A1- yahoo!

As I wrote that I just got an email about the NCAA Div 1 Nationals coming up in March and that UNH has their winter carnival in Jackson in week- so if you want to see top notch XC skiers and most likely future US Ski Team members in action this will the place to do it.

Enough out of me. Oh by the way A1's 29'er finally showed up- we'll work to get pics of him actually riding it up soon.


DEA

NK is joining the Weak and Feebler


Congatulations to Korea Slim who is recently engaged, see it's true, there is someone out there for everybody. So with some quick thinking and planning we've found a woman for his bachelor party already, I think she rides an Iron horse to NK, what a coincidence. Kind of looks like the Brooks saddle Dicky is breaking in, looks like this needs the stitching tightened as well, who knows how to do that? Any takers?

Anywho, DEA joined me for a 6am leg workout this morning, I'll let him detail if he desires or he may want to forget all about it.

A1

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

It's gonna show today

I'm going out on a limb and saying the SS 29er is going to show today. Good timing if it does, American Idol starts tonight which means all else stops in my house for the Mrs. and the kids. Which also means I could pretty much do anything and not be missed. So maybe a ride if it gets here. The only piece that may also change plans is how early I fall asleep. I've started a new training regimen for 24 hour races, staying awake for days without sleep to simulate the feeling. OK, not intentionally but I can tell myself it's training. With the snow, the plows come out, which means I go out plowing. As it stands at 9:33 am I've been up for 26 1/2 hours so by tonight I should be good and tired to go for a 9:00 pm ride. See how the training works...I don't either.

A1

Monday, January 15, 2007

It is snowing....



So while DEA & A1 were hard at work today, well at least at work, I cannot comment on whether they were actually working, let alone working hard, we had to take advantage of the white stuff falling from the sky. Broke out the snowboard and took our youngest for his first trip up the chairlift.

JJ

Shift in Mindset

It's snowing people, it's really freakin snowing. I haven't allowed myself to get motivated or excited about ski season as of yet- and it's mid January- so that is a feat! But now it's all changing, I'm getting fired up and my brain is shifting from pedal power to ski power. I'm thinking tonight might be a good night for a bushwack/trail ski with the dogs. It could be good.

That and if we get enough snow it might be a good day to go into work late after sneaking in a few runs a Cranmore (you can check their conditions here and check out all the fantastic photos of my family in the top bar- awwww aren't we photogenic)

JJ are you up for a bit of snow sliding in the am?

So as A1 pointed out we didn't do a Death March part Deux this weekend, or would it be part Trois? We had a failed attempt on the original and the make good was the following day- now I digress.

A1 still doesn't have a 29'er- how sad. He and I have been chatting about his possilbe purchase of the Rig as I'm looking at a Salsa and really need to start thinning out the fleet. Speaking of that anyone intereseted in any of the following let me know:
56cm Cannondale CAAD 7 full dura ace road bike
54cm Kona Jake the Snake- 105 and Spynergy Rev-X wheels- cross bike
Lg Santa Cruz Blur- XT drive train, mavic cross max tubless,
19" Specialized M2 converted SS (or I could build it geared- it would be XT 8 speed)
19" Gary Fisher Rig SS- stock

Those are all on the auction block, we actually they're all in my basement and the only attempt to sell them is the listings above. While I'm at it I've also got a 1995 GMC Sierra for sale, or trade- I'd trade if for a SRAM Force kit (new).

Back to the snow, it's falling and we're expecting at least 6" or more. But this is what we need to get everyone into the winter mood. So this will be the kick off to the real ski season and it's now time to start riding the trainer indoors a couple of days a week just to ensure that the ass doesn't "go soft".

Ok I gotta jump back to the bike for a moment- who's up for the April 21st race?

Back to January in New England. The Pats won, so now they play Indy- that should be a good game- I hope we get to say "Poor Payton" next week, both he and his brother bug me- I don't know why, it's not like I've ever met them- but just something. Maybe it's the making millions to play football- anyone want to pay me millions, hell even thousands to race my bike? Of couse I guess I have to remember they are at the top of thier sport and I'm more like on the rack of clothes that's about to get moved to the clearance rack.

That's it on my end. Hope for this storm to stick around!


DEA

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Two things that didn't happen



1) The single speed I've been waiting for since Xmas still hasn't arrived, going on a month. Hmmm.

2) Death March Part 2 didn't pan out either. Oh well.

I got out for an hour or so Saturday, Nikki came with me. Over Davis to Gulf, up to the long climb. By then she wanted to kill me so we turned around back to Mill St. and home. Could have been a death march for me if we continued. She hung in there and it was good to see the Prophet get some lovin'. Sounds like winter may arrive tomorrow so her days may be done until spring, she's not a huge fan of winter.

Here are 2 images of our first TWAF Gravel Grinder, sun coming up over Crytal Lake and Sven coming over the final pitch on Glines Hill.

Pats aren't looking so good, time for a few PBR's and beef jerky.

A1

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Another Death March Anyone?

SS 29er will hopefully be here Friday (fingers crossed) So anyone up for another Death March this weekend. It's supposed to be fairly warm (30's) this weekend, perfect for another go round. See previous posts for details on the route but we estimate it to be 30+ miles and 4,000-5,000 feet of climbing. Maybe someone else will join us this time.

Although today I saw the Cup O'Dirt Challenge, http://www.cyclinglyfestyle.blogspot.com/ so we could make it a century and add several thousand more feet of gravel grinding climbs to get points. 6am Sunday?

A1

Winter has arrived?

This past weekend saw long rides with no thermal gear and a sense that Crank the Kanc must be right around the corner. Of course with it being January and all that couldn't be the case.

So now there is a bit of snow on the ground, a bit more in the forecast and the temps are close to freezing. Is it time to go into "off-season" mode? Hmmm, not sure. It is time to get a touch more excited about skiing. I'm heading up to Cranmore in a few minutes to get in a few runs and my race run for meisters before heading into the office. If the weather holds we may even get in some good xc skiing this weekend. I heard from Howie up at Great Glen that the skate skiing in the woods is very good- that actually has me a bit pumped to go do a bit of striding and gliding.

Of course if it all gets crazy warm again then out come the bikes in force and we'll call the three days off the bike the "off-season".

DEA

Monday, January 08, 2007

A run, a what?

Yup, since it was so nice this weekend, and I didn't have a chance to get out the bikes, I went for a quick run yesterday afternoon. Little over 4 miles, couple laps in the Pine tree trails and road. kinda nice in the woods and really has me thinking about running a marathon, specifically a marathon in Jay in the woods. Nikki says go for it but not sure I'm up to the task, especially considering if I did the marathon I'd also do the bike again, and what the hell might as well do the paddle. So if I run, I'll do the entire event as a Challenger. We'll see not saying yes or no at this point.

I'm hoping for all the snow to melt this week.

Gotta Run A1

Friday, January 05, 2007

Good ride

A1 and I hit the road and trails last night at about 9pm for a good 1.5 hour spin. It was an adventurous trip, we road some pavement, some single track, some skidder roads and a fair amount of ice covered gravel. It was a great ride, I really am not sure where the hell we were much of the time (we were in center conway the entire time, that much I know) To be honest at one point I was quite sure I knew where we were only to realize later I was completely disoriented and ended up doing a complete loop and not really sure how we got there.

A1 took a couple diggers, one I didn't see, one I did. As I had mentioned the gravel roads were ice covered, neither of us were running studs, so at one point he hit the deck pretty hard and fast- ouch.

Who'd'a'thunk that on January 4th you can be out on your bike for a good chuck of time, at night, full moon- and not get cold and not have the bottle freeze. Man what a weird winter we are having.

later

DEA

Monday, January 01, 2007

New Years Eve ride



Well we got 3 inches of snow and it wasn't enough to ski on but not too much to ride in so DEA called me up and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. Considering the amount of crap I have been eating over the past 2 weeks I need to ride and maybe get some lipo done. So we went out and road for about an hour. It was nice, a little slippery and sometimes difficult to stay upright, but beat sitting on the couch.


JJ