It's Been Awhile

Nice day, and I'm sitting here typing, hmmmm. But there is news on the cycling front, so it is my duty to report it to you (you being me, and maybe JJ, ok and maybe Blue)

My ass is finally getting better. That means the excuse period is over, and now I have to shed all this lazy weight I've put on, and I've put a bunch of it on! I stand on the scale and it jumps right past 200 and hits 207. That's a good 17-20 lbs over where I was last year at this time. Making my goal of 180lbs by 24 seem a bit of a reach. That being said I know where I can cut calories, but I have a tough time doing that. My plan, jump up the burn side of the equation by a lot and cut the consumption side by just a little. My hope is that will result in a weight of 190 by the time I have to drag my fat self up Mount Washington on July 11th. That's five weeks to drop 17 pounds, meaning 3.3+ a week. Not an easy task, but possible. Time will tell.

The scale is one thing, but I've gotten a chance to ride with JJ a couple times over the past few weeks- one the day after I bagged racing CTK and then this past Sunday. Both times he put the hurt on me, but Sunday he rode away from me on climbs in a way that was crushing (in a good way of course). It did two things, one piss me off to ride more, and two made me realize how much I miss riding with him on a nearly daily basis. I've had a lot of good riding partners over the 20+ years I've been addicted to this sport, but JJ has been the best by far.

I've had a few great training partners, Adam Lauer who raced with me for a few years when I first started racing in the late 80's and early 90's, we raced club and for Bridgton Academy. Adam and I shared many a mile on the roads of Western Maine. That and may a frightening road trip to races (Adam had a car, I didn't, and Adam liked to draft off of semi truck on the way to races to save on gas- used to scare the crap out of me!)


Or Seth Turner who would chase down cars that got to close and let them know what he thought about their driving (he could catch them, he's the only person I've ever seen break a crank, drive side of a Dura Ace, broke it mid shaft, rode the remaining 7 miles with one leg). Or Steve Vosburgh who's knowledge of the sport always amazed me, but he was always so much more fit! The "worst" was riding with Ward Solar, he once pushed me up Pinkham Notch- literally. That guy can ride (heal well Ward!).

But Dennis and I started riding in what I'd call my second phase with the sport. Cycling became more of a lifestyle and racing was secondary. Part of that was the realization that I wasn't ever going to be a hotshot racer, and that that was ok because riding a bike is just plain fun even if you are in the back of the pack. It was at that point that I figured out that the longer it took me to complete a race the better value I was getting out of my entry fee! It was also cool because I got to introduce Dennis to the sport. I helped him select his mountain bike, I sold him one of my road bikes at a pretty good deal (lol), and in essence I was like the drug dealer getting him hooked. At the same time his desire to learn and get better pushed me and I started to ride a lot more. We then got A1 hooked, and we all enjoyed the craziness that was training and then racing the Jay Challenge. TWAF was born and SS's were found, Bikeman became and option, we all got to look at X-Rays, cross racing got into my blood, and the list goes on.

JJ and I didn't always talk a lot on rides, but there was a comfort in being out on the road, in the woods, on gravel, that was relaxing. We learned where every town line was in a 50+ mile radius. We watched A1 finally learn how to ride and then start stomping up in races (he is only 19 you know). We all had a good run.

I ended up moving for a job, ironically right back to where I grew up and first started racing. While not to far away I've gotten lazy and haven't taken advantage of sneaking over to the Valley to ride with the crew- but I need to change that as I miss it. Of course I have a few new people I'm breaking into riding with me, but none that will go through the same breadth of cycling experiences I've gone through with JJ. So hats off to you JJ, and thank you for stomping my ass on those climbs Sunday to give me the kick in the butt that I needed!

Onto other news, I got the Chili built, damn she's a nice looking bike! Just a test spin, but smooooth. Can't wait to get it out on the terrain she's built for!




Then in not so good news, on my ride out to meet JJ on Sunday my Garmin took a flyer off the bike at 40mph. The freakin mount broke! The unit is still working, but not a good feeling to have a $500+ dollar piece of electronics hit the tarmac at speed. I need to touch base with Gamin about his as the mount failed badly and it makes me a bit nervous.

This isn't an old mount or one that had been crashed before, so not sure what the skinny is- but I'll keep you posted if I hear anything from Garmin.

Well that's it from here, going to go search e-bay for any of Tom Boonen's old bikes that he might be looking to sell. Bad joke.

later,
DEA