Mahogany

Between coffee, tea, GU's, and fruit smoothies, most of my calories from the past week have come from liquids.
I make two of these every day.

Quite a bit has gone on in the way of riding the past week or two. There was a race. I didn't do so well in this race, but in a sort of way, I'm glad I don't have a whole lot of fitness right now. The past 4 or 5 years always seemed like I came out swinging early on in the spring. I'd like to temper that this year. Race legs aren't that far away though...

I spent this past weekend at ESU with Jen and got in some good miles there too. 15 minute hell, I mean hill, repeats up and over Rt 191 on Friday. Saturday was a big mile, tri-state ride through NY, NJ, and PA along new back roads along the Deleware Water Gap. I love riding in the spring. Knee warmers and longsleeves are my favorite. So much more than shorts and short sleeves.

Then there was the Knife Fight. A 70 mile group ride with a handful of dirt road ((very steep)climbing) time sections. It was tough. It was cold. It was raining. It was a mess. It was a hell of a good time. I had no idea there were so many dirt roads round here!

Why do I look so serious?

I'm starting to get pretty comfy on the Spark. I like it!

People not Places

I am finally working! Who gets this excited about work!? I do.

I am also excited about a day off the bike tomorrow! Sunday was 70 some miles from home to East Stroudsburg for the night with Jenny. Monday morning saw me retracing my steps home. Tuesday was out to Shippensburg as soon as work was done for Ship U race ride. I got a little mroe than I expected with this one when Matt slipped a pedal and I waited for him as the pack kept hammering. He sat up a few minutes later and left me to chase full-bore for the next 10 or 15 miles. I caught the main group and won the sprint to the line then. And finally today was a solid two point five hours at Michaux with the Experience. I think I deserve a day off, right? My legs think so!

I'm finishing up an application for a 3 week U23 devo camp in Germany over the summer. And I don't look as good on paper as I thought I would...mostly because I didn't do so many national races last year. 3 weeks in Europe...I hope so!

I don't just ride bikes

I build things too. Who ever knew I was this handy? The pots were supplied (and hand thrown) by Jen, the base by Lowe's, and the incredible ingenuity by yours truley...

1/40th of one second

I'm thinking of an eleven letter word.

Its the word of the millennium. Its what humans do best.

I took a sociology course last year that I kinda liked. The professor was undoubtedly a conservative so the course took a sort of environmental track. I really liked the guy. He showed us a video that was far and away, the most influential thing that I have ever seen. It could very well be the only thing that I have a definitive opinion about. I think about that video every day. About the truth and reality of it. Manifest Destiny.
I have always been aware of it to some degree, but realizing its massive scale is alarming. Its almost ironic that the thing that is the foundation of our society will be, one day, what is choking out our existence. It's not just about saving plastic bags or using less paper towels. It's so much bigger. People say that one person can make a difference. Bogus. They can't. At least not here, not in something this deeply rooted in each our own little worlds. It needs to be a change of human culture.
We take from the earth like nobody's business. And all we give back is our garbage, buried in huge holes. We take everything that nature has to offer, cut it down, burn it, use it up, and then spit it back in the earth's face. Our culture is so fundamentally distant from nature, from earth, that we've gotten to a point where we don't think of ourselves as part of the natural processes fo the earth, but that we exist entirely outside of them. The natural world has become just some primitive thing that we have to travel through to reach another piece of the world we've created. We have this notion that the earth belongs to us. That it's ours to use and exploit and that the consequences of our ignorance and recklessness don't impact us? Really? But in the end, we're the ones that get burned. The environment will survive, not us. We're the ones living outside our means. The American Dream.

Humans, as an entire species, often disappoint me. There's a lot that I don't like about them, but nonetheless, I am one of them whether I like it or not. I'm not pretending to be a saint either. It has its place within my life just like everybody else's. I have become a whole lot more aware of it. I recognize it in everything that I do. I do what I can, but maybe this economic downturn is a good thing. After all, it's mostly because people aren't buying things. How successful are we really, if we can't survive without buying things?

Guess the word yet?



consumption

A Metaphor

black velvet

I'm not talking about Pat Benatar.

What I am talking about is the smooth buttery stuff found throughout construction sites, new developments, or when PenDOT decides that it's time to take care of the roads full of winter potholes. The stuff makes me giddy. I hit a 3 or 4 mile long stretch on a slight downhill with a light tailwind. Everything was silent, save for the hum of the rim-wrappers on the freshly pressed pavement.

All the new race gear is in! The bike looks pretty pimpy and the threads pretty fly. Enter the Scott Spark. 4 inches of squish, and all carbon. The only aluminium pieces on this baby are the threads in the bb and the bearings and bolts in the pivots. Everything else is carbonium, dropouts and cable guides included.

Last night I got my build on and threw it together. This evening I took it to Cyclefitters for the, chopping of the post and professional fitting. John does a awesome job with his fittings, the bike feels amazing so far. Don't let the garage setup fool you, he knows what he's doing! Check out the website and get your bike custom fitted to you. And tell him I sent you!

Right now local crazy, Rob May, is grudging across the alaskan tundra in the 350 miles Iditabike race. Temps floating around 40 below, 30lb bikes loaded with close to another 30lbs of gear, and 18 hour shifts either in the saddle or walking and pushing. There is real time updates from each of the check points here. The report is that the weather has taken a turn for the worse and Rob had to turn around and head back to the last checkpoint to get out of the storm. Hopefully he's able to grind through it and finish the last half. If anyone can, it's Rob!

happy square root day

I saw it on the news this morning, so it's gotta be true. Math guru's are up in arms celebrating 3/3/09. Don't people have better, more productive things to do?

Its about time I get back on the trainer and ride fast to nowhere.