who's showing up? oh fuck....

I've spent the last few days in the company of giants. Those cycling figures who used to loom large in the forefront of my imagination. The names that would be listed on the possible ride roster and you'd simply think "oh fuck".

For the first time I got to pick their brains and get the true depth of their character. It has me thinking again...not about cycling but about life. Cycling is a great sport but to be a full person you have to give depth to your life outside of it. Unannounced to me they have been masters at both for years, long before I rode a bike for sport. The best part is they are not without flaws, they are human...

...Thanks for the inspiration. Maybe I'll stick with this shit for another year...maybe.

an introspective chat with a friend...

me: It would help if i wasnt in a mental funk for the last two weeks.

cyclistBud: heh, yea been there done that.

cyclistBud: figuring out how to dig yourself out of that mental hole is tricky.

cyclistBud: i think i hit that around may/june.

cyclistBud: all because of vagina.

me: yep...damn gash, always gets you.

me: 2008 year of over training, 2009 year of the gash.

cyclistBud: heh.

me: 2010? TBD.

cyclistBud: has it made your results good this year?

cyclistBud: i would almost have to say looking at results only it was a 'good' thing.

cyclistBud: from the mental stability point - eh... not so much.

me: not sure. I know its caused other riders in the peleton unnecessary pain.

W

Picture above: Last W in cat 3's @ 2009 Cherry Roubaix Road Race. Couldn't have done it without the support and backing of my team. Thank you. It means more than you will ever know.

Welcome to the fall: "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this."

Back to the grind. No racing this weekend, just riding. Drop me a line if you have any interesting rides planned...or parties...

Update...

This blog will lack any (as if there could be less) interesting content for a while. If I am ambitious (pfff) maybe I will learn how to update it from my phone. Many interesting posts and pictures are lost in translation between capture and the subsiquent brain fart release. Any tips or tricks on mobile posting/pic upload to blogspot would be much appreciated. Sorry no iphone to pull a fat cyclist. So please keep your hipster iphone tips to a minimum. I have windows mobile.

ordering some of this stuff...since most of you are local let me know if you want to monkey on my order: http://www.twinsix.com/gear/the-stuff/fat-cyclist

.....

Funk Deez Nutz

Not sure if it's been my recent three month battle against some kind of fungus that lives in my shorts or the lack of validation…but I'm in a funk. Not a training funk mind you, this is a pure and simple discipline funk. The last five years as a cyclist have been predicated around the dirt. Train on road to race off has always been the moto. Recently I've been more disillusioned with the spotty Michigan mountain bike scene. Within three minutes of being at the start line I can guess my final place within a few spots. Besides, what are you racing for anyway? There isn't even a carrot since the mmba has puckered up so tight you could give it a penny and get back wire. There is just no comparable series other states have.

Racing road the last few weekends…has been enjoyable. Not in the typical sense of joy. No. This is Adam we are talking about. No sir, no typical here. I enjoy it…well…Mr.Topher Chase put it best:

I love killing dreams.

I endure pain all winter training so that later I can inflict it on YOU. Nothing personal…but your failure is my success. Mountain biking never really validated me in that respect because you hardly see anyone. In the road scene you get to watch people suffer up close for hours on end. So next time you look over in the break and see me…be sure you are smiling, because if you aren't, I will be on the inside.

As for dirt...we shall see. Right now I am shifting it to the back burner till after SBF. Too many dreams and not enough races.

2008: The Year Of POWER!

Lets get to the meat...between the seat?

Disclaimer: I do not keep track of stats by bike, congrats to those of you who do. I have trouble keeping up with the data logging as it stands...so as a result my rb and mtb stats are a bit fudged because of trainer confusion....oops. The perils of owning a mtb powerTap mid season.

Road bike: 2003 Klein
TIME 458:15:57
DIST 8084.85

Mountain bike: 2008 RM Element Team / Vertex 70 / Kona Unit SS / MooU
TIME 229:08:42
DIST 3194.56

Trainer: rb and mtb's
TIME 203:09:29
DIST 8084.85

Racing: results here
TIME 56:19:44
DIST 912.67

TOTALS
TIME 679:36:27
DIST 11162.47



For you power monkey's here is my 2008 season in the form of TSB/ATL/CTL:


For those of you who track my weight here is some fun history:
SUMMARY:
All in all I've achieved every goal I set for myself in 2008. Some would argue that you should set goals that aren't achievable, but that just isn't my style. I am a person who pays a coach so I can sit down, shut up, and ride.

1) make the jump to Elite mtb and make sure my road license followed suit [done]
2) lose more weight. target weight of 155lbs [uhh, ya but not enough]

Special Thanks to Trails-Edge Staff Micheal "moose mitts" Flack and Aaron "the man" Mihalko. They've tolerated my perma funk this long, maybe they can tolerate it another season...maybe.

So what's next for 2009?
1) drop more weight: target 145-149lbs
2) get faster: break that mythical 5.0 watts/kg barrier
3) carve out a spot in the elite mtb field.

And as always...

To a fallen soldier....

Doppelganger....