Torn Between 2 Lovers, Feeling Like a Fool

Spent last weekend at Cyclo-Cross Nationals in Kansas City, Ks. This is the "Big Kahuna" for the racing season, cyclo-cross wise. I went to spectate, cheer on & assist my friend Dr. Mike. Mike & I have been crossing for years, probably ever since we have known each other from the late 80's. We have also raced cross together at the National level several times, last being in Napa, Ca. in 2002, when it rained 24 inches over 72 hours. I still have mud in places that I don't even know I have yet!

Here's the start of the elite men's race. Dr. Mike's race the day before was 19 degrees, 20 mph winds, overcast & quite frozen for the spectators such as myself. I will be back next year, competing at Nationals for cross-bragging-rights. National podium? Probably not, but cross is a blast, and one of the things I really miss about cycling. Where else can you race for an hour, on & off road, get loaded up with so much mud and grime that you have to take a shower at the self-serve car wash, get hypo-thermia, break some really expensive bike parts and come back the next weekend to do it all over again? NOWHERE! It's like the movie "Fight Club" but on bicycles, you know, Mischief, Mayhem, Soap. Watch the movie, you'll understand.

So, back to reality, and more grueling VQ workouts at Coach Stan's last night. Stan-O had done his scheduled workout earlier in the day, as to not let The Badger & I see the massive amounts of power being distributed by his quads in watts, and place us in the mere mortal category, mentally deflated like a cheap balloon that you get at the county fair.

The Badger & I have 10 VO2's to do, at 1 minute each, with 2 minutes recover between each one, followed by 17 minutes of grinding out 200+ watts at 50 rpm. They are hard, like an iron worker in a midwest winter. The Badger has caught his seasonal second wind, and does not break a sweat. The Turtle on the other hand has to apply physics, strength & muscle to bear through, due to lack of leg length, conditioning and really good looks. Once I dug into my suitcase of courage, I was able to increase my resistance on the computrainer by a fair amount.

My friend "Pain" dropped by to pay me a little visit, and spread some words of encouragement. He did a good job. He then left me with a parting gift, a direct deposit in my "pain" bank account.

We Have a Winner!

J-Lo, aka: J-Luv has guessed correctly! It is The Badger! I think it was the "Hair" hint that gave it away. For guessing correctly, he wins the "Uncle Gary Bonus". You know the one. Right in the middle of the race, Uncle Gary comes on the radio and tells you that if you win, he'll give you a "bonus"? Although he never says what the bonus is, and usually never delivers? Well, I deliver on my promises. Here's the bonus, well rounded advice from The Turtle.

Don't smoke in bed
Don't look directly into the sunlight for an extended period of time
Obey the speed limit
Don't drink & drive
Take care of your body, and it will take care of you

Congratulations on the correct guess!!!!!

Two Tickets to Paradise

OK!!!!

Special "Uncle Gary Bonus" to the first person who can correctly guess who this is in the picture. Click on the "comments" link at the bottom of the posting, and fill in the info. First correct guess wins!

Here are some hints: It may be a man, or a woman. Don't let the boots throw you off, DO let the tights throw you off, the snow in the background is fake & planted TO throw you off, this person works in a professional field known to some, but not by all, you may or may not have met this person, you may or may not know this person, this person's favorite Broadway play is "HAIR", the boots appear to be a little large, but maybe not, as I am not wearing them.

Good Luck!

Well, It's About Time

Had to do some traveling last week for business, and G & I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last Friday. Pretty cool I think we both believe. The bond gets a little stronger each day, week, month & year. It's really neat seeing our relationship grow each year. The VQ gang has been doing some riding, indoors and out. The Badger, Coach Stan-O and I have been hitting the road & off road, doing some cyclo-cross riding. Cyclo-cross has been around since the beginning of the century in Europe. It is riding off road, usually in wide open fields & trails where a course of less than 1.2 miles is laid out. You ride a bike that looks like a road bike, but with knobby tires for traction. I started "crossing" in the late 80's, as a way to stay in shape throughout the winter, and stay competitive. Throughout the course, they set out barricades that you have to get off your bike, hop over the barricades, run and then get back on your bike and ride again.

Cyclo-cross usually means lots of mud, snow etc. It's a blast, and a great workout. I have competed at cyclo-cross nationals several times, and am going to nationals in Kansas City next week, to cheer on my friend Dr. Mike, who has a great shot of winning the national title.

Last night, we did an indoor workout consisting of 15 x 1 minute VO2 intervals. What does this mean? Well, you go through a grueling warm up on the ferocious compu-trainer, then the computer forces you to go all out for 1 minute straight. Oh, by the way, we had to do this15 times. It's a death march to say the least. Stan-O & The Badger were my partners in this torture. We all set our resistance to the level where we needed to be at for this workout.

Halfway through, I looked up at the LCD screen, and noticed that The Badger had lowered his resistance level, on the sly, ie: wattage down by 20 watts. This is known as using the "negative button", which you may recall from a previous posting, that I agreed will not be used by me. I had made a commitment to my friend "Pain" that I would not press the negative button, as this would hurt Pain's feelings, and probably anger him.

The Badger did not look good, as he mentioned projectile vomiting, cross-eyes, heart-attacks, stroke, heartburn, athlete's foot and some other ailments during this mother of all workouts that he was succumbing to. I did my best to get through it, and even had a chuckle with Pain during the last 2 intervals by raising the resistance level or the "plus button" by an additional 10 watts. This of course was all for show, as the effects were felt immediately, with Pain laughing back at me, confirming the fool that I really am. I did not look so hot, kind-of pale & sore.

As you can see, The Badger was not looking too good either.