First race jitters: Offically Out

So its January, and you all know what that means, thats right, a crit. Wait, no no no, thats wrong, January is for smashing your old heart rate records on the trainer or riding long enough to stop for lunch and actually pay for it. That does, of course, depend on where you live. I have gotten a bit of both worlds this past week, but I will save talking about the weather and my training habits for the end of the conversation, when we have run out of other things to talk about.

So Parrish and I drove out to the race in Avondale, AZ (I drove from Tucson, then John, his wife, and I made the 40 minute journey from phoenix to, you guessed it, phoenix) to find a nice sweeping turn course without bumps and in some places, without curbs, or even a distinguishable finish line (if your colorblind especially). I watched the 3's race and felt sick to my stomach as they went through the first turn thinking "oh man, they are going to crash, sheesh thats fast, we really do this?!" So my strategy from that point on was to spend as much time off the front as humanly possible as to reduce the amount of time anyone else had a chance of crashing in front of me. Many of you who know me are saying "well thats no different than your strategy in every race" and your pretty much right, but today i felt like i had method to the madness: dont die.

This is not a way to go into a race, so i just shut that all out and concentrated on what actually matters: 1) Win the race. 2)Win primes 3)Get a great training ride in. These three things should be taking up your mind power, not "oh my God oh my God oh my God"

So, sack up, sally, and attack the field.

It was one of those days where there wernt any technical corners to slow up the field, no hills to tire the field, no wind to string out the field, and 15 guys on the same team wanting to "show off" their new digs and big numbers. Not letting any of this hinder any pointless breakaway attempt, i tried and tried and tried again, always justifying everything under the excuse of "its good training" which is another way of saying "you didnt go hard enough". I looked down at one point and figured we had gone over the time scheduled, and we had only gone 30 minutes... "oh, drag."

At one point evan rolls up next to me and goes "i think i got an idea! its brilliant! we both attack together!" It was a good idea. it did not work. so 85 minutes of failed attacking later, there were 5 to go and we were taking less than a minute to do a lap. I got a bit swamped but a bit of early season fitness allowed me to make up for that mistake and get position for the sprint. Marcotte made me and the other guy i was sprinting (unsuccessfully) for the win look stupid as he ripped by us before the line as if we wernt riding bikes. I ended up third which i was satisfied with despite the fruitless breakaways, my sprint is getting a bit better.

There are some seriously strong guys out here, thats for sure, and they deserve credit where its do in saying that race was underestimated by me and parrish and everyone else i talked to, turns out the arizona crowd can get going in a crit just like back in the midwest. Felt at home, plus about 50 degrees.

In other recent news, i attended a Jon Chodroff "spin" class during the armegeddon weather week for some good old trainer wars on thursday. I did not expect the following 1 hour of my life to look like this:

Good One!! Yesh.

So, the other big news this past week was the weather. The weather decided the following: nothing. It was cold, sunny, windy, rain, hurricane, snow, pressure washer, el nino, the nino, 4 feet of snow. BUT, when I finally did get to ride outside, i tried to capture some of the beauty that is Tucson doing its best Boulder CO impression:

Yet, when all was said and done, the weather returned to consistency and another sunset became part of my life in a really good way:

Off day jitters

As I mentioned in the last post, its off week, or for people listening in who are already skeptical that what I do actually counts as "work," welcome to "regeneration week." Rest, as many Americans often forget or ignore, is just as important as the time you spend not resting. In fact, in my opinion, rest days are even more difficult to do right than the hardest interval set imaginable on a bike. Rest days, given proper thought and planning, give time to sit, think, and even stand on the back porch waiting for your chicken to get done grilling, attempting to close your eyes and go 2 minutes without thinking of anything. Thinking of nothing is harder than you think, which is to say, not thinking requires a pretty concentrated effort of thinking.

Often I get caught up in filling my off days with a to-do pile that accumulates on the chair next to me:

That pile of clutter represents a pile of stress on your mind, something you need to ignore to properly rest. So, all those grocery lists with workouts written on them, the power-tap transfer dock, the mail, the bills, the issue of world cycling productions you've been using to shop your clothing sponsor unsuccessfully to local shops, the busted power-tap hub, that movie you've been planning to watch with that one guy from James bond who is awesome, and even the dirty floor need not be sources of stress to your supposedly stress free day. I'm a hopelessly active being, if I'm doing nothing I often consider that time wasted or otherwise poorly utilized, but oddly enough, when I'm being extremely productive and nearing the end of a hard week, the only thing i seem to crave is to do nothing. I don't think this is coincidence, yet i think its my body telling me what it wants, and i have to master a way that gives it to my body. In comes 2 options:
Obviously you are given this choice every day in some form. One represents a more passive form of rest while the other a far more active and rewarding form of rest (hah, the resters dilemma, hah, ok im done). I am finding more and more that nothing can fill your time better than reading a book. If anything, sitting down and actively making the decision on the right over the left is an exercise in mental toughness, at least it is for me. Nothing comes of the left but nervous and stressful energy occupying your mind space. But on the right, you are required to be attentive of your restful surroundings like the music being played, the chair or couch you are in, and even the position of your body. Its also a chance for your mind to move at its own restful pace, and hey, you may even learn something.

Being able to control that nervous energy that, at one point, found me lacing up running shoes at the door ready for a run (for God knows what horrible reason, self hatred perhaps), into something productively restful is a way of training your mind while your body rests. If you think about it, maybe while your spending that 2 minutes trying not to think about anything, having control over your own mind and thoughts can be a very powerful tool. So when it looks like this outside:

And it looks like your going to be pent up in the house yet again, there are good things to do that are not sizing down to-do lists and getting to the end of the day wondering where it went. As hard as you have had to work to get your body to a place where it can take the abuse of a rigorous schedule (cycling, working, school, etc..) mimics the amount of self control required to give your body that uninterrupted "nothing" it so desires in your 40th hour at work or equivalently 7th day of training in a row. Trust me, learning how to rest is important, and i am just at the beginnings of getting a feel for how to do it. I guess you could say today i upgraded to Cat 4 as a rest-er, aka, i feel like i need to tell everyone about what i did and ignorantly think no one else knows what I'm talking about.

Enjoy your rest days! and read that book, its really excellent for more than just its raw history and analysis of the food industry. I really want to visit Polyface farm, or find a way to apply what they do there to my own life.

Long week, or weak

Woah. First of all, i would like you all to know that I am currently looking at this and it is making me beyond happy:
That being said, its been a long week. Today was the last day in a long series of days amounting to 7 days in total (the number of days in a week). Big weeks have a few things that come along with them, and there is zilch you can do about it:
1. You are going to get tired, and most likely feel similar to woeful appearance of my current shoes (avert your eyes!):
Those babys are ancient, ahem, Wise. Old learned man cycling shoes.
2. With tiredness of your body comes certian mental responses, mainly the fact that you become a universal asshole. This morning i found myself angry at my tires for not being fast enough, then i got angry at myself for making excuses, then i got angry at myself for getting angry at myself, and then with perfect timing my roommate decides to talk and I immediatly figure that whatever hes saying is stupid and makes me, you guessed it, angry.
3. You will get dehydrated. Below i have included my arsonel of hydration tactics that lead to grumpy moods and dry skin on day 7 of the biggest week of the year so far (the including of coffee paraphenilia twice is no oversight, it just proves a point. and yes, thats a gigantic pitcher of OJ, i reccomend 1 a day)
4. Again, you will get tired, and need to relax. I am told that your should only sleep in your bed, not other things like watch movies or read because then you may have trouble sleeping. SO, if you lack a couch, improvise with the patio furnature cusions, a pillow, a good back support, and a floor!
5. Your muscles will revolt. So, like midevil times, when you cannot get something you want out of someone who is to stubborn to give it to you, you torture that person until they give in. The following are 4 effective torture devices for causing your legs and body to submit to your will, nomatter how stiff, sore, and tight they try to get:
6. You get hungry. And you also need to give props to your awesome cast iron pan. So you use it to cook your everything, and then you post a picture of it on your blog. I dont know how, but this somehow has a positive effect on your wellbeing. 7. Lastly, during a long week, when you finally get home from the last ride, you will roll into the rock driveway, relieved that its all over, and get your wheel stuck in the big rocks, be too tired to un-clip your foot, and fall over in front of your house, worthless and exhausted.

So, tomorrow, I plan on sitting in a coffee house for some much deserved time away from the bike. Hopefully the days off will cause the emotional wuss side of me to creep back into the darkness and the "i cant wait to ride my bike" part of me returns.

Oh, and a final note. I have been really wishing i had a place to call my home recently, so I got on the old interweb and searched out homes in areas that are not Tucson yet are condusive to biking (just with more trees and water outside, and less cacti), and a long sickening search ended in my submitting of my resume to a local engineering company looking for a part-time engineer to do solidworks design. Oh well, hard work is good, and money isnt everything!

For old times sake:
Boom.

Summerhaven, Ski Valley, Smithers, and shameless pictures of leg muscles

Riding to the top of Mt. Lemmon is like riding back home to Milwaukee. You get to about mile 14, turn the corner, and all of a sudden theres snow and trees! This picture is looking down on mile 13 stopped at about mile 15 (snow and trees off to the right, not doing a very good job confirming my descriptions with visual evidence):

So then you turn around and see this guy, who is apparently named after a president, but i think he looks like smithers (from the simpsons? celebrating their 450th episode tonight? anyone?)... So theres smithers, and for whatever president its named after, its no mt. Rushmore, but i guess noone else has a rock formation named after them, so thats good work. A bit later on, again showcasing all the snow that there is on the mountain at about mile 20 (how did we find all these snowless places?!) brian and i decided to take "hi mom" pictures, this is mine:

Thats me doing my best to ride on the white line the enitre time, its a fun game, its like back when you played "dont touch the lava" as a kid... i guess that means i still play that game now, just a bit older. And finally, the snow! This is at the top of lemmon, in ski valley (fittingly named), where you immediately realize the weirdness that 2 hours ago you were in short sleeves in dry, warm, Tucson Arizona. I really want to go skiing in all my biking stuff.

Then, as is my new tradition, the rewarding 2 mile descent back down to summerhaven, which is the taunting and tempting town at the almost top of mount lemmon, which promises places like the cookie cabin pictured below with warm, 1200 calorie cookies the size of a plate. It takes a lot to ride by this place and up to a ski hill when your wearing spandex and have been riding for almost 3 hours. But its a rewarding warm place where the bathroom is out of order but the cash register works just fine.

So that was my day. A good day in the life of jim i would say. Tonight i sat in a room full of arizona fans and watched the defense take 61 minutes to show up, and win the game. That was quite the damper on what was turning out to be a fantastic day on the mountain. I still cant believe that happened. and i spent money at that place too, blasphemy!

Check out the flickr photostream in my sidebar for more pictures from today, and from my time here in arizona!

Tuna Sandwich, Fire on Mt. Lemmon, and flying hubcaps

So you go for a ride, a long ride, and you decide to pass your house half way through the ride causing you to think about food. So 2 more hours pass, you run out of food, you dont want to buy a snickers, so you create for yourself, when you return, a masterpiece:
That, my friends, is a Tuna Sandwich. Capitol T, capitol S, period. You got your tuna, your salt, peper, gobs of dijon mustard, avocado slices, green peppers, and onions all beautifully "sandwiched" (hence the name, not because of the earl of sandwich) between two peices of soft, high-fructose corn syrup free, wheat bread. Did you feel yourself get unusually hungry at around 3pm today? Thats because that is about the time that this sandwich was born into this world, attended a brief photo shoot, and was then placed immediatly into my belly.

Meanwhile, back at the guesthouse where i currently sit writing to you, there is a fire ablaze on Mt. Lemmon! Its a 4-5 acre fire just off the highway, apparently someone did not heed the warning so clearly and properly noted by smokey the bear today as "moderate". So fingers crossed, we get to climb tomorrow with some of the Kenda boys.

Annnnd another of my wonderful wheelcovers flew off again, that makes one side of my car fully "capped" and one side of my car fully ghetto. I saw a matrix hubcap while riding today, i might go get it.

Have yourself a merry little thursday. Tuna Sandwich.

Kicking off the New Year

Happy new year! Your power tap is busted.

Oye. Thats just no way to start off the new year, although it is my first test in my new year's resolution to be more patient in all things. I had to be very patient with the service rep at saris when he informed me, very nicely i might add, that even know a hub flange is "technically" a mechanical part, the lifetime warranty to anything not electronic that the company boasts does not apply to power tap hubs. Patience. Its a virtue. Deep breaths.

Oh well, i am not going to let that erase the good mood i was in after christmas with the families (my immediate, extended wards, extended stempers, annie's immediate, annie's extended). I had a LOT of christmases and i loved them all. There is something about wisconsin, i swear, maybe its the fact that it is just so cold outside, but winter is a very warm time there. Christmas lights, family all together, noone has to go to work. Beautiful.

I began to train with TrainingPeaks.com to feed my obsession with numbers and organization. I am trying to learn how to eat in relation to my ride energy expenditure, and its proven to be extreemly helpful. Its also pointed out to me the obvious: if you ride alot, you eat alot. (i do not care that its spelt "a lot" in fact, i think alot should be in the dictionary) It was a bit rough starting back up again after all the pies and pot-luck style eating so condusive to seconds, thirds, fourths, and then volunteering to do the dishes so you can polish off the rest of the meat without being judged. I consider myself similar to tupperware, i am a great place to put your leftovers. So far my training is in place with my goals for the year, and things are shaping up just like the weather down here in tucson: nicely. I got a camera for christmas too which is beautiful and long awaited, so i can show you things like this:

Thats Mt. Lemmon as seen from my window. Takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to get there depending on your motivation at 10am after leaving only because the coffee was gone and you were too lazy to make more. "eh well, might as well go ride a bike." If you look closely, you can see the road cut down on the lower right of the mountian, getting higher from left to right. If you can see that, its about 4 miles of road that you can see right there, just to give you an idea of the scale.

Whelp, thats about that for now. I am currently occupying my free time with:

- My new subscription to nexflix (most recently i watched the documentary "Helvetica" and was inspired to change the font of my entire blog from the movie, yes, its about type faces)

- Starting a long list of books my cousin james gave me (currently the great gatsby, because the first time through was a bit lacking in my effort department)

- Wishing there were more than just 2 books left in the harry potter series.

- Selling pretty much everything i own. So if you want a cycleops fluid 2 trainer, im selling it. Let me know before i ebay it. Also selling all my old biking clothes, some i would reccomend, some i would reccomend you pass on and let someone else buy :)

- Making real almond milk. Just because i can.

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and are looking forward to a great new year and new decade. I can wait to see what kind of adolesence we can come up with in our early teens.

Later.