Monday, October 23, 2006

3 tomatoes are walking...

a momma tomato, a daddy tomato and a little child tomato. The child tomato keeps lagging behind...
What's the punchline of this joke and what movie is this from??? Today's trivia of good movies that you should know every line from.

I've been having trouble posting pics on this site and that is the reason for delay, but I'm tired of messing with it so let's get up to speed: I did a little vacationing on my way back from LA and was going to post some photos to prove it but that has been a futile attempt thus far. After finding a 2nd and 3rd wind on my drive from LA (4 large afternoon/evening coffees will tend to do that) I got about an hour from the CO border before retiring for the night at 4a in Utah. Before I go on, I have to say that driving through Vegas at night is quite spectacular. I'm not much of a Vegas fan - in fact, one might say that I despise the filthy place - but driving through the city at night after 3+ plus hours of desert driving is something everyone should experience. You'll get sensory overload after being deprived of anything stimulating for hours beforehand. I was like a little kid doing double takes and doing lots of ooohhs and aaahhs while driving (possibly a little swerving, too).
So, after finding a place to throw my sleeping bag in Utah, I slept in till 7:30a because as you can guess, it's rather hard to sleep in the desert after the sun comes up when you have absolutely no shade. Then it was on to Gunnison, CO to visit former SG milita teammate Logan. After a brief 3 hour coffee stop in Grand Junction talking with an amusing compulsive liar and waiting for Logan to call me back, I busted it to Gunni and was reunited with Logan. Logan is currently attending Western State (ala Old School) and is competing on the collegiate mtn. bike team. More about Logan shortly. Next, I visited Kenny, Sara, and Eli in beautifully quaint Salida, CO. They're coaching the hs and middle school xc teams there and are doing a great job of building those programs. I came to practice one day and attempted to give a motivational speech but may have been more effective when later I pulled the line "if you run this interval hard, I'll show you all my freakish sternum". I think they ran hard cause who doesn't like a good freak show now and then? Highlights of that visit included some very intense and dramatic ping pong games on the new table at the church that Kenny is a pastor of. Here is the one sad lonely pic I was able to post.
Sunset from Logan's place - also the highest point in Gunni. And, if you'd like to see one spectacular and highly effective way to break a bone in your hand, you should check out this blog, scroll down to the Oct. 7th entry and click on the first video. Logan is the last racer. Disclaimer: I don't know this blogger so watch out for inappropriate material when searching for this video. It's worth the risk though. He was sporting a pink cast at the mtn bike race that Carri and I cheered at the next weekend in Golden. A broken hand isn't going to slow down Logan!

So, since this is supposed to be a cycling blog - I should update everyone on my latest cycling news (as Uncle Don strongly urged in the comments). Because I was able to hit the talent pool time standard in the mass start test at Track Nationals, I will be going to the World Cup track race in Moscow in mid Dec. to race a pursuit. For those of you that don't know - a pursuit is a 4k time trial on the velodrome that should take me about 4:40. So yes, I will be traveling halfway across the globe to race less than 5 minutes. That works out to roughly 19.6 miles travelled for every second that I race. It should be a fun trip, but I'm a little apprehensive about how much faster World Cup track gurus are than me. It's very possible that I will get caught during the race and forever humiliated (1/2 lap takes about 8 seconds). But, I just found out that teammate Richard England will be in Moscow too so that'll be really cool. I'll be able to use him for advice, tips, or a shoulder to cry on. Anyway, that's why I'm going to be doing intervals today (in October!) on the indoor trainer because it is snowing outside right now. It was a nice offseason while it lasted.
Time to get fast again! or to start the long, painful process of not being slow. thanks for reading, ya'll!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

is it a sign?


this was the view from our deck yesterday. Yesterday was to be my much anticipated return to the bike after 10 days off. I leave it to you fatalists to decide.

I know many of you are worried about me being un-mulleted and not having a proper haircut for the 2007 season. Worry not, I have a committee researching feverishly on what style will maximize performance while still making the ladies faint where they stand. While the results are nowhere near conclusive just yet, initial reports indicate that one of these may be in order.

Monday, October 16, 2006

end-o-year trip, pt. 1

Here is the first half account of the 3 week trip that the Corolla and I soloed:
Day 1 - drove to Fischer Towers area NE of Moab and found a place to "camp" (consisted of throwing sleeping bag down and sleeping) just before dusk. Highlights: crystal clear night, stared at the stars and enjoyed the meteors and bats flying in front of my face.
Day 2 - drove to Vegas and met Mark and Glen at about 7p. Highlights: Sinclair party which included half-naked caged dancers, yummy hors deveurves, a sweet view from the roof of the Rio Casino, and The Cippolini (he's hot).
Day 3-4 - Interbike. Highlights: free coffee, cool bike gear, free coffee.
Day 5 - Drove to Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jim's. Highlights: saying goodbye to Mark and Glen (I have my limits).
Day 6-7 - Hangin w/ the fam. Highlights: home cooked meals and generally being spoiled
Day 8-15 - Track Nats in LA. Highlights: donut shops and not crashing like these poor chaps
Drive-by shooting in Utah. Have I mentioned that I love Utah?
LA is all about the donut shops. This was Zwiza's favorite. It had coffee, donuts, gambling, and a little buddha shrine in one corner complete with food offerings.
Oh yeah, there was racing too. This is Scott off the front of the scratch race.
The vast Pacific - Redondo Beach. The only day I ventured outside the route from the hotel to the velodrome all week. The water was nice. I had fun fighting a few waves but they won out in the end.

This concludes pt. 1 of the trip.

Friday, October 13, 2006

it was time


updates on the latest trip soon to follow.