It's Cross Season Baby - Free Clinic

Sure there are a few road races left, but for CX racers, the real season and training that go with it have already begun. Check out our free clinic . . . there won't be methadone, but there will be Nutella.

http://syracusecycling.com/2011/08/free-cyclocross-clinic/

Pointway Performance

I try not to pimp any products or services on this site unless I truly believe in them. This is a perfect example of a service I believe in. Tim O'Shea has recently started his own coaching business.

Many people have put up a shingle, taken a test and declared themselves a coach. It doesn't take much quite frankly. With that said, Tim is the real deal.

I've written about the benefits of being coached on a few occasions. In short, a structured training program provides FAR more value than new wheels, a carbon frame, or the latest gizmo. Getting dropped while rolling on new Zipp's is not cool. Trust me, I know. In a perfect world, get the wheels and hire a coach. In an imperfect world, hire the coach first and get the wheels/frame/gizmo's later.

Many may already be aware of Tim's racing credentials. Cat 1 Road racer, kicked Lance Armstrong's ass by over a minute in the NYC Marathon by running a 2:45:20, sub 10 hour Ironman at Lake Placid, 6th place in the Vermont 100 running race AFTER making a wrong turn. He races, road, MTB, CX, runs and swims. I've known Tim since 5th or 6th grade, and despite being one of the smaller kids, he routinely held his own arm wrestling the biggest kid in our class. As an aside, I was the second smallest kid in our entire school. Thankfully there was at least a Filipino girl that was smaller than me, although I'm pretty sure she could have kicked my ass. In sixth grade, Tim would run to and from school carrying his books under his arm. It was probably 6-8 miles round trip. I digress though, because I'm not selling Paul Bunyan. Tim also knows what it's like to suffer and get dropped. You don't become a success without knowing what it's like to fail.

Racing credentials and experience are nice, but that's only half of the package. Being fast doesn't qualify one to be a coach, and being a good coach doesn't mean that you need to be fast. In Tim's case he is well positioned to address every side of the equation.

I've spent countless hours training with, car pooling with, eating with and sharing hotel rooms with Tim. If you spend enough time with someone, you really start to get a sense of what makes them tick and their core values. Tim is built for coaching. He's fascinated by the data, the process, the diet and most importantly the psychology of a racer.

Without harping on the technical side of coaching, which Tim clearly understands, I'd like to address the psychological aspects of training. I think this aspect of coaching is largely ignored, and I think this is what really sets Tim apart from the average coach. Watts, max heart rate, resting heart rate, blah, blah, blah. It all means nothing if you're head isn't on straight. When things are going well, we train. Sometimes over train. When a race goes bad, it's easy to get in a funk and lose a few days of training or lose interest in bikes and racing all together. I've experienced all of this first hand. Tim has a knack for helping to keep everything in perspective. Additionally, he does a great job of explaining things in real world terms using spot on analogies that anyone can relate to.

The bottom line is that Tim spends at least as much time thinking as he does training. I've purposely taken some time off from fully structured training, but I've been reaping the benefits of Tim's dietary knowledge and "attitude" support. If you've ever thought of working with a coach, or if you've worked with a coach that only provides data for work outs, but little else, get a hold of Tim.

You can call him at 315-655-4620 or e-mail him at cxnationals5 (at) gmail.com

As I said last time . . . Love to Ride Your Bike.
Skinny Phil

Cycle Smart CX Camp Recap 2010

I'm back from my third year at Adam Myerson's cyclocross camp. It seems like every year I learn more. There was never really a question about whether or not I was going this year, but I did wonder if I'd get as much out of it this year as I did last year. In short, yes I did. Possibly more. Early on the first day I decided I would count the number of times I learned something new or picked back up on something I'd forgotten or been doing wrong. Less than an hour into day one I was up to three game changing items and I decided that it would be pointless to keep counting.

Before I get into the camp itself, it's worth restating, as I've done on more than a few occasions in this blog, that people should be going to this camp. It blows my mind that people would spend money on expensive new bikes, tubular wheels, sealed cable systems, etc. without taking the time or money to go to Adam's camp first. Perhaps I should have posted this entry before Adam's camp, but I promise you that his camp will make you faster than any piece of equipment you could buy. The seconds per lap you will pick up with better technique and strategy will far outweigh any equipment benefits you could gain.

As an example, Bryan Blake and I both attended last years camp. I had my best season ever, won a race and got my Cat 2 upgrade. Bryan also had his best season ever, and lots of people noticed. In fact at one point I was talking to a mutual friend and he said "what the heck happened to Bryan Blake, I used to drop that guy all the time, now every time I turn around he's right behind me." It's worth mentioning that Bryan not only went to the camp, he also became a Cycle Smart client. Before anyone accuses me of being a paid spokesperson, I not only paid for the camp, but I also bought Ommegang as a gift for Adam. The least I could do is buy the guy a beer!

Back to the camp. Adam moved back to a two day format this year which was great. Two days really gives everyone time to dial everything in and then practice it again the next day. In fact Adam even managed to have the weather be sunny and dry on Saturday and wet and muddy on Sunday. The man has skills. The weather changes were dumb luck, but being able to practice the techniques in both conditions was invaluable.

As a bonus this year, Jeremy Powers was there for half of the day on Saturday and all day Sunday. Jeremy offered great advice, was pretty damn funny, and watching him bunny hop the barriers in person was really cool. He also brought some give aways from his sponsors. I missed out on the free Zipp 303's, but you'll need to see my sweet new Cannondale. I'm pretty sure he said I could keep it . . .

The camp started Friday night with a low key gathering at a local shop. There was a lot of informal discussion about bike fit among other things. It's always interesting to hear a pro's perspective, and Adam in particular has spent A LOT of time thinking about the subject and experimenting with his own bike fit.

Saturday the training really started and Adam, Jeremy and Al Donahue worked with us in groups. All three of them provide their own unique perspective which was really interesting. In addition to mounts, dismounts, barriers, carrying, etc. we also got to work on some bumping drills. If you and I are on the last lap, coming into the final turns side by side, trust me, you'll wish you had gone to camp! Saturday night we went back to the shop, ate some good food and drank some of Belgium's finest while Adam gave a presentation on training for 'cross.

Sunday brought rain, more practice, and lots of sliding in the mud. We worked on starts, held a little race and then regrouped for some Q&A. Unfortunately I needed to head to Long Island for an early meeting Monday, but at least Jeremy Powers gave me some Sport Beans before I left.

I could go into a lot more detail on the camp, but those are Adam's trade secrets and you should just go. One of the things that really sets Adam apart from some of the other pro's is his ability continuously refine his techniques and strategy. Adam has admitted that he doesn't necessarily have the power numbers as some of the other pro's, but he's found ways to hang in there by using his brain as much or more than his body. That doesn't mean that he isn't on his bike 20-30 hours a week, but I suspect that his ability to use his mind is what has kept him in the game.

Some of the best athletes in the world have no idea how they do what they do. Great race car drivers or ball players typically make lousy instructors or coaches because they have no clue how they win. A guy like Adam does, and that has made him a great teacher. Hopefully next season I'll remember to re-post this before Adam's camp, but I guess it's fine with me if you don't go. That definitely increases the likelihood of my kicking your A$$ on the 'cross course.

See you at the races . . .

Walking on the moon

This weekend turned out to be a great weekend for riding. Granted CNY was sub-zero Saturday and not a lot warmer on Sunday, but there was some great riding none the less. In fact when I rolled up my hill Sunday, it was a blistering 12 degrees and I was sweating my proverbial junk off.

I met Tim O. bright and early both days and although we avoided some of the big downhills (Rt 20) it was business as usual. I must admit that when I woke up and saw that it was minus 12 on Saturday I wasn't certain that I'd make it longer than 20 minutes, but 2:45 later I was in pretty good shape and the temps had only skyrocketed to minus 4. As far as a few local cyclists are concerned, and certainly the folks at the Nice N Easy, we'd might as well have been moon men. Partially due to our appearance, but mostly because a lot of people seemed to think that riding in this weather was tantamount to walking on the moon.

I must admit that as recently as last year I would have agreed. I spent weeks XC skiing because I thought it was too cold and snowy. Thankfully my buddy Tim did all of the initial testing and since he lived, I decided I'd might as well tag along for the subsequent rides. Tim is sort of an animal. He trains from 4am to 10am regularly, so I wasn't sure that I should be following his example. Clearly he's tough in ways that would make a Belgian racer proud to know him. After a little trial and error, I think I have the cold weather dialed in. If you'd like to join me in walking on the moon, here's the recipe:

Above 12 degrees F:
1 - CX Bike
1 - Fenders (optional but nice - keep you and your riding buddies dry)
1 - Blinky light (front and rear if it's still dark - rear at all times)
1 - Pair of winter boots (I use Lake MTB boots because you can walk in them if all else fails)
If you don't have winter boots, wool, bags, neoprene and duct tape may suffice
1 - Pair of winter tights with wind block on the front panels (wear tights underneath if necessary)
1 - Set of base layers and a windproof jacket
Wear a jersey underneath so you can keep bottles in it to keep them from freezing
1 - Pair of Mountaineering Mittens (I use EMS) Spend some $ and go $70-$90
1 - Set of hand warmers (buy in bulk at a hardware store)
1 - Winter hat or balaclava

Under 12 degrees F:
Add neoprene shoe covers over winter boots. Trust me, they help.
1 - Snow pants or some form of Gore-tex pants
1 - Toe clip strap to keep your pants out of the chain
1 - Balaclava
1 - Gore-tex jacket or 2nd jacket (Tim wears a down jacket, I just don't own one)

Any form of eye wear seems useless when it's below 12 degrees. They just fog up. I suppose you could wear ski goggles, but I want to have my peripheral vision when the snowplows are out.

Speaking of snowplows, any decent CX'er should be able to manage riding in the snow unless it's icy. It looks intimidating, but you really get a feel for it once you've been out there for awhile. I use Michelin Jet tires all winter and they work very well. They're pretty smooth when the pavement is dry and seem to hook up well in the snow and hard pack as well. 2-3 inches of snow seems to be the limit before you'd need a mountain bike.

If you see a snowplow coming up behind you, you have a couple of options. If there are no cars coming, move into the oncoming lane to get out of the way, or if there are cars coming, get off of the road as completely as possible. Get off your bike if you have to. Trust me, you might be pumped to be out there, but the plow guys are unimpressed. Unless you want to be lying dead in a ditch next to a dear carcass, get out of their way because they have a job to do and to them, you're just another mailbox.

When you head out:
Avoid going down huge hills - my right eye froze shut on Rt 20 a couple of weeks ago

Stay off of the busy roads as much as you can - The shoulder is going to suck and cars aren't going to want to swerve around you if the lanes are snowy. Much like the snowplows, they aren't going to risk sliding off the road because you're a cyclist with OCD trying to build base.

Plan to have a convenience store on the route in case you need to warm up or splash some hot water in your bottle.

All of this may sound like a huge hassle, but this time of year is a great time to build solid base, and riding on the trainer for 3 hours is far less appealing than facing the elements. Once you get into a routine, it really doesn't take any longer to get ready to ride than it does in the summer. Just a few more layers. Some of my best rides have been in cold weather. They will make you "strong like bull."

What else? Make sure to moisturize so your face doesn't look like a catcher's mitt when you're old. Gel packs are less likely to freeze than Cliff Bars. Keep 'em close to your body. Bring a phone in case you need to bail. Plan to see really lame average speeds if you're riding in snow pants. The effort is the same or harder, but don't let the slow speeds make you feel bad. Shifting in mittens isn't easy, but you'll get used to it. If you're thumbs get cold, tuck them into the mittens. You won't be able to shift or stand and climb, but once the thumbs warm up from the heat packs you'll be good to go.

I think that's it. Hope to see you out there, but not next to a deer in a ditch.

The healing effects of the Single Speed

After some rest and a couple of "out of plan" rides I'm a new man. Or maybe the man I was. Whatever. Drummroll organized a night ride out at Green Lakes. Good chance to bust out the SS and night light. First time ever using a light on the bike (not including in my back yard). VERY cool. If you don't own one, get one and find some friends to ride with in the dark. It's a whole nother world and a good one at that.

With a couple of miles left, Drumroll ripped his front chainring in half. What a beast. Jeff W was kind enough to push Drumroll back to the cars. Maybe Jeff is the beast.

No mud, but there's some blood . . .

I guess CX season really started today. Despite attending and leading a CX clinic already this season, tonight was the first Tuesday night group ride. All in all it went really well. I was about 1/2 hour late after getting stuck in traffic. Who gets stuck in traffic in Syracuse? I jumped right in the mix without a warm up. Tonight was the maiden voyage on my new wheels and tubulars. First time gluing CX tubies so I think it was best that I hit the course at high speed without time to think about it. I nearly forgot I had them and a bunch of turns later they were still on and very sweet. I went with the Cyclocross World instructions on mounting them and although it was time consuming, it was definitely worth the effort. We had a great turn out (for CNY). A bunch of new faces from the CX clinic showed up which was great. We also had some converts from the TNTS road series. Even better. CNY CX is growing, and quickly. Hopefully that trend continues.

Mid ride we were doing some barrier work and I approached the barriers with some of the newer guys. Unfortunately I was going way too fast in comparison and as I tried to slow up with the bike in mid air, I yard sale'd it, smashed my shin (on who knows what) and then smacked the back of my head. After realizing that my teeth were all intact, I shook it off and we rode a few more hot laps.

As much as I enjoy the TNTS races, CX wins hands down. First race on Sunday in Kirkland. Might even hop in a race on Saturday if my travel this week doesn't bury me.

Cycle Smart Camp Recap

Although velocb already did a great job over covering the Cycle Smart camp here http://velocb.blogspot.com/2009/08/notes-from-veldrijden-camp.html, I thought I’d approach the recap from a slightly different perspective.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Adam and Alec are a wealth of knowledge. At the risk of repeating myself from previous posts, time and money spent with them is far more beneficial than money spent on trick wheels, carbon bits or bling. Their knowledge is money in the bank.

Having attended last year’s camp, I more or less knew what I was in for. I attended last year’s camp with one goal in mind; learn how to remount without a stutter step. Obviously I learned a lot more, but at the end of the weekend I was only able to absorb so much information. Being relatively new to CX, or at least very uneducated, my head filled up quickly. Having said that, I was definitely able to take most of what I learned and practice and apply it. Short of almost losing a nut in the Albany last year, my remounts were even solid. Adam assured us that even Sven Nys catches his shorts on the seat now and again. (Brief aside, at the end of the Albany race I literally had to go into the bathroom after the race to make sure both of my boys were still where they’re supposed to be. Gotta love ‘cross.)

This year I went to the camp with a new set of goals. I wanted to improve my speed through the barriers, and I really wanted to learn how to drive my bike. Again, I still need to practice what I’ve learned, but done and done. I’ll spare you the details, mostly because if you want them you should either pay Adam yourself of buy me beer, but the tips he provided on handling were priceless. Although I’ll have new wheels and tubulars this year, I was railing muddy turns on a set of 4 year old Michelin Muds. People used to ask me how I liked the Mud’s. My standard response was “They’re great, but I never know when they’re going to let loose and sometimes I end up pedaling myself into the ground in a turn.” Turns out it wasn’t the tires that were unpredictable.

Not only did I get more out of this year’s clinic because I was ready for more, but amazingly, Adam literally knows more. Adam went to Belgium last year to mix it up in the motherland and came back with a few more gems. He also modified his handling style on the road bike this year trying to improve his descending skills. That change readily translated to ‘cross. Point is some people can get through races with raw power or better riding through chemistry. Most of us, Adam included need to actually be better at technique and use our minds to go faster. The fact that teams continue to seek out Adam as a professional rider is a testament to his talent. The fact that Adam continues to be a force on the road and ‘cross circuits is a testament to his talent. It would be very easy for Adam to sell out and take his business to the next level, but it’s clear that he still very much enjoys racing, learning and sharing his knowledge. Only two hours into our clinic I overheard a woman tell a friend that she had just attended another clinic a couple of weeks earlier. That person was also a professional, and arguably more successful as far as current ‘cross results are concerned, but she said that she’d already gained more in the first two hours of Adam’s clinic than she had at the other clinic all together. I don’t write that to slam the other clinic, it’s simply a matter of Adam taking the finer points of ‘cross to the next level and then translating that experience to people like you and me.

Bryan Blake was the only other local CX’er to make the trek to Mass this year, and I’m sure he echo’s my sentiments. If you’re serious about your ‘cross, plan ahead for next year. Not only will Adam continue to teach what he’s been teaching, but I’ll bet you a set of Fango’s that he’ll have something new as well.

This One Time . . . At 'Cross Camp . . .

http://www.cycle-smart.com/coaching/camps/crossclinic_ma2009.html

I'm sitting in a hotel having just registered for this camp, hoping that the dude two rooms over was too busy looking at porn to bother stealing my credit card number.

Having written that, Adam's clinic is worth the risk. I went to his camp last year and it was the best money I've spent on CX by a wide margin. New wheels, nice but who cares. Spankin' new bike, nice try, good luck getting any faster. Adam and Alec . . . they will make you faster. Dismounts, mounts, barriers, starts, handling . . . I repeat, they will make you faster.

I've written this before, but my first year I had some respectable results. Year two, I had a new bike and wheels wasn't any faster. I was just "that guy." The guy with equipment I couldn't live up to. Year three I went to Adam's camp and learned more in two days than I had learned in 2+ years of racing. The results were immediate and I didn't feel so bad about the new bike anymore.

The good thing about CX is that you're never done learning, so I'm headed back. Feel free to cash in all of those empties and we'll split a hotel room.

CX Starts Today

I did my first CX specific workout today. I went running actually. When I took a look at this weeks workouts, I had two days dedicated to CX. A run today and a skills workout on Friday. Life is good. Very good.

On a less positive note, Ridley came up short on X-Fire's in Phil size, so I'm going to go one more season on the SuperCross. At the end of the day, it's still an awesome bike and the only reason I was upgrading was for a lower BB and for the sake of something new. The BB issue can be resolved by learning how to ride my bike. In the interest of something new, I'll have new Challenge Fango's on Williams Cycling CX tubulars and some shiny new TRP EuroX Mag's for bling. The white and gold ones are on sale since the 2010's will be white and red. Gold is fine by me. I might get a matching gold tooth to match . . . especially if I bust a tooth on a warm up lap like Bob did a couple of seasons ago. He ended up racing with half a tooth. The man is hard. He could be Belgian.

Go get your CX on, the future is now.

Return on Investment

Seek professional help, or dump money on technology? A couple of seasons ago I decided I was ready for a new CX bike. After my first season I was hooked, and I wanted a sweet ride that would reflect my passion for the sport and be better, faster and lighter. What I quickly figured out was that I had become "that guy." The guy who's wallet exceeded his talent. I vowed to get fast enough to be worthy of the bike.

In March of last year I started working with Doug Bush at Endurance Factor. I had taken all winter to build a good base, or so I thought, and I was ready to make my big move to Cat-4. What I quickly discovered was that despite very good intentions and a fair amount of time on the trainer, I really hadn't made significant gains over the previous season. It wasn't for lack of trying, it was all about structure. Doug told me I was getting a late start on the season. At the time I was kind of surprised to hear that since I thought I had done some solid work over the winter, but I would soon find out that I was destined to get dropped in a bunch of spring races.

What Doug knew after testing was that I was no where near my potential relative to other racers with similar physical attributes. I was sick during a few key weeks in spring, but by the time CX season rolled around I was feeling much stronger than the previous season and the results were pretty good for a joe average dude. I stuck with Doug over the winter to keep the structure and focus. 51 weeks later, it was time to test again. I was almost certain that I would be stronger than last year, but you never know. The numbers don't lie as they say.

At the end of testing, my Threshold Power was up 30 Watts over last year. An 11.32% gain. A set of Zipps or sub-1000 gram frame will never get you that kind of gain. I'm all for bling and spend hours reading Cycling News, Velo News, etc. looking at the latest technology for the pro peleton, but for the average person, your best return on investment has to be hiring a decent coach. At some point when you've maximized your potential, then get the bling. Nothing makes me happier than dropping some dude in a road race with a $6,000 bike and Zipp 404's. Maybe I should get a stack of Doug's cards to hand out during races.

I still have a lot to learn about racing intelligently, but I'll be racing with an extra 30 watts this year while I continue to learn. If you want the Zipp's, go for it, but if you want to be appreciably faster for what is likely less money, seek professional help.

www.endurancefactor.com

This time I mean it . . .

No more skiing, no more running, no more skipping work outs. If I'm going to suck this spring, it's going to be because I suck. Not because I didn't know what I was doing, not because I got a late start, not because I spent too much time doing other things than riding. That pretty much sums up my first two seasons and probably goes a long way to explain my love of CX. By the time CX rolls around I'm finally in shape.

Mental and physical time away from the bike after a long CX season was definitely needed, but now it's time to do work. The work started in earnest last week, and the Saturday ride that Drumroll recounted below was more than enough motivation to get my proverbial shiznit together.

I had contemplated writing a post about the Mormons that tried to hand me a business card at the tail end of the 3:50 thrashing I received on Saturday. How I hopped off my bike and put one of the suit wearing, name tag bearing wanders in a headlock since I was in no mood for a religious intervention. How I yelled at him that if there was a god I'd be faster. The wind wouldn't be in my face as I was starting to cramp. I wouldn't live on top of a hill. My job would be somewhere conducive to winter riding. My winter bike wouldn't weigh 29.5lbs. Anyway, the headlock part was a lie. There's no doubt that the thought crossed my mind, but in my weakened state I would have probably ended up giving the dude more of a hug than a headlock, and the last thing I need is to get busted by the cops for trying to hug a wandering Mormon while wearing head to toe spandex. That could only end badly. I'm not big enough to go to jail . . .

The Answer My Friend ...

..... is blowin' in the wind. Doh !

Homer (Odyssey 5. 291) "Poseidon massed the clouds, clutched his trident and churned the ocean up; he roused all the blasts of all the Winds and swathed earth and sea alike in clouds; down from the sky rushed the dark. Euros (East Wind) and Notos (South Wind) clashed together, the stormy Zephyros (West Wind) and the sky-born billow-driving Boreas (North Wind)."

Small group ride on Saturday -- Notos at around 15 mph for 3.5 hrs of fun with a tour of the windwills (translates to climbing in CNY bike-speak) thrown in for good measure. More joy on Sunday w/a slightly larger group but stayed mostly in flatlands. This time though, Boreas exacted revenge at 20+ mph for 3 hours. Felt like Cancellara w/the tail wind and a track sprinter going up Mt. Washington into the wind. We did get some periodic sunshine both days which always makes it all a bit more tolerable. Even though the wind did blow, it beat the trainer as we all know that can suck.

Feed the Addiction

Proceed at your own risk ....these may push you over the edge if you are near cracking .... or maybe they will prevent you from cracking. You've been forewarned so here you go ....

(1) If you have officially cracked ... brainless hours of watching CX video await you ..... http://www.crosstube.net/

(2) For those that have nearly cracked but have a glimmer of hope left and want to be a little analytical ..... http://www.crossresults.com/

(3) For those that wanna learn Dutch and are only showing minor symptoms of cracking .... http://www.cyclo-cross.info/ (click "Kalendar & Uitslagen" and you will already be expanding your Dutch vocabulary).

(4) For those that are thinking about the upcoming CX races in Virginia and have a 2 hour date with the trainer tonight and still need more .... take your Amazon or B&N gift card and go buy and A Dog in a Hat and give it a read.


If these don't help, do yourself and your family a big favor, go chug a 750ml of Ommegedon and then register for Ironman Malaysia -- you have 2 months to train !!

Fear and Loathing in CNY

It seems that every year when the CX season is over I'm looking for ways to extend the season and maintain form. A few CX'rs are good enough or have put themselves in a position where they can press on and continue to race in other parts of the country or other continents. For most of us in CNY, the season ends just before Thanksgiving, and as much as we may try to avoid losing the form we've worked for, we inevitably need to ease up and it always seems to happen around the holidays.

The first couple of days tend to involve a sense of euphoria as the body and mind haven't figured out what to do with the spare energy. For some of us, copious amounts of booze are consumed in conjunction with lousy food eaten at inappropriate times. Add to that the need to drive from holiday party to holiday party dealing with family dynamics and awkward small talk with strangers you only see once a year and something has to give. At some point, the initial joy of living like Chris Farley for a few days turns into self loathing as you look up in the mirror and realize it's time to get back to business. The body still has more energy than it should, and despite hiking, snow boarding and snow shoeing, getting decent sleep seems impossible when the body isn't being beaten into submission 6 days a week. Waking up at 5:30 am hung over with 32 degree rain, I still hadn't quite cracked, but I was close and I could sense it. After watching the same Sports Center three times in a row and heading off too one more family gathering, I was much closer to cracking. After going to watch a local band I cracked. No fault of the band, I was just done with relaxing. I also ran into Bob there, and he looked to be on the verge of a crack as well. Actually he was mid bender, but apparently the crack was coming.

In my case, I went home, and forced myself to get some decent sober sleep. It more or less worked and yesterday it was time to get back to work. The weather was too nice to ride. Some 50 degree temps had rolled through, and the riding wasn't going to offer enough suffering. My first workouts need to shock the system. It's all mental, but I need to suffer to beat my bad mood into submission. That meant running. As a former runner, there's no better way to induce suffering, particularly if you haven't been running much. I'll likely be lifting my legs out of the car tomorrow.

Drumroll had a few days head start. I hear he's even been riding his trainer.

Bob takes the prize though. After riding his CX bike to the show, he drank until 3am, rode home, properly suited up and rode for another 2 hours in the dark. Safe? No. Cracked? Yes. Welcome back Bob. At this very moment he's rearranging his basement to better accommodate training.

It's nice to know that whatever it is that motivates us to get out there during racing season can save us from ourselves during the off season. Too bad Farley didn't have that off switch. Now we'll never know what would have happened in Tommy Boy II. In the words of Dean Wormer, "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son."

Sorry for getting all dark and morbid, I'll try and bring back the funny shortly. I may have one more New Years relapse in front of me, but I'm ready to get back to work. Spring is just around the corner, and that means it's time to do some road racing to get ready for CX in Fall. I guess that's how the cycle goes.

Top 5 indicators you're about to crack:

5. Your wife tells you to go outside and build a snowman. She say build it, and then punch off the head. Then rebuild it and repeat until you're no longer annoying.

4. Your shopping cart contains more alcohol and cheese than whole wheat pasta and Cliff Bars.

3. You've cleaned your bike, gotten half dressed to ride and then bailed and sat down to watch TV with a beer. It may or may not still be the morning, and you may or may not still be wearing half of your cycling attire.

2. I don't really like top 5/10 lists, skip to number 1.

1. Man boobs . . . enough said.

For those that have already cracked, welcome back. For those that have yet to crack, see you down the road.

Good times . . .

It's that time of year. The racing season is over, or has been since Thanksgiving in my case, and it's been a good time to have some unstructured fun on the bike. I'm still hitting the trainer, road and trail, but the workouts have far less structure. The PowerTap is still on my trainer, but the winter bike and MTB offer a certain freedom from the constant attention to the watts. To be clear, the PowerTap has brought great results but it's also nice to just get out and ride with some buddies. The new SS MTB has also given me some new found motivation and a fun way to go ride for a couple of hours and work on technical skills. Hopefully the MTB thing will pay dividends on some of the more technical MTBesque CX courses in the area.

Saturday was a little too cold, and more importantly windy and snowy for me, so I hit the trainer. I'm still pretty motivated on the trainer since I got the life sized picture of Bob on his CX bike. I usually head down to my basement, hop on my bike, crank it up to zone 3 and just stare at the picture and cry tears of anger while listening to The Flight of the Valkyries. If I happen to lose focus and glance down at my handlebars, I'm instantly reminded of my mission when I see the words "Beat" and "Bob" written with a black Sharpie on my white handlebar tape. After I'm done riding, I throw a 60 pound heavy bag over my shoulder and head outside to run up and down my hill, shoeless, barefoot and only wearing bib shorts. The neighbors tend to stare, but who's going to say anything. Would you have interrupted Rocky Balboa when he was training in Soviet Russia to fight Ivan Drago? Would you interrupt an espresso addled, 138lb maniac in bib shorts running around his yard? Actually that's all made up, but I did watch an episode and a half of The Wire. It was pretty intense.

Luckily Sunday brought a reprieve from some of the cold and snow. The wind was still insane, but Bob, AJ and I got in 3:15. I got a chance to try out my new Planet Bike fenders, and I have to say they were pretty sweet. Cold, windy and dry beats cold, windy and wet any day. We saw another snow plow. I'm starting to think my future may actually include getting run off the road by a plow. AJ was on the front when the plow guy dropped the blade as he passed us. AJ mentioned it was a little close. I'd tend to agree, but if AJ gets taken out of commission I'll probably move up 1 position in most of the local races. I'm kidding of course, I like AJ and he's probably going to race with the Masters next year anyway . . .

Might get out to Albany next Sunday for an MTB race. They were hammered with an ice storm this weekend, so we'll see if they hold the race. It's also at 9:00am which would require a pretty early start from Syracastan.

Hope to see some of you at Syracuse Bicycle on Wednesday. Bring a toy and drink some of Ommegang's finest.

PS - Feel free to leave a comment. I hear from lots of people that are reading the blog, but so far we've had two comments. One from a teammate and another, oddly enough, from one of the nation's top CX/Crit pro's. I was pretty psyched to see that someone as cool as Adam has stumbled across the site. Hopefully we can get a CNY contingent out to his clinic next year. Keep an eye out for a post on his clinic in the near future. It was without a doubt the best return on investment I've ever had in racing. You can buy a light bike, trick wheels, tubulars, etc. without being appreciably faster. Adam's clinic will make anyone, at almost any level, measurably faster. More on that later.

Bikes, Bites and Bialetti

Friday: Bought a Bialetti & "tested" it after work -- did not sleep well that night despite pouring on a bottle of Marco Porello as a chaser. Funny thing on Fri eve as I was providing Ms. Drumroll a technical intro of the Bialetti's inner working and operational guidelines (as well as a short refresher on pressure/volume/temperature dynamics), she pointed to the trivet/decorative hotplate hung above our stove and there was a sketch/picture of a Bialetti -- I thought it always looked like a blender in the pic but now I know.

Saturday: Fired up the Bialetti for a road hit on my drive to Skinny Phil's. Put my Soul 29er on his roof rack next to his and we looked like two real bad-assed mtn. bikers with our studly ss rides ... at least on our drive over to the ride location w/the bikes still in the roof rack. Met up w/my new CX hero at the ride locale and was introduced to a whole new area to ride (rhymes with Ty Skop) that I had never experienced before. My new CX hero rode his freaking CX bike everywhere we went w/our 29ers and there were some pretty damn gnarly areas. Got in a solid 2+ hrs.

Sunday: Headed to J'ville Beach w/a Bialetti buzz & humperdog mid-morning. Rode the 29er around for about an hour; taking it mostly EZ, letting humperdog run all over and hassle the occasional squirrel. Came upon a group of folks in an open area w/about 5 pooches running all around -- I slowed way down as dogs were everywhere (I think they wanted to meet humperdog) when one of the little mf mutts took a nip at my ankle. The owner was yelling and trying to grab the mutt but it was freaking out barking & trying to circle me. Finally I got off the bike and kept putting the bike between myself and the mutt 'til owner dude grabbed a hold of the dog. At least he didn't say "she won't bite". No real damage though, just a small nick thanks to heavy wool socks and a fairly thick set of winterbibs. My third good doggie altercation of the year..... just wish they'd simply sniff my butt and leave me alone ... seems they either wanna hump me or bite me ..... (hmmm, hump me or bite me -- kinda reminds me of one time in college when I was at band camp and ...well, on second thought never mind)

Police respond to spate of accidents across Onondaga County; Centro goes to snow routes

That was the headline on Syracuse.com this afternoon. Apparently as of 2:45 there were nearly 30 accidents caused by snowy, icy roads. Sounds like a good time to be out for a ride. Local cycling hero Paul K., owner of Syracuse Bicycle and all around rider extraordinaire sent out a quick e-mail last night asking if anyone wanted to ride. He said he'd recently hurt his back, hadn't ridden much the last 3 months, planned to ride easy, and was taking his CX bike. I've fallen for that one before, so I packed a lunch. Paul joked that I was stuffing a lot of food in my jacket. I joked that I've been on his easy rides before. Just because he's carrying one small water bottle and two twizzler's doesn't mean that you aren't in for an epic. In this case the ride wasn't too bad, but the weather was bordering on epic. I'd tell you how long we rode, but someone might tell Turbo, and then he'd be on his trainer all night trying to catch up with Paul.

Suffice it to say, we saw the Rez, Marcellus, Skaneateles and Camillus. We were supposed to meet up with Shep and Beck but last we heard from them they had just summited Everest, were working their way back down the mountain and were potentially going to need to build a snow cave somewhere off of Rt 80.

We contemplated taking a picture of ourselves with the crazy Dicken's characters in Skaneateles, or potentially some action shots drafting their horse and carriage, but the weather was well past deteriorating so we pressed on. In hindsight a snapshot taken with some nut job who has spent the better part of the summer growing a beard so he could look like an actual Dicken's character would have been pretty cool. Add to that the nickel sized snow flakes and our own bizarre collection of clothing and we'd have had some sort of Star Trekesque, lycra clad back in time moment. Maybe next time, that would have been a great pic for the blog.

The roads started getting pretty dicey, but the Michelin Jet's worked their magic and somehow we stayed upright even as we got passed by snowplows, passed accidents, and crossed slick train tracks. Good times.

The best news of the day came from my wife when I called on my way home. Anyone that knows us knows that I do most of the cooking but today she made stew. It was great, and I look forward to 2011 when she is inspired to make it again.

If you're up for some winter rides, drop me a line. As I've mentioned, the goal is to stay off of the trainer to the extent that I can on the weekends. Feel free to put that on my tombstone if one of the snowplows gets me . . . "Loved by few, his goal was to stay off of the trainer to the extent that he could on the weekends." That kind of has a ring to it. Hopefully I don't actually get hit by a snowplow though. Predicting my death in a lame blog entry would be . . . well, lame. Not nearly as cool as a surfer getting eaten by a shark and pooped back into the ocean. At best, my bike and I would end up in a garbage bag after the Onondaga Cycling Club Earth Day clean-up.

PS - I rode the 29er yesterday, it was pretty sweet. More to follow.

Snowmobiles and Snow Plows . . .

. . . are two of the things I saw and had to get out of the way of while riding on Saturday. The temperature was in the low 20's, but the "feels like" index on weather.com had it at 6. Mmmm, Accelerade Slushy. Actually it wasn't that bad as long as I didn't get moving too fast. I decided to hit up the Canal Path to keep the speed down. Nothing like cruising along in zone 2 while achieving a blistering pace of 11mph. Beats the trainer any day though. Riding the trainer on a weeknight is all well and good, but 2 hours on a Saturday is more that I can handle while CX season is still in effect. All trainer and no play make Skinny a dull boy. Redrum redrum redrum.

After my ride, I took my dog Ray-Ray hiking. As I pulled up to the woods, I saw Drumroll's car. Turned out he was also in trainer avoidance mode. He was rolling his new Dillenger and wearing out his dog at the same time. Probably a good way to keep her worn out and the humping to a minimum (see previous post). I was glad to see that I wasn't alone in my desperation to avoid the trainer.

Drumroll and I met up today and got in another decent ride on the CX bikes. Thankfully things had warmed up into the low 30's and there weren't any snowplow or snowmobile sightings. We even saw another biker. My drink also remained in liquid form as opposed to solid, so that was a bonus. Looks like we have a long winter in front of us. I'm gonna need to break down and get some fenders. Cold is cool, wet is not, and I'm committed to avoiding the hamster wheel on the weekends this winter. Let me know if you want to ride, if there's a group of us, the person that doesn't get hit by the snowplow can call the ambulance.

Who's Your "Bob?"

Everyone needs a Bob. Your Bob could be a Dave, a Julie, a Bernard or a Sven, but we all need one. When it's late and dark and I don't feel like training, I wonder if Bob rode today and hop on the trainer. If I'm supposed to do 4-5 hill repeats, I do the 5th because of Bob. It's not that I dislike Bob, on the contrary, we're good friends and often training partners, but when it's time to race . . .

No one likes losing, or even worse than losing not even being competitive against your arch rival, er uh friend. I'm not sure how many extra miles I've logged or hills I've climbed because of Bob, but it's a lot I'm sure. Probably an extra day per week at least.

So if you don't have a Bob, go get one. Lance had Jan, although I doubt they shared training rides or swapped cyclo-cross DVD's. Tom had Jerry, Jerry had Newman, and Newman had . . . well Newman had no one, that's why he was a loser.

If you get better, you can even replace your Bob, although unless he gets hit by a bus I won't be upgrading any time soon. Worst case, you could even downgrade. The point is to have someone else to keep you motivated when the rest of life might get in the way. Motivation can come in the form of bike porn forwards, an e-mail recapping that days training session, smack talk about an upcoming race, or a close finish in a recent race.

When it's all said and done, you may have a front seat to his back seat in the next race or vise versa, but a close win or a close loss are almost equally motivating. This weekend will be the Syracuse Grand Prix. Hopefully it comes down to a sprint.