Form is coming around

Thor's form is coming around. After watching a few stages of the Tour he's working on his victory salute.

In his words, "When I get older I will wear a green jersey and ride a big bike." He can also pick out big Thor in the peloton the way some kids can name all the "Thomas" trains.



My legs are starting to feel pretty good too...not fast yet, but strong. The motivation is high and I'm getting the work done.

If I could only heal up from my crash at the 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey I'd be happy. My hand and shoulder are still somewhat jacked up but they're not keeping me off the bike.

I'm just glad the 'cross doesn't happen during the Summer because breathing hot humid air while riding hard is no fun. I'm getting most of my rides in on dawn patrol so that helps.

batteries on the charger

Chilling at the beach
Outer Banks NC
Eating, drinking (too much good beer), sleeping
Digging in the sand
Floating in the water
Having a ball

The only riding has been loading a kid on a beach cruiser euro-style

and pedaling from the house to the beach.

I did my first run of the year the other day and it felt pretty good.

There was also a nice 80 minute massage on Monday. I felt high as a kite walking out of there. Always a sign of a quality massage.

I'm always amazed how my whole attitude feels after a vacation off the bike. Motes get topped off and my hunger to ride becomes ravenous.

Body and mind are rested. Quality family time. A week+ not chained to a desk. Everything is back in balance and I'm ready to do the work to get ready for 'cross. It's as much mental as it is physical.

Diet
Ride
Run
Stretch
Rest

I'm hungry.

Team AFC is flying fixed at RAAM. Follow their progress here and here. They are an inspiration.

winter chill

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Originally uploaded by cbnystro

That time of year.
The winter chill.
Warm temps this morning allowed us to play in the yard getting muddy and working up an appetite for lunch.

Chipotle. mmmm.

Mel's riding and the kids are napping so I'm sitting in bed with my feet up watching the '06 Koppenburg 'Cross. Lotta cats crashing in this race. I'm not sure we really know what a technical cx course is.

Can't get enough. I'm enjoying the break, but I'm already thinking about next year...and what I've learned this year. I need to sit down and put some of those thoughts in words so that they stick. One big one that comes to mind is about gaps. Knowing when it's ok to leave some space and when it's critical to tighten up the gap. It's crazy how quickly a 10 foot gap can become unbridgable when it occurs at the wrong time.

Been enjoying riding the fixie the last week and that's what I'll be doing later. I'm not even sure I'll ride a bike with gears this Winter. It's fun and it makes me stronger. Win-win.

Isn't it a bit early to be anaerobic?

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

Yeah, it's early but this is ~my~ time. "My time" being defined as when everyone else is asleep. Damn that hurt, but I feel good and I feel alive...although I could use a cup of coffee. Life is good.

Batteries on the charger

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

No racing for me this weekend but it was a good one nonetheless. Fun rides, good friends, tasty food, and cold beer...and most importantly, family.

On Saturday I headed out on the fixie to put in some work that will hopefully help me out over the next couple of weekends. Between the wind, the hills, and the no-coasting I made myself suffer. It felt good.

That evening we met Team Poz (Jon & Tracy) at Frisco for a feast of chips, guac, salsa, black beans, mahi-mahi tacos, and tasty beers. Thor was in usual form putting away an epic amount of guac and black beans. He was also parroting back our descriptions of past mountain bike crashes. Good times were had by all.

Sunday we had a fun ride with Mel's girly friends Patti and Tracy. It was mostly social, but the pace was steady and we had a few frisky moments that allowed me to get in the sprints that I had skipped earlier in the week. After putting in some windy miles we stopped at Bean Hollow in EC for much needed fuel in the form of delicious coffee and muffins.

On the way home we ran into endurance mountain bike kahuna and the nicest pro cyclist you could hope to meet, Trek/VW Pro Chris E. (pictured at right). He was out for a mellow road ride around the EC hills on his mountain bike.

His season is done so he was nice enough to ride with us and discuss domestic things like kids and new homes. We also talked about the "No Dab" trail from 24 Solo...the one that is more hike-a-bike than ride-a-bike (and that's going downhill!). Of course, he can ride the entire thing sans dabs (thus the name). He gets a lot of praise for his endurance and meticulous preparation, but he's also an incredible technical mountain biker.

One thing I'm trying to get more consistent about is stretching and massage. I am not a good stretcher. This weekend I was excited when I was actually able to touch my toes. It's that bad. I'm going to do my best to make daily stretching a habit. I don't know if it makes me any faster, but it can't hurt.

For massage, I can't afford to get real massage so I rely on The Stick. It's cheap and kinda weird, but it does a good job of working out the kinks in the legs and lower back.

Now I'm going to rest up and recover this week in hopes of fresh legs for the Fair Hill race on Saturday. After getting spanked at Granogue I need to get my mojo back.

On Sunday afternoon Thor and I headed over to Rockburn for the haunted hay ride. He's been talking about this for over a week. Little boys are instinctually into tractors. I think it's programmed into their DNA. Anyway, we had an awesome time doing the hay ride, climbing on the tractors, and doing a ton of runs down the slides in the playground.

Nice weekend!

'Cross practice Monday

I'm doing an informal 'cross practice on Monday at Rockburn Park. We'll work on
basic skills and technique as well as talk about what to expect at
Charm City. If everyone is up for it we'll also do a few practice
starts and perhaps some short efforts.

The plan is to start at 4:30 and end by 6:00 so that I can make it
home for dinner.

We'll set up near the picnic pavilion that has the sand volleyball
court. You can get to it by entering the Park from Montgomery Rd and
driving down past the tennis courts and hanging a left.

I'll bring a couple of portable PVC barriers and we'll set up a
practice loop.

Feel free to come out. This will be informal and fun...and very
beginner friendly.

Rockburn 'Cross Practice

I've had several people contact me asking about 'Cross practice at Rockburn Park. I'm busy with stuff like having a baby so I can't organize anything at the moment. I've been hitting the stealthy, pre-dawn sessions.

If anyone wants to get something going again on Wednesday evenings let me know and I'll try to get people in touch with one another to line something up. We had a fun crew out there last year. I hope it continues.

I'll do my best to join in when we get into a groove at home.

Why you should ride your bike...

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Originally uploaded by cbnystrom

...instead of driving it. Ouch. Yes...I'm a dumbass and a bit distracted right now. This happens to everyone at some point, right???

Luckily the crossbars on the rack gave way before the bike did. The shifters got beat up and the roof of the car has some scratches, but it could have been worse.

And it's Melanie's 'beater' bike set up for pregnancy riding and not her 5900.

Oh well, riding in the heat and humidity this weekend was brutal. My lungs were not working in the dank, sweltering air. I especially suffered on Sunday. I need a rest week.

At least I got all my tubulars glued up this weekend. I'm very close to having my bikes and gear dialed in pre-baby.

This morning's run was the first one that actually felt pretty good. I still didn't enjoy it, but at least my legs didn't feel like cement pilings. I felt like I was striding as opposed to dragging my feet.

We're having a baby on Wednesday so I'm getting a week off the bike, but I wouldn't exactly call it a rest week. It's actually pretty cool. You just focus on what needs to be done and you do it. There's no dithering or whining...just doing. That feels good.

I've got a family that needs my full attention. It's good to have a purpose. Riding bikes and racing cyclocross will wait. And I'm sure I'll come back more motivated than ever. I'll still grab a quick run or a spin over to the park to do some sprints and drills for sanity's sake.

shit. we all got our runnins now.

Running.
I don't enjoy it.
I'm no good at it.
But I gotta do it...
For the love of cyclocross.

I'm a few weeks into my running and
though it's getting better it still blows.

This morning the master plan called for
30 minutes of e-z jogging mixed with 6 x 20 second bursts.
Strangely my legs felt heavy and slow on the normal e-z part of the run
But they felt good during the short bursts.

When I was a kid in PE class
I stunk it up any run longer than one lap around the track.
Though I did pretty well in things like the 100yd dash.
So I guess it all makes sense.

Running.
It's not a huge part of 'cross.

But 'cross is about the little things.
The details.

It's about drilling technique until it's ballet-like.
Getting to the race early.
Scouting out the track.
Figuring out the proper speed through turns.
Discovering the pro lines.
Determining optimal tire tread and pressure for the conditions.
Warming up the engine thoroughly.
Visualizing the start and absolutely committing to embrace the pain.

A few seconds saved each lap can make a huge difference.
Small improvements at the margin of performance are huge improvements in cyclocross.
Running is not a big part of 'cross,
But it's an area that can make the difference during a race.

And that's reason enough to get out of bed and plod around the neighborhood
When it would be a lot more comfortable to still be in bed.

cyclocross by moonlight (seeing stars)

Out the door before 5:30 this morning
portable PVC hurdle in my pack
dismount
remount
over and over
in the meager light on either side of sunrise.

I was pretty fired up by this skills session.
How many people are crazy (dumb) enough to do
cyclocross drills at the ass-crack of dawn?

I felt superior momentarily.
And then I did some gravel surfing...
On my face.

Ouch.
That turned my smile into a frown.

All good.
It makes me look tough.
Or it makes me look like I don't know how to ride my bike.

Helmets are getting expensive.
But given the alternative I suppose they are pretty cheap.
In any event, I can't afford to keep buying a new one every week.
I just picked up this beauty at lunch today.



I'm hoping for some fatmarc mojo with the pink lid.

Thanks to Greg at Mud and Cowbells for the pvc hurdle inspiration/how-to!
His blog is a must-read for 'cross freaks.

fighting weight

I did not have a plan to drop the usual 0ff-season weight gain.

I was just going to let it happen naturally as warmer weather led to more riding.

Well, nature decided to make it happen quicker. Somehow I lucked into getting the stomach nasties. Two days of puking and peeing out my ass have left me 5 lbs lighter and fully cleansed.
Sweet. Insta-diet!

As a bonus my appetite is way down so I'm eating quite a bit less.

In a month I should be down to fighting weight.

Norovirus: It's a brutal way to drop some weight, but it works!