Feed the addiction

Ordered a Renn 575 through the Bicycle Chain. Stamm had a good experience with his last year. This way Jordan and I won't have to share a disc at TT's this summer.


Added a bike box to my birthday wish list too. This one is available from Colorado Cyclists for $100. It's not as sturdy as a hard case, but should be better than a soft case. It should work fine for the few times that I travel with my bike.

JimmerC@185lbs.

It's good to have a challenging goal, right? The pic is from 1986. I'm pretty sure that was the last time I weighed 185lbs. I'm convinced I can get back there, even at the ripe age of 40.

This past week was the longest week of training since I can remember. I didn't get outside once. I wish I could have gotten out Friday, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Instead, I spent the entire week on the trainer and stairmaster. Went to the LSC clothing party at The Fix on Friday night. Great to see all the guys again. Man does Larry Foss have a cool setup.

Treb decided to paint instead of train this weekend, so I ended up jumping on the trainer on Saturday for a couple hours, prior to the MCF banquet. Jordan and I got caught up with the local cyclists we hadn't seen since for a while. It was a good time, and QBP is a pretty cool place.

Today was much colder than I expected. I half hoped I could get Treb to ride the hills of Afton, but he wimped out. Instead, Jordan and I made the trek over to Painman's for a 3 hour trainer ride. That's about the only way I can get that kind of time, by riding with others. I don't know how Dan Casper and Bob Rolle do it.

We had a great time at Painman's. We watched the '05 Giro. Jordan managed to crash, when his bike slipped out of the trainer. He cut his knee open on Painman's chain ring, to which he replied, "It's just a flesh wound", and kept on riding. After, we had a sauna, and Divannis Pizza.

I sure hope the weather cooperates next weekend. Otherwise they're going to have to cut my head off and put it in a bowling bag, to keep me from killing everyone around me.

The Chicken

Just stop eating, and you too can look like this. I've seen fatter anorexics.

Get up you girly man, we gonna pump you up!

He did it again. I had rationalized myself worthy of a rest day, and Jordan got me on the trainer. It sure is nice having my own live-in personal trainer.

Poor Painman

Painman showed up for today's 318 ride with his unmounted studded tires in hand. Treb, Red Lantern, and I watched patiently, as he switched out his tires, and in the process froze his fingers off.

Bernie and Skibby put their tail between their legs via e-mail. Johnny B was a no show. Hey, Red Lantern made it. You guys should be ashamed.

We took bets on how many falls there would be today. Painman won that bet with a guess of 1. Treb was gravity's first and only victim today. I engaged in several risky maneuvers, but was somehow able to avoid going down.

Treb initiated the ride by hammering through the crustier portion of the trail. The MTB was definitely an advantage today on that terrain, over the cross bikes. Red Lantern and Painman seemed to sink in and slide all over, while Treb and I were able to stay on top, as long as the speed was high.

Once we got to the paved sections of the trail, it was a different story. Red Lantern had our number. Treb and I definitely worked hard to keep pace. Painman did not contribute to the higher pace, but was unsuccessful at slowing RL down.

Moose and Sadies Bacon and Broccoli Quiche was the order of the day, sans Red Lantern, who opted for a bag of mixed nuts instead? We chatted briefly with Dispenser who was working there today.

When we got back to the crustier section of the trail, Treb took over. It just plain hurt. He finally backed off, and had Painman waving the white flag. I couldn't resist, I took over, and we continued on with the torrid pace. Painman and RL threw in the towel, and left Treb and I to finish what we started.

At one point, this big older dude with his dog, coming in the opposite direction, would not give much, if any, room to pass. Clearly it was his trail. Treb and I rode by and got a friendly "A$$holes". RL's encounter was a bit more colorful of an exchange, and Painman rode by with the simple situation diffusing "Hi". It was my first experience with "Trail Rage".

All of us were spent at the end. Painman was quoted as stating, "Payback is a bitch, guys." Oh, we are well aware of that, but we've got to take advantage when we can.

Hell of a MTB ride

Rode over to Treb's for a long day on the MTB. Just one of those days where it was just plain great to be on the bike.

The ride included:
The "Loop".
A crazy ride through a field.
A fall by Treb.
A leap over a barbed wire fence.
A crap load of cockle burs.
A visit with 2 black labs, one friendly, one mean.
Several failed attempts at the Gravel Climb.
A fall by yours truly.
3 cans of Monster Energy Drink.
2 king size Snickers.
5 hours in the saddle.
20 minutes of riding in the dark.

Tomorrow? You guessed it. 318.

The count is now 6 for France

Stamm and Vanderwiel have now joined us for our Tour of the French Alps. It's going to be a blast.

Woller - I know you're out there. You even have permission from Heidi. How can you pass it up?

Schmeichel - I know you want to go. Put the '56 restoration on hold, and join us. Skibby said he'll come if you'll pay his way.

Doughnuts anyone.

Dang. 4 doughnuts available in the cube across from me. The really good frosted, filled ones. If one of them had maple frosting, I'd have to ask my neighbor to knock me out till it's gone.

Race Weight Achieved

The scale reads 200.0 lbs this morning. That's my race weight from last season. Now I'm only 45lbs heavier than Painman and Red Lantern.

Another 318 ride on the books.

I joined Painman at 318 today, for the ride into downtown and back. Warmer than yesterday, and sunny. Bernie joined us again, and Patrick rode out from downtown.

I rode my MTB today, which I would later regret. It allowed us to stay on the snow covered trails, but I was completely wiped at the end of the ride.

Both Patrick and Bernie managed to fall today. Bernie has studded tires, and still went down. I guess Painman and I were blessed today.

We spotted Ron Gallas and Timmer on the Greenway on our way into town. Then we made our way to the Birchwood Cafe, to which I had never been. It's a pretty cool place. I had a monster piece of Hawaiian Banana Bread. I'll have to hit it sometime for a real meal.

Getting started again from Birchwood was a bit of a shock to the system. We quickly noticed the cold north wind, plus we lost the sun. It took a several miles to get warm again.

The ride back to 318 was uneventful, except that Patrick decided to stay with us and make another round trip. We just couldn't believe it. Once we got back to the 318, you couldn't convince me to ride another mile, and he had another 25 left to get home, plus it was getting dark. He wouldn't even accept a ride home. We were all very humbled today by his effort.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dipstick

Who's dedicated (er, stupid) enough to ride when it's 12 degrees out. Yep, these 2 fools. At least there was no wind.

Red Lantern bailed via e-mail (sad, very sad). Johnny B at least called to bail in favor of shorter MTB ride. As scheduled, Painman and I set out for the "Loop" at Noon.


The start was the worst. Damn near froze our faces off heading down the hill to cross the river. I'm not one to use my brakes on downhills, but today, it was either that, or frostbite. We spotted a couple Bald Eagles standing on the ice on the St. Croix River stalking the open water for fish, way cool. We stopped to de-ice in both Prescott and River Falls. In Prescott, I literally had ice (frozen sweat) on my chest inside my jacket, and our facemasks were frozen to our faces. Later, we hit my new favorite part of the loop, a steep gravel climb on the banks of the Kinnikinnic. Painman became the 3rd person to successfully summit the climb, without dismounting, after myself and Johnny B (The challenge is now on Treb).

Unfortunately, our longer than normal stops, and reduced speeds forced us into my typical battle with daylight. We amped it up in the final miles, and arrived back in Hudson right at sundown. I'm headed over to the 318 ride tomorrow again. Looks like it might be a little warmer, but with a light North wind. Brrrrr.

Upside down world

How pathetic is my existence when my 11 year old son is yelling at me to get off the couch and do the spinervals DVD with him?

I fought the train, and the train won.

Relatively casual, uneventful ride yesterday. Until, in true 'Skibby Award' fashion, I decided to buzz the back of a passing train. Skibby says it all.

Is it really January?

Every weekend, for at least the past 6 or so, we keep saying, "this is it, the bottom will fall out this week."

Johnny B and I got an awesome night ride in on Friday after work. Can't remember ever having rode at night on the road bike in January.


On Saturday, Johnny B joined me again, and we rode over to pick up Treb for the loop.


Temps near 40 both days. I looked at my log for last week this year, and the weather was actually very similar. Looks like a 30% chance for snow showers tomorrow.

Bastille Day Ride

I got a detailed map of the Phone-Alpes for Christmas. I'm big on maps and knowing where I'm going/where I've been. The above map highlights our ride on Bastille Day (July 14th) during our 2007 trip with Thompson Cycling Tours.

We start from our Hotel in Megeve, climb the south side of the Col des Aravis, then then travel through the Mont Saxonnex gorges, then the famous Col de la Colombiere, where we will stop, eat lunch, and view Stage 7 of the tour. Afterwards, we follow the tour down the other side of the Columbiere through the stage finish town of Le Grand-Bornand. Then over the north side of the Col des Aravis, to our Hotel in Megeve. 82 miles/10,500ft of climbing.

Bjorn scores 23rd in Belgium

Congrats to fellow Hudsonite Bjorn Selander on a huge result in the GP de Ster Sint-Niklaas. Keep living the dream.

Back in the Saddle - Training 101

Jordan got the Aero Base Builder Spinervals 5-pack for Christmas. We did the first one last night. These workouts focus on aerobic base building by doing blue (aerobic) zone intervals with short rests in between. The aerobic zone is equivalent to the traditional Karvonen zone 3 (70-80% max heart rate). The idea is to train your body to enhance your ability to metabolize fat, and increase your capillary density.

Some of their other DVDs focus on higher intensity anaerobic (zone 4 = 80-90% max heart rate) training, which focuses on increasing your lactate threshold, etc. At this level of effort, your body metabolizes sugars and carbs, rather than fat. The byproduct of this is every one's favorite, lactic acid.

In years past, I tended to train too much in the anaerobic zone, and not enough in the aerobic and lower zones. Jordan has helped me change that. By training with him, I generally stay in zone 1 (50-60% max heart rate).

When I typically ride the trainer, and just watch cycling DVDs, I usually ride at a constant pace in zone 1 or 2. It will be interesting to see how these spinerval DVD workouts affect my conditioning this off-season.

Happy 2007

Happy New Year Bloggers.

I managed to get the flu bug on New Year's Eve morning. Still down for the count. I guess this is my mandatory rest period for this winter.

In the end, I was successful in passing my previous annual bests for training mileage and hours. I surpassed my 2005 mileage on Thanksgiving, and ended up besting it by over 1000 miles. It took me till the beginning of this past week to finally surpass my 1999 training hours (bested by 11 hours).

And wouldn't you know it, we finally get a little snow. We only got about an inch on the east side, but I here the west side got much more. I needed the white stuff to get me in the mood for skiing at Big Sky in March anyway. Too bad I was too sick to shovel.

I was sitting right at 209lbs prior to getting the Flu. I'm a bit lighter now, but I know it will come right back once I recover. Sill shooting for 190lbs by July.