Drop the Doc Tomorrow

Too tired to rub my hands together in anticipation of tomorrow, a shop ride that's 38 miles and usually done in an hour and a half; it's called "drop the doc" Jesus. On my first day home put in 4:04 with an average heart rate of 158, max 189. I set out at one and ended up weaving back and forth trough Waukesha, Wales, Delafield, Dousman, and Oconomowoc; I'd peg it at 70 or so miles. Today had everything, a couple mile climbs, flat TT, motorpacing, and townline after townline. Right out of the gate, my legs felt quite springy, the day off in the car yesterday must have helped quite a bit. Possibly the best route I've ever taken. The only problems I had were eating too soon before the ride (ham and some old noodles, both cold) so my heart rate was high right from the get-go and not eating enough: a sandwich baggie of raisins, a banana, 16oz coffee, 2shots espresso, 2 powerbars, that's it. The caffeine kind of irritated my stomach for a while and I cramped up after 2 hours on my left side, oops. Unlike Finn (no dis, I dont have the attack abilities except of rollers where I can kill the last third and then descend well; I am a wheel-sticker; pull me), I paced my climbing and it felt great to just sit at about 75-85 of my max and focus on my pedal stroke, killer consistency. |

On the note of pedaling, I have some product reviews. Foolishly (or maybe not) I threw down around 5 benjy's for the Shimano 215's (silver looks so fast) and the Look Keo Carbon Ti's. Shit. My feet and knees have never felt so great, and I think there is a larger Q-factor than my old Look 196's. So familiar yet so much better. The 215's also helped as they feel feathery even with the cleats and the ratchet strap makes adjustment on the fly so much easier. Also, cappucino power bars? cappucino power bars.

Tomorrow I start my American Dream, working full time at Mathison Metalfab, my grandfather's metal fabrication shop. With two raises under my belt through the spring, I should be able to afford (waste more money) racing as often as possible. Currently I also "unattached" and need to find a team... maybe LAPT, their kits kind of look like Milram. My five o'clock wakeup is approaching so I should probably get to bed, more catch-up later (weekend plans, Ole Tri results, etc)

Slainte

Trialling of Sorts

Woke up at ten til six this morning to begin studying for yet another time trial of a sort, my Norwegian exam. Have to say it is a decent language, and I am considering concentrating in it. After posting I will still need to study my strong verbs. Joy of joys.

After Wednesday's rest day due to the OPUS crit on tuesday in which I pulled down third in the final spring and in points for my first cash prize, $5, I was going to take it easy in prep for the ITT this coming weekend. Thanks to an initially unintentional leadout by Finn I took the first prime and and third in the final. According to the winning man, we were averaging at least 24mph for 28 minutes, and that is fast. Yesterday a guy named David came out with Finn, Baur and me. He wasn't too bad and has enough heft that he'd make a very very decent midwest sprinter. We still killed it though and dropped him (unintentionally) no less that 4 times. One day we will get easy days right... After my final, I think it'll just be lunch and I just might go out for a few hours, to Sogn, to pick up my waterbottle thrown during the conference RR.

Hey, it was a good bottle.

Diamonds

To clarify, I'm a 19-year old college student and cyclist succumbing to the awesome weight of peer pressure. Currently, I have no idea what shape this will take but the list of potentials includes:training diary, rant space, emo-confessional (kidding), and a few others I guess. In a little less than an hour and a half I have my first final for the end of my first year at college. Congratulations to my peers. Post-final I should be heading out for a moderately paced 13 mile time trial in prep for the team triathlon this coming Sunday. The sweet escape of summer starts Monday


Cheers

Dirty Hands/American Summer

With four days of finals ahead, it is so close until I work at the factory again and summer training miles alone begin...