Breaking it in.

So Friday I wore myself out with weights and a long trainer ride. However, I did get my Supercal built and it sure is purty. Hmmm, there is a winter storm out and I want to ride my bike. What to do, what to do?

So needless to say, I woke up Saturday morning like a little kid wanting to open his Christmas presents. There was about 2 inches of new snow on the ground and it was sleeting. I figure sleet is just a harder snowflake, so I had the wife open the front door and out I went at 7:30 in the morning.

The view from the front door.

Got down by the Zumbro River. Yeah, I am a trail blazer. It can be difficult because there is a lot of uneven packed snow underneath from people walking in places.

The flying poop machines were all present and accounted for. FYI, the power plant in the background dumps water used for cooling into the lake here, keeping it warm all year. The geese love it. Another FYI, the stream you see going into the lake is where a sewage drain comes out, YUM!!

Cool pic, cooler bike.

Despite the snow not being terribly deep, it had a hard crust that proved to be quite draining.

Yeah, the snow was so hard I could stand my bike up in 2 inches of it. This was at Eastwood. No, I could not ride the trails, but I can say I tried.

The bikes big 29" wheels, cushy suspension, and packed snow made riding on the railroad tracks an easy task. It took some skill to get this picture, lucky for me I got some sweet skills.

I finished with 2 1/4 hours. I would have gone a little longer, but the sleet turned to rain that would freeze when it hit. The booties were only good for so long when that started. Dude, check out the helmet, that is ice...ice...baby. I don't get that from riding the trainer!

This ride was brought to you by my Baby's Momma. She made it a point this year to get me some awesome cold weather gear.

What did you do today slacker?

Just checking in quickly.

I am gonna go lift. Yeah, I know what you are saying, but I think my muscles do have (small) room for growth.

Been on the trainer a lot the last couple of days. But, that is not unusual.

Snow coming, I might just take the mountain bike out this weekend cause snowstorms are fun.

The Supercaliber is 99% done. Just some grips and small adjustments and it is rocking!!

The wife is skiing/tubing with the students today. The wife of the guy who won the RASC TT series (aero division) went with.

I gotta go, but I will leave you with a video of myself...YA!

"Seriously, don't you have something better to do then read this crap?", direct quote from your boss if he knew what you were up to.

Post birthday ride.

Alright, so I got yelled at by a gentleman at the shop (who adores his son-in-law) about having not updated in 2 full days (oh no!).

So I received an envelope in the mail on Friday marked top secret. Being my birthday and how I was freaked out already (see below) I opened it cautiously. Inside instructions were giving to grab my bike and head up to the city that holds Valley Fair. I did as it said that Sat morning.

There I met up with the fearsome threesome of MTB-Velorochester. Chris, Brendan, Ben, and I took off in the hopes of some "top secret" training. So here is the conundrum; is it top secret if I post it on my blog? I mean, anyone has access to it, but at the same time, what loser would read this drivel?

Brendan lives 2 miles from the River Bottoms, so off we went. The helmet in this pic is mine, the shadow is Brendan's, and the river is Mother Nature's.

We ran into Sam Oftedahl (left), brother of Erik. Brendan (right) is shown here having a smoke I believe. Either that or he is applying lipstick.

There's Chris digging for his Digi-pet. We had to stop several times so he could "feed" it and "clean up" after it.

A live action shot from the trail and it looks as though Chris is searching for his Digi-pet again!!! Ben is mad because he obeyed the rules of no computerized pets on this ride.

In this picture now Chris is mad because Ben said, "Digi-pets drool and Tamagachis rule". Boys with their toys, hmmmm.

After we got done with our 4+ hour ride we headed over to Chipotle and ate handsomely. Ben was the last to sit down, but the first to finish his burrito. In fact he had 1/4 of Chris's and still wolfed it down faster than my 1 burrito. That boy can sure fit a lot in his mouth :0

So, I found out that it is possible to ride outside in the winter, amazing. I look forward to venturing out again, but for now I am hopping on the trainer for 2 hours. Yep, 2 hours.

Time for less bloggy bloggy, and more worky worky.

Creepy

My favorite MTB wheel size in 29!

My baby's momma will be 31 this year. There are 2 of us. 31-2= 29!

Jim Carrey is starring in a new movie called "23". I have seen at least 6 of his movies. 23+6= 29!

I just looked at the clock, it is 8:29!

29 the first prime number after 24 (as in 24 hour race)!

Creepy huh?

Well get this, I turn 29 today!

Dude, this is freaking me out!! This is not coincidental. I am not leaving the house today, something bad is destined to happen today. Armageddon? Natural disaster? Attack from the Greys? Sleestacks come out from hiding?

I want everyone to be on alert today. Watch the shadows.

Work carefully, prepare to gather your family and run.

Rant mode on.

Sooooo, time for a rant, ie me whining.

You want to know what pisses us off at the shop? When people exhaust our services with the intention of purchasing the same product elsewhere. I'll give 2 examples.
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Example #1

Customer comes in wanting to looking for an item. They know about a deal that is soon ending through a local organization. The deal is not through our store, but we are the only ones that stock the product locally. So the customer comes in more than once and spends at least 30-45 minutes to figure out exactly what they want (they need sales assistance the entire time). They act as though they are looking to buy it from us, but it is quickly realized they are wasting our time. I see that customer with said product 2 weeks later, but it was not purchased through us. This was intended all along.
--------------------------------
Example #2

We have a customer that expresses interest in a bike. We measure the customer and order the size that is needed. The customer spends large amounts of time looking at the bike, getting sized on it, and test riding it. Then the customer goes and buys it off of e-bay.
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Both times customers have no problem wasting large chunks of time with no intent on purchasing a product there. Effectively they COST us money.

I understand that there are other ways of procuring bike parts besides our shop. I do not fault people when they do not buy from our shop. Just don't waste our FREAKING time so you can save a couple bucks somewhere else.

My grandparents say "way to go" on the sweet internet deal that cost us hours of our time.

Don't you have a job?

Off the hizzle, here is the shizzle.

So last winter I'll label the "comeback". I lost a significant amount of weight I had gained over the previous years. I actually trained in the winter *gasp*, and my fitness improved dramatically.

This winter I hope I can label the "confirmation" (Can you here me Lance?). My fitness has been improving steadily and I believe I am as strong or stronger than I was at any point last summer. Last night I was on the trainer for another 2 1/2 hours (yeah, yeah I hear you groining). I "cruised" most of that time in a single gear. Last winter and earlier this winter I would not have been able to sustain that same gear for more then 5-10 minutes. This year I happily spun along I that same at a fast cadence for 1 1/2 hours. I am sure that much of this is the structure from the Candyman, aka Sugardaddy, aka Marky Mark, aka Mark Consugar, aka Off The Front Coaching. Tempo workouts are the "thing" for me for the next several weeks, and I can already see the benefits.

Click on the picture to realize why this bill board is so poignant. Prepare to be very amused.

I am already eyeing up the races for next year. Many from here, some from here, definitely from here, what about here?

Your boss said get to work and quit "following your heart".

Randomness

Brendan's wife (Jen) popped.

Unibet?

Supercal is almost done.

Hopping on the trainer for the next 2 1/2 hours.

It is frocking cold still.

Tiled the bathroom floor, installed new vanity, sink and mirror.

Paragon is done.

Sugardaddy's site went stale and now it disappeared.

His new nickname is Candyman.

Lifted weights last night.

Excited about this series.

Got more songs loaded.

Dreaming about kicking butt this summer. Key word "dreaming".

Day of tiredness.

Worked on the bathroom this weekend. *pause* I had the pleasure of breathing in ceramic tile dust yesterday as I cut them to fit. *pause* Now my lungs fell it. *ughhh* It is all worth it because my baby's momma likes it. *not really, but...*



The good news is that I started to build the Supercal. It is looking bad ass.



I am tired. Not feeling like doing anything except go back to sleep. I guess it could be worse...

Your boss called, says the your break time is up.

Big wheels keep on turning.

Alright, so the real owner of the Crossmax's will be getting them soon. They are in the possession of the soon to be grandpa.

Mean while, I started with my new Bontrager 29'er X-lite tubeless wheels. Dang they are nice. Just got one pair set up and ready to rock. For those that don't know, the tubeless wheels are a tad lighter, but offer much lower rolling resistance (and less chance of flats). That is good. That is also the same reason Shimano and Hutchison are making a road tubeless system now as well.

What is a 29'er? Only the best kinda mountain bike. Check'em out here and here.

Otherwise, this week is a rest week. I am taking that to the extreme right now. Saturday marks my second "test". I am sure to have a regurgitation bucket near by.

Also, I have to set up my race schedule soon. I know which race will be tops on my list.

Sounds like the Velorochester boys will be their to go after the stars and stripes in the team event as well.

What is that smell? Smells like fear...of work.

So these Mavic SLR's just came into the shop. I already mounted tubeless on Deb's (Queen Bee) mountain bike. They look sharp on it. Hers are the same as in this picture, except she got the center lock rotor style.
Why are you not working?

Hell Yeah!!

I guess the trailer for "24 Solo" is out. Looks amazing. It is a definite must see. The torrential down pours in the trailer were at Nine Mile last year. I got the privledge to be next to Chris Eatough at a check point on the backside of the course. 70+ people shivering under a tent with the skies causing hell, all at 5:30 in the morning. Sweet.

Here is a pic from the race. I had just broken my frame and was in the process of getting my single speed ready to ride. Lost a lot of time in the whole melee. Ended up riding the single speed for 13 of the 19 hours. Good thing I had ridden it only once before.

See me working in the picture? I am trying to set a good example for you. Hint, hint.

New toy.

So a Top Secret operative from Fisher stopped by the shop this week. One of the things he dropped off was this. Are you man enough to ride the big wheels?

Am I excited? Durrrr! This is a sweet ride, yo. I just gotta enter it in some nice, loooong races. I was on the trainer for 3 hours this morning preparing for those nice loooong races. Yes, 3 hours. Even did some tempo work in there. Ya wanna know something else? I'll be on the go-no-where bike another 3 hours tommorrow. I can think of a soon to be father and his buddy that think I am nuts. Speaking of which...

I just watched a "chick flick" with my babies momma. She is talking to her pregnant sister now. No, I am not the daddy of that one and Maury Povich will prove it.

Gonna go watch SNL....

Winter Training Camp Day 5.

Let's see. As far as training goes, I was on the trainer for 1 1/2 hours last night. Short, intense intervals. Tired, puking body. Weights tonight. Strong this summer.

Now back to the winter training camp day 5. Well, day 5 (Monday) turned out to be the 2nd warmest day while we were there. I didn't even need to wear both jerseys, but I did have to still wear arm/leg warmers and a vest. I left from the hotel and headed towards the (white?) mountains.

30 minutes later I was about to start the climb. You can't see in the pic, but there a bunch of radio towers at the top.

After 3 miles of false flat the real climb began.

After many miles I was closer to the top.

Ahhh. The towers.

(Sung to Fergalicious by The Black Eyed Peas)...Smogalicious, definition, make the city look nasty. It's smogalicious. It's got people driving in their cars, making pollution their mission.
Blazing down the 7 mile descent I found myself going much faster then the cars. This guy was nice enough to pull over and let me fly by about 4 miles before this picture.

A pic from the handlebar cam. Pretty silly huh?

Well, I rode around the flat roads for a long while and then returned to the mountain. I had only enough time to make it 4 miles up the climb. Then I turned around to TT it back to the hotel. We (me and my baby's momma) had just enough time to box up the bike, get some food, and make it to the airport. I ended with another 3 1/2 hours of winter training camp riding.

Oh, my super secret operative at Fisher hand delivered some goods the other day. Pics will come. Ohhhhh, I am pumped!

Less bloggy, bloggy. More worky, worky.

Rolling, rolling, rolling.

Winter training camp update day 5 will be posted tommorrow.

So, I am hitting of the training hard this week. 1 hour and 45 minutes on the trainer last night. Same today. Intervals thrown in. Lifting Mon and Fri. Sat and Sun day are going to be loooong days on the trainer (that is of course if it is under 50 degrees outside).

Next week will be a recovery week. Ahhhhhhh.

In the mean time, meet our pilot when we came back from AZ. Very nice guy.

He was working in this pic, are you?

Winter Training Camp. Day 4.

By popular demand, from woman that are pregger's and those that are not, I get to the day of the marathon...

Work up early for the 7:30am start. We quickly learned that it was in the mid 20's, as in degrees, as in record lows. I nixed the big ride I was going to do because it was freezing. Becky put her warmest clothes on (simple tights and long sleeve). She has warmer clothes at home, but who thought she would need them in Phoenix?

Here is a pic of her going down the hotel hall. She has on some "throw away" clothes to take off after she gets warmed up. In our hotel were mobs and mobs of people in Team in Training. This organization raises money for luekemia and lymphoma research. Good cause, but the most annoying participants by far. Well, they decorate there doors like we used to in college. The green paper says, "shhhhhh, a hero is sleeping." SO..............

I put this on our door.

The race finished at Sun Devil stadium on the ASU campus. There were 30,000 plus runners, but 23,000 of them were doing the half marathon...walking (Team in Training). Here is Becky finishing on the big screen (far right).

Well, the high that day was 42 degrees. Becky froze her butt off all day, had stomach pains all day, stopped twice to take off her shoes and adjust for a blister, but she still beat her PR by ten minutes. Her time was 4:01:52 I believe. Had the weather been better and she felt good, she may have gotten close to 3:40, her Boston qualifying time.

We ate at P.F. Changs afterwards. They not only have awesome food, but they are the title sponsor of the race. I got Becky's pic with the manager, who was way cool. Becky wants to think it was P.F.Chang himself.
After that we headed over to Tortilla Flat. This is a tiny 2 building town just past Canyon Lake. The town is old and touristy. The inside of the buildings were covered in dollar bills that people had signed. Very neat.

That concludes day 4 and the marathon. Are you women happy now?

All blog and no work makes Jack unemployed.

Winter training. Day 2 and 3.

So day 2 was too chilly to ride with the gear I had brought. So, I hit the town with my baby's momma. Here she is hitting on some other guy (don't tell her it was a statue).

Later that night we checked out the lights on top of a mountain.



Day 3 brought slightly warmer temps. I bundled up with 2 jerseys, arm and leg warmers, and a wind vest (ie., everything I had). It was still a very cold ride even with the gear on. This was on the way out. I stopped to, ahhhh, water the cacti. Superstition mountain is in the background. I went to the base and then hung a left.

The first 10-15 miles were fairly flat. The next 15-20 miles had cool twisty ascents and descents. Canyon Lake was the ultimate destination.

A view of the lake after I turned around as I climb and climbed.

Big cactus. Little bike. Watered plants.

Yeah, when I get old I want to drive everywhere in my golf cart. In the bike lane. With a 12 pack next to me. And a handicap plackard.

Ah, old dude. You just got owned. Note the wind vest pulled up all the way. Brrrr.

So the day ended with 3 1/2 hours of road time. Mileage and climbing were unknown, but I would guess I averaged no less then 28 mph. Mmmm, maybe 30.

Don't you have a job?

Winter training camp. Day 1.

Alright, time for some pics from the "winter training camp".

I got to bed at 1am and was out the door at 8am in Phoenix to ride the new hot rod. I had the Bartlett Lake route planned thanks to a poster on Road Bike Review.

Here it is. The 2007 Trek Madone 5.9SL (oh and the rental Chevy Colbalt). Geared up with some tools, bottles, and the heart rate moniter.

After a 2-3 mile flat warm-up I took a right and climbed this gradual hill for about 9 miles.

Yes, Arizona has cactus. And yes, they have to be told not to shoot their guns everywhere.

This was a 5-6 mile downhill to the lake/turn around point below.

At the bottom of the hill I stopped to answer the call of nature and take a neat pic. This bike is sooo much fun. The lake is to the right (out of picture). I then turned around and climbed back up the 5-6 mile hill on the left (again, out of picture).

The lame look at me shot as I climbed, and climbed.

Stopped at the Ranger Station to refill the bottles. It was about 60-65 degrees that day. It would prove to be the warmest day while we were there (by far).

Take a look at the second pic in the series. I got to draft behind a garbage truck the whole way down. I don't know the speed I was going, but the speed limit was 50mph. It made that downhill go by FAST!

Ended the day with 3 hours of bike time. I guess this out and back has about 4000 feet of climbing in 55 miles.

I am going to shower and go to work now. Gotta smell good for the ladies ya know.

Culprit identified.

Yeah, it didn't take to long to figure out who had been posting here under my name. Turns out the Godfather (Matt the owner of the shop) has a key logger on the computers at work. From there he got my e-mail password, which was the same as my password here. Then he thought he would play a joke on me. Oh well, the ACLU didn't think it was funny (they'll be in touch). I suppose I can't blame Matt, it all stems from his childhood. This is a pic from his 5th birthday. His parents didn't believe in parties or cake. So sad, so sad.

I do owe some reprisals now because the folks at work thought it would be funny to put a bunch of my stuff in Jello, ala The Office. Maybe I'll poo in brownies and feed it to them. That's fair isn't it?

On another note I can't find the cord to upload the pictures from the trip.

I lifted last night, and now I am jumping on the trainer. It is like 10 degrees out. Brrrrr!

Work is calling, will you answer the phone?

Weird stuff.

Well, it looks like someone has figured out how to post on this site besides me. He (and I do mean he) left me intentional clues, so I assume I'll find out soon who it was. I have been without internet access the last 6 days, so those last 2 posts were not mine.

In the mean time I got back from the AZ at 2 am this morning. Phoenix was recording record lows which interferred with my riding. I was only able to go out on the new road bike 3 out of the 5 days. I took some pics and I'll post those soon.

I made a new knock knock joke by the way...

-Knock, knock
-Who's there?
-My
-My who?
-My new Madone is seriously FREAKING FUN!

I am tired, and gotta go to work. You should too.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Don't miss me to much. I am sad too.

I even made a video to express my emotion.

I'll be back soon.

Before I leave I am going to hit the gym and pump some iron in a top secret mission. Then I'll go to the AZ for some top secret riding. I will try to update my sweet rides while I am there.

Think about it...I'll be in AZ and you have to WORK!! Heh, heh, heh.

Yo, yo.

Not a ton going on...

Lets see, training for next year is going well. I hit up the gym for weights on Friday and I am going again today (Monday). A famous fast Moore brother likes to mock me for riding the trainer inside a lot. I did get outside this Sat. for 3 1/2 hours gravel fun with his not as fast (but still fast) brother and some other cohorts. The course we took had no shortage of hills and we were all hurting at the end. Oops, I mean they were all hurting at the end;) I had brought the camera for documentation, but the batteries were dead.

Sunday I hit up the trainer for 1 1/2 hours. I just rode tempo, and subsequently put out my highest average power since I started using the power meter that comes with the trainer this winter.



Oh, sweet stuff about to happen. My first ever winter training camp will start this week. Wed, Becky and I are flying to Phoenix for her to dominate the Rock 'n' Roll marathon. I'll bring the new road bike and get some OUTSIDE miles in. Looks like the weather will be in the high 50's, so arm and leg warmers may inhibit my tan.

Dude, I am going to be as fast as a superman ninja next year. For real I am.

Quick, your boss is coming. Get to work!!

A new addtion to the family.

Guess which Moore brother became a new blogger? Nope, not the faster one. He is a veteran at it (click picture).

Ben heard from Brendan and I that blogging has been proven to make you 15% faster. He also fell for it when we told him that if your hand is bigger than your face you have cancer. Ha!

Queire trabajar?

Hey y'all.

Oh this last week was fun. It was a "rest" week. Along with that I attended the usual parties with girls making out in the hallway and people with lampshades on their heads (a reference to the best show ever made).

I got some good news. A double secret agent in the Trek organization was able to sneek out a pair of the new 29'er x-lite tubeless wheels. These things are going to be hot and as of right now they are very scarce. Oh goody, goody. I'll give you pics when they come.

So someone seems to have broken into my house and taken pics of me on my trainer. Yes, a police report and restraining order are being processed. In the mean time I caught that same guy on a top secret training ride OUTSIDE. he is always saying that 26" wheels accelerate faster. At least I think that is what he says cause all I hear is blah, blah, blah, and where are my crossmax's? Well he has taking the small wheel thing to the extreme with this bootleg copy of his last ride. BTW, nice flooties dude.

Still gotta show pics of my sweet new road bike. My baby's momma has a marathon in AZ next weekend where I'll get to break in the new ride over many miles of (hopefully) smooth pavement. 5 days in the sun...YES!

Did I mention there is some snow on the ground finally?

New Years is over, so get back to work.

Sleestacks yo.

Sweet mugs on these guys. It is like they are in some LAND the has been forgotten and LOST. Kinda looks like the pics I would see of the Moore brothers and Fisher at the start of the Expert races (from left to right, Chris, Brendan, and Ben). All decked out the same in Velo gear and "team" helmets. Next year they'll all be on Trek Top Fuels.

Hitting the trainer this morning then it is back to work for more inventory counting. Yeah, inventory!!

Oh, I just got a SWEEEEET new road bike yesterday. I have to build it, waiting for the proper bars and then all the "roadies" will be on notice. No more racing on the cyclocross bike. I'll post a pic when built.

You=get back to work.

Chilling

This would be funny if we were getting snow. It was not a white Christmas, and all I hear about is rain not snow. Hmmmm.

At the shop we are doing inventory. It sucks, but at least this guy's brother is back from college to help. Ben and I talked at length about how his blogging brother is getting worried about next year and how we'll both whup on him. It seems he will be a dad soon and I am sure we'll never see him again. Who will be the faster brother next year? That is on the lips of the public.

Anyone know what a Sleestack is? Try google, or look tommorrow and I'll post a picture.

I am going to lift now. It is a "recovery" week. I am glad to say the 1st block of training is done. Don't think Base 1 or 2. I am following a slightly different way of training.

Go work or ride. Do something at least.

Festivus, for the rest of us!!!

Just to piss off the faster Moore brother I rode twice again yesterday. Actually, I can't today, so it was a preemptive strike.

1 1/2 hours in the morning, and I felt GREAT!

1 1/2 hours in the evening and I felt like POO! I did get some power work in though.

Today is free of physical activity, Sunday is weights and some cardio, then Monday is rest as well. YEAH!

I also want to give a shout out to Matt "back in the day"Leiven the coolest inside rep at Trek/Fisher. Turns out he is 29, same as my.....*uh oh*.......wheels on my mountain bike. Yeah 29'ers!

Now go air your grievances and prepare for the feats of strength!