On Order

Dropped by Capital Hill Bikes last night and officially put in my order for the new bike. By this time next week I should be rolling around on my new Cannondale CAAD 9 Optimo 2. Man am I excited! This will be my first brand new bike since ’98 in high school when I bought my Trek mountain bike (that I still own and love). I can’t wait to get out and get some good rides in on it.

I also ordered some replacement handle bars to swap out for the ones the bike comes with (I think they are 42 or 44cm’s where as my Specialized bars were around a 40). I also decided to try out the wing style so we’ll see how much I like that, lately though I’ve been wishing I had a wing bar as I think I put a lot of weight forward when I ride. Otherwise I’m going to put some speedplays on it and keep everything else stock for now. I may change out the seat after a bit if I decide I don’t like stock one.

Greenbelt shots from last week.

At some point I said I'd get these up and since they are some pretty sweet shots I couldn't pass it up. Thanks to Joe and Roy for the shots. I missed last night at greenbelt and am taking an easy week after a crazy and fun weekend with the family. Hopefully next week I'll be back out there and it looks like I'll even be on my new bike!


Roy and I riding up near the front mid-race.


Shifting on the second to last lap.


I like this shot cause it looks fast...


Standing on it for the sprint.


The final picture before the finsh.

New Direction

Well as usual, I’ve been flip flopping over the choice of bike I’m going to buy and while for the moment it looks like I’ve got the financial aspect of the purchase worked out I’m still a little bit up in the air. I’ve decided against the Bianchi, too flashy, I don’t really like the campy shifters and Ultegra would be a high priced up grade from Veloce and I think I’d be more worried about the bike getting damaged. I dropped back into Capital Hill Bikes on Thursday last week and hopped on the Cannondale CAAD9 equipped with 105 and really enjoyed it, probably even more then when I rode the 1885. The bike is so stiff and responds so well and I liked the feel of the frame size and everything. It really felt smooth and handled like a dream. The full aluminum frame will be a bit rough on longer rides I’m sure, but I won’t be racing any seriously long rides any time soon, and if I decide to do any centuries or longer rides I’ll probably use the Specialized anyway.

So, we’ll see; I may be going in to order it as soon as this week since I think I’m pretty much determined on it. On Friday on the way home I stopped by Performance Bikes to check out the Fuji’s and store brands which were really inexpensive and featured full Ultegra, but after spending 30 or so minutes in the store and not even receiving a hello, much less an offer to help I decided I’d rather support the LBS that is doing so much for me already and get the bike with a frame that is worthwhile. Plus I’ll get service deals there where as I would never even consider taking a bike to Performance for service. So, I think that settles it, at least so far as where I’ll take my business. Hopefully I’ll be reporting a new bike to the collection soon.

Wedding Pics

The Happy Couple at the reception, they couldn't have looked better and couldn't be happier.


Dad and I sing the traditional family song, and Jenny and Brian have to kiss everytime a song with the love is sung.


Breaking it down on the dance floor.


My parents are happy even if it is past their bedtime.


Jenny and I enjoy a laugh, probably at my dancing...


The official Mother Son Dance.

Blogroll Update: Part II

While this seems a bit sudden, I seem to have accumulated quickly a few new blogs to the blogroll that I feel eager to share.

The first is a sensational blog which I’m sad I had not picked up sooner. I’d seen multiple links on multiple blogrolls but had never stopped in to read it for myself until about a month ago. I began reading just as Fatty and his wife found out that her Breast Cancer had metastized meaning it moved into her bones, spine, lungs and lymph nodes. This lead too a few short and sobering posts, a huge out pouring of support from loyal readers and a few guest posts while things were dealt with. Now I’ve been sucked in entirely as Fatty deals with everything he and his wife are going through with a combination of support, humor and riding and as his incredible sounding wife urges him ever onward in his own quests. This blog is both awe inspiring and greatly entertaining and if you have never visited before, I highly recommend checking it out.

Fatty also has some sweet jerseys for sale at the moment, though I'm holding out for the pink variety he'll be offering as a fundraiser with proceeds going to help fight breast cancer.

Randy at circular life is another aspiring triathlete whose blog I’ve been reading and who has reached out to offer motivation and encouragement to me on my own path to the tri. Randy’s posts are short and too the point, but it’s definitely been good for me to be able to read about someone else going through similar training and things as I’ve gone along the way. Keep tabs on Randy and his progress and show him some support at his blog.

Beakerz at A Feel Good Production has lately been mia, though when around he has a very entertaining blog. I believe he is also in training for his first triathlon though he doesn’t write about that too much. Beakerz is a teacher and appears to have a good outlook on life as far as I can tell. He at least has a good sense of humor.

This next blog, No Impact Man gets away from the sports/cycling area and focuses on a zero impact lifestyle experiment. You may have seen or heard of this guy before as there have been many stories on the news about him. Basically Colin will be blogging over the next year as he completes an experiment in a no-impact life style meaning he and his family will produce “no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets…” So far I’ve been reading this for a month or two and what he has to say has been extremely interesting. It’s also somewhat of a wake up call in that it will bring out things that I wouldn’t even think of as impacting the environment. Of course this is extreme, but using homemade detergent Colin and his family are stomp washing their clothing in their bath tub, and that’s just the beginning. Follow their progress and get a glimpse at what it would be like to live the zero-impact lifestyle.

Rob is an ultra-athlete and writes about it in his blog, UltraRob’s Adventures. I find it fascinating and absolutely inspiring to read Rob’s posts and get a glimpse into what it would be like to fully engulf yourself in the ultra endurance lifestyle. Everytime I read about this stuff it makes me want to get out and try it; reality returns soon afterwards, but for those really fleeting moments I really believe I could do it. If you feel this way too, just read Rob’s blog and live vicariously through him a bit.

Alright, that’s all for now; hope you enjoy the new links!

Greenbelt Training Series, Part III

Last night was another training race at Greenbelt which turned out only myself and Roy to represent the Union. We were supposed to have all four of our Cat 5's for the C race, however the other two had to bail at the last minute due to work conflicts (damn jobs getting in the way of our hobbies!) Anyway, the race was good although a lot of the riders seemed a bit shkey in the pack. I include myself in this assessment as well though I can feel myself getting better at my pack handling and I'm finding myself more confidently watching the back of the rider in front of me instead of their wheel so these training races are certainly paying dividends in that regard.

There was little action throughout the race and the total riding time was cut a bit short to more like 24 or 25 minutes as opposed to the 30 scheduled. I jumped one breakaway, though it was bad timing coming over the top of the hill and of course it didn't last there. We wanted to attempt another but the next thing I knew they were calling for two laps to go so I stayed in the pack and watched what went on.

Caught a wheel coming up the hill on the final lap and managed to hang on until just past the entrance to the parking lot where I stood up and sprinted past my lead out guy and held off the rest for the win. The ride felt good despite my body feeling a bit crappy and my calves still being sore from Saturday's beach run and winning was definitely a nice thing. Not too sure what happened with the crash other then the two guys came together back and too my right and rolled into the grass together before laying it out. I think other then a tacoed wheel though everyone came out alright.

Hopefully next week we'll get some more Union guys out for the race and we can come up with some similar results. This weekend is my sisters wedding so I may not get much time to ride, though I'm bringing both my mountain bike and road bike with me when I head up to Columbia. Fingers are crossed that with a couple of early rises I'll manage to get out for some decent rides out in some of the more rural areas in Howard County. I'll just have to hope I don't run into this a-hole Chip from WBAL radio.

Oh and as soon as I get the pics from Roy I'll throw some of them up as well. I think there are a couple of good ones showing the finish and the second to last lap with me reaching down to show off my dt shifters. This weekend I'm stopping by performance to look at a relativey cheap bike with STI that I wouldn't be too upset about crashing. I'm leaning more towards that route at the moment on the new bike front.

Gas Crunch My Ass

During a random fire drill here at the FPB this morning, Scott made an interesting point regarding the recent oh so "shocking" high price of gasoline. He pointed out that it is finally beginning to reach an equilibrium with the price of milk. Someone pointed out that a gallon of milk runs about $3.50, give or take a few pennies, while gas is apparently ranging in low $3.30's these days.

Now there's something to think about; a domestic, even possibly local product that is considered a staple in everyday life (milk and bread are what people buy when the snow storms hit aren't they? oh and I guess TP as well), costs and has cost for so long that much more then a gallon gasoline. Gas includes all these extra costs such as oil mining, drilling and extraction, followed by refining and a big (read: expensive) cruise across the ocean before reaching the tanker trucks that (burning diesel fuel mind you, which according to the Union of Concerned Scientists via GrinningPlanet.com despite it's better overall fuel economy still takes 25% more oil to produce then gasoline), lug it across the country to the gas stations that sell it to consumers. Oh yeah, don't forget the overhead costs at stations and government gas taxes.

But, milk still costs more then gas, and we're up in arms about the high price of gas... Gas isn't even exactly a renewable resource, at least with milk there will always be more (well until the population of humans finally destroys the earth and everything on it. Cows? There's no room for cows! We need space for more strip malls and highways!) We're draining the world of oil faster and faster each year with hardly even a blink of an eye as to the decreasing real supply. And I'm not even going to start on the pollution/global warming front either.

I guess I'll leave you with this little tid bit of joy. At least we know that all this whining and crying about high gas prices is having it's effect and consumer demand is finally kicking in to start curtailing America's obsession with irreverent over consumption...

What's that you say about digging one's own grave?

I'll be here in the corner rooting for something more around the $10 range personally; maybe, (though likely not) that would get people to stop and think.

Hot Calves

I spent this weekend camping at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware just North of Rehoboth Beach with a very large group of friends. We got in late Friday night and spent some time in front of the fire just talking before crawling into our warm sleeping bags to sleep away the chilly night. Saturday morning had some coffee and food before making our way to the beach to spend the day. After walking a ways down the beach alone I decided I should just get my run in then and ended up running down to the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk and back barefoot in the sand. The run was great and I felt good after I finished both for actually getting out and doing it and physically my body was feeling pretty good.

The next morning and even more so this morning my calves are screaming at me, but I’m still very happy I got for that run. I only wish I could get that kind of a calf muscle workout more often around here.

On another note, I’ve gone through with the biker leg shaving and surprisingly I’m actually pretty happy with them. Aside from a bit of razor burn on my thighs they have turned out to be very comfortable and for now I will continue with it. One of these days somewhat soon I may even shave off the essentially 10 year old beard. Oh the horror!

Senior Year School Play, That's me in the blue polo. I was Shoeless Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees and apparently Shoeless also Means Beardless. I was not pleased.

The spread of the revolution

In a recent release by the Racing Union's Supreme Council for Propagation of Message and Truth; a broader approach the spread of the revolution has been announced. The message is as follows:

"In an attempt to broaden the reach of the Racing Union’s message throughout all facets of the two wheeled revolution and to truly realize the organization’s potential, we will be branching out our repertoire to include a few mountain bike races this season. We will plan to get out for at least a couple of Greenbelt-esq. Wednesday’s at Wakefield rides and also plan on competing in the Cranky Monkey Series which includes two races at Wakefield, one at Fountainhead and one at the Quantico Marine Corps Base.

If anyone would like to join us for any of these races please feel free to do so. The Union will be present at many if not all of the these races and will look to continue the growth of the revolutionary army by digging deeper in to the world of cycling. The chasm that is found between the different sectors of cycling is no longer acceptable and the Union must work to eliminate it. The time for partisan bicycling politics is over; let’s reach out to our brother’s and sister’s on two wheels, no matter how fat those wheels may be and revolutionize the cycling world from all angles!

Revolutionary points WILL be awarded to alternative forms of transportation including but not limited to: public transportation, riding of bikes to the race and car pooling (the more people in the car the more points awarded). The driving of an SUV with one passenger and bike will result in a large net loss of revolutionary points."

This message has been cross-posted on the official Communiqué of the Racing Union.

A Successful Day of Bicycle Commuting

Well this morning was bike to work day so I recruited my neighbor to join me and we rode out to the Rosslyn pit stop to meet up with a few of the Racing Unions’ finest. It was chillier out then I expected so I ran in and threw on my arm warmers and rode with them along with my racing kit. I later ended up wishing I wore more clothing, but I’ve dealt with worse before.

The Rosslyn stop was nice, some fun music along with a bunch of people coming in and out. It was great to see so many people commuting by bike, though had the weather been better and the clouds less threatening I think there would have been a ton more. The Union stood out like a sore thumb in our green kit and attracted a decent amount of attention from photographers and their cameras. Hopefully soon I can post some links to a few of these pictures and videos.

We rode in a good sized group to Freedom Plaza where we hung out for a bit as well and were approached by a number of folks promoting their causes including a newish organization promoting car free areas in dc (carfreedc though no website yet) and one calling a few of us out for not wearing our helmets. Saw Mayor Fenty posing for a couple of pictures before taking off though we missed his speech since we got there a bit late. Saw a big 4 wheel mountain bike monster looking thing (Chris was a bit skeptical of this since technically it fits into the four wheeled hegemony idea, though I thought it looked pretty sweet) and a number of folding bikes. I stood around and caught a few guys from dcfixed.com and talked to some folks for a bit while my legs started involuntarily shaking from the cold.

I caught up with Gwadzilla a bit and we started talking about some races including the Greenbelt Training series and the Cranky Money mountain bike series. He said he’d been thinking about going to the greenbelt races but didn’t feel like dealing with the roadies. After hearing today some things about roadies being unwilling to do things like bike to work day and some of the general attitudes towards non-road racing cyclists that many apparently have I can’t really blame him. This goes back to a few previous posts I’ve written on the old “can’t we all just get along” vein. Eh, whatever; I refuse to let that get in the way of who I ride with and what I do so f’ it.

We also talked about some mountain bike races, most notably the cranky monkey series and Wednesday’s at Wakefield. I mentioned I wanted to try out racing but that I’ve never done it before and he assured me racing those would be good as a beginner. I’ll definitely have to get out and try out the Wednesday’s at Wakefield which essentially sounds just like the greenbelt training series for mountain biking. Sounds like a great way to get my foot in the door, or woods as the case may be.

The final portion of the ride was pretty brutal coming down Pennsylvania Ave with the wind and rain blowing in our faces, but it was short and overall it was all worth it. Looking forward to next year’s event and hopefully we’ll get an even bigger turnout (and nicer weather). I may even join Chris in riding all the way out to Vienna to meet everyone else before riding back in, though we’ll see about that one.

(Oh and I was shocked this morning that on bike to work day, dcblogs went ahead and specifically featured the nations highway system. WTF is that about?)