the Classic Report

i now have a new favorite 30 mile loop. well, with my wrong turn it was 43 miles on the first loop, but it was still awesome.

the Saturday warm up ride with Tim was 24 miles, 3000 feet of climbing, 25 mph wind & a 50 mph decent. it was fantastic. seriously, i loved every minute of it. Tim is this master of everything. this means he can navigate his way in a strange land without maps or fancy electronic devices while keeping an entertaining conversation the entire way. i learned two things on this ride; if you are wearing a number 7 diaper its time to start potty training AND if you say "Last one to the top buys the first Spotted Cow" you better be ready to go, because Tim will be gone.

Saturday Stats

Sunday did not let us down. it was sunny, clear and calm at 7am. sure it was cold, but once properly geared up i barely noticed the temps. like anticipated the ride blew up quickly with the first hill. it was an in your face violent wake up call.

five or 6 guys formed the A group and shot up that hill. i was off the back of that group with Tim and a couple others. my legs knew it was April, but my head wanted to play like it was August. i chased and that was my downfall. i was chasing guys that if i did catch i wouldn't be able to stay with. we did meet up with them again due to some construction blocking the road, but my time with them was short lived. then i fell off the wheels of Time and Jose which left me solo. i had hope and direction though as i had them in my sights through the beautiful peaks and valleys of the route.

i was hurting and eventually lost sight of the guys in front of me. out came my map, i mean que sheet. i didn't bring the map. it appears i am a poor navigator as i made a wrong turn. about two miles the wrong way i decided to turn back. i did, but there were two riders coming my way. they had the map and felt we were on track. three of us couldn't be wrong? uh, we were. we descended into a small town on hwy 92 and quickly determined we were well North of New Glarus. we asked some locals for directions and with their help and that map decided on an approach. we didn't back track as we tried to pick the shortest route to NG.

we added 8 to 10 miles to the first loop and two kick arse climbs with this detour. i rolled into the park to see the A Listers still there waiting. i felt kind of bad that my miss turn may have delayed there departure, but then figured they would take much joy in dropping me again anyway.

i rolled out for the second loop with the mountain goats & jack rabbits. this loop also starts with a pretty nasty hill. guess what, i was off the back. at the bottom of the decent i spotted Tim slowing up and waiting for me. we made an executive decision to take the offered short version of the second route to avoid complete spontaneous combustion. lucky for me Tim had the map and was able to guide us effortlessly.

short didn't mean easy. this short version of the second loop had several decent hills including a killer one at the end. one i had struggled up yesterday as a matter of fact. however, i took this last challenge fairly well and felt good as i made the final decent into town.

for me it was 60 miles, 5000 feet of climbing, lots of suffering and lots of fun.

Spring Classic Stats

New Glarus, WI is a great location for a ride. totally different from my normal flat rides amongst the cornfields. i look forward to getting back up there.

today, the legs are still pretty sore. for me, this was a pretty violent early season effort. the trouble maker (left IT band) is pretty tight, but livable. i need to log a run or two this week and plan to be back on the bike this weekend.

later.

BFNIC Spring Classic

the first big group ride of the year is this weekend. unlike last year, the ride is taking place in Wisconsin AND the weather forecast is NOT looking good. this means, hills, cold, wind, rain, and maybe snow. this could be real ugly.



this is what i looked like the last time i tackled a ride in Wisconsin.




wish me luck. later.

take that..........

....giant quads. this weekend was Passover so that meant 7 hours of driving in a 24 hour time span to visit the in-laws.

we rolled home around 2:30pm on Sunday. it was beautiful out, 70, sunny, and light winds. we unpacked then the wife looked at me and said "Get Gone." i did.

the legs were slow and unresponsive from the start. so i punished them. i sprinted up every roller and into every headwind. when you ride out in the open plains even a light wind provides difficulty.

i thrashed the legs and ended with 40 miles at a 17.7 mph average pace. i stopped for 27 seconds (damn Sunday drivers). considering this was my 7th ride of the season i am very happy with the results.

peace out.

the run down........

last year at this time i was just getting ready for my first major cycling event, the BFNIC Spring Classic. i had only 3 rides under my belt, but was coming off a successful hilly half marathon and a winter filled with running. i had almost 270 running miles under my feet, which equalled some 40 hours of running.

this year is not last year.

the IT Band injury i sustained back in December basically shut me down, running wise. to date, i have 12 runs for 38 miles. the IT Band is 90% and i need to pick the running up as i am slated for the Soldier Field 10 Mile Race in late May. that being said, i have 5 outside rides so far and almost 30 hours of trainer time. i am finally feeling like i am getting back to a decent fitness level. we shall see if the all this tortuous trainer time was worth it when i roll out for the 2008 BFNIC Spring Classic next weekend. this years event is up in Wisconsin and will provided a much more difficult route then last year. especially difficult given it is so early in the cycling season and i don't see too many (or any) hills on my training rides.

movies. i have been watching movies. have you?

Underworld - 3 stars. blu ray. repeat. decent action flick. do they ever run out of bullets??

Dan In Real Life - 4 stars. blu ray. new to me. surprised me. not your normal romantic comedy. well worth a rental for sure.

Dreamgirls - 2 stars. blu ray. new to me. blah.

Man On Fire - 5 stars. blu ray. repeat. Best PQ and Sound i have experienced. great acting, story, & editing made this really enjoyable on my setup.

I Am Legend - 3 stars. blu ray. repeat. the movie could have been great. could have.

Rumor Has It - 2 stars. blu ray. new to me. cute girlie movie.

Superbad - 0 stars. blu ray. new to me. i didn't get it. i normally get this and enjoy this kind of stuff, but not this one. only made it 45 minutes into it.

I, Robot - 3.5 stars. blu ray. repeat. great PQ & Sound. CGI is good. story is good. Smith does well with this type of roll.

later.

for the record....

......i like dogs. i even have a cute little doggie. remember, he is Eddie Vedder, the dog, and i love him.

i feel like these statements needed a public forum. why, you ask? cause someone thinks i don't like dogs.

i have logged five outside rides this season. i have encountered dogs on four of them. big dogs chasing me, jumping at me, darting in front of me, and even rubbing my rear wheel.

the two border collies (yes two dogs at the same time) were the scariest, until yesterday. it was a pit bull, cross bulldog, cross boxer that chased me. the fat little turd almost took me down as a cute little girl on a tricycle yelled, "Don't worry he wont hurt you." he actually brushed my back wheel as i sprinted off.

later.

itch it.........

please mother nature. i really got me a scratch that needs some itching! stop hating on us cyclist!!

i got out for a rode ride this past Saturday. the sun was out, but it was not warm and it was not pleasant. the temp was 40ish, but with the stiff 15 mph wind out of the East it felt like 30ish.
PLUS, i did my best to sabotage the effort with a little Friday night movie night with the wife.

it was Dirty Dancing, the 20 Anniversary BluRay DVD. HER CHOICE. it is like her all time favorite movie. we watched it with the pop up trivia on. kind of like when VH1 use to do Pop Up videos where little boxes pop up (duh) with facts about this and that.

for example; did you know that Val Kilmer was the first choice to play Johnny Castle? he turned it down because he did not want a career type cast as a hunk. the next choice was Billy Zane ( the bad guy from Titanic), but he could not dance worth crap. then came Pat who was a classically trained dancer trying to get into acting. the rest is history. did i mention it was HER CHOICE?!@?!

i had to drink a bottle of wine to get through it.

back to the ride. i suffered. i was wiped out at mile 17. the last 10 miles was directly into the wind. it was cold. the legs were burning. i was suffering and i loved every minute of this 37 mile ride.
---

MOVIES

3:10 To Yuma -- 3 Stars. New To Me. BluRay. slow start. decent middle. crazy over the top end. Christian Bale carries the movie.

Da Vinci Code -- 2 Stars. New to Me. Standard DVD. for a long movie it really was blah. i mean take a freaking stand one way or the other. Hanks was poor. the leading lady was solid. whatever.

Oceans 13 -- 2 Stars. New to Me. BluRay. kind of a fun no brainer popcorn flick. kind of.

Dirty Dancing -- FIVE FREAKING STARS (i love you honey). Repeat. BluRay. the worst looking bluray i have ever seen. very poor PQ. but hey, it's dirty dancing.

later.