Thursday, November 30, 2006

Luck is about to Change

Looks like our good weather is about to end. It's still hovering around 70 right now, but wind is picking up and the rain showers will be moving in soon. Hopefully I can get in my ride to the gym and back without getting too wet. Not sure how I'll fill in my gaps for riding this weekend. If it doesn't get too wet, I'll probably just be on the mountain bike the whole time. If its nasty guess it's time to bust out the Medieval torture device.

I did manage to get in a good night ride on Tuesday night. There was 6 of us ripping up the trails (and 3 of us were on 29ers, with another's on order!) It was good fun. I seemed to suffer quite a bit on the climbs after hitting the gym the night before. I'd forgotten how much soreness you can accumulate in your legs from the weights. It really hit me hard on the super steep stuff. Rode a bunch of new trails over at Dryer Rd, they've been working on that place a ton and its coming a long ways. Always seems like there are a ton of cars in the lot. I think it's really becoming a mecca for riders around this area.

Yesterday I managed to sneak out and get a decent road ride in. Short, but sweet. Just stretching the legs and enjoying being outside. I rode without my always-by-my-side-trusty-ipod. It was nice to be free from it's reigns and listen to the sounds of the road. Apparently, alot of other people were up to the same hijinks as the golf courses were packed!

~J

EDIT: Spoke to soon....just heard some sprinkles on the windows

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Weather

Hmm... It's 55 degrees out right now at 7pm. I'm heading out the door for a night ride. Suppose to be 65 tomorrow. Looks like somebody is going to be going into work a little late...

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Holiday Weekend

Hope everyone out there had a good turkey day. I know I enjoyed all the fixings and the family time for sure!
The weather has been absolutely amazing the past few days and looks to continue right on thru next weekend. That sure as hell is some good news for me as I'm trying to keep off the trainer as much as I can this season.

Friday, I busted out a great ride. I was down on Keuka lake at Erin's parents cottage for the holiday and brought my roadie down so I could ride home due to the great weather. Put in close to 4 hours as I toiled down in the hills for a bit before I hit north and headed up through Italy Valley and home. I was a little overdressed for the climbs, but I'd rather be safe than sorry at this time of the year. In the evening, Erin's family and I headed to Buffalo for a Sabres games. I'm a huge fan of the Sabres and was looking for a good time, well we certainly got that. Game went into overtime, and the Canadiens scored with 1 second to go in OT!!! It was crazy. The entire arena was stunned, you coulda heard a pin drop when the puck went in the net. Final score Habs 2, Sabres 1.

Saturdays Temps hit the low 60's so I pulled out the mountain bike and headed over to Dryer Rd to hit the trails with EJ and Jimmy. Had a great time ripping it up over there for a bit. I had to utilize the good weather clause with Erin, as she was painting the living room :)

Anyways its 55 out right now at 10am and I'm heading out the door for a nice road ride.

~J
Listening to ''Truckers Atlas'', by Modest Mouse

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Preparation

It's that time of the year again for cyclists in who have wrapped up their past season. I'm through the rest and relaxation phase and on to the prep phase. I've planned out the majority of my season and my season goals. Now it's just up to me to get back into the swing of things. Funny thing is as a cyclist you are used to the 'routine' during the racing season. It swallows you whole; day-in day-out you are focusing on your training, eating and prepping for the next race. It becomes you; and then you spend 2 weeks sitting on your ass enjoying the good life and undoing everything you worked for. The hardest thing in the world is to swing yourself back into that routine.

Well, I've managed to peel myself off the couch and start putting the time back into the gym and on the bike. Managing some decent rides over at Dryer Rd and even got out on the road bike for 3 hours on Saturday. Starting to get used to being back in the 'routine' and enjoying it again. My goal this off-season is to stay off the trainer as much as possible. I'd rather freeze my toes and fingers off on the trail than have my eyes bleeding from staring at the wall as I go nowhere for an hour or so.

More later...
~J

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Bikin Dirty



I ran across this video on Youtube and found it friggin hilarious. I think I've watched it 20 times by now

Speaking of the Landis scandal. Wouldn't you know someone close to him hacked the labs, or was it that they mislabeled the sample?

I'm off to the gym to kickstart the weightraining

~J

Listening to ''White Unicorn'', by Wolfmother

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Bears Game Wrap-UP

Alright, we finally have some wifi here at the new place, so I guess I can get my write-up of the past weekend I spent in Chicago.

My calves and hip flexors are still sore from about 30 miles of walking! Arrived in the Windy City this past Friday afternoon, managed to not get mugged on the metra on the way into downtown and made it to our hotel. We got settled in there and took a Taxi down to "Ditka's" the restaurant. Had a beer or 2 in there at the bar while we contemplated if we should spend 50 a plate on dinner. To our surprise none other than the man himself Mike Ditka was there in person!! Didn't get a chance to shake his hand as he was walking out the door, but goddamn he is the biggest person I have ever seen. And I'm not talking heavy-wise. His shoulders are about 4x as wide as me! (Ditka vs God; Trick Question, Ditka is God!)

After we bailed on a place a little over our heads we headed over to a place called Gibsons that was rocking and asked for a bar table, well we ended up in the dining room. The waitress did one hell of a sale of the steaks, and we couldn't resist. So much for not throwing down the cash. After dinner we shot over to a little Irish bar across the street where the drinks where cheap and we could watch some sports. And to my great satisfaction they sold Fat Tire Ale!!! Yippee I was damn excited. The bartender was excited too as she kept giving them to me right up until 4 am.

Needless to say, when you get home at 4am, Saturday was a wash of day. Slept in, went and got some late lunch and thats about it.

Game-time!
Pre-Game starts early in Chicago, we were in the parking lot by 8am and there was loads of tailgaters. We didn't have tickets, so we had to find them. Considering the game was sold out, the Bears were 7-0 and my bro was wearing Dolphins gear; it wasn't an easy task. He took his swings with a laugh, but ended up putting on my Bears Jersey for cover so we could find tickets. He played the part pretty well and chatted it up with all the fans. We scored some tickets finally, but they were only singles. After our massive search and the cost people wanted for 2 tickets together we took them. I tell you what I've been to some Buffalo Bills games and people say that is the craziest stadium in the NFl. Well, it pales in comparison to Soldier Field. The Buffalo-Miami Rivalry is huge and my bro can get by wearing his dolphins gear, not in Chitown though! The lot was filled with 99% Bears fans and half of them were there just to party and not even go into the game!!

The Game-Let's not even talk about it. Go watch Sportscenter!

Photos are here!

Side Note: Basso to Discovery!!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Bear Down

Well, I'm sitting on the plane on my way to see the Chicago Bears v. Miami Dolphins game with my brother. I'm not gonna comment on the game until its over; alot riding on it. Our personal bet that includes the spread of 13 1/2 pts for the Dolphins is that the loser must wear the others teams respective jersey on Monday. That sounds like a girly bet, but the loser must also comment to each Bears/Dolphins fans that they see; aka "How bout them Bears", etc. I'll put some pics up after the weekend.

Once I return from the game it's time to start throwing down for the upcoming season. I'm back in Victor now so that means that the gym is accessible and so is Dryer Rd. A change of pace for this season as I've switched coaches; I'm now working with Peter Cummings of Plan2Peak. I'm excited to be working with him and think that I should see some new growth this season.

Looks like I better get everything out of my system this weekend, one final blowout to flush everything out!

More to come on Monday with the recap

~J
Listening to ''Long Distance Drunk'', by Modest Mouse