After putting in a straight 8 at work on Sunday, I stopped by The Real MG's place to get my helmet and sunglasses. TRMG is the kid who busted himself up a week ago 4 minutes into our cyclocross session. Last Friday he had some hardware installed which he described as follows:
"The gave me an arm block prior to surgery from my neck down to my fingers on the left side. Slice it open... two screws in the top bone, two in the bottom and a pully system in between to pull the bones together. The pulleys got pulled, I got stiched up, woke up with a numb arm/shoulder and was out of the hospital 4 hours after going in. The arm block was supposed to last 10 hours. It lasted 9 hours and 55 minutes and it wore off like a light switch. Holy shit the pain was intense. Sweating, nausea, then shivers until the percocet kicked in. I've been in a trance ever since."
When I saw The Real MG he was doing OK, but he was still having to hit the percocet every 4 hours just to endure the pain. He asked if it was still raining out. I said no. He said go get some. I said hells yeah.
I got home, climbed into the spandex costume, and went as hard as I could up the 2,600 foot dirt climb over 4.5 miles that sucks everytime to the top of Mt. Elden. It hurt like hell, but 'twas a 1 on the richter scale compared to MG's pain. I kept calling myself a fucking pussy when I started to fade and kept the throttle down to the top. It. Was. Much. Needed.
I've been riding like Alice for weeks - a little ride here, a little ride there, nothing too hard, just enough to keep ahead of teammates and get a nice workout in. I call bullshit. I've been missing that edge for too long and it was time to throw it down and hurt like a motherfucker. God Damn it's easy to get in a comfortable mode and not push yourself. Seeing MG there made me realize how you have to grab it when you got it because your time is coming in the bed with the broken bones. I know because I've been there and it'll happen again, because if it doesn't, then I really must not be riding worth a crap.
So, to my homie MG - speedy recovery pal. You'll be better for it come the 2011 race season. As for me, no more riding like fucking Lazy Lucy. I'm ready to drill it again, today.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Cyclo-crash
Not even four minutes into our mellow warm-up lap on Sunday at the cyclocross course, we came upon the second set of barriers. As I finished my dismount into the soaked grass, fellow teammate MG decided to bunny hop instead of run. He pulled up on the front end – then sprung the back up too….so far, nice form. The problem then came into focus as he couldn’t control the hop and landed on his front wheel at a 50+ degree angle. The front wheel slid out in the wet grass and his bike laid down under him as he executed a perfect shoulder roll – minus the fact that he separated A and C. It looked like a broken collarbone at first, but what did we know?
Adrenaline = gone. Shock = full throttle. Nausea and fever = plenty of it. I felt bad for him especially since he’s been the driving force of our team cyclocross effort by buying barriers, tape, stakes and such to construct courses. He’s a great kid (going on 24 years old), and just made a rookie mistake on wet grass. Surgery this Friday at 5pm, and 6-8 weeks in a sling. The heartbreak is that he just bought and had himself fitted to a new Velovie bike. Dura Ace, Reynolds wheels, the whole enchilada – yeah, nice. I wish it fit me so I could keep it warm for him.
The part that I won’t forget was his first reaction after crashing (besides nearly barfing and being dizzy). He was concerned about not being able to ride. Job, wife, the fact that he didn’t break his neck….that shit didn’t matter in the heat of the moment. It was about riding. That’s passion and I couldn’t help but smile. Yes – his brain re-set once I walked him into the ER Room and his wife arrived in a ball of frenetic energy. Then he realized he was fortunate to still kiss his wife, drive his car, do his job in a sling, and that the bike would be there in October when he’s ready.
When did I become the old, experienced guy on the team? Broken collarbone, broken wrist and subsequent surgery/rehab, tendonitis, concussions and a mess of superficial cuts and scrapes. The guy who tells stories about a friend who broke his C-3 on a seemingly harmless drop and is a quadraplegic until he dies. The guy who has had run-ins with dead Indians, and has felt lost/scared/along out in the woods more than once. All o' that kinda' reminded me to take it easy on that greasy-slippery grass on Sunday morning even if I was in third going over the barriers and not first. Maybe this old man thing isn’t that bad after all.
Adrenaline = gone. Shock = full throttle. Nausea and fever = plenty of it. I felt bad for him especially since he’s been the driving force of our team cyclocross effort by buying barriers, tape, stakes and such to construct courses. He’s a great kid (going on 24 years old), and just made a rookie mistake on wet grass. Surgery this Friday at 5pm, and 6-8 weeks in a sling. The heartbreak is that he just bought and had himself fitted to a new Velovie bike. Dura Ace, Reynolds wheels, the whole enchilada – yeah, nice. I wish it fit me so I could keep it warm for him.
The part that I won’t forget was his first reaction after crashing (besides nearly barfing and being dizzy). He was concerned about not being able to ride. Job, wife, the fact that he didn’t break his neck….that shit didn’t matter in the heat of the moment. It was about riding. That’s passion and I couldn’t help but smile. Yes – his brain re-set once I walked him into the ER Room and his wife arrived in a ball of frenetic energy. Then he realized he was fortunate to still kiss his wife, drive his car, do his job in a sling, and that the bike would be there in October when he’s ready.
When did I become the old, experienced guy on the team? Broken collarbone, broken wrist and subsequent surgery/rehab, tendonitis, concussions and a mess of superficial cuts and scrapes. The guy who tells stories about a friend who broke his C-3 on a seemingly harmless drop and is a quadraplegic until he dies. The guy who has had run-ins with dead Indians, and has felt lost/scared/along out in the woods more than once. All o' that kinda' reminded me to take it easy on that greasy-slippery grass on Sunday morning even if I was in third going over the barriers and not first. Maybe this old man thing isn’t that bad after all.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ridin and Racin
What ‘jou have for breakfast? Froot Loops? Maybe some eggs and toast with a mug of coffee? Not me, baby. I had me a full plate of singletrack, served up nice and sweet. We’ve had rain for the better part of a week with a few spots of clearing in the AM and then again overnight. Soft trails – but not sticky satanic hell mud = great traction and a fook ton of fun. It’s been another long week at the sawmill so the am stress relief has been important.
Sunday is comin’ quick and with that marks the first time our team of “we know we’re not turning pro tomorrow so let’s have a good time riding” dudes is setting up the four CX barriers we scavenged last year on the NAU campus - and making a whoop-de-whirl CX course in and out of the woods/flats/parking lots etc. For some reason we have a few guys with hard-on’s for CX racing already. I borrowed a CX bike from a teammate and I’m going to give it a more serious go this year than last when I showed up on my old, small geared MTB for two races and hung with the leaders in the tech, but got absolutely dropped like a stone on the pavement. I finished pretty well, but I was more than a minute back from the winners so I figure an actual CX bike and some early practice could remedy that deficit.
Speaking of team stuff, its jersey reorder time so we’re tweaking the look and changing companies. Don’t order from ATAC unless you just want a cheap price. We learned that lesson the hard way as the material began to literally disintegrate while wearing it. The capper for me was about a month or so back at the road stage race: I was riding near max effort with a teammate on my wheel…out of nowhere he said “You know….what I….don’t….like about…..the kits?” I didn’t even respond because I couldn’t speak, grunt, or even blink at 180 beats per minute. He then said “The…..panel on…..the…back…….I can see…….I can see your ass crack”. Good thing I shaved that morning ;)
Sunday is comin’ quick and with that marks the first time our team of “we know we’re not turning pro tomorrow so let’s have a good time riding” dudes is setting up the four CX barriers we scavenged last year on the NAU campus - and making a whoop-de-whirl CX course in and out of the woods/flats/parking lots etc. For some reason we have a few guys with hard-on’s for CX racing already. I borrowed a CX bike from a teammate and I’m going to give it a more serious go this year than last when I showed up on my old, small geared MTB for two races and hung with the leaders in the tech, but got absolutely dropped like a stone on the pavement. I finished pretty well, but I was more than a minute back from the winners so I figure an actual CX bike and some early practice could remedy that deficit.
Speaking of team stuff, its jersey reorder time so we’re tweaking the look and changing companies. Don’t order from ATAC unless you just want a cheap price. We learned that lesson the hard way as the material began to literally disintegrate while wearing it. The capper for me was about a month or so back at the road stage race: I was riding near max effort with a teammate on my wheel…out of nowhere he said “You know….what I….don’t….like about…..the kits?” I didn’t even respond because I couldn’t speak, grunt, or even blink at 180 beats per minute. He then said “The…..panel on…..the…back…….I can see…….I can see your ass crack”. Good thing I shaved that morning ;)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The hammer comes down
Outside of the state of Arizona, it’s hard to get a clear understanding of SB1070 – the immigration bill that passed the state legislature. Our Governor and infamous Senator McCain tell stories about beheadings at the border, drug smuggling children, and murdered American Ranchers. Drama and Lies – all of it. Fortunately, key aspects of that bill, which was to go into effect tomorrow, were shot down by a judge today. There was a line around the corner of people and even the US Justice Dept suing the state over it. Yeah baby – chop this law all the fuck up.
I’m ashamed to say that the majority of our residents support this bill. I’m not surprised though, particularly when I step outside of the democratic island I live on in Flagstaff.
Here’s where I’m coming from -
When everyone was getting rich out here from the mid 1990’s clear through the crash in 2008 – residential housing developments, commercial developments, and resorts/lodging/restaurants were thriving. Throw in all of the ‘extra’ services like car detailing, house cleaning services, and landscaping and this state was a big cash/credit whore with way to many people moving here for the lure of easy money in flipping houses. The wealthy peeps in our state needed immigrants from Mexico to cover the labor demand to keep these industries thriving. Not only did they need them, but many paid them under the table to ensure even more of a profit. Then, it all went away like a popped balloon in late 2008. All of a sudden, the wealthy people didn’t need the immigrants any more. That’s when the NASCAR crowd chimed into the game. “They are taking our social services”. “They ain’t payin’ taxes”. No shit Sherlock, that’s because business owners in this state, one of which probably employs your Jeff Gordon wanna be-ass, took the easy money path and enabled ‘em. If you were an immigrant, would you take a favor – a stroke of good luck – hell yeah you would. So what do you do now Jimmy Johnson? These immigrants have established places of residence, their kids are in your schools, and they have purchased assets like homes and cars.
So, rather than consider amnesty and a legitimate path to citizenship for those that are living/working here currently, our legislators bowed to the redneck pressure from the NASCAR audience and said “get ‘em out, and put the burden on the cops to do it”. Just the Mexicans though….the Canadians and Eurotrash can stay because they don’t fit the profile: Brown skin, dark hair, working class, drives a truck or an economy car.
The last time I advertised for housekeeping help and actually had Caucasians apply, said white chicks lasted 16 hours on the job and no called/no showed by Wednesday….and 5 out of 6 failed a background check anyway. One of the main claims of the general public is that the immigrants are taking jobs from unemployed Americans. My experience over the past 12 years shows that the general public doesn’t want unskilled labor – preferring to collect benefits from the government.
I’m appalled at the fact that our Governor backed this law and rode it to re-election. The good news is – it ain’t going into law, not like she wanted it. Now it’s time for Congress to put this to bed with a national policy to deal with immigration. Screw you Arizona lawmakers – you just got what you deserved because you got rich off immigrants, dumped ‘em when you didn’t need ‘em anymore, and then jumped on an issue to gain re-election.
I’m ashamed to say that the majority of our residents support this bill. I’m not surprised though, particularly when I step outside of the democratic island I live on in Flagstaff.
Here’s where I’m coming from -
When everyone was getting rich out here from the mid 1990’s clear through the crash in 2008 – residential housing developments, commercial developments, and resorts/lodging/restaurants were thriving. Throw in all of the ‘extra’ services like car detailing, house cleaning services, and landscaping and this state was a big cash/credit whore with way to many people moving here for the lure of easy money in flipping houses. The wealthy peeps in our state needed immigrants from Mexico to cover the labor demand to keep these industries thriving. Not only did they need them, but many paid them under the table to ensure even more of a profit. Then, it all went away like a popped balloon in late 2008. All of a sudden, the wealthy people didn’t need the immigrants any more. That’s when the NASCAR crowd chimed into the game. “They are taking our social services”. “They ain’t payin’ taxes”. No shit Sherlock, that’s because business owners in this state, one of which probably employs your Jeff Gordon wanna be-ass, took the easy money path and enabled ‘em. If you were an immigrant, would you take a favor – a stroke of good luck – hell yeah you would. So what do you do now Jimmy Johnson? These immigrants have established places of residence, their kids are in your schools, and they have purchased assets like homes and cars.
So, rather than consider amnesty and a legitimate path to citizenship for those that are living/working here currently, our legislators bowed to the redneck pressure from the NASCAR audience and said “get ‘em out, and put the burden on the cops to do it”. Just the Mexicans though….the Canadians and Eurotrash can stay because they don’t fit the profile: Brown skin, dark hair, working class, drives a truck or an economy car.
The last time I advertised for housekeeping help and actually had Caucasians apply, said white chicks lasted 16 hours on the job and no called/no showed by Wednesday….and 5 out of 6 failed a background check anyway. One of the main claims of the general public is that the immigrants are taking jobs from unemployed Americans. My experience over the past 12 years shows that the general public doesn’t want unskilled labor – preferring to collect benefits from the government.
I’m appalled at the fact that our Governor backed this law and rode it to re-election. The good news is – it ain’t going into law, not like she wanted it. Now it’s time for Congress to put this to bed with a national policy to deal with immigration. Screw you Arizona lawmakers – you just got what you deserved because you got rich off immigrants, dumped ‘em when you didn’t need ‘em anymore, and then jumped on an issue to gain re-election.
2011 preview
2011 is looking great: LA will be retired and on the tri circuit, Cancellara and Contador on the same freakin' team led by Riis - nice! The creepy Schleck brothers will drive some Luxembourg squad in the classics and Le Tour, and Floyd will still be racing in a grey t-shirt and black Performance shorts at your local criterium sprinting for beer preems. Oh I can't wait for the madness!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Training Camp Time
8:47pm – I’m sittin’ at my desk livin’ the dream listenin’ to the Scorpions singing “ARIZONA” from the older than dirt album titled Blackout. Great song. What did you expect?
We had a scavenger hunt at the mall for my daughter’s 9th birthday this morning. I should get a Parental Medal of Honor for escorting 4 young girls around the mall on a mission to collect paper toilet seat covers, credit card apps, 50% off signage, a piece of pepperoni, nametags, business cards, and a clothes hanger. With 15 minutes left, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel – cashed a $5 bill and handed out quarters for video games at the arcade next to Sears. Yeah, we got smoked in the scavenger hunt but the girls said I was the coolest. F’n A right kids. Once the festivities were over, we took Lyza over to get her all-world, all-time, greatest-ever present – a working cell phone. Text messaging, extra memory for music, and yeah I bought the $6 month insurance policy. The over/under on the first day it gets lost is around 8 days. Get your bets in now.
Until the UCI Worlds and then the fall classics in cycling it’s all about….FOOTBALL for me baby. The Cardinals are in camp this weekend and Flagstaff is primo for viewing these well-paid dudes. They are extremely fan/kid friendly and Lyza is just jacked to go watch – me too. I don’t really give a rats ass about how they do because once a Viking fan, always a Viking fan but it is cool to have NFL training camp scrimmages 2 miles from my driveway. Poverty with a View baby; you gotta soak up the good while its all good.
We had a scavenger hunt at the mall for my daughter’s 9th birthday this morning. I should get a Parental Medal of Honor for escorting 4 young girls around the mall on a mission to collect paper toilet seat covers, credit card apps, 50% off signage, a piece of pepperoni, nametags, business cards, and a clothes hanger. With 15 minutes left, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel – cashed a $5 bill and handed out quarters for video games at the arcade next to Sears. Yeah, we got smoked in the scavenger hunt but the girls said I was the coolest. F’n A right kids. Once the festivities were over, we took Lyza over to get her all-world, all-time, greatest-ever present – a working cell phone. Text messaging, extra memory for music, and yeah I bought the $6 month insurance policy. The over/under on the first day it gets lost is around 8 days. Get your bets in now.
Until the UCI Worlds and then the fall classics in cycling it’s all about….FOOTBALL for me baby. The Cardinals are in camp this weekend and Flagstaff is primo for viewing these well-paid dudes. They are extremely fan/kid friendly and Lyza is just jacked to go watch – me too. I don’t really give a rats ass about how they do because once a Viking fan, always a Viking fan but it is cool to have NFL training camp scrimmages 2 miles from my driveway. Poverty with a View baby; you gotta soak up the good while its all good.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Growin' on up
After about 20 minutes I realized that I was just sorta sprawled out on the grass watching, a little too intensely of course, the action in front of me. My not so little, soon to be nine year old was in the middle of the U-10 soccer club team scrimmage holding her own against a group of pretty talented girls. I’m not the “Kicking and Screaming” starring Will Ferrell type of parent, but for some reason I am really watching the process of this developing team closely. The skills, the plays – not so much. I’m closely watching how Lyza interacts with the girls and vice versa. It’s my baby girl’s first time playing on a single gender team and for a 100% certifiable tom boy, it’s an adjustment. I don’t think it matters what team sport you play – if you can play and include your teammates, you’ll be accepted and that’s important for Lyza right now considering she’s 3 inches taller than most, has a boy haircut, and talks like a British sailor whenever she can. I’m responsible for introducing her to the word FOOK. As in a Youtube replay from a pre-tour sprint that went a little something like this: “Awwwwww look at Cavendish come through that gap, he knocked the FOOK out of Haussler just there!”….Lyza got it, started laughing, and immediately passed it on to her dear friends. “You know what the British word is for the F-word”? Great.
Speaking of great, she’s doing great, and she’s gonna’ shine out there soon once her teammates accept and begin looking for her when the turds fly.
All of that left my head when I walked out the door at 5:30 this mornin’ to shred some fresh singletrack. It rained lightly for about 4 hours last night and by the time I hit it, it was ripe. Not a track in sight, and with am fog hanging over the peaks, it was fookin’ gorgeous. I stayed out a little longer than I had planned just because I got out early enough to have that option. The downhill was borderline obnoxious as I was leaning so hard and low into the tacky banked corners that it felt comic-like.
We’ve got a benefit ride on Saturday – one of those Tour de __________ (insert cause) type-things. The ones where peeps show up with aero bars, helmet mounted mirrors are everywhere, and in general – assclowns abound. You just need to stay up front so you don’t get involved in a crash. Hey – I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a great thing that people ride bikes and the more the better, but I prefer to keep my skin thank you very much. We’re gonna just pull the paceline for 20 miles and peel off for a total of 40 miles out and back.…I got a patio to finally finish this weekend and then – stain the deck, and re-landscape another section. Then, I gots to get my little big girl to pick out some more slightly girly clothes for school. Middle class life man, I always thought it would be this fookin’ great ;)
Speaking of great, she’s doing great, and she’s gonna’ shine out there soon once her teammates accept and begin looking for her when the turds fly.
All of that left my head when I walked out the door at 5:30 this mornin’ to shred some fresh singletrack. It rained lightly for about 4 hours last night and by the time I hit it, it was ripe. Not a track in sight, and with am fog hanging over the peaks, it was fookin’ gorgeous. I stayed out a little longer than I had planned just because I got out early enough to have that option. The downhill was borderline obnoxious as I was leaning so hard and low into the tacky banked corners that it felt comic-like.
We’ve got a benefit ride on Saturday – one of those Tour de __________ (insert cause) type-things. The ones where peeps show up with aero bars, helmet mounted mirrors are everywhere, and in general – assclowns abound. You just need to stay up front so you don’t get involved in a crash. Hey – I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a great thing that people ride bikes and the more the better, but I prefer to keep my skin thank you very much. We’re gonna just pull the paceline for 20 miles and peel off for a total of 40 miles out and back.…I got a patio to finally finish this weekend and then – stain the deck, and re-landscape another section. Then, I gots to get my little big girl to pick out some more slightly girly clothes for school. Middle class life man, I always thought it would be this fookin’ great ;)
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