The legs are back. Not exactly in full effect, I haven't felt sensations like I did yesterday since I was 14, but they're both turning pedals and I can stand (though not for long). When I was 15 I had an emergency appendectomy that put me in a hospital bed for 8 days and kept me in bed at home for another 10. I could only bench press 25 lbs when I finally got up. My legs are a little like that now. I can pedal, but there's surprisingly little power. All in due time, I suppose.
I still can't accept that my season is shot. We were in Ohio yesterday, fall's arrived and all I could think about was cross season. I think it's the smell of the leaves. Instead of racing, I'll probably just attend, drink, yell and report for CXMagazine. They've taken a liking to my amateur writing style, for some reason, and they started publishing some of my ideas. Sunday they posted an article I wrote on training while traveling. You can see it here.
In the meantime, I'll just secretly order new parts and hope they arrive when my wife's not looking. On order already are a set of cheap townie baskets for my wife's bike. It's our anniversary and now that they've built a grocery store around the block, it's time for me to call her bluff and remove one more roadblock between her and bicycle freedom. I cannibalized the saddle from my Bianchi (see above) for the utility bike earlier this summer, so I took the opportunity to order a used version of the saddle I've had my eye on, the WTB Silverado. Found it for $25 online, should arrive next week. I've been riding WTB Saddles for years and I think this will be a good balance of size (I like them big) and weight (I need to lose a little weight off the top end of the SS). To that end I'm also planning a new handlebar/stem combo for the SS, probably going with Bontrager Race Lite flat bar. It's got a nice sweep that should ease the pressure on my wrists and it'll lower the front end, which is desperately needed. I also crushed the end of my MonkeyLite carbon bars on the utility bike in my epic crash last month, so I've got my eye on the Surly Open Bar. I've not ridden a bar like this so I'm dragging my feet, but I've got a hunch the carbon bar is unwrapping itself from the inside out and something's got to give.
The Cross bike is about to get a full re-build with Avid Canti's, Cane Creek levers, new ring, new freewheel, new chain, new cables, etc... I have to rebuild the Surly hubs since I put them away wet after the State Championships (they've since seized up). This will happen next week before I head down to Beat The Freak for a nice little pack-fill session in the SS race.
Ordered a new helmet today, finally. I've been using the same one for like 10+ years now. Realized this morning the crash split the back open. Ordered a Giro Athlon, it's about the same thing as what I had and it comes in Green, which is the only way my wife can pick me out of a pack. Found it onsale for only $70, down from $130.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
On Cyclocross
Amazing thing I found via the Facebook tonight. Eugene Christophe on Cyclocross. There's an entire article complete with photos from January, 1921.
This is of particular interest because this dude's on a single speed. That's what I'm talking about.
Check out the article, or if you're skeptical or lazy, check out this one paragraph.
-- Here, I shall answer that you preach to the choir. For a long time I have known that the general public's interest in cyclocross will attract more audience than the fifty passers-by and curious who attend our starts and finishes, that amateurs will definitely wish to participate in this easy and quite variable sport. The public will begin following the competitors; it will realize that the race is engaging and eventful, they will have a good time; the time will fly past. It is impossible that it will not develop a taste for it; it will follow other races. And, as well as people who like like to sometimes leave the road for quieter and less dusty tracks, also the amateur cyclist, enticed by cyclocross, will no longer content himself with riding up and down the monotonous and trafficky road; he will ride through the thicket as easily as the pedestrian, he will learn to handle his bike and he will see that he can pass untroubled everywhere a pedestrian ventures. He will understand that a bike should not necessarily follow the road as a train follows the railway. His admiration and love for the bicycle as a mode of locomotion, can only increase following such experiments.
This is of particular interest because this dude's on a single speed. That's what I'm talking about.
Check out the article, or if you're skeptical or lazy, check out this one paragraph.
-- Here, I shall answer that you preach to the choir. For a long time I have known that the general public's interest in cyclocross will attract more audience than the fifty passers-by and curious who attend our starts and finishes, that amateurs will definitely wish to participate in this easy and quite variable sport. The public will begin following the competitors; it will realize that the race is engaging and eventful, they will have a good time; the time will fly past. It is impossible that it will not develop a taste for it; it will follow other races. And, as well as people who like like to sometimes leave the road for quieter and less dusty tracks, also the amateur cyclist, enticed by cyclocross, will no longer content himself with riding up and down the monotonous and trafficky road; he will ride through the thicket as easily as the pedestrian, he will learn to handle his bike and he will see that he can pass untroubled everywhere a pedestrian ventures. He will understand that a bike should not necessarily follow the road as a train follows the railway. His admiration and love for the bicycle as a mode of locomotion, can only increase following such experiments.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Cyclocross Season
This has not been my year. I arrived home from the road a week ago last Saturday, and on my first ride back, the first day of a planned 2 week epic hiking, running, mountain biking, tubing and otherwise summer-tastic session I absolutely wrecked my right leg. I haven't been able to do more than barely walk for two weeks. Now I have two baby legs. Goodbye cyclocross season. I have not the legs nor the constitution to compete this year. My only hope is to miraculously regain form in time for January, but really, I'm looking ahead to Ski Season.
If you're in the Nashville area, you're psyched. A bunch of local races and the big dance, the USGP in Louisville:
U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.
I'll be there, though I won't know until the last minute if I'm racing, which is the best way to do the USGP anyway. Last row and no knowledge of the course makes for super fun racing. Cross your fingers, get out your wrenches and start doing intervals... this is going to hurt. You.
If you're in the Nashville area, you're psyched. A bunch of local races and the big dance, the USGP in Louisville:
U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.
I'll be there, though I won't know until the last minute if I'm racing, which is the best way to do the USGP anyway. Last row and no knowledge of the course makes for super fun racing. Cross your fingers, get out your wrenches and start doing intervals... this is going to hurt. You.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Urban Farms
This summer we've been playing music, traveling, sitting in the river, and gardening. Our sublet's backyard is a shared garden. Fortunately we share it with our good friends so we've all been sharing in the maintenance and reward. I had a productive garden years ago in Durango. I've got a picture of me with hair down below my shoulders, a big scraggly beard, holding some carrots and other various produce, giving a thumbs up or some other equally stony symbol.
I've dabbled in gardening the last few summers but I'm away from it too much to really do it right. I planted a grape vine that had a mind of it's own and is surely feeding the birds of Nashville as I write this. This summer's garden is simple, but I was floored when I showed up at a friends house for a gig the other day and his dad has successfully converted his yard and several other neighbors yards into farms. Literally a Neighborhood CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) or NSA called the Flatiron Neighborhood Farm. I started to do some research and discovered the guy who gets credit for inventing the idea, Kipp Nash of Community Roots Boulder. I think the idea is brilliant: Take grassy or otherwise landscaped yards and convert them into highly productive micro-farms then distribute food through a NSA. The people who's yards are converted can eat out of their garden and on very small pieces of land there can be immense amounts of food grown. It's fresh and doesn't require energy to transport, assuming the NSA members are truly in the neighborhood. I think it's great. Check it out.
I've dabbled in gardening the last few summers but I'm away from it too much to really do it right. I planted a grape vine that had a mind of it's own and is surely feeding the birds of Nashville as I write this. This summer's garden is simple, but I was floored when I showed up at a friends house for a gig the other day and his dad has successfully converted his yard and several other neighbors yards into farms. Literally a Neighborhood CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) or NSA called the Flatiron Neighborhood Farm. I started to do some research and discovered the guy who gets credit for inventing the idea, Kipp Nash of Community Roots Boulder. I think the idea is brilliant: Take grassy or otherwise landscaped yards and convert them into highly productive micro-farms then distribute food through a NSA. The people who's yards are converted can eat out of their garden and on very small pieces of land there can be immense amounts of food grown. It's fresh and doesn't require energy to transport, assuming the NSA members are truly in the neighborhood. I think it's great. Check it out.
Monday, August 16, 2010
How's Your Air?
What color is your air? Check it out, I bet you can see it. Did you notice before? Weird, right? Has it always been that way? Is it just dust? Hot gas expelled by machines and livestock? I can't figure it out. I don't really remember being able to so clearly see so much air 5 years ago when we started this band and started roaming around the country. I remember Virginia was green in the summer compared to Colorado. I think the sky was blueish. Now it's grayish. Multi-hued grayish with tints of yellow. Everything's brown in VA and it's all green and wet in CO. I think something's up. I'm not sure who's right or who's wrong, I can't exactly tell who to believe and it's hard to know what's true. But it's hot and the air's gray. I can see it and I can taste it and it's weird.
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Friday, August 13, 2010
Heat and Grey Air
It's hot. Yesterday in Tupelo, heat index was up around 108 during our set. Looking forward to the next run through MT and CO, should be a little cooler up there.
In other news, we're shopping for a box truck to replace the trailer. We're trying to move toward a smaller footprint when we tour, and the new vehicle will be able to run on bio-diesel. We've also started a recycling program in our van and we've cut our landfill destined waste in half. Moving around the country I've been shocked at the hue of the air. It's getting pretty grey out there. Let us know if you have any ideas about what we can do to reduce our footprint.
-- Post From My iPhone
In other news, we're shopping for a box truck to replace the trailer. We're trying to move toward a smaller footprint when we tour, and the new vehicle will be able to run on bio-diesel. We've also started a recycling program in our van and we've cut our landfill destined waste in half. Moving around the country I've been shocked at the hue of the air. It's getting pretty grey out there. Let us know if you have any ideas about what we can do to reduce our footprint.
-- Post From My iPhone
Friday, August 6, 2010
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