Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Songs I wish I had on my iPod

I used to think that these were 1 hit wonders, but I guess they're no hit wonders since these songs are not even available on iTunes and I've never seen them on any 80's compilation albums.




I'm sure there are many others that I've long forgotten.

Training Week July 21 - 27, 2008

Monday – Off
Tuesday – GG Park Hammer Ride – 90 min
Wednesday – 30 min easy spin at Y.
Thursday – 1:15 easy GG Park ride, mostly drafting behind Harold.
Friday – 1:15 easy ride on district course – 2 laps

Saturday – District 35+ race – Reaney, Hernandez & LaBerge rolled off on the first lap while I was watching Innes, Martin & Bryant. I tried attacking about 50 times (about 47 times too many). A lot of us stayed together after we caught a dropped LaBerge we had a sprint for 3rd. I rolled in the back for 11th. race was about 2:50, 3:30 total riding.

Sunday – District 35+ Crit – About 90 min before the race I realized that I didn’t have my shoes. I was able to borrow a pair of shoes & pedals from Dan’s wife Andy. I only attacked about 40 times, but again it came down to a pack sprint, so I rolled across in the back. – 90 min total

Weekly total: 9.5 Hours

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Alpe night at the Mouse

Roaring Mouse Cycles threw a little party tonight in honor of the queen stage of this year's tour.  Beer, pizza and bike racing, what more could you ask for?  This team knows how to have a good time.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Training Week July 14-20, 2008

Monday - Off
Tuesday - GG Park Sprints - 1:45 hard
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - Polo field ride - 1 hr light tempo (~250 watts) with last 10 min hard. 1:45 total
Friday - 45 min spin class
Saturday - Easy 1:45
Sunday - Long ride with Zteam in Marin - 4.5 hours - lots of moderate/hard tempo.

Total - 10.5 Hours

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Ricco just another doper

Photo: Agence France Presse

I think I am just naive, but I really thought that we would see a clean tour this year.
I just don't understand why these guys think they won't get caught.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Training Week July 7 - 13, 2008

Monday – 45 min spin class – moderate
Tuesday – easy TT ride in GG Park – 60 min
Wednesday – 30 min easy spin
Thursday – Rode over Cascade TT course. 2 x 5 min at race effort. 60 min total
Friday – AM – TT (32:30 – 3rd 35+), PM – Crit – (36:36, 34th place 35+) – 2:15 total
Saturday – Cascade Road Race – 70 miles – (2:57:20 - 3rd 35+, moved up to 2nd GC) – 3:45
Sunday – Cascade Circuit Race – 65 miles – (2:47:32 – 16th 35+, Finished 2nd GC) – 3:00 total.

Weekly Total: 12.25 hours.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Cascade

So far 571 riders have signed up for the Cascade Cycling Classic including the 2 local Astana boys. That’s over 60% more than the 350 total from last year (though there wasn’t a women’s race last year) and there’s still room for a few more women and old guys. Should be some great battles all around and I for 1 am looking forward to watching the big fields of Pro women and men take on that crit course as I sip an Oregon micro brew after the masters race.

Unfortunately I heard that my teammate Shawn crashed out of the P/1/2 race in Vacaville yesterday and may not be joining us. I haven’t heard too much about the crash or the extent of the injuries, but I hope it’s not too bad and that he heals quickly.

Training Week June 30 - July 6, 2008

Monday – 60 min spin class – moderate
Tuesday – GG Park sprints – Hard as usual – 90 min
Wednesday – 45 min spin class – moderate
Thursday – 2 hour GG park ride with some polo field intervals
Friday – Easy 45 minute ride
Saturday – Long ride over Tam cut short by a broken spoke and 3 pinch flats (probably mostly due to way out of true wheel) – 3:30 total ride. (note to self, pack a spoke wrench in the saddle bag)
Sunday – Intervals on the TT bike – painful but fast – 90 min

Weekly Total: 11 hours.

I was hoping to get in 4-5 hours on Saturday and a couple of good long climbs, but bike wasn’t cooperating. After yesterday’s ride on the TT bike I feel ready for Cascade though.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Independence Day!

Ahhh, 4th of July in the Inner Sunset.  Gotta love that summer fog.

We can usually see the downtown SF fireworks from this window, but it looks like we won't be seeing too much tonight.  

I hope the big booms don't freak out the kitties too much.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Crack

Every Tuesday I use my lunch hour to go to the Farmers Market on the Embarcadero and pick up some fresh local fruits and veggies for the week. I’ve been avoiding this guy for a while, but today he caught me and pushed a “sample” of the bittersweet almond brittle into my face. What was I to do? I had to take it…. Then I had to buy a bag of it.

He knows I'm weak and I’ll be back next week for more.

Move here and root root root for the visiting team

I went to the Giants game last night because my office has season tickets and they gave me a couple. I was born and live in SF and descend from several generations of SF natives, and naturally I grew up as a fan of the Giants and 49ers. I've always been the casual type of fan who would go to a few games a year if tickets came up, but only if I had nothing else going on since I am much more interested in my own pursuits and in following the professionals in the fringe sports I participate in.

So, last night I’m at the Giants/Cubs game and the visiting Cubs may not have had quite as many fans as the Giants, but it was close and they were certainly much more vocal and excited about the game, and whenever they scored, the stadium roared.

This is not the first time I’ve seen this phenomenon in the Bay Area, just ask any A’s fan who’s ever been to a home game against the Yankees or Red Sox. Though I have no first hand knowledge, I’ve been told that this is something that you don’t see in Boston, New York or Chicago.

Here in the Bay Area we have tens if not hundreds of thousands of people who have moved here from east coast and mid west cities. They continue to remain loyal to their home cities’ sports teams but not to their home cities, otherwise why would they have moved here?