Although I haven't been posting my rides, I have been riding a crapload recently. This past week I ended up w/ over 222 miles w/ 2 days off. I even added an intense day to my base training as well. I'm finding that the more that I ride, the less I want to type about it. I'm addicted to being outside and riding in the zone for hours on end. I have a bitch of a time focusing in the rest of my life that being able to do one simple thing allows my brain to rest regardless of all the random idiocy that I may encounter. The two rides I'm posting are a base and "el dÃa de intervalos". The base is a normal ride while the interval is just a long ride full of repeated max efforts. The giant gap on the top (interval) ride is due to me screwing w/ my saddle position. For the past week I've been taking an ergogenic supplement made by Cytosport called Vasostat. Those that know me, know that I love testing out all the performance enhancing supplements out there, and I have anextensivee knowledge on them as well as sports nutrition in general. Vasostat is just one of the Nitric Oxide supplements out there that are the hot pills for all the muscle-bound lifting freaks. [ed.note-good god that was a terrible sentence!!] What I'm trying to say is that there are a million companies producing the same variation on the same theme... I take the Cytosport version because it has more to do w/ cycling, and the company name doesn't sound like I'm taking steroids. It must be late, or the drugs are taking their toll 'cuz I can't write a sentence to save my life.
Anyway, the claims are that it opens the "anabolic superhighway" allowing you to go harder, longer w/out the bad aftertaste. The placebo for this test was that I forgot that I had started taking them. During the "intervalos" ride (which wasn't supposed to be hard) I started to act like an ass and try to drop and/or catch people on the trails as well as giving hard efforts to all climbs that came my way. I even changed the route to add some more climbs! This was a drastic change from the grinding base rides I've been doing since the beginning of the year. In short, I definitely feel the difference based on my own forgetfulness! Whether or not this will work on you, I don't know, but there are plenty of products out there all claiming to be the natural answer; some being true, and some being great ways to make money out of idiots like me willing to try. I believe in the validity of Cytosport's products, as well as my other favorite, E-Caps/Hammer Nutrition. Cytosport has a terrible website, but they are sold on many of the top nutrional sites out there in www land. I'll get into E-Caps later, maybe. I have a habit of not revisiting topics...
I'm getting stronger and it's because I'm taking little white pills. Oh, and I'm putting a ton of effort into the rides as well as eating nutritionally; I guess I should mention that. The hard work/good diet thing does pay off; the pills only help you work harder, longer. I'm going to start to vary the days giving myself long, slow days, w/ short, hard days as well as active recovery rides. It's hard to truly do active recovery as I live on a reletively steep hill, and have to exert myself a little to get home, but for the most part the rides are w/ out much effort. It's fun riding in full kit only going about 130BPM (my max is above 200); people tend to look at you like your crazy. Then again, that's usually from the guy riding the hybrid w/ his white socks pulled up to his knees.
cycleboredom says talk w/ your doctor before beginning any type of exercise regimen, and definitely before you starting taking any sort of supplement. Eat better. Live longer.
You'd think that I lost my faith in cycling after my last entry, but NO! I was just a little angry as I have been watching all my taped coverage from 2001 to 2005 that OLN bestowed upon realizing that those days are over. That post is over, this is now.What's been on my mind though is I miss the days of EPO. You know, when you thought that everyone was on it but didn't want to actually know if they were and just marvelled at them flying up mountains seeming larger than life; you know, the 90's! [ed. note -we realize that EPO has been used before the 90's but this post is about the 90's, deal w/ it.]
I have a nearly to scale posterboard of Marco Pantani after his 1998 double in the Giro and the Tour. His ears are the normal "Elephantino" size too. I prefer them that way. It's one of my prized cycling treasures. It's been so long (in cycling years) that you forget how dynamic of a rider he was regardless of his future downfall. His destruction of Ullrich in the '98 Tour will still be one of my favorite Tour moments of all time. I loved seeing him fly while the bags under Jan's eyes grew as fast as the gap was. His victory salute took on a religious power not just in symbol but also in the epic nature of the stage win. At this point all you cared was that you witnessed a truly awesome display of climbing power as the Italian usurped the Kaiser's throne. There wasn't any thought that he was doping even after Festina exploded.
Speaking of Festina, go back to the '97 Tour and watch them take over w/ the sheer volume of stage wins. Neil Stephens rock the baby salute isn't as charming as it was then in light of the juice he was giving himself. I thought of cyclists as rock stars back then. I'd say that changed but I still get giddy as a schoolgirl when I'm around anyone associated w/ a team!
It is amusing to go back and watch races where someone is "really showing some form", or "producing the time trial of their life", and "doing some inspired climbing to stay w/ the final selection". 2002 is great to watch Raimundas Rumsas during his "inspired Tour"; you can't help but to yell out to Paul and Phil and let them know, "THAT'S BECAUSE HE WAS DOPING!!" He was still a hack; he never had any kind of class as a rider and that showed as his mechanics let him know by not tightening down his aero-bars for the final time-trial! The priceless images of him struggling against them as they continued to fall forward will not be forgotten.
Remember that there is always another to come along to replace the detectable...
I've lost the focus of this post, since I started it nearly 2 weeks ago, and I'm just finishing it now (4/30), but I'll revisit this heartwarming theme again as time permits. Thank you all for coming.
who still cycles? didn't lance retire or something...
So as I'm waiting for Lance to start the Prologue in Luxemborg and suffering through endless repeats of the Lincoln Navigator commercial on OLN's coverage of the '02 Tour, a slew of interesting (at least to me) thoughts have popped into my head.First, it looks as though we're passed the golden years of cycling coverage on American TV, and everyone complained about it the ENTIRE time! You know who you are. Remember all those horrible co-anchors (Kirsten Gum, Al Trautwig, and those other guys...), repeating commercials, fishing shows, bullriding, 5-6 hours continuous coverage of mountain stages, multiple show times, and full Giro and La Vuelta coverage? Well thankfully those days are over as the coverage looks to be lean and mean this year. I will flat out say I NEVER complained about any of the coverage OLN gave us because I remember trying to watch Lemond during weekend coverage on ABC's Wide World of Sports. So what would you rather have: one hour a week, or full 4 mountain-pass coverage for nearly every mountain stage? This is why the rest of the world thinks we're ridiclulous, we whine and complain when we actually have it good. Pathetic.
OLN is bringing the Giro back, but only on streaming video on the internet. For $20 you can have live coverage. Aren't we already paying for cable? This is what you'd call progressively archaic. OLN listened to us, and took everything away. This isn't a rail against OLN (well, somewhat) but it's unfortunate that once Superman left Metropolis... Lance definitely isn't the only American cyclist but to the general public he is. I still get the obligatory "Go Lance!" when I'm out riding. Ahh, the post-Armstrong blues.
"Now we can handle this like gentlemen, or we can get into some gangster shit!"
"7 Tours in a row? Not if I was running things..."
Blah, blah, blah, the ruling stands. Yada, yada, yada, something about rider safety. It was a goods train man. The goods train stops for nothing! That's what it does! That's all it does! YOU CAN'T STOP IT!
It's a cruel race on so many levels and has been since it's inception. You have to take the outcome as it unfolds whether it's joy or pain. It nearly killed Johann Museeuw some years back as he shattered his knee giving way to a nasty infection. Phillipe Gaumont broke a leg in 2001 which I think was the impetus for him look to EPO to get back into the fold. Same could be said for Johann... Damn, there's a wasp in here! It puts the wasp in the inner tube and the inner tube stings! But I digress.
I've got a great idea... Here's a shot of George's bike before the race showing the brilliance of Trek. This is the bike that this fork came from. I want to say that I really like Bontrager components. I own many Bontrager components. I also own a Trek bike. On that bike are Bontrager wheels (I put all the Bonty components on my Giant cuz I couldn't stand my bike looking like everyone else out there w/ the same model). But, for some reason I still have an issue w/ a professional cycling team using so much OEM products on their bikes. The wheels I can deal with as they're some of the best out there. They held up to my fat ass when I was indeed fat! I just feel as though there has to be something better out there that has more of an elite style, weight, and quality. I used to sell Bontrager parts and they were subjected to the most critical tests available in the world. But for instance look at the stems that the team are using. Are they using the top of the line model that Bontrager offers? No, they're using the aluminum Race (X) Lite. This is multi-million dollar team using parts offered on sub $2000 bikes. Who cares if it's the same bike offered on the floor that Joe Hairlegs can buy and collect dust on. They should be elite. They should be untouchable; something to be coveted; something that gets torn out of a magazine and taped to the wall like porn. Uhh, that's not happening for me.
So George was riding one of the greatest races in all of cycling, on the verge of making himself immortal in the eyes of the classics gods, when his Centrum Silver racing/touring/comfort bike fork sheared sending him to the ground, fracturing his collar bone.
I'm just having fun. It's obvious that anything could break at any time regardless of the quality or price of the component. I still hate that Trek tastes too much like vanilla. It's a good classic flavor, but it's got no flava! One of these days I'll get a shot of mine and show you what it should look like.
Hopefully George will recuperate fast. Image courtesy of Cyclingnew.com.
Welcome to Cycleboredom's live coverage of Cyclingnews.com's live coverage of the 104th running of Paris-Roubaix. Yes, I'm typing this live but you ain't gettin' it live. Update of race at this point: 10:06 EST 47k to finish Postal has the most cards in the deck as Hincapie has Hoste and Gussev to help him. Boonen amazingly has NO ONE!? 10:09 EST 45k to finish I'm going to stop the live coverage as the Bontrager handlbar/stem/fork decided to break on Hincapie's bike and he's crashed into the ditch! WTF!!!!! Why can't this guy get a F-ING break?! 10:11 EST I have to go outside and pick up the things I threw out the window. Why does a team w/ that much money have to ride freaking OEM house brand parts? Did anyone see Lance's bike in last year's Tour? Beautiful frame, wheels, Shimano groupset, and a RaceLite stem!?! Again, WTF? Granted Trek made him a carbon handlebar that doesn't look like it belongs on [ed.note-offensive remark to follow] some oldie's steel tourer. Honestly, who makes a race bar w/ 90° angle on it and thinks that's what the public wants? It looked and felt ridiculous. 10:23 EST 34k to finish No word on the condition of George. The break has Boonen (Quick-Step), Van Petegem (Davitamon), Cancellara (CSC), Ballan (Lampre), Flecha (Rabobank), Eisel (FDJ), and amazingly Hoste and Gusev (Discovery). 10:27 EST 31k to finish Perhaps this is Hincapie's legacy. He's turning into the Raymond Poulidor of Paris-Roubaix. (look up Anquetil and Poulidor) 10:33 EST 27k to finish Boonen is powering the break as usual w/ a little help from Gussev. Lars Michelson (CSC) was in the break just before I started and I wanted to comment that I had a chance to meet him back in 2004. He's been racing for a while now, but he still has great form and seems to be in a bunch of important breaks. I remember him making a comment that the shop I worked for at the time only seemed to carry Trek. I assured him that was the, wait, wasn't the case... I also got to meet the rest of the CSC team at the time which included Bobby Julich; he's so dreamy. The DS for the race the next day was Sean Yates! When he walked in he asked me in a voice and manner straight out of a Guy Ritchie movie, "Who's the proprietor of this establishment?" It seemed dramatic at the moment, but all he needed was some bike tubes. But it was bike tubes w/ an English accent; much better. 10:49 EST 17k to finish Everybody seems to want to blow the race apart. Cancellara had just attacked w/ Gusev going along, but it seems that Gussev is already on the rivets and can't keep the effort. Discovery still has 2 riders in the front where everyone else is by themselves. This is the race situation that George always wanted, but never had... WTF!!! 10:52 EST I have to go outside and pick up my laptop that I just threw out the window. 10:54 EST Fabian Cancellara leads w/ Hoste, Gussev, and Van Petegem chasing at 0'09. Looks like Boonen has fallen behind. That would make things a little better in light of Hincapie falling. 10:56 EST 10k to finish Cancellara has a 31' gap over the chasers. Who would have thought this was to be the race today? It's refreshing, but still plain weird to watch it unfold. Only 2 cobbled sections to go and from what I remember, they're more ceremonial (meaning well-kept) versus the farm cart paths that they're usually punishing themselves on. 11:00 EST 8k to finish Boonen's group was STOPPED BY A TRAIN!! Beautiful. If you haven't noticed this isn't impartial journalism by any means! 11:03 EST 6k to finish Cancellara just finished the 2nd set of cobbles and has a 45' gap on the chase group. Unless he runs directly into a wall he should take this. Anything is possible in this race though. 11:06 EST 5k to finish Hoste seems to be the stronger of the top 2 finishers from Flanders, but he's not going to get a win in either. It's actually nice to see Boonen suffer. It makes his wins more plausible in these days of doping. You always get that twinge in the back of your mind that he can't possibly be that good. It happend to me w/ Lance too, so shut it! 11:09 EST 3k to finish The Disco boys are starting to screw around w/ Van Petegem. Who's going to take the coveted 2nd spot on the podium? I can't be too sarcsastic, I'd be floored to be anywhere near those damn steps! It's great for your career, and super for your sponsors as their logo is up there for all those photographers. So it's going to be networking solutions followed by either a cable tv channel or vitamins. 11:14 EST FINISH Cancellara takes a great win followed by I think Hoste then Van Petegem. Hoste is a beast. Fabian hit the line w/ a gap of over a minute. That is not small for this race. Gussev took 4th while the boy in white, Boonen took the sprint for 5th followed by Ballan and Flecha.
So from us hearing about Fabian at the 2004 TDF prologue where he won in front of Armstrong to this win today, he's truly established himself as great rider. As you can see this race is dictated not only by one's mental and physical strength, but also luck. Luck sees you through w/ out your fork breaking (word on Hincapie's bike), crashing or getting an ill-timed flat. This is such a preposterous race, but one of the greatest of all of them.
I'm going out on a limb to say that the Trek bike George was riding was using a fork that was carbon w/ a bonded aluminum steerer. A fork made of ALL carbon and being one piece has to be better than bonding. I know that Trek said that the gain is minimal in weight, and that the strength is better w/ aluminum, but w/ the nano-tech that's out there now, and the advances Trek has made w/ carbon, they have to see the change is needed now.
So it looks like the officials have decided to completely screw the race aside from Cancellara winning. They say that the Hoste group are disqualified because they went through the gates at the train tracks. This is simply stupid. Today's race was a joke; aside from Fabian winning.[ed. note-more info says that the gates went down just as they were getting there and there was no word on the radio whether or not they were supposed to stop.]
read it here first: I've come to the conclusion that the Quick-Step Innergetic "mob" is a detriment to the state of cycling. They dominate all races that they enter. They either are in every major break, or they chase down every break that they're not. Tom Boonen rides protected by team mates virtually negating any chances for others to take the first podium spot. The Tour of Flanders and much of the other spring classics are rapidly becoming predictable and I dare say a bore...Ooooo, me incite flame war! Sounds like another team we all know doesn't it? As Lance bore down on the Tour record books, this rhetoric became more commonplace the closer he got. I'm wondering if we'll hear anything remotely similar as Boonen destroys everyone in his path during his quest towards cycling immortality.I don't think that I'd be unhappy about Tom winning Vlaanderen if he didn't do it in front of two Discovery riders! Both Leif Hoste and big George Hincapie are on fire as of late! I think that I dig(g) the Disco boys more now that the Texan is no longer riding. Sounds strange but I feel that they have to work a shitload harder to gain any kind of respect this season in his wake.
The MUUR! One of my favorite parts of any race during the season is the Muur de Grammont which is in both of the images here. It's not the toughest of the hills in the Belgian classics but it's one of the most exciting. It's the penultimate climb in Flanders and the peleton or the break are usually haulin' ass. Some of the best photos of the year come from this small cobbled climb as everyone is generally out of the saddle powering up it. One of my favorite shots is of Frank Vandenbroucke in the '99 Ronde (couldn't find the photo); he always had dope style. Same goes for him in '03 again against Peter Van Petegem; dope! I have a soft spot for the "terrible child" (he's not much of a child anymore); doping, and mental illness aside, he rode w/ class and took some spectacular wins early on. He's showing a little form this year riding for Unibet.com. VDB baby!
I keep thinking of a commercial that was on at least 10 years ago for some medicine where everyone was giving this person advice (old wivestales) on how to treat a cold. The one thing that sticks in my mind was the older, bald deli-dude throwing a huge sub in our face saying, "You have to feeeed a cold!" He would accentuate the word feed, and his pitch went up a little. Just thought I'd share that bit of nonsense w/ you all. los dos paseos. I've ridden several times since my last ride entry, but I think that I'm just going to post the last 2. I'm still fighting something that I can't really feel. I'm not coughing or anything like that, but I still have that damn infection in my throat. I've been avoiding antibiotics but this has gone on long enough. The rides themselves have been uneventful to say the least; I just needed to get outside and do something other than what I'm doing now (typing). I'm feeling stronger but there is something there, that I'm guessing is me fighting my infection, that's holding me back. It could be in my head as I've been so sick for so long.
One thing I did notice about the first of the two was how my heart rate reacted "normally" but I wasn't sucking wind when I was pushing it. That felt odd being that I'm not in shape whatsoever.
Although I haven't been posting my rides, I have been riding a crapload recently. This past week I ended up w/ over 222 miles w/ 2 days off. I even added an intense day to my base training as well. I'm finding that the more that I ride, the less I want to type about it. I'm addicted to being outside and riding in the zone for hours on end. I have a bitch of a time focusing in the rest of my life that being able to do one simple thing allows my brain to rest regardless of all the random idiocy that I may encounter. 
The two rides I'm posting are a base and "el dÃa de intervalos". The base is a normal ride while the interval is just a long ride full of repeated max efforts. The giant gap on the top (interval) ride is due to me screwing w/ my saddle position. For the past week I've been taking an ergogenic supplement made by Cytosport called Vasostat. Those that know me, know that I love testing out all the performance enhancing supplements out there, and I have anextensivee knowledge on them as well as sports nutrition in general. Vasostat is just one of the Nitric Oxide supplements out there that are the hot pills for all the muscle-bound lifting freaks. [ed.note-good god that was a terrible sentence!!] What I'm trying to say is that there are a million companies producing the same variation on the same theme... I take the Cytosport version because it has more to do w/ cycling, and the company name doesn't sound like I'm taking steroids. It must be late, or the drugs are taking their toll 'cuz I can't write a sentence to save my life. 
