FAIL-winter woes

Last night was pretty brutal. I almost got naked right inside my front door just to get out of my wet clothes.
There is a section of my commute where i pass a ton of cars every night due to traffic. When i approached that section last night i found it difficult to be able to see since the water on the goggles mixed with their brake lights caused an odd red glare rendering me basically blind.
If they wrote a book about it that would be the cover. But like the goggles I'm sure it would fail as well. Just like the movie about the actual Novel did.

With that said, the Bears won last night. I almost put money on it but i didn't which i think I'm happy about it because there was a 3 point spread and i was considering betting on the spread until i saw NO's past losses and point differences in those losses. But games I'm putting money on...Titans to beat their 3.5 point spread. SEA to beat their 2.5 point spread. AZ to beat their 3 point spread. Should be good "investments".



I'm ready for the sun to stay around a bit longer. I'm sick and tired of riding in the dark.

Fall's weather shuffle

Again, fall has changed its mind and the weather overnight (literally). I went to bed with it being somewhere around 60 degrees last night. I was immensely excited about getting up and onto the bike, but like Christmas morning in the south i walked outside to find the weather not how i hoped it would be, which was also like Christmas morning in the south...high 30's and pouring rain.
Luckily last night i dropped by the bike shop to chat it up with the guys and see if we sold any bikes. Anyway, while i was there i bought a pair of leg warmers. These are just ANY leg warmers, they are special(ized), they have thermal fabric on the front side to help with warmth as leg warmers should. Well due to the rain i soaked all the way through and while undressing for a quick shower i noticed that my legs had a cool red/white wave design down them from the leg warmers thermal portion. The white being where the thermalness was and red being where it was not. It was like Moses was walking from my knee cap down to my ankle via my shin.

The shuffle thing has started to get old. i find myself skipping a lot of stuff. Mostly because i find that Blood Brothers followed by Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan just doesn't work. I need something between the two. Also, i believe this just leaves me craving Radiohead.

Its about time to go get wet again. The temp since i checked it this morning at 10 has only risen two degrees...41 F.

Confused as a turkey on a warm almost winter day.

Just to clarify-I'm not using those exact pair of safety goggles. I'm using the pair i have for when i am sawing wood to keep splinters out of my eye balls like the good carpenter Jesus said...that part about wood in the eyes?

Today i awoke to freak weather. In the midst of all my complaining we've received 50+ degree weather. I walked outside and immediately started sweating in my sweater, go figure. Well being that winter isn't for another 11 days I'm not surprised because i learned from none other than Lewis Black that fall doesn't know what to do with itself. Fall is the season of identity crisis.
Also recently it seems the days i choose not to ride are the best to ride. like today. i actually could have worn shorts. I doubt i would have though. My wife has stated that during the winter time she'd like me not to shave my legs during winter. which to me ends somewhere in Feb. So i stopped shaving about a week ago. My wife caught on to the vanity behind shaving and is also tired of my legs feeling like porcupines. I also stopped shaving my face, which wouldn't be news had people known that i actually started (back in July?). Anyway, after leaving the other day and it was below 20 i figured i could use a beard for a couple months. I look forward to shaving both my legs and face again mostly out of vanity.

I work 40 hours a week at a desk and i have the same 20 albums on our database basically since i started working here 3 1/2 years ago and I've become relatively sick of all the same music. I found an awesome button on my media player...SHUFFLE! So one second I'm listening to Blood Brothers or Fugazi and the next second I'm listening to Sigur Ros or Bob Dylan. Its odd but cool. The next best thing would be to have a nice voice in between each song saying the weather and traffic or something about world news. But that would take away from my Internet surfing.

New Equipment

I have finally grown tired of literally crying every ride back and forth to work. And since i'm low on cash i'm using these...
They work great.

Leaving the office now...

Waiting on the Sun...

My day at work is usually broken up by a few small things like

• Cool news on Velonews.com
• Bikesnob updates
• Emails from friends
• Random blog updates from others...
• New Movie Trailers
• Movie Rumors (be it that i'm a movie nerd)
• NFL investment odds
  
• Scanning the Ultimate Elitist Music Website for Radiohead/Sigur Ros/Fugazi/Bon Iver/Saul Williams news

I also occasionally visit CNN but nothing cool is happening there...

This morning was freezing. My seat somehow last week moved back and tilted a bit down. I had achieved a riding position i liked only to lose where is was in a week. I also need to fix my computer.

We finally got snow here in Nova. Wasn't much but nice enough. I unfortunately was not on my bike but in the movie theater seeing the new Bond movie. If i can't be on the bike, the next best place is in the theater. I LOVE movies.

I've been feeling like crap on the bike for about a month now, but Ben chalks it up to it being cold outside. My performance has dropped, not terribly but enough to notice. I've never ridden in such freezing temps so this is a new experience. On top of the cold, is the dark. I dread getting on my bike to go home at night. Just about every night i get a brush from a car or two. Agitating and honestly-a tad bit scary.

I'll be happy once it warms up and the sun hangs around longer.

I have new equipment to buy now. This morning it was below 20. Way too cold. I still rode but i have to get some nicer gloves.

German Computers and Killer Frost.

As i left my house yesterday i did the usual things like packing my back pack, strategically pack my cell phone, wallet and keys in certain pockets, suit up, reset my computer, lock the door, clip in and roll out. I was running late that morning so i did those things in a very speedy manner and also because i was running late, i took the very short route to work (7.5 miles). Well the past couple rides I've been feeling much stronger and in turn, faster, and that particular morning i think i had a tailwind to boot. With all this in mind, i was moving along quite well after already putting a mile or so behind me, specially since i immediately head straight up hill leaving my neighborhood for this route. I glance down to see just how "well" i was moving along, the only thing was my computer was flashing an unusual German word. Confused and annoyed i tried pushing all 3 buttons in different sequences and patterns only to find more German words and being that i slept my way through High School German (and pulled large scale pranks...)i couldn't hardly understand any of the simple words that represent things such as -clock, hour, etc.
(That is not my bike...also if you look closely you can see a cut and paste of grass to cover up the stupid brake)

I still need to fix my bike computer...

Today i had a doctor's appointment to check out my "pre-cancer" and see what steps i need to take to insure i don't develop a actual case of cancer. But alas, i woke up at 7:25 after turning off my commuter alarm at 6:30 thinking my other alarm would wake me (which it did not). Well waking up at 7:25 wouldn't be so bad if my appointment wasn't at 7:30. So i basically got up and just got into the car. To add to my being late there was a nice inch of "frost" on my windshield that i had to scrape off, so i got off as much needed to be safe and roared down the road, only to crest that hill and face the sun and a now glazed over windshield rendering me blind. Unused to being blind in a vehicle i panicked and eventually came to a stop and cleared my windshield in the spot that somehow developed ice on it after removing it.

After almost wrecking because of frost, i arrived at the hospital only about 15 mins late...not too bad. Then i showed up signed in and the lady said she had no idea who i was...great. She phoned two other skin doc's and one said "yeah he's supposed to be here", which "here" is across town. So not only was i late but i was at the wrong freaking building. ugh.

All of that preventing me from riding my bike today. i almost drove home on my lunch break just to ride it back and forth. but i didn't. I'm not that hardcore.

Also, congrads to Darryl for winning the football pool.

Bon Iver Dec 15th

Ka-CHOW!

quick updates-

• My basement is still f-ed up unless of course you happen to be the swamp thing in which case i doubt the mold will have any negative effect on you.
• A trip has just hit the planning committee for Jan 2010.This trip will include things like-
• Adirondacks in the dead of winter
  
• Dan, myself, Ben, maybe Darryl?
• XC Ski's
• Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker (black label cause we're cheap)
  
• And probably a snowman or too as a result of the previously mentioned items or just because i act like i'm 12
  
• I've invented a new game to play since i started taking vitamins a few weeks ago-How many cups of water do i have to consume to get my piss clear? The answer is still unknown.
• I am attending the Bon Iver show in Philly on Dec 15th
  

I was successful last week in convincing Ben to come see our new little loop for riding, which turned into who can drop who and i started it. I also have a smaller gear ratio and therefor I am quicker off the jump, but on one side of the loop there was a huge tailwind that once we got around, Ben would come booking by me and my legs were whipping around uncontrollably and i was going a mere 31 mph while he stilled pulled away. I would catch him on the slight rise into the head wind, lose him for about 1/8-1/4 mile and then back to the tailwind...ugh. Good fun.

I'm attempting to bring my bike on its first family vacation. We'll be in NJ for about 4 days right after Christmas and there's no way i'm taking a whole 4 days off the bike at this point (unless of course i happen to be on the AT with a couple buddies). So far i told my wife i'm bringing the bike and she said she didn't think there'd be time, which i countered easily. No response after that. SUCCESS! its not over till i'm on my bike in NJ though.

At this point with December already here and i'm not scheduled at the bike for a while and i'm in the negative for my racing bike, i have to be rethinking exactly what bike i'm going to purchase. With that said i'm a tad happy, because if i had the cash i probably would buy the TCR Advanced 1
But alas, i dont have the cash to buy that super sweet bicycle. And the reason for my slight delight is because i don't think i really deserve that bike yet. Its been a very long time since i raced a road bike and its been NEVER since i raced one in a real sanctioned race. So presenting my new goal a more appropriate bike for my CAT 5 adventures this spring/summer...the TCA Alliance 1
Come time to make the purchase i might for TCR Alliance 0 but we'll see come Feb. after i've sold everything i own except my wife.

I was really hoping to have at least sram rival on my bike but beggars can't be choosers as they say...

In other cycling news...
Stephan Shumacher has been indited with more reasons why his wins shouldnt count in the 08 Tour. Recent findings show that he was racing under false pretenses (and i'm not talking about doping), i'm talking about him being a complete woman. no offense to women of course...

Also, a 15 year old nearly ran away with the MARBAcross series final. He will now face a stringent series of doping tests.
just to clarify that is Stephanie Schumacher