shaken not stirred

I got on the bike again today.

My neck is still killing me, as a sprained neck would. And im having continual headaches. If it keeps up i may get it checked out. I slammed my head pretty good. S-works helmets are getting expensive to keep on my head in proper condition.

In other news i had planned on switching teams for 2010 to Haymarket Bikes with the intentions of moving onto their elite team either at the end of next season or beginning of 2011. I even quit working at A-1 cycling, emailed my team, etc. But after more discussion with my teammates i decided to stay. I really like everyone on my team despite all being nearly twice my age. Which also makes for a lot of quick learning if i pay attention.

540 it is

up and down

i was going to post about how i've been riding hard the past few days and how great it feels. also, about how my basement is now mold free (which it is). But the more interesting story happened this morning on my commute into work and is why i spent all day at home on my couch like a potato.

Cruising into work this morning, about 2 miles from home, a semi turns slowly in front of me, which i think is awesome. he starts to get up to speed and inadvertently starts to pull away from me. Now, i have no computer on the fixie but i know with my gearing(46x15) when i start to max out my cadence i'm going at or around 40mph, which i was approaching max out, so for the story's sake we'll settle for being solid over 30mph. Anyhow, as he starts to pull away i thought, "no way is this dude getting away from me, there are train tracks ahead plus an intersection shortly after", both of which will keep his speed relatively slower. I glance down to dig deep to shorten the decent gap between myself and the tractor trailer and when i look up, it reminded me of a dream where you are falling fast towards the ground. The wall for a truck was approaching (or was i approaching it?) at mach speed (roughly over 30mph). I had maybe a split second to grab my sketchy brakes which did nothing as my front wheel immediately hit him, catapulting me head first into his truck doors.

Within a second i was on my feet dragging my bike out of the road and i lay immediately back down and close my eyes in pain. I lay there as a hispanic fellow jumps out of his pickup and looks at me like my guts were falling out "dude, are you ok?". I told him i was. Another lady comes running over "i got his license plate! I'm on the phone with 911!". Both of which were of no consequence to me since A). it was mostly my fault and B) I'm relatively ok. Regardless it was nice to know that someone would care to stop and take charge of the situation had it been a real hit and run..

Apparently as the story goes, the truck had quickly realized he missed his turn and jammed on the brakes, followed by "oh I'll just go up here and turn around". All the while I'm slamming into the back of him.

While i know it must sound weird that a semi could suddenly stop, but to go from pulling away from me to me flying into him, its the only way possible.

Anyhow, results are as follows-sprained neck, concussion, road rash, slightly untrue front wheel (the fixie is a tank!).

The Bad, Unlucky and the End

The past few weeks have been a string of negative events.

Besides the usual of my house being F-ed up,

• Car #2 broke down...
• i tried to fix it and it got worse
• Car #1 (2 years old) check engine light came on...failed ECM

So when looking at it, that's just 4 things, house, car#2 (x2), and car #1. But those are 3 very expensive things. We were getting by with the one car for a while, until i could figure the time to do something about car #2.

Yesterday seemed to peak my bad luck and turn over to the positive side. I found my SRAM chain on my primary form of transportation(the bike) was a recall. I only checked further into what chain i bought because my chain exploded when sprinting down a heavy traveled road during rush hour. I f-ed up my knee, but stayed up-right thankfully.

the positive turn of events followed shortly after

• Car#2 was fixed by a friend for free. (easy fix. i made a simple mistake when i worked on it..)
• Car #1 is still under a 80k miles or 8 year warranty (YES!)
• House-so many issues but are slowly coming together thankfully.

I'm ready to get back on the bike and excited about it.

Silly me

Arrogance got the best of me on Saturday. We had out last 540 series race @ Vint Hill. And since my wife left on Wednesday(till Sunday) to go visit a friend, my life has been a little less organized, typically consisting of not going to bed till 2 am at the earliest, being late for work, eating crap, etc. So with that said i hadn't planned on racing, mostly because I'm fried and partly because i applied for my CAT 3 (but its taking a year to get back?).

So after being up till 230 am on Friday and then getting up Saturday at 545, i decided what the hell, i might as well race. I've realized the silly mistakes I've been making that cause 2nd and 3rd places vs. 1st, so there is a grand chance i could get a win.

Silly me.

I also have yet to mention i stopped riding my bike earlier this week because i can't seem to go very far or very long and enjoy it at all. The plan was to not ride for 2 weeks and then hop back on very lightly till october.

Not riding + no sleep + slow legs = DNF

in a race that i shouldn't have a problem in. granted a breakaway went, and i got up to the front and burnt all my matches destroying myself only to flick the elbow...look back and see 2 NCVC guys waiting for me to burst so they can continue to soft pedal the pack for their 2 teammates in the break. F! that's depressing. i was later explained how to help counter this tactic which would have been good to know during the race.

Example:

All that to say, this is what i'm looking forward to next-

Aug 14-18 - Beach with Alissa
Sept 5th- !!! @ the blackcat in DC (Dance party!)
Sept ? - Hiking Pen-Mar to Harper's Ferry (42+ miles) in less than 24 hours.
Oct 1- Sunny Day Real Estate in Philly
Nov weekend- Hike AT through PA
Some cold weekend in Dec - hiking the AT in NOVA
1 week in Jan - Winter hiking trip in the Daks (via snowshoes...scratch the XC-ski idea)

Dance Party Anyone?

!!!, also known as Chik Chik Chik, will be playing at the Black Cat in DC on Sept 5th. Tickets go on sale this evening at 5. Count me in.

After repeated attempts to mount the bike and ride fast only to feel an unbearable burn and tiredness in my legs, i've decided to take an extended period of rest, which includes beer, pizza, dairy products, etc. Also to help curb the unavoidable weight gain, i've jumped back into the pool. Which so far has just been painful.

In other news, my wife left the state on wednesday to go visit a friend till sunday. So far my life has been a little unorganized and messy. But like my rest from the bike, the time has been filled with pizza and beer.