MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope you get some time off work to enjoy the season, and have some fun.
I have to pay for my sins of the past year and only get 1 day off!

Have a great Holiday

Mick

No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes!

Well today was one of those classic northwest winter days, rain and 38 degrees, let's hope we don't have too many more.
Due to the fact that I didn't ride yesterday, plus the several pounds of chocolate I must have eaten at work this week, nothing was gonna stop me riding (well ice or snow would) today.

Low and behold, others had the same idea, as we had 10 show up for our team ride, and the Byrne Invent guys, who were originally planning on doing Snoqualmie Falls (that wasn't gonna happen!) had a good turnout too.

It was a nice ride around the lake if, like Stoked and I, you had enough clothes to keep you warm. The fact that everyone was on their rain bikes, and the weather kept the pace more mellow than has been the past few weeks.

We did the CycleU TT on weds too, and I'm happy to report my time was back to my first effort, 15.11. My next one is Jan 9th, I think with all the holiday goodies Stoked has been making, my chances of breaking 15 mins are nil, maybe Jan 23rd?

Crazy CCX riders

I went to watch the USGP in Portland, I was impressed by the toughness (or stupidity?) of those guys and gals racing in horrible conditions.
Here's a Frazz comic appropriate for winter riding that Splinter Wrenn posted

http://www.comics.com/comics/frazz/archive/images/frazz2007121018501.gif

Ireland and Other Events

Well, I'm not going to post any pics. Just want to say I had a fine time in Ireland, didn't drink as much as I might, being as I was the designated driver for the duration. I made up for it in pastries and cookies! That's all I ate between breakfast and dinner, washed down with tea or coffee, of course.
My sister and her husband had a slide show on Sunday evening, of their trip to India.

November 28th,

Well, a week later I discover this draft post!!! Happy Thanksgiving ;-)

Yes, my sister and her husband went to an Orphanage in India and spent 3 weeks cleaning it up and bought bedding and replaced windows with money they raised at their church in Ireland. Really cool gesture and an adventure for them too.

We then had a great turnout for the Thanksgiving day ride to benefit Northwest Harvest, with donations totalling $1,500 when all is said and done. Thanks to all who came and donated.

I took a day off work today, as I had two dentist visits to do, I had my crown put in this afternoon. First I went to the Orthodontist and discovered how much that treatment costs! more than my TT bike cost .... and she wants me to wear braces for 2 1/2 years. I do think I need to do it, as it will pay off in the long term, at least I hope.

I'm going to Portland this weekend to watch the US GP cross races, and help Gavin Mannion with anything he needs for the race. I raced with his dad in Ireland in the 80s, before he emirgrated to Boston. Gavin is 3rd overall in the Junior series heading into this weekend, chasing our own NW starlet, Steve Fischer.

M

Buckeye

I just want to tell everyone that has a CycloCross bike to appreciate what pnwbuckeye is doing for you this weekend and go out and RACE the Washington State CycloCross Champs as hard as you can.
You see, after suffering their first loss of the season last weekend, the Ohio State Buckeyes football team is playing a must win game (against the hated Michigan Wolverines) to get to the Rose Bowl, and their #1 fan is promoting a bike race for YOU!
So, go out there , have fun, and thank Joe for putting on great bike races. I would go but I will be on the other side of the world, visiting the old country (After last years efforts, there's no limits to how far I'd go to avoid a 'cross race).

Have fun, race hard and wear speedo's! and maybe gold body paint?

Mick

Good Weekend of Training

We had a dry weekend in Seattle, a rarity for November. As Stoked was out of town I got a long ride in on Sat, and another good ride in today.
We had This Guy and This guy on our ride, they ride on this guys Team. It was windy, and we rode across the Lowell Snohomish rd, the first guy tore our legs off, he was on his race bike, mind you.
After the ride I put new chains on both our bikes, hope they work ok! I also discovered we both, especially me, need new pulley wheels on our derailleurs.

Slainte

Breaking News

Stangelator posted to his Blog Enjoy, and let's take bets on when his next post will be!

I did the Cycle U 10k computrainer TT tonight, I forgot how to suffer, and got spanked, by a non racer, at least I think he is. He should be racing if he can do a 14.55 for that 10k! I did 15.11, only 8 secs off my best last March!

I will wear Axley (or Ginny) on my jersey for at least one race next year if Pruitt can break 15 mins!

Hasta

Thanksgiving Day Benefit Ride

Thanksgiving Ride to Benefit NW Harvest *
For at least the fifth consecutive year, members of the Seattle bike racing community will gather on Thanksgiving morning for a ride to benefit Northwest Harvest. Thanks to the generosity of local cyclists, this ride raises more than $500 each year for local food banks. The minimum suggested donation for the ride is $5 per rider. Riders will gather at 9:15 in the Leschi neighborhood for a social-paced ride around the south end of Lake Washington, departing at 9:30

Be there or be square.....or too round after dinner!

Gossip Column

She was 12 when he won his first tour?

Ashley Olsen dating Lance Armstong?
Actress Ashley Olsen is reported to be dating former Tour de France winner Lance Armstong.
According to US reports, the pair were spotted socialising together twice this week.
People magazine reports that the 21-year-old actress was seen with the 36-year-old cyclist at the Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York on Monday night.
A source told the magazine: : "Lance was hanging with her, definitely. [Olsen] was very flirtatious, and was sitting on his lap."
The pair were also reportedly spotted at the Waverly Inn restaurant in New York on Wednesday night.

The Acrobats

That's the new local team that are gonna be the crit kings? Oh, I mean Adobe ;-)

Well, I got two nice rides in this weekend, south on Saturday and North on Sunday, and wet both days. It was the first good weekends riding I've had in about 6 weeks.

I also got my measurements for my new frame, will send them off tomorrow. It's gonna be a sweet custom job, you'll all want one when you see it!

Stoked has a fun team put together for next year, they are all excited to race and have fun together. That's what it's all about.

Later, Mick

Dog days

Well, It's about time to post again, but will I?

Maybe this weekend. Not much motivation for anything lately!

At The Dentist!

Went to the dentist this morning, It had been too long.
Now I have to pay! The bills are already looking to be in 4 figures, after Insurance pays their share. And that's only the beginning.

Do I want to spend mucho $$$ on braces?

Reality

Well, that day of rain sure brought an end to any hope of riding anything but fender bikes for the rest of the year.
That on top of two days in bed makes racing seem like months ago!

Work has not been much fun lately, don't know what's gonna happen there. Suddenly, after 9 years I've become a problem? To a manager who is 1 year with the company, and complaining will only make it worse. I expect to get demoted in the next few months. What the heck?

I am going to visit family in Ireland for 4 days in November (plus 2 days travelling), hopefully I won't go "Postal" before then!

Post Racing depression?

Not been feeling too chirpy this past week, is it post race depression, or the fact that my boss has been busting my chops? I even lost my "ride friendly" work schedule....That Sucks.

Oh, Yes go out and buy a MARCROFT winter bike!! or 'cross bike, If you're into that madness.

Ring of Pain?

I know it's been forever since I blogged, we've had some good races, some not so good. Now this weekend was the 3rd annual Ring of Fire 12/24 hr TT. Martha did it last year and says she had a really good time (the 12 hr version) and she brought me to do the Deschutes River TT festival in April and I really enjoyed the suffering on the Tandem there, ably provided by George Thomas and Terri Gooch and their new baby Amelia.

Well, we decided (or, I was told?) to do the 12 hour version on our Tandem, so as Martha did 186 miles last year, we had to do 200 on the Tandem. That was no easy deal, as we had to do almost 15,000 feet of climbing, most of it on the same climbs as ther hardest stage of the Mt Hood Classic did this year. We started next to last and had the defending champion and ultra distance stud Kenneth Philbrick in front of us, so we never got to see him, we did pass some riders before the climb up to hwy 35, but seemed like we were not going very fast, 8-10mph, plus 2 pee stops and two food stops, how were we going to make 200 miles?. We just kept pplodding along and made it back to Maupin for the 27 mile "night loop" after another bathroom break, we hit 112 miles in about 6 1/2 hrs. The night loop started with a 3 mile climb, followed by a flat 4 miles, 5 miles downhill and 5 miles of hard rollers (on a tandem anyway) then another 1 mile down to the Deschutes River and a 9 mile flat ride along the river to Maupin, or something like that anyway! I know that doesn't make 27, but It was about those distances.

Everything went fine, with stops of about 2-3 mins when we got to the start area at the Imperial Hotel in Maupin, we did 3 laps and need 7 miles for the 200, with 42 mins to do it, I believe. Well with 3 miles uphill, and us getting tired it was not as easy as it sounded, we did make it though, so we were crowned Ultra Cycling's 12 Tandem North American Champions with a total of 200 miles.
When we stopped, we had to turn around and ride back to the Hotel (you tell George and Terri your last mile marker reached when your 12 hrs are up) I almost passed out and HAD to lie down, was in a bad way. Lucky for me, Mike Rogers was passing ( he had to abandon because of flu like sympthoms) on his way home, but was nice enough to take me back to town, thanks, Mike, I owe you a beer!

There was not room for Stoked in the car, so she rode the Tandem solo back, what a woman!

So, now despite my late ride implosion I am thinking of taking on Race Across Oregon , solo in 2008! I think the hardest part will be getting two people to drive support for 35 hrs at 10-30 mph, if all goes well.
Anyone out there want to spend a weekend in a car next July??


Crazy old fool, I am.

The "B" Team!

Never underestimate the power of the B team......State TTT Champions 2007

Results are here

Though, I was sorry to hear of the Crash the Garage Team had, I'm sure they would have had a fast time. Jason, Flavio hope you heal quickly.

MotionBased

Tues 14th Aug,
Well if this works, here's the link to my MotionBased training log. Just click on "my Activities".

I do ride slowly, don't I.

More than a month?

Since I blogged!

Well, I've gone from work to bed to car to race non stop since then, seems like it anyway. Went to , Bend,Eugene,Corvallis and Bellingham on weekends and Pacific Raceways on Tues nights Seward Pk on thurs nights.
Anyway, this weekend was Bellingham Omnium State Champs, I raced Pro/1/2s and my results will prove that I was the oldest guy in the race, my TT was slow (relative to the 17 guys who went faster anyway!) my Crit was ugly, this old body can't go THAT fast from the gun, I wasn't very good at that even when I was younger.
The RR was a bit better, though the result, DFL was not. I had teammates in the top 4 of the race and the BAR standings too, so I could just "have fun" and drive it on the flat section so no breaks would get too far. Well It hurt me, maybe everyone behind just felt sorry for my feeble effort and said nice job as they passed me on the hill. I would get back on each of the first 3 laps and go back to the front for the flat section. Last time up the hill I was "done" and just rode in on the small ring to the finish.
I downloaded all the info from my Garmin 305 onto the Motionbased website and it looks real good, some cool functions on that website if you have a Garmin, or need a good bike computer get a Garmin.
That's all I have,

Mick

Tandem TT

I know I did Sunday before Sat, but there it is!

Stoked Stoked for me in a 40k TT in Peroria (outside Corvallis) on Sat. Well we saw how fast a sub 50 min 40 k looks! Nick and Dan (don't have time to look up the correct spelling of their last names now!) from Hutch's in Eugene did 49.36......
And we were happy with our 53.03 for a new course record for mixed Tandems, I think a mixed tandem rode a 40k there 8 years ago ;-)

Gotta go

Yesterday was the State Masters RR at Longbranch, and arriving at the finish we had 3 bloggers out of 4 racers, also 2 sprinters and 2 guys who couldn't sprint out of a paper bag!!

Well we gave it our best, I was inches out of 2nd


Result 1st Rob Campbell
2nd Todd Gallagher
3rd OAD
4th PNW Buckeye

Blogger won't let me title this post??