A nifty web site

It is not my intention to get political on my blog right now, but I came across a site that I feel compelled to post. Actually, I don't think it's even political, but deals with political figures.

Draw your own conclusions.

Iraq: The War Card

winter so far

So, I am now fully entrenched in my winter/ off season fun. I'm on the trainer/rollers 4 days a week but not with much intensity. In my last post, I noted that I have some goals: flexibility, core strength, weight loss and making my back feel better. I am actually being successful in three of the four goals, and am really psyched to keep seeing more progress.

Flexibility: The main problem has been my hamstrings, an I am happy to report that with my foot up on a table, I can alllllmost touch my toes now. Don't laugh your beer out your nose- I couldn't get within 4 inches when I started.

Core strength: This has been cool. The gains are quick and evident. At the start, I couldn't hold a plank for 30 seconds, and I can hold one for 4 minutes now. I also feel like my posture is getting better with stronger muscles to support my torso and I think I can start to see some muscle definition (under the rest of the spare tire anyway :))

Weight loss: With the exception of the party boat episode, I have been diligent at restricting my intake. Chief among the restrictions has been alcohol, which after the holidays and my brother's visit, has not been hard to cut back on. Starting weight: 169, now 164.5. Good progress by all accounts. Not quite like this guy, but hey, he's a lot yunker than me...

Back pain: So far, this has been a disappointment. I thought for sure that it would be feeling better now, what with the progress in the other areas, but no avail. Worse yet, I seem to have developed a case of mild sciatica. Bummer. I will keep going though, in hopes that it just hasn't been a long enough period of time yet.



OK, enough of that stuff. For Christmas, Santa brought Sam a real snowboard. I provided a pair of boots and goggles and he was off and running (or sliding). We went to the sledding hill a few times but all that did was make him want to try a 'real' hill, so off to Sunburst we went a few weeks ago. He had a lesson, and picked up the moves quickly. His passion over the summer/fall was skateboarding which translated well to the snowboard.

As a kid, I lived for skiing. Just the mild threat in August of skiing sanctions for being a punk had me back on the straight and narrow, that's how much I loved it. As soon as the weather started to turn crisp in the fall, I was dreaming of skiing night after night. Suffice to say, after my college years and on into dad-hood, I left it go, but always had it in the back of my mind that I would return to it someday. I think you can guess the rest!

I rented some of the new parabolic skis and wow! what a difference from my old boards. At a whopping 5'9" I was on 205's, now I'm on 165's! they are great fun and make me feel like I never left the sport they're so easy to ski. It didn't take long before a nice pair of Atomics with some new Solomon boots were in my possession. After that first night, I figured I would be sore for a week, but I didn't have any after effects at all. Except wanting to go again and again. The great thing is that I can do it with Sam, instead of just watching him. Now Maddie wants to get in on the action, but she wants to ski not board so I will take her for lessons as well. It's a good thing that business is good, because it's an expensive hobby. At least the season is relatively short.

That's it from the home front. Enjoy the winter wonderland.

A Good Time

The 2007 WCA cyclocross banquet was held last night at the Fitchburg Community Center in beautiful Fitchburg Wisconsin. There was an armed policeman type posted outside the door to our hall the whole time. I'm quite sure that it had something to do with Cale, Andy and the rest of the Pegusussy crew. They was just itch'in fer trouble and Johnny Law was gonna be there to bust heads if need be.

Renee Callaway and J.P. Ericsson really put on a great event from the super tasty fajita bar to the fresh kegs of beer. There was a nice presentation by Ben Turner of Cycle-Smart and the Clif Bar Development Team. He had some great ideas about making our events more environmentally friendly and about bringing more kids into cx racing. I'm pretty sure Jay was zoning out bad during the "green" stuff. Damn tree huggers :)

Other notables in attendance were the proprietors of the Rusty Tool Shed and The Darkness himself. Representing Team Polska was a trio of ne'er do wells by the names of Maciej, Marcin and Abby. The Pegasussies threatened to blow our ears out with a cowbell and flugle horn orchestra. Kind of like being at a race except it was colder in the hall we were in. Someone forgot to tell the Fitchburgers to turn up the heat. Don't they know a bunch of bike racers don't have the extra layer of blubber to keep warm in winter?

I got this cool life-size trophy to take home. Had to strap it to the top of the car. I'm not sure where to put it at home though as my trophy room is getting too full for something this big. Oh well, such problems to have.

As you can see, Russell was starting to question his choice of seating. I'm glad he was between me and the obviously deranged Pole.

back to normal

So now the holidays are finally over, I weigh another extra five pounds and it's definitely time to get back to it.

So first some news: After flying the Hayes colors for five years, I'm moving on. I have joined the Cafe Hollander Racing Team for '08 and beyond. Just so there's no misunderstanding, I have nothing against the Hayes Team, or any of the people involved with it. I appreciate the opportunity that the team gave me to race for them, and they are a good bunch of guys. Why then the move, you ask? Well, in the first place, Hollander is much more of a road and 'cross team, whereas Hayes is mostly a track and mtb team. Being that my racing interests lie in road and 'cross, that was the first draw. Secondly, they are more involved with the local racing scene, and also get involved with bike advocacy and the Urban Playground Foundation. Any hey, who wouldn't want to race for a team whose sponsor is known for their beer and french fries??

So, I do have some goals for this year. They are few, and simple: 1) Get down to optimal weight. This used to be an easy thing to do; of course that was before I turned 40. Now it is hard to do, but is something that I must achieve. Goal weight by spring:159. Weight now:172. 2) Strrrrrretch. Stretching is an activity that I start every winter, and then leave behind as summer approaches. Not this year, no sir. 3) Strengthen my core. This, I think, is imperative to having a better season. Perhaps all of the above directly relate to the lower back pain that has bothered me for most of the past year. It is never bad enough to stop me from activities, but it is a day to day limiter on my overall performance and physical well being. So that's it. Simple, eh?

2008 is off to a good start:



48 miles with the Shedmaster today in the fog. We hit Elm Grove, Pewaukee (where's the lake?) Lake, Hartland, Delafield and almost Nashotah. We ran into new teammate and current master's 40/4 cx champion Tim T. on the way back too. Something tells me that he thought we were nuts for going nearly 50 miles on January 6th. Russell is doing Trans-Iowa so he'll be doing lots of early season long rides. Just what I need for burning off those pesky extra pounds...