Don't forget to check my eBay auctions, folks!!! Right now, I'm beginning to list crystals and minerals again. There are a few cds there now, too.
I buy from eBay too. I just got a Capagnolo Nuevo Record rear derailleur, for the Alan. Now, I can get rid of the 980. I'm certain that was non original to the bike, as the shifters and front derailleur are Nuevo. I also just got a wool Brooklyn jersey!!! I've wanted one for a long time, but have always been unwilling to pay so much for them. They usually go for around $100. Mine....thirty!!!!
Now, I can get my Roger de Vlaeminck on!!!
Shared time with Laurie Burge this morning. Always a pleasure. Conversation goes from stones, to politics, to metaphysical, to...... Always, leaves me feeling good and with a ton of things to ponder. She's a good soul!!!
I finally feel somewhat normal. Still am coughing up tons of crap, but I feel alright. The rest of the tribe is on the path to recovery, with Jake taking the longest.
Went on a good ride this morning. Not far, but hard. Lots of hills. Old 141, Romaine Creek, Saline, Sugar Creek, Old Gravois, Hawkins, Oakwood. There is another road between Saline and Sugar Creek, but I don't remember it's name. Several seriously hard hills and a ton of rollers. The hammer to the gut, as it often is, was Oakwood. Espicially since it came after everything else.
Fatigue is there from lack of fitness, but I can say the flu is (knock wood) gone from me now.
Cool historical climbing video series. Actually, it's the "Best Climbs of the Tour de France." Not sure how the ratings were done, etc. but, it's cool. This is part one of a 9 part series. When it's over, put your cursor over the photos at the bottom, find part 2 and click, and so on, to view all of them.
We all have the flu now. It finally hit Amy hard today, which of course, means no Thanksgiving feast. Still feeling like crap, I went out for a ride today anyway.
The weather was cold and really windy. Having the chills all week didn't help me none. I decided on an "easy" ride. "Easy" meaning small ring (42). Yet, I rode Hillsboro/Valley Park Rd to High Ridge. The route I took from the house was 10 miles to the Phillips 66 Station in High Ridge. Very little flat, lots of climbing. Being already weakened, I knew the ride back would be a killer. My plan was to do the ride as an out and back. Conviently, that would have been 20 miles, with lots of hills. Good route from the house!!! But, I want the flu to be done with and took the easy way home, which had me on Rte 30 from High Ridge to Sugar Creek Rd. I like riding on 30. Yes, cars are doing 70mph, but the shoulder is huge and puts you 10 feet away from the cars and there is a nasty rumble strip between the road and shoulder, so you'd know if someone was near you. Good pavement and from High Ridge to Fenton is mostly down a long false flat hill, and you can go darn fast.
High Ridge. Why is it called that? Because, no joke, it's the highest elevation in Jefferson County. So, I turn on 30, which is open, no trees, got into a comfort zone and WHAM! I almost got knocked off my bike by a wicked gust of wind. I had to fight this type of sudden wind until the first elevation drop. I can't imagine riding this section of road with aero wheels today. Thankfully, I'm retro and have 'box' rims. It was windy the whole time on 30. This cooled me off and I was actually looking forward to the next hill climb to warm me up again!!! It sort of did. On the hill after that, I realized I was spent and made a good decision to not do the out and back. I may still be out there now.
Overall, it was only about 18 miles, but considering my battle back from the flu and the battle against the wind, the mid forties temperature and the windchill in the mid thirties, not to mention a bunch of hills, it was a pretty good ride. I just hope I didn't weaken myself more overall and that this friggin' flu goes away once and for all.
Yep, it's the flu, folks. Gotta be. Nasty cough/aches and pains are going away, but has now been replaced by diherrea. 4 nasty bouts since noon. Despite this, I managed to get on the rollers for 30 minutes. It's weird being in a cold garage, sweating. I think the sweat was more due to the flu than the workout. I think I just managed around 8 miles. I got done a little bit ago and showered. I feel beat. Winded more like it.
Great God Almighty!!! I rode really poorly today, not that this suprised me. Been battling a cold and to make matters worse, got almost no sleep last night. Jake is sick as well, and between 1 am and 5 am, I went into him 6 times. Amy also went in a few times. My planned ride today was out the window. I didn't know if I was really sick or just tired. Maybe sick and tired. So, I did get out, but only rode around 12 miles of flats, with one hill (Oakwood). Yeah, it was windy, but it was my energy level that was the problem. I just had nothing. I suppose it was better to ride than not, since at least I got my legs loose.
The best thing about a bad day, is that they give you something to judge a good day by.
I got a nifty fortune from a fortune cookie the other night. "Instead of giving someone a piece of your mind, instead, offer them the peace of your mind. Nice words to live by.
Now that I am riding again, and winter is coming on, it was time to get a new set of rollers. The last ones I had, I used for around 10, maybe up to 15 years. They had 4" drums. I loved the things. This time, I got me some with 3" rollers. A big shout out to you ______ _______. Thanks again.
Today was my first ride on them. It would have been easy to have gotten carried away and done a lot longer ride, but, not wanting to flog myself on the first time on them, I set myself a strict 45 minute time limit. When it came, I stopped.
But, in that time, I became one sweat drenched puppy. I really worked myself. I was told that smaller drums give off more resistance and I agree. I started out in my 42x19 for a 5 minute spin to warm up. Then, I went into the 52 and stayed in the 19 in back. I stayed around 90 rpm for cadence, except, when I did some intervals, where I picked up the rpms to around 110-120. I did one minute on and one off for a while, then a 10 minute session of as hard as I could until I slowed enough to warrent ending the session. After a cool down spin in the 42, I stopped. I really felt this in my legs. It was a good workout, one that had my heart rate up and got me to the point of where I couldn't talk while riding. Good stuff.
I know that these will help me get back into shape and were a great decision on my part. It didn't take long to ride smoothly and centered on the drums. Now, I need to get better, so I can shift my down tube shifters on the fly, drink from a bottle, etc. In the "old days," I got pretty good. Could do most of the tricks: no handed riding, one leg peddaling, standing, drinking, juggling bowling pins, etc.
With both guys home sick, I had more time on my hands than normal. On stlbiking's message board, were some created movies. After watching, I decided to log in and give it a try. I came up with a spoof on the local bike racing scene. Complete with jokes about everything, new, old, Lance is God, upgrades, Cat 5 'pros,' Team Mack and even Mark Shea.
People suck. No, make that some parents with sick kids suck. Ben stayed home from school yesterday, and both him and Jake are staying home today. Why? Here's the chain of events. Last Thursday after dropping Jake off, Ben and I were waiting around. A friend of his, M_________ T_______ had a wet nasty cough, which I noticed. I talked to Ben and told him to try to stay away from MT, to avoid getting sick. A little later MT was being his usual self (jerk-off punk). Ben said, I don't want to play with you today, because you are sick. MT said and I heard, "I'll get you!!!" and ran off. Well, after school, Ben says that as soon as they got inside, MT snuck up behind him and coughed in his face and breathed all over him. What a little ______________er. Now both of my kid's are sick due to this little prick's actions. Great. But what I don't understand and what is much worse is this, kids will be kids, I know that. But, the school has a policy of if your kid has a fever of 99.8 and above, OR a wet cough, they are supposed to stay home, just like I'm keeping my guys home. But, NO!!!! MT's mom dropped him off at school, risking infecting everyone else, so she could go work out, which she does every morning (and needs to do, I will add, MOOO!)
Enough of that rant.
And now for....
Rain. It's back to rain rain rain here. Didn't ride yesterday, won't today (I wouldn't have due to kid's home anyway). I have a set of rollers coming, won't be here until tomorrow. Naturally, Thursday, it's supposed to be nice and dry. Oh, well, I do need them and will have them for the next patch of bad weather.
And....
...to top it all off, I have another broken tooth. Going to the dentist tonight.
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
I found this old photo of me racing cyclocross at Queeny Park in 2001, going up the muddy hill, just past the creek crossing. Photo taken by John Mussleman. I edited the size so it would fit on the blog.
Nasty day for a bike ride. Chilly, foggy, windy. It was mainly damp and windy. I did get out for a 20 mile ride in the flats. Of course, that always means a hill or two around here.
In the recent past, I was thinking of randonneur riding and doing some brevet rides. Coming to reality, that's not going to happen. I simply won't have the time to put in the miles.
But here's a thought...time trialing. I always thought I had power and wasn't too bad at time trialing. I think in the State Championships, I even did a 57 minute ride as a cat 5. There was no official Cat 5 champion that year, but I had the fastest time of the 5's. The following years I did 1:04 in both other attempts in stiff wind. I think I entered as a 4 one year, but would have been Master's Champion in my division, if I entered that instead. Arrgh.
So.......
If I can get in shape, this could be something realistic for me. Racing alone. Nobody else to crash me out. There is a weekly series in June and July in St. Charles, run by Joe Walsh of Big Shark racing. The bonus....there is a Merckx division!!! Meaning, no aero bars, etc. Simply old stuff, which falls into my retro love thing.
Born on November 14, 1954, Bernard Hinault’s achievements as a rider are second only to Eddy Merckx. Nicknamed “The Badger” because of his fighting style when cornered, Hinault was a complete rider like Merckx who could climb, sprint, and time trial with the best.
Hinault’s record of ten Grand Tour victories is second only to Merckx's eleven Grand Tour victories.
Hinault joins Merckx as the only riders to win all of the classifications in the Tour de France (overall, mountains, and points jerseys), although Hinault didn’t achieve the feat in a single year like Merckx.
Hinault’s record of 28 stage victories in the Tour is second to Merckx. He won 7 stages in the 1979 race and 5 stages in the 1981 race.
Hinault’s record of over 250 professional victories, including 52 time trial victories, is impressive. Hinault was also an accomplished one-day rider and won the World Championship Road Race and a total of five victories in cycling’s monuments (he never won the Tour of Flanders or the Milan-San Remo).
In addition to the CyclingHallofFame.com designated races, he also won the then unofficial time trial world championship, the Grand Prix des Nations, five times. One of the most memorable Hinault victories was at the 1980 Liege-Bastogne-Liege in Belgium. The April race was held in winter conditions which deteriorated during the day. Of 174 starters, only 21 finished. Hinault rode solo for the last 50 miles (80 km) of the 151 mile (244 km) race through a blizzard and won by 9:24.
Hinault was clearly the strongest rider in his victory in the 1980 World Championship Road Race held in Sallanches, France. Hinault devoured everyone from the start in a race where only a handful of riders finished.
Hinault’s record, in the Grand Tours at least, may have indeed been even brighter had it not been for knee problems. Hinault was forced to abandon the Tour in 1980 because of a bad knee and was forced to miss the Tour in 1983 because of a knee operation.
In 1985, Hinault won the Tour de France thanks to the help from Greg Lemond in exchange for Hinault’s promise to ride for Lemond in 1986.
During the 1986 Tour however, Hinault attacked Lemond and wore the yellow jersey as the race leader.
Hinault kept attacking Lemond which made the other riders chase Hinault. Lemond was able to counter attack the other riders and take the yellow jersey himself. Hinault’s attacks didn’t subside until the final time trial was finished and it was obvious that Lemond was going to win. When questioned about his tactics, Hinault’s response was that Lemond needed to learn how to win through adversity and that this lesson would make Lemond a better champion.
Possibly, but either way it provided much interest and entertainment during the Tour de France that year.
Hinault left cycling at the peak of his career. He retired in November of 1986. His last race was a cyclocross race five days before his 32nd birthday. Hinault's accomplishments include 5 Tour de France titles, two second place finishes, a Mountains Jersey and a Points Jersey in the race. He won the Giro d'Italia three times, the Vuelta a Espana twice, a 1st, 3rd, and 5th place in the World Championship Road Race, a Paris-Roubaix title, two Liege-Bastogne-Liege victories, two Tour of Lombardy victories, plus victories in the Amstel Gold Race, the Ghent-Wevelgem, and two victories in the Fleche Wallone.
He won the Tour de France - Giro d'Italia double in 1982 and 1985. He won the Tour de France - Vuelta a Espana in 1978. He is the only rider who has won all three Grand Tours at least twice.
During his racing days, Bernard didn't take crap from anyone and HATED protesters, even getting into fights with them, when protesters delayed races. Now, he's a part of the Tour de France orginization and is a fixture on the post race podiums. In this video, you can see that the Badger still doesn't take crap from protesters!!!!
If I ride at all today, it won't be until later on, in the evening. Jake doesn't have school today, which means, it's a kid's day!!! Not sure what we'll do while Ben is at school. For that matter, I'm not sure about what we'll do after Ben gets out of school either. Likely, we'll go to Burger King for, what's becoming a weekly event, the special lunch. The BK in Valley Park has a kid's eat free deal, if the parent gets a combo meal. Usually they split a chicken nugget meal and the fries.
I haven't talked about guitar playing in a while...
I've been tuned to Open G mostly lately and working on slide. I'm at a level where I'll say that I've gotten really good. That makes me happy. Yesterday, I got an itch, so I tuned to standard for a while. I really like this old Gibson of mine. Plays great, sounds great. Later on, I tuned to my old favorite, DADGAD. But, I've been in modern pitch (A=440hz) and I chose to lower it to old time pitch of 430. This has the effect of lowering the strings notes just a wee bit. I did this after momemtairlly being in dadgad 440, and I can say that after the change, the tone erupted from the guitar like an asteroid hitting a planet!!! Good stuff. It's been a few weeks since I've been in DADGAD and all the music I play in this tuning is of my own composition. It's like returning home after a long journey. Things are as you left them, but a little strange. Dust off some cobwebs, and you are "in your place."
And now, the master of DADGAD tuning, Frenchman, Pierre Bensusan...
Not sure if that's his song, or a cover, but DAMN!!! The guy is a melodoic genious!!! I wish I had a 1/10th of his tallent. No, I WANT IT ALL!!!
Considering my lack of fitness and my back woes, which lead to leg woes, I'm riding fairly well. I did my figure 8 of hills today, with the worst, Oakwood, being last on the adjenda. For a historically horrible climber, I'm doing alright. Seated, I was able to ride in a 3 gear tougher gear. Shows some strength is coming back. I didn't stand much. Once, where the outer road of 44 turns right into Valley Park road and another time during where the grade goes to 12% on Oakwood. Not a bad ride. It was fun and very enjoyable. Later, I rode into/from work. I didn't do the extended ride, as it was colder than I expected and was underdressed. I'm going to ride this morning. Speaking of cold, the ground is covered with frost. Should be a "refreshing" ride.
Lately, I've sort of rediscovered one of my favorite musicians, Steve Winwood. The guy is an amazing tallent. He can play about any instrument, which he did on many of his solo albums. Heck, look at the credits to the Blind Faith album. He plays a ton of stuff, while Eric Clapton just played guitar. With Traffic, it was the same way. Steve would play about everything. He wrote one of the all time rock classics, "Gimme Some Lovin'" and recorded it with the Spencer Davis Group when he was only 14 or 15!!! Here is a video of Empty Pages, during a reformed Traffic tour stop at the Woodstock concert in 1994. Not a great recording, and not nearly as good as on the Barleycorn album. But, it's still a great song. Heck, the girl dancing topless is a nice bonus to this video.
Here's Stevie at a young 15 doing Gimme Some Lovin with Spencer Davis....
Added later.........
My ride this morning sucked. I just didn't have it. I was dressed perfectly for the weather, but, I just had no power. So, I just rode the Fenton flats at an easy pace of around 15mph. I did finish off by climbing Oakwood on my way home. I had to stand twice and much earlier than of late.
I recently got a great coffee table book called The Compition Bicycle, which shows old racing bikes of days gone by, with complete specifications of each and some cool old stories. A note to my friend, who the other day, said my bike was "heavy..." My bike, with all it's stuff on it, weighs about a pound LESS than the bike Eddy Merckx used in the 1974 Tour de France.
I woke up this morning and quickly realized that in my condition, I obviously pushed it way too hard yesterday. Sure, it was only 30 miles, but I rode it hard. Thus, instead of a morning ride after the kids were in school, I went home and back to bed!!! I rode into work however. On the way home, I took the long route via the river road and by Chrystler/Maritz. I've rode these roads hundreds of times, but never in the dark. For most of the route, there isn't much ambient light, just the light provided by my headlight. The road isn't in the best of shape, since it floods all the time. In fact, the water just went down and I could see brush marks from a street sweeper, that cleared the road. Yet, a fine dirt was still on the road. The air was crisp and there was hardly any traffic. I think I only got passed by 3 cars the entire ride home. This extra distance doubled my normal commute. It was fun, and I'll certainly do this again and again.
Some good things happened this weekend. I was able to catch up on some yardwork. I mowed/mulched the leaves in the yard and burned some yard waste. While burning the waste, I drank a beer and played some slide guitar. Over the last few days, I've figured out how to play in different keys, while in open G tuning. Songs I taught myself were a new version of Statesboro Blues, which is in D and Crossroads Blues, which is in A. For Crossroads, I use a capo on the second fret. That old blues guitar of mine really sounds great for the blues. It's almost as if the guitar is holding music from long ago and I'm channeling that energy and letting the music sing again thru me.
I found a praying mantis yesterday at work. I wanted to show it to my sons, but I rode into work. So, I took a chance and put it on my arm and rode home with it. Amazingly, it made it home with me!!! It was sort of funny, it crawled down my arm to my brake lever, then went into the drops and stayed out of the wind. We let it go in the wood pile today, but the little guys were happy to see it and enjoyed checking it out.
I FINALLY took my first long ride on the Alan today. 30 miles in St. Louis County. I started off riding the 141 gauntlet to Big Bend. From there, I went west and rode the new section of road to New Ballwin, where I went left to Keiffer Creek and turned right, following it into Clarkson. From there I turned on Clayton and took a breakfast stop at the Lone Wolf Coffee Company. I hadn't eaten yet, and I planned on stopping there. I had a Blueberry muffin and a cup of Joe.
I also realized what this bike means to me and why I got it. It's very anti-ego, which I'm all about now. I don't need flashy anything. A good friend picked it up today and said "it's heavy." Years ago, this would have been viewed by me as a personal attack. I was a weenie, who was into the latest, greatest, lightweight stuff. But, I said nothing. Sure, I could have. The bike after all has clunky commuter pedals, a Brooks saddle and a Brooks tool bag full of tools. Not to mention a pump, lights and a freshly topped off water bottle. The bike still comes in under 24 pounds. Heck, there are a bunch of new road bikes that with the stuff that's on my bike would weigh more than mine. But, I said nothing and smiled. You see, I don't care. I just want to have an enjoyable bike to ride. One that has a great ride quality, climbs well and is fast. The Alan is all that. I don't need carbon this that and the other, aero wheels, blah blah blah. Not that there is anything wrong with that stuff, or (most) anyone that rides with it. It's just not for me. I'm about simplicity and lack of ego. My friend did compliment on the fact that it's a nice looking bike, which it is. I got another compliment yesterday at the shop about it, from Tank.
You know what, I'm really happy with the Alan. For the riding I'm going to do around here, it's perfect. It climbs really well. Considering I haven't really done any road climbing in years, I'm actually climbing really good. Is it the bike? I'm out of shape, yet, as for in the saddle climbing, I almost think I'm as good as ever. Not bad out of the saddle either. I am lacking overall in the power department, but I'll get stronger. In fact, I feel stronger than I have in a while. I guess doing hills will do that for you.
If you're wondering, the gearing is 52x42 up front and the six speed rear ranges from 13-24. I'm climbing decently in a 42x24??? Considering I used to run 39x23 on lighter bikes........ Good stuff.
And, on my loop today, I realized that I can go a bit farther, since I'm riding overall faster. Thus I have a bit more time. Today, I took a challenge, I haven't done in a few years. Oakwood. Starts with a long stretch of 8%, then goes for another good stretch at 10%, then a few hundred feet at 12%, before finally hitting 14% near the top. It was the last hill of my ride and I already did 2 good ones before that. I took the challenge and won. No leg or back pain. Like I said, my power is off, but darn it, I rode really well, all things considered!!!
If anyone wants a fixed gear or knows anyone that does, let me know.
I don't agree 100% with this. Kelly should be higher than Indurain and Armstrong. Look at Lances palmares, compared with the others. Doesn't compare. He was all about July. Don't forget, nobody's palmares shows other races won. Lance's really was about all there was. He won the Tour du Pont once, against a weak field too, which I don't think was on there. I wish they would have put total victories for each rider on the list. Merckx, Hinault, Coppi, Bartali easily top 4. I might have put De Vlaminck up a bit higher too. Certainly, Kelly should be no lower than 5th.
Crazy handlebars are amazingly comfortable. Check out the tops, or almost lack thereof. Nice big curve going to the hoods. You can put your hands on the tops by the stem, on the straight bit. Otherwise, you are in that curve, which by the way is an amazing hand position!!!
And here are what our pumpkins looked like for halloween. I always like barfing pumpkins!
As for the bike.......
It's been having issues. Flat city, which I finally got ironed out. Creaking from the bottom bracket area. I think I have it worked out now too. I got home from today's ride and tightened the lock ring and rode it again, for a short distance. No clicking. Hopefully, that was it. Today, I finally didn't have a flat, so I was thinking I'd get a good ride in. I was, until I got to the intersection of New Smietzer and Hillsboro/Valley Park Rd. There it was flooded. So, I had to go back. But, that way did give me the nice hill there. I also took in the hill of Gravois/Hawkins and added another to my figure 8 loop, May Valley. MV is in my subdivision, in fact a few hundred feet from my house, but with the gearing on the fixed, I just never wanted to tackle it. That was part of the reason for getting the Alan in the first place. Gearing. It climbs nicely and rides well. I like it!!! As you see in the photo, it only has one cage mount. Not a big deal as most of my rides will only be in the 1-1.5 hour range anyway. I can always get water or ride with a CamelBak if necessary. With a cage, pump, lights, computer and pedals (yes, they are spd on one side and platform on the other...), full Brooks tool pouch and a Brooks saddle, it still weighs just 23 pounds. Not bad for a vintage bike!
Well, the real first ride won't be today. I only went for a quick few miles. Just didn't have time for it. Ben's birthday is this week and g'ma is coming over today.........
But, what I did notice of the bike, is that it rode really nicely. Had a good feel. Definately doesn't feel like aluminum. If I had to give an initial thought on the ride quality, I'd say sort of titanium feeling.
Last night, we took the guys to West County Center and around the neighborhood for trick or treating. WCC was sort of a bust, compared to last year. I'd say less than half of the stores were handing out candy. But, they had fun and we ate at Chic-fil-a for dinner. Then, hit the houses around the block.
This is cool.......
I rember seeing this many, many years ago. Great song. Traffic was always a favorite of mine, espicially the post Dave Mason version, which this is. Steve Winwood is one of the best musicians ever. He can play any instrument, and do it well. Great singer too. But, what are they on? My guess is mushrooms. Jim Capaldi does his best hippie version of Davy Jones on the tambourine.
