New bike!

So, the bike was delivered ON MY BIRTHDAY. No bow or wrapping paper - but still, what a gift! Of course I had to rush home that evening to take her out for the maiden voyage. Talk about smooth - she shifts like a dream! She's light, and quick, and fits like a glove. Perfect!
I took the day off and rode on Friday morning with the PV crew. What fun! Had a photo op prior to the ride, too.

Feast Your Eyes.

New Frame. Beautifully painted!

Patience - have you seen it? I seem to have lost mine.

Cycling can be frustrating. But even worse, the inability to ride. Saturday I wasn't able to make the club ride due to some banking issues I had to take care of. My bank is open from 10-2 on Saturdays, so I wasn't sure I'd make it there if I went on the ride and had time for lunch (a very important part of the Saturday ride ritual). The fact that some jackass decided to counterfeit my debit card and charge up all kinds of crap all over San Francisco necessitated my fun trip to the bank. The charges have been disputed and are being investigated, and the debit card has been cancelled & a new one issued, but that doesn't make the feeling of being violated go away.

But I digress. Missing the Saturday ride sucks. Fortunately I made it to the coffee shop in time for lunch, which was great since a) a friend was kind enough to buy me lunch, and b) I got to commiserate with other cyclists. On Sunday I decided to go out for a ride, a process that takes probably 20 minutes - getting dressed, finding helmet, gloves, vest, food, filling water bottles, pumping up the tires. Not even 10 minutes into the ride I hear something rubbing on my back tire. I look down, can't see anything, and decide to look at it once I stop at the stoplight. Before I even get there, I hear a "POP". Flat. Great. I stop, roll over to the grass up the curb and proceed to investigate. Remove the wheel. Obtain tools from seat pouch - tire levers, pump, CO2 cartridges, extra tube. Sit down on curb to commence removal of tube. I don't see anything on the tire (which was brand new, by the way) that could have caused the flat - wait, is the tire overlapping the rim? WTF? Not again. I attempt multiple times to get the tire lever around the bead of the tire. Cannot quite get it right no matter how many times I try. I take deep breaths and curse all the people who have helped me do this, because in the process they are actually preventing me from learning how to do it myself. I *HAVE* done it myself. So why can't I do it this time?? Finally in frustration I pick up the tools, stash them, and pick up frame, tire and proceed to walk home. Total and complete humiliation. In the process a group rides by and asks me if I have everything I need. Although nice of them and comforting, I am too embarrassed and wave them on, saying I'm done for the day and going home. Then a group of young girls ask me if I'm OK and need help. I shoot a smartass reply across the street at them and then quickly realize what an ass I am being and apologize, saying I'm having a bad day. But seriously. Is it that bad? I start to cry. Really, is that necessary? At that moment, yes, it was. My internal dialogue goes something like this: "People can do this, why can't I? I suck. I guess I'm not meant to be a cyclist. I need to ride - I have been so lazy lately. How am I ever going to ride Cycle Oregon? I hate all those people who get to ride during the week.. Me? No - I have to WORK. INDOORS. IN AN OFFICE. It blows." Yeah, real positive. Very helpful. I get home, hang up the bike, go inside and hop on my stupid lame Lifecycle recumbant stationary bike and grind out a boring hour workout. Not the same. Just as well, the weather looked pretty ominous outside.

Here's hoping that this weekend is better. But some good news - my new frame is at the painter. I am hoping like HELL that I am worthy of this new bike. I need to prove that I am - to no one else but myself.

My love affair with the wind: I'm over it.

Years ago, I used to windsurf. When you rely on wind to propel you across a body of water, and those perfect days when consistent, steady wind gives you just the right amount of wind for the size sail you like to use, it's a thing to be enjoyed. Windsurfers are wind snobs. If you have just a few sails, the small ones are for screaming wind, the large ones are for the low-wind days, and hopefully you have a middle-sized one for decent wind days. I had one that fit that description. I can't remember the size or the color, but when conditions were right, I'd hop up on the board (or waterstart), position myself just right so the wind filled the sail, hook my harness straps to the boom, and take off. The wind was my friend.

I haven't windsurfed since about 1994, and sometimes I miss it. I used to stop in Stevenson or Hood River and just watch them scoot across the Columbia with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I just didn't have the money to support such an obsession. And believe me, it's an obsession, and an expensive one.

Not that cycling isn't. Just when you think you have your bike, your equipment and your clothing all dialed in, something new catches your eye and it's all you can think about. That lightweight carbon frame. That sassy 'cross bike. Those light, stiff-soled shoes that match your kit. That helmet that makes you look like you are going fast even when you're standing still. Those special lenses in the glasses that keep crud out of your eyes and make you look cool at the same time.

So, as a cyclist, I learn that wind is something to be endured, something to tolerate. We learn to draft, to ride in a paceline, or an echelon, and hope for a headwind early in the ride so we can enjoy a tailwind on the way back. Sometimes this doesn't happen the way we like. I've come to appreciate group riding so much that I rarely ride solo anymore, at least not lately.

So yesterday I'm battling down Evergreen, having passed people in my hurry to get back to Longbottom's and enjoy my bagel sandwich. I'm cruising along at a snappy 14mph, feeling like I'm standing still. I look down and see 13mph, and then as I approached Shute Road, a screaming 10mph. Good thing there was only one stoplight to go.

Sorry, wind - I'm over you. Can we just be friends? I want to stay on your good side.

Needing Motivation, Contemplating Change

It's not been the best of weeks for a few reasons. I have been overwhelmed at work and even skipped my Wed. cicruit class, going home at 9 that night to grab a quick bite to eat and head straight for bed. This combined with the appetite loss/nausea/headaches didn't help. I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday, and lastnight I went to spinning class. It didn't seem like a very tough workout to me. So, I'm feeling like I really need to make some changes, and one idea is to quit the gym altogether. I only re-activated my membership to go to spinning during the winter anyway, and I haven't been going that much. It's all about accountability. Go to spinning (rush to get there by 6:45pm to change, get home at 8:30 starving), or go home and ride the rollers for an hour? One is more social, one is not. I don't know. I could also change to morning cardio workouts, which would leave the evenings free for resistance workouts. I need to commit to something else, because this isn't working. I wish I could afford a full-on coach like Upper Echelon Fitness, but I will at least look into their strength training classes. Suggestions welcome. I also could PUT DOWN THE HOT TAMALES (the candy, not the Mexican food version)!

It's here!

Racing season! Not only did the Tour of California Prologue start today in Sacramento, but Portland Velo's first race is tomorrow. Good luck, everyone!

I just read an interview VeloNews did with Lance Armstrong about the Tour of California. This quote sums up his view of the race: "The guys I know are racing like it’s May."

I found some things I had written a couple of years ago on my favorite things about pro cycling. It needs a little updating, so I had to change some things, but here it is - my favorite things about pro cycling:

1. Favorite race for scenery - Giro do Lombardia ("race of the falling leaves")
2. Favorite early season one-day race - that would be a tie between the Tour of Flanders (insane climbs, horrific cold weather, crazy Belgian fans and cobblestones) and Paris Roubaix (again, cobblestones, and the finale in the Velodrome).
3. Favorite Spring classic - Milan San Remo
4. Favorite US cyclist - Levi Leipheimer. The guy just never quits and is a great all-around cyclist. Back in the Discovery days it was George Hincapie, and I also really was impressed by Christian Vande Velde's 2008 season.
5. Favorite team kit - this is a tough one. I'd have to say Astana, because I don't think any other teams in the pro peleton have the aqua blue & yellow combination. I do like Garmin's argyle, but not so sure about the blue & orange combo.
6. Favorite team director - Jonathan Vaughters - the guy just seems so cool.
7. Favorite bike - Garmin/Slipstream's Felt - but I also love CSC (oops, Saxo Bank)'s Cervelo
8. Favorite sprinter - Mark Cavendish. He is wicked fast!
9. Favorite commentator - Bob Roll. He's kind of grown on me.
10. Favorite pro cycling magazine - Cyclesport
11. Favorite cycling website - VeloNews
12. Best aerial views - Tour de France. The best way to see all the cool cycling sculptures the fans make out of hay is from the helicopter footage.

Least favorite things about pro cycling (notice there aren't as many):
1. Worst team kit - Columbia/High Road. WHY on earth did they change it? I didn't like the yellow & red, but then Columbia's blue was pretty cool. Rock Racing's black & green kit is pretty hideous too (but kinda cool in a scary sort of way). Note - it's red, black & white this year. Still bizarre.
2. Least favorite commentator - Craig Hummer. Today I actually heard him say "spite-lot" when he meant to say "spotlight". Seriously. Where is Al Trautwig when you need him? He just has a better voice. What does Craig Hummer know about cycling?
3. Commercials on Versus. These are some of the worst on television, I swear. Yay for Tivo.
4. Least favorite race - Tour of Quatar. Boring. Tour de Faso runs a close second.
5. British commentators' mangled pronunciation of US cities. Cracks me up. I would do worse to the European cities. Bob Roll has gotten pretty good with his pronunciation of French & Italian.
6. Dopers. Vinokourov, Ullrich, Basso, Ricco, Schumacher, etc. Such a shame.
7. Podium girls. What's the point of this? Some ancient cycling tradition?
8. Most hideous fans - that would have to be the summit of Alpe d'Huez, but it's a toss-up. They've gotten smarter about putting the barriers out close to the finish so there won't be as many cyclist/fan incidents.


That's all I can think of for now - but might edit more later...
Here's to a great 2009 season!

Ow.

Much better riding this weekend! Saturday was cold and foggy - one of those days when it's really tempting to pull the down comforter over my head and grab a couple more hours of sleep. But no, I had to force myself to get up, chug some coffee, and get moving. I find that driving to the ride is a good option on these days. I wasn't sure about hopping on with KRhea's 3-hour endurance-fest, but I actually did alright. Brian Collie kept encouraging me to stay in the middle of the pack, and we kept the pace up for most of the ride. Even Blooming Fern wasn't so bad though I haven't done much climbing in a while, and that bagel sandwich sure did taste good. This photo was taken towards the end of the ride (thus the smile - I'm on the right).

Yesterday - different story. Not sure if it was a wise decision but I carpooled with Matt over to Palio's to meet up with Kristin & crew for her SE ride. Advertised as "flat & conversational, easy pace" I thought sure, I can hang on with these guys. But the sea of blue & black were way ahead once we started up River Road. I talked to Lindsay for a bit, then once we got to Oregon City I fell behind as we started up 43, but Kender was nice enough to lend me his wheel. Those climbs are deceptive, he said to me later. Terwilliger wasn't much fun either, especially after I biffed trying to unclip & avoid hitting Kristin's wheel as we stopped to step over a curb. DOH! Hungry, a little sore and very tired, I went home to clean my bike, take a hot shower, eat and got in bed by a little after 9pm. Time to build up some more miles in the saddle.