And yeah, the interview was that good.

BTW, Troy! I don't mean "by the way." You are hard core, and you live hard core. I am thinking the local metric century assault on Little Mountain will be about all I can handle this fall, especially with my new job.


Dang it! I keep missing all this stuff. O well.

Lance has toned down. I remember in Lance's first Tour, in 1993, at age 21, he said (after having recently won the U.S. National championship, and so wearing the stars and stripes jersey):

"When you look at the other countries, so many flags are boring. America has the best flag, bar none, and having that flag on your back is back is pretty cool. I'm not sure if a yellow jersey (yes, the Tour de France one) could come close to that."

There you go.

Heh. I'm a both-feet kinda guy, dude. Besides, what's the worst that can happen? A nice walk in the mountains for 50 miles?

"BTW?" Does that mean this?

Troy, you floor me. I mean that nicely, of course.

Well, thanks (?) Libby.... not sure which part floored you exactly, but happy to be a floorer for ya, if you're into that.

dre - they're replaying the interview with Lance on OLN on 8/6. WATCH IT!

He will also be on Costas Now on HBO on 8/12. (I don't have HBO, so I'll miss that one).

So true about what a little punk he was at 21, and he knows it.

Troy....stop flooring people. You do that in the pack, and they'll floor you!

Who WASN'T a punk when he/she was 21? I heard Madonna say once that non-celebrities can be a**holes their whole lives, while the celebrities have to mature in the spotlight... she was like, "I get tired of having to justify what I said 10 years ago... yes, I've changed my position. I was an idiot. Just. Like. You."

Plus, she's hot.

[bullshit]

Re: flooring people... the 'pack?' Is that the group of people riding a couple miles behind me?

[/bullshit]

Seriously, I rode 25 or so last night and got on the wheels of guys who were in town for the Charlotte Criterium. It's a $175K total purse race... and clearly the talent is showing up for it. Those dudes were cruising at 20+ and riding 3 across, chatting. I was panting and pumping behind them for a bit... good for humility.

Very good for the humility.

The Tour speed average this year was about 26mph. Yeah, that's about 2200 miles including mountains. The fastest Tour ever. Um, yeah, that's pretty fast.

There's punk at 21, and there's punk. Even Lance will tell you how he was back then. He's said it many times.

Troy, I have no trouble believing you were a punk at 21!

Wait til you meet me... you'll believe I'm a punk at 34, too.

I already do, dear boy, I already do.

Your mother.

My mother?

My mother says you're a punk.

She also says never put anything blue in your mouth. I go with that.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow begins the 4-5 hour rides... I think I need to train for that century.

Terrifed (but still stoked!),
troy

You do not have to do centuries to train for centuries, you know. You just need a lot of time in the saddle intermixed with maybe some 60 or 70 mile rides. If you're coming home from those feeling good, you're fine for a century. If you're coming in dogging it, you need more time in the saddle.

Nothing feels so good though as your first century.

Not quite, but I guess that is the spirit of the thing.


I do not think I will have access to OLN then. Nor HBO. I do not think I will be watching cycling for a while. No August classics, no Vuelta, no Tour of Lombardy


Troy, you are the man!

Julie is right, though, not from my experience, but from my perusal of books and magazines. I am such a wallflower. More than 10 years off and on in the sport and I have never done a ride longer than 55 miles, let alone an organized ride, let alone a century, let alone a race. I need to get my a** in the game.

dre - you're making me very sad with the whole not watching cycling for a while thing! Yikes!
Did you get the move done and all? How's that going?

Here's an organized ride, well hopefully, for both of you and all your cycling friends for next year. I'm going to try to put together a fundraising ride out at the track at Darlington next spring. I've been doing some talking with some folks in the area, and it appears I may be able to pull it off(it'll be a similar thing to the 24 Hours of Booty, T). I used to do a ride on the Indy track, and it was cooool. Working on it. If it works, I'll expect you both to be big fundraisers and participants for me!

Just got back from a 40 myself. This so called group thing just isn't so much fun. That 18-20 group is gone. The slow group is now 21-22. The past 3 weeks they've gone out at 23-24. I just can't do it. I did get with 2 other guys today, but I pulled to the 25 mile point - the whole way. We picked up 2 others there for the ride in, and I still pulled all but 2 miles of that. I suppose if I'm gonna be with the slower group I should try to be the leader to be better, but no one else will step up and pull. So, I had a 16.5 average over 40. I feel good about that.

My knee, however, is still giving me grief. It feels as though I've got a tennis ball behind my knee. Its gone on a bit longer than usual this time.

Oh, and we got absolutely dumped on by this one big dark cloud the we road into. The streets flooded. I think my socks weighed about 10 pounds. The others were doing a longer ride, so they probably really got wet! Its thundering now. I hope they've gone in. Glad I'm done!

I went and watched the Charlotte Criterium (sp?) tonight. Streets of the city were blocked off, and those dudes were. haulin.' ass.

Amazing. So much fun.

And a $50K first prize, so it got the pros here.

Stoked,
Troy

PS: possibly a 60 miler in the a.m. if the alarm clock does its magic.

Crits are pretty fun to watch. That's a whole different ball game there.

I was up, alert, awake, the sun was out, etc. A perfect morning for riding. My shoes are still soaked clean through from yesterday, and my doggone knee is still aggrevated. Looks like mowing today instead if the weather holds.

I mowed the grass myself this morning.

My legs have been cramping pretty badly the last couple of times I've ridden.... something in my pedaling stroke, but I think I have it figured out now. Just a bit of 'cramp damage' leftovers, I think. I'm debating whether to ride this afternoon or give it a day off.

I didn't do the ride this morning because I'm lazy and my pillow and I were having a moment.

I totally understand that moment, and typically I would have been doing that myself this morning, but there I was, wide awake. Must have had something to do with the 3 hour nap yesterday!

Got the whole yard done this morning. Its about a 2 1/2 hour job. Technically, I still need to trim, but I was hungry, so I've stopped in for some lunch.

My yard is too big and requires too much effort for me to mow and ride in one day. Too much. I don't know why I never think of that when I'm buying a house.

What's in your pedal stroke that's causing cramping? I got a little minor cramping in my left calf yesterday, but I think that was just related to whatever issue I'm having with my knee. I haven't had leg cramps in years. I even rode most of yesterday in the small chain ring to try to give my knee a break. Of course, I was riding 95+ cadence trying to do that! I did switch to the big ring to go over the I-95 bumps....I hit 17.2 on the first one, 14.3 on the second one. Both personal records. Both accelerating as I climbed.

Hopefully some of the evenings will be ok for riding this week.

My cramping comes from pointing my toes down at the bottom of my stroke... as a runner, I land on the balls of my feet (not the heels) and everytime I think about it riding I catch myself -- sure enough -- with my heels up. I'm trying to be very cognizant of it and I'm getting better, but it's caused cramping several times now and I think the calf muscles are just a bit sore.

I bought a computer today, btw.... you called that one right, Jules.

I thought that's what you were doing. I do it too when I'm riding hard.

What kind of computer did you get? Did you get either a wireless or rear mounted sensor?

It's a Cateye, rear mounted. Wireless seemed a waste of money to me.

I agree. Can't justify that one myself.

You'll enjoy the rear mount though this winter when you want to go ride but its too miserable. Next, you'll need a good trainer, and with the rear mount, you'll be able to get a read even whilst on the trainer!

Good boy on the rear mount!

I played hookey from work today, went and rode 37 miles in this friggin' heat. I'm dyin' ovah here.

In a good way.

You know you shouldn't show up for work after calling out looking more tan than the day before. It tends to raise eyebrows.

I need to ride. I want to ride. I really want to do a nice long ride over Labor Day(60-70). Anyone up for it? Maybe we could meet somewhere out there **points** in the middle area?

Waaaahoooo! I made it 22 miles with the group today! For some reason, the group was a little more calm today....ie, they didn't start out at 23-24....but instead had a more gradual pace pickup. I found the best wheel I could see in the group, and hung on for dear life. The pace was still around 21.5-22 the whole time, but I think I was feeling pretty good today. I think, too, the only reason I got dropped was because my subgroup within the pack stopped to wait for one guy who had a quick mechanical problem. When they went back by me, they were going almost 25 trying to catch back up with the main field. I shouldn't have slowed to wait honestly. I think I might have made it to the stop at 25 miles in if I'd kept with the main pack instead. Oh well. I still held 18-19 on my own for the last couple miles.

It was soooooo foggy though! We could barely see for the first 15 miles. It was rather a bit dangerous, and I'm glad I didn't get stuck out in that alone. My glasses looked like they'd been rained on by the time I got to the stop.

I also forgot my Gu which had me nervous for a while. I like to have my little energy boost at the turn. But I held strong and even pulled some of my little splitter group after the stop. I was even pulling over 18 which is really good for me. Craziness.

Now, can I do it again next week?

Awesome, Troy! I rode Saturday for the first time in a couple of weeks (apart from a little birthday jaunt), and it was surprisingly good. 27 miles in and hour and a half, and the hills here do not feel any bigger than in Columbia, but I think they are. Alas, there is no road to the top of Nanny's mountain, not one for a road bike anyway.

Yeah, ok, its a bit warm out there! 11pm last night it was 82 with a heat index of 91. Not a good prospect for an early morning ride. Yeah, so it had cooled all the way off to 78 with a heat index of 87 at 7am. Wooo!

Decent ride today. The group split this week. The 24+ gearheads took off. Then there's the reasonable people. I was doing great and feeling good for such a long time. Then it happened. I was starting to get a little too hot and a bit bothered by it, and suddenly I was 2nd in the group, only going about 20, but I was beginning to struggle a bit to stay on. Then....then the woman in front of me pulled off, and suddenly I was out front expected to keep the group going.

Yeah, not so much. Actually, I managed to pull right at 20 for about 1/2 mile, then that was it. I pulled off. I couldn't find a spot to get into the middle of the group which is where I desperately wanted to be. Instead, I had to try to get onto the end of the group, and I just couldn't catch the handle. So bummed.

I was in to the red zone, and there was nothing I could do about it. I slowed off for a minute, caught my breath, then I rode the rest of the way to the stop at about 17 or a little more. I was still pretty happy with it all. I was strong all the way around.

But geez, it was hot. 87 when I got home at 10am. Heat index: 97. Crazy.

Should be pretty doggone nice this week though!

I kinda liked this ... no press statements, just a bike ride. And I'm still laughing at the "He's a good rider" comment. Sounds like they had fun.

Tour de Crawford

Pretty sure there was some money talk on that ride Saturday. I think Lance made a request for funding.

So, I got talked into going to the 8am ride today. The person who talked me into it didn't show up!

I was the first one there. Only 5 people showed up as a group had already met and driven off to ride 80 in Camden today. I personally think THEY are crazy. Too hot.

Anyway, there were 2 gearheads there, so we never expected to see them. There was one guy on a recumbent who decide to do his own route. That left me and one other guy. We both wanted to go opposite ways, but it turned out he lives about 4 blocks from me, so I decided to go ahead and do his route which I'd not been on before.

17.5 average. Quite nice. We ended up doing 44. We were going to do 60, but the heat was just getting to be too much. I could feel it too. I knew if I went any farther, I was gonna be in too much trouble too far from home. I suppose that's what you get when the overnight low is 77!

OK, the heat has me beat. I'm going to take a nap!

I found a cycling event for Troy and the Little Bo Peep outfit:

http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/174468

Yet another Saturday test with the group. I had a couple drinks the other night with the VP of the club, and we talked about what goes on on Saturdays and how things have changed. This morning he had everyone do a show of hands for what pace they'd be riding so we could form, and stay in groups.

Great! Tons of people in the 18-20mph group. Perfect. Yeah, except they became the 22.5-23.5 group once out on the road. These people are crazy! I managed to actually hang with it for 10 miles before getting dropped. I maybe could have struggled to stay a little longer, but the people I normally ride with had already gotten dropped, so I decided not to kill myself and drop off to wait for them.

My legs hurt, but it was a good ride. Thankfully it wasn't 9000 degrees today! It was so pleasant being out there, but I think we had some of the first wind we've had in quite some time. I hate cold weather, but I must admit I'm looking forward to some cooler rides over the fall.

Once it gets too dark to ride the 6pm ride during the week, they've got this great substituted too....the cruiser rides. Mountain bikes, cruisers, hybrids, trikes, whatever. Meet at a local restaurant at 6:30pm. Flip on your lights and ride the local neighborhoods for an hour or so. Then back to the restaurant for some dinner. I can't wait! This sounds like some fun to me!

Note to self: get a light for hybrid

Ouch.

Well, I can only assume you guys will eventually come back and read/post some more.

Soooooo, let me tell you about my ride this morning! Perhaps the single most overall successful ride I've ever had!

62.5 miles, with a group of about 15. 18mph average in 10-15mph winds - most of which seemed to be headwinds! We were carrying 20-21 for quite some time as well. I felt good the ENTIRE time. That's just never happened to me. I certainly expected to bonk 1/2 way in at that speed, but it just didn't happen!

This is such a far cry from 3 months ago.

Now, I'm going to go limp away and find some dinner.

Good for you, Julie! I am back for the first time in a while. I rode twice this week for the first time since July. Well, I ride every day, but it is only a quarter mile to school. I rode 30 k Sunday, and 30 more yesterday. I rode out to watch my school's cross country team; they are inspiring me to want to ride more. I am not as fast as Julie, but I felt pretty good yesterday, especially for going on 8 hours of sleep in 2 nights.

Not as fast as me?!! Are you on crack?! Puhhh lease!

I only made it that fast because I was sucking off someone's wheel the whole ride!

But I am getting better.

Glad to see you back at it!

Anita hasn't been around in a while, so she may have moved now.

Trying to get in those last couple hundred miles before Texas!

It's already getting darker, I can see the hours to ride dwindling every day... I haven't been getting out as much as I would like as it is, probably only 3 times a week. Been running a bit again, so that helps.

Going to Savannah this weekend, going to find a road to ride. Should be a nice Sunday morning.

T

Troy, what part of Charlotte are you in? I am in Rock Hill now, kind of on the Northern side, and so far the farthest I have gone in that direction is Fort Mill. But I think it would not be too much trouble to ride to Charlotte. I am probably underestimating the distance, though.

You'd probably find it a huge task, dre, from what I understand about geography.

Taking tomorrow off. Riding some minimal hills Sunday with my normal 'Saturday dropped' partner. May just hit the gym tomorrow.

Troy, there are a lot of ways you can keep up the time on the bike over the winter. If you belong to a gym, you could do some spin classes. A bunch of the people in my club are instructors here. Personally, I hate spin classes, but whatever.

I've got a trainer that I ride a lot in winter. I like this one a lot. Its got a cable that attaches to the handlebars so I can adjust the tension. The times on it don't equally measure to time on the road because you're pedalling all the time, ie 1 hour on the road = 45 min on the trainer. Get a fan. Get some music or a good tv program, and spin, man, spin! I usually do at least 2 days per week, but that may change this winter.

My club has what they call 'cruiser rides' on Tuesdays after the time change. Mountain bikes, hybrids, old beaters, whatever. Add a couple lights(state law, you know). 6:30pm at a local eatery. Ride for an hour, then drink and eat! They say they usually get in 10-12 miles just to stay loose. The Saturday morning ride continues, albeit a bit later in the mornings. There's a Sunday 2pm ride for 30-40 miles. Its usually nice by 2pm, even in winter. I think I'll be in much better shape this year come spring.

Already back at the gym a couple days per week. May start running again in October. Haven't decided. This working, riding, gym, going to school thing has me pretty wiped. The only time I really have to run is before work, so that means hitting the streets at 6am or a bit earlier, so we'll see.

Then, as if I don't already have enough time chopped up, 10 more lbs, and I get to start swimming! Of course, no idea when this will really occur. Those chocolate chip cookies from Subway(2 doors from my office) are not helping any!

4 weeks to Texas!

Charlotte would be a pretty good clip, dude. You should come up though, we can ride out somewhere or to the booty loop, or wherever.

PM me if you wanna.

T

I had my bike re-fit this week. Night. And. Day. Better.

Rode 35 today, uber-strong. watch out now, ya'll.

Last Saturday I rode to south Charlotte. It was 30 miles round trip, which is not too bad. I am supposing you are further north, though, Troy, like inside 485? I would probably want to drive to the booty loop, if I understand correctly where that is, near downtown, or in Myers Park, or thereabouts?

On that 50 k/ 30 mile ride, I realized my cleats are out of line, as I felt a pain in my ankle that adjusting the cleats helped with last time. When I tried to straighten them, I found that the screws had rusted into the shoes. I took it to the shop and looked at new shoes (none of which were within four sizes of fitting me) while I heard loud grinding noises coming from the back. The mechanic brought out my shoes and showed me how he had used some machine to cut a deeper groove in the screw. I still have not positioned the cleats, though. I will pm you sometime later this week, Troy.

Dre -

Glad you're out riding again! I'm off to Texas in 10 days. Looking forward to it!

I've just emailed you some info on a ride in Camden next month. I spoke to Troy briefly about it. A nice 30 miler sounded like fun for a late November Sunday(even if I'm not used to the hills). Check it out and let me know what you think. Maybe we could all meet up and ride it?

OK gents! Just walked in the house from an absolutely fabulous weekend in Austin.

Got to meet and interview(briefly) Chris Carmichael Saturday.

Did the Ride for the Roses Sunday. 73.28 miles(not 70 like they say - believe me, that 3.28 makes all the difference in the end!). Beautiful day. 7000 cyclists. One cause. $7 million raised. 7 time Tour de France winner at the helm. 52 degrees at 6:30am. High of 72 by mid afternoon.

Only problem was the wind. None in the morning, but by 1pm, it had increased steadily to 20-25mph! The finish was uphill into the wind. Of course one must make a good strong showing at the end when riding into a crowd of about 1000 cheering people and an announcer on a loud speaker. I pedaled as hard as I could up that hill, gritting my teeth against the wind. I was flyyyyyyying. Um, yeah, at about 8.2mph!

Met cyclists from Norway, England, Netherlands, and even Australia there just for the ride! It was a beautiful weekend all around.

I'm going back.....one year. It has to be done.

Awesome, Julie!

Sorry I have not written, Troy. I have been super busy.

That's very cool, Jules. My girlfriend was there, too, with a group of her friends. She did the 40 miler (she was hanging with one friend who doesn't cycle so much), but her friends all did the 70+. She said it was great fun.

Dre, no worries dude. I've been riding about once every two weeks anyway. Busy all around.

OK, but we're all in Camden on 11/20 though, right?

Not sure I really want to do the metric century, but it looks like my bike club is doing that, and they've already started talking about making me do it too. I'd really rather casually enjoy the countryside on the 30.

Thoughts?

Easy to tell when no one's riding. This thread dies.

I've ridden maybe three times in the last two months, it's dark so early and it's been chilly at times. Anyway, rode for an hour tonight, felt good to be back on.... saw the racers out, they've been riding all winter, inspired me a bit. This weekend maybe I'll get in a good one.

Anybody else been out?

T.

only in my dreams! my bike is unreachable at this point. which is terrible. as soon as i can get help to get me to my bike and my bike to me....it will be a true romance.
sigh,
thanks for the visions dancing in my head, tory!
mwah,
d