Maybe Next Year . . .
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Cycling
I'm celebrating.  Alligator Bayou Road is officially re-opened and I plan to put in some "training miles" tomorrow.  Actually, after a better-than-a-month hiatus from "serious cycling" due to lack of access to my favorite cycling route and lack of a training partner (my buddy John has had to work on weekends), Saturday morning's ride will be more of a "how much am I going to suffer next weekend" ride.  You see, Sunday-after-next is the Baton Rouge Bicycle Club Fall Century.  I've signed up for the 30 mile route.  Back-in-the-day, I'd have ridden a full century without much in the way of concern.  Hell, back in the day I once did an impromptu double-metric!  But that was then and this is a hilly-for-south-Louisiana course that I'll most likely be mostly riding solo, so I'm erring on the side of caution/reality.  Maybe next year if I can seriously train I'll attempt a full century again.  Yeah, there's always next year . . .

Ciocc bicycle frame workshop
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Cycling

Video of how they made Ciocc frames back in the early 1980s when lightweight steel still ruled the pro peleton (with catchy pop-symphonic soundtrack):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfgz-2WouyQ

You've got to admire the skilled craftmanship and efficiency of these builders.  I wonder if my Ciocc San Cristobal is in this video?  Probably not - these look like later models (braze-on front derailleur tang and dual bottle cage mounts).  Besides, Maestro Pelizzoli says that he remembers building mine!

Weekend Warrior
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Cycling

I haven’t blogged in awhile – between work, parenting and the ongoing home remodeling I haven’t had the time or energy for “recreational writing”. 

 

My buddy John and I have been cycling together on weekends.  We have a relatively car-free training route (you can view at http://www.livestrong.com/loops/prairieville_steve_s_38_mile_alligator_bayou_loop-I25BaeDLFJ ) that takes us from my house out Manchac Road to the River Road, turns north and loops around to Gummers Lane, then back to the River Road and return.  Lots of other cyclists use this route.  Mileage is just shy of 40 miles, which makes for a good Saturday morning ride of under two-and-a-half hours at our average 16 to18 mph pace.  Conversely, I’m not training during the week like I did last year and earlier this past Spring.  April started attending Third Grade at Elite in August, so we’ve been getting up at 5:30 a.m. in order to get her to school by 6:50 a.m.  That means she’s normally home before I am in the evenings, so no more after-work time-alone for either the wind-trainer or “beer rides”.  Fortunately, my lack of weekday training hasn’t adversely my speed – if anything, I’ve gotten faster from having to keep up with a younger guy who regularly works-out and rides a lighter, more modern bike.  My quads have gotten bigger and firmer – now if I can just drop another 10 pounds and lose what’s left of my “spare tire” I’ll really be in great shape. 

 

What else?  I’ve pretty much talked myself out of wanting a new bike.  When John got his carbon fiber Cannondale Synapse this past Spring I briefly caught “new bike fever”.  I looked into getting a hi-tech, brifter-equipped, index-shifting, umpty-speed carbon fiber wonder, but the more research I did the less enthusiastic I became about hanging-up my dependable ol’ steel-frame, friction-shifting Ciocc.  My Ciocc turned 25 years-old last April, but with the upgrades I’ve made since I started riding again (i.e., Kelly “Take-Offs” shifters, Selle SMP TRK saddle, etc.) the seeming advantages of a new bike simply aren’t all that.  Besides, I dropped John on the home stretch of last Saturday’s ride for the first time since we started riding together and felt like I could have gone another 10 miles. 

 

I learned a long time ago that it isn’t the bike that matters most, it’s the motor.  I just have to be reminded of that lesson once in awhile, that's all.

Sunday Afternoon Ride
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Cycling

My Ciocc with (GASP!) "brifters".

Brifters?  Er, not exactly . . . they're Kelly Take-Offs!  They provide the convenience of shifting from the bars for those "retro grouches" like me who still prefer old-school friction-shifting derailleurs to index-shifting STI/Ergo.

 

 

My motivation
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Cycling

How I stay motivated to train:

 

Catching up
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Cycling

Here it is February 2011 already and I've yet to venture out on the asphalt with my Ciocc this year.  Between the exceptionally cold weather and a hectic schedule I've confined my riding to the wind trainer (photo below).  So far I've managed to log 80.2 miles on the trainer in half-hour after-work rides.  Nothing to brag about, but at least I won't be in horrible shape when warmer weather arrives here in south Louisiana in March.

 When I'm not working, training or otherwise occupied I've been hanging out at http://www.bikeforums.net/.  I mostly post on the "Road Cycling" forum but also occasionally on "Fifty Plus (50+)". 

 

 

When Ice Cold Is Too Cold
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Beer

I'm convinced that many of my fellow countrymen drink their beer too cold.  I'll blame part of this behavior on the macro-brewers who push the idea of "ice cold beer" as being a great thing and the rest on American refrigeration technology.  Anyway, my pursuit of flavor has lead me to drink my beer from a fluted glass or mug and allow it to warm slightly as opposed to drinking it straight from a bottle or can cocooned in a cold-preserving coozie. Beer has flavor, but it is hardly discernible when it is cold enough to numb your taste buds.  I recall that when I was in China the beer wasn't served as cold and seemed to have more flavor.

 

A couple things that I've learned along the way:

 

1. Avoid so-called "light beers" because they're not worth the normally less-than-fifty calorie savings over regular beer and their lower alcohol content actually encourages you to drink more "empty calories" to feel satisfied.  Also sells more beer - ain't capitalism great?
2. The truly awesome beers are often more expensive and harder to find, but there are plenty of good beers out there that won't break the bank.  I really enjoy Abita Turbodog ale, but plain ol' Miller High Life is also quite good for eveyday consumption and less expensive.
3. Respect the beer.  Sip it, taste it, savor it  - don't chug it.
4. Taste is subjective - especially when it comes to beer. YMMV.

  

Where was I going with this?  I forgot . . . blame it on the beer.

Study: America Is Officially the Fattest Developed Country in the World
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Dieting

Study: America Is Officially the Fattest Developed Country in the World

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/23/study-america-is-officially-the-fattest-developed-country-in-the-world/?xid=yahoo-feat#ixzz10ZS2NZwN

 

Back in the Saddle Again
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Back in the Saddle Again
Topic: Cycling

Let's see . . . rode 20 miles solo in 1:10 (including two stops to answer my cell phone).  Not too bad for an old gray-haired fart riding a 1980s Ciocc like moi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIPS4LyveJs&feature=related