I have been out of action for the last week. After going to Spinning last
Tuesday, my brother and his family came in to town for Thanksgiving and left
early Sunday morning. I suppose I could have been selfish and gone riding
but, hell, it is November. So what if I do not ride. Besides, I had been
fighting off the early stages of a cold all week. Saturday, it finally
caught up to me and my throat had begun to hurt.

Skipping the race Sunday probably would have been best for my health but I
was feeling pretty decent and it was the last race of the season. The
throat was not hurting anymore and only had a little nasal drip. Sundays
race at Creve Coeur was fun. Rain the night before created soft, mushy
ground in places made for some slower and more slippery riding. My trend of
average performances at best continued. I wanted another top 10 to finish
the season off but did not manage to pull that off. I creeped across the
line in 12th. Not too bad but there were only 15 finisher but there 7 DNF's
so I was in the top half even though some of those DNF's were ahead of me
when their race ended. That doesn't matter I guess. If you can't finish
the race, it doesn't much matter how fast you are.

Sunday night I went to bed and my nose refused to let air pass through it
any longer. Why is it that you can be in a vertical position and breath
fine but as soon as you go horizontal the passages clog up. That frickin'
annoys me. Anyway, I got MAYBE 30 minutes of sleep all night just before
the alarm went off. I shut it off in a half-comatose state and ended up
oversleeping by half an hour.

On top of that, I was invited to a dinner party Monday night. While it was
an enjoyable evening of good food, good wine and good talk I stayed entirely
too long and got home at 12:30. Thankfully I could breathe last night and
got about as good a night of sleep as my 4:20 alarm would allow. Still, I
am far from feeling spry today.

With some luck, tonight's presentation at the Shark will get done at a
reasonable hour. More importantly, I need to be smart and not hang around
too long afterward.

Sometime this week I really need to get work on installing my new-ish
DuraAce 10-spd. That sounds like a Wednesday project.

A really disappointing performance yesterday. The bright spot was the start. For a change I got a good starting spot and to top it off I got out of the blocks ahead of everyone. That would be the first time I have ever led a cross race. For the first half lap I led and then we headed up the hill for the first time. Five, maybe six guys streamed by me before reaching the top and I figured I might be able to latch on but I couldn't downshift to a bigger gear and a gap opened up. After finally get the damn gears to work I held the gap steady on the paved section and led the chasers until after going over the barriers for the second time. On the new section that was added after the C race to make the laps a little longer, another whole stream of people came by. It seemed like a never ending line. I'm not sure what happened to me. Maybe I went out too fast but I didn't feel my effort was too extreme. When the carnage ended I only saw 3 people behind me and I seriously considered giving up.

The race seemed to settle down and I found some semblance of a groove, slowly pulling away from those behind and slowly gaining on a few ahead. First I caught and passed Mag. We battled for several laps before he pulled away again with 5 laps to go. I went by Pedro and it seems like someone else, too. In the closing laps Greg kept sliding further into my grasp and I caught him on the penultimate lap and Lewis kept getting a little closer but the laps ran out before I could catch him.

The final damage. 17th out of 23. Not very good and even worse with such a good start. Im not sure what is wrong these last few races. I seem to be regressing despite training more regularly but certainly not overtraining. Other than the little shifting problems, the only thing I can think of is that I'm not warming up well enough. My warmups have been lackadaisical lately.

Rode in Columbia on Saturday. Chilly to start but the air warmed quickly and the day turned out great. Like last week, we had a strong wind out of the south making the out trip rough. Since Jay and Mark were on the fixed again, I too chose a gear (53x19) and refused to shift the whole day. I spun too much last week and was tight for half the week. I'm glad I was not able to race. This week my legs feel far less fatigued. We split off the Levee Rd and took Merrimac Rd for a different route going south. That was a nice change of pace, despite a Roubaix-ish section of road because we turned off Levee one street too soon. Overall, Mark had us at 44 or 45 miles and an avg of 17 something mph.

It has been asked whether I intend to lead a ride of the 31 Hills of JeffCo and that there was there was the Covered Bridge Century this year that would have done many of the same hills. I really wanted to that ride and got my weekends mixed up. A few days after the ride, I realized my mistake.

At this time I don't know about doing the ride. Right now it's just an exercise in route making. I'm not even sure how far the ride would be. That's not a ride you want to do in winter and fitting it into the racing season might be tough. I'm tempted to try it sometime though.

I am still working out the details in my head but I have developed what could be a handy little bike widget thingy. What I need to do is create a mock-up and see if it really works. Then I go to the patent office, sell millions of widgets, retire young and ride all the places that I would like.

Discovery got my 2005 best jersey award but I think they have some competition for 2006. I am kind of digging the new Milram jersey.

This is day old news but I want to salute GQ's Woman of the Year, Jennifer Aniston. Judging from one of GQ's photos of Jen, flexibility is obviously a key component in becoming Woman of the Year. I find this picture strangely erotic but what the hell is she doing? Woman of the Year things, I guess.

The "30 Hills of JeffCo" ride is now the "31 Hills of JeffCo"

Tuesday evening was the team's first Spinning class of the winter. The class went okay. I did not feel awful afterward. During the class was a different matter. Not so much in terms of fitness but I could really feel the 5-6 extra lbs of blubber that I have been carrying around. I would get out of the saddle and my fat would follow a split second later when the gravitational forces let go, allowing the lard fly upward uncontrollably. My butt was jiggly and wiggly. It was a mentally disturbing evening.

Allow me to make one other observation from the class. Consider this a cycling tip with the added bonus of being a fashion tip as well. You might call it "Straight Eye for the Cyclist Guy". On today's episode we offer a tip to Mr Bag E. Shorts. When a pair of cycling shorts become baggy it is time to buy a new pair. This lycra material that is all the rage with cyclists these days, is actually made to stretch. Believe it, or not. Unlike jeans, there are no "relaxed fit" cycling shorts. And, there is no need for your shorts to have a scosh more room in the rear. Keep those shorts nice and clingy Mr Bag E Shorts. You will look like a new man.

While on the subject of shorts, Mr Bag E. Shorts was also the dreaded Mr C Thru Shorts. Good god! In fairness to Mr C Thru, I have several pairs of shorts that also are threadbare in the most unfortunate of places. We all have owned shorts like this and once in a while you screw up and wear the wrong pair on a much too public ride. But, I remember these same shorts on Mr C Thru last year. I can be an understanding guy. Shorts are expensive and it can be difficult to throw away an otherwise perfectly good shorts. But please, if you must hold on to these eyesores, only wear them on solo rides or trainer workouts.

The local cycling message board is having it's seemingly annual discussion of the toughest climbs in the st. louis area. The JeffCo area looks to be gaining in notoriety. In past years, the west tended to get more notice but word has spread of the nastiness that lies to the south. It would be nice to have a listing of all the climbs in the area but I'm not about to do the work.

All the talk of tough climbs got me to thinking. Thinking of tough routes. What have I devised? A rough outline of the road to hell. A road that twists and turns and incorporates many of the hills of JeffCo but never climbs the same hill twice. How many hills are there? 15? 20? I count 30 hills? Maybe it is the time of year, but I fear this route. It needs a name. "The 30 Hills of JeffCo" or "Death by Hills"

I'm confused. After completing our computer upgrade at work I rushed over to Faust Park for the cross race and the place was empty. The least they could have done was delay the start of the race until my work was finished. After all, I could have been there by 9pm. Is that too much to ask? Yesterday sucked about 4 dozen eggs. Today only sucked a half dozen.

From the pics of the race it appears they used more of the field near the barn before heading into usual racing area. That makes sense and wondered why it wasn't tried before. However, a few weeks ago the grass in that area seemed kind of high. Wish I could have raced but that is life. Today would have been a nasty day for racing with steady rain and high's in the mid 40's. A day for hardy men and women.

Viewpoint: Best young rider. (23 or under) I considered Tomas Lovkvist and Thomas Dekker but have decided on Alberto Contador of Liberty Seguros. Among his top placings were winning the 5th stage of the Tour Down Under, winning the 3rd stage and the overall of Setmana Catalana, winning the 5th stage of Pays Basque, winning the 4th stage of the Tour of Romandy and taking 4th overall. The second half of the year was lacking the results of the first half but no other young rider had that number of results of Contador.

Saturday morning I rode in Columbia with a group of six others. It was rather easy, since we had some newer riders and three inexperienced fixies. The biggest difficulty yesterday was the wind which got stronger but served as a tailwind for most of the way except for a couple of the finishing stretches along the golf course and on bluff rd. We kept the ride short and only rode to rte. 156. The road that goes through Valmeyer. Since half of the riders were on the fixed gear I didn't shift at all and stayed in my 39x16. I could coast when I wanted but was outgeared by everyone. I was spinning like a madman at times, especially when we had the tailwind, cruising at 24-25mph.

Afterward, we ate at Tequila's. Not a bad restaurant. My tamale was milder than expected but the menu did say it was mild so I got what was advertised. The refried beans, which normally don't do a lot for me, were tasty and the rice was good. A pretty good lunch.

After a solid week of training I find out that my chances of racing Sunday are, in my estimation, 15%. We are doing an upgrade to our mainframe at work. This upgrade was scheduled for Saturday and would not have been my concern. The date has been changed and is now scheduled for Sunday and since I am responsible for anything beyond noon Saturday, I need to go in to work and quiesce the system so that the upgrade can begin to take place by 9am. Wish some luck, the people doing the actual upgrade will do their job quickly and then I will rush down to Faust in time for the race. And, if all I am forced to, there is always the option of getting my ass kicked in the "A" race.

Viewpoint: I pretty much exhausted my roundup of local "awards" and wll move to the pro scene.

Best Pro Tour kit I follow some basic guidelines when evaluating jerseys. Clean, uncluttered designs with a bit of a "retro" look tend to catch my eye. Some of the more radical designs are good but they face an uphill battle in winning me over. Bearing those thoughts in mind, I have a certain fondness for Francaise de Jeux's jerseys. They are very simple but still quirky with the giant clover on the jersey and pants leg. This fondness for the kit applies only when they wear their blue shorts, not when donning their white shorts. White shorts should not be allowed in cycling and thus FdJeux cannot be the best. T-mobile have nice clean jerseys but my conscience will not allow me to name a magenta/pink jersey as the best. That leaves me to select Discovery as the best. Simple, clean, easy to read but not bland. They didn't try too hard to be interesting like so often happens in cycling. Some argued they blended into the peloton with the other blue teams like Fassa and QuickStep. However, that only applies to camera shots from a helicopter several hundred feet in the air.

News Item of the Day: My final thoughts on this Veteran's Day go out to those soldiers who have served our country in the past and are currently serving in our armed forces. Thank you for all the sacrifice that you have put forth in defense of this country. This photo I took in August at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is probably more appropriate for Memorial Day but I feel it works for Veterans Day as well.

Trainer for the 3rd night in a row. Cut back the distance tonight and did 45 minutes. My goal was to ride a little shorter tonight and have Friday as a rest day. Then I can get in a few hours riding outside on Saturday, weather permitting.

This past weekend's race confirmed that I really needed to start riding during the week. One weekday ride in 4 weeks does not make for good races on the weekend. The past couple nights I have reacquainted myself with the trainer. An hour long each night. Tuesday was unpleasant and showed just how much I needed to ride. Tonight went much better. I felt stronger, pushed a slightly bigger gear and had a much smoother pedal stroke. It is always good to see progress.

Yesterday's race was difficult. The terrain itself wasn't that tough with the exception of the paved climb. That section hurt me as much as any other part of the course. The rest of the course was only slightly rolling. The difficulty came in the turns. It wasn't as turny as Carbondale by a long shot but probably 2/3 of the turns were off-camber. Combine that with a couple small mushy, muddy pieces of turf, a couple leaf-covered turns that were dicey and a few small holes and tree roots that always seemed to find their way into my path and it proved to be a challenge.

Everyone lined up by the ref's tent and I sat way at the back because I knew they would move everyone back and I was going to hold my position. Unfortunately the didn't push everyone back as far as they seemed to for the C race and I was still at the back for the start of our race. Dumb move, Jim. I ride okay but dont have the ability to work my way through a pack of riders and then bridge to those who had a nice clean start. So, it was just a question of passing who I could. Then on the 3rd lap I darn near puked going up the hill and that forced me to back off. That was followed by some stomach cramps that last 2 or 3 laps. Surprisingly the cramps went away but I couldn't put in too much effort until they went away. Ultimately, I finished 16th out of 25. Not real good.

The race was fun and I enjoyed the challenges that it presented. A nice bonus was that I emerged unscathed with the exception of a bruise on the bottom of my forearm. Not sure how that happened. Otherwise, there were no new bumps or scrapes on the legs, the knees are good and I didn't seem to kick my ankles at all but maybe the protection I was wearing did its job and I wasn't even aware that I did kick my ankles once or twice.

I had a nice long post written up yesterday but computer problems caused me to lose the whole damn thing. In summary, I struggled all week to find a new wheel that for the cross bike that would spin freely and I rode for a while down into Feton today on the road. Along the way I caught a nice motorpace for about a mile and took pictures of the foliage. Most pictures were taken at the Fabick Nature Preserve. Every time I go in there it frustrates me that I wasnt able to get the okay for a race in there. There is some fine terrain over there. Both the upper and lower halves could hold distinctly different races.

Today we race Creve Coeur. I think. I better check the schedule just to be sure. I should be really fast today (haha) with my "new" old wheel that actually spins. And since my habit of kicking the hell out of my ankles has returned this year I will be my oh-so-fashionable black ankle protectors out of mothballs today. This was a fun race last year. I look forward to what course is created today.

I did get on the trainer last night. For a while at least.

Lately I have been using the fixed gear on the trainer. The past two times, everything starts out fine and then about 15 minutes into the ride the bottom bracket starts knocking and creaking and rattling and generally being very annoying. After another 15-20 minutes I can't take the noise any more and stop. I don't really care to sink much money into the bike but it looks like there will a cash outlay required to be back to normal.

I'm about to hop on the trainer for a while. It's needed badly. I need to work off some frustration. Walking up to someone, no one in particular, and whapping them upside the head seems enjoyable right now. As much pleasure as I might derive from some random violence, it's probably best to ride a little.