Into the unknown

Nearly six months have passed since my last road race. Cross season came and went last fall. The winter off-season has been cold and unpleasant. But, tomorrow,the 2010 season kicks with the traditional Froze Toes road race just east of Columbia.

Tomorrow marks the start of my 18th season of racing. Looking back, it does not seem that long ago until I begin to think about all the people who have come and gone through the years.

This afternoon I finally got around to renewing my licenses. For good measure, I filled the Rider Release form so I don't have to deal with that hassle at the registration table tomorrow morning.

The first race of the year always piques my curiosity. Who will have switched teams? Who will have made a big improvement during the off-season? Is that improvement real or have they only come into the season on good form? And, on a personal level, it is always good to see old, familiar faces again, exchange a few stories and take part in the age old ritual of downplaying your fitness, even if you are crazy strong and plan on going attacking ten miles from the finish.

Tomorrow, I will be toeing the line around noon in chilly temperatures, but good weather. I will be racing Masters. I have grown tired of the typically passive Cat 3/4 race at Froze Toes that ends with 50 guys wanting to sprint on a one lane finish area.

Let's hope the season gets off to an encouraging start.

Today also marked the start of the professional road season. Sure, there has been the Tours Down Under, Qatar, Oman, Haut Var, Algarve and various other smaller races. But, in my mind, the season starts in Belgium and today the cobbles returned with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (I still call it Het Volk). From what I have read it was a good aggressive race and it was good to see John Tony Flecha finally get a win after a number of close calls in recent years.

The best part of Flecha winning is the return of the best victory salute in cycling. Flecha celebrates as if he is shooting an arrow. The celebration is unique and meaningful, since Flecha means arrow. Congratulations, John Tony.

Alberto Contador's pistolero act jump...

Alberto Contador's pistolero act jumped the shark about two years ago but he forges on toward ultimate cliche.

The finger hat was the start.

I'm sure there was a finger shirt but I can't find a picture

Last year, the flying finger disk wheel made it's debut

 

And, now Selle Italia has produced a new saddle, the Selle Italia Procto.  I joke about the name, of course.  Who thought that a finger pointing in Alberto's anal region would be a good idea?  No wonder Contador likes to climb out of the saddle so often. 

 

From what I can tell, you are not selling this finger gear to the public so there is not much of a marketing angle.  It's just your own annoying little ego trip.  Just ride your bike, Alberto. 

Wet cycling

Maybe this is a result of hanging out in cycling forums too much but it seems that many races are abbreviated with just first letters of the name.
 
P-N is Paris-Nice. 
T-A is Tirreno-Adriatico. 
M-SR is Milan-San Remo 
RVV = Ronde van Vlaanderen
K-B-K = Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne
G-W = Gent-Wevelgem
ATOC = Amgen Tour of California
TdF is, obviously, the Tour de France

So, you can imagine my shock and dismay, when I saw a commercial for a new bladder control product named Poise LBL.  The LBL is short for Light Bladder Leakage.  But, to a cyclist, LBL is the grand dame of the Spring Classics, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.  How dare they link "La Doyenne" with bladder control issues.

My mind has been stained yellow by this association.  I see that commercial and imagine Michele Bartoli attacking on La Redoute and wee-weeing himself because of the effort.  I demand that these commercials be removed from the air.

Last weekend I was moaning about the weather and how I could not take another day on the trainer without getting outside.

Last Sunday, was pretty cold to start. Low 20's make for a brisk early ride. But, the skies were sunny and temperatures slowly warmed up to a little above freezing. Giuseppe and I met on Grant's Trail headed north into the city and long the Riverfront Trail. We were not out to clobber each other so it made for a pleasant ride. The day was all about LSD. With a more leisurely approach to the ride I took the camera along. Unfortunately, it was cold enough that heavy gloves were needed and that does not make for easy, or quick, snapshots.

Nevertheless, we stopped a couple couple times on the Riverfront Trail so I could take off my gloves and snap a few pictures of bald eagles keeping an eye on the Mississippi River.



After the Riverfront Trail, we stopped in a little shop downtown for small bite to eat. While waiting outside, I took a couple quick photos of the impressive stone work on buildings downtown.



The turned out being a productive four hours on the bike. Not too hard but long enough to know you had done some work.

Thankfully, I was able to get ride this past Saturday. It was another sub-freezing day but when you are only climbing up to New Valmeyer twelve times you stay relatively warm, except when going back down to the bottom of the hill.

I had to get out Saturday because the forecasts for Sunday were not good. This time the weather fools actually knew what they were talking about.

Looks a lot like race season, doesn't it? Two weeks away from Froze Toes. It hardly seems likely when you look out the window. And even more daunting than Froze Toes is the 100 mile Rouge Roubaix in three weeks. At least the weather should be a little warmer in southern Louisiana.

The start of February is the worst time of year for me. It's been two months since I have raced. It has been cold, wet, dark and dreary and the weekends, my only refuge from the trainer, have not been good either. Frankly, I am mentally drained and dread hopping on the trainer.

Adding to my distress is that the race season starts in three weeks. Yes, it is only Froze Toes, but the start of season is still the start of the road season.

I should have ridden outside today but I opted for the trainer again because I wasn't sure about the condition of the roads in IL. The trainer workout went well but I absolutely cannot ride the trainer again tomorrow and still keep my sanity. Even though it will be colder than today, my mind needs a break. Four hours in the fresh air will do wonders for me.

February is still winter but, in general, the weather slightly improves throughout the month. And, hopefully, my attitude will be improving starting tomorrow.

I can't wait.