Leave The Fan On

Leave the Fan On is Dead

2009-04-10T08:09:00.001-04:00

Leave the Fan On is dead. Long live . . . . Leave the Fan On.

Am I too mature to write in a blog that has a title called Leave the Fan On?

Probably . . . . but I might give it another try. We'll see.

The 3 inch mustache

2007-12-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

I am currently growing a three inch mustache, a mustache so small you can only see it from 3 inches from my face.

Veggie Challenge Continued

2007-12-03T23:13:00.000-05:00

The Vegetarian Challenge is still going strong.

I feasted on some veggie burgers tonight.

In cycling news, the base training has started. Nothing serious. Just spinning indoors.

Vegetarian Update

2007-11-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

Day 4 of the Vegetarian challenge. No cheating and no I have not had Spaghetti every night. Eating plenty of veggies and feeling fine.

What did I really give up when I took on this challenge? Here is what I figure I've lost:

Wawa Turkey Hoagies
Horsham Pizza Cheesesteak
Pork Chops
Chicken Parm Pizza

So the Vegetarian Challenge should not be a problem.

Base Training

2007-11-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

Got a simple 30 mile ride in today. Just cruising down the Schuylkill River Trail.

The NY Times had a great article about consistency, specificity in training and how it affects an athlete's physiology.

The Vegetarian Challenge

2007-11-24T18:13:00.000-05:00

I am a fan of Tim Ferriss' blog and book.

The Four Hour Work Week.

His blog is all about lifestyle design and challenging the status quo. In the spirit of that I going Vegetarian from Sunday Nov. 25th to Dec. 24th.

I know its nothing Earth shattering but it should be fun.

In a similar vein, I have fallen in love with all things salsa. As a result, I have started also making my own salsa. It is a closer to Pico de Gallo than salsa at the but far more fresher and lots more spice.

Pavement Single

2007-10-31T22:44:00.000-04:00

A quality Pavement Single for you all . . . .

Granogue and Wissahickon Weekend

2007-10-23T08:31:00.000-04:00

My goal for the weekend was not too get lapped and failure is a feeling I am familar with, even before this weekend. Thats right racing B's was tough going.

Granogue: My focus for this race was to be smooth and try to crank the pace when I could. I am a roadie so I consider this course fairly technical. My start was "ok" considering I was in the rear and I was fairly smooth the first two laps. However, once I got tired and everything begins to hurt, my abilities to sink like a rock. I had slipped back a little too much and was trying to catch a group of 3 infront of me. I was about 10 bikes lengths behind them when two of them just quit. They rode into the pits and never came back. The 3rd quit about half lap later. Well, I aint quiting so I finished up the race.

Wissahickon: This race was just painful. Too hot. Too fast. I felt like puking at 2 laps into the race. There is nowhere to rest and recover during the race. You constantly need to be pushing it. My bro and sister came out to the race. I told them didn't need to cheer for me when I was in last place, cause no one likes cheering for a loser. (just ask an Eagle's fan) The highlight of this race was someone in the second row of the start rolled a tubular 5 feet into the race. Huge pile up that everyone had to ride around. I saw some guy running with a completely taco'd tire.

Chilling with the team during the other races was fun. and in conclusion Pro's are very fast. You can read cyclingnews if you want read about Johnson and Powers beating up on the Elite Mens field.

MAC Cyclocross Begins!

2007-10-17T23:07:00.001-04:00

Thats right kids, time for some real cross racing.

Granogue and then Wissahickon. I'm kinda pumped. Not as fit as I was hoping, but things have been busy. I'm a little scared of Granogue, cause last year that race kicked my ass.

I was faced with the decision of having to choose between racing the B category or racing the C category. I decided it was time to step up and 'B' a man, besides who likes racing early in the morning anyway.

My goal for the races are nice and simple. Don't get lapped. I have no delusions of grandeur, but I do want to keep things respectable.

Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride

2007-10-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning, Dr. J and I went to the Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride. It was an hour drive to middle of nowhere Bucks County PA. We get out of the car at 8 am, and it occurs to me. It is 36 degrees outside. It was COLD, but the high today was supposed to be 69 in Philadelphia.

I took stock of what I had to wear. I had leg warmers, arm warmers, polypropolene layer, and a wind jacket. For some reason, I didn't think that was enough. We sign up and I grab a cup of coffee. I'm still freezing. I tell Dr. J that I am hanging in the car until it warms up. At 8:30 I decide to stop being a wus and get on my bike and ride wearing every piece of clothing I had.

I have not done a lot of these organized group rides. I go on group rides but with other cyclists that race or ride a ton. The average rec cyclist is not someone I ride next to everyday. There were certainly a few times when I was concerned about people riding a bit goofy. The other thing that amazed me was that no one called out cars. No one called out turns. No one talked about change of pace. I took it upon myself to call out cars and turns when near crowds. I would say "Hi" to people as I passed them. It felt like the right thing to do.

The ride itself was 63 hilly miles of fun. Lots of great scenery. 6 covered bridges and rest stops along the way. I never ate so much during a ride in my life. All in all the ride was GREAT!

Here is a little link to the Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride.

Racing Commuter Style

2007-10-11T22:43:00.000-04:00

I would like to coin a new cycling term called racing commuter style.

Commuter Style would refer to riding your race bike to the race. Doing the race on the bike you rode there and riding back home, hence commuter style. I'm not talking about racing on a commuter bike, but a legitmate road bike. Don't get me confused with those crazies in London.

So last weekend I rode to my first cyclocross race of the season did the race and yes I did it commuter style. It was a 30+ mile ride to the race and it was alot of fun. I got but kicked in the race, but I ended up getting 70+ miles by the end of the day.

Recycle your running shoes

2007-10-06T11:33:00.000-04:00

If you are anything like me, you have plenty of reasons to drink. But this post has nothing to do with that.

If you are anything like me, you may have the running shoe build up. I currently have 7 pairs of running shoes in my closet. Some over 2+ years old. Yes those boxes have running shoes in them.

You can recycle running shoes!!! http://www.runtheplanet.com/shoes/selection/recycle.asp
Nike seems to have a good program, but I am certain you can have any running store recycle them for you.

So go recycle those shoes when you are done running in them. They will turn in them into a basketball court.

What would David Lee Roth Do?

2007-10-02T07:48:00.000-04:00

When you are lost in indecision, I suggest you ask yourself one simple question.

What would David Lee Roth do?

You will have your answer.

Yes, The Van Halen in Philadelphia was awesome.

Park Bike Repair Website

2007-08-15T11:36:00.001-04:00

I've begun fixing the cross bike for the season (yes I know I am behind schedule). I came across this website and I love it. It is excellent for all things bike repair.

Park Tool Repair

100on100, Running 100 miles in Vermont

2007-08-14T13:40:00.000-04:00

Long time no blog. yada yada yada . . .

Put in a strong 30 minute run last night. Running at night is great. Nice cool. Everything looks different. I can say it gets me in shape for Cyclo-cross.

More importantly I am preparing my legs for the beating they are sure to be taking this weekend. I have joined a team for the 100on100. I am part of a 5 person relay team to run a 100 miles on route 100 in Vermont. It should be a really good time. Hopefully, I'll have some nice pics.

Peace a Pizza

2007-08-06T13:31:00.000-04:00

These slices are huge!

Sunset Sprint Triathlon Race Report

2007-07-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

On Saturday July 14th, I got up at the ass crack of dawn and headed down to Bridgeton NJ to compete in the Sunset Sprint Triathlon. The Sunset Sprint Triathlon consists of a 800 meter swim, 16 mile bike, and a 5k run. This was my first triathlon in 2 years, my coming out of retirement race.

I went down there with "the Good Doctor" and "the boss man". The good doctor was doing her first Triathlon and "the boss man" was doing the duathlon. We threw everything into the Boss Man's minivan and headed to the race. We got there, signed all the papers and proceeded to get ready. I am pumped. Moment of Truth Time Baby!!!

But before the Moment of Truth, we need to walk from where you park the car to the transistion area, which is about 1/2 a mile away. By the time, we got to the transition area, I heard someone shout 10 minutes till wave 1 goes. Thats Me!!! I set up my transition area like it is old news and roll to the beach.

The water was a balmy 84 degrees. No wetsuits! The gun goes off and we go running into the water. I hadn't swam since the Cheasapeake Bay Swim, so my swimming form was off. WAY OFF! I was swimming like a horse. I swam in 14:36. Not exactly fast. But the swim never matters in a triathlon.

Transition 1 went Smooth like Colt 45 Double Malt. 1:23.

Out on the bike. This where I was prepared to hear the lamenations of the women. I wanted a fast bike split. I sprinted out of the transition area, hopped on the bike and I was off. I stayed tucked in my bars and started hunting people down. The first half of the bike I passed people at a steady rate. It was great to pass guys on Cervelo P2's with full areo disc wheel set up. By the second half I could tell I may have burned my candle a little too much in the start, cause I was starting to fade. I ended up averaging 21.4 mph for a 44:49 bike split. This was the 23rd fastest bike split. Not too bad I guess. The bike course was flat as a pancake (minus a false flat here and there) and a full aero-set up was a HUGE advantage for the tri-geeks racing today. I perfer a more rolling time trial course that keeps people honest.

Transition 2. Smooth like Butter. (with the exception that I ran past my transition spot) 1:31

I start running. Well not really. More like jogging. I didn't start running till 1 mile into run. The course had a few off road sections. Not very hilly but not completely flat. I ran it in for a 22:56 5k. Not exactly a stellar 5k. I was not in the mood to hop in my pain cave during the run. I told myself if someone in my age group passes me then I will have to turn it on. Otherwise, I'm chilling. No one passed me so I chilled.

Final time: 1:25:13.

Well, all this work got me 28th overall out of 170 and more importantly 3rd in my age group. I ended up getting the Second place age group trophy cause the 1st place guy got 2nd overall.

So many people chill through transitions, but I refuse. The clock is always ticking, and putting a minute into your potential competition can be huge by the end of a sprint triathlon. My transitition times helped earn me a extra placing, without it I may have been 3rd in my age group.

Allentown Criterium

2007-07-15T15:01:00.000-04:00

Ever had a race go so bad, that if your bike flew off the bike roof rack on the way home, you wouldn't have stopped to get the bike.

I probably wouldn't have even hit the brakes.

[Editor's Note] Thanks to Matteis for telling to me to get over myself by informing that maybe Triathlon, BBQ and Beers Saturday, Criterium Sunday is not a recipie for success.

Freedom

2007-07-13T13:24:00.001-04:00

I want to ride my bicycle!

A nice hole in my bike saddle

2007-07-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

Either my ass got fat or that saddle just can't handle the increased mileage? Yes that is a picture of my Bianchi Gel Selli Italia bicycle saddle. My perfered saddle bit the dust when I bit the dust at the Syracuse Criterium earlier this year. I think it is time for a new saddle?

Ok, who is the prankster that put areobars on my bars? Um, I'm that prankster. Thats right kids, I'm coming out of triathlon retirement tomorrow. I will be competing in the beautiful Sunset Sprint Triathlon of Bridgeton, NJ. It has a 800 meter swim, 16 mile bike and 5k run. A coworker of mine is also doing it so I am looking forward to taking his pride.

I was at the Thursday night crit yesterday and had the following exchange with a fellow cycling aquantance.

Me: You racing this weekend?
He: Yeah, I'm doing Millport on Saturday, and Allentown on Sunday. You?
Me: Doing Allentown, Doing a Triathlon on Saturday so I can't do Millport.
He: You do triathlons?
Me: Not really.
He: You swim?
Me: I know how to swim. I figure it will a time trial surrounded by a swim and a run.
(laughs, end scene)

So I lied a little . . . yeah I know how to swim. Yeah, I've done a few triathlons.

One thing I have learned is never tell serious cyclists you are a triathlete. They will automatically make alot of assumptions about how you ride in a pack and how you handle a bike. Most of these assumptions are 100% correct, but I feel after doing a season of cyclo-cross and road cycling that I have shed my triathlon roots.

New Cycling Helmet

2007-07-12T11:12:00.001-04:00

Yes, that is a cycling helmet to the right.
Yes, it is the weirdest helmet you ever seen.
Yes, it would hotter than the surface of the sun inside that thing.

Want to earn 5 bucks?

Take a pic of you wearing it to your local criterium.

Read more here

Who is watching the Tour de France?

2007-07-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

Who is watching the Tour de France?

Before we answer this question lets think back to a week ago. The Tour de France was 2 days away and the general attitude was:

"Who cares?"

"I'm not going to watch the Tour."

"They are all a bunch of dopers."

Everyone was sour grapes over last years tour. And why? Doping allegations turned everybody off causing world wide shrinkage in the phallus of competitive cycling. I'm not going to argue that dopers don't suck, but I'm asking you to put your memory of the doping aside. Do that and all of the sudden last year's Tour was the more exciting than your first experience with aerosol containers.

I cannot get behind the movement to ignore the 2007 Tour de France. The Tour de France still has the excitement of previous years. If not more so. Lance Armstrong is no longer available to crush the competition. Who knows who is going to win?

Levi? (Snicker, Snicker)

Vino or Kloden? ( Ten bucks says they get in fight over who is leading Astana before the Tour hits Paris. I could see them attacking each other on the climbs.)

Pereiro? (Was last year a fluke?)

So lets all take our little blue pill for competitive cycling. Get back the excitement you had on prom night. You are missing a great Tour de France.

Meetin' Floyd

2007-07-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

It ain't every day you meet a winner of the Tour de France. Floyd was at the Chester County Bookseller pimpin' his book and answering questions.

I expected him to talk but he wanted to answer anyone's questions.

Some highlight questions were . .
"What do you think of Greg Lemond?"
He gave a pretty safe answer. He is a great cyclist but I don't know him well.

"What advice would you give to get better at cycling?" He gave the classic answer, Ride your bike more.

The best question was if Levi wins the tour will he be caught for doping? There was no correct answer to the question. He laughed and said he didn't know how to answer that.

When I got to meet him, I invited him out to the Thursday night Criterium. He said we would probably crash him. Admitting the squirrely nature of the ride, I agreed and wished him the best of luck.

He seems like a really nice guy, especially since he should be angry at the world right now.

Brownstown Race Report

2007-07-02T23:14:00.001-04:00

The riders should have asked me, "how I would like my own ass served to me?" before the beginning of the race. I would have replied, "over easy"

I got my own ass handed to me. It was embarrassing. My legs felt like pooh. My legs still feel like pooh and it is now Monday night. Anyways, I think it was from the increase in training and not being peaked fitness wise for the race at all.

I'll be racing again next weekend.

Cha-Ching!!!

2007-06-28T22:47:00.000-04:00

You hear that? Thats money in the bank friend. No not the kind of money that will buy me anything. But that kind of money that will get me plenty of Tuna.

What the hell am I talking about?

Just finished another 4 days of training. I put in close to 120 miles by getting a 50 miler on Wednesday and then riding out to the Thursday night crit.

A few highlights from the crit:

When I get to the crit some 4 year old girl on a pink huffy with training wheels, toes up to the line. She headbutted me on lap four. (ok that didn't really happen.)
Some dood blew a snot rocket mid pack. Needless to say I fell victim to his little rocket attack. Couldn't he move out into the wind for 10 seconds and blow snot elsewhere.
Riding in the first 20 riders is much easier than riding in the last 20 riders.
I was sucking the wind of some Crit Monkey when he runs over a water bottle. That woke me up. For just a split second, I thought for sure we were going down. Luckily he was a good heavy crit monkey (perhaps baboon) and that bottle squirted out from his wheel and shot to the left.
Hung on for 29 of 30 laps. Died at the end. What can you do?
Looked up from finishing the crit, only to see a dark impending cloud of doom to the Northwest. How did that get there? Storms come from the east. I had a nice time trial home from the crit to avoid getting rained on. The tail wind in some sections sent me flying. I was dead tired, but I was a dry dead tired when I got home.
I need to think of something else to eat for dinner besides pasta and a protein shake. Anyone got ideas?

I pop my Cat. 4 cherry this weekend. Brownstone Road Race. Boohay!!!

Who goes to Hooters for the wings?

2007-06-25T11:11:00.000-04:00

apparently someone

Editors Note: This pick is from the work fridge. Or the science experiment as some call it. I was grossed out that someone actually felt the need to reheat food from hooters.

Two beer Qu . . . you know the rest

2007-06-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

There has been some riding going on here kids.

Over 190 miles this week. Getting work done.

I think all this riding may have lowered my tolerance quite a bit this weekend. I had a few beers, two to be exact. I was more than buzzed. I was stumbling.

Then the next day

After a 50 mile ride, I cooked up my favorite post ride treat. New York Strip steak, some veggie sides, and two Lionshead beers. Buzzed once again. The buzz would be expected if I was downing bottles of Chimay, but Lionshead is a light beer.

I guess this is a great reason to get on my ride on.

In case you don't know. . . . Lionshead is one of the best beers money can buy when low on cash. 10 bucks for a case and none of the oh crap I'm gonna die cause I just had too much Bud feeling.

Did I really just ride that much?

2007-06-21T22:47:00.001-04:00

Guess who is a Cat. 4? This guy. Boohay baby! Boohay!

To get in shape for the next month of racing, I managed to do 120 miles in the last 4 days. Don't beleive me? Here we go . . .

Monday: 30 miles on the river trail. Ran into a friend of mine from racing this season. It was good passing the time on the bike with somebody.

Tuesday: 20 miles. Did some hill repeats. 4 minutes up the hill, 2 minutes down. Rinse, Wash, Repeat. Ended the ride on the rollers to avoid threatening storms. Yes, my vagina is deep and cavernous.

Wednesday: 30 miles around town. Nothing serious. Just some active recovery from the hills.

Thursday: 45 miles. I road out to the Great Valley Criterium. As I was riding easy, my teamates caught me who were riding to it. We ended up hammering over to the Crit and got there half an hour early. No worries about warming up.

The Crit started well. It was very windy. There were times when people in the front could not stretch out the field. I managed to get my fat ass up to the front for a lap and a half, but I was pegged after that. I dropped to the back and gave myself a lap. When I hopped on the field I road in the mid pack and let other people work for the rest of the ride.

Cruised on home with my teammates. It was a great day. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

No racing this weekend just riding. I'll break my Cat 4 cherry next weekend.

Much Better Cycling Blogs

2007-06-20T08:43:00.000-04:00

I appreciate that you visit this blog. Maybe this is your first vist, maybe you are one of the few the proud, the regular readers. (all 4 of you)

Well here are some much better cycling blogs for your reading pleasure . . .

1) Mud and Cowbells is a great cyclo-cross focused blog. Occasionally straying into all things professional cycling and mountain biking. He has some well stated opinions and gives you some insight into cycling scene in Colorado. A must read for myself.

2) Belgium Knee Warmers is another fine blog. Much in the same vein as Mud and Cowbells just a little more road cycling focused. I have just regularly started reading this blog and I love it.

3) Gewilli a great cycling blog. He covers a lot of different aspects of cycling and goes into topics of riding that I find helpful.

4) DrunkCyclist. Do I need to say more? Oh, Big Jonny got rid of the porn so I am almost certain that site is safe for work. Enjoy.

Another fine thing about all of these blogs is that each has a great blog roll. If you want to find other great cycling blogs just click on any of their links. Chances are you will strike some cycling blog gold.

I should post a little honorable mention to a teammate's blog that just got started. Al, a very talented Cat. 2 cyclist for Human Zoom, started his blog, Bridging The Gap, a few weeks ago. If you want to feel slow hit it up.

Got more itches . . .

2007-06-14T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've decided I don't ride enough . . .

I'm not talking about training rides. Although one could easily argue I need to be doing more of that.

I want to be ride to work. I want to ride to my friends place for a little barbecue. I want ride to the bar, throw down too many beers and walk home. Wake up in the morning and remember that I left my bike at the bar. Run back to the bar and ride back home. I want to ride to the grocery store. I want to ride all over town cause shit, I got nothing else to do son.

Needless to say there will be more riding in the next few months. I will start to explore ways of integrating the bike. Unfortunately, my suburban highway surrounded condo does not lend itself to the cruising lifestyle.

This may sound blasphemous to some readers of this blog but I don't own a mountain bike. But I've got the itch. Thinking about getting a Cannondale. Probably something I could race a little.

Chesapeake Bay Swim

2007-06-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

So I haven't blogged much about this but several months ago I signed up for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, a 4.4 mile open water swim across the Chesapeake Bay. The swim took place today . . .

A little back story . . . I didn't really train for this. I did a few 2500+ meter swims a few weeks ago, but then I got sick and crashed on my bike. This ruined any training I had going. I did two 1000 meter workouts to get a feel for the water last week. Not one to back down . . . I shrug my shoulders and head down to Anapolis, MD to get this done.

The morning of the race, we (me and my lady friend) get off the shuttle bus that takes you to the race start. It is overcast skies and spitting rain. I keep repeating how I hope the sun shows up. We have 1.5 hours till race start. We chill out on grass after picking up the race packets. Before we know it has stopped raining, and it is time for the pre-swim talk.

The pre-swim talk was very important because this where everyone learns about what the currents are doing. This is key. Today the current was taking us out to the ocean until 11:15 and then it was a slack tide turning into a current that pushes you into the bay. My wave (the slow wave) starts at 9:30, so timing which side of the race "course" you swam on would be determined by your pace.

The course consists of 500 meters to a set of buoys then you swim under the south bound Bay Bridge. You swim between the two bridges for most of the race. With 600 meters to go you swim under the North Bound Bridge and swim to the shore.

I have the wet-suit on and I am in full triathlon mode. I'm goofing off, doing stupid dances and jokes to occupy my mind before the race. I head over to the start beach before my wave begins and joke with people about the water being cold (it was 73, far from cold) and how I don't like to get wet. The start was a running start into the water. My mind was in full triathlon mode that this point. (Let's do work!)

The gun goes off, and I walk into the water (very un-tri style). If it were a triathlon, I would have jumped in the water like Randy Macho Man Savage jumping in a wrestling ring. Well, it turned out the first half a mile was like wrestle-mainia anyway. I was swimming around, under and over people. When the turn was made into the bridges, I stayed close to the South bound bridge. This resulted into a scrum with other swimmers everytime we came across another pylon. At one point I put my hand on another swimmers shoulders and just pushed him off me. There was no point of him trying to swim on top of me and I felt it was the nicest thing I could do. In Tri-mode I would have kicked him for good measure.

After the wrestling is over, everyone finds their pace and thing settle. Before I know it I see the first mile marker. I try to focus on just keeping my pace and not getting too tired. I notice I am swimming in the middle of the two bridges, so I start to swim towards the South Bound bridge. The current must have been working, because despite swimming in that direction, my general location in the channel never changed.

Mile 2 came and gone. It felt fairly long. I told myself just another half hour to get mile 3 behind me. This seemed to take another very long time. I just kept swimming. While swimming, I would entertain myself by singing in my head or just imagining being done. Mostly I just focused on my form, the current and trying to feel good.

Finally I reached mile 3. A little after the 3rd mile marker was the second food boat. I decided to grab on to the boat and stretch my shoulders. They were definitely a little soar. I stretch a bit and keep swimming. The 4th mile marker came up way too quickly and that is because it was placed poorly. I start swimming with a purpose thinking I'm close to the end. At this point my shoulders felt like two hot irons were in each of them. With each stroke, my arms were crying. Screw it. I was almost done. Well, this almost done feeling lasted for about 40 minutes.

The biggest tease is seeing the shore very close and then crossing under the North bound bridge and seeing the finish about 600 meters away. My form was completely destroyed and my shoulders ached. This section was shallow enough to almost walk it in. I stopped a few times to stretch but I swam it in.

Coming out of the water, everyone cheers for you. Awesome. Someone get me a beer!

So . . . 2 hours and 21 minutes later I managed to finish the cross Chesapeake Bay Swim. My lady friend finished in 1 hour and 41 minutes. (I'll be worried when she cycles faster than me.)

It was a lot of fun. I think they should have created a race category based on who trained the least and got the fastest time. I am almost certain I won that category.

Weekend Races . . .

2007-05-31T23:45:00.000-04:00

Two fairly big races this weekend.

1) The Mount Penn Road Race. It consists of a 3 mile loop. (road race?, more like circuit race). Up Mount Penn, Down Mount Penn. Repeat. It should be a good time.

2) Habitat for Humanity Race. This one is a little tougher to describe. Another 3 mile loop only it contains a nice descent into a turn. Followed by a turn onto a very narrow bridge. Followed by a climb ending with a 180 degree turn. The course applies the pain in large doses.

So I did half Thursday night Crit last night. About half way through my wrist hurt so bad, it was hard to concentrate on riding the bike. Luckily it was a right turn crit and my left wrist is the problem. I think I can still race, so we'll see how these races go.

More from Syracuse

2007-05-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

My teammate and I were at The Dinosaur Bar, a great BBQ hut in Syracuse after the Crit. Here I am all bandaged up and he had scars on his face from a crash 4 weeks ago. The waitress looks at us and says . . ."Did you two get in a fight?"

I tell her, "Nope. just racing our bikes."

She replies, "Boys will be boys."

Yes we will.

Syracuse Race Report

2007-05-28T22:19:00.000-04:00

What up yall? Everyone have a good Memorial Day weekend? Excellent. I travelled on up to Syracuse with a teammate of mine to race the Syracuse Stage Race. That's right, my first stage race. Here is how things went down.

The Syracuse race was awesome. It was scored based on points. Which gave each event relevance.

(Editors note: If you want to read the interesting section skip to Sunday.)

Saturday morning was the 30 mile Road Race. 1 loop with ~1.7 mile climb about half way through and a ~.3 mile up hill finish to top things off. Flashback to earlier that week. My allergies had grabbed a hold of my body and were not letting go. As a result, I road my bike on Thursday for about 20 miles. That's it. Not exactly maintaining the fitness. . . . . I ride with the pack on the course and try to climb with the leaders. Well that lasts about half way up the climb and I pop. I cruise the rest of the way. I figure it will be a long weekend, and there is no need to bake myself in the wind. I spin it on in for an amazing 42 place. Awesome.

Saturday afternoon: The one mile TT. Yep you read that right. It had about 7 turns and a ramp off a curb too! My lack research on the TT course layout resulted in a less than stellar performance. I would have liked to have the result back, cause I really felt I could have done much better. I did 2:37 which put about 33rd for the TT. No worries, the crit is all mine.

Sunday morning: 15 lap criterium.

A little back story: My cycling results have had me in the dumps lately. I know that I may have had some bad luck, but at the same time I did not feel that I did anything to proactively have a positive result. Too often I just cruise in the back, talk to fellow riders and wait for the crash to happen and hope it ain't me involved. I felt I need to throw on the game face and get a top ten result. Something that represents the abilities that I know I have.

Crit Course Description: A beautiful "no corner" crit. The course had a little 'S' turn going up a power hill followed by a sweeping left turn down the hill into a rough section of pavement. After that you are back at the start/finish and two turns away from the 'S'. Nothing that should cause anyone too many worries. Best of all there was rumors of a beer preem.

With my less than stellar results in the road race and TT, allergies or no allergies, I felt this criterium was for me. Here is where my result would be made. . .

At the start of the crit the announcer grabs the mic and ask the riders to raise their hands if it is their first criterium. A few raise their hands. All he says is, "Be Careful." Way to put the fear of god in them. Excellent.

The criterium starts! It is fast from the gun and I am loving it. The first three laps did not string out the pack but the pace was fast enough that group was not riding any larger than 3 wide. I could tell that this pace would weed out riders and that is always a good thing. I am hanging in the rear of the group, doing what I normally do. However I had no worries about maintaining with this pace because of my work with the Thursday Great Valley Crit was still harder than this race.

Then the beer preem comes. All of the sudden the pace goes up even higher. No I didn't win the beer, however I loved the faster pace. I made a few moves around slower riders knowing that riding any fewer than 10 back or so could now get me in trouble. I'm riding great and feeling awesome.

Before I know it. We have 6 laps to go and I am sitting among the front 15 riders. I am feeling good. I hear my teammate cheering for me and I don't want to disappoint him. I felt that this would be my day if I stayed smart. I drank some fluid in preparation for the last 3 laps to be very fast. I didn't want an empty engine when I needed to work.

At 2 laps to go, 3 riders break off the front. Riders in the front of the pack look at each other. Someone yells from the back, "time to work boys". He must have gotten annoyed cause he came around us in the front and bridged the gap for the group. I managed to hop on his wheel as he went. I am now sitting in the top 4 riders. One lap to go . . . I am where I should be . . . let the chaos begin.

We zip through the start/finish. The pace is fast, but I am not on the rivet just riding hard. Coming out of the second turn, two riders directly to my right crash. All I think is. . . there it is . . . the crash that starts the sprint. I look up to see maybe 8 guys in front of me. We power up the climb. It doesn't seem like anyone is really behind us. We are hammering down the hill. I start thinking about positioning myself to pass a few people before the line and get myself the top ten finish I wanted. I hop on a wheel.

Just then the rider in front of me bumps the rider to his left. The pavement is very rough in this section and he goes down. There is nowhere for me to go. Two thoughts go through my mind as I see the guy in front of me crash and realize I cannot avoid him. The first thought was one of extreme disappointment. I had just road what I thought was going to be the perfect criterium race, and this jerk took it from me. The second thought was much more immediate, BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!

My front wheel hits him and I proceed fly through the air. I curl up in a ball and wait for the . . .THUD! I get up. Road rash on my hip elbow and shoulder, and my wrist really aches. All I can think about is how I need to finish. Maybe I can still get a top ten. Why did this bastard crash in front of me? A very kind lady walks over to help me. She asks, "Am I ok" and tells me to walk off the course. I tell her, I need to finish the race. I grab my bike and in my confusion start to hop on. Someone straightens my saddle as he sees me getting on the bike. I ride off to the finish line with a face of disgust. I cross the finish line in 27th place. Merry Christmas.

So here am I looking a little bit more like a hamburger than anyone really ever wants. I don't feel that bad about my result anymore. I was strong enough to ride with everyone and I cannot control every rider on the course. Every decision I made during the race was a correct one.

There are more races this coming weekend . . . See you there.

A univerisal truth?

2007-05-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

Every cyclist you ever rooted for is a doper. How depressing . . .

Whats up yall?

2007-05-17T09:06:00.000-04:00

I got a question. How come every shirt sold in America is made for a man who is approximately one and half my size? Why? I don't remember looking like a giant kite every coming into style? What gives?

Someone please find Uncle Charles a fitted shirt store!

Sunday . . .

2007-05-06T23:14:00.000-04:00

Hey kids, what up? I have a question for all of you. Am I training for a half ironman? No. Good, I didn't think I was but if you asked me what I did today you might think otherwise.

Today, I got up. Ate some breakfast. (coffee and an everything bagel covered in Nutella). Then I went to the pool and swam 2500 meters in the outdoor 50 meter pool. I am making a rather hurried attempt to be prepared for the 4.4 mile Bay Swim.

After that . . . I went home, had some lunch and rested. Then I figured it was way too nice outside to not ride my bike. My inner voice was not going to let me lay on the couch the rest of the day. So what do I do? I did this. . . .

This ended up being a little 50 mile ride through some great farm country in pickering valley. Unfortunately my bike did not feel like shifting into the lowest gear. This became a problem when climbing, which was often because this ride was anything but flat. Traffic was almost none until I decided I was tired and hungry. Once that occured I decided to take route 401 home. I normally would never ride on Route 401 on purpose but I was desparate for my couch.

Around mile 36 I felt very very bonky. This should not be a surprise, considering I took only a water and a gatoraide with me. There is no greater feeling on a long ride than being low on sugar and seeing a WaWa appear over the hill. It is amazing!!! I bought 2 gatoraides, a Tastykake Junior Pound Cake and a Cliff Bar. Tastykakes are the best because the sugar enters my system almost immediately. I bought 2 gatoraides because I was not sure of how long the ride would last. ( I only consumed one.)

So I might be a little tired in the morning. Thats all right though. Its Monday and who wants to be awake for that?

Time for a blog?

2007-04-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, I would say I'm a little past due kids. Sorry about that, April has turned me into a busy little bear who also struggles with an extreme bought of laziness.

This may sound like a contradiction but it isn't. You can be busy and still be lazy, or at least I somehow manage. When I am lazy, I don't just mean a little down time. I shut down everything. Blogging, working out, concentrating on my fitness. everything.

I'm trying to shed the laziness this week. The busy month of April is behind me and I can concentrate again.

So what have I been up to? . . .

Well, Vegas was 3 weeks ago. But still very much in alive in my heart. A certain T-Pain song comes to mind.
Lower Providence Criterium was two weeks ago. Tons of fun. I was off the front for a lap in my effort to grab some T.V. time. Then I went to the middle of pack to recover. Sure enough a crash happens at two laps to go. Good News: I moved around it despite being two riders behind it. Bad News: Everyone in front of it saw that as the chance to sprint away from the rest of the field. I finished 29th.
Travelled to Florida for a wedding and a little relaxation. I went water skiing for the very first time. It is awesome and a lot of fun. Definitely do it if you get a chance.
I severely need to start swimming for the cross Chesapeake Bay Swim. I've got a month and a half. DOH!!!

Where does all the money go?

2007-04-18T08:12:00.000-04:00

Beers, bikes and boobs.

The first and the last are obvious considering where I spent my weekend. Yeah, Vegas!!! But a bike?!?! Thats right kids, I've been holding back details.

The crash from the Pineconce Circuit race totalled my Bianchi. (There was a large crack in the top tube.) However, I lucked out. The team had a frame in my size so I purchased it and they are throwing my components on a lovely new Cannondale CAAD 9 frame. I pick up the new frame today along with a new set of Bontrager Race X Lites.

I'll post some picks of both bikes in a few days.

"A Man Returns From Vegas" News at Eleven

2007-04-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

All right kids, gather round and let me tell you about everything that I did in Las Vegas this weekend.

PSYCHE!!!! What do you think I'm crazy? Whatever pops in your imagination will no doubt surpass any stories I tell.

I would like to declare a new term. Earlier you may have read about my Parisian Hangover, which was induced by time change and too much espresso in Paris. Well, here it is to no ones suprise, The Las Vegas Hangover.

What causes the Vegas Hangover? Well, I'm sure the cause is different for everybody who leaves Las Vegas, but it feels no different from a regular hangover and generally last 12 hours from the time in which your plane (which was most certainly a red eye flight) lands.

In other news . . . man loses money at the craps table. . . and gravity still holds everything to the earth.

Finally, I almost died driving home from the airport at 2:30 am on Monday morning. The Northeaster was in full affect. The cross winds were incredible. I need to give some props to the captain for landing the plane, because that could not have been easy.

Actually, let me rewind the tape.

I decided not to fill up my gas tank before driving to the airport because I saw that my tank had 57 miles left in the tank and the trip to the Phily airport from my place is ~25 miles. No need to fill up. I drive to the airport and park the car with 30 miles of gas left in the tank. When the plan lands I hop in my car and start driving home. 30 miles of gas, No problem. I did not realize that the cross winds were going to be as bad as they were. My car was being blown across the high way at times. This of course affects fuel efficiency. I'm 5 miles from home and the car says 0 miles of gas are left. Great. So now besides the rain, winds, and what appears to be snow, I might run out of gas. AWESOME!!!

As I pull onto the on ramp for route 202, my car starts sliding all over the road. Apparently the ramp had iced over. My car head right for the barrier. I thought for sure it was going to hit it. I managed to slow the car down enough to grab control of it. All of 202 was ice. My car was swerving through two lanes, I just put on the hazard lights and kept driving. I could not slow down too much either because I didn't want to run out of gas! It was not pleasurable.

Luckily, I made it home with the car running on fumes. More importantly, I didn't hit anything.

Las Vegas!!!

2007-04-13T07:59:00.000-04:00

VEGAS, BABY VEGAS!!!

Ummm, yeah, I'll be in Vegas for the weekend. Don't wait up for me.

One Last Note On Jan

2007-04-10T22:43:00.000-04:00

What Up? Long time, yada yada yada, No post. My apologizes. I know some of you out there were wondering when the next update was coming.

By now I am sure you have all heard the news about Jan Ullrich. If not, I feel bad being the one breaking it to you but his DNA matched that of a bag of blood found in Dr. Fuentes' fridge. You can read about it here.

When I read the news at work, I nearly started crying. I definetly put my head down for a few minutes. I am a sentimental guy. I like to beleive that my heroes are honest hard working people who have the extraordinary talents and maximized them through hard work. So now when I watch the 2003 Tour de France on DvD and I see Jan stomping through the time trial, I have trouble feeling good for him. I wonder? Was he doping? Is that why he won? It sucks.

So for while after reading the news, I wasn't sure how I should feel about the whole thing. I ignored it. But then I read this. Jan denies the whole thing. WTF? how? I don't like when a hero gets caught cheating. I hate it when the same "hero" calls me an idiot. PezCyclingNews said it best. They said that he needs to keep his mouth shut and not talk anymore. I agree.

I would have felt much better if he just admitted to it. Something to the tune of, "I cheated. I wanted badly to go out a champion in 2006. I regret it deeply." No one can blame Jan for wanting to win after coming in 2nd for so many years. It makes him more human. Almost as human as cheating.

The Pinecone Road Race

2007-04-03T19:19:00.000-04:00

Whats up kids? I'm introducing a new feature on Leave The Fan On. We ( I ) will call it the Tuesday Top Ten. That's right, I'm gonna make some stupid list of ten things, and you're gonna realize how stupid my blog really is. With out further a do . . . .

Tuesday's Top Ten:

10 Reasons the Cat 5 Pinecone Road Race should have been called the Pinecone Crash Fest.

The first lap! The first lap was like riding my trainer to a Coach Troy Jacobson DvD. Every fifteen seconds we would speed up then be all over our brakes to slow it down. Fortunately this behaviour stopped after first lap and the pace settled into something a little smoother.
Despite a somewhat hard right hand turn on the course, there were no crashes during the turns of the Cat. 5 Road Race. That's right all the crashes took place during the straight wide open roads.
It felt like riding in the worlds longest criterium. The pace was not really hard enough to put anyone into serious pain, so the group remained together the entire time. I felt like I was riding in a criterium for 42 miles.
"thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, pffft" There is very specific noise that is made when to wheels touch each other. During the second lap, I thought to myself to move up near the front of the pack. No sooner did I move up then I heard the specific noise of two wheels touching behind me. A fellow racer pulls up next to me and calmly states, "rider down." At that moment I thought luck was on my side.
43 of 75 racers officially finished the Cat. 5 Road Race. I would take a guess that 10% of the starters were out of shape and got pulled from the race. I am willing to say that the rest were DNF due to a crash.
Seeing the carnage at the ambulance. I walked past the ambulance when I finished the race. One guy's hand was gushing blood. I looked closely to see if the all fingers were accounted for. I think they were. One guy had left his team kit on the pavement from his thigh to his shoulder. Another claimed that his shoulder hurt so bad that he could not remove his jersey to have the medic look at it. The medic told him he would have to cut open his jersey if that was the case.
Really learning that riding in the front 15 is where I want to race my bike in the pack.
Never say "Keep the rubber side down" during a race. You will crash, and deservingly so.
The giant hole section on the course created chaos. On the back stretch of the loop, the course went on a back road that had lots of pot holes and water damage. It was rideable but no one wanted to risk the flat. Which meant that the entire field would squeeze onto about 1/3 of the road. After the first few laps, everyone got used to it.
I was involved in my first crash of the season!!!

So the crash . . . . It was the second to last lap of 7 on a flat course. I was stoked because I was in the middle front of the pack and I figured I could hold on for the sprint finish. I felt good. Then all hell breaks loose . . . .

There is some screaming in the front of the pack. Hmmm. No one screams near the front? I see a rider sitting up. Why is a rider sitting up? He pulls over to the left side of the road. For a second I think that everything will be fine. I am on the right side and all the rider has to do is control himself because the yellow line rule was in effect. He has the room he needs to calm down and relax. But oh no, he couldn't do that. . . He goes flying to the right side of the road. Everyone slams on the brakes. One poor rider skids his bike 90 degrees to the pack. Now everyone is really screwed. The rider to my front left is pulling right. Bad idea?!?!

Before I know what happens I am air born. Luckily the last thing I did was pull to the right, which put my airborne trajectory torwards the grass!! I do a complete forward flip. At one point during my flight, I open my eye's only to have my handle bars hit me in the face. I land on my back in the grass. I stand up. The first thought in my head is . . . "Can I catch the group?" Luckily, no serious injuries we sustained by me. I don't think other's were so lucky. One fellow was laid on the pavement. Another rider is screaming at him that he should never be allowed to race again. I don't have time to deal with that B.S.

I look at my bike. Hmmm. It seems to have gotten the worst part of the crash. I put the chain back on only to see that both wheels are horribly out of true. The rear wheel travels about an inch left to right as it spins. I did the last lap and a half because I wanted to be an official finisher, but my race was over. Somehow I finished ahead of people? who knows?

The sprint finish must have been chaotic, because I say three riders at the side of road. None of them had smiles on their faces. Ahh, I guess this is how Cat. 5 races go.

Finally, I would like to make one thing very clear. I know that this post may come off very negative about the race, but this race was a lot of FUN! I had a great time (yes, despite crashing.) Hanging out with teammates and racing with them is great.

Kirkwood Race Report

2007-04-02T07:23:00.000-04:00

How was the weekend kids? I got some race reports for you! This is Kirkwood's Race Report.

Earlier I said think of this race as Strasburg Part Duex, and I think that description hits the nail on the head. A seven mile loop that consisted of rolling hills for the first half followed by steady risers to the finish. Cat 5. does 3 laps. The corners were fairly clean with exception of gravel here and there. None of the corners were all that tricky with the exception of possibly the downhill into a sharp left hand turn, but even that corner was manageable.

I get to the race with an hour till start time. I ride over to the registration tent and proceed to wait 15 minutes in the registration line. This is rarely a time kill. I think I just got to the tent at the absolute worst time. After getting the race kit on, I had about 10 minutes to warm up before it was time to ride over to the start finish area.

This of course is the big joke that gets played on racers. We wait 20 minutes for the previous race to finish. Granted the organizers have no way of knowing how fast or slow the previous race is going to be ridden, so I don't hold them too responsible. We all wait in the cold air for the race to finish. Wondering exactly why I even bothered warming up?

Someone yells out instructions as always and the race begins. The pace is nice and gentle in the beginning. Everyone is chilled. There is the regular sprinting out of the turns. All the fun stuff of a Cat 5 road race. I'm thinking that I should be able to finish with the pack.

There was a close call to me crashing. Coming out of one of the turns, I start sprinting because that is what the group has been doing. Apparently the group didn't feel like sprinting too much this time because I am on top of the guy in front of me. With my hands on the hoods of my bars, I ended up giving a little pat on the hiney. If my hands were not on the hoods, I would have probably went down cause his ass would have pushed my bars in one direction or another. I pull off to the left a little to avoid taking him and myself down. A second later I jokingly ask him if he wants to play grab ass. He laughed.

At some point during the first lap, I went from riding in the middle of the pack to riding in the back of pack. How did this happen? Because about 8 guys peeled off the back.

Finally, coming up the risers of the 2nd lap, There are some serious efforts being made. I know it is time for me to do work. A gap open up between me and the pack. I know I need to close this gap. I don't. I ride behind the group for about 2 miles trying needlessly to catch back on. I finish the race all by myself. No sprint to the finish.

So where is the weakness kids? What do I lack? Coach Matt pointed it out to me. Anaerobic power output! The short power climbs are my weakness. How to ride them efficiently and recover from them is currently my kryptonite! So over the next two weeks, I think I'll be focusing on trying to improve my anaerobic power.

Internet vs. Real Life

2007-03-29T09:03:00.000-04:00

Need proof that the Internet differs from real life . . .

On MySpace multiple women are begging me to be their friend so I can see videos of their deliciously naked bodies.

In Real Life this doesn't happen so much. (but if it did, I know I wouldn't mind.)

The Double Dip this weekend!

2007-03-29T08:44:00.000-04:00

Whats up kids? I'm doing a double dip this weekend.

Saturday we have Kirkwood Road Race. Think of it as Strasburg part duex. Another rolling course, and this time it is a seven mile loop.

Sunday we have the Pinecone Road Race. Flat as a pancake. I've heard you use 3 different gears. 6 mile loops. That race is 40 miles!! Should be fun.

Neither race is nearly as epic as the Koppenberg.

The goal for both these races is to sit in the pack and finish in the group. I know I'm not setting the bar very high, but I want some training miles at race pace. There is no need to try to go off the front to only be shot out the back a few minutes later.

Tonight we have the most fun someone can have on 2 wheels. The Thursday night Criterium in Great Valley.

Who wants to retire? This guy!!!

2007-03-27T22:54:00.000-04:00

How are we all doing? Well, I hope.

Earlier this evening I was discussing with someone that I was worried that I might not be able to retire early. This concern tends to stress me out from time to time. I was attempting to garner some sympathy for my plite. Anyways, after this discussion the person threw a simple question my way . . .

"What do you think you will do first, Grow up or Retire?"

I replied retire. Who wants to grow up? Thats no fun.

Welcome to my Sunday

2007-03-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Sunday, Kids. As a well deserved punishment for my lack of climbing prowess during the Strasburg Road Race, I decided some hill work was in order. So I did a 60 mile route that took me through some of the more serious hills in the western suburbs of philly.

This ride took from me Devon to Downingtown and back through Valley Forge. I got a late start to the day and so the punishment was also handed out from me with love to me. In other words, I was riding solo. Sometime during the ride, I specifically wondered if there was something wrong with me that I felt that such a ride was really necessary. This thought a occured to me at multiple times while going up YellowSprings Road in Great Valley. Lets take a closer look at some of the hill sections.

For the appetizer we have a little climb into Paoli. . . . Nothing too bad

After a few miles we get to Downingtown. I breeze through my old high school parking lot and start to do what used to be a run during my cross country days and proceed to add on a little more just for fun.

There are few hill getting out of D-town and getting over to Lionville, but really worth mentioning. Cause once we get to Great Valley, we have the lovely Yellow Springs road.

Finally I went up Cassat Ave just to get more work done before calling it a day. What amuses me is that a few years ago I used to consider the ride to D-town and back a fairly serious ride. However on Sunday, I added on additional miles to the basic ride from the very beginning but I never felt like I was going long enough. Which is a great feeling, because you start to feel like you can ride forever.

Strasburg Race Report

2007-03-26T22:08:00.000-04:00

Whats up yall? Yeah this race report is a few days late . . .

Being in the 2nd round of the Cat. 5 race meant that my start time for Strasburg was 11:49 pm. Jeez, I felt like a cat 1 rider being able to get up at 8 am and not having to worry about rushing out the door to race. I had some coffee, took a shower, read a little and then packed the car and went off to race.

An hour later I'm at the race. I register and put on the work clothes. Thankfully, Sean had a Human Zoom / Pabst Blue Ribbon jersey for me to wear. I set up my bike and do about 30 minutes of warm up on the trainer. This is actually the first time I warmed up on a trainer before a race. Which helped a hell of a lot or so I felt. After warming up I head down to the race start and proceed to stand around for 15 minutes waiting for our race to start. Ah well, so much for the warm up.

We all get in a group at the start finish and we are off! I was suspecting that the first 20 minutes of this race would be very very fast. People trying to show off at their first race of the season. I was prepared for pain! Instead what I got was a pleasent group ride through the Lancaster country side. I'm relaxed. Talking to people. Having a good old time.

The course a 5 mile loop full of rolling power climbs. Some nice decents and no real serious turns. Really nice. I notice that my power climbing just isn't there. I seem to loose a few places in the group during some of the climbs. Nothing serious though, I'm not too concerned.

After 2 laps, the pace has gotten a little more serious. The original field of ~40 is already a meager 20 or so. My legs feel good, but the hills have me concerned. So I start thinking maybe I should try climbing in the small chain ring. (When has thinking ever paid off in my benefit?) Well, I shift down for a climb and I'm dropped like the fat man that I am. I proceed to ride the third lap just off the group unable to catch back up. How frustrating is that feeling? You know you have the fitness you just made a stupid mistake.

I eventually get caught by a few riders that were "working together" after getting dropped. I hop on with them to finish the fourth lap. Of course, they all start playing cat and mouse games. I can understand, but seriously we are going to cat and mouse each other for ~20th place? Who cares? Well aparently I did. The finishing mile is a power climb followed by a swooping downhill into the finish line. After one member of the group lost his chain (poor bastard), I towed the other guy through a false flat to the bottom of this climb. I know that once we get there he is going to try and throw down the hammer. The first one over the hill is the first one to the finish. He goes around me. After letting him suck my wheel for over a mile there is no way I'm giving him 20th. I shift. I get right on his wheel. I don't wait for him to slow down. I just pull right on past him and pedal hard. By the time I'm at the top I don't even see him. I cruise downhill for 22nd place.

So what did I learn . . . .

1) A power climb is just that a power climb. Dont shift down. Suck it up and feel the pain for a few seconds or ride in the back. WAY BACK!!

2) Riding in the front is a lot easier than riding in the back or even the middle. I spent some time near the front but I also spent a good amount of time in the middle and rear. The front was definitely easier and a little more relaxing.

3) I did not reach my goal of just simply finishing with the pack. This was more than acheivable for this race. Minus that stupid mistake.

4) Bring more calories. I ran out of fluids during the 3rd lap. What the hell was I thinking not filling my water bottle less than halfway.

Next weekend ? Pinecone Road Race on Sunday and possibly Kirkwood on Saturday.

Who says you can't go home again?

2007-03-22T23:21:00.000-04:00

How you doing kids? The weekend is almost here. Awesome!

Guess what Thursday was the start of? Everybody's favorite business park criterium race. Thats right the Great Valley Criterium race started this week, and there was a decent showing of the regular participants especially for the middle of March.

How did the race go down for this fat man? Well, as usual I get in my 1 lap warm up, because somehow I always get there late. We gather. Some dood shouts instructions . . . "stay on the right" . . . blah blah blah . . . "be courteous to drivers" . . . . blah blah blah . . . ."don't get buck naked in the parking lot". . blah blah blah . . "complaints about peeing in the woods" . . . blah blah blah. And we are off!!!

The pace of the first two laps were moderate, but the third lap is supposed to be the sprint. It was, and by the end of the 4th lap, I am off the back. Doh!!! The penalty for not warming up at all.

I do a lap, and use the small hill in the loop to catch back on. This time I catch on for 5 laps before I'm out the back again. (wash rinse repeat) I do a few laps by myself and then I notice that the group as split in two. Sweetness.

I hop on the "B" group. I have no trouble hanging in this pack. I'm sucking wheel and just have a good ol time for a while. Somehow from following the wheel in front of me, I end up at the front of the "B" group about 10 seconds before the "A" group catches us. I was screwed. The entire "B" group hops on their draft. I didn't react soon enough and I was spent. I'm off the back again. I soft pedal for a few laps and call it a day. I'm race ready for Saturday!!!

So what else did I notice . . . .

1) Did Team Environmental Alliance go semi-pro, cause if they did then Team Iron Hill Brewery sucked up their masters riders. Basically Team Iron Hill Brewery (which also picked up a nice Comcast sponsorship) rode in the front and threw down the entire time. Actually there was an Iron Hill rider on his time trial bike "motor pacing" the entire field in the front!!!

2) I wasn't the worst squirell out there. I used to brake through the turns. (For those that don't know . . . there really aren't any turns. It is as close to an oval as a crit can get.) Maybe all that time on the rollers actually improved my handling and of course a season of cyclo-cross!

3) I missed Rennie and Matties. It just ain't the same when I don't have my friends there to laugh at me.

4) Looking forward to next Thursday all ready. Boohay!!!

The Goose is Good (Top 5 Drinks)

2007-03-19T23:49:00.000-04:00

The Goose is very good! Add a little tonic. You've got yourself a Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas yall!!!

All Right here we go kids, I hope you have your ID ready. Cause anyone under twenty-one, this post just ain't for you. Here are my top ten drinks and why I might be drinking them.

5) Light beers. I know this is a category of beer but hear me out. I don't really put different light beers in there own sections. Miller Lite, Coors Light, PBR, Primus are all the same. In that category of light mass produced beers that go down pretty quick, but usually make my stomach feel sick before I would get a good buzz going.
So when do I reach for one of theses fine beers? Really warm summer days or say it is early in the evening but you might be a little ahead of the rest of the crowd. You want to order a drink but want sober up a little. Order one of these bad boys and let the rest of your entourage catch up with you.

4) Vodka and Tonic. There are two kinds of vodka in my life, Sky Vodka and Grey Goose Vodka. Grey Goose is the sponsor of tonights post, so be sure to get your bad ass a goose and tonic when are out. Sky vodka is good but it burns when it goes down.
When do I reach for a vodka tonic? When I want to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor, or when social problems of the opposite sex creep into my life. A good vodka tonic helps me sort the situation in my mind. I am not picky about my tonic, so long as it has FIZZ. Those six packs of small bottles of tonic are a savior to the single man!

4b) Gin and Tonic. Thats right a gin and tonic is just as handy as Vodka Tonic. Tanqueray is my gin. There is no other gin except for Gordon's Dry Gin. Here a quick tip a fellow gin drinker gave me once. Say you are low on the dough. . . and you don't want to throw money into drinking gin and tonics at home. If you are planning on enjoying more than one gin and tonic, then you might want to splurge on the first gin and tonic and use Tanqueray. However on the second gin and tonic you probably won't notice that you are using Gordon's Dry gin. So save yourself some cash and use that for the rest of the evening. You won't notice until the morning. I promise.
When do I reach for a Gin and Tonic? I guess when I am out of Vodka. or maybe I reach for a Vodka tonic when I am out of Gin. Either way.

3) White Wine. I must say that white wine is my newly discovered buzz. Whenever I'm drinking a white wine, I get a nice healthy buzz with almost no effort. Its great. Pino, Chardonay, Saviogn Blanc, whatever. Fill my glass up, cause I'll put that sucker down. And if you haven't seen the movie Sideways. Go order that up on Netflix.
When do I reach for a white wine? Social occasions with friends? When I want to drink and eat, but I am not in the mood for beer? When the occasion is a little more formal?

2) Premium Beers. Some people will consider this the beer snob section. I love micro-brews. Even medium sized brewers. Luckily the Philadelphia area has some great local brewers. Victory, Yards, Stoudts, and Dogfishhead are all superb beers and close to Philly. Magic Hat is another fine brewer from Vermont. The seasonal beers that these brewers produce are some of the best beers you can buy. Go get yourself a variety case and find a bad beer. You can't.
When do I reach for a premium beer? Every morning. Kidding!!! Happy hours.

1 ) Belgium Ales. Far and away my favorite type of beer. Very strong, sometimes fruity, sometimes sour. Always excellent. Chimay, Ommegang, and Duvel. Just to name a few of the most popular brands. This section deserves its own section. Did I mention I went to Belgium to watch Cyclocross and drink their beers? Grab yourself a Belgium Ale and expand your mind, because these beers will slap you out of your beer rut!
When do I reach for a Belgium Ale? Unfortunately they are strong enough and expensive enough that they cannot always be reached for. But when you are surrounded by fellow belgium ale lovers, there is rarely anything better.

Honorable Mentions:
I am giving an honorable mention to a drink near and dear to my heart. Stoli and Red Bull. You want to live fast and feel like you are going to die quicker? Drink these all night! Three words . . . . Vegas baby, Vegas.

Sure to be losing my mind . . .

2007-03-18T12:44:00.000-04:00

After contemplating putting up a blog post about how I've been trying to grow facial hair for the last week, I decided it is time to get back to the basics. The basics being cycling. Unfortunately, the weather doesn't want to cooperate.

The first cycling race of the season was going to be Saturday, the Strasburg Road Race ™ ! A 5.5 mile circuit to be done 4 times. 22 miles of Category 5 road race excitement. Strap on your safety belts because this could get sketchy. There is a little hill right at the start along with a little decent as the circuit continues.

The weather called for snow and ice Friday, and it devilvered. I got the cyclo-cross bike all lubed up and ready go. I figured the wider tires would have given me a tacticle advantage in the race to be the last one to crash on the ice covered roads. Fortunately, the promoter decided to post pone the race till next week. Which works fine with me, because Saturday's high was 38 degrees and my naughty bits don't enjoy being frost bitten.

The other downside to all this crap weather. I am back on the indoor trainer. After getting outside and riding for 2 hours on a week day (last Tuesday was 65 degrees), the cycling trainer tortures my mind. Its better than dying while riding in the middle of the road.

Next weekend the first road race kids of the season goes down!!! It is time to get pumped.

Explaining the Obvious

2007-03-15T22:52:00.000-04:00

So, the challenge was thrown down. Now I need to explain the obvious, so we can get on with blogging about cycling and how fat I am.

I was once asked what the title of this blog meant. I wish I was making that up, but it really did happen. So without further explanation here we go . .

I was sitting at my desk one April afternoon, and I decided I needed to start blogging. Having heard of Blogger, I figured it was just as good as any blog site. Plus it is run by Google, so I figured it had all the goodness Google is know for.

I started filling out the form online, and then I came across the page where it asked me what I wanted my subdomain name to be. . . . in other words http:/( fill in the blank ).blogspot.com. I had to fill in the blank. This seemed like a very important decision. It had to be something that adequately described what one might find on my blog, yet also leave some mystery so people were encouraged to visit. This decision might take some time. So, I go where any man goes to think clearly . . . .

The bathroom!!!
After spending some quality time debating my options. I finish my business in the bathroom. I wash up and turn the light and fan off as I leave. Then in that instant . . . . sniff, sniff . . . . wait a second I better Leave The Fan On. And a blog was born.

If adulthood were a class . .

2007-03-13T08:41:00.000-04:00

Quick story before the post. I'm in a ski shop last Friday. This girl I know (knew) turns to me and says, "Hey Snake!!!". I reply, "Hi, my real name is Charles." To which she replies with what might very well be the most homosexual statement anyone has ever said to me . . .

"But your friend Bubba calls you Snake, right?"

Me: "yes."

Ok, now that I got that off my chest on with the post. Did you realize that your weekend was only 47 hours?!?! I want my hour back, and I don't want to have to wait till the fall to get it. Why should my weekend have to suffer?

What is even worse? I don't know where you live but here in Devon, PA, it is going to be sunny and 65 degrees (F). Thats right kids?! Perfect cycling weather. Throw a few water bottles on the bike and go ride!!! That is pretty much all my mind can think about right now. I don't want to drive to work and sit inside a blue cubicle wondering about all the fun I could be having. I figure when I'm done riding I could cook some barbeque and then take a nap. It would be great way to spend the day.

What am I getting at? I am almost positive that if adulthood were a class I would be getting a "D". I'm not failing, cause I do have a job and all that good stuff. But all my thoughts constantly subvert what every normal person would consider success in adulthood. I have never grown up enough to just suck it up and go work without thinking that there are much more enjoyable ways to spend my day. Everyone else I see has no problem going to work and ignoring the absolute beautiful weather outside. How is it possible that I am the only one?

More Random Notes

2007-03-09T01:01:00.000-05:00

Well that last post involved more idiocy than anything. And this post is going to be complete random crap that is not neccesarily tied to anything. Don't worry someday this blog will have a purpose. . . .

Random Crap #1) I'm trying to set up a more legit blog through private hosting yada yada yada . . . but apparently the hosting company I chose didn't want to set things up at 12 at night. Go figure? Last time I checked computers were really good at automating things and doing tasks at odd hours of the night when no one is really up. Shit, they don't even complain about it. But what do I know? I figure there might be some problems with browsers not behaving properly depending on how the DNS servers update across the country. Leave The Fan On readers are all over baby!!!

Random Crap #2)Want to improve your mood while going to work. Listen to one of your all time favorite albums on the drive in. An album where you know almost every word to every song, or at least think you do. Choose one of those albums. I have a nice half hour commute. I listened to Pavement's Brighten The Corners album today. Wow. I almost didn't mind walking into the building.

Random Crap #3)Only a few readers of this blog will know the signifigance of this event. A little back story for the others. I bought a condo 4 years ago this April. The kitchen faucet has not worked properly for almost 2 of those years. It was really funny at first. There was a small hole at the bottom of the faucet so when you turn it on water sprays all over the user. It was a cheap laugh at another's expense. However the hole slowly got worse. More or less making the faucet unuseable. This of course gets mildly embarassing when you invite people over and forget that your faucet doesn't work. You may wonder how you forget such a thing. "Forget" maybe the wrong word. I think I just got used to it and so it didn't occur to me as being a problem. (That last sentence can be attributed to a lot of things.)

Random Crap #4)If my fitness for the week was the stock market then the stock market would be down. I just didn't get the workouts in I wanted. Between work and being tired from efforts this weekend, I didn't have it in me. However, I was invited cross country skiing this weekend. Hopefully I don't drink so much that my fitness gains are none.

Random Crap #5)I am currently trying to bring back the Penny Loafer. I'm not talking about rocking Penny Loafers with pleated kahki dockers and a polo shirt. Cause if I was than you would have my permission to kick my ass. I'm talking about rocking Penny Loafers with a decent pair of denim jeans and no socks. Make sure you stick some shiny pennies in those shoes too.

Construction?

2007-03-08T23:58:00.000-05:00

Whatup kids? The house of leave the fan on is under going a face lift. I hope this doesn't affect things for more than a few days. Unfortunately if I will be out of town this weekend to undo the maddness I am about to create. Bear with me, in a week, more blogging greatness. I promise.

Work and Working Out

2007-03-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

How is everybody doing? Is it me or this the longest week ever? I needed two beers just to get me through Tuesday, but thats me.

I've noticed a pattern in my workouts lately. If I have a productive day at work where I feel I got somethings done and progress on whatever project I happen to be working on has been made, I can come home and do an awesome workout no problem.

On the other hand, if my day at work was incredibily frustrating the chances of me getting in a workout at all are minimal at best. For instance, yesterday I did not hop on my bike till 9pm because it took me a few hours to get work out of my system. I still managed a little badass workout for 9 pm, but still it would have been nice to get it done by 9pm. (The workout was 40 minutes in zone 2, which I figure for me is somewhere around a 160 heartrate. I finished up with some work on the rollers to make the workout a good 90 minutes.)

Years ago, I used to be really good at separating work and fitness. I would roll home from work, hop on the bike. One would not affect the other. Do I care more now about work? Do I care less about my fitness? I don't think either of those is the case. Maybe I'm just suffering from an early onset of male menopause at the old age 28.

The solution maybe as simple as working out in the morning before work. Call it a pre-emptive strike on my fitness! or perhaps I make it my mission to get home from work and know exactly what I'm doing fitness-wise. Become a man on a mission when I get home. (Early morning exercise isnt really my bag.)

Some of you maybe wondering when am I going to race, because the first races of the season are this weekend. Well good news for you kids, my first race is next weekend! more on that after the break.

Show Me the Money

2007-03-06T18:16:00.000-05:00

I got a new addiction . . . . Trail Mix. I can't get enough of it. Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews, Cranberries. Hmmm . . So good. I'm getting fat like a squirrel in the winter off that stuff.

So, in case all you kids haven't heard, the Mega Millions Jackpot is up to 337 million dollars. Thats right!!! You know that I got in on that. A couple of co-workers and I decided to team up our bills and buy a bunch of tickets. So tomorrow I fully expect to be approximately 14.7 million dollars richer after taxes. Don't worry, I'll keep blogging. In case you haven't noticed this blog doesn't exactly pay the bills in anyway whatsoever.

There is new motivational book called The Secret which is all about focusing energy towards what you want through wishing it to be and visualizing it. It could also be known as the Laws of Attraction. (or so thats what the T.V. told me it was about). I figure we can try that on a giant scale.

Anyone who reads this tonight, I want you to envision me winning one tenth of 337 million dollars for at least 10 minutes tonight. If you do that, I'm sure that the power of millions (or more like half a dozen) people imagining me winning 337 million dollars will make it come true. Now how good would you feel about me winning all that cash. And with all that cash, imagine how much trail mix, I could buy. A whole lot of trail mix. yummy.

I found a new blog today that I absolutely fell in love with . . . www.bradsbits.com. It is blog awesomeness. Especially the Slacker at Work section. Priceless.

Someone pass me a doughnut

2007-03-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone glad to be back at work? Lets leave it at that . . . .

I made good on my goal of 7 hours of riding this weekend. I'm sure you were all at that edge of your seats. I did 50 miles on Saturday and 65 miles on Sunday. Boohay!!!

I got back from the my ride on Sunday and decided to hop on a scale. It said 160 lbs. I concluded that the scale was light by (at least) 10 lbs. I'm not that skinny (yet).

Although that has got me thinking. I eat a ton while on the bike. In fact, I am almost certain that I eat a lot more than anyone else I ride with while eating. During both of t rides this weekend, I drank 275 calories of lemon lime gatorade and ate 2 clif bars. I don't see anyone else that I ride with scarfing down food like a starving man. What is my problem?

Worst of all, I don't see any solution to this. You want to climb that hill; you have got to put some fuel in the tank. My machine don't run on air. I need sugar!!! Lots and lots of sugar!!!

Case of the Itches

2007-03-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

I gotta say "Yo" to anyone visiting this blog from the DrunkCyclist (Not that safe for you working folks wait till you are home with the kids to visit). This blog really isn't anywhere near as cool as what Big Jonny's got going on, but you are welcome to read. I got some pics from Cross Worlds. All right, now that everyone feels at home, on to the post . . .

I've got a case of the itches so bad, my itches have itches. What kind of itches are they . . .

1) Gots to buy a bike!!! why? First of all if you are the kind of person to think "Why should I buy a bike?" Perhaps you should find another blog to read. (may I suggest Don't Date Him Girl cause that is the kind of lame blog you would be into if you ask this question.)

My TT bike is an 11 year old Cannondale with 650 wheels. It got me through an Ironman, but its time to put it out to pasture. I'm hoping to turn it into a single speed once I get a replacement. Cervelo makes some very nice potential replacements. Used bikes are nice too. They tend to cost less.

2) Vegas Baby Vegas. I got go to Vegas. Vegas rocks!!! If you have never been, go. It doesn't matter what you are into, cause Vegas has it. Reading about the NBA Allstar game in Vegas gave me this itch. Unfortunately, this directly conflicts with the financial plan of buying a bike. VEGAS!!!

I was in the Mandalay Bay a year ago. It was fantastic. I think I need to stop talking about it or I might start crying tears of joy.

3) Swimming. If anything is really making me itch it is this. Chlorine is a killer. It kills my beautiful long locks of hair. It drys my skin to the point of pain, but I love swimming. It is a good thing that I love swimming too, cause getting in shape for the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim requires lots of pool time. My fitness isn't quiet their for the 4.4 mile swim, but I have till June 10th. No worries.

4) Cycling. All I seem to be doing these days is riding my bike. This of course is a good thing. The weather is supposed to be in the upper 40's this weekend!!! WHAT!?!?! I want to get 7 hours on the bike this weekend cause the cycling trainer got old 2 weeks ago. I look forward to riding my rollers to break up the workout. You know that things are bad when I enjoy riding rollers. So what are you doing reading this blog still . . . . go ride!!!

5) The weekend. I got the weekend itch bad. . . . someone get me a beer.

Bad Pool Karma

2007-02-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

Whats up kids? Everyone groovy? Looking forward to the weekend? Thats right, we are almost there!!! Now go grab yourself a cold one.

I go to the pool after work today and had another experience of instant bad pool karma. I only brought it upon myself. Here is how Karma handed down the punishment I deserved.

I hop in the pool my set is as follows:

300 warm up (easy)
1000 form (5 x 100 form, 100 stroke)
1500 (3 x 300 pull, 100 kick, 100 free)
100 (4 x 25 free fast)
200 cool down (easy)

Voila, 3100!!!

Halfway through my 1000 form a woman on the pool deck asks me if I am going to be doing kick the entire time. I wasn't sure exactly how much of a jerk I wanted to be. I should have responded, "Yes, I am doing 3000 kick today, tomorrow I will be doing 3000 butterfly. It is a new swim workout plan called super distance sets." Instead, I quickly yell to her my entire workout and keep going. Here is my issue . . . .

If you have to ask me, what I'm doing before you hop in my pool lane. You best find another lane. Trust me, swimmers that ask, always mess your workout.

Wisely, or so I think, she hops in the other pool lane. I may have been rude, but everything worked out. She is swimming, and I keep doing my workout. Until pool karma came along. . .

I'm now doing the first 300 pull in my 1500 and suprise, someone joined my lane. No worries. They seem to be going fast (at least that first 50 was fast). However this swimmer's second 50 wasn't even a legitimate stroke. It was some squid like back stroke (think breast stroke, upside down). Needless to say I spent the next 1000 either passing or turning around before the wall. Pool karma had got me. If I was nice the first lady that asked me about my workout, I may not have gotten stuck with the squid stroker.

All in all I the Karma punishment fit the crime. I still got a good swim workout in but I needed to be reminded that it pays to be nice to people. Lesson learned.

A tear for Jan

2007-02-26T22:32:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you have all read the news . . . . if not go here, here and here. But then you get jerks like this guy.

Jan Ullrich retired from professional cycling. I think I shed a tear when I first read the news flash on cycling news. He was a great cyclist! You can't argue with that. He won the Tour de France and finished second 5 other times. Most of all he did things his way. When everyone was hopping on the high-cadence spinning craze to get through time trials or over mountains, he was still pumping through his big gears!

Yeah, he partied a bit too much. Getting busted for taking "e" or whatever it was certainly didn't help his position with the more elitist among the cycling crowd. Oddly, that only made me like him more. Some say he was waisting his talent. Perhaps. But life is all about balance and I've been known to enjoy a PBR after a race. He was still able to compete at the highest level and everyman needs to find their own balance in life.

Worst of all this last year just seemed to me like complete bull shit. Some jerks in Spain write a report with a few cyclists names on it. They have evidence but they don't want to use it. A year later some riders are competing some are stuck without a team contract. I beleive Jan got it much worse than Floyd in some respects. At least there was a test that came back positive with Floyd (however flawed that test maybe is a completely different blog post all together). Jan had no test. He was just covered by a cloud of suspicion. This cloud ended his career. It is a shame for cycling and I feel rather sad for Jan.

Remember the 2006 Tour de France? Remember how exciting it was? Imagine if Jan was there too? Imagine the kind of battle it could have been . . . we will never know.

Yo yo!!!

2007-02-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

All right, I took a bit of a blogging vacation, and one of my readers was mildly upset. So what did I do on my blogging vacation. . . .

1) There is this thing called a bicycle and I have been riding it. Last week I put in 3 hours through snow squals. Yesterday, I put in 4 hours through the just plain cold. But It feels good.

2) I may have had a beer or two since I last blogged. Ok. So thats a lie. I went to beer tasting. Ommegang, Victory, Magic Hat, and Troeggs were all there. I guess it was a beer tasting for people who drink Coor's Light all day cause I only think I had a few beers that were new to me. It was still a great time. It was held at World Cafe Live, which seems like it would be a great venue for a concert.

3) Started swimming again. Did you know I signed up for 4.4 mile swim in June? The Chesapeake Bay Swim. I don't think I've ever been concerned about my ability to finish a race, but I can honestly tell you this event has me very concerned. My big mouth may have talked me into a hole (about beating former Div. 1 Swimmers by 10 minutes) but I've got bigger problems if I don't even make it to the finish line. I swimming 3000 tonight. Anyone care to join me.

4) Back to cycling for a second. I have never ridden this much before in Febuary which gives me hope that come May, I might actually have some fitness. I also have no climbing power?!?! I don't know what happened. I get dropped like a fat man every time the group ride goes up hill. This is very, very bad. As a result, I may hit the weight room for two months to build some leg strength.

5) I've also been riding the indoor trainer so much, I think I've developed a man crush on Coach Troy. Can you blame me?

All right, go get youself some Spinervals DvDs.

Well, I'll get back on the blogging train.

Movie Review!

2007-02-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

Have you humped your trainer today?

Well, I'm back in training mode. I'm nowhere near in shape but I've been riding my cyclops trainer all day everyday (or so it feels sometimes). I do approximately an hour and half per session. 45 minutes to an hour of that session will be a specific workout. Somedays I put in a spinerval video, and some days I pull a workout off the internet. Sometimes, you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. High Road Cycles has a good spinerval blog. Go to Human Zoom for all your cycling needs!!! (keeping the sponsors happy)

I do feel that time is important in these trainer session. Anything less than an hour and a half feels like a waste. This of course lends itself to some quality movie watching as long as the heart rate monitor tells me that my heart rate is still high enough!!!

So . . .on to the movie review . . . Today I will be reviewing one of my favorite films . . .Rodger Doger

This movie stars one of my favorite actors, Campbell Scott, as Roger and Jesse Eisenberg as his high school aged nephew, Nick. Roger is a smooth talking ladies man, and Nick seeks him out in NYC to be taught how to interact with women. The line of the movie, "So Nick, you need some help with the ladies?" After Roger utters this question, Nick is swept into an evening in NYC chasing women nearly twice his age.

Going from bars to parties, Roger bestows on Nick, what almost every guy takes as common knowledge. I consider this movie to be a "dood movie". Some women don't really understand it or like it.

Roger sets Nick up with ladies and comes down with heavy criticism when Nick fails to meet the standards of a veteran to the NYC night life.

As the story continues, you learn that Roger is not completely unfallable and Nick may not be completely ready for his life as a ladies man. The movie ends with Nick back in high school in Ohio. I'm not about to spoil the ending, but it is worth sitting or pedalling through the movie.

But don't take my word for it, go see it for yourself!

Lack of Post-age

2007-02-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day, kids.

Its time to see how the mazda plays in the snow!

on a side note: leave the fan on is somewhat more legit.

Ask and you shall receive (a few days later)

2007-02-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

You wanted them, you got them. . . . .

These are the first 1/2 day at Paris pics. Our train got in around noon. In that afternoon, we managed to hit the Lourve, the Champs, the Arc de Triumph, and the Eifel Tower!!! There was a lot of walking going on everyday.

The Parisian Hangover

2007-02-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today I am coining a new term. Yes, I am allowed to do this. I will call it a "Parisian Hangover". Here is how it will be defined in the dictionary.

Parisian Hangover n.
1) The combined headache and tiredness of returning to the United States after repeatedly drinking espresso during your extended stay in Paris.
2) The combined headache and tiredness of returning to the United States after repeatedly drinking too much wine during your extended stay in Paris.
3) The v.d. and combined headache your life turns into after dating Paris Hilton for an extend period of time.

I am currently suffering from the first and most formal definition of the Parisian Hangover. Thanks to the Lavazza espresso you see pictured in the left.

My head will not stop hurting. I know it is a lack of caffeine because every time I drink a cup of coffee it goes away for 20 minutes. It is going to be a few very painful days as my body readjusts to lack of caffeine. If anyone has any tips to cure me, please let me know. One home remedy I have found is Stoudt's Winter Ale replaces the headache for about an hour. After the hour I need to grab another winter ale.

I should not have had so much coffee (un cafe, merci bo que) but it tastes really good and with an ad campaign like this how could i resist?

A couple near and dear to my hear!

2007-02-07T08:09:00.000-05:00

"We are at war, and they don't even know it" (was the other title of this blog post.)

Lets do a little compare and contrast exercise this morning.

First, I want you to visit the following website. BikeReg.com. Notice the simple easy to read layout. The tabs at the top allow you to select with type of cycling race for which you want to register. They aren't just tabs though. Scroll over them and you see that they break races down by region making easier for you to find races in your region. You can login right away (on the left) if you are so inclined. There are a few ads but nothing that I would say severely takes away from the readers ability to find exactly what he wants. All in all an excellent website for registering an athletic event. (Awesome, we all love you bikereg keep setting the standard!)

Now, when you are done enjoying the ease of use that is bikereg visit Lin-Mark.com I know it isn't obvious what the website is from the URL, but it is safe for work unless you consider possibly consider a man wearing a speedo dangerous. This website is not a bad website for say 1999. It has a rather quaint use of frames and the lovely scrolling in text at the top that has a great "i just learned java script" now what can I do with feel. (sorry that was the comp sci boy talking) There are no ads which is nice, and there are "tabs" at the top which are for navigation. To sign up for a race click on "events" and enjoy the way the next page fades in. Hmmm. Well, I hope you know exactly which month your race is taking place. After you select a month, you will have to scroll down further and see which races exist. This website is very functional but it gives the sense of a lack of organization and professionalism.

Ahhh, but now we are the point of this exercise. A lack of organization. You see I was attempting to register for the Chesapeake Bay Swim this week. I even got an email telling me that I won the lottery and to complete my registration. I click on a link in the email to register for the race, and I get a web page on Lin-Mark telling me online registration is closed?! Well there must be some mistake? How can I simultaneously win a lottery to get in something and not be allowed to register? This makes no sense in my mind.

I go to there web page and I see a big box telling me registration is closed. hmmmm. I send an email to lin-mark asking for clarification. As of yet, I have not heard anything. Granted it is currently 9am and maybe they are like me, busy updating their blog before work.

Well, I am looking forward to some terse email telling me how I was somehow too slow to register for this event. Which again doesn't make sense to me since the point of lottery was to eliminate the need for speed when signing up! I may do a triathlon this year, but I hope that it doesn't involve me having to go to Linmark to sign up.

More Blogger Love and Pics

2007-02-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

I feel the love. Do you?

Mud and Cowbells gave some love to my previous post of what I learned at Cyclocross Worlds. Greg is running a quality cyclocross blog over there. Nothing like what I'm feeding you all on a daily basis. He doesn't mess around, so go check it out already!!!

Finally here is some more random eye candy for you all from Worlds. I'm going to join Shutterfly or Fliker or some other photo sharing site as soon as I pull my head out of the dark stinky cavern in which it seems to be stuck.

The man warming up.

The mini man racing it up.

Shit, I forgot my bike!

Hienz Curry. It seemed like a good concept but trust me it misses the mark.

Is this line for the bathroom?

Even the Pope likes Cross worlds.

10 Things I learned at Cyclocross Worlds.

2007-02-04T20:32:00.000-05:00

Thats right kids, my first international escapade is in the record books. I've been up since 6:30 am Paris time, so pardon the extra spelling and grammatical errors. Here are 10 things I learned going to 2007 Cyclocross Worlds.

1. Belgiums love cross. Ok, I already knew this one but I didn't know how much they love cross.

2. Mud. Lots of Mud. Did I mention there was mud? I have a pair of running shoes that have died at cyclocross worlds. I will try to save them but it might be too late. Everyone was wearing knee high duck boots.

3. Hooligans show up even for cyclcross worlds. This was the first year that world championships had tickets, but people still bought tickets for the only purpose of drinking Primus (Belgium lite beer). Need proof?

4. The american cyclocross present and future is amazing!!! Page, Kompton, and Summerhill. You did already read about the races at cycling news!

5. Cyclocross worlds is a dood fest. The male to female ratio on Sunday was 9:1. Not that I'm there to pick up chicks, but I do like girls.

6. Belgins are actually quite shocked to hear an American accent cheering, especially when the American guy is leading the race.

7. Pros warm up on the course just like you and I do. Only faster. That blur is Sven Nys.

8. Belgium course don't look super technical but did I mention the intense amount of mud? There aren't that many off-camber turns but that just means the pros ride faster.

9. When the Flemish flag is flying, just go with the flow.

10. Italy is gonna rock in 2008.

bonjour!!

2007-02-01T07:10:00.000-05:00

thats right kids!!! I am blogging from Paris.

Cyclocross worlds was AWESOME!!! When Page was leading for almost 3 laps, I nearly pee'd my pants. INCREDIBLE!!! I also got the "holy crap what is an American doing here" look when I cheered him on. That was really funny. Three second places finishes ain't bad for America.\

Yo, Matties, there is a world cup race in Vegas next year!!! We are there!!!

Last Post Till Belgium

2007-01-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

All right kids, I'm gonna miss you!!! Make sure you behave!!!

I'm off to Belgium tomorrow night. All packed and ready to go. I might not post anything till Super Bowl Sunday (February 4th for the International readers). I think I might find an Internet cafe to check email, so there might be a post at some point.

Don't think I'm addicted to email, the lottery for the Chesapeake Bay Swim opens on January 25th. Need to check mail in case I win a spot.

So what do you read in the mean time? Here is my little go find a blog you might like pitch.

Through, blogging, I definitely have a new found respect for all the bloggers out there. There are tons of blogs out there. Some are much better than others. Personally, I think my blog kicks ass but I know there are people that put a lot of work into their blog. The work shows!!! No doubt!!!

Google on something. Or go over to a site like Stumble Upon or Google's Blog Search. If you are really lazy like me, Go to Ravi's Blog, and check out his blog roll. Lots of great blogs there!!!

Wish you were here, before I even leave . . .

2007-01-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

The real title of this blog post is Great Cycling Vacations.

In 48 hours I'll be headed on a jet plane (to Belgium) as my boy John Denver once wrote. I hope they are stocking up on beer in preparation for my arrival. I would be really upset if I managed to kick the keg.

This vacation was not 100% my idea. My boy Matteis and I have definitely shared the idea of going to Belgium and watching cycling races. Our ideal was to visit Belgium during the Spring Classics and sit in a fine Belgium bar that is along the route of one of the races. Of course leaving the bar to go cheer on the racers as they fly past. Then re-enter the bar for continued beverage drinking and to see the finish on television. Rinse, wash, and repeat for the week. It would be awesome.

So I took that idea and applied to Cyclocross. Hence, I'm going to see Cyclocross worlds. It will rock. Although, the ideal Belgium cyclocross experience would probabably be to go during the week after Christmas. There is nearly a cyclocross race everyday. It would be sweet.

This got me thinking, what are some other great cycling vacations . . . .

Seeing the final day of the Tour de France. Sure there would be crazy crowds but you are guaranteed to see some nice cycling action on theChamps-Elysées and you get to hang out in Paris on a summer day. You could even do it without taking too much time off work if work is something you are into.
I would love to see the Tour of Georgia. You don't even need to leave the country.
Obviously seeing any truly classic mountain stage of the Tour de France would be amazing. The Galbier, Alpe D'Heuz, Lou Arzidan.
I read an article about doing a cycling tour of California wine country. Riding 50 miles a day to be greeted by great wine and food at the end of each ride. I can't complain about that.
My ultimate cycling vacation would be to do the Tour de France, one day before the tour does the tour. I believe you need to qualify for it, but I read about cyclists riding the tour stages, a day before the tour does the tour stages. Full bike support, full food support everything. They ride as a team drafting off each other. Hotel stays. The works. That would be incredible.

Well, enough blog posting I need to research some quality brewers in Belgium.

Pass me that 45 lb plate!

2007-01-22T23:21:00.000-05:00

Whats up kids? Everyone have a good day? Excellent . . . Let's Begin!

Seems Leave The Fan On has gotten some love recently from StraightToTheBar. Like a fool I thought the site was about going to a bar, but I was actually pleasently surprised to see it is all about fitness and strength training. So I will share a few stories of complete failure in the gym.

Back Story: I have an older brother who once looked more like a member of the Schwarzenegger family than of my family. Naturally being the younger brother, I would dabble in his interests to see what they were all about and to compete with him. Cause that is what brothers do!!! I never went into weight lifting as far as he did. I was seduced by endurance sports but that doesn't mean I don't know my way around a gym.

A few years ago, I had the great idea after my Ironman to get into strength training. In fact their might be some old blog posts about "The Drive to 185!" My goal was to some day weigh 185 lbs. ( I am 6 foot 1 inch. so it seems like something I should be able to do.) Needless to say it never happened. Looking back I know why I failed :

1) I didn't eat enough. I know that gaining muscle mass requires a massive amount of food, and I did not approach my diet with the same dedication that I approached the gym.

2) On a sunny 75 degree day, I really wanted to be outside running or cycling. Lifting weights indoors would get on my nerves on really nice days. (This is why my strength training takes place between the months of November and March)

3) My approach to the gym was to always to lift hard. I would put on Rollins Band and get to work. If I wasn't so tired that driving a car felt like a chore by the time I was done, I felt like a failure. I now realize that this is not the smartest way to approach a strength training.

I almost always lifted by myself, unless my brother was in town.

The beauty of weights is that they make a person incredibly honest. If you can't lift the weight you can't lift it. Since my brother was so much stronger than me, I would lift well into my red zone to compensate. On multiple occasions, I would be lifting legs and I would forget to breathe!!! I would stop my set of squats and hold onto the machine for dear life as the weight room would spin in circles until my brain got the oxygen it desparately desired. My brother would stare at me waiting for me to pass out, but it never happened. He would then politely remind me that breathing is a good thing. Unfortunately, I still hold my breath when I really lift my legs in the gym.

Of course, at the start of the drive to 185, I once pinned myself doing bench press. That is one of the most embarassing things that can happen in a gym. I had my headphones on. I hate asking for a spot. I put the weight on and I'm doing the last set. I figure I can do one more rep, I swore I had it in me. Gravity thought otherwise. Apparently gravity was right. I rested the weight on my chest for a few seconds thinking if I rest, I will gain the energy to get the weight back up. Needless to say, someone came over and removed the weight from my chest a few seconds later. How embarassing?!?!?

I could go into stories about how much gas eating protein shakes give me. (One of my poker buddies eats protein shakes before poker nights just to pass gas while playing. He thinks it throws us off our game.) I even experimented with Creatine for a few months with the drive to 185. Creatine has so much sugar in it. Everytime I had serving of Creatine, I felt like I just ate a Thanksgiving meal.

I should also confess to owning a copy of Pumping Iron, and yes it is awesome!!!

Currently, I lift to maintain my strength a little for cycling and swimming. I lift about twice a week. As the weather turns nice, my lifting will definitely die off until the next off season.

Is there a draft in here?

2007-01-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

Morning everybody? You like the snow. Awesome!!! Let it snow. Although . . ..

Is there a draft in here? It seems a little chilly. Why do my legs have goose bumps? Oh wait, I know why! Guess who shaved their legs? That's right, kids. The legs are hairless. I busted out the clippers and buzzed off the hair. No more Mr. Caveman for these legs, and now I realize why I didn't shave my legs all that often. The goosebumps, the mess, the scratching when it starts to grow again. I might just let the hair grow back. I surrender!!!

The reason I shaved so early in the season was to inspire myself to train more, and I felt out of place at the team rides being the only hairy legged dood there. Well, I don't feel out of place anymore (one of these people is doing their own thing), but my legs are cold and miserable. Then there was a whole new concern that occurred to me halfway through shaving my first leg. . .

You may have noticed I'm rocking the long hair these days. The picture in the upper right is a little old. The hair on my head is a two inches longer. The concern is that with the shaved legs, I could be easily confused for a transvestite. I'm not making this up. This the neurotic mind I live with. The conversation will go something like this in my mind . . .

Random Stranger: Excuse, I noticed you have long hair and shaved legs are you a part time transvestite.

Me (in the deepest voice I can muster): No, I'm a cyclist.

Random Stranger: Wow, I didn't know they let fat people ride a bike.

Me: Yeah, it ain't pretty.

Luckily for me, I have Fashion Rule #9!

Fashion Rule #9: Grown men shall not wear shorts unless they are at the beach or participating in an running/cycling race.

With jeans covering up my hairless legs, I have little worry that I will be confused for a transvestite. I also have what many people consider to be one of the deepest voices they have ever heard. (Oddly the only person I have met with a voice deeper than mine is a woman, but she is cool.) There is no reason to anything rash like cutting the hair on my head to a more respectable length. I like my hair the way it is . . . FABULOUS!!!

Belgium, be prepared!!!

2007-01-22T00:18:00.000-05:00

All right, anyone who read the previous post gets to punch me in the stomach as hard as they want. "Why am I bitchin?", is what people should say. I got no real reasons to complain. So I apologize for the last rant. I'll try to keep things positive here at Leave The Fan On.

I'm travelling to Belgium on Thursday night!!! I'm spending 3 nights in Brugge, 2 in Brussells, and then a little 4 night get away in Paris. I will no longer be the guy that has never travelled overseas. Man that is embarassing. Especially when you are hanging out with a bunch of foreigners. They look at you like you have some kind of strange disease. But now, I'll have an answer.

A few months ago, I made a promise to myself to travel more. My little trip to South Beach Miami, in December was part of that, and so is this trip. Moreover, I had a more specific goal of traveling somewhere for every month of the year. This was something I take seriously. I want to see outside of suburban Philly. (which is funny cause recently this area has grown on me a little. grown on me like a fungus perhaps, but grown. ) I've decided to count this trip as both January, and Febuary since I will be travelling to Paris on Febuary 1st.

What is on deck for March? I am thinking a trip to New England to go skiing. It would be nice to ski in deep powdery snow and not the ice in the Poconos. I am going to focus on Belgium and Paris first, I'll worry about March when I get home on Superbowl Sunday.

The Repitition of Life?!?!

2007-01-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

All right kids, I've got a Victory Storm King Stout in front of me, so I'll be ok. But I was really wondering if I was gonna survive the day. What can you do? I'll chill. But I got some issues and even though it is Friday, I'm gonna vent a little. Maybe some you can help me out with my issue . . .

Is anyone here bothered as much as I am that almost everyday is the same? Now, I don't mean to say that everyday is the exact same, but work day almost is?!?! at least it is for me anyways. I'll give you my schedule right here:

6:30 or 7 am: fight my way out of bed (easier if I know I'm working out in the morning)
9 am: Leave for work
9:30 till 6 : work
6:30: home and eating food
~7:45: at the pool swimming or on the trainer riding
10pm : back home or off the trainer and showered
Chill till i'm in bed at midnight.

I know exactly what is gonna happen before it even happens. It isn't exactly how I imagined things would be when I was younger. Althought I always thought I was gonna play in the NBA, so maybe that wasn't exactly how things turned out. Anyways, my post isn't very clear but here is my question . . . .

Is the rest of life going to be the exact same day repeated over and over for the next 35+ years, and is that ok? Cause most of the time when I think this thought, I get rather upset. (then I listen to some VanHalen or Rollins Band and I feel all better.) But the problem never goes away?

How do you all deal with this? I am being serious!!! I would love to know. Is there an NLP technique I could use to get rid of these feelings?!

All right well, it is Friday. So that means that I'm going into the Philly to get some good food and a few beers. Have good night kids!!!

Write it Down!!!

2007-01-16T22:46:00.000-05:00

Yo yo, kids? How you all doing out there? . . . . . Glad to hear to it.

So, how does one gain fitness? More importantly how does one measure fitness? Just as important, how does one know what helped gain fitness? Do you remember the last 3 workouts you did? I know mine. How about the last ten workouts? I couldn't answer that question.

Why do I keep asking questions?

I'll get to the point which should be obvious by now. The only way you know how you gain fitness is to write down every workout you do. You should write down some very basic information and follow up with the details that are deemed necesssary. I imagine the outline for a workout diary would be the following:

Workout: (what you did, cycling, swimming, 12oz. Curlz)
Duration: (how long)
Length: (if measurable by distance, the distance covered)
Effort: ( how hard did you try. Using a 1 through 5 scale is usually a good scale.)

I also would add Notes. How you felt during the ride? What the weather was like? What you were wearing and whether you overheated? Heartrate, if you are wearing a monitor.

You would think this would be a simple thing to do, but I can't remember the last time I kept a workout diary. I didn't even keep one when I was training for my Ironman. Well, thats all about to change. I am committing myself to keeping a training diary for this season. This way I'll know what workouts help me gain fitness and what workouts lead me to an optimal fitness. Perhaps I will write down what beer I had after the race? I'll think I'll note that too!!!

Back to the Pool

2007-01-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

Ahh, whats up kids? Everyone have a good day? Hope so. Especially you, reading this right . . . . now. I hope you had very good day. How was my day? Most Excellent, thanks for asking!!! I have all these foaming rants swimming in my head but I'm going to stick with the original one.

I'm training for the Chesapeake Bay Swim. 4.4 miles of sexyness. My workout today was fairly modest by any standard:

300 warm up, 6x200 1st 100 form, 2nd 100 stroke. 300 pull. 200 cool down. Nothing too intense just feeling my way into the water. I'm on the pool deck trying to pick a lane. There is free lane, so I pick that one.

Before I hop in the water I look at the guy in the "Fast" lane doing 50's on the minute! Are you kidding me? 50 yards on the minute!?!?! You better be doing 100 of those 50's. This should have been a sign to me. Just get back in the car. Go home.

I warm up. In the middle of my 2nd 200, I hear splashing and yelling. Wondering who is drowning in the pool, I pick my head up and look behind me only to see some regular standing in my lane behind me. He proceeds to say the 8 words that frustrate me to no end. "Do you mind if we share the lane?" You can't say "Yes." If you didn't think it was an issue you probably wouldn't be stopping me to ask. So I nod, and go right back to my form work. I should give a little back story right here.

I have a very uncanny ability of recognizing faces. So I knew what kind of swimmer this guy was. He is the kind of swimmer that thinks of a new swimming stroke while eating his cornflakes in the morning and comes to the pool to see if he can change the world of swimming. He does kicking drills. Wears a swim cap, without goggles but doesn't stick his face in the water. As if that makes any sense. I really wish I was making this up. But the above description is true.

Here I am doing a kicking drill and he thinks to himself, "wow, this guy is doing kicking drills, I do kicking drills. We must swim the same speed." Unfortunately for him, I do kicking drills to swim faster. Where as he does . . . . well, I have no clue what that dude does.

I get to the 100 stroke, and I am right on top of the guy in no time. Like I didn't see this coming. I just turn around before the wall. After passing him on the next 200, he stops me again. (Hey buddy, I'm here to swim. Not to chat.) We should split the lane, so we don't pass each other. I nod again and just keep swimming. I disdain splitting a lane. If you can't circle swim with me, then find another lane tough guy. I don't hop in lanes with people faster than me, and I expect you to show me the same courtesy. Its hard to flip turn in half a lane. Needless to say, the few glares I gave the guy when he stopped caused him to change lanes once another lane was free. I was free to do the rest of my workout.

Back in the day(2003), when I was in swimming shape I had a great technique for clearing a swimming lane. I would stand on the pool deck and pick a lane where I knew I was faster than almost everyone in the lane. I would stand right on the edge of the pool and while staring down the lane I would stretch. Slowly everyone who didn't do flip turns would see me at the end of the pool and find another lane to swim. It was particularly effective when slow swimmers were in the fast lane. My sister would actually ask me to do this whenever the pool was a little crowded and she wanted a free lane. Good times!!!

If the stretching didn't work, I usually made my first 100 a very fast and very obnoxious 100. That would usually help the slower swimmers make up their mind.

I'll end this post with one final question: Is Salsa considered a fruit or a vegatable?

How do you like them apples?

2007-01-14T16:33:00.000-05:00

Wassup kids? I know what you are thinking . . . where have you been? well, sometimes, i get busy and I completely forget that my loyal readers need me. Please forgive me. If you need to we can hug it out later.

Someone has tomorrow off! an That someone is me. Are you jealous? you should be!!! Ok, enough B.S. lets get on to the post.

My training consistency is up!!! Way UP!!! and I couldn't be more happy about that. Joel Friel said that consistency is the key to gaining fitness, and I couldn't agree more. Training once a week just ain't going to pay the bills come June or July. Hopefully, DNF are 3 letters I don't see this year, but it happens.

I only took Friday off, because fitness can't be gained without some rest. Most of the cycling has been on the indoor trainer, just riding while watching the 2003 tour or perhaps a Spinerval tape. I like to end the hour plus trainer ride with a half hour on the rollers just to mix it up. Help smooth out the pedalling stroke. Make it smooth like butter. No pedalling in squares for this guy. (on a side note i will probably post about the 2003 tour in a few days.)

The icing on this cake is I rode outdoors for 3.5 hours today. It was a great ride. Nothing too crazy just a nice tempo ride. I ended up blowing up by the end of it because I ran out of sugar products to ingest while riding . I don't want to curse it but can Febuary and March be as warm as it is now. (I just cursed it.)

Well, I'm keeping this consistency up. I'll be out on my bike tomorrow. Riding easy. So what is the lesson for the day kids? Consistency. It doesn't need to be cycling but if you don't do what you do regularly you won't be improving. All right time to get some quality couch time.

Feel the burn son!!!

2007-01-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Well do you feel it? Do you?

I got myself fat ass trainer! Yeah thats right kids, skinny Charles is cominig. You best be prepared. I got the cyclo-ops fluid 2 trainer. It is sturdy and produces lots of watts.

So what has training taught me thus far. I've been getting prepared for the Chesapeake Bay Swim and building a decent cycling fitness. Swim, Ride. Ride, Swim. Its all good.

Time has become very precious. The daily drive of an hour is eating up some of my workout time. Planning ahead and looking at my weekly schedule before the week has arrived definitely helps. The problem is my mentality is still stuck in college (at least somewhat). I forget that I can't get to the workout in two seconds or that I might need to plan out what my workouts might be because I don't have othe people telling me how we are going to train.

I definitely need to do a little time management to get my training done. It will give me more time for the beer.

Swim Training for Chesapeake Bay Swim

2007-01-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

In training for the Chesapeake Bay Swim, I am telling myself to focus swim form. Seeing how I haven't swam consistantly for a while, I figure now is a good time to fix any problems with my swim stroke. When I'm doing 25,000 meters a week in May, it will be too late to fix my inefficiencies.

Yesterday I hopped in the pool and did 300 warm up. (Insert joke here) Then I proceed to do 1200 worth of form work. Catch-up, kicking, "pushing the T", Swimming on a side, Fists, to name a few.

What amazes is me . . . is how little form work other swimmers do. They dont do any!!! At least not the ones that I see. They seem to be doing some sort of workout, but I never gather sense that they are doing anything on time. (weird) Some get upset with me for doing form work! I can tell they hate the fact that my pace is so slow doing the drills and then goes back to a very normal swim pace doing stroke in between drills. I tell them when I'm doing form work and that they can just pass.

When my form comes around, we'll see you should be doing the passing? har har har!!!

Another thing I have noticed. Good swimmers don't swim by themselves. (with a few exceptions, the Beast of the East being one of them) Every wonder who uses the pool at 6 am? All the swimmers that can really kick your ass, thats who! Eventually I will have to joing them, but for now I will focus on my form.

January's Pain is August's Gain

2007-01-05T09:04:00.000-05:00

I don't think I take credit fo the title of this post. Anywayz on with the post.

I hoped in the pool for the first time in a long time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I swam around 1600, and I don't feel all that sore this morning. I mostly did form work. As for the UMLY, well, the more things change the more things stay the same. I'm short on time and want to get the entertaining part of the post. . .

I have trouble resisting going out for a quick beer on a Thursday. Especially in January when it is dark all the time and racing is 3 months away. The "Gay One" (who also isn't gay) calls me to grab some beers at the Fox and Hound. I haven't seen in a while, I so figure we can't chill out and drink a few beers. Perhaps shoot some pool?

Let me paint the picture of the Fox and Hound, in case you haven't been there. It is the chain bar/restaurant with pool tables, big screen tv's and darts. It is in lovely King of Prussia PA! (nothing like that dump Narberth, see previous posts) . The clientelle are the yuppies who have their successful Pharma/IT/Banking jobs and just want a few beers on the Thursday night to get them through Friday and make it to the weekend. Everything is pretty chill.

I get there and find "The Gay One" sitting at the bar in the corner. We sit at the bar and laugh at each other for a bit. When all of the sudden we over hear some harsh laungage going on behind us. Hmmm? This seems odd for the fox and hound? We turn around and apparently some short dude and his 2 buddies are in a very heated argument with a large dude and his 3 friends. (what is with short dudes?)

The argument turns into taunting. The short dude calls the big dude a fat ass. The big dude taunts him by saying how he has bigger breasts than the short dude's mother. You would think they could come up with more original material. Anyways, we all know where this is going . . .

Meanwhile the entire bar is looking at this scene with the sense of complete disbeleif. Who gets in fight at the Fox and Hound? No one except the goof balls behind us. All of the sudden all hell breaks loose. . . . and guess who is stuck in the middle of it.

The gay one was able to sneek off to the side, but I was left helpless surrounded my nothing but flying fists. Two dudes were fighting to my left, and two other dudes were fighting to my right. All of the sudden I'm in a dukes of hazard espisode. I'm just trying to 1) perserve my pretty face and 2) perserve my beer.

Chairs start flying. Someone picked up a chair!!! Two of the dudes fight for what seems like a few minutes. I'm hugging the bar while enjoying the best seat in the house. There are no bouncers at this bar. In fact, I'm bigger than most of the hired help and I'm 6 foot 175 lbs. I'm wondering if this ever gonna end. In the mellee I grab our beers and watch with the Gay one from a safer distance. Somehow the owner comes over right around the time when the two guys left fighting were too tired to throw another punch.

Long story short, one dude loses a shirt. And the short dude and his friends are asked to leave. I have no clue what made these goof balls start fighting, but it made for a little excitement in a rather tired evening.

Chesapeake Bay Swim!!!

2007-01-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

Thats right kids!!! 4.4 miles of open water fun! But there is a down side, isn't there always?

The organizers question my fitness? Not just mine, they question everyone's fitness. Do you beleive that! They don't think I can swim 4.4 miles in a tiny little bay. Please. Step a side and let me show you how it is done.

In order to prove your qualifications for this event, you need to have swam 1 mile or longer at a pace of 40 minutes per mile or under in the last 2 years.

or

you need to complete a 3 mile pool swim in 2 hours and 15 minutes and a signed document by an official swim coach on pool letter head. This needs to be ready by January 25th, when the lottery for the Chesapeake Bay Swim starts.

Guess which one, I am going to have to do? Well, my last triathlon was Eagleman 2004! I signed up for The Columbia Triathlon in 2005 but decided I wanted to focus on cycling and didn't do it. So guess what? Looks like I'm swimming 3 continuous miles in a pool in the next 2 weeks. It ain't gonna be pretty, but it will be done in under two hours.

For those in doubt my swim time for the 1.2 mile Eagleman swim was 32:21. Looks like i'm going to the pool tomorrow morning!!! Lets get sexy!!!!

Proper Coffee Ratio

2007-01-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

Two parts coffee to One part water. Repeat as needed.

The Armpit of Mainline PA, Narberth

2007-01-02T22:53:00.000-05:00

Today, I would like to talk about a small town located in the mainline suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. How can I put this? Narberth is to the mainline of Philadelphia as New Jersey is to the rest of America. Thats right! Narberth is the stinky sweat filled arm pit of the mainline.

This little town is mostly known for being the "closed in" town of the mainline in that it has no major thoroughfares running through it. Well, how inconvientent is that! Why would I want to add 5 minutes to my commute in the morning (and evenings) just to have peace and quiet. I enjoy the buzz of tractor trailers rocking me to sleep from Route 202 or Route 30.

Narberth is also known for its small town feel in the suburbanized mainline. Small towns are so outdated. I will take my drive through Starbucks coffee over walking a few blocks to a local coffee shop. I don't remember the local coffee shops offering any Norah Jones CDs? How about a scone? Ok well, maybe the local coffee shop has scones but I don't want to have to interact with the neighbors I might run into while walking back from the coffee shope. In my car, I just honk at them. Narberth has its own town bars. Filled with town drunks I'm sure. Luckily, they don't have to drive home. While the rest of us responsibly watch how much we consume, they can stumble on home.

From doing a little research, I have also read that Narberth has each of the following: A train station (right in town), a library, police department, a fire department, and recreation board. No doubt the recreation board is probably planning the next whippet party. All of these departments are nice to have but they put a large burden on tax payers. A little disposable income has much more value than a public library.

I won't even bother to mention the housing situation in Narberth. Just take my word for it that the old houses lack the practicality of modern apartment living. What am I going to do with a 3 bedroom and 1.5 bathroom , two story twin? I don't want to walk up and down stairs all day.

Well, if you are still unconvinced that Narberth is the armpit of the mainline. You will just have to visit it for yourself.

New Year Resolutions

2007-01-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

I took a little hiatus from blogging. Hey, if Ravi can take a break, then so can I. I hope you all had a good Holiday. Everyone get what they want? I sure did. Oh, yeah, you know it!!!

Have a good new year? I spent mine much like I spend every new year, breaking out the bubblee!

So anyone got any New Year Resolutions for me? I have a cold, so I'm already making a solid commitment to health in the new year. Someone give me a resolution! It can be anything just so long as it is acheivable.

If I really like it, I will do it. I'll even blog about it.

Memories . . .

2007-01-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

In cleaning the office, over the break I came across this lovely thing. Any of the leave the fan on readers tell me what this is?

Anyone . . . . Anyone . . . .?

It is an outdoor pool admission ticket from the Summer 2000 at Penn State!!! How or why I kept it? I have no idea. How it got on my desk? I got nothing. Yeah State!!!

Bad Christmas Ideas

2006-12-23T00:40:00.000-05:00

How is the Christmas (Holiday of your choice) shopping going, kids? You done yet? I'm not. Big surprise there. I was driving around in the hot rod, when it occured to me there are a lot of bad presents out there for the sweet heart in your life. Here is a list of a few in no particular order

Cash. Thats right kids. You may think this is a good idea, but trust me this gift is a no go. It means that you put absolutely no thought into that individuals gift. In fact, giving them nothing or anything else that on this list is probably somehow better than cash. I know what any guy reading this is thinking . . . ."This really doesn't make much sense though, cause with cash you buy anything." Guess again fellow doods.
Any entertainment material containing the artist known as Shaquel O'neil. What does this tell your sweetheart? It tells them you walked into your nearest FYE and walked straight over to the bargin bin and pulled out this peice of crap. You want to get your sweet heart something that stars Shaq? You get her tickets to a Miami Heat game.
Laser Hair Removal. Why you would get a girlfriend laser hair removal is beyond me. How about you write your sweet heart a letter that says, "You hairy freak! How about you do a little landscaping before you come over tomorrow night?" (No shit, what inspired this post was a Christmas themed ad on the radio for laser hair remover.)
Porn. If there is anything that is debatable on this list, it is this one right here. Depending on the kink of your girlfriend maybe a little porn is just what she wants? Just don't put the lastet copy of Psycho Sluts 3 under the tree to be opened in front of Grandma. Well, depending on your Grandma . . . .
Gym Membership. Do I need to explain why you shouldn't get this? Just take the Laser hair removal post on this list and replace the necessary words with either "fat ass" or "gym membership."
Potpourri. What does this say? Yo, your place stinks, and since you are too lazy to clean it. I think it is best we just cover the funk up. Plus it is potpourri? What are we in our fifties?

I know some of my readers out there could help continute this list. Let me know what you think some great bad Christmas presents are!!!

Gatorland! (and other rare animal sitings)

2006-12-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

In my travels to Orlando earlier this week, I found myself at the best damn theme park in Orlando. Disney World? no. Univeral Studios? hellz no. Sea World? nope. I found my self in Gatorland! Yeah, It rocked!!!

You may have seen pictures of the gift shop with the big gator mouth you walk through to enter. Shockingly, that burnt down a few months ago. Surprise! So I didn't have that experience, but that is only complaint you will hear here.

Imagine a zoo where 90% of the animals you see are gators and crocodiles. After that there are a few snakes, a really old bear that I felt kind of sorry for because it walked with a limp, and a few giant tourtises.

They also have a few shows to watch. The one I visited was called Jumparoo!!! It is exactly what the name implies. The experience Gator handlers of Gatorland attach chickens (chickens you get at the grocery store, not live chickens mind you) to wires hanging a few feet above the pool of gators. With a little coaxing the gators jump for the chicken to earn their meal. It is cool to see these gators going for it. The show is done with a game show theme that involve cheering on the gators and the handlers. It is fun.

There is also the classic gator wrestling show, but I opted to walk around the park and see some of the gators in there "natural" habitat. It really is very close to their natural habitat. The park consits of 110 acres where most of it covered by a large lake and brush for the gators.

Walking around, I was able to see some rather large crocodiles. There was a Salt Water Croc, a Cuban Croc, and a few Nile Crocodiles. I got one picture I am rather proud of . . . .

What I like about this photo is the reflection of the crocodile and the fact that his mouth is open which is always a nice show.

I also took in an impromtu example of nature. While walking, there was a rustling in the bushes next to me, followed by what sounded like a chirping noise. The chirping continued. I stopped and poked my head in the bushes to see what was the matter. It appeared that a very small snake managed to have a firm hold of a frog's leg in its mouth. The frog did not really enjoy the situation and was chirping while trying to wrestle out of the snake's grip. Well, the frog was on the losing side. I decided that I had no right help the frog out of the situation. Besides who am I to deny the snake a well earned meal, and the frog would die without two working legs. Within a few minutes, the snake swallowed the entire frog's leg. I left to allow the snake to enjoy a peaceful meal. Afterall, frog legs are a french delicacy.

After that real nature show, I went on to see a few tourtises and called it a day. Gatorland did not disappoint. This final image is actually 3 images, I blended together. This gator was HUGE!!! He was a "nucisance" gator that was eating people's pets in Tampa. Well, the authorites were going to kill it but Gatorland hoped on the ball to save the poor guy. They are going to release him to rest of the park once they are sure he has no illnesses that could harm the other gators.

On a side note, I saw a very rare bread of animal known as a Kyle T. while in Orlando. He is alive!!! No shit. I sat down and saw him drink a beer with these very eyes!

Honey, Do I look fat?

2006-12-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, Hibernation is over. I must have turned 80 years old temporarily because I went to Florida twice in two weeks during my hibernation. I can see why people go down there for the winter. It is 70 degrees all the freaking time. There will probably be a post coming up about Gatorland which is the coolest theme park in all of Florida.

I am definitely a blank fitness canvas. I think I may have gotten a bit of a gut. JEEZ!!! There is absolutely no fitness left in my body. In fact coming out of this hibernation maybe more of a struggle than I had originally expected. I'm not really looking forward to swimming tomorrow, but its gotta get done. DO WORK!!! ( I am shamelessly stealling this phrase from "Rob and Big")

So what is the plan? I need a plan yo!!! I can't just go barging into the this get competively fit without some sort of plan. Hmmm. I sense a whole new blog post coming up. . . .

Cyclocross Nationals

2006-12-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

Yo yo!!! Thats right kids, Cyclocross Nationals is this weekend. I really wanted to go watch but alas I am actually flying in the opposite direction of Providence, RI this weekend. Oh well, keep your eye on cyclingnews. In fact, check out all the cycling sites. The fields are rediculously huge. One of the Master's B races has 217 racers!!! Are kidding me??? I would say the first 50 riders are racing and the rest are just riding the course.

Who says cross ain't huge? Cross it up!!!

My money is on the obvious. I think that Trebon is gonna win unless he suffers a monster mechanical although I do think it will be close. Jonathon Page has been injured (right?) , and I can only imagine the anger at which he will pedal with when he finally gets ride a bike.

As for the women, you are a fool not to put money on Katie Compton. There is reason she won race last year. Did she lose a race this year? Damned if I know, but I doubt it.

Grr, as I write this I really wish I could be there now. Oh well, I'm going to World Championships in a month and half. That will do.

Next post will probably be Tuesday night. In the meantime, finish those Christmas cards.

big time!

2006-12-14T21:13:00.000-05:00

big time baby!

Computer Science Wear

2006-12-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

This post is for "Mr. Mellow", he informed me my blog needed updating this morning.

This post comes out of an uncomfortable exchange I had with a co-worker during the Spring Conference. I was running to breakfast to grab a cup of coffee (which was excellent by the way) when a coworker stopped me to tell that I need to see the host of the conference to pick up a sweat shirt that they were giving to conference alums. After informing him that I wasn't an alum, he looked like he wanted more explanation, so I told him "Besides I don't rock 'computer science wear'."

OOPS!!!! I forgot the guy I was talking to wears "computer science wear" in fact he was a wearing it at that moment. I immediately try to cover my tracks but it was too late. The statement was uttered.

Are you familiar with "computer science wear"? Think of it like a race t-shirt for the computer geek crowd except there is a whole lot less to be proud of here. They are often made of flamboyent colors with the loudest color going to the technology for the conference you covered. For example this conference had a black t-shirt with the "The Spring Experience" in bright neon green. It would be acceptable if this where most "computer science wear" stopped. The back has a list of the presenters on the back in the same bright neon green, as if these guys were rock stars out on tour. Rod Johnson may very well be a rock star, but I'm not so sure of all those other names. Couldn't we just stick to the name of the technology, a place, and a date?

The selection of clothes are fairly interesting. The t-shirt is very ubiquitous, but from there the second most popular item is a toss up between the polo t-shirt and the golf pullover sweatshirt. From there we go on to the baseball caps, hand bags, and computer bags which file more under the accesories section of one's closet. There is really is no end to what ends up being "computer science wear." Notice these aren't clothes meant for the active lifestyle. I can't say that they don't know their target demographic. I should also mention that none of these clothes ever seem to correctly fit. Being oversized is my single greatest complaint against most "computer science wear". I can get a medium sized shirt and it won't fit me (too small), but in computer science wear, it would fit almost two of me. It looks like I am wearing a smock.

And why can't they make something that would go well with something other than pleated cotton dockers? The "computer science wear" tends to look rather rediculous when part of an ensemble that reflects real world fashions. For instance try wearing a brightly colored, oversized sweat shirt with a decent pair of slim fit jeans. Just don't come over when you do.

The fabric is also very mysterious. Cotton is for the t-shirts, but any other article of clothing will almost likely try to venture into a new technology of synthetic fabrics. As if to represent that we not only push computer technology but fashion tech as well. The Rayhon-Cotton-Polly-Mesh is always a popular option for sweat shirts. Feels like a burlap sack when you put it on.

So that is why I don't rock the computer science garb. I'm not saying it ain't for you, in fact you are more than welcome to have my shirt too.

Not dead yet . . .

2006-12-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting out some posts loyal Leave The Fan On readers! (I've been a busy bear. How busy? I hadn't talked to Matteis until last night since going to Miami.)

This really isn't a post so much as a promise that a better post will be written by this evening. So stay pretty.

Am I "That" Guy?

2006-12-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

Last night and over the last few days I have learned that sometimes I become "that" guy. "That" guy can mean very different things, but in this case it means the loud obnoxious guy who is the center of attention and makes fun of everybody including himself.

Co-workers have told me this week that I am "that" guy at work. Which I was pretty much aware of. I have my moments at work. I really don't think I'm all that loud at work, but I do occasionally contrast with the incredible amounts of quiet. But it is usually just some random thing I'm excited about. I'm not in a permanent state of loud.

But what took the cake for me was last night. There was a social gathering for the conference I am at and we were all mingling around talking to one another. Well, I'm talking to a co-worker of mine and some random guy from Canada. After about 20 minutes, the canadian turns to me and says, "You are everything I think of when I think of an American stereotype!" (Lets just say, I had 'warmed up' a little before the social gathering and I was two drinks a head of the curve in crowd where I should probably be two drinks behind.) Well, I didn't harass the guy too much for that statement, but does make me wonder. Am I "that" guy?

Well, loyal Leave The Fan On reader . . . am I?

I saw a girl (once)

2006-12-08T17:11:00.000-05:00

After having been accused of writting one of those "what I had for breakfast blogs", I'm trying to step it up again despite my travels.

My current conference is The Spring Experience. It has to do with the open source java framework Spring, and all the great things you can do with it when developing your enterprise applications. Too Sexy, Too Sexy!!!

This conference is reminding me of college and not always in a good way. Which gets me to the title of this post. Being a computer science major in college, the first thing you realize is that you are not going to be meeting any women in your major. The sex ratio in my computer science classes college was probably 20 men to 1 woman. Every class was a sausage festival. I remember looking forward to my electives, because I knew there would actually be girls in the classes.

Just like college this conference is not any better. In fact I think the ratio here is alot worse. I am guessing it is 50:1. The few girls I knew in my major, I can't recall any going on to be software engineers. They usually went into sales or a more general tech field. (No where here did I say girls don't make good software engineers. I knew plenty of great female software engineers in grad school. So, no hate mail please, N.O.W. members. If there is a N.O.W. member that reads my blog I would be amazed!!! but i digress)

I have no problem hanging out with a bunch of dudes. Can I take that statement back ? I have a small problem hanging out with doods for long periods of time. Things digress socially. I'm not talking about seeing how many pushups we can do, Alpha Male football team style. Among computer science guys, the term Alpha Male usually doesn't apply. (I'm a computer science guy writting this, so if some computer geek wants to write me hate mail. Just back off son. I'm sure you are a L33T H4X0R.) There is just a definite lack of extraverted people. It is hard to get energy going among a large group of software engineers. We sip coffee and stare at computer monitors all day. We speak in terms of Abstraction, Objects, and Algorithm. We use acronyms like POJO, DAO, and EJB. It can be barely called English at times.

I think adding a few women to the scene would really change this thing around. There definitely would be little more incentive for the doods here to get some energy going if a woman was at the other side of the interaction. Maybe hotels that see conferences such as this are coming to town, they could advertise it to female software engineers in the local newspapers? Get them to show up for the conference and brighten the place up a little. Or maybe we need to have a some kind of ratio enforced much like a single mixer. (I'm not saying anyone should be looking for dates here. Hellz no. But I'm sure there are probably some doods here that wouldn't mind finding that a singles mixer is taking place during the conference.)

So whats my point? I have no idea. Girls are nice to look at and for other things too (not I would know what those other things are). And in the computer science field I would say they are like putting potpourri in the bathroom. They make something that stinks at times, smell just a little better.

Happy Birthday Sara!

2006-12-08T16:40:00.000-05:00

Sara is the name of my sister.
A few months ago she was a mister.
Her name used to be Chip,
then the doctor gave her a snip.
and now her weiner does miss her.

Happy B-day Sara!!! (wah wah you're old)

Viva Miami!!!

2006-12-07T21:52:00.000-05:00

This post can be filled under complete stupidity. In "playing" with my digital camera, I managed to erase all my cool South Beach pics. Doh!!!! Ahwell, just an excuse for me and the big wheel biker gang to get down there! You do know of the big wheel biker gang don't you?

Miami was awesome. It seemed like another world to me at times. I think I defintely was suffering from a little bit of culture shock when I first got there.

Last night, I met with a friend of mine and we went to a great Cuban restaurant on the Lincoln Mall, called Yuca. The food was fantastic. I had the "Frided Whole Red Snapper". It was a whole red snapper stuffed with rice, avacado, and tomatoes. After dinner, I walked around the mall, found a spot to sit and drank a few beers and people watched. It was a very chill.

Today was the classic South Beach day for which I was searching. Just laying on the beach, under the brilliant sun. No wind. Just me a towel and a beach. I even went for a swim a couple times. Booyah!!!

Much to my confusion, no one offered me a job as model for all the walking I did around South Beach. Clearly there must be something wrong!!!

I'll put some more thoughts together on Miami when I find the time.

Right now, I am at a conference for work in Hollywood FL. We are staying at the Westin Diplomat. This hotel is incredible. I could definitely enjoy myself here for more than a little while. I am off to try and convince my co-workers to get drunk with me.

what did you do today?

2006-12-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

I laid on the beach for 4 hours!

South Beach is really nice. It is quite literally a city right next to the beach, which is very different from the beaches I have ever been to.

Cars Seen:

Classic Black Rolls Royce (R and R)
Yellow Lamburgini with matching rims
Bently Convertable

It is supposed to go down to 70 degrees tonight. I'm not sure what I'm going to do?