This week’s log is going to be a bit light, due to illness (and if you were at the Lemond Q&A last night, you probably are going to come down with a cold soon – sorry – but on a bright note, it’s not the very popular H1N1, let’s call it S1N1), and preparation for the Q&A with Greg Lemond – I was doing lots of research – really.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Bicycle Fun fact (BFF) of the Day
If your tire goes flat, conventional cycling wisdom states that you should wait until an Italian arrives to change it for you. Italians do everything with style, and you will be treated to a delightful show.

I was a little pressed for time today, as Halloween is bearing down upon our household. So today was what I call a "better than nothing" ride on the rollers today. I managed a brief indoor mosey, which as I stated before is better than doing nothing athletically whatsoever. It is October and these rides just don’t matter very much.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

BFF of the Day
1985 Cycling fanatic Edgar Owens gets buried with his beloved Cinelli bicycle, as stipulated in his will. His family is charged extra by the Golden Slumber Cemetery for an over sized bag.

Today was a new training season record for roller duration at little over an hour. I split up my roller session in half by doing some tabata sets of squats and lunges in the middle. And today’s roller run was made more exciting through wearing my compression socks while I rode the rollers. Sadly, in the off-season, this counts as an exciting event. But I will say that the socks seem to have an effect on my workouts. I averaged 224 watts on the rollers today, whereas normally I would average around 190-200 on the rollers. Could it be that the socks are the cause of this performance improvement? One run on the rollers would suggest this, but a single run on the rollers can suggest many things, such as: rollers induce mania after 45 minutes, or the notion that genital numbness is a default state for riding indoors. Needless to say, I will monitor the efficacy of the socks as the winter wears on – as I have nothing else to fixate on. And since I am a vain and vapid bike racer, I will not wear the socks during races – no matter the potential performance advantages – as wearing knees socks during a race would break my code of aesthetics.  

And in infectious diseases news, we have fever and coughs all around us here in the Schmalz house, with one daughter already succumbing, it’s only a matter of time before we all fall prey to whatever is going around. I’m not sure if it’s the well-publicized H1N1, or just some other virus with a lazier publicist, but it is inside the perimeter.

Monday, November 2, 2009

BFF of the Day
1920 Trying to cash in on the six-day racing craze, Ignatz Schwinn attempts to drain Lake Michigan in order to build a recessed indoor velodrome on the lake front in Chicago.

We are entering into the dangerous days after Halloween, when small packages of not-meant-for-resale nougat bombs threaten to derail carefully laid dietary plans. The candy temptations are all around. And while my 7 year old daughter guards her candy stash like a first grade Pablo Escobar, I think my younger daughter is more lax in her candy security – her treat stockade can be breached without her ever being the wiser. This present a moral dilemma for a father. Do I secretly relieve my younger daughter of some of her Halloween treats – as she hasn’t yet reached the point where she can keep an accurate count of the fruits of her door to door begging? Or do I act like a grown up and resist the urge to devour every Butterfinger, Kit Kat and Milky Way I come across?

After a pre-ride snack of Butterfingers, Kit Kats and Milky Ways, I rode out to the local "hill that is like River Road, but not as ‘epic’ according to Lance Armstrong", known as Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive get its name from the fact that you can see New York’s skyline from its apex, and also from the fact that the name "Obviously Named Causeway" was already taken.