Thank You For Read My Bloggings

We'll start with this:


I was supposed to start base on the 13th. Problem was, I was still waiting on new handlebars to come in at the shop (Universal Cycles on Cahuenga.....BEST guys). The bike above is the loaner. Pretty nuts bike to borrow huh? Well, it's a demo Cinelli XLR8R. Full Carbon, D/A, DT Wheels, etc. Measured up to a 55cm (which I think is a L by Cinelli's standards), but I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to ride a bike that amazing looking. I took it for a long ride up the crest on tuesday, the 14th. My first ride longer than 5 seconds on a Shimano bike. Ouch. I really couldn't deal with the hood shape, and particularly, the texture of the rubber! The campy ones are sooo much softer, no comparison. After the pain of the hoods (I have blisters to prove!), I realized that the bike was ridiculously uncomfortable, and wayyy too small (the last two complaints are likely related). I had the seatpost maxed out, and good leg extension, but it just wasn't gonna happen. I returned the bike two days later.

I couldn't borrow a proper-sized bike in time, and so, I was forced to push base back one week. Fast forward a week, and now it's sunday, and I'm done with the first week of base. 15hours. The week went well. I had a particularly good day on thanksgiving morning: went out to the coast, and took Kanan to Rock Store, then to the Valley, and home. It was great because it seemed that all the cars were not out to kill and destroy, you know? It is finally getting colder, unfortunately, but i'm sure the SoCal colors will show themselves and we'll be in the 70s again. Next week: 18hours. Should be a daisy. Tomorrow calls for 50s and rain. I'm all over it.

I'm using bikejournal.com to log my training this year. I like it. No more looking all over for the little training notebook. The site isn't perfect, has some bugs, but it's free, and you can access it from anywhere -a real plus. And you can check out what other people are doing...though the site is mainly catered to rec-riders battling for "who can do the most miles this year".

Next year: It hurts me to say this, but i've exhausted all my options and myself for next season. Right now, I don't want to think about teams and riders and energy-gel sponsors and custom headbands and matching shoes. For now, i'll say this: Some potentially great things came and went...some were pleasantly surprising, others instilled a massive amount of anger, frustration, and confusion (which I'll touch on in time...). In short, I'm back where I started. I'm currently unattached, and contrary to what you might think, I'm perfectly content with that. Howard Roark did it...and if necessary, I will as well. Like I said in the last entry, the motivation isn't really bouncing off the walls, but it's there, i'll find it. I'll get through the base period as thoroughly and professionally as possible. Regardless of where I end up, '07 will be a year of vindication. Vindication and crushing of the weak.



and! I'm getting an SRM! A friend is letting me use it for the season. Fantastic. Not sure when it'll get here, but you can bet your balls there'll be a journal entry devoted to it when it arrives.