Square Peg, Round Hole

Just got this box from Ben for my trip. Notice how nervous the Tarmac looks in the first pic.
Well he fits, now to just make it past check in without paying fees!
Also, please notice the sexy French towel on the floor. Its a Twingo ad I stole from a friend years ago!

I'm Out!

Thought I'd post one last time before I head down to FL for vacation. I'm really excited to get out of the cold for a while and see some old friends. Not much to report around here. The Jamis is done and looking sexy with new brakes and fork all installed by yours truly! Now I just have to sit and wait for all this snow to melt. We also just put up our xmas tree yesterday, yeah, its a little late but I've been very busy.
In my travels to many markets and shops around the city I've been collecting different brands of sardines! I know its weird but I do like them and some of them have this great '50's look to them. So I've been buying them up with the intent of doing a little taste test. Sardines are one of those foods that hold a special mystic with me. I think its because I have very vivid memories of my Dad eating sardine sandwiches when we lived in Connecticut (also salamis but thats another post). The funny thing is I eat them in the same way. Either on some dark rye or some of that hard Scandinavian cracker bread with a little butter. Whether or not these memories are real or something I've pieced together doesn't hold much value for me. The fact that such a simple food can bring me comfort and enjoyment is whats important. I've never been one to put much stock in food trends and fine dinning. I enjoy food in its simplest forms, no pretentious menus, no mangled sauces or forced emulsions. I'm glad the industry is moving towards embracing locals produce and "comfort" foods. The fact that pork belly costs as much as a steak is amazing!
So the next time you eat something don't just wolf it down. Take the time to consider why you like something. Associating food with a moment in time or a certain sense is a huge part of the overall experience. I have my sardines that remind me of a lake in our back yard and my Dad sitting on the porch eating sandwiches in the summer. The fact is, that is what food is all about, enjoyment. Nothing more, nothing less.

PRO Morning (aka F' The Trainer)

Opening scene, 1am in our protagonists bedroom:
Me: You awake?
Leyla: Yes.
Me: I'm sick of winter I want to go for a ride!
Leyla: What, now!?
Me: Sure, why not.
Leyla: You can ride your trainer tomorrow morning.
Me: Blah!
Fade out with me passing out slipping into dreams of single track and new components.

Ok, I'll stop that now. I can't do a whole post like that (as cool as it would be), not that creative. As luck would have it I got a text from Zach this morning asking me to go ride!! The sun was out and the wind chill a mere 26 deg. We met up by the Fullerton Beach, the only area free of ice patches and bathed in sunlight. We ended up doing about 6 intervals into the wind, around a mile each. The dense winter air was brutal on my lungs but it felt sooooo nice to be outside again. After the intervals I rode back up north with Zach just to get some more miles in. Despite not being able to feel my feet it was a great ride. You really forget how much human interaction helps in training. It was great just to be able and talk about the upcoming season and cycling in general. I turned around somewhere north of Montrose and started my ride back with the wind. I don't think I have every been more content on a bike. My spin was super smooth, the bike was quiet and responsive, nobody on the path and a gorgeous icy/snowy cover on everything. I cranked back doing about 23-24mph only slowing down for a couple ice patches, I felt like a million bucks. I love this sport.

Close scene with our hero sitting at his computer still in kit listening to Hank III and fading off into a day dream of groomed trails and post race victory beers.

Looking at this picture you can't help but wipe the drool from your chin as you admire the new fork and headset. But you may ask yourself why I have the Jamis hooked up to a trainer?! Well....there is a very simple answer to that. You are looking at my sorry excuse for a workstand! That being said I'm doing a nice year end tear down of the brake system. All the cables are getting replaced and I switched out the old lever and canti's for some SD 7 levers and XTR brakes I had on the single speed. I'm not sure what condition the XTR's are in but I know they have better stopping power then the old SD 7 cantis.

Had a nice little chat with Ben about the upgrades I'm doing and he was able to steer me away from buying some very pricey components. A little lesson kids, expensive+light=me crying when it breaks. I still am going to do the drive train when this team discount kicks in (I bet you wish you knew what team I speak of, patience my child).

Had my last dinner party of the year on Saturday. It was a 55 person buffet out in Schaumberg for some clients I did a class for in the summer. Great people!! Very friendly and I never felt pressured throughout the entire event, granted my assistant John performed like a well oiled machine and was really on his game. As the year closes I'm feeling very good about how work is going. I'm not overwhelmed but I'm making some descent money (for once). Hopefully I'll keep building my client base and I can stop juggling two jobs, but thats not anytime soon.

Ok, back to what matters in life. You got it, bikes and stupid cold weather! This Sunday was the Illinois State Cyclocross champs out at Montrose Park. I went out on my own but met up with some teammates who were racing that day. After an all day assault of questions about how come I'm not racing cross, I've decided to try it out next year. I won't be able to do a huge schedule but I can at least do the ChiCross cup for fun. Back to Sunday...Ben went off first and, well, look at his blog if you want to know what happened. Everyone has a bad day, and after pulling out so many great finishes this just wasn't his day. Mike went off with the 3's and had a great race and grabbed a bronze in the state champ. Not to shabby for his second cat 3 race. Everyone else went off in the 4a and b race. Long story short the 4a race was one by the biggest sandbagger I've ever seen. The guy had almost a 3 min lead on second place!! I have no respect for that, hope he enjoys his title and promptly looses it next year. Granted he did get punched/pushed off his bike by the second place guy! Not sure why, but I guess karma bit him in the ass. All in all it was a fun day, and I have come to realize that my hands will never get warm no matter what gloves I wear.

Pic stolen from Julie!

Hincapie at Roubaix 2001

If it isn't obvious I already miss my morning rides!! Only 2 1/2 more months!!

Nifty!

Here is my first attempt at posting with my iPhone. As you can see
the trainer is out! What you can't see is the couple inches of snow
outside, hence the trainer. Kinda weird riding due to its rigidity
and the fact that the heater is now on, which leads to some sweaty
sessions (ergo the towel underneath).

Ok, got to get back to work. This week is insane, full schedule at one
job and a 55 person Xmas party to cater on Saturday! Hopefully next
week will be a little slower.

Thank God I Didn't Race

Been a while since I posted but there really hasn't been much to talk about. We had our first serious snow on Saturday and of course I had to drive out to the 'burbs to teach a class! It didn't help that when I finished the event the clients driveway was frozen solid!! I couldn't even walk to my car as I would slide down the hill every time. I was forced to literally crawl to my car so I wouldn't break my leg/arm. Driving was a whole other ordeal, the second I let off the brakes the car slid down the driveway into the streets and spun 90 deg.! Luckily this was a residential area and nobody was out driving. Thankfully once I hit major roads the salt trucks had already been out and there was no ice left (I think).

Today Zach and I followed up on our plans to go support the Killjoy gang at the Wisconsin State cyclocross champs. Needless to say it was cold. And I don't mean nice brisk cold, I'm talking 2" of snow on the ground and rain coming down cold! We arrived just as the cat 4's were winding down and cheered on some old teammates and friends (mostly Henry and Jeff Kao). Up next was the cat 3 race which would be Mike's first race in the 3's. He had a great start and was killing the field until James Lalonde decided it was time to leave everybody behind. I'm not really sure what that family eats but 3 brothers should not all be that good! But they are, and James killed the field taking first in the race and the series. Mike ended up pulling a very nice 3rd with payout. Impressive for his first upgraded race. After that there was allot of standing around inside the warm shelter until it was time for Ben to race. By that point we were almost soaked with rain and starting to get a little grumpy.
Thankfully we didn't have to hang out to long and the rain subsided (for a couple minutes). Ben went down and lined up with the cat 1/2's and of course the second they took off it started to rain again! The course at that point was getting muddy and very slippery but Ben held it together and pulled off a very impressive 4th place. Once again a Marco Lalonde swept the field with a 1.5 minute gap for the win! Ridiculous!

Needless to say Zach and I jumped in the car and blasted some heat for a toasty ride home. Thankfully I had time to get home, shower and eat before our top secret meeting (all will be revealed soon....). Good job to all the Killjoy crowd and thanks to Julie and Zach for keeping me company!