A bike-related post a day. That's the goal.

I have been really tying to focus on getting back to the original goal of this blog. As the title says 365 days… not once a month (at best) not ‘whenever I feel like it.’ but once a day. Bikes.

Well, lets start with today.

This is the short loop I’m riding right now to get back my base level of fitness. It’s short, not too strenuous and I can do it in an hour or less. I’m shooting for 45 min before August.
I’m preparing to die at a little race called Schalflos im Sattel (Sleepless in the Saddle) on the weekend of August 5-8th. Call me stupid, but It sounds like a shit-ball world of beer, pain and fun. I just need to make sure I have good lights and am confident enough in the dark.

In other news…

Otis Ruben is quite pleased with his new surroundings.

I’m a father. Otis Ruben was born on the 4th of June at 2:05 am. He weighed in at a heft 3.8 kilos and a length of 58cm. Pretty big, but he is his father’s son. He’s all smiles and full diapers right now, but he’ll be riding alongside me in no time, I’m sure.

—me.

I spent saturday last building my new singlespeed wheel. It was REALLY easy considering the measurements were the same from mid-flange on both right and left sides. One spoke length makes life a LOT easier.

So there you have it. Sorry about the lack of updates. I’ve been a bit under the weather and otherwise busy. Once I have the matching front wheel built, I’ll take them out for an inaugural spin. Hopefully these (along with the new cranks/bottom bracket I’m installing for SS use) will help me get a good bit of my old fitness back come spring. Until then, I’m on the trainer in front of the T.V.

—me.

It’s coming as it always does. Lance will also be there, from what I hear. I really could care less, but it will at least give the US networks some reason to show it. I wonder… If all the riders from the US were gone, how long would the coverage hold out? How fast would it be a highlight; but only if something went horribly, terribly wrong?

I’m just askin’.

Have some Melvins. It helps with the hills.

—me

I’ve never met the man, but he seems like a nice enough guy. Some cyclists… you can tell they would be snotty or dismissive, but he seems like a decent guy. I could be wrong.

I have a love-hate thing with him. More like a hate-respect thing, truth be told. I hate him for being a sprinter. That’s not to say I hate all sprinters, per se. I just don’t like cherry-pickers. I was at a UCI Worlds race in Verona a few years back, and we checked out the city (for the wives in tow) and stopped at various points on the course to watch the racers speed by, and when I saw Zabel in his Pepto-pink Telekom jersey, ‘CHERRY-PICKER’ was all I managed to shout. Redwine laughed at me while the locals shook their heads at the big dumb American who couldn’t understand the finesse and tactics required for racing bikes.

Admittedly, I understand more now than I did when I started watching as much as I could after my ride across the US. (Hs it been 10 years already??) But I know tactics and I know cherry-picking. I have neither skill nor fitness. I can suck down a lot of beer and manage to get home on semi-tricky, technical singletrack without busting my head wide open, so there’s my resumé. But sprinters in general, and Zabel in general always got under my skin.

You see, I always see it as coming down to a few guys. One is hammering away at the front, doing all the work, while the other two suck his back wheel until the last second. Then they pop out, and make that mad, gorgeous dash for the finish. While amazing to watch, especially for someone who will never crack a sustained 40kph on flat, it still seems unfair to that guy who pulls everyone to the last final sprint. I know sometimes it’s their JOB to do just that… fine. No problem. But when you see that it’s not… that he’s getting worn down so the other two schlubbs can duke it out… well, it makes me mad. Still.

As for the respect, he earned it every race he won by beating out the young pups. By winning the 6-day race here in Munich over and over and over again. And yes, because he’s (now) 40. He won it with the 6 final green jersey wins on the TdF. He won it by admitting he doped and quitting. By owning what he did, and not fighting it and stepping down with whatever was left of his dignity and wounded pride and ego. Mostly he earned it by winning without a lot of fanfare. He rode to win and he was hard as nails.

I’m gonna miss my love-hate affair with his this summer. I’m sure there will be more to take his place, but they just wont be the same.

Finally, a photo I shot from the last apperance at the 6-day race here in Munich, 2006. (Maybe 2005)

—me.