The official Rite Aid Pro Cycling Team training camp happened last week. We stayed at a house at the Masanutten ski village right here in VA. It was basically a big sleepover for boys who shave their legs. We bonded. We plotted. We rode. We ate. We joked. We strategized. We napped. We farted. (lots)

Here's most of the team about to depart on a long ride in the hills: (important note: this photo was taken in Sheff's front yard, as that is where we parked to leave on the ride. Thank you Sheffields. p.s. Mike hopes you enjoy his special gift in the backyard.)


The Argentineans stayed home to play on the computer.


Here's me and Billy... we were caught snuggling- a no-no at camp.


Here's Stephan relaxing after a ride. If you're saturated with cycling, it is always a good idea to take your mind off the rigors of the sport by reading VeloNews.


Here's our mechanic, Reid. Amazingly, he is not a stoner. His nickname is Bamboo Prison.


Here's me with two "grown men." JT & Speedy (note cute PJ's).


Here's Jake's sandwich. Possessiveness was a theme during camp:


A big 'spank you' is owed to all who make the camp happen. So, spank y'all.
I recommend that you check out Jake Rytlewski's Blog. He's got some fab camp posts, and videos aplenty.

Since we were just an hour away from my home in Charlottesville, I wanted to plan a special nighty-night with the boys in Charlottesville. So, amidst riding tons, I took upon the energy-crushing challenge of organizing Charlottesville's first-ever 'critical-mass' cycling party- inviting everyone I knew to a party at the Happy Rickshaw warehouse to celebrate cycling and the Rite Aid team. The party started slow, and my Rite Aid boys went home early to go sleepy-sleep at 10. But, the 2 5-hour hard days did not stop me from partying until 1am. At peak-flowpoint, there were about 100 people. All the big playas were there. We kicked 2 kegs and celebrated cycling. Christoph was on hand to sign autographs. E11even made a killer cheese-ball and spinach dip. Even the Rog showed on the Commuter Deluxe. Special thanks to Spaisley and those who donated some dollas.

Fun:


Before the party, the team was treated to an absolutely extroadinary dinner at Cassis... the restaurant that Christoph and I have/still do work at occasionally. Sean Lawford, the owner/chef, is a good friend and cyclist himself. He completely blew us away with a 10+ course dinner including the following: steak, lamb, duck, pork, mussels, oysters, chicken, ice cream. Woah. People, if you have not been to Cassis... GO.


Finally, the team raced the Jefferson Cup local race promoted by Monticello Velo Club (Ruth & Roger) & the UVA Cycling Team on Sunday. I haven't gotten photos from the race yet. We won. If we didn't win, I think Wirsing would have driven the team van into us after the race. It was definitely ridiculous to have 13 pro riders in a local elite road race, but hey it was good to start the year with a well-orchestrated team win. More on the race in the next blog.

Have a good week people.

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Race season is fast approaching, so I've really been stepping up my training:


For the record, I decided not to race bikes professionally in 2007. Rite Aid graciously offered me a spot on their team, but I chose to leave the pro circuit so I can do some other fun stuff. Thus, Ian has dubbed me a "professional liver".

I am still a cat 1 bike racer, and I still train. I will, however, not be blogging about my megawattages this year. Ian's got enough dubs for the two of us. I'll blog about all that other stuff.

Besides doing some bike riding, I've also been juggling the following gigs.

Coaching: I'm coaching a handful of excellent bike racers. I love coaching, and I'm really excited for my athletes this season. UVA powerladies Cate McLean and Becca Blatt placed 1-2 in last weekend's University of Maryland crit to launch UVA to the top of ACC Conference standings.

Ivy Creek Foundation: I'm the stewardship manager for ICF. I coordinate volunteer workdays to maintain trails, build bridges, and fight invasive plant species at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir and Ivy Creek Natural Area.

Environmental Health Sciences: I'm doing web research for these folks. Staying on top of human and environmental health issues. Pretty hot topics these days. I love it.

Gardening: Yes, gardening. I've been playing in a pastoral 2000 square foot garden out at Foxhaven Farm. My babe is the brains behind the operation, and I offer some brawn.

But what about 2skinnyPROS? Ian and I will always and forever be 2skinnypros. When we're sitting next to each other in rocking chairs on the front porch of our nursing home, we will still be 2skinnypros. Because 2GeriatricPros just doesn't have the same ring.

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Todd was my teammate on Colavita for 2 years. No, I was Todd's whipping boy for 2 years on Colavita, and Todd was my idol. You see, Todd is a wise old man with a fantastically brash, dirty, and abrasive humour. The creator didn't give him a big frame, and so Todd sorta looks like he could be from the Shire- but he's no ordinary Hobbit. Todd always backed up his tough demeanor by being fit as hell and by frequently verbally tearing down people. I think Todd always liked me from the start, but he's not the lovey-dovey type that I am, so we've had one of those manly/quiet-respect relationships. To this day, I have never met another with a sense of humor so similar to mine. But, since Todd is (seems) almost 40 years old, he sometimes takes some rousing before his full-fledged humor emerges. Todd runs Herriott Sports Performance out in Seattle- a first-class operation.

I have been extremely impressed with Todd thus far as a coach, and owe him a big thanks for taking me on. I knew he was the right coach for me when he sent me these instructions in an email: "Wrap your johnson in foil wrap, tightly, and then slam it in your refridgerator door." and also "You will need to REST a LOT and EAT like a caveman who has been without food for weeks and then stumbles into a Old Country Buffet- which would be cool to see."

NOW IS TIME TO ROAST TODD FOR MAKE GLORIOUS LAUGH.

This is Todd:


Here's Todd flipping me a friendly bird shortly after I met him at training camp in 2005:


Here's a picture of Todd when he's angry and hungry:


Here's Todd sorta looking like an ape in TGIFridays:


Here's Todd pretending I don't exist:


Here's Todd and I on the front of a training ride:


Here's Todd bowling:


Here's Todd dressed up like a special-ed chef:


Here's my desktop background:


So, I raise my glass to the caveman who introduced me to the comedy one can produce by putting together the words "clam," "meat," and "pouch" in different combinations.

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After a few breakthrough performances on the ol' bicycletta this week, I am declaring that I am officially at my fittest, ever. Largely, this is due to the fact that I have a coach and am training like, well, a pro for the first time. Big post scheduled for Tuesday re: Coach.

Today was the greatest day for 2 reasons. 1) I rode an effortless 275 watts for 4:30 with my heart rate in the bottom on Z2.

...and, 2) When I rolled up to my apartment, the following was blowing in the wind, with a bubble-gun attached to the other end.

The work of E11even.

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Last nite was a big step forward in my quest to gain access to the Nanosphere. (Nanotechnology is a field of applied science primarily involving the control of matter on a molecular scale; its prospected applications are ubiquitous and limitless.)

My personal Nano quest is to develop nanomachines (or Nano-Mus, if you please) that I can inject into my leg muscles that will, ultimately, enable me to produce 20 watts/kilogram for periods up to 40 minutes. Then, during the period of time before WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) discovers my nano-dope, I will win the Tour de France as many times as possible. My quest to develop Nano-Mus jumped into high-gear last nite. I have partnered up with a high-level operative (secret name: E11even) who has top-secret access to UVA's nano-program set at Wilsdorf Hall. After putting on our rappel harnesses, we dropped through the elevator shaft of Wilsdorf Hall and descended into the restricted levels of the high-security nano research facility. Here today, I present never-seen-before photos of this restricted space.







In other news, 60 minutes at threshold today. Yay.

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It is difficult to convey how significant the Genesis reunion tour is in my life. Genesis is the greatest band to ever grace this earth. Though it is sad that Peter Gabriel won't be joining them in this tour, it should transcend all other reunion tours. Their setlist will supposedly include many selections from the 1970s. Anyway, as a premium member of the Genesis fanclub, I was able to buy tickets before the public yesterday. It was a nailbiting day of adrenaline-pumping clicking as the prerelease codes were released for use on ticketmaster. As I cross-referenced the 'best-available' seats chosen by ticketmaster with the venue map, my heart raced as I made split second decisions of whether to hold the tickets or release and try again. I ended up getting good seats for both the shows in Hartford and Philly. Anyway, I was walking on the Downtown mall this morning with D-Fal (after being beaten in a game of chess with a 7-year old in Mudhouse), I saw him:

Seeya soon, Phil, Tony, Mike, Chester and Daryl.

So, I have been working on another skill: sleepcooking. It's so annoying to cook when you're tired... just pull up a chair.

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El Coacho has scheduled me for a couple "Days of LEISURE." So, in my days of leisure, I have:

1) performed 14 cycles of ice/heat/massage on the calf
2) washed and vacuumed [2] cars
3) taken part in a science experiement involving diet coke & mentos
4) reorganized my cycling gear storage system
5) deployed a PHP-based employee shift scheduling system for Happy Rickshaw
6) ate a lamb and a rabbit (and a tuna)
7) almost played pool
8) installed a new A/C belt idler pulley in my Outback
9) purchased electric motor-assist for the pedicabs
10) washed my sheets & blankets
11) came dangerously close to biohazards in a top-secret biomed lab
12) performed the ol' flaming grape microwave trick
14) treated myself to a grocery shopping spree
15) worked on a top-secret project that will be unveiled this month
16) enjoyed myself 500x more than during training days

And now, a blast from the past.

From left to right: Ian, Christof, P-Hen. Spring 2002. My 4th-ever collegiate race. It was at the US Naval Academy. Now you know why they call me the Guru, why it was so important that Christof change his hairstyle and sunglasses, and why tha P-Hen needed to buy an aluminum frameset.

Also, I want to thank all of the fantastic commenteers. Your hard work and dedication to checking and commenting on the blog does not go un-noticed. Remember, Christoph and I always like being pumped-up when we're up, and kicked when we're down.

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Got out early for a beautiful morning here in Charlottesville to do a brisk 4 hours hours with a handful of sprints. Beautiful day, and I felt relatively good given that the last 2 weeks have been a slammer-jammer-fest.

Then about 2 hours in, all of a sudden, my calf starts tightening up, and 10 minutes later, it felt like an angry leprechaun had punched me hard square in the middle of my calf. That little bastard hurt! So, I yelled f*ck about 25 times, then changed the music on thy iPod to something more sorrowful, and piddled back home, pretty sour-like, not even saying hello to the cows.

And you know what caused this crap??? I'll tell you. I was standing on the first rung on the back of a bar stool last night, and my foot slipped down a little and it stretched my calf out pretty hard. But, it didn't hurt- it just felt like a stretch. BUT, since I have experience being 'the guy' that always gets the dumbass pointless injuries, I even went home and did 2 cycles of ice/heat just for good measure. I'll be doing some more of that for a couple days.

But, looking on the bright side. I will take a calf strain over a broken shoulder, an infected elbow, or 4 broken-out teeth and a concussion any day. Who knows, maybe this little injury is somehow saving me from being taken out by a cat 3 in a little crit I was going to do tomorrow. It's out of my hands.

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Hard training is, well, hard.

The biggest challenge to hard training is the mind. In the early days of beginning to ride bikes & train, back in 2002, the body was my limiter. Now that I have this deep fitness, the mind is clearly the limit. When the mind and body are in sync, that's when you find the optimal training balance. Sync'n up is tough. El coacho has been a big help with that synchronicity so far.

Back in the early winter months, I was prepping myself for this year with thoughts: "yea, this year I'm going to do it perfectly, get a coach, train hard, put in 100% of the effort, stay the course, get out the door on-time, recover well, etc..." Right now I'm in the middle of that very hard week. Everyone has a point where the armor cracks. Mine just about cracked Tuesday. I was in the 70th minute of some sub-threshold intervals out in the middle of nowhere 2 hours from home. Body/mind was cooked. I piddled back home completely numb and without any connection to myself or my surroundings. A year ago, in an athletic sense, I wasn't mature enough to deal with the state of being that results from training like that. My response would be to hit the couch and let an amotivational tide wash over me. Surrendering to the fact that I'd need to wait for the backoff algorithm to run its course.

But now, after mental blowouts, I seem to be better at turning on the autopilot and just going through the steps it takes to recover. Setting traps- getting back on track asap. Eat well, raise energy, prep the bike, bottles, food, clothing the night before the next day, sleep early, and most importantly, don't think about the state I'm in. This process is like walking straight ahead, confidently, through a thick fog.

Anyway, woke up Wednesday and told myself that by the end of oncoming 110 miles, I'd feel better. It worked. Came back after 5.5 hours feeling pretty centered. Made a great dinner, had a nice evening, and I'm actually pretty excited to spend a while at the ol' lactate threshold today.

But, there are HUGE GAPING holes in training like this. Pretty much all the domestic pros need to deal with this issue. Money, work, and the background stress that results. The paycheck is laughable. Happy Rickshaw (with Christohp) has the potential to make up for the big shortfall, BUT, it requires lots of work=time. You'd think that since all I'm doing is riding bikes, that there should be plenty of time to manage a modest pedicab operation. What most people don't appreciate is the effect of training on the brain. It is rare that my head is clear enough to have several continuous hours of thought and forward progess. Hard training creates this 'white noise' in my head that is incredibly frustrating. I would love to finish up a 4 hour ride by 1pm, eat, nap, and be back on my game to do work by 3pm, but it's often an impossible goal- especially in the midst of big training weeks My head is too often just out of it. Turned off- way off.

I'd say 4 out of 7 days, I enjoy the challange of trying to pull off a full-time training program and running the rickshaw company with Christoph. And while I think to myself that I'd love to dedicate 100% to training/racing, I don't think I'll ever be the type to go one-track on it. So, in the meanwhile, I will enjoy dancing on the razor's edge and playing double solitaire with D-Fal. Last nite's porcini-proscuitto pasta was pretty amazing, thanks Rog. Also, this morning's oat-bran muffins will be great on today's ride, too. Ride that bike, yo.

Piece.

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