Uhh yeah, we got some snow...

This is the steps up to our front porch/door. Looks more like ski slope.

Measurement 1.

Measurement 2.

We got hit hard. 2 days in a row. News said 12.8 inches. I didn't get that much on my scale, but it's a lot and enough. I had some serious shovel time, which led to some serious back ache. Getting around by bike was very difficult. I even found myself walking the commuter bike two or three times; just couldn't keep it going on the unplowed streets. It doesn't snow in Bloomington as much as it did (does) in Muncie and I guess this is the worst snow in ~12 years down here. IU was closed and I heard it hasn't been closed since the blizzard of 1978! The roads were far better on my way back home this evening, but getting to work today (and yesterday) was some serious riding. Hard to keep momentum and VERY hard to handle the bike; it was all over the place.

In training news: this is halfway point of week 7 of 8 week block. I can report that while my sessions feel god, I feel very tired overall. I am feeling overtrained (though Allen Lim says there is no such thing as overtraining, just under resting). I am resting all I have time to, and I need to make it through the rest of this week and all of next week before I can take a few days off, and have a "loafer" workout week (roller spins, some weights, nothing too hard), then start up on the Feb/Mar block.
I started a new book on The Festina Affair, which rocked the 1998 Tour de France and was the first big doping scandal ever. It's written as a tell-all by the songuier who was driving the Festina team car that was busted by border agents and was carrying all of the teams doping supplies for the '98 Tour. Interesting insider story of how routine doping was (and probably is) in cycling.

Another cold one, and some dirty work

Today was #3 in the Bloomington Underground CX Series. I reluctantly suited up and headed out w/ a 14* temp. Two other brave souls were at the meeting place and we rolled to the course together, unsure of whether the race wold be happening or not. Well, not only was the course set up and ready to go, 4 others were there already to join in. RD Kirkham forgot the timer clock, and it was cold enough we decided to ride 5 laps, rather than going by time (normally 45min). This ended up being right around 30min, which was fine. I cruised in for a second place after leading lap 1, then unable to shut the door on B-Town's Polish phenom, Tomas.

I spun for ~45min on the rollers when I got home. I miscalculated my hours for the week and thought that the roller time would put me over 10hrs, but when I got it all downloaded I was actually slightly below (9hrs 42min). Bummer.

I added squats to my workout routine this week. Friday was the first day for them, and for anyone who has ever done weighted squats in there life, you know how much it hurts for the days that follow. Good pain, but pain all the same. My hamstrings have been bothering me hard efforts as of late, so I figured squats will help to strengthen/balance out my hamstrings (and legs in general, though lunges are part of my routine too). It'll take some getting used to though.

-The dirty work:

I got my tires glued onto my new race wheels today. Actually, I started getting the glue layers on the other day, but applied the final layers and put the tires on today. When I get a moment I'll stick the wheels on the bike and snap a pic; it should be sick (that's what the kids say these days for 'awesome,' "sick"). Although I have awhile before the first road race, I need to ride these wheels a time or two before racing on them. Racing on brand new equipment is not an option, or at least not a good option.

Well, that's all I have for now.

I'll be in touch.

Hot ride, cold day

Sauteed carrots and green beans in olive oil w/ garlic.

Pan seared tuna steaks in olive oil (w/ a little sesame oil), crushed chilli's, garlic and w/ a sesame seed crust.

I decided to make up a nice dinner for us last night (Wed). It was pretty killer. Take that Georgia Gould. I may not be a world cup racer chick, but I can cook like a motha!

Today (thurs) turned out to be a really nice day. It was cold this morning, but Fred Ryan and I went out for a couple hours in the mid 20's. It was the first really fast "barn burner" ride of the year for us. It was one of those "try to contribute here-and-there, but hang on for dear life" rides that are common place in June, July and/or August. But we killed it this January day. I am feeling WAY stronger (and faster) than I can ever remember feeling this early.

I went to the Chiro yesterday for some deep massage/'adjustments' (as they call it). He got my upper back 'adjusted', which due to the tightness of the surrounding muscles (rhomboid's) he hasn't previously been able to do. It was a minor crack, err, adjustment, but at least it appears to starting to give.

Another note: since December or so I have read no fewer than three books. I am almost finished w/ #4 and I just ordered two more. This is a feat for me, as I normally am a non-reader. They are pretty much all bike racing biography, but whatever.

Welp, that's it for now, gotta get to readin!

Sunday, she was a cold one

Sunday was #2 of the Bloomington Underground Cross Series. I hadn't mentioned it earlier because w/ the temps as low as they were I wasn't sure 1) if it would be held at all or 2) if I would attend even if it were held. well it was held, I went and it was cold. About 10-12 people showed, which surprised me. It was ~25* w/ a light snow covering and healthy batch of wind. My feet got a little wet from the snow, which made them very cold. Everything else was fine, but my feet hurt. I rode really well; really hard. When I got home I took off my shoes/socks and my toes were hot to the touch, red and swollen. I elevated my feet until they started feeling normal again, then went down and did a roller ride to get in hours for the week.
My hours were a little short this week due to 1) my Friday night roller ride was cut short by a total lack of motivation; I just wasn't feeling it. All the motivation in the world couldn't have kept me on. 2) W/ Sunday being a CX 'race' day, I knew the week would end up a little short because I try to get in 3hrs on Sunday, but w/ a CX, 3hrs just isn't going to happen. I tell myself that 50min as hard as I can go is sufficient for ~2hrs worth of indoor riding, so I don't worry much about it.
#3 in the series is this Sunday, so it's likely to be another short(er) week hour wise (meaning 8-9 instead of 10-12).
This is week #2 of January block, and my Monday "long" run felt good today. I must say though, I'm looking forward to being done running. Just 2 more weeks (16 sessions) for this block. The it's all riding and lifting for February and March.
I'm sore in the back-al area. I'm going to go to the chiro tomorrow.
This post is boring even to me, sorry.

You know it's cold when...

...well, most obviously when it's below 0. But, our basement (since we've lived here) is always just above 50, ~52 usually. But w/ the sub-zero temps the past few mornings, it's been just below 50, which today saw me lifting weights in running tights and long shirt sleeves. It's usually plenty comfy for indoor workouts down there, but it just feels cold the last tow mornings.
And the commute to work, well that's a different story. It's cold. I've been wearing (sun) glasses because the sub 0 wind makes my eyes hurty. I'm not complaining though, I far prefer bike commuting, even if it is arctic.
In workout news: the weeks been going good but my right hamstring (and right leg, generally) has been tight. I've been stretching it A LOT and trying to keep it warm/loose. I'm sure it's fine, but I feel like I have been nag-free for a while now and I was liking it.
Oh, and I got some new race wheels too. We (the bike shop) had a really good year (record setting, actually) and while that doesn't really make my pockets fatter directly, I got good holiday bonus(es). So I sold my Ksyriums, combined my moneys and got a pair of Fulcrum Racing 0's. I've had these wheels in mind for several years, but just never had the opportunity to get them. They're ~1/2lb lighter than Ksyriums, which appeals to the weight weenie in me, every bit as aero, if not a touch more, which appeals to the aero guru in me and they have loose ball, fully rebuildable hubs, which appeals to the techie in me. And they're red. And red in Italian means fast (look to Ferrari and Ducati for proof of this cultural fact). Speaking of Ducati, America's native son of Moto GP, Nicky Hayden will be riding Ducati this year. They just introduced the first ever moto gp bike w/a carbon fibre chassis. Sweet.

Just how lame is Adam???

Sure I go to bed early, don't party, don't do drugs, etc. But I'm so lame I rated my top 5 coffee mugs for the blogosphere: #'s 4 and 5.(peppers 4, stripes 5)

#'s 2 and 3. (B&B 3, King 4).

And #1. My Campy mug.

And the top 5 in order. (it should also be noted that I'm so superstitious that when I am racing off road, I will ONLY drink from my King cup, a situation that was complicated when I switched my King wheels from my MTB to my CX bike, further, road racing I drink ONLY from my Campag mug.)

I had a killer work out yesterday (Sunday). I went out to avenge myself on Shilo Road. I think I didn't post about my last (which was my first) ride on Shilo. It was post my X-mas sickness 9dec 30 actually) and w/ some hammer heads. I got my ass handed to me; just straight out dropped. I wanted to forget about it, as it was one of the worse-er days I've had on the road in a long while.

Anywho, I decided I was going to go out and do a few intervals, two of them being Shilo rd. When the road kicked up, I went as hard as I could for 5min, then took 2 min off pace, then finished off the road all out (~4min). I also did two flat road intervals (Shilo Rd is 99% up hill) 53x12 ~70rpm). I felt great and rode really well.It was cold, my bottles were freezing, but i got about 2.5hrs w/ some hard ints. excellent day.

Today is the start of my January block, so I ran long (for me) this a.m. Long means ~5miles, but hey, I'm not training to be a runner. Felt pretty good.

I can't recall feeling this good and having so many consistently good workouts this early ever before. I'm liking this.

I'm so fast on the trainer...

...that I'm a blur!

I've been only riding my TT bike on trainer lately. It gives me more positions and the aero bars are a nice place to be when pushing big gears.
I have been wearing compression socks for recovery since Jan 1 too. I got my Dad (a runner) a pair of really nice ones for Christmas, but when I went to get myself some they had only large. So I went to CVS and got some cheap-ass "geriatric/travel support compression hosiery" that seem to be okay. I can tell they're going to stretch (wear out) relatively fast, but they were cheap enough that it's no biggy. They feel really nice after a hard ride or run. The support of the calf muscles feels good, plus the circulatory benefit, while not as sensory-noticeable, is a benefit all the same. And with "performance and health benefits that were quantitatively verified at Hong Kong Polytechnic" (at least on that's the Sugoi's claim) how can one go wrong?
W/ some Christmas money I picked up Floyd Landis's book "Positively False: The Real Story of How I WON the Tour de France." It's really good and while always been a Floyd fan, this book has made a big Floyd fan. He rules. I'm looking forward to seeing him in 2009 racing w/ his new team.
This post has ~1million hyperlinks in it, sorry. I got a little "hyperlink happy."

A change of sport??

After today's run, I think I can take Anton Apollo Ohno in the speedskating. It was super icy, but I had a ride/run/ride (riding inside) scheduled, so I went out. I barely could make it up the hill from our driveway and the had to run down the center of the road. When I got to the gravel path at the YMCA, I had to run on the grass beside it because the gravel was frozen solid too. I got the full run in and added only 1min to the ~3.5mile route, despite having to go way slow at times w/ a ~2"stride to not slip and fall.
I ended last week w/ another 3hr indoor session (again broken into three ~1hr sessions [two trainer 1 roller]). The trainer sessions were hard stuff w/ high quality intervals; felt really good. I got another 12hr week, so off season is going well. I'm feeling really good right now and am optimistic for 2009.
This week is the last week of my December block, then I move into the January block, which is very similar, but w/ 1 extra long ride session in favour of a run session. So I go from 2 long rides and 2 runs to 3 long rides and 1 run (w/ lift sessions and easy rides mixed in still).
Big news is: the USGP cross race in Louisville for 2009 is scheduled for the same weekend as the Hilly 100! Hill is my busiest weekend of the year. I really wanted to do both days of the USGP this year, but instead I'll be doing neither. They did add a USGP weekend in Madison, WI that I may try to make instead. I know some people there (via my brother), so I may plan to go to Madison for some CX action in Sept. Long way off though, who knows?
Till next time...

Look at Me (2of2)

Day two:Road Race.

Road Race

Road Race. I finished okay, but outside of the main group. I had been sick prior to this race. Not full-on sick, but one of those nagging cold sicks that you can train through, but robs all of your top end leaving your race form in shambles.

Start of road race. Me and Josh. Co-rocking the Ochsner hats.

Look at ME! (1of2)

The following are pictures from the Tour de West Lafayette in May. There are too many for 1 post, so I'll post 2 posts of them:
Crit

Crit

Crit

Crit (see the dude in the Zipp gear in the front there, I think it's Sam Nichols. Great guy, Sam. He's looking back and thinking "shit man, is that Rodkey coming up?") Yeah, it's f*****g Rodkey!

Adam's Great 2008 Memoirs:

Uhhhh, I can't really remember anything of any real significance that happened to me in 2008. I'm sure there was plenty.
But I have been riding really good so far in 2009. All 57miles I've put in.
Ren Jay, RS, Fred, Val Tordoro and myself set out for a good ~3hr New Years Day ride today. I had a terrible ride Tuesday, terrible enough that I was worried about today's ride. I rode superbly and felt great today though. I did bonk out at the absolute end of the ride, but I've yet gain back the close to 6lbs I lost being sick last week, so some bonkage is to be expected. I'm eating a lot, but working out a lot too. It'll all come around.
Today turned out to be really nice. It was windy, as it has been, and it probably didn't get much over 35*, but I was never cold. We rode Bear Wallow, one of my favorite climbs, and then rode Hwy 135 North form Nashville, which I'd never ridden before. This stretch is probably the longest climb in the area and real steady grade. It is my new favorite road. Ryan described it as like riding the mountains of Colorado: steady grades, not super steep, but constant. It was awesome and I really liked it, I have been told that roads such as these would suit my size/climbing style the best. Maybe it does. Unfortunately, in the peak Nashville season, this road is more-than-less unrideable due to high volume of Nashville car traffic. Oh well, it'll be one of those gems that can't be enjoyed just any old time.
Anywho...

Happy New Year! May health, happiness and all that garb be yours.