Born again.

Nope.. not religion... more pain, and less faith.

The 2007 cycling season is on.
(so what, I'm starting early, bite me)

The Evil ZenLC has enticed me to try Triple Bypass. Not that it took much effort.
The next big domino might just be Cycle to the Sun... August 2008.

SombraGato asked me about the new name...

This passage might help,

If people can make permanent decisions in their life regarding their choice of mate, religion, or political party, then they are equally capable of making permanent decisions regarding their food choices, fitness commitments, and goals. (The human species is not biologically weakwilled, though you'd never know it if you observed typical human behavior.) Making sweeping, definitive, all-encompassing, and enduring commitments is an incredibly powerful and liberating experience, both in the making and the living up to them.

Accept that there must be no excuses for lack of success, only reasons. Recognize these reasons, learn from them, then regroup and press onward.

Maarburg
21 18'41.01N 157 51'31.42W elevation 60ft

Landis News Blurb Follow Up

" Last week, Landis's lawyer sent a letter to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) asking that the doping charges be dismissed.

The letter questioned the tests carried out on his samples in a French laboratory and claimed that the positive finding on the B sample came from a sample number not assigned to Landis. "

The "B" test wasn't from Landis?
Who do they have running that fsking lab, Pinky and the Brain?

Christ on a Crutch people.

More thoughts about Landis

"I was tested eight times at the Tour; four times before that stage and three times after, including three blood tests. Only one came back positive. Nobody in their right mind would take testosterone just once; it doesn't work that way. Zero chance."
Landis said.

It doesn't make sense, that's a fact.

I still want to believe.


Now, on the other side fo the fence:
"Patrick Lefevere, the President of the International Association of Professional Cycling Teams, has threatened to sue disgraced Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. The Belgian manager of Quick Step has raised the idea of legal action to protect the image of cycling." Quoted from Eurosport.com

Lefevere, would already convict Landis.

That can't make Floyd a happy camper.

Codename NeWT - Second Look.

In a quick chat with bikefridaywalter, I should have no problem adjusting the stem.

When I got home (yes, I was smart enough not to bring her with me to work and lose another day to daydreaming about my new ride) I immediately started fiddling with the stem. POP, there she goes.. perfect. Quick adjustment to the saddle to bring it down to an approximate range, back to the stem to adjust it a few centimeters higher than the saddle.

Let's Ride!

First ride report.
It was already late when I got the change to ride, and I'd yet to install the reflectors that shipped with, or swap over my lights from other steeds, so I stuck to the main drag.
Dang... responsive. Snappy steering. Smooth controls.
Sweet ride.
As this was the maiden voyage, I kept things simple. No wheelies or "how quickly can I take this turn" stuff. Though I was tempted to see how she sprinted. "Very well, thank you very much." was her response.
Pretty much speechless.. (and a bit out of breath), so here's the synopsis.

Price: Slightly higher than a comparable Chinese made bike that doesn't fit in my car.
Strengths: Fits in my car (a compact sedan) in about 20 seconds. Very nimble though stable. Killer acceleration. Eye catcher. Give you instant bike-geek status.
Weaknesses: Slightly heavier than comparable Chinese made bikes that can't fit in my car. Instant bike-geek status. Replacement tires/tubes are not available in my neck of the woods.
Bottomline: Killer bike from a great company that really cares about the product they make. Non biking friends (yeah, I still have some) can't see spending just under 2k something that you have to pedal. I think it's money well spent.

More reviews (and maybe a daytime picture) to follow.

Maarburg

Codename NeWT - First Look.

First impression on the bike currently Codenamed NeWT.

The shipping box was a bit smaller than I though it was going to be, and that's just naivete. I mean the bike is designed to be small. So why wouldn't it be in a small shipping box?

Wow.. Packed well.
5minues later.. Ok.. I get it, I get it, igetit.. Enough with the bubble wrap! On one hand, I've been dreamin of this bike for months. On the other hand, I've been unable to sleep for the last few days because I had a tracking number. On the third hand, I want to ride this beauty!

NeWT was built by hand, by someone (or someones I suppose) that really gave a shit about what there were doing. That in and of itself is something odd in this world of underpaid whinners that thing the world owes them... sorry different blog. Nice clean welds. Wheels are true and the reach on front brakes and rear breaks is equal. That's the kind of attention to detail I was seeing as I care fully pulled off bubble wrap from just about every surface.

I work in the tech industry, and was assembling the bike (assembling is a bit of an over statement) in the receiving/engineering bay. Easy access to the alpha geeks of my company.
The bike is sold without a saddle or pedals, primarily due to the vast range of individual tastes for these parts. I knew this and had purchased a new (flash) saddle and used pedals for the occasion. I left these parts at my desk (upstairs) and was too eager to check out the bike, not really to install parts that I had seen already. A small parade of Engineers and 7" forehead types came over to check out my new ride. I ended up explaining the special folding properties of the bike a few times. Nearly all of them made some mention of the missing saddle.
Dang, can't get anything past this group. *grin*

The stem seemed awfully tall.. I hadn't bothered to see if there was any instructions or anything of that sort.. just started putting everything where it needed to go. I must admit that I was a bit worried about the height of the stem, and worried that I'd answered one of bikefridaywalter's questions wrong or that he had checkmarked the wrong box. Leetle worried.. Not much. I'll bug bikefridaywalter tomorrow.

Folds fast fast and fits very nicely in the backseat of my Impreza (didn't get the chance to get the milk crates out of the trunk).

More to come,
Maarburg

The future.. when gas it too expensive and the socio-economic changes favor human power.

To bad the grate, bottom center, is not perpendicular.

Maarburg.

Floyd and a perspective.

---Landis rode the mountainous stage in 5 hours, 23 minutes, 36 seconds for an average speed of 37.175 kph (23.049 mph).

---His average cadence was 89 rpm.

---He averaged 281 watts for the whole stage and 318 watts for the last two hours.

---While pedaling, he averaged 324 watts overall and 364 watts for the last 2 hours.

---When he attacked to break away early on the stage's first mountain (of five), he generated 544 watts for 30 seconds, then settled into a 10-minute average of 431 watts. His 30-minute average was 401 watts, which put all 10 riders ahead of him in the overall standings well down the road.

---He averaged 373 watts on the 8.5% ascent of the 11.7-km (7.3-mile) final mountain, the Col de Joux-Plane, rated the hardest climb of the entire Tour.

---On the descent to the finish line in Morzine, he reached a top speed of 83.7 kph (51.9 mph).
The 2006 Tour was the third fastest of the 93 raced to date.

Floyd Landis rolled through the 3,656-km (2,267-mile) course in 89 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds for an average speed of 40.784 kph (25.268 mph).

The two faster speeds were ridden by Lance Armstrong in 2005 (41.698 kph or 25.853 mph) and in 2003 (40.956 kph or 25.393 mph). Armstrong also holds the fourth and fifth highest average speeds (2004 and 1999).

And here's the reason why the french are raising such a stink:
Tour victories since 1986:
U.S. -- 11
Spain -- 6
Ireland -- 1
Denmark -- 1
Germany -- 1
Italy -- 1
France -- 0
Pulled from an IM conversation with FoldableWalter.

Maarburg

WTF? Ahh man...

It's frustrating to be a spectator for professional cycling. You pick a favorite; put your hopes behind the pain, crashes, late rides, early rides, pain, crashes, personal sacrifices, putting up with the French, and dedication it takes to even attempt la Tour.

Then he gets busted for doping.

From everything I've read about Landis, I'm inclined to believe that he is just as his co-riders describe him. Intense, focused, and his mind is uncluttered.

Dave Zabriski said, "Everyone has a Landis story". To me, Stage 17 is just another one of those. A left field action from a rider who can narrow his focus down to the point where the rest of the world simply fails to exist. He gave his full 100%, because he hasn't figure out the math on 110%.

Today, and for the last few months, Floyd's been the rider I thought could take the field and shake it up.

Floyd... I want to believe. As long you claim innocence, I will believe.

Ride on and remember your own words, "One excuse is as good as another."

Maarburg.

Hope for Humanity

BERLIN (Reuters) - Overcome with remorse at having stolen a bicycle, a thief in Germany wrote the victim a letter and fully recompensed him for the loss, police said Monday.

After the theft in the Bavarian village of Bidingen was reported, police in nearby Marktoberdorf made an appeal in a local paper for any witnesses to the crime to come forward.

Soon afterwards, the victim received an anonymous letter from the thief containing 400 euros ($501.50) in cash -- the exact value of the bicycle according to the police notice.

"The thief also told the man he was sorry he couldn't remember where he'd left the bike," said police spokesman Gerhard Kreis. "He may just have been a thoroughly honest person who saw the error of his ways. You still get them you know."

Maarburg

What's in a name?

K
Changing my name.
P38Pilot... was appropriate.

Lately, I'v not been riding the P-38.

Thus, one of my other aliases.. Marburg.. will have to do.

New ride.

Pulled the trigger on a new bike today. There's no high quite like buying a new bike...

I've been working with Walter from Green Gear AKA BikeFriday. What started as a simple curiosity turned into better understanding of what Bike Friday does. This coincided with an epic ride in which I had to ship my beloved P-38. Very few things in life are a nerve wracking as shipping a custom/rare bike. I had put a considerable amount of time and effort into training for this one specific event, and the thought of my bike being damaged and the ride being undoable was more of a worry than completing the ride itself.
(Not to downplay how much I feared this ride..)

Walter has put in countless hours chatting with me about the options, and walking a newbie thru the process of buying a custom bike.

The man's a saint.

The bike has been ordered and I'll post again when I get it.. pics too.

A New Cycling Hero?

Printed without permision from http://www.roadbikerider.com/248t.htm

"With Lance Armstrong retired, I've been searching for a new hero.

Not that I ever completely identified with Lance. I mean, c'mon:

---He's a genetic freak whose body is practically incapable of producing lactic acid. I'm a lactic-acid exporter.

---He battles cancer, and wins. I battle acid reflux, and lose.

---He hangs with Bono and Robin Williams. I hang with guys nicknamed Geezer and Wheezer.

Still, everybody needs a role model. After much research, I've settled on Floyd Landis as mine. Not because he's the fashionable Tour dark horse, having already won this year's Paris-Nice, Tour of California, Tour de Georgia and Tour de Southeastern Manitoba. And not because he pops wheelies on the Champs Elysees, although that's awfully cool.

No, I selected Floyd because of what I discovered about him while reading Lance Armstrong's War, Daniel Coyle's riveting book about the 2004 Tour.

For instance, one key to Floyd's success is that he is "very, very good at sleeping," says Michele Ferrari, the Italian sports-med wiz affectionately known as Dr. Evil. Floyd naps 2-3 hours each afternoon. This aids recovery -- a point my boss can't seem to grasp.

Then there's Floyd's weight-loss program: He stops eating for 2-3 days. "I get pretty grouchy," he says, "but it works." I'm not in Floyd's league -- my record is 2-3 hours -- but what an inspiration.

How about the time Floyd showed up at his first road race wearing a garish jersey, visored helmet and bright argyle socks pulled high, then proceeded to smoke the field by 15 minutes even after stopping to fix a flat. Not that I could detonate a peloton, but I do own some ugly socks.

How can you not root for a guy like that? Allez, Floyd! "

P-38 Pilot

New toy in the works

Sometimes life gets in the way of living.

On another blog, I have talked a bit about the twists of fate that I have navigated.
In the effort to live and not just go with the flow, I will be purchasing a new bike.

What could be more wonderful than a new bike?
How about a bike that easily fits into the trunk of your car. Well not your car. A travel bike that rides as well as a 'normal' road bike? Rubbish you say? Humph. I've done my research.



I've decided on a BikeFriday New World Tourist.
I'm excited beyond all belief. I love buying new bikes. It is entirely possible that I can get enough training in to ride the HBL Century on it! Possible, but not probable. I will need to do some serious training to be able to do the ride at all, let alone on a new bike.

More info in a few weeks.

P-38 Pilot