Happy Birthday, Blog

 

Finally had a few minutes to sit down and update the good old blog, and realized it's birthday had come and gone.  As a present, I'll make sure to actually update a few times this month rather than once. :)

Where to start, well... my wife got a gorgeous new Track Bike that the weather gods have not allowed her to race on Friday yet.  Hopefully tomorrow will fix that.

PIR on Monday nights in the 1/2/3's have turned into a total clusterfuck of late and I have better things to do than be taken out by a sketchy-ass rider who isn't paying attention.  Yes, I'm talking to the guy who put my teammate into the fucking concrete wall on the last lap of the 6/22 race.  Thanks for not bothering to see if we were okay after!  Ass.   I DNF'd my last two races (one mechanical, the other the crash) so I figure its time to step back and relax and do something safer.  ShortTrack maybe? :p

Speaking of mechanicals, huge thank you goes out to Mark Duff from VeloForma who light a knight in tight spandex came to the rescue and assisted with the fix of my front derailleur hanger on the VeloVie.

We've been cleaning out our garage, and recently sold Traci's old road bike to a good friend of ours, its her first "big girl bike" (her words) and she's absolutely in love with it. 

We also recently parted ways with my 350z, which literally had been gathering dust over the past 2 years.  (1700miles put on the car since Oct 07.. 2400miles put on my new VeloVie since March 1st of this year.)  Ironically we owned the car for *exactly* 6 years, with the purchase and sale date being 6/20.  With the TT bike being demo'd by Burke (dude, you back from the islands yet?) The garage looks spacious even with the Mini in it.  Hmmmm we could possible fill it with...

A Tandem!  Well, at least a borrowed one.  Last Saturday Traci and I celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary.  I was on the tail end of a rest week and I wanted to ride with her, so I borrowed a tandem from our good friends Dean and Barb and we rode with the 21's on the Saturday ride.  I'm happy to report we are still married, and I have both my kidneys intact.

In non-biking related news, the 2009 edition of Bridgetown's "Stumptown Tart" will be released shortly.  Last year this beer (a Marionberry infused Belgian) was my favorite beer of the summer.  This year they went with a Yamhill sour cherry rather than Marionberries.   I look forward to seeing it in the market soon.  I'm also happy its just about the end of allergy season.  After previously posting this season wasn't to bad, Murphy drop-kicked my sinus multiple times over the past few weeks.

Stay tuned for some exciting news about the upcoming months!  I'll give you one hint.  Cross.

One and done...

 

For those in the cycling community, the TTT stands for "Team Time Trial", an event where a group of riders work as a team to through a set course as fast as possible.

For those in the cycling community who have actually done a TTT, I put forth that the definition should be known as "Team Torture Testing", where you push yourself as hard as you can without shelling your teammates, knowing that they will be doing the same to you in a matter of moments.

My team for this endeavor were Bigwood, King, and BRat.  Basically PV Fast Twitch.  Our goals were to finish together, ride smoothly as possible, and have the fastest final K of all teams (a joke).. and if possible have fun.

We had practiced a number of times as a group and got a good feel for each others riding style, and cornering abilities and are roughly the same strength so we felt we had a good chance of accomplishing what we set out for.

The day started at Longbottom's to load up the caravan, and relive stories of my attempt to kill the entire team on Saturday by spooking a cat that was sitting on the side of the road.  We hit the road with a single stop in Albany for traditional pre-race cheeseburgers from McDonalds (seriously, we got cheeseburgers.  It's sprinter food.)

We arrived at the Allergy Factory staging area got setup and started our warm ups a bit late.  Our start time was 1 minute behind the real PV TT team, so with 8 people watching the clock we managed to get to the start line in time.  My start was a humorous showing of "how not to clip into your pedal" which was unfortunately captured on film by Mary-Kay Babcock.

aaugh n00b!

After we got settled in, we started our motoring.  I was slotted in behind BRat, which really started to hurt by Lap 3 when he was making monsterish pulls.  Bob trailed behind me.  I felt good on Lap 1.. 2 things started to hurt.  3 I questioned my sanity. Lap 4 we were all getting tired and our bike handling started to suffer.

I was probably the weakest rider of the group, but I can ride corners very well, so tried to time my pulls so I could pilot the team through one of the many corners that broke up the course then peel off.  By the 4th lap, patterns started emerging in our riding styles.  I found myself at the front in specific locations on almost every lap.  Unfortunately that meant I got dumped off in the head wind coming back all the time!

We came in as a group, just a bit spaced a part.  My hamstrings pretty much seized up about 200m after the finish line and I was barely able to get back to the finish line let alone ride a cool down with the team.  My skin suit was crusted with salt.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon laughing with the other PV folks who were down there and trying not to cramp up in the increasing heat.  The journey home had us swing through Carl Jr's, which Bob swears is the official sprinter recovery food, and was punctuated with sneezes, groans of soreness and lots of laughter.

It was a sadistic sort of fun, and a good way to finish my career in the world of Time Trialing. (Yes.. I'm done with TT's.  Anyone want a bike?)

TACGBODAS!

 

Cough. Sniffle. Sneeze.

No, you haven't contracted swine flu, it's allergy season!  So far I've been pretty lucky with allergies this year, although the major grass pollen season hasn't hit full bore just yet.  A lot of folks however are suffering from the increased tree pollen that is currently in the air.

Since I'm heading out of town for the next 5 days and won't be doing any riding, I figure now is a great time to entertain my 2 loyal readers with some re-posted content!  So back by no ones request, I re-present for your reading pleasure, TACGBODAS or "The Aggregate Cyclist's Guide to Being Outside During Allergy Season".

Monday afternoon musings...

 

• It is seriously gorgeous outside, and I'm glad I rode my bike into work today.  The 4.5 mile ride home will be a nice way to cap off the day.
• This weekend's riding had one serious beatdown of a ride book-ended by two lazy recovery days on the bike to total about 160mi of riding.
• Allergy season is coming.  Are you ready?
• I finally was able to mix it up with the team on Timber Road during one slug-fests out there.  Very happy!
• It's stuffy and probably 77 in our office building right now.
• Last week felt like a super hard week on the bike, but the overall stress of the workouts was not terribly high.  Glad I've got a rest week this week.
• PV continued with a very strong showing out at PIR and put me across the line first for the second week in a row. I <3 the team.
• My wife has been under the weather for the past week and it hurts me to see her feel this way.  I'd gladly take her place if I could.
• Hubris is a bitch. My knee started acting up two days after I posted this.  I'm still trying to sort out what's going on.
• My "O.F." got together on Saturday for a joint birthday party for James and myself.  Was great fun and they surprised me with an awesome gift.  Silly details here!
• I received an envelope in the mail on Friday from OBRA.  Inside was a sticker that said "ROAD:CAT3" along with my other details.  I'm now a very small fish in a very big pond filled with very fast fish.  At least I can cross off one of my goals for this year though. :)
• It was silent at 6:50am when I got into the office.  Its now 3:36pm and again, it's silent.  I'm going home.
• For whatever reason, this didn't publish until Tuesday morning, but I'm not changing the title.

Gesundheit!

 

As I mentioned last week, its allergy season here in the Pacific Northwest.  The time of year where all plants decide at once that it's time to reproduce and dump their genetic material in the air for everyone to enjoy.  Being outdoors this time of year its tough, especially if you are participating in an aerobic activity.  The pollen clings to your skin and invades your body which in turn produces a seemingly never ending quantity of goo from your nose.

Growing up in the Northeast, I truly didn't know what "hayfever" was until I moved here in '92, and I really didn't understand how bad it would be until my freshman year in college down in Eugene.  Allergies were so bad that year that the campus health center ran out of allergy medication by mid May.  I spent much of that spring indoors trying not to suffocate on my own snot.  Good times.

Since that time I've been able to arm myself through a variety new world drugs, old world remedies, and trial and error to combat the assault on my body.  So without further ado, I present to you "The Aggregate Cyclist's Guide to Being Outside During Allergy Season", or TACGBODAS for short.

 

1. Figure out what you are allergic too.
• Some people go to allergists to do this.  Personally I went by the "see what pollen was high on days I couldn't breath" method.  Pollen.com is a good resource for pollen forecasts and to see how much it sucks to be where live.  Ryegrass and I don't get along.
2. Habitually take your allergy medication starting a few weeks before your "allergy season" begins.
• Many allergy medications work by suppressing the histamine system in your body and take time for them to build up to peak effectiveness.  Some people react different to different allergy medications.  I stumbled upon Alavert a few years ago and it works very well for me.  It's also over the counter and can be found in bulk at Costco.  (Score!)
3. Get a nasal spray to use at night before bed.
• A nasal spray like FloNase or Nasonex can help open up airways at night and allow you to sleep better.  These are prescription drugs so talk with your doctor before allergy season starts.
4. Carry Benadryl or a generic equivalent.
• I keep a few tabs of Benadryl in my saddle pack after breaking out in hives on my legs after one ride.  The little pink pills rule for shutting down a allergic reaction quickly and can be helpful if you get stung by a bee while out on a ride.  Since it has a tendency to make you sleepy, I don't suggest using it as your primary allergy med.
5. Wash your hands and face frequently, and especially after being outside.
• Pollen is sticky and will cling to your body after being outside for any period of time.  If you get pollen on your hands then rub your nose or eyes, instant snot!
6. Shower at night before bed, even if its just a quick rinse off.
• Clean the allergens off your body before you go to bed.  This will allow you to breath easier at night.
7. Change your pillowcases frequently.
• Your head sits on this all night.  Keep it allergen free!
8. Bathe your pets more frequently.
• Outdoor pets are notorious pollen collectors.  If Fido or Fluffy is an outdoor pet and you like the play with them, be prepared to suffer.  If you don't like bathing your pet, adhere to TACGBODAS rule #1 after touching your pets.  Don't let them sleep on you either.
9. Get a "neti-pot" and learn to love it.
• This is my number one weapon against sinus gunk.   A co-worker suggested it a few years ago to help combat the onset sinus infections, and I use it now during allergy season as well. Some people can't get past cleaning out their sinus in the privacy of their own bathroom.  Get over it.  It's a lot better then having snot run down your face in public and carrying collection of used tissues with you.
10. Take local bee pollen and / or local honey.
• Another gem from my co-worker.   The theory is that in taking bee pollen and honey, you introduce the allergens into your system at a low level and over time your system builds up a tolerance to it.  The key to this is that it has to be local bee pollen or honey.  Local bee's frequent the local flowers, trees, and grasses.  Best bet to get this would be at your local farmers market.  (They key to this is the word local.)  This is one that I haven't had much luck with, but I've heard others swear by it.
11. Stay hydrated.
• This is a good practice in general, but I listed it here for good measure.  Antihistamines and especially decongestants dry you out.  A runny nose dries you out.  The warmer temperatures that cause the plants to release pollen dries you out.  Drink water, avoid alcohol.
12. Don't rub your eyes
• They may itch now, but rubbing them will only make it worse.  Flush your eyes with cool water, or put eye drops in to help reduce the irritation.

I hope a few of these nuggets of knowledge will help you during this time of year.  It's entirely too nice to stay indoors.