BACK

yes, back to posting about bikes and riding.

wow, today was one of those days that everything went well.  i hammered well, i climbed with a snap in my stroke, i didn't fade.  it was one of those days and what a beautiful day it was.  it started out cold about 36 [yes, winter has hit LA] and progressed to a clear, bright, beautiful 60'ish.   noah and i headed out for a good steady ride, as he has been resting his knee and working hard, so really has not been on the bike for a few weeks.  he was of course really strong for awhile  and stuck me like a bad habit on the 3 lil' big ring bitches on wilshire, heading out to malibu from hollywood.  the cold really hit us hard, or i should say our lungs, as we were going hard and fast through westwood.  i have never liked the feeling of cold air in my lungs, during a hard effort.  it really hurt and felt like heavy phlegm in you upper lungs, as if we had been smoking for years.  we than made our way down and onto PCH [really nice drivers, not].  everyone on PCH is always buzzing you and never feel the need to share the road as they speed to their ever important early saturday morning engagement.  i realize that their schedule is far more important than my life and that i don't have bumpers or airbags, but come on, share a little.  it was so beautiful along the coast at 25 mph plus, i wanted to snap a picture for you, but my iPhone was running low on juice [oops, power].  

so back to my great day in the saddle, after watching the 2006 tour and floyd's exploits during stage 17, it finally dawned on me after all these years, 'hey, maybe you should really gel up every 15 minutes and see what happens.  well today i found out, i rocked it all day and really felt great.  the one gel i can tolerate, is hammer's espresso gel, hmm imagine that, espresso flavor.  well it really keep me going and i felt no fade all day, i even had snap going up ocean blvd, to santa monica.  it is not an especially hard or long climb, albeit a bit steep, but after a long day in the saddle, it can be a b-hatch.

so, gel up and stay fadeless, boy is my head a bit hard and stubborn, but i learned today.  so i hope you had a great ride today no matter where you are and have a merry christmas.

- blue'

RAIN

and now for your thursday afternoon video watching pleasure [yes some blue]

MY KILLA

ok, so i don't usually post about my personal life, cause my posts are boring enough for most, you don't need to be subjected to my even more boring life, design, ride, design, ride, eat, design, ride, you get the picture. but today there was an incredibly moving and momentous event, my little berlin [all killa non filla] walked on her own for the first time in 3 months, albeit like a tourist at oktoberfest. a little history on the situation, she had surgery for a spinal disk that was putting pressure on her spine, and thus her back half, including her back legs were paralyzed, all of this happened while i was on vacation with my beautiful fiancé in holland / sweden. josephine has been taking such good care of my lil' killa since our return, and today it paid off. it really brought me to tears, it was like a dream, as if i finally woke up from the nightmare of the past 3 months. it broke our hearts to see her paralyzed, as before she was a very active lean mean killing machine. she could catch birds in mid-flight, chase squirrels up trees, dismember mice in a split second and pounce on crickets and spiders as if they were standing still. i hope this is the big break through we have all been hoping for. i have spent my new record grouppo savings on her surgery [$$$] and acupuncture, and i would do it again at the drop of a dime. all i can say is that all of the squirrels that have been teasing her [not me, i only tease tim], better watch out, cause the killa from brandenburg is back and ready to rumble.


[some iPhone images as it was happening]

BLUE ERGO

[yea, baby more blue]

Campagnolo will offer its own 'blue' shifter for 2008, although these will officially only be available to team becher+. While Shimano continues to champion its 'Light Action' concept, Campagnolo insists that requests from its masters racers have dictated a harder shift effort and more tactile feedback. According to Campagnolo, this is more appropriate for when minds are more heavily focused on the throes of racing.

Those changes come about courtesy of "very extra extra stiff special springs", which will make it like riding a single speed, since the springs are so stiff you can't change gears. we can only assume will include both the lever return springs and the characteristic Ergopower 'g' springs that are so familiar to well-versed shop and team mechanics. Other than those springs and the shifters' telltale blue markings, though, Campagnolo says that consumer versions will be identical. What's the big deal, you ask? hello, did you see the image, the lettering is blue, duh.

VIDEO TRACK SUNDAY

and now a few videos in honor of tim's return to the track, some old videos of him i found laying around.

[boring track stand stuff]


[and now some kilo action of tim in majorca]

NEVER GETS OLD

[the following story from pez about andy never gets old]



As part of our series on the Giro climbs, we asked Andy Hampsten to recount his epic day on the Passo Gavia in 1988. A day of unquestioned cycling history, Andy started the 17th stage of that Giro in second place, and despite the Italians pleading with him to ride “piano piano” over the last climb, he went on an epic attack that earned him the maglia rosa, and the only American win of Italy’s grand tour. Pull on your woolies – it’s gonna be a cold one…

Andy began the day in the blue “overall points” leaders jersey, a combined “best score” in all disciplines of the race, which was cool, because as Andy tells us “it was wool. All the leaders’ jerseys were wool in those days.” As Andy recounts the story, you can hear in his voice that he’s back in 1988, only this time feeling pride and joy – but also remembering the fear that gripped the peloton as they climbed into the unknown that gray, sleeting morning… June 5, 1988.

Andy begins the story…
We were about 400-500 meters above sea level, in this big valley in Lombardy… and it was snowing. Most of us on the 7-Eleven team were from Colorado, and were pretty good at math, and if it’s snowing and you go up… and it’s SNOWING… it’s slushy, it’s coming down and then melting, it’s belting in…

There’s no hint of anything changing, looking at the weather forecast. So the Giro organizers held an emergency meeting with all the team managers, telling them “hey, we’re doing the race, the roads open, snowplows are keeping it clear. It’s not icy on the Gavia, but it is snowing.”

When we left it was just raining… kind of sleet-rain, but bucketing down. We went over the Aprica pass, a category 2 with a pretty short descent, but even on that descent I was wearing ALL the warm clothes I could possibly put on. I was shaking uncontrollably on that silly little descent. Then we were up at about 800 meters (altitude) climbing on a long false flat. A break went away and my team was chasing it but we weren’t going too hard, there wasn’t anyone really dangerous up there.

[read the rest here]