Thursday's post comes late, again

So, once again, I blew through my Thursday night deadline. Sorry. On the whole, this was a pretty good, albeit busy, week. I capped it off last night with a 90-minute advice session for current Skidmore students, who were looking for advice on starting a career after completing the English major. Along with a handful of other alum, I think we all did our best to distribute advice, talk about our experience, and sufficiently scare the students. So that was fun.

Afterwards I wound up at the bar with a couple friends, including one who haven't seen since graduation, so that was exciting! This weekend I'm off to race 'cross on Saturday in Northampton, another VERGE race, so that should be funny. On Sundy, I'll be riding my bike in the NYC marathon as an excort for the elite wheelchair athletes. I did this last year as well, but this year I'll try to get photos. Have a great weekend!

Tops from the week:
1) My newest 'cross column. Go check it out!
2) There's a big race coming to town... but I'm not ready to spill the beans... not yet...
3) Only five days until this cursed election comes and goes... and I can't wait for it to be over.
4) Heading down to the NYC marathon this weekend... should be a good time. Maybe I'll win!
5) My outfit this Thursday... what, these old things?

Bottoms from the week:
1) Snow comes early this year... I still can't find my shovel.
2) I'm trying to re-learn how to stay warm while riding is these colder temps... But I really wish it were warm...
3) This election has gone FOREVER....
4) I was on the trainer. Not once, but twice. I need to ride less.
5) Negative political ads.

Welcome to the big leagues!

click on the photos for a surprise...

I've done it again, I've managed to combine the thing I love most (writing about bicycles), and the most heinous bicycle-relate torture I know of ('cross). OK, 'cross isn't actually that bad. In fact, I would say that it's growing on me... a little.

Cyclocross Magazine has been gracious enough to publish yet another of my columns on the sport on their website. This column is about my attempt to race in the big leagues, at the Gran Prix of Gloucester, at which I entered my biggest 'cross race to date, and it was my first race astride my new 'cross bike, without even so much as a casual ride to test the bike out. Hilarity ensues.

In lieu or a regular post, I encourage you to go over and check out the column! Enjoy...

More accolades... and the first snow of the season

This is the magic, and this is where it happens
But there's still more work to be done
And hopefully more awards to win!

You might recall that back in August I won a pair of awards for news writing from the Associated Press Association of New York. I remain proud of that accomplishment, and today I got some displayable mementos of the award, in the form of mounted certificates from the association.

At the moment, the certificates are sitting on my desk at work. I didn't want to bring them home in the rain. I hope to find a nice place to display them at home soon. In the mean time, they'll serve to remind me that I have only one thing to do at work: improve on my work in 2008.

On a slightly less happy note, it's snowing. At least, according to the internet weather map it is. Looking out the window reveals that, in fact, it is not snowing, although it could at any moment. Forecasters are saying there might be as much as 5 inches of accumulated snow overnight in the low areas. In the Adirondacks and Catskills, there could be as much as 10 inches. Imagine that.

I am so not ready for snow.

When I heard the forecast at work today I immediately started stammering, dropping my pen, dialing wrong numbers and generally loosing my cool. I'm not ready for snow. I haven't the foggiest notion of where my snow shovel is, there's no rock salt in the apartment, my skis need to be tuned, and I haven't put the snow tires on my bikes yet.

Now, I lived here in Saratoga long enough to know that winter comes in fast and hard. But usually it waits until sometime around the end of November, usually after Thanksgiving. This year, it isn't even yet Halloween, and we're getting snow?! April is a long way away. I'm so not looking forward to the next five months.

Fuel cells are coming

Spotted on I-87: a fuel cell vehicle
It looks cool and drives clean
But was puttering along at a stately 60 MPH

Chevrolet has apparently launched a fuel cell vehicle in the form of an Equinox, a so-called "crossover" vehicle retrofitted with a hydrogen fuel cell to power an electric motor. I spotted one of these vehicles on the Northway a couple weeks ago when I was on my way to Brooklyn (where else). I snapped those photos as I cruised by.

From afar, I thought the truck had some kind of malfunction, as visible fog was puffing from its rear bumper in small clouds every few seconds. As I got closer, it looked like the truck's exhaust had been split into several tailpipes, which were routed through the bumper.

Then I realized the car had markings all over it, identifying it as a fuel cell vehicle. The exhaust that I thought was malfunctioning was actually water vapor discharged from the fuel cell. Since there is no heat issue associated with the vapor, designers are free to clean up the car's rear end, by tucking the exhaust neatly into the bumper. Or so I gather.

Close up on the bumper
You can't see the water vapor through my dirty windshield
But it's there.

A little more digging determined that this vehicle is likely part of Project Driveway, a real-world test program through with Chevy gives a lucky few customers a truck like the one I saw on the road, in exchange for some feedback on the car.

On Chevy's website, there's even a survey you can take to see if you might qualify to participate. I took the survey, even though only people living in southern California, the New York-metro area, and Washington D.C. qualify. As expected, Chevy isn't going to give me a truck, but it did raise an interesting question: I've only ever driven Asian imports. My family only had Asian imports when I was a kid. If I was given the opportunity to drive an American car in the name of fuel economy, would I?

That, apparently, is the $25,000 question.

There's snow in the forecast. I'd better dig out my shovel.

BattenKross

The 'cross suffering continued Saturday with BattenKross, another brainchild of uber-promoter Dieter Drake. This was the fourth race in the NYCross.com series, and the closest of the races to Saratoga Springs, so of course I was out there.

Of the three 'cross races I've done this year (Schenectady, Gloucester, Battenkill), this was the hardest, and quite possibly the least fun. It was at the Milet Farm, a small dairy operation in Cambridge. The course wound around a pasture, complete with cow pies and mud. The grass was grippy in most spots, but rain on Friday night and early Saturday made things muddy in other spots, especially in the many technical turns, climbs and decents.

While grippy, the pasture was badly rutted, and trying to hang onto the handlebars was not disimilar to breaking up cement with a jackhammer. Remembering my blisters from Gloucester -- I mean, they havn't healed yet... -- I remembered to wear gloves this time. Keep this in mind, it will be important later on.

So the race started, and I moved up through the medium-sized field on the run in, on a road, to the course. This was the only time during the race that we were on the pavement. All hell broke loose as soon as we took the left-hand bend into the barn yard. With the course choked with racers, we rolled down a steep incline into a tight right turn. I was sliding out, and very concerned about sliding into the racers around me. I know good 'cross racers will intentionally move sideways through turns, but I'm not there. The sensation of my tire sliding sideways underneath me is very uncomfortable. In fact, it's kind of like when you're sleepings, and dreaming, and you dream that you're falling and your stomach lurches and you wake up with a start, throw your pillow across the room and knock over the glass of water you left on the night stand. Eventually, my tire re-conected, for which I was grateful.

Anyhow, I was sliding sideways through a turn, then it was down a rocky decent to the start/finish. The only place on the course where you could open the throttle even a little was a long straighaway on the bottom of the course, but even that wasn't all that fast, as there were muddy stream crossings and ruts in the way slowing us down. Then there was a series of technical climbs that most people seemed to be able to ride up, but I had trouble and wound up running up on most laps.

The course's most unique course feature was a crop circle. No, not the kind created by little green men trying to convey to us humans the recipe for fried cod, or something. No, this was a hellish 'cross crop circle, where racers wound around tight corners in a circle, made a u-turn, and then unwound all the way back out. There were racers going in every direction, and I had no idea who was ahead and who was behind. It was nuts.

Eventually, the fast people got ahead of me, and the slower people (both of them) fell behind me, and I was pretty much riding along on my own. Eventually I caught up to Eric Schillinger, one of the series promoters. He started talking to me about some non-'cross stuff, and I had to tell him we'd talk after the race. This may have been a mistake, as he went on to zip ahead, beating me by one spot. I'll get you next time, Schill.

I wound up getting lapped, but rode an extra lap anyway, just to make sure I got all my suffering in for the day. Once the race ened, I took stock of everything. My legs were suitably muddy, given the condition, complete with grass and flecks of cow pie sticking to the embrocation I'd rubbed on to ward off the rain. The bike was intact, but when I removed my gloves, I found I quarter-sized blister on each hand. My left hand got a normal blister, while my right hand's blister was filled with bloody fluid. Lovely. At least I had the pleasure of draining my blisters on the kitchen table when I got home.

James says I should try racing in the drops, and I think I may have to give it a shot. 'Cross would be much more fun if I weren't tearing my hands up all the time.

After my race ended, I stuck around to watch Bryna Nestor run away with the win in the women's race. Bryna is a pro mountain biker, who claims to be an inexperienced 'cross rider, but somehow managed to ride cirlces around the rest of her field. There's no doubt she would have kicked my ass had we been in the same race... nice job Bryna!

The day's last event was the elite men. As a 3, I had the choice of racing in the 3/4 or the elite race, and I was on the fence until the last minute. I was even condsidering doing both on the drive out to Cambridge, as low registration in that field and a deep prize list would likely have allowed me to get my entry fee back, but there was no way I was mustering the enthusiasm for a 60-minute race with my giant blisters, so I was content to watch.

After watching how smooth the pros were gliding across the pasture, I was glad I made the decision. The Joe's Garage team dominated, with racers coming in 1,2 and 4. Nathaiel Ward, who finished fourth, would have been in contention for any of the podium spots, had he not wrecked his drivetrain early on, and had to grab his pit bike. He put in a valliant chase, much to the delight of myself and the rest of the crowd watching from the pit.

So, while the course was hard, and I continue to suck at 'cross, it was a fun event at a unique venue. The best part was being able to watch the entire race unfold from one spot. I think I'll give this whole 'cross thing a few more shots before the season ends.

One side note: a few riders from West Point showed up. They somehow managed to get their box trailer stuck in the entrance to the parking lot, and the farmer on whose land we were racing had to get out his tractor to get them out. This race really had it all.

Friday top and bottom five

OK, OK, I know I'm a day late here. Sorry. Sometimes a guy's just got to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And let me just say, I'm am very glad that I got a full 8 hours of sack time last time. But that's a story for another day.

In any event, this was an odd week in that although I was back on the day shift, I still wound up working almost every evening, due to late meetings and construction accidents and the like. Tomorrow will see more 'cross-foolery, so that should be a good time, or something.

Tops from the week:
1) Back on the city desk means I can finally start tackling all those election stories that I've been putting off.
2) "Blades of Glory." Such a funny movie.
3) Ten days to election day...
4) John Zogby. Now there is an interesting man. I could have picked his brain for hours.
5) Early voting. Shows enthusiasm for democracy.

Bottoms from the week:
1) Not being on the night desk, but still working four nights.
2) Buried alive.
3) Cold. I'm so not motivated to be cold.
4) Bike for sale, but not much interest.
5) My iPod is dead as a doornail. I was really hoping to bring it back from the dead, but no such luck.

Motivation troubles

Suddenly it's cold out. And not the high 50s that I was complaining about a few weeks ago. Now it's really cold, like it snowed last night. Like when I check the temperature this morning, the thermometer was at 30 degrees.

I had to cover a city Planning Board evening tonight, so I was headed in to work late. As such, I would ordinarily have gotten my ass out of bed early and headed out for a 4 hour ride. This is what I did all spring, summer, and right up until last week, when it was in the 60s.

When I headed off to bed last night the forecast was for rain, and since I've been having a harder and harder time getting motivated to put in the hard miles anyway, I'd already decided to can the ride if I woke up to rain. Unfortunately for me, it had rained, but it was not raining at 9 this morning.

Major groan. Suddenly I had to decide if I was going to ride or not. So, dressed in my bathrobe and Birkenstocks, I loafed down the stairs and out on to the porch. It was cold out, like in the high 30s. The ground was wet with residual moisture from rain over night. Conditions were perfectly rideable, but not for me. Not today.

I loafed back up the stairs, drawing my rob tighter around my body to ward off the cold, and sat down at the kitchen table with my training log.

Since March, I've ridden about 300 miles every week. Prior to that, I'd been putting in a similar number of hours on the bike, but it was mostly trainer time. That's a lot of pedal revolutions. It's so many revolutions that I can't but help feeling torn between doing what I've been doing for months and months, and what I know I should be doing: resting after a long season.

That's the thing about cycling. It's so damn addictive. In my head, I know that it's the time of year to chill out a little, enjoy 'cross, and maybe sleep in on a Saturday. But, like a junkie deprived of his fix, all I want to do is ride, even though mother nature isn't cooperating at the moment.

So what did I do this morning? After puzzling over the training log for a while, assuring myself that it would be OK if I didn't put in another 40 miles today, I eventually decided that I could do a short spin in my den, and still get close enough to my target hours of saddle time for the week.

I've got a problem, but maybe my trouble isn't a lack of motivation, it's an overabundance. I'm going to need to get it under countrol, or invest in some warmer clothes.

Things of Questoinable Taste: Giant expressions of patriotism

George Washington Bridge
Giant flag
Glare on the windshield

It's been a little while since the last installment of ToQT. Mostly, that's because I see so many things that impress me as questionable in the taste department, that I could probably fill a second blog with nothing but questionable taste photos.

So I've waited, waited and waited for the right moment to bust out another questionable taste photo.

I spotted this flag on the way home last week when my west coast relatives were in town. Actually, I didn't so much spot it as get momentarily disoriented while driving across the George Washington Bridge when it flapped down onto my windshield and I had to use my wipers to clear it off.

OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but it was large enough, that I had more than enough time to fish out my camera and snap a photo as I cruised under it. I've ridden and driven across the GWB many times this year, and never before seen this flag.

I've got no problem with the flag, or with people using it as an expression of their patriotism, or whatever. But does it have to be so damn big? I mean, that flag must have coast tax payers quite the pretty penny.

Here's a link to a story I wrote yesterday at work. I don't share my work writing very often on this non-work blog, but sometimes I write something that I feel should be shared. Such is the case with this story.

That's all for tonight.

2009 Tour of the Battenkill: Tour of PAIN!

If you thought 2006, 2007 and 2008 were tough...
Get ready for 2009
It's only getting harder...

On Saturday, I had the chance to ride the new Tour of the Battenkill Valley course, which me and hundreds of others will be racing over next April.

My initial impression is that the new course is more challenging than the previous one.

Almost all of the dirt sections remain, and three new ones have been added, for a total of eight dirt sections, over last year's 6. The course is also about 7 miles longer. The race will run counter-clockwise this year, as opposed to clockwise last year, which means most of the race will have a prevailing head wind. The finish is more technical with a hard right hand turn at 200 meters to go, and the start/finish has been moved from Salem to Cambridge, although Salem remains on the route. Greenwich also remains on the route, and the village of Shushan has been added to the course. Finally, there are several new climbs (paved). Every climb will be decisive, so if you're thinking of racing, start training for hills now!

The details:
1) The first major obstacle will be the same as in previous years: Juniper Swamp Road. This is the infamous pitch of dirt that pitched up to near-20%. In last year's race, the loose road surface had many racers running 'cross style up the hill. This year, the climb comes around mile 13.6, a few about three miles further into the race than in years past. Although the race has reversed direction from last year, Juniper Swamp will still be climbed from the same direction. There's an extra stint north on Perry Hill Road, on the dirt, to approach the climb from the north.

2) After descending Juniper Swamp Road into Shushan, the race turns north onto Route 64. Last year, the race went south on 64 coming out of Salem, before turning left onto Cross Road. This year, racers will tackle a long, steady grade up the road until the crest. Then you'll fly down a series of switchbacks to Rt. 22. From there, the race runs straight into Salem.

3) Bean Hill Road is back. In years past, this was the last major descent before the final run in to the finish. Next year, the race will climb the hill. It's a longish climb, about 1.5 miles, and it's pretty steep. This will hurt, but it's followed by a long decent down Bunker Hill Road and Ferguson Road, so stragglers will likely be able to catch back on.

4) Mountain Road. This is one of the new dirt sections. It replaces The Intervale Road decent by the Willard Mountain Ski area. This may be the one section where the new section is not as challenging as the former section. This is a climb, but not too steep.

5) Becker Road/Meeting House Road. Last year, this triple-threat dirt section was decisive (I mean, it was decisive for some, I was off the back with a flat tire). This year, we will negotiate a tough dirt descent down Becker Road (this was a climb last year), followed by a traverse across Meeting House Road in the opposite direction from previous years. The net elevation change is about the same, although this section will likely still serve to make one of the final desisive splits. The climbs start at 48.7 miles in.

6) Following Meeting House Road, the course is all new, diverting south toward the Rensselaer County line. I'm not familiar with this section, so I don't want to make too many judgements about the last 10 or so miles. I will say this: You'll turn onto River Road, which follows the Hoosick River. Then the course diverts north on Stage Road. This is a painful climb, and it will be decisive, it comes at 4 miles to go.

From there, it's a fairly-straight shot north to Cambridge. More so than the original Battenkill Roubaix course, this will be a race of attrition.

Other thoughts: When I rode the course last week, the dirt roads were all in great shape, with only a few wheel-eating holes. Most of them were nearly-indistinguishable from pavement. But it's supposed to be a long, harsh winter. We'll see how the roads look in April. There are also a few technical transitions from dirt to pavement. It'll probably be smart to find the limits of your rubber now, rather than later.

1st up the hill!

To the victor, the spoils
Two tiers for one climb
Without a doubt, the best prize I've recieved this year

I know everyone was expecting a report on the new Tour of the Battenkill Valley course, to be raced in 2009, but I've got to put that off for one more day, because I've got some exciting news.

After a whole season of failed attempts, I've finally won a race!

This morning, a cross section of Saratoga riders braved the freezing cold (life, mid-40s) and lined up for the annual Lake Desolation Hill Climb. As you know if you read this blog regularly, Lake D is the closest "epic" climb to Saratoga. It's 4 miles long with ramps up to 18-percent. It's not really long enough to be considered epic, but it's still a tough climb, and is a training staple for most cyclists in the area.

It starts out with a 1.5-mile false flat, then gets steep for 2 miles before finishing with .5 mile section of rollers before you get to the lake at the top of the climb. The course is traditionally run from a bridge at the bottom of the climb, to a bridge just beyond the climb's summit.

The annual hill climb is a very chill race. It's not sanctioned, and draws all sort of people, from mountain bikers, roadies like me, and recreational cyclists.

I'm not sure if I've written about Jamie before, so I'll introduce him now. Jamie is a pro mountain biker who trains a lot on the road. He's a friend of mine and I rode with him regularly through the summer. Now that it's fall, and I'm finally back on the day shift, I'm looking forward to riding and racing 'cross with him. Anyhow, Jamie won the last edition of this race, and, as far as I know, holds the record for the fastest solo Lake D climb, having posted 17:45 earlier in the summer.

Going into the race, he was certainly a favorite, but I knew he hadn't been riding much in the past few weeks. Jamie and I rolled out of town to make the 10ish mile ride to the climb. We climbed up it to register at Tinney's Tavern, whose owner, Aaron Miller, runs the race. After sitting around for a while, and trying to stay warm inside the building, registering, and mounting frame numbers to our bikes, the 20 or so sompetitors rolled back to the bottom of the hill, where we stood around for a bit until our legs were nice and chilled.

Eventually, we all lined up along the side of the road, and then started rolling. The stopwatch started when we hit the bridge. The race started at a moderate pace, until Jamie attacked. He never got more than a few bike lengths ahead of the lead group, but his "odd-surge" dropped about three quarters of the field. I was in a group of five behind him. We caught Jamie a bit later on, and continued to rotate through in a paceline. It was mean, but I was pulling through much harder than I needed to, in an effort to soften up the other four still in my group.

At the base of the first steep section, John Onderdonk, who is super-fast climber, put in an acceleration. I sat on his wheel Cadel-style. With me sitting on, he dropped the other four. jamie was the last to go before it was down to John and I.

Going over the top of the last steep pitch, John was still in his little ring, so put it in the big ring, got out of the saddle and attacked up the first of two rollers. At first I was worried that he would catch back on, but it quickly became apparent that the race was mine for the taking.

I crossed the second bridge and put my hands in the air, stopping the clock at 18:03, a minute faster than my previous best time up the climb. For my effort, I was rewarded with a humongous trophy, which, I have to say, is way more exciting than getting envelope of cash. The trophy is now on display with my Empire State Game medals... what me? Brag? Never. John held on for second, while Jamie crossed third.

After the race, we all enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches at the finish, courtesy of Aaron Miller. Pig hs never tasted so good! I saw someone taking photos, and I'll post some here if I find them posted anywhere.

So that was a lot of fun. I'm already looking forward to trying to defend my title in '09... although I'm sure the competition will be much harder then.

Come back tomorrow, I'll have the Tour of the Battenkill Valley route up for real.

P.S. As you've probably noticed by now, I put a new header on the blog over the weekend. It's nice to spruce things up every once in a while, and when I stumbled on the photo by Patrick Littlefield, I knew the time was right. Besides, this one's a little more seasonal, don't you think?

NEWS FLASH: New CX Column

'Cross hurts
but it's fun to write about...
check out the latest installment below

My latest-and-greatest 'cross column has been posted over at Cyclocross Magazine. Give it a read here, enjoy!

The end of the night desk.

That's right, starting next week, I'll be back on my usual day-time beat. And not a moment too soon. I knew I had a problem when I thought nothing of staying up until 3 a.m. this morning to watch Cool Runnings. Sure, it's a great movie, but the nocturnal schedule is not normal for me, and the thought that I'm actually settling in to it is unsettling.

I'm about ready for bed, so I'll get right to it:

Tops from the week:
1) Only one more day on the night desk!
2) Gloucester... as much as it surprises me, 'cross is kinda fun... And thanks again James
3) Seeing my West Coast cousins... thanks for visiting guys, sorry it was so brief!
4) My new Jake the Snake... 'cross is a lot more fun with the right tool for the job.
5) Getting work done at Blue Sky. Setting goals made me a lot more productive.

Bottoms from the week:
1) Working the night desk. Uhg.
2) Bernhard Kohl. Just what we needed.
3) The rain today. Really coulda done without that soaking...
4) Too much travel. Looking forward to sitting still for a few days this weekend.
5) It looks like summer might really be gone this time. I may have to break out the leg warmers soon...

One other note, on Saturday, I'm going over to Washington County to preview the new-and-improved Tour of the Battenkill Valley course. Check back Sunday for a full analysis.

Pure tourture: 'cross and the dentist

Teammate Chris Chis was on the sidelines at Saturday's GP of Gloucester 'cross race. I hadn't realized Chris was going to be there, so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard him cheering for me from the sidelines. I guess the story goes that Chris was going to race at Gloucester, but got sick, so instead decided to come and watch his friend. Cheering for me was a bonus. He got some great photos, thanks, Chris, for cheering and for picture-taking!

Early in the race, coming through the beer garden
this is defiantly a highlight of sport:
drunk fans!

Climbing the shockingly-steep roller
I forgot to shift for this on a few laps
and had to muscle my way over the top

Down into the off-camber section...
The 'cross bikes handles better than I expected,
but it's no trail bike.

So that was that, a great race. I'm looking forward to the next one. Another team mate, Pete, was also at Gloucester, where he rode into the top 20s in the master's race. He has an awesome gallery of the men's pro race here. Check it out, Pete has quite the eye.

In other torture-related news, I went to the dentist today. For the first time in my life, I have a minor cavity, which the dentist found during my last cleaning a few weeks ago. I went back today to have the cavity cleaned out and capped.

Fortunately, my new dentist caught the cavity early, so I was spared the unpleasantness of drilling. Instead, he used a dental rotary sander to clean out the tooth, than he flowed some plastic sealant onto the tooth, preventing further decay from occurring.

The whole procedure took about 15 minutes, and was, I think, I lot less unpleasant than other dental procedures such as even a regular cleaning. Unfortunately, the dentist replaced the torture of the drill with a different kind of torture: the looming threat of wisdom tooth extraction.

Apparently, all four of my wisdom teeth have emerged, but the lower two are stuck in the soft tissue around the top of my throat. Although this doesn't feel painful to me, I've been advised that it makes the teeth more susceptible to painful infection. So now I've got to heed the doctor's advice, or if I follow my instinct, which is this: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If anyone has any thoughts on wisdom tooth extraction, feel free to weigh in.

Dope me up, doc!

Tainted polka dots
And Gerolsteiner thought they had such a good tour...
Big Brown was pretty good too

We've got lots of doping news today. Before I get to that, I want to apologize to my loyal readers for not posting anything yesterday. I was in Brooklyn, visiting with my cousins Ali and Jenny and my uncle Barry. Jenny, her husband and two sons live in Bend, Oregon, and don't make it to this side of the continent very often. Ali lives in Alaska, and makes it down from the snow north even less often. Barry lives in DC, but I still don't see him very much.

So it seemed like a good time to go down to the city and see everyone. In the excitement, I forgot to post anything last night. I'm sorry. In related news, Uncle Barry, a political scientist, brought up this point about the upcoming election: Why, when selecting our president, do Americans want a "regular" person? Why is "regular" a desirable quality for President, when we would never want a "regular" doctor, a "regular" lawyer, a "regular" plumber, or a "regular" teacher for your children. No, of course not, you want the best doctor, lawyer, plumber, or teacher you can find. Right? What gives. Anyway, something to thing about.

But, like I said, there's lots of doping news to discuss.

It was reported on Monday that Bernhard Kohl, third at this year's Tour de France, and winner of the King of Mountains jersey, had tested positive for CERA, a new-generation blood booster, for which a test was only recently been developed.

He is the fourth rider from this year's tour to test positive for doping products. The response has been typical: Gerolsteiner, Kohl's team, suspended itself. German cycling shat the bed. And Kohl's new team for 2009, Silence-Lotto, anounced that it was "shocked," as did several of his team mates.

At least, it seems, that people are still more excited about Lance's comeback than they are mad about Kohl. But, I have to say, cycling is still forging the way in dealing with doping. Another sport that I'm aware of and occasionally shanghied into writing about, is just now starting to contemplate doping. That is, of course, horse racing.

Today, the New York Racing Association announced that starting on Jan. 1, it would ban all but four types of horse steroids. All but four? Give me a break.

Also, the punishment for violating the lax doping rules for horse racing is a $5,000 fine against the owner. As far as I'm concerned, in a sport where people recently spent $1.7 million in a horse auction, this fine is about as much of a deterent as Major League Baseball's rule of suspending players caught doping -- for ten games -- ie, a slap on the wrists.

So, it sucks that cycling is tarnished by yet another doping scandal, but at least doping is now out in the open in cycling, unlike in horse racing, where doping is still surrounded by a veil of secrecy similar to cycling's omerta of the '90s. Also, do we really think they are going to test every horse that races at a place like Saratoga? A testing program of that magnitude would be hugely expensive, and today's news included no information about who would be carrying out testing, or who would pay for it.

So, we can believe that horse racing will be clean... just like cycling.

Gloucester GP

This pretty much sums it all up:
running, people dirnking,
me suffering

On Saturday I went with James to race in the Erdinger Grad Prix of Gloucester. This is part of the VERGE series, the national 'cross circuit, and is THE event in New England 'cross. Me being the glutton for punishment that I am, I didn't see any reason not to go and do the race, even though I would have to race in the very competitive 2/3 event, when I should be racing cat 4 or something. But so it goes.

This was also my first chance to test out my new 'cross bike, a Kona jake the Snake sold to me with very generous financing by a team mate. I rode the bike for the firs time about 30 minutes before the race, so that was good.

This is what the crowd looked like
as the women's pro race unfolded
You never see crowds like this at a road race!

I have to say though, this whole 'cross thing is growing on me. Having a proper bike made it a lot more fun, and it was cool to have dozens (hundreds?) of people cheering from the side lines on the run-up and along the course. Plus, how often do you get to race along a beer tent full of drunk racing fans? Not very often at all!

So, since my approach to this whole 'cross thing has been lacksidasical at best, I didn't preregister for the race, and thus had to start in the last row. In a field of 125 people, that would mean I was up for quite a challenge. Fortunately for me, I don't put too much pressure on myself, so I decided that I'd be happy with any resuls, as long as I wasn't last.

I think this is Eric Schillinger
He had a good race, and get's to keep racing, because the only reason I beat him was mechanical
Good to see you out there, Eric!

The race was fast, and it was quickly apparent that I wasn't going to win the race. But I soldiered on. The course at Gloucester is pretty well-suited to a raodie like me, as I was able to open the throttle up on several long, straight sections. throughout the race I tested the limits of my Nokian tires. Although I was out of contention pretty quickly, I had a great time cruising around the course.

James tackles the run-up
He had a great race, until he wound up on the bottom of a pile
No worries, pleanty more reaces!

I managed to take myself out once early in the race when I hooked my handlebar on a course barrier. Later on, I took myself out a second time when I slid out in a corner. So it goes. I still managed to ride pretty fast around the course, and might have even been able to stay in contention longer, were it not for my stumbling and tripping over the barriers. I'll have to work on that.

Uphill barriers... uhg.
I'm in pain, but...
... my legs look ripped!

I eventually fell in with one other racer. I was gaining on him consistantly for about two laps until I slipped out. Pumped full of adrenaline following my crash, I quickly chased him down by running through the sand pit. I was then easily able to catch and pass him on the long road stretch to the finish line. Unfortunately, he was faster over the barriers and other obstacles, so I could shake him entirely. he eventually got ahead, and I was unable to catch him. I havent seen the results yet, but I'm thinking I feel somewhere in the middle of the results.

James heads into the off-camber section
This was the hardest park for me, but I got through it,
somehow

Bottom line, Gloucester is very scenic and the 'cross scene is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to my next race in a couple week...

This is me on the off-camber
Look how pretty it is!
Look at how bright my bike is!

James's girlfriend Jessica took these photos. Thanks for the great shots, and thanks for cheering! Thank to you both for giving me a place to stay this weekend!

Bike for sale!

Times are tough
I'm selling my mountain bike
It's a little old, but lightly used

A little business before we get down to play. I'm selling my mountain bike. This is the first bike I ever owned with the intent to ride seriously. Although it was originally a fully-rigid bike intended only for light trail riding. At the time, I was doing a fair bit of mountain biking, so I put some money into the bike, upgrading nearly every component on the bike.

I rode it for about one season since this current build was installed, then I bought a rode bike, and haven't looked back since. For the past five years, the bike has been used, at most, 2-3 times per year. I'm selling it now to finance a 'cross bike. I'm asking $300, email if you're interested.

Spec:
Frame: Trek Alpha Custom Aluminum, size large.
Wheels: Mavic X517 rims, Shimano LX hubs
Tires: IRC Mythos folding. I can also include Michelin Rock semi slicks
Crank: Shimano LX triple (9 speed)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano XTR splined
Cassette: Shimano XT (9 speed)
Shifters: Rear Shimano LX rapid fire, Front Shimano XT rapid fire
Derrailures: Rear Shimano XT (9 speed), Front Shimano LX
Brake Levers: Avid Speed Dial 1.9L
Calipers: front Avid Arch Rival 40 Vee-brake. Rear: Tektro Vee brake. (I also have the rear AR40, but it has stripped threads on the adjustment screw and would need new parts)
Grips: Pedros black walls
Fork: Rock Socks Judy XC
Headset: FSA orbit 1 1/8 threadless
Stem: Kalloy
Handlebar: Zoom
Saddle: WTB
I don't currently have pedals on the bike, but will include platforms with toe clips, if requested.

So that's that. This is a great bike for someone looking to get their feet wet in trail riding. In college and high school, I used this bike for XC racing, urban assault, and riding around town. It's comfortable and fun. I'll be sad to see it go, but it's time to pair down my stable. Write with any questions...

And now to what you all came for:

Tops from the week:
1) The MS bike tour. Tenth year? Twelfth year? Who the hell knows!
2) Maybe getting rid of that extraneous bike I never ride... see above.
3) The weekend forecast... much better than last week!
4) My exciting new 'cross column
5) Only one more week on the night desk!

Bottoms from the week:
1) It's cold out there...
2) The economy, but you knew that already.
3) My iPod. Still broken. Not sure if it's fixable.
4) Technology. I love it, but it changes too damn fast.
5) So much to do, so little time...

So it's cold now...

I don't quite know how this happened, but all of a sudden, it's cold here in Saratoga Springs. The leaves are red, yellow, orange and gold, and although it isn't snowing yet, the weathermen on TV are talking as if it could start at any moment.

I first realized that it was cold last week, when all the windows here in the apartment were shut tight, and I was lying in bed under two comforters, still shivering. Realizing there was no need to be so cold, I got out of bed and went to turn on the gas stove in the living room that heats the apartment.

It hadn't been on since some time in March or April. In early May, I realized that a pilot light was still on, and still producing a good amount of heat, even as we were occasionally running the air conditioner. So, I unplugged the stove, turned off the gas, and put the remote control (yes, it has one of those) away.

On last week's chilly night, I plugged the stove back in, turned the gas back on, and dug out the remote. Then I stood around scratching my head trying to figure out how to get the pilot light re-lit. After crawling around on my hands and knees for a while, I eventually gave up, got out another comforter, and went to sleep. A few days later, my land lord came over the lit the pilot. So now I'm warm in the apartment.

But, that's only half the issue. Riding is a lot less fun when it gets chilly. During the summer, I was happy to head out the door wearing a pair of bibs, an undershirt and jersey. These days, I'm likely to wearing a long-sleeve jersey, knee warmers, a vest, full-finer gloves, and perhaps even insulating base layers. Before too long, I'll put the knee warmers away and replace them with full-on leg warmers. Then the long underwear, winter jacket, helmet liner and ski gloves will have to come out.

What appeals most to me about riding is getting out there on my bike and feeling a connection with the bike and the road, feeling the warm air slip over my skin. These days, the only wind slipping over my skin is cold, and makes my skin sting.

It's hard to get motivated to ride these days. In fact, I find my motivation to ride declines proportionally to the weather getting colder. I suppose that's how it supposed to be, but it doesn't square with my super-secret training plan.

I will share this plan with you now. After much discussion with the panel of coaches I employ to make sure I am at peak fitness, and with the men and women charged with stretching me, preparing my scientifically-perfected diet, and analyzing my heart rate, power, and aerodynamic numbers, I came up with the following plan:

I ride base miles in the fall. It's generally easier to ride now than it will be in December and January, so this is the time of year where I'll pile on the mile. Then, come the winter trainer sessions, I won't have to worry about as many 3 and 4 hour sessions -- which is always a good thing.

So, don't worry, there will be lots more on my winter woes in the coming months...

Thoughts from an addled mind

It's tough working until 11:30 at night, as I did today. There were a few things I wanted to write about tonight, so I'll do my best to do them all justice.

First of all, I wanted to add a little to yesterday's post about the MS Century. Strictly speaking, the ride is NOT a race. Practically speaking it's not one either. The pace is slower than race pace, and people chat and are friendly with each other, instead of being all cool and serious, as they would be in a race, but it's still a fast ride.

As I have for the past couple years, I wound up riding at the business end of the 7,000+ group. It rained on Sunday morning, and it was in the 50 degrees. After fighting with myself to keep riding, even as I shivered uncontrollably in the rain, I persevered. Fortunately for me, the rain did not persevere.

The pace was kept low during the first part of the ride, as we circled around Manhattan. In fact, after riding the first 18 miles around Manhattan, we'd averaged only 15 miles per hour. Things burst apart once we entered the Holland Tunnel. I attacked on the downhill, and then put in a second acceleration on the uphill. Only Ray Alba, Champion Systems, was able to come with me. We would have had a gap, but we were stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, and the group came back together. We rode pretty fast through the community along the Hudson River, and then the group really came apart on River Road. What had been a group of 40 or so was quickly down to 15. I was second coming over the ranger station climb.

After a quick pit stop at the Japanese restaurant on 9W, we set off, ripping through Piermont, and by Rockland Lake State Park. The pace was now much higher, and our lead group was down to about eight or nine riders. We were attacking the shit out of each other on 9W headed south toward the bridge, but still came back together just before the bridge.

We all agreed that it wasn't smart to race through the streets of Manhattan, so we took it easier, finishing the ride in 5 hours, 20 minutes, an average pace of 18 miles per hour. It was my fastest time on the MS NYC course, and considering the rain, not too shabby at all. Including the ride to and from the ride, I did a total of about 115 miles, not a bad ride for a Sunday.

OK. The other thing I was going to write about tonight was how it's suddenly got cold up here, but I think I'm going to save that for tomorrow. Good night.

MS New York Bike Tour

To my wonderful sponsors,
The defining moment of the 2008 MS NYC Bike Tour came at about mile 18. It was raining and cold, and I was shivering in my wet spandex, giving serious consideration to throwing in the towel and heading home for a hot shower. The ride was stopped as we waited for police to open the next section of highway and not moving was definitely not helping with my comfort level. So, I started to look for something to focus on other than the cold rain.

Looking around, I noticed another wet cyclist standing near me, wearing bib number 1. By contrast, I was number fourteen thousand and change. I asked how he had got to be number 1. The answer? He was the top individual fundraiser in the 2007 tour, pulling in about $700,000.

Needless to say, my jaw dropped. Suddenly the $445 that I'd raised this year didn't seem as significant a figure. I told him as much, and he shook his head.

"No, there are a lot of people here, and if everyone raised just a little bit, the total amount raised is staggering. You have to think about the aggregate," he said.

That got me thinking. 15 people sponsored me in this year's MS Bike Tour. There were about 5,000 participants. If I take me as an average participant, that would mean that 75,000 people contributed to the $2.4 million already raised by this year's event. That's a lot of people all getting together to make a statement, and THAT is truly impressive, much more so, in my mind, than the dollar figure collected.

Thank you very much for your support in this year's event, and thank you for joining me in making a statement about the need to find a cure for this debilitating disease. Let's make an even bigger statement in 2009!
Sincerly,
Andrew Bernstein

P.S. It stopped raining shortly after this conversation took place, and it turned out to be a great ride that I won't soon forget.

Halfway there...

I've just finished my second week on the night shift. Two down, two to go. It can't come soon enough, I'm really not enjoying getting home at 11:30 at night. That tends to make getting up at a reasonable hour difficult. As I said last week, I do enjoy wearing jeans to work. Anyhow, here are the best and worst of the week:

Tops from the week:
1) My new column in CX Magazine! Fun to write, reportedly fun to read. Check it out!
2) My 10th (11th?) MS Bike tour rolls off on Sunday. It's not too late to donate... click here.
3) All of the wonderful people who have contributed to my MS ride.
4) Everyone who has already taken the time to read my column, and write to me about it. It's been so great to hear from everyone, and I'm looking forward to writing back over the next couple days.
5) Jonathan's Bar Mitzvah, and seeing that grandma is doing so well. More on that soon.

Bottoms from the week:
1) Taking the muffler off my car; getting a new one installed.
2) Denting my car's trunk. At least I had fun pounding out the dent.
3) Taking the muffler off my car, and not even getting a cider doughnut at the orchard. What's up with that ?!
4) My achy hip. Bikes were not made for jumping on and off of.
5) Rain. Rain. Rain. At least it's supposed to be nice this weekend.

Peace out... I've decided to give myself an extra-long weekend, so that I can respond to all the wonderful notes I've received in the past couple days, and so that I can focus on the MS Bike Tour on Sunday. I'll be back to the blog on Monday. See you then!

Announcing new column!!

Alec Donahue demonstrates an off-camber turn
This 'cross clinic is the subject of my newest writing venture
Click the link to enjoy!

It's been a little while since I've posted anything here about my "outside" writing. The reason for the delay is that I wanted my next announcement to have some heft, and I think I've achieved it. I'm practically bursting at the seams with excitement over my latest writing adventure: a regular column for Cyclocross Magazine.

What is Cyclocross Magazine? It's a quarterly magazine about cyclocross racing. For the uninitiated, cyclocross, or 'cross, is what bicycle races do between the end of the season and the beginning of ski season. It's sort of like American Gladiators on bikes, with racers jumping over barriers with their bikes, and running up steep inclines.

The magazine's publisher contacted me after reading something he liked on my blog, and asked me if I'd consider contributing a regular column for the magazine's Web site.Of course, although I have little-to-no 'cross experience, I jumped at the chance.

The first of what I hope will be many columns was published Wednesday evening. You can read it by clicking on this link. Enjoy!