It's Time

Alright it is time. I’ve been away from blogging for longer than I wanted, but so be it. I’ve been planning and thinking about what to say here, watching both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. While it would be false to say I was an undecided voter, I felt it important to listen to both parties before discussing the election. After watching way too many hours of TV it is time to express some thoughts here.

First, why the hell would McCain select Palin? This is a woman who has tried to ban books, force the termination of a former brother in law, hired consultants to bring more money per capita into her hometown and now Alaska then any other state, supports an abstinence policy for teens (that one really worked for her personally) and worked to reduce special education funding in Alaska (prior to the birth of her newest child). Well I’ve got to say if McCain is a man of change how can he rightly select a person who works as well with the lobbyists as Palin, I really don’t know. Anyway read more about her at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check and http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/01/1320417.aspx

Now on to the reality of the election, people vote for the President not the Vice-President, so the strange choice of Palin aside what is going on in this process. McCain has wanted to and will keep us in a war until there is “victory”. My first question is what is victory, I haven’t heard this defined. At my job when we have a project we clearly define how that will be measured, i.e. software will be developed and deployed by x date, save x amount of time and improve quality by x. If we meet these goals we have victory. How exactly do we define victory in Iraq? One of his goals is to get Al Qaeda out of Iraq; however, many reports indicate that Al Qaeda was not in Iraq until the US invasion, which brings us to the real question I have: Is this a war we should have ever started? My stance is since there were no weapons of mass destruction, no threat from Iraq on America and nothing but manufactured reasons to go into Iraq in the first place we probably should not be there in the first place. So let’s get out as quick as possible and focus on real issues.

It is the economy stupid as Bill Clinton was found of saying. Obama wants to raise taxes; McCain believes the economy is sound. Well looking at the credit crisis, unemployment (now over 6% and at a 5 year high) seems to me the economy isn’t sound (I won’t mention the budget deficit the current administration has created to help make the economy sound). Do I want my taxes increased? Hell no, and it seems like under Obama’s plans my direct taxes wouldn’t (yea I’ll see increased costs in goods because of corporate taxes) but that may not be true. In either case, government isn’t about the good of an individual (me) it is about the good of the nation, so if some tax increases help the nation balance the budget, improve job prospects, improve education etc. I’m all for it.

After watching the conventions it seems that the primary choices are a self-centric no taxes view versus a common good for all tax increases aren’t all bad and a choice on is the nation in need of military protection from (insert the nation here) or not? I believe Obama can clearly address the economic needs better than McCain (for he mentioned the economy which was barely a blip in the RNC) and as for protecting the nation, isn’t communication our first line of defense? Talk to our enemies and figure out the common ground. As Obama said in his acceptance speech:

"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common efforts."

Barack Obama

We may not agree on everything, but we can and should try to find where we agree and move forward from there. Please think about these issues when voting, please vote, and please encourage your friends to vote.

SLACKER

Well, it has been awhile. Maybe I’ll write more often. Maybe I’ll write about Wall-E and Politics still. Maybe I’ll write about races.

I did get some new tires, Conti Vertical Pros (or something like that). They seem pretty sweet, especially on tight corners, hook up and give some much needed confidence. Rode them twice and will race them on Saturday. Maybe a full report on the tires later.

OK, Wall-e; it’s a movie about mega corporation and lazy ass Americans. Everyone communicates through video screens, lives in space, doesn’t walk/exercise or even look at each other. Strange, but since seeing the movie I got a blackberry and now it is even more striking. It is really nice to actually talk to people. Today, through various electronic forms of communication I was talking to three people at work not getting anything solved. Picked up the phone (it was a day off so I couldn’t just walk over and talk to them face to face) and figured out the problems. The moral (and not very hidden) of Wall-e is that our culture is becoming very unaware of its own actions/inactions and doesn’t know how to communicate without electronic intervention (this blog for example).

Lay down the drugs kids. Try picking up the phone and talking to someone. Comments on todays blog will only be taken in person or via phone. Give me a call 303 357 0872.

Kids

I’ve got three topics I want to blog about, but who knows what we’ll get covered before I get bored. Parenting, Wall-E the movie, and politics. Somehow they are all interrelated to me right now, but here goes nothing.

For those of you who know Seamus this may not come as a surprise, but he is not a very athletic kid. The truth is he has my genetic make-up, not the athletic skills of his mother’s family. He’s kind of slow, not the most coordinated and at this point in his life not overly interested in sports. Sure I ride and race bikes all the time, but the honest truth is I’m not very athletic either. Welcome to the reality that nature plays a huge part in ones life Seamus.

So anyway the other day at the summer camp he is going to they had the Olympics. Not surprising Seamus didn’t do well compared to other kids, someone called him a loser and last night he was saying “I’m going to Loserville tomorrow”. As a parent this is a pretty tough thing to hear and try to tell a 7 year old he is not a loser just because of where he finished in a race. I’m not going to lie to him either and say it doesn’t matter, or we’re all winners (I hate teams/organizations where everyone is a winner/MVP), but I also don’t want my son thinking he is a loser. At 7 my son will go to a zoo and sketch animals in a notebook, capturing details most people would miss. He spends hours building and creating items he’s seen at museums or read about and has now started cooking dinners. Trying to draw a connection between these activities and not being a loser is nearly impossible in the mind of a 7 year old.

I also tried to explain that while I don’t win bike races and frequently finish near the back I don’t consider myself a loser, nor do most of the people I race against. At the last race I did the first person to come up to me was the winner of the race, asking me how I felt, how I did etc. He came up to me before Ade and Seamus. I tried to tell Seamus that a true winner doesn’t make fun of anybody who competes, anybody who is trying as really anybody but the winner is a loser.

Put Seamus in a cook-off against those kids he’ll add some cumin, cayenne pepper and a little cilantro and out-cook most of those kid’s mothers. Does that make them losers? Well no it just means they have a different area of talent.

Signing up to be a parent is tough. Dealing with my kid thinking he is a loser sucks, just because he runs a little slower. Some of the happiest memories I’ll ever have will be of Seamus on a chair adding spices to a meal and testing the flavor, sticking his big toes and thumbs up when the flavor is just right, giving the meal four thumbs up. Now I just need to figure out how to convince Seamus that his cooking makes him a winner.

Road Trip

Man I’ve been in hiding for a little bit. Took off on a family vacation on the 29th with the first stop a race in Winter Park. I’m not going to say the race went bad, but you can google results if you want and understand why there is no need for a race report.

Hoped in the car right after and headed to Steamboat for two days. Great weather a cool hike to Fish Creek Falls, way to much good food and relaxing. Got in the car Tuesday morning to head to SLC. Got to town in late afternoon and punched out a 2:00 ride up Mill Creek Canyon. This is one of the best rides around, 10 miles of climbing on a great road, minimal traffic and a sweet downhill as a reward. Special props on Mill Creek, I got married at a place about ½ way up 11 years ago so I always like the ride. Drank some drinks back at the family’s house after and was up at 6:00 riding Mill Creek again.

Family reunion started the next day at Snowbird, calling for more hours on the bike this time all dirt and hard rides. The big news though; riding the mechanical bull at Snowbird. PBR here I come. That big bull has nothing on this city boy.

After 10 days out of work I’m back to the real world and ready for more time off. Damn, maybe I should train so I don’t have to be embarrassed by my results.

Gas

I've been thinking a lot about gas (and of course the price). Today the formerly elusive $50 tank hit me. I remember in 2000 when I had my first $25 fill-up, just after buying a new car (with a much larger tank than the old) and freaking out. Now a $30 fill-up would be nice.

I'm pretty lucky as we clearly don't fill-up as much as many people. During the week I ride to work (or sometimes in the morning carpool in with Ade) but nearly always ride home. Sure there are those days I have to drive, or want to drive (like to go mountain biking before/after work), but those are about once every 2-3 weeks. But still our primary car gets filled-up about every 10-14 days and the cost sucks.

When I've been thinking about gas, I start to blame us, collectively; the U.S. In 2001 my company looked into "outsourcing" jobs to India, as did many others. We ended up with our own staff in Bangkok, but the fact is big businesses desire to cut labor costs has come back to bite us again. India (and other places, China, Thailand etc.) have had huge economic influxes; creating a middle class that can afford cars and therefore needs gas. This money flowing into developing nations in many cases is the direct result of job cuts in the U.S. and causes a double economic problem in the U.S., job loss and now increased gas/food/materials prices because of the supply and demand of oil/gas.

I've had the opportunity and privilege to work with many people in India over the past three years and know that the jobs they have are great for the individuals and extended families. I would never dismiss or do away with the benefits of a global economy as the benefits out-weigh the negatives (gas prices, employment concerns) in my mind. I do think that big business does need to look beyond the short term cost savings (labor) and look at long term cost implications (gas prices) before making moves. We do live in a global economy and a choice here affects the world economy on many levels.

So for now I'll keep riding my bike to work (as many friends and co-workers in India do) to help reduce the demand for gas.

Rock Racing

No, not the team (though those kits are by far the best) I'm talking Rock and Roll and racing. The first race of the Winter Park series was on Saturday, the local hill climb, 5.5 miles from the bast to the top of Mary Jane - 9,000 feet to 11,000+ feet all on service road, parts of it pretty steep.

We went off with 21+ guys (there were 21 finishers and at least one DNF). Per the script Kelly took off at the start, only this year he only finished 4th (unlike last year where he won damn near everything). I settled in towards the middle and was feeling good. Passed some people, got passed, passed some people, got passed but overall stayed pretty good position. Coming to the top I knew I was having (for me) a good day...I could see three guys within striking distance and wanted to make the effort to pass. I made it past one with about 3/4 mile to go and had two more in my sights when I was done. The guy I passed caught me and the other two pulled away. Finished in 14th less than a minute out of 11th and less than 2 minutes out of a top 10. All in all I was happy, feeling like I'm making progress and can pull out a "competative top 10" this year (versus a top 10 against a small/weak field).

Rode for another hour after the race with Kelly, some dirt/mud mostly road. After headed back to Denver for some Rock...The Drive by Truckers and some PBR...nothing like finishing off a day with load rock and roll live. First we saw a local band The Knew (drummer for the band works for me). They were solid and fun, drew a good crowd and played at a place with $2 PBR. Headed over to the main stage to catch DBT. I've never seen them live and gotta say it was fun. Southern Rock, the band drinking Jack on stage, chain smoking and dropping F Bombs; rock and roll the way it was suppose to be. After seeing DBT live I can only say I like them more

Remember the Ride

As a cyclist I've ridden close to, if not more then,100,000 miles. I've been on thousands of rides and ridden with hundreds (or more) of people. Most of my rides have been focused on racing or training for racing. Yet, being very honest there are very few races or rides I remember. Sure I can look back in training logs and see where I rode, how far and with who; but what rides do I remember?

The rides I remember are the unexpected rides with friends, people who don't race, people who I slow down to ride with. I've spent a lot of time riding over nearly 25 years (I got addicted to this sport young) and over that time there are only a few rides I really remember. A cold ride in the fall, probably in 83 with my dad to Morrison. At the time it seemed epic, now just an ordinary ride. But I remember it was cold, windy and the hill on Old Kipling was huge.

I also remember a ride on Easter of 85, with an old friend, a friend of my parents, who took me out to Cherry Creek after a neighborhood Easter brunch. I found out today he has Leukemia, and that ride and many others with him stick out in my mind. At 14 going on a ride with a family friend was fun. Over the years I'd unexpectedly bump into him and ride. Always I'd slow down. Always he'd tell me to go ahead and do my "planned ride". But always I'd slow down and ride. Somewhere along the way this person stopped being my parents friend and became mine. He gave me a job when it was needed (more than once), he (and his wife) bought Ade and I a great wedding present, they hosted a wedding party for us in Denver after being married in SLC because not everyone from Denver could make it, they bought us a present (I still know exactly what it was) when Seamus was born. The rides didn't make us friends, but I'll always remember laps in Washington Park, talking, enjoying a slower pace, enjoying riding with a friend, enjoying riding.

Riding a bike has always been part of me, but now I look back and wonder why? Was it because so many people I knew rode and enjoyed it? Was it because of the friendships? Was it because people like this rode and were/are important in other parts of my life. Where does the bike riding end and life begin?

All I know was upon hearing he had leukemia I was happy. Happy for every unexpected ride with him. Happy for always knowing riding with a friend was more important than the plan. Happy to remember all his bikes (a black Eddy, a titanium Sampson) and his yellow Skid Lid. Happy for showing me (and many others) how to make the world a better place through activism and day to day actions. Happy for my "uncle".

Disease may have him now, but I'll never forget any of the rides with him.

Growing

I planted a vegtable garden earlier this year. There were a couple of reasons I decided to try, one was the environmental benefit of growing my own organic food, locally. The average fruit or vegtable consumed in the US travels 1500 miles. That is a lot of carbon put off into the environment. The second reason was growing a garden seemed like a fun little project. If it works fresh tomatoes, lettuce etc. any night of the week.

Some of the food I planted had already been started; tomatoes and peppers; everything else was from seed; carrot ts,broccoli, squash, pumpkin (for carving in the fall), lettuce, onions and mint. Today we were checking out the garden and surprisingly things are actually growing. Small tomatoes are forming, mini-peppers are appearing and the lettuce, squash, broccoli and carrots are taking off. I guess now it is a sit and wait time with the garden. Hope for some rain (and sprinkler water), no hail, good sunlight, no rabbits or other pests and in a few weeks I can pick a salad 10 minutes before eating.

It seems so simple, plant some seeds and a few months later you have food. But there is a lot of luck in growing food too. We've had a few hard and heavy rain storms over the past few weeks. Luckily no hail at this point. You can plan, plant, organize and prepare for the garden, a bike race, protecting the environment or whatever you wish, but without a little luck the hard work isn't going to matter.

But it is the challenges, the things that don't work that are fun and cause personal growth. My onions really aren't doing anything. Not sure why. Maybe they don't have enough water, maybe not enough sun, maybe the soil in the far corner of the garden isn't very good. It is just like racing, why haven't I been fast, will training/riding a different way help or hurt, have I hit my limit or can I go further. For riding I can try switching the plan mid-season (as I just have done) and check the results. The onions may have to wait until next year. But taking what I have now and keeping track of it and analysing it will let me change and improve going forward. Because the onions don't grow this year I'll learn and grow for next year.

Why?

Sometimes you have to ask why? Why do I get up at strange hours to ride my bike? Why do I carry wet wipes in my backpack? Do they really help reduce the sweat smell after riding in to work? Why do I update my blog? Why are most of my blogs about riding? Why do I care about global warming and the environment? Why do I think Hillary has handled her defeat like a 2 year old?

Sometimes you have to answer the why's as well. I love riding, and know early is the time to ride. Don't really care much if I smell after riding, but I do think the wet wipes help. The blog, I don't know on that. The environment, well because we do have an impact and even little changes can make a difference ( a quick example, shipping of goods. The heavier the shipment the more fuel it takes to ship; therefore the more carbon released. Consider buying goods that have taken this into account. One of my new favorite brands of drinks is Honest Tea, great tasting, all organic (less methane and carbon in growing the ingredients) and shipped in lighter weight easily recyclable plastic bottles. Check them out at www.honesttea.com)so look for companies making the small changes.

Why do I think Hillary is acting like a 2 year old, well she lost. Maybe she has more popular votes, maybe not (caucus states are impossible to accurately count, Michigan was a debacle)but either way she doesn't have the delegates. Admit defeat, step aside and work to help Obama win. We don't need more time in a war that was suppose to protect us from weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist.

I strongly supported Hillary until last night. I voted for Nader in 2000, maybe I will again.

City Park

I raced yesterday at the closest race of the year (well tied for since I raced there earlier), the famed City Park Crit. This race has been held at City Park in Denver for 37 years, gotta be one of the longest running races in the country. I don't hit up road races much, and crits (especially dead flat ones) are even more rare; however, I couldn't pass up the race this year.

The course is 5 blocks from where I grew up (and my parents still live) and a 15 minute ride from the house. And for whatever reason this season I've been riding a lot of miles at City Park. It isn't the greastest place to put in laps, but it works. So Sunday morning I got ready and rode over to the race. Left the house 70 minutes before the start which is super nice. We had a huge field of 92 racers on a tight, technical and fast course. For a guy who doesn't spend a lot of time on crit courses this was not ideal, but I wanted a hard effort so got ready to start.

From the gun the race was fast, single file most of the time. Every time I looked at my computer I saw 26+mph, sections of the park I ride at 22-23 were being ridden at 30 in the race. Given my technical skills on the road I hung towards the back and clawed my way on to the field every time someone got dropped. I kept expecting the pace to slow, as usually after 5-10 minutes of racing the pace slows. Yesterday though there was no slowing down, just a fast course all day. Hanging in the pack was fun though and the speed on the road can't be matched. I hung in till the last lap when I took it easy through the last couple of corners, no reason to crash going for 30th. Ended up 49th, middle of the pack (kinda, since only 52 finished without being lapped). Through the race riders were falling off by ones and twos until just over half the field finished.

After the race I saw we averaged 26.3 mph for 45 minutes, I guess I got the hard work in I wanted.

I'd vote for a cyclist any day

To build on the last post, we often vote for a person/people with charm, charisma, money, and a personality that is interesting in two minute sound bites. But do those characteristics really prove a person is capable of leading? Sometimes yes; sometimes no. In my mind, disagree if you like, there are two types of leaders: those who lead by inspiring; those who lead by example.

I think those who lead by inspiring, someone like Obama, have charm, charisma, and an interesting two minute personality. This is not to say Obama doesn't have more substance; just that given what we know of him (a speech at the 2004 convention as a rookie senate candidate and this campaign) it really is a two minute sound bite.

Hillary (and McCain and Dodd for that matter) have a little more history and move from the sound bite candidate to leading by example a little more with each person. So what does this have to do with voting for a cyclist? Well there really are no flash in the pan, sound bite cyclists. It takes years of training, suffering, work, failure and training to reach the highest levels. Each racing cyclist has a different highest level. I will never be a pro or even a semi-pro, with some luck and a lot of hard work maybe a middle of the pack expert. Others will be a sport rider for ever, others a top level pro. What I know though is at any of these levels, if a person has worked to reach their potential as a cyclist they know how to work hard, lead by example, dedicate themselves to a cause they believe in.

Riding four hours in a Colorado winter, four hours in 100 degree heat, racing full out for 2+ hours isn't easy. Cyclists know (to quote Phil Levine) What Work Is.

Each time I go out on the bike I feel refreshed, I solve problems, I work hard and dedicate myself for the pure enjoyment of riding. Cycling is to hard to particpate in for only the money and fame (even if you are Lance), I just wish politics had that same problem.

Today was Work

Most times, for me, riding the bike isn't work. Today it was. Just a short ride home, an easy spin, not hard riding, not training. Using the bike for a very utilitarian purpose was all, but the entire ride was work.

It could have been the cold, wet weather; it could have been being tired after some fun, fast riding on the weekend; it could have been work actually carried over onto the bike; it could have been music I listened to during the day; it could have been articles I read today. I'm not sure but it was work.

I bought the new James McMurtry album, Just Us Kids, today. JM is a working man. A singer/songwriter who writes from the heart, from the earth. To paraphrase he's not an overly friendly outgoing guy and there isn't a lot of love in his life. But the stores he tells are real and make you think about how life isn't as easy as we might like. So anyway I bought the album and was listening all day at work (five listens already) and checked out his website. I found a couple articles JM wrote on the election process. One of the articles really got to me (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-mcmurty/obama-euphoria_b_90724.html) not because of his choice to vote for Hillary, but for his take on Obama and Hillary.

I don't care what either candidate would do in the event of an emergency phone call in the White House at 3 a.m. They might do right, they might do wrong. No head of state can keep his or her population safe, if they could, there'd be no bus bombings in Israel. I'm concerned with the average. Which one of them is going to make the right decision, on a full range of issues, most of the time? Which one of them is better at making deals, which one of them is going to work harder?

I've stayed away from overt politics, but it is getting to a point where each of us must voice our thoughts. I've supported Hillary for awhile (since Chris Dodd dropped out) and I've decided I don't give a shit about pledged delegates or who has won what state. I care about "the average". I care about who can do the best for me, for Ade, for you, and mostly for Seamus. The Democrats have built a process with "super delegates" to help decide. Really this is no different than the Electoral College. Give the people some voice, but allow an educated/elite few power to override fools. As JM said, "I kept remembering a quote, "Euphoria spreads across the face of our nation like the broad grin of an idiot." well I want to make sure the super delegates stem the tide of euphoria with Obama and stop the idiots votes from counting.

This all was surfacing on the ride home, no wonder it was work today. But riding the bike is like that sometime. Some days the bike is just average, it's about taking care of getting home from work; it's about saving a few bucks on gas; it's about knowing your transportation is reliable and will get you to and from where you need to go; it's about knowing how to fix the problem with your transportation, not needing to take it to someone else to fix the problem; it's about the utilitarian purposes of the bike. Today the bike was like politics. I didn't want or need the flashy, expensive bike that people look at; ask questions about; are impressed with; I need the bike for the simple average purposes. Was I glad to have a nice bike to do the average with? Hell yes, the bike was the super delegate, doing it's job to take care of the average and to make sure we don't make another huge mistake.

Think about why you support your candidate. If it is more than hype, great stay with it. If not think about taking care of the day to day, making sure we are looking at issues and taking care of today and tomorrow. If after thinking about it your mind has changed from February (or whenever your primary was) let the super delegates know so they can vote accordingly.

And should our next president be awaken at 3:00am because of an emergancy I hope they have James McMurtry's number at hand. I have a feeling he has made a few hard life choices at 3:00am and lives up to them every day. I just hope our next president can do the same.

Daddy's an Idiot

Daddy's an Idiot,Daddy's an Idiot,Daddy's an Idiot,Daddy's an Idiot. No better way to walk into the house than to have your six your old screaming that, to bad in this case it was true. Got up this morning before Seamus was awake, left the house to ride the mountain bike. Stop, get coffee, drive, pull into the parking lot, pull out bag, grab jersey, hat helmet, shorts, shoes. Oh no we have a problem here. Left shoe, good. Right shoe, shit! Old road shoe. Ok maybe this can still work, right? At least I have a left and right shoe. Nope, this won't work. Remember idiot you switched all pedals this winter that shoe is at least three years old. It will fit an old bike but not this one.

Pack every up and drive home. Walk in, Ade and Seamus still in PJ's wondering what I'm doing home. Well, daddy's an idiot.

Colorado

Why has Colorado, or at least the front range, decided to part with the rest of the nation when it comes to bike to work day? Most (if not all) of the rest of the country held bike to work day last week. Not here in good old Colorado, ours is June 25, a full six weeks later.

Sure there is the weather excuse (it can, and does, snow in May) but that is lame since we have afternoon thunderstorms all June. I guess we just want to be different. Why do I bring this up? Well for a hippie bike rider, bike to work day is a big event. You get praised (once a year) for riding your bike and maybe (if you are lucky) you can get a few other people to ride and help the environment.

This year I am coordinating BTWD at my work and helping promote multiple events in the neighborhood. Why put this much time into BTWD when chances are it won't create more commuters? I really don't know, but if we reduce our collective carbon footprint one day by getting people to ride or get one more regular commuter out of the work than my hippie side is happy. No need to mention the fact I like riding my bike (ok love would be more accurate) and want to have other people participate and enjoy the benefits of riding.

If you're in Denver check out the team website www.racinggreenmtb.com in the next few days for details on our events. One will be June 15, a planning session and Q&A on how and why to take part in BTWD and the second event will be on June 25, BTWD, with a guided ride to downtown from Stapleton and Happy Hour for BTWD participants at SouthEnders.

15th

That's where I finished up on Saturday, not a good result at all. After every race there is a period of evaluation. What did I do good (finished, consistent), what did I do bad (slow start, cramping) what can I improve (general speed, ability to stick with leaders early). Based on those evaluations, as a racer, you make choices. I've been using a coach for almost a year again. Following the program and making strides in some fitness area, but overall not a huge gain when it comes to speed in racing.

This is not to say the program doesn't work, just to say I need to get faster and the program is more about metered changes. The two people I know who have had the best results the past two seasons (and in reality great results on an very large scale basis) don't use coaches, don't use power meters, don't use heart rate monitors, hell they don't even have computers on their bikes. One of these two took the overall last year at WP in expert with 3 or 4 wins, the other has won 4 race as a cat 3 this year (including 2 in a row). What does this mean? Not sure, but they both go out and ride on feel. Ride hard and fast if that is how they feel. Slow and steady if that is how they feel. Drink a 6 pack if that is how they feel. Enjoy riding and racing, cause that is how they feel.

I got rid of my coach yesterday. Rode for 2 hours, mostly hard. Rode for 2 hours today, every time I saw another rider, no matter where or their skill level, I pegged it to catch them. I'm giving this ride by feel a try for a period. Train hard, train easy? No, just ride how I feel. Tomorrow I'm going out in the morning. It may be big ring the entire time, may be small ring, probably around 2 hours before work. But if I don't feel like it I'll take it easy and just ride to work. I can always ride hard another day.

A Real Race

Battle the Bear, my least favorite race of the year. Why? Well the course is fairly flat (though a new climb this year made for a more interesting course), no trees and somehow always hot. The good news about the race is that it is nearly in Denver, only about 20 minutes from home so BTB always is on the calendar.

Thus far this season, training or racing I havdn't ridden in any weather with temps above the mid-60's; however, all week prior the weather promised high 70's+ for the race. With no hot miles, no tan and a course that has no shade and radiates heat I was ready for BTB. They started nearly all the Experts at one time so there was no telling who I was actually racing, but the pace seemed high so I let myself fall back and ride my own temp. For the first two laps I saw very few people, nobody passed me and I didn't really pass until the end of the second lap. On the third lap the heat and distance started to show and people begin to appear in front of me. I passed 4-5 people prior to the climb. On the bottom of the climb I saw Rob 200 meters in front and yelled at him. See we had a 6 pack on the line so I figured harassment might help. "Hey Rob you want that beer pretty bad?" He looked back and kept pedaling, passed two guys and looked strong. I kept my pace and passed the same two guys, Rob was still close. As we neared the 2nd to last rise Rob was within 50 meters and I thought I'd grab him. We rolled along very close, passing one more person. On the last rise Hank (from Nathrop) and a teammate of his were in front of Rob and I. Rob passed at the top of the last climb and took off. I cramped at the top of the climb and couldn't pass. Trying to stay up with those three for the last mile or so was hard, and no distance was made up or lost after the downhill from the last climb.

Tally for the race: 2:15 minutes; 3 laps all at 45 minutes even; 4 water bottles; 4 gels, cramps at the end; lost 6 pack to Rob. Now I just need to find out where I finished.

Racing (Kinda0

I was leaving the office yesterday to ride home, right as I was getting on the bike in front of the office a guy I work with who lives a block from me was walking out of the office. He offered a 6 pack to the winner, I took him up on the bet. It's just over 7 miles straight home, take into account walking to a parking lot, lights etc. and my ability to always see a green light (or maybe I just don't understand how lights work) it was an easy race.

About 20 minutes later I was on the phone...tonight I have beer. Another benefit of commuting by bike.

My Mind

I've had a lot going on recently, causing my mind to jump, wander and forget. I put together a community fun ride for my team. Time was spent figuring out routes, putting together information on bike safety, bike riding tips for commuting and (cause I'm a hippy) how riding the bike and other simple changes can lessen environmental impact. Add to that working with my sponsors on the ride (helping to prompt them), getting people to help (huge thanks to those that did) and getting prizes to people who showed up (and yes, some actually did) I spent most of my free time for three weeks on the ride.

Oh yea, did I mention I was still training 12+ hours a week. I also added some time to that 12 hours by making an effort to actually ride the mountain bike on a mountain since in the first race I sucked, due in large part to no (ok three) mountain bike rides since September of 2007. Hopefully the riding in the dirt helps, though this morning I stacked it up good, going through a section with a 1.5 then 3 foot drop in(s) I decided to crash off the side of the trail, down an embankment about 10 feet. The rear wheel somehow came out of the bike, der hanger bent, knee swollen and bruised and in general sore. The good news is tomorrow is a road ride, the bad news is 4:30 am wake up call if I want to get in my miles. Sly Fox is giving DH lessons now, I think I'll sign up when I'm in SLC in July. I can't think of a better way to spend a day then riding trails with Sly Fox.

Oh yea, did I mention work? Well I can't say very much, mostly I avoid work on the blog. Right now though there is a lot going on...all I can say here is glad I'm only being requested to provide information cause dealing with lawyers all day is a pain.

Oh yea, did I mention I got lucky? No, not that way (ok kinda), yesterday was Mother's Day and I'm lucky cause my wife (ade) and mother to my son (again ade) is great. The community ride, it was on Mother's day...she went out, rode the course, helped me put together stuff, watched our son, and was great about it all. Another bike ride on Mother's Day and she had fun. I've been married 10+ years and a father 6+ years and am lucky every day that I have a wife (and more importantly a friend) who supports me and lets me have my passions too. Not sure what having a family means to you, but to me a wife who is there to help me and support me and let me have my own passions and times is great. Thanks Ade.

Nathrop

I'm not going to say much about the race in Nathrop today other than sand and hard. It was my first mountain bike race of the year and I feel it now. Results will come later, mostly because the only thing I know is I finished and beat Hank from RMR. Don't know Hank at all and the only reason I know I beat him is because for 4 laps we were close at the start/finish and I heard people cheering for him.

Hank, if you're out there good race, had I a literal minute to spare I would have talked with you. However, the reality is I never even stopped after the race. I crossed the finish line, filled a bottle with water and hammered back to the car. Why? well somethings are more important than bike races and today my older sister (finally) graduated from college. So what does this have to do with racing? Well what was going to be a relaxing weekend with the family turned into a 8 hour speed run for a race. I left Denver at 8:30, hit Nathrop in time to register at 11, lined up at 12:06, finished at 2:30, got to the car at 2:43, was on the road by 2:50, home by 5:10 and at my sisters graduation 1/2 way across town at 6. She was thinking I was still going to be in Nathrop for the race weekend and broke down in tears when I showed up. Like I said, sometime racing isn't the most important thing.

I will say I felt strong, especially on the flats and climbs. The downhill sucked, maybe I should ride in dirt once in a while. But (and this is without knowing results) for the first time in expert I felt like I was racing. There were a few people passing me, I passed a few people. A lot of back and forth. Maybe we were battling for the last few places (I really don't know) but at least we were battling. In the past I haven't had a lot of action around me in expert, so it was nice to have Hank and a few others near.

At this point it has been a long, hard day. I'm going to bed.

New Link

So those of us who blog all have ways to track who hits our site and from where. There is always a sense of pride when a new site provides a link, so thanks to Flahute Steve in Utah. For those in the know I have a special spot in my heart for Utah (and cycling), my wife was raised in Sandy and is the older sister to one of the most famous retired racers ever from Utah (first person besides Sly Fox who knows the racer will get a prize next time I hit Utah).

I'm embarking on a strange trip this year as I am running a team for the first time. But unlike many others I'm not limiting myself to just getting money for a few racers; I'm working to let people know about their environmental impact (yea you can call it global warming if you want) and how riding the bike can reduce that impact.

I don't want to change your politics, just provide a little background and start some thoughts on changing each of our lifestyles (and yes I'm trying to change mine every day).

Kick back and enjoy the site. Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Flahute for the link.

I'm Back

Really I haven't been missing, just not blogging. Maybe people will come back to the site if I actually have something new posted. Lots of news...Racing Green MTB (the team) is ready for action. Kits are in and being distributed, roster is full of a good group of guys (and riders), and we (ok mostly me) are preparing our first community outreach (www.racinggreenmtb.com for more info). The community outreach is rides for all abilities in the Stapleton neighborhood. The rides have a two-fold purpose: get people riding and enjoying bikes and teach people about how to lessen their environmental impact through riding and other changes. I'm hoping we get a few people to turn out for the ride (May 11).

The local monthly newspaper is putting in a blurb about the ride and even took some pictures to go along with the announcement. Since the ride is on Mother's day it is being billed as a Mother's Day ride. The newspaper wanted to know if I knew any mother/kids who would particpate and use them for the photos. Good thing I have a built in modeling crew with Ade and Shay. I'll post a link when the paper comes out.

Rolling a lot of miles on the bike, which I must say got a lot easier as I picked up a new Cannondale road bike (from www.pedalpusherscyclery.com of course). Jason, Gavin and Chandler have me on two sweet new rides for the year, now I just hope I can do them justice. For once I can thank George W for something, since I'm spending the tax rebate early for the new road bike. One good thing in eight years isn't bad (right?). Ok, we'll forget why I was able to get the bike and just ride.

Strange Happening

So I mentioned a few weeks ago the purchase of a gecko in our house. Seemingly not a big deal, but since we got the gecko something strange has happened, I can't get up and ride ealy any more. Why is this strange? Well geckos are nocturnal, and it seems that since we've purchased one I've become more nocturnal. Most of my riding during the week is now coming at night when everyone else in the house is asleep, not early in the morning when the day is just starting.

I've been getting up at 4:30-5:00 am to ride for 5-6 years so this sudden change is kind of a shock to the system. The only logical reason for the change (that I can think of) is because of the lizard.

Pedal Pushers Cyclery

PLEASE JOIN RACING GREEN MTB SPONSOR PEDAL PUSHERS CYCLERY FOR A SPECIAL EVENT WITH OLYMPIC LONG TEAM MEMBER GEORGIA GOULD.

Mountain Bike Night at PPC - Wednesday March 19th

6pm - Slideshow for Summit Junior Cycling Camps (Day and Overnight Mountain Bike Camps for ages 8-18 based out of Keystone, CO)
6:45pm - 8pm - Q & A with Georgia Gould and her coach Ben Ollett - Come meet Georgia and hear all about the ins and outs of preparing for the Olympics and the upcoming mtb season! Come with questions!

Fitness

This time of the year major strides can be made in fitness in short periods of time. Today I rode up Lookout (pretty much my fitness test climb), knocked 2 minutes off my time from 4 weeks ago. Not my fastest time ever up the climb, but respectable, especially coming towards the end of a big 3 week training cycle. 15 hours each week the past 2 weeks and on track for a 3rd 15 hour week in a row. This is about as much as I ever do, so clocking a fast time on Lookout 38 hours into a 45 hour cycle is pretty good.

Maybe we'll see what Saturday brings to really test the legs.

Long rides, snow and wind

In the past week I have finally gotten in some solid miles on the bike. Last Wednesday I put in 4.5 hours with good climbing and steady effort. Saturday I snuck in 2.5 and Sunday was 3 hours, but a hard 3 hours. The weather forecast was for lite snow until 2:00pm, when there was no snow for a few hours at noon I figured I was safe. Took out the road bike and started riding, after about 45 minutes a few flurries but not enough to cause me to turn around. After about 1.5 hours it started snowing, and I mean hard. I was at least an hour from home and the snow was coming down, roads getting wet and not ideal riding conditions.

I did have lots of wet weather gear with me so I didn't get cold or wet and rode through snow for about an hour. Finally it let up and I figured I'd sneak in a few more miles. This turned into a bad choice as I ended up flatting and having to change a tire in the cold just as it was starting to snow again. Ended up riding for 3 hours with about 1.5 of it in some level of snow. Hopefully the hard work yesterday will pay off in races this year.

Today I went out with the intention of riding for 4-5 hours after work (I left early since it was/is a holiday and I was technically "off"). Headed out to Golden to ride Lookout mountain with a fierce wind coming from the west. I averaged 12 mph out to Golden and started out Lookout, climbed for about 15 minutes before turning around. I was literally scared I would be blown off the road with the wind. Found out on the news wind gusts were up to 50mph in that part of town. I still managed to ride for 4 hours, just mostly on flat roads with a good cross or tail wind.

These rides should help come the race season and at least make me feel like I'm HTFU.

Dreams

I keep having a strange dream, I'm on my road bike and the handle bars are shifting around. One hard yank on the brake hoods and the bars go back into place.

I wish I knew what this dream was trying to tell me, at least I checked the stem and everything is good.

Ice and Cold = 3 hour ride

The weather has been a little rough for riding, but when I have any choice a ride outside, even in the cold/ice/snow beats the trainer. Yesterday I headed east of Denver on the Orbea for 2 hours, it was cold and windy, but the roads were clear and the ride was good. For a 2 hour road ride on the mountain bike the Orbea felt great. Thus far the only downer of the bike is all of its miles have been paved. Hopefully the weather will let up enough so that I can give it a proper ride in the dirt. Once that happens I'll give a full review, until then I'll leave you with smooth and light.

Today I wanted a 3 hour ride, so figured the road bike was the ticket. Bad choice by me to head south as I hit lots of ice (maybe since it was 12 when I left I should have known). Didn't get in the hard efforts I wanted but it was still a good ride. Yea, I had to go slow on the ice sections but a few minutes of slow riding beats 1.5 hours on the trainer.

I'm off to the east coast tomorrow, catch you later.

Orbea

So I got my new racing rig the other day. It looks nice and I assume it rides nice too, but thus far it has a total of 30 minutes in a frigid commute to work on it. Nothing else. I've tried to leave work early two days in a row to get in some miles, but alas it is Saturday morning and I'm actually in the office waiting to test an application that has been down for 2 days. What does this mean? No riding the new bike. Hell, maybe no riding at all today. I do have a picture to keep me sane though.

Can you say new bike

I got my new bike on Tuesday, the Orbea Oiz. Pretty sweet full suspension in the mold of the c-dale scalpel, now all I've got to do is actually ride it. Riding time has been limited lately because of a lot of stuff going on. I'm getting in minimal hours but trying to get in all the "work" (intervals) that I need to get in shape. Been riding about 1 to 1.5 hours max and doing a lot of tempo (high end aerobic) work. The weather should be nice this weekend so hopefully can get in some solid time outside.

Good news on the team front, we picked up a cash money sponsor, SouthEnders, a new coffee shop in the neighborhood. I met with the owners (Mel and Nancy) on Monday and they are great people. They want to create a community focused business to give the people who live in my area a true neighborhood joint. Coffee in the morning, sandwiches at noon and a wine/beer menu at night. Visit them at www.southenders.com for more details.

We'll be starting some training rides from SouthEnders soon, feel free to join us once day/time are set. I've got someone finalizing jersey's this weekend and can hopefully post pictures soon.

There are still spots open on the team, if you are interested let me know.

Also I've created a web site for the team www.racinggreenmtb.com, still a rough site and very much in progress but I'll keep working on it over the next few weeks.

A new Post?

I keep thinking I have a "profound" post in me, something on politics, cause I'm still bitter about Iowa, though NH is almost ok with me. But the reality is right now I don't have the brain to write (or is is right) the thoughts.

We did get a new baby today. No not the kind we've been trying for, but a lizard. Seamus' first pet. It's nocturnal, which means my 6 year old will now be a creature of the night.

Tomorrow big miles I hope. The first LookOut ride of the year. Always painful but the climb is somehow honest and reveling in more than a physical sense. I hope there isn't ice on the top.

Definitions

As a cyclist how do I (or any of us) define ourselves? I road over 6,000 miles in 2007 most of those 5,500+ on a road bike (or at least on the road), yet I don’t consider myself a roadie. I am a mountain biker. Why do I classify myself as a type of rider when, in reality, I spend very minimal amounts of time participating in that sport?

I enjoy road rides; I even enjoy road races so it’s not as if being a roadie is all bad. The past few weeks I’ve been spending hours at a time riding on the farm roads east of Denver. Rolling hills, minimal traffic, a few cows, and lots of beer cans on the side of the road. These have been some of the most fun and peaceful rides I’ve done in years. These solo rides, and I mean solo since cars rarely pass and I only go through one town once outside of Denver, have gotten me thinking about why I define myself as a mountain biker. So far I’ve not come up with anything concrete. Sure I race the mountain bike more, but that alone shouldn’t define me. For a long time I thought it was the solitude of mountain biking, but then I realized the road rides I’d been on were more isolated and independent than most mountain bike rides.

Maybe it is the challenge of a mountain bike ride, the fact that the same trail can (and does) present different challenges each time it is ridden. A section I can ride cleanly today may pose more problems than expected tomorrow. Cleaning a section I’ve never made before on a ride is unique and a source of (selfish) pride. On the road bike the challenges are minimal; on the mountain bike they are omnipresent. A challenge allows me to explore my limits and motivates me. Creates learning opportunities that aren’t always available, maybe those opportunities are what make me thrive and cause me to define myself as a mountain biker.

Oil's at $100

So oil hits an all-time high today. Tomorrow the Presidential campaign begins its official tally. Obesity is at an all-time high. Damn it's good to live in America.

Seriously I love politics, for those who don't know me you'll get a taste over the next 10 months. I'm a bleeding heart liberal whose candidate of choice will probably say game over on Friday. I hate the money in politics, right now it is not about who can best lead the country but who has the money to buy votes. The best candidates (in both parties) will be lucky to pull in 10% of the votes in the Iowa cacuses tomorrow, won't get in more money and will go home. On the other hand people pulling in 15-25% of the vote aren't the best candidates but will get elected.

The good news though is I can save you money and help your health with my liberal green ways. I've been preaching using the bike as a form of commuting for (at least) a year. Maybe with oil at $100 a barrell more people will consider it. The benefits are huge: Save Money on Gas, Save Money on Doctor/Medicine, Feel Healthier, Help the Environment. Cliff Bar has the 2 mile challenge, trying to get people to cut the short drives of 2 miles or less. These use a huge amount of fuel (green house gas) and take as long or longer than biking with time spent finding parking etc.

I know it is the dead of winter but try to cut out one trip in the car this week. Take your bike to the weekend coffee shop trip or breakfast, the gas savings alone will almost cover the cost of the coffee.

2007

Twelve months ago I started my effort to Race Green in 2007, with goals of trying to raise awareness about global warming, present some ideas and ways to reduce individual impact on the environment and raise some money for the Environmental Defense Fund, an organization that works with business, government and science to “find practical environmental solutions”. So after a year how did I do (being this is the time for 2007 in review posts on the web)?

Here are some stats that may give you an idea of my work. I rode my bike 6,000+ miles in the year. Of those miles about 2,000 were commuting miles, that is miles many people would have driven. I rode through January of 2007 when Denver streets were ice packed for weeks on end because of blizzards. During that time I had fenders on and rode on major streets which had less ice and obstacles. This clearly helped the environment as “Cutting a 20 mile trip out of your schedule each week can reduce your global warming pollution by more than 1,200 pounds a year and save you over $100 in gas expenses.” (Environmental defense web site) I also switched grocery bags from plastic to reusable canvas. I figure I used at least 5 plastic bags a week so a net savings of 250 bags. It takes an equivalent amount of energy to produce 14 plastic bags as it does to drive a mile, so some carbon reduction there too.

I also went out and tried to do more than change my personal lifestyle during the year. I met with staff from Congresswoman Diana DeGette’s office on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters, I went to a local school and discussed Earth Day and what each student could do to lessen there impact (including a portion on riding their bikes and bike safety). Finally I raised over $1,000 for Environmental Defense.

Overall I’d say it was a good year. In 2008 I’m going to keep it going. I’m starting a full team for racing and environmental awareness. The team is going to promote riding and the multiple benefits bike riding provides (health benefits and environmental benefits). I’ve already got an after-school program lined up at my son’s school to get kids out riding their bikes and hopefully more will come. I’ll still be out racing and trying to get fast too. Though riding fast and winning are tougher to accomplish then raising awareness the racing is fun.

Anyway don’t leave just because 2007 is over, I’m keeping things going, maybe a slightly different path but still going.

BIKE FOR SALE: A shameless plug for my bike YETI ASR Large I've got it for sale...drop me a comment if you're interested

Post Grad Reading Level

So I was checking out SLY's blog the other day and it had a link to tell you the reading level of your blog, well I must be a genius because mine came back as Post Grad reading level. For the few of you who actually read my blog consider yourselves highly educated people. I guess I should work on dumbing down my content, make the reading level a little easier. I assume if I did that more people would visit the site and I’d get more comments.

Cash Advance Loans

All I’ve got to say is this feature has got to be inaccurate.

Base Training with Eddy

Base miles, finally a chance to ride more outside. Today it was cold (30ish) and some wet roads from snow yesterday, but 2.5 hours outside in the cold is better than any time inside so I went out.

East of Denver is a little town called Watkins, one of my favorite rides for 2-3 hours of base miles. Roads quickly turn into farm roads, little traffic and rollers the whole way, in general a pleasant ride. But one problem, farm roads mean farms. Farms mean farm dogs. So today as I was spinning along I catch an object coming from my right and hear the growling of a mean a$$ looking dog trying to catch me for an afternoon snack. Just like in the scene from American Flyers where Kevin Costner takes his brother training with Eddy, this dog is on me. I sprint as hard as possible, look down and still see the dog right there, shift to the 12 (remember this is early season base training I shouldn't be in the 12) and give it another kick. Finally I get away from the dog, not sure how but glad he didn't get me for an afternoon snack.

When I lived in Iowa I road some with the Des Moines Cycling Club, one guy carried a little gun (pistol) to take care of dogs like these, which seemed more rampant in Iowa than in Denver. Not sure that was the best solution to the problem, but then again we never did extra sprints either.

Wow, Out of Circulation

I've been missing for awhile so here is a quick rundown:

Thanksgiving - stabbed by my sister in the eye (with her fingernail) couldn't see for a week
New York City - Business trip, cool town but I can only handle it for a few days
December - Cold and snowy way too many miles riding in the basement of the trainer
Work - time for writing reviews, man that sucks

The good news is I'm riding some and work should taper off soon.

On another note, the presidential primaries/cacuses start soon. If you are at all serious about the direction America is going look a little deeper than the famed candidates. I'm a hippie liberal who wants an eco-friendly candidate. I've been donating money to two people Chris Dodd http://chrisdodd.com/ and Joe Biden http://www.joebiden.com/home. I hope giving these guys a little will allow them to keep their voices in the debate. Seriously I don't care who you vote for, but make sure you listen to all the voices out there, give a little money to the lesser known candidates to help them as in many cases they have the best ideas and best potential to change.

Racing

I spend a lot of time reading other cycling blogs, there are way too many out there to mention, but this time of the year I see a theme: why? how long? what is the reward? Some of these guys will post about not knowing how much longer they'll race, why they race etc. Each year about 50% of the people who post about why don't race the next year. Burn out I guess.

There are two kinds of bike racers (really bikers in general) those who ride the bike because it is fun and those who ride the bike because they love it. Often times it is difficult to tell the difference between the two. I'd venture to say many people thought Lance Armstrong loved the bike, but I think he thought it was fun. He did it (really) well and for a long time. He trained in terrible conditions, but it seems now he isn't riding any more. That to me is a guy who thought it was fun (and also knew it was hard).

I fall into the love it group. How long will I race? Till the day I die. I may not be very good. Hell I savour mid-pack finishes if they were an improvement over last year, but I also savour riding home from work, in the dark winter, with snow falling. For me riding is more than proving I can finish a race, or finish a race faster than someone else. To me riding is, well in so many ways, me. I define myself as a father, a husband and a biker. Strangely I've been a biker longer than the other two but those are the three things that matter.

Me I'll race next week, next year and until I can't race any longer. For now I'm hoping for some snow, so I can ride home from work in the dark with the snowflakes dancing off my lights.

Greenhouse Gases

Well over the past few days I've read a lot of troubling news about greenhouse gases. It seems that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is significantly higher than previous "worst case scenarios" had predicted for our current point in time. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7271938. It seems Denver and Mayor Hickenlooper are trying to take some action, but local change can only do so much. Clearly we as individuals must work to enact change and force state and federal programs to assist.

Another article I read earlier this week stated that recycling in rural areas doesn't make sense because of the costs associated with transport and the issues tied to getting materials to recycling centers. It seems to me multiple benefits exist for rural recycling programs and the government should provide funding to help. First is protection of the environment; however, there are other benefits, specifically job and economic related. If the local/state/federal government would offset costs associated with local rural recycling plants there would be job growth available in areas that currently are under employed. The recycling centers would cost taxpayer money but the two-fold benefits of jobs and environmental sustainability seem to make the costs worth it.

It's on

The team is a go for 2008. I'm still working out details, but for now I've got Pedal Pushers helping the team out with stuff, including a hook-up on Orbea mountain bikes. Still working with a few other prospective sponsors but in 2008 Racing Green will be expanding. The team name is changing, Racing Green MTB, and the mission is expanding beyond raising awareness of global warming, but many of the concepts will remain.

For 2008 Racing Green's mission is:

Racing Green MTB is dedicated to empowering people to create a more sustainable lifestyle, both environmentally and personally, through the bicycle. Through community outreach and mountain bike race participation Racing Green MTB is committed to increasing knowledge about: human impact on the environment and providing practical measures to reduce individual impact through cycling and other lifestyle modifications and help individuals create a more sustainable health filled personal lifestyle.

I'm already working on outreach programs with a couple of local schools and more ideas are being worked on. Part of my concerns now center around getting some cash sponsors to help with the outreach. Even with dedicating my time for free most events require some costs to get things rolling. Hopefully the cash sponsors will come soon.

Jersey designing is under way.

commuting

Now is the time of year when bike commuters earn their strips. It is starting to be cold and dark during portions of the commute, not December bad but enough that numbers are way down. During the summer the building I work in is over run with bike commuters, probably 3-4 dozen bikes a day parked on the racks. This summer it got so crowded the building bought two new racks and planned to implement "parking permits" for bikes. This is a cool problem to have if you ask me. It means a lot of people are using the bike as an alternative way to get around, reducing their environmental impact and having a great time riding their bikes.

Now it is mid October and (in Denver at least) if you need to be to work around 7:30 that means commuting in while it is still dark. Bust out the headlamp, put on the flashing red rear light, long sleeve jacket, full finger gloves etc. The rides home can be nice, shorts and a short sleeve jersey, but riding in is cold and slightly dangerous with it being tough for cars to see you. This morning there were 5 bikes parked at my building. I'm willing to bet in the middle of December there will be 2-3, just a few hard core crazy riders trying to sneak in every mile possible.

I'll ride through the winter again, skipping the big snow days but not much else. Last year in our big blizzard run I rode a lot. Bad roads, dark, wet conditions; it wasn't easy but I wouldn't pass it up. Last year we got our first snow in mid October and I had to ride home in the dark with no glasses. I could barely see the entire way home with snow blowing in my face, no snow is predicted yet, but it will come soon. I can't wait for the ride.

Brief Notes

Independence Hall from a distance.

Spent part of last week on the east coast. Had a little time to look around Philadelphia, got in trouble at Independence Hall for cross the street (to get close to the building) prior to the official opening. I guess park security doesn't like that.

Overall Philadelphia is not a great town, but it was cool to look around the historic area. Here are some pictures of the graveyard Ben Franklin is buried in:

All the hotels I stayed in had low wattage, eco-friendly light bulbs. Very cool and I've taken to leaving a note on the comment card about the lights, either thanking the hotel or asking them to change.

Ade and I went out of town for our 10th anniversary, down to colorado springs. Had a relaxing night at a B&B, walked around Garden of the Gods some. Very cool area.

The team is looking promising, figuring out all the details on bikes, more on that later.

East Coast

So I'm on the east coast right now, Philadelphia and Princeton NJ. Crazy driving is one thing I've accomplished, making a lot of right hand turns out of the left lane, left hand turns out of the right. Detours miles long, all sorts of fun. The drive to Princeton lacked much adventure, but we did see this cool bridge. The picture isn't very clear as I was on the phone to someone and hung up quickly to take the picture, but the bridge says (in huge letters) "Trenton Makes the World Takes". I was unaware Trenton was the epicenter of the world, but I guess I know now.

Cyclo-Cross

So after a 10 day break off the bike I decided to race cyclo-cross this season. Not a full schedule, but enough to force myself to actually work at staying in shape. Planning on an opening race on September 23, then a few in October, and a pretty full schedule in November. Hopefully the racing will go well.

I've been working on putting together a team for next season, taking Racing Green to the next level. I have a few people interested in riding and hopefully can get some sponsorship dialed in. If I can get a sponsor the team will be on, if not I don't think I'll run a team without sponsorship. I'm hoping it works out as the teams mission will be to promote riding the bike as an easy means of sustainable living. I'm planning on working with a couple local schools to teach kids about riding and how it can be a fun, easy and non-environmentally impacting way to get around. Hopefully some sponsors will want to be a part of that. I should have more details by the end of next week.

Criminal Activity

We went up to Sheridan, Wyoming for Labor Day weekend. We met Ade's dad at the half way point between Denver and where he lives. It had been a while since we had seen him so it was nice to visit. Seamus loved it, he has this strange ability to recognize people who can (will) spoil him and warm right up to them, even if it has been a long time since he has seen them.

Grandpa Al wanted to take Seamus fishing so off we went. Seamus young enough not to need a license, Al and Ade smart enough to buy one and me, well just plain stupid. Things were going along well enough with the whole fishing thing (other than our inability to catch fish) when the Game Warden walks up asking to see our fishing licenses (which I didn't have). Long story short, an $11 license cost me $110 in fines for not having one.

Ade did catch a fish, but we succeeded in killing it before we could "catch and release". Note to fish, when we are around be careful. If you happen to stumble onto our line you are SOL.

On another note, when I got home I went to the grocery store and saw this.

Our grocery store has just started a bin to recycle plastic bags. Every time I walk in it is full or overflowing. I guess they didn't realize the demand from eco friendly shoppers. I hope people are reusing the bags a few times first to get the full value out of them, but glad to see they are getting recycled. Don't forget more than grocery bags can be recycled, for example the plastic bags newspapers come in, bread bags and others can be recycled. Just look for the number 2 or 4 on the bag and you can recycle.

Road Rash

One of the main concerns/issues I hear about commuting by bike is the risk, like being hit by a car or just a simple crash. Well I commute a lot, rode through January and February this year when the road were packed with a couple of feet of snow in the dark. Rode last October home from work, a blinding snow storm with no glasses and could barely see. I've commuted on the bike for 10+ years and yesterday had only my second crash ever while commuting.

The first crash was 10 years ago in June, on bike to work day when I worked about 20 miles from home. Leaving the office during a light rain (after a heavy rain) I crashed and hurt my hip. Swelled up to about the size of a grape fruit. No crashes since then while commuting. Probably thousands of miles just pure commute distance (not counting the "extended routes" taken to get in training) and only one crash in ten years.

Yesterday's crash happened just after riding with Seamus to school. The front wheel got caught in a gap between black-top and cement near the curb. I got cut up on the left side (hip, elbow, shoulder, knee etc.) but rode into work the rest of the way no problem. Sleeping last night sucked, but what can you expect. I didn't commute in today, but that was already planned because we had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'm taking off and riding big. But you know what, I'll commute on Tuesday. One crash every ten years is worth it. The stress relief of riding, the environmental savings, the pure joy of riding a bike while looking at a bunch of people stressed in a car. The risks commuting by bike are minimal if you are aware and safe. Yesterday was a decade long wait between commuting crashes. How many car accidents have you been in during that same period?

Mission Accomplished

Well, I'm no George Bush so take the title as you like, but today's donation from one of my aunts officially put me at the $1,000 mark for donations to Environmental Defense. A few more dollars, in theory, will be donated from some matching funds from various companies; however, I have no easy way to track these, only the money sent to me to forward on or donated on-line. A huge thanks to everyone who has donated, I appreciate all of your support.

The last mountain bike race of the year is quickly upon me, the Tipperary Creek race in Winter Park. The course is about 25 miles with a good amount of climbing. This is one of the best courses around so should make a fitting end to the season. Wish I could fit in one or two more, but with other commitments that just isn't going to happen.

The Pink Dude Denver

So everyone who reads SLY's blog you’ll have heard of (or seen) the pink dude. If you’re in SLC maybe you’ve even seen him in person. On all my visits I’ve yet to actually see the Pink Dude, but today in Denver I caught a glimpse of the Pink Dude’s dad (and yes this is a guy). The picture is a little blurry, but a camera phone from 25 feet only does so much.

Today

Well this month has been light for postings, but some times other things take over. Just a quick update though, as of right now I've raised (really you have donated) $850 for the Environmental Defense Fund. Not to bad at all. Also I'm just starting to work on how and what to do with Racing Green moving forward. Nothing is firm yet, but I am going to keep this going forward in some way, most likely by starting a team of like minded individuals to race, promote bicycling as an way to lessen human impact on the earth and to introduce people (especially kids) to riding.

I'll have more details on the program later, but I plan to have some good sponsorship based on a few talks.

MIA

Well, I've been MIA since the FireCracker 50, partially because of how the day went and partially just damn busy. Raced twice since then, once a couple of days later just to mentally get the stress of a DNF off my mind. Today I raced to race. Didn't do great, as it seems the field at the Winter Park races is deep and fast, my neighbor/friend/Seamus's girlfriend's dad/carpool partner won the race (he actually won the one right after the 50 too). Even if I have a bad day racing, or just race as well as I can (like today) it is always cool when someone you hang out with has a great day (or in Kelly's case season) and wins. Makes all the racing seem more successful.

So on the global warming front the little fund raising scoreboard at the top is a little off. A good number of people have sent me money directly or donated because of me just through the mail. Tax reasons I guess, but it is all good. At this point I'm above $600, and people keep telling me more is coming. In my mind it is all good.

A question I've asked a couple times in posts is how to measure success? Well I didn't finish the race, at this point I haven't raised $1000.00 but even with those two factors I think I've had some level of success in this effort. Why? People I know have made choices to change their lifestyles and actions because of what I've done (Patti and Rob), I've talked to school groups, I've written to elected officials, and I've talked to congressional representatives. None of these in and of themselves, or maybe even collectively will end global warming; however, they provide a starting point. They let people know this is a real issue. Talking to Rob today (plus some email), a guy I've raced against for a few years (but don't know well) provided me a feeling that the effort has been worth while. It made me feel I am in some ways accomplishing the goals I set early this year.

The only bad thing about Rob, he beat me by 1 second in the race today (for 24th spot). We fought each other for 3-4 miles at the end. In the end he was faster, maybe his commute is longer, but like I said, success of a friend always feels good. Rob I hope you're reading this post. Great job out there today.

So now is time for the full story on the FireCracker 50. The race started good, I was feeling strong and trying to ride within myself to start the race, knowing it would be a long day. I was making sure I was drinking at least every 15 minutes to stay hydrated. However, as is a usual happening for me in races I was starting to get an upset stomach after about an hour in the race. I was trying to eat some, but only a minimal amount as I was trying not to cause too much of a problem with my stomach.

By the top of the first climb on the second lap (about 31-32 miles into the race) my energy was fading fast and I was barely able to ride. I kept at it, trying to drink as much Gatorade as possible for energy, but after another 6 miles I couldn’t keep the energy needs up and had to call it a day, taking a short cut road back the finish. It definitely wasn’t what I had planned or expected out of the race, but it has made me look at how I prepare for food intake before races. With a normal 2 hour race I can fake nutrition and not (apparently) suffer too much. For a five hour race, nutrition has to be a critical component of racing.

So what does all this mean for my goal of raising awareness of global warming and challenging people to donate money to the Environmental Defense Fund? Well I honestly don’t know. In some ways the goal is still alive, finishing a bike race doesn’t cause success or failure. As my friend Bob said “the cause and your effort are alive and well, thanks in no small part to your efforts. Could be race day is often not so much a point of arrival as it is a point of departure”. I certainly hope he is right. I know people who had pledged to donate prior to the ride still have. I know I’ve talked with a lot of people over the course of six months about global warming. I know some of my habits have changed.

Now really the choice is each of ours. Have I succeeded or failed? I think in small ways I’ve succeeded. I’m going to keep plugging away on the keyboard, and in actions, and in talking with people; make environmental concerns an issue we all address. Keep checking in, as I’ll keep providing some information and stories.

Thanks for the support thus far.

FireCracker 50

I'll post more later, just have to say I'm decompressing and digesting a bad day on the bike.

Thanks to everyone who's supported me in this effort. I'll give more details later.

Resting Up

It’s just four days till the FireCracker 50, so I’m trying to sit around and rest. It is tough before a race because you tend to want to do little things at the end to make you faster, but really at this point recovery is the key thing for going faster. I did ride for about 2 hours this morning and felt pretty good. Now I just need to get the mountain bike all adjusted and ready to race.

Two other pieces of news on the FireCracker 50, word from Sly Fox is he is coming over from Utah from the race. Grandma L will have some Utah racers to cheer for too I guess. Second is be ready for flats. The downhill from Lincoln Park is rocky and causing flats. This is the one section of the course I didn't ride the other day because I kept getting lost and ran low on time, but I've heard it is causing havoc with people pre-riding.

And I have a new kit to race in, all I can say is GREEN.

An anonymous donor of mine sent an email to me on calculating your carbon footprint (how much greenhouse gas you emit). There are a lot of carbon calculators out there but one of the best I’ve found is the EPAs. It has more detail then a lot of others, though it neglects flying which is a big hit for emitting greenhouse gases. The sad truth is I’m probably over the “national average” because of flying for work. It’s interesting but I recently read that if everyone on a plane drove individually to/from their destinations the carbon emissions would still be less than flying.

Anyway, take a few minutes to check out the calculator and get some ideas on ways to reduce your emissions. All the sites I’ve checked out have good ideas for reducing the amount of greenhouse gases you emit.

Six Days

and counting to the FireCracker 50. I cruised up to Breckenridge today to ride the course, aside from getting lost a bunch on the backside (Little French Gulch) of the course and riding up a stream of snow melt for about 2 miles it was a good ride. The opening climb seems to go on forever, part of it on pavement part on dirt. At least when you're done with the climb most of the climbing is done.

While getting lost multiple times I met a few locals out riding the course, all were super cool and helpful in getting me un-lost. It's nice to just run in to people out riding and have them help you out.

Yesterday was bike to work day. I think my office had 22 people sign up and all but one rode in. They give out free breakfast at places in Denver on bike to work day, but I was running late so didn't get to stop. Oh well, maybe next year.

One Week, Two Weeks

Tomorrow marks one week until Bike to Work Day here in Denver and two weeks until the FireCracker 50. I'd like to see a large showing of people participating in BTWD. I'm coordinating the effort for my company and about 20 people have signed up, which is about 10% of the staff.



The FireCracker 50 is a different story, as I know not every can participate by riding, but I hope many of you will consider participating in-kind by donating to Environmental Defense Fund. Some of you may have gotten the newsletter I put out, others may just have happened onto the blog. In either case I'll be posting some of my articles from my most recent newsletter over the next two weeks, along with other information leading up to the FireCracker 50. If anyone would like my newsletter, just send me an email.

Article on EDF

Of all the environmental groups and organizations out there, why did I decide to raise fund for the Environmental Defense Fund (www.environmentaldefense.org)?
Unfortunately, at this point in time global warming and environmental issues have become overly politicized. People wonder: does it exist? should we legislate to help protect the earth? do humans cause it? if so, should corporations self-regulate or be restricted by the government?
I wanted to find a group that was objective and apolitical in its assessment of our environmental state. The Environmental Defense Fund fits the bill. This is a group of scientist and economists who are working to show that environmental sustainability and economic well being can co-exist.
A great example of this is the work Environmental Defense is doing with FedEx, designing new vehicles and looking for ways to lessen the impact of FedEx’s fleet on the environment.

Environmental Defense has also been at the lead of a business coalition (U.S. Climate Action Partnership) that is trying to force governmental action on the climate issue. This coalition includes companies such as GM, Shell, General Electric as well as environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation. Environmental Defense Fund staff have proven that they are able to work across politics and industries to further improvement to the environment.
I’d ask each of you to make a small donation to them, through my blog or on your own, to allow them to continue their work.

Utah Racing

Well the weekend of racing went well in Utah. Big thanks go out to mom-in-law Lynda for driving, letting me stay at the house, and feeding me in the race. It sure makes the racing easier when you have someone there to take care of you. Back to the racing in a minute though.

I was reading an article Saturday in the Salt Lake Tribune that discussed how the western US Governors are pushing for environmental legislation on both the stat and federal level. Even governors from some of the more “conservative” western states, like Utah are supporting this work. This is a huge change over the course of just a few years in perception about the need to move environmental concerns to the forefront. However support from the governors is only a small step, as:

“The opposition in Utah, moreover, doesn't just come from the GOP. "Huntsman, before he gets too far into it, should look at the economics," said Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price. Dmitrich, who represents Utah's coal country, was the author of a 1998 resolution - passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature - calling on the governor to prohibit state agencies from taking any action to reduce greenhouse gases.”

Take some time to contact your local legislator about global warming and the environment. Let them know that the issues are real and that you support the stance of the western governors. Here are links for the local officials in Utah or Colorado.
Now onto racing. While the field at the race was small I’m still pleased with how the weekend went. I first upgraded to Expert last year at Deer Valley, finished last and knew I had a long way to go. This year I knocked 7+ minutes off my time from last year and finished in 4th spot. Given the small size of the field the placing is good, not great, but the time improvement is pretty sweet. It’s about a 5% improvement over last year and given that it was very windy this year maybe even slightly better. I’ve still got work to do to be at the top of the Expert group (like the 30-40 people in Colorado races) but I’m moving the right direction. With just 17 days before the FireCracker 50 I have some time for a little more improvement before starting to taper/rest for the race. I’ll be working on long intervals again this week and hopefully sneak in one more long ride this weekend to get ready. Then I’ll recover for a few days early next week before reducing my training volume but keeping some intensity for the week before the race. Since it takes 7-10 days for training to really improve performance after this week of training my efforts will be focused on keeping fitness, not improving it any more.

Utah

I'm heading to Utah for the National Mountain Bike Series Race at Deer Valley. Staying with Lyn (my mother in law) for the weekend of racing. We're heading up to watch the semi-pro race when I get in. Hopefully Sly (http://bikehusla.blogspot.com/) will put on a show for the home town crowd.

This will be my last race before the FireCracker 50. It should be good training, about 25 miles, 2.25 hours and a lot of climbing. I'm going in a little tired from training, but the goal is the FireCracker 50 not this race. It should be interesting to see the results and time of the race though, as this race last year was my first as an Expert. Finished DFL (Dead F****** Last) so shouldn't be hard to improve. This is the biggest and toughest series in the country which is why I'm going, race against the best to get better. Hopefully this race will help my abilities for the FireCracker 50.

The only bad news, I'll be gone for Father's Day, but Seamus made me a sweet card so I'm set.

Monday

Damn I feel like I should post something, but don't really have much to say. I did some editing on the site tonight, added a few links. There is now a link with information about the FireCracker 50, though all that really needs to be said is 50 miles, 10,000+ vertical feet, marathon national championship and 6 hours.

I also moved the link for donating to the Environmental Defense Fund to the top of the page (thanks for the idea Kip). As some (hopefully many) of you remember one of my primary goals is to raise $1,000 for the Environmental Defense Fund. The EDF is a group of scientist created to raise awareness and provide facts about global warming, trying to limit the political rhetoric and provide sound information/facts. I'm hoping that people will consider donating $0.50 - $1.00 per mile of the FireCracker 50 to the Environmental Defense Fund ($25-$50 total). With the race just a few weeks away it seems like a good time to start reminding people of this portion of the goal.

Of course this is only one facet of my goal with the others being:
Begin to provide people information and resources on the effects of global
Educate people on the ease and benefits of using the bike as a means of transportation

I think I'm accomplishing these two in some ways so hopefully I can raise some funds too. One of my aunts was in town this weekend and she's been reading the blog and changed her bag habits at the grocery store as a result. If we each start with small steps like this improvement will come. Thanks for making some personal changes Patty, it's news like this that makes my efforts seem worth the time and energy.

Why Should You Vote?

Because our current leadership won't admit there is a problem with global warming.

From Reuters (blatently stolen from my company)
World leaders meeting in Germany have agreed to pursue "substantial" cuts in greenhouse gases, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

"In terms of targets, we agreed on clear language ... that recognizes that (rises in) CO2 emissions must first be stopped and then followed by substantial reductions," Merkel told reporters at the G8 summit in the Baltic coast resort of Heiligendamm.

But alas Presidnet George...Group of Eight (G8) powers failed to overcome U.S. resistance to committing to specific numerical targets to curb global warming but did refer to the goal of some countries of cutting emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

For the full article head over to: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0528791320070607?src=060707_1004_TOPSTORY_emissions_cuts_deal

Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day in Denver is three weeks from today, Wednesday June 27. This is a well run, metro area event that makes commuting to work using alternative transportation fun and easy. I'm working to coordinate efforts at my company and thus far we have 15 people signed up to commute, a few for the first time ever.

It is the small steps and efforts, like commuting to work on the bike (or walking) once in a while that can provide a starting point for bigger changes. The more people who are involved/participate in events like Bike to Work Day and let officials know they are becoming involved because of global warming, the more officials will take notice. Get out there on the 27th and give a bike commute a try. Let your friends know, and more importantly let elected officials know the reason behind your participation.

I'll be riding, and in fact have volunteered to ride in with a few novice co-workers, if you need any help preparing let me know. I commuted through our snow-packed streets all winter so riding in the Denver summer should be easy.

Smaller Footprints

Each week we are making small steps at my house to reduce our Carbon Footprint (how much greenhouse gas we put in the air) with last week being a big one we bought Ade a bike. She hasn’t ridden one in about 20 years (I know hard to believe being married to me and not riding a bike) but the Schwinn cruiser is perfect. We all rode to the swimming pool on Saturday afternoon. Not a big ride but in the past we would have driven a wasteful 2-3 miles to go to the pool. Instead now we all have bikes to ride and an easy fun free (don’t forget gas prices) way to the pool.

The whole cruiser bike is pretty cool for getting around the neighborhood, so much so I might have to buy one soon. The racing bikes are nice but to be casual and look good a cruiser might be a better fit. I also found a grocery store, Albertsons on 2nd and Quebec that has plastic bag recycling. This is huge as Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year with a minimal number being recycled. The Albertsons will let you recycle newspaper bags, grocery bags, and even the plastic used to cover dry cleaning. As much as I’ve never been a fan of shopping at Albertsons this may be enough to get me to switch, at least some of what I buy, to support their efforts.

Another beauty of the summer is farmers markets which are great for food. Inexpensive, local, organic fruits and vegetables. The food tastes better and there is less environmental impact. It is still early in the veggie season here in Colorado but some things were great. As the summer goes on more fresh foods will appear and many places have recipes that let you try out the fresh crops.

Sunday was a big riding day, another 6 hours on the bike. I rode to Golden up Chimney Gulch (the dirt trail up Lookout Mountain) down Apex (the backside of Lookout) and home. I got in about 2 hours of mountain biking and 6 hours total. A 2 hour mountain bike ride is pretty damn good and usually involves at least a ½ hour of drive time each way, but the commute by bike makes the dirt even more fun and doesn’t waste gas. I tell you I’m trying to reduce my waste, maybe not great yet but all the little efforts help. What have you done recently?