Saturday, July 31, 2010

Goodbye Naples - Hello Disney World

Goodbye Naples - Goodbye 12 million dollar mansion on the beach - Goodbye hot looking people in thongs
I will miss you - until next year (hopefully)

Riding has been light this week - enjoying vacation. The good thing is I have not gained weight. God, I feel like a fat tub - I know - beer every day and ice cream every night - huge meals- but at least I'm still at par from when I left home. Did the normal rides, minus one because of rain. I saw the ride go past the house and about 20 guys still rode - I felt bummed. My last ride was the Saturday morning ride with Drill Sgt. Kitchner. I managed to take a picture of Kitchnerhe's the one in the Marine Corps jersey (go figure). He was a really nice guy. My finale in Naples was Sat. morning coffee a 5th Street Coffee House.
It was kind of cool fitting in with the cycling scene - I swear I have been down here so long, I feel like I have moved here (except my salary could not cover the yearly taxes on this place - no shit)

Oh well, off to the Disney World - no cycling until next weekend - but I will be home for the Sat. Hub ride - just in time to get dropped! Remember, I haven't seen a hill in a month!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Still in Florida - Hell Yeah Sucka!

Florida - still good times! Highlights - Still on the beach living the good life.

Went to South Beach - For the guys: everything you think of when you think of South Beach is true - yes, girls are laying out topless- yes, girls are walking around in thongs and dental floss bottoms - yes, my wife looks hot. So the question - did my wife lay out topless at South Beach - well, you needed to be here to find out! (this needs to stop becoming a theme)

Onto riding:

Although I am getting fate by consuming too much food and beer, I am still riding fine - maybe a little slower, hard to say.
I have had a blast even riding with Bella and Judy.

It is kind of neat fitting in with the groups down in Florida. In a short time, I know people and have been invited out for post ride beers and coffee (depending on the ride).
It is also funny to match people's personalities with people at home. One guy reminds me so much of Andy Berger, it's like a doppleganger. I have met a Bill, Devin, Ryan, Stephanie (there are very strong women riders down here), kevin - I think I have even met me!
The three rides I have done are:
Tuesday/Thursday Naples Cycles ride during the evening (Naples Cycles is like the Big Shark of the Naples area - huge and pricey bike store) - reminds me of a Wed. night Hub ride.
I have backed off from the A group for two reasons - One, I don't really want to push myself in the red zone down here and Two, the ride way to aggressive - not following any rules of the road. The think it is a race on the road with traffic by blowing through stop lights, etc. - it is kindof like Russian Roulette on this ride - I'll pass. The A- group has been fun. It is still aggressive, but I have never thought it was too tough and I am easily able to finish the ride. Although many people suffer on the A- ride, the people start and finish on a much more friendly grounds, which has been nice. The pace is between 22 to 25 mph - averaging on the lower side.
The Saturday ride is called Kitchner's Ride.
Kitchner is a former Marine drill sergeant and runs the ride like it - barking out the pace and turns from the back - he is the anchor of the ride. His idea is this is to be a weekend warrior training ride. The group keeps together but breaks in half around him. In front of him are the people who take turns pulling and rotate and behind him are people who hang on for dear life - kind of funny. The ride is about the same pace, but is VERY directed by Kitchner - he will yell, "the pace is 24 - not 25, not 20 fucking 6, 24!" It is really funny to hear. Next week I will get a picture of him.
All these rides are huge - much bigger than St. Louis. The Tues/Thurs ride starts out with three groups and has easily 75 plus people. With people joining the ride, the three groups could total 100. The Saturday ride easily has 40 plus people.
I swear I am sitting mid-pack in this photo.

The last thing - and the best - every ride I have been on has had yelling matches - it is a trip. Because the pace lines are long the terrain so flat and people want to keep the groups together - you really do fall into a time trail mode - when someone upsets the process, people get pissed. Last Saturday, two guys were going at it over something and last Tues, the same thing, and then Thursday, one guy got so pissed, he started yelling and turned off. It is quite fucked up. On the last Saturday ride, one guy yelled at me for pulling too fast in the front - nuts.

Well - peace out and I'll see everybody in St. Louis next week - NOT!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Life Is Good (Copyrighted) - and Florida is A Cup Flat

Many of you have missed me, I know - You know you hear people say - yeah my wife's rich uncle - well, Judy really does have one - Oh Yeah - Sucks to be you!

So right now I have temporarily moved to Naples, Florida where I am sitting on the beach typing my blog. This house is the shit. We are staying in the guest house which is two bedrooms and two full baths, kitchen, laundry, and even cable. You got it, I am even getting Versus so I am quite well aware that Lance bombed out and Mark Renshaw lays down a good headbutt during a sprint.

So this is the part where I gloat - I am living in a 12 million dollar mansion on the beach and you aren't!
Now I will gloat with pictures:
This is my view from my left:
This is my view from my right:
This is my view from the front:
This is my view of the house behind me:
This is my hot wife:
These are my kids in front of the house at sunset:
There- now you feel jealous.

On to Cycling:
Saturday, July 3: Judy did the Hub Ride! She hung with group - unitl Mary Queen - but we rode on, caught up with Stephanie and I joined up with the guys and it was all good in the end. Afterwards, we went to the Webster 4th of July Parade in front of The Hub and had a good time with Dave Smith, Rock, and many others!

On the Cycling in Florida:
Florida is flat - Like riding on rollers flat. It takes some getting used to. It has been very difficult to take pictures while riding because the groups of so rank and file. This has to be doing wonders if I wanted to practice my TT skills. Unfortunately I brought my Jake the Snake and not my race bike with deep dish carbons - man, those would rock out here. The terrain is so flat it seems be going downhill both directions. The group rides are super fast - but I'll be honest, it is a little boring with no hills. Guys get into a pace line and that is it - you wait until it is your turn, pull and fall to back, repeat, repeat, etc. I have fallen in with three group rides - Tuesday and Thursday from Naples Cyclery. This is the shit shop out here with a large race team. The ride is super large (maybe 70 plus) and breaks up into 3 groups - an A group (pace 27-28 mph) - an A- group (pace 22-24 mph) and a B Group (pace 20 mph). The first day I arrived (last Thursday) I rode and try to hang with the A group - big mistake - I was wiped out from the drive and I ate Skyline Chili for lunch - it started coming up so I fell back with the A- group. On Tuesday I rode with the A group again and was feeling fine - I pulled, pulled off and there were like 30 people, so I waited for the train to go by and jumped on the back - and than I pulled again later - and the third time a guy opened a gap up to three guys in the front and I tried to close, but we all know I suck at that, so I closed half way and pulled off to let the guy behind me finish, which he did. I pulled off to wait for the train to pull by and,,, there were only like 10 guys left - well shit. I wasn't paying attention and before I knew it they were by me and gone - AHHH I hate that - I felt fine - so I hammered back with this other guy and still had fun. The pace was 27 mph. It seems so fast, but it is so flat, it is so doable. I would love to see what Devin, Ryan, or David Mark would do out here. If Devin can pull 28 out Clayton and David can pull 24 up Conway, I can only imagine what they could do to these guys. On Sat. i did a training ride led by a retired Marine Drill Sergeant. I kid you not - this ride was a trip - he told everybody how fast to ride and did a hell of a job keeping the rather large group together. It was a hilarious. He rode on the back and shouted commands to the person on the front - you have to experience it to understand - I will get a picture of him for next week.

Oh well - I miss riding at home - Peace out! One more time of me at the beach: