More beer than biking- The Webster Crit- and why is my shit falling apart?

The Week in Review:

Keep doing the commuter thang - good times.

Could not race on Tuesday - I don't remember why. It was really hot out (high 90's) and I can't remember if that factored into it. I decided to ride with Andy, Loren, Alex and Joe at night. We left at 8:15 to do the Maplewood shop retired ride. While going up Southwest I heard a snap in my right pedal and the next thing I know, I snapped it off - WTF. It was screwed so I turned around and rode back on the spindle.

Wednesday - super freaking hot - the hottest day of the year so far - over 100 - and I did the Hub Wednesday ride. There were only 10 people who showed up and it started out so fast. Since it was such a small group I was pulling up front for the first part. I totally started to bonk - for no real reason. I had to fall off before the hills on Geyer - I was dropped going down hill - man, did I feel like shit. I cut the ride short and met up with the group on Conway and hung with them fine until I was dropped on Litzsinger - Man, this ride sucked - I hate the heat. The whole ride it seemed my bottom bracket was slipping or my left crank was "skipping." So I took it into The Hub on Friday and Ron looked at it - The problem - not the bottom bracket, not the peddle - no the fucking carbon separated from the metal - are you kidding. Devin contacted Zipp and they are going to send a brand new one - in 1.5 months!

Thursday - Went to the Velodrome for the first time with Andy and Ron- what a blast. All the Hubbers were out there racing. Devin is a beast. Chris Miller, Heine, All my Cat 4 peeps - Matthew, Bill, Robert. Stephanie, Kate and Soli representing the women's team, Phil and Todd, my Gizz-Swallow friends were in the mix - Todd even won a C race - rock on!
Andy and Supported the cause by drinking a lot of beer - Bill even let my ride his bike a few times around - I have to do this. I am leaving for Florida next week and this week Thursday is out - so I guess next year!

WEBSTER CRITERIUM

After track night, we went out to patch the road for the race. Me, Ron, Andy, Kevin, Devin and Taylor were all out there - and we were pretty drunk. The whole time I was giving Ron shit about wearing yellow vests so we don't get hit - he, of course, would call me gay and tell me to shut-up. Well, it wasn't long before the cops showed up, lights and all.
Ron and Kevin explained to the cop what we were doing and the cop said OK - the last words he said before he left - "you guys should be wearing yellow vest." Goddam right Ron Clipp! Well, at least Ron Clipp didn't get me killed that night (who hasn't said that once or twice).

Saturday was The Hub Ride - super nice pace - large Hub group
- had a blast. A lot of guys were resting up for Sunday's race.
I rode my Cross bike and while I was going up the outer rode hill, my chain slipped and I almost went down. Somehow I saved it, but I scuffed my right shoe - yes my patent leather SIDI carbon shoes - AHHHH. No, The Hub cycling team is not a gay group

Sunday - The Race. It was a hot day and I did not race - Why - A) I'm a pussy B) I had no bike C) I'm a pussy. It was a blast. I helped set up
and ran registration and drove the pace car for the 4-5 race and the Pro 1,2,3 race. The winner of the pro race lapped the entire field - the guy was crazy fast. I was driving the car and we were closing in on the back of the field so I had to call the refs to find out what to do - crazy. Isabella raced the kids race and came in 4th! You go, girl! Afterwards we partied hard at the race and at Llywelan's - it was a rough morning!

back in the game - oh yeah - and nudity too!

OK - the WNBR - that stands for World Naked Bike Ride in St. Louis! which equals a lot of boobs.But more on that later!

Still Commuting daily. I took a couple of days off because of the weather and lack of desire - but still keeping it real. The weather has been HOT and some of the rides home have wiped me out.

Tuesday - I decided I need to get back in the game so I raced on TNW. I really wanted to race The Grove - but for $45 - WTF! I mean that is some serious cash. One of my teammates said he feels that he is paying for the higher CATS to race - which I feel the same way. It's great the Pros who showed up got the highest payout in a MO crit - but the lower CATS sure paid for it! They even had to shorten the other races because they started late. I like Bill's comment - They reduced the distance but not the entry fee. SO in the end I said FUCK THAT! Now TNW for $10 - that is more my speed. It felt great to get out and race again. I feel strong, so I was anxious to race. At about 10 min. into the race, I was up front for the first part of the race, feeling strong, and everything seemed to open in front of me and slow down - I was like - GO TIME! - I took off up the hill and was joined by 3 other guys - all strong CAT 3-4 types - not the power dudes. Andy and Loren told me before the race they expected something out of me and when they saw me, they would shout their balls off. Not wanting to disappoint, I came to the top of the hill, in my power break away and there they were, not watching the race and petting a fucking dog - I almost started to stop racing and yell at my small fan base! - Just joking - We were able to stick the break for a full 3 laps which was awesome. The worst part was a pulled the hill on the second lap and that smoked me. When we were caught, I drifted to the back, but a few A racers were tagging along, like Mike Weiss. I tried to snuggle up and rest, but Weiss gapped me and I was blown off the back - I was pissed - That is the thing about the B race - by allowing these big guns to race our race, It ceases to become a true 3/4 race. Example - The guy who won the A race was a pro from Texas Roadhouse Areocat who raced at The Grove. He destroyed the field and won by 30 yards - yeah, he raced our race - and won - what a douchebag. OK, bitching over.

Wednesday - Hub Ride - Although the pace was a little slower (20.8 - 246 Avg watts) it was still super fast and fun. To date - I have not been dropped on a Wed. Night Ride - credit to how good I have been feeling. Ride was awesomeIt's nice to be in the front group at Ballas!

Saturday - did the Hub Ride in the morning - What a great ride. The pace was fast - almost 19 mph with 222 avg watts - but not super fast, so the entire group for the most part stuck together! That was so fun finishing with a large group.
I felt really tired starting the ride, but after a goo or two, I was able to wake up. The best part was going onto Conway - I was second in line, behind Bryan Sauter - When we turned onto the road I said "Man, this is last place in line I want to be - I expect you pull the entire hill!" He laughed and picked up the pace. He made it half way and pulled over and I took over and took it to the top - we kept the pace at 21 mph - I felt rock and roll! It was the Sauter/Saxton Cat 4 team laying the smack down!

Saturday Night - THE NAKED BIKE RIDE! What can I say - A bunch of crazy people acting crazy, mostly cycling posers, riding their bike almost naked and supposedly protesting oil. So let's go through this sentence, phrase by phrase.

First of all there were a bunch of crazy people - including Phil, State Champ Stephanie, Todd, Bob, to name a few
a great group of people!

Second - acting really crazy (how come every ride I do like this we end up taking boob grabbing pics?) So the question is - were the people really ugly? Well, yes and no. There was a lot of flat out nudity - total nudity - there are a lot of bicycle seats that should be destroyed - however, there were a lot of hot chicks too. A huge display of boobs! So... I give it a thumbs up (A thumb - get your mind out of the gutter).

Third - A bunch of cycling posers. The best part was when we were climbing some hills by SLU, people had to get off their bike and walk. When we passed them, one guy yelled - I guess they are too dependent on oil!

Forth - Protesting oil. Most people, including us, drove there and there was even a HUMMER in the parking lot - yeah - I hate oil dependency - let's Critical Mass - what a bunch of DB's! However - Judy and I had a blast, which is why we went! Oh - did the wife go topless - you'll never know because you weren't there!

Louisville

Went to Louisville on work - So... what would a teacher being doing in Louisville for 8 days - grading tests - Oh, about 1,365 essayssounds fun - not.

So onto the cycling. The best part was riding with Tom Zoumaras - former Jelly Belly rider and current Big Shark Masters racer. The guy is a stud and a half
Last year I could barely keep his wheel - this year I am in better shape and did OK.

Showed up on Tuesday and did the Louisville Tuesday Night World's road ride. This was a racer group ride and did not disappoint. I felt great and did great
The Average was 22.1 and my average watts was 246. The ride was fun, but lacked any challenging climbs. Nonetheless, guys were shelled from the back because of the speed at certain points. The ride was large too - probably about 40 to 50.

On Wednesday, I went over to this group ride in Indiana - It was a relaxed 36.6 mile ride on some awesome rolling backroads - almost no cars. The ride was very relaxed, about 18 avg. The scenery in Southern Indiana is really nice.

Thursday - did the smaller version of the fast ride - this was not that large, about 18 guys. Tom went with me on this one. The only thing shitty about this ride is Tom flatted and nobody waited for him. I pulled off, but he yelled at me to go, so I caught back on and stayed with the group. Once the ride picked up, guys started launching mini attacks off the front - why, I do not know, but unlike Tuesday, which had some Cat 1 and 2's, I felt like I was able to contend with the stronger guys. We hit this flat land along the Ohio River (really pretty), Everything opened up in front of me and I launched my own attack, except this one was huge. With grading all day and being really tired, one might ask WHY? and once I did it I strated asking the same thing. Three other guys went with me and after I started getting smoked, I pulled off and let another guy pull through. We had a pretty good break on the group and we started taing short pulls. Everybody was working except for one douche bag who would immediately pull off when it was his turn. Soon we lost one guy and I was left with another dude and douche. We hit a light and I was on the front. I braked into the light and the light turned - the group roared past me and I sprinted up to the back, but I was smoked. I was close to downtown and my hotel and decided to cry uncle - Oh well.

Friday - rode with Tom along the river, had a blast.

Sat - Tuesday, no riding - Too much workbut I did eat a lot!

Wednesday - returned to the Hub ride - It was nice to be back - thought I would get dropped quickly because I was super tired after my trip. Once I started riding, things picked up. I made a great move on Geyer which felt great. On Conway, I was totally getting smoked as the pace picked up to 25 - It seemed like everything was going wrong - I initally got behind FuckKnuckle who cause me to have to close a gap, than another person dropped so I had to close anouther gap, than a Big Shit guy dropped and I had to close another gap. Than I started to fall back and gap, but thank God for Matthew Crews who pushed me back into the mix twice! Matthew is a stud. It was great keeping up and finishing - especially after just returning from my trip - good times.

Still a little uncertain about the Tour de Grove - we'll see. I am kind of happy where I am with cycling and I don;t know if a race is what I want.

Goodbyes

Goodbyes is the theme for this blog - Goodbye to work! (Summer Vacation) - Goodbye to Michael Rawitscher who is leaving for greener pastures - Goodbye Tues/Thurs after work rides (at least until September) - Goodbye to my stupid ass rear tire that flatted with a tear on Saturday - Goodbye to my family as I am Louisville, KY bound for next week.

Monday - Commuted big time - Rode to work, Rode home, Rode to Bread Co. In Kirkwood, Rode back to work, Rode home in the near-dark with no lights -oops.

Tuesday - Rode to and fro work. After work, Michael, Jeff and I rode our last after school ride. We went on a nice long ride, but Michael felt horrible and we really took it easy. With Michael not coming back next year, I was a really bummed. That night I rode the Alpine Shop ride with Judy. Still a wacky-ass ride. After the ride, Judy, Valerie and I went to the Highlands where they had $2.00 beers. I put more than a few away and we had to, once again, ride home in the dark with no lights - oops. I was a little bummed out I missed Taco Tuesday after TNW.

Wednesday - missed the Hub ride - but I heard it was rained out - a bunch of guys had to take shelter at a gas station because of the nasty storm that came through.

Thursday - Rode during the morning With Jeff L and Rich Witt. A great ride - perfect temps. We rode to High Ridge - one of my favorite rides. The ride to High Ridge is a solid gain in elevation for 15 miles - but coming down - rock and roll!

Friday - nothing.

Saturday - Went on the morning Hub ride - I went in to Hub for a second and when I came back out, my tire just went flat. I quickly ran back in, because I was now holding up the ride and changed it out - then I noticed the tube popping through like a pimple. I quickly rode back home and swapped out a new tire and ride the ride backwards until I met them on the outer-rode. The ride was wicked fast - average for the complete ride was 22.2! Now that is fast. When I joined them - it was haulin' balls. We went Adams at warp speed - Devin was in the front and the Heine took over - I think I was out of my saddle just trying to keep the wheel in front of me - luckily I was fifth wheel or I would have been shelled.

Sunday - Knucklehead - time switched to 6_30 - Rode out with Kevin, Matt (home from college), Matthew and Tim. The ride out was really sketchy - made me a little tense. This fatter fuck in front of me was all over the place and THAN he started to eat - AHHH - finally the ride split into the longer/shorter ride - usually a few guys go long and most go short - today - only like 15 guys went short and like 50 went long - man, I wish - oh well, short it was. Vince DeBlasie was there and he started to lay down the pace. The funniest part was when I took a pull along the flats - this rabbit was in the road and I was barreling down on it. The ribbit reacts and begins to run straight down the rode in front of me - This thing was a riot - I pulled up and let him go on his way. When we hit the hill, Vince took off and I caught his wheel. It was only Me, Vince, Kevin and another guy. After that we continued to push it all the way back to Geyer. It was a really good, fast ride - I was riding really strong and felt good.

Well... I am off the Louisville for a whole week. Plan on riding that fast group ride and another shop ride on Wed. - aside from that, just simple peddling.

A Good Groove

Once again, a good week of riding -

Commuted everyday but Thursday. I have been commuting so frequently that I felt guilty about not riding - truly, the weather was horrible - a non-stop day of rain. I would have gone if it was just a slow rain - but in the morning, it was pouring - so I bailed. Friday was National Ride Your Bike To Work Day. So, I of course rode to work the normal way and back home a longer way - both ways taking me down Lockwood/Adams - a main thoroughfare for bikes - normally I see numerous people out enjoying the bike - sometimes meeting up with Hubbers like Adam or Tim - but today - on National Ride Your Damn Bike to Work Day - I saw nobody - nobody commuting, nobody out just riding - I mean - it was a nice day, sun, good temps, etc. It was nuts - I was in the Twlight Zone

This week re-cap:

Tuesday - Rode with Michael, Jeff and Kate - A good, quick-paced ride - did the Carmen Loop.
That night I rode with the night Hub ride. It was awesome night and great to be out riding. We did the Maplewood route, which was awesome. Rode with Andy, Loren, Alex, and Bryan. - Sorry, no stupid pics of people riding. Bryan and I hopped on behind a bus going up Broadway. We were flying until something hit my eye. I dropped off, but Bryan stayed with it until he spun out his gears - we flew up Broadway.

Wednesday - The Hub Throwdown ride. I was feeling like shit the whole day - sinus headache - and I was so pumped to finally do this ride. It was my first one of the year - Last week I joined in halfway through. I was excited because I feel strong but I wanted to see where I stood. There was a good size group that showed up and once I started riding, I started to feel good. The ride started off slower than usual, which affected the overall average, but once we got on Clayton, it was balls out for the rest of the ride. I felt great the entire ride - so much so, that I was first up the steep climb on Conway! It was a great feeling! The average was 20.2 and avg watts was 254. I need to turn to racing soon!

Thursday - Rode after school with Michael, Jeff and Kate.

Saturday - Did the Hub ride - but had to cut it short because of my daughter's birthday party. The ride had great weather - it was a super hot day - but the morning was nice. When we the hill on Geyer, I came up to front a pulled to Clayton. We turned on Clayton and I was on the front. It was a great feeling - I picked up the pace to 24 mph and had the train motoring. The best part - while I was on the front, running our direction on the other side of the rode was this hot chick with an amazing ass - in those tight black running pants. So while I was on the front - I point to the chicks ass on the other side of the rode - nice - and everybody noticed it. I pulled off at Ballas and rode back with Rock, Chris Miller, Tim, and Nate on the tandem.

Sunday - Did the Knucklehead ride with Kevin, Mathew, Tim, Matt, Mark and his wife on a tandem, Jeff - It was the kindof ride that when we started I felt great, but as the ride went on, I got smoked. It was a really hot morning. Once we hit Strucker and Khers Mill, the pace was wicked fast. I pulled on the back stretch and when we hit the big hill, I was second wheel and came around Tim to the top of the hill with Kevin. We opened up a gap, not really meaning to so we were on the front. The group caught up to us and I did a long meaty pull until Matthew came around. I swear, that smoked me. I could not recover the rest of the ride. I did not get dropped and always stayed in good position, but the ride back felt wicked fast. Two Momentum guys along with Matthew and Mark, kept the pace fast. I think I pulled once, but I wanted no part of the front - I was gassed. I pulled up along Kevin, who also looked like he wanted no part of the front, and told him that I had been gassed since that big hill - he told me same thing - man, was it a long ride back - but I kept up nice and good. When I got home - all I wanted to do was lie down! The pace was only 19.2 and my avg watts was 219. I am glad I did not race the State Road Race - 72 miles of hills - the way felt, it would have a tour!

Unseasonable

So today - I pull up to the light at Woodlawn and Manchester on my way to work and sit there for about 30 seconds or more. This car pulls up on my left in the turn lane and behind the wheel is the 80 plus year old lady, gray hair, and a hearing aid the size of baseball. She motions to me. I pull out my headphones (yeah, I know it's not safe - Shut the f -up) as she rolls down her window. She than says, in an mean old lady voice "I can't see you - you need to wear brighter clothes!" OK - the time - 7:30 in the morning, so it's light out, I am wearing a bright red Chrome backpack, my Hub jacket with bright green, a helmet with a blinky light, and my bike is so neon fucking orange that it glows in the dark - plus I have my blue blinky skull lights on the wheels! Gotta love the orange fender!

Commuting has been good times. I have picked up Adam Eaton as a riding buddy, which has been cool when we meet up. Last Friday, I met up with Adam, Andy and Alex at 6:00 in the morning for a longer ride.
I broke off and made it to work. This was a blast. My weeks have been really steady and constant. My riding and weight has also plateaued. I do feel good and seem to riding stronger than I was - so I will keep it up. Since my night class is over, I joined Andy, Alex, Joe and Tyler for a night ride on Tuesday. This was also a blast. We headed down to Forrest Park, rode around and rode home.

As far as active rides, I have ridden Tuesday and Thursday after school pretty aggressive with Michael and Jeff. Michael informed everyone that he will not be returning to work next year - this has extremely bummed me out. Kate Lincoff has been showing up regularly - which has been really cool. Four people make these rides super fun.

Hub rides - Last Saturday - I got stuck behind Mark and his wife on the tandem going up the hill on Ladue Road when they got a flat. I came to almost a complete stop along with Mathew, Phil and somebody else. Noone in front of the tandem stopped and the group got split - AHHHH - I lost contact with Mathew and Phil and it turned onto a mostly alone ride - WTF. This past Saturday I bagged on riding because it was so cold and wet. I also bagged on Sunday for the same reason. The rain has been pretty much non-stop and it has been unseasonably cold.
Last Wednesday was my first Wed. Night ride. I could not make the start because I had a late meeting, so I met the ride half way through. I had my Jake with my pack on so I was worrited if I could keep up - but I did! It was a blast - I have missed this ride.

One of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld was when Krammer adopts the highway and re-paints the highway from 4 lanes to two - to create a more pleasurable driving experience. When they changed Hwy 44 from 4 lanes to 5 lanes a few years ago, They had this huge lane for small time period while they restriped, it was like a one and half normal lane. It was so wide, it created a pleasurable driving experience. Now that they are changing the lanes back to four - My hope was that they would do this again - and they did - Nice!

Where Metal and Mayhem Hit the Road

First the Mayhem -

Good week of riding - just feeling great.
Highlights from the week: Commuted everyday but Friday. A few days it was downright nasty - cold and rainy - but I still kept true. Bought a rear fender at The Hub after Monday's rain. It is bright orange so it matches the bike! Will put a picture up when I need it - hopefully not too soon.

Rode Tuesday after work with Michael and Jeff.MAYHEM! While riding up Mason cut-off to Clayton, right by the stop sign at the top of the little incline, right before Clayton, this Old Fucker drives by us with literally 6 inches to spare. I swear his side mirror brushed my arm - this was freaking close. Michael blasts up to Old Fucker and was like - what the hell! Old Fucker actually flicks him off. He then turns right and Michael chases him - so we chase Michael. Old Fucker turns into his subdivision, with Michael chasing him - he finally stop and Michael gives him a little piece of his mind. The best line: I've been a professional racer for 10 years and nobody has ever come that close to me asshole (that would be a professional CAT 4)! I would have taken a picture, because in hindsight it was hilarious, but at the time I thought he was punch the shit out of Old Fucker - so no picture!

The only group ride I did was the Hub ride on Saturday MAYHEM! I felt great the whole ride. We started out with over 30 people
and we averaged 20.1 mph. The ladies also showed up on the ride! The two big challenges on the ride involved me having to cover two breaks. The first was up Conway -Nate on the tandem caused a large separation and I had to go around him. If it wasn't for Mathew, there was no way I would have caught back on - he helped close like a beast. The second close came when I fell back to ride with Andy and than decided to catch back up. We got into a 5 man pace line - each doing 15 rotations and pulling off. It was such a blast - I remember doing that stuff when I rode with the Spirits as a Junior for a short while out by the SmokeHouse before it became all built up. Whie we were going down the outer-road, into the big hill, this new hubber guy got his wheel caught in the groove between the shoulder and road and went down hard. He was a little beat up but was able to limp back. I told Ron Clipp that it is rare to have a crash on the shop ride that he is not in!

Now the METAL!

Went with Phil Nadeau - bike buddy and husband of Hubber and blog follower Stephanie - to see See - I related it to cycling - plus Phil is wearing a Jittery Joe's mechanics shirt - so it is OK to blog about! We drove to Columbia to see a metal-fest - Valiant Thor, Baroness, Buried Between the Dead and Me and MASTODON. The concert was awesome. VT sounded like old school Judas Priest - Baroness was just amazing - I swear they could have stolen the show - Buried Between the Dead and Me, which has been renamed Bored Between my Ears and Eyes (which seemed to be a crowd favorite, which I did not get, but they were the youngest of the four groups, so I think the young kids liked them, but they sounded like shit) and of course Mastodon - which was pure metal. Before the concert, we ate at this Mexican restaurant and seated right next to us was the drummer from Mastodon, Brann Dailor. The place was sold out and we sat in the balcony for the first three shows. At the set change, we were debating about going to the floor, when we decided to take up the task. Amazingly, we were able to move ourselves into a great position, dead center and close to the stage.
Luckily I was able to miss the moshpit by a few feet - I'm too damn old for that. Next up - we are so going to get DRI tickets - now that will be old school awesome.