Lance

A lot is being written about Lance Armstrong. As USADA confirmed that he is a doper and stripped all his titles. It is tough for me to feel bad for the man anymore. He was one of my heroes. I was a Lance guy until the end. I should have known what was coming down the pike. I kept hoping that his great exploits would be doping free. The climbs up Ventoux, Huez, the dominating time trials, and the parades down the Champs Elysees with the American flag.

We can all say well everyone else did it! Does that make it right? No. No one should have been doping. The UCI could have done more, the athletes could have done more, the fans could have demanded more. Instead everyone went all in on this farce of an era. There were only a few voices going against the grain. We cannot understand the decisions that all of these men made to dope. If I had that money dangled in front of me and all I needed to do was blood dope to be rich and famous, who know what I would have done. Maybe I would have turned it down or not.

All we can hope is that the peloton is clean and that the new cyclists do not need to make those horrible decisions. Of course there will always be idiots. How can there not be, the only hope is that the non dopers outweigh the dopers. We need to question more as well. We all think Wiggins was clean but how does he dominate from the Volta ao Algarve all the way into The Tour de France and into the Olympics. He had no valley just peaks throughout the season. Am I skeptical? Yes I am, sadly. I hope in a few years that it goes away but for now I will not get excited over these Champions.

Alas, the other shoe dropped and we knew it was all a farce. No one should feel bad for him anymore. He refuses to apologize to anyone for his wrongdoings. He should have confessed when he had the chance. Now there are news reports that he wants to confess. Too little, too late. That also must be a mirage. He has too much too lose to admit to doping. What would be the point this late in the game?

Give credit where credit is due, what he did with Livestrong to give cancer patients hope is a great thing and gave cancer survivors a sense of community. That we cannot take away. What we can take away is how much of the money that is funneled to Livestrong is taken away for administrative costs. How much was used to finance Lance's lavish lifestyle?

What I can do is continue to ride my bike. Love to ride my bike. Enjoy the community of cycling that I am a part of. I have made great friends that I never thought I would. I love this new world and want to continue to grow in this world.

Recovering

As I sit at home bored. I have been going back and forth bewtween multiple cycling sites.

Here are a few that I enjoy the most:

www.inrng.com
www.velominati.com
www.velonation.com
www.redkiteprayer.com

There are a few others that I peruse but those are my go to spots for original content. Velonation is mostly news and its good to get random cycling news throughout the day. I have been doing other things but I have been obsessed with cycling and cannot wait to get back onto the bike.

Just got in new bottle cages. They are pretty amazing. Carbon ones of course! They are Arundel side-loader/other side-loader combo.

I will have to post a picture of both my bikes! Just realized I do not have that up here! I will indulge you with my two beauties. My first road bike is named Belle. My new bike is named Aria (Casino in Vegas). Both have personal meanings to the names.

I am hoping to be on the trainer tomorrow for a light spin. Nothing fast or crazy. Just starting to spin up. I am able to walk much easier now. Still pain as I walk around but not nearly as much as I had when I started. Lifting is still a pain. I drove to the Supermarket today, felt awkward on that drive. This all takes time unfortunately and I just want to be on my bike!

Surgery

Well, I was hoping to start new year off strong. Trainer time with plenty of base rides.  Last year I did too many long rides and no intensity. So throughout November and December I did pretty much easy rides with friends to not burn myself out. Then kick on the hard rides starting in January. I did 2-3 strength workouts in the gym a week throughout those two months.

That all got ruined when I was diagnosed with acute appendicitis on January 2 and got my appendix pulled that same day. Today is my first full day home and the pain is almost unbearable. It is tough to get up, using my core muscles are tough! Good thing I worked those out during off season! I hope to be back on bike light riding indoors next week. My next appointment is 1-17 and then I return to work shortly after that. Here's hoping this does not ruin my build up to Tour of the Dragons May 4-5. As I fill in my race calendar and vacations I'll add them in here. Still want to post weekly workout numbers on here.

My buddies Andy, Jay are also looking to do an Olympic distance relay. I would do the bike leg and hope to not be weak link. We did one last year, a sprint distance and came in second. Deeply disappointing result.

I will also be taking on applying to business schools for my MBA to start in fall/winter and get that over with in off season.

2012 was a great year for cycling. I rode plenty, enjoyed new cycling sites. I got married to the love of my life. 2013 starting off rough but I am optimistic!

Until next time. I'll write some goals for 2013 and get those up here!

Good riding

So far this winter we have been lucky in Massachusetts. Snowed only once and temps have been decent. My base is going to consist of longish rides with a a few of my riding partners to keep motivated along with trainer rides utilizing The Sufferfest and Spinervals DVDs. I have also been upping my time at the gym to increase my core strength, arms and back. Need to stay strong now so I can back off on weights throughout the main part of season.

My long rides have consisted of riding from my house to Norwell High School and doing a loop with the South Shore Bikers and then riding home; about 50 miles.

I also ride with a teammate Rick Russell who I meet in Needham and we go anywhere from 25-50 milers. Good to keep us both motivated.

My weight increased slightly to 157 lbs but I expected that. After Christmas I will be working to get down to 145.

I am also applying to get my MBA. Want to get that over with ASAP so I can stay strong with cycling. Try and do classes during fall, winter and spring and leave summer open for cycling.

Until next time!

Base Season

Now it is the start of my base season. Here is where I need to keep most of my strength I gained last season and keep a strong base so that I can be strong in Spring. Hoping to average 8+ hours a week.

Yard work pretty much done for the season. Just one more round of collecting leaves and I am done with major obligations and can focus on cycling.

Some bad news, one of our current members of our team had a major accident. Many fractures and broken bones. Saddens me deeply. I wish him a fast recovery and hope to ride with him in the spring.

My new bike arrived and I have about 300 miles on it. Feels great. Tweaking my fit on it with my cousin. Had some major right knee pain at first now it seems to be going away. Hoping it stays that way and I can keep on my training regimen.

Until next time!

Making Preparations

Getting myself ready for next year. This past weekend I spent time with my family closing my pool, doing yard work and now I have a clean slate. I only have to do some weeding and winterize the rest of my backyard. After I finish that I can concentrate on riding. I try to get all my chores done that way I can ride more and not feel as though I am forgetting things to do aorund the house and not let a lot of it fall onto my wife's shoulders.


I have been to the gym this week and been on two rides. Slowly getting myself back into base form then I will be preparing myself for next season.

My new bike is ordered! It should arrive next week. It is the Giant TCR Advanced SL. Black and Red, matches Belle perfectly. I have a name in mind for my new bike I will unveil that in my next check in.

Next time I will reveal some of my season's goals for 2013.

Cadillac Challenge

What a weekend. Just got back from Hawaii a week ago and the week after I return I tackled the Cadillac Challenge with my best man Andy. I was going to do the 100 mile loop but decided against it due to the fact that I rode once while I was in Maui and it was for a 65 mile loop around West Maui. I ended up doing the 80 mile option for the Cadillac Challenge. The conditions on the day were EPIC! Pouring rain, low 60s throughout. As we started to get into the park the granite walls were having massive amounts of water running off. Plenty of waterfalls throughout the course. The water along the sides of the roads was like a raging river. The final 3.5 mile climb up to Cadillac Mountain was one of the most mentally tasking sections of any of my rides. I was at wits end and just wanted it to end. Had to keep telling myself that I can do it and that it was almost over. The descent was equally as challenging. Had to ride the brakes a lot. There was a section of the road that the water was so high it was pedal height and we just had to charge through it. Looking back it seemed stupid but I cannot wait to tackle this event again next year.

I hope to be posting more often. I am all done with wedding related chores and I am just doing housework and cycling! Hope to get my weekly stats up here.

Until next time!