No car, NYC, and tired times.

Since my last post, spirits have been a bit better. Part of the malaise was that i sold my car. My second car technically, i bought it with my own money after i crashed my first car less than 3 months after getting my licence. It was a 1990 VW convertible. It was a piece of my teens and i was sad to see it go. It made me feel old. I put a lot of time and money into that car, and had a lot of good times in it.

BUT.....i need something better for travel, and my bike is on its way. Rumor has it, Doug may have some Reynolds carbon wheels for me to use!

At the moment i won't drive anything, probably ending up buying a van or something in a few months when racing really starts. For now, riding 5 miles to school is OK, and sometimes mom's taxi takes me to work ;)

The last week i put in a whopping 3 hours of riding, a bit less than was called for. I felt the general malaise of winter combined with some midterm stress. Hopefully i am recovered well because...

I am riding 330 miles downstate on monday/tuesday.

Amtrak really sounded like a drag, and for about the same price i can put in two 12 hour days in the saddle! I am visiting a friend down by NYC for 5 days or so and decided to ride, because i am crazy or something. So tomorrow i will put aero bars on my bike, and ship my stuff to her, and head out monday morning. I am super excited to get away for a week, but even more excited to spend some good time with my much missed friend.

I promise a full report with pictures sometime next week, but for now, later!

Winter Blues

I sold my car today, after a trying few months. It, and not driving for a bit will help me cut down on expenses and buy my bike for this year, which i still do not know what it will be.....

The winter has really gotten to me, i think i have seasonal affective disorder, and the midterm crunch doesn't help. Every year around this time i get super bummed out. It always subsides, but it just sucks. Self actualization is a bitch.

Not really bike related, but another part of bicycling, as it has affected training. Left unmotivated since my epic ride with Andrew on sunday, i have been playing star wars online. i shall ride tomorrow though, as i need to get to school somehow!

I am very thankful for my friends, family and health right now.

Please come spring, i need the sunlight very badly....

First race of the year!

Sunday marked my first race of 2008. I decided to go at 8am when i woke up, and had to renew my license ($90) and get to the shop by 10:15. I always end up getting lost on the way there! Agitating some of the racers (maybe more sleep guys?) we rolled out. The race starts at some predetermined point after a 4-5 mile ride to the "start line"
It was good to see some faces and talk to people i haven't seen all winter. Regrettably, i forgot some people's names i should know! Sorry guys.... The race was as flat as a pancake, and two riders had a 20 second break for most of the race. Nothing threatening. I had some good pulls, and tried a break, but i was reeled in. John Roden gave me some advice that i will put into action regarding breaks in the future. I didn't think the race was hard at all, but the power meter said otherwise. I broke all my previous records by a lot. My ftp went up by 20 more watts and my 5 minute went up 40 watts. It is gratifying seeing these things, but i definitely feel way stronger than i did last year at this time, and i haven't really started hard training yet.

In other news, I am in the middle of liquidating all of my less important assetts, in order to get my new bike for this year, which is coming in around the 21st, and faxing my pro deal form in to Fox by the 15th, so i can get my fork. Then building some wheels up, and maybe a riser bar is in order.

Pedal update: Took the Candy pedals mountain biking for the first time today. It was snowy and of course they worked fine, but i have yet to see the advantage of the platform when it comes to finding the pedal, if nothing else, i do think it helps the pedal feel more stable under power. there will be an informal test when i get my rebuild kit later this week.

goodnight.