False Starts

Or...how life gets in the freakin' way at every opportunity...



Today was Day 1 of my 2008 cyclocross training. Day 1 was supposed to happen back in June. But sh*t keeps happening.

I was supposed to have 2 solid months of Pilates before I started my training, but my gym only offers it Tues/Thurs and my team at work keeps scheduling meetings on Thurs. And then there's that GGP group ride is on Tuesdays - you know the one that blows all the stop signs and sprints twice a lap? Often it's the only ride I can do all week I just can't miss those 50-minutes of going cross-eyed trying to sit on Chris Phipps' back wheel. Anyone who has done that sketchy-ass ride knows it's hella hard, especially if you haven't been on a bike more than once a week. Once official training starts for me, that ride blows my weekly intensity numbers out of the water, so I have to go all cold turkey on it - which is pretty tough on my ego.

So I was going to start last week, but some server crashed and I had to fix it.

So I decided to start this week, got up early to hit the gym on Tuesday and there's a work phone call - no problem, I'll make it short. Two hours later my nose is to the grindstone and I never saw daylight until I sneaked out the 10 blocks to do the group ride, again.

So I decided to start today - stayed up late working last night to free up some time - running late for Pilates this morning I made for the door when "Crash!" - Liam's oatmeal hits the floor and glass goes everywhere, just as Rowan toddles into the kitchen...barefooted.

But somehow (read: 20-minute unplanned interval) I made it to class. I'm a little rusty and I'm sure the girls had a good giggle at me falling off the roller doing "roll-ups". Yes of course I'm the only guy in Pilates class at my gym.

But I made it

and I did some light intensity afterwards

and I sprinted up the stairs to our apartment with a new spring in my step

the planets have aligned

Cyclocross training has begun.

Let the Turkey Broil

I'm here working in my basement office and there's a guy out in the garage fixing our old boiler for our steam heat - no, the irony there is not lost on me.

But what is scary is that I think he's actually listening to John Ashcroft on his boombox while he works.



And I'm scared as hell to go out there...

My wife is a total hottie

I met this beautiful woman, Frances England, at a Halloween party in 1996 in Atlanta, and fell in love.

Then we got married and moved to SF ('98), got a dog (2000), had a kid (2002), she made a children's CD and had another kid (2006), made another CD (2008), and went a few places and did a whole lot of stuff in-between.

Anyhow, I was strolling down memory lane the other day and then I looked at some new pictures from a recent photo shoot, and I realized, wow, Fran is like...a total hottie.

I'm sure I'm supposed to be aware of this 24/7 and tell her that she's beautiful all the time but I realized that not only is she gorgeous, but she's like 10X more gorgeous than when we met - I didn't think this was possible and I don't have a clue how it all happened.


Maybe it has something to do with "finding herself" as she has with her music, or maybe she's just a late bloomer, but either way, I gotta keep an eye on that one...

because I just look old.

I thought 8-speed was enough

I've never been one to stay up-to-date with the latest bike technology. I won my first race on a $300 Centurion that had been welded back together at the bottom bracket by a friend - so...from early-on I figured, what's the point? This year I will begrudgingly upgrade my cross bikes to 10-speed. I've held out as long as I could...but my new bike will have 10sp D/A which means the pit bike needs it too. I absolutely despise this trend of ridiculous planned obsolescence, and for some reason I was naive enough to think it may end with 10-speed.


But nooooooooo...leave it to Campagnolo to one-up us all. The announcement of an 11-speed rear cluster has awakened me from my post-less stupor. The Spinal Tap references are waay too easy, so I'll barely even go there...


Ugh, I'd LOVE a pledge from Shimano not to follow suit...but that would just be wishful thinking - they're probably already dreaming of the 12-sp 12-23 straight-block cassette...