Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

I guess this should have been expected at some point. That chink in the armor that can cause one to realize he is not the uber training machine he would like to be. So just what, brothers and sisters, has caused such great remorse? None other than the dreaded missed training day.

Looking back over my diary I have logged roughly 120 hours since my training began in December. This is less time on the saddle than a number of riders have this time of year, but it is a pretty decent number for me at this point in the season. Due to the terrible weather we have had this winter only approximately 20 of these hours were outside on the road. This means I have spent 100 hours on the trainer in my living room sweating away to videos of classic bike races from Europe, Australia and the good 'ole U.S. of A.

I have a video of Johan Museeuw's victory in the 2002 Paris Roubaix (which I've watched more than a few times this winter). During the commentary in this race Phil Liggett states that Museeuw would ride the trainer as many as 6 hours a day to help get himself in top form for the Spring Classics. Johan's dedication to training is especially impressive to anyone who has tried to log in more than a few hours on the trainer at any one time.

Anyway, back to today's missed training session. I could site a few excuses for missing my training tonight such as the 1 1/2 hours it took me to commute through snow to my out of town job this morning and the resulting delay in leaving work that caused me to arrive home at almost 8:00 pm. But in reality I was just mentally cooked and didn't have the energy to climb on the bike. This is the time of year when Spring is so close we can taste it and the desire to get out on the road is overwhelming. However, this is also the time of year when burnout can be a problem. Some nights I literally feel like that proverbial hamster on a wheel and 100% of my limited mental fortitude is required to crank out a few indoor trainer hours.

There is arguably some degree of obsessive compulsive tendencies required to pursue bike racing. Why else would someone spend hours and hours inside on the trainer and then fret over one missed training day? This mystery is probably best left to greater minds than mine to sort out. My time is better spent psyching myself up to get on the bike tomorrow and make up for the time I missed tonight. Besides I have a race to get ready for this weekend. Unless the race is cancelled again due to snow. Then I'll need to spend that day cranking out a few hours of intervals on the trainer...

Don't call me dude!

"This aggression will not stand, man" - The Big Lebowski.

This video speaks for itself...

Race day? No way!

Well, this was planned to be my first race report of the season. However, Mother Nature had other ideas in mind and today's Tour of Pickaway County race has been postponed due to inclement weather. With one race under our belt Team Roll: was looking forward to hitting the road again today.

Our next scheduled race is Mid Ohio which will take place next Saturday at the classic sports car track in Lexington, Ohio.

I guess it will be another week on the trainer for me. At least I have a copy of the Tour Down Under DVD loaned to me by my teammate and all around good guy Marco to help the hours pass.

Andy Hampsten didn't let a little snow slow him down when he won the Tour of Italy in 1988!

Old School - Winning Bicycle Racing Illustrated

I originally became interested in cycling while attending Ohio State in the mid-eighties. During this time I came across an issue of Winning Bicycle Racing Illustrated at a bookstore and after looking through the glossy pages filled with the latest bikes, equipment and racing news I was hooked. I first subscribed to the magazine in 1985 and kept it going through 1991.

A few months ago I was going through some old boxes in my attic and found all 7 years of these magazines. Looking through some of these old classic magazines I realize that a great deal of cycling history and innovation took place during this period of time. Some of these innovations include the development of clipless pedals, composite frames and the brake lever shifters all of us now take for granted. During this same period an American cyclist from Minnesota named Greg Lemond made history by winning 3 Tours de France from 1986 to 1990. All this and more is captured in this old musty stack of magazines.

In the May '91 issue that features Phil Anderson on the cover wearing his Motorola kit, there is an article about a 19 year old Texan racing as an amateur on the Subaru Montgomery race team. As I'm sure you have guessed, this rider was Lance Armstrong. Lance was quoted in the interview as saying "I want to go to the (Barcelona) Olympics in 1992, then turn professional and race in Europe". Needless to say Lance made good on his dreams and made cycling history. The July '91 issue features an article about a promising 17 year old junior cyclist named George Hincapie who raced for the G.S. Mengoni amateur team. This same issue included an article about Johan Bruyneel who was racing for Lotto and was predicted to be Belgium's best finisher in the upcoming Tour de France.

Watch for monthly "Old School" posts that will feature pictures and other tidbits from these classic magazines.

Nice Hair Lance!

Show me the money!

Congratulations to former OSU basketball coach Jim Obrien! Today the Ohio Supreme Court declined The Ohio State University's appeal of Jimbo's $2.2 million dollar wrongful termination award. Jim is happy, the university is dissapointed and everyone can now get on with their lives.

Don't get me wrong, Jim made a mistake when he gave $6000.00 to a player and some disciplinary action was in order. But the university made a knee-jerk reaction and terminated Jim Obrien before taking all the proper steps. I can't help but be happy for the underdog in this case. Too bad it took so long to end.

I wonder if Jim would be interested in sponsoring a local bike racing team with some of his new found green?