More pictures

First Big Kahuna in 2003. One of my first half-iron distance races. The water was so cold that year it took me almost 10 minutes in transition to warm up and get going. I was told the swim course was too long--it surely felt that way. My total time was 5:39:05 and I was 13th in my age group. I swam for almost 1 hour (52:01) and was thoroughly frozen. The bike leg on my old Merckx that John Cobb thought was way too small for me. Last shot is near the finish on the beach, Annelise tried to run into the chute with me but I did not see her coming so I ran past her.

FROZEN!!

On the bike, a 2:36:19

Finish, Annelise in the background

Photo Interlude

During my absence from blogular posts, a few photographs to entertain you.

The top tube of the Parlee after it was fixed

With the IM Canada sticker

It seems the guys from down under are going to win everything this year. A New Zealand win in Paris Nice, another New Zealander in Driedaagse and an Australian in Kuurne. To say nothing of what happened in Arabia.

Oakland

This defunct furniture was dumped on Marlborough Terrace in the Oakland hills yesterday. It was witnessed by a neighbor who told the offenders she would call the police. She did but nobody cares or maybe the City thinks this is a suitable art nouveau installation? That is Oakland for you.

I took a break yesterday. Unfortunately, it is raining today. Kreitler Rollers of course: 1hr 15 minutes, 1,205 calories.

art installation on Marlborough Terrace

Also tried this Belgian beer recently: St Feuillien. It is now pretty big in California. A Tripel much like Tripel Karmeliet but I prefer the latter. 

St. Feuillien in a generic glass

Finally, congrats to Thomas De Gendt, a big victory in Paris Nice! Alberto also showed his mettle in the Tour of Murcia.

Couldn't resist

Gas prices are going up

And up..

12 mile run in the Berkeley Hills, on Strawberry Canyon trail. Overcast with occasional sun, 12C/54F. Started out to do 7 but ended up doing 12!!

Endurance racing: it's not about horses or cars. It's all about human power!

Taking a break

Yesterday I found out that I passed my power based training exam. I heard from the cycling manager that I had been power licensed for some time, but nobody had notified me and he could not tell me exactly what happened or why. In any case I am happy to say that I passed the test and if you have any questions regarding training with power, feel free to contact me.

I also want to let everyone know that I will be taking a break from this blog for a while. I am not sure how long yet, but 1 to 3 weeks seems in order. During that time I want to think more about the future of the blog and what direction I want to take in. I want to thank all my readers for sticking with me, and for all the comments I received -although most were not posted here, but arrived on facebook, or in emails, or in conversations with friends.

This blog has been undergoing a steady metamorphosis. It started out as a way for me to keep track of my workouts and write an occasional piece about my racing and training experience. Then I added more comments about training in general, but last year after the summer after a brief recess, I took a different tack and began writing about Belgium and bike racing in Belgium. That dramatically increased my readership but it also brought on a lot of extra work. Although I was able to promote the blog with some measure of success, the increased workload is catching up to me.

Look here for information on cyclist housing in Belgium.
Look here for information on traveling to Belgium to race.
Look here for information on what you need to race your bike in Belgium.
Look here for information on how to read the race calendar.


And that is why I have to say, later. Hang in there and check back in a few weeks.

Wildcards

Bjorn Leukemans' solo performance ended 6 km from the finish today, depriving victory-starved Belgium of yet another win in the early season. The GP Samyn is the season opener for Wallonia. The race was won by 24 yr old Dominic Klemme from Germany. It also marks the first victory for the LAY-o-par Trek Team. Belgian Kevin Ista found the race "three hundred meters too long." Last year's edition was won by neo-pro Jens Keukeleire, who also won the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, and Nokere Koerse.

In much anticipated news, Flanders Classics gave out seven wildcards for the Ronde (4/3). The wildcards also apply to Dwars door Vlaanderen (3/23), Gent-Wevelgem (3/27), Scheldeprijs (4/6) and Brabantse Pijl (4/13). Three went to Belgian teams, Landbouwkrediet, Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator and Veranda's Willems-Accent. The others went to Dutch team Skil-Shimano, and the French Teams Cofidis, Europcar and Française des Jeux.

And speaking of wildcards, Alberto Contador announced that he will ride the Giro. That is, of course, if UCI will let him. Matti Breschel on the other hand is suffering from knee pain and the Danish rider from Rabobank is likely to miss all the classics.

Vacansoleil canceled Flavio Mongiardo's contract. Flavio was Riccardo Ricco's personal trainer. Flavio, who calls Ricco a personal friend, denies all wrongdoing.

Of course the biggest wildcard of them all is whether Steve Jobs will appear at the iPad2 event in San Francisco. I can tell you that this matter is now resolved, and Steve has appeared, not looking any skinnier or worse than he looked at previous events. His enthusiasm is every bit as infectious as it was before. Now we can only wait and see if the iPad2 will live up to its hype?

Bike culture

Much has been said and written about bike culture. The topic is a favorite for infamous bicycle blogger Eben Weiss, aka as the snob. I will leave it to said individual to poke fun of bike culture in all its forms. Personally I just want to address the notion that cyclists are environmentalists. It is a notion that is rather widespread and it is one of the reasons why cyclists evoke the ire of some drivers, in particular those who prefer oversized pickups and SUV's.

People assume that just because one rides a bike one must be opposed to cars and driving. But nothing could be further from the truth. Cyclists, and especially racers, gladly drive hundreds or even thousands of miles to ride their bikes for a few hours at most. As a matter of fact, most California racers drive at least an order of magnitude more miles to get to their races, than they do racing.

And if you think cyclists drive Prius's think again. Most cyclists I know drive monster SUV's or vans. Even when it comes to carpooling the track record is poor. Although most cars arriving at a race venue contain more than one person, the rule is one racer per car. Much the same applies to century and double century riders. Or mountain bikers getting to that trail head, three miles from home...

It is sad to say, but most cyclists are not even what I would call environmentally conscious. They don't even consider the impact their hobby has on the environment. At best, they support a token environmentalism that consists of getting angry at individuals who throw candy bar wrappers and gel packages on the ground.

It is also instructive to note that many cyclists make fun of global warming. None other than Johan Bruyneel posted pictures of his snowy Madrid back yard last winter with the rhetorical question, "Global warming?"

Speaking of cars, none other than Peter van Petegem was seen on the Paris-Roubaix cobbles. This time he wasn't riding his bike with Alberto Contador. Instead he was driving behind Thor Husovd, the current world champion who is dreaming of winning the classic in his rainbow jersey. No word if Husovd is staying at Le Pave.

Van Petegem was quoted as saying," I found it instructive to drive a car over the cobbles. I will do that a few more times, and I will return with Thor after the Tour." The appropriate bike culture hipster response to this (and I warn you, unsafe for work) is:  All you environmentalists (...).

I noted yesterday that Cadel is taking it easy in preparation to become the oldest Tour de France winner in recent history -or much of history for that matter. Not so with missile man Mark Cavendish. The Brit is going to race the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta this year. Mark may not be the oldest, but he is certainly bringing back old time competitiveness.

When it comes to old and old glory though, nothing can match the return of none other than Alexi Grewal, of 1984 Olympic fame. Alexi's return has rekindled the warm feelings Americans had when one of theirs first won an Olympic gold medal in cycling.

The 1984 Olympic team is also famous, or should I say infamous for the extensive use of blood doping. Although the practice was legal at the time, it is something people would rather forget. Maybe that is why Alexi preferred to hit the issue head on as he did in this (largely forgotten) VeloNews essay.