TimothyH

Today (tonight) I taped chemical warmers to my toes and had them inside my gloves.

Toasty warm at 35°F. Had to open my jacket quite a bit. So nice.

hairnet

Nice score! It's been a while since I dug up some curbside treasure, it's always fun.

TMonk

did some bike racing today in case anyone is interested:

12/9/2018 CBR Off Season Criterium Series Results:

Cat 3: 1/16

Slow race, a little surge-y but not difficult at all. I knew who the fast guys were either personally and/or by paying attention to who had points in the series. I also knew that I didn't want to wait until the last straight because I'd have trouble beating these guys in a drag race. I started my sprint with a bit over two corners to go, and took a fast line on the inside with a ton of momentum. I could tell that I had a gap which is great so I got low and just squeezed as hard as I could. Felt like I was pedaling through sand after the last corner but I still had enough to hold it up the long final straight.

Cat 2/3: 6/50+

Frustrated with not doing better in this one. A group of 3-4 was off the front with 40 out of 60 minutes still remaining, when the series leader made an attack to bridge up, so I grabbed his wheel. We were clear with maybe 1 or 2 more and after some re-shuffling/riders getting dropped, a solid group of 4 formed and we were working together smoothly, slowly pulling away from the field. Another group of 2 bridged up, one of whom would eventually win. With 5 to go the field was out of sight and it was clear I was in the winning group.

Someone sprinted right where I did in the cat 3 race and I caught his wheel instantly. When he slowed, I should have just powered on and maybe got a podium spot, even though it would have hurt pretty bad. Instead I let myself recover, got "swarmed" by my break companions going into the last corner and just got a little psyched out. Damn!

Cat 3/4: DFL/IDK

There are a couple newer cat 4's on the team that are strong so I wanted to help some of them out. Despite everyone having raced already it was still fairly fast, and each time I hit the front I was pretty gassed. My teammates didn't do much or ask for much help anyway, so instead of risking it in those final few laps I just tail gunned to the finish.

Overall I'm pleased with my fitness and excited to keep training and earn more points in early 2019!

websterrr

nice work! that is a solid day of racing

TMonk

thanks man. pretty happy with the way things went. in retrospect getting up at 4:30 AM (for a 7:30 AM start time in LA) was worth it!!!



solo podium shot - I missed the official photo (oops)

mouse

Heck yah! Nice job

j_e_r_e_m_y

Well done, sir!

j_e_r_e_m_y

Today I learned more about the technical aspects of remotely controlled HVAC systems than I would have expected was possible in 8 hours. Kudos to the great instructor we recently hired, the guy has a way of making this stuff easy to understand. For once in my life, I'm legit excited that work is teaching me useful skills that will have long term, lasting value. Just hoping having the next few days off (had to burn excess vacation days, use 'em or lose 'em and all that) doesn't have a negative impact on retaining that newfound knowledge once training resumes next week.

TMonk

Nice, HVAC is an essential skill that can be pretty technical. There will always be a need for HVAC work, no matter how big or how small the project.

j_e_r_e_m_y

Thanks, and true that. I'm lucky I was able to parlay a pretty common and unremarkable "skill" - customer service - into the opportunity to develop a more marketable skill that can lead to better, more interesting things. Such as increased income that allows for more bike related expenditures

veganbikes

Customer service is really not that common and unremarkable. Good customer service and sales ability are harder to come by. It seems like it could be common but sadly it is not in this digital age where you can completely avoid talking to someone to get something. So many old school folks are going by the wayside and more folks who just don't care or aren't getting paid enough to want to do a decent job are moving in and the training is getting poorer and poorer in some places or it is commission based and then you are all sorts of wonky. However I am glad you are learning more skills so you can get that paper and buy more bike stuff. That is what life is all about working hard to buy bike stuff that you don't ride much...I think??? LOL.

TMonk

This morning I took a 1/2 day off at work so I could ride my "roadie" for 90 miles. Gonna slave at my desk for another couple hrs then get ready to ride back home, will clock out at a bit over 100 for the day.

girl you know I keep it 100

TMonk

Would also like to add that I plan on riding my "fixie" tomorrow morning for a little over half that much. No PTO usage = pre-dawn start for Tmonk.

j_e_r_e_m_y

Today I marked 4 consecutive days of biking to work after getting way too lazy about it for a while. Feels good, even though the morning ride at 6am has been pretty dang frigid here in MKE.

Broctoon

Today I'm reading about TMonk's training commitment and his recent race performance, and I feel like a lazy slug by comparison.

I like to ride bikes, but I just don't possess that level of commitment. I have, however, never missed my goal this year, which was to ride every day (Sundays excepted). Twelve more rides and I'll have a perfect year. Haven't totaled up my mileage, but it should come in somewhere around 2200.

I'm pleased with myself for having gotten out even in the worst weather, or after long days at work... and especially for sticking with it even after I broke my wrist.

So we have guys like Monk (and others) who are absolutely killin' it, and those who call themselves cyclists but only get out once or twice a week. I'm somewhere in between those extremes, and I'm fine with that.

mouse

Said it before, I'll say it again... YOU'RE A MONSTER!

Most people don't even drive that much in a day!

That's a good goal to set! I get a ride in most days, but I think I'll follow your lead and add that to my list of goals for 2019.

TMonk

Thanks dude, hoping to try a ride of that magnitude on the Wabi soon!

Truth be told, I know some dudes that make me look pretty small-time, both in performance and in mileage. Buddy of mine just clocked 25,000 mi. for the year - no joke. Like World Tour pro level mileage.

But I'm not too bad myself and poised to be better than ever in 2019. Already won a race in preparation! Hoping to secure my road upgrade by May and then switch focus to track, maybe some XC MTB for fun.

klhada

Today I rode my FG with a wide riser handlebar. DAMN, talk about fun. It's just like an anorexic bmx

TMonk

As you should be! In my opinion, there’s no point in trying to decipher whether or not one is more or less of a cyclist. And just like you I’m somewhere in the middle as well. In my book, if you’re enthusiasm for bikes has legs that runs multiple years, you’re a cyclist. And that enthusiasm can be in the form of riding, racing, collecting, building or working on them.

At the end of the day all forms of cycling are cool and bikes are rad.

As for me I’m engaged now and I have marriage, children and (hopefully) home ownership in my 3-5 year plan, hopefully towards the sooner portion of that window. I realize after that point my priorities will change and I’ll have less time to train, so I see these as my golden years on the bike. I’m trying to do it up!

I’d also like to add that I decided to sleep for another 45 minutes this morning so my ride on the Wabi will be shortened a bit. I think I needed it



Ain't that what it's all about! Do it up! For a while I was borrowing a co-workers fully rigid 26" SS MTB after college, felt like a big-boy BMX bike, total blast. A little scary on some rocky and rooty sections, but fun.

Broctoon

Word! *


I guess it's fine for a guy to call himself a cyclist even if he only gets out occasionally. It isn't really about riding frequency, distance, or intensity, but whether you simply love bikes.


My goal this year was just to ride daily. I didn't set a specific target for distance or any other metric. I really just wanted to see if I could do it, regardless of weather, health, time constraints, etc. I hoped I would learn a lot about what works for me, especially when it comes to clothes and lighting. I did. I also hoped I would have lots of fun and deepen my enjoyment of biking. I, ah... sort of did that. Many days I just wasn't feeling it and had to force myself to go.


Now I need to make a goal for 2019. I will be in Europe for a few months, in a situation that probably won't allow me to take a bike or to buy one there. Then I'm taking my family on a two week vacation, again with little opportunity to ride. So it's not realistic to set a daily goal, or even a weekly or monthly goal for distance, number of rides, or anything like that. Maybe I'll come up with an annual mileage goal and keep in mind that I have to make a big push during the 9.5 months that I have a bike available, to make up for the down times. Or maybe I'll just have a goal to do either a good ride or a good run every day. Have to give that some more thought.


* In the 'hood, that's how we say, "You're absolutely right, my friend."

Dannihilator

Today I rode some, if that some was running to the post office.

mouse

hay

mouse

Thanks amigo!!
Love geekin out on little details

mouse