Dopers Suck

I saw this picture on another biker's blog, and I just couldn't resist stealing it for my own. Priceless, wouldn't you say. The tour ended yesterday, and I'm glad it's over. I didn't follow the race too closely this year, in large part due to the rampant use of perfomance enhancing drugs. It's assholes like this one pictured above that have really ruined a sport that I used to take great interest in. I'm not even convinced that the athletes standing on the podium yesterday in Paris were all clean. On a brighter note, had a great ride yesterday in spite of the long work weekend. Hugh, Chris, Rob, and I did a 25 mile mountain ride with 3,214 ft. of climbing in just over 2.5 hours yesterday. My legs felt like complete crap all day.....until I got on the bike. I felt awesome for the majority of the ride, and I was even able to duke it out with Hugh on all of the HC climbs featured in yesterday's route. Day off the bike today for scheduled trail maitenance. Gotta get the trail ready for WNR at Headquarters this week. Hope to see everyone there, the trail should be in great shape.

Ugotta Regatta

For those not in the know, this marks the weekend where a large group of wealthy sailors visit the town to drop off thier annual donations. I've been up at four the last two mornings in order to meet Kate at the store at five. This picture of the moon setting over the water is just about the only good thing I have to say about getting up that early. It was so darn pretty I just had to stop at the Angel Farm for a quick snapshot. I'm doing a three hour ride this afternoon with the boys to replicate the Ore to Shore that's coming up in just two short weeks. This should be a real interesting ride after two back to back 12 hr. days at the office. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Until next time, ride well and take care.

SBYC

Had a great time at the yacht club yesterday. Chris, Rob, Matt and I did a little mountain bike ride before hitting the sand and surf, and the North Country is in pretty good shape overall. The beach was great. The water was perfect, and there were no bugs to speak of. Curiously, there was not a soul over 40 in attendance yesterday. We'll have to consult the old guard to find out how long it's been since that was the case. I'm willing to bet it's been a while though. Mitchell developed a new spa treatment for the beach. He's calling it the Sturgeon Bay Special, and it is available in small, medium, and large sizes. He fills a bucket with a bucket with a mixture of sand and water. Then he slowly drips the mixture over your feet in whatever size you ordered. I had two large treatments throughout the evening, and it actually feels pretty good. We're thinking next week he can start charging fifty cents a treatment. WNR this week at the corner of Stuts. and Pleasantview. Be there or be square.

Stupid Crap on the Web

It was actually slow enough at work for me to do a little surfing today. I found some funny ass videos on YouTube, and so far this on takes the cake. I can't even really figure out what this guy was trying to do, but it sure looks like it hurt. Take care.

Cyclocross

The idea of cyclocross racing has occupied a space in the back of my mind for some time now. This is the year I'm going to make it happen. The list of pros is just too long to ignore: One, all four races in November fall on a Sunday (we're closed on Sundays in the off season). Two, they are all in the Grand Rapids area which is only 3.5 hours away. Three, the entry fee is only $15 per race. Four, it'll keep me training until I can start cross country skiing. Five, it's something new to do on a bike (always a good thing). I've been scoping out the cross bikes online, and the best deal I found seemed to Cannondale's entry level model. I stopped into Latitude the other day to check out availability, and they just happened to have a 58cm (my size) in stock. The stars truly have aligned. I'm going to take her out for a test drive next Thursday morning after yoga. The best part of all: the bike is a lovely blue.

Getting on with the job at hand

Currently the job at hand happens to be fitting in workouts with my insane work schedule. I've gotten my plan tweaked a little for July, and it looks like I'm going to be able to hold onto my form through to the Ore to Shore. On the WNR (thursday because of independence day) this week I really pushed the envelope for the first time since the Lumberjack, and it actually felt pretty good. Hugh was right on my wheel the whole time though, he just won't be dropped. I really don't have anything interesting to report, so I've just included this video that Scott filmed at the end of the ride last thursday. Side note: He's currently on the injured reserve due to a cruiser bike crash up in the village just over a week ago. Next weeks ride will be in Cross Village at the aforementioned injured riders house. Hope to see you there, and keep the rubber side down.