I appear to be a masochist

I've got scheduled to day what promises to be a truly punishing ride.

40 miles, and roughly 3500' of climbing. But to top it all off, it's going to be at least 90 degrees out. That's ridiculously hot for around here. At this point, I'm just hoping to keep hydrated. There are plenty of parks along the way if water is needed (as it probably will be).

Dan's going to have to stop daring me to make hard rides. Planning the routes isn't hard. Finishing them is the problem. :)

What I've Been Up To

It's been a while since my last post. My "racing" schedule is officially over and I've taken some time off from the bike. Add to that some new, exciting, and busy stuff at work and I'm behind on so many things. (over at http://excelninja.blogspot.com I will be chronicling my new adventures at work as well as other tech stuff I come across.)

Firstly, race reports for my very first tri (yes it's been 2 months) and the Seattle to Portland ride are coming shortly.

Now onto this week. I started this week fully intending to bike to and from the office every day. It's only 8 miles each way with about 300-400 ft of climbing. I figured if I could ride 100 miles in one go, I should be able to go 80 miles in 10 rides during the week.

Man was I wrong.

Monday was fine. Legs were tired afterwards, but they were fine for Tuesday. Tuesday morning was even fine, but the legs were complaining a bit more. On the ride home that day, my right calf nearly cramped up (almost identical to what happened in the tri). It hurt and was very tight so yesterday and today were rest days.

I've tried to figure out what happened, especially since it's the second time, and because last time this happened I had to stop running. It may have been dehydration. My other thought was a lactic acid build up. Those are the only things I can think of that are common between the two occurrences.

I've done a lot of stretching as that helped last time, and tomorrow I'm going to bike into work as pedaling helped last time, too. But I still feel like my calf is on the verge cramping all day long. Anyone have any other thoughts?

For now I'll keep working towards biking to and from the office every day and will start getting to those core workouts I keep putting off.

Open letter to Carlos Sastre

Dear Carlos:

I've heard you are having a rough tour. Most of the attention is on the Astana boys. It's a hard life. The tour organizers wouldn't let you wear last year's yellow jersey in the opening stage. Every reporter asks you about those same Astana boys instead of your chances of winning. It's a hard life. But what are you going to do?

I think you answered that nicely. Instead of saying that we will all see your strengths play out in the next few stages, fireworks will fly, etc., instead of that, you say that you feel that "certain riders" are consipiring to make sure you do not win the tour?!?! A conspiracy? Do you know how sports work? 180 riders started the Tour de France this year. Out of those riders 171 of them do not want you to win. That's right, every one that is not on your team doesn't. want. you. to. win. That is not what I would call a consipiracy. That's competition. Everyone out there either wants to win or wants their teammate to win.

Going into the Tour you were a favorite, among an impressive list of riders. Armstrong, Contador, Leipheimer, the Schleck brothers, Evans, etc. What have you done to prove you should be the winner?

I mean no disrespect. Really. The media has probably been unfair, but they usually are. They chase stories that are exciting, and being nearly 4 minutes down on one of the best climbers in the peloton means they probably don't sense you are a threat. But maybe that was your strategy all along.

If you want the attention and the respect, go get it. Attack, and attack hard. Make up those minutes, then punish the other riders by attacking again. There are only a few stages left, best get going.

Sincerely,

Jayson

STP and twitter

I'm officially signed up for twitter. Tomorrow is the Seattle-to-Portland ride. 204 miles of sunshine and bike riding. What more could you ask for?!

Well, I will be posting periodic updates (not while riding of course!) of where I am if you care to follow. Goto www.twitter.com/guitarthrower and look for the #STP tags.