My turn for fun in the mud

“Running is, uh, hard” — Lance Armstrong, Nov. 7, 2009, via Twitter.
I watched NE Ohio regional cross country meet and came away inspired. It was wet and muddy. It was hard. Everyone suffered. In short, it was epic.
Just the kind of thing I wanted to try … oh … the very next morning. [...]

A little competition is good for you

Ingredients for a funk:
- no more races on the calendar
- less daylight
- cold, rainy weather
- having to wear leg warmers, arm warmers, gloves, and booties
- looking at the calendar and seeing the really dismal months on the horizon
A good antidote: endorphins and a little competition.
After doing the Ohio Outside Trail Race I was surprised at [...]

A different kind of suffering

Wake up early on a Saturday morning. Drink coffee. Pack bag with race clothes and stuff for after the race. Eat. Drink more coffee. Head out to the Munroe Falls Metro Park.
Arrive to 35 degrees and rain. It feels just like a spring bike race. Only it’s the OhioOutside.com [...]

Suck wheel or get dropped?

Here’s the situation: you make what looks to be the winning breakaway. But quickly you realize that if you keep working at the same pace you’re likely to be dropped from the break.
What do you do? Sit on and be a wheel-sucker, or continue to work and most likely get dropped?
This was the [...]

Famous in Michigan

I wasn’t quite ready to say that I’ve done my last race for the season. But was I willing to get all my gear together, then get up at 5 AM then drive 3-plus hours in order for that to be so?
That’s always the test for me: do I feel motivated enough to go [...]

Mind your equipment

Some things don’t belong in races.
To the rider in the Shreve road race: you must remove that giant saddle bag attached to your bike. Especially since it contains a bunch of tools that clank around every time you hit a bump. But if you do insist on racing with it, you must at [...]

Racing with a pig?

I’ve been told that I’m a hypochondriac. A little sniffle or scratchy throat, and I proclaim that I must be coming down with something.
The truth is that when you ride just about every day, you notice when your body feels even a little different. And then you start thinking about how you’re training is [...]

Change of seasons

I’m officially marking the beginning of a new season. The other night I was flying down Winchell Road out by Hiram, and as I prepared to turn left onto Rapids, I found a recent batch of chip-and-seal waiting for me. Including a nice, deep pile of loose gravel in the turn.
The jogger on Rapids [...]

Some things should not be said

There are some things you just shouldn’t say out loud (or in email) before a race when there is even a chance of rain:
“2-1/2 hours to race time, so I think it will be mostly dry at that point”
“We may be a little wet at the start, but I don’t think it will be a [...]

Not-so-deep post-Superweek thoughts

After the last few weeks my jerseys are beginning to resemble pin cushions.
9 races in 15 days (Tour of the Valley + Westlake + Superweek) weakens your immune system, allowing you to catch the dreaded summer cold and waste the race fitness you just built.
A VW Passat wagon can fit a bike, 4 wheels, work [...]