Got stuff done?

I went for my recovery ride this morning; meandered to downtown St. Louis and back. I passed the "historic" Fox Theater along the way.

My mid-day tasks included getting Saris/Cycle-Ops to send me a new Powertap. It took more time for me to give the guy my address than it did to convince him to replace it. In fact, convince isn't really accurate; he offered to replace it. I have renewed faith in that company.

My afternoon workout was working on my structured warm-up (ask in person if you want me to explain). It was hot, the first time this year that I wanted to gasp cooler air than was available. Later in the evening I got a hold of CC to discuss testing and my training schedule.

Satisfied, Mostly

Sunday's Forest Park Criterium was almost a foregone conclusion: field sprint. Two years ago the race finished with a breakaway, but that was only because it was Jensen & Schroetlin with the two strongest teams blocking. With that said, I decided to sit in for the sprint.

Sitting in for the sprint was easy. It was boring. I'm not sure how people can do that all race. It's just not that fun. Early in the race a group of three had stayed away for quite a while, so when Zach (Mercy) and Jeff (ABD) (former teammates) told me that they were going to counter one of Mercy's moves, I decided to go for it. Jeff is/was undoubtedly the strongest time trialist at the race, so it could stick. We were off the front from minute 54 to minute 75. We were caught with just over 5 laps to go. The sprint was chaotic because it was too easy to sit in for the whole race. My legs were completely tapped, and I ended up 7th.

Feisty Felines

Toby and Sophie were roughhousing yesterday morning, and I was able to get a few good photos of it. It's usually in all in good fun, but some times it seems to go just a bit past play, into fighting. At times they'll lay near each other attending to their grooming duties, and other times they'll chase each other through the apartment. It's nice for Toby to have a friend to play with but it can become too much, like when they tipped over an end table last night and woke me up. I came out and they were both sitting there in the dark like, "What did I do? It wasn't me. It was like that when I got here."

Turin Notches a Win at Tour of St. Louis

Andy Lister won the Tour of St. Louis Carondelet Criterium today! I'm pretty sure it's the first Turin win of the season, and a solid one at that. Andy rode like I've never seen him ride before, dismantling the final breakaway. I for one could have been in better shape, but form is coming, and I was able to cover attacks and block where appropriate. A lapse of attention saw me get swarmed with 2 to go, and I had to empty the tank to get to where I needed to be for the sprint, forget about actually sprinting. 14th. I think this is the first race that I've actually finished this year. I think that's the way I'm going to play it this year. Do well for the team or do myself in. I'll update this post with photos if someone puts some online.

Friday, April 27

Today was great for riding. I rode west, into the wind through Clayton, Ladue, Creve Coeur, and into Chesterfield. On the way back, I passed a massive construction site that, when I was last in St. Louis, was an old Bell Labs building. Now, as you can see, it's just a big mess.

Erin and I met Ben for lunch, after which I drove him to the airport. While at his apartment I snapped a few photos, as requested, to prove that his apartment is actually as clean as has been claimed.

Tonight is WILD. OK Go is playing, and Erin's already on her way to the show. I had to stop at Big Shark to register for Tour of St. Louis at 5, which delayed my festivities, but I'll catch up.

Race the rain

The only predictable thing about St. Louis weather is that it's unpredictable. I met Richard 'round 10 o'clock at the Muny. It looked dangerously close to thunderstorms as we stopped at Kayak's so Richard could grab some food. The dark clouds blew past, leaving a howling wind from the south. This led us to switch directions and plow south along the riverfront, eventually taking us to Jefferson Barracks. We didn't finish a single lap before we happened upon Mike Weiss, owner and operator of Big Shark Bicycle Company. We rode laps in the barracks' park until the sky turned threatening again and we rode back to the loop area. It was good to catch up with Mike and hear stories from Tour of Georgia.

nope

No ride, so I figured an unrelated picture was in order. This one is of Chicago City Hall, site of the final scene in Blues Brothers.

First Tuesday Night of the '07

I drove down from Chicago today just in time to get on my bike and ride to the crit. The sky was threatening rain as I rode to the crit, but I figured I could always decide not to start. I rode the course, catching up with friends, and eventually overcame my fear of thunderstorms and registered. The crit was fun. I put in some good efforts. The sky however, did continue to darken. With about 10 minutes left in the crit, the rain, lightening, and thunder began. I made a full on effort, half hoping that they'd ring the bell. The bell came the lap later as I took refuge under a pavilion in the park.

Big City

I actually felt like riding my bike today. I didn't feel like I had to; I just wanted to. In the week I've been up in Evanston I hadn't ridden south into the city, so downtown Chicago became today's destination. I rode into the city via Clark St, tooled around the City Hall building, Sears Tower, Grant Park, and back via the lake front. Hopefully I'll accumulate a good collection of pictures of the city over the summer.

After watching the Amstel Gold race on TV and a skirt steak dinner I took to painting the floor of the basement. This painting job was particularly unpleasant because both the cleaner/degreaser and the paint have strong odors, and those are nothing in comparison to the paint thinner that I had to use to clean the oil based paint out of the brush. I'm glad to have a coat of paint on the floor though. I'll get some pictures in the morning.

Washed and Waxed

Greenleaf & Judson @ 8a.m.Did the Judson Ride this morning. I was on time this week. I was supposed to trash myself and that's exactly what I did. I didn't even wait to get into Winnetka to start stirring the pot. I either lead out or won most the sprints. I was happy with my wattage, and my riding. Plus you really can't complain about this weather.

After some relax time the Civic got a much needed thorough wash and wax today. I must say, my car was freakin' dirty. I had to go back with a damp rag to get all the grit, grim, and bird droppings off. After another break, I went to waxing. A couple hours later I had a shiny car. I waxed the roof twice. I'm going to hop in the shower in prep for a dinner with Don & Joanne.