Not much time to post, once again it's back to dealing with doctors so our days are all messed up. Another inconclusive test result from last weeks MRI which I guess is a good thing. Now it's time to test out a different drug as the last one I tried really messed up my training. Then that's it for the ENT doc's and the next step is the neurologist. If that wasn't bad enough Jobro ended up going in for a root canal on a tooth he broke last fall. The dentist built it back up and it looked pretty good but it started hurting him the past few days and today it was time to take action. He got through the procedure just fine so he's good to go. Wonder what's going to happen next?
Rode up to Leavenworth last weekend and caught this view of the Missouri river flooding. Still makes me wonder what it looked like a month ago at the floods crest. I saw something on the news about the stench and junk that will be left over after the water recedes . I rode up the newly reopened Hwy 5 and found out that they were right, it did stink.
Game #1 for Jobro this season was a night game at the OP soccer palace. The boys played great for their first time on a full sized field and managed a tie. Pretty good way to start the season!
I've been following a bunch of people I know that went out to the Leadville 100 MTB race just to see how the did. Tons of great post race stories and I don't think anybody ever goes away disappointed no matter how their race went. After that was over I started following the Breck Epic race. The main reason I was interested was that Kansas transplant Cameron Chambers was in the race. Cam is a super talented mountain biker and a former National 24 hr champ. He lives in Colorado Springs, CO now but it's still fun to keep track of what he's up to. You should check out his blog on the Stumpjumper Trail Crew site. Here's the link to the site. Check it out, he writes a great post race report.
For me it's another week rolling around KC. Tomorrow I'll make another attempt at the Hill ride. The last few weeks I've went on this ride and have managed to get dropped by the 14 yr olds and most the old guys with hairy legs. Oh well, have to keep at it, the last thing to come back is all ways the climbing legs!
The end is near for the boys, two more days of summer vacation and then it's back to school. The past week is a off week for all of us as there are no summer camps the final week of the summer. With that in mind we've just been kicking back and relaxing at home.
If you know of anybody looking for a light fork for their cross bike I've got 2 Alpha Q forks for sale. They retailed for over $500.00 each when they were new but I'll let then go for way less than that. Let me know if you are interested.
Got my care package from Bob's Red Mill today. All you have to do is go here and sign up for the Train with Grain program. Tons of great products but the Steel Cut Oats are still my favorite.
Old school shoe drying methods are still the best! At least it was a warm rain.
I knew that it was going to rain when I left the house but it started looking pretty nasty so I turned around and headed for home. I was close, it started raining about a mile from the house. Good thing I was close, water I can deal with, lightning, not so much.
I can't remember where I got this picture, I think it was off Facebook, but check out Brad Cole sporting his Mercy kit on the MTB. Pretty sweet!
There's a ton of racing going on this weekend, MTB, road. Of course I'm not ready for anything this weekend but maybe next week.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
I saw that there was a pretty cool article written on our boy Joe Schmalz in Road Magazine
. It's great to see him get some press after getting some great results this year. Road Magazine is a pretty cool but it's pretty pricy to buy. I never thought about the online version until Brian Hardy put the link to Joe's article on Facebook. It's pretty easy to page through the article and it starts on pg 40.
Not too much new for me, still battliing the injury bug and it's driving me crazy. The stitches came out and have healed nicely. I thought I could start riding hard again but was reminded yesterday that I don't heal as quickly as I used to when we hit a double set of train tracks and the bouncing made me feel like someone hit me in the shin with a 2x4. Oh well, I'll just have to be mellow a little longer.
I've really been wanting to ride North and check out the flooding in Parkville. Since the water has started receding the flood has fallen of peoples radar but there is still a lot of water out there.
In fact, it looks like the water has really only dropped a foot or so from it's high water mark. The line through the middle of the picture is actually the edge if the Missouri river. There were cyclocross races here last year but it looks like they may have to find a new venue this year.
Last fall Curly, Jobro, and I went out to watch the cross races the the river was down here. The bank of the river is to the left of the picture and about 20ft up. Pretty amazing how much water there is now and how long it's been here. I'm pretty sure that I-29 is still closed in Iowa due to the flood so it's still bad up there as well.
Here's a new addition to my sock collection. Choch gave me these and they will go nicely with my new Source Endurance kit.
Getting close to cross time! I may have to bring the waffle iron to the races this year so Bill and I can have something to eat on our early morning race day setups.
A few people asked about Carly lately so here she is. I think she is going to be on the small side as far as Labs go but that's ok.
This is where we were with Curly's front teeth, as in there were none! Seems that the gums had become like leather and the teeth couldn't push through. A little work with a scapel in the periodontists office and he now has all 4 teeth poking through. It's been a week and I think the teeth are now dropping down as they should. Yea!!! Kind of had me spooked that he would never have front teeth!
Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I have a appointment to get a MRI of my head to look for causes for my migraines/ear issues. I got a call today from KU Med and answered some pre test questions and the first thing he mentioned was do I suffer from claustrofobia? Ummm yep, I do. So tomorrow it's going to be a mind over matter test to see if I can handle being in the tube. I think drugs may be in order for this one since I had a reaction when he even mentioned the tube. It's weird that I never had clausturofobia until I started having issues with my ear but as the ear/balance issues have progressed so has the claustrofobia. I'll let you know how that one goes tomorrrow.
The last post I did was 2 weeks ago after the fiasco that was the Omaha/KC race weekend. Since then I've had a few things happen that pretty much took me out of the posting mood. Where to start........... In the week following the urgent care/ER session I actually rode to work a few days and my leg felt pretty good. The problem was any time that I was standing, like at work, it began to hurt and just wouldn't stop until I put it up. On top of that it was keeping me up at night with the dull pain and occasional bump from my other leg. Bummer, but I could deal with it. During all of this I went in to the ENT clinic and got tested for Mineres Disease. This disease causes progressive hearing loss until deaf. Great week.
That brings me to this week. Monday Curly and I went in to a periodontist to see why his front teeth are not coming in. Turns out that his gums have become too tough for his teeth to push through so a little surgery is needed to get that to happen. Oh Yea... Tuesday it was my turn to see a doctor. I went in to get my stitches removed and to see why my leg still hurts. Turns out that my fibula has two small fractures and there might be some infection in there as well. Back on antibiotics with orders to keep all exercise low impact. Wednesday I got a break with no doctors visits but Thursday it was back to the ENT office to find out test results. The test was negative for Menieres diseases but did show something else that will require a CT scan to check out. At least it is really becoming apparent that there is a connection between my migraine headaches and vertigo. Not so happy about going in the tube to have my head scanned but at this point I'll do whatever it takes. That brings us to Friday and by now I'm totally fried. Just making it through the day was a victory.
So now it's the weekend and Curly and I have just been kicking back and relaxing. You may have noticed that I have not mentioned Mathgeek or Jobro and that's because they have been at Boy Scout Camp all week.
Speaking of injuries, here's Chad Reed getting really lucky to remain uninjured after this fall. Reminds me why I ended my motocross career. I crashed in a similar manner and ended up riding to the hospital in the back of a pickup truck. Just about lost a kidney from that one.
On a much more positive note we stripped all of our back up bikes and now they are just waiting for the SRAM parts to show up. Soon it will be time to start building.
Here's the parts kits that we pulled off the bikes. The kit includes Oval concepts wheels, stem, and seat post, Utlegra ders and shifters, FSA Slk cranks with 50-34 chain rings. I'm not sure about the bars as I never even unwrapped them. All this can be yours for the low price of $1000.00. We have 9 full build kits like this and for the price it's a steal. If you are interested let me know and I can hook you up.
I got a Challenge trucker hat and right away Curly tried to steal it from me!
Jobro as he was heading for Boy Scout camp. Bet he doesn't look so fresh now that he's been at camp in 100 degree weather for a week.
So tomorrow we begin another week with Curly's dental surgery which is a major bummer but is all good if it helps his teeth. Once we get past Monday it's finally time to get back on the bike and get started training again.
The past weekend the plan was to run up to Omaha for the criterium portion of the Omaha Cycling Weekend on Saturday and then head for home and do the MTB race KC on Sunday. I knew it was going to be hot in Omaha but I had no idea that the humidity would be so high. At least we had a 8pm start time so temps were going to get a bit cooler than during the day.
Today the temperature at the MTB race was going to be HOT, at 100 degrees in the woods, there is no other way to describe it. So after arriving home from Omaha at 3am I rolled out to Shawnee Mission Park for the race. I did bring plenty of water and ice so I was prepared for the heat. What I wasn't prepared for was the trails. It's been a while since I've ridden trails at speed and the trails in the park are not overly technical but they are covered in rocks. Oh well, I was going into the race just to start getting more time in on the mtb so it was all good.
I picked up these super sweet GamJams Socks at the crit in Omaha. So with my cool new socks I set out for the start of the race. With a mile long gravel road start we rolled off into the course and I rolled into the singletrack in 2nd place. Shortly after that the leader fell and left me in 1st. Now that really wasn't my plan, I really needed to follow someone since I didn't pre-ride the course and my bike handling was a little rusty. But I took off and built a pretty big gap over 2nd place by the end of the 1st lap. Rolling into the singletrack at the start of the 2nd lap was where things started to go bad. As soon as I got in the rocky section of the course I could tell that my back tire was starting to lose air. Soon I was starting to focus on not bottoming out my rear tire on the rocks instead of focusing on my lines.
About half way through the 2nd lap I managed to get near the edge of the trail and catch my pedal on something. Whatever it was it stopped me on a dime and over the bars I went. After rolling into the rocks I noticed that I was also sitting in poison ivy. Great! I ran back to my bike to find that my bars had spun around backwards and the rear tire was just about flat. I got the bars back around and started riding but it wasn't long before I had to stop and put some air in the tire. Twice I tried to put some air in the tire and twice it failed. Now that I was completely frustrated I started to become real aware that I was more than a little beat up and decided to call it a day. I figured a shortcut to get back to the start/finish area to get my cooler and then head for the car. Once there I figured out that my shoe was full of bloody water and the cuts in my leg were a little worse than I thought. So here I am, covered in posion ivy oil and bleeding, and to be honest, I was more freaked out about the poison ivy than the holes in my leg.
To make a long story short(er), I got home, used my poison ivy wash and then decided I needed to have someone look at my leg. Mathgeek drove me to the Urgent care where it was decided I needed to go to the ER at the hospital. Since the cuts went down to the bone the worry was that a vein or artery could of been nicked, or that the bone my have been chipped. So after some poking and prodding, a little hole expansion, it was decided that there were not other problems and they could stitch me up. In the end the total time spent in the UC/ER was 4 hours. I think the biggest bummer is that I'll have to miss the MTB race next weekend.
So much for my cool GamJams socks! Hope the blood comes out in the wash. This was after I tried to wash off most of the blood but it continues to bleed so it was time to pull out the emergency kit and wrap it up and head for home.
I can't forget about the Papillion Twilight Crit. The Mercy crew brought up 5 riders for the race and prepared for a fun night. We had a plan and it worked out pretty well. I decided to take it out hard from the start for a few laps to put pressure on the field. Once I eased up it was time for the rest of the crew to attack and counterattack until we got the breakaway that we wanted. It didn't take long for the break to go with Austin, Shadd, and Adam in it and Jason was back in the pack blocking and picking up primes. Where was I? Well, unfortunately those 4 laps at the beginning of the race made it really hard to recover and after dangling on the end of the field for a number of laps I got popped. From there on out it was just a training ride for me while Austin rolled in solo for the win with Shadd 2nd. And came in 4th and Jason 8th and picked up a prime or 2 for good measure.
So overall I'd have to say the weekend was really a bust for me. A pretty poor ride in Omaha and a crash today makes for a pretty crappy weekend of racing but for some reason I'm still ready to race. The road team has 2 big weekends of racing left in Chicago and St.Louis before the end of the year and there are still a few MTB races I want to hit.
Of course after that there's cross..................
Looks like Sunday there is a race at Shawnee Mission Park. Since we don't have anyone to do hand ups at Road Race in Omaha we decide to come home after Saturday night's race. It won't be any cooler in KC but at least I can stop for a bottle every lap. Oh yea, above is Nick Weighall from the Cal Giant/Specialized team goofing off in a dirt crit. Major style points!
Tomorrow I'm heading up to Omaha with a few of the guys from the Mercy crew for a crit. The race is sponsored by the Trek Stores so we want to get up there and do the race. It's going to be a bit of a challenge getting up there with Interstate 29 still underwater but it's just going to take a bit longer.
The tour has been pretty interesting so far. Mathgeek has gotten way into the race so it's fun to sit down and watch it together at night. The race itself has been pretty crazy but it was good to see Tom Danielson have a good day. Hope he continues to do well so Garmin can pull off the surprise of the race again. Tomorrow is going to be a good stage to watch with all of the climbing so I'm glad we don't race until 8pm. Time to fold some laundry and watch the end of today's stage.
A week ago was the Tour of Lawrence which was a so-so weekend for me. The first two races were terrible but I really had a great race on the final day. Monday the 4th I had went for a easy ride and felt good and I though I was
ready for a few hard workouts before a 4 day rest. Tuesday I found out how wrong I was, pre-race intervals were a disaster, and when Tuesday night Worlds got going I came off and headed for home. I guess I was more than ready for a rest. On that note, lets look at the pictures.......
Here's Joe Schmalz from the Elbowz team celebrating a big win at the Iron Hill Criterium in PA. This was race 5 of the US Criterium Series and puts him 9th overall as well. Another great ride for Joe, 2 wins in 2 weeks! I can't wait to see what he can do when he joins the KCCX/Fuji Cyclocross team this fall.
On the 4th we headed off to our annual Pool party at the Kesslers. Curly had a good time riding Jaws around the pool while we hung out with the adults. It felt really good to take a dip in the pool and scare all the kids with my bikers tan lines. Jobro on the other hand decided to go to a local pool with his buddies since there are only girls his age at the party. Wonder how long it will be before that changes, at his age it won't be long!
After the pool party we headed out to another friends place to watch the fireworks show. We got home around 11:00pm and the kids had to light some of the fireworks we bought the outside Lawrence. It didn't take long for some lights to go on in a few houses so we called it a night before they called the police.
Thursday I decided to go out and see if I could complete my scheduled interval workout. The problem was that I need a uninterrupted, flat, stretch of road and that just isn't going to happen close to the house. The next best thing is a long gradual hill and that I can find relatively close. Lets see if any KC folks can figure out what hill I was on by the sculptures nearby. The one above looks like the Terminator without any skin and was at the top of the hill.
I finished my intervals and they went very well proving that I am finally recovered and my legs are working again. I found this sculpture just down the road from the first sculpture. Pretty easy to find since it sits in the median.
A little further down the road I found this last sculpture. All three are pretty different from each other but still pretty cool. This reminds me that I need to change my routes a little more often. You can see so much more on a bike that I'm often surprised at what I missed when I was in the car. Anyway......guess what road I was on when I was doing my intervals and then you will know where the sculptures are.
Carly is still growing but I don't think she's going to get very big. Oh well, you never know what you are going to get when you rescue a pup. She is definitely smart....or lazy, I'm not sure which. She eats lying down and that could go ether way.
I've been watching the Tour de France this week and it has really been a crazy with all the crashes. Quite a few of the favorites have gone down and a number of them are out all ready. My personal favorite, Chris Horner went out in a scary crash that left him so concussed that he didn't know he finished the race. He actually rode the last 30k to finish last on the day.
Today's crash(s) were bad as well. The first one had guys walking out of the woods, some carrying injured riders. The 2nd one is the one that will get all the press. The video above shows a media car passing the riders in the break as it swerves to miss a tree on the side of the road. The car hits the riders and takes two of them out. Both riders eventually got up and finished the race but you have to wonder if they will continue after the rest day.
So that brings us to today, my 2nd day off the bike. Yesterday I was solo with the kids so I decided to get some projects done around the house. Last night I woke up with a mild case of Vertigo so there was no riding today with my head spinning. Tomorrow starts another week and by then I should be ready to ride. I'm hoping for a good training week before we head up to Omaha for the Omaha Cycling Weekend.
