hoshizora

My front derailleur cable housing exploded a few days ago, so I bought the parts to make the repairs, and yesterday evening I did them.

I built that bike from individual parts¹ precisely so I'd be able to do whatever repairs I would need to do, and it's turned out exactly how I hoped. I've put thousands of miles on Buster the Wonder bike and I've done all my own maintenance.

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¹Yes, even the wheels.

All the Tour de France podium girls were lovely, but the King of the Mountain girls had the best outfits by far.

Adorable polka-dot dresses? Giant bows?!

Jesus. I have to work on my climbing.

もえ〜！

ONE: About 70 miles in, we were heading south through Corrales into a brutal headwind; I can normally cruise at 19-20 mph, but it was all I could do to maintain 13. Couple of miles into the stretch, a paceline of like 10 riders comes blazing up behind me, doing 20-21, and as they go by the rider at the back yells, "Hey, jump on!" So I stand and accelerate up behind them, get in the draft, and damned if I don't stay with them. Riding in a real paceline, maintaining a speed as a group none of us could maintain alone... guys, I felt so pro. It was badass.

TWO: My jersey, a gorgeous wool piece inherited from my father, was a huge hit. I must've gotten 10 or 15 comments on it from riders on the course. "Sweet jersey!" "That thing's gotta be older than you are!" "Oh man, they don't make 'em like that anymore!"

THREE: So during the pre-ride announcements, they mentioned that the post-ride lunch would be provided by Chick-Fil-A. Oh my god you guys I love Chick-Fil-A so much. The thought of post-century chicken with that peculiar heroin-flavored spice sustained me through many a painful mile at the end. When I finally pull into the finish line? They are all out. What is worse, I harbor dark suspicions that many of the tasty, tasty sandwiches were eaten by pantywaist layabouts who rode the shorter 50- or 65-mile courses. A pox on them, I say!

FOUR: ( Um... bagpipes? )

So it was good times, basically. It'd be cool to do another one soon.

112 miles: Ridden.

Sufffering: Endured.

Flat tires: 0 (!)

110 Percent: Given.

Despair: Conquered.

It all: Left on the road.

Day: Siezed.

Body: Very upset with me.

Went on a short ride Monday and of course I flatted. I know Albuquerque is roughly the worst place in the universe for punctures, but I appear to have especially bad luck, flatting maybe 40% of the rides above 10 miles I do. At least I'm good at fixing flats?

This century is going to be interesting; I have no idea what the median fitness in the group will be, but I suspect it will be high. I acquitted myself pretty well in the Honolulu century a couple of years ago, but the solo 100-mile ride I did on my birthday last year was pretty painful in sections. There are two 1000-ft climbs in this ride, the last one coming in at around the 80-miles mark; I'm good at suffering through climbs, but I'm still anticipating a lot of suffering.

I found a nice 70-mile ride that goes up into Cedar Crest and north of the city before looping back, and I think I'm going to try and make that a regular weekend thing. If I can do short, hard rides during the week and one 70-100 mile ride on the weekend, I think I'll have a fighting chance at having some reasonable form in the fall.

Blah blah blah anyway if anybody wants to meet up at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Saturday around 1, that should be about when I'll be finishing. Apparently there will be food and music? And I will be all gayed up in spandex and shit if you're into that.

why's everybody lookin' at me all wierd it's like you've never seen woolen cycling knickers before

So I went out on a ride today; 28 miles, pushed moderately hard most of the way.

There was a stiff wind coming from the west, which is unusual for Albuquerque, so I decided to head up Carlisle and take advantage of the tailwind to crank up the hill a lot faster than I normally do.

Anyway this school bus pulls up next to me, full of middle schoolers, and they're leaning out of the windows and yelling and carrying on, probably looking at me thinking "LOL SPANDEX" and stuff (which... fair enough.)

I decide what the hell, I'm feeling pretty strong, and there's a tailwind, so let's see if I can drop the hammer. I shift up a gear and stand into a sprint, and just then the wind gusts up and I'm like flying up the hill, 23-24 MPH, and the kids are all "OMG HE'S PASSING US HOLY CRAP GO BIKE DUDE GOOOO."

I felt like a fuckin' superhero.

My knee has over the course of the past week or so spontaneously injured itself.

What began as a slight twinge in my left knee has magnified itself to the point where I can barely ride. Standing on the pedals to accelerate is entirely out of the question. It's gone from a slight ache to a genuine injury, for no apparent reason. Skating is also nearly impossible.

I would see a doctor but I am uninsured and cannot afford to. As it is, I'm dosing myself on ibuprofen to keep inflammation down and pain manageable. Does anybody have any additional advice? Should I do light exercise or none at all? Stretching? What?

I need hardly mention that being stopped in my tracks after just getting started with a serious training regimen is unutterably frustrating, especially not knowing when I'll be able to get moving again.

This really fucking sucks.

You guys

listen to this.

My resting pulse?

Is fifty-three!!

!!

Holy Christ the weather is gorgeous. I gotta get out and and ride.

52.25 miles! A PALINDROME OF SUFFERING.

George Bush park is pretty, though.

So I pretty much want all of these jerseys.

Took Buster the Wonder Bike out for a ride yesterday after 3 weeks exclusively on the as-yet unnamed commute bike (pictures soon; it's red and very pretty). Going back to a freewheel after a few weeks riding fixed was almost as weird as riding fixed the first time.

Observation: I never really appreciated the longer cranks and gear selection on Buster, but coming from the commuter to what amounts to a purpose-built race bike was... pretty cool. I was flying, comrades, tearing great divots out of the asphalt with each savage stroke of the pedal.

At least, that's what it felt like.

I need a cycling buddy.

... it's full of rides!

It's going to be a good spring.

Brick was good. I enjoyed it.

Here is an icon I made, because the main character kind of looks like me. I suspect such an icon will come in... handy.

Also got back into Six Feet Under, just started season 2. Having trouble reconciling the Michael Hall character with my recent memories of him in Dexter.

Must put together schedule of reading for MA comps. Amount of fear and loathing I feel for this task fluctuates wildly, fractally; at times "no problem," others, "I hope I die between now and April."

Commenced the Geoffrey Butler rebuild; expect vintage bike porn soon.

That is all.

The first of what will no doubt be many Summer in Andalusia icons.

I really loved that movie.

This is me, taking a deep breath.

Apparently there is an anime called Summer in Andalusia, directed by Spirited Away’s animation director and staffed by a bunch of Ghibli veterans. It’s a movie about the Vuelta a Espana, one of the three Grand Tours of cycling (the other two being the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.)

So, let’s recap. There’s a movie by guys from my favorite animation studio about my favorite sport. Oh, it was also the first animated film to premier at Cannes.

In 2003.

So why is it that I only find out about it now that the sequel is being announced? I… I just… I’m torn between complete elation and head-shaking bafflement.

So I contain myself but chatter excitedly to my coworkers, one of whom (I was going to say the brilliant one, but they’re all brilliant) says “Oh yeah, also there’s a TV anime about cycling running right now, called Overdrive.”

My forehead is getting red from slapping it so much.

Anyway, I submit that “Summer in Andalusia” may be the best title for a cycling movie ever.

(Actually it looks like Overdrive kind of sucks, but still.)

(They should make an anime about bike messengers.)

(If somebody tells me it’s been done… augh.)

Oh, also I rode to work today and it was fine. Hope to keep it up. I've found a nice 1.5-mile length of low-traffic residential road very close by, and I'm thinking of doing 10 or 15 laps on it as often as I can, in lieu of decent riding in Houston.

Also I'm suddenly interested in trying an actual legitimate race...

Alleycat last night; rode my ass off despite still getting over a cold. Took fourth place, then won the drag race down the actual alley -- by far my best finish ever.

This morning I'm exhausted, but satisfied. Fourth place, when normally I don't crack the top ten.

(For Honolulu people: we started in Waikiki, and had several stops there, a couple near Ala Moana, then up to the Starbucks in Manoa -- yes, that Starbucks, then all the way over to the Wendy's on Nimitz before circling back and finishing downtown.)

I've needed a cycling icon for some time now; wsr finally provided the occasion; details to follow, probably on midaregami.