Tom the infamous Wooden Wheels den mother and token gay guy.
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Bikes and Burritos

In the past when we do one of Charlie's rides there is always that fear of some of the sickest hills around, not to mention a headwind from hell. Today we met at Octorara Highschool with the intention of meeting some other folks and riding some laps around an upcoming race course. As Matt always says meeting on the road never works. We had a small group today; Matty,
Charlie, Gay Tom, and myself. Well we never did catch up with the other folks so we set off to do our own thing. Tom made the statement, " I am riding in the back, you guys can pull me around all day". Yeah ok Tom. Charlie took it easy on us today. We avoided most of the big hills, but you can't miss them all. It was going great until some idiot mentioned "hey it's not that windy today". You never mention these things because they always come back and bite you on the ass. We did find a nasty head wind, just as we were climbing the longest hill of the day, Ouch. I am supposed to be on a rest week damn it. Oh well it was a fun ride, as Charlie's always are. I think we saw a total os 8 cars all day. We ended up with a nice 38 miles in 2:18, not bad for a rest week riding the roads of Lancaster County in the wind.

We got back to the highschool and I mentioned grabbing some lunch from Taco Shells, (one of fatmarc's favorites). This place rules. It is a small esablishment where you sit on lawn furniture, seat yourself, and the menus are already on the table. When you order you must plan on taking some home because there burritos are fucking huge. Neither Matt nor myself could eat more that half, and that was after a ride. Really good food at a cheap price.

TTFN

Charlie with his SWEET ASS Williams custom road bike
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Nice and Easy

Todays events were just that. I played on the computer for a couple of hours, then took the doggs for a nice walk. Did some laundry then decided to do a short ride. I rode the trainer for a half an hour yesterday(this is a rest week) I would have rode outside but it was below freezing with
30 mph winds. Today the wind was a little more calm. Still pretty windy, but not as bad as yesterday. I headed out to do an hour and a half, the planned route would be close to that and i could change things up a bit if needed. I was having a good time. I don't think my heart rate got over 170. I was heaing back, with a nice tail wind, and reallized I needed another 20 minutes or so. I took a left where I normally go right, the road is closed to cars but bikes and horses can use it. I get to the bridge that is closed only to find that I can't get across. The F***ing township plowed all the snow in front of it. I turned around and just went home. I still got my 1:30 butit is not the same.

Well I have to go dinner is ready and I am hungry.

Line for Belgian Beer Festival. Boston MA
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Bad Weather, Good Timing

The weather around here has taken a turn for the worse. We got 8 inches of snow Monday, which makes riding outside impossible. Lucky for me I am coming out of base and have a rest week. I will still have to get some time in just not mad hours, which is good because I hate the trainer. I have been spoiled this year. For the most part I have been able to ride outside when ever I want. This only makes the trainer more unappealing. I am hoping to hit the road a little on Thursday. If not I will try the trainer.

I went through my training logs from the past couple of years and I was surprised by how few hours I had at this time in the past. I have more than doubled my riding time this year. I sure hope it pays off. My first race is only 39 days away. Even though this isn't an " A " race for me I still want to be ready. The other thing on my agenda for this week is to really watch what I eat. Since I am not riding as much, I have to be careful. I will still have a beer or two this weekend but that is it.

Well it is time to take the dogs for a walk and start my day, so later.

Chilly Ride

Todal was my last day of basemiles. The ride was from Willowdale, which is cool because I can ride in from my house. I got to the gathering place and people were showing up. There was Matty T, Dan, Ted, fatmarc, Mike K, Charlie and myself. A good group of guys to ride in the cold with. Thing started off a bit sketchy as we got buzzed by a few cars while riding down 926, it's funny how they go blowing by but never stop when we yell and flip them off. We fianlly got off that road and the rest of the ride went well. We were riding a nice moderate pace. Matt took us on a little add on, which turned out to be a great loop. I only hope I can remember it for future rides. We get back onto the planned loop and people started getting frisky. We went up Frog Hollow road which is't real steep but it always seems to hurt. We cranked things up again when we hit the flatter raods along the creek. I held back a little knowing we were going up Northbrook today. Northbrook is a tough climb becasu it is kind of long and pretty steep with a good kick at the top. Everybody rode well today. Marc's fitness is coming around he just started base but I can see he is getting stronger already.

I am looking forward to next week, I only have to do 5 hours. After that I get to really crank things up, man I am excited. I know it is going to hurt but in the end it will be well worth it.

I must do some couch surfing for a while, so later.

An Awesome Brew
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Brew of Choice

I have said before I like good beer. One of my favorite brewers is Stone Brewing co. out of San Diego CA. They are known for there aggressive beers.

Last night we Had venison chops for dinner. I went to the basement to chose the appropriate beer to go with dinner. Stone's Double Bastard Ale was a perfect choice, it complimented the chops beautifully. Pairing beer with food is always fun. There are so many different styles and variations that your choices are endless. If you are interested in this check out a book called:

The Brewmasters Table by Garret Oliver. He explains why certain beers go why certain foods, it's good reading.

Back to the Double Bastard Ale, it comes with a warning on the back:

Double Bastard Ale is not to be wasted on the tentative or weak. Only the Worthy are invited, and then only at your own risk. If you have even a modicum of hesitation, DO NOT buy this bottle. Instead, leave it for a Worthy soul who has already marticulated to the sublime ecstasy of what those in the know refer to as liquid Arrogance.