[DrWJODonnell]

Still plugging away. The last week has been interesting as a friend of mine came out from the east coast (living currently in Boston of all places...what the hell is he thinking?) with his girlfriend. It was their first vacation together. So what would any self respecting cyclist do?

That's right. He dumped his girlfriend off at her friend's house, and rode with me and Denny for a week. (Women make legs weak. He didn't want that to happen. It's what I would have done too!)



Anyhow, Eric said, "I am not really in shape. I need you to kick my @$$ for a week." Though in fact, it is very hard to pronounce both "at" signs and "dollar" signs. Just sounds weird. Like when George Bush tries to speak French. Oh, wait, never mind. I guess he couldn't do that either.



So Eric and I (and sometimes Denny...sounds like naming the vowels) Went riding. Various hills, climbed the saddle, Mary's Peak (including off roading some weather station access road), and did the Alsea falls loop. We hit Decker and a bunch of others and the bottom line is, that while Eric yelled at me, swore, and generally held anger towards me on the rides, he was thoroughly satisfied when all was said and done.

Mission Accomplished.

It was nice to have the motivation to ride in the rain and to do stupid things like climb Mary's peak (which was about 50 degrees at the bottom and 30 degrees at the top...thought I would lose some fingers to frostbite on the descent). In addition, I made the mistake of telling him and Denny that coach Peter cummings told me not to let anyone drop me on climbs. He told me that I would have to stay with the leader until either he or I cracked. Wouldn't you know it that they took turns attacking me from behind, one after another? Then for some reason the same on the descents and flats. There I was, on the front, and the attacks would come out of no where. I absolutely loved that!

My SRM actually bit the dust at the right time for a change. I am always inconvenienced by the non user serviceable batteries, but I figured for this week, I really didn't need the data. And well, I didn't have the data.

I thought that the battery had gone bad in the PCV head unit, even though the battery was replaced less than a year ago. So, I prepare to send it in to SRM and it appears that the battery they replaced LAST time was from a "Bad Batch." So, full warranty, expidited service, and hopefully I will have power files very soon. Though it would have been nice if they said something about the bad batch, which they knew about, prior to my PCV going kaput. Oh well. At least I got to write the word, "Kaput." That always makes me feel better.

In the realm of training, I have been focused on low cadence climbing. Last week, I managed to do well and my legs seem to be coming around just in time for camp. I will be in NJ from Jan 29 to Feb 2, and then in Vegas Feb 6-12, then first race Feb 13.




Finally, to answer captain Ed, I can't speak for Ryan (Who is a god among mortals. At least when he sprints!) we all have areas that we need to improve, and we all work on them. Or at least, if we don't we end up in trouble constantly. Sure there are some guys who can be more sloppy, but often those are the guys who purposely are more sloppy. The guys who will put in a killer pull at the wrong time just so they can then have to hang on as the climb starts. The guys who sit on the front all day and make it miserable for the rest of the pack and themselves. The guys who relentlessly attack. Not always smart moves, but they are learning their art just as you are forced to learn yours.

What I want, is more of that stuff from Captain Ed, because it helps to give HUGE insight into what happens in the pack, and those little tricks are great. Thank you Ed. I am getting ready to hire you as a second coach!