You might think that this is yet another installment of the super unpopular blog post series Crush Pasta (see Crush Pasta I and II), and it very well could be, but it’s not. This one’s about balls, as in meatballs.
Author Archives → soiledchamois
A Little Throwback
Now THIS is a throwback. Probably my 3rd endurance race ever and my first marathon: the WVMBA’s Revenge of the Rattlesnake in May 2005. Happy to say that race is still going strong (now in the fall) and one of the toughest races on the east coast. I am UNNNhappy to say that I think I have gained as much weight as B-Man has since then and he’s ten now. Boo! To paraphrase Simon Pegg a bit from Run Fat Boy Run, “I’m not unfit, I’m just fat.”
Oddly enough, now it’s me that always looks like I’m miserable, crying and shitting myself… all of which are usually true. Yeah, this throwback shit is really fun. Let’s do it again next week.
Later.
Thursday Randomness
The photo above was taken during my road ride on Wednesday, the amount of farmland that I roll by during any given ride never ceases to amaze me. That field rolled on for a bout a mile or two to my left and was surely replaced by another soon after. It’s not that I didn’t roll by farms and field back in PA, I rode by plenty, but none that were the size of the farms that I see here. Every spring and summer I am left but with nothing but respect for farmers. It’s also cool to see how the fields go from fresh tilled dirt to waves of green corn, soy and wheat each year.
On The Road (Not a Novel)
Today was the first time in 2014 that I (sadly?) rode exclusively on pavement. It wasn’t long, barely topping an hour and a half, but my wheels did not touch dirt, mud, ice or snow (other than the thick layer of dust that litters our sun porch).
The Dirt
Popov Vodka continues to be THE go-to drink for dirt road alcoholics. Maybe it was the harsher than usual winter, but I must have gone past a hundred bottles or more of the stuff in the past week. Damn… I’m sort of shocked that in all my years I’ve never tried it. Hmmm… with the week I am having, it might be time to start!
The Weekend (Sort Of )
I was able to get a couple of nice rides in this weekend (both on dirt (roads) and pavement). And today I FINALLY got to ride without a winter jacket AND in knee warmers for the first time in 2014!! Most of the dirt roads were bone dry from the warm(ish) temps and relentless winds we’ve had the past few days, but some are still covered with ice, snow and LOTS of mud. Still, it was all good.
I have some pics to go through and some words to add about the rides, but other than my time on the bike, the last week and weekend have been less than stellar. Wifey took my xB back to Pittsburgh (because we thought it was the better of our two paid off high mileage cars) and the engine took a $3,000 bed shit. Ssoooooo we are in the midst of replacing the vehicle (which is still in Pittsburgh), dealing with a giant ass rental car (seriously, the Dodge Caravan is like a city fucking block long) and figuring out what to do.
A Broken Pendrel
Bad luck (again) for Catharine Pendrel! It seems the Luna Chix rider broker her collarbone while training this past Tuesday, April Fools Day. Sadly, this was no bad April Fools joke and there will no racing for Pendrel for the next six weeks. Fortunately no surgery is needed and she is quoted on teamlunachix.com as saying she is “feeling pretty pain-free so far” and “optimistic for a speedy recovery.”
The Return of Jaro
2010 UCI World Mountain Bike Champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jaroslav Kulhavý is back on the bike training and racing after breaking his kneecap this past February when he fell on ice (walking).
Vintage Paris-Roubaix & Pornography
I may not have done anything on Monday (except make rice and beans and play basketball with B-Man), and I may have only ridden the trainer for an hour today, but I DID find this bad ass photo from the 1910 Paris-Roubaix to share, so I am pretty sure that the Cycling Gods forgive me for my lackluster two-wheeled training regime. Fuck it.
I would have rather sucked the blood from the neck of my neighbor’s ever barking dogs with my bare face after hitting them with two large cinder blocks, than ride the trainer, but I still did.
Soiled Chamois Rice & Beans
It’s sort of funny [not really] that nearly all of my favorite meals look like something that was scraped off the piss smelling coat of a bum passed out in an alley after three bottles of Wild Irish Rose and a “found” half eaten gas station burrito. Funny or not [mostly not], any combination of brown rice, meat, beans, peppers, onions and a bit of cheese usually results in me being fully satisfied in the gut (and more than a tad gassy).
Tonight’s rice & beans was based on what Bon Appétit magazine calls the “hottest trend to come out of American kitchens since the kale-splosion of 2012.” Tex-Mex-Cajun-Italian Fusion.