300 not on 100. How to jump into what you may not be ready for.

So, most of you know that I rode the #300noton100 ride with the very well known Ted King (TK) and Tim Johnson (TJ), and the lesser known but gloriously entertaining Ryan T Kelly (rTK)...where I remain as the unknown other TK. Much like my days at Rochester, where Tyler Kieft preceded me on the XC team.

The past iterations of the ride, 200mi rides in one day, have been growing in popularity and participation. This one was no different - a 2day/300mile party. I decided (late) that I was going to do the ride. Ted kindly offered to provide hotel shelter for anyone daring to do the full monty, which need be listed in bullet form due to high volume:

• Me 

So I was the lone ranger, hopping aboard with the well-acquainted three amigos. Fortunately, I knew Ryan from racing and have a few overlapping contacts with Ted. Tim, however, remained unknown to me aside from the guy who has won so many CX Nats I lost count....and is sponsored by Red Bull (thank goodness). I quickly knew I'd like Tim as he gave us the safety/etiquette chat @ D^2 Java, which was very kindly paid for by LOCO Cycling (thank goodness, again). I've never met a rider more dedicated to safe group riding and a mutual responsibility for keeping the road safe for all users. I bet VW is very happy to have him as a sponsored rider.

Another bonus was Andy Levine, Chad Jacobs, and Stephane Dumont of Duvine Adventures. Want an amazing luxury cycling trip? Do this. And no, Andy didn't pay me to say that...although he did provide much amusement to all except himself over the 300 miles!

Anyway, we took off from D^2 (not DD!!) with a hefty group, which slowly dwindled as we approached the Maine-NH line...where we saw A BRIDGE!!! If you'd like to LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF, open the link then immediately open in a second tab. Or click here then here. I rode 125 miles without putting my nose in the wind, which is about 10 times longer than I've ever done that. Well, except I took lead navigator through Portland...but bike paths at 15mph doesn't count as a pull. Speaking of Portland...SCRATCH BAKING CO. Go there. They are awesome and they love bikes too. And they support Healthy Kids Happy Kids (so should you)! Speaking of which, there was a massive gathering that met us at Scratch and more people joined on between Portland and Brunswick. After Bath it was just TK, TJ, rTK, Me, Andy, and Eliot Pitney (who joined at Scratch, went to Boothbay, then rode solo home to Brunswick).We say ANOTHER BRIDGE!

After 125mi: RED BULL (Thanks Tim Johnson fueled by Tim Johnson). Then I took 3 pulls...although I think Tim remembers only one as I recall him saying "You had a good pull there Travis." Maybe 2 were just that weak?

I hung out with our wicked cool support crew Chad & Stephane, met Lyne Bessette, and cleaned the $25,000 beauts of engineering prowess. 4 Cdale's and 1 awesome Giant.

Day 2: I'm a bit tired. Yesterday was my longest ride ever and despite barely doing any work...it was still tough. Luckily I took no chances on refueling. I likely gained a little weight Tuesday. But if it meant surviving Wednesday, then it was necessary. Wednesday started off hard - 1700ft in the first hour, and being warned by Tim "plan for the whole day" when I took some early pulls. The first couple felt GREAT, then my legs felt like they should have, so I smartened up and sat in.

This happened:

Then THIS, which was followed by more RED BULL then a double espresso after 600m of riding.

Poutine @ Duckfat

Lastly, this:

Old Man Sweat, AKA Bike Killer.

It was awesome to do the full event, and I definitely appreciate Tim, Ted, and Ryan for so happily having me partake in the journey. Next year I'll be in much better shape and very much hope to participate in the full once again...whatever crazy adventure arises. I was thoroughly impressed how long Andy held on, Ryan (an expert on acknowledging when a person cracks) estimated a minimum of 4 consecutive cracks on Day 2. An impressive number, to say the least. Andy held on with a valiant death grip and made it farther than anyone anticipated, chapeau!

I definitely learned a lot (mostly intellectual and not physical) on the ride and that was by far my biggest takeaway. Mostly how respectful Ted and Tim are, on and off the roads...and how friggen funny Ryan is when he cracks...or when bridges happen...

Here's the Teaser Video and Ted's Blog.

Week 2: Actual Update: Growth and Learning

I figured I would hold off from posting my real update until Sunday was complete. A good, long ride...my first century of 2013. Luckily it was with a group, as yesterday's 82 miles was solo with a very solid 3 hour endurance block with +/- 1500ft that easily topped 20mph, not bad for February...I did this in May last year and my HR was 10 beats higher. Looks like the year is starting quite well!

Yesterday I rode with Adam Myerson, a long-time pro cyclist and very well known rider and 'ambassador' to the sport in the Northeast. Most of you in the cycling scene know of him as I did - tatted up, clever, 'cross guy, wins crits, gauge earring, Twitter-pro - until about two weeks ago. It's cool to ride with someone who you simply knew as "be near him on the last lap and you'll place". As one would expect, there's a hell of a lot more to him. He's been kind, patient, and happily introduced me to some gems of Tucson. We rode to the top of Lemmon, reminisced old training he did a decade ago with Dan Vaillancourt, and had the best chance encounter on a ride that I have ever had. Spending 3+ hours at a time on a bike with someone you didn't know one bit is probably the best way to get to know someone. I rode with him a bunch that past 2 weeks, but 6.5 hours yesterday was pretty awesome. 3.5 hours of absolutely miserable headwind that makes most people want to quit biking altogether. We were going under 15mph for the full 3.5 hours. A one hour climb where Adam taught me the the difference between being fast and being fast when it counts, hours into a ride/race/workout...all without the exchanging of a single word. He calls it Old Man Power. I call it 'painful glory'. Towards the end of the ride we talked training, coaching, and all the skills you need across the board. I had written the rest of this post prior to the ride - and the stress Adam put on communication and learning only strengthened how important those things are in sport and life.

Here's some shots from my longest duration ride ever - due to elevation and winds it wasn't my longest ride ever, but it was easily my best long ride ever. And it was only 50F in Arizona.

As Adam said: "No Girls Allowed"

Yeah. Wind.

Flavors of the Southwest!

Beer #1 of Tucson.

This marks the first 20+ hour week of 2013 as well. By this time last year I had (foolishly and unstructured-ly) put in 3 and just hit mini-burnout #1. Luckily, I am a year wiser and have guidance that is more intelligent than "raw excitement and fun". I'm also more involved in the process behind my training than I ever have been.

I'm happy about my fitness, there is no doubt about that. But what I am much more pleased with is my understanding, both of myself and my training.

Now for a little insight into "Growth and Learning":

My involvement in my training is greater this year - when I have a coach - than last year when I was 'coaching' myself. How does that make sense? Communication. Which is the first thing I would tell anyone is the first key to finding a coach. It doesn't matter if that person coached an Olympic medalist or what their credentials are if you don't have good communication! My second key is be involved. If you're new to a sport, this might just be listening and absorbing ("knowing the work") rather than simply "doing the work". If you've been involved in the sport, you should be learning the "why" of each workout, then the "how" of progress, then begin to understand "what" the specific gains of each workout, block, or period. Once you have the understanding down, the next big (huge) step is "feel". This is the concept of learning one's own body; if learning things is an endless process (answer: it is!), then learning your body is an endless process that yields exponentially more powerful results.

Just like life, sport is a continuum of growth and learning. And the more you grow and learn, the more powerful your knowledge becomes - especially because you are now able to share that knowledge!

Share your life, sport, joy, and knowledge. Not only will you benefit from growth and learning, but someone will benefit from your teaching.

Yours in Glory,

Travis

If you want a bit more to read about a pretty cool Pro athlete who also has one heck of a crazy busy life, check this out. Otherwise, see you next time!

(As an addition to my above statements: I stayed with a guy in Tennessee (Craig Evans - self dubbed "Endurance Daddy") who can only be described in a LOT of words: Husband, father of two, medical device manager (his job is massively demanding), local cycling ambassador,  owner of triathlon shop, and - oh yeah - Pro Triathlete. The night I spent at his house, I didn't see him until the morning, known as 5AM for him, because he got home at 1AM from work...in Cleveland! Due to this busy lifestyle, Craig's former coach, who I am sure is a great coach, couldn't relate to him and wasn't able to work with his schedule. Clearly, this led to a gap in communication. Once he was able to find a great coach who could also communicate on his level, great things happened. He got second at the World Championships in Offroad ITU Triathlon...to a guy named Conrad Stoltz. Communication led to growth and progress, led to a silver at Worlds. The coach that had this great communication just happens to be my coach as well and he's very skilled at communicating with a 20-something starting out and a busy father, who is professional in many things aside from sport. To see an adrenaline pumping video about Craig, his lifestyle, and season go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRU_Bzgygjw&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

Tucson, Week 1. In pictures.

Hope you all enjoy my first week in Tucson in Pictures!

First step upon arrival. Put trainer way in corner :).

Mexican PEPSI! REAL stuff, no American junk. I actually haven't drank it yet...I have to remind myself it is not against the anti-soda Travis, I'll likely have it after a ride when it gets hot (80ish) so I can feel like I'm in a commercial :p.
Also, I got a 6lb, 10oz container of salsa at the same store (17th St Farmer's Market) for $4.99! Woohoo!

Some 2013 words of wisdom from PBM Coaching & Kurt, utilizing The Who logo.

Sweat much? And it was only endurance and only 65F!

Redington Pass (cat 2 dirt climb). Yep, see that road? I was there about 15 mins before

Vegan 2 bean meatloaf! AWESOME!

Mt. Lemmon. The Queen of Tucson. At 9157ft it is the highest of the Santa Catalina Mountains (yes, I looked it up). Climbing it you go from ~2700ft to a max of ~8200ft, which is over a full mile of climbing in 21 miles riding. Given little downhills, you get almost 6500ft uphill while climbing! BEAST. Half of the mountain is considered an "above category climb"...it almost could be 3 HC climbs!

The other day while doing intervals with a friend. We stopped for the most beautiful pee break ever. Overlooking a valley between ridges - the road we rode up (haha) is in the tress on the lower left. It's amazing seeing mountains like this. I kept excitedly asking Adam "Is that the top?!" as we saw peak after peak. About the tenth time I asked we were finally there. With these really big mountains (especially in they are layered, and you'll never see the peak from the base.

If you want some cool reading on mountain structure, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_prominence :).

Amazing. This was taken shortly after a massive fire burned down the entirety of Summerhaven, the small 'town' at the top of Mt. Lemmon. There is still the remnant foundation of one of the buildings that was there.

Two words: COOKIE CABIN. A little (non-vegan, non-GF) cookie monster's delight atop Mt. Lemmon in Summerhaven. A ~1000kcal cookie. Adam and I  didn't get close to finishing each of ours, even after burning 2500kJ on the climb (although many people who drove up devoured them with ease...). Needless to say, we got doggy bags: my roommates were VERY happy to hear I brought home goodies :).

Sexy. Tan. Lines. Cultivation of cyclist beauty...speaking of beauty, please see the next picture.

A little URXC Tribute, and moreso to that time I was "Once A Runner". If you are an athlete and haven't read Once A Runner by John L Parker Jr, then get on it (yes, such an amazing book deserves proper underlining). Oh, and, Gaunt IS Beautiful. The guy at the Giant shop here (Roadrunner Bike) loved the shirt too, which sealed the deal as it being 'my local shop (LBS)' here!

Homemade GF bread, Homemade Agave 'infused' Almond butter, Organic (no HFCS Smuckers crap) yummy Jam.

GF Pasta with chili cheesy sauce. Should've written this down as I threw ingredients  and sauce into a pot of pasta...

Only. One. Per. Week. Really looking forward to the CocCoNut Porter.

Mmmm. I love this bad boy. Saving it for post- Tucson Bike Classic (3 day stage race)...if I have an acceptable performance.

Snow. In Tucson. Yes, Arizona, and not at elevation (only 2000ft).

Further Snow 'proof'. Windshield. (At stoplight).

One last little thing. I don't care much for competing on Strava (anymore, I did last summer) because I am training, not aimlessly racing ghosts of rides gone past...but THIS IS AWESOME!! I was riding (with a nice tailwind after a sprint workout yesterday). Two Mainers atop the leaderboard in Tucson, AZ on a LONG downhill segment! (Both James and I are not considered the heavy power-beasts that usually crush downhills)

Hope you all enjoyed my very atypical non-wordy post! I'm loving Tucson, if you even had to ask.

Yours in Glory,

Travis

Suck It Up, Buttercup.

After a hiatus from the normalcy of training, nutrition, life, and work that started off the summer of 2012 as a truly amazing experience for me, it is time to get back to the basics that made me feel stronger than I ever have in my life, physically and emotionally. I'm going back to my normal diet state, which pretty much makes me a super-powered herbivore :D. I'm going back to my (essentially vegan, with some outside experimentation - I never stop experimenting) optimal dieting simply so everyone who wants to spend time or meals with me does not forget how much of a huge pain in the ass I am to be around. Or maybe it's because I'm now officially a social ambassador for PROBAR and I get amazinggg vegan whole food bars that make me so happy I want to eat nothing else (except for massive salads. And cookies. And other delicious healthy things that are so good my non-vegan friends think I'm an evil magician).

The real reason is a combination of things that leads to a singular cause: to be as fit and strong as I humanly can be when the world ends on December 21, 2012. Although if I could be as strong as a cockroach by then I'd likely outlive all humans...I'll ponder that one later. My 2012 season was going as great as I could have imagined - I'll do a season wrap up sometime soon, as it's pretty much over. Then 6 weeks of losing fitness (3 of which I didn't even touch the comforting saddle and bars of Slice of Life) kinda got in the way. Crashing in a really good position in the final lap of my last two races of the season didn't help build things back up either, so it's back to the drawing board.

Don't get me wrong when I say this (but I'm sure most people will get me wrong aside from a few who really really know me), I'm not satisfied finishing this season in category 2. It was my bare minimum goal for 2012 back in the spring when I was category 4. I finished it within 6 weeks of racing and was looking (and, more importantly, feeling) great to be hitting the upper goal of 2012. Race Mayor's Cup in the Pro/1 field, if not that then put in my upgrade request (from what I hear it sounds like it's more complicated than going pro) after a podium in the 2/3. But alas none of that is happening, I won't even racing Mayor's Cup. Now I know most people think I should be off the wall pumped that I'm cat 2...and I was amped......back in June. I have no reason to believe I should be category 1 at this point given that shortly after my upgrade everything fell apart except for my (invincible) bike itself - she held on nice and tight. I joked to my teammates/friends that TCR stands for Travis Crash Resistant. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself stay away from me because you're no fun!

I got caught in a vicious cycle of:
1. Something problematic or interfering happens (crash, injury, travel, etc).
2. Subsequent loss in fitness due to lack of access to training or inability to train.
3. Struggle emotionally with losing fitness...fight the urge to believe hope is lost.
4. Remember that I *am* strong and it WILL come back, it just takes time.
5. Step 1 comes back along, manifesting itself in a new form...before the fitness had time to return.

This happened about 5 times over. It included 3 crashes, which were literally the best (not worst) of the problems. After June this year has absolutely sucked, and I've let my fitness and health fall off far more than it needed to given the difficulties. I believe external things can only effect an individual so much. Because no matter the negative external source, a strong and mentally tough individual will be able to find a way to either overcome said difficulties or use those difficulties as motivation. Regardless of what happened this summer, I'm not pleased that I faltered in my motivation and performance. Looks like it's time for yet another "Return to Glory", but on a whole different level.

On that note, I shall take the very wise advice from probably the most influential person in my life. It's time to stop deflecting and complaining and to "Suck It Up, Buttercup": the famous, never out of place nor uncalled for, always 'well played' words of Deb Kroot.

Ultimate Cycling Food/Daily Snack - take your pick!

It's been a long hiatus. And how better to get back to it than by talking about food & cycling? You probably can think of a lot of ways, but you'll definitely enjoy this one.

One natural food bar that I absolutely love is PROBAR - if you haven't tried one, do it! They're an extremely tasty, well balanced, and energy-filled bar. I first saw this when Doug (a damn good coach of all endurance sports) and I were on a ride and he got one. A new recipe I found from Neil Bedzek's Homemade Cycling Bars is awesome and reminds me a lot of PROBARs but you get to eat the "batter" while you make them. They're an amazing bar for cycling, up to a moderate intensity. On a long, easy ride you could pretty much intake more Calories than you burn if you have enough of these with you...they're that good. I've been twisting it around a few different ways to test out different fat-carb-protein ratios. The base recipe binds so well that even in your sweaty back pocket (inside a plastic bag) it stays in a block!

So here it is - super easy to make GF/Vegan.

Binder - heat up in a pan until it starts to bubble, make sure you stir it consistently or it can burn/caramelize.
1 Cup sweetener (Agave Nectar, Honey, Maple Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, or the 'financially efficient way' with Corn Syrup)
1/2 Cup Nut Butter (Almond, Peanut, Cashew, etc)

Dry Ingredients:
2 C Rolled Oats - not quick oats
2 C Cereal - I love Mesa Sunrise Cereal (GF) by Nature's Pride Organics
1/2 to 1 C of whatever mix-ins you desire (Raisins, Craisins, other dried fruit, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Chocolate Chips)
Salt for taste, if desired (or extra sodium if you sweat as heavy as I do)

Mix Dry Ingredients in a large bowl until evenly distributed...once that binder goes in the mixing isn't nearly as easy. Pour the hot binder over the dry ingredients and mix until everything is soaked up. Always, always (!!!) taste the 'batter': A) It's yummy and B) you can fine tune the mix-ins or add more binder before finishing. Once it's glorious, press into a 13x9 or large pan so it is 1 inch thick. It doesn't matter if you don't fill the whole pan, it's gooey enough that it won't spread once you form it. Toss it in the fridge for 30mins to solidify the binder and you have a glorious set of homemade bars for cycling or snack. I hope once I get my food processor back up and running I'll be able to get some dates finely ground up (a big part of PROBARs) and toss those in to top it off.

EDIT For Advanced Progress of bars, inspired but oncoming summer and warmer temperatures (3/10/2013): Recently I've been trialing these bars in a better "heat-friendly" form. I bake these on 350F for 10-15mins, just until the edges very slightly brown. You want the heat to bind them more strongly, but not make them brittle. There is a fine line here...especially when I start posting amended recipes where I reduce fat content in the bars. I botched a batch last week, and the were brittle enough that eating them with one hand while riding was doable but difficult - bumps knocked pieces loose :(...which is not fun when a piece could be 50-100kcal!!

Not enlarged to show texture - false advertising not necessary here.
(Test batch in the pan, ready to be cut into squares or simply eaten with a fork.)

My test recipe from last night (to be unveiled next week) was a huge hit at the SMR group ride this morning. Jeff, who in particular is tough to please with homemade stuff, was a big fan...that's how I know I really did it right.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to post the variations you make that work best. I'll post a few variations of this recipe next week once I do more experimenting.

EDIT #2: Here's the "Nutrition Label" for 1/12 batch. A medium sized (I'd say 2.5"x3" bar). A BIG bar is 1/9 batch and is 3.25"x3.25". I have to go ride my bike now. 4.5 hours, 86 miles, and I will be bringing a BIG bar with me (and a PBJ sandwich and a sweet potato muffin). 200kcal/hour, kids.
Cost: Price per bar. Yes. they are ~$0.45 EACH. Beats a store bought item by, say 400%?

Purgatory Road Race 2012

Here is a debrief I wrote to an email group regarding the Purgatory Road Race in Sutton, MA on 6/10. I need a filler report before I delve into my write-up for the Tour of Washington County Stage Race (and Friday's Kick-Off Criterium).

Purgatory Cat 3 Race Report: A lesson on how not to race bikes (unless you are working for a teammate in the peloton. But even then, such racing is highly discouraged haha).

We were also set for a good 5 laps at 11 miles each, totaling ~4500ft gain. The course has a seemingly MASSIVE elevation loss and a noticeable, but not nearly as massive gain. (Hank et al, correct me if this seems incorrect). After the neutral start 12 riders got away, no one cared to ride faster than 20mph. The first thing Joe, myself, and a few friends of mine (who were planning an attack after the climb on lap 3 of 5) heard was 1:30 gap with 12 riders in the break. I had no idea this even happened because I - for the first time in my racing career - took the advice of many to stay away from the front as I tend to work myself for no reason.

The gap got to 2:25 (I think) and I was sick of the field making no effort. I slipped off the front when taking a pull and no one did anything, mini effort and I had 50m. I stuck my head down and rode hard. Quickly I had 30s on the field and half a lap later as the legs were getting quite heavy I was within 60sec (!!!) of the break. Sadly I was not fresh due to the Nutmeg races the day before, or I would have laid it all on the line in effort to make it onto the climb and go to war on that 1K hill to latch onto the break. However, the pack swallowed me up, but we were now withing 80sec of the break - which was slowly falling apart. Very few wanted to work aside from myself and sir Joe Lynch. We knew a couple things: 1) if we sat it wasn't going to come back and our best placement possible would be 8, even with the falling apart breakaway and 2) we didn't come this far to sit around with a pack of individuals satisfied with a poor placing.

Joe and I made attacks and drilled the field for the remaining two laps, each of us gapping the field on multiple occasions. The efforts Joe put in were (as expected) massive and unforgiving. At one point on the backside of the course where there was the 250m 3% climb, I thought I popped - I started to get the chills/goosebumps/cramps - and told Joe and another fellow whom we were off the front with that I had officially imploded. I slowed to something shy of 5mph and the field was on me before I could relax. I barely latched on and somehow recovered to continue to assault with Joe.

Now we were within 60 sec once again after falling back to 90+ sec on the third lap. It was clear we were devouring the pavement between ourselves and the breakaway because while taking a pull on a long straight I saw SRAM Neutral Support. 1K later, it was pulled into a driveway. As Bob Roll would say, "The referees have declared that the breakaway will be caught, the team cars are being stopped along the road." I must note that during the last feedzone a gutsy individual took it upon himself to win. He broke away from the breakaway and won cleanly.

We passed the SRAM car and it was on to the final climb. Taking the right-hander to the 1K climb, Joe was fully exploded and I was rendered something just shy of dead. We eased up the rest of the climb and called it a day.

Final result: the breakaway (except for the valiant lone ranger who went solo) did not survive and nor did we. The friends I had in the field and was hoping I would help did not have sufficient legs to place or collect money. Joe displayed his classic capacity to endure and endure, especially on a course that wasn't quite his forte. Although, when you can dig deep like Joe every course is your course. I made an effort to do (what I feel is) one of the most amazing feats in cycling, bridge the gap to a break. However, I could not sustain the effort and am a bit stronger because of it.

Slice of Life. Officially Unveiled. (Post 2A of 3 post series)

So, I had this post completely written out. It was about 3 times as long...and went to post it via the mobile app today and it deleted most of the post.

Thus, I will have to completely re-write the post (~3 hours solid work) where I talk about the bike itself, the technology behind it, and the wonderful feel of riding it. This is now the "naming" post for my new bike, because that is the only part that was not cut off and deleted. Enjoy!!

I don't even know how to write this post. I've put so much time and effort into thinking about purchasing a bike that verbalizing the actual culmination of physically having and riding THE bike is difficult. All I can say is that I could not be one bit more pleased with going through on buying the bike. I had a couple points of "unsure-ness" along the way: 1) When I had my Madone tuned at Gorham Bike and it felt like a completely new bike. So good that I considered I might not actually need a new one - but then at the end of my first ride on it, a mechanical issue occurred that was inherent with the bike itself. This once again clarified how much of a step up getting a new bike would truly be. 2) When I first was on the new bike, it felt weird. The best analogy I can come up with is like an exponential form of how a first time customer at Maine Running Company feels when he or she wears an actual running shoe that is properly fit for the first time ever: it feels so different the individual is not sure it is 'right'. But as soon as he or she gets a few minutes on it or goes for the first run, it makes whatever they felt previous to this new shoe like a completely different activity than running.

This is what I felt once I had a few miles on the bike. It was a world of difference. But every single difference was a massive improvement. So much so that at first the bike even felt awkward to turn (I'm not kidding. My first turn out of the GBS parking lot onto Congress St was sketchy at best. I'm glad no one from the shop saw or they would think they just sold this beautiful bike to someone who struggled making a simple turn!)

Now to unveil the official name of my Giant TCR Advanced SL 2: Slice of Life. I was really set on naming my bike 'Dexter' because that was my (at first) humorous cycling/athletic alter-ego that began with the CompuTrainer workouts in December. However, I was calling myself Dexter and not my bike. My Trek was named "Lamia", Latin for 'witch', 'demon', or 'child-eater'. I named her on the way down to the 2011 Witches Cup, as my plan going into that race was to win it. It was a bold move (I don't think I told a soul about the name at first). Had I not won the race, the name of my bike would have been a constant reminder of failure. Had I won, it would have been a very fitting name. As for the 'child-eater' translation: I was a Category 4 cyclist, and was still not racing with the 'big boys'. Thus, with the bike, I was not taking down the MEN with her...I was taking down the kids who look up to the Cat 3's, 2's, and 1's (whom the 4's and 5's admire).

Slice of Life is a reference to Dexter the TV show. Dexter is a blood spatter analyst at a Miami police station, and just happens to be an assassin as well. Warning: Do not think I am going "off the deep end" or getting "dark and evil" with this name. It all started because about 5 years ago when my uncle and cousins pointed out that I look A LOT like Dexter in the show. Then friends in college picked up on it pretty quickly too. The pictures below are me from Halloween 2010.

Dexter only kills people who 'deserve' it by his father's standards and moral code, and only kills when he has complete proof of the victim's wrongdoing. His boat is named "Slice of Life", which is blatantly fitting for both his profession (blood spatter analyst) and his hobby (assassinating bad human beings). This late name-change from Dexter to Slice of Life (SoL) is because Dexter is the person and Slice of Life is the boat. Also, Slice of Life is fitting because it represents both a sliver and a huge part of my life. Cycling both breaks up and completes my day, nearly every day - as I just completed a half year of not missing a single day of cardio (including the period of having a broken clavicle!) As Dexter does his work on Slice of Life, I do mine. He typically disposes of his victims on his boat, while I plan to make my competitors (victims) suffer on my bike. So it all works out pretty darn well, and I can still be 'Dexter' without naming my bike Dexter as well. My bike is Slice of Life, a beautiful and stealthy Giant TCR Advanced SL 2, and I am the assassin that operates her as we take names and (hopefully!) kick asses.

Slice of Life. Hanging out at her favorite stomping grounds...Gorham Bike and Ski!

The scary part about investing thousands of dollars into anything, especially something you "already have" to some extent, is that you don't fully know that it would all be worth it until you get that feeling: the pure feeling of completeness and perfection. When I took my first ride on my new bike, at first I felt concern. The bike felt sweet(!!!) but not insanely awesome like I expected. Then I hit bumps in the road, exceeded 30MPH, took some corners hard, hung out in the drops, did a few sprints. It was literally an out of bike and out of body experience. I was feeling something 100% different than I was used to. I was feeling a true machine that was set just right for me. The combination of a top-end bike and a great fit finally melded with me. Last fall Jamie Wright (owner of Gorham Bike and Ski (AKA GBS), and fellow teammate on the Base-36/GBS squad) told me, "We have to get you on a 'real' bike." My response, "What's wrong with my bike [Trek Madone 5.2]?" He told me the difference in stiffness alone will amaze me and, almost more importantly, my competitors. I knew he was serious, as I now have the exact same bike that he has...and he's the owner of a bike shop with access to multiple brands and every tier of bike imaginable. Obviously I didn't get this bike because it was what he had, I got it because it is the absolute best and best for me and my purposes (argue about Shimano Di2 or Campy EPS all you want...then give me $5000+ so I can upgrade to that model and I will gladly shut up...maybe...because I love my new SRAM RED soo much! By the way: SRAM RED, my new component set, is post 3 of 3 in this series). Many of you might see an apparent "conflict of interest" as he is the bike shop owner of my team's sponsor and he's telling me a new bike will make a world of difference. Well, to all you haters out there, the bike is a world of difference...and as with any team at any (decent) bike shop we get some level of a discount on purchases. Thus, Jamie was 1) advising me as a friend 2) advising me as a teammate 3) making a smaller margin of profit on my purchase than other customers 4) I was pretty obviously going to buy my next bike from GBS regardless of what he said 5) he honestly wants me to have every single possible advantage of performance, comfort, and enjoyment in cycling because as teammates we feed off of each other's energy and successes. Example: when Jamie led out for me this past fall, he was the reason I won sprints...sometimes I barely even had to work to win sprints. Once, I took the final sprint of the Saturday Morning Ride (SMR) at the cookie jar with a sprint effort I would deem about 75%. That is absolutely nothing, especially for such a strong group of cyclists in such great late-season shape. Jamie just absolutely hammered out the pace into the sprint that no one had the ability to accelerate and challenge me for the sprint. This was no way a sign of my strength, it was a display of execution on his part. Do you believe me now? I would hope so, haha!

Our first real ride together. Beasting some 20% grades :).

All I can say is that Slice of Life is a beautiful machine and we will have many wonderful miles together as a team. The bike feels amazing and has already proven itself to produce some amazing results...I'll try to get back to work on my full-fledged post regarding no only how amazing of a bike it is, but why it is such an amazing machine.

The Life of a 'Professional Athlete' (ha)

Recently, while waiting to get my first 'real' (read: Engineering) job sorted out, I have been barely working at Maine Running Company (thanks to fall hours) and thus am only left to train with the bulk of my time. Now, I'm not actually living the life of a pro: clearly, a LOT is missing for that. But, if I were to be about twice as good and deemed worthy by some foolish person/team to invest in me, then it would be complete. As you've probably seen, I have an awesome (!!!) coach and I have been amping up my training to a level and structure I really have never been close to before. Now, I might not be hitting 20+ hours of training which I have done in the past - this week is going to be around 18 - but the quality of training is much much higher.

I'm really enjoying the whole training being my major focus and just soaking it up at the moment, because this is likely the only time in my life I will be able to engross myself in such a manner. I'm not one to take anything for granted, so instead of just doing some training and bumming out about not starting my job yet I'm crushing as much as I possibly can and letting my coach decide when 'enough is enough' AKA overtraining. I have a good feeling I won't be hitting this point unless I go rogue on my schedule. In cycling, I have proved to myself that I have a rather high tolerance for stress and work (as opposed to running, where I haven't ever held 50 miles for more than a couple weeks). So, I talked to Doug (coach) and said I'd like to crank it up as much as I can while still being beneficial.

I don't have any actual USAC "races" until April 2012, but there is a group ride that is a full-on no holes barred race. It is the PVC Saturday Morning Ride (SMR) double loop: twice the normal SMR, prizes/money for sprint wins (8-10 total), and most aggressive rider. Some BIG GUNS show up, including people I apparently have never seen before - Cat 1's and the like. People who I've never had the opportunity to race against. Yes, that is right, I'm absolutely pumped to be in a race with guys who have been at this for decades and have sweated and bled to get up the ranks. I am well aware it's going to be hard as hell, and I'm going to see people with sprints I wish I had...but I'm going to go for it.

It's completely true that "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". And I have no intention of sitting back and watching 'the real athletes' go for it, because I don't know what sitting back and watching entails. Sure, I've had some wins in sprints on the SMR, but that's in a group ride where people hit it hard...but not a race against 1's, 2's, and 3's. And that was then and has no effect on how I perform in a race. I learned a lot every time I executed properly and even more each time I make a poor decision. I've only actually raced against 4's and 5's, where people might be strong but very few know how to finish. These guys have had hundred of finishes against an entire field that is both very strong and very smart. I have every intention of contesting and winning on the double loop.

What this means is I have a whole lot of work to put in the next few weeks: I have to actually develop a powerful and efficient sprint technique, scout race tactics, get my confidence to a new level, and crush sprint workouts. Maybe I'll even lose a few more pounds so whoever is on my wheel has to work just a little bit harder :).

Off to do a tune-up for the SMR tomorrow. Looks like I will be going for all four sprints...that's gonna burn. When you race, you sure as hell don't sprint when you're fresh. Pretty excited to see how the very last sprint feels, something like Mt. Vesuvius circa 79AD. Bring the fire.

Time to get to work. Tune-up workout for tomorrow's ride!

Go fast, take chances. If you don't you'll be asking yourself why you didn't.