The Suitcase of Courage

New Year, New - um - Me(?)

"New Year, New You" is a title you see everywhere right now.  Unfortunately, it's ubiquity is easily surpassed by its deceit.  Too few of us truly recreate ourselves, despite the new year.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.  Discouragement is the enemy.  Persistence does in fact pay off.  If you don't believe me, then watch this blog in the coming days and weeks.

Cycling & blogging-wise, I've fallen off the wagon these past few months.  As I just mentioned to a coach/friend, my off season is truly & absolutely "off."  My butt hasn't been on the saddle since Thanksgiving weekend.  In fact, this is my odometer as I type (on my "analog" training log):

 

Look familiar?  Yeah, just 16 miles more than the pic in my last post from December 6.  I didn't know that "20,000 mile" ride would be my last of 2011, but even so I rode a total of 4,465.23 miles last year - right about where I usually am.  I don't want to think of how many more miles I could have ridden, especially with the unseasonably mild December weather we had.

Ah well, at least I can honestly say that I think the time off has done me good.  I'm REALLY itching to get back on the bike.  And just in time - training starts tomorrow.  Here's my bike tonight - changing out the wheels to my trainer wheels.

Whether the time off has in fact done me good won't be known until my racing season starts - less than 9 weeks from now, in  Bethel, CT, first Sunday in March.

But I have more than my usual racing season motivation this year.  I always want to do well - or at least be able to hang in with the pack.  Racing's certainly more fun that way.  This year though, we are going to have an absolutely AWESOME Cat 3 team.  I'm not giving away any secrets - just stating a fact.  That's not to say that we're going to get great results (though hopefully those will come too), but the guys we've put together for 2012 are going to be an absolute blast to race with and work for.

To be able to do that though, I have to get my butt off the couch and back on the bike.  And with the start of winter training, I'll be updating this blog much more often.  So be sure to check in here when you can - and drop a comment if you're able.   The New Year may not mean a "new" me, but with your encouragement it should at least mean an "improved" me.

They're on their way....

Shot just up the street from my house at the farmer's market last Tuesday - a truckload of Christmas trees!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Quick Feedback Needed . . .

Many of you know, as I transition to the off-season, my pursuits begin to turn away from cycling & racing to reading, historical research, and modeling. This blog has been almost exclusively, but not totally, about my racing & riding. Sure, there's an occasional "off topic" post, a book review, "what we did this weekend," etc. but for the most part this blog is pretty quiet during the off-season.

Saying it's "cycling only" certainly gives me a handy excuse for not posting as often, but as my Big Research & Modeling Project gains steam (apologies in advance for the pun), more and more I realize I'd like someplace to keep track of and log that progress.  And, if my experience with the Suitcase of Courage blog is any indication, I'm sure to get some great information, help & guidance in that journey too.

But a lot of that success depends on you.  I've been considering starting a second blog for a while, but it's enough work keeping up with this blog - never mind two of them.  On the one hand, it'd be nice to have all my interests in one place; on the other hand, I suspect that could get confusing (I have a wide variety of interests).  I think one of the strengths of the SOC blog has been its focus - it seldom deviates from its theme.

What's been your experience?  Do you tend to enjoy (and therefore visit, and hopefully interact with) blogs that are primarily about one topic or theme or do you like and appreciate more variety?  I suspect a lot of the answer has to do with how well the blog is organized - i.e. how quickly you can get to what interests you.  But if you see a post about racing one day and a post about a cool looking building I plan to model the next, is that too jarring?

Frankly, would you be more or less likely to visit?  What about others?

Just by way of background and to provide a little preview of my Big Research & Modeling Project, other than the occasional one-off posts about books and trips and such, the main focus of the "other half" of this blog (or a seperate blog) would be to document my research into the lower Connecticut River Valley circa 1946/47 with a goal of recreating in miniature the railroad line between Old Saybrook & Hartford, CT.  My bike commute to work (there! a cycling tie-in :^) follows this line and one of my older friends is a guy who grew up along the line in Wethersfield during the late 1940s.  I'm having a blast doing all the historical research required to faithfully depict the era and locale, but I need a place to put all the stuff I'm collecting and, hopefully by sharing what I'm learning, maybe I could learn some more.

That has certainly been the case with the Suitcase of Courage blog.  I just need to get a sense of whether adding all that other stuff here would be a good or bad idea.

So leave a comment or send me an email.  I look forward to hearing what you think about it.

Still here....

It's been a crazy few weeks.  How many blog posts start out that way?  Not terribly original, but true.  We were percolating along nicely during the Summer of 2011, doing our usual racing & daytripping routine, when the wheels seemed to come off slowly grind to a halt around mid-August.  The change seemed to start with the cancellations of my final two big summer races (Hyannis & Fall River), then the Missus got sick for one of the Rent' Races and - coincidentally - I got stung by a bee.  So instead of racing, we spent that evening in the ER.  We had a slight up-tick in activity the last full week of August, racing TWICE (Rent' & Ninigret), but then The Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene came calling & we had to deal with that.  After she left, the weather took a decided turn for the chilly & the last Rent' race of the year was cancelled due to the National Guard using it for a staging area to help victims of the storm.

Talk about a strange - and abrupt - way to end the summer.  Instead of doing what we'd planned, the storm made us plan what we'd do (you have to when you're without power & water for days).  So before plunging totally headlong into Autumn, herewith are a few photos documenting the summer's ignominious end....

 

The night before the storm, I took a short ride around town and took a few "before" shots.  This is North Cove.

 

And here's Fenwick.

 

Here's Fenwick again, shortly after the bulk of the storm headed north.

 
We couldn't get to town our usual way.  This is one of five trees that were down, blocking the road and ripping out powerlines, between us and the substation.  We'd be without power (and since we have a well, we'd be without water) for four days.

 

This is the beginning of the causeway over South Cove and the beginning of the leadout/sprint for our Friday morning group ride.  Road's flooded.  Sprint's blocked.

 

The storm forced us all to be a little more creative.  Though this use of our grill isn't all that original, I'm glad it has the little gas burner on the side (though don't try to cook a pound of bacon without planning ahead where all that grease will go.  Ask me how I know).

 

And candles aren't the best way to roast a marshmallow, but anything'll do in a pinch.

 

One of the brightest discoveries (sorry) was how great my bike light was as a source of indirect/bounced light.  Aimed at the white ceiling, it just about lit the entire room.

 

As we started clearing things out, we discovered the main reason power wasn't being restored quickly.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is an absolutely GARGANTUAN tree across the street from our house that took out ALL of the powerlines.  Good thing it fell the way it did.  If it'd gone the opposite way, it would have totally destroyed the house (just off pic to the right).

 

We got by relatively unscathed.  A big branch came down in the front yard.  And this big, ivy-covered tree, came down in the back yard - right on top of our well.  Speaking of the well - and water - we were VERY blessed to not have gotten ANY water in the basement.  I was especially worried about that given all the rain and the fact that the sump wouldn't be working without power.

 

And another blessing: Clearing the tree away from the well revealed that it wasn't a direct hit.  The well is fine.

I was actually out on the regular Wednesday Night group ride when my neighbor texted me that we'd gotten our power back.  And one of the coolest things was heading back and seeing house after house, previously dark, now all lit up like Christmas.  Tim was on our ride and we all cheered when we saw his porch lights were finally on too.

Labor Day Weekend was a lot different this year.  Our traditional dinner couldn't happen - Dock 'n' Dine had been swamped by the river and the storm surge.  And instead of playing at the beach, most of us in Old Saybrook - and all over the state - spent the weekend cleaning up.  But what we had to deal with was nothing compared to the devastating flooding that happened in upstate NY and Vermont.  Nobody expected that and those folks are STILL trying to get things back together up there.  So all in all, certainly no worries here.

But now that the summer and my racing season are now officially over, it's time to turn my attention to my "off season" pursuits.  All that time indoors - and now that I don't have to train, I'll have a little more of that - allowed me to make some more progress on Chet's modules.  I don't think I've ever told Chet's story on this blog before, but since I expect I'll be sharing more photos like this, it's probably about time that I did.

Not quite time though.  While it seems forever ago now, I did do two last races and I've been able to get together for some great Saturday morning group rides that I'd like to share.

So watch this space.  There may not be any racing to report, but Autumn is one of the best times to ride.  And if you don't mind the "branching out" a little bit topic-wise, there'll be plenty of off-season activities to share with you too.

Battening Down the Hatches

I love living on the Shoreline, but one of the downsides of such a privilege is having to take hurricanes seriously. So I'm spending a beautiful calm-before-the-storm day getting everything ready. "Prepare for the worst; hope for the best" is today's motto. Even a direct hit shouldn't be all that bad - this is no Katrina - but it's certainly enough of a big deal to take seriously.

It's been a good full week though -- lots of riding and even two races in two days. So lots to post about. But that'll have to wait until after Sunday. Then I hope to be reporting on the riding & racing, and not about how poor a guest Irene was.

For those of you in much worse locations, the Carolinas & such - many prayers. Let's all get together again next week.

Quick Update (in lieu of an actual post...)

Well, I fixed the washing machine. YAY! I still can't believe it, but I now know more about how my washing machine goes together (and comes apart!) than I ever thought I would. The part I needed ended up costing only twenty bucks. So that and a bunch of hours out of my life, and it's back to new. And I saved hundreds, I'm sure! So that was Monday night. The races the next night got canceled and then I discovered that the Wednesday night "backup races" at Ninigret weren't on. So, to spite it all, I registered for the Hyannis crit, only to discover that - yes - that had been canceled too. What the heck??!! Looks like my last "actual" (non-training) race for 2011 will have been the Naugatuck crit. At least I ended my season on a high note - even if I didn't know it at the time. I was looking forward to racing tonight, but the Missus got sick so I bailed. And then I got stung by a yellow jacket while on my way home. I'm allergic, so went to the ER to get checked out. And now I'm typing a not-quite post and the Typepad software for some reason is on the fritz and isn't letting me do paragraph breaks, so I'm going to end now before I get even more grumpy. Hope you don't regret checking in. I promise the next post will be more upbeat. Despite the racing setbacks, I've had some really great rides with friends lately that I need to report on. And at least my washing machine works now!

Back to Life Tomorrow

 

Today is the last day of the crazy days at work.  It's been a busy 3 1/2 weeks since my last race (& post).  It's the time of year when I regularly work 18-20 hour days and have precious little time to ride or race.   In fact, last week I rode only 32 miles - and that was on Memorial Day.  I didn't ride at all during the beautiful weather last weekend since I was working Saturday and all I wanted to do on Sunday was sleep.

But remarkably, I was able to attend the first Rent' Race of the season.  It took a minor miracle - we never get out of work before 6 this time of year, but we did that day.  And as it looked more and more likely that I'd be able to make it, I called Mrs. SOC, she put the top down on the car, threw the bike in the backseat and the wheels in the trunk, and she met me at the track.  We of course had a phenomenal time seeing everybody again, and the time was all the more sweet since it was so unexpected.

Since that Tuesday night a few weeks ago, I've only ridden my bike 4 times, but I've eaten a steady diet of crap cookies, rolls, pizza & various other tasty, but not-the-best things (especially in the quantity that I've been eating them).  I've blown up to my highest weight since New Year's and my legs feel like they've totally atrophied.

Everything will change as of midnight tonight though.  The 2011 session of the General Assembly will adjourn.  I'll get a full night's sleep.  And I'll be taking a 4 day weekend to take the Lovely & Talented Mrs. SOC away to a B&B on Cape Cod for our anniversary.  I don't know whether we'll be taking our bikes, but I know the time away and the R&R will work wonders for my motivation.

Good thing, since we plan to be at the Rent' next Tuesday.  I may not be able to stay with the A group, but it'll be awful nice to be able to try.

Basset Hound Bianchi

 
Ok, I'm not sure if he's really a basset hound, but he sure makes a fine guard dog for that vintage Bianchi (much more effective than the rope on the handlebar).

The day before racing the Newhouse Crit at Ninigret, at I went on a yarn crawl with Mrs. SOC (think "pub crawl" but instead of visiting pubs, we/she visited yarn shops).  Bonus for me though - there were a number of bike shops along the way, and we stopped to visit those too.  You can read more about it over at the Mrs.' blog.

We saw this guy at East Providence Bicycles, and while he looks docile now, he sure started hollerin' as soon as I finished taking the picture.

No worries that that Bianchi was going anywhere without its owner!

Bethel and Mileage

Anyone that knows me or has read this blog for very long knows that I hate racing in the rain.

So, given the ABSOLUTE DELUGE that happened yesterday, I rainchecked my first race of 2011 - literally and figuratively.

But I did take my bike outside on Saturday - first time it's been outdoors since Thanksgiving, 2010.  Saturday was the Bethel Sweep Day - an annual event where we help SDC sweep and prepare the track for the first race.  I didn't know what to expect, with rain threatening in the morning.  But new teammate JP met me at the house, we loaded up our bikes, and drove over.

It was a testament to how well JP and I hit it off (or - at least as likely - how distracted I get when I'm talking so much) that I actually missed the exit off the Parkway.  But we had an even more scenic detour up Rt. 53 and when we got to Francis J. Clark industrial park, even though I was entering it from the wrong direction, it still brought back a flood of memories.  Not to sound corny, but my eyes got just a little moist as I turned off the main road and onto the track - "It's finally here!  Racing Season 2011 - and Spring is just around the corner!"

Unlike last year, we had fewer people and more work to do.  And the ice was CRAZY.  For more details about our fun Sweep Day 2011 (and, BION, it WAS fun) click here.  After our work was done and we'd consumed some fantastic pizza (courtesy Frank Navone of Navone Studios), we kitted up and went for some laps around the track.  The weather cleared up nicely and we put in over 17 miles of 'round & 'round before we packed it in.

It was really weird to actually have to balance my bike rather than have it held rigid in the trainer.  But they don't say "it's just like riding a bike" for nothing - I was able to balance just fine.  And I could even respond to the not-surprising friskiness of teammates Lance and Paul.  I was glad to discover that my training must be working - I'm just as fast as last year.  But for NOTABLY shorter periods of time.  Hopefully, endurance will come as I put more miles in.

Speaking of miles . . . I've finally updated my mileage totals on the left side of the page (which hadn't been updated since Nov. 26!)  As you can see, I've put in almost 640 miles since January 1.  All but the last 17 on the trainer.  Based on previous years, I'll need to put in another good 400 miles before I feel good and ready to race for real.  Last year, since I was targeting the Bethel Series for the team, I started my training a month early - 12/1/09 - and got all my miles in just as the series started.  But this year, Bethel will be part of my training rather than the first main goal.

So that's why, despite being really psyched to kick off my 2011 racing season, I decided to bow out yesterday.  There'll be plenty of opportunities to race this year - no sense getting all gritty and cold right out of the gate.

BTW, the forecast for this Sunday's race is MUCH better - hope to seeya there!

--------------------

Longtime readers know that we have three great cats.  My training partner - Rainy - had a seizure last night that kept us at the animal hospital for a bit.  She seems to be doing ok now thankfully, but we still have a lot of tests we have to go through to figure out what happened.  So if you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks

A New Record!

I can't believe it, but it's been exactly two whole, long months since I last posted to this blog.  A dubious record, for sure, but a record nevertheless.  It's been a very long, snowy winter.

But with the melting of the snow, the tentative warblings of the occasional robin, and the longer days, comes a revived realization that bike racing season is just around the corner.

Like, um, this coming Sunday.

Fortunately, I've been training.  Unfortunately, I haven't ridden my bike outdoors since The Big Bonk.  That would be last Thanksgiving.

And, frankly, my training has been a little lackluster.  I don't mind the indoor trainer, but when I'm watching videos and listening to podcasts that haven't anything to do with cycling, I know that I'm just going through the motions.  I'm glad I've put all those training hours in the bank, but I haven't been all that psyched for racing.  Not like previous years.

Until last night.

I attended my first team meeting of 2011 and it couldn't have come at a better time- just under a week before my first race of the season.  And seeing all the fellas again - including one new teammate that I've been emailing with since last fall that I finally got to meet IRL - gave me a VERY much needed shot in the arm and a huge dose of motivation.

So my 2011 racing season has gone from "meh" to BRING IT ON!

Hopefully it won't be another 2 months before I get around to telling you how it's going.