O' Bacon, Where art thou?

One of my new year's resolutions was to make sure I blog more- you'd think i wouldn't have a problem talking about myself for hours on end (ask any of my friends). But considering that my first blog of 2009 comes to you in mid February speaks volumes about how good i am at keeping resolutions...

I hadn't really taken the time to reflect on the end of 2008. To say the least, it was a blast. Somehow we banded together and put on an awesome race that made NYCX'ers proud. not even DFLing and getting hypothermia could quell the awesome time i had putting that race on.

And here we are, firmly entrenched in 2009. I have to admit, I'm pumped. We put together an awesome new team full of awesome guys that know how to race well and have fun, We're training with a dreamy Finnish coach who happens to be this year's National Masters CX Champ, our kits are fabulous, and there's tons of awesome races to get ready for!

I've also been dealing with the double-sided sword that is fame. ever since i was featured on the back page of a certain cycling publication this month...



Don't worry- being a fat kid in grammar school more than prepared my for the amount of anonymous hate and mockery this photo is going to get me. And while you people may THINK its fun to get accosted by attractive females every time i leave the G-damn house, it actually gets kind of old... wait, no it doesn't...


Now i know what you're dying to ask: How is the most famous mediocre cat 4 in the country going to train for a grueling season of "holja line" park races as well as hilly out of town races that he'll probably get dropped on?

Aside from a few rocky-style training montages, I've been hitting the trainer and the gym quite a bit when it's been below freezing. as riding the trainer is a miserable, lonely affair, I've been inviting friends over for "trainer dates," also known as "indoor trainer gang bangs." Everyone's favorite cat 3 sandbagger Colin Prensky joined me a few times, which i guess mean's we're going steady (he likes to spoon afterward)



Also, after suffering through 10 months of a baconless existence last year, I've decided that i will ESPECIALLY eat bacon this year! i just found out that bacon has Omega 6's in it- those are twice as good as omega 3's right?! they should invent more things that are delicious AND good for you.



The next few weeks are going to be full of training, and my first big race, the Rouge Roubaix, is only 21 days away. I did this 100 mile bastard of a race last year. Think Battenkill x 2, with rougher roads and shorter, steeper climbs, and then put the entire thing on in the middle of deliverance country in Louisiana and Mississippi. you get the idea. It's an insanely epic race that's laughably early in the season. It's also one of the best races I've competed in. Last year i came in 20th, including a flat tire and a pee break (i have the bladder of a 4 year old). This year, I'm racing with a vengeance. Roubaix tires have been purchased, and I have no qualms about going boom-boom or wee-wee in my bibs this time (bike shorts are pretty much just spandex diapers anyway, right?)




in order to get ready for the upcoming season, and to get out of the city, I'm flying out to Tucson, AZ to take part in our coach's training camp. i'll be out there riding for 5 days, up and down Mount Lemmon, crying and whining about how much i hate hills. hopefully this will transform my racing form from mediocre to a little better than mediocre. we're staying in a huge mansion in Tucson that Roger rented, complete with pool, hot tub, and sauna. Bonus- Apparently this house has also been used to film some movies that I've probably already seen on redtube, so you know it's got character! I'm just going to have to check the room with a blacklight before i go to sleep...



Tomorrow morning I'm celebrating president's day by making my way to Westwood Velo at the buttcrack of dawn to have a fitting session and Lactate Balance point test with Roger. Then it'll be TOC time. Just you wait and see- Big George is going to win a stage this week, and then dedicate it to me, his biggest fanboy (stalker).

photo by Ken Conley- kwc.org

I'd rather be numb than have (or watch) cabin fever

And winter's REALLY in full swing now! we just got a few inches today as a Nor-easter comes on through. I can still remember the 70 degree weekend we had in January. Why couldnt Global warming keep it up? It was making for such an easy training season. Thanks for nothing, Al Gore. That was more of a Convenient truth for us cyclists!

But noooooo. now its cold. too cold to ride.

Which means that most of the 6 workouts a week I'm assigned to do have been on a trainer or set of rollers.

The novelty of watching a movie or thumping to loud Techno during intervals passed a loooooong time ago. I've got full on cabin fever. It makes me desperate to get outside, and I've found myself rationalizing whether 20 degrees is too cold to go out (yes, it is. )

This weekend it came to a head. low 24/ high 32 for both days. I had to get out. i didnt care. I bundled myself up and off I went with some team members on both days. I was so glad I did. Got a nice 55 miler in with 4 teammates on saturday and did a nice (and slower) 45 miler on sunday with Chad.

the ride on saturday was a good strong one. we headed on out to Nyack and returned via some backroad hills that I had never done. I didnt expect to do hillclimbing work that day, but it's always refreshing to get a little variety in. However, Both days I had to stop at the Piermont Bike shop and pick up some Hand and foot warmers as my patties went numb on the way over. Such is the price one pays for not being cooped up in an apartment, watching breaking away AGAIN while you're pedaling away your life and going nowhere. it gets kind of depressing. That reminds me, I have to return my netflix DVDs. I've watched all of my DVD's already and I'm running out of trainer time distractions.

I'm sure many of you are at that point now or have been there before. Cabin fever. Not just a horrible movie, it's also an affliction that strikes the morale of the cyclist in the dead of winter. I'm beginning to develop a hate/hate relationship with my trainer. not enough to stop me from using it, but i cringe every time i look in its direction. Its responsible for me having to get up at 5 AM, sweat buckets, get to work late, and have to take a 15 minute naparoo in the stall cause i'm so friggin tired!


Racing season is but a month away, so we're in the home stretch! soon it'll lbe warm enough to ride outside again on a regular basis. instead of doing brain-dead trainer sessions, I'll have Mundane central park loops to do! (don't mind my scarcasm, it really is infintely better)


I had another Impulse buy on Ebay today- picked up a nearly new Fizik Aliante (in blue, of course) for $57 bucks. considering they go for $220 new, I think I did pretty well. Carbon shell, Ti rails. I hear good things. Hopefully my taint will be pleased. As pretty as my Fizik Arione is, I end up going numb after 40 min on the trainer.


Random Tip- Don't forget to change your chain once a season or every 1500 miles- the more you change your chain, the longer your cassette will last! I found a great deal on campy record chains at probikekit.com - 45 bucks! so remember, kids- change early, change often. it'll make your cassettes last and it'll keep your shifting crisp.


on that note, I've got an 85 min tempo workout in a few hours. time to hit the hay.

But I leave you with my newest friend, Unemployed Skeletor!

The Winter Cycling Ninja rides again! (sort of)

So the warm streak in new york has finally broken- the temps are finally in the 20's and 30's, and we're solidly in the winter.

We were supposed to have a short team ride yesterday morning. I woke up, saw that it was 24 degrees outside, and went ahead and dressed up. I took the cross bike out (it's maiden ride since i slapped the Campy components and carbon bars on it) and went to meet everyone at the boathouse. Well apparently I get hardcore points for being the only one who showed up! maybe it's because there was still snow on the ground...

I went ahead and got a lap in (about 6 mi) before saying "F That" and going home to ride the rollers.

rollers were fun- I didnt break my ass and I got the hang of doing it with no hands (for very brief amounts of time).

Today was two hours on the trainer.

boo. trainer time. so much trainer time.

being on the trainer for more than an hour and a half makes me suicidal. Thankfully, watching Kill Bill Vol 2 Dulled the pain a bit.

I think I'm going to start looking for a new saddle. A ong trainer season really puts your saddle to the test, and as much as I love my Fizik Arione (and as much as it matched my bike), I might need to look around, because I enjoy not being sterile.

I think I'll try out one of the New Selle Flites and the Fizik Gobi (I would try the Aliante, but that shit is wayyy too expensive)

I recently got my Fondriest Fitted by Mike Sherry at Performance Labs HC . It was a pretty Deluxe fitting, setting me back about $250. I feel much better on the bike. Mike took a ton of skeletal measurements and ended up raising my seatpost by almost 2 inches, and lowered my Stem height by about an inch. My hips are more open, and I feel different muscle groups in my legs being used. I'll be excited to get back out on the road for a real ride and see what the difference is. Overall, it was a great fitting experience. Mike was super knowledgable and did a great job. Highly reccomended!

Tomorrow's a rest day. Thank the frigging lord.

If this cold weather keeps going, I just might slap the knobbies back on my cross bike and go romping through central park on a snowy afternoon. Who's with me?!

All your base miles are belong to us

Ok, that may be a bit obscure of a title reference. Whoever gets it receives a cookie. Promise.

Base mile season is upon us. Countless hours of bland, heart-rate limited, small-chainring miles await us. We churn through the boring miles and horrific trainer sessions with the hopes that come race day it'll pay off. Until then, keep spinning- let those Freds in the park pass you- the guys that are going fast now aren't going to be fast when it counts.

My training's in full swing. The name of the game is plenty of high cadence time in my endurance zone (about 144-158 bpm for me). I'm training 6 days a week now, which is more than I'm used to, but it’s a good schedule. I've been getting on the road as much as possible, although it has finally started to turn cold, so I'm back on the trainer. I've also got a brand, spanking new set of Minoura Rollers to have fun with. Now I can crash indoors!

I tried them out for a few minutes in a doorway yesterday. It's a fun sensation. It differs from rollers in the same way that free weights at a gym differ from a weight machine: you have to stabilize yourself. No sloppy movements allowed, or else you're in for a world of hurt. Super relaxing, I know. These glorified rolling pins should help smooth out my spin and polish my control and balance on the bike, which is always appreciated.

The workouts my coach has been giving me are good, albeit complex. I had to create an interval chart just to keep track of the workout!


I'd like to start a fun little piece on this blog every few weeks where a bike is featured. Call it an ode to bike porn. The kicker is- I want to feature YOUR bikes. If you're in love with your bike, send an email to cjammet@gmail.com with pictures, a description, and why you love your bike so much. I'll make it a star, baby! I'll kick things off with mine in a few days, but then it's all you guys! (Marcella, I especially want to feature your disgustingly beautiful Guru on here!)

Time for me to jet- up at 5 am for more trainer time (or maybe rollers...). Before I go, though- here's my most recent trainer Mix:

Name	Artist
Bagpipes	Dropkick Murphys
Broken Glass	Buckcherry
Price of Love	Client
Dead Again	Buckcherry
Cochise	Audioslave
Angels Of The Silences	Counting Crows
Breakup Song	Cowboy Mouth
She Sells Sanctuary	The Cult
Cold	Crossfade
La Grange	ZZ Top
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand
Joe Strummer	Cowboy Mouth
This Much Fun	Cowboy Mouth
Glory and Consequence	Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Welcome to Paradise	Green Day
Absolut Kravitz - Breathe	Lenny Kravitz
Tu Dis Rien	Louise Attaque
Not Coming Home	Maroon 5
Queen- Bicycle race	Queen
Fat Bottomed Girls	Queen
To Be Young	Ryan Adams
I Summon You	Spoon
Crackerman	Stone Temple Pilots
Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head	Kylie Minogue
Drink the Water	Buckcherry
Everlong	Foo Fighters
Call On Me (Main Mix)	Eric Prydz
Whatcha Gonna do?	Cowboy Mouth
Danger Zone	Kenny Loggins
Times Like These	Foo Fighters
Over And Done With	The Proclaimers

What are YOU listening to on the trainer?

Trainer season is upon us

I woke up yesterday at 5 am and made my way to my computer. The obligatory early-morning weather check. Would it be too cold to ride? We had been really lucky here in NYC, enjoying a nice, long, pleasant fall.

27 degrees.

No thanks! 32 is my cutoff for bike training. It's not that I can't go out in colder weather (I have, and I probably will again), but it's not comfortable. As much as I love frozen booger icicles hanging on my nose, I'll usually pass.

Which brings us to indoor training.

I think we all have a love/hate relationship with our trainers. They keep us busy when we can't play outside, and they allow for us to train effectively in the winter.

But they're SO boring.

I decided to bite a big one and buy a Cycle-ops Fluid2 TT edition trainer on eBay for about $200. It was a good deal on a good trainer. The resistance curve is one that increases exponentially with wheel speed, so all you have to do to go harder is click into a harder gear.

The trainer came with the entire Chris Carmichael CTS training video line. Whoopee.

While I trust Chris and his training programs, (each video is tailored for a certain aspect of cycling- TT's, climbing, Criteriums, etc...) There is nothing, and I mean nothing more boring than riding a trainer indoors while watching other people ride on a trainer indoors.

Couldn't he at least put some decent bike racing clips in the videos? Holy hell! I'm not going to sit there watching some cyclists decked out in CTS gear sweat indoors. (Although I know a few women that might not mind...)

So what do I do to save myself from ITBD (indoor trainer boredom disorder)? Two things:

1) Action movies. Action movies are great for trainers because you can incorporate intervals into it. Here's how: Every time there's a fight scene/chase/ action sequence, Ramp it up. Presto! intervals in an action movie! Much more fun than having Chris Carmichael ask you politely to accelerate your cadence and raise your heartrate to zone 3.

2) MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000! - There’s no show that makes the time fly faster than a good MST3K episode. What’s better than watching horrible B movies with hilarious commentary? If you haven’t seen any episodes, do yourself a favor and Check some out on Youtube.

What's your trainer distraction?

Whatever it is, keep doing it. As boring as they are, the more hours you put in on that trainer in the winter are going to pay off in the spring. You can laugh at all of your other friends who use the off season as an excuse to go into Jan Ullrich style guilt eating while you're gapping them up hills. (Sorry Jan, you know I love you). Stay strong, and keep spinning!