We Need to Share the Road With Morons Like This?

Read the second letter to the editor in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/52023367.html
Seriously? I'm supposed to share the road with this guy? He wants me to ride on a trainer or a bike path? I'm a road hog?
Please. As a non-"professional" cyclist, I share my road with cars every day. I take up a few feet on the side of the road. True, there are group rides.
Maybe I allow the cars to alter traffic around me.
Maybe the cars should move over and stay off the roads.
Maybe the future tragedies can be prevented when morons like this remember we all get to use the same roads.
As a guy who now has intimate knowledge of what happens when cars don't see cyclists, it'd be nice to think even people like letter writer Terry Smith of Waukesha might learn to share the road.
Or maybe he's jealous of how good I look in spandex...

Next Stage; Good Weekend

No, not of the Tour. That's over, thank god. Now we can focus on the real racing that comes in September! Yes, cyclocross. What else matters? Road and mountain bikes are just good training.

Superweek is over, so my house is now empty. Jonathan left yesterday, Daniel this morning. Jonathan had a forgettable Superweek. He doesn't much like crits, preferring stage races with long climbs and tough TTs. Plus he got sick with a persistent cold while here.
On the last day, racing in Whitefish Bay, he crashed hard, ending up in the Froedert Hospital ER. He had ripped a large gash from his left forearm, cutting down to the bone. We got home around 1 a.m., then he packed, slept a few hours, and took a taxi to the airport at 5:30 a.m. Rough way to race a bike for a living.

My weekend was considerably better. A few days in Eau Claire, visiting the family, including grandma Irene, the 94 year old from Nebraska. Nephew Lucas is still recovering from his broken leg. We saw Harry Potter and agreed it was a good transition movie, and the next ones would be good.
Kate and I went down to Viroqua over the weekend. I got there early to try out the new Specialized Stumpie 29er hardtail. Whoa. Sweet ride on some sweet trails in Sidie Hollow Park. My former student Savanah and her family helped create the trails. Savanah's uncle and aunt own Blue Dog cycles in Viroqua. Very cool shop, very cool people.
Saturday morning was the Butter Churn ride, put on by folks associated with Organic Valley. More beautiful countryside, long climbs up the ridges, great descents. Savanah rode with us, but she tired by the end, riding a mountain bike with knobby tires! How can you beat a 20 mile tour in beautiful country when there are two rest stops, plus organic chocolate milk at the finish?
You beat it with the Kickapoo Country Fair! Brett Dennen performed under a rainbow with the earthy crunchies from around the state and country dancing. Loads of fun.

Needless to say, I'm beat today. The bike shop was slow both Sunday and Monday. Time for a ride now. The new stage begins Aug. 1, whether I'm ready or not. Coach Crusty will start sending me programs that I'll adapt as I need to in order to keep PT Kim happy.

Buffalo Shout Out

Back in the 80s and early 90s, I lived near Buffalo, NY. I had already love to ride, but had no idea about training or anything else.

I joined the Buffalo Bike Club and made some good progress as a rider, particularly with the help of John Roden, Larry Reade, and others.

This weekend I hosted a couple of riders from the Buffalo area who were in town for Superweek, Ryan Nye, a newly minted cat. 1 racer, and Janell Clare Bedard.

It was very cool to remember names from the past, especially Boyd Johnson, now making his living at least partially from bike racing. Boyd was a young pup of a high school student when he started riding with us. The boy could ride back then too.

Ryan and Janell are on their way to Pittsburgh right now.

Good to reminisce about the BBC, Handlebars Bike Shop, and Roden, who really gave me a start in learning how to train. He took his time to ride with me often, teach me how to train.

And now Roden apparently just focuses on 'cross! My respect for him just grows!

I'm Listening to Kim the PT

It's beautiful outside, and I'm sitting inside after a long nap. All the travel lately, with actual work at the bike shop and actual classwork to do has left me exhausted.

Kim the PT says listen to my body during the recovery. The body says sleep.

Seriously, how long will this go on? I want to be able to ride all day today, not just a short 60-minute cruise. And I didn't ride or lift the last two days because of the fatigue.

Once again, I'm grateful for good insurance and a teaching job this summer to give me time and space to recover.

Now I get to encourage nephew Lucas who broke his tibia and fibia last week, and is now wearing a full-leg cast. I planned to go up again this week to visit him, but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe a weekend of rest and riding will do me good. That's what Kim the PT says.

Much of the My Wife Inc cyclocross team just signed up for the Cincinnati race weekend in October! After all, if I can't train and rest, Mike and Crusty might ride faster than me after all.

Not.

Tip off?

Not to be cynical, but might Hincapie have tipped off his old friend Armstrong that Columbia was about to put the hammer down?

I'd hate to have Bruyneel's job at the Tour. If I were him, I'd hope this weekend's mountains make the Astana's GC ambitions a bit more clear.

Riding the Bike - Outside!

For the first time in six weeks, I rode the cross bike last night, out to the Milwaukee Athletic Center on Ryan Road and back.

I took off the current stem and used a shorter, straight up stem to alleviate some of the pressure on the shoulder. I still had to take my left hand off the bars to reduce the pressure, but damn, it felt good to be out on a beautiful evening.

This morning, I rode out to PT, where PT Kim thought I was crazy for riding outside, then to the gym. I'm learning not to lift and ride hard on the same day!

Tomorrow, I'll ride a couple of hours if I can, in between class and the shop.

It's good to be riding outside again!