New Post - Whodda Thunk?

Yes, we Team Two Wheel riders have been busy lately and things keep interfering with our blog writing. For Rider One, he got lost in a reverie about old single-track and old girlfriends (of friends, of course) and the potent combination of these that created a trail called Stiffenmy Schwing. Hopefully he will come out his reverie and go back to riding and writing soon. For Rider Two, the problem is of a completely different nature. He has made a firm vow to not write a blog until the scourge of drug use is wiped clean from professional sports. As such, you can expect him to write a blog post simultaneous with a supernova of the sun obliterating the planet.

As for me, Rider Three, my reasons for not posting are much more mundane. Sure work and family cause me the same frustration and pain they do every day, but in this case I made a bad decision that would use the 1,441st minute of every day to start a blog post. That reminds me of a joke: there are three kinds of people in the world - those who are good at math and those are not.

So, there is a shop ride today. You should know that and you should have it on your calendar and you should be riding with us today, right? Great. See you there.

But this post is not about riding outside. It is about the 1989 and 1993 World Championships. Actually, and more specifically, it is about the World Cycling Production DVD of each of these races.

A couple of days ago I was beset with a minor bout of insomnia. I woke up about 2.45 am and at 3.20 am I gave up hope of getting back to sleep without some intervening activity. As it was, my Leadville training schedule required a 2.5 hour ride and I knew that I would have a hard time getting in the ride after work (and damnblammnit, I had to go to work again), so I decided to get up and get on my trainer for the ride. The timing worked well for my family, as I was off the trainer around 6 am, when I would normally be padding around the house, smoking my first pipe of the day, putting the dog out, yelling at the birds to be quiet and generally making ready for the day. So yes, I did all of these things, I just did them in sweat-encrusted, drippy clothes.

This reminds me of another joke: there are two kinds of people in the America - those who think it is a good idea to ride a trainer for 2 1/2 hours at 3.30 am and the other 330 million. Maybe that one isn't so funny, but I know a lot of people who HATE riding on a trainer, ever, not just pre-dawn. They might be able to muster 30-45 minutes in the dead of winter, but that is about it. (On the other hand, I do know people who are capable of 6 hours on a trainer, but there is usually medication that helps them.)

To while away the time on the trainer, I watch videotapes (kids, ask grandpa what a video-tape is while we adults talk) and DVDs of bike racing. I have a collection of at least 80 tapes and DVD titles, which is a bit silly, particularly when you consider that some of these items consist of multi-hour video tapes with multiple races and others consist of up to 6 DVDs of a single race (like the Tour de France or Giro - no, I don't own any Vueltas). I have literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of bike races spanning from the 70's up until 2009.

Yesterday I watched the end of a DVD I had started on a prior trainer session, the 2006 Paris-Roubaix (remember Hincapie's steerer tube breaking, followed by his shoulder doing the same? Also, Cancellara's first BIG win, and yes, I am discounting the TdF prologue win in 2004). After that, having most of two hours left, I then put in the 1989 World Championships, which were won by Greg Lemond and after that, the 1993 World Championships won by a very young Lance Armstrong. If you have seen the coverage of these races, you know exactly what I am going to say, right? I mean, can you believe it?

If you haven't watched them, I would encourage all of you to dip into your library of old races and review them again. Then tomorrow we can discuss them, okay?
Rider Three