Get Trashed and Give Trash

CAUTION: THIS IS A RANT!

I'm getting a little tired of the local teenagers having a drinking party while mom and dad are gone from the house and then disposing of their evidence on the shoulders of our local roadways. I see it almost daily as I'm out on the bike and it makes me shake my head in disbelief. What's up? Can't find a trash can somewhere else? Then they add insult to injury by tossing their White Castle, Steak and Shake, or Taco Bell bags out a few hundred feet later. I'd love to find one of those single roadside shoes laying around somewhere and kick the offenders right in the butt with it. UUUUUGH!

Carbon emissions offset??

Here's the new road bike I'll attempt to race this year. It's the first really nice road bike I've ever owned. I'm shocked by the lightness and stiffness of this bike. I've ridden it for a few hours and it's awesome. I can't wait to get it out for some serious rides. Thanks to the The Cyclery in Edwardsville for the awesome deal and for Mark at Ballwin Cycles for getting the bike dialed in for me.

It came in right around 17# and right now. The bars, stem, and wheels are a little on the heavy side, similar to their pilot. I could easily have the bike coming in right at 16.5# without too much problem, but at my size it ain't going to be the extra bike weight that holds this bike back.

The frame and components are:

Giant TCR Composite frame - large
Dura Ace rear derailleur/cassette (12-25)/brakes/shifters
FSA Carbon Pro crankset (50-36)
FSA front derailleur (compact specific)
Thomson Elite layback seatpost
FSA OS170 stem / FSA Wing Pro alloy bars
Fizik Arione saddle
Chris King hubs 28f/32r / Mavic Open pro rims
Connex 908 chain
Schwalbe Ultremo tires
Speedplay Zero pedals
Bontrager Race Lite bottle cages

But seriously, I'm fine

Yes, I've been a little under the weather. We're now drawing to a day 8 of my annual chest cold to a close. I know the drill. Hacking and coughing in the morning with a repeat performance at bedtime for the nocturnal crowd. As I often do during times of sickness and recovery, I have relegated myself to our finished basement so as not to wake the entire house. I don't know if it helps the family, but no one else has taken ill and they haven't failed to put a place setting out for my dinner. I guess I'm still part of the family.

My wife snapped this picture of me during one of my recovery sessions the other day. I think I look a little younger, she seems to think I've lost a little weight. Yes, I have lost weight. Now, I know I'm no poster boy for the model set, but I have had a couple of people tell me over the past couple of weeks that I was looking too thin. In fact one person thought I was sick. Now, what does that say about our American-ized mental state when folks think I look too thin???

Before you read any further, I WARNED YOU!!!

Speaking of thin, http://www.theralphaccount.blogspot.com posted up quite a pic on his blog this past weekend. Dear heavens man, you gotta give fair warning before doing that. The movie, Scared Straight comes to mind.

2008 Race Schedule

MTB RACES
March 2, 2008 - St. Joes State Park, Farmington, MO
May 10, 2008 - Castlewood State Park, St. Louis, MO
June 1 , 2008 - Matson Hill, Defiance, MO
August 17, 2008 - Cape Race, Cape Girardeau, MO
September 7, 2008 - Greensfelder, Eureka, MO
September 21, 2008- Chubb TT, St. Louis, MO
October 15 2008 - Spanish Lake, Spanish Lake, MO

ROAD RACES
February 24, 2008 - Froze Toes, Columbia, MO
March 29, 2008 - Hillsboro-Roubaix, Hillsboro, IL

ENDURANCE (and other possible) RACES
October??? - Burnin' at the Bluff
Sep 28 - Tall Oak 6 hour - Jefferson City, MO
Nov 2 - OZ Epic - Lake Ozark, MO

Good to Great

Some of you may have read Jim Collins' book, "Good to Great." Jim was in town last week to speak at, or should I say talk VERY passionately at, our annual partner's meeting. Jim has agreed to begin working more closely with our firm (Edward Jones) and he offered many challenges to consider as we grow over the next 25 years. However, as Jim stated principles for transforming our business from Good to Great, I found myself thinking about how an individual does the same in the athletic arena.

Here are some of Jim's comments. See if they conjure up similar athletic thoughts for you. Please keep in mind 'great' or 'greatness' is a relative term. Please understand, I'm not suggesting that I am a great bike racer by any means, but I do aspire to 'get better.'

1. Building greatness is a cumulative process. It's organic. There are no quick fixes. There is virtually no point in time when you can say "that's when greatness broke through."

2. A key psychology for moving from good to great is the Stockdale Paradox (so named after Admiral Stockdale and his beliefs during captivity in a prisoner of war camp): Retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of difficulties AND at the same time confront the brutal facts of your current reality.

3. No matter how dramatic the end result, good to great transformation never happened in one fell swoop. There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment.

4. Sustainable transformations follow a predictable pattern of build-up and breakthrough. Like pushing a giant flywheel, it takes a lot of effort to get it moving at all. But with persistent pushing in a constant direction over a long period of time, the flywheel builds momentum, eventually hitting a period of breakthrough.

5. Good is the enemy of great.

6. Greatness is a function of choice and discipline.

7. The moment you think of yourself as great, you're not.

Arachnology 101

Today's lesson: Not all spiders have 8 legs!

Like a Rented Mule...or Donkey...or ....

You may be wondering why I've posted a picture of a sleeping donkey. Per Wikipedia, the donkey is also known as equus asinus or ass. Well, the picture is a reference to me and my "donkey" is exhausted. I'm spent. Instead of haulin' "donkey" on the bike, I seem to be dragging lately. Truth is, it's been getting worse since Sunday evening.

I've been on the bike or doing workouts since last Monday and this past Monday, it started to hit me, a sense of exhaustion. Now, if you're sitting there thinking "man, Boz's coach must be brutal. I'll bet he's got him doing all kinds of super secret East German style workouts!" you're wrong. I'm simply doing what every other person is doing and that's building strength and base miles into my body. If I had to pick a culprit, I'd say it was a general lack of good sleep.

Saturday was a very long day for me and I think that was the tipping point for my body. I only got 3 1/2 - 4 hours of sleep Friday night and then spent the the first part of the day with a couple of good Christian men repairing a house in the city. I spent the better part of 2-3 hours climbing up and down a ladder while doing carpentry work for a leaking window. Then I went home and jumped onto the bike for 2-3 hours which included approximately 1 hour of interval work. Later that night, we attended a trivia night with some friends. I got to bed around midnight and was back up at 7am the next morning to face another very full day.

Sunday evening while pedalling back towards the house after 2 hours on the bike, I began feeling tired. I remember thinking the last little climb which is 3 miles from my house can't come soon enough. However, last night was the final page in the book for me. While trying to do a workout on the trainer where I was supposed to do 4-5 6min intervals with my heart rate in zone 3, I couldn't get my heart rate past zone 2. It's a weird feeling too. Your legs feel fine and nothing hurts on your body, but when my brain calls for more your body doesn't answer. Your willpower is there but your body doesn't want to cooperate.

I decided there was no sense in fighting it and got off the bike after 20 minutes. I got ready for bed and went to sleep sometime before 9pm. I slept until 515am and that's pretty good for me. I guess I need the rest, so I'm going to eat smart, keep the fluids up, and try to stay off my feet for as long as I can. Maybe Aggro's right, I am getting older.

I'll rest up and file this one in the back of my mind as something to draw on when the going really gets tough. Training is not only to get your body in shape, but also your mind. You've got to know when you're simply aching a little vs. when you're body simply won't respond. Now I know a little more and that will become an advantage to me.

Similar passions???

Anthony Bourdain is the chef turned author turned traveler turned celebrity. Well, you could argue his celebrity, but he's got a TV show and let's face it most of the readers of this blog don't, so he should be a celebrity by our admissions. If you don't know who Anthony is, you should read any of his books, Kitchen Confidential, The Nasty Bits, A Cook's Tour or you can tune into his show "No Reservations" on Monday nights at 9pm Central on the Travel Channel.

Anthony's sharp wit, wry, self-effacing sense of humor is music to my ears. He has a love, no make that a passion, for original foods, as well as a complete disdain for the mass produced slop so prevalent in our world. He's part rock star, part food critic, part chef, part traveler, but mainly a guy you'd want to drink a few beers with while eating a well prepared choucroute garnie, cassoulet, or steak and frites.

Anthony is the executive chef of Les Halles on Park Ave in NYC. While he doesn't spend much time in the kitchen anymore, it's still his home base. Les Halles is one of my favorite restaurants on the planet. Why? Darn good food. French brasserie food which includes all three of the items I mentioned earlier. Our family ate there last week and the meal was over the top. I had the choucroute garnie which reminded me of growing up. Pork in three different versions with sauerkraut and potatoes. The best steak and frites this side of Paris and a chocolate/banana dessert that quite literally was the best dessert I have ever eaten.

I'm digressing. The t-shirt is a shirt Anthony designed and wears occassionally on the show. The notion of "Cook Free or Die" is something Anthony feels summarizes his feelings and love for the preparation of food. In other words, don't be generic when you could make it much more. I guess it's similar to my passion for the bike. Pedal and put your best effort into it or don't. Check out Mr. Bourdain, I think you'll like what you see.

And by the way, you can buy the shirt at www.grillbitch.com. The website is a reference to the 'affectionate' name Anthony has for his former executive assistant, Beth. If you want to know more, check out the website or better yet, read Kitchen Confidential.

Second chances

There was a post today on our local bicycling forum which got me thinking. The author of the post in question was suggesting if you're a doper (cheater) and you get caught, you're out. You've earned (perhaps stole) your money (while keeping a legitimate rider out of the peloton) and you can't come back.

Instead of launching into a posting war, I decided I'd post MY thoughts on MY blog. If you do or do not agree with MY opinion, I'm cool with that. My two cents.

I, as do many others, believe in practicing forgiveness and grace. I think the David Millar approach (I doped, I took my suspension, I am now riding clean, and I am fighting for a clean sport) teaches a very human lesson and one I'm proud to talk about with my children. We are humans, we are imperfect, and we don't always make the right decision. When we don't make the right decisions, our mistakes may be judged by others as "avoidable" or "calculated decisions on our part," in which case we "should have known better."

I am human, I make mistakes, and I stumble in my practicing forgiveness and grace. What is my true north when I find my mental, spiritual, or moral compass out of whack? I try to remember this short Bible verse. It's from Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Whatever the reasons are for our mistakes, ill-fated deeds, transgressions, or sins our response is to take responsibility without excuse, accept the consequences, learn from your mistake, and begin a path of 'righteousness'. Turn away from the sin. Easier said than done. But our objective nevertheless.

For David Millar and others to admit their wrongdoings, get their own lives and bodies back on track, and take an active role to help clean up the sport is not depressing to me at all. In fact, I find it to be a gift to the sport. I'd suggest it may be exactly what we need if we're going to help flush the dope out of cycling. Perpetuating an environment wherein the riders (both dopers and dope-free) continue to live in a world where admission of wrongdoing is career-ending won't speed up the cleansing process. In fact, it will do the exact opposite.

I'm not suggesting we coddle the dopers, pat them on the back, and not feel a sense of betrayal. There's no doubt the sport needs to be cleaned up. Better enforcement, better testing standards, more civil rights, fewer epic stages, the list goes on and on. Eliminating everyone who ever doped seems a bit extreme to me.

Maybe I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it without excuse, I'll accept the consequences, learn from my mistakes, and pursue a path of righteousness. In short, I'll expect a second chance.

Sleep is overrated!

I'm back into one of my sleeping funks. I've never been a good sleeper, though. I guess I feel there are too many other things I'd rather do than sleep. Live life would be one of them. However, at 2 or 3 in the morning how much life is there to live? I think my body is getting back at me for forcing it to sleep so much while we were in NY on vacation. One of the only places I can ever sleep late is in a hotel room. Something about those room darkening curtains and the cavelike atmosphere. Am I really more of a neanderthal than I suspected? Perhaps.

Well, I've channel surfed my 800 channels of cable and can't find anything to watch. Maybe my sleep problems aren't rooted in a desire to live life. Maybe, just maybe, the culprit is a little mean streak of ADD that rears its head from time to time.

I do know that I've done just about everything there is to do with little or no sleep. I know that I've never called in sick because I missed out on a little REM. Give me a couple hours of sleep, some caffeine, and I'm rejuvenated and ready to tackle the world. It's worked for the better part of 40+ years, why try to figure it out now?

WRONG-O

I predicted the Highway 40 shutdown was going to produce problems just short of global warming and the end of western civilization. So far, it's produced nothing but a big yawn! That's good and I was wrong. There, I've admitted it and we'll now move onto more important things like global warming and the end of western civilization.

Gunnar is SOLD!!!

Power of advertising....and a killer price!!!!

Soon the stable of bikes will be down to:

Redline Conquest 'cross bike
Niner One 9 singlespeed mtb
Gunnar Rockhound geared mtb...going to 'give' to my sister-in-law's husband
Giant TCR Composite Road bike
Giant s/s commuter bike
Intense Spider 29er f/s mtb

Each bike has a special purpose and gets ridden often. 5 bikes is down from the high of 9 bikes at one time. What can I say, I'm a sucker for all things bike related.

Gunnar Sport - 62cm - For Sale

I ordered and built up this bike last year when I was doing the brevet series. I only rode the bike on 1 300km ride and then a couple of 75-100 mile rides. It's been hanging in the shop ever since. I no longer need this bike as I'm racing mtb and road.

More info and specs can be found at

I will include the following items which were purchased new in April 2007:

2007 - 62cm Gunnar Sport frame - Charcoal with black letters - 3rd bottle mount under downtube (msrp $750)
Red 1 1/8" Chris King threadless headset/spacers (msrp $125)
Shimano Long Reach brakeset - Ultegra level brakes (msrp $160)
IRM Mosaic 57 carbon fork (msrp $200)
(2) Winwood red carbon cages (msrp $100)

The bike is in immaculate condition. I would like to get $650 for the bike and the items listed plus actual costs of shipping.

Email me at craig.basler@charter.net