Watch Your Six

Awh hell yeah. Guess who I get to chase up the hill today? None other than cycling legend and pentagenarian Alexi Grewal! Watch your six Alexi!

Update: I got him! Passed him at kilometer 3.5, only to be promptly re-passed. Then we started going uphill and he blew sky high, whereas I kept going. I don't think my time broke any records...but yippee-kai-yay anyway!!



I've passed some cool guys in time trials in my day -- a former tour winner at the Cascade Classic, and a former national champ at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. Now I can add a former (albeit way way former) Olympic gold medalist to the list. See ya tomorrow Alexi! 

To The Public: HAPPY REDLANDS DAY!!!

In Honor and Celebration of This Joyous Day, This the 31st of March, in the Two-Thousand-Eleventh Year of Our Lord, I Hereby Proclaim Today to be HENCEFORTH CALLED:

HAPPY REDLANDS DAY!

See How The News Does Travel, From Babe to Toddling Babe: 

YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT STEEP IS????

Today I felt like one of these guys:



There are times when it's better to just say what you did today. Here's what I did today (told largely in the present tense):

• Wake up. 
• Eat breakfast, complete with three visits to Jura the Benevolent. 
• Get my marching orders from Tad: today I shall go with Josh, the Williams Wrench, to some crazy road high high up in the mountains. I shall then climb that mountain road as hard as I possibly can, with a videographer/data analysis guy observing my every move/heart beat/pedal stroke/watt. 
• Digest (both food and information). 
• Apply lotion to the heinous sunburn I received yesterday while constructing my new TT bike. 
• Pack belongings, including my freshly build TT bike, into Josh's rental mini-van. Why is Josh driving around a rental mini-van instead of the sweet Williams VW station wagon? It's a long story -- don't ask. 
• Drive two hours to the airport to pick up Nate from Data Driven Athlete.
• Drive to the tippy-top of Mt. Baldy Ski Area, the finish of stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California.
• Shit my pants when I see how steep it is. They want me to ride up this? On my bike? 
• Drive back to Mt. Baldy Village, where I strapped on my Garmin Edge 800, and a GoPro Camera. 
• FRIGGIN' BLOW SOME SERIOUS GASKETS CLIMBING THAT SHIT!!!! 
• Numbers as follows: distance: 4.00 miles. Elevation gained ~2000 feet. Average elevation: ~5,200 feet. Time: 22.50 minutes. Average Wattage: 425. Average amount of pain: lots. 
• Submit to short interview with an HD-video-camera-wielding Nate. 
• Change clothes, then drive back to the airport to drop off Nate (that's how he rolls folks). 
• Drive to Eddie's house, our wonderful home stay from San Dimas, and unpack my stuff. 
• Get kitted up again, and ride freshly built TT bike with Eddie over to the Rose Bowl. 
• Spin around the Rose Bowl. Tweak TT bike. Imagine Redlands prologue.  
• Shower! Feel like new man!
• Apply more lotion to heinous sunburn. 
• Eat delicious Mexican food with my hosts -- those were some amazing tacos!
• Drink delicious beer. 
• Blog delicious blog. 

Keep your eyes peeled for the video -- coming to a youtube near you. 

CHECK IT OUT

Ben Day might have had his day, but we've got our Cook(i)e in next-best spot:

Lyne over at Podium Insight has the scoop. Check it!

Things went well for our boys. I'm pretty happy, and pretty proud (still) to be on this team.

SAN DIE--MAS!!!!

So first off -- there is a downright splendid photo of me over on the Team Exergy site at the moment. Be sure to check in on the team site whenever we're at a race -- Tad does a pretty good job of updating daily.

Next, Krogg is a sad caveman today. Here's why:

Krogg have rough day at office. Stop once to help Andres chase chase chase after flat tire. Krogg stop twice to help Barlevav chase chase chase after mechanical. Krogg write poem: 


Caveman caveman, why you no chase harder?
Caveman caveman, why you no rail those corners? 
Caveman caveman, why you no have stronger legs?
           Or bigger lungs?
Caveman caveman, why you crack and get lapped?
           And DNF? 
Krogg: 0. San Dimas: 2.
Caveman feeling a little blue.   

Thank you Krogg. Sorry to hear about your race.

So it looks like I get to watch another San Dimas crit from the sidelines. Crap. Another "Bogus Journey," eh? However, this time, at least I have the satisfaction that comes from helping a team mate back to the peloton. I might not have finished, but Andres did -- inside the top 20 (I think), and only a few seconds off the leaders. As disappointed as I am that I can't be there to help tomorrow, I consider my sacrifice a worthy one.

What a Difference a Year Makes

SAN dimas
            one year late(r)

personally, i
   improved





a little bit





                     from   48th to
43rd.
        thirteen secon
ds faster

(which means I am improving
           at a faster rate
                 than Ben Day)

but h
       o
         l
          y

          s
         h
        i
       t

did my team mate Matt
               Cook(i)e
                ___go really fast____. 

Hat

     is

        off Matt.

And tomorrow,
my legs

         spin

              for you

                   with gusto.

San Dimas Redux

Alright sports fans, here we are, in San Dimas, ready to get this party started in earnest. We had a brutally windy drive across the country last night, and finally pulled up at our home stay just before midnight, pacific time. Things are looking good, we're feeling good, and the weather is...well the weather was awesome today -- despite the sour forecast.

San Dimas -- a simple little prep race for Redlands. Uphill TT tomorrow, circuit race Saturday, crit Sunday. I've been here once before, but things didn't end the way I would have liked. Stay tuned.

In video news, my favorite Russian is BACK! I'm not quite as big a fan of his latest work, but I can't help but give a shout-out to my Halloween inspiration for 2010. Here's me at Halloween:

Aaaaand here's my favorite Russian now. Remember: "no pain, no pain."


Oh, and holy shit does GoPro make me want to go climb some mountains, find some freshies, and take some face shots:

Wacky Stuff

Cycling news is wacky stuff (the news, and the websites that cover it). Just look at all these crazy contradicting headlines! Within the last year, we've seen the following headlines (forgive me for paraphrasing):

• Contador Wins Tour!
• Contador Doesn't Win Tour!

• Pegasus Off To Great Start!
• Everyone and Their Domestique Signs With Pegasus
• Pegasus in Major Trouble
• Pegasus? I'm Sorry, There's No Such Team.

• Contador Banned
• Contador's Sentence Reduced
• Contador Not Banned
• Contador Racing, Like Tomorrow
• Contador Probably Un-Un-Banned Soon (or is it Re-Banned?)

• Ricardo Rico Reformed Man After Serving Doping Ban 
• Ricardo Rico Nearly Dies in Botched DIY Doping Accident
• Ricardo Rico Admits to Nothing, Looking Forward to New Career as Barista

• UCI Bans Radios
• USA Cycling Un-Bans Radios
• UCI Throws Hissy-Fit
• USA Cycling Re-Bans Radios

Cycling, thanks for keeping things wacky. 

The (Continuing) Adventures of Chris Hong and Krogg

Yep, that's right -- it's time for another installment of your favorite dynamic duo -- Chris Hong and Krogg:

The Adventures of Chris Hong and Krogg

Episode III: PARTY TIME!

Yowzers! Krogg still reeling from party time! Holy MASTADON – Team Exergy know how to throw a good party! All day long Team Exergy work work work to prepare. Here Carlos washing van:

Krogg and Hong get dressed-up to the nines. We good looking cavemans! Team Exergy provide matching outfits. Trust Krogg: Team Exergy difficult group of guys to dress (at least so guys don't look like slovenly Australopithecus hahaha!). Exergy get pants that fit Hong, and pants that fit Krogg – WOW! Krogg pants require twice as much fabric as Hong pants – but when worn by appropriately sized caveman, both look good! 

Chris Hong and Krogg with caveman Drew purposefully ruining picture. 

Party have several purpose. Purpose one: thank local Boise community for support. Purpose two: present team. Purpose three: HAVE KILLER PARTY. Krogg happy to announce that all three purpose we accomplish! Exergy Development Group throw out red carpet and pull out all stops -- even parking giant beautiful windmill semi-trailer in front. Even though it rain a lot a lot on Monday night, hundreds of people come to classy old Linen Building to see fancy Team Exergy bikes, schmooze with Team Exergy riders, listen to some real country music by Boise's favorite band Poke, and last but not least – see presentation.

Krogg good friend Todd Gogulski there to emcee. Todd former mighty cyclist, and current mighty television commentator, so it special honor to have him there. Everybody have good time – especially Krogg and Hong! Here Krogg, Hong, Josh the Williams Wrench, and Todd Gogulski share photo opportunity:

Krogg and Hong have wonderful time at party: we drink caveman drink, and dance caveman dance, and talk caveman talk until the wee hours (roughly eleven o’clock – which is practically four in the morning by cyclist standards). Krogg like to give big thanks to Boise cycling community. Trust Krogg – all of Team Exergy extremely excited to rep-ro-sent Boise at upcoming races. KOWABUNGA!  

One more group shot...

Days and Days

It's Monday morning and things are starting to get crazy here because we've got our presentation party tonight, which should be amazing because hundreds of people are supposed to show up, and we've got three bands, two taco trucks, and one professional cycling announcer coming to keep us entertained -- the latter of which I'm especially excited about because Todd "Go-Go" Gogulski is really good at his job, and he's going to electrify that crowd tonight and make us seem pretty frickin' cool, but we still have a lot to do -- we've got to load the foos-ball table and the Jura into the trailer, wash the vehicles, finish prepping all the gear, get dressed to the nines, and eat some sandwiches before the party starts -- and that's just for the party -- we're headed to San Dimas and Redlands early Wednesday morning and -- Christ!!! -- I have a lot to do before I get out of town, like go to the bank, and pay my fines at the library, possibly eat dinner with my lovely girlfriend before I have to kiss her goodbye for another two weeks, oh -- and shave my face cuz I'm starting to look pretty scruffy, and -- awh crap, I need to organize my room because I've been steadily adding entropy to my living space for the last three weeks and haven't cleaned it up once -- it looks like a clothing grenade exploded in there -- oh shit, it's time for me to get out of here and I haven't even finished the slideshow I'm preparing for the party or gone for my training ride OR done everything else I need to do like finish this blog post.

Williams Wrench

So first off, I've been getting pretty excited about our wheel sponsor lately. Keith Williams has been at the Taipei bike show for a few days now, and judging by his tweets (@williamscycling), he is going to haul a bag of goodies back to the States that even Santa would envy. He hasn't said what tricks he's got up his sleeve yet, but the word "prototype" has been used more than once.

Next I have to say a big thanks to Josh, the Williams wrench who just laced up my Power Tap hub to a nice new S30X rim. Follow Josh's Twitter at: @Williams_Wrench. Thanks Josh. Let the quantification of my crushing begin!

NEW JACKET!!!!

KROGG GET NEW JACKET!!!! First off -- look how TINY!!! This jacket smaller than itsy-bitsy field mouse crammed inside itsy-bitsy travel sack. Just look -- how cute and tiny!

Next, jacket fit so tiny in jersey pocket Krogg not even know it there! WOW Castelli -- that small jacket!

Ok you think: jacket small but how well it work??? Well Krogg here to tell you -- jacket work great! It warmer than woolly rhino hide, and keep Krogg drier than roof thatched with giant palm frond. LOOK AT RAIN JACKET:

WARM NO??? TINY NO???? COOL NO??>?>? Krogg like to give big caveman thank you to Castelli for new rain jacket. WOW!!!!

Check Out These Pants!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the following pants as evidence that Ross Dress For Less is a silly store, devoid of the serious desire to sell clothing. These jeans are size 34X42. For comparison, my pant size is roughly 34X36, placing me solidly inside the realm of "so tall and skinny that sales clerks look at me like I'm a total freak," as well making me a man who "can't buy clothing at normal stores like normal people." I shudder to think of what the potential wearer of this garment would look like. He shares my waist size, but requires an additional six inches of length. Clearly people like that shop at Ross.

Mega-Ouch

TODAY KROGG CRUSHA CRUSHA CRUSHA!!!! KROG AND CARLOS AND BEN AND SHAWN ONGERS CRUSHA 100 MILES TODAY. HARDER THAN ANY DAY ON THE FRONT OF RACE KROGG EVER DO. KROGG CRACKED IN HALF OF HALF OF HALF. THIS HOW KROGG FEEL:

NOW KROGG CRUSH CRUSH CRUSH PIZZA!!!!!

THEN SLEEP.

OOF, TIRED CAVEMAN.

How Many Zombies.....

Quiz of the day.

1: How many zombies could you fight off at once with your bare hands? (Note: non-integer answers are acceptable. For instance: little Sally can only fight off .03 zombies with her bare hands, where as Luke can fight off .5 zombies.)

2: How many angry hamsters could you fight off at once with your bare hands? (Note: non-integer answers, while acceptable, are completely ridiculous, you wimp.)

3: How many angry zombified hamsters could you fight at once off with your bare hands? (Note: it could happen! See: Dead Alive -- OK FINE, IT WAS A RAT MONKEY, BUT WHATEVER -- ZOMBIFIED HAMSTERS WOULD BE SCARY TOO!)

4: How fast can you run?

5: How fast can you run when being chased by zombies?

6: Was you answer for question 5 equal to or faster than your answer for question 4?

If NO, please answer question 6A through 6D. If YES, please skip to question 7.

     6A: Are you a zombie?

     6B: Are you suicidal?

     6C: Are you an asshole-friend/medium-hot girl/good-hearted-idiot/selfish-prick?

     6D: Do you run faster trying to catch the ice cream truck than you do avoiding zombies?

Regardless, don't continue this quiz -- you're a gonner.

7: How good are you at shooting things? (Note: video game experience does not count.)

8: How quickly can you weld together barriers/vehicle armor/giant booby-traps?

9: Do you really want to survive the zombie apocalypse?

10: No -- like think about it -- have you ever hacked your good friend to pieces simply because he caught a little bit of zombie blood in his eye? I mean he might become a zombie...but he might not...

11: That was a trick question -- your good friend WILL become a zombie no matter what, so grab that pair of garden shears (or samurai sword, or broken pool cue, or whatever's handy), and start hacking!

12: Do you trust cats?

13: You should -- cats can smell zombies a mile away.

14: You're getting bored of writing this quiz, huh?

15: Yeah.

Tally your score and then multiply it by the number of zombies you can fight off at once with your bare hands. Play the number you get in next month's Lotto.
You're welcome.

Carlos Eduardo Alzate Escobar

Oh my, what a life I lead. My current house-mates are Carlos Eduardo Alzate Escobar and Ben Chaddock, both of whom you've met on my blog. Carlos doesn't speak much English, and Ben doesn't speak much Spanish. I speak a little of both. The language we all share is that of bicycles, and in that regard we've been communicating beautifully. The weather has been tolerable (even by Colombian standards), and we've been logging miles by the hundreds. Our training philosophies differ slightly: Carlos prefers long steady rides that include thousands of feet of climbing, while Ben's intervals are as disciplined as they come. Regardless, the three of us, as well as the other Boise-based members of Team Exergy (Erik Slack, Kai Applequist, and Remi McManus), have been training together beautifully. Our lives are wonderfully simple: eat, sleep, ride...and try not to go crazy. I enjoy the muted clarity of these in-between times every bit as much as I savor the bustle of racing and travel. My job for now is to become faster -- something which, in cycling at least, is more difficult to quantify (let alone achieve) than it would seem. It isn't solely about the numbers, the watts/kilogram at LT -- although those matter too. Usually the way to do my job is obvious: I simply need to get on my bike and pedal my brains out. Other times my job requires the help of people who know more than I do, like two days ago when I perfected my bike fit with Tom Coleman of WN Precision. However, they tricky part (for most of us at least), is the whole "not going crazy" component. Oddly enough, sometimes my job is to go have beers with my buddies at the Hyde Park Pub, to watch five straight hours of Star Trek the Next Generation, or to go play racket-ball with my dad -- all of which I did this week. These activities undoubtedly do little to boost my numbers, but are invaluable when it comes to keeping me sane and happy. Thankfully, my teammates are good at doing their jobs too. Here are a few pictures of Carlos doing his job:

Carlos y Sam estan jugando racketbol. 

Carlos gets his own pair of Magic Shoes, thanks to Foot Dynamics

Carlos as is cool as he is fast....haha -- not! (I tried to explain "not jokes" to Carlos, but to no avail.)
Note: we were watching Star Trek when I took this photo. Carlos may not be able to order food in a restaurant, but thanks to the 3+ hours of STNG he's been exposed to per day, he now knows the difference between a Klingon and a Ferengi, and totally has a crush on Ensign Ro. 

Things That Are Cool

Thing 1: the new Team Exergy Store just opened on the website! Now you can buy the kit, and ride the wind just like Team Exergy! I know the kits are expensive, but this stuff is the best on the market -- it's as comfortable as it is innovative. The bibs are remarkable -- you hardly know they're there! The only thing I'd recommended is that if you buy cycling clothing regularly, buy a size larger than you normally do. Castelli makes its clothing with a racer in mind -- this means a Medium jersey is cut for a medium sized racer -- not a medium sized american.  We've also got the Team Exergy branded K-Edge, and Team Exergy tee-shirts, hats, and socks available. More items will be added to the store throughout the year (including a special treat for GliderBison fans), so check back often! Thanks to Kai Applequist and Stephen Fitzgerald for their hard work in launching our store. GO BUY STUFF!!!!

Thing 2: our team presentation party is coming up! If there's one thing that Team Exergy knows how to do, it's party -- and this party should be one for the record books. We've got a live band, two (count 'em -- TWO) taco trucks, a full bar, and the best of all: professorial cycling announcer Todd Gogulski will be announcing the event. For those who don't know, Todd announces cycling on Universal Sports -- the american television broadcaster for all the biggest races in the world outside the Tour de France. His presence will greatly enhance the spectacle of this event. Oh, and did I mention there's a giant raffle (free of charge) for tons of cool Exergy gear? WE GUNNA HAVE FUUUUUUUN!!!!!! Thanks to John Yarnell for his beautiful poster designs.

Thing 3: my ride today was pretty killer. First off, the ratio of Olympians to regular Joes was 1:1. Second the ratio of Olympic gold medal winners to non-gold medal winners was 1:3 -- them ain't bad odds. Yes it's true, I rode with Boise native Kristen Armstrong today. She joined me and my teammate Carlos Alzate on a blisteringly fast EHB (Emmett/Horseshoe Bend) loop. It was wonderful to get to know Kristen better, after having faced off several times while racing (yes, we've raced against each other at local races -- she races with the men in Idaho), and having watched her absolutely demolish the women's field time and time again at NRC races. Thanks for the ride Kristen -- any time.

DeVotchka Rockska!

Holy hot poop did DeVotchka deliver a killer concert last night! I've never seen this band perform live before, and wow are they entertaining. Apparently this band is from Denver, although from the way they sound, you'd think they came from the other side of the world. The drummer also plays the trumpet, the bassist also plays a Christmas-light covered tuba, the keyboardist is also a virtuoso on the violin and the accordion, and the singer plays with theremin with his guitar (I know it sounds crazy, but it works). Their sound is so rich, and layered it's almost orchestral -- I couldn't believe there's only four of them. I was expecting a much grander production a la Arcade Fire. 

Note: Christmas-light covered tuba

DeVotchka, I salute you. Thanks for the concert. Here's a lovely example:

We Got A Real Live Canadian!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Ben Chaddock. If you've seen the rider profiles on our new website, or if you frequent his blog CyclingInaToque.blogspot.com, you already know Ben well. Obviously Ben is a killer racer, however, for those of you who have yet to meet Mr. Chaddock in more casual way, here's the important info:

First and foremost, Ben is a Canadian -- a real one. I've seen it. I was in the room the other night while Ben and his brother were talking via Skype. Here were their topics of conversation: snow, hockey, skiing, and maple syrup (ok, they didn't actually talk about maple syrup, but they might as well have). The first thing he did upon moving into the house with me (yes, he now lives in a house with me) was to hang his Canadian flag proudly on the wall.

Carlos luxuriates beneath our new Canadian flag. 

Ben adds a wonderful levity to our team. He keeps things funny and casual in a sport whose participants tend to take themselves a little too seriously. His viking hat alone makes any situation 92% more fun. Observe:

Ben loads a bike into the elevator at the casino. 

Ben is also a whirlwind of organization. He reminds me of Taz the Tasmanian devil, only instead of whirling around spreading chaos and destruction, Ben leaves behind him a swath of alignment and order. Here's Taz:

And here's Ben with a shoulder mounted backpack vacuum: 

Can you tell the difference? I didn't think so (please note: HE WEARS CANADIAN FLAGS WHILE DOING CHORES!!!).

Shortly after hanging his Canadian flag, Ben tore through our kitchen cabinets, creating harmony and synergy everywhere he went. What was once a disorganized array of canned goods became orderly rows organized by protein content (green beans, soup, black beans, kidney beans, tuna fish). Here's the master of method at work: 

I encourage everyone to follow Ben's blog. He's got great training advice, links to good music, and wonderful anecdotes about life as a pro racer -- all delivered with orderly Canadian charm.