http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud Mud. Beer. Coffee. Bikes. Hot Tubs. Rain. Books. Music... Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:43:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'd been daydreaming, fantasizing probably, of a strong showing from November on out.  My plan was to start a gradual ramp-up of both speed and results until nationals in mid-December.  The first step was Saturday - OBRA Championships - down in Salem. Starting last Thursday, it starting raining at a pretty ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/11/09/ugly/ Both the GOP and the Yankees won over the past couple days meaning, despite civilizations best efforts, evil still prevails from time to time. Will we ever learn? Probably not. Off-day today. Had a great ride up through the zoo yesterday with Chris and one of his co-workers. ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/11/05/oh-well/ "It's been a while...and it'll be a while" So much for a late September update. So in a nutshell - trained a ton. Had a great result at Rainier (14th) and mediocre mechanicals at Heiser and Battle Creek (f-ing rear tires). Registered for Nationals in Bend. Got my USGP ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/11/04/short-update/ Went out for 4x12x5 intervals yesterday along River Road.  At the end of the 1st, the Power Tap pooped out.  Couldn't get a read from the hub.  After numerous f-bombs, I finished the workout and headed into work, finally realizing that I can't really feel my toes. Nearly broke Google looking ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/11/03/who-turned-the-heat-off/ Back from a week trip to Disney World.  After a week off the bike walking around the parks for about 6+ hours a day eating absolute crap for food, I'm not feeling so healthy.  Ugh. It reminds me of a) how absolutely disgusting strip drive food (chilisgoldencorralromanosmacaronigrillpizzeriaunoolivegarden) can be.  Stupendously amazing. And ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/09/02/house-of-mouse/ Man, it's been a while. I think Facebook is killing the blog.  We'll see how this fall plays out though.  There's plenty of well-written race reports and witty commentators to go around...and sarcasm never goes out of style. The summer season ended fantastically (is that a word?).  I did my first ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/08/19/dog-days/ Tabor a couple nights ago.  Thought I'd get one last hard ride in before TOE 50 this Sunday.  Seemed to fit in well with a moderate taper-down.  I'm trying not to underestimate TOE so I'd rather be too rested and lose a little time than too tired and blow up ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/06/19/clusterf__k/ Monday PIR last night.  I don't do many road races anymore.  There's a number of reasons I guess but it generally boils down to I just like off-road a little more.   I think it's the challenge of seeing what I can do by myself.  My results are largely dependent on ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/06/02/pound-of-flesh-redux/ I dislike power testing.  Yeah, the best power data you can get is from a race but sometimes the timing and schedule doesn't always work out that way.  So yesterday's ride, and one later today, is for a quick test. Yesterday was the 5 and 20 min intervals.  For me, the ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/05/29/this-is-not-a-testrepeat/ Mid-May update here.  I swear I thought things would have gotten easier after taxes...but they didn't.  It's more work than anything else.  It's really sucking my will to live here.  But I'd be a fool to say that out loud.  It's a job.  A good job.  And a secure one ... http://szwayabrown.com/BeerAndMud/2009/05/19/pound-of-flesh/