Monsters and Inter hate

OK!


So after some debating, I decided to race Monsters of the Midway- a bike race that takes place at the U of C campus. I got there just in time to watch the first lap of Cat 3 race. My girlfriend's work colleague knows a guy on Get a Grip who was racing in the Cat 3s. Also I wanted to see as much racing as possible on a nice day like it was Saturday. Apparently, this guy was waiting for her to come and he brought some cowbells. This guy was so good that he shouted the location and appearance of the bag all while winning a prime on one of the early laps. Impressive. A few minutes later the girls had the cowbells in their hands and were cowbelling the remainder of the race. Not only did they cowbell, they also ran across the park each lap to cheer the racers on twice per lap. Impressive.
Anyway, at 4:00 pm it was time for me to warm up. And so I did. Practice lap and then lining up. I had trouble clipping in but that wasn' the problem as was some sketchy cornering being done by true citizens in this race. No problem, everyone learns with time so I tried to make up ground by sprinting on the straight parts of the course. On the third lap, I had to slow down really bad in order to get through the turns and avoid a few wheels going into the headwind (top part of the course), and by the time I got out of the turns, the front pack created a gap. They were already flying down, as I was getting through the turns. I started hammering and noticed that I had 3 more guys on my tail. Good, maybe 4 can make up the small gap that formed and I dont have to blow up myself chasing the pack. I still dont have enough racing experience to know how much I can push myself to bridge up and not blow up. So I backed off and started working with these guys. 3-4 laps later I realized that the pace of this chase was not fast enough to even avoid getting lapped so I went on my own. I was joined by one of the guys (Flatlandia I think) and we basically traded pulls until the end of the race.

So another familiar turn of events, but the more you race the better you get, or so I am told. Need to train more and eat a little bit less burritos at Garcia's.
It was a great day to race and a great course, hope to do it next year as well.

Woke up the next morning bright and early to watch the last round of Serie A, hoping to see my AS Roma lift the Scudetto for the fourth time. This promised to be a great 90 minutes of football, with Inter and Roma both playing the teams playing to stay in the top division. Inter played Parma and Roma played the other Sicilian team-Catania. In the 10th minute, Roma scored via Vucinic to become a virtual champion at the time. It stayed like that until the second half when Inter introduced Ibrahimovic, who ended up scoring two goals to seal the championship for Inter. Now I know Ibra is my countryman but there is no love between the two of us. He is one heck of a player and a punk, he just plays for the wrong team.

Luis Figo - Cat Killer:(

In somewhat related news to this morning's incident, I read this

What a moron. No wonder he plays for Inter.

Rabbit Killer :(

My first roadkill!

Just before I pulled into the parking lot at work this morning, this rabbit runs out of the woods and runs smack under my wheel. I don't know what to say or feel - I am sad for sure. I now somewhat understand the hit and run mentality because I wanted to get away from the scene unseen by anyone, and as quickly as possible (maybe because I was late for work).

It's not a good feeling.

May 1st

Today is the International Worker's Day. It is the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886, for those who don't know the origins of this day.

So, this is to all the working people (A rendition of "Bandiera Rossa" performed by a Slovenian punk band Pankrti).

Ah yes, the blog.

I know I was forgetting something. Just sent my boss a monthly activity report for the month of April, and remebered that my last blog entry was on March 31 - more or less a month ago. I will write a longer post to summarize my month but in the mean time here is my revised lunch rotation (ever since my favorite pizzeria in Niles moved to Des Plaines). So.....

The Biciklista's lunch rotation :

Monday - Chinese at Chinatown on Demspter and Austin in Morton Grove.

Tuesday - Subway or Jimmy John's. Lately more Subway because of the 5 dollar footlongs (oh yeah).

Wednesday - Falafel Plate at the Gourmet Pita on Touhy Ave.

Thursday - Chicken Legs special at the West of Edens, on payday thursdays it is Al's Beef where I treat myself the Giant Al's sandwich

Friday - Corner Bakery or Baja Fresh.

And there you have it. Now you can totally track me down between 12 and 1 pm on any given work day.

The Solo Fadeaway

As I said, I was going to start my racing season this year earlier than I did last year. Picking a highly contested Superweek race as your first is not a smart thing to do, especially of you're new to the whole racing thing. Oh well.

My expectations for the race were not much. Due to my irregular training (2 days on, 3 days off...), my fitness was not where it should have been in order for me to compete, and I definitely was not interested in taking a risk of crashing this early in the year, so I was just hoping not to finish last and keep rubber side down. So after an four + hour drive down to Litchfield, a town next to Hillsboro where we had booked a hotel room, I was ready to dive into the bed and get my sleep on. Not before feasting on a burger at the Ruby Tuesday with the rest of the XXXers.

Waking up, breakfast........registering for the race, pinning bib numbers, mixing energy drinks, chatting with the wonderful cycling crowd, taking a lap around the town getting a taste of the infamous brick roads, lining up at the start line. For some reason I was not nervous at all, being surrounded by a number of familiar faces, joking around. We started with the sound of a whistle. The race began with two inclines (not really hills even though we call them that), that quickly broke up the field of 40-50 starters. After the second incline, I was at the back of the main pack, and had left at least 15 riders behind. I was riding smoothly....until we turned into the crosswinds. I was keeping up but barely maintaing contact with the group. The next turn was right into the headwind, and that was it for me. I felt pain in my lower back, and that's the way my body tells me....:"hey, you suck!" I was being passed by the people who got dropped on the inclines. The rest of the ride was basically trying to finish this - now ride - and possibly pass a few more people ahead of me. At the half point, I had three guys in my sight , but I misjudged one turning blind descent and almost ended up in the ditch. I unclipped and barely stayed upright sliding with my bike onto the edge of a narrow road. I was in the biggest gear, anticipating to hammer down the road, gaining all the speed from going downhill. Well, there was a short steep incline ahead and I ended up pushing my bike to the top. By now, I had lost additional 1-2 minutes, and got passed by 2 more people. Got back on my bike, and eventually passed those two guys, finishing thirtyFIRST.

Now, finishing thirtyFIRST was ok and definitely something to improve on. It is also better than 18 others who finished behind me, did not finish at all, or never showed up for the race (for no valid reason, but registered and took someone else's spot in the sold out race). I discussed Sat. what was worse -DNF or DFL, and not showing for such a great race that was organized so well, is definitely the worst.

Kudos for the town of Hillsboro and the organizers, it makes me wonder how come there aren't more small towns in the Midwest that are willing to put on cycling races. It's one day in a year to do and see something different, be it or not be it a bunch of people in lycra.

The bike had a good night sleep too. The celophane was all Erik's idea. No scrathes on the top tube from transport here.

Long time no blog.

Yeah, it's been a while since I last posted anything. It's not that nothing has been happening in

my life - on the contrary. It's just that I found a way to cheat my way out of long blog entries. I signed up for Facebook, and a cleverly phrased status update can go a long way in conveying my thoughts and activities for the day, if you know what I mean.

Well a lot has happened, mostly regular work/play/kinda- winter- train for the upcoming racing season. And here I am tonight blogging away on a night before I depart with my friends for the first road race of the '08 campaign. Oh no, I don't mean anything political..like 3 am phone call commercials, or running from "sniper fire", and certainly nothing along the lines of misspeaking or my pastor can beat up your pastor kinda campaign. Just a season of bike racing, starting Saturday and ending, hopefully, early October.

So, I have some pictures i wanna show you and give you an update on what's happening.

As some of you may know, this winter set all the records for the snowfall in Chicago. As I am typing these words it is snowing outside. I have exhausted my "I hate this weather" statements so for all I care, let it snow let it snow, let it f-ing snow.

In the absence of my home grow tomatoes and other veggies I planted last summer, as well as random garbage that finds its way on my deck, the possum that hangs around the neighborhood has decided to chew on some furniture. Here you see what happens when possums get hungry.

These are no love bites my friends. This is one hungry, froze ass possum. It is time for some man on vermin violence. It's a good thing I still haven't put away my snow shovel. Don't worry, I am just going to scare it away.

What else......ah! I started collecting paintings. From now on my kitchen is known as the Gallery.I happened to like one of the paintings displayed at my fave neighborhood coffee shop -The Grind, so I decided to purchase it. It's not a Monet, but it's not my best kindergarden work either. Judge for yourself.

Went to New York City for St. Patrick's Day weekend. Had a good time. It's a happening place, what can I tell you. It took me 45 minutes to get a cab. Basically, if you wanna score a cab in NYC on Sat. night on St. Patrick's you have to hijack the cab and its passengers. But maybe that's how it is every Saturday.

You have to love the Joey Ramone Place.

Found a really cool bike shop in East Village.

OK, enough for tonight. I am packing up and getting ready for the trip downstate. I have never been past Urbana, so this is totally new territory for me. Here is a preview of the race from the greatest cycling blog in all of Chicago.