Just decided spur of the moment and am driving up to Des Moines Iowa this morning for the Iowa State Criterium Championships this afternoon. The race is the East Village Criterium, which is held in front of the Iowa State Capitol. It’s a little less than 300 miles up to Des Moines, so it is gong to be a long day. We’re leaving at 7:45 and probably won’t get back until 1 am Sunday morning.
I’ve done the race the last couple years. I’ve never won, think I was 3rd a couple years ago. The course is held on a hill. It is pretty hard considering how quickly the hill comes around. I’m thinking of doing the master’s race at 1 and then the 1/2 race at 6. I don’t race many master’s races, but I am super short of races and need as much intensity as I can find.
My only problem is my ribs have been on a downward slope all week. Yesterday riding, they were the worst they have been since I screwed them up on Monday. Then last night was the worst nights sleep I’ve had since shoulder surgery. That isn’t a good sign. I remember, the course was pretty smooth, so the jarring hopefully won’t be an issue. Normally, after a race starts, all those pains just disappear because of all the other sensations. Hopefully that will be the case today. It is supposed to be raining late morning, towards noon. I’m not big on racing in the rain with the ribs and shoulder, but we’ll see.
This is my friend Karl from Louisville. I rode a bunch with him up in Cable and he was telling me about a trip to Tsali in August. Got this photo today. Pretty cool way to head to off on a MTB trip.
Stacie, Karl’s wife sent me some more tools to complement my doctor’s bag.
Personalized.
Yesterday I was trying to take it easy, but on the way home it got into a half-wheel competion. I need to do a whole post on the half-wheeling deal.
The Dawn commercials on TV are working. I love them. People washing oil off birds and other animals, then releasing them.
I didn’t realize that they made so many different colors of Dawn. Dawn is by far the best soap to use washing bikes. I’ve used it for decades.
Lead, a precious metal?
damn!! you constantly do the same. talk about a race, then let everyone know you are hurting somewhere..some part of your body just isnt right.. well, your 50.. thats a reason why the injuries wont heal quickly.. i’d hate to read your posts if you had to work 8-10 hours a day. wheres the recovery bailing hay, or working an assembly line, or even sitting at a desk all day.. it isnt the same as cherry pickin the time of day you ride. rainning, lets wait and train later.. most cant do that.. we train after we all busted our ass working.. i wish i was you.. $$$$.. where i didnt have to work.. i do the same.. chery pick training times..chill all day.. work on things around the house at my leisure… but i wouldnt write on a blog before every race saying i’m hurtin..now the ribs..
Ha. Half Wheeling. I do that all the time. But I’m just clueless.
Dawn ( i think its the blue one) actually is the best for cleaning white bar tape. Use a sponge and twist with the “grain” of the bar tape and it brings it back 90-95%. Half wheeling….. yes i’ve seen that in some of our group rides. Sometimes I just still go my own pace and let that guy hang out there or I get mad and attack which i don’t usually do or I just ask him what the hell he’s doing. How did you hurt those ribs? I wish I was riding that good with hurt ribs! Good luck today!
It’s not all sunshine and roses. There’s always the potential scratch from a feral kitten and he did have to ride his bike at 60 degrees last weekend, certainly not for the faint of heart.
Every cyclist probably has experienced “half-wheel hell!
Nobody Gives A Fuck About You Crum
@Mike Crum – Steve goes out and rides in the rain and snow and ice and mud – that’s how he trains for races. He rides every day that he possibly can, and he does it because that’s what he *does*. He’s a professional athlete, a professional racer of bicycles, and that’s what he’s done for the past 40 years. He’s not a professional assembly line worker, nor is he a professional farmer. There are people who do those things as their profession, their calling in life, and ride bicycles on the side. Steve’s calling, his God-given talent, is to be a bicycle racer. He builds and rehabs old buildings, makes roofs waterproof that had bad water leakage problems, fixes cars and trucks, and does a hell of a lot of hard physical labor – but that’s on the side. Like everyone engaged in physical pursuits, he gets hurt, and he does not allow himself the recovery time he needs, but he can’t resist the lure of the next race. It’s like telling Rodney Mullen to quit skateboarding even though he gets hurt. The fact is, is that it isn’t going to happen, he’s going to be in some parking lot somewhere in the early, early morning doing the same 3 hours of skateboarding practice he’s done for the last 35 years or so. Same case for Steve, and that’s it. The difference between the two is that Steve has a weblog and talks about everything, and Rodney doesn’t. Both of them could write books about their knowledge, and both of them should… and how about you, Mike? What sort of knowledge do you have to share?
Steve is a Cat 1.
http://www.road-results.com/racer/27102
While many of us were standing around bonfires drinking bumpy face and 7-Up, smoking ditch weed, and trying to get the panty’s off the white trash beauty that just rolled up in her clapped out Camaro, Steve was making decisions, getting results, and living in such a way that allows him to have the life he has today. Looking back, would I have done things different… probably not, do I continue to admire Steve and envy his life and accomplishments, you bet, but I would be willing to bet he’s never drank Bumpy Face Gin and 7-Up (with just a splash of Robitussin) till he puked and fell face down in a bonfire either. However, a little bumpy face and robitussin might help with those sore ribs and lack of sleep, just stay away from the bonfires.
BUSTED!!!!
“you might be a bike racer if” you have a monogrammed set of suturing gear
Mike, you don’t have to do the things that prevent you from enjoying a lifestyle like Steve’s.
This isn’t Russia. Is this Russia? This isn’t Russia.
You’re pissed off because he cherry picks rides and you don’t, is that it?
Your problem is you
Worry about yourself not about what Steve does