Monthly Archives: June 2013

Whirlwind

This entry was posted in Racing on by .

Yesterday was a whirlwind. I hardly got 6 hours sleep and then headed over to the University of Denver to meet up with Jonathan Vaughters, Tom Danielson and Christian Vande Velde. It was pretty interesting, but kind of long and drawn out. I’m going to let it all soak-in over the weekend before I post something on it. But, it was definitely worth a side trip.

I got on standby for an early flight back to Kansas City, but it had a mechanical and I didn’t end up landing until late. We stopped in Lawrence and had to eat off the late night menu at FreeState. It was still good. We got there just in time to catch the overtime of the Stanley Cup. Since the Blackhawks are playing, and Trudi is from Chicago, she’s really into it. But, she likes all sports, so would probably be watching it anyway. The game of hockey moves so fast that it almost seems anticlimactic when they finally score. The Blackhawks won and the series is tied 2-2 now.

The Tour of Kansas City starts tomorrow night. It is going to be a challenge getting back into race mode. So far this year I’ve raced 1 road race, 1 hard circuit race and 6 criteriums. Not much depth there. Without doing a 4 or 5 day stage race, it has been hard to kick-start my form. Usually, right around now, for some unknown reason, I start feeling better riding. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m crossing my fingers.

It rained a bunch yesterday and now is supposed to be in the upper 90’s through the weekend. Muggy is going to be the word. I am not looking forward to that. I think I might get on my bike in a bit and mosey over to Lawrence slowly. Long, slow distance in the heat has been the only way I have had any success racing in the heat recently. And since summer hasn’t really even started, I need to get on top of that.

Okay, I still haven’t woken up really. Better have a 2nd cup of tea.

Sunday, they entered me in the women's race. I guess USA Cycling is predicting how I'll feel by Sunday and thought they would enter me in the appropriate category.

Sunday, they entered me in the women’s race. I guess USA Cycling is predicting how I’ll feel by Sunday and thought they would enter me in the appropriate category.

Start of the testing yesterday. Christian on the ergomenter, Jonathan in the chair and Dr. Iñigo San Millán, standing, doing the testing.

Start of the testing yesterday. Christian on the ergomenter, Jonathan in the chair and Dr. Iñigo San Millán, standing, doing the testing.

Freestate has a little shrine/display, for the Tour of Lawrence, which is next weekend.

Freestate has a little shrine/display, for the Tour of Lawrence, which is next weekend.

The floor at the Kansas City airport is a terrazzo floor. It is pretty cool. I wonder why more people don't use this for home flooring? Probably the cost.

The floor at the Kansas City airport is a terrazzo floor. It is pretty cool. I wonder why more people don’t use this for home flooring? Probably the cost.

Summer Solstice

This entry was posted in Just Life on by .

Today is the Summer Solstice for most of us. Well, maybe not, I’m not sure. It is for anyone living in the Central or Eastern time zones, it was yesterday for Mountain and West coast. Europe is obviously today. Anyway, today will be the most daylight of any day this year, in the Northern Hemisphere. I guess that is a good thing, but maybe not for me.

I woke up feeling a little under the weather. Probably mostly from my own doing. Some of my friends from high school dropped by last night and there was a fair amount of wine consumed. Too much by me. My high school girlfriend, Sara, was in town visiting her mother. She lives in Genoa Italy and doesn’t make it back to America nearly often enough. Anyway, it was great catching up some, but I’m moving pretty slowly this morning. I have physical therapy in 10 minutes, so I need to get the fog out. My arm is working very mediocre. I’ve been doing some PT the last week while I’ve been traveling, but my shoulder has been aching a lot.

I am racing today at 7:15. It’s going to be an effort. It rained some last night and now is going to be 95. Talk about muggy. I haven’t done my heat acclimation training, so I guess this is the start of it. I doubt the wine consumption is going to add any benefits in this re-guard.

Okay, I’ll try to post something more relevant later. I’m moving kind of slow this morning.

Summer Solstice has historically been celebrated by festivals and rituals, with themes of religion and fertility.

Summer Solstice has historically been celebrated by festivals and rituals, with themes of religion and fertility.

Sara's daughter, Yo, playing Vivaldi's Summer for me. How appropriate since it was nearly exactly Summer Solstice here in Kansas.

Sara’s daughter, Yo, playing Vivaldi’s Summer for me. How appropriate since it was nearly exactly Summer Solstice here in Kansas.

Not the best picture, but this is Hudson Luce and Sara. They hadn't seen each other since the mid 70's.

Not the best picture, but this is Hudson Luce and Sara. They hadn’t seen each other since the mid 70’s.

Watching Yo play the piano. I could have done this all night.

Watching Yo play the piano. I could have done this all night.