Essentialalities

And Now....For Our Special Presentation....

2010-08-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

Twitter Me This

2010-08-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Check out my Twitter. I'm a little slow on some things, but I do eventually get off the deck and into the sky! My phone is a little antiquated, so a newer phone--nothing fancy like the Droid, or the iPhone--is in the near future. But something that can run with the big boys, way in the back of the pack. Kinda like my cycling. This may almost replace me blogging, but at only 140 characters, I think blogging won't change. So check it out! Peace!

California Dreaming

2010-07-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

"All the leaves are brown,
And the sky is grey.
I've been for a walk,
On a winter's day.
I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A.
California Dreamin' on such a winter's day.

Stopped into a church,
I passed along the way.
Well, I got down on my knees,
And I pretend to pray.
You know the preacher likes the cold,
He knows I'm gonna stay.
California Dreamin' on such a winter's day."

~1979, The Mamas and The Papas

I was five when that song came out. Even growing up, until now, I personally never have dug anything about California. But in the soul, the song makes total sense.

As cycling here in little home town La Grande is picking up, I am in the cold. Everyone I knew who was into it here, have changed all their venues, as it were. I have always rode by myself due to either my lack of being able to gain friends, or the inability to be good enough for anybody else. My TT bike is the biggest Frankenstein I have--it should be alive by now, and be able to accelerate me to the moon and back in record time. And I have the APC of TT bikes!

It is a little past mid July here in NE Oregon. The temps are starting to show instability in raising the mercury levels, the afternoon winds are terrible--it's almost as if we were living (without the poisonous clouds, though) on Venus! Road construction is everywhere. Chip seal is going everywhere. It's almost as if a nuclear, anti-cyclist storm has hit Union County! A good snowy winter will set most of the chip seal, but it will be four years before it will be almost smooth.

Even though it is hot outside, the soul of this dreaming cyclist is cold. Califonia dreamin' on such a summer's day!

DV, FB, and KFC

2010-06-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

(La Grande, Oregon. TMN) Last Saturday, June 5, 2010, a host of souls went out for the race against domestic violence. There were routes for both runners and cyclists. With sunshine prevailing, and the temperatures reaching above 70 degrees, the day was awesome for those stretching their legs and enjoying a good time.

However, in the face of it all there was one who did not have a good time.

"I rode for about 25 miles, before I called for vehicular support, and quit riding," said a person who wished to identified only as his race number, 317. "I was told that the start time was at 7 a.m. And when I got to the start line at Riverside, the clock had already been running for 50 minutes!"

All ready to pull the longest leg of the race, nearly a full 100 miles, 317 was dressed up and ready for battle. Looking this year to reduce his stops and save some energy for his most dreaded part of the route, he had water bottles on bike and behind his saddle with food stashed in a box on the bike and in his jersey pocket.

He was not even of the rolling stretch of Lower Cove Road when he made his call to be picked up.

"When I looked at my clock on my speedometer, it said it was 9 a.m. I should have been almost to Elgin by 9 a.m. Not almost to Imbler."

After he was picked up, returned his bike to what he calls his "bat cave", and finally went home, he helped his neighbor build his fence. His neighbor is soon to be deployed to Iraq for his second mission, and time is of the essence.

"My attitude did get a lot better. Who knew that building a fence could be enjoyable!" 317 stated with a weird kind of grin. "And even better yet, my neighbor and I got to enjoy the fine taste of Kentucky Fried Chicken!"

Just.....Floundering Under Cycling Know.....It (-Alls)

2010-04-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have been in the spirit of lit. It is like enlightenment. The opening of the "Third Eye". The touching of a spiritual deity.

Over time, I have grown to be as.....how did my Dad put it.....crass. I'm just a pauper trying to make it upstream to spawn with tons of resistance. In my little life, I put with and live around the "buck and up" guys. I simply try to make my 25 cents work. But because of whatever reasons others possess, I am the excrement of the two wheeled enviroment.

Even the parents of these higher acesended beings look at me as a weirdo. I work with the public and deal with them in ways that would totally disgust them. If you cant have an "open door policy" with the public, YOU WILL FAIL! Put on your happy face and live the lie. I am damn genuine.

But don't hit the computers to email me. No, I am not here to make anyone feel bad. Just take a look in the mirror. I am in no way justified. I will go the grave single, with bad genetics, poor, and destitute.

So in the event that I may encounter you somewhere in the valley on your bike, and all I do is wave, and don't stop for the mindless chat, I am at work. Don't bother me. Wither I am performing poorly at my game, or huffin' it along in the avenue, I am doing the same thing you are doing.

In 1984, Micheal Jackson came out with a hit single. In the opening line of the chorus, it said, "Just beat it." I would sum it up different MJ!

Marriage. Why All The Drama?

2010-01-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

I have many times said how I am single. No, this is not trying to get a date or a long term relationship. I just state me--who I am. There are many long term relationships out there who are wonderfully successful. And they are awesome people. But what keeps me from wanting to "put fire in my bosom"? Here are a few examples:

--My sister was divorced. Bad guy. A drunk, and rumor has it, a crack-head. I even caught him one time smacking my sister to the ground. He should be 6 feet under.

--My brother is divorced. A terrible woman. During their courtship, she was seeing the very guy she is married to now. Her batting average: 2 daughters by her first husband, a daughter by a guy she didn't even marry, my nephew, and currently 2 other daughters by her now husband. But to everyone, a good hard-working Catholic nurse.

--A male friend of mine was divorced, and his current relationship is ready to hit the rocks. The first woman, I feel sorry for. She was under the influence of being a preacher's daughter. Enough said. The current woman--I am very confused about her disposition. Her closet is very deep and pitch black. I am sure the skeletons will soon come forward.

--A female friend of mine is divorced. It was mutual. They said they didn't have feelings for each other. OK. That's fine. But she gets taken in by the smooth talk of her superior when she worked as a dispatch officer for the Florida State Police. She now has a 2 year old from that. Currently: going to get married to a Navy pilot who may be commissioned to Italy. *Sigh*

Now I know of a ton of truly wonderful relationships. Most of those are not first loves, though. However, they are strong and have been married a long time.

Am I Chicken Little? Is the sky going to truly fall? From where I stand. Yes.

The Children

2009-12-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

Let me clarify that I am as single as single gets--no women, no children. I don't have seperate issues for either or. I work all day, 5 days a week, with and around women and their children. I have seen a great share of 16+ year olds come and go from the grocery biz. The women to men ratio at work is close to 3:1. And they have kids that they bring in to shop.

Why all this pointless banter? I blog I found titled "Don't have kids". It does not reflect my position on childen, but just has cool stuff about parents and kids on it. Some of it funny--some of it disturbing. So, here is a link for parents to their children. It's titled "I'm Doing It For Myself, Dammit. And That's OK."

My Endless Blabber....Extended!

2009-10-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

Verbal Landscapes. Check it out. When not thinking about sleeping (due to the most UPSIDE down schedule IN THE WORLD), working, and thinking about what I should be doing on my bike, I will be put my 3 lbs. to work.

Whatcha think about the music player? Leave me an idea about it. I thought it was cool. It gives a tiny taste of the kind of music I enjoy. But this is not a democracy on this website. Should I go as far as saying a Monarchy?

Gotta go before I fall asleep and drule on my keyboard. ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Vaca

2009-10-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

It's a weird time of the year to take time off from work, but it's the easiest. People tighten their financial belt here in EO and would rather spend their money on other things besides food. I hear about it all the time; for example, the latest and largest LED LCD HDTV with a 1,000,000:1 contrast, 2 thousand HDMI's, a couple of VGA's, and a partridge-in-a-pear-tree. I've taken the time this week to learn the lingo for the current tech so that the head-up-in-the-clouds a-holes, that I seem to run on a daily basis, can't try to launch and evade me. Through it all, I did purchase a new flat panel monitor for my computer. So, the education did help me.

I also spent a devoted amount of time wathching 47 episodes of Nana on VEOH. It's a super cool anime--WAIT?! Did you say ANIME? Yah! Anime. I've seen a lot of them through time-from chicks and mechs to super sexy manga heroines. But Nana is no different, in my opinion, to the over-rated "real-life" dramas on TV. However, through the soap opera effect that Japan loves to death, it touched me in an area that I could very closely relate with. That, however, I will not divulge. You'd have to watch it and put that puzzel together yourself.

During this time, I've toyed with the idea of writing. What? Now, if I told you, I'd have to do something shameful to you. I will probably start another blog site to post my writings on. But when that happens, you will know. So keep tuned.

It's Not November Yet

2009-09-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

I felt like the balls on a billiard table this past couple of months. In the past, I stated I was going to find myself in other forms of physical activity, but that didn't happen. Have I ever told anyone that I work retail? Not one week's schedule is the same, and my start time can be/is different every day that I work. Days off are not the same either. Needless to say, my schedule got turned upside down--I went to working freight crew for the past six weeks instead of my regular day job.

Well, things are starting to level off for me at work, and I am finding time to now exercise--what? you might say--I still am trying to figure that out.

So, today, B-Fast and I went for a maiden voyage ride for about 2o miles or so. After about 5 or 6 miles, I was actually starting to have a good time, despite the wind. I thought I was going to hack up, not just one, but both of my lungs at the beginning. Sounding like I had asthma, and dealing with the bodily fluids of the head, I kept trudging through like a pilot going through the sound barrier.

I don't know where B-Fast stores his "little racer guy", but it does make me jealous! He rode his armour-plated cross bike and kept me chasing his arse on my sub 19lb. road bike. He told me of lore of how he and the soon-to-be Australian-bound Professor would do crazy high speed/tempo rides. I'm never going to be that good. Age will kick me in the private sector before that will ever happen! I am getting better, but at a tortoise pace.

Anyways. It is not November. I am thinking that this is a good time to start moving forward with my bike again. I still have Power 90 for cross training. Ohhhh, how did I miss my bike and all the physical joy and pain it does endow on one's body!

No Wheels to the Power of 90

2009-08-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I have posted a real blog. My bad. Some bad news is that my goal for the next 90 days is not to ride my bikes!

I had an emotionally devistating TT earlier this month. No details. Just pissed off.

I have taken up a systematic approach to physical conditioning that requires me to focus on it for 90 days--not riding my bike. But don't get me wrong. If any of you who know how to contact me, wants to ride, I'll ride.

The system is known as Power 90--a step behind the legendary P90X. I've already enveloped myself into it for a couple of days now, and have discovered how much of a whimp I really am.

November is my target to start training back on the bike. Cold? Yes! Am I crazy? You will have to ask that to the others I know who will be riding/training during our cold, snowy wintry months. If our winters are consistent with the past couple of years (YAH RIGHT!), road riding for me will go thru the beginning of December. Then it is trainer work for the next 45 to 60 days.
So the 6 months between 2009 and 2010 will be for training.

Lighter. Faster. Stonger.

Hats Off to the Brit On A......

2009-08-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

Mountain bike??!

The wrong equipment, even a weird place and time, can add up to a win! Read this article and LOL!

Round And Round

2009-07-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

"Tim Maguire."

"Coming."

It was the 4th of July. Not terribly hot, not humid either. And it was seemingly peaceful when it came to the wind. With about 40 other people around, we all waited our turn to get on our bikes to launch, what we would think, a nice 40k time trial.

I pulled up to the start line, mounted my bike, and waited to take off. With the official time of launch at 11am, my start time was at 11:03:30.

"Are you ready?" asked the OBRA ref.

"Yes," I stated confidently.

"You'll take off in 30 seconds." If you've ever done a TT, this is time where you better flush your head about EVERYTHING! The road ahead is your goal, your problem, your fantasy, your demise. "Five.....four.....three.....two.....you're off!" as the ref's voice and hand counted down.

I push down on the pedals, and begin a no-look-back, expect-the-best ride. A few seconds into it, a checklist immediately went through my head:

--"What is that clicking sound?" (a cyclists nightmare of something gone wrong). It was my speedometer's magnet hitting the receiver. Of all the things I go over on my bike before I launch, I missed that one! So I tuned that out over the entire course.

--"Crap! I forgot my gloves!" It is said that one can be more aero without gloves. That is why almost all the pros where them, isn't it? And after having some nasty crashes, gloves are a skin saver. It was getting hot anyways. So, let that go at that.

--"The longest TT's I do at home is Foothill (11 miles or 17.7k), and Market Lane (10 miles or 16k), not 40k (24.9miles)! It is going to hurt coming home!" But lack of TT distance training was only going to be a part of my time trailing concern. Of course, of any time trail I do, I tell myself, "Keep it steady," "You are feeling good," and "You'll take any time that you get today." As that race goes on, those statements are definitely turning false. As my butt and forearms cramp, my speed yo-yo's. I start to complain about my butt, arms, butt, legs, butt...... And I start to get antsy the closer I approach the hour mark--"get your arse in gear!"

The turn around finally came and went. I saw a guy carrying his bike back to the refs there. He flatted. Not cool for TT's. I passed a girl--the only pass I did. I was passed about half a zillion times! Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike the wind! It was not even breezy at the start, so where in the heck did this wind come from? This was the final nail to seal the coffin of a tough TT.

The 1k mark approached. No go for full throttle. But as I rounded the last corner and could see the finish line's flag, that is when I hit it! I passed over the line at 1:08:20. That is 1:13 faster than my best time on that course! For being a short guy, with a low center of gravity, I was/AM totally excited!

The total tone of the TT was crushed by the unforeseen wind. Back at the start, there was no wind. Everyone suffered. The beast must have lied inside the banks of the Willamette River, waiting to pick off it's uneducated prey. Non of the airports/weather stations had records of the winds that we put up with.

But, I will be back in August, armed to take on the savage wind beast. Round and round.....

The Ninety Minute Saddle

2009-06-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone has had at least on of these in the past. A saddle, that after a short time, makes your bum feel like it's going into hibernation. And it just doesn't immediately go numb. No. It has to feel like a vise smashing the delicate undercarriage to oblivion.

You squirm a bit, trying not to stand up, repositioning yourself more comfortably. Yah. That lasts about 30 seconds. You try it again. (I was told one time, that insanity is trying the same thing again and again, expecting different results.) It still is not working. So you have to now stand up. You shift into a bigger gear and begin the pedal, pedal, glide technique. After the "pins-and-needles" effect goes away, you slide back onto the saddle. MUCH BETTER!

After about a half hour, you end up with the same issue! Crap! So you repeat the above steps. Now you feel confident about going on with your workout. But what you don't realize, is that this experience is like a bad nuclear isotope. It has a rapid half-life! Your last half hour or so, you feel like you are in a merry-go-around. Up, down. Up down. Up down. Your tender bits feel like they are swollen, throbbing with firery pain. You can't wait to get off the bike.

This was my exact experience today. After fighting a head cold for 9 days, I decided I needed to rotate my legs (and this morning's weather was awesome!). I did a respectable 15.5mph over 40 some miles. But, I do have to say that the saddle was a pain in my back side!

Hmmmm....No Title....

2009-06-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been set back since 3 Rivers Race with a head cold. It's been.....cool--literally. Rain, rain, and more rain.

I feel like that I've lost everything I have gained from prior riding/training. So, with a plan to ride tough and on Friday to test tougher, I am hoping to find my form ASAP.

On Independence Day, there is a 40k TT in Peoria that I have "the feeling" for. It is one month away from the State TT. So, it is important for me to get back up to.....ummmm.....speed!

No Joy

2009-06-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

"I see no joy." A fighter pilot's term when going into combat, and they can't see the enemy--visually or electronically.

Well, I use this term loosely when it comes to desperate attempts to improve my TT times. The "bogies" are stealthy: wind, temperature, dehydration, cramps, etc. These can appear from no where. Or, they can be in your face!

The past couple of self-tests have been with a breeze to no wind and over 70 degrees. I seem to perform better between 45-60 degrees, with any wind conditions. But here is my take on wind conditions:

~No wind. Ugh! 100% me out and back! I've cramped up more under "no wind" versus other conditions.

~Wind. (5-15mph). I am psyched with the knowledge that it will be fast sailing in either direction.

~Gusting (20+mph). A total demoralizer. It is extremely fast either way, but at the same time it is also a fight to the bitter end in the opposing direction.

I self test twice a week, if possible, and don't let the weather (except lightning, and extreme rain) be the determiner of my goings. One of these days I can look at my time and say "Tally-ho!"

Come One, Come All!

2009-05-30T00:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, hey, HEYYY! Here is my new pad for blogging! Yahoo! should be archiving my old blogs for those who want to touch history; but until then, click on the "Essentialalities" link to the right to go and read 'til it is axed from society.

It has been great to compose mindless lit, and am looking forward to keeping it up! See you on the flip side!